starhuevalley | .1 caliber [Intro]

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.1 caliber [Intro]

[ACTION]

[She steps down from the bus and tugs at the strap around her shoulder tighter - she travels light, but there's something rather long, carefully wrapped, strapped between her bag and back. Squinting lightly at the warm summer sun, she sighs. Mixed feelings, all in one breath. This lady travels light except for the baggage in her mind.

Still, as she treads through the beaten paths towards an x in a map (excellent orientation skills, for one), she looks around carefully with what seems like a half smile in her piercing gaze. Yet, when she finds the place in the map, she keeps walking around, checking the Community center, the city, - greeting a couple of kids playing outside with a smile - walking through the beach... ending up finally at the Saloon around the evening, asking for a cup of tea at the counter.

Where do you meet her? ]

[VIDEO]

[That's exactly where she is when the video feed opens up. She's looking down at the screen, kohl rimmed eyes scrutinizing the device with a somewhat disappointed expression to them. She tsks.]

So unintuitive. How old is this?

[Dexterous fingers reach the screen and blip! goes the feed

Ring ring?]

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[She smiles knowingly, very much aware that she’s giving away very little.] That sounds alright. The best talks I’ve had were over tea, not alcohol.

[Though that in itself gives her a bit more intel. She stops, looks at the map, and then points at a house far away.] Is that it?

[Jecht checks his own map, then looks over the curve of the path to correlate it.]

Yeah, looks like! Unless there's a secret smaller house we can't see or somethin'.

Doesn't look like it.

[Cybernetic eye has her scanning the surroundings. No signs of a trap. Yet.]

It looks very cozy.

Oh man, look at that river!

[Jecht's picking up the pace, not even thinking about the possibility of a trap. You coming, Ana?]

[Go on, Jecht, she's got your back. Even though they only just met, she wouldn't be able to live with herself if the first person she met in this - whatever it is - would end up injured or killed.

So she is following, but her hand is subtly going to her bag, where there's a sidearm.] It does look lovely.

[Aaah, Ana, you're secretly a sweetheart, huh?]

[Lucky thing, her paranoia isn't needed today. The river farm doesn't have any troubles, or traps, or dangers unless flowing water's bad. Jecht stalks right on up, parking himself in the middle between the farmhouse and the riverbank, then looks from one to the other, and back again.]

Yeah. This'll do.

[Still, Ana gives the house a bit of a scan - the perimeter, mostly, if the danger isn't coming from inside. Still, her hand rests down, and she sighs.]

Looks like a perfect place to start over.

Yeah. Looking good.

[He glances over his shoulder, folding his arms.] So, y'want me to come check out yours with ya?

[Ana tilts her head at him curiously.] You don't want to check inside?

[A look at her map and then she twirls on her heels, looking at the position of the sun to check their coordinates, adjusting the position. She then points at the direction she's now facing] I think mine is that way.

[One corner of Jecht's mouth curls upwards.]

I walk inside and that's when it all becomes real. And when it really hits... who knows what'll happen? And I've still got my pride, especially around a cute girl.

[Because he hasn't had a home since Zanarkand, years and a family ago.]

'Sides, I know you're still a bit iffy on everything. Ain't saying you can't take care of yourself, but everyone appreciates a little backup if they're walking into a situation they're concerned about, right? [Yeah, he'd noticed how she'd been prepared for trouble, still yet.]

[She does understand that but gives him a soft, sort of wry smile.] There's no shame in being a little afraid of the future.

[Ana sighs.] You've noticed, hm?

Yeah. I was a guardian. Took a pal the length and breadth of Spira. Got to be called 'legendary' 'cuz me and our third pal got him there safe, which tells ya what that trip was like. Not that I'm sayin' I was that good, but... I get it.

[Jecht starts to chuckle then, warm and amused. How many times had he gotten them into bigger trouble than they needed to be? Whacking shoopfus. Charging into avoidable danger because 'it's the right thing to do'. Yeah, he was a terrible guardian!]

Gotta enjoy life while you have it. So let's check out your place, put your worries to bed, and see if we can get you on board with living!

Hm. That seems fair.

[Even if she knows that it's easier said than done, Ana concedes. Tilts her head towards the direction of the road, where her house supposedly is. Let's go, then? ] So a guardian is a... protector? And I should assume that Spira is a place, right?

[Jecht has to laugh. Long and hard, fingers of one hand slid into his hair like he's holding his head together, even as he joins her to start the walk. Guess it can't be helped -- long story or no, they're doing some of this, huh?]

Yep. You got it. Guardians protect the summoner on his pilgrimage. Spira's a rough place, plenty of fiends to cause trouble, so you send people along who'll help the summoner stay alive on the trip.

[Ana can't help but ask. Many of the names Jecht has been dropping don't mean much to her, so she at least to make some sort of sense. What he tells her then does make her connect a couple of dots.]

Fiends? Like wild animals?

Like monsters. They're -- I'm no good at explaining this -- so when someone or something dies and doesn't move on right, it can make pyreflies take on some sort of body. [He makes an imaginary ball with his hands, like he's cramming something into it and shaping it.] That's fiends.

[That... Sounds strange and creepy. Which is something that makes her even more curious. Sorry, Jecht, you're on explaining duty.] And they attack indiscriminately?

Yeah, they're dangerous to travelers, especially if you're off the usual paths. Ain't the only danger, but they're the worst and most obvious one, so that's why summoners get guardians.

That does make more sense. [She offers a slightly sheepish smile.] I know you didn't want to talk too much about the past. But I don't think there's anything of the sort where I come from - I had to ask.

Hey, I get ya. They didn't have that stuff where I came from either, it was a huge shock when I first heard about it. Amazing how quickly it became normal though.

[Right about the time he'd realized he was never going back.]

[Ana gives him a slight smile. It's as if this place is going the same way, a quick path to normalcy.] I think I'd need some help getting used to that.

I had help, after the first rough couple night, so yeah. Good help. Put up with a lot of questions that are just kid stuff to them, y'know? Stuff like 'what's a fiend'... to them, it was like asking what grass is.

That's lucky. [A tuck of her hair behind her ear, eyes darting to the tablet and then back to where the house assigned to her is.] Maybe we'll find someone like that soon enough.

[And stopping at a certain distance, she points at the house next on the path. She turns around, taking in the context of where it is. A little higher upstream, but near the river nonetheless. A vantage point.

A perch.] I think this is supposed to be my place.

[Jecht doesn't care about the vantages or perches -- the way he sees it, there's a river there and that's all anyone could ask for.]

Looks a lot like mine. Not too much different, huh?

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.1 caliber [Intro]

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