Fed-Ex was never like this.....

Gohrick watched Shade’s reaction to his answer, and while he wondered why she would ask him such a question right before a visit to the doctor, he was really curious why she seemed like she was condemning him to some kind of torture. He tilted his head slightly as she motioned to the couch, before walking on over and taking a seat. He watched Shade say something to the receptionist, but didn’t catch it, before leaning back and sighing slightly. He wasn’t exactly opposed to visiting doctors, but he was more used to Setona. The man was a jerk in the medic room, but he had a good heart, which counted for a lot. Other places he had gone…well, the same couldn’t be said.

He blinked out of his thoughts when the woman reappeared, handing him a glass of cool water. He smiled and nodded his head in thanks. He took a sip of it, and just waited, bringing a leg up and holding his knee closer to his chest, feeling quite relaxed as he listened to the slight humming of the machines, of the lights, causing him to close his eyes slightly. That was, until a fire cracker in the form of another woman appeared and shattered any chance of quiet.

His blue eyes opened and he turned his head, seeing the woman appear through the door, and Gohrick felt his face flush slightly just from her appearance alone. He honestly couldn’t believe she was walking around like that, but he wasn’t going to be one to judge on just looks alone…after all, how many had already done that since he showed up at the Garden?

“And a fair greetings yourself,” he said with a small smile, and for a moment, forgot that he was here to have something he didn’t want to think of examined. He chuckled slightly as she clearly wasn’t too sure what he was either, but before he could answer her, the receptionist mentioned Shade to her.

He found himself smiling and shaking his head as he didn’t need his good hearing to find out what was being said by the woman. Miss Dincht, the receptionist had said? She seemed like a lively woman. He tilted his head slightly, hearing parts of the conversations inside…most of what was said by Miss Dincht, and parts of what Shade was saying. He found himself biting back a laugh as Shade was called a grumpy gloomer. He didn’t have to be a genius to guess that the two had known each other for quite some time.

He soon found himself looking up at physician who now told him it was his turn to enter. Gohrick nodded and stood up, still smiling slightly as he found himself entering the room. He noticed Shade was all wrapped up, causing his face to drop almost dramatically.

“You’ve had worse, alright, I understand that, but my goodness Shade…Just how badly were you hurt?” he asked, placing a paw at the back of his head, clearly worried and concerned for his friend. He took a step forward, before shaking his head.

“If I hadn’t had agreed, how long would you have held this back?” he asked, once again amazed at this woman who just wouldn’t place her own needs over others. He knew why she had made the deal, but if she hadn’t…she wouldn’t have even worried about her own wounds. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to get a straight answer from Shade, even as she explained who the woman was doing the wrapping.

He smiled and found himself flushing once again, not because of the ample flesh threatening to expose itself to the world, but because of the compliment she kept throwing out at him. It made him feel…a bit odd if he was going to be honest with himself. It wasn’t something he was too used to, as he realized with the few compliments Shade had given him, and they certainly weren’t anything to do with his features.

“Well, a pleasure to meet you formally Healer Brix. My name is Gohrick Trisona. Madam Shade has informed me that you might be able to help me. Um…well, might as well just show you,” he said with a bit of a reserved sigh. He didn't find any reason to fight or delay this. He would show the Healer, she would be unable to find out why it was like this, and he would move on in life. That was all he certainly expected.

He rolled his shoulders slightly and removed his jacket, exposing his furred upper body, before turning around and showing the wound. Again, under the lights of the room and it being much closer than before, the wound looked horrendous. He found his head hanging slightly in shame, his ears down and his tail hanging limp.

“Our ship’s medic, who escaped from his own medical hell, has yet to find a way to properly cure it…he said it was something in the poison that coated the…the blades…Um…” he paused and found his words fading to nothing as he just found it so hard to talk about.

Seeing Gohrick's initial reaction at the site of her led Shade to lower her head away to better shroud her gaze from the Mithra, and her pride stung even more when she heard the shock and concern in his voice. So she lied.... but it was with good intentions, none the less. Just then, Brix decided to speak up, where Shade wouldn't. "Shadey holds back till she can't breath, my friend," The buxom blond retorted with a snort and a scowl at her comrade. "That, or someone has to literally knock her ass out unconscious to get her treated!" Before turning away to replace the remaining bandage wraps away, Brix gave Shade a slight slap across the back of her head, which in turn, earned her one heated deathly glare that Brix didn't see. Still, Brix laughed as she carried on. "If we were anywhere else? She'd most likely kick my ass right now, no matter how broken up her ribs are! But here? She won't do a damn thing cuz I got NEEDLES!!" Her teasing chuckles carried on while Shade scowled and kept to her silence and regretting this entire idea all together.


But the matter at hand was suddenly revealed after Gohrick expressed his mannerly introduction. The silence in the room was practically choking to the lungs as Brix was far to engulfed by the scene before her while she rounded the examination table with her fierce blue eyes glued to the injury. "What the hell.....?"
What Gohrick didn't see was the exchange of looks between Brix and Shade as his back was turned against them. Brix could read her life long friend like a book as she saw the anguish laced with rage in Shade's hues before she looked up at Brix with silent demand to fix this and fix it now. Brix was simply astounded and dumbfounded, but when she turned back to Shade, her determination kicked right in with a curt nod. Now the serious side of Brix, which was rarely seen by most, came into play.


Her hands took Gohrick gently by the shoulders to tug him back with a firm tone of professionalism in her voice. "Alright then... let's have a closer look. I want you to sit right next to Shade and hold perfectly still..." Seeing he was situated, Brix made a bee line to the supply cabinet and began her mumbling as she usually did to help her focus and think as she worked. Shade turned her head to see Gohrick still had his ears flat, knowing that his discomfort was due more to personal grief than the wound being exposed. She gave a slight nudge to his arm with her own to hopefully distract his attention and muttered under her breath for only him to hear. "I know she seems like a nutcase, but Brix excels at her field even though she acts like an obnoxious twit..."


"I heard that..."


Shade simply eyerolled with a smirk before wincing a bit when inhaling a bit too quickly against the stiff wrapping. She bit back the growl and was determined to get the constricting bandages removed the second they got out of here, when Brix's voice came from behind to disrupted her thoughts. "I'll admit.... this is the most assbackwards wound I have ever laid eyes on.... so I'm going to take a few samples. You won't feel a thing, Gohrick....just need ya to keep still...." During her entire process of scans and swabs and whatever medical gooroo tricks she knew, Shade was peering behind Gohrick watching her closely as she chattered on. "Now Gohrick's right on the poison content to be sure.... but if I had to guess? I'd say it's a multitude of different kinds here.... like a different form of poison attacking each portion of the wound... one against the skin tissue... one or two against the muscle tissues....hell, there's probably another form of poison preventing the white blood cells anywhere near what's infected...."


Shade raised a single brow of annoyance. "English Brix...."


Brix spared a brief second to look up at Shade with those ridiculous looking microscope scanners across her eyes before replying. "Meaning.... that's why no form of Cure will work on this, not even the strongest Esuna or Poisona could do a damn thing, let alone touch this...." Shade felt a wave of dread wash over her by those words, but was not about to give up just yet. Brix always found a way... she even did so with Shade's ailment, since magic only made Shade's condition ten times worse. Still, the words couldn't have sounded comforting to Gohrick's ears, even if he was told the same by whomever in the past. "She's not done yet," Shade managed to mutter softly, so he wouldn't become so easily discouraged.


Once she wrapped things up, Brix carefully placed the samples in a isolated case before rounding the bed they both sat on and tearing off the medical gloves. "Damn right, I'm not finished yet...." After tossing the gloves in the trash. she spun around to face them with her hands on slanted hips and studying Gohrick over. "One last thing... Now I'm not asking you to tell me what happened, cutecheeks. But what I do need from you is anything you can tell me about the weapon blades that was used to do this. And anything that's been possibly diagnosed by anyone who ever looked at this or tried to heal you. It'll help me get to a possible remedy much faster." Without a word, nor looking at Gohrick in fear of adding unwanted pressure for disclosing what was personally painfully, Shade sinply kept her arm pressed against his in silent support.

Gohrick simply stood there as the women bantered behind him, not really minding it, but really wishing she would just get this over with. Then the silence, that ear shattering silence that filled the room almost made him feel even worse than before. It was bad enough when Shade found out, but now Brix was getting dragged into this just as quickly. He heard her words of shock and disbelief and felt his ears drop even more so as his eyes closed tightly. He didn’t want to see what was going on behind him, but he had seen reactions before…looks of disgust and mistrust…

He found himself somewhat jumping from Brix touch, bringing him out of his mental world, hearing the tone in her voice, something he hadn’t expected. He was moved towards Shade and took a seat, staring down at the bed and off to the floor. Without even realizing it, he was lightly biting his lower lip with one of his fangs, dragging it over the flesh .Yes, he was very nervous, and you didn’t need to be a genius to see it.

He turned his head back to Shade as she spoke and gave a very faint smile as the bantering between the two continued, understanding their need to ease the tension a bit. However, it wasn’t helping too much, considering that Gohrick was having some flashbacks of the event that lead to him having this scar.

All he had wanted was to soar the skies. He had heard of others that had done the same in Ivelice, the world where he met Cypher. The term they had used was ‘Sky Pirates’, and he liked that title, and considering some of the runs the Calamity had run under the year of his Captaincy, they could very well be considered pirates. They never did anything overtly illegal, but some of the runs and cargo could be considered…ill advised. Still, it paid for the food and equipment the crew needed, so that was all that mattered.

However, such a path to that level wasn’t without its dangers, as Gohrick found time and time again on that ship. Sure, it was a nice ship, and yes, it was fun to journey to other worlds, but the crew left much to be desired…honestly, it crashing in Spira was the best thing that could have ever happened to it.

He was brought back as Brix made her comments on the wound and stated that she needed a sample. He nodded his head and bent forwards more, allowing her to get whatever she needed from the wound, still staying very quiet. It wasn’t like Gohrick at all, or at least, the Gohrick that Shade knew.

When she confirmed the poison, he once again nodded his head, but was shocked to find out that there might be more than one. That got him speaking.

“More than one type? Well, that would explain why Setona didn’t find anything on it…He was always looking for the one, but had mentioned several times that the damage did have similarities to other wounds he had looked up. He didn’t want to push anything forward though, till he had a better idea of what he was dealing with,” he said slightly. It did make sense though, the bastard Biharo certainly was sick enough to mix things and inflict them on the crew. He already knew that basic spells wouldn’t help…it was some of the first things Setona tried once he saw it.

He turned back to Shade as she mentioned that Brix wasn’t done just yet, and was confirmed when Brix herself said that she was far from done. Now that the sample gathering was done, he sat back up and turned his eyes up to Brix. He tilted his head slightly before nodding his head.

“Alright…I’m not so good at describing the weapon in words though…” he muttered, before reaching into his pockets and pulling out a small pencil and notepad. He then bit his lower lip and started to draw. It was the best way he could express himself after all.
After a few moments of scratching silence, he handed the drawing over to Brix. What a cruel and vile looking weapon! At first glance, it looked like a bent sword, but there were twenty one actual blades that looked like a bat sillowette, each section separated by about an inch and half of space. The tip looked like a sword tip with a curved tip. He even put in measurements of each blade on the side, stating that each blade was about three inches long, and the ‘whip’ itself was about 5 feet in length.
( Weapon )

After a few more moments, he reached into his pocket once again and pulled out a small device. He pressed it once and spoke into it.

“Jiranto, how are things on the ship?”

“Hey Captain ex Captain, things are well, but we’re wondering what the hell is taking so long? You said this was a simple stop. Everything alright?”

“Well…sorta kinda. I need Setona down here as soon as possible.”

“Shit Gohrick, what happened?”

“Are you alone?”

“Yeah, it’s just me and Dri on the bridge.”

"Ec ajanodrehk ymnekrd Kurnelg?" suddenly a woman's voice interrupted, cold and daring.

“Yes Hydria, I'm alright, I promise. It’s the scar...There's a chance...um...Just get Setona down here with all the notes about what he has found. I know he's damn married to that medic ward, but just get him down here,” he finished, before looking back up at Brix.

“If there is anyone who can help you and has researched the damage, its Setona. He’s our ship’s medic, and has been looking over it for the last three months,” he said with a small nod of his head.
(weapon)(Weapon)

When Gohrick set out to sketch the weapon, he had Shade and Brix at each side closely watching every stroke of the pencil as he carefully drew the weapon in great detail. His skill was impressive and even Brix whistled at his talent when she picked it up and looked it over. "I've never seen that weapon before, but damn Gohrick! You're good!" Then her head jerked to look at him with that flirtatious gleam back in her blue orbs and that same flashy smile. "You do nudes, too!?"

"BRIX!"

"WHA!? I'm just asking!!"

Shade could only groan with utter misery as her hand came over her face and her fingertips pressed hard against her temples. In order to distract her screaming urge to strangle her comrade, Shade slowly slid off of the medical bed and ventured to the nearby chair where Gohrick's temporary jacket was placed. He had been through enough.... too much, and Shade knew it by his eyes alone. It was if seeing herself having her own past probed into, but Shade always fought back with a snap, or more so, depending on the fool's persistence. And she had to witness the Mithra just sit there and endure whatever memories were obviously still tearing him apart.


