Place: Kigaeno's Mountain Hideout, Cleyran ashes, North Gate
Date: 12/13 February 1800
Rating: low
Characters:
Burmecia, King
Claire, Moon Maiden
Cleyra, High Priest
Kigaeno Moondancer
Learie, burmecian refugee
Mogu, Kigaeno's apprentice

Mogu stepped out of the front door, licking his claws on one hand and his maw idly, before spotting the King standing with the High Priest seeming to look up at the sun which was now rising into the sky.

"Hey 'your highnesses'." Mogu stretched out and yawned, "Master's awake and is going to scout out things a bit. You guys want to come or not?"

"Will the people be safe here with none of us here?" the king furrled his brow and looked back at the short creature. The High Priest just sighed and nodded.

"There's no reason to think they won't be!" Mogu knew that if someone stayed behind it'd be him, and he had hoped noone would suggest one of them doing so. After a few brief moments he sighed, "Right right, I'll stay behind. Its what I do best."

Kigaeno came out as Mogu was speaking and lay a hand on his head, giving him a pat, "I trust you and will come back saftly apprentice. Tell the others we'll be back by tomorrow this time at the very latest."

"And if you don't?"

Kigaeno ignored the question, he had no intentions of not coming back, and Mogu folded his arms.

"Very well." the High Priest propped himself up on his staff and went towards the chocobo stables, reluctantly, behind the much more eager King who walked beside Kigaeno. The Priest still did not trust this man. In fact if not for the King going as well he'd be sure it was some sort of a trap to do him in and take his place. He was tired of hearing that Kigaeno saved them, more and more they took the side of the very one some of them had wanted gone ten years ago.

Mogu sat on the front deck on the home, arms folded and looking a bit dejected. Master was leaving him out a lot lately. He understood that these things were important, but still, he wanted to be part of the main action. Kigaeno had spoken to him of these things forever, and now here they were, and he was no part of them.

"You look almost heart broken." Learie had come up without him knowing, and the lady burmecian sat down beside him as she watched her kids playing in the distance. She habitually treated Mogu like a child because of his size, even though he certainly wasn't 'that' much shorter than them to his own eyes.

"Master has gone with the King and Priest, they will be back here by this time tomorrow." he spoke flatly, as if to ward her away.

"You feel left out? I'm sure he leaves you here for your own safty." Learie gave him a kind yet sad smile, followed by both their silence.

"I only wish to help.." Mogu finally spoke, "I will not see the humans drive another species into the ground. I will tear their cities to the ground with my bare hands before I will let them do that." he looked at the ground spitefully, "And if I can't do that then I'll die trying."

"You almost remind me of Dan.." she felt an ache of pain as she remembered how he had stood up for her and his children in Cleyra, and how he'd been charred to death by a black mage for trying. "You're the last of your kind?"

"Yes." Mogu offered no explanation.

She thought better than to ask of one, "Thank you Mogu, for staying here to protect us." with those words she stood and left him alone to stare at the ground some more.

Even from the distance it had been apparent, yet they went all the way, just to be certain of the extent. Surely enough, there was nothing left of the giant Cleyran tree but a city sized stump.

"It's gone, how could it be this thoural? It was the size of a fucking mountain for crying out loud!" Kigaeno sat on his chocobo without getting off and propped his head on his hands, rubbing his forhead.

"Burmecia..." the King placed a hand on Kigaeno's shoulder from atop his own mount, "We have to check on Burmecia. We can't wait."

Kigaeno reluctantly brought his head back up, giving it another glance around, "Damnit. The sand makes it impossible to tell if there are tracks leading away... " he had no way of telling if there were additional survivors or where they would have went.

The High Priest was silent, staring into space as if his mind had been sucked out of him. His home, the only place he'd ever known. He'd never even been outside of it until they escaped. How could it be gone.

"Come Priest Cleyra." Kigaeno's words were met with a stare from the High Priest, and he turned his ride to trot off with a shake of his head.

"Priest, I sympathize with your loss, and I vow that Burmecia will do everything in its power to... but we have to move quickly. We need information.

"You people... they are partially responsible for this!" the great priest began to loose his priestly manner.

"What?"

"They may have never came for us, they may have never even known we existed! You drew them here with your... society, your soldiers... Had you been as we.."

"Silence old man!" Kigaeno lacked the diplomatic demeanor of the King, and wasn't afraid to show it, "This is neither the time or the place. We continue now. It is up to you if you want to go with us or go back to the camp." With this Kigaeno turned his ride and was followed by the King. The High Priest turned and angled his own chocobo, and went back towards the camp.

Hours later, Kigaeno and the King stood at North Gate. They had already went to Burmecia to find the city relatively ruined, though most of it still standing. It would probably be salvagable, assuming enough people survived to return and salvage it. There were not civilians there, and it was overridden with monsters.

