Conversing Beside a River... (Dian, or ask)

The Moonflow was a beautiful river, particularly in the late afternoon as the pyerflies started to rise up from the water.

On the banks of the river a small, strangely colored cat wandered between the blooms and plants that grew close to the water's edge. She was a tan colored cat, with splotches of pink here and there in her fur, all natural coloring, to her at least. Her eyes, though, were the strangest part. One eye was a deep purple color. The other was an equally deep blue.

She wasn't doing much to disturb anything, just batting curiously at the occasional flower that drew her attention more than the others. She was exploring the different worlds and had made her way here, finally, for no other reason than it was here. She certainly hadn't expected to meet up with anyone.

But maybe she should have. She would not be alone for much longer on the banks of the Moonflow.

What a beautiful place...

Steps without destiny had brought Dian to the Moonflow. His opinion about the places he had seen until now have never been exagerated, and it was indeed the first time in months that he used the world beautiful to describe what was in front of his eyes. The water, the pyerflies, the sky, the nature... Everything seemed to be in perfect sync and harmony with each other. And the fact that almost no one was around at that time contributed to this balance.

Yet, even with this magnific scenario, something caught Dian's attention. He could see a tan colored creature around the banks of the river. Was that a cat? Dian wondered, as it was unusual to see cats in places like those. Curious, he approached the feline, and crouching down, he extended an arm and moved his fingers, calling the attention of the cat. He personally liked cats. If he could, he would have one as a companion.

What are you doing around here, little cat? He said, pretending that the cat would understand him.

The cat noticed the young man and looked at him curiously. Now this was odd, very odd. He smelled... She padded over on her little paws and sniffed at his boots curiously. This... this was exceptionally odd.

He smelled like home.

But she couldn't be certain. It wasn't Vana'diel-home. And it wasn't the home that was lost in the Massacre she'd survived... it was a home she hadn't been to in... In far longer than she could remember clearly.

He smelled of Earth. But the more she smelled, the more uncertain she was, and the more curious. It couldn't be... could it?

She carefully put a paw on his booted foot, curious about this boy, and how he had come to this place that was obviously not his native home. She looked up to him, wordlessly curious about him.

The cat put a pat in his foot, but Dian couldn't take that as a signal of trust. Even in animals, he had become quite good at reading their facial expressions. Yes, even animals shows feelings and emotions from time to time in their faces. The cat was simply curious about him, probably more than he was. His face was emotionless, but he would have smiled otherwise. Dian slowly sat near the cat and looked at the different colored eyes.

And when he looked at those eyes, he sensed something. This cat's soul was different. It was not that of an animal. It was a pure, big soul, even larger than the soul of a human. For a moment, he was left speechless. It was not the first time he had seen a soul like that, but, in fact, it was the second, so he had reasons to be surprised. He gently patted the cat's head. Then he looked straight at it's eyes.

You won't start speaking out of the blue as if it was the most common thing in the world, right?

Usually, souls like that meant one thing: Inteligence, and heart.

The cat seemed to actually chuckle softly at his statement. No one ever expected a cat to begin speaking like they did, so she simply chose to remain silent and listen to all the things that they didn't realize they were saying. It was easy to be underestimated as a cat, and being underestimated meant that she could survive that much easier.

She could feel something odd in his hand as he patted her much like many did that liked animals of some sort or another. It was why she liked being held as much as she did. Oddly enough, her magic worked best when she was in physical contact with someone. So if she wished to heal secretly there were two ways to go about it.

Be petted as an animal... or be hugged as a child.

She began to purr in unspoken acceptance of this strange young man. Everyone knows that a cat only purrs when she feels comfortable. A cat never purrs when startled, or hiding, or on the hunt. So she purred for this young man and hoped that he would accept it in the spirit in which it was intended.

She did not fear him, and in fact approved of him.

Guess not...

Though it would have been interesting if he had crossed paths with a talking cat, reality was oftenly normal, despite all the supernatural events that Dian encounters daily. But he couldn't take his eyes out of the cat. No, it would be more precise to say that he couldn't take his eyes out of its soul. Creatures with souls that clean were only found once in a hundred, or even a thousand years. The gods may have gone crazy, as he found one by simply talking a walk. But why a cat? Did this animal had something else about it?

That's when it started to purr. It was common knowledge that cats only did that when they felt comfortable. And that was, indeed, a sign of trust. He patted the cat again, and slowly put his hands in its chest. Then, he lifted it in the air and softly placed it on top of his legs.

What a cute cat... He said to himself.

Common cats lived in peace. And though they are not too loyal to their masters, they are still good companions.

...and what a peaceful day. He had nothing else to add.

