-V-

What's Left Behind

There is always time to think...

...but to think about time

is a waste of the mind...

---

"Are you gonna eat that?"

Kain leaned over the table before Cecil could even utter a word, not that he really needed to since he hadn't touched his food but once. The Dragoon quickly took advantage of Cecil's meditative state, snatching a sweet roll from the Dark Knight's plate. He made sure to take a good bite out of it first, before Cecil decided to snap out of his coma and ask to have the biscuit back. It wasn't until Kain had finally settled down that he realized his friend sitting across from him was seriously troubled by something.

The mess hall was quiet, only a few Royal Guard eating at the other end, away from the likes of Dragoons and Dark Knights. The subtle hostility between these two groups had always been present, never falling short of a mocking glance at one another, but rarely reaching the point of fisticuffs. Most men could keep their composure long enough to be rid of the others presence, but there were times when tempers flared beyond control, especially the tempers of the two guards sitting far and away from the two knights. Their eyes drew sharp glares through the space between, Kain catching it for a moment with his own look of contempt for their weakness. After they averted their eyes to the Dark Knight, staring for only a second, they swiftly went back to their morning meal. An awkward moment in time for Kain, as he swiveled back to face his partner, finding that he was in the same spot he'd left him. Kain just watched him, the knight's eyes a much darker blue it seemed, but perhaps it was because his face seemed so pale. Cecil was always quite fair skinned, especially in the face, but today, sitting over a plate full of breakfast it emanated a lighter tone. The Dragoon took one last glance for the two guards, finding them lost in some discussion betwixt one another. Perhaps even they could feel the desolation radiating from this Dark Knight's presence, how he drowned the world around him in reverie.

"At least they have respect for their superiors," Kain said more to himself with a light chuckle, not expecting Cecil to actually rouse from his daydreaming to hear it. But for some reason those words seemed to leak into the Dark Knight's ears, breaking what hold his mind had over him.

"What's that?" Cecil asked with a quizzical eyebrow, as if he had just caught the tail end of a good story, begging for a repeat.

"Ah, you're alive!" Kain spouted with a sarcastic surprise. He was glad to see Cecil smile after seeing the Dragoon feign a look of worry, as if his friend had just risen from the dead. Of course Kain wouldn't say it, but that's truly what he looked like. "It's good to see you've landed safely back in Baron, now are we ready make our leave?"

"Hold on, let me finish my breakfast," Cecil said hastily, quickly going for his plate to start shoveling food into his empty stomach.

"You mean start your breakfast?" Kain responded humorously.

It didn't take long for Cecil to demolish the heap of helpings upon the small iron platter, not a crumb straying towards the table, for Cecil's wrath upon his food was an immaculate demonstration. Leaving a clean plate behind, Cecil sat back in his chair as he sipped on his lukewarm coffee. Kain was anxious to get going it seemed, his leg already propped up on his seat to push him away from the table, his blonde hair shifting upon his brow.Cecil continued to relax, leaning a bit in his chair as he smiled behind the brim of his mug.

"Are you enjoying that brew there, Cecil?" Kain asked nonchalant, though a hint of impatience eating through his words. Cecil picked up on it like a bloodhound.

"Patience, Kain. The last I heard, Mist wasn't going anywhere." Cecil jested. He could see a stack of steam piling against Kain's eager smile, and he already knew he could break him, but the resilience in his bright blue eyes reminded him it would not be easy.

"But the sun won't be with us forever, my dear Cecil," Kain sent right back to his friend, trying hard not to give in this time. These games of negotiation were typical between the two. Since neither of them really had any negotiating skills they were actually fairly matched.

"Ah yes, but my food must settle before I go wandering into the dangers of the land beyond." Cecil's smile was only growing, his confidence in this duel climbing each moment. He had a pretty good idea that he had already won this match. It was only confirmed when Kain's leg retracted from his chair, touching ground beneath the table with his bottom firmly placed in the seat.

"That's one for me," Cecil muttered incoherently into his mug as he took another sip of his coffee. Kain raised a wary eyebrow to his friend, a grin of utter irritancy and ease mixed upon his lips.

"Come again?" Kain leaned in a bit to insure that he didn't miss the words this time.

"Oh, nothing," Cecil answered with such perfect composure that Kain couldn't help but laugh. Cecil found a chuckle bouncing from his smile as well, and he had to rub his jaw from all the sly grinning had been doing just a moment ago. "It will give us a little time to think."

"Time to think?" Kain blurted out with another laugh, "I had plenty of time to think while you were staring at your plate for an eternity."

"And you see how relaxed I am?" Cecil made the best out of Kain's retort, though it was a bit of a stretch. He still managed to work it out to make Kain even more irritated. "You could benefit from a little 'think' time."

