07-18-2017, 10:44 AM
The salty ocean breeze berated the blonde as small droplets of water painted his face. When he was told that he’d have transportation from Costa Del Sol with the marines, he’d imagined a grand navy ship. Not a two person sailing boat.
‘I imagined a navy ship...’ Cloud sighed as he let a couple of his fingers skim the surface of the water.
The marine captain took a deep breath and then gave the young mercenary a sturdy chuckle. ‘That’s your fault. Quit complaining.’
Cloud let out another, obviously disappointed, sigh. A short vibration bringing his attention to his pockets. Reaching into his right pocket, Cloud pulled out his phone. He’d forgotten about it during the confusion of arriving in the Omniverse.
‘Huh, so this still works here?’ he asked himself as he flipped the phone open. The screen flicked on, displaying his home screen with a little mail icon flashing in the top right corner. Curiosity killed the cat, and apparently Cloud as well. He navigated to his mail and clicked the little green button to open it. A small window popped up on the screen.
‘You have connected to the dataverse, would you like to browse the news?’ The message read. He didn’t have anything else to do on this boat trip, so he tapped the button again and began reading.
‘This will help boost my reputation.’ He thought as he scanned through several other articles. All of them said the same thing, just a different set of dramatic flares due to varying writers. The blonde closed his phone and returned it to his pocket as he caught sight of some kind of pollution in the water. The blonde reached down and, using the boat’s momentum, scooped a handful of dark water from the ocean. It wasn’t normal pollution, something about it seemed off.
‘You noticed huh?’ The marine spoke, his voice now filled with a tone of seriousness.
‘Yeah. What is it?’ The blonde responded.
‘I don’t know, but it’s not good.’ the only answer the marine gave before going silent.
Cloud thought for a moment, letting go of the water and letting it fall back into the ocean. A slight smile spreading across the mercenary’s face. ‘Take me to Sabaody Archipelago.’
The marine captain shook his head in response. It wasn’t a smart idea, but they needed help and he needed reputation. It wasn’t an altruistic action but, then again, nothing in life really is.
‘Look, I know that the Empire needs help with this, you can’t deny it.’ He argued, without so much as a peep from his companion.
Cloud sighed, angrily, as he sat forward, formulating an argument. ‘Look, it’s a win win situation here. You guys get the help you need, and I get the reputation I need to become a successful mercenary.’ The young man made a compelling argument, but the marine captain saw naivety in his actions.
‘Maybe this will be a good life experience for the boy…’ he thought to himself, wondering if the skill the blonde displayed earlier would be enough to keep him safe.
The two stared each other down, both of them thinking the situation over carefully. ‘Fine.’ The aged man relented as he spun the wheel. The ship turned, violently, knocking the unexpecting blonde onto his ass. His naval companion letting out an audible snicker.
‘It’s not going to be easy, kid.’ he spoke, after getting over his amusement at the young man’s comical fall.
‘I know. But I can handle it.’ Cloud nodded. His words reflecting his cocky attitude and an overconfident belief in his abilities. The Blonde stood at the bow of the vessel, arms crossed and blade fixed to his back. His golden locks moved rhythmically with the wind as it rushed through them. He was ready for whatever threat waited at the Archipelago.
‘I imagined a navy ship...’ Cloud sighed as he let a couple of his fingers skim the surface of the water.
The marine captain took a deep breath and then gave the young mercenary a sturdy chuckle. ‘That’s your fault. Quit complaining.’
Cloud let out another, obviously disappointed, sigh. A short vibration bringing his attention to his pockets. Reaching into his right pocket, Cloud pulled out his phone. He’d forgotten about it during the confusion of arriving in the Omniverse.
‘Huh, so this still works here?’ he asked himself as he flipped the phone open. The screen flicked on, displaying his home screen with a little mail icon flashing in the top right corner. Curiosity killed the cat, and apparently Cloud as well. He navigated to his mail and clicked the little green button to open it. A small window popped up on the screen.
‘You have connected to the dataverse, would you like to browse the news?’ The message read. He didn’t have anything else to do on this boat trip, so he tapped the button again and began reading.
“Tragedy has struck at the heart of The Vasty Deeps. Unknown creatures have been causing mayhem at the center of the verse. The Empire’s forces are doing their best to quell the chaos but they have only been able to halt the horde, not push it back, so far. Blue Flame Island has already been overrun and the Sabaody Archipelago looks to be next. With the Empire’s forces completely preoccupied with naval battles, it seems as if they won’t be able to do anything to help the citizens of the Archipelago.”
‘This will help boost my reputation.’ He thought as he scanned through several other articles. All of them said the same thing, just a different set of dramatic flares due to varying writers. The blonde closed his phone and returned it to his pocket as he caught sight of some kind of pollution in the water. The blonde reached down and, using the boat’s momentum, scooped a handful of dark water from the ocean. It wasn’t normal pollution, something about it seemed off.
‘You noticed huh?’ The marine spoke, his voice now filled with a tone of seriousness.
‘Yeah. What is it?’ The blonde responded.
‘I don’t know, but it’s not good.’ the only answer the marine gave before going silent.
Cloud thought for a moment, letting go of the water and letting it fall back into the ocean. A slight smile spreading across the mercenary’s face. ‘Take me to Sabaody Archipelago.’
The marine captain shook his head in response. It wasn’t a smart idea, but they needed help and he needed reputation. It wasn’t an altruistic action but, then again, nothing in life really is.
‘Look, I know that the Empire needs help with this, you can’t deny it.’ He argued, without so much as a peep from his companion.
Cloud sighed, angrily, as he sat forward, formulating an argument. ‘Look, it’s a win win situation here. You guys get the help you need, and I get the reputation I need to become a successful mercenary.’ The young man made a compelling argument, but the marine captain saw naivety in his actions.
‘Maybe this will be a good life experience for the boy…’ he thought to himself, wondering if the skill the blonde displayed earlier would be enough to keep him safe.
The two stared each other down, both of them thinking the situation over carefully. ‘Fine.’ The aged man relented as he spun the wheel. The ship turned, violently, knocking the unexpecting blonde onto his ass. His naval companion letting out an audible snicker.
‘It’s not going to be easy, kid.’ he spoke, after getting over his amusement at the young man’s comical fall.
‘I know. But I can handle it.’ Cloud nodded. His words reflecting his cocky attitude and an overconfident belief in his abilities. The Blonde stood at the bow of the vessel, arms crossed and blade fixed to his back. His golden locks moved rhythmically with the wind as it rushed through them. He was ready for whatever threat waited at the Archipelago.