Awesomest FFVI fic ever part 4
I Did Not Write This.
“That’s it. I’ll come in there after you, I mean it! You can’t stay there forever, I can wait a lot longer than you!”
Interceptor was certain, at some point, Locke must have realized he sounded stupid threatening a dog the way he was, and said canine did not seem terribly phased by the threats. The large dog-fae just put his head down on his paws, the bag with the bottle in it under his chin as he let out a sigh, watching the young man with a decidedly bored expression.
Clyde’s partner decided it was much easier and less tiring to just hole up and wait for a rescue, rather than lead Locke and Celes directly to his friend. This kept them in one place. Interceptor had crawled under a rock shelf into what smelled like the den of some animal akin to a badger, but it had not been used in a very long time. With a little snarl, he swore if he got fleas from this Clyde was going to pick them out of his coat one parasite at a time.
”Locke, it’s a dog. He’ll come out. Just stop sticking your hand in that hole, I’m afraid he is going to bite you, I swore I heard him growl.” Celes sighed, leaning against the rough bark of a tree and folding her arms, keeping an eye on their surroundings.
With a frustrated sound, the young man pounded his fist into the ground. He really wanted that bottle back, but he was unwilling to do anything to hurt the animal, even if he was convinced this was no mere canine. “Celes…”He was very close to whining now. “I can’t get him out, I’ve tried everything! Food, water, talking nice, yelling at him, he won’t budge! Any ideas?”
She almost chuckled, but she managed not to for the sake of preserving Locke’s thin mood. “I’m sorry, love, I really don’t know much about dealing with dogs. If you would like, I could try a spell to put him to sleep?”
“Ha! You just go on ahead and try that, Missy.” The pair did not hear Interceptor speak, and he did not really wish to converse with either of them right now. If their suspicions that he was more than a dog were confirmed, they may try other methods. Besides, Celes had grown up in a MagiTek factory; it was not improbable to think she might have some tricks for dealing with Fae-folk.
“Yes, try that!” Locke got to his feet and brushed off his hands and pants, gesturing towards the burrow under the rock, brightening with a ray of hope. “I should have asked you first, I guess. Heh, don’t let me get away with making myself look stupid too often.”
Interceptor rolled his eyes. “Right, you should both take equal turns looking stupid…Clyde, hurry up already, I think I am contracting rabies from this stinky den. It will be a horrific slaughter, white cloth and bandana shreds everywhere.”
“Don’t make me laugh when I’m working.” He had been listening to Interceptor’s running commentary on the situation involving the thief and the ex-General with increasing amusement, even if he was not close enough to hear them until now. The light-colored clothing proved not to be as bad as he had imagined; the dappled sunlight filtering through the canopy helped him make the best of his surroundings.
“Well work a little faster, would you?” The dog-fae shifted on the packed earth of the burrow. It was a tight spot to wriggle into, and he found it rather degrading. “I’m not sure I’m strong enough to ward off a sleep spell.”
Sometimes Clyde had to stop and wonder at what point he began taking orders from pushy dogs, even grinning briefly as his sandaled feet moved soundlessly over the ground. Between his thumb and forefinger he held up a dart he had made from a thorn and a bit of clay fashioned over it for weight. He had coated the thorn in the nectar from a flower he knew to be poisonous, but not especially deadly in most cases.
With a practiced and admirable ease, he drew back his arm and flicked his wrist, seeing the makeshift dart pierce the exposed back of Celes’ neck while she was weaving the language of spellcasting. Her spell interrupted, she winced and slapped at the back of her neck, assuming it was some insect that had assaulted her, until she pulled the small dart from her skin and her azure eyes widened in alarm.
“L-Locke?” The woman’s voice was dazed and light, and then her eyes rolled back into her head as she pitched forward.
Said thief moved to catch Celes as she was rendered by the venom on the thorn, shielding her from further attack while he tried to pinpoint the location of the assailant. Locke had a fairly good idea of who it was, his suspicions confirmed when Interceptor crawled from his hiding place and dropped the bag, bearing his teeth and going from harmless to frightening in a fraction of a second.
Locke said nothing, trying to watch Interceptor and protect Celes while having no idea how he was going to do both and try to handle Shadow. “She better be unharmed…” His voice raised only enough to carry, he was not yelling, he made no idle threat.
“She will be fine, and you might live a little longer if you stay still and keep your hands where I can see them.” Clyde’s voice drifted to him as he circled in, keeping just out of Locke’s peripheral vision before he moved in with his sword drawn, sunlight catching the blade and causing a bright white flash before it arced downward to alight with a feather’s touch just under the younger man’s jaw from behind. The assassin felt Locke tense, and had he not been holding Celes he might…just might, have avoided being caught.
The thief drew his lips into a tight line, feeling his face flush hot with anger and shame at being taken so easily, his smoke-gray eyes smoldering. His fingers flexed, knowing a weapon was within easy reach, but he might endanger Celes if he tried anything. His voice was strained and quiet through gritted teeth. “You might as well kill me, because you know I’m going to get you for this.”
“He sounds like you when you were his age.” Interceptor noted as the growling subsided, but his guard did not lower the slightest bit.
“I don’t think I was ever his age. Celes?”
“Out cold. Stable.”
With a flick of his wrist, Clyde tilted the younger man’s head with the point of his sword. “Put her down, and hold your hands out at your sides.”
He was licked, for now at least, so Locke complied and gently set Celes down on the ground as he crouched there, holding his hands out, palms up, at his sides and awaiting further instruction.
“I hate this bluffing… it makes me feel like an icky gambler. Like Setzer!” Interceptor interjected as he dutifully padded over to Celes and loomed over her in his best threatening manner to encourage Locke not to try anything. For a dog, and a Fae of his particular Clan, he did have some scruples when it came to harming defenseless and innocent people. Celes was quite safe from him, and he did not enjoy making Locke think she was in danger. Besides, he rather liked Locke.
With his foot on Locke’s shoulder, the assassin shoved him onto his stomach in the dirt and swiftly moved to sheathe his sword, dropping a knee to the small of the younger man’s back. From his belt he loosened a long cord of strong and sinuous vine, grasping one of Locke’s prone hands and twisting it behind his back. Within moments, he had secured both wrists with a professional and complex knot, sparing no time for gloating as he worked on the ankles next. “Would you prefer I just kill them both? I could do that, and I have far fewer moral objections than you, Pup.”
With a canine sigh, before he remembered to look like Big Bad Feral Guard-Dog, Interceptor looked over at Clyde. “Don’t be ridiculous. Why won’t you just admit you like the kid, hm? I think you were secretly looking forward to running into him here.”
“I like a challenge, I have no special feelings for the boy.” Finished, Clyde stood and knelt beside Celes, binding her in a similar fashion though he remembered to stuff a cloth torn from Terra’s shirt into her mouth as a gag. No good leaving a spellcaster her voice, especially when he wanted them to stay put for a while.
It was nice to know that he had been right about their lives not being in immediate danger, Locke mused as he forced himself to calm down. Being angry would do him nothing at this point, it would only drain his energy and he needed that to get out of his bonds. As humiliated as he was, there was a secret pleasure in the knowledge that all the time he had traveled with Shadow and Interceptor had counted for something. What’s a king’s ransom in gold between a friendship like that? This was one of those situations that he would laugh about later… much later… after he had gotten free and beaten Shadow within an inch of his life, kidnapped his dog and cashed in the Djinn blood.
“Not so tough without your dog.”
No response would have been best. Interceptor went to collect the bottle, and Clyde glanced to Locke’s back with a frown when the younger man mumbled that comment, then he crouched to flick at a vulnerable ear, speaking quietly. “And maybe you’d be tougher without your bitch.”
“Okay, okay Clyde. Can we just go now?” Holding the drawstrings for the bottle’s pouch in his teeth, a growl of warning slid from Interceptor’s throat.
“In a minute.” His mind’s response was short and clipped, and he waited to see if the thief had any other smartass remarks.
Apparently, Locke was not done speaking, and he tried to turn his head to see the masked man out of the corner of his eye. “Maybe. So why don’t you call off your dog, we move away from Celes and you see if you can take me on by yourself?”
Pointed ears perked up and Interceptor snapped his attention to Clyde, a warning tone in his voice. “ Now is not the time for a pissing contest. We got what we came for, let’s just go!”
Against his better judgment, Clyde ignored his partner and hooked the top of his foot under Locke’s shoulder, rolling the younger over onto his back so they could look one another in the eye. “I did take you by myself. You want to go another round?”
“If that’s what you call it.” Locke scoffed, though it was hard to be taken seriously when you were bound hand and foot and lying on your back on the ground. “ Me and you, winner gets the bottle.”
Interceptor had stopped protesting, and Clyde would have ignored him anyway. He wasn’t sure why this irked him so much in the first damn place. He did, at least, manage to keep the whole of his irritation and sudden defensiveness out of his voice. “What are we talking here? To the death?”
With a puff of breath, the thief blew his sandy bangs out of his eyes and furrowed his brow. “ Uh no, that’s a bit dramatic. How about last one standing?”
Snorting his amusement, Clyde rested his foot on the other man’s chest and leaned over him a bit. “Sounds good to me. Looks like I win, then.”
“Oh! You’re fucking hilarious!” Brows shot up and Locke shifted rather uncomfortably, as his hands were pinned between his body and the ground in the awkward position. “Why don’t you try untying me first, asshole?”
To that the assassin crossed his arms and took a few steps back, assuming a lean up against a tree and bowing his head as if he were bored, or resting. His voice was quiet, carrying no inflection or outward sign that he was affected by the insults. “If you’re half as good as you think you are, you should be able to get free all on your own. I’ll give you half an hour, then I take off with your bottle.”
“I can do it in a quarter hour.” Locke shrugged, as best as he could, given the circumstances. Some people worked better under pressure.
“This is going beyond stupid now. I do not approve at all. What are you going to do, fight him? We could have been back with Terra and on our way by the time you two are done!” Interceptor was getting increasingly huffy, and he suspected there was another reason for his partner’s decidedly uncharacteristic behavior.
“Assuming he can even get out of those knots, this won’t take long. Let me have some fun.”
“Fun my furry ass! As if this has nothing to do with Terra and you being jealous that she likes him so damned much.” The dog-fae knew he should have left that one alone, because immediately after he said it his partner shut him out and ceased speaking to him.
