Fire and Lightning

“Well, this is all very touching, old timer, princess,” said Sagar, “but now that you’re healed we need to be getting back on our way. Do I need to remind you that you’ve got a country to protect, and I’ve got a reward to collect?”

“Hey numb-nut, give her a moment,” said Elrann. “She’s just barely escaped dying from a sword wound.”

“She’s fine now!” said Sagar, indicating Nuthea’s bandaged abdomen. “The medicine-man worked his magic, or whatever you want to call it. Let’s get this show back on the road!”

Ryn’s blood began to boil, but the old man called Cid spoke first.

“Actually, there is some wisdom in your companion’s suggestion. It would make much sense for the young lady to rest awhile. Although my arts are powerful, her wound was almost mortal, and she could do with some time to recover before you go on your way. What’s more, that will give me time to pack my things.”

“Pack your things?” said Ryn. “Why?”

“I’m coming with you.”

“What?!” said Sagar.

“PUUUUUUUUUUY!”

They all looked round, startled by the sudden muffled shout.

The bounty hunter had begun to writhe where he lay tied up on the ground, violently throwing his head around and shouting something so loudly they could hear it through his gag, although it wasn’t possible to make out what he was saying.

“PUUUUY!” cried the man as he twisted on the ground, body contorting . “PUUUUY!”

“What’s wrong with him?” said Cid.

“He’s a damned poppy addict,” Sagar said with a dismissive wave. “I promised him I would give him some if he told us the way to Nont. Now the fool’s having a tantrum.”

“No,” said Cid, running to the man, “don’t you understand? Poppy addicts experience terrible withdrawal symptoms if they don’t ingest again within a certain time period. They have fits, and it feels like utter agony. They can have convulsions. Sometimes it can be so bad that it kills them. If they come off it, they have to cut down gradually. He needs some poppy seed.” He reached into his leather satchel and began to rummage around.

“So what?” said Sagar. “Who’s going to give it to him? Let the bastard die. He’s served his purpose. I don’t know why the pup wanted to let him live anyway.”

Ryn bristled. “He did tell us the way to Nont. And he told us about the poison he used on his sword.”

“If you hadn’t kept him alive for that” said Cid, “the young lady would be dead..” He knelt down on the ground next to the squirming bounty hunter, carefully held the man’s head in place with one hand, and with the other untied his gag. He tugged the bottom of the man’s headscarf down too, exposing his blackened mouth.

“POPPY!” the bounty hunter shouted in a disturbinglyshrill voice like he was being tortured. “GIVE ME POPPY!”

“Shhhh,” soothed Cid.

“What are you doing, old timer?” said Sagar.

“I carry poppy with me in my healer’s bag,” said Cid. “It’s not just used for pleasure—In smaller doses it’s useful as an anaesthetic—to numb pain. In fact, I gave a very small amount to the young lady earlier.”

“That explains a lot…” Sagar muttered. Nuthea didn’t respond.

Cid produced a small glass phial of many round, black objects, —unstoppered it, and tipped one into the bounty hunter’s mouth.

“GIVE ME POP—” the bounty hunterstopped mid-word and swallowed. Immediately his grey eyes went glassy, his pupils grew bigger, and his body went still. He lay his head back on the ground and stared upwards, though his eyes had lost focus.

“Ahhhhh…” A long, blissful sigh escaped the bounty hunter’s lips.

“What’s happened to him?” asked Nuthea.

“He’s gone into a poppy trance,” Sagar said scornfully.

“What’s that?” asked Ryn.

“Ain’t you seen one of these either?” said Elrann. “You need to get out more, farmboy.”

“It’s good that he’s tied up for the moment,” said Cid as he watched the bounty hunter enjoying his reverie. “A poppy trance, when you ingest pure, unadulterated poppy seed, is a state of euphoria—bliss—unlike any other. It is thought to be the most wonderful sensation that can be experienced in Mid, though I have my doubts about that. And it comes at a terrible cost. Once a person has experienced a poppy trance, they almost without fail become enslaved to it. Once the trance wears off it is only a matter of time before the person’s body, mind and spirit desire to experience the trance again, and so they become addicted to it, trapped in a never-ending cycle of craving and acting more and more desperately to obtain their next ‘hit’ of poppy seed. If you say this man is a bounty hunter, I would not be surprised if he became one in order to feed his poppy habit.”

