The Nautilus was finally ready to set sail. Butz made one final
examination of the fasteners, and they left Doma's port.

	"So where are we headed?" asked Butz.

	Cyan thought for a moment. "Figaro is landlocked in the middle of
the desert, so even if we approach the coast, it'll be something of a hike.
I guess our best chance would be to get our hands on an airship. Since the
Nautilus seems to be the most convenient one -"

	Butz interrupted, "You think you can repair it?"

	Cyan shook his head. "No, sadly I cannot. What of yourself?"

	"I can pilot them, but fixing them is a bit out of my realm of
familiarity," Butz answered.

	Cyan stared into the noonday sky pensively. "Well then, I guess
we'll have to find Setzer... last I heard, he set up shop on some island...
what was the name of that place?... Well, it's to the west... I'm sure of
that much."

	Butz blinked. "Then we have a course, Syldra! Westward!" The great
dragon turned towards the west and continued with her paddling
unabated.

	"You've always told me that you were a warrior of some skill. Care
to duel with this old man?" Cyan asked.

	Butz looked down. "Well, it's quite obvious that you are my senior
in swordcraft, but I suppose it can't hurt... much." Butz quietly walked
over to Ragnarok, and withdrew it from its sheath. He heard Sky Render
awaken from its long slumber as well. Off to the side Koro watched with
enthusiasm.
	Cyan began with a feint to gauge Butz's composure under pressure.
Yet unlike most other swordsmen, Cyan's skill allowed him to lunge heavily
while feinting, which only added to the realism of the deception.

	Butz was calm as the sword came, recognizing it as a fake strike.
"He's testing me," Butz thought. At the very last moment, Butz drove
Ragnarok foward, cutting through the false attack and very nearly gutting
Cyan. But Cyan shifted before the blow contacted and parried it.

	"Excellent. You most certainly are not an amateur."

	Cyan decided this time to allow Butz to initiate the offense. Butz
was more than happy to oblige. Butz decided to try something strange in
light of the fact that Cyan would probably counter any normal blow. Rather
than charge at the old king, Butz tried his sword dancing. The flamboyantly
unnecessary twists and elegantly useless spins of the sword dance slowly
worked him over to Cyan. Cyan had never seen this technique, but had not
survived countless duels by worrying about the unknown. Sky Render cut into
Butz's attack, but found no flesh. In fact, Butz closed in even more and
found an opportunity to strike unimpeded. The dance became a robust
overhead strike, but - CLANG! - was somehow blocked. Butz was amazed at how
quickly Cyan had recovered from the mis-strike. Butz bore down on Cyan,
knowing that he was much stronger than the king of Doma.

	"Excellent! But before we go on, there is something I must tell
you, Butz," Cyan stated confidently.

	With a puzzled expression, Butz asked, "What's that?"

	Cyan smiled. "I'm not left-handed!" Then he switched hands and
pushed Butz back. This time Cyan came at him with greater force and
velocity. Butz backed away while barely parrying the quick slashes. It
didn't look good for Butz as he was backed into the Nautilus' edge.

	"You're very good, king Garamonde!"

	"Thank you. I practice and eat right everyday," Cyan responded.

	Butz looked at him slyly. "But there's something I must tell
you!"

	Cyan looked on with expectancy. "What? You're not left-handed,
either?"

	Smiling at him, Butz answered, "No... I haven't changed my socks in
a month!" He followed that with a flying kick to Cyan's chest. Cyan dodged
most of the kick, but Butz got a good piece of him; more importantly,
Cyan's back was now to the edge. Butz stood up from the kick, then tossed
his sword to his right hand. "But you're right. I'm not left-handed
either."

	Koro, meanwhile, pantomimed the moves of the two blademasters while
watching the duel. His sword swished through the air, cutting up imaginary
opponents.

	"What's going on?" asked Keyla, who apparently had just woken up.

	Koro stared at her suspiciously. "Oh, it's you... well, they're
fighting, isn't that obvious?" he said with a bit of a sneer.

	Keyla decided that she was not in the mood to deal with Koro's
attitude, at least not this early in the morning. Koro and Keyla turned
back to watch the fight.

	The duel went on with neither man gaining an advantage. Although
Cyan's performance appeared better, he was also tiring out faster.
Suddenly, after parrying Cyan's last attack, Butz declared, "I yield to
you, Cyan; you are clearly the better!"

	"You what?" Cyan asked in surprise.

	"You're wearing me down so I already know the outcome," Butz
answered, acting weary. "Besides, this fight has given me an appetite."

	"Alright, we'll break for lunch; still, it was a good workout,"
Cyan conceded.

	Koro seemed disappointed that the fight was over, but Keyla was
quite relieved that the clanging in her head would finally cease. The
quartet went down for lunch.

***************************************************************************

	The remainder of the day was quite tranquil. Butz had found an old
manual for the Nautilus, and spent most of his time sifting through it.
Koro convinced one of the woodworkers to help him carve out a sword, and
was busy watching. The last couple of days had been quite hard on Keyla
and she was resting and recovering her strength.

	The door to her quarters creaked open slowly. She reached for her
sword reflexively, but remembered that Cyan would not allow her access to
any of her weapons. She looked around, and finally settled for an old
iron candle holder. A figure squeezed through the ajar door and slowly
crept towards her. Gathering her resolve, Keyla gave the intruder a solid
smack over the head. "SQUAWK!" it yelled. Keyla pulled the hood from over
her lantern to get a better look. Before her lay the largest yellow chocobo
she had ever seen. Boco was probably annoyed, though his unconsciousness
prevented any expression of his ire. Keyla remembered her open pack, which
contained carrots and turnips for Bork, who had been confined to another
section of the Nautilus.

	Boco had a rather large bump on his head when he awoke. Keyla
brought him some turnips and fed him. He quickly forgot his anger, and
savored the food. Keyla asked, "So what's your name, boy?"

	Boco had picked up Figaran considerably faster than Butz. "Squawk
squawk chirp Boco chirp."

	"Boco, eh? Well, just remember never to sneak up on me like that
again," Keyla said with a laugh.

	Boco would remember; even Butz had never hit him over the head that
hard.