shiva_dancing_backup

Krile had, unsurprisingly, managed to get herself lost. That wasn’t so bad when she was just wandering, but she’d heard rumors about a scientist seeking help in Esthar. The man at the chocobo farm where she’d been staying had told her only that Esthar was across the sea. Across the sea she went, but she ended up near a place called Balamb instead. She had elected to spend at least a night here before seeking more accurate directions to Esthar.

It was a rather small island, really, with only town that wasn’t very big. She’d seen enough during her travels to write off the entire place as boring. After checking into the hotel and dropping off her belongings, she decided to take a walk. All this water, the crying birds, the docked ships…it was the same as any harbor. She spied a pier and decided to sit at the end of it and dangle her feet in the water, something she hadn’t done since she was a child.

Her plan probably would have quite well if a soaked blonde head hadn’t surfaced a few feet away from where she sat. Quickly, she drew her feet out of the water and stared at the person who had apparently felt the need to take a swim. At least, she hoped that was what had happened. “Are you okay?” Krile called, ducking as a gull swooped by her head.

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Rikku ducked under the water a bit, startled by the sudden comment. But she was soon back up again, looking for where the voice had come from. It seemed that a young woman was talking to her. The dripping we blond girl couldn't help but grin a bit as she swam over to the pier where the girl was sitting.

"Oh yeah I'm fine". She assured her, and gave her a somewhat awkward thumbs up to prove it. "Nothing like a little swim to brighten things up! You should try it too y'know."

As if to prove her point, Rikku did a little backstroke until she was a few feet away from the pier. Swimming had been fun by itself, but now she realized what she'd really been wanting was someone to talk to!

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“I don’t have any other clothes handy,” Krile said, using the first excuse she could find. It would be different if this girl were someone she knew, or at least if Krile knew for sure that she were real. Although she could usually tell the difference between a spirit and a living human, she was disoriented by her unfamiliar surroundings and lack of sleep.

Finally, she decided to just ask. “So…who are you?”

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"Oh geez I'm sorry!" Rikku exclaimed, realizing she hadn't even introduced herself. Swimming back over to the pier she pulled herself up onto it, dangling her legs over the edge as she drip dried in the warm afternoon sunshine.

"I'm Rikku." She introduced herself. "What's your name?"

The girl didn't look too happy to be there. Was it Rikku's fault? Maybe she'd violated some unknown custom about introductions and they'd gotten off on the wrong foot.

Contemplating this possibility, Rikku's mouth made a little downward turn as she mulled it all over.

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“I’m Krile.” She watched the other girl for a while, somehow amused by the sudden change in her mood. Krile had never been given to such drastic swings herself, being a bit more grounded than the average teenage girl.

“Is this your fishing stuff?” she asked, finally taking notice of the abandoned pole. By the look of it, Rikku had not had much luck in her fishing endeavors. “Hm…what were you using for bait?”

Krile wondered if Rikku could direct her to Esthar. She started to ask, but felt it would be rude since they were in a conversation. She'd ask later.

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"Nice to meet you Krile." Rikku gave her a big grin, happy to have not offended her. She looked over in the direction Krile was and nodded. "Yeah that's my rod. Well..sort of...okay not really. It was just lying out here on the pier so I decided to use it!" She laughed nervously when she realized how bad that sounded, then stopped as a breath got caught in her throat.

"Bait....? OH! I knew I was forgetting something!" she said and then laughed, having not put any bait on the end of the hook. "Wow, that makes the last 3 hours a complete waste of time." Rikku laughed again sheepishly shaking a bit more water out of her hair and causing the colored beads to clink together occasionally.

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The silvery blonde adventurer walked through the harbor. He seemed unnoticeable, a simple traveller to most. However his hands were busy, grabbing stuff left and right. Locke snatched an apple as he tossed a rock into a pile some small boxes, distracting the owner as he came upon the dock.

Two girls were there, both blondes, though the one was a bit young for his liking. Now while he was no Edgar by any chance, Locke did indeed like the ladies, and after his mistaken identity failure at Fynn and his almost-certain confirmation that Celes wasn't here, it was time for Locke to get back into the game.

He walked up to the two and and spoke, alerting them to his presence. "Hi, what's up" he said, taking a bite of the apple

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Krile was surprised to catch herself actually laughing with Rikku. How long had it been since she’d laughed? Probably not as long as she thought, but things seemed to be bad again everywhere, and such things had a way of affecting her.

“Oh…your hair’s really pretty. Did you do those yourself?” she asked, looking at the intricate braids and bright beads. Before Rikku could answer, however, another voice spoke from behind them. Krile turned to see who had spoken, and she was for some reason embarrassed to see a man, perhaps because Rikku was wearing very little.

“Hello,” she said nervously, wondering where he had come from. The harbor was still very quiet, and the three of them seemed to be the only people around.

