All she could do was run. Lights flashed by as a few doors creaked open at
the commotion. A few curtains opened just a slither to give watchers a
peak at what was going on in the streets of Bevelle that night. Sirens
sounded and men yelled to one another across streets that were now
unusually busy due to the racket.
*This wasn't how it was supposed to be!* She thought bitterly to herself.
"This isn't how it ends!!" She snarled through gritted teeth, as she slowed to a walk and spun around to face her pursuers.
*They might have guns,* she thought, *But I have something more...* The young woman planted her feet shoulders width apart, took a deep, calming breath of cool night air. She wrapped her skilled fingers knowingly around the cold hilt of her sword. The long thin blade made a scraping noise as it was drawn from its scabbard. It seemed to come alive. It was perfectly balanced. As she held the tip at nose height in front of her, the polished mythril seemed to give an eerie glow in the moonlight.
The group of men stopped 20 meters away when they saw her standing, like a ghost, in the centre of the High Bridge, sword drawn at the ready. One of the men yelled.
"You are a fool, little girl. How could you take on 8 of us, alone mind you, with nothing but a twig for a sword and a false hope for backup?"
"It is you who are the fools, Bevelle SCUM!!" She spat on the ground, but without taking her eyes from the men for a second. "You think that if you kill me, it will be the end? It will only make my Sisters fiercer!" she laughed hollowly. Suddenly her face hardened. "All this, this bullshit, it will NEVER end! My kind will never die! No matter how hard your precious Praetor tries!" she almost choked on the word 'praetor'.
The Captain tried to stand a little taller and puff out his chest, for even at this distance, it was clear the woman was a great deal taller then he was. Not to mention fiercer. His men knew it too. "Our orders are clear, Samurai," he hissed. "You, and all of your miserable kind, are to be executed. From the tallest peak of Mount Gagazet, to the deepest reaches of the Farplane, no Samurai shall escape the Praetors wrath!" The soldier yelled but he didn't seem to be able to convince even himself that she might lay down her sword and surrender to the statement.
*There it is!* She knew instantly: it was now or never. The quiver in the man's voice told her that he was beginning to doubt that he could take her on in battle.
She twisted her sword with expert speed so that her grip on the handle led the weapon behind her. As it spun, the blade reflected moonlight across the Bridge and, for a split second, into the eyes of the soldiers. Unbalanced and disorientated the soldiers took a few seconds to regain their composure, but by that time the Samurai woman was at point blank, raising her sword.
"MOMENTUM!" she roared as she leapt and spun, slicing her razor-sharp rapier through the torsos of 6 men without blinking an eye. Unfortunately she had missed the Captain, who, by this stage, had drawn and aimed his standard issue Machina Weapon. Breathing heavily, recovering from the last attack, the woman considered her options. They were few. The trigger clicked just as she readied her Shin-Zantetsu attack. She closed her eyes.
*Lady Yuna,* she prayed *I fear will be joining you on the Farplane tonight, old friend...*
************************************************************************
"Virago? Sister, awake." A soft voice entered the woman's thoughts. Suddenly she felt cold. A chill ran up her spine and she was almost afraid to open her eyes. Slowly, with all her effort, she forced them to open. Cloudy at first, but slowly focusing, she could make out three figures standing before her. Reaching for her sword hilt, she waited for her vision to fully right itself.
"There is no need for your weapon in this place, Virago." Another voice... The figure on the left.
"Yeah! Come on Vira, snap outta it, quick! We need you!" The figure on the right spoke, almost whined.
*I'm dreaming...* She thought, bringing her free hand up to rub at her eyes as if to make what it was she was seeing disappear.
The first voice spoke again, coming from the middle figure as it knelt down beside her and laid a cold hand on her cheek. "No, Virago Sister, you're not dreaming..." Yuna said softly. "You are dead."
Her vision instantly righted itself and she blinked. Recognising the three figures immediately, she released her grip on the sword and gingerly got to her knees.
"Lady Yuna. Lady Paine. Lady Rikku." She bowed, addressing each one individually. "I... I am sorry. I have...I have failed you..."
"You cannot fail us, Virago Sister." Lady Yuna smiled and helped Virago to her feet. "You already succeeded, years ago, when u joined our Sisters, from then on, everything is a bonus to us."
