I do not own Final Fantasy or any characters therein. I do, however, own my original characters. Enjoy -
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Chapter 1: Losing the Quarry
Fuck! My mind screamed as the small craft nearly flipped after ramping the sand dune. I pulled hard on the controls to try and straighten the thing, but then remembered that these things didn't work like that. By a small amount of luck I managed not to crash. Not too far away was another of the crafts. Spread out on either side of me were two more, four crafts in all. The two to my sides were piloted by my comrades. The one in front of us was, well, not.
These vehicles weren't native to this world. They were similar, but slightly more advanced. They were only built to seat one person, but there was room on the side of the craft for someone to hang on if need be.
How that freak managed to steal one of these things and get out before we could contain him, I had no idea. I took a hand from the controls and hit the small link on my shoulder.
"Zach, ya there?" I yelled over the fan behind me.
A cacophony of noise filtered back followed by the voice of my teammate.
"I'm readin' ya loud and clear there, Sam. How's my girl doin'?"
"Peachy." I growled, my craft threatening to turn me into a permanent part of the desert. I hit a larger dune and ramped again. My eyes flashed briefly down near my legs were two large, black cases were strapped to the craft. "Got an idea about when this bastards' gonna do sumthin' other than this?"
"You know him, we never know just what the fuck he'll do." Zach laughed.
"This isn't funny, Zach."
"I know, couldn't help myself." I groaned gunned the craft as the sand flattened. I quickly pulled ahead of my two comrades and started gaining on my quarry.
I fingered a switch and a small cannon rolled up from the front of the craft. It twisted, trying to get a lock on the opposing vehicle. The turret paused and fired with a dull whump! The vehicle swerved, narrowly avoiding the blast. A cloud of sand erupted into the air.
"Shit!" I covered my eyes with my arm as I flew through the cloud, trying not to breathe. I felt the sun unhindered on my skin again and my hand went back to the vehicle's controls. I sucked in a breath.
Too late.
I hit another dune and probably would have stuck it if there hadn't been another dune rising up not moments after the one I flew from. In a last attempt to make sure I didn't get hit with the brunt of the crash I swung the control stick to the side before I was launched from the dune.
I ducked down and my arms covered my head and neck. The craft swung around and the back slammed into the dune with a shriek as the paper-thin vehicle was crushed by its own velocity. The small craft continued to move, though.
It flipped over the dune and came down upside down. The crumpled fan deflected most of the force, but then the vehicle slammed onto its side, jolting me. My head connected with the side of the craft and my vision went black.
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My eyes opened slowly. Gray blobs instead of actual images met my eyes. I groaned and screwed my eyes shut. I began to go through a mental check of what was wrong with me. My legs and feet were fine, that was good. My right arm and hand were fine, the fingers on my right hand were a little sore. My left elbow and wrist hurt, and I could barely move the fingers on that hand.
With my right hand I applied pressure to my ribs. One of them was injured, but not broken. I opened my eyes again and let my pupils readjust to the world around me. Slowly the gray blobs formed into shapes. After a few more minutes my vision was almost completely back to normal. I swept my eyes over my surroundings.
I was in a bed, which was strange. I half expected to still be in that fucked up craft. I at least should have been at High Command. This didn't seem like any of their medical facilities. Or at least none of the ones I had been to.
I was alone in a room. The ceiling and walls looked wooden. There were two doors and a small dresser by the bed. I looked straight up and could just make out the outline of windows. That would explain the lighting, seeing as how there were no other light sources, save for a lamp on the dresser and that was most certainly turned off.
I looked down at myself. My left elbow and wrist were both in small, separate bandages. I was wearing a white t-shirt and panties, but my clothes were nowhere to be seen. The shirt and underwear, I knew, were mine.
I tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. I let out a low yelp and my vision swam. A wave of nausea swept over me and I shut my eyes, a wave of pain came from the side of my head and my chest. I slowly laid back down and opened my eyes.
I heard a small creak and looked over as one of the doors opened just a crack. My eyes searched the opening, trying to see who it was. The door closed quickly, but just as quietly as it had opened. I heard footsteps slowly fade away as if someone were running away.