It was a very rare instance that Clyde was upset enough with Interceptor that he would stop speaking to him. After all, it was embarrassing to know that his partner was at least partially correct about the half-Esper. Only partially correct, there was also a matter of pride and a whole lot of money at stake as well.
Locke was sitting up now, his own head bowed in concentration as he moved his wrists. The knots were nearly impossibly well done, but the thief had flexed his wrists when Shadow had tied them, and he relaxed his hands now, feeling a bit of slack. It was not enough to move far, but slow back and forth motions would warm up and loosen the vines in half an hour, though? He was not as confident as he had sounded that he could free himself in the allotted time.
“You know.” The younger of the two men started speaking conversationally, as it helped him to work on getting loose. “I was really wondering just how you got out of that tower.”
“Keep wondering.” Was the cool response.
Lifting his head, Locke blinked a few times. “ If I didn’t know any better, I would say you had some kind of personal problem with me.”
“I don’t have a problem.” Clyde was suspicious when the thief drew up his knees, as if he were trying to hide the motions of his hands. He watched closely without trying to seem like he was.
Interceptor lifted his head suddenly and let out a whine, shifting from foot to foot to get Clyde’s attention. “Hey, you’ll never guess who followed you, and is about ten seconds away from making an tense situation incredibly awkward.”
(Author’s Note: What fun! Next Chapter: Plenty of tension and awkwardness as Interceptor predicts. Thanks for reading and reviewing, as always, I’ll hurry with the next chapter! My interest in FFX is slowly tapering off. I did, however, get Silent Hill 2 and FF9, so I might get sucked in again. Silent Hill 2 is creepy.)
If Clyde thought she was going to wait there until nightfall, he had another thing coming. The more Terra thought about it, the angrier it made her. Who did he think he was? Of course, following him proved to be much more difficult than she had thought, and he did have a considerable lead.
Something about his demeanor had made her more than suspicious. For the love of anything holy, did he think she was naive? A simple spell allowed her to follow Clyde, and had it not been for her forethought, the half-Esper would have been quite lost in the Thyzalian jungle by now.
Each step worsened her temper as morning turned into afternoon and even though the canopy spared her more sunburn, the shifting light was starting to give her a headache. The heat was ugly and humid, making her clothes stick to her body, her green-gold hair cling damply to her head where it came loose from the bun she had hurriedly twisted it into to get it off of her neck.
Her shortsword hacked at vines and foliage partially out of spite now, and to let off some of her pent-up frustration. Terra had promised herself she was not going to start considering her relationship with Clyde, if there was one at all. It was safe to say they were friends, and she was worried she cared about him a lot more than she should. What happens after he got what he wanted, would he disappear again? The more she thought of Clyde up and leaving the more it upset her, which further upset her because she knew she should not be upset.
It was a vicious cycle of being upset, and it was innocent and defenseless plants that suffered.
Stopping to catch her breath and draw the back of her hand across her brow, Terra heard a soft rustling behind her and she gasped in surprise to see Interceptor. Smiling despite herself, she reached out and stroked his head, crouching to be eye-level with him. “Well hello there!”
Unable to help herself, the young woman dropped her sword and brought both of her hands to the canine’s thick-furred neck, scratching and even kissing the top of his muzzle lightly. “I was worried we lost you! Where’s Clyde?”
Quite a bit flustered and flattered by the kiss and the pleasant reception, Interceptor dutifully wagged his tail and suppressed a whine when she asked about his partner, trying not to look guilty. Clyde had said to keep her busy, but he had not specified how he was supposed to do that.
Furrowing her brow in concern, Terra rose to her feet and looked around her environs quickly, she thought she heard someone shout. “What’s going on? Is he all right? Show me where he is!”
This was rather annoying, because the Fae could not play ‘dumb dog’ with Terra. He would have to thank Clyde for spilling his secret later. Locke was probably free by now, and he wondered if there was a fight going on back there. It was suspiciously quiet, though his keen hearing had heard the brief shout. Interceptor decided that the damage was done; he may as well go all the way. “Now is not a good time.”
She was not sure she had heard that for real or not. Staring at the dog with astonishment, Terra cleared her throat, wondering if she should think back at the animal. It did feel strange talking out loud to a dog, even if she did know Interceptor was more than just that. “What’s going on?”
“Hah…That is the question, isn’t it?” His ‘voice’ seemed tainted with sarcasm and a sigh, wondering how long he could keep Terra at bay. He reasoned that he could knock her down and sit on her chest for a while, before she went berserk and fried him. “Would you believe nothing? Let’s go back to camp!”
Crossing her arms, she glared at the canine. Between a headache, pondering relationships and the humid heat, she was in no mood for games.
“I see you are not believing that. Look, I’ll level with you.” Clyde was going to kill him. “Locke and Celes are here. I ran into them after I was washed up on shore, and that’s where we got the other bottle.”
“I knew it!” Terra sucked in a breath, pointing at the dog in triumph. “I knew he was hiding something!” Locke was here! With Celes… that stole away from some of her joy, and she swallowed hard. Well, what did that mean? Nothing, they were friends, weren’t they?
“Right! So let’s go back to camp now.” Biting down on Terra’s sleeve when she bent to pick up her sword, Interceptor gave her a firm tug.
“Let go of me!” The young woman moved to jerk her arm away from the canine, succeeding in tearing her sleeve when she did so. Muttering a rather potent curse under her breath, she hefted the shortsword and spun away from Interceptor, following her trail and the obvious sounds of a scuffle.
Dropping his head for a moment, Interceptor heaved a great sigh and turned to pad after her, in no real hurry, why not postpone the inevitable? So much for their streak of luck.
The scene that Terra happened upon was a rather shocking one, and by the confused and alarmed sound that came from her throat, she was quite taken aback. Clyde turned to look at her, seeming about to say something when Locke jumped him from behind and wrapped a forearm around his neck.
Forgetting Terra for the moment, Clyde hopped backwards for momentum and into the trunk of a tree, reaching up to grasp Locke’s hand and dig steely fingers into the tendons of his wrist. Locke was effectively slammed between his body and the solid tree.
With a loud ‘oof’ Locke was forced to release the other man and slumped down the rough bark of the tree, blinking dazedly at Terra, then snapping his attention back to Shadow as the older man spun on his heel, drawing back an arm to hit him.
“Clyde!!” Terra recovered long enough to shout, clenching her fists and glaring murder.
“You are in so much trouble.” Interceptor interjected helpfully, in case his partner had not noticed Terra was about to paste him.
“Shut up.” Clyde growled to Interceptor, forgetting not to speak aloud in his anger. He had halted, however.
Gasping, Terra’s eyes widened when she saw Celes bound and gagged, apparently conscious now but not seeming too bothered by the fact she was tied up, then she returned her glare to Clyde. “Don’t tell me to shut up!”
“I wasn’t telling you to shut up, I was- fuck it.” Turning abruptly away from Locke, he began to pace to work off some tension. Beating the kid within an inch of his life now would not be beneficial in the long run.
The half-Esper was not listening, she managed to make her way over to Celes with concern, having to use the edge of her sword to slice through the complex knot in the vines, feeling her hands tremble as she released her friend. “I can’t believe you! You had better start explaining! What do you think you’re doing, why is Celes tied up??”
“Terra…?” Locke rubbed the back of his head, watching the exchange between Shadow and Terra in a stunned silence, getting to his feet with more than a touch of uncertainty. “Why are you here…?”
“She’s with me.” Clyde felt the need to point that out very quickly, jabbing a finger in Locke’s general direction.
“Hi“! Celes licked her lips and smiled to Terra as she struggled to sit up with the other woman’s help, not at all fazed by what was going on. The ex-Imperial seemed rather happy in fact. That was just the funniest thing.”
Sucking in a breath, Terra managed to look bewildered as she steadied Celes, taken aback. Whipping her head around, her rose-quartz eyes affixed their gaze accusingly to Clyde and Locke. “What’s wrong with her, is she drunk?”
”Close enough. I used a mild venom to disable her. She’ll be fucked up for a while, I think.” Catching Terra’s incredulous expression, he only shrugged. “I’ve never used it before, I’m only going on what the natives told me.”
Helping to steady the inebriated woman as she stood, Terra staggered when Celes fell heavily on her, giggling stupidly. Sighing in frustration, the silence between the three sober people grew thick. “You two listen to me, and you listen good. I will not have any of us fighting over money, you hear?? I won’t! Not after all the bullshit I went through last year.”
“Hey! I wasn’t fighting with anyone, he attacked us!” Locke pointed at Shadow, then he made his way over to Terra to help steady Celes, who was singing some old drinking song under her breath. “Is his name really Clyde?”
“It is so good to see you again!” Celes seemed to focus for a moment, resting her hand on Terra’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze as she grinned. “You look great! How the hell have you been??”
Sighing, Terra exchanged an uncomfortable look with Locke and then she stepped back, stooping to pick up the leather bag containing the bottle that seems to have started all of this. She was silent for a few moments, and then she looked to each of them (those that were coherent anyhow) in turn. “I am going to hold onto this stupid thing. We’re all going to go together, as a group, and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
“Word!” Celes chirped up before she burst into a fit of giggles.
The four-legged member of the group let his tongue loll out as he looked to his partner with a small wag of his tail, sounding almost as disgustingly cheerful as Celes did. “Well! This isn’t uncomfortable at all!”
“I got her.” Locke murmured quietly to Terra, offering an easier smile to the half-Esper this time, though there were still questions behind his eyes. Drawing a deep breath and exhaling it, he averted his gaze to the ground. “So, I guess we should sit down and start explaining things.”
Clyde stiffened visibly, though he was watching Interceptor. “I don’t have to explain anything.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Terra agreed with Locke, not even acknowledging that Clyde had spoken. She had the bottle, after all, and if he wanted it before she was willing to move on, he was going to have to pry it from her cold, dead, fingers.
*****
”I think I am going to be sick.”
”Really? Want me to finish off your dinner, then?”
”I’m not speaking to you right now. Traitor.”
Interceptor lifted his head from his paws and looked up to Clyde, who was sitting up in a tree, sprawled across a large bough. His eyes were closed, but he was far from sleep. “Blaming me won’t change a thing. C’mon, we both know why you’re really upset.”
Opening one hazel eye to a dangerous slit, the Human of the pair looked down from his perch at his partner. “Who’s upset? I’m just nauseous.”
As if on cue, Terra’s laughter drifted to them from the new campsite. She had been sitting with Locke quite comfortably for most of the afternoon and now into the early evening, catching up. Celes was sleeping off the effects of the poison, and it comforted Clyde somewhat to know at least one of them was going to pay in spades tomorrow.