"I..." Virago looked down, "I couldn't get to Baralai." She whispered.
"You givin' up already, Vira? That's not like you!" Lady Rikku gave her a playful punch on the arm. There was a short silence.
"Even as we speak they are attempting to revive you. We don't have much time before they succeed. Yuna?" Lady Paine looked over at Yuna.
"Virago Sister, your mission is incomplete. Is that how you wish it to end?" Yuna teased, with a raised eyebrow.
"No Lady Yuna, I..."
"No formalities, it's not like you, Virago. So just Yuna, please."
"...Yuna, I don't know what to do. Without you three to lead us," Virago motioned to the three women that stood before her, "The Samurai Sisters are falling apart. I couldn't even get to the temple in Bevelle, let alone ge..."
"Do not judge yourself by this deed alone, for the odds were against you..." Paine said sternly. "You were betrayed, Virago."
"Betrayed? By whom?" Suddenly realising why she had been discovered so quickly in Bevelle, Virago clenched her fists.
"Sister Shelinda, that conniving whore!!" Rikku spat, which was entirely unlike her.
"Former Sister Shelida." Paine corrected. "She always did have a thing for Baralai, poor fool."
"Virago..." Yuna started, "You must uphold our honor. You must save Baralai. If you cannot, then no one can."
"But Yuna," Virago begged, slipping back into the relationship she had had with the three women before they had been sent to the Farplane, a friendship of four years, "Guys, if you can't do it... I mean, you defeated Sin and Vegnagun AND Shuyin, but you couldn't do this, how am I supposed to even..." Virago kept talking but Yuna's thoughts drifted...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wow, this Dress Sphere this is so cool! And this Garment Grid thing? It's just all so much fun!" Tidus was like a child in a toy shop. He had changed outfits a hundred times, and at present, donned the Samurai Sphere. "This one's the coolest! I'm gonna practice every day with this one until I'm the greatest Samurai EVER!"
Yuna laughed at him, not because she thought his ambitions were silly, in fact she knew that he probably would become the greatest Samurai ever if that was what he wanted, she laughed because she was so happy. She looked at him tenderly from her spot on the beach as he waved the sword expertly in the pale blue moonlight and adjusted the helmet on his head.
"What's so funny?" Tidus had stopped his playing and looked a little hurt.
"I wasn't laughing at you, Tidus, I was just laughing." Yuna stood up and brushed the sand from her shorts. Walking over to him she gently took the sword out of his hand and placed it back in it's scabbard. Standing close to him, Yuna took his hand in hers, looked into Tidus' eyes and smiled.
"Yevon help anyone who tries to tear us apart again!" she stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek.
"Is that all?" Tidus complained as she lowered herself again and tried to walk away. He kept a firm hold of her hand and she stopped to look at him.
"We have to get back to the others, they will be wondering where we have gone." Yuna protested half-heartedly. Then a smirk came to her lips and she slowly moved back into his arms.
"What are you planning, Yuna?" Tidus took a careful step backwards, eyeing his girlfriend with playful suspicion. Suddenly Yuna twisted her arm out of his grip, threw her leg around behind his and tripped him in an expert Berserker move. He fell with an ungraceful thump to the sand and Yuna leapt on top of him.
"Woah, you really are good!" Tidus laughed from beneath the inescapable hold she had on him. Suddenly looking very serious, Yuna looked down to the ground beside her and released her grip on him. "What? What's the matter?" Tidus asked trying to get her to look at him.
"I'm just... worried about Baralai." She said as she got off him and sat in the sand at his side. She drew small circles with her finger in the fine yellow powder that was the sand at Besaid Beach. Tidus could tell she wanted him to ask her why she was worried. He obliged.
"Why? He seems fine to me."
"You haven't known him as long as Paine or Rikku or I have. He's different. His obsession with me is beginning to scare me. At first I wasn't worried, I've had lots of attention from the guys since Sin. But this is different. He actually believes that he and I are destined to be together. I've had to fight him before and I'm afraid that if this keeps up I will have to face him again. Or even worse, that you will have to fight him. He's a strong man, Tidus. Stronger than you can imagine."
"That's why I'll train up on the Samurai Sphere." Tidus said defiantly.
