final fantasy//endless abyss

[Captain Glomps]

Seph raised her eyebrow and snickered at the children "Guess that money means some of the poorer ones will be able to get themselves a present this year. You are such a soft touch deep down. But dont worry I'll keep your secret so long as we can stay as low profile as we can for such an unusual couple" she replied reaching over and poking Itaka in the chest. "Now, how about we both get a nice hot drink to have on the go while we explore unless you would like to give me the tour"

Alpha paused unsure quite what to say "Yeah well.. I did say in the letter that you have my blessings and that hasn't changed since. You could do a lot better for a choice of partner Just dont spring me the surprise of too many grandkids all at once though I would like at least one" he eventualy answered with a smile "And good luck to you keeping Mu in check"

Mu smiled back accepting the hug from Alpha "Thanks dad, I know your crap at expressing yourself. Though no need to rush in there guys, we haven't even set a date let alone made any plans for how we are going havethe ceremony" she added trying to calm Hebal down a little.

Aethys gave Hebal a nod allowing his hand to go limp while she violently shook it "Thanks for the congrats and there is a reason for a similarities for there is some viera blood somewhere down the line. Though speaking of viera, I saw another one of you just yesterday. Little one travelled with an elf. Think the elfm was trying to impress her" he remarked.

Hebal gasped and nodded her head "Well yes that would be Amane and Zadina. Amane is my daughter and I think she mentioned you briefly. Thanks for helping her win that big carbuncle doll by the way, that was really nice."

Runide shrugged "Well it was her fault for trying new tricks like that without the proper safety nets being put in place so I am still not to worried. Still lets go go go!" she encouraged pouncing across the gap into the open door of the first cart available.

"You should still be careful Runide, we wouldn't want you getting hurt" Amane replied jumping in after her feeling the cart sway ever so slightly as more weight shifted onto her "Theres pleanty fun to have on a trampoline so any risky moves should be done there not in the air though its a lot roomier in side here than it looks"  

[lack-of-originality]

Felina paused tutting at Cid telling him to leave the pot be "Well for us its a case of men are meant to become rulers rather than women. Theres been a few periods where one elven king had to have 11 daughters before getting a male heir. Is it maybe the opposite in your place and its the females that tend to take charge of all your centuar groups? Or was there some other reason we are missing" she also wondered.

Entia shook her head casting a spell on the fire to turn down the heat of the flames so the squirrel wouldnt burn while Felina finished her bit "No. Female centuars are just better with magic but... the herd was getting too many males at that point so it was encouraged for centuars to try and at least one daughter. The one who is made chief is usually the one with the greatest abilities as a seer and since women are better with magic they have a greater chance of being chief"

Satoshi watched for a moment longer seeing Yuudai stick his foot out stopping an unphased Ikota from trying to make friends with Gil again. "Well Haru has never been one to do the dressing up thing its always too uncool and childish for his liking. As for Yuudai he's probably spent half his spare time helping his class of kids to make their own little costume so will be sick of them by now. So lets show them how its done. It will be us soon" she added watching Hitomi and her sister confidently slink their way around the judges.  

[Pierre42]

Oassu nodded picking up Cid and swooshing him around to keep him entertained seeing he was getting restless "Well I guess those 11 daughters explains why your family has so much nobility in it, is Zadina descended from one of them then?" he asked.

Gil chuckled watching Enkidu shuffle slightly further away from Ikota seeing her eagerness to approach him again "I suppose so though it's a shame seems plenty of other adults are dressing up for the contest" he said snickering as he spotted Hitomi "You were right, Hitomi's dragon does look kinda funny" he said.

Itaka smirked rubbing where Seph had poked him slightly sore from her claw "Well sure but this town doesn't have so much poverty as the big city, its just customary to give gifts on dragon festival and it gets us free of them" he said "Sort of an Agralian tradition for strangers to give a small amount of coins to children if they can" he said directing them both onto the road going left so as to steer clear of the pavement "But yeah we'll get a drink, though I'm hardly local enough to know this town well enough for a tour" he said.

Zadina nodded tentatively stepping into the carriage before sitting down opposite Runide and Hebal "Well this certainly feels unstable" he said nervously as the cart swayed as he entered "Though shouldn't we pay the nice man running the ride?" he asked Runide since she sort of pounced right past him,  

[Captain Glomps]

Seph scratched her head surprised "well if you think that gets them off our backs sure. But too much of doing that and word gets around will probably result in us being chased down the streets by beggars. Something I have had happen before and would not like a repeat of. Though I am sure the children of Agralia would be happy enough and probably spent all their time hanging round the city gates over the holiday"

Aethys flinched surprised by the suden hug of gratitude from Hebal "Well umm it was no big deal. I just have a soft spot for kids with good mannners. Though theres really no need to do that so tightly" he groaned eventually managing to break free.

