D.E.666 ~ A Guardian's Summons ~ Jugger82

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DarknessEmbraced666

Pulsar
Joined
Jan 9, 2009
It was a busy afternoon on Kilika island. The sounds of people working could be heard from the temple steps as the people of Kilika worked to rebuild their homes. Up at Kilika Temple, a small gathering of people waited. Several were waiting to pray to the fayth. However, there was a small group waiting for something more. In the Cloister of Trials, a young woman was undergoing her initial trial. If she should pass, she would become a summoner and begin her pilgrimage. She had been in the Cloister for most of the day so far and it was late afternoon already.

Suddenly there was a soft rumble before the doors to the Cloister of Trials opened and out stepped a strange looking female. Most summoners were humans, but this female looked like a fox, but the fur that covered her slender but curvy body was a very pale green color. Making her way down the steps, several people came forward to her and stood before her. "I have been accepted." she said softly and smiled at them. "I am a summoner." Her tiredness could be heard in her voice but she stood strong with a smile.

At the announcement, the gathered people began cheering and Natasha smiled a little wider while leading them out of the temple. When out in the open area outside of the temple, Lyra ran her hands along her staff and summoned her first Aeon, as was tradition. As she summoned her first aeon, she dropped a ball of fire onto the ground which spread and formed a symbol upon the ground around her before a large beast appeared in a ball of fire. After it was summoned, Lyra moved forward and lightly stroked it's large neck. "Thank you." she whispered before dismissing it again. With a roar, it jumped back and disappeared.

While the citizens began celebrating, another woman approached Lyra and scoffed. "You don't look like much." she said to Lyra, taking in her appearance and her outfit. "You should quite your pilgrimage now before you even start. I mean, you don't even have a guardian." she told Lyra and the vixens eyes widened a bit, the deep red holding a look of belief within them.
 
Nathan had seen the summoning nearby. He was a simple traveler, off to see the world before his death at Sin. He did not believe that Sin could be stopped. Sin was what it was, the Sin of man. They were to die for their sins and he did not believe in second chances when it came to humanity. He hated humans and would relate more to the mindless beasts that had no form of organization. He believed that the savagery of those beasts were still more pure than actions of other humans and humanoid creatures.

Scoffing, he had heard the woman talk down to the odd summoner that had summoned her first Aeon. He did believe that the summoner, Lyra, should quit now for she would be like many other summoners and just die out before they could save humanity and the rest of the world. Though, he still hated humans and Lyra was not exactly fully human in presence, so he stepped forward. "You seem to be mistaken, wench." He said coldly as he stepped near toward Lyra, between Lyra and the other woman. "I am here to be her guardian for the time being until we arrive in Luca." He did not look at Lyra at all when he was defending. He held onto the axe he had at his side, a small hand axe and a metal pole on his back to make three weapons: The axe, the pole, and to combine the two to make a polearm. Specially made by himself, and each weapon had its own purpose for him.

"Now then miss, I would advise you to move so that we would be on our way."
 
Lyra opened her mouth to speak when a blonde haired man stepped between her and the other woman, her red eyes widening a bit as he claimed the position of guardian until they arrived in Luca, shock showing the Lyra's face as well as the other woman who was a summoner as well. As he stood there, the other woman frowned while looking him over before sniffing and she looked over at a large, muscular man standing nearby. Once Nathan suggested she move, the woman glared at him before looking at her own guardian. "Barthello." she said firmly. "We're done on this tiny island. Let us take our leave." was all she said before turning and leaving, the large man following along dutifully.

Once they were alone, Lyra sighed and shook her head, her grip on her staff relaxing a bit. Looking at Nathan, she bowed quickly, the jewelry she wore as part of her outfit softly jingling as she moved. "Thank you sir." she said softly. "For defending me." Lyra was a little embarrassed that she didn't have a guardian and that she had been bullied by another summoner. She bowed her head slightly before feeling a gentle tug on her skirt and she looked down at a little girl. "Yes?" she asked softly while crouching down a bit. "Don't worry summoner Lyra, I believe in you." the child said and Lyra smiled gently. "Thank you." she said softly before ruffling the girls hair. "Now go on." With a nod, the child turned and scampered off while Lyra stood again.
 
