"We're here. Paul, wake them up," Mark said.

"Curt...Autumn...guys, wake up! We made it to Leora," Paul shouted as he turned to the back of the wagon.

"What time is it?" Curt asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"It's almost noon," Mark answered.

"Do we have time to stop and eat?" Autumn asked groggily.

"We can stop briefly. The myrrh tree is only about a fifteen minute walk from the far end of the town," Mark replied.

The four caravaners entered the town of Leora and made their way through the bustling main street until they arrived at a small café where Mark halted the nu.

"Go on in and grab some grub, you guys. I'll wait here with the wagon," Mark said.

"What about you? Don't you want something to eat?" Autumn asked.

"Oh, just get me anything that looks good," Mark replied. "Nothing with tomatoes though."

Curt, Paul, and Autumn were about to enter the café when two soldiers barged through the doorway and roughly pushed Curt aside.

"Outta my way, squirt!" ordered one of the soldiers.

The soldiers walked off down the street, and Curt and the others went into the café. The café was quite busy, and Curt could see it was going to take a while to get food. As they stood in line, Curt suddenly focused his attention on the conversation of two men standing ahead in the line.

"Did you see it? It was huge!" one man said.

"Of course I saw it! Who didn't see it? How could anyone miss something that big flying through the air?" the other man said.

"Where do you think it was going? Where did it come from?" the first man asked.

"How the hell should I know?" the second man replied.

Curt quickly turned to Paul and Autumn.

"Autumn, get enough food for everyone as quick as you can and meet Mark outside. No time for questions. Paul, follow me," Curt said.

Curt led the way outside to the wagon with Paul following.

"Mark, did you see those soldiers?" Curt asked.

"Yeah, they almost plowed you over," Mark answered.

"Well, they're plowing over a lot more than just squirts like me. I overheard some men talking inside. They saw a flying ship. I'm guessing those soldiers came on it, and now they're heading back," Curt noted.

"Well, they left in the direction of the myrrh tree, so I'd say your guess is as good as gold," Mark agreed.

"Wait for Autumn, and then go wait for us near the southern town gate. Be careful," Curt instructed as he took some rope and the crystal orb from the wagon.

"What are you going to do?" Mark asked.

"Paul and I are going to gather myrrh," Curt said as he handed Paul the orb and started to walk down the street.

"Then I should be telling you guys to be careful," Mark called after them.

Curt broke into a light jog, and Paul fell into pace beside him.

"So what's the plan?" Paul huffed.

"Catch up to those jerks and pull a switcheroo. We can use their armor as a disguise...to get close to the myrrh tree," Curt puffed.

A few minutes later, Curt saw the soldiers some distance ahead, and he slowed to a walk. The soldiers had reached the town limits and were about to enter the forest.

"Ok, you go off and get around ahead of them. I'll approach them from behind and pretend to pick a fight. Then you spring the ambush," Curt detailed.

"Got it," Paul said as he jogged off behind a building and disappeared into the forest.

Curt followed after the soldiers until he finally caught up with them a short distance into the forest.

"Hey, squirts!" Curt called after the soldiers who both immediately turned around.

"What the hell do you want, kid?" one of the soldiers, who was holding a crystal orb, said as Curt swaggered up.

"You think you can get away with bumping into me like that back there?" Curt antagonized.

"You gotta be kidding me! What do you think you're gonna do about it? Is this guy for real?" the soldier said, turning to his comrade.

"Beat it, squirt!" the other soldier shouted.

Curt tossed the rope down onto the ground and drew his sword. The soldier who had called Curt "squirt" drew his sword and began walking forward.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Curt said, shaking his head slowly.

"Whatever, squ-" the soldier began.

"Jake..." the other soldier interrupted.

Curt motioned to the side with his head, and Jake turned to look over at his comrade. The other soldier was standing with his free hand in the air. Behind him, Paul stood holding a knife to his throat.

"What the hell is going on here?" shouted Jake.

"Don't do anything stupid, or your pal dies. Put your sword down, take off your armor, and put it on the ground over there. We're not going to kill you if you cooperate," Curt instructed.

Jake eyed Curt carefully and then did as Curt had instructed. Once Jake had removed his armor, Curt motioned for him to sit near a tree that was some distance away and not easily seen from the forest path. Curt then securely tied him to the tree. Curt ordered the other soldier to do the same. After the second soldier had been tied to the other side of the tree, Paul took off the soldiers' socks and used them to gag the soldiers. Paul then carefully placed the soldiers' crystal orb near the tree as well.

"Now that's what I call putting a sock in it," Curt said with a chuckle. "Time to get dressed."

Curt and Paul quickly put on the armor, including the soldiers' helmets, which completely covered the head and face. The two friends then continued making their way along the forest path toward the myrrh tree. As they neared the myrrh tree clearing, they could hear the growing noise of the airship engine.

