Auron Sleeping
Auron settled for another long session of "who's going to bug me as I try to sleep". He was fortunate, only 20 small stones needed to be removed before he was truly comfortable. With the unerring sense of an old campaigner he found the "sweet spot", that seemingly elusive place where you were close enough to the fire for the warmth, but too far away for the glare. He took a moment to sigh in contentment. It wouldn't be long now, and he would hear the sounds of footsteps. Polite, mind you, but firm in the commitment to wake him up, to ask him the questions he really couldn't answer yet. Or didn't want to.
A soft whisper, female this time, interrupted his thoughts. "Sir Auron?" Ah, Yuna, Always proper, full of faith that she would defeat the one great evil of this place. "Are you awake?"
Auron chuckled. "No", he responded.
Flummoxed she took a moment to realize that he was teasing her. She smiled; it was almost powerful enough to warm him more than the fire. He could always tell when it was genuine, just like her father. "Sir Auron, please, I have… a question that I think only you can give the answer to."
And so it begins, He thought and let out a sigh. With a grunt he rolled over to face her in the light of the campfire. He looked at her with his one good eye. Young, why are they always so young? She was beautiful, not too tall, with long, shoulder length reddish gold hair. Her eyes were the most striking, the left gleaming green and the right a burning blue. Both held the searing passion of dedication to her cause. She would need it; real life and the long battles still ahead would try desperately to wear it down. He ran a careful hand through his graying hair in a motion she took to correctly mean, Please, continue.
"I don't know how to begin." She stated as she sat on a rock near by.
"Try the beginning. It seems to work best for me." The older man replied with a ghost of a smile on his face.
She looked over her companion with a new set of eyes. She realized he was looking very, well, worn. Grey and white streaked through what would have been deep black hair. His one good eye was brown, full of things a warrior of forty years has seen. His arms, though scared were both strong, vital. He seemed untiring on the trail, during her pilgrimage, but then, this was a road he had traveled before.
"Our battle with the Lady Yunalesca, in the lost Chamber of the Fayth. We saw my father's trial, your trial. That last blow that we saw…" She paused, reaching for her staff beside her, "You didn't survive it, did you?" Yuna spoke almost with a reverent whisper.
Auron's hand shot out from its resting position on his chest, and grasped her staff firmly.
"I don't think you need this for me, my lady Yuna." He spoke with sincerity. "But in answer to your question." He looked away, deep into the fire. "I did, in a manner of speaking, survive. Until I reached the foot of Mt. Gagaset. On the bridge to Bevelle, a lone Ronso found me. His compassion for a stranger on the road forced me to give him a parting instruction from your Father. I asked him to watch over you, since I could not." Yuna's grip on the staff faltered and Auron took care to place it beyond her reach.
"You're…you are an Unsent?" She asked, knowing the answer already.
"Yes." He replied in a sigh. "It allowed me to go to other places, seek other help for Spira, for you. Your father's Fayth, who now walks the face of Spira as Sin, had a son. It was my job to raise him."
"Then why are you still here? Why do you live a half-life? I am a summoner, I can Send you back, give you the final peace." She looked into his face, covered as it was by his collar, into his eye. She was full of compassion, not dread. Love for a man as close to her as her father.
"Because, until Sin is defeated. No, better to say it like it is. When Jeckt is defeated and given his Final Sending. When his son and Braska's Daughter are truly safe. When Spira has no more fear from Sin. Then I will submit to a sending. Until then, my work is not finished."
"If I survive, Sir Auron, I would like to be the summoner that sends you." She blinked a tear from her eye, freeing it to travel down her cheek. He raised his gloved right hand and caught the tear on his fingertip. He looked at it with the fascination of a child. It's glimmering surface showed all the colors of the rainbow.
To their right, sitting quietly behind a rock, Tidus frowned. Auron had been a constant in his chaotic life. With the exception of his Mother, the only constant. To find out that the only way for this was to be a faded shadow of a person, it was too much. Auron had confided in Tidus just after the battle against Lady Yunalesca. Telling him very casually, "Oh, by the way, I'm dead. No, really, I've been dead for most of your life." Tidus snorted quietly to himself and thought, "I'm really not being fair here." He turned his attention back to the private little bonding moment between Yuna and Auron. He didn't shriek, well, to be fair, very nearly didn't shriek when a large blue paw settled itself on his shoulder. His gasp, however, was heard by all involved.
