☼ - Even Spira’s liveliest inhabitants needed a moment alone now and again.
For all her whimsy and bluster, Rikku had little patience when it came to her brother. He’d been running through the airship all morning on some flamboyant tirade, making it nearly impossible to record a decent sphere. So she’d ventured out to the quietest place she knew, the bright blue sphere in her hand a lovely compliment to the glistening trees.
It wasn’t much further now. The clearing she was looking for housed one of her favorite hiding spots, a tree limb just out of view of those walking below. She’d taken note of it on the pilgrimage and come back to visit many times since. It’d be gone soon, she supposed, given the declining state of the woods.
Today, however, it would seem that her favorite clearing was occupied. She started when she caught a glimpse of ornate robes slumped next to a small fire. Carefully she stashed her sphere in the pouch at her hip, head craning to see the young Yevonite’s face.
“Uh… praetor?” She questioned, taking a few tentative steps forward. Though Baralai himself was far from prejudiced, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy in his presence. “It is you. Whatcha doin’ all the way out here? I kinda thought you were a permanent fixture in Bevelle these days.”
He was tending to his fire, ready to eat, when she came along. Of all the people in Spira, he had to be found by one of its loudest inhabitants. Baralai couldn’t believe his luck. So much for the silence of the woods.
But still, he gave her a soft chuckle and a polite smile.
“Avoiding company, actually,” he answered her question truthfully. “I needed to get away from the capital for a little while.” He could see she was a bit uneasy around him even if he was less formally dressed. “Please, relax. And you may call me Baralai. I’m no one but myself here.” He sat down on a stump he pulled near the fire to have a seat and started to stir whatever he was cooking in the pot above the embers.
“You’re Rikku, am I right?” He would have been incredibly rude if he didn’t remember the name of one of Lady Yuna’s companions...companion who also happened to have saved him from Vegnagun. “What about you? Why are you here?” He looked behind her, expecting to see Lady Yuna and Paine joining them.