The Behemoth of Besaid (Solo)

It was a glorious sunny day on the island village of Kilika. Which was, in all fairness, quite common, but there was something, more, about this particular day. The sun was out in all its glory, shining like a holy orb within the sky, basking down on the lands and seemingly setting the sea on fire with a radiance of yellows, oranges and blues. However, despite it being sunny, it was not overly warm. Thanks to the cool breeze blowing in from the sea the sun’s heat was kept in check, making sure it did not scorch the lands, and its people. All in all it was a beautiful, almost picture perfect day on the island and how could blame someone for taking advantage of this weather, and many people were since the town was busier than normal.

People could be seen everywhere, young boys and girls running around playing their games, the elderly sitting outside their houses under shelter, and crowds in the market place, people buying and selling the wares that were on offer. There were also a mass amount of people coming from and going to the docks, coming from, going to, places like Besaid or Luca. All in all it was a picture perfect day in this larger, borderline town, and who could blame them for wanting to enjoy the peace the weather brought, well, whilst it lasted. After all it was rare to have such great weather and not have to worry about Sin, even though in the back of every man woman and child’s mind, they always do.

As the sun was at its peak, shining in all its glory over the island of Kilika, there was a small transport vessel. This boat was in fact heading towards Kilika. It was moving at a steady pace, not fast, but not exactly slow either. It was, as stated before, small, from the looks of it could barely hold fifty people, maybe sixty and at a push it might even hold a little more, but that might make it a little to crowed. The amount of people it could hold does in fact including the crew. This boat was coming from another island, and that island was Besaid, a place which was slightly bigger in size, in land mass at least. However it holds a much smaller amount of people, holding one village where Kilika was a town. Besaid is also home to the Blitzball team the Besaid Aurochs. However this was not the time for a culture lesson.

The boat only had a few people on it, not even its full amount, not including the crew there had to be only fifteen people on the boat. They were scatted all around, some on the front of the boat, some on the back and some even below deck. However, there was one man who stood out and there was very little doubt to why he would stand out in a crowd. He was a large man, a behemoth in human form if there is dramatics involved. He stood at six foot six inches and had an extremely large and muscular build covered by lightly tanned skin. The expression on his face was calm, and steady. However, even with the calmness in his expression there was a strange firmness to it. His black piercing eyes held true as he stood on the very front of the boat watching as Kilika came closer and closer. The man, who stood there catching the eyes of people as they walked past, that half giant, was Ryun Craften. He was, surprisingly enough just a simple farmer from Besaid.

A young boy and girl, twins, with long brown hair and chocolate brown eyes, within slightly tanned skin, were staring at Ryun, both with wonder in their eyes. They had never seen someone so big in their lives and want to speak to Ryun; well the boy did at least. The boy looked at his sister and gave her a cheeky smile, excitement clearly was the emotion he was feeling since it rang of the tone of his voice as he spoke, “Let’s go sis.” The girl was a little shocked and shook her head. The boy smiled a bit more, the excitement in his voice building up with every word he said, “Come on, don’t you want to know?” She nodded. There was still uncertainty in his expression and he voice showed that she was a little nervous about the idea of going up and speaking to Ryun, “Ok brother.” she said, her voice showing that, even though she agreed she was still nervous.

With that settled the twins decide to go up to him. The brother seemed to get even more excited as they started, but the girl seemed to not get more nervous, but she still didn’t love the idea. Both of them were moving slowly at first but soon they picked up the pace. When they hit peak they seemed to be walking as fast as they could without actually running, well that was the case with the girl at least. As they made their way towards Ryun the brother looked excited even more so than before, and it was because of this that he was moving at a slightly faster pace than his sister.

However the girl was nervous and it seemed to be growing with every step. It was the reason why her pace was much slower than her brother’s. Suddenly she stopped; she was shaking her head muttering to herself, her words not audible to anyone but herself over the gentle sea winds. It seemed her nerves finally got the best of her. However her brother saw this and stopped himself. He walked over to her with a gentle smile on his face and as he pushed her along with one arm gently around her back he spoke words of encouragement to her.

