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ambi and jessa write stupid stuff

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After Locke and Celes dealt with the Tunnel Armor, the start of their journey north from South Figaro was rather quiet. Unsurprising, considering the circumstances. Sneaking through enemy lines, both of them different shades of exhausted. Locke had been on the move for days, unable to stop and rest for long once he'd crossed into occupied territory. And Celes was still recovering from the punishment she'd received while imprisoned.

At some point after they'd given the Imperials the slip, it was hard to pinpoint exactly when, Locke began to talk as they picked their way carefully over the terrain. It must have started with a question about her wounds, or an absent description of the best way to wind their way up the mountains. Something to distract him from worrying about the situation in Narshe. Eventually the tense silence was gone and he was telling her just what a Returner agent like him was doing sneaking around South Figaro. Not just out of the city, but into it, to sabotage the Imperial occupation and trip up the troops.

"...I couldn't risk going back to check it out, but I'm pretty sure I heard it explode," Locke concluded, speaking of the supply depot he'd visited just before his escape and glancing back at her with a bit of a grin. As if it didn't occur to him that just a few days back, it would have been her side he was busy being a thorn in. He reached up to run a gloved hand across his brow, slowing in his step and looking upward at the sky.

"Anyway, we probably ought to find somewhere to wait out the daylight. What d'you think?"

Time was of the essence, and they'd traveled through the night to put some distance between them and the Imperial presence. But the sun was beginning to climb high into the sky, and though they were skirting the desert, it was still uncomfortably hot, even before noon, and shelter and shade were sparse. After being on the move for so long, he could practically feel himself wilting under the heat, and she must be just as tired as he was. But Celes never complained. Never said much of anything, really.

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Celes wasn't unused to listening to the chatter of troops during their long campaigns, and even General Leo would often speak of lighter things to Celes, stories of family, home, friends; though Celes rarely offered much back without being directly asked. Partially because she liked keeping to herself, but also because she didn't have much to offer. Unlike the rest of the soldiers, she had no family, no friends, no life outside of the Empire. She could talk about helping Cid with the roses or the books she would read, but that seemed trivial. She was good at listening though, which is why Locke's conversation was comforting to her. Not once since they met had he treated her with any suspicion, and even offered up details about The Returners that she was sure the Empire would welcome her back with open arms for. Not that she would. But there was something... comforting about it, if not a little odd that he was so easily trusting.

Finally, he addressed her, and she gave a short nod, glancing up at the rising sun. She didn't much care for heat, and even the hottest summers in Vector wouldn't come close to the Figaro desert heat.

"Some shade would be nice."

Locke nodded vaguely and squinted out across the hardpan and the scrubby vegetation toward the mountains.

"If I'm right, there's a network of caves around here somewhere," he said. Small ones. Unfortunately, they couldn't travel underground toward Narshe through them, but it would be a good place to rest until things cooled down. Another hour of traveling later, and his mental map proved accurate. A long crack in the rock wall opened up into a narrow cavern. As they crossed into the shade and the cooler, damper air, Locke breathed a long sigh of relief.

"That's more like it, huh?" he asked, though he'd learned not to expect much in response so far. Not only did he shrug off his jacket, but he pulled his bandanna free to shake out his sweat-damp hair.

"I wasn't sure I had the right place," he admitted. "I haven't been this way since passed through here a few years back."

Treasure hunting, of course.

She had to blink a few times before her eyes started to adjust to the dark cavern. these parts of their journey were always the most unfamiliar to her. Not that she lead a pampered life, but when travelling with the empire, resting usually consisted of setting up camp, or occupying the nearest town, rather than seek out tunnels and shady nooks.

"It's amazing that you remember after all this time." No maps covered the small networks of caves around Figaro and Narshe, she'd know, she poured over them plenty before her campaign to South Figaro, "I think I've spent more time in caves in the last week than I have my entire life."

Locke gave her a smile for the compliment and raised his brows, as if to say 'what did you expect?' Locke spent more time in caves every year than most people did in a lifetime.

"Well, I had a lot of time to learn my way around. Mapped some of 'em out, too, but I don't have it with me anymore. I'd heard-" he bit off the sentence, folding his bandana in his hands and looking out into the darkness pensively. He seemed to shake himself, blinked his bangs out of his eyes and leaned against the wall with deliberate carelessness.

"-there was supposed to be treasure hidden in the middle of it all. Relics and such. From the War of the Magi, even."

She looked over at him when he cut himself off. It wasn't the first time in their travel that he would do that, the bright, confident treasure hunter would disappear for a moment, and he would get this faraway look in his eyes, and a tension in his posture. He'd looked at her more than once with those eyes.

