Legend of the Crystals

The sky above the vast Ozome Plain changed from a light blue to a deep azure as evening approached. Keeping watch as Solas piloted his hoverbike, Dris’s long ears twitched and her eyes peered around warily as they sped through at a steady but cautious pace. It was a little odd having the first Hume she had ever met sit on her lap as they road through a land that was new to her on a contraption she had only recently learned existed. Although the Viera did feel a bit awkward about the situation, she was confident in Solas’s ability to pilot. He really seemed to know what he was doing, and seemed to have great control over the hoverbike as he accelerated the party through the Ozome Plain. Dris was in awe that any monsters that tried to pursue them quickly gave up, as Solas easily dodged any sort of attack they attempted. She thought about how she’d like to learn how to pilot a hoverbike of her own someday.

As the party entered into a new area of the Ozome Plain there were suddenly large stones popping out of the ground, or so it appeared to Dris. Looking in wonder at the stones, the Viera noticed that they had a slight metallic look to them, similar to the hoverbike. “What are those?” Dris asked and pointed a long nailed finger toward one of the large objects, unsure if anyone would hear her over the roar of the engine.

Elyssa tried to look around as much she could at the plains as they rode on, grateful she didn't have to battle through the plains a second time. It had been a huge pain the first time. Elyssa heard Dris's question somehow, even though the engine was rather loud.

"They're pieces of airships I believe," Elyssa responded loud enough for Dris to hear, then considered the Veirra probably had no clue what an airship was,"Um, airships are like the hover bike, they're used for transport. But they are bigger and used for more people then three, and can transport large amount of supplies as well..."

Elyssa tried to explain it. It was far from an adequate explanation, but hopefully it would do. Scratch that, hopefully Solas could explain it to Dris then she had.

Solas didn't bother to add to the conversation. His mind was elsewhere. It was getting dark, he was tired, and night made it much more dangerous to fly a vehicle. So he slowed to what looked like a good camping location and brought the hoverbike to a stop.

Switching off the engine, he pulled his goggles up and peered behind him. "We should camp for the night, kupo," he suggested. "If it gets any darker, it'd be too dangerous to fly this thing. Plus, I'd rather see a raksas from a distance and avoid it instead of not seeing it and flying straight into it. Especially with the engine noise making it hard to hear. I have lights on this hoverbike, but only a murkha would fly this close to the ground at night..."

Hearing Elyssa’s explanation of the metallic pieces that were stabbed into the soil of the Ozome Plain, Dris nodded in interest. Dris was fascinated that there were so many modes of transportation in Ivalice, she had known the world was a large place but now she was experiencing it. She was thankful to be exploring this world with such a knowledgable party of adventurers.

Dris nodded in agreement at Solas’s suggestion. Night was quickly approaching and making camp sounded like a good idea. Dris’s legs felt oddly cramped as she scooted off of the hoverbike seat. Her muscles weren’t used to staying in such a position for so long and he back ached a little. She looked around her and softly asked her party members, “Is there anything I can do to help set up camp?” Her inexperience in adventuring was something she wanted to gain experience in quickly so that she could be more helpful to her new friends.

Elyssa smiled at Dris upon hearing her question. She stood a bit to the side as she adjusted her tunic a bit. Then she had said to Dris,"We should gather some firewood, as when it gets dark, we wont want to be sitting here in the cold without one." Elyssa considered something for a moment as she began looking around,"It looks like there are plenty of sticks around, so two of us should gather while one of us makes a fire pit out of something."

Elyssa took a breath,"Would you like to help me gather sticks Dris?" she asked,"and if Solas is okay with it, he can make the fire pit? Or I can make the pit while you two gather sticks?"

Elyssa looked to Solas and Dris questioningly, hoping she didn't sound pushy or anything. It really was up to them who did what.

Solas hopped off the bike and gave it an affectionate pat. He gave Elyssa a quick glance, then looked up at the night sky thoughtfully. "Fire pit... kupo? I-I'm not very good at that..." he glanced off at the horizon. "I can get sticks, though... I-I mean I'm not very strong, kupo, but I can get smaller sticks."

The moogle was definitely feeling a little awkward right now. This sort of activity was not one he was used to. He would be much happier getting back to civilisation, where he actually knew how to survive properly.

Dris nodded with so much determination that her fluffy ears moved vigorously as she began to speak to her party members, “I should be able to help with gathering any large pieces of wood that we find, don’t worry about it Solas. I have never made fire though…” Feeling a bit uncertain, the Viera glanced over at Elyssa. Although, Dris understood that there were good properties to fire the idea of lighting foliage ablaze still scared her a little bit. There was still so much that the Viera would have to learn to survive, and she was determined to keep moving forward with her friends.

