Brutes and Bandits...and Thieves [Sabin/Xavier]

[Sabin]

OOC: Takes place during Not picking a side during Sabin's first watch.

Sabin had volunteered for first watch a little while earlier, so he was sitting attentively, on the look for anything suspicious... at least for a while. Until his thoughts drifted to...Casey.

Where was his brother now? What was he doing? Was he ok? Sabin worried for his brother's safety, because although they had man rifts in the past, they were still brothers, and he still loved him dearly. He remembered the times when they were working as pirates. Those were good times, when all they thought about was treasure and drinking.

Its not like Sabin is any different now, except for the fact that he has stopped killing people and raiding stuff. Still, he heard his brother left to do mercenary work. Sabin sighed. His brother would probably be dead by now,since the life span of a mercenary was usually less.

Sabin stared at the fire. Nature really was beautiful, no matter how destructive it could be. The brightness of the fire made Sabin feel lighter. Taking a seat on a stump, Sabin just stared into the fire. He remembered something...someone's words echoing in his mind.

"Sabin, you're a good man destined for great things. You shouldn't be a pirate."

It took a long time before he realized that voice, it was that acolyte from before! So he was destined for great things? What did the acolyte mean? Was he a great fighter or something?

Sabin shook his head. Such stuff were simply nonsense. A great destiny seemed a little too much.

[Xavier]

OoC: Isn't the thread title supposed to include who is taking part in the support conversations?

BiC: Xavier was tossing and turning around on the grass beside his horse. Try as he might, he could not fall asleep at all. What was it that was keeping him up? Was it the fact that he was trying to fall asleep on a patch of grass? Or was it the fact that there were very drastic thoughts running through his mind about his current predicament?

It was a work of his paranoia, of his thinking deeply into everything, trying desperately to find some faults and wrongs with what he was doing and wherever he was at. When was it that he had become like that? He was never like that. He was usually the kind who was able to just doze off into daydreams, enjoying sceneries, battles and acts of heroism, most of which were performed by him, in just about any environment.

But now? While he was still a bit of the dreamy type, he had recently become more paranoid, trying to think the worst of everything. It had happened... right after he had ran away from home... After that... incident...

Xavier would have liked to say that he had come to terms about making use of one another for survival, but part of his mind still refused to accept the fact. The fact that he had become almost as bad as his father by agreeing to work with bandits. As bad as his father who had kept a large portion of the donations to the church for himself...

Well, the church was set up by him, so it was right that the donations would go to him... right? After all, he had helped the populace, healing the wounded, being the pastor at their weddings. That was what the rational side of Xavier would say, the side that had accepted manipulating one another for survival.

The more righteous self of himself would say that no matter what the situation, such things were wrong! Giving, helping, should all be done selflessly with no desire for rewards... All who expected something in return for help were wrong.

And it was these two conflicting sides that had left Xavier unable to face himself, his father... or anyone for that matter. It had turned Xavier into someone who just lives and does things blindly to just get past the day. It had turned him into someone who has no want for pleasure... just a want to get on with a life that was hopefully as dull as it was possible.

Sighing, Xavier sat back up and looked at Ralph, his trusty horse who was dozing peacefully beside him. Deciding that he could perhaps organise his thoughts better if he went out for a walk, Xavier stood up, walking some distance away, where he saw the brute from earlier taking watch.

Xavier was about to approach him, and then decided maybe he had better not and was about to leave when the guy noticed him

OoC: Sorry if I godmoded Sabin into noticing Xavier...

[Sabin]

Sabin heard a small noise to his right. From the corner of his eye he could see a figure...it was that boy from before. He turned to see him going back.

"Hey kid, where are you snooping up to at night? Come here and sit with me. You seem troubled." Sabin called out to the boy known as Xavier.

"The stump is big enough for the two of us, I think." he added.

[Xavier]

Xavier flinched as the man called him over to the stump. Xavier then started walking forward, but hesitated just a little before sitting down on the stump. The man was a complete brute, being rough and stuff, but this side of him seemed pretty sentimental too. So there was a slightly nicer side within this brute too...

That just made Xavier slightly more ashamed of what he had done and become and of what was inside him. Thinking that the man probably had something to say, Xavier just sat there in silence, waiting for the man to say something to break it.

[Sabin]

" Can't sleep, huh? Well, I'm not surprised. I've been noticing you and Grayson. Something's troubling both of you." he started.

" You look a bit young to be with bandits, you know, Xavier. I'm surprised they didn't lay a finger on you. But I guess its because of what you said earlier, in need of a healer. " he paused, but continued.

" Battling is tough, you know? Not exactly what one generally thinks of at first. Everyone thinks being a great fighter is easy and you get all the glory. I really wish certain people could use their heads for once." Sabin said.

[Xavier]

Xavier half-smiled at what the man had said. The man was... slightly funny, and he could see that he was at least trying to cheer Xavier up or to get him to open up somehow by making some lighthearted jokes. But well... Xavier was still apprehensive about opening up. He decided though, that if the man should ask him anything, then he would answer, otherwise, he would just keep silent about things.

"Well, half of the people in the world don't think before they say... or do... stuff...", Xavier said, his voice fading off as thoughts of him running away from the church came back into his mind. And then, Xavier wiped his left eye using his left arm to hide a tear, only to wince as the wound on his left arm was rubbed against his sleeve.

[Sabin]

"True enough. Its kind of why once a deed is done, either you are full of pride, or full of regret. Depends on the outcome." Sabin said flatly.

"So, what's the deal kid? How did you wind up meeting those guys in the first place? I could spend my first watch talking with you, actually." he said, smiling.

"There's a whole world out there, waiting for someone to explore it. Have you ever thought about exploring, kid?" he asked excitingly.