As always, though, it disappeared fast enough that Celes wondered if she was just imagining things.

"I guess there's not much time for treasure hunting when you're a scout for the Returners."

"Depends on what needs doing," Locke said, shrugging. There were times when all they needed was for him to ferry messages around, and he did enough traveling anyway. The more dire the situation became over the years, the more he got involved directly. But even then. there may or may not have been times when he'd done some 'treasure hunting' in the Empire's coffers.

"'course, the war's been really heating up lately. I can't just do nothing." And of course, she would know the state of the war better than most. He dropped to the floor, stretching his legs out in front of him and crossing them at the ankle.

"Besides, Edgar'd be hopeless without me."

"It's not going to be calming down any time soon." She said quietly, a reminder of why they had to hurry to Narshe. Celes had been hoping, with one of their top generals out of the picture, it would at least slow down the campaign to Narshe, but even before Locke rescued her, she heard whispers of Kefka coming to lead in her stead.

Taking a seat across from Locke, she never really looked much like she was relaxing. Her back straight as ever, her hands folded neatly in her lap.

"Edgar?"

"I've been Figaro's primary contact ever since I joined up," he said by way of explanation, waving a hand toward the desert. 'Edgar' and 'Figaro' pointed to one man in particular, though one could hardly blame her for not assuming a rebel spy to be on such...familiar terms with the king. Especially with what he followed it up with.

"He and the others ought to be in Narshe already. We can only hope he's managed to remember try and charm the lawmen into seeing sense before moving on to the women."

She arched an eyebrow when she made the connection between Edgar and Figaro. The Empire had it's share of spies and contacts, but it was more likely that someone of Locke's status would report to someone lower on the chain. It'd be unlikely that he'd even get on first name basis with any of the generals.

"I've heard rumors about the King of Figaro and his... hobbies. It's hard to tell how much is true though, since most of the stories are hearsay." From Kefka and his underlings mostly.

Fewer people in the know meant fewer chances their secrets could get out, and the Returners were a rather informal operation at best. Besides, Edgar was always the eccentric type. Surprised at her response, Locke broke suddenly into laughter.

"Trust me, any rumors of his successes have been greatly exaggerated."

Locke's laugh was a infectious; it was warm and loud echoed around the cavern, and she couldn't help the small smile tugging at her lips.

"I guess I'll be meeting them all before long. All of the others." It would be a lie to say she wasn't a little anxious about it. She was steadfast on her decision to leave the Empire, but she didn't count on all of them being as accepting as Locke was. For all she knew, she might end up in chains again once they get to Narshe.

Infectious, but short lived, and he quieted when she reminded him of just where they were going. And why.

"Sooner'll be better than later. I told Terra I'd be back as soon as I could be." If she did wind up back in chains, she could bet that Locke wouldn't stand for it, Returner or not. But he didn't seem to suspect any of her misgivings.

"We'll beat the invasion force, at least" he continued, leaning back against the wall of the cave tiredly. "Pretty sure I slowed 'em down at least that much."

Leave it to Celes to sober the conversation. She looked down at her hands in her lap, idly rubbing her fingers over the fading bruises on her wrists where the chains had been. "I wouldn't underestimate Kefka." She spoke quietly. He, above any of the others would push his troops too hard in order to get what he wants.

"It might be better if Terra stayed away from Narshe, in case things go bad..." They couldn't allow her to fall into Empire hands again.

And sober he did. Quieted, then set his jaw and shook his head. It was a risk, yeah, but taking Terra to Narshe was the only thing they could do right now to combat the Empire's use of magic in the war. She'd chosen to help them, and so they had to help her however they could.

"She's got some kind of connection to the Esper there. If the Empire gets their hands on it first..." he trailed off, fidgeting with his gloves for a time before continuing, resolutely.

"...We're in this fight together. I won't let anything bad happen to her."

That caught her attention too. He had the same tone when he promised to protect Celes too, down in that cellar. Normally she would just shrug it off, but... she was curious. And it was surprising to her that she even cared in the first place.

"They'll have to go through me too, to get either of them." Celes nodded, voice firm. She had the sins of the Empire on her shoulder, and she was prepared to die if it meant she made some things right again, "They won't be able to touch us with their magic if I'm there."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right." An ability like hers would do them a lot of good if the Empire came in with their Magiteck tanks. He'd seen that much against the Tunnel Armor. It wasn't a huge advantage, but having one of the Empire's best on their side couldn't hurt. His shoulders squared as he lifted his head to look her in the eye again.