Before approaching him, Shade waited for him to complete his call, the foreign voices luring a curious ear. She may not be familiar with the odd language she heard, but it was obviously out of concern for Gohrick's welfare as well. This gave Shade a brief reprieve from her own worries to know he had friends who seemed to look out for him. So to hopefully ease some of vulnerability Brix's exam may have caused, Shade returned with the jacket and held it open for him to slide his arms back into. "Sorry for that, Gohrick.... Brix never knows when to shut up..." Her seething glare landed on Brix, who simply stuck out her tongue in return.


"Oh pa-leeeze!! I could be saying a whole hell of a lot more in regards to my hypothesis and what could actually heal him, Shade!" Brix actually got snappy with her retort as she glared right back while pointing at Gohrick. "Cause the way I see it? If there's something out there which already cured you? Then there's definitely something out there that can heal him!"


Shade froze by those words and felt her jaw clench tight in attempts to rein back her instinct to put Brix in her place in a rather painful manner. Instead, Shade blinked and calmly looked away from her to attend Gohrick once more. This was not the place, nor especially the time for confrontations. No doubt he was already feeling more awkward by the moment... "Gohrick? Why don't we go greet your friend at the entrance."


She snatched her own tattered jacket from the table and led the way out, yet still fuming over Brix's words. But she refused to let her Mithra companion to see any form of displeasure across her face. Instead, once out of the infirmary, she walked side by side with him and chose to speak of other matters in hopes to lighten his spirits, and hopefully distract his thoughts from the previous confrontation. "If you haven't had a meal yet today, the cafeteria may have something to your liking. But this comrade of yours that's on his way? He may be quite awhile discussing things with Brix, so the rest of your crew is more than welcome to spend some leisure time within the Garden while waiting for him."

If it was intentional or not, Brix compliment was enough to bring more of his nature out, causing him to smile and shake his head at her statement.

“Bah, this is nothing Healer Brix…you should see the portrait I did of Madam Shade, now that is a great work of art. Of course, the subject was the main reason it came out so well,” he said with a smile, before finding himself flushing slightly once again.

“Hm, I guess I could do a nude, but it would be the first time…” he said, before realizing that maybe his chain was being yanked, causing him to chuckle slightly once again. He watched Shade get up and head over to his jacket, before sighing slightly himself. He could tell he caused her some problems, perhaps things she now felt she had to deal with on top of everything else.

“Madam Shade…I am sorry if I’ve caused you more inconvenience…it certainly wasn’t my intention to let things get this far out of hand…” he said to her softly, before taking his jacket and sliding it on.

“So your apologies should be my very own…again, I am sorry. I know you have more than enough on your plate as it is,” he said, scratching the back of his head. He slowly got up on his feet and made sure his jacket was fully covering the wound, before the playful banter seemed to hit a little harder.

It wasn’t so much Shade’s words that gave forewarning, but Brix’s body language that maybe it had gone a bit too far. Her words were sharp, and he knew just from how Shade reacted that they had cut deep. He mentally sighed, fearing that something worse was going to happen. Then Shade just got her own jacket and started to lead the way out.
Right before he left the room, he turned back and gave Brix a smile, his blue vivid eyes meeting her own.

“I wish to thank you Healer Brix. I’m sure you have more than enough on your plate as well as Madam Shade. I am sorry for adding something else that shouldn’t have even been added,” he said softly, before giving her a smile and a bow of his head, before turning to head on out, his tail no longer hanging limp, but flicking back and forth slightly as he followed Shade outside.

He caught up easily with Shade and walked beside her slowly, knowing they were heading back to the entrance to wait up for Setona. He turned back to Shade as she mentioned that everyone would be welcome down to the Garden.

“Well, to be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone showed up anyway. It…takes a bit to get Setona out of the ward. Such an event would probably have everyone coming down from the ship,” he said softly. There wasn’t too much else to say as they headed towards the entrance.

Once they were there, it wasn’t too much longer before a large group of people started to show up. The one in the lead was Jiranto, a taller male with long black hair, dressed in a blue muscle shirt and black pants. Next to him was Hydria, a woman who was dressed in a long, red war dress with dark red hair tied back in a ponytail. To her right was a younger male with dark black hair with a black mesh top and black jeans. To the far left was Setona, a male with long white hair, red eyes, and pale skin, dressed in a long white robe. Trailing behind was Etzel, a Viera who towered over the group, dressed in a white top and black jeans with massive high heels to make walking easier.

“Gohrick! The hell is happening?” Jiranto cried out, running over and stopping just short of the gate.

“Calamity crew, meet Headmaster Shade, Madam Shade, the Calamity crew,” Gohrick said with a soft smile, wondering just what was said to the others to have everyone come down at once like this. The only one’s missing were Cypher, who was still recovering, and Jareb, though he might be in the middle of cooking.

It was quite simple to spot the small band of foreigners as they approached the entrance and made their way through the crowd of SeeD students during class shift. Shade was silently impressed by their appearance, taking in the sight of each one of them, noting each for being strong individuals by their own right. She also found herself grateful that Gohrick had so many comrades that obviously cared about his well being. Naturally, the students they walked past were immensely curious by these newcomers as they paused to watch them with head tilts and whispers.


Shade held out her hand and shook that of who approached her first in front of the crew as he introduced himself. She nodded in greeting to the other five as she spoke. "My apologies for keeping Gohrick longer than you expected. He arrived just in time to assist me during an unfortunate malfunction." She turned her head slightly to give the Mithra a quick glance with a faint smirk only he would probably see, before addressing his friends again. "As gratitude for his help, I wish to extend Balamb's hospitality to all of you as well. You have quite a talented Mithra, here..." Although Shade wasn't accustomed to giving compliments, she hoped what little she managed to say had raised Gohrick's spirits somewhat.


She addressed Gohrick directly regarding his medical comrade. "I can take him back to the infirmary myself to save you from having to suffer Brix again, if you like. Your friends here are free to roam about the Garden as they please. But I leave the decision up to you..." Shade was ever professional as she normally was when running the Garden and seeing to its affairs, but she using a more friendly manner in her tone, even if she seemed awkwardly failing about it. Her main concern right now was that his friends concerns over Gohrick were put at ease, as well as his own uncertainties over Brix and this Setona working together.


And of course.... whenever there were new people scents.... Skittles picked it up and came running in a zig-zag pattern across the Main Lobby floor, dodging multiple walking feet along the way. Whether any of the new comers noticed what sniffed about their feet or not, the squirrel was sniffing all about their ankles as if he were in a candy store. And they all had Gohrick's faint scent about them too! So for the show off Skittles was, he whipped about in his transformation winds, which would have gusted against the small crowd in front of him, until he came to a wobbly stumbling halt to reveal with pride that he finally perfected Gohrick's form with a loud, victorious squeak behind the crew members that brought Gohrick to Balamb. Shade was left struggling to remain calm with a pent up breath, yet feeling utterly appalled by her summons. No doubt, this was going to lead to quite a shock, and some demanding questions....

The Calamity Crew, or CC for short, simply stood there for a few moments as the introductions were made, Setona and Jiranto bowing their heads, Hydria merely giving a nod of her own, while Etzel gave a pretty friendly wave from the back of the group. Kyto, the male dressed in the black mess top, however…

“Oh, you’re that babe that Gohrick painted! Damn, you look bett-“and with that, the sudden smack in the back of his head cut him short from finishing that foolish sentence.

“Fro Kyto sicd oui ymfyoc pa cilr yh eteudel meddma puo? Lyh oui cesbmo hud drehg pavuna oui cbayg? Cruf cusa nacbald!” ((Why Kyto must you always be such an idiotic little boy? Can you simply not think before you speak? Show some respect)) Hydria said, her eyes narrowing as the young male stumbled forward from the impact.

“Dammit Hydria, seriously? Last I checked, I could speak my –“and with that, another impact occurred.

“Eteud,” (Idiot) she simply responded, before looking back at Shade.

“My apologies for the young one…he simply doesn’t know how to think before speaking,” she said, her voice calm, but her eyes radiated a very cold confidence in herself.

“Alright, enough already! Hydria, Kyto, both of you guys need to chill,” Gohrick interrupted, before things could really get out of hand between the two of them.
At this, Jiranto stepped forwards and bowed once again to Shade.

“There is no need to apologize, honestly, we should have been expecting it to take longer then he told us…trouble certainly does seem to find out Captain ex Captain very easily,” he said with a small smile, before looking up at the Mithra in question, to find him scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

“Eh, he has a valid point, trouble does seem to hunt me down in waves…can’t seem to catch a break,” he said with a simple sigh as Etzel placed one of her slim hands on his shoulder.

“All kidding aside, what has happened that required Setona to come down to the infirmary? And what was this I overheard about a cursed scar?” she asked, looking down at him, her long rabbit ears twitching slightly in concern.

“Um…nothing major Etzel, just…” but he couldn’t lie to her, not seeing the worry in her eyes. So, with Shade in full company, he explained to the rest what he had told Shade. Of course there was more to the story, so much more…but he wasn’t going to get into that right now.

“Alright, so all that aside, I think it would be best for me to head with Setona to the medical ward…there is something I need to explain to Healer Brix about Setona as well if they are to work together…As for the rest of you guys…your free to roam, as you heard the Headmaster, but for the sake of all that is good and not so tainted, DO NOT cause any problems for Madam Shade! Is that clear?” he asked, his voice suddenly a bit more commanding, as the crew all stood up straight and nodded their heads. He sighed slightly…they agreed, but why was he still so worried? And it was at that time that the squirrel;s sudden appeared as himself behind Etzel, who turned and gasped in wonder and from feeling the magical energy radiate off the creature.

“Oh my…what is this?” she asked, reaching down and petting the feline copy in awe, as Gohrick actually giggled slightly. She leaned down and stared into it's eyes. Clearly, she was shocked that now there were suddenly two Captain ex Captains...this was far from normal, and it was enough with one around, but two?! She might very well retire early.

“That is my biggest fan…they do say that copy writing is the biggest form of flattery,” he said with a smirk, while the others of the CC just shook their heads, before looking back at Shade, waiting for some sort of answer.

It was quite the relief that the conversation between the group went at a fast pace, since Shade would be rather dumbfounded as to how to react to the "babe" comment. Her initial reaction was a scant glance at Gohrick, but she was left feeling rather numb never being called such a term before. Luckily, the female of the group handled the incident just as Shade would if her own brother ever said such a thing to another woman. So Shade simply cleared her throat with a nod to Hydria's apologies and acted as if the moment never happened at all. But Shade's momentary awkwardness was immediately forgotten when hearing Gohrick take a firm tone with them.


So.... there was a serious side of authority to this Mithra as well.


Yet the most unexpected thought flashed over mind at such a discovery. Perhaps it was due to the slight humor being shared among them. Perhaps it was due to her fatigue..... Whatever the reason for such an uncharacteristic thought, it still crossed Shade's mind if Gohrick licked his crew members' noses when ever they didn't comply to his orders. But just as quickly as the thought came to her, Shade gave her head a slight shake and silently reprimanded herself as the conversation took yet another turn with a serious direction again. The talk reverted back to Gohrick and this mysterious scar, and without even looking, Shade could sense the Mithra's discomfort and tension, even if he did put on a strong front.


But leave it to Skittles being completely oblivious to a conversation's mood. As each person was talking, the summons made sure to sniff and observe each one of them now that he was much taller in Gohrick's form. When the female spoke her strange language, Skittles nose was twitching and sniffing all over her head and shoulders, and the same again when the man who approached Shade and spoke, as if such behavior was natural to them as well. And who was the lady with the ears!? He liked those ears! When she spoke up, Skittles took a long side step towards her and in the blink of an eye, was right behind her sniffing like mad and examining her ears until an identical pair popped right on the top of his own head.


Meanwhile, Shade was desperately trying to grasp what sanity she had left for the day while mentally contemplating how many ways a squirrel could be cooked on a grill. She didn't realize she released a weary heavy sigh until it escaped her, then reprimanded herself again. This was no time to feel selfishly miserable. Gohrick had a more stressing matter right now, and her word was going to be kept. With a new found determination set on her face, Shade gave a slight smirk to Gohrick's humor about Skittles with a nod. "Well, he only copies what he likes, and apparently he really likes you..." Her eyes shifted back to the summons who still bore the long ears in his Gohrick form and now distracted by his own Mithra tail while trying to chase it. She looked back at Gohrick with quite the serious look on her face with a question that blurted out before her tired brain could catch it. "You don't do that, do you?"


Shade immediately turned her head away to hide the shock over her unexpected blurted words to snap her arm out and point her finger across the Main Lobby. "The Infirmary is this way. Brix is waiting there...." She began walking in that direction feeling utterly appalled and running both of her hands through her matted hair, wishing like hell she could just rip it all out for her momentary stupidity.

‘All things aside…yeah, that was going to get them to calm down,’ Gohrick thought to himself with a mental sigh, having just as turbulent and emotions like a twister over an orphanage…it just wasn’t going to end well.

“Gohrick, why didn’t you mention this before? I thought we had an open policy on the ship?! Just what else are you hiding?” Kyto demanded, stepping forward and poking Gohrick in the chest angrily, only to be pulled back by his older brother Setona. He stared at his little brother, causing Kyto to gasp and shake his head, before backing up a few steps.

“Um…never mind…I guess we all have to have something hidden…but damn it Gohrick, you don’t have to keep that all bottled in!” Kyto finished, looking down and away, clearly ashamed of his own words and actions.