"Well I would invite you all inside but my trailor is a bit small for everyone to squeeze in so how about we take a walk and find somewhere sunny for a sit down" Mu suggested barely able to stop herself from laughing knowing that the attention was probably driving her fiance mad.

Runide shook her head "No wai the rides are all free formthe ragon festival not that theres ever many people about or staying with the circus over the season except for family and the odd friend of a performer. That also means no queues for anything which is also good"

Amane shuffled along allowing Zadina more room since he was the largest person on board "well thats still really nice of them to do that for the festival. Guess it will keep the younger family members who are visiting entertained also. We have nothing like this at my place over the festival. Just dancing in the street and music mostly and the odd snowball fight."  

[lack-of-originality]

Felina nodded "Well yes because my dad comes from one of them because the king died without producing an heir in battle and Zadina's father is my dads brother. Yeah it all ties in and leaves me with many distant relatives I will never meet not that it bothers me too much. The ones I have met were mean"

Corella frowned "Well they can't all be that bad. I know you have problems with our second cousin though no idea why she doesnt like us so much. But it's Elithana who gets all the bad treatment from her. Remember that one time when... hehe never mind Eli sure showed her"

Entia tilted her head "Siblings and family always argue but doubt anyone really dislikes anyone in a family without good reason. Maybe you should talk more and get to know eachother better so you fight less" she recommended.

Satoshi snickered watching the clumsy final moves from her friend "Well they probably wont win but they will have had fun and Hitomi isnt the competitive type anyway. Though you are welcome to try and get my brothers to participate next year if you decided you would like to come back here and aren't too busy with other things related to work. Well I would hope you like my home enough to be willing to return"  

[Pierre42]

Oassu smirked slightly "Well it's not unheard of nobles to be all backstabby and tricky to their relatives, apparently Mineerin has a relatively bloody history in it's nobility to achieve succession" he said

Gil nodded "Sure it seems nice enough to me, specially nice places to bathe and relax" he said stretching slightly in the dragon "Though it might be your turn to come to Goug with me for the next Dragon Festival" he said "Assuming I'm not working over it of course" he said.

Itaka snickered "What on earth did you do to get beggars tailing you?" he asked thinking it was funny "Yeah some folks do that though not all travellers will do it I just didn't wanna be stuck all day with our chocobos being stalked, not that Chobi would complain I'm sure" he said

Zadina nodded "This will be a first for both of us Amane, the circus has never really came anywhere near Yithra's lands and so I've never really seen metal contraptions like this before, I don't think humans or demons have been building them for long" he said examining the carriage.  

[Captain Glomps]

Seph shook her head "Oh no Chobi would love that though she really doesnt need a boost to her ego I dont think. But honestly, show a little but of sympathy to one beggar being beaten by guards for being in the street and next thing you know they all think you are loaded and won't leave you alone. Though you know we could always dress up with chocobos as dragons" she suggested jokingly causing a surprise kweh from Chobi.

Runide scratched her head "I dunno... we've had it for centuries apparently and once upon a time demons and dwarves got along really well. We are both decent at construction its just that demon technology is usually based around magic more like floating platforms and teleportation devices. My dad got an apprentiship with dwarves when he came here after the war but I find his lectures boring so dont know that much" she yawned.

Amane smiled making a small squeak from avoiding making an "aww" sound. A moment later she rubbed her ear while she figured out how to work the seatbelt. "Oh well that could be interesting if you paid attention. I've seen one of Zadina's friends teleport and it looks like it could be something really useful to be able to do"

Hebal hesitated looking around for a moment seeing people read to move "Umm we can walk but first? This may sound silly but may I have a look around your little cabin. I've always wanted to see what its like inside one of these and if there are any cool things backstage. I bet you both have some nice stuff for your shows"

Mu raised her eyebrow "Well sure I dont see why not though if you like the costumes maybe we can find you one for spare to take home later as a little dragon festival present" she laughed surprised to see Hebal dash in dragging Jeckhart alone with her in an attempt to get him more involved.

"Well... your friend definately has some positive energy. If only some of our performers could get a bit of that we would never need to shut to rest occasionally" Aethys remarked glad that his caravan was too far away to just casually snoop into.

Alpha chuckled and nodded his head "Yep shes a handful but shes good at boosting morale with her nature so who am I to complain. Bet your getting used to being petted like that now so no big a deal about that either" he added teasingly.  