“Why is it ‘good’ that he’s tied up, then?” asked Ryn.

“Some people can actually do things while they are in a poppy trance--get up, walk around, and so on--and they can last quite a long time, depending on how much the person takes. Peculiarly, one also has heightened senses, and is stronger and faster during a poppy trance. So it’s very good that he is tied up. Though you had better make sure he is properly tied up.”

“You seem to know an awful lot about poppy trances, old timer...” said Sagar as he bent over the bounty hunter and pulled on his cords to check they were tight enough. The bounty hunter moaned merrily.

“It’s my job to know,” said Cid. “I’ve treated many a poppy addict in my time.”

“Get a lot of them in small town Nont, do you?”

“I have not always lived in Nont.”.

“Hey,” said Ryn, remembering what they had been talking about before they had been interrupted by the poppy-addict bounty hunter. “What did you mean you’re ‘coming with us’, anyway?”

“Yeah, old timer,” said Sagar, “who said you were tagging along?”

“Well,” said Cid, “just now I heard you say that you’re journeying to do something for this young lady to protect a country. That sounds like a noble cause to me. It seems to me that you would benefit from the services of a Healer. Now that Imfis has been invaded I have little desire to work for the Morekemian Empire. I have no living relatives and my apprentice is ready to take over at the Healing House in Nont. So, I would like to accompany you on your journey as your Healer.”

Ryn, Nuthea, Sagar and Elrann all looked at each other, silently conferring over the possibility of adding this fifth member to their party (sixth, if you counted the captive bounty hunter).

Sagar ran his tongue along his upper lip. “I’m not buying this,” he said. “You’ve only just met us, old timer. You did us a favour healing me and the princess, I’ll grant you that, and we still need to pay you, but you’ve no good reason to suddenly join us on the turn of a copper piece. You don’t even know what we’re doing, really. What’s really going on here?”

Cid’s smile grew even deeper, and he closed his eyes as he spoke. “I assure you, young man, my intentions are entirely noble. And you need not worry about paying me for the healings—I have plenty of coin.”

“Oh, do come with us!” said Nuthea, clapping her hands together. “Do come with us, grandfather!”

“Not this again… said Sagar.”

“I will say,” said Cid, opening his eyes, , “that from the way that this young man threw fire, and you, young man, commanded the wind, I assume that the two of you are Jewel-touched. Therefore I also deduce that your journey has something to do with the Primeval Jewels, whether or not you know it yet. I discern here the Will of the One. Therefore, I would come with you to assist you.”

“Look,” said Sagar, “that’s all well and good, old timer, but not all of us buy into your religious mumbo-jumbo. Some of us may be ‘Jewel-touched’, or whatever you call it, but that’s got nothing to do with what we’re doing. I’m escorting the princess here back to her home country so that I can be handsomely rewarded.”

“Yeah,” said Ryn, feeling the need to explain himself too, “and I’m trying to find the Imperial Officer who killed my parents and burned down my hometown, who’s probably headed in the same direction, so I can kill him. I’m just tagging along with Nuthea and Sagar until I find him.” As he said it, he knew that it was no longer the whole of the truth. But he wasn’t about to admit that out loud. Mum. Dad. Cleasor. Find Vorr. Get Vorr. Kill Vorr. Stay with Nuthea?

“S’right,” said Elrann, “and I’m just sticking around with these guys till something better comes up ‘cause they’re the last contract I took before the invasion.” Ryn wondered if that wasn’t the whole truth, as well.

“Ahhhhhhh…” said the bounty hunter from somewhere in his poppy trance.

“Be that as it may,” said Cid, “two of you are Jewel-touched—”

“Three, actually!” said Nuthea happily. “I am Lightning-Crystal-touched.”

Cid’s eyebrows nearly jumped off his face.

“Why would you volunteer that information, princess?” Sagar said, shaking his head at her. “You need to be a lot more careful who you go around telling that too.”

Nuthea bit her lip, but then said, “It’s alright. He is a grandfather in the faith. I trust him.”

“Three of you are Jewel-touched!” said Cid. “Well, that settles it. Your mission is clearly of great importance. I would come with you to serve as your Healer. And what of this country you are seeking to ‘protect’?”

“I am trying to return to Manolia as soon as possible,” said Nuthea in her refined, royal tones, “to warn my people that the Morekemian Emperor has gained knowledge of the whereabouts of some of the Jewels, and is seeking them. I hope that this may prepare them for whatever he is planning.”

