The Ronso people all watched us with both interest and some hostility. Their golden feline eyes leveled me with all the hatred of an entire race. The Ronso were a cat race, think big cats of the jungle, The deep blue of their fur was highlighted in places by silver. Their facial structure were either panther or jaguar, both elegant and ruthless predators. I got the feeling that the humans of this world were cruel to this powerful race. The Chief was surprisingly smaller than his his tribe, including the walking mountain I call Master Gunnery Sargent Hellfire. His muscle frame was sleek yet I could see them ripple with power. His silver mane of hair was long and thick, decorated with gold and white feathers, he wore a collar of those vary feathers about his shoulders and neck, making him look every inch the Lion. He held his spear easily, yet it was taller than him. I could taste the power rolling of the Chief. I would almost bet my very broken ship that this revered man could take on ten behemoths and lick himself afterwards. "Kyet, Welcome home. Who did Kyet bring?" She bowed to him out of respect.
For his people to show him so much difference, Khimari had to mean a great deal to them. "These are the Humans from Calm Lands, come up the mountain for their fallen ship. Prince saved Kyet, owe Life debt to Prince." Khimari nodded, a knowing look in his golden eyes. I Noticed his horn was white and broken, unlike the rest of his tribe. He watched us for a moment. I was surprised Hellfire didn't wilt from the intensity of his gaze. It was like he could see into your own soul. "I announce, Prince is now a Ronso, has soul of Ronso, I name him Brother of Ronso. Kyet, I give permission to fulfill debt." She bowed to Khimari and then the Ronso bowed to Khimari and then to Hellfire. Khimari held out that very spear he wielded to Hellfire. "Symbol of Tribe. Ronso Warriors use the Spear and Power of Fiends. Kyet will teach." The weapon had a 5-pointed spearhead with a hole in the middle, red tassels, and green and a yellow braided haft. "Called, Calamity Spear. Powerful weapon, for a powerful Ronso."
Hellfire accepted the weapon and bowed to Khimari. The weapon looked like it fit him better than the big ass sword did. Musaki walked forward to speak to Khimari. "I heard you helped Lady Yuna bring about the eternal calm, I just have a few questions for you. Did you see a ship fall, it would have been the size of a city?" Khimari studied Musaki, his golden eyes took seemed to make her tremor slightly, it was subtle, but I caught it before Musaki could mask it. Raising his claw tipped hand, Khimari pointed to the north exit of the village.
"Ship land in Zanarkand, stronger fiends in there. Must be stronger to go." Shani nodded in understanding then turned back to address me. "We have our direction Captain." I narrowed my gaze as I stared at the north gate leading further up the mountain. "We rest here tonight. Call a group meeting."
"Sir." Musaki saluted me and went back to speaking softly to Khimari, more than likely gathering information on Zanarkand to better prepare us for the next leg of our trip. I watched her work for a moment before I walked to the north exit. Something was pulling me towards that exit, call it a gut feeling, I knew this next leg would be harder than ever. I stood there for a few minutes, just inside the gate. I breathed in the chilling air and watched the wind blow small flurries of snow across the path. I could feel a weight on my shoulders and it wasn't the great sword strapped to my back. Musaki called my name, but I stayed there for a minute longer before turning to hear what my Leftenant had for me. First Leftenant Musaki had a skill, she could literally read a situation and know my next command without me speaking it out loud. It's what made her a good second in command.
"Report, Leftenant."
"Chief Khimari had allotted us a tent for the night. The tribe is preparing supper. We can save rations if we eat with them. Esqueezeme and Hellfire are waiting for your next orders. Kyet has given me a book on the different species of fiends we will face, this should help us with any upcoming battle strategies during our hike."
"Good, tell the men to meet me in the tent, we will have our meeting before the meal."
"Aye, Captain." She left me there, I glanced one last time up at the mountain before returning to my men. The black mountain was quiet, covered with a blanket of snow. The wind howled in the distance. I had to think about whether or not we were ready to take on this next problem.
I walked into the tent with a better game plan than just a head-on approach. First things first.
"Hellfire, your in charge of Kyet, partner off with her and learn all you can about the skills Khimari mentioned. Musaki says we aren't far from the chunk that broke off the half that landed in Zanarkand."
"Right, and judging by the Behemoth, we suck. Since we discovered magic, thanks to Hellfire, we should see if we can all use it." I nodded to Musaki as she voice her opinion on this newest development.
"Okay, side mission, we work towards learning these spells. We need to be prepared for whatever comes next. We are no longer top of the food chain. We need to fix that." I got their attention at this revelation I had by the north gate. We were the best at what we do and now we are the worst. I hate it.
"What if we do monster hunts between here and the ship in the calm lands, if we do enough runs it would give prince enough time to learn the skills he magically gained, and we can all get a boost in experience fighting the new foes while we are at it." Esqueezeme rarely spoke unless she had something to say, and usually it had merit. Like right now.
"That's not half bad, You and Hellfire go with Kyet, I'll take Musaki, we will go to the chunk nearby and hopefully gain some more equipment. Then we head back to Cid to offload what we find. After a short break we continue to Zanarkand. Understood?"
They echoed their agreement as one. Maybe we can work as a unit after all.
The trip to the chunk of ship nearby actually paid off. It was in fact our store room. We gained some new monsters for Musaki's growing database. Musaki and I filled up our packs with all of the supplies and turned to hoof it back to the village. These packs were a cheat and a half. Being able to carry everything, including the kitchen sink, was the best toy we gained during this whole fiasco. A blue squishy blob looking thing appeared in front of us. We didn't wait for it to attack us but launched head-on at it instead. The moving pudding didn't seem very strong, but it was only weak against magic and we didn't have any yet, so it took us a while to kill it. We were able to get a magic spell out of it. Musaki learned how to make ice fly from her hands just was good as her knives and I can now counter most physical attacks with more ease. We returned to the Hut in time to witness Hellfire and Kyet practicing with their spears. Her movements were fluid and graceful. Prince watched her every move, trying to learn the weight and balance. "Spin spear around you in circles, make each turn faster than the last. Make wind from spear only." Kyet stood perfectly still, and spun the spear around her, as she did so, a cyclone began to form around her. The snow began to lift up into the small tornado. "Focus, learn your spear. Practice each day and each night."
I had to admit, she knew her stuff. The cyclone was beautiful. "The Jump is our main power attack. Both wound and stagger enemy. Put all energy in to your legs, build it up until you feel the ground shift. Then release up. Lead down with spear. Aim must be true, heart must not miss." She demonstrated each move to him. "Hey, soon as your done, we head back to the ship. We found supplies for Cid." Prince nodded absently, most of his attention was on what Kyet was teaching him. I watched him flex his new weapon in small circles with his right hand, learning the weapon. I could tell, he would be a force to be reckoned with.
{A/N} If it's confusing as to how much is changing I do apologize, I'm going as quickly as I can to edit and fix any errors you guys find. Thank you for your support.