“The youngster is correct Gohrick…we care for you, and you had no need to walk this path alone…” Etzel said softly. The only ones who said nothing were Jiranto, Hydria, and Setona. The three of them simply nodded in their agreements with the other two…before the CC really started taking a look at the copy squirrel.

The reactions differed from each person as they were sniffed : Hydria stared down the copy and gave him a light push away from her with a thinly raised eyebrow. Jiranto found himself chuckling and shaking his head “Its just like the Captain ex Captain when we first met!”

“N-no its not,” Gohrick countered, turning his head.

Kyto jumped back and found his fingers curling in a fist. “Back off!” he said, only to be hit in the back once again. Guess who did it?

“Damn it Dria, enough!”

“Idiot…” she said simply with a thin look of a grin as the copy seemed to make Kyto uncomfortable…anything that did that was alright in her book.

Setona simply stared at the copy with a slightly tilted head, not seemingly at all bothered with being sniffed like that.

Etzel, however, found herself laughing lightly, blowing into full blown laughter as it sprouted her own ears on its head.

“Oh my, aren’t you the special one! And you got the ears just perfect!” she said with a smile, bending down and giving the feline copy a hug, before standing back up. The others just chuckled slightly. Etzel was as much of a Viera as Gohrick…they just couldn’t resist anything cute or comical.

Gohrick just shook his head and turned back to Shade, who, the poor dear, looked like she was ready to start pulling out her hair any minute. He giggled slightly at the look, before shaking his head.

“Aw, so he really is my number one fan, that is wonderful!” he said with a grin and a playful wink, regarding her comment about Skittles only copying what he liked.

He turned back and watched Gohrick spinning in circles, shaking his tail. He found himself laughing at the sight, before he heard Shade once again. He instantly looked up at the Valsis siblings, both of which found themselves laughing hard.

“Jiranto, tu oui nasaspan frah Gohrick ryt dryd puddma uv 200 oayn frecgao? Tuach'd drec naseht oui uv dryd hekrd?” (Jiranto, do you remember when Gohrick had that bottle of 200 year whiskey? Doesn’t this remind you of that night?) Hydria asked with a sly smirk.

“No, don’t you dare?!” Gohrick said, reaching out to stop Jiranto, only to fall over as Jiranto weaved out of the way.

“Yeah, except at least this copy have his clothes on still. Oh, what a great night that was!” Jiranto said, only for the others now to start chuckling.

Gohrick stayed on the ground for a moment, groaning before getting back up on his feet.

“Oh, you’re getting it later Jiranto…” he said with a smirking glare, causing Jiranto to pale slightly. That was not an empty threat, as both of them knew.

“Ooo…someone’s getting pranked again,” Kyto said with a laugh as he found himself leaning against some sort of pole. Jiranto simply hung his head.

Gohrick just chuckled, before nodding to Setona and setting off to follow Shade towards the infirmary. That left the rest of the group with Skittles. The Valsis siblings simply looked at each other, before each headed off in a different direction, with Kyto heading in another, leaving only Etzel on her own with the hyper active squirrel.

“Oh, it is always me…sometimes I wonder why I deal with them at all,” she said, crossing her arms under her bust with a slight huff.

Shade continued to walk with a steadfast gait while forcing her head to focus and get her mind back on track. It had to be the fatigue and cursed distraction of the binding bandages that made the pain in her rib cage worse, rather than better. She glanced over her shoulder to see Gohrick and his company right behind her, but suddenly did a double take at was else was on the way....


Apparently, Skittles took pity on the long eared woman left in his company. Seeing that she was in a huff over something, naturally he wanted to cheer her up. He assumed it was because everyone left her behind to go their separate ways. Aw, how sad! Skittles knew exactly how that felt when Shade would leave him behind sometimes! He wanted the nice lady to smile again! So he decided to take her back to her friends! That would make her happy again! With the plan set in mind, his body jerked into a spin and the small tornado like winds erupted around his body, quickly taking to the blurred colors of his next form. Most likely, the Viera didn't know who Sephiroth was, but that's exactly who was standing before her now, with his massive black wing flapping about like an agitated parakeet. Before giving his new friend time to react, Skittles snatched her up with a cheerful squeak and endless squirrel chatter of glee while zipping into the air to follow Shade and her company....


This was the point when Shade reached the doorway of the Infirmary and turned to witness the approach. Her eyes widened slightly as she forced down a nervous swallow and calmly took Gohrick by the arm to move him aside. "Be prepared to duck...."


Fortunately, Skittles had good navigational sense today. He missed hitting either of them, as well as dodging Setona, only to make a whipping harsh turn in flight with his passenger straight through the doorway. He may have made a successful tricky turn, but when his screaming screeches followed, Shade realized too late that it was because Skittles forgot how to stop.... Feminine screams followed.... then the crashing noises, the Brix's loud mouth cursing every bit of profanity, as well as some colorful creations of her own.


I don't want to walk in there.....


"GAWDAMMIT, SHADE!!! GET THIS RAT OUTTA MY INFIRMARY!!!"


This just isn't my day....


Skittles took full brunt of the crash so the Viera wouldn't be harmed, but after setting her gently back on her feet, he was back on his own and now face to face with Brix and ranting in squirrel chatter at her. Ebony feathers were everywhere... the bed was knocked over, the examination table was tossed aside the room and lying on its side with all the medical gadgets sprawled across the floor, and even the storage cabinet was knocked over and leaning sideways against another wall. At this point, Shade didn't even want to make eye contact with her present company. No doubt even Gohrick must believe she either ran a nuthouse in the Garden, or she was too irresponsible to keep its inhabitants under control. Still, she risked a glance at the Mithra and rolled her eyes. "Let's just say.... it's never a dull moment here...."


So now, Shade simply did what she did best... She sucked it up, wincing against the pain she momentarily forgot about about, then charged right in to take control. She wasn't about to allow one moment of chaos take away Gohrick's chances from getting healed. That thought alone ignited her temper from simple irritation.


Marching up behind Skittles still in form, she snatched him at the back of his neck by his leather long coat and jerked him back. In a child like temper, he screeched in defiance and tried to swat at her with his enormous wing, but Shade kept a firm hold while dragging the Sehiroth copy out of the medical room and threatening him with a sound voice. "Either you behave, or no playing with the kids after class for a whole week!" He went deathly still and his face dropped into what looked like utter horror. After a whimper and a sniffle, he jerked free and was gone down the hall with a single flap of that annoying wing. Turning back around, Shade charged back at Brix and pointed a single finger at her while using a calm, yet lethal tone.


"You even waste one damn word complaining about him, and I'll be sure to threaten every damn guy you ever gave your number out to so your social life drops to that of a nun! Now Gohrick brought you someone to help. So zip it, and get to work!"


Brix's bright eyes just went wide, but she pressed her lips shut and nodded. With that, Shade turned her head to Gohrick and gave a quick wink and nod to assure him all was safe to come in so Setona could share what research he had.

Gohrick and Setona followed behind Shade, the two of them quiet, seemingly absorbed in their own thoughts. Unknown to Shade though, Setona was speaking to Gohrick uninterrupted, taking advantage of their secret.

‘Gohrick, my friend, just what were you thinking? You have hid that scar from the rest of the crew for so long, but you just up and show it to someone else like this? Is this a matter of trust for the rest of the crew?’

Finally, Gohrick paused, he had enough of this, so once they were outside the room, he opened his mouth to start speaking, only to be interrupted by Shade, stating they should be ready to duck. Huh?

~10 Min Earlier~

Etzel simply sighed and threw up her hands as everyone took off in their own separate direction. Honestly, would it kill one of them to say “Would you like to come with us” or “Come join us”…no. Not a single time, and every time, they left her behind. The only one who didn’t was Jareb, and that was because he enjoyed her physical features, something that greatly annoyed the Viera. With another sigh and huff, she was just about to walk over to the hub to see where everything was, when the wind full of magic washed over her. She shuddered, before finding herself up in the air. Wait, what?!

“What in the Wood!? Unhand me at once!” she cried out, before realizing she was being flown towards the direction that Gohrick and Setona had gone. She screamed out as she was flown through the narrow hallways and sharp turns. She closed her eyes tightly as she soon saw the backs of her two friends…

~Back to present~
Gohrick found himself pulled out of the way as Setona himself just leaned back, watching as the duo flew into the room and heard the sounds of both of them screaming, followed by a loud crashing noise, followed by now Brix screaming like mad. Gohrick sighed slightly, before turning towards Setona, who still seemed to be processing what happened.

“It is not an issue of trust or loyalty Setona. It is simply something that came up. It was not done by choice, but out of necessity. Now, drop it,” he said sharply, causing the white mage to simply nod his head, staying quiet.

The pair of them watched Shade manhandle the one winged squirrel and Gohrick found himself chuckling as he flew off looking all kinds of upset and angry. He then nodded to Shade and entered the room, shaking his head.

As they entered, Etzel was barely getting off the floor, muttering curses in her own language, something that no one had managed to understand as of yet.

“That is a ride I never want repeated…” she grumbled, getting up and shaking out her head, nearly stumbling over again, before staring at Gohrick.

“You keep interesting friends Captain ex Captain,” she said, placing a hand on the wall and another up to her head, her bunny tail twitching out in irritation.

“Yeah, I’ve been told that a few times…are you alright Etzel?” Gohrick asked, quite concerned for his friend.

“I shall live…but I think I shall sit down here for a bit…maybe considering my retirement papers. That reminded me so much of Kyto's flying” she said, with the slight hint of a smile.

Gohrick simply chuckled, before turning towards Brix, determined to get this up and out of the way.

“Hello once again, Healer Shade. I have brought with me all the information you could ever want in the form of Head Medic of the Calamity, Setona,” he said with a slight bow, introducing the while haired male, who also bowed his head.

“Now, there is one problem that you two might have while working together…Setona doesn’t speak, because he can’t. However, because of the importance Madam Shade has handled this matter; I do believe that it is alright if Setona lets you in on the Calamity secret, if you will. Or rather…one of many. Setona, if you would be so kind,” he said softly.

Setona simply nodded his head, before walking closer to Brix and handing over the note book he had, as well as some of the papers he had on the research he had been doing.

‘A pleasure to meet you Brix. My name is Setona Rejuna, as Captain ex Captain said, Head Medic of the Calamity,’ he ‘said’ to her, speaking directly into her mind. Setona was a telepath.

With a nod, Shade could only apologize to the Viera for Skittles obnoxious behavior, along with a rather weak excuse for her summons. "I'm truly sorry for his actions. Being only a year old, I'm afraid Skittles still has the mentality of a child. He means well, even if his actions are rather chaotic, nor does he realize his own strength to which ever form he chooses to use." But Shade's mind already abandoned all frustrations from the summon's crazy antics to more important matters.


While Gohrick made the introductions for his comrade to Brix, Shade side stepped away and ventured into another section of the infirmary apart from the others and out of sight. She quickly shuffled through the drawers of another storage cabinet to finally find a simple pair of scissors and quickly set to work. She held the hem of her shirt up with her teeth and began cutting and ripping the bandages off her mid-section as quickly as she could. True, she felt repeatedly stabbed by the motions of doing so, but once the last strip felt to floor, she carefully took a slow intake of breath and sighed with relief. Far easier to heal without the constriction, in her opinion. Now she could tackle another matter, and left the room with the shredded bandages on the floor.


Upon returning to the others, Brix appeared quite taken with this Setona. She flashed her usual bright smile at Shade as ventured back in. "Hey Shadey! This guy's telepathic! It's so cool!! Oh wait... not that you'd know with that cursed enchantment of yours..." She gave Shade a quick roll of the eyes before returning her attention back to Setona. "So where were we, sweetcheeks!"


Shade completely dismissed Brix's snide remark, simply wanting the two of them to get started and hopefully find the means to heal Gohrick. In the mean time, she approached the Mithra with a low tone for only him to hear and a gaze of serious intent. "There's something I wish to discuss with you." Side stepping around him, Shade headed for the same room she previously used and waited for Gohrick to enter before slowly closing the door behind him. The room was a bit more shaded than the other with only one of the window blinds open to reveal a long, bare examination table and some chairs up against the wall. She closed the drawer she previously used and nudged the torn bandages aside with her foot before pacing to other side of the table to finally turn and face him again.


With the words she heard Gohrick speak to Setona still in her mind, Shade searched for the proper ones to start with. Did she truly step over boundaries this time? Gone too far? At this point, her teeth pressed down on a portion of her bottom lip with a scowl while in deep thought until her fingers finally ran through the tangled strands of her hair and she raised her gaze to meet his own. Having to clear her throat again, Shade tried to approach the matter on her mind. "Look.... I have a tendency of stepping in and taking charge of things simply because that's what people expect out of me. I've had to do so for some time now." Her steady hues glanced at the door as a reminder of all the responsibilities that lied on other side awaiting her. "Sometimes, I don't even realize I'm doing it." Admitting fault never came easy to Shade, especially being in the Headmaster position she was in. And any attempt she ever made to apologize for whatever wrongs she committed always ended with her just walking away and avoiding the fault all together. So her brief confession was more of a stumbling blunder than she hoped for.


