Summary: What if Yuna defeated Sin, but at the cost of her own life? With Lulu sacrificing herself to become the next Sin, and only Rikku, Wakka, and Kimahri left, who will rise up to become the next grand summoner?
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy X. Wish I did, but alas, it is not to be. Que sera sera, right?
Warning: Contains OC's. In fact, the whole cast is primarily made up of OC's. But Rikku, Wakka, and Donna all make appearances. Probably others. Like Paine, Barralai, and maybe Gippal (if I can manage to fit them in somewhere…). Kimahri will def. be in here….but if you hate OC's, you're probably not going to want to give A Summoner's Path a chance. Hey, your decision.
Character Descriptions (So you know who the heck you'll be reading about. Based lightly off of my friends, minus Samson. He's kinda-sorta based off someone, but really [I'll even admit this is a bit of a filler character.)
Eden: Half Al-bhed summoner. Has blondish-brownish hair and hazel eyes, with the trademark swirly pupils. Around 22. (Started late, due to complications). Lived in Home with the other Al-Bhed until it was destroyed (with Eden at age 11). Background story: Eden and her family lived peacefully in Bikanel with the other Al-Bhed, and she was accepted by them, though she was only half al-bhed. When Home was destroyed by the Guado and Cid, though, her family migrated to Luca, where she met Alex and Cain.
Samson: Elder brother of Eden by one year (age 23). Guardian of Eden. Weilds a large sword. See above for background information. Is the Auron-like character.
Cain: Theif. Brown hair and darker brown eyes. Fights with two tonfa. About 18 and is 5'7. Background knowledge: was abandoned by her mother on the doorstep of Luca's orphan house. She lived there (happily, for she knew of nothing else) until she was 15 and cast out into the streets after finally getting caught steeling food for the other orphans. Happened upon Alex and Eden (then 16 and 19, respectively) and set off with them to Kilika, where a summoner who never gained the courage to get the last aeon agreed to take Eden as his student. Guardian of Eden.
Alex: Half guado. Brown hair and green eyes. Age 19. Background story: Lived in Guadosalam with her sister Saphira and her grandmother, Makoto, until Seymour went on a rampage, killing almost all of the Ronso (she was barely 9 at the time). Her grandmother died a year later after battling with a cancer-like disease. Alex then set out on a journey to redeem the Guado, leaving the Macalania woods, Saphira, and the rest of the Guado behind. She wandered for a few months before she settled upon Mt. Gagazet, pleading for the Ronso's forgiveness. Kleirk (Klah-rek), a blacksmith (what? Ronso can have thems [nods) who was getting on in years, agreed to take her in as his apprentice after she refused to leave. She was an apt learner, and after several years, Kleirk sent her to Luca, believing that she couldn't learn anything more from him. There, she met Eden and Cain.
Saphira: Half guado, sister of Alex. 5'11 and 22 years old. After her and Alex's grandmother Makoto died, Saphira remained in the Macalania forest with the other Guado, studying black magic. She fell in love with Magnus, a priest from the Macalania Temple. Magnus was killed by a fiend, and Saphira's grief tore at her until she decided that she needed to get away from Macalania and the memories. She wandered around aimlessly for a while until she reached Besaid, where she met and befriended Haruka, a summoner in training, and Haruka's younger sister Claudia, the local blitzball maniac. Happy for the first time in a long while, she swore to protect Haruka and Claudia at the risk of her own life. Guardian of Haruka.
Haruka: Summoner. Age 22, 5'6. Background: Not too long after Yuna and her guardians left Besaid for Zanarkand, Sin attacked Besaid. Haruka's mother, father, and older sister died. Haruka could only watch in fear as they were buried, knowing that without anyone to perform the sending, they would become fiends. With a new resolve, she decided to become a summoner, and taught herself with a staff she made from a old bamboo stick and the various Holy Books (according to Yevon, anyhow) scattered about the island. The next time that Sin attacked, she would make sure that nobody had to watch as their loved ones turned into the monsters that would one day kill.
Claudia: Gunner and self proclaimed Blitzball Fanatic of Besaid. Haruka's younger sister. Age 15, 5'8''. Background: Grew up thinking of Rikku as her mother (once she returned from Zanarkand with Wakka, that is), since she was really too young to remember her own mother that well. She was the one thing that kept Rikku from slipping too far into depression because she knew that if she did, Claudia would have nobody to depend on. Her sister was trying to hide her grief in learning, and the rest of the island's inhabitants were too absorbed in their own matters to care about one lost little child. As she grew up, she began to become obsessed with Blitzball and forced Wakka to teach her how to play. Was an honorary member of the Aurochs, but out of loyalty to her sister, gave Blitzball up in order to protect the only family that she had left. Wears her housekey as a necklace in a promise that she will return home. Guardian to Haruka.