“They are friends, Clyde.” Interceptor attempted to bring his friend out of the brooding, aware that his mood was going from bad to worse very rapidly.
In response, the Human only shrugged and appeared, for all intents and purposes, completely relaxed. “Never said they weren’t. We wasted a whole day waiting for the General over there to sober up, you can’t blame me for being annoyed.”
“You are the one that poisoned her…”
“Have I told you to shut up yet?”
The dog-fae yawned and rose from the ground, executing a mighty stretch and turning away from Clyde, heading in the direction of the campfire. He, for one, did not mind waiting a little longer.
Both eyes opened and Clyde frowned, craning his neck to see where his partner was off to. “Where are you going?”
Interceptor glanced up at him for a moment. “You’re just way too happy for me, sunshine. I’m going to try and mooch food from Locke and Terra.”
His expression darkened and the assassin looked away. “Fine, you do that.”
*****
”You know, you could have told me about you and Celes. Why didn’t you?” Terra’s smile faded a bit, but did not vanish as she poked at the embers of the fire with a long stick, stirring them slowly.
Removing his bandana slowly, Locke shrugged and smiled sheepishly. “I really don’t know. I just thought it would sound… bad, I guess, in a letter. I planned on coming to visit on my way back from here.”
“Bad?” Feigning ignorance, Terra blinked innocently. “How could that be bad? Celes is my friend, too.”
The young man opened his mouth to speak, and then he just chuckled and let it drop instead. They both knew, and he had seen Terra’s hurt expression earlier today. He did not feel he had done anything wrong, but he wanted to be sensitive to her feelings nonetheless. “I never thought you’d want to leave Mobliz. In your letters you always seemed so happy.”
Averting her gaze to the fire, she drew up her knees and spared the soundly sleeping Celes a quick glance. “Is that why you didn’t want me? Because you thought I wanted to stay in Mobliz?”
Scratching at the back of his neck in obvious discomfort, Locke’s voice softened as he turned his head to look at Terra. “No! Don’t make it sound so bad. I mean, c’mon, you and I never talked about this. We were always just friends. Good friends, right?”
“Right.” It was not fair to put Locke on the spot, she decided. She wanted them to be more than friends, he was in love with Celes, and probably always had been. He was right; she had never asked him how he felt, or confessed outright. Terra had always only hinted, and hoped. “It’s okay. I’m happy for you.”
“What about you and Shadow?” A quick change of subject was accompanied by a dubious expression. “I’m still not exactly clear how you two ended up together.”
“We are not together,” Terra exclaimed a bit more defensively than she had meant, earning an amused expression from the thief. Sighing, she waved dismissively with a hand. “He suckered me. He showed up on my doorstep… did I say doorstep? I mean kitchen in the middle of the night, and lead me to believe he needed help. He told me he was looking for you.”
Both brows shot up at that, and Locke tilted his head. “Looking for me? Weird he would go all the way to Mobliz to find you when he knew that I wasn’t there.”
“Knew you weren’t there?” Terra muttered, furrowing her brow. “How could he have known that?”
“Uh…” The thief grinned a bit. “I can’t tell you. But believe me, he had other sources of information close at hand. I know I’m not so slippery that he had no idea where I was headed.”
She sat up. “Then why did he come looking for me?”
“Maybe you should ask him?” Nudging her shoulder gently with his own. “Though he really doesn’t seem like your type to me. I think he likes you, though. How could anybody not like you, eh?”
Terra laughed and nudged him back. “If he ever comes down from that tree, I’ll ask.”
(Author’s note: Whew. I went back and fixed up chapters 11 & 12, so hopefully the conversation is a little less confusing. No one seemed to notice, though… at least no one said anything about it! You people are so nice to me ^_^ )
(Author’s note: For some reason, the conversation between Interceptor and Clyde that was done in italics to indicate mindspeech did not convert when I uploaded the last chapter. Once I figure out why it didn’t work this time, I’ll go back and fix it, though it should be obvious which was which… at least I hope so. I apologize for any confusion.)
Clyde was not happy. Everything had gone from great, to terrible, to great and now it was lingering somewhere between horrible and awful. He must have cursed Terra a thousand times by now, and Locke as well as Celes. Interceptor was disgustingly content with the arrangement that had been made without his consent.
So here they were, in the steaming jungle in the wee hours of morning, trudging along in a merry little group. The especially irritating part was that everyone seemed to enjoy it except for Clyde. He was secretly just waiting for Locke to make fun of his name so he would have a reasonable excuse to pulp the little upstart.
The night had seemed extremely long. When Celes was not sleeping she was regaling them with every drinking song she knew (and the campaigner knew a surprising assortment) or professing just how much she loved everybody. The ex-Imperial suffered greatly the next morning, which Clyde had to admit brightened his mood considerably. Now he was only darkly brooding instead of murderously bothered.
The going had slowed as the foliage thickened into a suffocating tangle, and the assassin headed up the party, using his blade to help clear the growth of vines and bamboo. Behind him, Terra and Locke chatted each other up amiably while Celes tried to keep her eyes on the ground as not to aggravate what seemed like a deliciously wicked headache.
“You’ve been disturbingly quiet, Clyde… come on, and you’re not still pissed off, are you? It really isn’t that bad. Just like old times, eh?” Interceptor tried to coax his partner to speak to him as he followed up behind Celes to make sure she did not fall too far behind.
He was still angry, and now he was also tired and sore, though trying very hard not to look it. He had not slept well last night, and the heat and hard work of cutting through the jungle’s foliage was starting to take its toll on him. “Yeah.”
“Hey, Shadow?” Locke’s voice cut through to the man. Apparently he was not comfortable calling the man ‘Clyde’. “You’ve been at that for hours now, you want to switch out with me?”
“I’m fine.”
“Don’t be an asshole,” Interceptor cut into his partner’s thoughts, panting hard with the oppressive heat. “Not everything has to be an ego trip. You are tired, and you’re hurting, just let the kid take over for a bit so we can keep moving.”
It was Celes who saved both Locke and Shadow by piping up, resting her hands on her head. “I’m sorry, but I really need to rest for a bit. My head is killing me.”
“No fucking way!” Clyde snapped suddenly, turning to glare at Celes over his shoulder, and right through Terra and Locke as if they were panes of glass. “Suck it up already, we’ve already lost too much time because of you.”
“Because of me?!” Even though she was in obvious pain, that did not stop her from rising up to Clyde’s challenge, pushing past Terra and Locke with a rough shoulder. “Because of you, you bastard. You’re the one who poisoned me, remember? If you hadn’t come along, Locke and I would have been there already and on our way home!”
“Celes…” Locke was trying to keep the peace, though she did make some valid points. It was visibly upsetting Terra, however, and he knew that the half-Esper did not mean them any ill will. “There isn’t a clearing in this part of the jungle for a while yet. Can you just go on a little longer? As soon as we can stop, we will.”
Making a sound of disgust in his throat, Clyde just shook his head and turned back around to hack at a tangle of thick vines, feeling Terra’s eyes on his back. Things did calm down at least, and he was able to keep moving, secretly hoping there was a clearing up ahead soon so he would have an excuse to rest.
“It really isn’t so bad…” Interceptor was trying again to get to his friend. “I mean, if you think about it, splitting the reward four ways still leaves you enough for Relm…”
“Don’t talk about her to me, Pup. Not right now.” Clyde’s voice had a gentleness to it that his face did not convey at all. The issue of the money was not what was really eating at him. He would have enough for his plan, if he dipped into his own savings and collected a few debts. No, Locke was his problem. In truth, Clyde had nothing against the younger man, he did have a lot of respect for him, but Terra’s feelings were devastated, far more than she was letting on. That bothered him, and it bothered him that he was bothered, if that made sense.
“Pup? How’s Terra doing?”
Interceptor sneezed. “Well… of course she’s upset, but she’s trying hard not to be. Wouldn’t you be upset if the person you thought you were in love with didn’t return those feelings?”
His shoulder ached and it did not help that Clyde stiffened at his partner’s words. Was he just being rhetorical, or was he subtly making a point? It did not help his mood to be accused of having feelings for Terra that were not being returned. “How much farther?”
“If you’re tired, just rest. We can sit right here on the path, not like anyone is going to be coming along. Clyde, you were almost dead a couple days ago, pushing yourself isn’t wise at all. On the upside, you’ll look good and compassionate to Celes… and Terra would appreciate that.” Pressing an issue with Shadow was never a good idea, but Interceptor felt safe to persist this time.
“Let’s stop.” Clyde could feel three pairs of eyes on his back now, and he glanced briefly to the trio over his shoulder, ignoring Interceptor’s wagging tail of approval. “For an hour, no more. If we push on, we should reach the cavern before nightfall.”
“We should… if the map was accurate,” Locke interjected, smiling in his usual good-natured manner, resting a hand on Celes’ shoulder.
Nodding her agreement, Celes let out a sigh of relief and used her feet to make certain there was nothing on the ground she might regret sitting on, and then she almost collapsed with a weary sigh. She was still too furious with Shadow to thank him, so she put her head in her hands and leaned against Locke instead.
Terra sat down and drew her knees up, glancing to the couple without any visible envy or longing, but it was there nonetheless. She caught Clyde’s gaze for a moment, and offered him a faint smile of thanks… and just to smile, but he looked away and sat down where he stood, keeping his back to them.
*****
Tension eased between the travelers for the most part. The rest did Celes a world of good, and she was in much better spirits when they resumed. If the ex-Imperial was at all aware of Terra’s feelings for her significant other (Celes was not stupid nor unobservant, it was more than likely she was quite aware) she was polite enough not to make it known. The three of them did have a lot of catching up to do, reminiscing and reporting what they knew on the whereabouts of the others.
For the most part, Clyde ignored them and had even thought of ways to steal the bottle while they slept and going on ahead alone with Interceptor… but he needed Terra still, and she would not abandon Locke and Celes, of that he was certain.
The map had been fairly accurate, and they had been placed at the base of some mild rolling foothills, where the heat seemed to increase dramatically until it was almost unbearable. Flora and fauna thinned out up here, and it did not take Clyde and Locke long to locate the small entrance to what appeared to be the way to the Djinn Pool.