[lack-of-originality]

Felina sighed "I guess thats true though we aren;t really a bloody nobility though theres lots of covert political alliences and all sorts that go on. It's really hard to know who to trust sometimes which is why it is best to stay out of that circle if you can. Probably also why dad was always so encouraging of us to speak our minds and make decisions"

Entia meanwhile shrugged and took the meat away from the heat ready to divide up "Your ways seem silly. When we have problems we usually just duel it out and the voctor gets to choose how things are done. Unless its something that effects all of us and in that case we all debate it amongst eachother"

Satoshi approvingly nodded "That sounds like a good plan though ideally it would be sooner than a years time that we went to Goug. I take it then that you have friends there close enough to maybe want to celebrate with" she asked preparing herself.  

[Pierre42]

Oassu snickered "Yeah cause that's a fair way to decide anything, it's not always good to just let the strongest fighter pick and choose what gets done" he said with a shrug not wanting to push Entia further since she was currently holding his breakfast "But eh perhaps it works in small communities." he added rather-unconvincingly

Gil nodded "Well yeah there's the gadgeteer show which is before then so we'll be in Goug before then but while I'm not sure I know any of them personally enough excepting the king to call myself a friend they like me well enough there and it's the only place where a permanent residence is kept for me" he said.

Itaka nodded "Yeah they'll do that though in Agralia most beggars were actually well kept and fed because they were in the employ of the thieves guild" he said "They live on the streets and listen out for information, we fed them and gave them a warm place to stay at night" he said scratching his chin "Doesn't really bear thinking how they'll cope now that the guilds have been driven out of Agralia." he said grimly

Zadina tiled his head surprised "I wouldn't have known Demons and Dwarves were friends at some point, especially years ago when everyone was all mad and violent" he said gasping slightly as the carriage shunted roughly before slowly moving around and up readjusting himself once the movement slowed "Wella anyway yes Miss Seph probably has that power now being a time mage, I have that spell myself in my book but it's not in my standard training so I can't really cast it as well as she can probably" he said

Jeckhart gasped as Hebal dragged him on in "It's ok Miss Hebal I can walk!" he exclaimed eventually breaking free when they stopped in the cabin. "Er...it's a shame it's a little messy" he said noticing various clutter and clothes scattering the floor "Probably from Alpha shaking the cabin.." he muttered.  

[Captain Glomps]

Seph smiled putting her hand on Itaka's shoulder "Well, information is a very useful thing to have so if they maintain their ability to collect it. You can sell information for a fortune if you get that right bit for the right sort of person. Alpha managed to make a good living off stuff like that, kinda sad how many people want to blackmail others and have people spy on their partners to see if they are cheating and..." she trailed off snickering as a passing Chocobo appeared to bow at them with their rider as they passed. "Point is most of them will find a way to survive. Desperate people always work efficiantly"

Hebal ducked down instinctively feeling uncomfortable with the low ceilings "Yeah that probably had something to do with it but at least they are nice cllothes that dont look too hard to iron. Nice bed to but.... does the small size of this place bother you as much as me?" she asked.

Mu meanwhile poked her head in curious as to what was going on in her house "Yeah try not to stand on anything or break stuff. Not your fault the floor is like that. It's not ever this messy on a normal day" she grumbled.

Amane gripped the railing in front of them tightly in surprise at the sudden movement "Well thats a useful thing to do but here we go, glad it doesnt travel any faster though so we can see the view. I didn't realise just how dusty the landscape really was here" she added once they had started gaining height.

Runide giggled thinking their reactions were silly "Yeah Bangaa land isn't really my kind of scenery. I like elf and viera places and anywhere with lots of places to climb not that we get many of those unless in the city. That place is ok too but the stone doesn't feel nice on my claws. Also might I add not everyone was mad and violent in olden times. Some I'll bet were quite charming"  

[lack-of-originality]

Entia looked blankly at Oassu a moment before she distributed out the meat "Never said all duels were fighting ones but personal issues are no big deal so no need for other ways to settle things as silly as who should claim what meal that night. Some people even choose to duel with insult trading" she explained placing the scraps in each members hands.

Corella smiled managing not to shudder in horror at the thought of picking up and eating with her hands "Thank you but I would say thats more a competition than a duel but so long as all important things are done by the chief then I guess thats fine"

Felina paused but smiled and thanked Entia after it clicked it should have been obvious there wasn't any cutlery around "Whatever wors I suppose and thank you for sharing your food with us and looking out for us while we've been here. So did you eat with your fingers while in Agralia?" she whispered to Oassu.

Satoshi stepped forward noting only two dragons were before them "Sounds like a plan still. Though will need to clean that house first. I'll bet it's really dusty from not being used or cluttered from you hoarding all kinds of interesting objects" she guessed puffing out her costume chest strutting forward now there was only one in front of them.  

