“Alright, alright, team huddle,” said Sagar, and beckoned for Ryn, Nuthea and Elrann to come close. Ryn wasn’t sure when they had become a ‘team’ but he supposed that they were one. They had by now, after all, fought off and escaped from not one, but two groups of Imperial soldiers together. Ryn felt a little twinge of irritation in his gut that Sagar seemed to have made himself the ‘leader’ of the team. But he left that alone for now.

“Just wait over there for a bit while we talk this over, old timer,” said Sagar, gesturing for Cid to move away, who did so.

The four of them linked arms and put their heads together. Ryn had never been so close to Nuthea’s face. But he was also close to Sagar’s face again on the other side. Urgh. Elrann faced him on the opposite side of the huddle.

“I don’t like this one bit,” said Sagar quietly. “The old timer’s hiding something, I know it. Our traveling party’s getting big enough as it is. I say we rob him of his stuff and leave him here.”

“Captain Sagar!” said Nuthea. “Even for a pirate that is despicable! He is perfectly trustworthy. He is a follower of the One, and he has already healed both of us.”

“He is good at healing...” said Elrann.

Sagar frowned at her from his place in the huddle, looking betrayed. “You’re on board with this guy too, woman?”

“He just seems like a kind old man to me. You’re right, I don’t believe in any of this ‘One’ stuff either, but I’m prepared to believe he believes it. What has he done for us so far? Healed two of us, and helped calm down that bat-poodoo crazy bounty hunter.”

Sagar’s frown grew more pronounced, like milk curdling.

“That’s two against one,” said Nuthea, seizing upon the opportunity. “Ryn--you have the deciding vote: either we are locked two against two in a tie, or Grandfather Cid can come with us. What’s your answer?”

Ryn considered his opinion of the old man. He thought back over what he knew about him so far. “Well, when he found out I knew someone who was hurt he came with me straight away. Then, Elrann’s right, he healed you, Nuthea, while we were fighting off the soldiers. Then he healed Sagar’s arm. Then he helped us out with the screaming bounty hunter, who could have attracted the soldiers to our position. And he doesn’t even want us to pay him for any of that. I…”

“Yes?” said Nuthea.

“...trust him,” finished Ryn.

“Rrrr, fine,” said Sagar exasperatedly, his face turning red. He broke the huddle abruptly and turned toward the old man. “Alright old timer, apparently you can come with us, for some reason.”

“Wonderful,” said Cid, with a smile.

“You can come with us on the condition that you don’t try to pull anything funny or slow down our trip. The minute that happens--” Sagar drew a finger across his throat to indicate a decapitating action.

“Of course,” said Cid, still smiling. “You have nothing to worry about, young man.”

“We still have a problem, though” said Ryn, seeing a chance to make himself more of the leader. “Where are we going to go now, and how are we going to get there?”

“Now that I am healed,” said Nuthea, “I still need to get to Manolia as quickly as possible.”

“The plan is the same,” said Sagar. “We make for Sirra, the Imfisi capital, and try to board a train to Manolia.” He looked over at the chocobo, which had crouched down and rested its head on the ground plaintively. It cawed. “Actually, now that we have the bird, I could simply ride there with the princess to get the train. The rest of you coming on foot would only slow us down. I say we part ways here.”

Heat rose in Ryn’s chest. “Hey! There’s no way you’re ditching us here! I’m still heading that way to look for General Vorr, remember?”

“Yeah, and there’s no way I’m walking all the way to Sirra, now that we have a chocobo,” said Elrann.

“And it does somewhat defeat my joining you to be your healer if I don’t actually join you to be your healer...” said Cid.

“Ahhhhhhhhh…” said the bounty hunter from his place on the ground.

Sagar merely pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes malevolently.

“Yes,” said Nuthea, “we travel together. As grandfather said, the One clearly has a purpose in bringing us all together. Especially you, Ryn, with your fire gift.” Ryn stood a little taller. The heat in his chest was replaced by a light, dreamlike sensation that moved up into his head. “But Sagar is right…” The lightness disappeared as quickly as it had come. “...we’re going too slowly on foot. And no doubt all the Imperial troops in the area will be searching for us now. We all need a way of traveling more quickly to get to Sirra.”

“I may be able to help there,” said Cid.

The four of them turned to look at him.

Cid nodded towards the bounty hunter’s steed. “Your man in black must have rented or stolen that bird from the chocobo stable in Nonts. None of you will be able to show your face there--especially you, Granddaughter--but I can. As far as the Empire know, I’m a nobody. I handed over my Healing House to my apprentice before they arrived. They have no idea who I am.”

