Hello again, bored scholar friend I've never met.
I wonder if you've taken my advice by now--to find an adventurer and travel for a week or two. Then again, it's only been a couple entries, and you probably read them too fast for that.
That's weird to think about, actually--that a few hours reading can be days or weeks or years of someone else's life. If it was the other way around, though, there wouldn't be a point to books.
But I said before that this entry would be less depressing, so let's not wax philosophy on....what would you even call that--writing as a concept? Yeah, I'm fine with not inventing some weird new moral problem, or wherever that was going.
Anyway, 'Biki said that Doma doesn't need as many helping hands as Velodyna, so the plan is sight-seeing this time. In other words, lots of travel, lots of quick entries, assuming I can squeeze any in at all.
Maybe that'll be better, actually? No time to forget the little stuff, so you'll get more detail? Or too much detail. But that's your problem to figure out, not mine, so I'm just gonna write whatever and leave you to it.
And since I said I'd make it up to you before, this carriage ride will be a while, and I don't need to see Gyr Abania's sights after running around it so much, I'll tell you a secret about our hero friend--he's scared of chocobos.
What? You think that sounds like bullshit? But it's the truth.
Primal-killer, war-ender 'Biki can't handle the average horsebird. I mean, he can ride them, but normal people don't stare at tame chocobos like they're about to get pecked.
That said, I've no idea why he's like that.......yet. I'll try to get us an answer.
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I'm back, and after a lot of fishing on the boat to Othard, I've gotten quite good with a rod, but I swear 'Biki uses the Echo to talk the fish onto his hook.
But you want to know about our bird mystery, right? Right.
I wish I had the camera out when I asked him about it--"I thought I was hiding it well," was written all over his face. But! I got him to come clean about it......well, mostly clean, but I'm working on prying out the finer details.
Anyway, he thinks they can read his thoughts, more or less.
Well, more on the "less" side of things, but he said stuff like, "they're too smart" and "they're always around"......like a flock of fluffy horsebirds are waiting to take over the governments of Eorzea or something.
The bottom line is that hand-raised, super tame, friendly chocobos freak him out the most. But when you run around punching primals on the regular, you can still ride something that makes your skin crawl I guess.
Anyway, he's about done saying hi to everyone here at Tamamizu, so we're gonna swim over to Sui-no-Sato and then head to the Azim Steppe--I'll see you again when I'm dry enough to touch paper.
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The Ruby Sea is still warm and clear, and we wound up helping a bit, despite "sightseeing only". I don't think either of us will be fixing that habit, or our do-you-need-something-done auras anytime soon.
I also got you one of 'Biki's usual distractions, since I mentioned them last time. Let history know that Mr. Big Impressive Hero will stop and stare at anything that glows.
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It's day two of flying around the Azim Steppe, 'Biki is off wrestling some Oronir, and I have a life lesson for you: don't eat catfish buuz when visiting Namazu.
Like, even the ones with slimy personalities started looking reeeeeeeeally tasty. But unless the buuz I'm wolfing down hold a dark secret, none of the Namazu have actually been eaten......yet. It really feels like a "when" thing more than an "if" thing, even though they're friendly with the Xaela.
I think 'Biki tried to warn me, but "we're going to Dhoro Iloh" when I'm picking out lunch at Reunion isn't the same as "don't eat catfish before we visit talking catfish".
That's enough about food, though.
You're probably more interested in the rest of the Steppe, right? Everything is green, and the weather is great. There's a constant breeze from how open it is, so it never feels hot, even if it should.
On second thought.....we've been going from place to place so fast that I'm probably not the best person to ask about the Steppe. Hopefully you have a reference book on this stuff.
Anyway, we've stopped at every place that had people, so I think we've visited every tribe in the area. 'Biki says there's more, but he hasn't met them, just heard about them. I'm sorta getting a half-accurate guided tour, honestly. There's a lot of "I think" and "if I remember right" when 'Biki explains stuff here.
Like, he pointed out some stone monuments, and said there's a ritual where you make wishes as you visit them, but his memory was a bit fuzzy, like if "wishes" was even the right term.
He took part in it when he was first visiting, though--said some of his wishes were goals, some actually wishes, and one that was literally impossible.
I couldn't get him to tell me them, though--he couldn't remember some, and got shy about the rest. He did say most of them came true, including the impossible one. He said that one was thanks to Elidibus......somehow. I'm curious, but with the face he was making when he said it, I didn't ask for details.
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We've switched to wandering Yanxia, so not a lot of time to write--more seeing and doing, but I didn't come here to record the tourist experience of the area, so it's fine.
'Biki is fetching things for one of his culinarian itches and won't let me help (or it'll ruin the surprise or something), so here I am.
If i had any doubts which one of us he thinks is doing a favor for the other, though, the last few days have settled that debate. I mean, multi-course meals while traveling? Not normal, even for him.
He's trying to work something out, I think.....but we've just been talking about like, the food, or chocobos, or when we first came here. Mostly the first two, to be honest. And if one of us spots a neat rock or whatever.
Honestly, I'm not sure which one of those is even helping--all of them? Maybe none of them. It's confusing, but I won't complain as long as it works out in the end.
Anyway, more pictures for now.
I had to climb up a crystal to get all those colors, so appreciate it. Also, some life advice? Don't ever climb a crystal. You'll be picking glowy bits out of everything you own for the rest of the day.
Hells, I found some in my hair earlier, and if it's as hard to get rid of as I think it is, this page will still sparkle when
you hold it up to some light.
---
We're at the Enclave, and the end of our trip. We'll be heading back to Mor Dhona tomorrow, so I'll be returning you to 'Biki after this entry.
It's a lot livelier than the last time I was here--he said it's all the locals' efforts, but with how they greet him, he had a hand in it. I figure he tossed some ceruleum in the engine, but I agree that it's the Domans' hard work making this airship fly.
Oh, remember how I said 'Biki will probably go to Norvrandt after this? It reminded me--you know how most people are around chocobos? 'Biki has it in him, too.
And I don't mean, like, "if he just gave them a chance" or "it's buried deep down, I know it". I mean I've actually seen him like that.......but with amaro.
Hmm....you might not know what those are, actually--you won't find one in Eorzea. I guess.....imagine wings and feathers on a drake, and that's roughly what they look like. They're also used just like chocobo, but......they're even smarter.
Which means that if a chocobo knows all your secrets, then an amaro actually understands them. His reactions don't make a lot of sense, right? But he won't budge, even when I brought it up.
But there's also exceptions to the chocobo thing.
Like, I said the super tame birds freaked him out, but he's okay around combat chocobos, or the big freaks of nature that can carry two Roegadyn. I think it's because they're not as socialized, so they act like birds instead of birds-that-think-they're-people.
But it doesn't explain one tame chocobo he's okay around. He got it in Ishgard, but no matter how I look at it, it's a normal Ishgardian bird. Weirdly muscular, but normal.
I asked, just for you, and he swears it can not only carry two people, but outfight other birds at the same time.
And I mean, he's got a lot of crazy stuff packed away--legendary weapons and tales of dimensional travel and Twelve know what else--but there's no way this bird could carry two people and
walk. Even two Lalafel would be a tight squeeze.
So it's completely normal, but he's dead set on not letting the coeurl out of that bag. One day, maybe, but until then......I suspect my brother will have an idea of what's going on.
Anyway, I've got food and souvenirs to pick out from all the stalls here, so I'll see you again later.
Alisaie