She shook her head slightly to snap back to her point and nearly bent down to rest her arms on the table until the jab in her ribs threatened her not to even try it. So instead, she leaned her hip against the edge and crossed her arms while locking her steel shaded orbs on Gohrick and approached the matter nipping at her thoughts. "You said to Setona..... that this was not done by choice, but out of necessity.... True, necessities are required attention whether we wish to face them or not, but this..... this needs to be a choice, Gohrick. Your choice." Shade paused for a brief moment to let the last two words take hold before continuing on. "And if I denied you that choice, I can only apologize for that, due to it being my nature of handling things. Now it doesn't matter that your friend is already here and having to tolerate Brix out there. If you don't want this done..... it doesn't have to be. But it is a choice." Shade decided to pause and hear his side of the matter before pressing how the situation should be handled, depending on what decision he wanted to make.

Etzel simply shook her head and waved a hand airily.

“Please Madam Shade, do not worry about it…I know too how the young react and how much they still have to learn about themselves…I do not hold any offense, nor would I even dream of holding you accountable…Now Gohrick, on the other hand, I fully hold accountable,” she said with a small smirk, causing Gohrick to simply lower his head.

“How on earth do I still have a navigator?” he pondered aloud, while Etzel simply shrugged before giggling slightly herself.

~

Setona was simply in shock at how well Brix was taking this. Where he was from, most freaked out and ran screaming, or rather tried to kill him for being a product of a fiend. However, she took it as if he was simply explaining he was an albino; not even a glance or a scream…unless you counted her screaming at Shade.

~

Gohrick was glad for his friend, before realizing Shade had vanished. He turned, only to see her coming out of the room she had hid in. He was curious for a moment, before she spoke softly to him. He nodded his head and followed her back into the room.

~

Meanwhile, Etzel just continued to sit down in the corner and waited for her head to stop spinning. It had been a bit of a wild ride, and it had been a bit fun, but would have been more fun if she had been informed she was going on such a ride. She found herself soon laying down on the table and with her back towards any and everyone.

~

Gohrick stood in front of Shade as she spoke, and found himself feeling smaller and smaller, as though he had cast the Mini spell upon himself. This was not what he pictured her talking to him about, nor did he expect himself to be feeling so much guilt at the moment.

“Madam Shade. Please, do not feel as though you have taken anything out of my control, nor do not feel as though you have taken away any of my free choices. Setona had mentioned to me that I did not inform the rest of the ship about the situation, and that I had explained to utter strangers before them. He asked me if this was done by choice. I explained that it was done out of necessity. I needed to tell you, because for some reason, the idea of lying to you absolutely sickens me.

When you explained to me that Healer Brix could, in fact, be a person who could cure this vile cursed mark, I CHOSE to have it looked at. Granted, it was almost in an under handed way, but I don’t have a grudge or anything against either of you.

If I really didn’t want to have thing disgusting mark cured, do you really think I would still be here? If I didn’t enjoy being here with you, do you really think I would still be here? I am here fully by choice Shade, so please do not take any unneeded guilt or weight to your shoulders. I am eternally grateful that there might be someone where on this planet that can do what others cannot. If this works between the two of them, I will forever be in your debt, and that is not something I take lightly. I may not be the actual Captain of the Calamity anymore, but when I give my word, or am indebted to someone, please know that I take that very seriously, and know that I always fulfill my promises and duties,” he said, looking her square in the eyes the entire time, never blinking, never looking away. He spoke to her as a leader, from one to another, a Captain to a Captain. He showed her complete respect and even his posture was straighter. His facial expression was dead serious as he spoke, and he even spoke her name without the Madam for the first time, showing how serious he was in his speech.

~

‘Well Brix, if we are to be working together, I suppose that we should get things started. What is it that you want to know first? I brought all the paper work and the research I’ve started on this case. Granted ,I’ve only been handling it for a few months, and between Captain Cypher always being injured, I’ve done the best that I could do in such a situation,’ he ‘said’ to her, his ‘voice’ soft and calm. He handed over the paper works that showed some of the wounds the scar showed similarities to: Basilisk, Dragon, Ironnite, Malboro, Flan, and Tonberry.

One can't discourage a youthful, hyper squirrel for very long. Especially one that was far too smart than a normal squirrel. Right after he flew off to sulk, which lasted a whole forty two seconds, he was back in his natural form and peeking his small head around the door frame to see if Shade was still angry with him. After a few searching blinks, he found her nowhere in sight, but then spotted the Viera sitting alone with her back to the others in the room. Awwww.... did he make her sad? He didn't mean to make her sad! Or worse! Did he get her in trouble too? He didn't mean to! So his little paws flew across the floor in a blur as the multi colored little rodent rushed under and behind furniture in order to reach her. Once at her feet, Skittles quickly scrambled up her leg and sat to look up at her with imploring eyes in hopes she wasn't all too upset with him.


Meanwhile.......


Brix Dincht was by far fascinated with Setona, and naturally to her flirtatious nature, she wondered if there was more to this intriguing telepathy as she gave him a wink while he began to open what files he brought. Still, there was work to be done, but she made a mental note to hopefully explore her curiosity later. Now, she scanned down at what research and information Setona presented and immediately took notice of the listed fiends. Her eyes lit right up as her previous theory came back to mind. "Oh!Oh!Oh!Oh! Wait just a sec!! Hold on!" She bagan to dash out of the room, only to zip right back to Setona with a single finger held up between them and a hushed whisper. "Don't go nowhere!" And then she gone again.


Moments later, Brix tore back in with files of her own, but in much more of a disarray than Setona's organization. "Look it! Look it!" In her enthusiasm, Brix never paid much mind to her provocative appearance when doing things, such as having to bend over and pick up what files she was dropping. But her frame of mind was amazingly on their shared goal, rather than trying to entice someone of the opposite sex. Finally, she slapped the mounds of files next to his and began diving in.


"Okay! See, I was thinking... maybe... possibly.... that we're dealing with a multitude of poisons here! So much so! That maybe, just MAYBE! different strains of poisons from different fiends, but ALSO fiends from different worlds! It would explain why no cure, NO Esuna, NOR any form of world potions or the like would have any healing effect what-so-ever!" Before her were lists of random worlds and fiends, such as Bagnadrana from Midgar's world, the Ochu and Blood Soul from her own world, the Demonolith and Splasher from Spira, and a list of other poison possibilities she had research on. Her blazing smile of excitement was beaming, but then suddenly disappeared when her head turned to the machine that analyzing Gohrick's samples. She stormed over to it to give a whack with the palm of her hand. "HURRY UP ALREADY!!"


Meanwhile.....


Shade was rather caught off guard by Gohrick's serious turn. She nearly feared her confrontation over the matter would lead him to clam up or feel uncomfortable again. But his explanation cleared up her own concerns, having been unable to hear Setona's telepathy to truly understand the meaning of Gohrick's words when she first heard them. While nodding slowly as he spoke, the more personal claims struck unexpected. Why would he feel sickened by lying to her? Just about everyone lied these days no matter where they were from, no matter their morals. But then again, Shade had never come across a Mithra.


And he wasn't done with his confession. Her own hues bore straight into his own as Shade listened for more than his words alone. There was more truth in one's voice than what they spoke, if one truly knew how to listen, and it was tearing away at Shade's conscience. What if.... what if Brix was right.... If she and Setona couldn't find a way to heal Gohrick on their own, what if..... Her teeth clamped down hard on her bottom lip to shake her thoughts. She branded herself for something so foolish and looked away for a moment to regain her usual composure.


Her hip finally pushed away from the table and she finally moved. Now approaching him, Shade found that stare of his still locked on her, and now with her haunting thoughts, she found it nearly impossible to bear. As if she were keeping a secret from him that she knew deep down she shouldn't. Yet it wasn't hers to share. Without realizing, Shade's lips parted several times in attempts to say something, yet nothing came out. She didn't want to see him suffer. She knew that internal pain within his eyes when he accidentally revealed it. Shade felt the same, and still did over her own inflictions. Then a sigh finally followed from the endless struggle she was trying to hide. Her hand raised to her face as she rubbed at her weary eyes in hopes she could just wipe away her thoughts as well.


"Gohrick.... have you? .... Have you ever.... known something.... but... it wasn't something meant to be shared? But yet... it could be a good thing.... maybe. But it's something you know you should..... " She was still rubbing her eyes by this point, then suddenly dropped her hand as if in defeat. She couldn't bear to meet Gohrick's eyes now, and simply stared at the wall ahead. "I must be absolutely crazy for even thinking it....." Her head bowed in exhaustion, as well as confusion. Her mind was whipping back forth at the possibility and forbidden. But why? Why should it be forbidden? It wasn't like she deserved it herself. And the silence in the room was driving her absolutely mad. Finally, with a deep intake of breath, Shade squeezed her eyes shut, but the fallen locks of her matted hair dropped to shield her face as her voice strained against the following words. "What if I told you.... there may very well be a cure.... although not on this planet.... but a possible cure.... and if it does work..... you have got to swear on your life that such a secret dies with you...."


If Shade was never a foolish believer in her life.... she was now.

‘Oh, I am starting to wonder if that ride with Kyto was worse or not…I do not remember the headache or stomach tightening for this long before…’ Etzel thought to herself. The Vieran navigator had found the ride through the hallway to be far more upsetting than she had first thought, and while laying down, had found that the sensation wasn’t going away any time soon.

However, her internal thoughts were soon begotten as she felt something jump up on her leg. She turned her head and found herself smiling slightly.

“Well now, have you come to take me for another ride?” she asked with a soft voice, reaching up and lightly scratching the creature’s head. She wasn’t angry, but she certainly wasn’t feeling too well at this point, and wasn’t planning on getting up anytime soon.

“You’re something very sweet and special…reminds me a lot of the Captain ex Captain…” she said with a soft sigh and smile, scratching the little creature under its chin.

Meanwhile…

Setona nearly jumped as Brix shouted out for him to hold on and not to move…he wasn’t really planning on going anywhere, especially if this was going to help out his friend. He owed much to Gohrick, for if it wasn’t for the feline ex Captain, he doubted he and his brother would still be alive at this point.

~minor flashback/history~

Setona was working in his element, as long as it was in the medical field, there was very little he couldn’t deal with. He had been a doctor in a small city on Ivelice, just himself and his brother. He had always done his best for his little brother, working through the healing spells and scrapping by a living. His little brother though had always been more of a rebel and a fighter.

Kyto had always been far too out spoken and far too brash for his young age, and often times found himself at odds with the Judges and their men who policed their small city. Sadly, it was due to his outspoken nature that Setona would never be able to speak again.

Kyto, in a crowd as the Judges passed by, called out and called them names and cowards. This, it seemed, had been the last straw for the men, and they centered on Kyto. To protect his younger brother from a fate that had been cast down by his own hand, Setona stepped up, stated that he had been the one to call out and denounce the Judges and men. The punishment had been the removal of his tongue and a crushed voice box, so that he could never speak out against the Empire again…a wound that still caused Kyto much pain.

In a rage that few could live up to, Kyto attacked those who had wounded his brother, killing several of the guards and gravely injuring a Judge. It wasn’t too long afterwards that they were wanted men, and the pair had to go underground to run. They thought they were doomed…till the Calmity appeared in Empire space. The duo watched as the ship docked in Bhujerba, the Skycity, where they had recently been hiding out. The duo stowed away on the ship, only to be found out by the feline, who, after Kyto explained everything, allowed the pair to remain on the ship, granting them sanctuary.
~end~

Setona watched as Brix dug around looking for something, keeping his mind on the task at hand. Setona, even before when he was whole, never had much of a love life, and having a gaping hole where his tongue once was, as well as the inability to make any noises whatsoever…well, that sort of killed the idea of ever being with anyone. So, while it was enticing to watch Brix bending over to get the files she was dropping, it wouldn't do much for Setona, who kept his mind focused at the goal at hand, and was thinking more with his proper head.

He listened to her as she explained the theory, and all but slapped himself in the forehead.

‘Of course! That would explain why nothing of one world would work on the wound! If your correct on this, and I think you might be, for nothing else makes sense, then we have quite a task ahead of us…we would need find exactly what poisons are in the wound, then find out what world they are from. Following that, we would need to mix the antidote from each world together to even have a chance to heal the wound…and we would need to do so in a way that they don’t over balance or eliminate the effects of each other…’ Setona ‘said’ a tone of excitement in his ‘voice’. How he could not have thought of this, he was unsure…it probably had to do with the fact that Gohrick had normally been so blasé about his wound, and never gave any real indication that he wanted it healed…perhaps if Setona had been more aware, he would have realized that Gohrick just didn’t want to worry or stress the Calamity Medic.

Meanwhile….

Gohrick had stuck his paws in the back pockets of the pants as he stared at Shade. He knew he might have said too much already as it was, and it was killing his own conscience. His own crew, the people he lived and bled with, didn’t know everything, and he had all but told a complete stranger.

Yet, there was just something about Shade, something from that confidence she radiated, that raw emotion that she constantly kept in check, that grace in battle and with people…He felt such trust towards here in just two meetings, a few hours, and a battle that he hadn’t felt in a long time. Sure, he trusted and loved his crew, but that was as a leader to his people, and while Cypher might hold the Captaincy chair now, they still went to him to ask him for advice or direction.

With Shade, it wasn’t as someone coming to him for advice, it was talking to an equal, someone who could relate, someone who knew more than he did but didn’t shove it down his maw…It was something he only normally felt while talking to Cypher, another natural born leader, just like Shade seemed to be.