“It’s… a lot smaller than I had imagined…” Locke wiped at his brow with his bandana, standing beside Clyde as the two men surveyed the narrow passage. It looked like it could have been an animal’s den; they would have to crawl on their hands and knees through the passage into the hills. Fortunately, no one in the party had a problem with small spaces.
The elder of the pair rubbed at the stubble growing on his chin, narrowing his eyes in contemplation and agreement. “No shit… I’m not about to crawl through there in the dead of night. Wait till morning?”
Locke shrugged and grinned a bit. “Yeah, why not? I’m kinda beat from hiking up here anyway. So… Clyde…”
Raising his brows at the tone in Locke’s voice, Clyde looked over at him with his arms crossed. The kid had that ‘look’, too, which was a little disconcerting. That, and the way Locke glanced to make sure Terra and Celes were out of earshot also raised some alarms. “What.”
Rubbing at the back of his neck with one hand, Locke hesitated, and then he turned his gaze to the other man’s scarred face. “Why don’t you tell me the real reason you brought Terra out here.”
“Why don’t you tell me what you’re getting at?" He was not very tolerant of bullshit or beating around the bush. His face betrayed nothing, though he had a feeling Locke was going to turn into a hit-the-nail-on-the-head kind of pest.
“Fine then.” Turning to face Clyde fully, he just came out with it. “Maybe you fooled her, but I don’t buy it for a second. You knew damn well I wasn’t going to be with her, didn’t you? So what exactly does she think she’s here for?”
“She’s here to help a friend in need for a cut of the reward money.” Not entirely untrue and simple enough, Clyde managed to answer in an even voice.
Frowning a bit, the thief shook his head. “You lied to her, didn’t you? You figured you’d need a magick-user, one either proficient with fire or ice elements to get you to the Pool itself. I also think you planned to cut her out of the share completely.”
Definitely hitting some nails there. He felt his hands clenching into fists as he glared daggers at Locke. “Not going ‘big brother’ on me, are you?”
“I’m concerned, yes.” Locke nodded firmly, stepping a little closer, refusing to be intimidated by the other man. “I care about her very much, and I don’t trust you any further than I could throw you. You’re both adults, so I’m going to say my piece and drop it.”
Clyde gestured for him to speak up in a noncommittal gesture.
Gathering up his nerve, Locke’s good nature vanished and his eyes became hard and unwavering. “If you hurt her, you’re a dead man. I’ll hunt you to the ends of the earth, I swear it. Not even the gods themselves could save you… you got that?”
That struck a nerve, and not the one Clyde had thought it might. His hand shot out and he gripped a handful of Locke’s shirt, drawing him in face to face. His voice was as cool and sharp as a sliver of Esper’s ice.
“You broke her heart, you spineless little bastard,” Clyde growled softly, almost inaudible. “You have no right to warn me off…ever. I don’t take threats lightly, and if it was just you and me I would make you eat those words.”
Locke blinked, visibly taken off guard before he stiffened and wrenched the other man’s hand off of his shirt, keeping himself in check before they started another fight. “That’s really none of your business, and I did no such thing! Where the hell do you get off?”
Clyde shrugged, seeming perfectly calm for all outward intents and purposes. “Maybe you didn’t do it on purpose, but you don’t seem entirely stupid to me. You had to know how she felt about you; you didn’t have the balls to tell her that you didn’t love her. If I were in your place, I would tell her.”
“You could tell her because you don’t give a shit about anybody,” Locke muttered, not particularly fond of being chastised by a man of such dubious character.
“Maybe.”
There was a long pause, and Locke was glaring at the ground off to the side, not wanting to be the one to just walk away this time. “Fine then. I should’ve told her. But you should’ve been honest with her, too.”
All right, so Clyde didn’t like talking relationships: period. He didn’t like talking about them with Locke, either. “I heard about that job you did in the North. Not bad. I would’ve gone in through the basement, instead of the roof, though.”
The younger snorted a bit, and finally he grinned and shrugged. “Yeah well… live and learn. Thanks, I guess.” With that, he turned away and went to help Celes and Terra get camp set up and get something to eat, not wanting to let the other see just how much the simple praise had pleased him. He imagined Clyde did not hand out praise easily.
*****
“There you are… I thought you’d snuck off. Though… I guess you wouldn’t go too far without Interceptor. He’s not speaking to me anymore, by the way. Did I upset him?”
Clyde had gone off to find a place to sit and sharpen his sword and look preoccupied. His back was to Terra as he sat on a fallen log, and so she could not see his smile when he heard her approaching. He had hoped she would come looking for him. It had taken longer than he would have liked, but patience paid off, he supposed.
“Don’t take it personally. I mean, hell, it took him years before he spoke to me, you should consider yourself lucky.” He glanced to her over his shoulder, his expression softening only a small bit for just a moment. “Then again, you’re much easier to like.”
Terra smiled briefly and ventured nearer to his resting place, ascertaining that it was now safe. Stepping over the log, the young woman sat down beside him and let out a faint sigh, lifting her head to look up at the sky, which she could now see with the thinner canopy of trees. It looked like a clear, balmy night. She was very aware that Clyde was watching her, and she did not mind as much as she once thought she would. “Glad to see you’re in a better mood.”
He shrugged, tucking the wet stone into the pack resting near his feet and slowly sheathed his blade, letting it rest across his knees. “I suppose. I see the three of you are getting along just fine. How’s it been seeing Locke again?”
There was no need to wonder why Clyde mentioned Locke and not Celes. Not to imply that Terra had no feelings for Celes… she did, they were children of the Empire, they understood each other and they respected each other as well. No, Terra understood what Clyde was getting at, and she let out another sigh. “It hasn’t been as easy as I thought. I never imagined that he and Celes… though, looking back I guess I should have, they were always friendly with one another.”
“You don’t have to put on a face with me.” Turning his head, he regarded her fully. She was looking up at the sky still, trying not to notice that he was studying her closely. The bruises on her face had faded and were nearly invisible in the moonlight, and the faint sunburn on her nose was almost tooth-achingly charming. He felt himself smiling. “It’s okay to be pissed off, you know.”
“It seems to work so well for you when you’re not pretending you don’t have any feelings at all,” Terra snapped and then caught his smile out of the corner of her eye, her shoulders hunching in the oversized shirt. After a moment or two of silence, she finally grinned and she heard Clyde chuckle softly. “Mm. All right. So I am a little pissed off, but they’re still my friends and when I stop being angry I’ll just be happy for them. So don’t even try and convince me to give you the bottle and sneak off to the Djinn Pool.”
She knew him a bit too well sometimes. “The thought never crossed my mind.”
“Liar.”
Although the word had been thrown out casually and in jest, it did give him pause. Shifting on his seat, Clyde lifted his sheathed sword from his knees and set it to lean against the log to the side of him opposite Terra. “Yeah, it comes naturally after a while. I lied to you back in Mobliz. I was never looking for Locke.”
Clyde told the truth as casually as he had told the lie, and Terra was not sure she had heard him right for a moment until her brows furrowed in confusion and she shook her head slowly. “I don’t understand. Why would you lie about that?”
“I didn’t think you would agree to come with me if I asked you on my own behalf. I was pretty sure you would volunteer yourself if I brought up Locke. You did. You are so predictable.” It would seem he was not ashamed in the least about telling her the truth, keeping his eyes on her, unwavering, not tiptoeing or sugar-coating or offering up excuses.
“I…” She began, sitting up straight and staring at him before she cleared her throat and regained a measure of her composure. “Why me? Of anyone you knew, why did you want me to go with you?” Terra was prepared for an admission of a long harbored infatuation, though by his expression she could assume that was not going to be his reason.
“I thought Locke would seek you out first, I wanted to beat him to the punch. He didn’t. I didn’t know he already had Celes.” That did not make much sense, and by her bewilderment Clyde decided he had better clarify before she think he had some kind of thing for her. “The heat is unbearable around the Djinn Pool. You’ve got a good grip on the fire element, you were the first person I thought of to help me get to it.”
“You bastard!” Terra sputtered for a moment before those words came out, loud enough she was certain Locke, Celes and Interceptor heard, and she did not care. She was angry. “You knew I never would have left Mobliz for a treasure-hunt if I had not agreed to help you first! You tricked me; you made me think you were in danger or something! What is wrong with you?!”
“All right… so I tricked you.” He was not getting angry, just gesturing for her to calm down. Admittedly, she was incredibly alluring when she was angry, which was so cliché he never believed he would actually think it. “You needed it. You’d have stayed holed up in that asshole of a town with those miserable little brats for the rest of your life if I hadn’t come along.”
Standing up quite suddenly, her cheeks were flushed hotly with anger and indignation as her mind raced. He was so casual; he did not even seem ashamed of himself! “You better explain to me what is so damned important about this gold that you had to deceive me to get my help. Why couldn’t you just ask me?? If your reason was good enough, I would have said yes!”
“My reason is hard to explain.” With the grace of a snake uncoiling from the rock it had been sunning itself on, Clyde rose to his feet as well that he would not be loomed over by an angry half-Esper. “It was easier for me to just lie to you, and you never would have known if I hadn’t said anything. I did say something, so don’t get upset.”
Taking several deep breaths, Terra calmed herself down and glared up at his face, his calm façade was more than annoying. Carefully she searched his eyes. “What about… what about the rest. Me and you… what was that, you just using me?”
“Don’t even start,” He warned, tilting his head slightly and frowning at her. “You were just as much to blame as me, don’t go acting like I took advantage of you.”
“I was not acting like you took advantage of me. You think I just hop into bed with any guy who wanders along? Huh?? Is that what you think, that I wasn’t going to be upset that you were lying to me and fucking me in the same breath?” Turning away sharply, she held up her hand as if that alone would ward him off, trembling with anger and other mixed feelings now.
Reaching out, he seized her wrist and pulled her back to look at him. His voice did not rise when he got angry, it became quieter, and with an unconcealed edge. “What, are you stupid? How could you jump to that conclusion? I am telling you the truth now because I care enough about you to try and be upfront. You sure as hell don’t have to like everything I say, but don’t accuse me of using you when it comes to sex, you got that?”
Well, that got her attention at least, and she settled enough to look back to him, though he had not won her over just yet. Softening his voice and dulling the edge, Clyde continued: “Do you want to hear the reason? The reason I didn’t ask for your help?”
Terra nodded slowly, feeling those steely fingers loosen their hold on her wrist. “Yes.”
He gestured for her to sit down and when she did, he settled beside her, releasing her wrist entirely and taking his turn at looking up to the sky now. She was patient as he readied himself to speak, and he appreciated her all the more just then.
