Rikku paced across the glossy forest of Macalania, the glimmering mist floating lazily around her young figure, the pale light reflecting upon her hair in streaks of watery bliss and moon silver, giving the woman a wave of pirefly multitone. However Rikku's spiraling eyes, her green emeralds reflected nothing of the calm and bliss that floated upon the crystaline athmosphere, and the sensation of sacrecy was replaced by the shadow of the most unbearable pain. Rikku's forehead was frowned with concentration as she attempted to remain the folds of her long, bright blue skirt, menaining as silent as possible. Her hand was white from the pressure of holding her short staff, and the pale, icy blue jewel on it's top was glimmering with a hazy mist that blended in with the glimmer of the crystal trees. Her left hand was crossed upon her chest and holding the folds of her pearly white shirt, nervously staring at the areas of the forest.
"nobody told me the task of becoming a Sorceress required so much risk!" she mumbled in a sweet, yet low whisper.
The sound of her voice was pleasant to her ears, as she imagined her words were directed to an inexistent companion. Rikku had began her training as sorceress, and her teachings at the Magick and Sorcery University, situated in Luca, had finished. Now, during her last year out of the five that took becoming a full time Sorcerer, her learnings had expanded torwards the practical area. She could handle magick well, however she was forced to journey to different areas of Spira, where she would preform a certain number of spells in front of a High Sorcerer or Sorceress, and receive a title if they considered the student worth the priviledge.
Rikku's steps had taken her to Macalania, where a Tower of Sorcery had been built. That was the place where the High Sorcerers lived and decided if the new Sorcerers deserved their titles. They were enormous buildings of various forms and colours, depending on the magick habilities that stood out in their core, wether it was ice, fire, bios, darkness, light, water, thunder, etc. A Sorceress had to know the theory of the different spells, and be able to handle them in battle, at least the basic ones, like Thunder, Thunda and Thundaga. If one wasnt able to control those basics, no title could be given.
Rikku took a deep breath, in the far distande a peak glimmered with the bright light of a sun that timidly sneaked past the ceiling of blazy leaves, of pure crystal and magickal nature. A small, nervous smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she obseved the first diamond glitters of her destination.
"the Tower of Ice!" Rikku murmurred at the sharp peak that crowned the building.
Taking a step forwards, putting little care in leaving the forest undisturbed, distracted by her bliss at the found destiny, the tip of her fingers pressed againts a fine leaf, which cracked and whistled like the sparkling wings of faeries. She ignored her false step, seeing as nothing seemed to ocurr and confident that the distance was way too short to have something ocurring to her in such infime time.
The powerful head raised at the feeble sound of a cracking leave, the unnaturalpressure releasing a trail of notes very different for the sensitive ear. Dark blue eyes glimmered with anticipation, and a spiky tounge licked the correous lips in delight upon the expectation of a meal. His clawed paws stepped upon the forestry foliage silently, accomodating to the form of the soils so no sound would be made. Powerful muscles rippled under the peraly white scales, and the sun reflected upon it's surface like a mirror. The difracted light sparkled on the hard scales of the male reptilian giving his thick skin a tough of blueish and violet highlights of pale brilliance.
"a meal, it was about time, I'm starving" he thought walking slightly faster, his stomach rumbling with anticipation.
The animal's legs released him into a trot, the area of the sound coming closer, "the path" he thought with his tounge lolling out, and his flashing eyes wide open with observing instinct. The reptilian leapt and emerged from the forest, breaking through the glassy branches and leaves which crackled and shattered with a magickal melody of crystaline fragments dancing with one another, hugging and kissing with the passion of lover. The sun reflected on each fragment and difracted into a glimmer of falling star, of powder of pixies, or the flakes of thin ice blown by wind. Such welcoming sounds were interrupted and deaffened by the thundering roar of the hungry beast, the booming sound that echoed in the depths of his red throat.
Rikku looked up in time to see the beast pouncing upon her, the powerful body, no larger than a dog's, the clawed paws, the sharp and thick tail, the murderous fangs dripping with drool. Rikku gasped, her emerald eyes widdening. She raised her staff high and pointed it at the beast as a reflect act, "BLIZARDA!" she yelled at the winds, concentrating all her power on the white beast. Her voice floated like a melody upon the leaves, across the woods and the sparkling glass, until reaching the Tower of Ice, where it faded into the misterious depths of magick.
Before the beast could react to the spell, a great gust of frozen wind rushed across his body, tearing through his hard scales, hurting him and puncturing him with furious fangs. He shut his eyes tightly and curved his body, a canine whine of intente pain echoed in his throat, and his body collapsed on the ground a couple of metres away from the woman. He felt the pain of the collision, and numb thud that bloomed from his body, but he ignored all that as his mind swam across mild flashes of memories that crawled through his mind.
"you...you're a Vihur, but you are white!" she gasped pointing at the beast, her breathing laboured, her skin pale and her heart thumping laboriously at the shock received.
The Vihur shook his head and his legs pulled his body up, still confused, still shocked by his bad luck, and the feeling of a thousand burning needles penetrating his body still alive in his mind. His blue eyes oppened to observe the target, and his tail fell with deception.