He watched her as she seemed to want to say something, but didn’t know how to say it, something that she was dying to say, but felt restrained and couldn’t speak. Gohrick said nothing, didn’t egg her on…if she wanted to say something, she would, if she didn’t, then she wouldn’t. Here stood a woman, a force of nature, that couldn’t be controlled or contained except by her own force. He wasn’t foolish enough to try and interfere with her thought process.

When she finally did speak, he was at first confused by her words…they made slight sense, but not in the context of the conversation they were just having…like thoughts that just broke loose. He continued to listen to her, never once breaking gaze with her eyes, even after she looked away. Her words were broken, and she sounded as though she was breaking some sort of mental code or system with herself…as thought each word had to be forced out in such a way that it would cause pain if it was anything else.

“Shade, if you were to tell me that…” he paused and took a deep breath, before looking up at the ceiling, seemingly deep in thought, before releasing a soft sigh. “I would have to say that such a place must be guarded and kept secret for a very good reason, and that if you are the gatekeeper for such a place, then it must be in great hands. I will not lie, I do not have very high hopes that the pair in the other room can come up with something amazing for me…And, I don’t have high hopes of ever being cured of this mark. It’s been years; I’ve accepted it and have tried to move on in my life. I won’t lie though…I would love for it to be gone, so that I could finally burn that chapter in my life, be fully gone from that hell with the exceptions of the night terrors, and put everything behind me...” he said softly, before lowering his head and staring right at Shade once again, his vivid blue eyes intense.

“I would keep such a place a secret, but only if you feel enough trust in me to tell me more about such a place, and why you have decided to even mention it to me.”

Brix's own eyes lit up by seeing, as well as hearing, this Setona's enthusiasm about her hypothesis. She nodded every bit as eager as she felt to his words hum through her mind just as the faint beep went off in the machine to alert her that her sample results were complete and ready to examine.

"WHOOT!" She have leap in the air and a single loud clap of her hands before dashing to the cabinet for some gloves and another pair of microscope goggles for Setona. It didn't matter that she bothered to slip on a lab coat. Her outfit was just by far too outrageous for Brix to appear professional, especially now, with the goggles slapped on over her eyes, which was more of a comical sight to add to the whole ass backwards attire. They were no more than what appeared to be long tubed spectacles as she whipped about and handed gloves and goggles to Setona as well. "Alright sugardoll, let's see what we got here...."

After carefully setting the samples across a disinfected tray, Brix hunkered down and examine each one. For Brix to be silent more than ten seconds was a miracle in itself, and she had fallen dead silent for over a minute now. Finally, she straightened her spine and tore the goggles off to throw them across the room. "Seriously!? What the fukk!? Multiple poisons in EACH section of the wound!? For Hyne's sake!! What damn crackpot came up with this!? Who the hell goes to THIS extreme??"

With her temper at a boil and frustrations past their brink, Brix wound up slumped in a nearby chair, only to bend over and hold her forehead in her hands with her fingers pulling hard into her hair. "Whoever inflicted this is one major sicko, Setona. One who I would gladly neuter slowly if I ever get my hands on them...." Her words were spoken more with a groan before she slowly raised her head to look up and meet his crimson eyes straight on with a heavy sigh. "Look.... I'm not saying a solution to this can never be found. But from what I'm seeing so far by those samples? Yes, it's a combination of radical poisons, and yes poisons that range from all sorts of sources. Off the top off my head, I recognize at least 15 so far from a range of worlds. What I didn't expect to find? Each section of Gohrick's wound has multiple forms of poisons....The muscle tissues look to have at least 7 different types, an I lost count at 12 in the scar tissue, and more than 10 in his cell count...."

Her face drew into a deep scowl as her eyes reverted back to the samples upon the table. "Just the math of time it's going to take in hopes to cracking this fubar code may take a lifetime to achieve...." Brix never failed at such a thing, and she wasn't about to now. If at just 16 years of age, she could find a cure to that cursed disease that took her mother's life when she was a toddler, than she very well pull off this challenge before she met her grave. Finally, her bright blue hues met Setona's again, and like a flip of a switch, she shot out of her chair with a wicked grin and a wink. As she passed him, heading for another section of the Infirmary that held all of Brix's archives of medical research, she tugged at Setona's arm to follow her. "Well, I look at this way, hunnybun.... We're going to have plenty of time getting to know each other!!" Her mass of blond curls fell back as she tossed her head with laughter while walking down the hall to the research room.

Meanwhile..... Skittles watched the whole scenario while upon the Viera's lap. Humans simply made no sense to him at all. He remained with his newfound friend while awaiting for Shade to appear again, but also decided to hopefully cheer the sickly one up for what he did. Now straightened on his hind legs, Skittles have his colorful tail a shake and leaped away, only to spin about in a gush of winds to land on the floor in a moomba form. Everybody love Moombas, and Skittles took full advantage of the cuteness to butter up to the sickly Viera with his twitchy nose nose sniffing madly at one of her long ears.



Back in the spare examine room, the setting of moods was far different. Not only could Shade hear the grief in Gohrick's voice, but the hope he tried so hard to cover it with. She listened in silence while watching his gaze shift up to the ceiling while confessing how he truly felt. ...burn that chapter....

Didn't they all have chapters wanting to be burned?

His last words were more in a way of a gentle request, and led Shade to be guarded once more. She did protect that place. A promise never spoken but to herself. And for reasons known only to her. Yet the tugging at the back of her mind was relentless, even when there was no guarantee such a possibility would work at all. As for why Shade even dared to mention it to one that was a near stranger to her, where she never breathed a hint or suspicion to anyone, that alone drove Shade into frustration.


She moved closer to Gohrick at this point, locking her piercing gaze with his to study him closely. What she was looking for, Shade didn't even know herself. A confirmation of some kind? Assurance? But what she found was exactly what she heard within his voice. Pain, yet hope. But her studious gaze was torn away by the outburst of Brix's voice in the adjoining room. With her scowl returned, Shade approached the door with silent concern and opened it just a crack simply to see if she could hear what was the cause, as well as out of Setona's safety.


The words were muffled a bit by the walls, but Shade picked up scattered portions of Brix's unexpected foul mood. ....may take a lifetime to achieve....


Shade's forehead now rested against the door frame in disgust. A cure was indeed possible, but time wasn't going to be on their side. It’s been years; I’ve accepted it.... But why should he have to? Why should anyone have to when a possible salvation was just an arm stretch away? Now her head was racing again. After softly closing the door, Shade turned and rested her back against it, but having to force her hues to meet with Gohrick again. Although she didn't know if he over heard anything or not, he was bound to find out the truth the moment they walked through the door. And what Shade couldn't bear again was to see that somber expression of loss return over his face as it did during Brix examining him.


A soft tone took over Shade's voice when she forced herself to speak. "I don't why I'm telling you, Gohrick. I don't know why I'm trusting you. But there are few individuals I have come across in my lifetime where I hear more truth in people, rather than in what words they speak. I believe that's what led me to trust you..."


She took a few steps toward him, now finding a hidden confidence from somewhere to keep her gaze with his. It didn't matter one's race to Shade. One's past never shifted her judgement of character to who they were of the present. And most of all, her gut instinct never steered her wrong. So with a firm straightened spine, her tone beheld a cherished hint to what she revealed. "There is a place, Gohrick... I was healed there once. I can't promise the same for you, but I sure as hell want to hope. It's not something I can explain. It's something that must be seen for itself..."

Again, her eyes tore away by the fleeting risk involved, but Brix's revelation led Shade to chase off the concern with an internal rage. To hell with the risks and possible consequences she may have to pay. Her gut.... her heart.... told her this was right. And Shade never feared a threat, and she wasn't about to now. So with a sigh and a faint nod to herself, her hues returned back to Gohrick with a set purpose in mind. "I'll be honest, just as I have always been with you. It seems the news is grave out there, so I leave this decision to you. The offer has no limit, no time. It's there if you so choose to want it."

Setona caught the goggles with little more than a slight fumble, not having been expecting to be assaulted by lab equipment, but then hey, there was a first for everything. He turned and watched Brix through curious eyes as she seemed so exuberant yet still had a focus and dedicated mind. It was something to watch in and of itself, a walking oxymoron, yet one that blended well enough together that fended off any challenges to her claims.

Setona found himself staring down at her own paper work as she stared into the samples, expecting to have a few moments to read through a paragraph or two about some of the creatures she had already identified. That was not to be, it seemed, and Setona was once again reminded that he was not the brightest person in the room, as he was so used to being upon the Calamity. As Brix raved and ranted, he picked up on everything she was saying.

He placed his own goggles on and stared down at the samples, amazed by what he was seeing. He curtained needed to get the Valsis siblings down here to take a look at all these medical devices, and see if they could recreate some of them for the ship…The results from this one test were quite clear. Each section was dissected and each seemed to have some sort of dye that marked it as a different strain of poison.

‘Of course the person who did this was a sicko Brix, otherwise, why else would someone actually want to harm Gohrick…’ he said softly, before removing the goggles and reaching into the files, pulling out some of the papers even as Brix sank into the chair and started to explain the details and the length of time this was going to be taking.

‘This wound wasn’t just meant to inflict everlasting pain; this was done, in fact as both Gohrick and I thought, as a brand. This was a way to mark Gohrick as that man’s property, even after his death, so that Gohrick could never actually be free. No matter where Gohrick runs, he will always remember his past, and will always remember his place in society…at least, that was the intention of that man…I will not lie Brix, there are times where I am troubled by that man’s death, and wish it hadn’t happened, just so I could be the one to cause the pain…’ he said to her with a mental sigh to follow behind. Setona then snapped his fingers, before turning to the Viera on the table.

‘Etzel, stop playing with the rodent, I need your memory! Do you remember back in Rabanastre, when we were questioned about a feline with a scar? Can you recall exactly what the Bangaa had said?’ he asked, now using an ‘open’ thought speak to both women in the room.

Etzel simply sat up with a slight smile after having her ears sniffed by the little red creature and shook out her long hair.

“You ask me if I remember. Does your own memory fail you at such an age?” Etzel teased, before raising her hand to silence the male and close her own eyes for a moment, concentrating on the scene in her mind.

“’We search for the Mithra, the feline marked by the evils of Hume. We seek the property, we seek the owned feline. Tell us the location of this marked, pitiful beast, and treasures never imagined will fall to your hands…’ That is what the Bangaa said, though there might have been a bit more grunting and angry snarling…such lizards are hard pressed to remain so calm…” she said, before tilting her head. “But why do you ask this of me Setona? What is the point?”

‘I was simply curious if I was right…so it really was a brand, and this toxin bomb that our Captain ex Captain is inflicted with was that man’s mark…Thank you Etzel,’ he said with a bow of his head.

“Thank me all you wish Setona, but I do hope you all realize that Captain ex Captain has almost as good of hearing as I do…I do hope he takes the news of more time better than I would…” she said softly, before reaching down and petting the red furred creature softly with her long fingers.

Setona simply nodded, and knew that, even if the pair had spoken as barely a whisper, Gohrick would have heard if he wanted to…he was only a room away, that didn’t mean much to his feline hearing. He felt the tug on his arm, before nodding and following Brix away from the room and down the hallway.

‘Well, I certainly hope you aren’t disappointed with the time spent with me,’ he said with a slight chuckle, before mentally shaking his head. Wow, he really needed to get out more if that was what he was going to keep saying for the rest of the time…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gohrick had never found a quiet room so troublesome before in his life. Never before had he ever wanted some sort of noise, some kind of commotion, some kind of explosion even! The silence was becoming more deafening then Vohn Sin’s own Laser attack at point blank! He felt as though he was under some sort of magnifying glass as Shade continued to just stare at him, even moving in closer to stare at him even harder.

He continued to meet her eyes though, he wouldn’t be looking away, and while he felt very uneasy while she stared at him, he felt he understood why. She was about to release some sort of heavy, dark secret, and she wanted to be damn sure he wasn’t going to turn around and sell her out. So as he stared at her, he found his lips twitching ever so slightly, a partial smile, something small, but something that was noticeable enough for the sharp woman.

That was when he got his wish of an ‘explosion’…be careful what you wish for as they say.
Gohrick tilted his head slightly and listened in to the conversation, hearing it as clearly as if he was in the same room with them. He heard what that bastard of a man had done to him, heard Brix despair, if even for a moment, at the length of time it would take for them to find a cure, one that wouldn’t counteract each other and would work. He heard Etzel tell the story of when the Bangaa had hunted him, and suddenly knew exactly what Setona must have been saying, even if he couldn’t ‘hear’ his Medic. And just knowing, just knowing that their theory was correct...it all but broke his psych.

“It was a brand…something to keep me a marked beast even after his death…that…vile…that…” Gohrick found his eyes closing, his body shaking as he tried so hard to keep his body, his emotions, his magic in check, but something found a break through as a sharp, metallic smell filled the small room. Gohrick had clinched his fist so hard, that his claws had bitten into his own paw, and his blood was dripping slowly down on the floor.

Gohrick turned his head and stared hard into Shade’s eyes, before he gave a resigned smile.