Nathan remained silent in front of Lyra until the Summoner had left with her Guardian, Barthello. He turned to look at Lyra when she thanked him and remained silent until the little girl that had appeared to Lyra had left. "Speak nothing of this. And I mean this literally. I only came to your aid because humanity is ending and I'm not one to side with them. Nor your kind, as your figure is still that of a human. Now, let us be off. I would rather not cause another scene by suddenly leaving you." Nathan said as he looked ahead of himself. "After you, summoner." He said as he stepped aside and would allow Lyra to pass on ahead so that he could follow her out of the town.
 
After she thanked him, Lyra was caught by surprise at his response, her eyes widening a little as she stared at him, some of her long green hair falling in her eyes while her ears twitched a little. After he told her not to speak nothing of what happened, she bowed her head slightly with a nod. "Of course." she said softly. While she had met some negative people before, she had never met someone who so hated mankind as this man seemed to. Once he stepped aside, Lyra nodded once again and started forward, making her way down the steps to the path that led into the small village that the port was in. "I will be going to Besaid first." she said gently, "After that is Luca." She knew that it would be hard to find a guardian, not many wanting to risk their lives on such a dangerous journey. But even if she had to go it alone, she would do it.
 
"I have already spoken of my word of being with you until Luca. I would rather not be deemed a liar so easily. So as I say, until Luca, I will be with you then." He said as he looked to the sky. "It is still day, enough time for us to go forth and travel some before setting up camp." He nodded to her and frowned as he looked at her get-up. "Hmph...I thought summoners were supposed to be pure, but your body and clothing make you seem like a traveling show. Is this really what humanity has brought itself to?" He thought out loud. "Now then, summoner. After you. I would rather like to get out of this town. Places like these are not for me, and I only arrive for once I must stock up on supplies."
 
Lyra paused in her walking to look at him, quickly coming to be unsure if she even wanted him to travel with her to Luca after hearing the way he spoke. However, when he commented on her clothing, she stared at him, a hurt look upon her face. "No, summoners aren't supposed to be pure. Those would be the temple priestesses." she said, her voice tight. "And at least everything is covered with my outfit. I don't know if you took notice, but that other summoner, Donna's outfit, was much more revealing." Gritting her teeth, Lyra turned and quickly made her way down the steps without looking back. Her ears were laid back and she felt the corners of her eyes sting as tears formed in them but she forced them away.

Once she made it into the village of Kilika, she walked along the boards towards where the ships were docked. Since she had to go to Besaid, she had been offered a ride on one of the ships returning to the island.
 
Nathan took no notice nor care of her feelings as he followed her to the docks and boarded a ship with her. Moments later, the ship would be off. Nathan had strayed from Lyra for the time being and wandered aimlessly about the ship and avoiding human communication with the other passengers and sailors of the vessel. His gaze was always straight forward and his face was always covered with his mask so that only his eyes could be seen. He was now on the bow of the ship and looking out, watching as the ship move forward more and more. "Tch...Sin is not to be challenged. He's going to purge we humans of this life so that we may start over and hope to begin a more pure life."
 
After she boarded the ship, Lyra watched him wander off along the ship before she moved to the side where a couple of people from Besaid were standing and she sat with them, softly conversing. They were a little wary of the strange looking summoner, but after getting to know her a little, the group warmed up and they began speaking at length about their home, the young summoner learning all she could. When she was asked about her guardian, Lyra paused before looking at the bow of the ship where he stood with his back to everyone. When they saw the man, they nodded slightly before diverting the conversation to another topic.
 
Eventually he turned to look around and saw the others looking at him. His gaze was hard and he shook his head, walking away. Though he would soon be stopped by a small rumbling of the ship. He frowned, feeling like something was off, but ignored it for now. He proceeded to walk until it came again, only stronger, strong enough to cause him to lose balance and fall to a knee. He frowned and listened past the concern of those around him and eventually rolled out the way after hearing something rise from the water quickly and come straight for him. A large tentacle grabbed ahold of the ship and began to try and pull it around, wanting to cause its passengers to fall so the creature could feast. Nathan glared as he grabbed the hand axe and rushed over to start cutting at the tentacle, but it was hard as rock and would prove difficult for him unless he found the right weak spot to cut the tentacle at. He was doing this for his life and not theirs.
 
