ONE MOON AGO
Bright! The light stabbed at the back of his eyes the moment he opened them. That was a TERRIBLE idea. With the discomfort of the light, a fresh wave of pain flooded through him, gone as quickly as it had come. Delirious, the man tried to come entirely to his senses -- and risked cracking open an eye again. It was sunny, and hot. Humid, too. he could hear the sound of water gently lapping against the shore, and feel warm sand at his back. Blah, that would get everywhere.
It was still too damned bright for him to see, damn it -- but he did hear voices; three of them, murmuring, discussing, lilting with excitement as he stirred. Finally, things came into focus and Joshua Black took a look around him.Â
He was alive. His leathers had been nearly shredded, and his pale skin was marked with odd burns, but he was alive. How he had survived that explosion he would never be able to explain. Slowly, he sat upand took a look around. As he had heard, three individuals crouched around him, all eyes pointed in his direction with quiet, suspenseful concern; two hyur men and a very pretty elezen woman.Â
Wait -- it was in the daytime, and he had tried to get rid of that crystal at night. How long had he slept? How did he get back to shore? And --
"Where's Jacob?" He asked hoarsely.
The first Hyur, a midlander with stunning golden locks and glittering silver armor shook his head slowly. "Sorry, my friend. I don't know any Jacob. Do you remember what happened to you? Aetheryte gone wrong? You're lucky we were here when you popped into view. Here of all places, though." He looked up at the towering, crystal-struck lighthouse above. "Ah well -- you took a little bit of a fall, but Liucen and Felicia mended you up alright." A gleaming gauntlet indicated toward the somewhat short, red-haired Highlander fellow and the pale, pretty white haired elezen. They both nodded in turn. "My name is Raymond. If you want, we can take you back to Aleport so we can get you sorted out. Your belongings came with you, thankfully."
Raymond produced a small black pouch, and handed it over. "You'll find everything in it, the way it's supposed to be. We haven't tampered."
Joshua nodded and took the pouch. His gloves had been torn, and the skin beneath them irritated and burned. "Thank you. What day is it?"
For the first time in a long time, Joshua Black felt fear as the red-haired highlander told him the date. If he was right, then it meant he had slept for eight moons. Or...not slept, if he had just appeared back at the lighthouse. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Had the Agents won? Had the woman -- his mother -- Ithys Black defeated them?Â
"I need to get to Director Mountain," He blurted. "Can you take me to him? He may be in Revenant's Toll."
Looks were exchanged among the three. "...Fortuitous," Raymond murmured, "While I'm not quite sure about the Director bit, Liucen did come across a Mountain on his travels. We can take you to Revenant's Toll, if you like."
"Thank you. Thank you -- I'll be up in a moment to come with you. You can keep whatever gil I have as payment."
Liucen himself jerked a chin toward Joshua's face. "Don't want to sound rude, friend, but you've got an interesting pair of eyes there."
"Liucen, really? Here? Now?"
"I don't mean it like that! Just look at them!"
More uneasiness gripped the black-swathed fellow. Felicia, the Elezen noticed his state and quietly produced a little mirror from a bag slung around her shoulders. Joshua Black peered in and bright orange eyes the color of corrupted crystals peered right back.
![[Image: tumblr_ojgu7zoaag1robwlio1_540.png]](https://68.media.tumblr.com/80be4033cdf57fb6268473ef9ce37db6/tumblr_ojgu7zoaag1robwlio1_540.png)
