Final Fantasy 4 Redemption Chapter 1: The Dark Warrior - Folken's Anger
Out in the woods south of Baron, a man lived.
This man was once the most powerful of the Baronian Guard, but left the Guard
after one incident. He blamed himself for that incident, and refused to ever
return, even when he was asked to by the new King and Queen. This man's true
name was lost in time and memory, and now he only answers to one thing:
Folken.
That particular day, Folken was out hunting. It
was a necessary evil of living out in the forest, for Folken refused to even
set foot in Baron again, because it would be a violation of his self-imposed
exile. He had managed to bag himself a few deer, and was returning to his cabin
with them when he noticed that smoke was floating away from his house.
Who DARES to break into my house? By the
Goddess, they will pay DEARLY!
Dropping his dinner, Folken pulled out his sword.
He quickly snuck up to the door of his house, being very careful not to make a
sound. Then, with one fluid motion, Folken kicked the door in and brought his
sword to bear on the adversary. He prepared to deal the killing stroke, then
reversed himself.
"Aria? Aria, what are you doing here? I told
you I wanted to be left alone!"
"I asked her to bring me here," a voice
from the shadows stated. It came into the light, and Folken realized he was
staring at the Queen of Baron, Rosa. Folken also noticed a girl with green hair
in the other corner. In his anger at Aria, he hadn't noticed her.
"Well, what do you want? I'm a very busy
man, and I have lots of stuff to do. So please state your business and be
gone!"
Aria opened her mouth to berate him, but felt a
touch on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Rosa, and decided not to say anything.
Rosa took a few more steps forward, then spoke
one word.
"Rocalon."
Folken's eyes widened, and he stared into Rosa's
eyes. "Rocalon's back? But how? Why?"
Rosa suppressed the feeling to look away, and
forced herself to meet Folken's gaze. "We don't know for sure, but we do
know that Rocalon has torched Mist, and has threatened to do the same thing to
Kaipo unless you appear there to meet him in battle."
Folken snickered. "And exactly why do you
think coming here will change anything? I'm not THAT stupid. It's obviously a
trap. Let the people of Kaipo worry about it, not me."
Aria couldn't stand it any longer. "What
happened to you, Folken? When I first met you, you were a kind and generous
man, and all the knights look up to you. But since you let Rocalon get close to
King Odin, you've become one of the darkest individuals I've ever known. Why
would you even consider sacrificing those people, when you KNOW you can defeat
him?"
Folken looked at her. "Two reasons. First of
all, I'm no longer an active member of society. I could care less about what
happens to the people of the Blue Planet, as long as it doesn't happen to me.
Second, there's no guarantee that I could beat him."
While Folken rattled away, Rosa looked at Aria
and winked. Then she turned to Rydia and winked again. "Yeah, Rocalon said
you'd be too much of a coward to dare showing up. He said that you weren't
really worth fighting, but you're better than no one."
Folken turned, anger apparent in his face. "WHAT?
That son of a...he'll pay for slandering me! All right, I'm in! I'll go to
Kaipo and finish that guy off!"
"And I'm going with you," Aria quickly
interjected.
Folken turned back to her. "No, you're not.
You can't handle it because..."
"Are you planning on saying 'because you're
a girl', Folken?" Aria countered. She was obviously angry.
"No, actually I was going to say you have
duties to the Queen, and to Baron, and you can't just give up on them to go
adventuring with me! You're supposed to be Captain of the Baronian Guard.
Where's your honor?"
Aria just glared at him. "You're a fine one
to talk about honor, considering less than five minutes ago you were planning
on letting the people of Kaipo die in order to save your own life! But you're
right; I need to be in Baron, protecting the Queen..."
Rydia, who had been hiding in the corner, finally
spoke up. "However, I AM going, and I don't want to hear any no's. Rocalon
torched my hometown AGAIN, and stole my magic spells, and I AIM to make him pay
for it."
Folken turned to her. "And exactly how were
you planning on helping me without your spells, little girl?"
Rydia's eyes flashed. "LITTLE GIRL? I am
physically 18 years old, and mentally around 30 years old. I'm NOT a little
girl, and I never want to hear you call me that again! My name is Rydia, and
you'd be wise to remember that!"
Rosa turned to Rydia in shock; generally, Rydia
was pretty outgoing and friendly. She didn't explode at people like that very
often.
"As for how I'm going to help you, we'll
figure that out when we get there. But I'm going, whether you want me to or
not. If you say no, I'll just follow you!"
Folken sighed, having heard this line of
conversation before. "Very well. Just don't get in my way. I'll be ready
to go in the morning; if you're not ready, I'm leaving you behind!"