UnShaekable (FFXII)

XXIV) Fighting for Our Lives

"When the hume soldiers came to the Wood, the village took small heed of them. So long as the Wood herself is not harmed, the viera give little care to goings on beyond Her." Mjrn's eyes fall to the rough floor, her white ears a stark contrast to the darkness surrounding us. "But in me an uneasiness stirred. I had to discover why they had come." Balthier rests his hands on hips.

"So you came here hoping to find something out, and got yourself caught." Mjrn nods. "You're as foolhardy as your sister." His smile is light and friendly, though the viera's cheeks are still flushed with both shame and exhaustion.

"They took me then, and set close beside me a stone." She stands, looking around at each of our faces. "They said its Mist would be drawn into me, that the viera well suited this end. I saw the light coming from the stone, and then..." Her voice trails off as she turns to her sister, who nods.

"We have seen this. On Leviathan, the Mist released from the Dawn Shard drove me, too, into such a rage." Fran nods toward Mjrn. "She was taken not by the Dawn Shard."

"Manufacted nethicite," Larsa muses. Fran nods. "Then that means—Penelo, the stone I gave you, do you still have it?"

"Sure, it's right here," Penelo replies, pulling the blue stone from a pouch strapped to her leg. Balthier's eyes follow the glow of the nethicite closely, narrowed, and he crosses his arms. Larsa snatches it away sharply, swiveling around so Penelo can't see it. His gloved fingers trace over its grooved surface gingerly, his thin black brows falling heavy.

"This is a thing more dangerous than I had imagined. I should never have given it to you." He sighs, hanging his head. "Forgive me, I did not know." Penelo smiles.

"I'd always thought of it as sort of a good luck charm," she reassures him. "And even if it is dangerous, on the Leviathan it kept us safe." Larsa turns and smiles back at her, satisfied by her answer. Ashe sighs, bowing her head.

"There is a place for all things, even danger such as this."

"I hope you're right about that," Vaan murmurs, gray eyes falling to the tips of his rapidly wearing boots. A long pause in conversation follows shortly afterward, Mjrn sinking back down onto the crate she sat on before she leaped to her feet. Finally, Balthier sighs, shaking his head.

"Can't be helped here. How about we get you back home, Mjrn?"

~|~|~|~|~

The viera village of Eruyt holds a whole new air as we trek through it for the second time, now with a second shamed viera in our midst. Eyes constantly turn toward us, each far less than welcoming. As the third hume visit they've experienced in a week, I don't think we're doing anyone any favors. Our party comes to a stop upon seeing Jote and two other viera waiting for us at the tall house we stopped at during our first visit. The sisters stare at each other in a long silence before Jote breaks it.

"I heard the Wood's whispers." A viera strides toward us, clutching something in a cage of her clawed fingers. "Take it."

"Lente's Tear is a permission." The second viera speaks as the first hands the charm to Vaan. "Pass through the Wood and leave. To other places go."

"That cannot be all!" Mjrn protests, stepping past the Dalmascan thief. "I saw it when I left the village. Ivalice is changing! How can the viera stand and do nothing at all?"

"Ivalice is for the humes," Jote replies coldly. "The Wood alone is for us."

"But that is wrong!" Mjrn persists. "How can we just hide here in the trees when all the world outside is on the move!? I, too, wish to live freely—to leave this Wood!"