Strolling around the hamlet known as The Silver Bazaar Reubemont immediately began striking a conversation with some of the locals. Melanie looked about hoping to spot something that resembled a tavern but unfortunately there were only 3 old stone buildings and 2 of them looked like they were residential rather than communal. The third was a round building which from what she could discern when someone walked out of it was some kind of storage, perhaps something like a trades hut where one could inspect some of the local goods before purchase. In the middle of the hamlet was a small well in the midst of a large round platformed area. Melanie took notice that there were several small walls that looked like cornerstones of old buildings that had worn down and were left to rubble. This place had definitely seen better days.
The sound of the ocean drew Melanie's attention and quietly she strolled over to a pathway leading down to a fishing dock. A couple of small yachts were in the dock being tended to by their owners whilst a couple of fishers were sat by a small campfire begrudging over a flagon of wine that when the scent reached Melanie's nostrils reminded her of the cheap swill back on Earth that was popular among young punters who didn't know better. She listened to the sound of the ocean gently brushing up against the rocks and closed her eyes breathing in the sea breeze. Just the sound of normality began to make her feel a little homesick and in that moment forgot she was on an alien world.
Suyaya had followed Melanie down towards the docking area and looked up at her. She didn't know her comrade that well but she could see something was bothering Melanie and she felt she needed to ask. Melanie was blissfully unaware that she was being watched. "Are you alright? You haven't been looking at all well since we left the goblin encampment" Suyaya asked.
Melanie opened her eyes barely taking her gaze from the distance where she could see several rocky islands and the towering remains of Pharos Sirius floating above the ocean, reminding her once again that she was no longer home. She was still feeling shaken from her experiences on the road. "You really didn't see it, didn't you?" she finally spoke. Suyaya tilted her head and looked quizzically at Melanie. "See what?" she asked. Melanie closed her eyes once more and deeply breathed in the sea breeze through her nostrils. "Never mind, it's too difficult to explain" she replied shaking her head. Suyaya was now left with more questions than answers, however she felt that right now if she tried to persue them she would get nothing else in response. "Let's head back up" Melanie said as she turned around and began scaling back up the path.
Back at the round Reubemont had finished talking with the locals and was now looking around for his comrades. "Ah, there you are" he said as he saw Melanie approaching the well with Suyaya close behind her. "I couldn't find much of interest here. In fact according to the locals this once used to be a popular hamlet at the heart of the local sea trade but as of late business has been slow and only refugees now gather here. There isn't much to find except just a few wares of what used to belong to the residents and the odd barrel of fish." He glanced over at Melanie with a hint of concern. Her face was looking slightly pale and she hadn't said much since they left the road. "If you wish we can just take it easy for the rest of the day and wait for our friends to arrive tomorrow and then we can resume our training." Melanie shook her head. "No, it's alright. I want to be an adventurer. I owe it to many people I care about. If that means I have to put aside my own feelings and convictions to do what I have to do then I'll do whatever is necessary."
Reubemont could see Melanie's conflicts were deeply troubling her but he nonetheless smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "Being an adventurer doesn't mean completely shutting yourself out. You don't have to pretend you don't feel anything. If anything that's what makes us stronger."
Melanie smiled up at him. "You always have something nice and uplifting to say even though I'm new to the team" she said.
"Actually those words are what my sister told me once upon a time, but let's leave that discussion for another day" he said smiling even more. From the way he spoke so fondly of her and the numerous times he'd already mentioned her it was clear that he cared a lot for his sister. "Let's head back out and resume our practice then. I saw some coblyns on the way up here earlier on, I think we can safely take those on." Melanie and Suyaya nodded and together they left the hamlet in persuit of the coblyns.
It didn't take long before they were approaching the hammers once more. Ignoring the goblin encampment they pressed on a little ways until they came across an opening where there were many large and round spikey blue creatures as tall as humans on thin long legs with wide open mouths full of razor sharp teeth. Their spikes appeared to be made from cobalt crystals. 2 beady eyes protuded from 2 long antanae in front of what Melanie would assume was its face which was both comical and scary to look at. These creatures resembled spiders in a ways that made Melanie shudder in response.