“Won’t they have seen you escaping with us?” asked Ryn.

“I doubt it,” said Cid. “You killed all of the soldiers in Eda’s house, didn’t you?” Eda must be the old woman who had betrayed Ryn to the Imperials.

“Yes,” said Sagar.

“And I doubt they would have had time to get a good look at me in the chaos that followed, especially what with you throwing wind spells all over the place. Even if they did, I can just say that I’m a retired old man with some healing skills whom you forced to heal someone for you and then abandoned in the forest. They won’t look at me twice. I will go and find a couple more chocobos for us.”

“Oh, you’d do that for us, Grandfather?” said Nuthea. Ryn thought she was laying it on a bit thick.

“Of course,” said Cid. “As I say, I have plenty of coin. This is good--this way I can go home before we leave and pick up some supplies--gold, a cloak, some sleeping mats, that sort of thing.”

“Food?” said Elrann.

“Naturally,” said Cid. “Are you hungry, young lady?”

“We haven’t eaten since last night.”

“Well of course, then! You must be famished. I will bring as much as I can carry, and gold to buy more. I best be off. I will meet you back here in a few hours, with the chocobos.”

“Not here,” said Sagar. “We need to keep moving while you’re getting your supplies, old timer. The Imperials will be looking for us.”

“You’re quite right,” said Cid. “Tell you what: meet me at the crest of the hill a few miles due east of Nonts. It’s wooded there too, so you’ll be sheltered.”

“Good idea, Grandfather,” said Nuthea.

“Let’s go,” said Elrann.

“Hmph,” said Sagar.

“Ahhhhhh…” said the bounty hunter, still in his poppy trance.

“Wait,” said Ryn, realising something.

“What?” The others turned to him.

“Him,” said Ryn, pointing at the bounty hunter. “We still haven’t decided what to do about him.”

“He’s served his purpose,” said Sagar. “I say we slit his throat and leave him to die here.”

“Sagar!” said Nuthea. “No! Who is this man, anyway?”

“Who do you think, princess? This is the bounty hunter that jumped us and made that cut in your belly before the old timer healed you. Pup here kept him alive out of ‘pity’ or some such nonsense. I suppose he did tell us the way to get to Nonts. But there’s no reason to keep him alive any longer.”

“Well done, Ryn,” said Nuthea, completely unexpectedly.

Sagar put his head in his hands.

“Why?” said Ryn.

“Oneism teaches to love one’s enemies, and that it is wrong to kill another living thing. Forgiveness and restoration are always possible.”

“But I’ve seen you cook Imperial soldiers in their armour with lightning bolts!”

“That was different…” said Nuthea sheepishly, rubbing her arm and looking sidelong at Cid. “That was self-defense…”

“Be that as it may, Granddaughter is right,” said Cid. “It would be wrong to kill and abandon this pitiful soul. It would only add more evil to the world.”

Sagar had turned red. “Rrrr. Not this again! You two are completely crazy!”

“You know,” said Elrann, “for once, I agree with the jackass. I’m not saying we have to kill him, but there’s no sense in keeping this guy around. He’s clearly dangerous. I don’t see what good can come of it.”

“Thank you, woman. At least one of you is seeing sense.”

“Well that’s two against two again,” said Nuthea. “If we’re going to go with the ‘majority vote’ in this team, a concept which while vulgar I am not entirely unfamiliar with, then you get the deciding vote again, Ryn.”

Ryn looked down at the entranced bounty hunter laying face up on the ground. Right now the man’s dark eyes were glassy and unfocused, staring off into the leaves and sky above them while he occasionally emitted moans of pleasure. But Ryn remembered the look in the man’s eyes the first time Sagar had been about to kill him. Somewhere in that gray Ryn had seen terror, and desperation, and trauma. Somewhere in that gray Ryn had seen--humanity. And he had known in that instant that really, despite the man’s appearance and current choice of occupation, he and Ryn weren’t all that different. This man had seen horrible things in his life too, and maybe it was those horrible things that had driven him to what he was doing now. He was a person too.

“He stays with us,” said Ryn. “He knew the way to Nonts. He told us what poison he had used. He may know his way around the rest of Imfis. He might be able to give us information about the Empire.” Like where Vorr is, for example. “He might prove helpful yet.”

Sagar threw up his hands in exasperation. “This is insane!” He sighed passive-aggressively, like an angry horse whinnying. “Fine, you had better load him onto the chocobo then, pup, seeing as you’re so desperate not to part from him--he’s not going anywhere by himself any time soon. You go get your supplies, old timer--we’ll meet you at the top of the hill east of Nonts in a few hours.”