The cat didn't resist being picked up, and, in fact, seemed very calm about the whole process. She stood on his legs for a moment and then sniffed delicately at his clothes, investigating the odd smells about him that made him seem at once so familiar and so strange. She stepped forward to place her front paws on his chest and then stretched out, putting her face very near his, the purr rumbling in her chest without ceasing.

This young man was pleasing to her... he was... he was accepting of her. He didn't speak much, or show much animation in his manner, but that was okay. He reminded her in some ways of the quiet strength of the Galka craftsman from whom she had gotten her Wok.

He carried himself as one who understood honor.

"Mrow?" She continued to purr low, curious about him and what he was doing in this place. Maybe he had come for the peace of the river?

Dian yawned. The sun was slowly hidding behind the horizon, which meant that night would fall in an hour or so. He had already decided to sleep besides the river, but it still bothered him the fact that he had nothing else to do. He had only the cat to entertain himself. Dian looked at it, still patting it's tiny head. He saw an interrogative expression in its face. Dian sighed, and returning his eyes to the water, he said:

Wandering around it's ok, seeing new places it's ok, but I can't feel good about it when I'm traveing alone. I may be a guy that likes silence and peace, but I still believe that being around people is the best.

He took a deep breath and returned his eyes to the cat.

There is a certain feeling I have when people are around me. And when I talk about people, I mean humans or other similar beings. In other words, beings that can think rationally and have a big soul to prove it. For some days, I haven't had that feeling, but suddenly today I found it. So tell me, little cat...

He lifted the cat again and placed it in front of him, face to face.

What exactly are you?

She couldn't help it. The little cat very purposefully winked one eye at him and waved her tail in the air as if to challenge him to figure her out. She rather liked being mysterious sometimes and this, unfortunately, was one of those times.

She wasn't certain whether she really wanted to let him in on her secret or not. She knew that Lar had figured it out, but he'd only figured it out because she'd had to change back in order to smack that mean shopkeeper.

She tilted her head slightly, wondering if maybe the idea wouldn't occur to him, that it might be too strange for him to even consider. But she could still smell that strange tang to his odor that spoke to her of the Earth she'd left so long before.

She rubbed her head against his hands, trying to make up her mind. Reveal? or don't reveal?

Yet the cat did nothing. This could only mean two things: One, it didn't really want to show it's true self to Dian, or two, it was a mere, simple cat, that couldn't really understand his words, and thus, was not going to do anything. Yes, in normal situations, the most probable alternative would be the second one, but Dian was not too sure, and he wouldn't lose anything by trying to prove which one was false. But how? The idea came in no time.

Ok then, how about this? Dian put his hands together. A secret for a secret...

Dian closed his eyes. His ears were sealed. He couldn't hear anything, only his heartbeats. At first, nothing happened. The only change was that his breathing was become slower. And suddenly, almost in the blink of an eye, something appeared in Dian's back. It was first a tiny purple flames, nothing too special. But seconds later, the purple flames had captured the top part of his back, and even part of his arms. The most incredible fact probably was that Dian looked unharmed, and even pleased about this.

Some of the flames started to take shape. After 15 seconds, the figure of a strange creature formed behind him: It was a creature with metalic-like skin, a round head, holes instead of eyes and a thin, black line replacing it's mouth.

If any normal person approached, they would only see Dian meditating. They wouldn't be able to see the intimidating monster in his back. Only beings with special and strong souls would be able to see it. Dian opened his eyes and looked at the cat.

Can you see it, little cat? If I'm right, then I should see, at least, some kind of reaction in its face.

Maybe Dian shouldn't have tried that...

The cat watched in curious fascination as Dian began to meditate, and then blinked in surprise as he began to sprout flames. This was a very interesting trick indeed. But then the monster appeared and the cat did something that might be rather unexpected.

She yowled in fear and anger, launching herself backwards from him and crouching amongst the flowers on the banks of the river. The monster... well, okay, so it wasn't one of the alien-like greys that she had a brief flash of standing over her, stealing samples from deep in her body to use to create a Clone and something much more than a Clone...

But it was close enough that she didn't like it.

She stayed very still, shivering in fear, her eyes wide and scared as she looked at Dian as if to ask him why he wanted to scare her like that. She wasn't doing anything to hurt him, was she?

That was certainly not the reaction that Dian was hoping for, but at least the results had been satisfactory. Dian knew that trying to approach the cat right now wouldn't be good, as it seemed to be too frightened of his "Shadow" to even stop shivering. And so, Dian did his best to smile.

Don't worry, little cat. These flames just represent what's inside me. They are not going to harm you.

Dian snapped his fingers, and all the flames instantly disappeared. There was no trace of the monster left. But that couldn't possibly take away the cat's fear.

I am really sorry, but it was the only way for me to make certain. It may not have been the best of ways, but I'm a curious person, and I always try to do my best when trying to find something out. It's my pride, if you could call it like that.