"Perfect, what have you gotten yourself into this time, Sam?" I asked myself. I had an irritating habit of thinking out loud more than quietly to myself.
A minute later I heard the footsteps returning at a much slower pace. The door opened slowly and a girl walked in. She had blonde hair and shocking emerald eyes with what seemed like spirals in them. Her hair had multiple braids in it, with colorful beads adorning them. A blue bandana was wrapped around her forehead. What surprised me was how much of her was exposed. She wore a bikini top and a small brown skirt, thong straps rose above her skirt and hugged her hips. She had on fingerless gloves, a bright red and yellow scarf around her neck, and a strange sleeve on each arm. I had a good view of her perfectly tanned body.
A broad smile formed on her face and she bounced close to the bed.
"Hi!" she said happily.
"Hi." I groaned in response.
"I'm Rikku." she said, still just as bubbly.
"Sam." I said. "Tell me sumthin' . . Rikku, right?" she nodded. "Where am I?" I asked.
"On our airship, the Celsius. Home of you're friendly neighborhood Gullwings!" I decided to ignore that.
"Uh-huh." I said. "How did I get here?"
"We were flying over Bikanel desert when we detected some sphere waves. We went down and found ya. We got all of your things. Funny, it was your sphere that saved you." she giggled.
I nodded, then something clicked. Oh shit! My eyes slowly widened. She noticed this.
"Oh, don't worry, we didn't watch it, we stowed it with the rest of your stuff." she said. I sighed and calmed down. My eyes flashed back to the girl.
"Hey, do you have any pain killers?" I asked. Rikku tilted her head, her spiral eyes watching me quizzically. "Sumthin' I can take for the pain?" I asked, motioning to my head.
"Oh!" her eyes lit up. "Don't worry, Yunie will be here any second and well fix you up!" she said. The door opened and a second girl walked in. She had short, brown hair and surprisingly her eyes were not both the same color. One was a deep blue and the other was a sparkling green. She wore a white, sleeveless shirt, small, tight shorts, and a long, ruffled piece of cloth hung from her belt. She was carrying a small pouch in her hands. She bowed quickly.
"Hi, I'm Yuna." her voice was soft, calm.
"I'm Sam." I said . . again.
"Sam." a soft smile appeared on her lips. She seemed shy. She opened the pouch and pulled out a bottle. She opened it and approached the bed. "Can you sit up?" she asked
"Not without throwing up." I said. Yuna nodded and came closer to the bed. She slid a hand under my head and lifted it gently, bringing the bottle to my lips. Whatever it was it didn't taste horrible. In fact it didn't really have much of a taste at all, kind of like water. I would soon learn that it had a strange after-taste though.
A cool wave washed over me, I felt the throb in my head ebb. I just as quickly felt something else wash over me as well: Exhaustion. Yuna lowered my head back to the pillow and saw my eyelids start to droop. She nodded and put the empty bottle back into the pouch. She whispered something to Rikku and then left.
The younger girl paused at the doorway, watching me momentarily before leaving. I closed my eyes as I heard the door click shut. I felt myself falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.
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I didn't know just how long I had slept. I simply opened my eyes what felt like only mere seconds later. Truth be told I felt more rested. Sunlight was drifting through the window above me. It was brighter than the last time I was awake. I guessed that I had slept clear through the night. It felt like it was still fairly early in the morning.
I could see particles of dust floating in the light. Drifting in the air, barely moving. I blinked and looked around. Same room, so at least I hadn't been dreaming. I was still alone and could feel a slight vibration as I was laying there. The airship must've been moving.
I tried flexing the fingers on my left hand and was happy to find that it didn't hurt, as much, anymore. Whatever they, Yuna, had given me really worked. I could move my left elbow easier. But I wasn't about to try moving just yet.
I was surprised that I wasn't cold. The only thing on the bed was a single sheet. There was a small vent by the side of the bed. I lowered my hand to it and felt warm air blow through. I shrugged. Idiot.
"So, what now Samantha?" I asked my self quietly. I used my full name, which shocked me. It meant that I really was at a loss at what to do. Ah, training never prepares you for this kind of crap. I sighed and tried to think of a way I could get out of here, or at least contact High Command and tell them where I was.