“No, Madam Shade…I don’t think the news out there is very good at all, but at least there is another answer, another piece to this delightful puzzle solved…a reason that it couldn’t be healed so easily…As free as I like to pretend to be, and as much as I quite enjoyed the sensation, it seems you have been harboring stolen property. Even if the original owner is dead, I’m still property to be passed down to whatever sick heir he might have had…I’m just damn property!” he roared, before slamming his already damaged fist into the wall, hanging his head down low as he slowly started trying to master himself once again.
He felt more shame and embarrassment than he had felt in a long time…partly because of his ‘status’ but more because he had shown his more adolescent and primal side to someone else…something he had, up to now, let happen…

“I’m sorry Shade…for having to let you see that…if you are not too embarrassed to be seen with a marked beast…do you think you could tell me more about this sacred place you spoke of?” he asked, his voice, toned down and almost sounding quite defeated and just quiet…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Etzel gasped slightly as she heard everything that Gohrick had said, before turning down and holding on to the red creature tightly. She had never heard such pain or hatred come from Gohrick before…someone who knew him for so long, yet she had nothing to offer, nothing to give…so, in the privacy, and without letting him know, she cried for him, holding on to the creature that seemed to try and comfort her beforehand.

Skittles could feel the tension and unsettling nerves mounting all around him. They say animals have a sixth sense of things that humans or some other races could never grasp, but such wasn't even needed for what was transpiring around him. He knew the language well enough, even though he couldn't speak. After Brix's outburst, and the conversation that followed, Skittles leaned more into the Viera's attentions, not liking the sense of things or what was to come of it. After Brix and Setona left the room, he too was startled by what came from the adjoining room and flinched as the Viera gasped. The silence that followed felt like an eternity, but the second she wrapped her arms around him and Skittles felt her tears sink into his fur, he could only cling to her as well and offer what warming comfort a simple little creature could.


Yet down the hall.......
Brix charged into the research records room of random cabinets and stacks of files that appeared as if a tornado stung through the entire mess. Although used to the site herself, it led Brix to pause for a moment at the door with a brief studious expression on her face as her blue hues flickered while scanning over the disarray she called "organized". When Setona appeared behind her, she could easily bet what his thoughts were before even hearing them. With an abrupt spin around, her widened eyes met his as if a light bulb went on above her head. "I have a system in here, I swear!! I know it looks like a trashed state of hell, but ya gotta trust ol' Brixy!"


She zipped around again and shot off into the room, leaping or stepping over stacks of files, and having to dramatically sway her hips around the taller ones so not to knock them over. "Now I think what we need is up there..." Brix announced with a finger pointed to a clumsy pile of files way on top of a long row of taller metal cabinets while she had to keep an eye on her staggering feet to get through the maze. Once there, she took a big a leap for her fingers to grip the edge and start climbing her way up. Her booted feet scrambling against the metal side was more comical than they were helpful to her climb, yet Brix still reached the top victoriously.


"So! Setona.... your furry friend is what... bait for treasure hunters? Like a map or somethin'? I mean, why else would one brand somebody like that unless there was worth to it by someone who has a sick enough mind to put that much effort into the makings of it!? Makes no lick of sense to me, but I'm no sicko. Crazy YES! ... but no sicko..." She continued her rambling while shifting through files on her hands and knees, slapping the ones away that weren't what she was looking for. "I'm damn near close to finalizing a real dandy new Phoenix Down, ya know... We could always rez this freak from the dead and use him as a personal lab rat! Sound idea, Setona? I think so.... revive, test, torture, die ... revive, test, torture, die... Make him ever regret he brands a Mythra, or anyone for that matter ever again... Damnit!! I know those files are up here!"


She came to the end of her search to the files closest to the far wall with an ear shocking, "A-HA!!" But in her excitement, Brix lost balance and in a flailing display of swinging arms and scrambling legs, Brix fell backwards from the top of the cabinet with a startling scream only to land luckily into several piles of files which softened the blow to the floor. "I'M OKAY!!!"





Meanwhile...
When Shade saw Gohrick look at the door, as if looking straight through her, she knew.... he heard, and by the look upon his face, he heard even more than she did.

...a marked beast... Shade blinked, rather taken back by the words he spoke, only to bite her tongue to keep herself in check as she could only watch helplessly while Gohrick struggled with himself. His internal rage was visible through the the trembling he fought to restrain, and Shade was just about to take a step closer when she saw the blood dripping to the floor. But his sardonic gaze stopped her approach when he looked upon her again. His lips may have turned into a waning smile, but his tone was laced with resentment and scorn as Gohrick spoke again, only to lash out his final words with heightened rage that his throwing fist could never match.


Normally, such a reaction would startle just about anyone and lead them to flee. For Shade, her own hidden pain awakened with its own silent knowing to what he felt. Shade was not one with an experienced comforting hand. Not because she didn't care enough, for her protective nature alone could very easily tear apart an entire city if she so choose to do so. But it was simply because Shade didn't know how to console another having refused to accept the very thing for herself throughout her life, in fear that it would make her weak. Yet his apology struck a very deep nerve, and his imploring words to her offer wrenched her heart, causing her choke against her breath. What she felt within his voice alone was such deeply harbored pain, and for what? Another's twisted version of amusement? A battle scar she could understand.... but to simply brand another being as means of control? ...yet again, another... Her thought whispered across her mind. How many versions of such retched "branding" was she to come across within this realm?


Shade shook her mind free and centered her attention upon Gohrick again, seeing his head still bowed as if in shame. With a slow intake of breath, she approached him, with her hand moving slowly, yet a bit awkward as her fingers reached up to brush aside his hair to better see his face. A more softer tone, that was even foreign to her own ears, finally spoke in hopes she could find the right words. "You are no beast, Gohrick.... you're one of the most gentle souls I have ever met." Her head tilted to better see his eyes and silently encourage him to meet her stern gaze as she whispered fiercely to him. "And you have nothing to apologize for... Don't ever do so again, ...not for this. Not for something that was beyond your control. Not for something so precious that was taken from you..."


Another steady breath was inhaled as she straightened herself and now rested her hand upon his shoulder. He wanted to know more... for a hopeful miracle, but Shade already decided. Now knowing his suffering and hearing his hope, she decided there was to be no more waiting. Without a word, she ventured to drawers against the wall to retrieve a bandage and medical tape, only to return to Gohrick and take his hand into her own. Her movements were swift, but with ease as she quickly wrapped his palm that still trickled with blood and spoke with her usual strictly business tone of voice. "There will be no more telling of it, Gohrick...." Once she secured the bandage with the tape, her fierce gaze finally met his again. "Because we're going there..."


She slammed the roll of tape onto the exam table and spun around to yank the door open and march right out while biting against the pain within her ribs from moving so fast. She was just a few yards down the hall and stopped to see Skittles in his Moomba form hugging tightly to one of Gohrick's crew mates. With a faint whistle, he jerked his head to see Shade give a slight nod, to which he quickly departed his new friend to join his summoner's side. Now looking to the Viera, Shade gave her a curt nod as well. "Gohrick will be with me for awhile. Don't worry. He'll be safe." Now she turned back with her stature poised of authority, as well as a confident assurance in her eyes when looking back to Gohrick again. "Whenever you're ready..."

Down that hall…

Setona followed Brix down the hallway, his mind racing in several different directions. First, there was the fact that such a wound had been inflicted and allowed to fester, leading to who knows what sort of complications that could arise from it. Second, there was the fact that Gohrick had heard each and everything that had been said by Brix and Etzel, which was more than enough to deduce what he had been ‘saying’ to the girls. He was brought out of his musings when he came to a stop at the room and saw the ‘disaster zone’. He found himself blinking a few times, before mentally chuckling.

‘This reminds me of Kyto’s room…Kyto is my younger brother,’ he said, explaining what he was saying. He gave a small smile, before just leaning against the door frame, not daring to step inside for fear of knocking over one of the massive stacks she was dodging around. While she was moving up, he decided to ‘voice’ his questions to her.

‘Brix, what do you think the long term side effects are of having that many poisons running around the body for that long? Yes, they are isolated, but at the same time…I fear there might be more then we are looking at. After all, any one of those poisons is dangerous once in the blood stream…Gohrick has had over a dozen of some of the most dangerous venom and poisons in his back for several years…’ he ‘said’ softly, worry etched in his voice. He had just done the yearly physical for everyone on the ship, and Gohrick’s records had been clean, just a slightly lower white blood cell count then what Setona had found out was the norm for Mithra…But what if there was something more? He was brought out of his musings once again when Brix asked her own question as she started climbing to the top of the cabinets.

‘Well, to answer your question fully, you must understand a little of Mithra society and breeding. You see most of the Mithra population, at least ninety to ninety five percent, is composed of entirely females. They do most of the work, are the warriors, the gatherers, ect. That leaves the last pitiful percentage as males. The males are the home workers, the artists, the gardeners, anything that keeps them close to the village. It is actually forbidden in some Mithra villages for the males to leave the village, or even leave the house. Male Mithra are that rare.

So, because of that rarity, when a Male Mithra does leave the villages, or in cases like Gohrick, escape, they can be hunted for their pelt, their genes, their members, or for breeding and trading. It’s not a very lucrative business, because not many want to suffer the wrath of a village of fighters, but for the rarer Mithra that escapes…well, they are fair game. So to mark one as your own, by burning the back like that, or by damaging them by some other way makes them less valuable for others. Just so what you have stolen has less of a chance to get stolen once again. Again, while on the whole it isn’t a very lucrative business, each male Mithra could be sold for millions of Gil. Or Credit. Or Gold coins, depending on what world,’ he concluded finally, before watching her suddenly grabbing the file she needed.
He found himself smiling for a moment, before he saw her losing her balance. Before he even had a chance to reach her, she had fallen right into several of the paper towers. He winced slightly, before making his way towards her carefully and offering a hand to help her up.

‘Well, at least you got what you were looking for, right?’ he said with a teasing tone in his ‘voice’ as he smiled down at her.

Back in the medical room…
Gohrick couldn’t keep meet his eyes on her, couldn’t even look at her. He felt so disgusted by himself, by his actions, and by what he was, that he didn’t want to shame any further. He was so angry, so sick to his stomach that he felt it clinching, as though was about to lose what little he had eaten that day. It was that feeling after such a rage, after such anger, that it left you feeling empty, cold, and void. He bit his lower lip hard, trying not to lose it any more than he had already in front of her.

As she neared him, he found himself bowing his head even more, and when she reached up to brush the hair out of his face, he found himself flinching at her touch. Not out of pain, but his mind was remembering…remembering what he had so longed to forget and never remember again. But you can’t run from the past, and even after so long free from that ship, old habits and old reactions stayed strong. However, after his flinched, he was listening to her, her soft words, the strength she radiated for him. He looked up, his vivid blue eyes watering, but meeting her eyes. Even as she spoke and placed her hand on his shoulder, she would feel him shaking. It wasn’t a shake of rage, but of self containment, trying to hold himself together for his own sake. He already felt weak and pathetic enough to begin with…he didn’t need to feel any more so.

“Shade…thank you…” he said softly as she wrapped up his paw with the gauze and tape. He stared down at the bandage for a moment, before he clinched his fist once again. He closed his eyes and took a deep, if slightly shaky breath. In his mind, he was shoving everything into another box; his hatred, his anger, his sadness and grief, everything was getting locked up once again.

As he opened his eyes, they were hardened, more determined, and everything was pushed aside. He stood before Shade as someone who was now determined because there was an answer. He stood before her as Captain of the Calamity, not some stray that had been kicked while down.

“Alright Shade, you lead, I’ll follow. Let us go to this place of yours…I have faith in you,” he said with a small smile that, once again, didn’t reach his eyes. You can only shove so much in the corner before it starts flowing back out. He took another deep breath and followed her out of the room, surprised by the scent of salt in the air. He turned his head and looked at Etzel, who quickly was cleaning up her face.

“Etzel, it is as Shade says. I will return after we investigate this place…” he said softly, yet still trying hard to put on a brave face.

Etzel had known Gohrick for too long, and stood up, before walking right up to him and bending down, hugging her friend tightly. She held him for a few seconds and shook her head.

“Captain ex Captain…your brave face is not needed…you are among those who care for you, who love you, and who want to help you…I only wish I could have done more for you…” she said softly, lightly caressing his face.

Gohrick simply nodded as a few tears fell down his cheeks, but shook his head slightly.

“It’s hard…you know that,” he said softly, before simply nodding his head.

“I’m ready Shade…Let’s get going,” he said with a nod, and actually started to lead the way out of the room.

Etzel quickly reached out and lightly grabbed Shade’s shoulder.
“Please, a word…” she said softly, before leaning down and whispering to Shade in her ear.

“Do take care of him Lady Shade…There are many on the ship that are not done yet paying him back for his kindness and actions…I know there is little hope of his mark being cured…This is not about the scar tissues on his back ,but the scars on his soul and heart. He sees something in you, Lady Shade, which he only sees in a few. It is rare for anyone to have their picture done by Gohrick…and even rarer that he signs it. There are only three other people that have that honor…and none of them are aboard the ship…So take care of him…and help heal him,” she concluded with a soft nod of her head, before standing back up, her eyes wet once again.

((ooc: i think we're going to have to branch off Brix and Setona in another thread...or... we can come back to them later?))


Shade never expected the Viera's approach, or her words that followed. But they drove deep, ...far deeper than Shade ever imagined. So much more was riding on this fragile hope than just a scar... It was the hope of his friends, and hope for the scars that dwelled even further within Gohrick's being. It trembled Shade to the core, but she stood perfectly still, not revealing an ounce of the effect in her steady gaze. She gave Etzel a slow single nod, but couldn't find words of reassurance before reluctantly turning to catch up with Gohrick.


