Garden Of The Abyss

"So, Ren, have you looked into anybody you want to recruit into the guild? "Gladiolus", right?" Sirius asked while lounging his arms outside of the window, allowing his jet-black locks to be pulled in the passing wind.

He sat up, blinking at the question with a surprised expression, "...You know, I didn't really think about that."

Iris sighed out, "This is why I tried to have you go out to the main halls with me to find people."

"I'm not some door-to-door salesman, alright? We can't look desperate," he said in a slight huff as he rested his elbow in the window sill.

Iris gave a look to Sirius as if saying "do you see what I mean?" to which the man shrugged his shoulders with a small laugh.

"Ren, you're going to have to take this seriously, you know?" Sirius told him.

"I know that," he replied.

"I'm not talking about the spiel Donatien gave you earlier about the "responsibility of your guild mates", what I mean are the outside forces that come with this path."

Sirius' words caught his attention as he met him eye-to-eye, which prompted the man to lean forward as he continued.

"Guilds aren't just some base of operations for you to relax in; it's a ruthless environment."

"I didn't see any of that with the Outlanders. You all seem as relaxed as can be," he replied.

Sirius laughed a bit, "Well, we've also been on hiatus since Sora, Kazuya, and I were away in Jinyue for almost as long as you two were gone. And, well, waiting for the Argonauts to make their move–but, enough of that. It's different–the Outlanders are sort of a special exception to the usual rule–I mean, Beatrice has ties directly to the Hollow Foundation itself."

Not just the Argonauts–we're waiting for Belmon. I wonder…why didn't Beatrice tell these two about the reason we've been patiently sitting around? Oh, well, I'll tell them at some point, Sirius thought.

"And you're saying without her direct influence, things aren't going to be as smooth for us?" He asked.

The look on Sirius' face confirmed this without a word having to be said before he added on, "The Outlanders are an SS-rank guild. Tippity-top," Sirius made a motion with his finger as he pointed upwards, "courtesy of Miss Beatrice herself–so we get quests handed directly to us, no questions asked. And guilds know not to mess with us, or…well, you get the picture."

"I've heard about this before," Iris added in, glancing at him with her azure jewels, "...for beginner guilds, or really any that are lower than "S", it's as if every guild may as well be enemies. Since quests aren't specifically tailored for those guilds, they have to fight for the rights to accept the quest, and sometimes even fight with one another to claim the reward and prestige for themselves."

This is a lot more heavy than I realized, he thought.

Of course, despite this information, he still felt confident–in his own abilities, and the fact that someone of Sirius' status was joining.

"The Hollow Foundation itself is basically an oversized, glorified guild itself," Sirius added, spinning his finger in the air, "it was built on the foundation of "freedom", or in other words, "laissez-faire"--do what you must to rise to the top, but don't let them catch you. Simple, right?"

"So, what you're saying is that Gladiolus is going to have a big, red bullseye painted on its back?" He asked, resting his chin on his knuckles, "even so…I don't see how that's going to happen if we have someone of your rank?"

Sirius ran his fingers through his locks, pulling his fringes back for a moment before letting the wind resettle them.

"Ren, you definitely have a lot to learn about this place," Sirius told him with a sly smile, "I didn't join because my presence would be an all-powerful safeguard, but I'm curious about it myself. I want to see it start from the ground up, into something beautiful. Besides, it's the opposite, really; my presence will only feel like more of a threat to the other, lower rank guilds–so, sorry about that."

Though the youthful man apologized, Sirius laughed at carefree as always, though he could only let out a small sigh in response.

"You're a handful, you know that?" He leaned back, folding his arms across his chest.

"Ha-ha! Sorry, but I just couldn't pass up on a fun chance like this," Sirius laughed.

Iris leaned against his arm, gently placing her head on his shoulder, "...Still, we should be thankful he's joining, right?"

He couldn't help but blush just a teensy bit as his cheeks took a pink hue, "Yeah, I guess."

Sirius cleared his throat loudly to regain their attention, "Anyway! You two need to start setting your eyes on potential recruits. We're not going to go anywhere with just the three of us, no matter how strong we may be. Numbers rule. Quality as well–strike a balance, and we'll soar to the top."

After a duly-noted spiel from Sirius, the wait on the moving train continued as he retrieved a book from beneath his mantle, flipping it open to where the feathered bookmark was kept.

"Reading? I didn't take you much for an appreciator of fine literature," Sirius asked.

He answered, not looking up from the text as he flipped the page, "Not much else is there to do to pass the time."

Iris kept silent as she kept her head rested on his shoulder, her silken locks cascading down his spotless, white cloak.

"Well, what is it?" Sirius asked with a curious smile.

A conversation that he wasn't exactly happy to have formed while trying to read the text inscribed on the parchment.

It's hard enough to read a second language, but with this guy talking…he thought.

"..."The Tall Knight of Ulym", Donatien recommended it to me," he answered.

"Ah, that one, about the "dwarf knight", Caligo?" Sirius' smile took on a melancholic form as he looked up, "Ulym is a city off in the boonies of Gallvania, isn't it? "The city of dwarves", but also "the city of muffled dreams"...if I remember correctly, it's the human kingdom with the highest population of dwarves."

He looked up from the verdant-designed book, "Yeah, apparently, it says Caligo paved the way for them to migrate to Gallvania. Says something about the conditions of their home kingdom–Gorgoza–being too "lethal". Apparently it's neighbored by some grand volcanoes. You've read it before?"

Sirius shook his head softly, "Lucas read that one. A few times, actually. He'd be capable of giving you the coldest shoulder there is, but if you asked him about that book? He'd talk your ear off for hours."

Though Sirius told this with a small laugh, he felt the melancholy in the air as his own heart was caught in a knot itself; one that Iris seemed affected by as well as she shifted against him subtly.

"I see…" He replied with a small smile, "I wish I could've talked to him about it."

"Yeah," Sirius lounged back, "he would've liked that."

So much has been lost…he thought, but there's still so much left.. Instead of lamenting the past that can't be altered, all we can do is look ahead, in hopes of a brighter day than the last.