The latter seemed the better choice. I was on a fucking airship, I wasn't about to go anywhere. I would need to find my communicator, hopefully it hadn't fallen off in the crash, they were small and I doubted that these people would have found it if they hadn't been looking for it.
I ran my fingers through my hair, which was jet black and very short. My eyes were the color of ice. I was also rather pale, seeing as how in my line of . . business, for lack of a better word . . I didn't get out much. My hair felt like it hadn't been washed in a while, which raised a question.
"I wonder how long I've been here." I said to myself. I was almost positive that they would have come to the wreckage of my craft after the chase was over. To bring me back alive or dead, that and get rid of the craft. Which means that I was probably presumed missing. So these people, what had Rikku said, Gulls? I shook my head. It meant that they found me pretty quickly after the crash.
Of course I could've been out of it for longer, I had hit my head pretty hard, from how it felt.
I heard footsteps from the hall. It sounded like two or more people. I listened, trying to figure out how many people and how close to the door they were. The first ones that I had heard had been pretty soft, and those had been drowned out by what sound like high heels or boots, maybe both. I could hear voices, like someone was talking, but they were either whispering or farther away because I couldn't make out what they were saying.
I heard footsteps again, this time growing farther away. I closed my eyes and decided to rest and wait for something to happen. The door creaked and my eyes shot open, already locked on the door. The door opened quietly and Rikku walked in. She was holding something, a bundle, under her arm.
"Hi. I brought your clothes." she said.
"Oh, thanks." I said. "Did you find anything on them, a small black thing on the shoulder, maybe?" I asked. Rikku bit her lower lip and her eyes moved around the room as she thought.
"Nope." she shook her head. "Why, was it important?"
"Uh, no." Fuck! Oh well.
"Yunie wanted me to see if you were feeling better." she said, smiling.
"A little." I decided to try sitting up. Slowly I lifted myself with my right arm and leaned on it. My chest didn't hurt as much and I didn't get dizzy and sick like the first time. I sat up all the way and nodded "Definitely better." I said.
"There's a shower right there," she pointed to the second door, "If you can stand you're more than welcome to use it." she said happily. I nodded and pushed the sheet off. I slid off the bed and my feet touched the wooden floor. I don't know how, since the room was warm, but the floor was like fucking ice! Rikku saw the expression on my face and tried not to laugh, that kind gesture lasted about three seconds before she was bent over, hugging herself, laughing uncontrollably.
I grimaced, apparently I missed the funny part. "My clothes, please." I held out my hand and after a few more seconds the girl handed me my clothes. I looked around the room and then noticed something on the other side of the bed. I hadn't noticed it because it was on the floor, but a white bedroll had been spread.
"Hey, Rikku?"
She took a deep breath and managed to stop laughing, "Yeah?"
"Whose room is this?" I asked.
"Oh, uh," her face turned a soft shade of red, "mine." I nodded.
"So where have you been sleeping?" I asked. She pointed to the bedroll. I nodded. "Sorry." I said.
The hyper girl shook her head, "It's okay. You were hurt, you didn't need to be sleepin' on the floor." she said. I shrugged and walked into the small bathroom. Once the door was shut I stripped and got into the shower.
I made the water hot, warm was just not good enough. I closed my eyes and let the water run over my face and body, relaxing me. I found a bottle of shampoo and another of body wash so made use of those. After I had sufficiently cleaned myself I turned the shower off and stepped out. I looked at myself in the mirror. To tell you the truth I wasn't exactly beautiful. I had seen some battle and it showed.
A long scar ran from my forehead, barely passing around my eye, to my right cheek. Yeah, that one had hurt a little. Another scar marred my stomach. Another painful wound. If I turned around and looked at my back I would have seen plenty more injuries. One cut ran down halfway from my left shoulder to the elbow.
I sighed and dried off. I had to wear the same white shirt and underwear, seeing as how I had no others. My clothes were simple, for the most part I wore a simple tan jumpsuit, it was made out of a light, leather-like material and wasn't bulky. The shoulders, waist, and knees of the suit were a darker shade of brown.
I noticed that the jumpsuit seemed to have been cleaned. I stepped into it and zipped it up a little more than half way, leaving it open enough to see the undershirt. My boots had also been given back to me, my socks hanging halfway out of the tops. I slipped these back on and left the bathroom.