Hopping stealthily on top of a rock and then on top of one of the pieces of airship, Dris peered around with her lavender hued eyes in search of plant life. There were a few scraggily looking trees next to another piece of airship. “Follow me if you’d like Solas, there are some dried out, and nearly dead trees over there.” She pointed the in direction she was planning to go.

Elyssa smiled,"Alright, no need to worry, I can make the pit easily enough, and lighting the fire will be no problem for me either so just leave it to me. I'll teach you both how to do it once the fire is ready to be made so you can learn how as well if you wish."

Elyssa looked around for any nearby rocks she could put in a circle. She spotted some reasonably sized looking rocks not too far off and decided to go retrieve them, calling,"Just set the sticks in a pile near the campsite."

Elyssa was quite curious about Solas and Dris. She had so many questions for the pair, but she also didn't want to be nosy, or accidentally say something to hurt them. Elyssa knew she could be thoughtless sometimes. Though...Elyssa supposed they'd likely be separating at the destination.

Though, she had thoughts she might stay with them, as it was clear to her neither of them really had any survival skills in the wilderness. It wouldn't be right to leave them until they knew how. At the least.

Solas followed after Dris, keeping to the ground. His wings had been quite busy recently - and given how most Ivalice moogles found flight at least somewhat difficult depending on their size, even one with as small a frame as his could not sustain such a mode of travel for long periods. His wings had grown quite sore from the whole ordeal in the jungle, and he was much happier to be on solid ground right now.

Waiting near the bottom of the debris Dris had mounted, the moogle nodded to the viera in agreement to her suggestion and headed out toward the trees. "I can't wait for a real bed... and a warm mug of tea... or a glass of fresh juice, depending on the time we get back... it is quite hot in Dalmasca during the daytime, kupo..."

Easily breaking off several of the large branches of one of the dead trees and sitting them down on the ground next to Solas, Dris nodded at the moogle’s comments. “I’m looking forward to exploring Dalmasca, but I’m always going to miss my lavender bed in Eruyt Village.” She felt a pang of sadness wash through her as she said it. She still hadn’t told Solas about her banishment, but she figured that there was no harm in letting him know now.

“…I was.. Banished from my village, that is why I was able to leave..” Dris said the words despondently, as she grabbed another dead tree branch and wrestled it down onto the ground. Breaking the branches down into smaller logs that would be easier for both of them to carry back to camp, Dris tried her best to work with swiftness, as night was quickly approaching.

The journey back had been oddly humbling for Solas. It felt almost like he had lost - which he pretty much had. He had gone on a stupid journey for stupid reasons without having thought it through. But he was lucky... not just to have come out alive, but to have made a new friend and perhaps another acquaintance as well.

Running a little ragged from being out in the wilderness, Solas's hoverbike wasn't in the best of conditions as it was brought in to the aerodrome. It needed a good clean and polish... and perhaps a bit of tinkering to get it back into racing condition. But Solas was sure he could manage it.

Upon parking the hoverbike, saying goodbyes to Elyssa and leaving the landing bay to enter the aerodrome's main lobby, Solas was relieved to be back into civilisation. His back hurt from being hunched over the controls half the time and sleeping rough the other half. He just hoped Dris could handle the loud, busy world they had stepped into. It was hard to pick up her reaction as they had flown past the dense streets, tall spires and crowds of people on their way in on account of the noise of the wind rushing past and the hoverbike engine, but he was quite sure that it would probably have been a strong one - perhaps with mixed feelings.

Bright eyed and bushy-tailed Dris felt overwhelmed with emotions that seemed alien to her. The Viera stared around her in awe of the enormity of it all, there were so many different beings bustling through this metropolis known as Rabanastre and there were even more peering out of their tall tree like homes above. Among all the different voices and conversations surrounding her and Solas, there were rumbles above them from other hoverbikers as they watched Elyssa depart. Dris realized that everyone around them seemed to be in a hurry, even the few Viera she saw weren’t hesitating to push others out of their way as they bid with merchants for goods she didn’t recognize. There were so many inhabitants here that Dris’s fascination became tainted with an odd sense of fear. The Viera’s heart began to pound in her chest as Solas parked his hoverbike.

Dris realized that there was something instinctual about this odd fear that she was suddenly feeling, with so many eyes and walls around her it almost felt like being in some sort of cage. She thought of Lilis again, and bit her bottom lip. On top of all the Seeqs here, there were several humes walking around covered from head to toe in what appeared to Dris to be the same sort of substance that hoverbikes were made of. The only thing that made it clear to Dris that they were Humes and not something else were their eyes. Yet, still she wasn’t sure how to react to so many eyes surrounding her, even if they weren’t looking at her, it just seemed overwhelming.

