Belius

The story of Belius...

Belius was born in a village that lied on the northern part of Ivalice as the result of a pairing between Asurann, her mother, and Iejir, her father. Both were retired adventurers that had adventured together for several years before deciding it was time to settle down. The birth was uneventful, and for the first few years following her birth, happiness followed unawares.

It was at the age of 6, when all the other childern had started speaking, when Asurann noticed that while her daughter could make all the animal noises associated with her wolf heritage, she could not seem to form words. This resulted in her often being picked on by the other childern, and eventually led her to isolate herself away. Belius, as she was thusly named upon birth, was brought by her parents to the best healers they could find. At the age of 7, it was found that fate was a cruel mistress, and did not permit her throat to develop fully, robbing her of ever being able to speak as others do. Following this development, Iejir realized that she could not grow up like this, and sent for the teacher that taught him. Asurann protested this, until Iejir turned and gave her a look that said he would not be swayed. He explained privately, that if they do not do this, the their daughter will grow up weak, and likely die weak. With hesitation, Belius' mother conceded the truth of this.

Khronam, that was his name, of the giant of a wolf that answered the request and had arrived at their home. Belius, naturally, had to be picked up over the old wolf's shoulder while his other arm carried her meager things off to the distant lands to the east of where she grew up. When Belius arrived where Khronam lived, and finally allowed off her shoulder. Her first instinct was to bolt. Oddly enough, the wolf did not give chase, instead watched her go. Belius ran through the forest, and did not make it far before she was beset by a fiend. She screamed, and ran, which was futile as it quickly overtook the slower young wolf and slashed her so hard it sent her flying against a tree. Now, with clothing torn, and bloody, also dazed, Belius started to curl up, and cry, whimpering pitifully as she was certain her life was about to end. It would have, had it not been for a massive spear that suddenly pierced the fiend's neck and left it dying and flopping helplessly against the ground. Khronam step from the brush, and Belius, for the first time was happy to see him. She rose and ran over to him, only to be met by a look that turned her blood to ice, stopping her cold in her tracks. Khronam spoke, and it was like the mouth of rage itself was speaking to her, "Look at you! Weak! Pathetic! Unable to even protect yourself from one weak fiend!" He turned now and started to approach her, "You continue to be weak, you will die weak, or worse, be taken advantage of in ways that would make you wish for death to come." Khronam then lashed out to point a finger in the direction of his home, "Now get back to the house pup, I no longer wish to have you in my sight for the rest of the day." Belius turned and ran crying, saved from death, only to be met with verbal fangs of her savior. When the girl was out of sight, Khronam yanked the spear from the fiend's corpse and looked up, "Forgive me old friend, but like you, I will have to break her before she can be made strong." His gaze floated down to the corpse, "On the bright side, this does save me from having to hunt for tomorrow's lunch." He then picked up the corpse over his shoulder and headed for his home following Belius' trail lest she got in more trouble.

In the days, and weeks, that followed, Belius was plagued by nightmares. The fiend, the harsh words of her teacher. Even in the waking hours, he was harsh, unrelenting, sending her out on chores. She feared the woods at this point, and it seemed everyday, Khronam would send her to the wood. A fierce lashing was consequence for disobidence. However, one day was different, when he sent her to the wood to collect some herbs, Khronam said something that seemed to stick, "Fear is a tool. It's meant to be used. How it's used decides much." By this point, Belius had been very broken down, shattered even, by her nightmares and her fear. Taking a few of those pieces, with those words, she began to reform. She was still afraid, though she started to use that fear to make her more aware of what she was doing rather than allowing it to overwhelm her. That night, the nightmare came, the same one as always. This time, something new snapped, and instead of cowering, she lashed back at the fiend in her dreams. Her attacks were clumsy, unpracticed, but she fought back. Khronam looked up from a book in his room and noticed that the magical black crystal next to him had broke. The old wolf had smiled then, a rare event, and said to himself, "Very good, now I can start making you strong, and focused."

Belius, under the teaching of Khornam, over the years grew stronger, more honed. Her weapon of choice became apparent when he walked in on her one day swinging a spiked chain around through the air. When inquired as to why she was swinging it like that, Belius wrote down on a piece of paper, "I can't sing like people do. So I try to make the chain sing for me." For the second time, and the first time in front of Belius, the old weaponmaster smiled as he spoke, "Then this is the weapon I shall train you in and you will learn to make it sing even as you fight." More years past, and now Belius was blossoming into womanhood, a new set of issues of the heart began to set in. During this, Khornam taught her how to resist temptation, and what true meaning of making choices meant. They never did anything, but in the course of this, Belius grew even more sure of herself. She also realized that she did love the old weaponmaster, but also understood that love has more than one meaning in which this love, was the love of someone she grew close to and respected.

During this time, Khornam realized that having to write everything, especially when trying to communicate admist a busy shop or the like, would prove problematic. One night, as he watched over her sleeping in bed, Khornam would hold up a white crystal and say out loud, "It's time I taught you a little magic." That following day, it was winter then, They sat on the ground across from one another. The weaponmaster held out the crystal to her, and Belius held out her furred and clawed hand to take it. "Now listen carefully, this is a focus. It's to help novice casters channel their magic. While I am by no means a magic user, I have picked up a few tricks, one of which you will find useful. Now, I want you to focus, what you're trying to do, is project your mental voice using your snout." There was a brief blank stare as magic was a foreign concept to Belius, but she would try, and after what seemed like an eternity, her 'voice' resonated out clear, and somewhat otherworldly, ~Can y-your hear me?~ This resulted in Belius falling back in shock and Khronam actually laughing as he clapped. "Well done! I did hear you." He stood up and walked over her and looked down, "Keep that focus, though I want you to keep practicing until you can do it without the assistance of the focus." Belius would nod while she got to her own two paws.

Spring of the following year, Khornam had spent several years with Belius, breaking and then building her up to where she was now. He never told her out loud, but he was proud of how she came along. Sadly, for Belius, her training with the weaponmaster was deemed complete, and it was time for her to find her own path. She stood out in front of Khornam's home, her things in a pack of her right shoulder, and waiting for the weaponmaster. He would arrive, speaking to her, "I wanted to give you something as a parting gift, prehaps something to remember me by when my days have finally come to an end." He held out to her a gleaming spiked chain, complete with a holder to allow her to attack to the belt of the thick black robes that she wore. "Odd attaire though, not much good for fighting in," he would remark. Belius would reply with, "I do not fear men's lustful gazes, but nor do I wish to invite them when I am simply travelling." Khronam would nod to this in agreement, "Fair enough. Your family is awaiting your return. Though they understand you will not likely be staying so they've gotten you an airship ticket to a location of your choice." Belius simply nodded to his and held out her hand, and clasped the other wolf's in a firm handshake, ~Thank you, for everything.~ She would then turn and start heading down the path as Khronam watched her go. He didn't want to openly admit he would miss her, but he also had faith she would do great things in her future with the tools he gave her.

Belius would go to spend a bit of time with her family, recounting her training to them, and enjoying secretly their awed look towards the sound of her projected voice. Following this, she would then come to get herself hired on as a caravan guard heading for the nearest town with an airship tower. Arriving at the tower a few days later, she would look to her ticket, look up at the tower, then head inside, where destiny awaited in whatever new land she would end up....