"You make everything out as if it's all so damn simple. Well its not, Tidus. Why can't you see that we are never going to safe, no matter where we are? If Baralai continues this infatuation with me he will stop at nothing, NOTHING, to get me. Do you understand? I wont be able to save you. I wont be able to bring you back... Tidus, I... I never want to lose you again..." Yuna was sobbing and a silver tear sparkled as it fell from her cheek and made the smallest patch of sand wet and glimmer in the moonlight.
"You wont Yuna, I promise!" was the reply.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Liar..." she whispered, her words hardly audible.
"Did you say something Yunie?" Rikku asked as the three other women turned to face Yuna. A tear streaked down her face as Rikku realized what Yuna was probably thinking about and wrapped her arms around her cousin.
"Yunie, its ok. There was nothing you could have done. Nothing anyone could have done. It was his choice..."
"No!" demanded Virago, interrupting. "No, it was a choice he had to make because of Baralai, or what's left of Baralai. Yuna..." Virago took Yuna's trembling hand in hers and vowed anew, "I swear to you that I will restore all of your honor and take vengeance on those who have done you wrong. You and your colleagues deserve nothing but the greatest of lives, instead you were repaid with death. I can feel myself slipping back... I promise to you that my sword will not rest until it has slit Baralai's throat and taken back what he took from you, your friends, and your lover." Virago said the oath with such assertion, that no one doubted that she would, indeed, complete her mission.
The three women watched as the effigy of Virago slowly faded back to the land of the living. They turned and walked off, slowly fading themselves, leaving only pyreflies to play amongst the flowers to the gentle sound of trickling water.
*Yevon help anyone who tries to tear us apart* Yuna's eyes narrowed to a slit. She didn't know who she was praying to, but she preyed that Virago would succeed.
Pain shot through her body. She tried to pinpoint the source and shut it off, but it was coming from everywhere. Every nerve felt like it was on fire. Then the realization hit her. She couldn't move. Not even open her eyes. She took an excruciating breath that seemed to suck more life away than it gave and decided against taking another one until it was absolutely necessary. She could hold her breath longer than anyone she knew, even Tidus much to his dismay.
"It's interesting the effects that Poison has on the body, isn't it?"
*Baralai!!!* she screamed. At least she would have screamed it had she been able to move her mouth.
*This wasn't how it was supposed to be!* She thought bitterly to herself.
"This isn't how it ends!!" She snarled through gritted teeth, as she slowed to a walk and spun around to face her pursuers.
*They might have guns,* she thought, *But I have something more...* The young woman planted her feet shoulders width apart, took a deep, calming breath of cool night air. She wrapped her skilled fingers knowingly around the cold hilt of her sword. The long thin blade made a scraping noise as it was drawn from its scabbard. It seemed to come alive. It was perfectly balanced. As she held the tip at nose height in front of her, the polished mythril seemed to give an eerie glow in the moonlight.
The group of men stopped 20 meters away when they saw her standing, like a ghost, in the centre of the High Bridge, sword drawn at the ready. One of the men yelled.
"You are a fool, little girl. How could you take on 8 of us, alone mind you, with nothing but a twig for a sword and a false hope for backup?"
"It is you who are the fools, Bevelle SCUM!!" She spat on the ground, but without taking her eyes from the men for a second. "You think that if you kill me, it will be the end? It will only make my Sisters fiercer!" she laughed hollowly. Suddenly her face hardened. "All this, this bullshit, it will NEVER end! My kind will never die! No matter how hard your precious Praetor tries!" she almost choked on the word 'praetor'.
The Captain tried to stand a little taller and puff out his chest, for even at this distance, it was clear the woman was a great deal taller then he was. Not to mention fiercer. His men knew it too. "Our orders are clear, Samurai," he hissed. "You, and all of your miserable kind, are to be executed. From the tallest peak of Mount Gagazet, to the deepest reaches of the Farplane, no Samurai shall escape the Praetors wrath!" The soldier yelled but he didn't seem to be able to convince even himself that she might lay down her sword and surrender to the statement.
*There it is!* She knew instantly: it was now or never. The quiver in the man's voice told her that he was beginning to doubt that he could take her on in battle.
