Part 5

Meru was busy bargaining for possession of the rickety old airship. Having heard what Tai had to say, he had taken it upon himself to get hold of passage to Conde Petie. Crysta and Tai lounged a little way away, watching the exchange. Bored, Crysta turned to Tai.

“So, what was the passage like? Was it spooky? Did it have skeletons and cobwebs everywhere?” Tai stared at her. Talk about an imagination. He shook his head.

“It was just a tunnel.” Just at that moment, Meru headed back, a grin on his face.

“He said he’d sell it for ten thousand gil.” Tai’s mouth dropped open

“That hunk of crap? Its not worth ten thousand!” Meru glared

“Its either that or we walk.”

“And where, pray tell, are we gonna get ten thousand gil?” Meru turned to look at Tai

“You mean you haven’t got any gil?” Tai scratched his head, embarrassed. Meru shook his head.

“By the Gods, what on earth were you planning to do? Fine, here’s the plan. I said I would pay the man tomorrow. I guess we’ll just have to leave tonight.” Crysta looked confused

“But he won’t let us leave if we don’t pay.” Meru sighed

“You two really are hopeless. That’s the whole point. He’ll be asleep tonight, expecting payment tomorrow. Only, we’ll be long gone.”

“You mean steal?” Crysta asked doubtfully. Tai privately thought it was a bad idea, but he could see no other alternative.

“It’s either that or we will never find out why Black Mages attacked the school.”

“I don’t like it”

“Crysta, we don’t really have a choice.” She shook her head

“We can bring it back. Then it will just be borrowing.” Tai smiled. Uneasily, Crysta agreed

“Well, I guess. If we bring it back.”

Throughout the rest of the day Crysta’s nerves were getting worse. Tai was certain she was going to give away their plans. But she didn’t. Meru peered out of the window. It was dark, with only a thin slice of the moon casting any light, and obscured by the clouds scudding across the sky every so often. He turned back into the room.

“It’s time” Tai nodded and hoisted a pack onto his back. Crysta followed suit, somewhat nervously. Silently, the trio slipped out of the inn into the night.

The airship stood, a dark foreboding shadow in the night. There was no sign of movement around it, and the group found it easy to sneak on board. Meru went to the controls. They were set out simply, proving to him that this was clearly an old fashioned airship. At least it didn’t still run on mist, yet Meru had his doubts that it would get them safely to Conde Petie. He glanced at Tai and Crysta, making sure they were settled on the ship.

“Ok, here we go!” he pushed a lever up, and tapped on of the buttons. The airships engine stuttered into life. Meru closed his eyes. Take off was going to be longer than he hoped. He prayed that nobody would hear the airship. A light lit up in front of him. He needed to wait for all three to be alight before they had enough power to go. He heard voices shouting in the distance. The villagers had heard the airship. It occurred to Meru that an airship this old would cause a bit of a racket when started up. The second light flickered on and off. He cursed silently. The voices were getting louder. The second light stayed on. Tai and Crysta were starting to get nervous. Meru gazed at the lights. Damn, it wasn’t going to get enough power in time. He fidgeted slightly. The third light flickered. But the villagers were almost on them.

“We can’t wait any longer. I’m gonna chance it.” Meru pulled a second lever and the airship whirred, lifting into the air. He pulled a third lever, causing it to move slowly forward. He only hoped that they had enough power to get somewhere.

The airship gained height and speed, leaving the village of Dali behind. Tai gazed out of the window. Although it was moving faster, compared to the modern airship it was moving slowly. He stared at the landscape below. He could see the evil forest, seeming to sway beneath him. He looked further a field, and was almost certain that he could see the ruins of Understone School. Crysta gave a gasp and pointed out of the opposite window.

“Look Tai! Its so pretty!” Tai joined her, gazing out of the window. It was one of Lindblum’s gates. It was detailed and coloured intricately, although some of the colour had faded. Tai turned to Meru.

“Do you think we’ll make it to Conde Petie” Meru looked serious.

“I felt doubtful before, this is an old airship. But we took off without waiting for full power. Hopefully we’ll be able to get across the ocean before we lose altitude.” Crysta turned

“Couldn’t we stop on the coast and recharge energy?” Meru laughed

“It’s not that easy. Like I said, its old. Unlike the newer airships it doesn’t recharge itself while resting. It needs an airport. Their rare now, there’s only one in Dali, Lindblum and Alexandria. If we land there’s no guarantee that we will have enough power to take off again.” Tai and Crysta exchanged glances.

“That’s…bad, huh.” Meru gave a grim smile.

“We will just have to hope.”

END OF PART 5