Dian tried to smile again, but as he was not extremely happy, the smile looked much more like a grin. He tried to correct that, but it didn't work out too well. He soon forgot about it.

Better expose yourself soon, little cat. Right now, I have no ideas, but something will probably come to my mind.

The little cat shivered for a moment, crouching very low to the ground and watching the young man with wide eyes. Once the creature was gone she seemed to relax slightly, though there was still the hurt and confused look in her eyes.

His explanation seemed to relax her more and she heaved a great sigh of sorrow and she nodded slowly. Looks like her choice was made for her.

She sat up, surrounded by twinkling lights until finally there was a young Mithra girl sitting on her knees, hands on the ground in front of her, looking slightly hunched over and afraid. "I'm sorry... you scared me with that monster. I... I saw several that looked very much like that one... and they weren't nice to me at all." Her blonde and pink hair hung very long and her ears were folded down at the sides, not perked up at all. Her bi-colored eyes drooped sadly.

"I didn't want to make you upset. I just... I like being a cat sometimes. It's fun."

There were two things that took Dian by surprise. The first one was, obviously, that the cat, instead of talking or revealing a human personality like he thought, transformed into a young girl, that was now in front of him, sitting on her knees with an almost tearful expression in her face. The second thing was, well...

Why, of all things, did she have to be this cute...

Dian himself gave the best explination possible. He wouldn't have minded if she was older or had the looks of an ancient being. But the fact that she looked like a 13 years old cute girl, that means younger, something that Dian had a weakness against, and her lack of clothing, made him feel an enormous guilt, which only increased when he looked at her eyes, afraid of what Dian had done.

There are several things I could do right now... But in haste, he decided to take the quickest.

He put himself on his knees, his hands at both of his sides, and then he literaly smashed his head against the ground.

I'm really sorry. Though his actions showed desperation, his voice was still calm. He hated that contradictory part of himself. I didn't want to scare you this much. I only wanted to know the truth, but I ended up using a method that you did not deserve. I am an unworthy being. Please forgive. He also hated his samurai-ish way of speaking when under pressure.

What he had done, by the way, was the legendary "apologize position" that put oneself on ground level to beg for forgiveness.

The girl eeped in reaction to his abrupt self-harming move, her hands moving forward to cradle his head and pull him back up to at least a sitting-up position, warm energy flowing from her fingertips, making sure that he hadn't injured himself with that knock he'd given himself on the head. Heads were delicate things and she didn't want him to suffer a concussion or something really bad because he'd accidentally scared her.

"No," she murmured, "please don't hurt yourself. You didn't know. Please don't say bad things about yourself." She tried to smile at him, though the expression ended up looking more than a little wobbly and hesitant, and oddly endearing at the same time. "I'll forgive you."

Then the smile turned slightly more genuine as she reached forward and took one of his hands in hers, shaking it briefly in a greeting he might remember from another time and place. "Hello, my name is Mairi Banissa. I come from Vana'diel. It's good to meet you."

Dian wanted to show how sorry he was, but he was not a masochist. He had made sure to not hurt his head too much when hitting it against the floor. Even so, his forehead still felt warm when the soft fingers of the girl touched him. Dian felt as if some kind of healing energy was being thrown at him. When he returned to his sitting position again, Dian's eyes could see a slight worry in the girl's eyes. He would have blushed if his face wasn't so inexpressive.

Nice to meet you, Mairi. Again, sorry for what I just did. My name is Shirogami Dian. Hope you can truly forgive me.

Mairi looked like a 13 years old girl, maybe younger. It remembered him of his little sister at home, though right now she was 10 or 11 years old.

Even though the girl had taken a human-like form, she still had cat ears and cat tail. Dian remembered meeting someone like that before, Tora, but he hadn't seen him in a while. She also said she was from Vana'Diel, so perhaps Mairi was also a Mithra?

I come from a place called Earth, far away from here, a place that I currently cannot return to. I don't know if you have heard about it. And, even if this is a sudden turn of topic, I'm just too curious: How can you turn into a cat?

Mairi smiled at him, tilting her head curiously at his question, then she giggled and leaned close as if she were sharing a secret. "It's maaaaagic." Then she giggled and sat back, her eyes twinkling with good humor. "It's something special that I can do because my magic works that way. I can change my shape."

She nodded to him. "I..." she paused, and then continued, "I know about Earth. What... what happened to bring you here? This is a very long way away from Earth, or at least, the Earth that I think you're talking about." She tilted her head. "There's more than one, you know, and each one is a little bit different than all the others."

She was very curious about this young man and what could bring him to a world like this one. She was good at adapting to worlds like this, but she didn't know if that was the same for him or not.

The way the girl said "maaaagic" and her expressions after that was almost too cute for Dian to resist. Fortunately, he did, and so he managed to stay with his poker face for the rest of the talk.