Once at his side, silence ensued. She didn't want to discuss the matter while passing strangers ears that would hear anything said. Shade assumed Gohrick would want the same until they were alone again, so she kept a determined pace while leading the way to the Garden hanger. The hallway was completely barren of a single soul, but Shades anxiety began to creep within her. Now it was over Gohrick himself.... He was going to think her mad, she just knew it. Anyone would if it was simply something she tried to explain. Had she herself known before she was healed, Shade would have more likely scoffed at such a possibility. I have faith in you.... Those words tore her up inside, causing her chest to lurch and her stomach to twist in knots with a hidden fear that this whole idea may fail. That's what terrified Shade now more than ever. To first see Gohrick look so hopeful once they got there.... to give in with what had to be done, only to find putting so much heartfelt hope into something led to breaking his heart and spirits all over again. Should Shade see that distraught expression fall over his eyes, she could never live with herself for being responsible for it. This just had to work.... Shade would make it work....


Now within the enormous hanger of the Garden, the very first thing anyone would see would be the immaculate airship awaiting within. Countless technicians surrounded the gleaming Ragnarok, which many deemed the flying dragon of all airships. It's crimson structure was intimidating by sight alone with its jagged panels and two arched arms with extended claws holding up the front end of the ship. Shade turned to give her companion an encouraging smile, at least, an attempts of one, as she beckoned him to follow with a slight nod of her head. The director of ship mechanics approached the Headmaster with his hand extended to shake her own and a pleasant smile across his middle aged aged face. He was the oldest of the faculty from what Shade had learned, having worked at Esthar where the Ragnaroks originated from before taking employment at the Garden. "She's all ready to go, Headmaster Shade! Got them there glitches all sorted out and she purrs like a kitten now!" The stoutly man then gave an acknowledging nod to her companion, only to blink a few times and slightly blush. He may never have seen a Mythra before, but seeing one now just made him realize how his words were a bit embarrassing. My apologies there, youngin'. No pun intended there.... um, but it's a compliment tho! That old girl's one of the original models, and now runs better than most of them!"


Shade thanked the director for all his hard work, knowing how he put so much heart and passion into these ships, then led Gohrick to the front where they walked up the ramp to venture within and be on their way. It was a two level ship, so they had to take a set of stairs to reach the upper level where the cockpit was located. Once there, Shade motioned for Gohrick to take the co-pilot's seat so he would be right up front and at least enjoy the view. It took Shade a few struggling moments to speak again, but having the distraction of activating the navigational systems and igniting the engines helped to curb her sense of awkwardness. "Now... where we're going, we can't fly directly there. In order to keep a low profile, we'll have to venture the rest of way by ground from wherever I can land this thing unnoticed..." The roar of the engines grew louder within the hanger as the ceiling began to open overhead and the Ragnarok slowly began to hover from the floor. The beaming sunlight cascaded over the ship as a welcoming embrace into the skies. For such a powerful airship, the hover was smooth alongside the steady energy empowering a ship that was such a grand size. While activating other random devices upon the control panel, Shade went on explaining. "The ship itself has a cloaking mechanism much like what we use for certain cities on the planet, so we shouldn't have any problems avoiding potential scanners along the way..."


The Ragnarok continued it's steady climb into the air until it was a safe distance from the Garden itself, where it paused for a moment to charge it's engines. In that process, the crimson panels surrounding them slowly expanded for the blast of energy to come. When ignited, the sound was deafening on the outside, as if a dragon actually roared, but within, the ignition of power was a mere lull of a hum, yet the slight vibrations of power was still felt. The flight was swift, and the airship left the planet's atmosphere within minutes, which allowed Shade to punch in the coordinates to their destination for the auto pilot to take over. Once the computer acknowledged and confirmed, Shade sat back in her seat and tried to relax a bit. She swiveled the chair to face Gohrick, now lifting her right ankle to rest upon her left knee while trying to appear more composed than she actually felt. It was then her thoughts had time to reflect over their moment in the exam room.


It disturbed her deeply when he flinched away from her touch and looked upon her for that scant second as if she would harm him. Perhaps he believed he hid it well, but Shade saw it for what it was. Such an action told her only one thing. Someone not only hurt him gravely by inflicting that retched scar, but they made sure he would be haunted more deeply by anyone who even tried to show him such kindness. But why? Why torture someone such a way? Deep down, Shade knew there was never a rational answer to such things. She had witnessed enough grotesque actions in her lifetime to know the sick minded never needed a reason. Still.... to heal a wound as deep as that was nigh impossible. Such thoughts tore at her sanity as she lowered her head to the side and rubbed at her forehead while struggling for words.

"...Gohrick... where we're going..." She sighed in frustration with herself as her mind scrambled for some means to help him understand. Perhaps if she spoke of herself, it might give him the understanding as to why she thought such a drastic plan would work. "I never saw myself to be fortunate, Gohrick. Never expected it. Nor am I one to deserve it. Yet this place.... what it contains... it healed something that was very wrong inside of me. Something no cure, no spell, no enchanted item could ever touch. I never asked for it.... but it was given.... I was completely ignorant of what would happen.... I was simply... cured."

The memory of that day brought so much more back to her that Shade kept buried and locked away for so long. To this day, she never understood the why of it all, nor was there any way she would ever get any answers. She found herself having to look away from Gohrick while delving deep into her long lost thoughts. "You said.... you had faith in me, Gohrick....." Now her piercing hues slid up to lock with his own. "But in this.... you're going to have to have faith in yourself as well. I can't explain it, but just remember that when the times comes. I'll be there with you, at your side the entire time, but it's faith that makes this work, Gohrick. It's of no power of my own..."

((OOC: As much as I would love to do that, Setona is an NPC character for the Calamity…So I wouldn’t feel right using him in another thread>.> We can always go back to them ^^))

Etzel simply watched Shade walk away, before taking a seat back down on the bed with a soft sigh. She didn’t know what to do now, but she knew she had to tell the others what was going on. With some troubles, she got the small device out of her pocket and took a deep, steadying breath.

“Hey guys…Gohrick is going to be taking off with Lady Shade…They are going somewhere where she was previously healed…They hope it’ll get rid of the bra-the mark…” she said, correcting herself and hoping to all that the rest of the crew didn’t catch that.

Kyto

Kyto was currently outside of the Garden, in the courtyard, stating that he needed some fresh air. Actually, it was because he was close to beating one of those snob’s faces in and thought it a better idea to leave the situation instead of following through with the idea…after all, Gohrick did say that he wanted no problems. He growled slightly and punched the ground in mild frustration, causing a small crack as he took a seat. He heard the announcement made by Etzel and just sighed once again.

“If that’s the case, I’ll be heading back to the airship…Not like there’s anything here that’s catching my eye,” he said back into the device, standing back up and making his way off Garden properties, when he saw the giant red airship rise and take off…now that was impressive. As he was paused, he felt someone run into him. He grunted slightly and turned his head, only to see some girl lying on the ground.

“Well, what are you doing down there?” he asked with a chuckle, offering her a hand up. She took it and was nearly pulled up off her feet.

“S-sorry…I-I’m not used to seeing the Ragnorok taking off…” she said, brushing the grass off her uniform.

Kyto simply smiled and put his hands in his pockets.

“Ah, so that’s the name of the ship huh? Sounds interesting…”

On board the Calamity

Jareb heard the communication and simply nodded, knowing a response wasn’t needed. He was currently in the kitchen making up a small snack for the Captain, who was feeling better now that he had the rest he needed. It simply amazed him at how stubborn he was. As he turned, he jumped slightly.

“Dear forbidden gods Cypher, you scared me…what are you doing out of bed?” he asked the swordsman, who simply shrugged.

“I got bored…did you hear the announcement? I wonder where he is going…”

“Well, Captain ex Captain always did respond to wild hairs…are we going to wait here for him?”

“Of course…I’m curious about checking out that school myself…”

Gohrick

He walked in silence as Shade caught up with him. He felt slightly abashed, as though he really knew where he was going…he should have waited for her instead of getting so far out ahead. But he wasn’t really thinking…his mind was going over everything, but nothing was sticking. He was mentally exhausted at this point…maybe on the ride there he could take a quick nap. He wasn’t used to having so many ups and downs in a single day.

Everything had started out well, he woke up, finished up the frame work for the portrait, then directed the course here. He had a bit of a problem with the guard, but after that, everything had come out quite well…then the battle with the Behemoth, where he found his concerns for Shade stuck in the simulator were much deeper than someone who cared just for a friend. After dealing with the idiot, he had risked life and tail to try and help her…granted she really didn’t need his help, not with a summon like that…

Then came when everything went crashing down…he removed his jacket in front of her…and she took interest in it…and then he told his story…now they were going who knows where for a cure that might or might not work…what a tolling day…still, what was really bugging him was that she was taking time out of her day to do this…something that he felt she shouldn’t have to do.

Before he really had a chance to voice this though, he realized they had just entered a massive hanger, with a dragon…he had to blink a few times and actually back up in fright for a moment, before realizing what he was seeing. And when he did, his jaw dropped once again, this time in amazement. Spira had nothing even close to this…Vana ‘diel certainly didn’t even compare…

“What a ship…” he said in awe, before realizing he was getting left behind. If there was something that Gohrick loved besides painting and his friends, it was airships. His own ship was proof of that, something he had strove for many years, only to really just luck out. He quickly caught up to Shade while she was talking to an older male, catching the last part about the ship ‘purring like a kitten’. This made him giggle slightly, as the entire experience of just seeing something like that airship pushed all thoughts of a nap, as well as much of the gloom clear out of his mind.

“Ah, no offense taken kind sir,” he said with a smile, giving the man a hand shake of his own, noting just how much larger the man was at this point. He made a point to memorize this man’s face, and see if he could talk with him later…the Calamity could always use an additional opinion…just cause they thought it was running well, didn’t always mean it was…

He nodded his head, before following behind Shade, walking right up towards the dragon ship, causing him to slightly bounce like some little kitten. Again, his passion other then art was being in the air…so getting to ride this great airship was probably the best thing ever to distract his mind from everything that had been happening in such a short amount of time. Once they boarded the ship, Gohrick had to refrain from just exploring, his natural feline curiosity bursting as his widened blue eyes took in everything. No…the Calamity, much as he loved that old girl, had nothing on this ship. And it was one of the oldest? Everything looked amazingly well kept. He swallowed slightly as he followed Shade up front, taking the co pilot seat and just looking at the controls. He reached out and lightly touched the panel, not pressing anything, but just feeling the design and the cool metal under his furred hand. However, all good things must come to an end, as Shade spoke, and brought up just why there were here once again.

He nodded his head as she spoke, not minding the hike to get to where they needed to go…he was glad he had everything on his person, just in case they ran into trouble.

“Alright, that shouldn’t be a problem…and its understandable…wouldn’t want anyone else to find this place…not everyone has such a pure heart as you,” he said with a soft smile, just as the engines fired up and they started to life off. He found himself sitting at the edge of his seat as he stared out the windows, again, looking like a little kitten. He heard her speaking more about the ship, and found himself wondering just how such a wonderful device could exist. He watched the ground grow smaller and smaller, before leaning back in his seat and watching the clouds grow closer, listening to the roar of the engine as it blasted off. Such power! It was making his own ship seem more and more like a toy…And the noise! While it would seem like a hum to Shade, it truly sounded like a roar to him, and he found himself enjoying the noise…then he saw that they were still going up and up. Wait…wasn’t this getting too high? As they left the planets pull, Gohrick found himself on the edge again, looking all around him at the vastness of space.

“Shade…are we really…are we actually in space?” he asked in an awed voice that was much quieter then expected. He found himself slumping in his seat once again, before smiling and turning towards her, only to see her looking just as stressed as before. Then everything hit once again, and his boyish attitude changed to a more subdued demeanor.

He found himself bringing a leg up to his chest and holding on to it slightly while he stared over it at Shade. Just as he was about to speak, he heard her voice, sounding slightly frustrated, yet still, her voice had a calming effect upon him, and he found himself drawn to listening with everything he had. How she had gone, how she was cured, how she never saw herself as the fortunate one and how she didn’t even know how it worked. It sounded to him like a force of nature…something that just was, and couldn’t be explained, and you couldn’t hope to explain it. It just was and that was all there was to it.

“I have full faith in you Shade, you are getting me to where I need to be…and you’re wrong. You deserve to be fortunate, and you deserved to be healed…you deserve a lot of things Shade. From the small time I’ve known you, I feel like I’ve known you for months…your kind, strict, you care a lot of your students and your home…you care a lot for your friends…You’re a grand and great person Shade, so please do not say you didn’t deserve it…” he said softly, before taking a deep breath.

“Madam Shade…I want to thank you…for everything. Even if this doesn’t work, even if I’m still branded…I want to thank you for at least trying, and taking time out of your day to help a stranger out…cause, you really didn’t need to do something like this…and I just…don’t think I could ever repay you for such kindness. And thank you, for being here with me…I don’t know if I could take the good or bad news on my own…” he said softly, his eyes dropping slightly to the side, as he couldn’t bear to see her reaction to his words. Faith in him would make this work…but what kind of faith did he need to have in himself? He didn’t have an answer to that.

When he began to speak his thoughts of her, Shade quickly busied herself again adjusting the commands and program settings to the Ragnarok's control panel, while still listened to Gohrick intently, but hearing the shift in his tone revealing more than his words. His own opinion of her self worth confused her, but also led Shade to shield herself from any effect the words may have had. If he even knew half of what she'd done.... but Shade wasn't about to confess her past sins to him. He had enough on his mind right now.....


