Through My Eyes – by Legend – Chapter One
[Translations for Al Bhed will be included.]
Rikku heard a familiar clattering sound coming from the ruined temple hall and she jerked her head upwards quickly. She loved these new fiends her scout team had discovered while scrutinizing the abandoned place of worship. It was not a love of fascination, but more of excitement and anticipation. They provided excellent practice, and were so dangerous looking that she could not help but to give into her temptation for battle and destroy them. This creature, as she found through some brief research, was a Klikk.
With one motion of her hand, her platoon pushed forward, advancing toward the sound ahead that seemed to be careening the room in front of them. Her brother advanced to the door, and attempted to open it.
"Ed ec mulgat! (It is locked!)" he groaned to Rikku. He tried once more. "Un ed maycd eds cdilg! (Or at least it's stuck!)"
"Fryd? (What?)" Rikku snapped. "Veha! (Move!)"
Brother stepped aside, and Rikku reached into a pocket in her suit, scrounging for an item. When at last she found it, she held it up slowly, signaling the impending danger to those around her. Her troop took a few steps back for cover, as Rikku watched over her shoulder. When she was certain they were far enough away, she pulled something out of the item in her hand, and tossed it at the door. She gracefully back flipped away from the door, landing when the explosion set off. The force made her slide into her brother who caught her in his arms. She pushed off of him, in a turning motion, forcing herself to face the dusty wake of the grenade. She waited for the dust to settle, and took off into the room. She made out a boy, standing before the Klikk, and paused. Noticing once again the threat before him, she sped to his side, eager to both exterminate the fiend, and figure out who this person was. She felt his eyes on her, and she tried to ignore it, and keep focused. She pulled out another one of the explosives she had used on the door, and repeated the motions as if she had been using them for her entire life, flinging the weapon at the fiend. The small item landed below the Klikk, detonating upon impact with the floor. The boy beside her raised his forearm to shield his eyes from the rush of air carrying quite a cloud of dust and bits of debris.
"Wow! You're on my side? Cool!" she heard him say.
Not Al Bhed, she took in. *He's probably a Yevonite.* She thought to herself. *Just great.*
Rikku reached for another explosive quickly after the dust settled once again, noticing that the Klikk was still alive, and diving for the boy beside her. To her amazement, he jumped away with ease. Before she could pull the pin from her explosive, the boy counter attacked the fiend with startling force using the long sword in his right hand. The sheer force of the blade was enough to severe two limbs, and sent the Klikk to the floor. Rikku raised a brow, staring half at the marvelous boy, and half at the pyre flies that were leaving the fiends body as its life faded away.
Rikku raised her hand again, giving yet again the signal for her troops to advance and give her back up. Her friends seized the boy with a necessary force that without a doubt let him know that they meant business.
"Fryd ec drec? (What is this?)" Ropp, the man with the blue bandanna replied.
"Y fiend! Eh risyh teckieca (A fiend! In human disguise!)," another man wearing goggles said.
"Oac! Ed ec cu! (Yes! It is so!)" a few of them said at once.
He struggled a bit, and the appearance of a long, jagged knife calmed his nerves for the time being.
"Fa gemm ed (We kill it?)?" Nedus, the muscular one in the gas mask asked of Rikku.
"Fyed! Fryd ev ed ec risyh (Wait! What if it is human?)?" Rikku shot back at the hastily violent Nedus.
"Drao yna dra cysa eh taydr. (They are the same in death.)" Nedus replied, pressing the blade against the boy's throat roughly, causing the blonde swordsman to tense.
Rikku contemplated briefly, and came to her own conclusion. *He's amazingly strong, and could be useful.* She grinned subtly. *And he's…* She cleared her mind.
"E vunpet ed! Fa pnehk ed fedr ic. (I forbid it! We bring it with us!)" She told Nedus, who dropped his blade, and released the boy. The boy jerked away and stumbled toward Rikku. He stopped in front of her, and his eyes widened.