"Thanks, Celes. For coming with me. We could really use the help."

She caught his gaze before shaking her head, "I owe you. You saved me back there." For reasons she didn't entirely understand, "And I want to do something."

"Yeah, but I didn't save you so you could pay me back for it or anything, I just-"

Wanted to. Celes could just as easily have left him once they cleared the Imperial occupation. Disappeared instead of aiding the enemy in what could be a losing fight. But she didn't.

"...I'm glad you're coming, anyway," he finished, not without awkwardness. And with that, he seemed to drop the subject. Broke eye contact to shake his bandana out and tie it over his hair again.

"We should probably try and get some shuteye before the sun goes down."

Celes stared at him for what felt like a long while, before nodding, dismissing the subject, but internally wondering what he was going to say. Why he saved her. He said she reminded him of someone, but who was it? Terra? She could understand that, since they both were once Imperial soldiers, and they had many of the same skills, but yet she didn't think that was it.

Why was she obsessing over it so much? Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she nodded again. "I suppose we don't need to set up watch. I don't think anyone could find this cave unless they knew what they were looking for."

Terra wasn't a bad guess. Unfortunately, it was quite a bit more complicated than that. Locke shrugged loosely, then leaned back on the wall again and tipped his bandana over his eyes to shield them from the bright light still bouncing in from the clear day. It was rare that Locke traveled in a group at all. Setting a watch wasn't something he often had to take into account.

"Not unless we were followed. We're pretty far off the main road," he said. Then, in good faith, but punctuated by a not-at-all reassuring yawn: "I can keep watch, if you're worried."

The edge of her mouth twitched up into a smile at his response and she shook her head. She didn't really have much faith that he'd be awake even before she managed to get comfortable.

"Get some sleep." She'd keep watch for a little bit. She wasn't ready to sleep quite yet.

He didn't fall asleep quite that quick, though it was close. Not long after she gave him the go ahead, his breathing evened out and his head nodded slowly toward his chest. It certainly didn't look comfortable, leaning against the rock wall like that, but he was tired enough not to care too much. It wasn't the worst place he'd ever slept.

Once he fell asleep, she sat in silence for some time, but eventually, sleep caught up to her too, and by the time Locke woke up, he would find her curled up on the floor, her arm curled under her head like a pillow. It was the one time that the general didn't look so severe, and it was easier to remember that despite her rank, she was still young. Maybe in another life she could be a fine lady who dressed in gowns and attended the opera instead of wielding swords and leading armies. When she was awake, she was still a General, but when she slept, she was just Celes.

Locke hissed in annoyance when awoke, sitting up carefully and stretching both the crick out of his neck and the soreness out of his back. What had possessed him to sleep like that?

He shut his mouth quickly, however, upon catching sight of Celes. Curled up on her side, fading bruises still visible on her wrists. It was only an hour or so before sunset, but really he didn't have the heart to wake her yet. And when she finally did wake on her own, he would be hard to spot immediately. He was some distance away, sitting by the mouth of the cave in the cooler air of the evening and watching the horizon.

When Celes woke up the first thing she noticed was that it was dark. Darker than it should have been.

She shot up off of the floor, and the first thought she had when she couldn't find Locke right away was that he left her. Went on his own to meet with the Returners. Just as she was about to call out his name, she spotted a familiar shadow by the mouth of the cave, and felt her nerves calm slightly when she realized it was Locke.

Picking herself up off of the floor, she hurried over to him, "Why didn't you wake me up?" They lost some valuable travel time.

He heard her coming, but didn't turn to look at her until she addressed him. Grinning, he raised his brows dramatically and offered her a bottle of water from where he was sitting on the ground.

"You looked like you needed the sleep," he said in his defense. It wasn't that late. Odds are they'd make better time if they were better rested anyway.

She didn't return the grin this time, marching past him. The sun was already down below the horizon, and the air was almost chilly. It wasn't that late, but by Celes' guess, they lost at least an hour or more of travel time.

"You should have woke me up anyway. We don't have a lot of time to waste."

Locke's smile faded quickly as she stormed past him and out into the open without so much as another glance. Hastily, he gathered his things and found his feet to follow her. Instead of justifying himself, he asked her a question.

"How are you feeling?"

She was about to scold him more, but stopped herself with a deep breath. What's done is done and there's nothing they can do but get a move on now. Besides, they should have a good enough head start and-

"A lot better, actually..." She really did need the sleep. She didn't get much good sleep since her incarceration in South Figaro.

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