But then his tone changed again, and this time, Shade did turn her head to gaze upon him, seeing his position as if he was sheltering himself from something... insecure... and his words were something she could answer to. With a soft sigh, her head dropped slightly, but her piercing gaze remained locked with his own, even though he now looked to floor. "Gohrick.... there is no need to thank me. I hardly think political meetings and needless paperwork are far more important than this..."


Seeing the uncertainty in his eyes, Shade knew his faith was being challenged, nor did she wish to see Gohrick internally torturing himself. While slowly leaning back into her seat, Shade took a moment's reprieve from the pain in her ribs to take a comforting breath. She recalled how his light hearted nature reappeared when he first laid eyes on the Ragnarok, and how there seemed to be an excited bounce to his step when they walked up the ramp inside of the airship. She even caught a glance or two at the excitement across his face when trying to take in the sight of everything the ship had to offer as well as capturing the enthusiasm in his voice when remarking about them venturing into space.


After a moment of studying him, realizing the dramatic change the situation was causing to his mood and his thoughts, Shade decided to take action. She carefully rose back up from her seat and approached him, taking his arm with a gentle grip for him to get up. Her other hand motioned for him to take the seat she was previously in, and as Gohrick did so, Shade reached over the panel and disengaged the auto pilot. "Now...." Her voice was low, laced with a touch of fondness rarely ever heard, but this was the original Ragnarok.... a priceless treasure she held very dear. ...she may be an old model... but she's been well cared for as well as having years of experience through battles the newer models never would've made it through...."


After a few more adjustments to the settings, Shade reached around his seat and strapped him in securely by the shoulders and the waist with the seat's harness belts before taking his hands and placing them on the steering control of the airship. "Tilt forward for speed, tilt back to slow.... Pull the control straight back, and she goes higher, push the control in, she goes slower.... and naturally, whatever turn you wish to take, just turn the control in that direction....the buttons here at each side are the turbo engines...."


She turned and took his previous seat and proceeded to strap herself in just the same, but sat more in a lounged position with the lip of her boot heel planted firmly against the ledge of the control panel and her arms slouched over the armrests. "I'll forewarn you though.... this ship has a killer kick. So brace yourself if you've got the courage to put the Ragnarok to the test..." Then her head slowly turned to give him what appeared to be a hint of a smirk. "Don't hold back, Gohrick.... she can take what you can dish out."

Gohrick slowly started to lift his head as he heard her sigh, his bangs slightly blocking his eyes as he looked straight back into her eyes, his expression neutral as his ears picked up her words. He stayed quiet for a few moments, before seeing her lean back in the chair, hearing her breathing ease up, causing him to remember that she was still injured. At that twist of the knife, he found his voice once again.

"Shade...there are plenty of reasons to thank you. You have so much to do on a day to day basis as the Headmaster of the Garden...You've dealt with malfunctioning training simulation...dealt with having strangers enter your place, causing stress for protection of your charges...Your still injured and removed the bandages, causing yourself extended pain...and now your taking, a near stranger, someplace you were charged to keep secret to be healed of a mark...Shade, I have no choice but to thank you and be completed indebted to you..." he said softly, mostly rambling, but speaking from the heart and more just from overall shock of the situation. He grew quiet once again and found himself pulling his leg even tighter against his chest.

He found himself pausing for a moment as she stood up and walked over to him and gripped his arm. As he allowed himself up, his ears started twitching, as if they were going to fold down, but he fought with himself, restraining his flee instincts...this was Shade...after everything thus far, she wasn't going to hurt him. He moved slowly as she sat him down in the main seat. His face was full of confusion, before he started listening to her. The more she explained the controls, the more his face went from confusion to shock...then as she started explaining the turbo engines, his face went into excitement. She was seriously going to let him fly this beauty?

"Shade...seriously? I get to fly her? Are you...oh wow..." he said, watching as she buckled him into the seat. He looked at the controls and gently started to trace his fingers over the controls. He looked at the steering control and lightly ran his fingers over the device with a gentle caress. He treated all airships with respect, knowing first hand how hard it could be to get one, but this was beyond a simple airship. For Odin's sake, they were in space! He had no clue of an airship that could do that!

He found himself adjusting slightly in the seat, biting on his lower lip as his paws started to firmly grip the steering device. He didn't move an inch till he heard the click of the safety belts coming from Shade's direction. Slowly, he started to steering the ship, amazed that something so large responded so easily under his touch. He was quite happy with just driving the ship, but when Shade all but challenged him to cut loose on the ship. He turned his head and gave her a feral grin.

"If that's the case, you might want to sit up..." he said, before he started to accelerate slowly, getting a better grip on the ship. He looked over at the display panel and started to recognize and realize what some of the panels were saying and showing to him. He bit his lower lip once again, before the ship started to lower slightly, burning through the atmosphere, causing him to panic for a moment, but looking at the display panels, he realized that everything was still OK. Slowly, he continued to re enter the planet, before the red glow on the ship ended. He was back in the atmosphere now. He could feel the slight different in the controls, and smiled at how well the ship was handling. He then started to increase the speed of the, feeling the kick from just a little bit of a push. As he stared at the controls, he suddenly pushed the controls straight in and up, the ship descending almost straight down. He had a feral grin about his maw as he continued to push the ship faster, heading straight for the ground. As the ship continued to increase in speed from both the engines and gravity, he let out a whoop of joy. The ground filled the entire view of the ship, as warning bells started to go off in the cockpit. As he pushed it even harder, he stared at the control panels. At only three hundred feet left to impact, he quickly pulled back up on the ships controls and hit the boosters, the ship tilting back up, the ground level only 50 feet away as the ship started to push back up and gain altitude.

A nose dive straight to the ground only to pull up at the last moment while hitting the boosters. He found himself laughing and whooping as the ship continued on as if this was an everyday thing for it. Well, she did tell him to push it...nothing pushed the limits of a ship better then a nose dive...he had even done it, more then once, on the Calamity.

"That was amazing!" he yelled with a laugh.

Shade kept to her casual position and watched the excitement growing behind his eyes. Sure enough, her hunch was spot on. Gohrick had a passion for airships, and what greater airship to lift those damper spirits of his than the Ragnarok. She was a queen all of her own by right among airships, not only by design, but by her maneuver abilities as well for one being of a grander scale in size. She could turn on a dime at virtually any speed, as well a few other aerial tactics no one would expect. Most likely, because no one ever dared to test the airship like Shade did. Thus was why she gave her giddy companion a dismissive wave and smirk to his grin when he warned her to sit up. She had pushed the Ragnarok to such extremes that even the head technician screamed at her for pulling the impossible, so there wasn't much Gohrick could do that Shade would find nauseating. Now strapped in herself, she awaited while he wisely became accustomed to the feel of the ship and how she responded to his control.


She didn't expect it to take any longer than a few moments before he got his bearings with the airship, and after a few test moves, they were on their way. The fiery glow of the planet's atmosphere around them was a rather exhilarating site, and the Ragnarok gave off little vibrations for a smoother re-entry than one would expect. She wasn't called the dragon ship for nothing.... and as Gohrick continued the descent into a virtual nosedive, Shade remained sitting as she previously did, with her foot still against the ledge of the panel to hold herself firmly into her seat. It was why she chose to sit this way in the first place. His shout of excitement lifted the corner of her lips, knowing exactly how he felt. She may never express it herself, but flying the Ragnarok always made her feel the same way. Now watching the ground approach at a most dangerous pace, she mentally counted down for when Gohrick would pull up. Upon hearing the alarms, she actually pushed herself up to slap them off with a grumble of annoyance over the head tech. "I swear he keeps resetting those at trainer level just to piss me off..." At least Gohrick was experienced enough to ignore them, confirming he had excellent intuition when it came to such airships. Not many would ever dare to take such a dive to such extremes, but she trusted him without really knowing why. Sure enough, he pulled back on the control at the very last second, and the engines roared by his command, and the ship veered straight instantaneously to then soar back up into the sky.


She allowed the faint twitch in the corner of her lips to show when she nodded to his enthusiastic cheer and now chose to slowly sit up and flip one of switches on the panel for a bare slab to slide away and another control to slowly rise. After a few chosen switches were pressed, she took the control in front of her and looked back to Gohrick with a hint of mirth in her hues. "Let me show you something..." Now in full control of the Ragnarok again, Shade ignited the boosters again to rip straight through the clouds. After going over the navigation readings, she banked left and flew a direct path for the ocean. After several moments, the clouds dispersed and nothing but bright blue waters lied far below. With a sudden turn and drop, the Ragnarok now dived the ocean below, much like the same drop Gohrick previously performed. This was her demonstration of the ship's graceful maneuvers as she veered the Ragnarok up at the last possible moment, but instead of climbing back up to sky, she kept the airship just feet above the water's surface. Behind them, one would see what appear to be two giant tidal waves flying apart from each other, but that's not what she wanted to show him.


With a gentle steady hand, Shade tilted the Ragnarok more to left where Gohrick's side would be facing the water, and in doing so, the ship's engines continuously blasting against the water led the right side of the water to rise even higher and alter its tilt of flow to now bring the enormous wave to cascade over the Ragnarok itself. Pretty much Shade's way of surfing, since she never let her friends coax her on a real one. So Shade invented her own technique to experience an even greater thrill of the water. For several minutes she kept the ship at the precise angle, and only a few droplets of water ever touched the ship's surface as the wave continued to wash completely over the Ragnarok's metallic body like a majestic shield. Finally, she veered a hard left turn with the ship still on its side to safely break away from the wave before it came crashing down back into the ocean and looked to her companion with a grin. "Your turn..."

As the airship started to even out again, Gohrick found himself laughing, his eyes looking full of life as he turned his head to look at Shade. Now, in the small amount of time they had known each other, he had learned, to a limited point, to start reading her. And he noticed the faint twitch on her lips, and knew that was the equivalent of a laugh and a smile. There was something about seeing that little twitch that caused him to smile and take a deep breath, before taking a look at the new panel that seemed to just come out of now where. He tilted his head and soon realized that she was now back in control, and for a moment, it caused a faint frown. However, as soon as she spoke, he found himself smiling once again. It seemed like she was trying to show him how to really drive this airship. With a challenging smile, he simply nodded.

“I’m all eyes Madam Shade,” he said with a grin.

He loved that swooping sensation in the pit of his stomach as she pulled out of the dive, and quickly looked out the window as he saw the waters part. He was amazed at just how graceful this ship was…it was unprecedented in his world, in Spira, anywhere he had been for an airship to maneuver this smoothly. The Calamity would have been strained to no end just in the simple dive Gohrick had preformed, as Kyto loudly scolded him one time. But watching as the wave came up over the ship without ever touching, watching the precise movements of the ship and the amount of grace it truly had…The Calamity wouldn’t have even managed to make such a wave. To defend his ship though, it did have a heck of a U-turn capability…but now seeing as how well the ship could be pushed…he wondered.

“You might regret giving me back the controls,” he said with a grin, before taking a look at the control panels. He bit his lower lip, before he lightly pressed a button or two, finding a display of the area they were in. There…but could he handle that? He pondered for a few moments, before dismissing the map.

“I want to let you know, if we die, I truly valued our time together,” he said with a feral grin. Of course, this was said more for effect as he took control of the ship and started accelerating, taking it higher up as he drew closer to his destination. It wasn’t too long, as fast as the ship traveled, before he found the area he was looking for. The map had called the city Fisherman’s Horizon, but that wasn’t what he was looking at exactly…it was that bridge. He eyed the area under the bridge carefully, before recalling the side of the ship…it would be tight, but it was doable. Very much so actually, as long as the water was broken just right.

With a bit of a laugh, he checked the controls in front of him, and took careful look of where everything he needed was. Thankfully, like most airships, everything was mostly clearly labeled and well within reach…it was all in the timing. He gunned it hard and started ascending quite quickly, feeling that pressure in the pit of his stomach. This was just going to be far too much, and if it was the last run of the day, then so be it…it was going to be worth it. Let it never be said that the feline wasn’t a dare devil.

He continued to push it upwards, watching the monitors and running a fang over his lower lip as he saw the altitude and continued to climb. He needed to get higher…higher…there we go…With a lick over his lips, and his ears going flat against his skull as he focused, everything around him seemed to be blocked out…he couldn’t afford any distractions. And like at the hill of a massive roller coaster, he tilted the controls down. Like a dragon from the heavens, the Ragnarok descended straight down as Gohrick hit the boosters, increasing the speed as they headed towards that huge wall of water.

To add to the fun though, Gohrick gave the controls a slight tilt, causing the ship to start rotating as it continued to go straight down. He continued the spin, knowing full well that he would need it. He continued to look both at the window and at the monitor, wanting to know exactly what was going, controlling the spin and increasing it as he continues straight at the water. This was the last tricky part, and would show just how good he knew the ship was. He tilted the ship slightly, heading closer towards the bridge, causing more of a spin. He bit down hard on his lower lip, the taste of copper on his tongue, and right before impact, he pulled the ship out of the dive, the engine burn with the boost causing the water to break and spread, creating two massive waves away from the bridge as he continued the spin UNDER the bridge with the new space, coming out of the spin and hitting the boosters hard once again as he raced towards and over the wave.

He let out a whoop of joy and happiness as he pulled off the maneuver…a spin under a bridge with not a single drop or bit of damage to either the ship or the bridge…and only a slightly dizzy sensation.