As this all went about a young couple barely into their thirties, one with long blonde hair and blue eyes and one with short brown and chocolate brown eye, were stand by the entrance. Between the two of them was a door which one needed to go through before they could go below deck. They seemed to be having a good time as they were laughing and joking with one another. From the merriment of that scene it seemed like they didn’t have a care in the world. How little did they know the next thing they would see might change that.

All of a sudden the male of the couple saw the twins heading up to Ryun and he freaked out. His face was panic stricken. He was quite protective of the twins, and to see them not only walking up to a stranger but a behemoth sized one, was there any wonder why he was freaked. The woman saw this was well and pretty much as the same reaction, and at the same time as the male they yelled to the two, “Molly, James, leave the guy alone.” The man seemed to be the twin’s farther, which probably meant the woman was their mother. They were going to run and grab them but it seemed that they were too late.

James, it seemed, had already reached Ryun. The speed he had gone had increased when he noticed his parents had caught him going up to the young, large man. It seemed his speed was spurred on by their worry, and he want to find out something about young mister Craften outweighed his parents’ concern. When he reached him James stood there looking up at the man in wonder. He was tall for a young boy, but he barely reached Ryun’s waist, maybe even just a bit below. It seemed that Ryun was a lot taller than he had expect, which goes to show the perspective of the youth. Molly, his sister, stood a couple of steps backwards from her twin brother. Her expression was a mixture of wonder and slight fear.

Despite being twins she was a tiny bit shorter than her brother which only added to the size difference. If Molly was to stand on James shoulders, they might not even be the same height as Ryun, and mix his large muscular build, well, it might take three Mollies and the James to make up one Ryun. After taking a couple of moments to look at the half giant he tugged on his trouser leg trying to get his attention. It seemed his earlier excitement for meeting the behemoth in human form was halted slightly by the actually size of Ryun, which, in all fairness, he could not be blamed for.

When he finally did he asked, his voice full of wonder, excitement, and a slight bit of mischief “Mister, is your mummy or daddy a Ronso?” The question James had asked had warranted a giggle from his sister. With that giggle out of the way she seemed to find her and she finally spoke in audible levels, “Yes mister, is your mummy or daddy a Ronso?” After asking their questions they both looked up at Ryun with big grins on their faces, waiting excitedly and with bated breath for his answer.

As Ryun felt the tug on his tanned trouser leg he turned around to see the two young children looking up at him. At first he was a little confused about what they wanted and why would they come up to him in the first place. However, as soon as they started to talk he realised what they had wanted. He was not surprised, or annoyed by this fact, it was not the first time and he doubted it would be the last he would be asked that question. After all the farmer who worked on the other lands from Kerian, his father, and himself, always joked about his mother cheating on his father with a Ronso. He smiled gently as they asked their questions and was about to answer the slightly amusing assumption that just because he was big it meant he was part Ronso.

However, the father had already rushed up and grabbed his children giving Ryun a wary look before dragging his children away. Ryun stood there as he watched the scene unfold and the expression on his face was not anger or even, he just stood there with a calm expression on his face. The truth was Ryun was not bothered by this not even in the slightest. Like the assumption that he was part Ronso, it was not the first, nor would it be the last time he would be judged solely because of the way he looked and how big he was. His father had told him that, because of his size and his looks he may get a not so friendly response from some people. His father had not needed to tell him this, he was use to people judging him because of how much he stood out. Ok, it irritated him a little bit, but not so much that he would not be able to hide it. So, he gave the father a smile for a second or two before he turned back around.

After the incident with the twins and their father he stood there at the front of the boat in silence. He couldn’t deny it had bothered him slightly, not so much that would make a big deal out of it, but, he wondered, he wondered why people would simply judge him just because he was a little bigger than them. Pushing it out of his mind his thoughts went in a different direction. He began to think about what would happen, what would happen when he left this boat and his adventure began. It was exciting, not know what would happen. All of his life it had been filled with certainty and predictability, but, now, as he began his adventures, there was no way of telling what would happen, and he would be the first one to admit it scared him a bit, but, at the same time it excited him as well.