[Xavier]

Xavier looked up at the sky and thought about things a little. Many things had happened since he had left the church with his horse. He had never really thought about exploring before. Really, even though what he was doing could in part be called exploring, he never really had any intention to want these things to happen. Now he just wanted things to remain the same, remain as it was and is now.

"Well... I've never really thought about exploring... I mean... I just ended up in all of this without knowing what was about to happen. Guess I just stuck with it huh..?" Xavier reminisced about the events leading up to his encounter with this bunch of adventurers.

"I met those thieves just as I left the village where my father's church was in. Well... they had thought of robbing me at first, but after seeing my staff, had decided to just drag me into their bunch for their benefits...", Xavier was to be truthful, glad now to be out of the company of those bunch of highwaymen, but he didn't want to show it too obviously to this bunch or feel too indebted to them. They might want to make use of him in some way too.

[Sabin]

"You must have had a rough time out there, kid." Sabin said as he stretched his arms and gave a huge yawn. First watch was taking its toll on him now.

He looked groggily at his surroundings. Just a warm fire, lots of trees. This was not exactly the situation he was most comfortable with, but whatever fit the bill was good for Sabin.

"So, about you horse. What's its name? Where did you first meet it?" he asked intentively.

[Xavier]

OoC: Would it be possible for the Support to end with Sabin reassuring Xavier on things and encouraging him to be more positive about his opinion? Cause I sorta RPed that Xavier felt better after the reassuring words said by Sabin in this Support.

BiC: Xavier looked up at the man, then back down again. The change in topic was a little drastic and it took Xavier a while to recover, longer than normal as he was a little tired despite being unable to fall asleep.

"Well... Ralph has... always been with me since I was young. He was a gift from...", at which point he stopped abruptly, having been about to say the word 'father' aloud. Then, Xavier hurriedly rubbed his tears away, tried to look fine, and continued, "I took him with me when I ran away from home...", his voice fading away as he spoke so that the last few words were barely more than that of muttering.

[Sabin]

OOC: Yeah Sure. But I actually had planned someone attacking us during this support. Oh well.

"That's sounds like theft." Sabin gave a stare and frowned at Xavier.

"I guess you don't know a lot about the horse? That is to say, if youve just started travelling." he said, nodding for no apparent reason.

He started whistling, not caring whether the others were asleep or not. "Can you whistle, kid?" he asked casually.

[Xavier]

Xavier's ear pricked up as he heard the man say the word 'theft', Xavier immediately responded, almost shouting, "Its not theft! He was a gift, like I said! I just happened to bring MY horse out with me when I left!"

Then, feeling slightly alarmed and embarassed at his outburst, Xavier toned down a little, looking at the ground, thinking back to the time when he had left home. He had been peeved off, both at what his father had done and at having been sent to bed early with no dinner. He had snuck out at night, using his knowledge of the house and its stables to find his way in the dark, untying and saddling Ralph for his escape.

He had to admit now that he had been slightly rash in his escape. He had not thought it through clearly when he left, it was just in a fit of anger, and later on, he had been unable to find his way back. Now, he was just lost somewhere in Bern, with almost no idea of what had been happening at home or at anywhere else in the world for the past few months.

At Sabin's question on whistling, Xavier pondered it a while, still distracted by his thoughts. "I can't whistle that well, the best I can make is... wind blowing through my lips..."

[Sabin]

Sabin was taken aback by the kid's sudden outburst. Such a quiet person yelling for himself was definetly odd. This kid definetly had issues.

Putting that out of his mind, Sabin got a quick answer from the young healer about whistling.

" Really? All you have to do his suck in air while keeping your mouth in an O-shaped fashion." Sabin said as he started demonstrating his whistling skills.

He then got carried away and started whistling one of his fast pirate songs. Then he started whistling loudly with joy. He turned towards Xavier, and, thought he was boring the little guy. He calmed down, slightly embarassed.

"So, do you have any plans on what you want to do, at least, for now?" Sabin asked Xavier.

[Xavier]

Xavier looked down, his face showing a really sheepish expression. The man's whistling was horrible. It was probably some kind of song or tune or something, but it was really out of tune, and the man was whistling as if he were proud of his whistling. It was only when at last, the man had stopped whistling and asked Xavier about his plans that Xavier stopped feeling sheepish.

As Xavier pondered the question, he looked up yet again. Him looking up when asked questions was getting too often now. He usually looked up or around him when he was thinking, or daydreaming. He wasn't daydreaming now though, and he wasn't thinking hard on anything. So why did he keep looking up?

Simple answer, it was because he had to think of how the man would react to his answer, about whether or not he wanted to answer. The man had asked a few personal questions that made Xavier recall his past again. It wasn't really so much of a past though, more like recent event.

"Well, I'd probably just stick along. You know, live each day as it comes. Although, if possible, I'd like to research on some magic. Etruria's a good place for it, I heard, but little nothing else. I hope to someday be able to head there.", Xavier answered, feeling slightly more cheerful as he talked about his dreams and wishes with the man.

"What do you wish to do?", Xavier asked the man back, hoping to bring the topic of the conversation off of him for the moment.

[Sabin]

"Me?" Sabin asked, laughing. "I want to become the greatest explorer in all of Elibe! In fact, I want to travel and see all sorts of special places that no one else really bothers with. I want to discover new continents, maybe!" Sabin said, keeping his right leg on a rock and clenching his fist in front of him.

"The world's a difficult place to live in. But if you live life as you dream of it, you'll be bound to get into good stuff." Sabin said enthusiastically, pointing his thumb towards himself.

"Look at me, I'm a sailor with burly muscles. Why? Cause I wanted to look burly!" he said, chuckling.

Ooc: Looks like my return to Rping starts with a bang and Sabin shows more traits of his personality: Enthusiasim, Over-confidence, Loudness. >.<