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Mornings began early in the arid stretches of Gyr Abania. They had to; once the sun really started rising, so would the heat with it, baking indiscriminately any who were caught unprepared for the force of the sun’s rays, and so it was easier to travel the roads when the earth was cooler and the dust not rising nearly so thickly. Such was the caravan’s plan, trundling onward towards the Velodyna the past few suns, but as of now it had stopped to rest a moment, to water the chocobos and let the traveling merchants stretch their legs. Most simply were relaxing in the shade of the wagons or checking their goods and chatting. Until a lalafellan merchant detached himself from the group, looking about in some consternation for something he seemed to have misplaced.
A tiny blur of orange went bolting across right in front of him. He relaxed immediately, wiping his brow in small relief as at the same time he rolled his eyes to the high heavens and shouted out “Oi, Priscilla, what in tarnation are you doing out there? You know you ought to stay close where me n’ your mother can see you!”
Said orange blur made an abrupt turn, zooming in a perfect half circle that curved directly back and in a shower of sand a tiny lalafell child stopped in front of her father, not winded in the slightest as she beamed cheerily up.
“But pa, I can’ stop, I gotta keep going!” the little lalafell girl named Priscilla chirped up, bouncing on small heels in her eagerness to start her sprinting up again. As she turned though the merchant scooped her up by the armpits instead, hauling her into the air as she shrieked in surprise and delight.
“And where’ve you got to be out in the middle of nowhere like this, anyhow?” He scolded, simply tucking her easily under his arm and trudging over back to a waiting cart. Priscilla wiggled about (but was held quite fast under the expert grip) and finally decided to protest instead.
“I’m not going anywhere paaaaa, I’ve gotta train!” she whined, finally going limp (for now.) Her pa made a noise in the back of his throat in polite disinterest.
“Oh? Training, is it?”
“Yeah! Yeah, if I run I get fast, and if I’m fast I’ve got, I’ve got…” Priscilla frowned, tiny brow wrinkled in heavy thought. “…..I’ve got the stamina!” she finally announced. Back to wiggling she went, delighted and proud at the big word she’d remembered. Her pa chuckled somewhat wryly.
“Little chick, you’ve more stamina than the all of us combined,” he said with all the experience of a parent undergoing the wonders of child rearing. “But here, now, where’s all this coming from? Training, getting strong, tell me what you’ve got in your head, now.” He asked as they reached the caravan proper at last- there was his wife, waving from the back of a cart a few chocobos down. Priscilla seemed to have finally realized she wouldn’t be escaping, and had settled for being as heavy as possible instead as she proudly replied—
“Because if I’m strong then I can go be a Monk!”
Her pa stopped short. For the first time a small, worried frown curved his mouth under his bushy mustache— but he started up again and his voice was light as he carried on seemingly without care.
“A monk, you say?”
“Uh-huh! I’ll be a monk and I’ll get to go pow! Woop-AH! Aaaaaaaah!” She seemed to be miming some imaginary battle against imaginary foes. “Just like those nice big folks were movin’ that one time there were scary monsters and then all of a sudden they were there and POW! The monsters were gone! They said, they said if I’m strong and gots sta-mi-na, I can move juuuuust like they do, so I gotta… I gotta train, pa!”
“And that’s where you’re confused, chick, seeing as how a monk is a big folk.” The lalafell, having reached his destination, plopped her on the edge of the long-awaited cart, ruffling her hair. “You’re a little folk, remember? How’s a little folk going to learn how to be strong as a great brawny highlander? Only they become monks, you know.” His chiding was gentle; Priscilla’s face screwed up all the same though, as she puffed her cheeks and pouted.
“Well, if I traaaaain and get real strong… then they gotta let me be a monk too!” she proclaimed, crossing her tiny arms, and her headstrong assuredness was one only a child could make, one that was set in her opinion and loathe to let anyone deter her otherwise. With a laugh, and another ruffle, her father conceded for the moment, unable to upset her any further with his light discouragement.
“Heheh, guess I do know that my daughter can do a whole lot of what she puts her mind to,” he agreed, and for the moment, Priscilla took this as victory- she raised her fists and cheered, and then was entirely sidetracked by the bowl of sweetened porridge present by her mother, and all thoughts were chased out of her head entirely.
…With her attention now elsewhere, her father sighed, some of the lines in his face creasing as he moved some away again, towards some of his fellow merchants… who welcomed him back with tired eyes and guarded postures.
“…Hey, Tokoba, you are going to explain it all somehow to her, right?” a fellow merchant said, awkwardly, in hushed tones to make doubly sure that nothing would carry. Tokoba sighed, more deeply at that.
“Sure, somehow. As much as you can explain uprooting a whole home and business and runnin’ west before ol’ Theodric starts getting real nasty.”
Silence born of tension and the stress of a hurried migration descended, as Tokoba stuck his hands in his pockets and kicked at a pebble under his toe.
“Might as be someone gets to keep some good cheer up through this whole journey,” he said quietly. “Me n’ her mother, we’ll have a sit down with her eventually, but she’s young. Don’t want her afraid before she needs to be, not until we’re good and clear through the Shroud, and then… then we’ll see. Not quite looking forward, anyhow, to tellin’ her the temple she wants to see so much is about charcoal by now.”
Solemn nods met his words; nothing more was said, and the group quietly dispersed to return to their individual carriages. After all, even as far and clear as they were now… Ala Mhigo’s shadow still followed close on their heels.