All of a sudden the boat stopped, it had seemed that Ryun had gone so deep into his thoughts that the boat had already docked. He looked around and saw that they had just reached the dock in Kilika, and his smiled, finding it funny that, even at his age he could still get lost in his own thoughts. The fact he thought it was funny was strange really, he may have been bigger than most fully grown males, and he may look a lot older, but he was still only sixteen years old. He was, admittedly so, mature for his age, not only on size and looks, but in personality as well, but, never the less something like that going through his head, well, it was not exactly normal, but then again Ryun was anything but normal.

Standing there for a few more moment the Captain of the transport vessel, confirming what he already knew, called out, “The boat has docked, all ashore who’s going ashore.” He took a deep breath and stood there for a few more moments. After he stood there for a little while longer Ryun gave a short, sharp nod to himself and, after adjusting the sack which held what he had taken from home he turned around and walked towards the ramp. His steps were long and powerful, if they had been more so he might have started to shake the ship.

As he walked, he had passed the parents and the twin. He looked down at the boy and girl and smiled at them. It looked a little strange, a massive creature like Ryun, smiling. When most people pictured someone like Ryun they imagined a creature full of power and rage. True he had them, but his gentle and kind nature did win out, well, most of the time. There was one thing for certain about young Mister Craften, when he did turn into a creature of power and rage no one he knew would ever want to be the people he was angry with, since people had seen him knock out a condor with a single blow of his mighty fists.

As he reached the top of the ramp he stood there for a moment or two, thinking about how good it felt to finally be out on his own. Growing up he had known that he was meant for something more than following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a farmer, but he would have never guessed that, on his sixteenth birthday he would be leaving Besaid the very next day and with both his mother’s and father’s blessings. Ok, not so much blessings from his father, but the fact he said he would not stop him and he would still have a place to stay when he came back was more than he could have hoped for. He smiled a bit before finally stepping off the boat and began his adventures within Spira. Little did he know the events that where going to happen on Kilika would change his life forever.

As Ryun stood there he looked around. The smells of Kilka filling his nose from the sea air, which reminded him of home, to the smell of fish and the various smells of food that came from the town itself. The smell of food made him realise he was a little hungry, so he reached into his backpack and pulled out a small roll and started to eat it, surprising gingerly for a guy his size. As he ate it he thought on a few things, mainly about the town itself, and what he should do since he was finally there.

It had been a while since he had last been to Kilika. He didn’t leave Besaid often, but, outside of the one time he went to Luca to watch the Blitzball, he only really travelled to and from Kilika and Besaid. He had come to the town about three years before hand. It had been his fifth time to Kilika but, even though he was in his mid teens he was still as excited to be there as he had been the first time he had been, at the age of eight, of course he was still the size of a slightly short adult at that point in time.

He had come to Kilika, with his father, because of the farm itself. Every now and again the farm had produced enough product for them to trade with places outside of Besaid. Of course it was never enough to trade with multiple places. So they always travelled to Kilika, of course this was only since he was alive. His father had told him once they had once had enough product to trade in both Kilika and Luca. He had never seen the farm produce that much, but, he knew his father was an honest man, so he had no reason to doubt his word, even if the claims, from personal experience, were a bit outlandish.

As he thought on it, he realised, this was the first time he had left Besaid on his own. As stated before, he had been to Kilika and Luca, but, always with his father. True, he had been in and around Besaid on his own, he could quite possibly know his home island like the back of his hand, knowing every part someone can travel on foot, or with a bit of climbing, but, never he had never actually left the island on his own power. As he thought on it, he could not help but think on his actual feelings on the subject.