Jaka: Swordsman. Age 20, about 5'11. Background: His clan never paid much attention to him, bypassing him for his older brother, the next clan head. Out of anger and jealousy, he ran away with the family's prized heirloom (the Clan Sword) at age 13. Much like Saphira, he wandered around for months on end, with no purpose. He stayed in the Thunder Plains under Rin's employment at one of the Travel Agencies for around a year until the guilt of leaving his clan overcame him. He traveled back to his clan's compound (near the moonflow), only to find that they had all been killed by Seymour Guado when they tried to stop him from crossing on the Shoopuff, claiming that they got bad vibes from him (Jaka's clan has their own trait; everybody in the clan can cleanse bad auras, dispel 'demons', fiends, etc). He again set off, to prove to his family that he could infact, become the heir apparent.
Rikku: Age 25. Same appearance as FFX, pretty much, but dressed a bit differently….
Wakka: Age 33. (Woahzers, someone got old!). The same as FFX but has more wrinkles.
Okay….onto the actual story, instead of me rambling! By the way, this is set roughly 10 years after Yuna defeats Sin—the end of the calm (they last about 10 years, right?).
Chapter 1: Say Hello to Haruka
I looked out at the scene before me. Alex was trying to grab her hammer from Samson (who was holding it above his head, since she had been so insistent on trying to whack him with it) , while Cain just looked on, laughing and swirling her tonfa. Well, I guess I should try and explain who this wacky group of people is, right? They're my guardians. I don't mean that in the legal sense (two of them are younger than me, for Pete's sake, and not to mention my parents are alive and well, thank you). I'm a summoner.
Samson is my older brother. Alex and Cain have been my best friends since Home was destroyed. After the Guado destroyed Home, my family moved to Luca. I decided that I wanted to be a summoner when I first met Lady Yuna. I never actually met her, I guess, just caught a passing glimpse of her. But I did see how everyone stared at her. Like she was their savior. Guess I have a hero complex, because here I am, on my way to Besaid Isle where the first summon awaits my arrival.
"Eden!" I heard a high pitched yell to my left. I spun around.
"Whhhhaattt?" I whined. "I was having a Dear Diary moment in my mind!" Cain snorted, while Samson just raised an eyebrow. I glared at him. "You don't say anything, got that?"
"Jeez, all I was going to say was that Alex has really rubbed off you on you these past few years." He said, shouldering his sword. I heard Alex mumbling under her breath about axes and wood chippers. Samson nodded towards the starboard side of the ship we were on. "We're here. Besaid."
Cain did a little happy dance with her tonfa and Alex. I laughed and joined them for a minute before we started on our way towards the temple and village. We continued on our way before Cain stopped us.
"Do….you guys hear a strange jiggling noise?" she asked. We all listened carefully. Samson gave Alex her hammer back.
"Anyone know some thunder magic?" He asked, grinning slightly. I shook my head a bit. Samson always got so amped up when he knew that he would be able to bash something in. Alex jumped up and down.
"Yeah, my sister taught me when I was younger! Lemme at 'em!" She marched off in the direction that she thought the Water Flan was in, before Cain and I grabbed her arms and redirected her. "Right!" she said. We all followed her. Alex readied her spell, before Sam shouted "Wait!". We all looked at him, with a "What-the-hell?" look on our faces.
"Cain, see if it has anything worth stealing. I have a feeling we're going to need more money sometime soon." Cain grinned and saluted Sam.
"No problem, boss!" she zoomed over to the flan while I distracted it.
"Err…hey! Hey, you! With the jello face!" it paid no attention and just kept making odd noises. I went over and whacked it on the…head….with my staff. It made angrier sounds. Alex came over and poked it. It tried to bite her. She pulled back and hit it with the backside of her hammer (the one with the little prongs to take nails out of stuff…is there a technical term? Lol.).
"Can I kill it now?" she looked to Sam, who apparently was the un-appointed leader of our little group. He looked to Cain, who was doing her little in-yo-face dance, and nodded. She readied her spell. Zap! Quick as well…lightning, she struck the water flan with a thunder. It dissolved into pyreflies, leaving behind some gil, which Sam promptly scooped up.
"We really need to get our act together. That took way too long." He criticized. Once we had started walking again, Cain and I dropped back to talk to Alex, who was bringing up the rear.
"Who shoved a monkey up HIS rear?" Cain whispered. Alex snorted.
"He's probably just worried that we'll get hurt or something. He's not that mean. Just a bit…yeah." I stood up for him. He's my older brother, so I mean…I look up to him in some sort of way.
"Just a bit…yeah" what?" Alex questioned. She must have still been steamed over him taking her hammer earlier.
'That's just how is his. He's a bit mean, maybe, but who here is the one that kicked a nine year old?" I smirked a bit. Eden: 1, Alex: Zilch. Cain's head swiveled towards Alex.