Auron was a fast a greased lightning. He moved from his contemplative pose to shoving Yuna far behind him. His sword hissed from its sheath as he rose, anger piercing from his right eye.
"Heard enough?" He growled. He did not move his sword an inch; it's edge parting a blade of grass between Tidus and himself.
"Auron!" Shouted Yuna. "Stand down, Guardian." She barked it like an order.
Tidus was doing his honest best to be as still as the rock he was hiding behind. It would have been much less difficult if Kumarhi weren't still behind him, chuckling. The only change in his position was the fact that seemingly with out his expressed permission; his hands had traveled to above his head.
Auron rolled his head, the pops of tensely held neck bones heard clearly in the sudden quiet. He lowered his sword and turned it, point first. Resting on the pommel he looked Tidus over. "My apologies, Lady Yuna. I do not take kindly to spies."
"Tidus is neither spy nor enemy, Sir Auron." Stated Yuna in rebuke. "And does not deserve to see your sword's edge."
"Yeah! What she said!" Tidus interjected.
This brought the angry Yuna's eyes to focus on his youthful face instead. "And as for you! This was a private discussion, Tidus. Not for the likes of you!" She rounded on the boy.
"M…my apologies." Tidus stammered. He stood up and turned to walk away. He glared at Kumarhi and mumbled, "What are YOU looking at?" as he stomped away, into the dark night.
Auron relaxed his guard and looked at his ruined sleeping spot. Sighing he replaced his blade in it's sheath, giving it a taste of his thumb before completing the motion. Yuna looked on, patiently waiting Auron to notice she had not left yet.
"Yes?" he asked as he began the process of removing the new stones and pebbles from his dusty sleeping spot. He did not look up as she replied.
" You have not answered my question, Sir Auron. Would you like for me to Send you at the proper time?" She stepped back from the warrior and crossed her arms around her staff.
"You're right." He replied. "I didn't." He began to settle back down to earth, shifting his bottle here, turning a leg there. Soon he was curled up and not moving. As if his large red coat had swallowed him whole. Yuna stood staring in wonder at how calm this old fighter seemed to be. Then, softly, she began to hear the deep breathing of someone asleep coming from with in the voluminous red coat.
Auron settled for another long session of "who's going to bug me as I try to sleep". He was fortunate, only 20 small stones needed to be removed before he was truly comfortable. With the unerring sense of an old campaigner he found the "sweet spot", that seemingly elusive place where you were close enough to the fire for the warmth, but too far away for the glare. He took a moment to sigh in contentment. It wouldn't be long now, and he would hear the sounds of footsteps. Polite, mind you, but firm in the commitment to wake him up, to ask him the questions he really couldn't answer yet. Or didn't want to.
A soft whisper, female this time, interrupted his thoughts. "Sir Auron?" Ah, Yuna, Always proper, full of faith that she would defeat the one great evil of this place. "Are you awake?"
Auron chuckled. "No", he responded.
Flummoxed she took a moment to realize that he was teasing her. She smiled; it was almost powerful enough to warm him more than the fire. He could always tell when it was genuine, just like her father. "Sir Auron, please, I have… a question that I think only you can give the answer to."
And so it begins, He thought and let out a sigh. With a grunt he rolled over to face her in the light of the campfire. He looked at her with his one good eye. Young, why are they always so young? She was beautiful, not too tall, with long, shoulder length reddish gold hair. Her eyes were the most striking, the left gleaming green and the right a burning blue. Both held the searing passion of dedication to her cause. She would need it; real life and the long battles still ahead would try desperately to wear it down. He ran a careful hand through his graying hair in a motion she took to correctly mean, Please, continue.
"I don't know how to begin." She stated as she sat on a rock near by.
"Try the beginning. It seems to work best for me." The older man replied with a ghost of a smile on his face.
She looked over her companion with a new set of eyes. She realized he was looking very, well, worn. Grey and white streaked through what would have been deep black hair. His one good eye was brown, full of things a warrior of forty years has seen. His arms, though scared were both strong, vital. He seemed untiring on the trail, during her pilgrimage, but then, this was a road he had traveled before.
"Our battle with the Lady Yunalesca, in the lost Chamber of the Fayth. We saw my father's trial, your trial. That last blow that we saw…" She paused, reaching for her staff beside her, "You didn't survive it, did you?" Yuna spoke almost with a reverent whisper.