Lyra had relaxed and was enjoying the company of the group when the ship suddenly rumbled and she gasped softly, her ears twitching a little. For a moment she remained still before slowly relaxing only for the ship to shake again and she reached out to stabilize the elderly woman near her. Knowing that something wasn't right, she turned to the others. "Take her below." she said to them, helping the woman up. They began hurrying towards the steps that led below. Once they were out of her sight, Lyra yelped as she fell to her knees as the tentacle began pulling at the ship. Grabbing onto her staff tightly, she stood again and began fighting off the smaller tentacles that came out of the water, beating them off with her staff and using some of her magic.
 
Nathan was more focused on the main tentacle that was causing the ship to rock back and forth so violently, yet it did not pull them under. Perhaps the creature could not eat the ship, he wondered. He continued to cut at the tentacle and eventually just decided that if he could not cut the outside of the tentacle, he would have to bail out himself. He turned to run toward the life boat of the ship, careful not to fall off and began to undo the bindings that held the lifeboat to the boat. Though Lyra fighting off the tentacles alone had caught his eye and he cried out in annoyance at the girl and how feeble she was being. He rushed toward her and began to cut out the small tentacles, them being weaker than the main one. "Get to the life boat, now!" He ordered as he continued to cut at them.
 
Lyra was breathing a little heavily as she fought the tentacles, not from exhaustion, but from dodging them. She hit several of them with her magic and they shrunk back, whatever the creature was, it squealed before attacking again while she continued attacking. When Nathan rushed at her and started cutting some of the smaller tentacles, she glanced at him but didn't stop in her in her attack, hitting the tentacles again with her fire magic while he cut at them. After she was ordered to the life boat, she glanced at him again while she hit another tentacle away from her. "What of the others? We can't just leave them." she asked him.
 
"Do as I say! If you truly want to continue on your trip to hopefully defeat Sin, then you'll get on that boat and forget about the others!" He said as he continued to cut at them, despite the many injuries he was getting. The were attacking at him all at once and it was getting tiring and difficult to keep up. "I said get to the boat!" He yelled at her once more, hoping she'd listen.
 
Lyra frowned slightly as he brought up her pilgrimage and that she should get on the boat and forget about the others. Looking around with an unsure look on her face, she turned after he yelled at her again and she nodded. With a sigh, she hurried to the boat and got on like he told her to. She hated just abandoning people. It was against what she was taught.
 
Soon enough when she arrived in the boat, Nathan ran out toward her, but was unaware of a tentacle coming straight toward him and piercing through his body, going in his back and coming out of his front. His eyes widened and his mouth was agape in pain, blood coming out as he was being pulled back toward the railings. He tried to get free but the pain was unbearable. He reached for his axe and cut the tentacle, crying out in pain as the remains of the tentacle that was in his chest began to squirm in pain. He reached out and grabbed it and pulled it out before tossing it away, afterwards began running out toward the lifeboat. He got in and cut the ropes to let the boat fall down into the water. "Row!" He ordered the girl as he tried to close his wounds.
 
Lyra turned just in time to see the tentacle pierce his body and she cried out in shock as he was being pulled backwards. After he got to the boat, she moved a little closer to him before yelping as he cut the ropes on the boat and it fell into the water. Her ears twitched a little bit after he ordered her to row and she bit back a growl. Instead of taking up the ores, she used her magic to thrust them away from the ship, using her magic over wind and water to speed them away from the attacking tentacles. As the boat sped away, her ears laid back as the large tentacle wrapped around the ship and began crushing it, listening to the panicked screams inside as the ship was pulled under the water. With a soft whine she looked away with a sad look on her face before she turned to Nathan as he tried to close his wounds. "Here." she said softly after using another burst of wind to send them a little faster through the water away from the site of the attack, "Let me help."
 