Ryn wondered why she didn’t just outright tell him that Morekemia had got one of the Jewels.

“What could be a more noble cause?” said Cid. “Truly, I discern the Will of the One here. Again, I would come with you to serve as your Healer.”

“Alright, alright, team huddle,” said Sagar, and beckoned for Ryn, Nuthea and Elrann to come close. Ryn wasn’t sure when they had become a ‘team’ but he supposed that they were one. They had by now, after all, fought off and escaped from not one, but two groups of Imperial soldiers together. Ryn felt a little twinge of irritation in his gut that Sagar seemed to have made himself the ‘leader’ of the team. But he let that alone for now.

“Wait over there for a bit while we talk this over, old timer,” said Sagar.

The four of them put their arms across each other’s shoulders and their heads together. Ryn had never been so close to Nuthea’s face. But he was also close to Sagar’s face again on the other side. Urgh. Elrann faced him opposite.

“I don’t like this one bit,” said Sagar quietly. “The old timer’s hiding something, I know it. Our traveling party’s getting big enough as it is. I say we rob him of his stuff and slit his throat.”

“Captain Sagar!” said Nuthea. “Even for a pirate that is despicable! He is perfectly trustworthy. He is a follower of the One, and he has healed both of us!”

“He is good at healing...” said Elrann.

Sagar frowned at her, looking betrayed. “You’re on board with this too, woman?”

“He just seems like a kind old man to me. You’re right, I don’t believe in any of this ‘One’ malarkey either, but I’m prepared to believe he believes it. What has he done for us so far? Healed two of us, and helped pacify that bat-poodoo-crazy bounty hunter.”

Sagar’s frown grew more pronounced.

“That’s two against one,” said Nuthea, seizing an opportunity. “Ryn, you have the deciding vote: either we are locked two against two in a tie, or Grandfather Cid can come with us. What’s your answer?”

Ryn considered his opinion of the old man. “Well, when he found out I knew someone who was hurt he came with me straight away. Then, Elrann’s right, he healed you, Nuthea, while we were fighting off the soldiers. Then he healed Sagar’s arm. Then he helped us out with the screaming bounty hunter, who could have attracted the soldiers to our position. And he doesn’t even want us to pay him for any of that. I…”

“Yes?” said Nuthea.

“...trust him,” finished Ryn.

“Rrrr, fine,” said Sagar, face turning indigo. He abruptly broke the huddle . “Alright old timer, apparently you can come with us for some reason.”

“Wonderful,” said Cid with a smile.

“You can come with us on the condition that you don’t try to pull anything funny or slow down our trip. The minute that happens—” Sagar drew a finger across his throat.

“Sagar!” said Nuthea.

“What? The alternative of throat-slitting was strongly implied by our discussion.”

“You have nothing to worry about, young man,” said Cid.

“We still have a problem, though” said Ryn. “Where are we going to go now, and how are we going to get there?”

“Now that I am healed,” said Nuthea, “I still need to get to Manolia as quickly as possible.”

“The plan is the same,” said Sagar. “We make for Sirra and try to board a train to Manolia.”

“But Imfis has just been invaded by Morekemia,” says Elrann. “The trains almost certainly won’t be running normally.”

“It’s still our best bet while I don’t have my ship,” said Sagar. “And in any case, if we head for Sirra we’re moving in the right direction.”He looked over at the cochobo, which had crouched down and rested its head on the ground plaintively. It cawed. “Actually, now that we have the bird, I can just ride there with the princess to investigate the train. The rest of you will only slow us down. I say we part ways here.”

Heat rose in Ryn’s chest. “Hey! There’s no way you’re ditching us here! I’m still heading that way to look for General Vorr, remember?”

“Yeah, and there’s no way I’m walking all the way to Sirra now that we have this cochobo,” said Elrann.

“And it does somewhat defeat my joining you to be your healer if I don’t actually join you to be your healer,” said Cid.

“Ahhhhhhhhh…” said the bounty hunter from his place on the ground.

Sagar narrowed his eyes malevolently.

“Yes,” said Nuthea, “we travel together. As grandfather said, the One clearly has a purpose in bringing us all together. But Sagar is right; we were going too slowly on foot. And the Imperial troops in the area are clearly searching for us. We all need a way of traveling more quickly to Sirra.”

