Story:ORPGS/Yojimbo's stories
From Virtualsoil
The stories on this category are all posts I'm doing in the Collaborative Writing ORPG group called Spira which is at ezboards and has been going for over a year.
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Zanarkand Reborn: Dome - Freedom
Rowen woke up with a start. A blinding light pierced his eyes and the noise assaulted his ears. This wasn't his familiar prison at the bottom of the Calm Lands gorge.
- "Oh, sorry buddy, didn't mean to wake you... What the hell ?!" said the stranger alarmed at seeing Rowen's sword one inch from his throat.
Rowen looked at the man who had tripped on him: Young, with baggy overalls, no weapons and a broom in hand. He seemed harmless. Rowen lowered his sword without saying a word.
- "Thanks, I think I'll just clean up the other wing, if that's ok by you buddy. All right ?" said the man slowly retreating, wanting to put as much distance as he could between him and this stranger.
The boss better not complain that wing F was not well swept! Dealing with a maniac with a sword sleeping on an empty blitz stadium on broad daylight wasn't part of his job description!
After the man left Rowen looked around puzzled. Where was he ? He could see a blitz sphere, but in a much more luxurious stadium than Luca's. No, this was new. Never in his 800 years he had seen a place like this.
He had heard that some fayth were coming back to life but never expected himself to be one of those. His was a different case. He was not from the age of Zanarkand's prime, he was created much later, by a completely mad undead Summoner.
Zanarkand! That must be where he was. He recognized the stadium now. Many in the Farplane had described it for him.
It made sense. His body had died at Zanarkand, at Yunalesca's Dome. This must be on top of where the dome was, or at least near it. This craziness in the Farplane wasn't very predictable but one thing seemed to be constant: revived people would wake up close to the site they died. And he had died in Zanarkand, giving his life to a Summoner, to be his Final Aeon.
The memory of his betrayal by Ghirlon still felt heavy, even after all those years. He had given his life willingly, but he had not included his family honor in the gift. With his betrayal Ghirlon took away from Rowen his only chance to redeem his family name and his own name. And that would take a lot more than 800 years to forget. Even if it had granted him his Yojimbo form.
Being back to life was a nice surprise. A cool breeze was blowing, the day bright and sunny. Rowen could smell food being cooked nearby. The sun hurt his eyes but it felt good on his skin. He wondered if he would be able to taste the food. Taste! Smell, touch, taste, how wonderful they felt, after 800 years without it!
He hated the reason he was back - Amon's evil meddling - but he was glad fate had given him this second chance to be alive on Spira.
His stomach complained loudly. He had forgotten the downside of being able to taste food. One must eat to stay alive. Oh well, that kind of problem would be a welcome change from his life.
Up to now his life had been spent either locked in a deep dark cave waiting for Summoners or being at a Summoner's beck and call to be their Aeon . Not that he had minded serving Yuna or Braska, those two last Summoners had been outstanding masters, honorable, dutiful, committed to good and respectful of him / Yojimbo. But their predecessors!
Another pang of hunger reminded him that his days of endless meditation were over. Rowen walked out of the stadium following the smell of food. He was glad he always kept his pocket full of gil, he would need it now to pay for the food.
Zanarkand Reborn: City - A stroll through a city reborn
Rowen looked at the vibrant city fascinated. So this was the famous Zanarkand the other Fayth missed so much!
No wonder, just in his walk from the dome he was able to see that this city was much more vibrant and active than Luca. The people smiled more and there were no Church vultures around, no Yevon signs to revere or make the bow every five minutes. A very pleasant place, but he couldn't stay.
Given another opportunity at life, Rowen had set himself on the quest that had dominated the last 3 years of his previous life: Clean his name, his family's only legacy.
To do that he needed to find out if the snakes on Bevelle had also come back to life. He also had to seek for his family, as they too could have been revived by this madness in the Farplane. And they would be revived at sea!
The thought alarmed Rowen. He knew his father and his older brothers were good swimmers but he couldn't remember if his mom could swim. He had been only 10 when they drowned, their ship attacked by Sin near the Omega ruins.
