Flower Falls and Crystal Calls

On the Hunt

Chapter 13

Before they reached the city entrance, Caius paused. He remembered that the hunt could take days. The gathered hunters had probably brought supplies for his use, but they were not expecting Elle. They would need to stop and collect a few things before they met with the others. With that thought in mind, he took a slight detour.

Elle gave him a questioning look as he turned from the path, but didn't question him. She figured he knew how urgent the matter was and wasn't going to slow them down more than necessary. It wasn't long until they came to one of the guardhouses placed throughout the city. She lifted a brow as he motioned her to follow him in.

She got all the answers she needed when he stopped in the supply room. The guard stationed there gave him a curious look as he started going through the items, but didn't bother questioning him. He was the Apprentice, after all. He would not take something if he didn't need it.

After a few minutes, he finally stepped away with a pack and several items. He shoved them all in the bag and handed it to Elle. His voice was all business when he spoke. "We may need to stay overnight." That was all the explanation he gave before he walked past her. He paused before he walked out and pointed to a weapons rack. "Pick out a spear as well. Your knives will do you little good against a king behemoth."

It only took her a moment to find one that suited her and had a decent balance. She was still a novice with the weapon, but she wasn't clueless. With the spear in hand, she turned to follow him to where the rest of the group was waiting.

When they stepped into the mouth of the canyon outside the city, Elle was shocked to only see five men clustered together talking. Given the urgency and difficulty of the upcoming mission, she had expected more men. Almost as soon as she and Caius approached them, they all turned to salute. They managed the gesture, but all but one of them also could not hide their shock at seeing her next to the Apprentice. The fifth one smirked at her and called out as they approached.

"Why am I not surprised to see you here too?"

Elle smirked at him. She was glad to see at least one familiar face, though two of the others looked somewhat familiar. It took her a moment to remember she had seen them both in the group that had first brought her to Paddra. She nodded to them all before she turned to Laer. "Did you really think I would be alright with staying cooped up?"

Laer chuckled before he turned to the others. "Fellas, meet our esteemed Emissary, Chicago Bachman-Elle."

Elle scrunched her nose at the introduction. "I should have never told you the city I was from. That sounds too weird." She then turned to the others. "Just call me Elle."

None of the others looked like they knew how to respond. Laer was obviously enjoying the situation more than he should have, and Caius shot him a glare when he started to chuckle. "Enough. We can finish introductions while we walk. We have no time to waste."

Elle clenched her jaw when he shot her a glare, as though it was her fault, but she didn't say anything. She was reminded of Yeul's admonition and fell into step beside Laer since Caius obviously didn't want her presence near him at the moment.

Once they were down the path a ways, the man next to her finally spoke up again. Though, his voice was thankfully toned down. He first pointed to the two men behind them. "To pick up where we left off, these two are Paddra Mar-Baren and Paddra Nial-Tewn."

Both men nodded in turn when she looked back. Elle wasn't sure that she would remember their names, but she would try. After that, Laer pointed to the two that had taken point. The two that had gone with Caius to get her. "Those two are twins. The one on the right is Paddra Ballad-Ingens, and the other is Paddra Ballad-Mirus."

As soon as Elle heard their names, she stopped in shock. Laer turned to her with confusion. "What's wrong?"

Her voice was breathless, and somehow still caught the attention of all but the twins. "Did- did you say Ballad?"

Laer was giving her a concerned look as Caius came back to see what was going on. "Why have you stopped?"

Elle barely noticed his harsh tone as she turned to him. As for Caius, he knew he was taking his irritation out on her, and he shouldn't, but that was all a distant thought when he caught sight of the haunted look in her eyes. He had been listening to the conversation, and suddenly wanted to know what it was about the twins that had caused such a reaction. He hadn't seen anything like it from her since she first saw Yeul. He suddenly realized she knew them or knew of them. He gritted his teeth. Now was not the time to get into this.

He grabbed Elle's arm and turned her to face the front of the path and got her walking again. Her feet started moving automatically, and as soon as they were going, he dropped his voice and spoke. "Now is not the time to be distracted. If you have something to say, put it aside until after we face the beast."

Elle swallowed and jerked her arm from his hand. After a moment, she looked up at him. "Have no worries that I'll be distracted or put anyone in danger. I've been in tough situations before. I know how to work on a team, and I know my job."

He watched her eyes for several moments. Once he was sure whatever had been bothering her was no longer in her eyes, he nodded. Nothing else was said after that as the group marched to where the beast was supposed to be waiting.

Despite how tense the walk started out, after nearly an hour, quiet conversations started up between the group again. The only ones that did not speak at all were the Ballad twins, but that could have been because they were scouting ahead and were too far ahead to join the rest. Even Caius lost whatever stick he had jammed in his nether regions and caught himself laughing occasionally as Laer told the other two about some of Elle's mishaps during practice.

She rolled her eyes when Laer nudged her in the ribs during a particular retelling. She had no problem with it, as he had conveniently left out part of the story. She raised a brow at him before she turned to the other men. "Sure, he knocked me on my ass. Damn near knocked me out too. What he isn't telling you is that I actually managed to get up afterward and proceeded to hand his ass to him. Moral of the story here is don't count your chickens before their hatched."

They all gave her strange looks, and she rolled her eyes before she tapped her chin for a moment. It was a moment before her eyes widened, and she grinned. "Think chocobos. Don't count your chocobos before they're hatched." They all blinked a couple of times before they nodded. That made more sense to them. She laughed at the looks, though they didn't understand why.

They were interrupted by the return of the twins. They both wore solemn looks and gave Caius a nod before the one that Elle believed to be called Ingens spoke. "Apprentice, We believe we are close. There are patches of ripped up earth just beyond the bend and great gouges in the walls."

Caius gave them a nod, and the rest of the men fell into formation behind them. Elle realized this was where stealth would come in handy and wanted to curse. She was great at sneaking up on perps in the city, but that was a whole different skill set. That was more about finding cover, whereas this was about knowing where to put your feet to not make noise. Still, she knew enough that as long as she only stepped exactly where the others did, she should be fine.

With that in mind, she fell in step behind Laer. Even though it was hard for her shorter legs to reach, she managed to follow in his footsteps. It wasn't long before he looked back to check on her. When he realized what she was doing, he shot her a grin. She glared at him, and he winked. He also shortened his gait. Elle wasn't sure what to think of that, but she wasn't going to complain.