“That’s it. I’ll come in there after you, I mean it! You can’t stay there forever, I can wait a lot longer than you!”
Interceptor was certain, at some point, Locke must have realized he sounded stupid threatening a dog the way he was, and said canine did not seem terribly phased by the threats. The large dog-fae just put his head down on his paws, the bag with the bottle in it under his chin as he let out a sigh, watching the young man with a decidedly bored expression.
Clyde’s partner decided it was much easier and less tiring to just hole up and wait for a rescue, rather than lead Locke and Celes directly to his friend. This kept them in one place. Interceptor had crawled under a rock shelf into what smelled like the den of some animal akin to a badger, but it had not been used in a very long time. With a little snarl, he swore if he got fleas from this Clyde was going to pick them out of his coat one parasite at a time.
”Locke, it’s a dog. He’ll come out. Just stop sticking your hand in that hole, I’m afraid he is going to bite you, I swore I heard him growl.” Celes sighed, leaning against the rough bark of a tree and folding her arms, keeping an eye on their surroundings.
With a frustrated sound, the young man pounded his fist into the ground. He really wanted that bottle back, but he was unwilling to do anything to hurt the animal, even if he was convinced this was no mere canine. “Celes…”He was very close to whining now. “I can’t get him out, I’ve tried everything! Food, water, talking nice, yelling at him, he won’t budge! Any ideas?”
She almost chuckled, but she managed not to for the sake of preserving Locke’s thin mood. “I’m sorry, love, I really don’t know much about dealing with dogs. If you would like, I could try a spell to put him to sleep?”
“Ha! You just go on ahead and try that, Missy.” The pair did not hear Interceptor speak, and he did not really wish to converse with either of them right now. If their suspicions that he was more than a dog were confirmed, they may try other methods. Besides, Celes had grown up in a MagiTek factory; it was not improbable to think she might have some tricks for dealing with Fae-folk.
“Yes, try that!” Locke got to his feet and brushed off his hands and pants, gesturing towards the burrow under the rock, brightening with a ray of hope. “I should have asked you first, I guess. Heh, don’t let me get away with making myself look stupid too often.”
Interceptor rolled his eyes. “Right, you should both take equal turns looking stupid…Clyde, hurry up already, I think I am contracting rabies from this stinky den. It will be a horrific slaughter, white cloth and bandana shreds everywhere.”
“Don’t make me laugh when I’m working.” He had been listening to Interceptor’s running commentary on the situation involving the thief and the ex-General with increasing amusement, even if he was not close enough to hear them until now. The light-colored clothing proved not to be as bad as he had imagined; the dappled sunlight filtering through the canopy helped him make the best of his surroundings.
“Well work a little faster, would you?” The dog-fae shifted on the packed earth of the burrow. It was a tight spot to wriggle into, and he found it rather degrading. “I’m not sure I’m strong enough to ward off a sleep spell.”
Sometimes Clyde had to stop and wonder at what point he began taking orders from pushy dogs, even grinning briefly as his sandaled feet moved soundlessly over the ground. Between his thumb and forefinger he held up a dart he had made from a thorn and a bit of clay fashioned over it for weight. He had coated the thorn in the nectar from a flower he knew to be poisonous, but not especially deadly in most cases.
With a practiced and admirable ease, he drew back his arm and flicked his wrist, seeing the makeshift dart pierce the exposed back of Celes’ neck while she was weaving the language of spellcasting. Her spell interrupted, she winced and slapped at the back of her neck, assuming it was some insect that had assaulted her, until she pulled the small dart from her skin and her azure eyes widened in alarm.
“L-Locke?” The woman’s voice was dazed and light, and then her eyes rolled back into her head as she pitched forward.
Said thief moved to catch Celes as she was rendered by the venom on the thorn, shielding her from further attack while he tried to pinpoint the location of the assailant. Locke had a fairly good idea of who it was, his suspicions confirmed when Interceptor crawled from his hiding place and dropped the bag, bearing his teeth and going from harmless to frightening in a fraction of a second.
Locke said nothing, trying to watch Interceptor and protect Celes while having no idea how he was going to do both and try to handle Shadow. “She better be unharmed…” His voice raised only enough to carry, he was not yelling, he made no idle threat.
“She will be fine, and you might live a little longer if you stay still and keep your hands where I can see them.” Clyde’s voice drifted to him as he circled in, keeping just out of Locke’s peripheral vision before he moved in with his sword drawn, sunlight catching the blade and causing a bright white flash before it arced downward to alight with a feather’s touch just under the younger man’s jaw from behind. The assassin felt Locke tense, and had he not been holding Celes he might…just might, have avoided being caught.
The thief drew his lips into a tight line, feeling his face flush hot with anger and shame at being taken so easily, his smoke-gray eyes smoldering. His fingers flexed, knowing a weapon was within easy reach, but he might endanger Celes if he tried anything. His voice was strained and quiet through gritted teeth. “You might as well kill me, because you know I’m going to get you for this.”
“He sounds like you when you were his age.” Interceptor noted as the growling subsided, but his guard did not lower the slightest bit.
“I don’t think I was ever his age. Celes?”
“Out cold. Stable.”
With a flick of his wrist, Clyde tilted the younger man’s head with the point of his sword. “Put her down, and hold your hands out at your sides.”
He was licked, for now at least, so Locke complied and gently set Celes down on the ground as he crouched there, holding his hands out, palms up, at his sides and awaiting further instruction.
“I hate this bluffing… it makes me feel like an icky gambler. Like Setzer!” Interceptor interjected as he dutifully padded over to Celes and loomed over her in his best threatening manner to encourage Locke not to try anything. For a dog, and a Fae of his particular Clan, he did have some scruples when it came to harming defenseless and innocent people. Celes was quite safe from him, and he did not enjoy making Locke think she was in danger. Besides, he rather liked Locke.
With his foot on Locke’s shoulder, the assassin shoved him onto his stomach in the dirt and swiftly moved to sheathe his sword, dropping a knee to the small of the younger man’s back. From his belt he loosened a long cord of strong and sinuous vine, grasping one of Locke’s prone hands and twisting it behind his back. Within moments, he had secured both wrists with a professional and complex knot, sparing no time for gloating as he worked on the ankles next. “Would you prefer I just kill them both? I could do that, and I have far fewer moral objections than you, Pup.”
With a canine sigh, before he remembered to look like Big Bad Feral Guard-Dog, Interceptor looked over at Clyde. “Don’t be ridiculous. Why won’t you just admit you like the kid, hm? I think you were secretly looking forward to running into him here.”
“I like a challenge, I have no special feelings for the boy.” Finished, Clyde stood and knelt beside Celes, binding her in a similar fashion though he remembered to stuff a cloth torn from Terra’s shirt into her mouth as a gag. No good leaving a spellcaster her voice, especially when he wanted them to stay put for a while.
It was nice to know that he had been right about their lives not being in immediate danger, Locke mused as he forced himself to calm down. Being angry would do him nothing at this point, it would only drain his energy and he needed that to get out of his bonds. As humiliated as he was, there was a secret pleasure in the knowledge that all the time he had traveled with Shadow and Interceptor had counted for something. What’s a king’s ransom in gold between a friendship like that? This was one of those situations that he would laugh about later… much later… after he had gotten free and beaten Shadow within an inch of his life, kidnapped his dog and cashed in the Djinn blood.
“Not so tough without your dog.”
No response would have been best. Interceptor went to collect the bottle, and Clyde glanced to Locke’s back with a frown when the younger man mumbled that comment, then he crouched to flick at a vulnerable ear, speaking quietly. “And maybe you’d be tougher without your bitch.”
“Okay, okay Clyde. Can we just go now?” Holding the drawstrings for the bottle’s pouch in his teeth, a growl of warning slid from Interceptor’s throat.
“In a minute.” His mind’s response was short and clipped, and he waited to see if the thief had any other smartass remarks.
Apparently, Locke was not done speaking, and he tried to turn his head to see the masked man out of the corner of his eye. “Maybe. So why don’t you call off your dog, we move away from Celes and you see if you can take me on by yourself?”
Pointed ears perked up and Interceptor snapped his attention to Clyde, a warning tone in his voice. “ Now is not the time for a pissing contest. We got what we came for, let’s just go!”
Against his better judgment, Clyde ignored his partner and hooked the top of his foot under Locke’s shoulder, rolling the younger over onto his back so they could look one another in the eye. “I did take you by myself. You want to go another round?”
“If that’s what you call it.” Locke scoffed, though it was hard to be taken seriously when you were bound hand and foot and lying on your back on the ground. “ Me and you, winner gets the bottle.”
Interceptor had stopped protesting, and Clyde would have ignored him anyway. He wasn’t sure why this irked him so much in the first damn place. He did, at least, manage to keep the whole of his irritation and sudden defensiveness out of his voice. “What are we talking here? To the death?”
With a puff of breath, the thief blew his sandy bangs out of his eyes and furrowed his brow. “ Uh no, that’s a bit dramatic. How about last one standing?”
Snorting his amusement, Clyde rested his foot on the other man’s chest and leaned over him a bit. “Sounds good to me. Looks like I win, then.”
“Oh! You’re fucking hilarious!” Brows shot up and Locke shifted rather uncomfortably, as his hands were pinned between his body and the ground in the awkward position. “Why don’t you try untying me first, asshole?”
To that the assassin crossed his arms and took a few steps back, assuming a lean up against a tree and bowing his head as if he were bored, or resting. His voice was quiet, carrying no inflection or outward sign that he was affected by the insults. “If you’re half as good as you think you are, you should be able to get free all on your own. I’ll give you half an hour, then I take off with your bottle.”
“I can do it in a quarter hour.” Locke shrugged, as best as he could, given the circumstances. Some people worked better under pressure.
“This is going beyond stupid now. I do not approve at all. What are you going to do, fight him? We could have been back with Terra and on our way by the time you two are done!” Interceptor was getting increasingly huffy, and he suspected there was another reason for his partner’s decidedly uncharacteristic behavior.
“Assuming he can even get out of those knots, this won’t take long. Let me have some fun.”
“Fun my furry ass! As if this has nothing to do with Terra and you being jealous that she likes him so damned much.” The dog-fae knew he should have left that one alone, because immediately after he said it his partner shut him out and ceased speaking to him.
It was a very rare instance that Clyde was upset enough with Interceptor that he would stop speaking to him. After all, it was embarrassing to know that his partner was at least partially correct about the half-Esper. Only partially correct, there was also a matter of pride and a whole lot of money at stake as well.
