Final Fantasy RP II; Chapter 1: Where it all begins
 

(OOC: I'm so clever...we should name every FF RP with Roman Numerals from now on...)

Jude trudged alongside the chocobo rider. He knew that the guy (Matthew? Malcolm? He had heard the name and probably forgot) wasn’t all bad, just following orders, but Jude still grumbled the entire way. The sun was up on a cloudless day, which made Jude hot in his heavy Mage robes, which he hated. As they crested another hill, Jude saw the city of Combast, bustling with movement and excitement as the huge stadium was set up.

A bunch of scurrying legs climbed up Jude’s neck and beheld the sight of Gramza’s largest city.

“Whooo…so that’s the Combast place huh? Where we get our new jobs…doesn’t look as big as the place I saw in the sky though.” His familiar said gazing at the buildings.

“That’s because there is no place in the sky. And we’re not getting ‘jobs’ were being used as military weapons. Now shut up and stop moving around my back, I’m getting itchy…” Jude snapped at him. He tried to scratch his arm, but the shackles got in his way. He didn’t care what they did to him; he just wanted to get it over with.

Zatara looked towards the city. There it is he thoughtt to himself. He looked back at the rest of the group that he met earlier that week he thought that they were an alright group a tad greedy but stil a decent group. Once I am done with this Ripel has agreed to help me look for my father, and my vengance will be complete. He thought as he walked towards the city...

Junochi walked throught the city, waiting for the right moment. The huge amounts of noise let him see almost everything in front of him, but the sounds were annoying him alot more than he thought they would. He tried to find a quiet spot, but none seemed to exist in this city. He sat down and began to wait, thinking about what he should do.

Norachai walked around the city, looking at all the sites that there was. He had been invited to watch the fight, and to help the warriors that were going to be hurt into the upcoming battles. As he progressed deeper into the city, he noticed a sign on a building with a cross on it. "This is it." He pushed aside the door and walked in. A man looked up from his desk, "Hello?"

"Yes... my name is Norachai Lupijo. I was called here for..."

"Yes!" The man behind the desk was obviously excited to see him. "Is it true that you have traveled the world to lern the ways of medicine?" Norachai nodded. "That is great! I have a good feeling that this compitition will have much blood shed, so we have sent the word to many people to try and come help us."

"Who would you be?"

"I am Dr. Oedupe." The two shook hands. "It is a pleasure!"

"No... it is mine. I hope I can be of great service here."

"I know you will be. I shall call for you when I need you. If you like, you should explore the city, get a taste of this great place."

Norachai nodded, "I will, thank you." He walked out and took in some of the air, exhaling it after a moment. "This is a very nice place to be."

A loud clanging and breaking of glass could be heard as a small girl stumbled from the back carrying an armful of potions and other assorted concotions.

"Who was that Mr. Oedupe?"

"Ady, Ady, don't carry so much, you're losing most of it...that was just some special help. He'll stay for the tournament, so you can see him then. Now, clean up this mess and rest up, tommorow will be a big day. I'm going down to the pub."

ooc-Let's see if I get this right.

Combast was known for many things, but perhaps the most famous of them all was the huge stadium which held contests of strength between warriors. With so much attention concerning it, it was an ideal place to sell his good.

Of course, there was one matter needed to be dealt with before he got down to business. Actually, several matters, depending how you looked at it, and each one of them was gathered around him, expecting an explanation after the way he had taken off earlier after hearing the prizes of a local tournament. Though, from the way he mentioned something about a fee, they could guess what was coming.

Clapping his hands together, seemingly oblivious to the looks on their faces, the merchant grinned. "I have just given you all the chance to participate in one of the most famous events around these parts. You all have heard of the upcoming tournament, right? Well, you all have the honor of being in it.

"There's no need to thank me, as I've mentioned earlier today I get twenty five percent of any winnings for signing you all up."

Though the sun was high in the cloudless sky, beating down on Shard and himself, he was content. Ecstatic even. There was an almost unnoticable breeze running through his hair, and across his face. The grass swayed slightly, and everything seemed at peace.

It was a wonderful feeling, actually.

Yes, indeed, Malcolm Draven's spirits were high. Shard was being her miserable self. Moody, grumpy, and noisy. She would squack every now and then to let him know that she considered him a great burden that she was more than happy to leave behind. And then he would scratch behind her neck and all would be forgiven.

She was also, surprisngly enough, accepting of their traveling companions. She had shown distain at first, but when Malcolm had laughed and greeted Jude like an old friend, she decided that he probably wasn't all that bad.

Slowly peaking over the hilly horizon was Combast. The Chocobo Knight grinned another of his winning smiles, and chuckled warmly to no one in particular.

"Well now, Shard. It would seem that things will become very interesting before the day is out!"

Wark! She was lessed than convinced.

Dezil wasn't paying attention at first, and was fiddling with his robotic arm, but he cought the last part. "Wait, you did what? I didn't want to get into some crazy tournament! I was just here as an escort, and you mentioned gold for it!" Dezil was fuming, not being one for battles like this.

Darilk's face was expressionless, but a hand moved to the pommel of his blade at the mention of the fee, and his eyes moved to Ripel's face. "I agree with the tinkerer. I did not ask to be enlisted for any battles..." Although his voice had a somewhat dangerous tone to it, he was obviously controlling any anger he had better than the engineer.

Zatara looks at both of them then at Darilik then at Ripel "Hmmm Ripel, you signed up us all to fight in the tournament with out prior consent? Me Darilick and Dezil. For one as smart as you you sure are foolhardy. You realize that this tournament and prizes are famous for a reason. Now granted I have been out on my own since I was ten but frankly this worries me. These are the greatest fighters in all the land. Some of them are legendary in skill and have no fear. We best think of some sort of battle plan to fight together or else we all will die alone in that tourament agreed?" as he looked upon them...