It was strange really, he was excited by the fact he was out on his own, but at the same time nervous. It had only really just sunk in, the fact he was his own man, that he only really needed to follow the plans he had made, and not needed to consult with someone about whether or not they wanted to. Don’t get him wrong, he was already missing his parents, the farmers and his friends back on Besaid, but the notion that he could go anywhere and do anything he wanted to, it was something that he was not use it, which was why he was both excited and nervous about it.

He wondered about, what he should do, he never actually really thought about a plan outside of leaving Besaid and travelling. With all the excitement, and the fact he had needed to figure out how to persuade his father that he was ready to go out on his own, he never actually thought of a plan outside of actually getting off Besaid and travelling around, as stated before. He thought, for the moment, he would just go into town, and maybe go to the tavern. He had been told there were always quests or people wanting help with something, so, he thought that it was as good a place to start, try and get some jobs done here, and get some Gil before he continued on.

As he thought on things he continued to look around, enjoying the sights and sounds. It was strange, he had been to Kilika a good few times, like it had been stated before, but, it was almost like it was all shiny and new. He wondered why that was, why it was like he was seeing it for the first time in his life. He guessed it was because of the fact it was down to the fact that he had never actually been to Kilika on his own. As he thought on that he decided that must be the reason, which made him internally chuckle, not that anyone could see that he was amused though the monotonic expression on his face.

That was the thing with Ryun, he was a normal human, he felt the full range of human emotions, however, there was something about him that surprised people when he showed them. Ryun never really had a smile on his face, unless it was needed, nor an angry expression, unless it was needed. With Ryun, ninety nine percent of the time he had a monotonic, expressionless expression on his face. It did not make him seem cold, since, there was always warmth in his eyes. However, there was just something about Ryun’s natural demeanour which could actually make a person a little nervous, since, he was almost impossible to read.

Once he had things settled in his mind he set off. As soon as he stepped off the ramp it went up. He had not noticed it before, but, as he had stood there, people had passed him and got onto the boat back to Besaid. However, he did not dwell on the matter, he had a few things to do, well, one, which could lead to a few things. He made his way into the town, passing people, some who gave him a curious expression, which he was use to. It did not take him long to reach the end of the port, his long legs making short work of the distance of the port in Kilika.

Stopping for a moment, he thought tried to remember where the tavern was. He has seen it a few times in the past, but, he was not really familiar with it. So, it took him a bit of time for him to remember where it actually was. True, he had been to Kilika a few times, but, the fact was, he rarely had a chance to explore, since, every time he came to the place he had been with his father trading in the market area. It was the sad fact that, by the time they had sold their goods they needed to get back to the boat.

His times in Kilika were work, he had only once gone off the Island of Besaid once for fun, and that was when his father took him to see the Blitzball tournament in Luca. A little known fact, the Besaid Aurochs actually asked Ryun to join the team, but, he declined since he needed to help his father in the farm, but, that is another story. Actually, as he remembered that, he thought about seeing if he could play for them, if they need a player. He could not, at the moment, play full time.

Never the less, getting back to the subject at hand, in all fairness, he did not know Kilika that well, outside of the market. He had some fond memories of the market, in fact he actually bought the hammer he had on his back in Kilka. So, he did not mind, he knew, now that he was out on his own, he had plenty of time to explore and get to know the area. It was an interesting prospect, being able to actually explore the area, without worrying that his father would get angry for him wondering off and shirking his duties.

He decided he would stay in Kilika for a few days. He knew he wanted to get to Luca, he wanted to explore all of Spira if he could, but, he also thought about trying to get off the continent, explore other places other than Spira. However, first things first, he knew he had to earn some Gil, and, maybe a little reputation in Kilika. So he would do any jobs he could find. It the Gil was mainly for expensive, the biggest one being so he could afford the next boat, it was pricey, well, for him, but he was sure, if he got some decent paying jobs, he would be able to afford it.