Reubemont saw Melanie's reaction and nodded to himself satisfied that he had chosen a beast that Melanie wouldn't feel as remorseful over defeating. He unsheathed his sword from his hilt and readied his shield. "ok, let's rough these up, what say you?" he said looked over his shoulder to Melanie. Melanie unclipped her sceptre from her robes and posed herself for battle with a nod. Suyaya also did the same with her branch readying herself. "Very well. These beasts are more tougher than the ones we fought earlier so, Suyaya I may need to rely on your healing powers rather than your elemental ones." Suyaya nodded in acknowledgment. Satisfied everyone was ready Reubemont ran forwards and struck one of the nearest coblyns. The beast turned around making a loud clacking noise from inside it's...throat? Did it even have a throat? Melanie hadn't heard anything like it before except from in the game but even so it sounded very alien and creepy. The coblyn struck out with 2 tendrils that were hanging loosely from in front of its main body coiling them around Reubemont's shield and striking the side of his face and leaving a small graze. Reubemont flinched and tried to duck behind his shield looking for an opening to strike again as the coblyn began wildly flailing its tendrils at him.
"Ungh!" Reubemont grunted as several small rocks slammed into his back making him lurch forward. Melanie looked around to see a rather angry looking earth elemental drawing up the earth around it and hurling it towards Reubemont. She furrowed her eyebrows and turned to face it. "Leave the elemental to me" she said as she turned her attention towards the floating mass of rock and crystal. Her fingers started to dance in the air feeling around for the fire aspect coiling around her fingers and drew upon the aether within herself. She was now starting to get get a little faster in feeling and drawing upon the energies. What's more she noticed she didn't even need to speak the incantation outloud, she could just mouth it whilst thinking it. A fireball lunged its way forwards as she thrust out her sceptre towards the elemental, crashing against its rocky exterior and interrupting its casts. Reubemont was now taking a fair pummelling from the coblyn and struggling to keep the attacks at bay as its tendrils lashed around looking for a weak spot. He started to weaken with exhaustion when a white light rained on him from above and bathed him in its soothing glow. He glanced a smile over at Suyaya before straightening himself up with renewed vigor and looking more determined than ever, his wounds having now closed up and the pain subsided.
Melanie hurled one more fireball at the elemental causing it to violently shake as it destabilized and crumbled to the ground as a heap of rocks. "Urgh..." Melanie began to pant and feel weak, her legs starting to struggle to hold her upright and her head spinning wildly. What is happening to me? Melanie realised she forgot Cocobuki's words to her earlier "don't drain yourself completely." She weakly raised her scepter facing towards the coblyn and started to fumble around the air for the ice aspect whilst drawing upon what little latent aether remained within her. She collapsed to her knees gasping for air as an ice bolt launched from her sceptre and smashed into the coblyn's body. An icy chill coursed through her body awakening her once more. She could feel a surge of energy rush through her body until she was able to push herself back onto her feet and was ready for battle once again. Suyaya caught a glance at Melanie and resumed her role, calling out to the elementals to aid her in battle. A barrage of fireballs, ice bolts and rocks hurled their way forwards as Suyaya and Melanie invoked their magics and slammed into the coblyn until it finally succumbed to the onslaught and collapsed.
"Whew, that was a close one!" Reubemont exclaimed excitedly as he sheethed his sword. He took a look at his shield which had been shattered in several places with several chunks of missing. "This is no good, I'm going to have to replace this" he said shaking his head in dismay and tossing the hunk of splintered wood and metal to the side of the road.
"You did great there, and you even handled that elemental all by yourself!" Suyaya jumped excitedly. "Just next time don't let yourself get too drained of your aether, you're no good to us if you're dead" she whispered so that Reubemont wouldn't hear her and winked at Melanie. Melanie nodded greatfully for the warning.