Auron's hand shot out from its resting position on his chest, and grasped her staff firmly.
"I don't think you need this for me, my lady Yuna." He spoke with sincerity. "But in answer to your question." He looked away, deep into the fire. "I did, in a manner of speaking, survive. Until I reached the foot of Mt. Gagaset. On the bridge to Bevelle, a lone Ronso found me. His compassion for a stranger on the road forced me to give him a parting instruction from your Father. I asked him to watch over you, since I could not." Yuna's grip on the staff faltered and Auron took care to place it beyond her reach.
"You're…you are an Unsent?" She asked, knowing the answer already.
"Yes." He replied in a sigh. "It allowed me to go to other places, seek other help for Spira, for you. Your father's Fayth, who now walks the face of Spira as Sin, had a son. It was my job to raise him."
"Then why are you still here? Why do you live a half-life? I am a summoner, I can Send you back, give you the final peace." She looked into his face, covered as it was by his collar, into his eye. She was full of compassion, not dread. Love for a man as close to her as her father.
"Because, until Sin is defeated. No, better to say it like it is. When Jeckt is defeated and given his Final Sending. When his son and Braska's Daughter are truly safe. When Spira has no more fear from Sin. Then I will submit to a sending. Until then, my work is not finished."
"If I survive, Sir Auron, I would like to be the summoner that sends you." She blinked a tear from her eye, freeing it to travel down her cheek. He raised his gloved right hand and caught the tear on his fingertip. He looked at it with the fascination of a child. It's glimmering surface showed all the colors of the rainbow.
To their right, sitting quietly behind a rock, Tidus frowned. Auron had been a constant in his chaotic life. With the exception of his Mother, the only constant. To find out that the only way for this was to be a faded shadow of a person, it was too much. Auron had confided in Tidus just after the battle against Lady Yunalesca. Telling him very casually, "Oh, by the way, I'm dead. No, really, I've been dead for most of your life." Tidus snorted quietly to himself and thought, "I'm really not being fair here." He turned his attention back to the private little bonding moment between Yuna and Auron. He didn't shriek, well, to be fair, very nearly didn't shriek when a large blue paw settled itself on his shoulder. His gasp, however, was heard by all involved.
Auron was a fast a greased lightning. He moved from his contemplative pose to shoving Yuna far behind him. His sword hissed from its sheath as he rose, anger piercing from his right eye.
"Heard enough?" He growled. He did not move his sword an inch; it's edge parting a blade of grass between Tidus and himself.
"Auron!" Shouted Yuna. "Stand down, Guardian." She barked it like an order.
Tidus was doing his honest best to be as still as the rock he was hiding behind. It would have been much less difficult if Kumarhi weren't still behind him, chuckling. The only change in his position was the fact that seemingly with out his expressed permission; his hands had traveled to above his head.
Auron rolled his head, the pops of tensely held neck bones heard clearly in the sudden quiet. He lowered his sword and turned it, point first. Resting on the pommel he looked Tidus over. "My apologies, Lady Yuna. I do not take kindly to spies."
"Tidus is neither spy nor enemy, Sir Auron." Stated Yuna in rebuke. "And does not deserve to see your sword's edge."
"Yeah! What she said!" Tidus interjected.
This brought the angry Yuna's eyes to focus on his youthful face instead. "And as for you! This was a private discussion, Tidus. Not for the likes of you!" She rounded on the boy.
"M…my apologies." Tidus stammered. He stood up and turned to walk away. He glared at Kumarhi and mumbled, "What are YOU looking at?" as he stomped away, into the dark night.
Auron relaxed his guard and looked at his ruined sleeping spot. Sighing he replaced his blade in it's sheath, giving it a taste of his thumb before completing the motion. Yuna looked on, patiently waiting Auron to notice she had not left yet.
"Yes?" he asked as he began the process of removing the new stones and pebbles from his dusty sleeping spot. He did not look up as she replied.
" You have not answered my question, Sir Auron. Would you like for me to Send you at the proper time?" She stepped back from the warrior and crossed her arms around her staff.
"You're right." He replied. "I didn't." He began to settle back down to earth, shifting his bottle here, turning a leg there. Soon he was curled up and not moving. As if his large red coat had swallowed him whole. Yuna stood staring in wonder at how calm this old fighter seemed to be. Then, softly, she began to hear the deep breathing of someone asleep coming from with in the voluminous red coat.