Locke was sitting up now, his own head bowed in concentration as he moved his wrists. The knots were nearly impossibly well done, but the thief had flexed his wrists when Shadow had tied them, and he relaxed his hands now, feeling a bit of slack. It was not enough to move far, but slow back and forth motions would warm up and loosen the vines in half an hour, though? He was not as confident as he had sounded that he could free himself in the allotted time.
“You know.” The younger of the two men started speaking conversationally, as it helped him to work on getting loose. “I was really wondering just how you got out of that tower.”
“Keep wondering.” Was the cool response.
Lifting his head, Locke blinked a few times. “ If I didn’t know any better, I would say you had some kind of personal problem with me.”
“I don’t have a problem.” Clyde was suspicious when the thief drew up his knees, as if he were trying to hide the motions of his hands. He watched closely without trying to seem like he was.
Interceptor lifted his head suddenly and let out a whine, shifting from foot to foot to get Clyde’s attention. “Hey, you’ll never guess who followed you, and is about ten seconds away from making an tense situation incredibly awkward.”
(Author’s Note: What fun! Next Chapter: Plenty of tension and awkwardness as Interceptor predicts. Thanks for reading and reviewing, as always, I’ll hurry with the next chapter! My interest in FFX is slowly tapering off. I did, however, get Silent Hill 2 and FF9, so I might get sucked in again. Silent Hill 2 is creepy.)
If Clyde thought she was going to wait there until nightfall, he had another thing coming. The more Terra thought about it, the angrier it made her. Who did he think he was? Of course, following him proved to be much more difficult than she had thought, and he did have a considerable lead.
Something about his demeanor had made her more than suspicious. For the love of anything holy, did he think she was naive? A simple spell allowed her to follow Clyde, and had it not been for her forethought, the half-Esper would have been quite lost in the Thyzalian jungle by now.
Each step worsened her temper as morning turned into afternoon and even though the canopy spared her more sunburn, the shifting light was starting to give her a headache. The heat was ugly and humid, making her clothes stick to her body, her green-gold hair cling damply to her head where it came loose from the bun she had hurriedly twisted it into to get it off of her neck.
Her shortsword hacked at vines and foliage partially out of spite now, and to let off some of her pent-up frustration. Terra had promised herself she was not going to start considering her relationship with Clyde, if there was one at all. It was safe to say they were friends, and she was worried she cared about him a lot more than she should. What happens after he got what he wanted, would he disappear again? The more she thought of Clyde up and leaving the more it upset her, which further upset her because she knew she should not be upset.
It was a vicious cycle of being upset, and it was innocent and defenseless plants that suffered.
Stopping to catch her breath and draw the back of her hand across her brow, Terra heard a soft rustling behind her and she gasped in surprise to see Interceptor. Smiling despite herself, she reached out and stroked his head, crouching to be eye-level with him. “Well hello there!”
Unable to help herself, the young woman dropped her sword and brought both of her hands to the canine’s thick-furred neck, scratching and even kissing the top of his muzzle lightly. “I was worried we lost you! Where’s Clyde?”
Quite a bit flustered and flattered by the kiss and the pleasant reception, Interceptor dutifully wagged his tail and suppressed a whine when she asked about his partner, trying not to look guilty. Clyde had said to keep her busy, but he had not specified how he was supposed to do that.
Furrowing her brow in concern, Terra rose to her feet and looked around her environs quickly, she thought she heard someone shout. “What’s going on? Is he all right? Show me where he is!”
This was rather annoying, because the Fae could not play ‘dumb dog’ with Terra. He would have to thank Clyde for spilling his secret later. Locke was probably free by now, and he wondered if there was a fight going on back there. It was suspiciously quiet, though his keen hearing had heard the brief shout. Interceptor decided that the damage was done; he may as well go all the way. “Now is not a good time.”
She was not sure she had heard that for real or not. Staring at the dog with astonishment, Terra cleared her throat, wondering if she should think back at the animal. It did feel strange talking out loud to a dog, even if she did know Interceptor was more than just that. “What’s going on?”
“Hah…That is the question, isn’t it?” His ‘voice’ seemed tainted with sarcasm and a sigh, wondering how long he could keep Terra at bay. He reasoned that he could knock her down and sit on her chest for a while, before she went berserk and fried him. “Would you believe nothing? Let’s go back to camp!”
Crossing her arms, she glared at the canine. Between a headache, pondering relationships and the humid heat, she was in no mood for games.
“I see you are not believing that. Look, I’ll level with you.” Clyde was going to kill him. “Locke and Celes are here. I ran into them after I was washed up on shore, and that’s where we got the other bottle.”
“I knew it!” Terra sucked in a breath, pointing at the dog in triumph. “I knew he was hiding something!” Locke was here! With Celes… that stole away from some of her joy, and she swallowed hard. Well, what did that mean? Nothing, they were friends, weren’t they?
“Right! So let’s go back to camp now.” Biting down on Terra’s sleeve when she bent to pick up her sword, Interceptor gave her a firm tug.
“Let go of me!” The young woman moved to jerk her arm away from the canine, succeeding in tearing her sleeve when she did so. Muttering a rather potent curse under her breath, she hefted the shortsword and spun away from Interceptor, following her trail and the obvious sounds of a scuffle.
Dropping his head for a moment, Interceptor heaved a great sigh and turned to pad after her, in no real hurry, why not postpone the inevitable? So much for their streak of luck.
The scene that Terra happened upon was a rather shocking one, and by the confused and alarmed sound that came from her throat, she was quite taken aback. Clyde turned to look at her, seeming about to say something when Locke jumped him from behind and wrapped a forearm around his neck.
Forgetting Terra for the moment, Clyde hopped backwards for momentum and into the trunk of a tree, reaching up to grasp Locke’s hand and dig steely fingers into the tendons of his wrist. Locke was effectively slammed between his body and the solid tree.
With a loud ‘oof’ Locke was forced to release the other man and slumped down the rough bark of the tree, blinking dazedly at Terra, then snapping his attention back to Shadow as the older man spun on his heel, drawing back an arm to hit him.
“Clyde!!” Terra recovered long enough to shout, clenching her fists and glaring murder.
“You are in so much trouble.” Interceptor interjected helpfully, in case his partner had not noticed Terra was about to paste him.
“Shut up.” Clyde growled to Interceptor, forgetting not to speak aloud in his anger. He had halted, however.
Gasping, Terra’s eyes widened when she saw Celes bound and gagged, apparently conscious now but not seeming too bothered by the fact she was tied up, then she returned her glare to Clyde. “Don’t tell me to shut up!”
“I wasn’t telling you to shut up, I was- fuck it.” Turning abruptly away from Locke, he began to pace to work off some tension. Beating the kid within an inch of his life now would not be beneficial in the long run.
The half-Esper was not listening, she managed to make her way over to Celes with concern, having to use the edge of her sword to slice through the complex knot in the vines, feeling her hands tremble as she released her friend. “I can’t believe you! You had better start explaining! What do you think you’re doing, why is Celes tied up??”
“Terra…?” Locke rubbed the back of his head, watching the exchange between Shadow and Terra in a stunned silence, getting to his feet with more than a touch of uncertainty. “Why are you here…?”
“She’s with me.” Clyde felt the need to point that out very quickly, jabbing a finger in Locke’s general direction.
“Hi“! Celes licked her lips and smiled to Terra as she struggled to sit up with the other woman’s help, not at all fazed by what was going on. The ex-Imperial seemed rather happy in fact. That was just the funniest thing.”
Sucking in a breath, Terra managed to look bewildered as she steadied Celes, taken aback. Whipping her head around, her rose-quartz eyes affixed their gaze accusingly to Clyde and Locke. “What’s wrong with her, is she drunk?”
”Close enough. I used a mild venom to disable her. She’ll be fucked up for a while, I think.” Catching Terra’s incredulous expression, he only shrugged. “I’ve never used it before, I’m only going on what the natives told me.”
Helping to steady the inebriated woman as she stood, Terra staggered when Celes fell heavily on her, giggling stupidly. Sighing in frustration, the silence between the three sober people grew thick. “You two listen to me, and you listen good. I will not have any of us fighting over money, you hear?? I won’t! Not after all the bullshit I went through last year.”
“Hey! I wasn’t fighting with anyone, he attacked us!” Locke pointed at Shadow, then he made his way over to Terra to help steady Celes, who was singing some old drinking song under her breath. “Is his name really Clyde?”
“It is so good to see you again!” Celes seemed to focus for a moment, resting her hand on Terra’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze as she grinned. “You look great! How the hell have you been??”
Sighing, Terra exchanged an uncomfortable look with Locke and then she stepped back, stooping to pick up the leather bag containing the bottle that seems to have started all of this. She was silent for a few moments, and then she looked to each of them (those that were coherent anyhow) in turn. “I am going to hold onto this stupid thing. We’re all going to go together, as a group, and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
“Word!” Celes chirped up before she burst into a fit of giggles.
The four-legged member of the group let his tongue loll out as he looked to his partner with a small wag of his tail, sounding almost as disgustingly cheerful as Celes did. “Well! This isn’t uncomfortable at all!”
“I got her.” Locke murmured quietly to Terra, offering an easier smile to the half-Esper this time, though there were still questions behind his eyes. Drawing a deep breath and exhaling it, he averted his gaze to the ground. “So, I guess we should sit down and start explaining things.”
Clyde stiffened visibly, though he was watching Interceptor. “I don’t have to explain anything.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Terra agreed with Locke, not even acknowledging that Clyde had spoken. She had the bottle, after all, and if he wanted it before she was willing to move on, he was going to have to pry it from her cold, dead, fingers.
*****
”I think I am going to be sick.”
”Really? Want me to finish off your dinner, then?”
”I’m not speaking to you right now. Traitor.”
Interceptor lifted his head from his paws and looked up to Clyde, who was sitting up in a tree, sprawled across a large bough. His eyes were closed, but he was far from sleep. “Blaming me won’t change a thing. C’mon, we both know why you’re really upset.”
Opening one hazel eye to a dangerous slit, the Human of the pair looked down from his perch at his partner. “Who’s upset? I’m just nauseous.”
As if on cue, Terra’s laughter drifted to them from the new campsite. She had been sitting with Locke quite comfortably for most of the afternoon and now into the early evening, catching up. Celes was sleeping off the effects of the poison, and it comforted Clyde somewhat to know at least one of them was going to pay in spades tomorrow.