"Bah! Who needs it? I'm a man of action, not a thinker." Kain wafted away such theories with a flick of his hand in the Dark Knight's direction, tossing his hair from his eyes as he cast his glance to another part of the mess hall for a moment. The bright red banners of Baron hung delicate over the cold grey stone, reminding him of just what they meant, and where he stood as a knight. When he returned his attention to his friend across the table, his face was a bit less bantering. "What exactly do you have to think about for so long, and so deeply that you forget you're sitting down to eat?"

"More than I'd care to explain right now," Cecil replied cautiously, though still smiling, as if he would ruin the mood otherwise. Kain didn't return the gesture, which led Cecil to believe that he had dug himself a hole with this one. Explanation was becoming necessary these days. "Just basically everything that's happened in the past few days. The King's strange behavior, this mission we're on, and..." Cecil paused for a moment, glancing warily into Kain's absorbing eyes before speaking her name, "...Rosa."

Kain didn't flinch, which surprised Cecil a bit. Kain usually didn't care to know anything about Cecil and Rosa's relationship, knowing quite well that the Dragoon happened to fancy her, or that he did as some point in time. Kain instead leaned back in his seat, still gazing with that questioning face, as though he knew there was more to the story.

"Is that all?" Kain pried kindly, though he was eager to know what was filling this Dark Knight's mind. It always intrigued him to find out what he was thinking. "You were out of it for a good while there."

"Well..." Cecil took a moment to glance at his now twiddling thumb before returning to the conversation, setting down his mug quietly. When he looked up he leaned forward a bit, shoulders resting on the hard planks of the table, a look of hesitant seriousness in his eyes. "It's just..." Another brief pause, a chance to read what Kain was searching for, what the Dragoon truly wanted him to say. Unfortunately Kain's face was reading blank, a slate of faultless stone, his eyes both prying and distant at the same time. "Have you ever wondered why we became what we are now? Just the two of us, here today, sitting in this mess hall about to throw our lives at God's mercy for our King?"

"I'm not sure I understand what you're asking me, Cecil." Kain spoke confusion, yet his eyes seemed to understand. Somewhere inside of him he knew what Cecil was saying, but it was so deep that it had become unconscious, locked away after so many years of dormancy. Cecil had a similar sense, a kind of bond between these friends that they had shared through so many years as kids, and that's what was bothering him at this moment.

"Do you remember when we were younger?" Cecil asked, as if he suspected of Kain forgetting half of his life's memories. "All the games we used to play and how carefree our lives truly were?"

"Of course," Kain leaned back with a smile, looking somewhat relieved for such a lax question, "Those were the days, when the biggest danger that we had was sneaking past the Royal Guard when we stayed out too late. It's no wonder Beigan always has it out for us, now that I think of all the times he had to chase us around town."

"Do you remember the day we found Rosa?" Cecil was enjoying this moment of shared memory, not quite ready to follow up with his true point. Kain looked so happy now, so at ease, reminiscing of better times. "How we mistook her for a monster--"

"Only to find out she was so much worse!" Kain slapped the table he was laughing so hard, Cecil having to relax a bit himself so his sides wouldn't cramp. The Royal Guards looked on, stupefied as the two knights chuckled up and down the mess hall, spreading a wave of warm joy. After the laughter had subsided, Kain wiped a tear from his eye as he continued, "Oh boy, was she a little fireball back then."

"She still is," Cecil added, though Kain acted a bit as though he hadn't heard it, still holding some giggle in his belly, and Cecil decided to move the tone along with that. "She's the only one of us that hasn't really changed all that much."

"Hmm..." The sound that peeked from Kain's lips was an ambiguous retort, some hint that his opinion differed from his friend. Kain had seen her change, though his mindset was that you can always see it better from a distance. "And us? Have we changed all that much?"

"Without a doubt, yes." Cecil had dared to stray from their blissful peace just a moment ago, and Kain's eyes were settling a bit harsh on his friend now. "I've thought about the day we last saw each other as best friends sharing similar lives, when the King finally told us we had been accepted into formal training. He was right, that was the last day of our youth, and in the blink of an eye we had become men of our current stature, sharing different lives with but a common respect for what we had accomplished. It all happened so fast."

"But you know that's what we had wanted from the very beginning, right?" Kain inquired, a bit worried at the direction Cecil was headed, and even more so when his friend didn't say a word. "...Right?"

"You see, that's what I've been thinking about," Cecil shifted a bit, finding his current position rather uncomfortable, although it had more to do with Kain's reaction than his armor jutting into his side. "Ever since I left that throne room yesterday I couldn't help but think of how young we are still, and yet how long ago all these memories seem."

