Carbuncle Ruby

“So what advanced job will you go after first?” Sethsmith asked.

Sitting around the linkshell lounge sharing cookies and killing time was beginning to become one of my favorite past times. So often seeking an experience party could take awhile and this made it down right enjoyable.

“Well I’m not doing anything at the moment. I’d be happy to help you Alison.” Brodie eagerly offered.

Glancing over at Brodie I remembered our first meeting. Not one of my finest moments but somehow he managed to make it a fond memory. Brodie was a quiet Hume with a gentle nature who was always willing to lend a hand. Already he had come to the rescue on more than one occasion.

“I don’t know. I haven’t really given it much thought. There doesn’t seem to be job that suits me like thief does.”

“Well you gotta have Ninja as a support job for Thief.” Willowkarr said as she rolled herself upside-down on the sofa intentionally batting Siekarr’s face with her tail. “It takes a lot of fame in Norg though.”

“Well that I don’t have. I’ve never even been there. That doesn’t sound like a quest for today then.” I replied.

“You did go nuts over Carby last week.” Brodie grinned. “Maybe we should unlock that job for you. You won’t use it right away but you’ll have it when you want it. It beats sitting around doing nothing. I know just where to find the ruby you need.”

A wiser girl may have suspected he was up to something but I was happy to get a chance to spend more time with him and it was true what they said about me and Carbuncle. It’s the cutest thing I have ever seen. I go all crazy when I see him. I feel compelled to talk in baby googoo talk and huggle it to death. How can I help it?

Brodie wasted no time. We were out the door and on chocobos before I could change my mind. We raced across the barren sandy land until we reached a beach covered in pugils and leeches. It wasn’t the most attractive place but it wasn’t the ugliest either.

“Well here we are. Hopefully it won’t take too long. Leeches here drop the ruby we need.” Brodie said as he stepped off his chocobo.

And so the slaughter ensued. It was ugly for the leeches. We wiped out an entire beach of them and then ran through a tunnel to a neighboring beach and killed everything we could find there too. Then it was back to the first beach. We kept up a frenzied pace through the entire day.

When I realized I didn’t really need his help to get the job done it became a game to see who could get to the next leech first. I discovered that I finally had an advantage in one area: I can run faster than any Paladin anywhere.

“Wow Brodie look! Is that a notorious monster over there?” I said with wide eyes as I pointed behind him.

As he turned I used my flee skill to race past him and heard up all the leeches on the beach and come back to him with a train of flopping beasts biting at my heals.

“Wow you’re so slow. I gathered a gift for you.” I smiled “Now please kill them before they eat me.”

All six leeches were chopped into little pugil food sized bits in no time but still no ruby.

“Let me rest a minute and recharge my magic points.” Brodie said as he dropped down into the sand near the water.

The sun was going down now and when he pulled a blanket and picnic dinner out of his bag I was delighted. With a fire crystal he heated up a small feast. We dinned on coeurl subs, roasted corn, and rolanberry juice. After a long day of leech killing it tasted perfect.

“Now I hear you have a favorite treat.” He grinned as he pulled chocolate cookies out of his bag.

I couldn’t help but laugh in delight. “Yes I do! Wow you’re good. How did you get all this together so quickly? These cookies can’t be bought. They have to be hand made.”

As I nibbled at the first cookie I couldn’t help but moan in delight as the gooey white chocolate chips melted on my tongue. Oh yes, these were good cookies.

“Thank you Brodie. I don’t know how I’ll be able to repay you for all your help today. You are one the kindest people I’ve ever met.”

“Well we don’t have a ruby yet. You can thank me then.”

We sat back to back leaning on each other for awhile enjoying the sunset and savoring our chocolaty treat.

“I brought something else for you too. You’ll have to sit up a minute.” He said as he reached into his bag again. “It dulls in comparison with your beauty but anything would. I hope you like it.”

He draped a beautiful pink flower necklace around my neck.

I laughed. “It’s beautiful. Thank you. I wasn’t expecting a gift. I love it.”

He blushed. “Then why are you laughing so hard?”

“You leid me.” I chuckled.

“Oh I guess I did. Is that ok?” he asked sheepishly.

I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly. “Yes, and you are one of the most darling wonderful men I have ever met. I can honestly say I have never been leid on the beach. It’s terrably romantic even it is a bit cheesy. This is a good day ruby or not.”

A good day of many. I wonder if he realized when he planned this little trip how much time he would have to invest to finish the job. I was not about to go home empty handed. Eight days we combed the beach killing every leech in sight to get the ruby we came for. We had plenty of time to talk, laugh, and even start to fall in love. When the dark days came this was a bright spot in my memory that I could retreat to.