“I may be able to help there,” said Cid. He nodded at the bounty hunter’s steed. “Your man in black must have requistioned that bird from the cochobo stable in Nont. The stabler is an old friend of mine. If I sneak back into the village I’m sure I can persuade him to let us purchase a couple of birds.”

“Oh, you’d do that for us, Grandfather?” said Nuthea. Ryn thought she was laying it on a bit thick.

“Of course,” said Cid. “As I say, I have plenty of coin. This is good—this way I can sneak home before we leave and pick up some supplies—gold, a cloak, some sleeping mats, that sort of thing.”

“Food?” said Elrann.

“Naturally,” said Cid. “Are you hungry, young lady?”

“We haven’t eaten since last night.”

“Well of course, then! You must be famished. I will bring as much as the cochobos can carry, and coin to buy more. I best be off. I will meet you back here in a few hours, with the cochobos.”

“Not here,” said Sagar. “We need to keep moving while you’re getting your supplies, old timer. The Imperials are looking for us.”

“You’re quite right,” said Cid. “Tell you what: meet me at the crest of Overshot Hill a few miles east. It’s wooded there too, so you’ll be concealed.”

“Good idea, Grandfather,” said Nuthea.

“Let’s go,” said Elrann.

“Hmph,” said Sagar.

“Ahhhhhh…” said the bounty hunter, still in his poppy trance.

“Wait,” said Ryn.

“What?” The others turned to him.

“Him,” said Ryn, pointing at the bounty hunter. “We still haven’t decided what to do about him.”

“He’s served his purpose,” said Sagar. “I say we slit his throat and leave him here.”

“Sagar!” said Nuthea. “Why is it always about throat-slitting with you? Who is this man, anyway?”

“Who do you think, princess? This is the bounty hunter who jumped us and made that cut in your belly before the old timer healed you. Pup here kept him alive because he thought he’d be ‘useful’ or some such nonsense. I guess he did tell us the way to the nearest Healing House. But there’s no reason to keep him alive any longer.”

“Well done, Ryn,” said Nuthea unexpectedly.

“Why?” said Ryn.

“Oneism teaches to love one’s enemies, and that it is wrong to kill another living thing. Forgiveness and reconciliation are always possible.”

Sagar put his head in his hands.

“But I’ve seen you cook Imperial soldiers in their armour with lightning bolts!” said Ryn.

“That was different…” said Nuthea sheepishly, rubbing her arm and looking sidelong at Cid. “That was self-defense…”

“Be that as it may, Granddaughter Nuthea is right,” said Cid. “It would be wicked to murder and abandon this poor soul. It would only add more evil to the world.”

Sagar had turned violet. “Rrrragh! Not this again! You two are mad as a barrel of moogles!”

“You know,” said Elrann, “for once I agree with the jackass. I’m not saying we have to kill him, but there’s no sense in keeping bountyhunterman around. He’s clearly dangerous. I don’t see that any good can come of it.”

“Thank you, woman. At least one of you is seeing sense.”

“Well it’s two against two again,” said Nuthea. “If we’re going to go with the ‘majority vote’ in this team, a system which while vulgar I am not entirely unfamiliar with, then you get the deciding vote again, Ryn.”

Ryn looked down at the entranced bounty hunter lying face up on the ground. The man’s grey eyes were unfocused. He occasionally emitted moans of pleasure. But Ryn remembered the look in the man’s eyes the first time Sagar had been about to kill him. Somewhere in that grey Ryn had seen desperation, and trauma. Somewhere in that grey Ryn had seen—humanity. And he had known in that instant that really, despite the man’s appearance and current choice of occupation, he and Ryn weren’t all that different. This man had seen horrible things in his life too, and maybe it was those horrible things that had driven him to what he was doing now. He was a person too.

“He stays with us,” said Ryn. “He knew the way to Nont. He told us what poison he used. He may know his way around the rest of Imfis. He might be able to give us information about the Empire.” Like where Vorr is, for example. “He might still prove useful yet.”

Sagar threw up his hands in exasperation. “You’re all insane! Fine! You had better load him onto the cochobo then, pup, seeing as you’re so desperate to stay by his side—he’s not going anywhere by himself any time soon. You go get your supplies, old timer—we’ll meet you at the top of the hill in a few hours.”