Rikku was sitting on the bedroll, looking at a small box. I recognized it immediately.
"Um, Rikku, I . ." she jumped when I spoke. "Sorry."
"No problem." she handed me the box. "Like I said, no on has watched it." I opened the box and looked at the sphere inside. Yeah, same one. "We didn't know if it was personal or if you were a sphere hunter." she said.
"Oh, its personal." I said quickly. Anything to keep people from prying. Rikku bit her lower lip for a moment then started bouncing up and down excitedly.
"Oh, want me to show you around the ship?" she asked. I thought about it for a second, then nodded.
"Sure, why not."
"Follow me!" she said. She opened the door and bounced out of the room. As fast as I could I stuffed the box under a pillow and followed her, closing the door behind me.
I came out on a balcony. The room was on the far left, at the end of a row of three rooms. I followed the railing and came to a small area passed the rooms. There was a small rug, a couch and two chairs. A stairway led from this area down to a lower level.
Rikku was talking to Yuna, still just as excited, I didn't know what about. Yuna saw me and smiled.
"It's good to see you're feeling better." she said.
"Thanks to you." I said. "If not I'd probably be dead right now." I lied. It really was a lie. Eventually Zach would've come back.
"I did what I could." she said, a shy smile on her lips.
"Hey, so did I!" Rikku poked Yuna in the shoulder. Yuna giggled.
"And so did Rikku." she said.
"Well we need to get moving, I'm showing Sammy the ship." Sammy? What the hell?! I sighed and decided to bear with it. After all, they did go through all the pain to rescue me.
"I'm ready when you are, Rikku."
"Kay! Lets go." She bounced down the stairs.
"Sugar rush?" I asked, looking to Yuna.
She giggled, "No, she's just being Rikku." I nodded and after turning away I raised my eyebrows and mouthed, "Damn!" Rikku was waiting by what looked like a bar on the lower level. Standing behind it was, well, something. It was blue, and had big eyes. Its head seemed to be tilted slightly and I quietly wondered if it was partially due whatever the fuck was on the sides of its head! It also seemed to have two antennae.
"Sam, this is Barkeep." Rikku said. The thing inclined its head a little.
"Helloo mish Sam." it said. I blinked and tried to determine whether it was male or female.
"Hi." I said, holding up my hand in a short greeting.
"If you need anything to drink, he's your man, er, Hypello." I guessed it was a guy because of what Rikku said, and Hypello must've been its race.
"I'll keep that in mind." I said, only half of me paying attention. Rikku ran from the bar to a door and ran through it. I followed her, the door sliding open for me as I approached. I walked through a short corridor to an elevator and got in. Rikku hit a destination and the elevator jerked to life.
Rikku sat on the rail, steadying herself with her hands. Somehow she seemed oddly close to me. I shook off the feeling. So what if she was? Maybe Rikku was the kind of person who needed to be near someone.
How the fuck does that make sense? The elevator stopped and Rikku jumped down. "I decided to show you this room first since it's the least interesting." she said. I could hear a dull pounding coming from down the hall. The doors slid open and the noise grew louder. Rikku walked down the hall and I followed.
We entered a room that was hot, humid, and loud as fuck. "The engine room." I said, not surprised that I couldn't hear myself.
"The engine room!" Rikku said. I actually heard her. Damn, that must've been loud. She led me back to the elevator and hit another button. I felt it jerk and a minute later it opened.
We walked down the hall and into a large room. Rikku ran down the steps, I followed at a more leisurely pace. There were three people in the room. One was a small boy sitting at a computer, Shinra. I thought the getup was a little weird. Another was Buddy. And the last one was Brother, who was Rikku's older brother. He seemed a little strange.
He was covered in tattoos and started yelling at Rikku incoherently. Half in English and half in another language. After a few minutes Rikku led me back to the elevator, Brother still yelling at us.
"The next stop is the last." Rikku said. "And its also the best." she said, looking down at me from where she sat. Was it just me or was she even closer now? Like earlier I ignored it and pretty soon the elevator stopped.
Rikku grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the elevator. To my surprise we were on top of the airship. A cold wind buffeted me and Rikku's hair was everywhere. I couldn't help but smile.