“S-Solas, may we go somewhere less… Dense.” The Viera’s voice trembled a little and her ears drooped forward down toward him. “I’m sorry. I’m just… Getting used to all of this…” She hoped that Solas wouldn’t be annoyed or leave her alone, she would be completely lost without him and also completely friendless. She was sure that at some point the Moogle would have other duties to attend to but she didn’t know what else to do in this new environment but cling to her friend.

Solas nodded to Dris, a thoughtful and understanding "kupo" escaping from his lips as he considered his options. The question really was where to go. He wasn't a native to Dalmasca, so only really knew about a few of the more trustworthy and prominent pubs and guild halls. Neither of which were particularly private. Perhaps he could find a quiet patch of pavement somewhere outside.

Deciding that the answers obviously weren't anywhere in the aerodrome, Solas gestured for Dris to follow and began striding toward the exit, passing comfortable-looking seating areas and grandiose desks. Various families, parties and individuals were scattered around the lobby, generally awaiting the departure time of one airship or another. Adults chattered amongst themselves, children ran about and climbed over the chairs, and amongst the crowd of primarily humes, other species went about their business. Bangaas, seeqs, the odd moogle... even one or two viera.

It was perhaps noticeable from comparison that Solas was a somewhat small and scrawny example of his species, as most of the moogles in the aerodrome looked a little too large to easily enter flight for anything more than a very brief period. A discerning eye could probably tell that Solas had probably not reached adulthood yet, but he wasn't too far off. Though there was an inherently child-like nature to moogles in general, the maturity of adulthood wasn't exactly invisible amongst the adults of the species; whilst Solas displayed more of a posture and energy that now that others of his own kind were present to compare with came across as the moogle equivalent of a fifteen-year-old hume - or perhaps a year or two older.

Naturally, although they might show a mild passing interest in Dris at first, the majority of what few viera were currently present within the aerodrome ignored her as if she was just another citizen of the city.

Of course, once Solas emerged from within the building and out into the wide open street that led to the west gate, the situation with crowdedness wasn't particularly much better. In the heat of the morning sun, citizens in various states of dress wandered past busily, some keeping to themselves whilst others socialised openly with friends, family and even complete strangers.

Still trembling a little and keeping her eyes and sensitive ears focused on Solas, Dris gratefully followed her trusted friend. Wherever he was leading them would hopefully be a little less crowded than here.The Viera grimaced at her own foolishness as she followed behind him, she hadn’t expected to feel so overwhelmed once they reached Dalmasca. He head felt like it was swimming with the bombardment of sounds and blurs of little humes that were playfully yelling at each other and running through the crowds of inhabitants.

Dalmasca… Stra had told her of this place, although the elder Viera never explained how she knew of it’s existence. This city had been a pivotal setting in the tale of Princess Ashelia B’nargin Dalmasca’s quest against the Archadian Empire. The part of the tale that had appealed to Dris the most when she was a youngling was when Stra would mention that of her their kind; a Viera, was one of the Princess’s party members. This Viera’s name was never to be spoken of among her people, and now her name was also taboo to those when had known her…

Lost in her thoughts Dris almost lost sight of Solas as he led her through the crowd. He was much smaller than the other creatures that surrounded them, even the other moogles. Dris tilted her head slightly at her companion, wondering why he was so small. She knew that other races aged differently than Viera did but she didn’t know much about how Moogles aged, let alone how Humes, Bangaas or Seeqs did. Choosing to void eye contact with any of the other Viera that passed on their way, Dris kept her eyes fixed on Solas fearing that she would loss him in the crowd.

“Yup, Boss always gets what he wants.” Seeqs oinked and laughed together as they passed nearby. When Solas and Dris emerged onto the street that led to the west gate, the Seeqs that had been talking loudly seemed to have gone another way.

The sun was shining down on them again and Dris felt her dark skin soaking it up. Taking a deep breath, Dris felt her muscles relax a bit more, although she still felt tense within the crowded streets. “I feel much better in the sun and open air.” Dris smiled down at the little moogle. “Thank you for leading me here, Solas. I would be lost without you. I’m glad we met.” The Viera knelt down and outstretched her hand toward him.

Solas turned to glance back at Dris, not entirely sure what her gesture meant; but he decided to risk treating it as some sort of handshake and placed one of his small hands against hers. "Uh... don't thank me just yet... you might still get lost with me, kupo," he admitted, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. He wasn't exactly the most knowledgable guide when it came to Rabanstre, and his height only served to reduce his chances of working out where he was going. Thankfully, the first step of their journey into the city was fairly obvious, given it involved passing through a large gate.

"We're not actually in the city yet," Solas explained, pointing toward the west gate. "We have to go through there first, kupo." The gate was currently open, but did not reveal much of what lay beyond it, given the rather sizeable staircase on the other side that blocked the view.