[Pierre42]

Oassu frowned giving Felina a look "Well not usually only certain kinds of foods are meant to be eaten with your hands but it's not really a big deal" he said tucking into his piece of squirrel happily.

Gil shrugged "I think there's a housekeeper or something there paid for by the king to keep things orderly so it might not be too bad" he said straightening out his arms to various points of the dragon hoping to use his extra arms to make more unusual moves with them.

Itaka smiled politely as Annabell returned the bow with a kweh "I suppose so though beggars are hardly trained spies, clever folks will probably keep information locked away in a secure place" he said before turning Annabell to follow the other chocobo "This is the way to the plaza the parade will be going down in" he said.

Jeckhart nodded "It's probably worse for you because of your tall ears" he said looking around slightly "I'm a little surprised you don't have a larger commode, if I was going to live in a caravan I'd want something a little more sizable" he said.

Zadina mumbled something quietly about it probably being sand and not dust before looking out the window "It's a shame there's not really much to see outside the carnival, just lots of sand I see how people can get lost so easily out here" he said.  

[Captain Glomps]

Seph braced herself then smiled glad that Chobi had at least remembered her manners unlike what had happened earlier with other travellers birds "The smartest of folk know that the only truly secure place to keep things is in your head. It can save your life when you know things your enemies want to know and cant find anything else that can tell them" she concluded steering Chobi away and back on course "I forgot about the parades being a big thing for the dragon festival. Only been in one once and wasn't something I ovely enjoyed"

"Apparently if you stay out there too long without much to drink the place gets a lot more interesting because you see things which aren't there hehe. One guy we found had got lost when we were travelling here had managed to convince himself we were all fairies and all a part of his dream. That was a funny one" Runide recalled.

Amane gasped "Why that sounds pretty scary to me and I'm sure us beign covered in fur are more vulnerable to stuff like that happen. But your cute enough to be a fairy. Not sure about the rest of your demon pals though" she added petting the top of the demons head.

Mu shook her head "At the end of the day something has to pull those caravans and to overload them with bigger things would only hurt the shoopuffs. Gotta keep the animals in good health as they are part of the show as well as useful travel buddies. They might be big but they arent as strong as people often guess"

Hebal paused making a swift exit out the caravan sensing Mu's discomfort at her things being looked through "Well I am sure it is a very nice caraven if you dont mind the lack of space because I could nearly bang my ears on the door frames. Though next time Alpha definately no shaking like that again" she tutted.  

[lack-of-originality]

Felina lowered her head slightly then cautiously picked off little bits of her new meal "Umm ok then I just figured cutlery wouldnt have been a big thing for kids in the poorer parts of Agralia, more just eating messily glad to have a good meal is what I pictured" she explained eventually giving Entia a nod of approval "Tastes good for sure"

Corella meanwhile reluctantly took a much smaller bite but soon smiled glad the food hadn't tasted as horrible as she thought it looked then helped herself to a carrot. "Hey Entia after this, could you maybe show us around your tribe a little more because you are certainly an interesting bunch of people" she requested curious as why some of the other centuars appeared to be dancing across from them.

Enita nodded following Corella's gaze "Why certainly I can show you around and introduce you to a few people and those people there. They just dancing because they are in a good mood and trying to keep in high spirits despite it being so dark and cold and little food choices as a result"

Satoshi raised her eyebrow under her costume thinking that Gil was making an interesting if silly pose "Well its good to see you're taken care of. Sweet talk Felina enogh and you might get a nice elven house to. But enough of that... for now. Shall we dance" she snickered prancing forward in costume the moment the sound from the gong came for them.  

[Pierre42]

Oassu grimaced wondering if Felina had forgotten entirely before swallowing hard and coughing slightly "Well the Merchant's district is hardly the poorest section of Agralia, not the wealthiest but it was fine for food" he said nudging Felina knowingly and nodding at Corella seeing she was distracted by her food.

Gil chuckled "I hardly think I need a house in every area but sure I'll try and not look too silly up here" he said swishing slightly as they approached the judges letting Satoshi go first.

Itaka shrugged "Well we're not going to be joining it, there's a small space where children can join in if they like but it's all very by-the-books here they spend money on a couple of big things for it" he said slowing down as the crowds thickened with other people moving in their direction.

Zadina frowned "That all sounds rather scary to me too, I hope the man was ok and you helped him" he said "Would hate getting lost out here it really does look all the same" he said as they reached the highest point "Ooh it's a little scary up here....that's our airship over there!" he said pointing across the desert to where the airship was parked "The big one with the red stripes" he said.

Jeckhart agreed quietly stepping out after Hebal "It was rather messy in there Captain" he said "Though couldn't you get the dragon to help you pull some things, that must be difficult to contain otherwise would be best to just have it moving with you no?" he said.