She twisted her sword with expert speed so that her grip on the handle led the weapon behind her. As it spun, the blade reflected moonlight across the Bridge and, for a split second, into the eyes of the soldiers. Unbalanced and disorientated the soldiers took a few seconds to regain their composure, but by that time the Samurai woman was at point blank, raising her sword.
"MOMENTUM!" she roared as she leapt and spun, slicing her razor-sharp rapier through the torsos of 6 men without blinking an eye. Unfortunately she had missed the Captain, who, by this stage, had drawn and aimed his standard issue Machina Weapon. Breathing heavily, recovering from the last attack, the woman considered her options. They were few. The trigger clicked just as she readied her Shin-Zantetsu attack. She closed her eyes.
*Lady Yuna,* she prayed *I fear will be joining you on the Farplane tonight, old friend...*
************************************************************************
"Virago? Sister, awake." A soft voice entered the woman's thoughts. Suddenly she felt cold. A chill ran up her spine and she was almost afraid to open her eyes. Slowly, with all her effort, she forced them to open. Cloudy at first, but slowly focusing, she could make out three figures standing before her. Reaching for her sword hilt, she waited for her vision to fully right itself.
"There is no need for your weapon in this place, Virago." Another voice... The figure on the left.
"Yeah! Come on Vira, snap outta it, quick! We need you!" The figure on the right spoke, almost whined.
*I'm dreaming...* She thought, bringing her free hand up to rub at her eyes as if to make what it was she was seeing disappear.
The first voice spoke again, coming from the middle figure as it knelt down beside her and laid a cold hand on her cheek. "No, Virago Sister, you're not dreaming..." Yuna said softly. "You are dead."
Her vision instantly righted itself and she blinked. Recognising the three figures immediately, she released her grip on the sword and gingerly got to her knees.
"Lady Yuna. Lady Paine. Lady Rikku." She bowed, addressing each one individually. "I... I am sorry. I have...I have failed you..."
"You cannot fail us, Virago Sister." Lady Yuna smiled and helped Virago to her feet. "You already succeeded, years ago, when u joined our Sisters, from then on, everything is a bonus to us."
"I..." Virago looked down, "I couldn't get to Baralai." She whispered.
"You givin' up already, Vira? That's not like you!" Lady Rikku gave her a playful punch on the arm. There was a short silence.
"Even as we speak they are attempting to revive you. We don't have much time before they succeed. Yuna?" Lady Paine looked over at Yuna.
"Virago Sister, your mission is incomplete. Is that how you wish it to end?" Yuna teased, with a raised eyebrow.
"No Lady Yuna, I..."
"No formalities, it's not like you, Virago. So just Yuna, please."
"...Yuna, I don't know what to do. Without you three to lead us," Virago motioned to the three women that stood before her, "The Samurai Sisters are falling apart. I couldn't even get to the temple in Bevelle, let alone ge..."
"Do not judge yourself by this deed alone, for the odds were against you..." Paine said sternly. "You were betrayed, Virago."
"Betrayed? By whom?" Suddenly realising why she had been discovered so quickly in Bevelle, Virago clenched her fists.
"Sister Shelinda, that conniving whore!!" Rikku spat, which was entirely unlike her.
"Former Sister Shelida." Paine corrected. "She always did have a thing for Baralai, poor fool."
"Virago..." Yuna started, "You must uphold our honor. You must save Baralai. If you cannot, then no one can."
"But Yuna," Virago begged, slipping back into the relationship she had had with the three women before they had been sent to the Farplane, a friendship of four years, "Guys, if you can't do it... I mean, you defeated Sin and Vegnagun AND Shuyin, but you couldn't do this, how am I supposed to even..." Virago kept talking but Yuna's thoughts drifted...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wow, this Dress Sphere this is so cool! And this Garment Grid thing? It's just all so much fun!" Tidus was like a child in a toy shop. He had changed outfits a hundred times, and at present, donned the Samurai Sphere. "This one's the coolest! I'm gonna practice every day with this one until I'm the greatest Samurai EVER!"
Yuna laughed at him, not because she thought his ambitions were silly, in fact she knew that he probably would become the greatest Samurai ever if that was what he wanted, she laughed because she was so happy. She looked at him tenderly from her spot on the beach as he waved the sword expertly in the pale blue moonlight and adjusted the helmet on his head.