Well, I come from Earth. As I see it, Earth is always the same, but there are several parallel universes. It seems that Earth is a special world whose different versions are always connected, or something like that I've been explained... I wouldn't be able to tell if the Earth you know is the same I know.

Yeah, Dian's Earth had those monsters, Shadows, and those people whose souls had combined with that of a monster, people like him. Though on the surface his Earth might look normal, he knew what was behind the courtain, and in most ocations it was not pretty.

Wait a second...

Some moments before, Mairi had said that she had seen creatures similar to the one that Dian showed her before...

Mairi, where exactly did you see the creature I created with my flames?

Mairi's expression fell and her lip wobbled slightly. "It was a very long time ago. I... I wasn't born yet, not here at least. I... I was born as a Mithra because I was hiding." She really didn't like talking about the experience. As dim as her memories were of that far-distant time, she could still remember with crystal clarity the faces of the creatures.

She sighed and looked down, afraid to meet his eyes as she let herself remember. "They were called the Greys. They... they had technology instead of magic and they... they took me prisoner... took samples... did things..." She shuddered at the memory. "My friends helped me escape but... but I still remember."

She bit her lip. "I think the assassins that were sent after me later were made to look like them... just to terrify me more. It's how I ended up reborn as a Mithra. I was running from them."

...Greys?

.....Wait.... They exist?!

Leaving aside the fact that Dian was casually revealed the existence of aliens, mixed feelings had grown inside of him. One part of his heart felt relieved that they were not Shadows, as those creatures would have cut open with no hesitation this girl at first sight. But looking at Mairi biting her lip, trying to surpress the negative emotions that had reapeared inside her soul while remembering her past made Dian, again, feel a little bit guilty. She wasn't even looking at him at the eyes. Was there something he could do to fix this?

Listen, Mairi. He put a hand on her shoulder. I don't know what really happened in your past, but you must not let it depress you like this. Past is the past, you must think about the future. I don't understand much about this thing of being reborn (as far as I know, I've only had this life), but even after sad or terrifying things one must be positive.

Dian stood up and tried to smile (fail).

Just look at me. Right now I'm all alone, don't really know where I am, I've been deprived of my humanity, forced into the duty of fighting day and night the kind of creature I showed to you, getting pretty hurt and almost killed sometimes, and I still have the time to relax at the shores of a river.

That was probably an unnecesary speech, but worth the try.

She nodded slowly. "I know. I try. But sometimes it's really hard..." She sniffled slightly and rubbed her cheek with the back of one hand, smearing the tear that had escaped her lashes to fall down her face.

She looked up at him, the shimmer of other tears still in her strangely colored eyes. "You're still human, you know. The important part of human, at least. The thinking, feeling, knowing part of human. There's a difference between people and monsters and you're not a monster." She gave him a wobbly smile. "Besides, the important thing is to keep fighting, you know. And if you get hurt... well, that's the sort of thing I can fix real easy."

She'd never been a fighter. She'd always stood behind and in support of others who were. She healed them of their injuries and they stood between her and any threat. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like to fight her own battles... but then she wouldn't be the Pearl... she'd be the Blackpearl... and that was someone she wasn't sure she wanted to meet.

Dian put a hand on top of Mairi's head. You may be right, Mairi, but it doesn't changes the fact that I don't feel the same as before, when I was normal. But I don't really complain. If things weren't like this, then I wouldn't be talking to you right now.

He sat down again, turning his eyes to the river. Yes, if his life hadn't taken that sudden turn into a different world, he wouldn't have met lots of friends, gone through many dangerous but good experiencies, and wouldn't be having that nice conversation at the side of that beautiful river.

Say, we are both here to have a good time. But after this, do you have, like, anything important to do? Almost each person I've crossed paths with since I came here have had a task or a mission to accomplish, and I'm curious to see if it continues like that.

Dian was one of those people. He was not forced to keep traveling, to keep searching for those creatures, but if he did, then he might find people similar to him in these far away worlds, and even people thought to be lost.

Mairi smiled. "I'm not really doing anything other than exploring and seeing stuff. I didn't have any sort of plan in mind when I came to this world from Vana'diel, I just got bored and wanted to see new places." She leaned her head to the side, thinking. "I've been to Luca and saw a Blitzball game and it was fun! I even got an autographed Blitzball from the Al Bhed Psyches. It was lots of fun."

She looked around at the peaceful river. "I came here out of curiosity more than anything else. No plans or tasks. Just wanted to see things."

She giggled softly. 'I wish we could explore the old city under the water, but neither of us can hold our breath that long and I can't quite use my magic to help someone grow gills yet. But I do wonder what it's like in those old buildings at the bottom of the river. Do you ever wonder things like that?"