About 15 minutes later, the two friends finally arrived at the entrance to the myrrh tree clearing where they were greeted by two guards.

"It's about damn time! What took you guys so long?" one of the guards asked angrily.

"You guys are up. Keep watch while we go into town," the other guard added.

Curt silently nodded as he and Paul switched places with the guards. Once the guards were out of sight, Curt and Paul turned to the clearing. Off to one side, they could see the docked airship. On the other side was the myrrh tree surrounded by the same equipment Curt had seen near the Jorgian Mountains myrrh tree. Several chocobos were resting quietly nearby, and a man was fiddling with a wooden crate near the equipment. The man suddenly stood up and looked over at Curt and Paul.

"Hey, you two! Get over here and carry this crate onto the ship," the man shouted.

"This is almost too easy," Curt whispered to Paul as they trotted over to the man.

Curt and Paul picked up the crate, which was heavier than either of them had expected.

"Man, what the heck is in this thing?" Paul asked.

"Myrrh...what else do you think, chucklehead," the man said as he went back to tinkering with the equipment. "Put it next to the others."

Curt and Paul carefully carried the crate into the airship, where they found two similar crates sitting in what appeared to be the cargo bay. No one else was around, so Curt carefully opened the crate. Inside the crate were many vials of myrrh. Curt picked up a vial and motioned for Paul to hold up the crystal orb. Curt filled the orb with myrrh and then returned the vial to its place in the crate.

"How much longer are we going to be here? Do you guys know?" came a voice from behind, startling Curt and Paul.

Curt slowly turned to see a man who looked like he might be the ship's captain. Curt silently shrugged.

"Oh well. Doesn't matter anyway. Can you give me four vials please?" the man asked.

"What do you do with it?" Curt asked the man as he handed him the vials.

"We need it to fuel the engine. We're running low," the man replied.

"Wow! The engine runs on myrrh," Paul commented aloud.

"Yeah. Pretty amazing, huh? I'm surprised you didn't know that yet," the man observed.

"I guess I haven't been paying attention," Paul said with a shrug.

"Jimmy!" the man suddenly called.

A few seconds later, a young man came running into the cargo bay.

"Captain Ren, Sir!" Jimmy saluted.

"Take these vials and fill the engine," Ren ordered before turning back to Curt and Paul. "Well, gentlemen, I'll leave you to your duties."

Jimmy and Ren left the cargo bay, and Curt closed the crate.

"Well, we got the myrrh. Let's get the heck out of here," Paul suggested.

"Agreed," Curt said.

The two friends made their way to the exit and began to walk down the ramp. Suddenly, Mark and Autumn burst into the clearing and made a mad dash for the airship. Charlie was running behind them.

"We're leaving...now!" Mark shouted as he ran right past his friends and into the airship. "Get in and shut the door!"

"Autumn, what's going on?" Curt asked as they all quickly entered the airship.

"It's Hamilton...he's...on his way," Autumn answered, out of breath.

"Paul, we gotta get this door shut," Curt ordered.

"I'm already on it," Paul replied as he searched around. "Here, I think this button might do the trick."

Paul pushed a button on a nearby control panel, and the ramp began to retract. The man who had been working on the equipment near the myrrh tree came running up to the airship, having seen all the commotion. Curt quickly drew his sword and shook his head. The man stopped and backed away, watching helplessly as the airship door closed.

"Let's go find Mark," Curt suggested. "Charlie, you stay here, ok?"

"Kweh!" Charlie chirped in reply.

After making their way through a series of corridors and stairways, Curt and the others found Mark holding Ren at sword point in the bridge of the airship. Jimmy and three other crew members were sitting at various controls.

"Order them to take off," Mark instructed. "Now!"

"You heard the man! Prepare to lift off!" Ren ordered.

The crew members began to work the controls, and the airship engine noise grew louder. Suddenly, the airship began to rumble. Curt left the bridge and walked out onto the deck. Above him, the various propellers had begun to spin. Down in the clearing below, Curt saw Hamilton, a woman, and two soldiers run into the clearing and toward the airship. The man who had been working nearby ran to meet them. As the airship slowly began to lift off of the ground, Curt felt an awesome sense of exhilaration inside.

"Ren! Stop! Mark! You won't get away with this!" Hamilton yelled.

Curt turned to see Mark standing next to him.

"Farewell, John!" Mark called down to his brother as he teased with a quick salute.

Curt and Mark walked back to the bridge where Paul was holding Ren hostage.

"Please take us to Brighton, Captain Ren," Curt politely instructed.

"Finally...we get to go home," Paul sighed.

"So, Autumn, is this what you meant when you said you wanted adventure?" Curt asked with a smile.

Autumn laughed and smiled in return.