Xenoblade Chronicles

Chapter 15 - The Girl in the Forest

The Telethia let out a large angry cry, swooping down from above and attacking several men and one girl , throwing them aside. "Lady Melia!" One man cried. "Withdraw to the Nopon village and let us handle this beast!" The girl in the back holding a staff shook her head. "No, Aizel," She said firmly. "Do you really expect me to leave you, run away and save myself?" "Permit us this once, Lady Melia!" Aizel pleaded. "It is our honour and our duty to protect you with our lives. Do not fear for us. Flee!" As he spoke, the girl shook her head furiously. "I will not," She told him. "I cannot return to the capital with this monster still standing!" The four men took up defensive positions around her as the Telethia came in for a landing. It began to charge up an attack and suddenly released it. The men protecting the girl screamed in pain and vanished in a flash of light, nowhere to be seen. "Aizel!" The girl cried. "Hogard!" The Telethia came charging forwards, tossing her aside with a mighty cry. It circled around her as she got to her feet, tears swimming in her eyes. "Aizel...Hogard," She whispered. "Garen...Damil!" As she spoke, her staff began to glow brightly. "Bestow the light of your life unto me!" She raised her staff high as the Telethia came in for the kill. It screeched as the light hit it and consumed the clearing, shooting a beam of light into the sky. Then the girl fell over, unconscious. * * * Reyn groaned as he fanned his face with his hand. He groaned slightly as the heat wave hit him and felt himself wishing for the icy cold waters of Satorl Marsh. "Who turned up the heat?" He grumbled as Sharla examined the surroundings. They were standing by a few trees, but she was staring at a massive forest that was a little ways off. The only thing separating it were several waterfalls that spilled over into a lake, which emptied into a river. A bridge was connecting their island and the rest of the forest, and they could see four other bridges. "I've never seen such a dense forest," Sharla said, amazed. "Me neither," Reyn whined. "How much further?" "This must be the back of the Bionis," Murmured Dunban, ignoring Reyn. "If Shulk's vision is right, we've still got a long way to go." "You mean go on in this heat?" Reyn demanded. "I'm sweatier then a Brog's armpit!" "We'll have to search for the best route," Sharla sighed. "Sadly, until we find a way, we'll have to put up with Reyn's stench." "Sharla!" Shulk cracked a grin, but it soon faded as he remembered his vision. They must have definitely gotten to Prison Island by then, judging by Sharla's words. "We must be outside the tower." Then there was that giant, who had welcomed Shulk and called him the 'true Heir to the Monado.' There was also the girl, who had ran towards a man calling him 'father.' Then Metal Face had to have showed up. "Weak! Weak and pathetic!" Dunban tackling the girl, demanding what something was, and then he remembered Shulk yelling at the silver-faced Mechon. "You will pay for what you've done!" He was going to leap at Metal Face, slice off it's arm, and sending him flying backwards. None of this vision disturbed him as much as the words he knew that we would speak. "You will know the pain and suffering you caused the Emperor and Fiora!" Then there was the contents of the Faced Mechon. What was inside? And not to mention it wasn't a Mechon Shulk had seen before. A silver faced Mechon, He mused mentally. And who was that girl? These visions show me people and places I've never seen! If only I could find out what they mean. We could use them to our advantage! "Look over there!" Sharla said, jarring Shulk from his thoughts. She had seemed to have noticed the bridge connecting their island to the rest of the forest. "It's a rope bridge! And it looks Homs-made." "Not Homs," Dunban corrected. "Nopon. Though a lot of them have settled in our colonies, the Nopon are originally native to Makna Forest." "Do you think they'd know the way to the Bionis' head?" Reyn asked. "I can't say," Dunban shrugged. "But walking around in circles isn't going to achieve anything. Our best bet is to look for their village." They started forwards towards the bridge, and had to coax Reyn onto it. They came to the other side of the bridge and followed a well worn dirt path. They talked about almost anything that came to mind, before Dunban stopped. "Over there!" He beckoned towards the group and pointed to an unconscious girl in the grass. Shara's eyes widened and she ran towards the girl, gently pulling her into an upright position. "Hey, are you okay?" Shuk called out to the girl, but she didn't respond. Shulk's eyes widened as he saw the silver curls. "You!" He breathed, remembering his vision. His vision suddenly flashed blue, and he saw Reyn, Sharla, the girl, Dunban, a Nopon, and himself fighting a monster. He blinked away the vision and straightened up. "Shulk," Reyn said. "What's wrong? Another vision?" He put his hand on Shulk's shoulder and the blonde frowned. "Kind of," He said. "I'm not sure, but first she needs help." "You're right," Reyn agreed as Sharla allowed Shulk to pick the girl up. "Let's look for somewhere safe." Dunban went forwards and pointed. "There," He said. "I see a clearing under a giant tree. We can easily watch for anything approaching." "Okay," Shulk stood. "I'll carry her." Dunban led them to the place he had spotted , and Shulk set the girl gently down. Sharla knelt at her side, and after a while, the medic stood. "She hasn't sustained any serious injuries, but her condition is far from stable," Sharla reported. "Do you know what's wrong with her?" Shulk asked. "Her symptoms suggest ether deficiency," Sharla said. "It's well known that Homs are strongly affected by ether levels in the environment, but I've never seen symptoms like this before. A sudden drop in ether content in the atmosphere causes a reaction. Symptoms range from fatigue to nausea, but it this girl's case…" She trailed off. "What can we do?" Shulk asked. "We're going to need some water-type ether crystals," Sharla replied. "I'll load the crystals into a cartridge to shoot from my rifle." "You're gonna shoot her?!" Reyn demanded. "No, silly," Sharla rolled her eyes. "I'll fire them into the air and the dispersed ether will heal her!" "Oh, uh," Reyn glanced around uncomfortably. "That's what I thought." "But the problem is the crystals," Sharla folded her arms. "We can't just use any old crystal. The must be as pure as possible. This area must have a water source nearby. We should search there first." "I spotted a waterfall a little ways back," Dunban remembered. "What do you think, Sharla? Would a waterfall produce pure crystals?" "I can't think of a better place." "Then it's decided," Shulk said. "I'll search for the crystals." "Hey, you're not going on your own!" Reyn protested. "I'll be okay," Shulk said, grinning. He knew exactly how to win over Reyn with this. "I need you to look after the group. We're short on water too, so I'll fill up our flasks." "Hey, good idea," Reyn grinned, obviously pleased he was getting put in charge of watching over everyone. "Take care, man." Shulk nodded and headed off to find the crystals.