“They are friends, Clyde.” Interceptor attempted to bring his friend out of the brooding, aware that his mood was going from bad to worse very rapidly.
In response, the Human only shrugged and appeared, for all intents and purposes, completely relaxed. “Never said they weren’t. We wasted a whole day waiting for the General over there to sober up, you can’t blame me for being annoyed.”
“You are the one that poisoned her…”
“Have I told you to shut up yet?”
The dog-fae yawned and rose from the ground, executing a mighty stretch and turning away from Clyde, heading in the direction of the campfire. He, for one, did not mind waiting a little longer.
Both eyes opened and Clyde frowned, craning his neck to see where his partner was off to. “Where are you going?”
Interceptor glanced up at him for a moment. “You’re just way too happy for me, sunshine. I’m going to try and mooch food from Locke and Terra.”
His expression darkened and the assassin looked away. “Fine, you do that.”
*****
”You know, you could have told me about you and Celes. Why didn’t you?” Terra’s smile faded a bit, but did not vanish as she poked at the embers of the fire with a long stick, stirring them slowly.
Removing his bandana slowly, Locke shrugged and smiled sheepishly. “I really don’t know. I just thought it would sound… bad, I guess, in a letter. I planned on coming to visit on my way back from here.”
“Bad?” Feigning ignorance, Terra blinked innocently. “How could that be bad? Celes is my friend, too.”
The young man opened his mouth to speak, and then he just chuckled and let it drop instead. They both knew, and he had seen Terra’s hurt expression earlier today. He did not feel he had done anything wrong, but he wanted to be sensitive to her feelings nonetheless. “I never thought you’d want to leave Mobliz. In your letters you always seemed so happy.”
Averting her gaze to the fire, she drew up her knees and spared the soundly sleeping Celes a quick glance. “Is that why you didn’t want me? Because you thought I wanted to stay in Mobliz?”
Scratching at the back of his neck in obvious discomfort, Locke’s voice softened as he turned his head to look at Terra. “No! Don’t make it sound so bad. I mean, c’mon, you and I never talked about this. We were always just friends. Good friends, right?”
“Right.” It was not fair to put Locke on the spot, she decided. She wanted them to be more than friends, he was in love with Celes, and probably always had been. He was right; she had never asked him how he felt, or confessed outright. Terra had always only hinted, and hoped. “It’s okay. I’m happy for you.”
“What about you and Shadow?” A quick change of subject was accompanied by a dubious expression. “I’m still not exactly clear how you two ended up together.”
“We are not together,” Terra exclaimed a bit more defensively than she had meant, earning an amused expression from the thief. Sighing, she waved dismissively with a hand. “He suckered me. He showed up on my doorstep… did I say doorstep? I mean kitchen in the middle of the night, and lead me to believe he needed help. He told me he was looking for you.”
Both brows shot up at that, and Locke tilted his head. “Looking for me? Weird he would go all the way to Mobliz to find you when he knew that I wasn’t there.”
“Knew you weren’t there?” Terra muttered, furrowing her brow. “How could he have known that?”
“Uh…” The thief grinned a bit. “I can’t tell you. But believe me, he had other sources of information close at hand. I know I’m not so slippery that he had no idea where I was headed.”
She sat up. “Then why did he come looking for me?”
“Maybe you should ask him?” Nudging her shoulder gently with his own. “Though he really doesn’t seem like your type to me. I think he likes you, though. How could anybody not like you, eh?”
Terra laughed and nudged him back. “If he ever comes down from that tree, I’ll ask.”
(Author’s note: Whew. I went back and fixed up chapters 11 & 12, so hopefully the conversation is a little less confusing. No one seemed to notice, though… at least no one said anything about it! You people are so nice to me ^_^ )
(Author’s note: For some reason, the conversation between Interceptor and Clyde that was done in italics to indicate mindspeech did not convert when I uploaded the last chapter. Once I figure out why it didn’t work this time, I’ll go back and fix it, though it should be obvious which was which… at least I hope so. I apologize for any confusion.)
Clyde was not happy. Everything had gone from great, to terrible, to great and now it was lingering somewhere between horrible and awful. He must have cursed Terra a thousand times by now, and Locke as well as Celes. Interceptor was disgustingly content with the arrangement that had been made without his consent.
So here they were, in the steaming jungle in the wee hours of morning, trudging along in a merry little group. The especially irritating part was that everyone seemed to enjoy it except for Clyde. He was secretly just waiting for Locke to make fun of his name so he would have a reasonable excuse to pulp the little upstart.
The night had seemed extremely long. When Celes was not sleeping she was regaling them with every drinking song she knew (and the campaigner knew a surprising assortment) or professing just how much she loved everybody. The ex-Imperial suffered greatly the next morning, which Clyde had to admit brightened his mood considerably. Now he was only darkly brooding instead of murderously bothered.
The going had slowed as the foliage thickened into a suffocating tangle, and the assassin headed up the party, using his blade to help clear the growth of vines and bamboo. Behind him, Terra and Locke chatted each other up amiably while Celes tried to keep her eyes on the ground as not to aggravate what seemed like a deliciously wicked headache.
“You’ve been disturbingly quiet, Clyde… come on, and you’re not still pissed off, are you? It really isn’t that bad. Just like old times, eh?” Interceptor tried to coax his partner to speak to him as he followed up behind Celes to make sure she did not fall too far behind.
He was still angry, and now he was also tired and sore, though trying very hard not to look it. He had not slept well last night, and the heat and hard work of cutting through the jungle’s foliage was starting to take its toll on him. “Yeah.”
“Hey, Shadow?” Locke’s voice cut through to the man. Apparently he was not comfortable calling the man ‘Clyde’. “You’ve been at that for hours now, you want to switch out with me?”
“I’m fine.”
“Don’t be an asshole,” Interceptor cut into his partner’s thoughts, panting hard with the oppressive heat. “Not everything has to be an ego trip. You are tired, and you’re hurting, just let the kid take over for a bit so we can keep moving.”
It was Celes who saved both Locke and Shadow by piping up, resting her hands on her head. “I’m sorry, but I really need to rest for a bit. My head is killing me.”
“No fucking way!” Clyde snapped suddenly, turning to glare at Celes over his shoulder, and right through Terra and Locke as if they were panes of glass. “Suck it up already, we’ve already lost too much time because of you.”
“Because of me?!” Even though she was in obvious pain, that did not stop her from rising up to Clyde’s challenge, pushing past Terra and Locke with a rough shoulder. “Because of you, you bastard. You’re the one who poisoned me, remember? If you hadn’t come along, Locke and I would have been there already and on our way home!”
“Celes…” Locke was trying to keep the peace, though she did make some valid points. It was visibly upsetting Terra, however, and he knew that the half-Esper did not mean them any ill will. “There isn’t a clearing in this part of the jungle for a while yet. Can you just go on a little longer? As soon as we can stop, we will.”
Making a sound of disgust in his throat, Clyde just shook his head and turned back around to hack at a tangle of thick vines, feeling Terra’s eyes on his back. Things did calm down at least, and he was able to keep moving, secretly hoping there was a clearing up ahead soon so he would have an excuse to rest.
“It really isn’t so bad…” Interceptor was trying again to get to his friend. “I mean, if you think about it, splitting the reward four ways still leaves you enough for Relm…”
“Don’t talk about her to me, Pup. Not right now.” Clyde’s voice had a gentleness to it that his face did not convey at all. The issue of the money was not what was really eating at him. He would have enough for his plan, if he dipped into his own savings and collected a few debts. No, Locke was his problem. In truth, Clyde had nothing against the younger man, he did have a lot of respect for him, but Terra’s feelings were devastated, far more than she was letting on. That bothered him, and it bothered him that he was bothered, if that made sense.
“Pup? How’s Terra doing?”
Interceptor sneezed. “Well… of course she’s upset, but she’s trying hard not to be. Wouldn’t you be upset if the person you thought you were in love with didn’t return those feelings?”
His shoulder ached and it did not help that Clyde stiffened at his partner’s words. Was he just being rhetorical, or was he subtly making a point? It did not help his mood to be accused of having feelings for Terra that were not being returned. “How much farther?”
“If you’re tired, just rest. We can sit right here on the path, not like anyone is going to be coming along. Clyde, you were almost dead a couple days ago, pushing yourself isn’t wise at all. On the upside, you’ll look good and compassionate to Celes… and Terra would appreciate that.” Pressing an issue with Shadow was never a good idea, but Interceptor felt safe to persist this time.
“Let’s stop.” Clyde could feel three pairs of eyes on his back now, and he glanced briefly to the trio over his shoulder, ignoring Interceptor’s wagging tail of approval. “For an hour, no more. If we push on, we should reach the cavern before nightfall.”
“We should… if the map was accurate,” Locke interjected, smiling in his usual good-natured manner, resting a hand on Celes’ shoulder.
Nodding her agreement, Celes let out a sigh of relief and used her feet to make certain there was nothing on the ground she might regret sitting on, and then she almost collapsed with a weary sigh. She was still too furious with Shadow to thank him, so she put her head in her hands and leaned against Locke instead.
Terra sat down and drew her knees up, glancing to the couple without any visible envy or longing, but it was there nonetheless. She caught Clyde’s gaze for a moment, and offered him a faint smile of thanks… and just to smile, but he looked away and sat down where he stood, keeping his back to them.
*****
Tension eased between the travelers for the most part. The rest did Celes a world of good, and she was in much better spirits when they resumed. If the ex-Imperial was at all aware of Terra’s feelings for her significant other (Celes was not stupid nor unobservant, it was more than likely she was quite aware) she was polite enough not to make it known. The three of them did have a lot of catching up to do, reminiscing and reporting what they knew on the whereabouts of the others.
For the most part, Clyde ignored them and had even thought of ways to steal the bottle while they slept and going on ahead alone with Interceptor… but he needed Terra still, and she would not abandon Locke and Celes, of that he was certain.
The map had been fairly accurate, and they had been placed at the base of some mild rolling foothills, where the heat seemed to increase dramatically until it was almost unbearable. Flora and fauna thinned out up here, and it did not take Clyde and Locke long to locate the small entrance to what appeared to be the way to the Djinn Pool.
“It’s… a lot smaller than I had imagined…” Locke wiped at his brow with his bandana, standing beside Clyde as the two men surveyed the narrow passage. It looked like it could have been an animal’s den; they would have to crawl on their hands and knees through the passage into the hills. Fortunately, no one in the party had a problem with small spaces.
