Path of a Summoner

Wren must have managed to doze off at some point during the trip, only realizing this because she found herself waking up. She pulled herself off the floor, realizing that the groggy feeling had vanished. She felt considerably better, to her surprise.

There was Twill, right beside her, and Merris had vanished once more, it seemed.

“Merris went to the upper deck,” said Twill, nodding to her. “I get the feeling he doesn’t like closed spaces. He stayed for longer than I thought he would, but he came back a few minutes ago to tell us we’ll be docking soon. I was just about to wake you, actually.”

“We’re… here already?” asked Wren.

“It probably seems like a shorter trip when you can sleep through the whole thing,” said Twill, chuckling. “But yes, we’ll be on the beach of Besaid island shortly.”

It didn’t quite feel real to Wren, though she couldn’t decide why. She felt like something odd had happened to her while she slept, like she’d had a dream that she just couldn’t remember. Images that came to mind were glowing lights, an unfamiliar city skyline, and a night sky illuminated so brightly that she could hardly see any stars.

Those images started to fade as she heard a bell ringing from the upper deck. She got to her feet slowly, gathering her bag, then looked to Twill, who was already standing.

“I guess we’d better get ready to go,” said Twill. “Merris took his things with him. I guess he expected to spend most of the trip there.”

Twill collected their things as Wren passed it to them, then turned to the door to head up the stairs.

The voices of the crew rose up as they pulled into the dock. It was much smaller than the docks of Luca, which Wren has expected, but it was so peaceful. The S.S. Liki was the only ferry between the two islands, and the only other boats were a couple of fishing boats used off the coast, and Wren could still see them in the distance away from the island.

As expected, Merris was quick to catch up with the two of them as they stood on the deck. They stood at the railing, looking at the beach as the gangplank was lowered. Finally, they could deboard, and wasted no time in doing so.

Wren’s legs still felt wobbly once she was on dry land, still expecting the heavy sway of the waves rocking the boat. It almost felt like she’d never get used to being on solid ground again, but she knew better.

“Feeling better?” asked Merris, as they crossed the soft white sand of the beach.

The sand started to fade into tall grass, as the forest started ahead of them. A clear path was cut through the land, even marked off with a thin rope railing to mark the cliff’s edge as they climbed.

“Oh yeah, I feel a lot better,” said Wren. “I’ve still got some bruises, but I’m fine. I feel amazing.”

“That’s good. It’s a bit of a trek before we reach the village, I’m told,” said Twill, laughing softly. “As long as we stick to the path, we should be able to find our way.”

Unfortunately, there was a slight complication. There was a very small crowd forming on the path ahead of them, and Wren recognized some of them as passengers from the boat.

As they approached, a couple of them turned to look at the newcomers, worried expressions on their face. One of them put a finger to their lips silently, using the other hand to point at what was blocking their way.

A large fiend shaped like a wild dog lie in the middle of the path, apparently asleep. It didn’t look like too much to handle for an experienced fighter, but the group was mostly comprised of tourists. It was no wonder none of them knew what to do.

Merris stepped forward, motioning to the other two.

“We’ll take care of it,” he said quietly, nodding to the small group that was anxiously waiting.

“Someone already ran for help,” said one of the tourists, a woman. “We can wait for them to come back.”

The three of them hadn’t been passed by anyone on the trail, so it seemed the person that had been sent ahead had gone to the village.

“The three of us can handle it,” said Twill reassuringly. “We’ve been traveling together for a short time now, but have already encountered fiends such as this one. As long as you all stay back here where you are, we can clear the path.”

Wren nodded fervently, reaching for her staff.

The group seemed to agree that it would save time, if they could take care of it, murmuring between themselves, all of them slowly migrating back even farther to stay out of their way.

As the three of them moved towards the fiend, Twill nodded to Wren. “It will be good practice for you. Focus on channeling your mana through the staff. It’s something you must feel.”

“I’ll do my best,” said Wren.

She felt her hands slip a little, palms sweating from nervousness, and had to keep telling herself that she would be fine. Twill kept assuring her that they and Merris could take care of things if she was struggling, but she wanted to learn from this experience too. Even if she couldn’t be the biggest help, she was going to learn.

Twill stepped forward first, delivering a jolt of lightning which woke the dingo quickly, the creature yelping and snarling as it started to its feet. They had its attention now.

A faster opponent than others he had fought, Merris had to keep up with it, his footwork fast enough to let him land a hit or two on it, but he had to stand clear in order to allow the other two to cast.

The dingo shook itself out, growling, and barreled towards them, its gaze settling on Wren as it charged her.

Wren raised her staff this time with confidence, readying herself. She hardly had time to think before she acted, the fiend moving far too quickly for that, but she did as Twill said, focusing as she had before.

As she cleared her mind, visualizing fire expelled from her staff surrounding the fiend, it happened. Fire, much stronger flames than before, erupted around the fiend. It was contained, not wild and grasping like her previous attempts had been, even as weak as her magic had been. The sheer amount of energy that was charging through her fingertips was almost shocking compared to her last attempt. She could feel it, just as Twill had instructed. The spell that she’d materialized was stronger than her beginner’s fire magic.

The fiend was severely burned, and before it could reach the three of them, it exploded into the same pyreflies Wren was accustomed to. Feathery, friendly, almost melancholy as they danced. Not like the cluster that had attacked her.

Twill’s eyes were somewhat wider than before as they looked at Wren, clearly impressed, but they said nothing. The spear from their back was removed as they prepared to send the banished spirit.

The pyreflies were dispersed quickly, and the tourists from the ferry finally relaxed, for the most part.

Merris gestured to the group, waving at them. “It’s safe to cross, but we’re gonna go on ahead to make sure there are no other fiends on the trail.”

Satisfied with that, both Wren’s group and the others began making progress towards the small town once again.

“You must have gotten some good practice in against that thing in the temple,” said Merris, ruffling Wren's hair playfully.

“I really didn’t,” she said, almost embarrassed as she smoothed her hair back into place. “I really didn’t do anything, I managed a fire spell, since that’s really all I know, but I didn’t do anything to it. Except maybe tickle it a little, but that’s it… It’s just because I did what Twill said. Besides… the thing I saw in the temple was a lot stronger than that fiend.”

“It was still impressive,” commented Twill, seeming pleased. “Perhaps we can work on other elemental spells as well, from here.”

“I’d like that,” said Wren. “I know you guys are supposed to be protecting me, but I want to pull my own weight too. If I can get strong enough that we can be a team instead of you just acting as my bodyguards…”

They came up over the last hill, looking down on the village cradled by the land.

Wren reached into her bag to take out her recording equipment, taking a decent shot of the village from above before the tourists caught up to them. Below, she could see people moving from hut to hut, going about their daily lives. The village seemed peaceful, almost lazy, an air as if it hadn’t changed in hundreds of years.

Of course, Wren knew that atmosphere must have been different, now that the village had a high summoner, several of her guardians, and a blitzball star to boot living in it. Clearly it attracted more visitors than it once had, but it was still a sleepy, pleasant little town.

Wren put her camera away after a few minutes, smiling to herself.

No matter what happened, she had made it here, and that’s what was important. Even if they turned her away at the door, that was fine with her. She still had more places to go, and more to see to complete her work. It was the love of the journey, for her.

Still, it didn’t hurt to hope that she could see Lady Yuna in person.