I noticed someone standing near the edge of the ship. Rikku grinned and pulled me over to them. What came to mind when I first saw her was: Don't fuck with her! The first thing I noticed was that she was dressed in all black. Tight-fitting leather and boots with heels, and multiple belts. Her hair was silver and her skin pale. When she turned to us I flinched. Her eyes were crimson.
I didn't flinch because of her though.
In my mind I saw a set of glowing, crimson eyes shining at me in the dark. The eyes were all too human, but the thing that stood there wasn't entirely human, it just looked it. It came closer and grinned, canine longer than normal. Not like a vampire, but longer than any human's.
I was back in reality. The woman glared at me, eyes showing a combination of emptiness and distrust. Rikku walked closer to the woman and pointed at me.
"Paine, this is Sam. Sam, this is Paine." she said. I nodded a greeting. She didn't seem like the kind of person you'd strike up a conversation with. She did the same and her gaze went back to the sky.
"Well, aren't you gonna say sumthin'?" Rikku asked. Paine said nothing.
"Maybe she doesn't want to be bothered, Rikku." I said. Rikku looked at her friend again and then walked back to me.
"Yeah, well. She never wants to be bothered." Rikku said. We went back into the elevator and Rikku hit the button for the cabin. The elevator descended somewhat and then stopped. Rikku and I walked out and went to the bar.
Rikku asked for a glass of juice and I asked for water. I sipped at the liquid and then noticed something out the corner of my eye. I decided to make sure I wasn't imagining it. I took a few more sips and then put the glass down. Rikku put hers down too.
I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. "Rikku?"
"Hmm?" she asked, putting on her most innocent smile.
Cute.
"You were, uh, mimicking me." I said. The girl feigned shock. "Oh please you're not that good an actor."
"Hey!" she said. She poked me once in the shoulder. "Big meanie." she poked me again in my side.
I laughed and finished the last of my water.
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After Rikku showed me around I wandered the ship on my own for a little while. I made sure to look around each different room carefully, trying to memorize the ship.
When I got back to the deck I just wound up standing next to Paine for a little while before going back down into the ship. Dinner was served by Barkeep, and I was surprised to find that it wasn't too bad.
Afterwards I relaxed in the lounge area on top of the stairs for a short while. After sometime passed Yuna went to her room, saying goodnight to me and Rikku.
I had planned to probably sleep on the couch, but after Paine walked silently to her own room Rikku let out a loud yawn and told me I was still sleeping in her room.
Rikku closed the door behind us when we walked in.
"You can sleep on the bed." Rikku said. I shook my head.
"It's your bed, I'll sleep on the bedroll." I said. Rikku was about to object but I gave her a look that told her I meant it. She nodded and went into the bathroom to change. I grabbed the sphere and hid it under my new pillow. I undid the catches on my boots and slid them off, keeping my socks on. Rikku came out of the bathroom just as I was taking off my jumpsuit. She was wearing a long piece of clothing, like a shirt, that reached her knees and was sliding off one shoulder. She blushed slightly but slipped into bed. I folded the suit and laid it down by my boots.
I laid down on the bedroll and pulled the blanket over me. I drew one knee up and stared at the ceiling. Rikku yawned and turned over towards me.
"Goodnight, Sam." she said, her voice telling me just how tired she was. I smiled.
"Goodnight, Rikku." I said. Most of the shadows in the room covered me, seeing as how none of the light from the windows reached me. I looked up towards Rikku once, my eyes half open. I was confused when I saw her watching me.
A few minutes later I heard her breathing turn shallow as she drifted off to sleep. I closed my eyes shortly after and let myself fall into the abyss.
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Author's Note: Tell me what you think. I know that it lacks much of a plot now, but one will develop. I'm uncertain how long it will take to write another chapter, but I will try, I really enjoyed writing this. Sam is a little different from some characters that I'm used to writing, I'm still trying to find that area to center her personality on. This chapter was mainly to introduce this version of the X-2 universe. Yes, I know I changed the cabin around some but it will work into something later in the story. Both in the romantic and main plot. So, keep watching for the next chapter in the story, for now I need to get back to writing Lost in Space.
- Thank-you for reading.