The conversation halted for a moment as a screech of dry wood on rough stone caught their attention. The two guards had finished their meal and were getting back to their duty, but not before walking slowly past the two knights, equal looks of testosterone-filled detestation on each face. They were about to stand up and face off when the guards drew a bit close, but these hot-heads knew better than to start trouble; especially knowing what they did of Cecil. The word of his deeds in Mysidia had already spread throughout Baron, much like a wildfire in a dry heat. The guards turned down the exit path just past Kain and Cecil's table, Kain finally getting tired of their presence as he called after them.

"Have a fine morning, ladies."

One of the guards turned with a vicious sneer, Kain responding with his own taunting grin, almost eager for the chance to show them a thing or two. To the Dragoon's disappointment they continued out of the mess hall, opting for a more peaceful start to one's day. The mess hall fell to silence once more, the two friends being the only people to fill the cavernous room, a barren wasteland of empty tables. Cecil reached for his mug, tilting it towards the ceiling as he finished his coffee.

"So what were we talking about again?" Kain tried to get Cecil back into mood of sharing feelings, something that they rarely were in the mood for. "Our wasted youth, I believe it was?"

"I don't know. We'll talk about it later," Cecil stealthily dodged the question, taking advantage of the oncoming charge of people piling into the mess hall. "C'mon, let's go before the morning crowd takes over."

"Alright, but don't think you're getting away with it for good," Kain held a strong finger out at his friend, a confident smile waiting behind it as they stood up to leave. "We will finish this."

"Sure, sure." Cecil conceded with a healthy laugh. As Kain reached for the cerulean dragon sitting next to his plate, placing the helmet on his head as he walked away, the Dark Knight left behind discovered something incredibly alarming about his empty plate. He looked up sharply to see the azure armor weaving through a slow moving crowd, and Cecil fiercely called after him, "Hey, where's my sweet roll!!"

---

The main hall had become quite lively, the morning obviously stirring up the citizens of the castle: mages in gallant streaming robes, soldiers tapping steel to stone on their way in and out, guards on alert where need be.Cecil and Kain only added to that fantastic mix of flavors, a steel blue dragon wrapped around one man, the other wrapped in plates of shadow, but a walking eclipse of the man inside. There was that floating air of crowded conversation that saturated the walls, flooded the floors, and dripped from the high ceilings. The caress of sunlight seeping through windows made the castle come to life in a way that Cecil still found absolutely astounding. Even as a kid he would wake up in the morning - unlike most children who overslept - just so he could walk through the main hall at its most radiant. Kain didn't seem to notice, although his eyes were diverted once or twice by the new class of graduated female wizards on their way to their morning lessons.

"See anyone you like?" Cecil nudged the dragoon's arm, catching a sudden look of surprise on Kain's face, not to mention the bit of red surfacing on his cheeks. He immediately huffed with a little smile as he faced forward down the hall, ignoring his friend's little comment. "Ah, a bit shy are we?"

"Bah!" Kain waved the verbal slap away with his hand, "When you're as good-looking as I am, the ladies will always come to you."

They both got a good laugh out of that one, although Cecil seemed to enjoy the joke a little more than Kain would've liked. Their laughter mixed with a fascinating harmony with the other chatter that bore down from all sides, the clutter of voices like a steady rain on the rooftops. But such a peaceful stroll through the castle was only meant to last a short while, for there was terror in the form of a single man roaming this hall, and his name was...

"Beigan...great." Cecil moaned a bit as they started to strut a bit more briskly, in hopes that the somewhat wanton Captain would not notice them. "Let's get out of here before he tries to send us off with one of his 'inspirational' lectures."

"Yes, lets." Kain agreed, picking up the pace alongside the Dark Knight. They found a nice hole in the crowd to break through, and they were certain they had made it through safely.

"Hold it you two!"

"Damnhere we go," Cecil muttered under his breath, shaking his head as he turned to face the broad shouldered Captain, strutting with utmost confidence up to the two knights he had personally seen to be sent on this mission.His chest puffed out like he was always holding in a deep breath, medals and marks dangling and stretching across the fabric of his fine pressed shirt. Eyebrow seemingly permanently in a quirk, as though he was always practicing for that most annoying look he could give someone.Cecil and Kain both let a depressing sigh slip from their lips as he stopped just in front of them.

"I see you two are off bright an early this morning," he spoke so irritably proper and upright, like any hand of the King would. It almost begged for a fist to bound at his face to perhaps dislodge his mouth from it. "Hoping to make it to Mist by nightfall?"

"Is there something we can do for you, Beigan?" Kain interrupted, more than happy to see the painful look of scornful nature destroy that layer of uptight dignitary in him.