If they came back, they were in serious danger, even if they made it to shore. The Omega ruins was no place for exhausted castaways to land. Many a Summoner party, well rested and composed of trained fighters, had perished there. He himself had been in one of those while being Yojimbo to a Summoner.
Rowen cursed himself at the memory. He hadn't held back, he could see the dungeon was too dangerous for his usual games with the Summoner. Every time he was called he performed Zanmato. But the Summoner had called him too late, many of the larger beasts there were immune to his Zanmanto and Break moves. To make matters worse, all the other Aeons were gone by then. He and Daigoro had truly done their best but the Summoner and his entire party had died unsent. They probably were fiends by now.
The pain of failure couldn't make Rowen forget his duty to his family. Time was of the essence. He had to make his way to the Omega Ruins shore and stand guard there, rescuing his family and /or any others who were revived at sea!
Remembering he was human now he stopped at a market to gather some supplies, healing and shielding items, tinder for fire, etc... Rowen knew exactly what he needed, having done this kind of trips many times with his past Summoners but he was still awed and confused at the variety of new goods this revived Zanarkand merchants had for sale. In a rare deviation from his penny pinching ways he even allowed himself to buy a gun with some dreadfully expensive "Cry in the Night" bullets . Those were guaranteed to work on Break immune opponents had said the vendor. If this was the same "Cry in the Night" Yojimbo had seen when Yuna conquered the Bevelle Cloisters dungeon those bullets were priceless. If they weren't that vendor would feel his wrath later.
Well fed and with supplies bulging from his travel pouch Rowen left Zanarkand on foot, taking the ramp to Mt. Gagazet
Mt. Gagazet Summit - Giant Flan Attacks
Rowen quickly got to the summit, not bothering to stop at the Fayth Scar and the Hot Springs. He had only paused long enough to glance at the statue of Yuna that the Ronso made.
While trekking the mountain Rowen was absorbed in his thoughts. He was almost fond of the serene and brave High Summoner. Of the Summoners that he had aided over the years she was in a class apart, along with Gandof and Braska. Not only they had defeated Sin, but they had been friendly, respectful and honorable.
But of the 3 three High Summoners he had had the honor to accompany Rowen had only allowed himself to befriend Gandof. He owed that much to the man. Six hundred years ago Gandof had saved him from going slowly insane abandoned and alone as he was in the bottom of a deep fiend infested cave. He had been there for 200 years, in a cave at the Calm Lands Gorge, immortal, unable to rest his wondering spirit. Thanks to Gandof he had had a goal in his afterlife: to preserve his mentor's dream. He started to take part on pilgrimages, and that had brought in enough Gil to fund the Crusaders for the past 600 years. Lord Mi'hen would be very proud of him, wherever he was.
The pilgrimages added variety and spice to his life and he was not allowed to brood for centuries like Yunalesca and Shuyin had. Rowen felt his anger rising. Yunalesca had her deffects, but she had never manipulated him or brought dishonor to his name, so he could forgive her insane actions. Forgiveness for Shuyin was much harder. Shuyin had used Vegnagun to force him and the other Aeons to control fiends and to battle Yuna. By making Rowen turn into a dark Aeon Shuyin had cast him in even more dishonor and shame. Rowen could not make himslef forgive this insult. He knew Shuyin had been insane at the time but that was no excuse. Not for what he did. One day he would settle this score.
Lost in his memories but not distracted enough to miss his surroundings Rowen saw a Giant blue Flan jump in front of him. With his cat like reflexes he quickly dodged the fiend's first Blizzara attack while he reached for his sword.
With a skilled leap he delivered a "Break Armor" hit with his sword. No effect.
Darn it! His body's 25 year old guardian reflexes had come back as sharp as ever, but his mind was still of an 800 year old. He had forgotten the giant flans on this cave were immune to physical attacks.
Cursing himself Rowen rolled on the floor to avoid the fiend's Osmosis attack that was coming. Yet another failure of his clumsy old brain: He should have gotten himself a Reflect shield already!