"Get away. I can do it myself..." He said weakly as he swatted her hand away and kept his clothes pressed against his frontal wound and his back firmly against the bottom of the ship, trying to keep as much blood in him as he could. He didn't want her help, she was still what he hated. He didn't want or need her help. He just wanted to get to the shore where he could buy supplies to help him. "If you want to help, just keep that magic going and get us to shore faster." His voice was weakened and annoyed.
 
When he swatted at her, she jerked back in surprise, her eyes wide as she watched him press his clothes against the front of the wound. Lyra just couldn't understand what made him so bitter and hateful. How could he hate people he didn't know? Just doom others to death without another thought? After he told her to get them to shore faster, she sighed softly. "At least let me stop the bleeding a bit before you bleed out." she pleaded softly while she sat down across from him, her red eyes gazing at him studiously. While she was excellent at her black magic, she was even better with her white, having learned many of the healing spells that were taught to summoners and having practiced them long and hard.
 
Nathan shot a glare at her, his eyes meeting her red stare and eventually they softened and he sighed, closing his eyes and nodding. "Alright...Fine, if you must. If I am to see the doom of humanity then I should do what I can to live until then." He murmured as he opened and eye to look at her. "Please hurry. This pain is starting to become unbearable and my voice is getting weaker as I continue...I am lucky that the tentacle did not pierce through my right side and into my heart. I doubt you've any plumes on you." He said with a sigh as he waited for her white magic to heal him.
 
She tensed a little when he glared at her before sighing as he nodded. She was a little shocked that he wanted to see the doom of humanity but she remained silent as she moved forward and began using her healing spell upon him, the white magic swirling around him a little before focusing upon the hole in his chest. As he asked about having any plumes, she looked up into his eyes. "Plumes? No, sorry." she said softly as she concentrated upon healing him. Just like she said she stopped the healing, though she made sure that it was healed enough that it wouldn't start bleeding again before she pulled back. "There." she said finally. "Healed enough so you won't continue bleeding." With that she moved back again and turned from him, using her black magic again to speed the boat along the water towards Besaid island. She knew what would be asked of her at the island and part of her feared the thought of doing it, having never done it before. But she had seen Lady Luna do a sending just a few days before.
 
Nathan tensed as he could feel his wounds begin to close up. It was not as painless as many would think. It was the feeling that made it seem like it was painful, to feel your chest literally begin to stretch across so that it could close its own wound slowly as your body rejuvinates. "Thank you, summoner." Nathan said as she returned to moving the boat along. "No need for that anymore. I am not dying, there is no need for hurry. We are in friendly waters, there are no dangerous monsters out here aside from some piranha that would decide to attack us by jumping into the boat, but what good would that do? Let us rest first...the battle has caused us to be fatigued."
 
After he thanked her, she nodded again and she sighed while moving the boat along, only glancing at him when he told her that there was no need for her to continue moving the boat along. For a little while she continued before she finally stopped and she sighed as she laid her staff down in the bottom of the boat. Once she did it was like her body just deflated a bit, her shoulders slumping and she bowed her head, her ears drooping as she buried her face in her slightly trembling hands. She wasn't so much physically tired as she was emotionally after what had happened. After a minute she lifted her head again and gazed out over the water.
 
The ride was silent for a few moments, Nathan said nothing and hardly moved. His eyes were closed and he would seem to be dead if it wasn't for his weak breathing, but he was still conscious of what was happening around him. He looked at the girl and furrowed his brow in annoyance to see her emotionally torn about what had happened. They were spared a death much worse, so they should be thankful. At least thats what he thought anyway. Eventually he spoke up. "Get some rest. You'll burn out if you stay awake."
 
Lyra jerked slightly when he suddenly spoke up and she glanced at him as she was told to get some rest. She shook her head slightly before speaking. "I will not be able to sleep at the moment." she told him. "Because I'm not... human, I need less sleep then the usual summoner." The fox closed her eyes while running her fingers through her long, light green hair before tracing her pointed ears absently. Even though she had a human like body, she still looked very much like an animal and often times, she was treated with a hint of disdain or fear because she was so different. However, despite her hard life and the anger, hatred and fear that others showed her, she continued on, always looking at the positive side of things. "Why don't you rest? You were the one that got hurt. Besides, I can keep us moving towards the island."
 
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