"a Sorceress? I've been about to eat a sorceress! That's my luck!" he thought with a deep sigh, a grumble booming in his throat numbly as his eyes made contact with the woman's.
"you...you are the most beautiful creature I've ever seen!" Rikku said in a mild voice as she stared, transfixed, at the beast standing before her.
"wait a minute...she's...it cant be!...she's an Al-Bhed, an Albhed Sorceress? I thought they only worried about those metalic things they call Machina!" the Vihur thought tilting his head.
"I've never seen a pair of eyes like yours, so much like an Al-Bheds, yet not spiraled!" Rikku told the Vihur smiling lightly, feeling unnaturally confident with this animal.
The Vihur raised his head and frowned lightly, confussion very obvious in his reptilian features.
"what is she doing? Why doesnt she attack me? All two leggers do! She's not afraid of me!" the Vihur thought confused, blinking slightly and raising his head.
"but wait!" Rikku whispered to herself frowning slightly, "I do have seen eyes like yours! Five years ago!" she exclaimed taking a step forward.
The Vihur recoiled shocked, "what? Oh! You do want to hurt me? Pity! I was hoping to make this a clean conffusion" the beast thought standing on the tip of his fingers, shocked and slightly scared at the Al-Bhed's sudden move.
The Vihur, acting bu pure instinct, leapt forward torwards the Al-Bhed sorceress, frightened that she might try to work an spell on him again, after all, she did attack him. Rikku, shocked at the unexpected reaction of the fiend, took a leap backwards, "no! Thunder!" she gasped shocked pointing at the beast with the staff. A current of electricity flashed briefly in the athmosphere, glimmering against the glassy beings, yet it failed it's goal as the beast hit Rikku's arm with his one clawed paw.
Rikku fell to the ground under the weight of the animal, falling with a painful thud on the hard soils of the path. Her eyes oppened wide and stared directly at the animal's blue ones, recognition glimmering in her own depths. Rikku was surprised she was so calm under such serious circumnstances, her body so still and calm while she felt the hot breath of the Vihur floating against her skin.
"it's you! Big Meanie!" she gasped shocked, yet her heart's pain and darkness being washed away by the tides of reliefe, happiness and disbelief.
The vihur raised his head, remembering somehow having heard this same sentence, insult, being thrown at him, that voice. He leapt back from Rikku's body and crawled back to a position under a tree, next to a crystaline trunk, where he observed the woman. He saw a sequence of images, of past memories or something he couldnt really put his finger into, flashes of colours, of people, of places he had seen but never been into, rushed across his mind. It had happened before, but never with such intensity, and the brightness and speed of such thoughts made him dizzy and made his head hurt.
Rikku stood up with some effort, her back pained from the contact of the hard floor against her bones, yet a somewhat bright smile lit up her shaded face. She dusted off the pale skirt and looked up at the animal, the Vihur staring curiously at her. The beast narrowed the bony eyebrows as flashes of her face appeared before him, yet not the mature and grown up woman in front of him but a young, cheerful Al-Bhed with a ponytail and strands of golden hair falling upon her forehead like silk. He remembered her.
"Rikku!" he growled with some effort, yet the saurio's voice was of a gentle tone, a rumble filled with the young voice of a man.
"it is you!" Rikku gasped smiling with delight at the recognition.
The Vihur smiled, he had managed to pull his thoughts and memories together, he had managed to remember who he had been...before becoming a fiend. He took a step torwards the girl, an attempt to reach his old time friend, to access that which he had lost and now recovered. Rikku oppened her arms to greet the beast, but suddenly a sharp pain stabbed her heard and the world blacked out for her. She fell into a heap, unconcious, next to her a slender Vihur of the tipical sandy colour stood by her, smelling the creature with disgust.
"NO!" the male Vihur gasped and galloped torwards the fallen Sorceress.
He sniffed at her anxiously and sighed with reliefe, "she's alive!" he gasped shaking his head pleased that the woman had not lost her life in the hands of a second Vihur.
"good thing I was here to protect you, Newby, how could you let yourself be surprised by a Sorceress?" the second Vihur inquired, staring at the white Vihur through her amber eyes, her head raised in pride.
"Rasha! She was not attacking me, I know her!" the white Vihur barked at Rasha, narrowing his eyebrows and emmiting a deep growl.
"you know a Sorceress Ocean Ice? PLEASE! That was the most pathetic excuse I've ever heard
"Ocean Ice...that was not my name!" Ocean said absently, staring at the infinity of nothingness, looking at the figure and smiling dreamily. Rikku had always been the most beautiful creature for him, even more so now, dressed in that attire of a Sorceress in training, and laying down as if sleeping.
"yeah, whatever..." snorted Rasha with disgust, staring at the woman and her companion as if they were something only Chimeras would put their dirty paws on.
AN: Ok, a beggining of a short story, was trying to make this a single shot but I think I might as well stop here and split it into a few chapters. How do you like it? I was searching for something like this but, since nobody had the idea I decided to work at it myself. Hope you like. Please, read and review.