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Locke grinned as he crouched down to look at the small girl. "Hi! I'm Locke, what's your name?" he asked. The girl reminded him of Relm, though he doubted she could paint as well

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"I'm Krile. Rikku...do you know him?" Made very uncomfortable by Locke's closeness, Krile scooted away from him and toward Rikku. In the three years since her journey with Bartz and the others, she had met many people, good and bad.

This guy, she felt, was not the most trustworthy. She didn't feel exactly threatened, but she certainly didn't want to spend any more time with him than necessary. "Um...can we help you?"

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"Well actually my-" Rikku was cut off by the arrival of a new person. She turned and observed the bandanna clad man with some interest. "Hey" She said with a slight grin, and then glanced down as Krile scooted closer to her.

"Nope, can't say I've ever seen him before. Locke huh...pretty cool name." She said with a nod. Maybe she wasn't the best judge of character, because Rikku didn't seem to sense anything that bad about him.

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"I could say the same about Rikku" Locke said as he took a seat, noticing Krile being a bit hesiate. "I'm not a bad guy, I'm a adventurer and treasure hunter!" he said as he grinned, finishing his apple before glancing around for somewhere to toss it, finally deciding to put the core in his pocket until he found somewhere else

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Krile's ears perked up. An adventurer? Bartz was an adventurer, and they got along fairly well...most of the time. And wasn't she, essentially, an adventurer herself these days? Still, she had forged no new friendships since leaving Bal, and she was hesitant to do so now.

"I...I'm sorry. I don't mean to offend you. Oh, and don't leave the core in your pocket. It'll stink up your clothes. The fish'll eat it if you toss it into the water." Maybe Locke knew how to get to Esthar...

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Locke nodded as he took the core out, tossing it to the fishes as they jumped up, grabbing the small red and green-ish white fruit. "Thanks for the info Krile, though how did you know that?" he asked, pointing at the fish. "Oh well....you remind me of someone!" Locke suddenly said, snapping his fingers as he remembered the young blonde artist.

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"Well, they are harbor fish. They're used to eating whatever gets tossed to them. Except an empty hook," she teased, nudging Rikku with her elbow.

"As nice as it's been meeting the both of you, I really should get going. But first, I guess you can tell me who I remind you of," Krile said to Locke, already standing and preparing to leave.

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Locke grinned as the girl got up to leave. "Well sorry to keep you waiting." he said as the girl asked him who she reminded him of. "Ah, young blonde girl, artist. Her name's Relm Arrowny" he said before frowning, "though she's a bit more foul-mouthed" he laughed

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Rikku blushed a little in embarrassment about the teasing, but laughed anyway. Better to be teased for a silly and admittedly humorous mistake like this than for her fear of lightning.

"Ooh an artist, is he famous?" Rikku asked with interest, grabbing her skirt and detached sleeves. She was done swimming, may as well get dressed now. The daggers she picked up to reattach to her belt resembled the cogs of a clock...but with blades attached.

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Locke glanced at Rikku as he shook his head. "Not yet, she's rather young though. Maybe some day"

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"Well," Krile said, heading to the end of the pier for certain now, "next time you see her, wish her luck for me."

She turned around just once more, remembering that she had never asked for the information she needed. "Before I go, do either of you know how I can get to a place called 'Esthar'?"

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"Nope, not that I know of" Locke said, shaking his head in apology

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Rikku shook her head as well. "Esthar? Never heard of it.But there's a lot of places around here I haven't been to yet." She placed one hand on her chin, swirly green eyes glancing upward in thought.

"Why are you heading there? And...what kind of a place is it?" She asked curiously.

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Locke frowned as he reached into his pocker and pulled out a map, where he got a map he didn't know........oh wait, he nabbed from the airship lot, that's right. He opened it up before nodding, and closing it, passing the folded map to Krile. "Here this might help"

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"Well, even I don't really know what kind of place it is. I was just heading there because...well, have you heard about the virus? I hear they're researching there, and I wanted to help. But if I can't even manage to get there, I don't know what kind of help I'll be," Krile answered sadly, looking back and forth between the two people in front of her.

She stepped forward and took the map in Locke's hand, opening it to see if she could make any sense of it. "The truth is...this is the biggest world I've ever seen. I don't usually get so lost."

After locating Balamb on the map, Krile traced a quick line to the place labeled as Esthar. She laughed quietly for a moment. "Well, it really was across the sea. I just took the wrong boat, I guess." She folded the map again and handed it back to Locke. "Thank you. You might need this again."

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Rikku blinked. "A virus? And you're heading right into it? Shouldn't you try to get some outside information first, instead of risking your life like that? Is there anyone on the inside that you can contact?" Normally Rikku wouldn't be so careful, but diseases were a lot harder to deal with than fiends.

"What about you?" She asked, glancing over at Locke. "Where are you going?" She was curious because everyone in this town seemed to be going somewhere else. Including herself eventually.

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Locke shook his head. "I'm not going anwhere actually" he said, before tapping his chin. "Well I'm going to the Garden tomorrow, but besides that. Nope, no where else"

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