Raulke - In-Game History, Part IV
A Low Blow...
The seeds were planted, and Raulke went back to Baron. Shortly after that, Sin’s enormous corpse, which had sat dormant atop the ocean for days, finally began to dissolve into pyreflies. And then...something happened. The city was miraculously restored! If a bit jostled about. But it didn’t matter. Baron was back...almost where it belonged. And so it was that, their mission completed, the relief crew from Vector packed up and returned home.But even after Sin’s final destruction, it seemed that Raulke’s mind wouldn’t be free of worry. It was on the airship that it happened. When traveling on them, Raulke was always on the deck. Having grown up in Baron, hearing stories of the Red Wings, seeing them fill the sky all his life as a boy, he had always been fond of them. However, this time was different. Luckily he was not standing near the railing.At first it was subtle, a simple twitch of the corner of his mouth. Unseen by all but the most astute. Then he began to sway slightly, just a bit. A step back, and his hand went to his head, as if he was suddenly in pain. But that wasn’t all...it grew worse. He seemed to suddenly double over in agony. But through it all, he didn’t make a sound. Wordlessly, he crumpled to the deck of the airship. He remained unresponsive as the airship arrived in Vector once again. Raulke was quickly transferred to the infirmary. He did not wake.
Another Convergence
To say Raulke was unaware of the Convergence would be inaccurate. He did not sleep through it. Periodically he woke, on and off, but was largely incoherent during the whole ordeal. The world changed, people disappeared, new people and places appeared...but Raulke remained as he was, incoherent and dazed. Could it have been the Convergence? Who knew? Either way, it didn’t look like he would recover for some time.The world finally settled, and as technology and magic (and pretty much every other thing in existence) stabilized, Raulke began to come out of whatever it was that had befallen him. He learned about the recent Convergence from one of the soldiers in Vector. And he learned something else as well. During the Convergence, both Shalaja and Cadence had disappeared. The two closest friends he had in Vector...were both gone now, presumed victims of the Convergence. He was alone again....Or was he?It hadn’t been just the settling of things that had brought him out of his dazed state. It was a voice. A woman’s voice. Wispy and indistinct, he could not make out what she was saying. The sound was almost more like a woman humming a tune. It sounded as though it was right next to his ear and at once miles away. He heard the sound within and without. He remembered the hum; it sounded much like when Yevon’s Aeons were making his life difficult. Was it happening again?Even if it wasn’t, something was. Not too long after finding out that Shalaja and Cadence had disappeared, he also received word that Valcia had disappeared. It was the final blow. Already slightly unstable from the fear that he was about to return to the time when Yevon’s Aeons screamed at him nonstop, this was just too much. He was completely alone now...not just in Vector, but in the whole Converged World. Old programming kicked in, and he withdrew into himself once more. Raulke was quickly becoming the distant, bitter man that this world had first seen....
Arrested Spirals
Having resigned himself to a life alone, Raulke took one great leap of faith. He sent a letter to Baron, hoping Valcia was still there. She was not. Correspondence returned (a LONG time later!) from a bartender in Baron. Valcia and both her landlords were all gone. Again, Raulke’s hope died a gruesome death. But later that day, a letter from Valcia came; she had survived and was in a place called “Nashmau”. She had nothing to write to him with except the bit of scrap parchment and old ink. So he sent her a small amount of stationery supplies. She informed him that there was a chance she could get back to Baron--there was a man there with a ship that was being repaired, and he had apparently agreed to take her and her small group back. Raulke hoped mightily that the man kept up his end of the bargain.Raulke also heard through the military grapevine that there were Vector citizens that were displaced from the Convergence. A small flame of hope flared to life within him. Could Cadence and Shalaja be among them? Even if it was only one of them, it would be something to look forward to. Something to concentrate on instead of that voice that was slowly growing in strength within him....A few days later, he did indeed find out the truth. Claria summoned him to her office; as usual she did mot mention anything about the meeting. Raulke came to her office to find Dexter Van Zandt and her controlling two mechanical Moogles...in a videogame-esque boxing match. Shortly after Raulke arrived, Claria made short work of her “adversary”, and then called both men into her office.She revealed that they were about to make a trip to Zanarkand to see if any citizens had been displaced to that far off place. They could not send the IAF--that could result in misunderstandings that would start a war. So they would be joining with Midgar’s forces to get there. Raulke would be going to make certain that any Vector citizens knew it was no joke or ploy, since a good many Vector citizens would know him. Dex was assigned to figure out some way of communicating across the long distance.Claria also revealed something else. Cadence had been found in the Phantom Forest and was now back in Vector. Raulke’s heart leapt into his throat, and after being dismissed by the General, he went quickly to the infirmary, to see to her condition, or her location if she was not there.He only hoped Claria had not noticed the tiny shudders during the conversation....