Not only that he could have a little Gil in his own pocket, after he had deducted expensive for staying there. He was an adventurer, and he knew there would be many expenses, like with potions and the like, because, well, he was going to run into fiends and get injured as a result. To try and lessen the blow to his pocket when he deducted the amount of Gil he needed to spend he thought about the idea of seeing if he could do some jobs for the tavern to pay for a place to stay. It was an interesting idea, but he doubted they would go for it, but, never the less, he thought he would at least inquire.

If it came down to it, he would pay for board, over even just find and area to sleep in, it was not like he was use to luxury. His room back in Besaid was not large, in fact, he was just big enough to fit in it. Due to his size, the only thing that could really fit in his room, back in Besaid, was a bed, and a little bit of storage for his clothes, and just a little bit left over in the corner to rest his hammer. He had never minded, it was just the way things were. However, maybe, one day, he could actually sleep in a room that he did not feel like he had to fold himself up in, that was a prospect that made him happy. So, finally remembering where the tavern was, he set off once more.

He walks down the one of the pier like roads, looking around. He was excited to be back in Kilika, as stated before, mainly due to the fact it was the first step on his own journey. It symbolised the fact that, even though he was not far from home, it could lead him down paths that could be exciting, dangerous, or even something that could make him famous, like taking part in a massive battle, or saving a princesses from a group of bandits. It was the symbol that he was his own man, and he could go wherever he wanted to.

As he continued to look around he noticed something quite interesting, well, it was interesting to him at least. He was surprised about how little it has changed over the last few years since he had last been in Kilka. He was not surprised on the level that he would stop and gawk and how little things had changed, but, he had not been there for a while, so, he thought at least little things would have changed. However, looking around at the town of Kilka, it was like looking into his memoires, not a single thing had change, hell, he thought the people he had seen come and go were the exact same people from last time.

Taking note of the places and people he continued on to the tavern. He wondered what he should do. True, he knew he had to get to the tavern, but, what after that. Ok, he had the possibilities when it came to the jobs that might be up on the board, but, he knew that he could not just spend his time going around doing jobs, he needed to have some time to himself. He then thought of the fact he could always go to Kilika Temple, he had not been there for a while, and it would be good to offer his prayers to Yevon for a safe journey throughout his travels, and, maybe the priest might have work for him also.

That led him onto thinking about the actual jobs. He wondered what kind of jobs there would be on offer, if it would be mundane stuff or would there be something he could really sink his teeth into. He would sure there would be both, something like collecting herbs for an old lady. Then there could be dealing with fiends who have been causing trouble, those were the ones that excited him the most, not that it could be seen through his monotonic expression. Ok, Ryun was not an overly violent person, but, he knew the best paid jobs as well as the ones that brought the most renown were the ones fighting monsters and saving people.

Moving his train of thought he tried to think about something else. He knew, even though it was an exciting prospect, performing these heroic acts, there was not use dwelling on them until he actually knew what the possible jobs were. So, he started to think about the last time he had visited, he thought about a couple of people. It was not actually specific events, but more of the actual people, and, visiting them. There was a fisherman and his family who traded with his father, whenever they came down there. As he remembered the fisherman had a daughter he was quite fond of, but, of course, Ryun being Ryun, didn’t openly show it.

As he thought about the daughter he realised he finally arrived at the tavern. It was not much to look at, small in size, but, of course, most things, compared to Ryun, were small in size. He stood there and looked around, watching a few people come and go, a few of them giving him looks. Some of those looks were not exactly friendly, but far from hostile, they were, well, they were more like looks of unfamiliarity and curiosity about the giant of a man standing outside the tavern. He did not blame them, if he was in their shoes he would have probably been the same. After all, it was not every day a human his size was around.

Making last minute mental checks, making sure he had his plans in order, he readied himself to enter the tavern. Being young, despite what his size assumed, he was not use to entering places like this. Ryun was a good boy, and, until his eighteenth birthday, he had not touched a drop of alcohol, well, maybe a little, when his parents permitted it. Thinking about it, he was old enough, so, he might actually partake in a drink or too, no too much though, he didn’t want to make a fool of himself. So, after taking one last breath, he walked into the tavern.