"We'll have to head back into the main city so I can buy a new shield" Reubemont sighed. "Let's stick to the road so we can avoid any encounters." The group headed back onto the cobbled path and followed it around until they reached the stone stairways leading back up into Ul'dah. Once they were back inside the city Reubemont turned to face his comrades. "We can meet back at The Quicksand while I go visit the exchange and have lunch, then we can discuss what to do here on" he said to Melanie and Suyaya who nodded in response. Parting ways Melanie and Suyaya took to the stairway leading up to the tavern whilst Reubemont disappeared down the street.
Suyaya felt this was another good opportunity to attempt at striking a conversation with Melanie. "So, where exactly do you herald from?" she asked curiously as they began to approach the entrance to The Quicksand.
Melanie tried to think hard. She hadn't yet thought about where she would state her origins. Although she'd seen many places in the game in the years she played it she knew she couldn't just select one of those as her places of origin in case they'd one day visit and her friends expect everyone there to know her. Nobody knew much about the miqo'te tribes other than those of the M and U tribes, so she wouldn't need to specify any actual location because it was out of respect that their settlements remained secret to avoid being hunted and invaded by other warring tribes. She could simply describe her own home in a ways that it sounded like it was somewhere in Eorzea. "I come from a land very far away. You won't know of it as it's not marked on any map nor is it spoken of. There are many hills where you can see far into the horizon for yalms and lots of deep valleys, canals and forests. It truely is a peaceful place unlike any in Eorzea where there are few qualms and no monsters to fell."
Suyaya's eyes widened in fascination at Melanie's description. "A place with few qualms and no monsters. It sounds like a paradise. It almost makes me wonder why you would want to seek adventure when you come from a world that sounds so perfect."
Melanie gasped at Suyaya's comments and turned her gaze to the ground. "It's not perfect, far from it" she said quietly. "That kind of society stagnates over time with people busying themselves repeating the same thing day after day. Those in power dictate how we do things in order to survive and often the choices are in their favour rather than for those of the people as a whole. Because of this my people are struggling and working themselves to the bone whilst slowly forgetting what it truely is to live. On top of that our constant need for resources is bleeding the land dry and negatively affecting our environment. We desperately need to make changes in how we do things but there's no easy answer to continue what we're doing without harming the land nor do our peers show any interest in making such changes that would affect their profiteering, and as for the rest of society they have come to accept that they're powerless to make any significant changes and so turn a blind eye to it all and only concern themselves with how to survive and thinking about themselves in the present." Melanie's eyes started to well up as she started to think about her home and the state it was in.
Suyaya could see that describing her home was making Melanie sad. It gave her a bit more of an understanding to why Melanie left home to become an adventurer even if she truely didn't know where she was from or why she was now here. "I'm sorry for making such an assumption" she replied shaking her head in dismay. "Your home sounds like a place one can only dream about. It's sad to hear that your people are not treating it as such."
Melanie shook her head trying not to cry or think any more about her world. "I'm sorry that this came across so depressing and negative" she said.
"No, it's quite alright. It gives me a better understanding now of where you're from and the kind of person you are" Suyaya smiled. "You care very deeply for others, that much is undeniable the way you reacted when we fought the marmot earlier. You want to make positive changes that can make a difference to others, that's why you became an adventurer isn't it? Not unlike a Warrior of Light."
Melanie gasped again then smiled and nodded at Suyaya who was now beaming an even greater smile. "I believe Reubemont chose well in introducing you to our team. We've all come from different backgrounds where we've been faced with tough struggles and having to make difficult choices. Take Reubemont for example, though he rarely speaks of this anymore, he and his sister lost their father at Ferndale when they were very young and then just a few years later after moving to Ishgard they also lost their mother who succumbed to illness during the wake of the battle of Carteneau. As orphans they went through so much together, yet instead of being consumed by hatred like so many others did he swore to protect his sister and took up arms as a gladiator so he could protect her and those he cared for. We all want to make positive changes that will affect others some day, so know that you're not alone and that which drives you also drives us to become stronger together."