Adventure!
So it was that Raulke was sent to Zanarkand. To his relief, Cadence accompanied him. They rounded up all of the Vector citizens that had been displaced. However, as they were asking around about people, they came across someone they never expected to see. Shalaja had apparently decided to take a meal at the diner they had stopped at. Raulke was pleased to see Shalaja, but noted that Cadence seemed wan and upset about something. He learned that Vespius, another dragoon (and Cadence's then-boyfriend), had disappeared in the Convergence.Truth be told, Raulke had met the man before and didn't like him. But Cadence did, and he was upset for her. and she had lost her brother to it as well. However, the fact that Shalaja was still around brought her out of her funk enough to prevent a breakdown, and the three made arrangements to meet again at Shalaja's current temporary residence before the group from Vector was set to leave.The trio met at Shalaja's house, and watched television. Cadence's doldrums came back and she and Shalaja left the hosue for a while, to get some (reasonably) fresh air. Raulke stayed in the house. Unfortunately, that odd voice in his head took advantage of the silence, and he had something of an episode. Shalaja returned (Cadence opted to sit outside for a few moments) to find Raulke with his head in his hands as if he had a headache. Cadence soon returned, and he filled them in on the status of what was happening.It was getting worse, he told them. It was getting to the point that he couldn't tune her out anymore. Shalaja and Cadence comforted him, and he managed to get his head back on straight. Shalaja offered them to spend the night, since it was late, and none of them wanted Raulke and Cadence to have to walk through Vector's streets alone.
Back To Work....
Another mission soon came in--the huge building that had Converged in the center of Vector needed to be checked out, and Claria wanted her best to sweep the place. To that end, she assigned Azul, Dex, Narra, Raulke, and Shalaja to enter and examine the place. A large ooze monster was the first trouble they came across, but despite Dex's foot going slightly numb, the monster was quickly dispatched.However, near the top of the building, they encountered something a little tougher...an Iron Giant. The five of them fought the thing, and eventually destroyed it, although it fell out of a large window, to crash onto the streets seventy stories below. All the while, a PA system was threatening to do everything from vaporize to turn the Vector soldiers into hot dog filling if they entered the office. However, they didn't let that stop them. Of course...Azul was the one who was sent in. Just in case there was something to those threats.There wasn't. All that happened was a mechanical chocobo popped out and ran into Azul, then ran up and down the hallway. In the office was a jar, the thing that one of the PA announcements in the building had been warning them away from. Obviously it had to be something of import. And what was it that was so important that it required multiple threats of death, maiming, and torture?...Jelly beans.
But Raulke's life wasn't to be all work and no play. Raulke received a letter from Valcia. Nothing unusual...except that it was very short. It invited Raulke to come and find her. Find her? How could that be? He couldn't go all the way to Baron. Besides, even if he could have gotten there, it was unlikely, he felt, that he would be allowed in. However, this letter...was postmarked from Lindblum. Raulke promptly asked for a couple of days off (as he had been storing them up since he had rejoined Vector officially) and headed to Lindblum.
He found Valcia there all right. And he'd had the foresight to bring Alistair along with him, so he was able to watch their reunion. He also received word that Delilah was also apparently safe--she was in a place called “Esto Gaza”. So it seemed that all was well with Valcia. Thus as this worry was off his mind as well, with the retreating of the voice from his mind, he was able to concentrate fully on Valcia. Which he did. After they spent time catching up, Raulke literally carried the petite elf to the inn she and Alistair would be staying at. The two parted at the door of the inn, with Raulke kissing Valcia's hand...much to the shock of Alistair, who had been watching out a window.
Abandon Ship
For a while, Raulke ferried via gargant from Vector to Lindblum, working during the week and spending time with Valcia on the weekends. However, on one of these trips back to Vector, Raulke received word that the rebels outside Vector were still operating. He pursued them, and eventually made it known that he wanted to meet with their leader.Raulke hardly believed it would happen...but the leader of the rebels met with him. They discussed what had been touched on in their first meeting, of the trouble with Gestahl's heirs. Again the rebel told Raulke that Claria had arranged the deaths of the heirs of Gestahl. Raulke did not believe him...until the rebel leader provided proof. It was indisputable then. Several documentations bearing her signature, all of them ordering the deaths of these heirs for “crimes against the state”. This was more than Raulke could bear. The rebels offered him a place and he refused, saying he had to get his friends out of Vector.Raulke returned to Vector and told Shalaja of what he'd learned. Shalaja was livid. And he also returned some bad news of his own--Cadence had again disappeared, this time to Gilgamesh's teleportation. Thus they decided to leave Vector to search for their friend. They had to let her know what had been happening in the place she called “home” for so long. And so, once again, Raulke left Vector. But this time he was not alone.
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