"That's Captain Beigan to you, my good man," Beigan leaned in a bit closer to the dragoon, to utter a few words that those around him would never hear. "Especially to a worthless dragoon such as yourself. I still can't possibly conceive His Majesty's reasons for keeping your kind. You're lucky you're not shining my boots."

If there were words to describe what Kain would've liked to do to him right then, they were written all over his face. He was wary of his tongue, however, knowing full well he was in enough hot water with the King, and tussling with His Majesty's right hand man would not bode well by his judgment. Cecil took what little action he could, dividing the small space between the two with his steel hand, pushing Beigan a safer distance from them.

"Is that all you have to say, Captain?" Cecil drove hard into the Captain's eyes with a well-tamed fury that suggested he was not one with whom to play around with. "Because if it is then we really must be going. The sun wont be with us forever, you know."

"Fine, I'll let you two go," Beigan eyed each of them, a strange hint of suspicion clouding the deep green tone. "But not before I say this..."

"Yes, what is it?" Cecil asked, irritated, Kain already halfway turned for the door, nearly ready to walk away before Beigan even began to speak.

"His Majesty is putting an incredible amount of trust into the two of you, more than I would ever allow, I assure you," Beigan had a slight grin curling to one side of his tightly curved lips, his eyes a bit mocking at the same time. Cecil and Kain both rolled their eyes in unison...this was the dreaded 'inspiration' lecture. "But nevertheless he is weighing his judgment heavily on what he believes, that you are his finest warriors, the best of the best. Your lives may rest on the outcome of this mission, gentlemen. Don't screw it up."

"Sure thing," Kain said casually, waving with an apathetic 'goodbye' to the arrogant Captain as he walked away.

"Good day, Captain." Cecil said as he followed up to his friend down the hallway, never even having the slightest inclination to turn around again, no matter what Beigan had to say.Like a bump in the road they passed over him and got on with their way out, though he continued to watch them as they approached the main gates, that quirk in his eyebrow never fading, even as he turned to report back to whomever.

Looming ahead was the vision of all of Barons might, ruby red flags drooping over massive slab wood doors, impenetrable, impregnable. They were closing in fast on the heavy double-doors that led out into the courtyard, craving more than ever just to see the wild morning sky. A deep groan echoed deep in the chest when the old hinges ached in protest as the guards began pulling the doors open. The sliver of light that breeched the doorway became a magnificent ray of sun that poured in mightily from the east, a newly formed waterfall of vivid color washing over the main hall. The guards gave a courteous salute and a farewell to the two knights, though Kain and Cecil would not return the favor, more anxious just to get loose from the overwhelmingly dense air of Baron. Once out in the open, they were free upon the world, no reigns holding them back, except of course for the two gates they had to pass through to actually leave the castle grounds.

"This is it, Cecil," Kain said rather matter-of-factly, both men still staring ahead as the next gate was opened for their esteemed presence. "Are you worried?"

"Only of what's left behind," Cecil replied, a slight speck of sadness that tinged his voice, unnoticeable to anyone other than himself. He was smiling, though, and he knew Kain was just as well, for such a beautiful day only meant good promises for a better future. They knew more than well enough that they were going to succeed, no matter what lay in wait for them just around the corner. Together they were unstoppable, and they knew this better than anyone. "No time to worry about what's in front of us, especially on a day like this."

"We couldn't have asked for a better send off," Kain agreed, glancing out at the eastern sky for a chance to let the sun wrap its warm fingers around his rough cheeks. It danced across his features, reflected in beautiful blue from his armor, the steel wings protruding from his back slicing up a few rays of sun to keep for themselves. He returned after the shadow of the parapet disrupted his moment of tranquility. "Not from the King himself."

"No worries?" Cecil asked calmly.

"No worries." Kain returned, satisfied at that moment with everything in life, not a thing to plague his mind...clarity. That's how they were before they set off on any journey, any mission that required such attention to a knight's abilities. Walking through those gates, out onto the drawbridge and into the great beyond was a new beginning for any life, whether it be for the sake of one's future, or for the sake of one's knighthood. It didn't matter, because this was what they did, and with valiant steps forward they reached out for the horizon, knowing not that this would be the greatest journey of their lives.

---

And thus, the Dark Knight

and the Dragoon went forward

through the castle gates

the town of Baron awaiting

to receive them and to offer

fair warning of what dangers

may lie ahead.

Worry not will these brave

knights of Baron, for they

have the resolve of many,

more than most will ever

know, and as such it

shall carry them

on winged feet.

Shall they ever see

what lies ahead

is not what is to be found,

but what's left behind

that will find them

weak and unwary

and ultimately

at an end.