"You did WHAT?" she asked in disbelief. Alex flushed a deep crimson color.
"Well…he stole my cookie! I had to do something, right? I mean, he was a big kid! Plus, I was really hungry and it was one that I had just gotten from the bakery down the street and-" She ran into Sam.
"We're here." I said. Sam nodded, Alex put on her gloves, and Cain swirled her tonfa. "Alright, guys! Let's get out there and show them how this is done!" I yelled. I started to run down the hill separating us from the village, but Cain grabbed the back of my shirt, preventing me from doing so.
"Hey, what gives? I was looking forward to kicking some temple monster butt!" Alex questioned. Sam slapped himself on the forehead.
"We're a summoning party. We have to look cool, calm, and collected. They won't let just anyone into the temple." Cain explained. Eden nodded, while Alex looked put out. We continued at a slower, more dignified pace down the dirt path. As we entered the village, a few heads turned, but then the people went back to their business.
Switch to Alex P.O.V.
I hummed the hymn of the fayth quietly to myself. Everyone here sure took appearances to heart. I looked around for a while as Eden stopped at an item stall to look over a merchant's wares before I saw a familiar pair of grey-blue eyes and head of curly brown hair.
"SAPHIRA!!!" I screeched. Her eyes widened in surprise before I glomped her, the hood of my red sweatshirt going over my head with the impact. The force of the blow caused her to fly a few feet and quite a lot of heads to turn.
"Oowww…" I heard her mumble. I clamored off of her and picked up my hammer from where it had fallen. In my haste to see Saphira, I guess I must have dropped it. Saphira stood up, dusting the dirt from her purple Chinese style dress. She looked me over for a second before she spoke up. "I'm sorry, but…do I know you?" She looked down on me. For the millionth time in my few years on the face of Spira, I cursed the fact that she inherited more Guado traits than I had from our dad. All I got was messier hair, and big hands and feet (which bugged me more than anything, 'cause I was clumsy to begin with here).
"Here's a hint: related to you, has anger issues, can get insanely hyper." I said in a chipper voice. So what if she hadn't recognized me? I haven't seen her in…ten years. Wow. Time flies when you're becoming a smithy…and slacking off XD. Comprehension dawned on her face.
"Alex? Wow, you grew so much shorter!" she smirked at me before shouting "THUNDAGA!" the next thing I knew, I was on the ground twitching with Cain poking me with the tip of her shoe.
"Same…old…Saph…" I grunted before sitting up. Eden offered me her hand and helped me up. What can I say? After being electrocuted so many times, you start to develop a bit of an immunity to it. Well, not totally….just hurts a bit less, I guess. I shook myself off before turning to face Saphira again. Now, there were three other people with her. One of them I guessed to be a summoner. She wore a outfit not unlike the one I had seen on the statue of High Summoner Yuna at the temple in Kilika, except that it had a sun pattern at the bottom. Her staff carried on with that pattern, being orange and red with a sun at the top. The second person looked to be around 15 years old, and had long blonde hair. She wore what looked like a swimsuit top with a pair of capris. I saw a pistol clenched in her hand and gulped.
The final person with them was definitely male. He had messy black hair, and wore a half jacket that had small vials of gunpowder stashed in these semi-pocket things. He also had a huge, ornate sword with him that I immediately zoomed over to and examined.
"Hey! What're you doing to my sword?" He yelled in what I calculated to be outrage…oops…I slowly turned my head towards him before I jumped up.
"I'm Alex Taliscan, the next great blacksmith!" I struck a pose, and heard Cain and Eden cracking up at my antics. He glared at me a bit.
"Blacksmith or no, never touch my sword, got it?" I slunk back and hid behind Sam. Sometimes it was useful having tall people around you all the time. Eden rolled her eyes and pulled me to where she was standing. "Well, introduce us, Oh-Smart-One." She whispered to me. Saphira laughed a little, overhearing what Eden had said.
"I'm Saphira," she gestured to herself "The guy with the sword is Jaka, the one with the gun is Claudia. This is Summoner Haruka." The girl with the staff smiled a little and waved. Eden smiled back.
"I'm Eden. This is Samson," she pointed to her brother "Cain," Cain got into her fighting position, punched with them, and winked. "And Alex, Saphira's sister." Claudia stared at me like I was a common criminal. I fingered my gloves. Some day this was turning out to be.
A/N: SO, if anyone bothered reading this, tell me your thoughts. Too long, too short? Too boring (though this is kind of the awkward-into-first-chapter-chapter)? Too confusing? By the way, I accept flames, so whatever. You have a comment, say it, I'll accept it. Constructive criticism preferred, of course. I'll probably load pics of everyone on my deviantart, which I'll have a link to in my profile, so just clicky, etc. etc. Admittedly, there are a few plot holes, so nothing will be perfect...Love it, hate it, feel free to flame it!