The elder of the pair rubbed at the stubble growing on his chin, narrowing his eyes in contemplation and agreement. “No shit… I’m not about to crawl through there in the dead of night. Wait till morning?”
Locke shrugged and grinned a bit. “Yeah, why not? I’m kinda beat from hiking up here anyway. So… Clyde…”
Raising his brows at the tone in Locke’s voice, Clyde looked over at him with his arms crossed. The kid had that ‘look’, too, which was a little disconcerting. That, and the way Locke glanced to make sure Terra and Celes were out of earshot also raised some alarms. “What.”
Rubbing at the back of his neck with one hand, Locke hesitated, and then he turned his gaze to the other man’s scarred face. “Why don’t you tell me the real reason you brought Terra out here.”
“Why don’t you tell me what you’re getting at?" He was not very tolerant of bullshit or beating around the bush. His face betrayed nothing, though he had a feeling Locke was going to turn into a hit-the-nail-on-the-head kind of pest.
“Fine then.” Turning to face Clyde fully, he just came out with it. “Maybe you fooled her, but I don’t buy it for a second. You knew damn well I wasn’t going to be with her, didn’t you? So what exactly does she think she’s here for?”
“She’s here to help a friend in need for a cut of the reward money.” Not entirely untrue and simple enough, Clyde managed to answer in an even voice.
Frowning a bit, the thief shook his head. “You lied to her, didn’t you? You figured you’d need a magick-user, one either proficient with fire or ice elements to get you to the Pool itself. I also think you planned to cut her out of the share completely.”
Definitely hitting some nails there. He felt his hands clenching into fists as he glared daggers at Locke. “Not going ‘big brother’ on me, are you?”
“I’m concerned, yes.” Locke nodded firmly, stepping a little closer, refusing to be intimidated by the other man. “I care about her very much, and I don’t trust you any further than I could throw you. You’re both adults, so I’m going to say my piece and drop it.”
Clyde gestured for him to speak up in a noncommittal gesture.
Gathering up his nerve, Locke’s good nature vanished and his eyes became hard and unwavering. “If you hurt her, you’re a dead man. I’ll hunt you to the ends of the earth, I swear it. Not even the gods themselves could save you… you got that?”
That struck a nerve, and not the one Clyde had thought it might. His hand shot out and he gripped a handful of Locke’s shirt, drawing him in face to face. His voice was as cool and sharp as a sliver of Esper’s ice.
“You broke her heart, you spineless little bastard,” Clyde growled softly, almost inaudible. “You have no right to warn me off…ever. I don’t take threats lightly, and if it was just you and me I would make you eat those words.”
Locke blinked, visibly taken off guard before he stiffened and wrenched the other man’s hand off of his shirt, keeping himself in check before they started another fight. “That’s really none of your business, and I did no such thing! Where the hell do you get off?”
Clyde shrugged, seeming perfectly calm for all outward intents and purposes. “Maybe you didn’t do it on purpose, but you don’t seem entirely stupid to me. You had to know how she felt about you; you didn’t have the balls to tell her that you didn’t love her. If I were in your place, I would tell her.”
“You could tell her because you don’t give a shit about anybody,” Locke muttered, not particularly fond of being chastised by a man of such dubious character.
“Maybe.”
There was a long pause, and Locke was glaring at the ground off to the side, not wanting to be the one to just walk away this time. “Fine then. I should’ve told her. But you should’ve been honest with her, too.”
All right, so Clyde didn’t like talking relationships: period. He didn’t like talking about them with Locke, either. “I heard about that job you did in the North. Not bad. I would’ve gone in through the basement, instead of the roof, though.”
The younger snorted a bit, and finally he grinned and shrugged. “Yeah well… live and learn. Thanks, I guess.” With that, he turned away and went to help Celes and Terra get camp set up and get something to eat, not wanting to let the other see just how much the simple praise had pleased him. He imagined Clyde did not hand out praise easily.
*****
“There you are… I thought you’d snuck off. Though… I guess you wouldn’t go too far without Interceptor. He’s not speaking to me anymore, by the way. Did I upset him?”
Clyde had gone off to find a place to sit and sharpen his sword and look preoccupied. His back was to Terra as he sat on a fallen log, and so she could not see his smile when he heard her approaching. He had hoped she would come looking for him. It had taken longer than he would have liked, but patience paid off, he supposed.
“Don’t take it personally. I mean, hell, it took him years before he spoke to me, you should consider yourself lucky.” He glanced to her over his shoulder, his expression softening only a small bit for just a moment. “Then again, you’re much easier to like.”
Terra smiled briefly and ventured nearer to his resting place, ascertaining that it was now safe. Stepping over the log, the young woman sat down beside him and let out a faint sigh, lifting her head to look up at the sky, which she could now see with the thinner canopy of trees. It looked like a clear, balmy night. She was very aware that Clyde was watching her, and she did not mind as much as she once thought she would. “Glad to see you’re in a better mood.”
He shrugged, tucking the wet stone into the pack resting near his feet and slowly sheathed his blade, letting it rest across his knees. “I suppose. I see the three of you are getting along just fine. How’s it been seeing Locke again?”
There was no need to wonder why Clyde mentioned Locke and not Celes. Not to imply that Terra had no feelings for Celes… she did, they were children of the Empire, they understood each other and they respected each other as well. No, Terra understood what Clyde was getting at, and she let out another sigh. “It hasn’t been as easy as I thought. I never imagined that he and Celes… though, looking back I guess I should have, they were always friendly with one another.”
“You don’t have to put on a face with me.” Turning his head, he regarded her fully. She was looking up at the sky still, trying not to notice that he was studying her closely. The bruises on her face had faded and were nearly invisible in the moonlight, and the faint sunburn on her nose was almost tooth-achingly charming. He felt himself smiling. “It’s okay to be pissed off, you know.”
“It seems to work so well for you when you’re not pretending you don’t have any feelings at all,” Terra snapped and then caught his smile out of the corner of her eye, her shoulders hunching in the oversized shirt. After a moment or two of silence, she finally grinned and she heard Clyde chuckle softly. “Mm. All right. So I am a little pissed off, but they’re still my friends and when I stop being angry I’ll just be happy for them. So don’t even try and convince me to give you the bottle and sneak off to the Djinn Pool.”
She knew him a bit too well sometimes. “The thought never crossed my mind.”
“Liar.”
Although the word had been thrown out casually and in jest, it did give him pause. Shifting on his seat, Clyde lifted his sheathed sword from his knees and set it to lean against the log to the side of him opposite Terra. “Yeah, it comes naturally after a while. I lied to you back in Mobliz. I was never looking for Locke.”
Clyde told the truth as casually as he had told the lie, and Terra was not sure she had heard him right for a moment until her brows furrowed in confusion and she shook her head slowly. “I don’t understand. Why would you lie about that?”
“I didn’t think you would agree to come with me if I asked you on my own behalf. I was pretty sure you would volunteer yourself if I brought up Locke. You did. You are so predictable.” It would seem he was not ashamed in the least about telling her the truth, keeping his eyes on her, unwavering, not tiptoeing or sugar-coating or offering up excuses.
“I…” She began, sitting up straight and staring at him before she cleared her throat and regained a measure of her composure. “Why me? Of anyone you knew, why did you want me to go with you?” Terra was prepared for an admission of a long harbored infatuation, though by his expression she could assume that was not going to be his reason.
“I thought Locke would seek you out first, I wanted to beat him to the punch. He didn’t. I didn’t know he already had Celes.” That did not make much sense, and by her bewilderment Clyde decided he had better clarify before she think he had some kind of thing for her. “The heat is unbearable around the Djinn Pool. You’ve got a good grip on the fire element, you were the first person I thought of to help me get to it.”
“You bastard!” Terra sputtered for a moment before those words came out, loud enough she was certain Locke, Celes and Interceptor heard, and she did not care. She was angry. “You knew I never would have left Mobliz for a treasure-hunt if I had not agreed to help you first! You tricked me; you made me think you were in danger or something! What is wrong with you?!”
“All right… so I tricked you.” He was not getting angry, just gesturing for her to calm down. Admittedly, she was incredibly alluring when she was angry, which was so cliché he never believed he would actually think it. “You needed it. You’d have stayed holed up in that asshole of a town with those miserable little brats for the rest of your life if I hadn’t come along.”
Standing up quite suddenly, her cheeks were flushed hotly with anger and indignation as her mind raced. He was so casual; he did not even seem ashamed of himself! “You better explain to me what is so damned important about this gold that you had to deceive me to get my help. Why couldn’t you just ask me?? If your reason was good enough, I would have said yes!”
“My reason is hard to explain.” With the grace of a snake uncoiling from the rock it had been sunning itself on, Clyde rose to his feet as well that he would not be loomed over by an angry half-Esper. “It was easier for me to just lie to you, and you never would have known if I hadn’t said anything. I did say something, so don’t get upset.”
Taking several deep breaths, Terra calmed herself down and glared up at his face, his calm façade was more than annoying. Carefully she searched his eyes. “What about… what about the rest. Me and you… what was that, you just using me?”
“Don’t even start,” He warned, tilting his head slightly and frowning at her. “You were just as much to blame as me, don’t go acting like I took advantage of you.”
“I was not acting like you took advantage of me. You think I just hop into bed with any guy who wanders along? Huh?? Is that what you think, that I wasn’t going to be upset that you were lying to me and fucking me in the same breath?” Turning away sharply, she held up her hand as if that alone would ward him off, trembling with anger and other mixed feelings now.
Reaching out, he seized her wrist and pulled her back to look at him. His voice did not rise when he got angry, it became quieter, and with an unconcealed edge. “What, are you stupid? How could you jump to that conclusion? I am telling you the truth now because I care enough about you to try and be upfront. You sure as hell don’t have to like everything I say, but don’t accuse me of using you when it comes to sex, you got that?”
Well, that got her attention at least, and she settled enough to look back to him, though he had not won her over just yet. Softening his voice and dulling the edge, Clyde continued: “Do you want to hear the reason? The reason I didn’t ask for your help?”
Terra nodded slowly, feeling those steely fingers loosen their hold on her wrist. “Yes.”
He gestured for her to sit down and when she did, he settled beside her, releasing her wrist entirely and taking his turn at looking up to the sky now. She was patient as he readied himself to speak, and he appreciated her all the more just then.