What information they'd found by stopping in villages and asking was scarce at best. Alexandria had apparently attacked Lindblum and overtaken them in a matter of a day, even faster than it'd taken them to overtake Burmecia. Afterwards the troops had withdrawn from both Burmecia and Lindblum as quickly as they came. Rumors spread of how Queen Brahne had been killed in battle, and how the new Queen wanted peace. Further rumors spread, that Alexandria itself had been destroyed by some unknown force shortly afterwards. What exactly were they dealing with?

Now standing at North Gate, it wasn't clear what had occured. There had been some sort of a battle here, but there wasn't a single Burmecian soldier to be seen, so who had killed all these Alexandrians? From the looks of it, they had been killed while gathering to move back into Alexandria.

The thump of feet landing behind them as they passed under the gate caused them to turn, and they had their answer for at least part of the mystery.

"Sir Fratley!" the King stated, astonished.

"Sir what?" Kigaeno had heard the name, and it was the name of one of their dragoons that had supposibly been lost years ago. He tilted his head curiously.

"I regret to inform you regent, that I have been most un diplomatic." Fratley gave a short bow, "and that I still have no memory of who you are."

"You seem to be quite efficent without it. Word of my son?" as the King spoke again Kigaeno began to feel suddenly left out of the conversation.

"Lord Puck made it out saftly, but then went back to Alexandria and I cannot account for him after that. Kildea and a number of Cleyran civilians made it out and went towards Daguerro, so they said. Claire also made it out, and I left her in the protection of villagers. What about Miss Freya?" Fratley wondered if she had made it out or not, and hoped she did so he could ask her questions later about their past.

"Claire?" Kigaeno interjected, "She's alive? We should go there next. We have the High Priest and other survivors at my place. We should gather everyone."

Fratley gave him a brief nod, wondering if this was someone he should remember or not.

"I have no word from Freya, she left the temple shortly before Kigaeno portaled us to safty.." the King seemed grim.

"I saw a red clothed dragoon knight and several others escape by boarding the airships before I arrived at the temple." Kigaeno drew better attention from the other two with those words, and it seemed that there was some relief to be had amist all this loss.

"Others?" Mogu's words to the High Priest were to the point as he approached from the chocobo stables alone. Mogu sat exactly where he had been when they'd left, though he'd been on rounds around the compound multiple times since earlier.

"I left them after Cleyra to do what they will." the High Priest walked by him with no intention of talking to him.

"Coward." Mogu had tried to hold his tongue, as there was no point in getting the 'leader' of the cleyrans angry at them, but he was unsuccessful. He was tired of this person's attitude and of the priest's contempt for his Master.

The High Priest paused, and continued walking to sit in the grass quietly where he had been standing before.

Claire saw the figures approaching the village from where she sat and stood up to get a better view, walking out past the front fencing as they neared. Two figures riding chocobos and one on foot. It didn't take her long to recognize the one as Sir Fratley, and one of those on chocobo as the King that had been at Cleyra. So he had found more survivors? She brightened as she walked out to meet them.

As she neared the group, she eyed the third familiar party member, wondering at where she had seen him before. She stood still, and allowed them to approach her, smiling at Fratley, "You came back!" Just as he'd promised.

"It's good to see you again Miss Claire." Fratley nodded to her and gave her a brief hug, trying to be as none intimate as possible despite the former occurance between them.

"You've grown." it wasn't Fratley's voice that responded next, it was Kigaeno's. And with that she immediately recognized him.

"Kigaeno! You're back! What.." she leaned close as if trying to make sure it was him.

"I had to come back Claire. I looked for you but didn't find you. I'm glad you got out.." Kigaeno reached a hand out which she immediately took.

"We'll discuss things on the way back, its getting late again." the King was always wanting to get things done. He had been stagnant too long, and it was time to piece things back together.

Kigaeno pulled Claire up to ride on the back of his chocobo with him, and she seemed to glow as her mind flooded with memories of her former mentor. It seemed that her life was suddenly very full of heros coming for her, and for a little while longer as they rode, she forgot about her problems.

Most of the trip back was spent answering Claire flurry of questions rather than make future plans. Who else had Kigeano rescued? Where had he been? What had Fratley found out? Was the High Priest also alive? The beat off the onslaught of queries the best they could, before finally she ran out of them, and for the last part of the journey everything seemed quiet.

Kigaeno felt Claire hug around him and snooze against his back, and he smiled. For once it wasn't a smirk or a wicked grin, it was just a smile of contentment. Claire's return to him was like finding a lost daughter, and he felt now that he was again part of a family. He also thought about how surprised, and pleased, she'd be to find out they had recovered the harp on their way out.

Then nearly a full day after they left, they arrived back at the quiet complex where Kigeano lived. With the two new members of their group, they were now ready to begin preparations to return to Burmecia. They only hoped others would be able to return as they were.