"What's so funny?" Tidus had stopped his playing and looked a little hurt.
"I wasn't laughing at you, Tidus, I was just laughing." Yuna stood up and brushed the sand from her shorts. Walking over to him she gently took the sword out of his hand and placed it back in it's scabbard. Standing close to him, Yuna took his hand in hers, looked into Tidus' eyes and smiled.
"Yevon help anyone who tries to tear us apart again!" she stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek.
"Is that all?" Tidus complained as she lowered herself again and tried to walk away. He kept a firm hold of her hand and she stopped to look at him.
"We have to get back to the others, they will be wondering where we have gone." Yuna protested half-heartedly. Then a smirk came to her lips and she slowly moved back into his arms.
"What are you planning, Yuna?" Tidus took a careful step backwards, eyeing his girlfriend with playful suspicion. Suddenly Yuna twisted her arm out of his grip, threw her leg around behind his and tripped him in an expert Berserker move. He fell with an ungraceful thump to the sand and Yuna leapt on top of him.
"Woah, you really are good!" Tidus laughed from beneath the inescapable hold she had on him. Suddenly looking very serious, Yuna looked down to the ground beside her and released her grip on him. "What? What's the matter?" Tidus asked trying to get her to look at him.
"I'm just... worried about Baralai." She said as she got off him and sat in the sand at his side. She drew small circles with her finger in the fine yellow powder that was the sand at Besaid Beach. Tidus could tell she wanted him to ask her why she was worried. He obliged.
"Why? He seems fine to me."
"You haven't known him as long as Paine or Rikku or I have. He's different. His obsession with me is beginning to scare me. At first I wasn't worried, I've had lots of attention from the guys since Sin. But this is different. He actually believes that he and I are destined to be together. I've had to fight him before and I'm afraid that if this keeps up I will have to face him again. Or even worse, that you will have to fight him. He's a strong man, Tidus. Stronger than you can imagine."
"That's why I'll train up on the Samurai Sphere." Tidus said defiantly.
"You make everything out as if it's all so damn simple. Well its not, Tidus. Why can't you see that we are never going to safe, no matter where we are? If Baralai continues this infatuation with me he will stop at nothing, NOTHING, to get me. Do you understand? I wont be able to save you. I wont be able to bring you back... Tidus, I... I never want to lose you again..." Yuna was sobbing and a silver tear sparkled as it fell from her cheek and made the smallest patch of sand wet and glimmer in the moonlight.
"You wont Yuna, I promise!" was the reply.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Liar..." she whispered, her words hardly audible.
"Did you say something Yunie?" Rikku asked as the three other women turned to face Yuna. A tear streaked down her face as Rikku realized what Yuna was probably thinking about and wrapped her arms around her cousin.
"Yunie, its ok. There was nothing you could have done. Nothing anyone could have done. It was his choice..."
"No!" demanded Virago, interrupting. "No, it was a choice he had to make because of Baralai, or what's left of Baralai. Yuna..." Virago took Yuna's trembling hand in hers and vowed anew, "I swear to you that I will restore all of your honor and take vengeance on those who have done you wrong. You and your colleagues deserve nothing but the greatest of lives, instead you were repaid with death. I can feel myself slipping back... I promise to you that my sword will not rest until it has slit Baralai's throat and taken back what he took from you, your friends, and your lover." Virago said the oath with such assertion, that no one doubted that she would, indeed, complete her mission.
The three women watched as the effigy of Virago slowly faded back to the land of the living. They turned and walked off, slowly fading themselves, leaving only pyreflies to play amongst the flowers to the gentle sound of trickling water.
*Yevon help anyone who tries to tear us apart* Yuna's eyes narrowed to a slit. She didn't know who she was praying to, but she preyed that Virago would succeed.
Pain shot through her body. She tried to pinpoint the source and shut it off, but it was coming from everywhere. Every nerve felt like it was on fire. Then the realization hit her. She couldn't move. Not even open her eyes. She took an excruciating breath that seemed to suck more life away than it gave and decided against taking another one until it was absolutely necessary. She could hold her breath longer than anyone she knew, even Tidus much to his dismay.
"It's interesting the effects that Poison has on the body, isn't it?"
*Baralai!!!* she screamed. At least she would have screamed it had she been able to move her mouth.