He got up close to the fiend and used his Wakishasi knives to deliver a "Break Magic" spell. A back flip got him away from the beast, far enough to allow him time to look for a Mana Spring item on his pouch. This would drain the Flan's magic points constantly while Rowen's "Break Magic" hits chiseled away at the beast's life points.
But the beast was no dumb Water Flan. It had already cast a Reflect around itself and Rowen's Mana Spring was useless. Cursing himself Rowen rummaged his pouch for his Dark Mage dressphere. He hated having to use this artificial method to enhance him - true Warrior Monks and Crusaders never did it - but he wasn't about to lose his second chance at life here on the Summit. As soon as he arrived at Omega Ruins he would set himself on a grueling training routine to get his brain as combat ready as his body was.
The beast landed a Blizzara attack while Rowen's dressphere was still activating. Brrrr! He had forgotten how miserable a cold spell made one feel. His teeth chattering Rowen concentrated and cast Darkness on the fiend. He felt a searing pain on his skin, it was only for the briefest moment, but the surprise almost made him drop his sword. His befuddled brain had forgotten Darkness exacted a price in pain from the spell-caster. Again his 25 year old body had taken in stride what his 800 year old mind was still struggling with.
There, the beast was half dead already! he thought, satisfied with himself.
But he had crowed victory too early. He still did not have a Reflection shield in place and the Flan easily retrieved it's lost health by using a Drain spell on Rowen.
Dizzy with the draining Rowen decided to end the battle: He cast the "Dark Sky" spell from his Dresphere skill set. With his 200+ strength attribute it would trounce the Flan with 10-12 hits of 500-1,000 damage points each. That spell could make even an Aeon pause in it's tracks.
The spell worked as planned and pretty soon Rowen was alone in the cave again, the Flan melting into pyreflies after the 10th blow. Exhausted, Rowen quickly lit a fire to keep fiends away and made camp.
You are pitiful Rowen! he said to himself. Physically and mentally drained after just one battle with a flan ?
He wasn't being fair to himself. The giant flans in this cave had killed many Ronso and many Summoner parties. Besides, after spending 800 years battling only in his Aeon form he was bound to have some troubles adapting back to his body's physical limitations. Aeons didn't get cold, didn't bleed and had innate shielding ability. Braska and Yuna had been smart and kind enough to give Yojimbo the Aeon versions of Esuna, Cure, Reflect, Protect, Dispel and Shield spells. As Yojimbo he had not had to battle so unshielded for centuries! And usually when Yojimbo got called in battle the fiend already had received a healthy dose of powerful hits and dispel potions from the Summoner and his party. This time Rowen had had to do it all by himself, in a completely unfamiliar body. Well, not completely unfamiliar but unfamiliar for the larger part of a millennium...
Rowen cursed himself: Excuses, dresspheres.. Taking the easy way out was not the way of the Warrior and he knew it. His lack of preparation was unforgivable.
Ashamed he once again vowed to himself he would get himself back into fighting shape. Remembering that his fayth body needed food Rowen swallowed a piece of hard bread with cheese, forcing himself to eat the bland cheap food he had bought for the trip. He would need all his gil to rebuild the dissolved Youth League. He had had so high hopes for Nooj and his group! He hadn't liked the name change but considering he was stuck in the Farplane like all Fayth and Aeons were after Yuna defeated Yu Yevon there had been nothing he could do but accept the dissolution of the Crusaders to form the Youth League. But the League had lasted just a bit over 2 years and had been dissolved again. This could not be allowed to stand. Not with evil coming back to haunt Spira. He would have to rebuild the crusaders all over again.
How could he have known that Nooj would get himself on a power contest with New Yevon and then dissolve the League? His money had been used to fund Nooj's troops, but at the time there was nothing he could do, with the Aeons and Fayth out of Spira, firmly back to the Farplane. One must adapt and change with the times after all! Rowen had thought to himself grumpily.
Adapting was the key word here. He needed to adapt to his new/revived body, adapt to this new Spira where Zanarkand was a vibrant city and the long dead roamed the world, adapt to a Spira with many evils lurking around the shadows...
While meditating on his new challenges Rowen made his bed by the fire and settled down for the night. Eventually he dozed off, his many plans forgotten for a brief interval