Rikku leaned toward him, putting her mouth near his ear.
"Cunno (Sorry)," the last thing she said, before slamming her fist hard into his gut. The boy let out a grunt, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he slumped to the floor. Rikku motioned for her crew to carry the body after her, and follow her back through the opening from which they came.
***
Rikku sat on a rotating chair in the bridge of the machina barge. She scratched her head, pondering the prisoner they had acquired in the Baaj temple ruins. She pictured his face. She remembered his smooth fighting style, and graceful blade handling skills. She admired the precise blow which had rendered the fiend incapacitated, and soon killed it. She sighed noticeably loud, leaning back in the chair which, under her weight, tipped back slightly. The man standing near the main control panel turned to her curiously.
"Ahuikr! Dryd ec ouin vevdr desa cekrehk! Fryd ec ouin bnupmas? (Enough! That is your fifth time sighing! What is your problem?)" Cid, her father, asked irritatedly.
"Ed ec hudrehk… E femm ku du caa dka puo huf (It is nothing… I will go to see the boy now.)." Rikku replied nonchalantly, getting up from her seat suddenly.
"Fryd vun? (What for?)" he called to her.
"Yhcfanc (Answers)," she said, just as she exited through the automated door, which closed behind her.
Rikku continued out to the deck of the ship to where the boy had been left. When she got to the door, she stopped suddenly. With an abrupt about face, she retraced her steps until she came to the door to the bridge and hung a right into the kitchen. She grabbed one of the food trays and placed a fine amount of cuisine onto it for the boy, before returning to the deck exit.
What she found when the door opened, was a boy sprawled out on his back, groaning pitifully. She tiptoed behind him, so that she was looking down over his head from behind, and smiled. He opened his eyes to see her, and jump upwards awkwardly, only to fall again. She handed him the tray, forcing back laughter, trying to seem calm, yet affable.
He graciously accepted it, and immediately, to her surprise, began shoveling down the food with his bare hands, repulsing chomping sounds coupled with smacking and slurping sounds; only to be accompanied by sounds of gulping greeted her ears.
She winced, but soon the look of irritation and annoyance left her face; instead replaced by a slight smile and a chuckle. The boy tried unsuccessfully to cough, and thudded his balled fist into his chest in attempt to clear his clogged throat for air. He fell backwards, and rolled around. Rikku quickly reached for a canteen of water, and handed it to him, which he snatched from her quickly and guzzled. A whoosh of air left his lungs after the many gulps of water, and he slumped back satisfied and relieved.
"It's because you eat too fast." Rikku explained.
The boy stopped suddenly, taken aback by the first communication that he had understood from anyone since he arrived in this strange place.
"You can understand me!" the boy noted.
Rikku nodded, smiling.
"Why didn't you just talk to me before?"
"There was no time for that; everyone thought you were a fiend!" Rikku told him, motioning with her finger a slash across the throat.
"Who are you guys anyway?" the boy asked quizzically.
"We're Al Bhed, can't you tell?" Rikku replied. She turned, leaning her back over the railing of the ship, her elbows supporting her body, while her forearms hung comfortably. Her wet suit, with intricate, Al Bhed design shone in the moonlight, and perfectly complimented the tones and curves of her petite frame. She looked down at herself casually from her position, and grinned smugly to herself before turning back to the boy. She noticed his eyes were on the same thing. The boy noticed her looking up at him and averted his gaze back out over the ship, so that he was facing the direction Rikku's back was.
"Hey, you're not an Al Bhed hated are you?" Rikku asked.
"I don't even know what an 'Al Bhed' is!" the teen exclaimed.
*Is he insane?* Rikku thought to herself. This guy didn't seem to know anything!
"Where are you from?"
"Zanarkand," the boy replied. "I play blitzball there."
Rikku only stared back blankly, a bit taken aback from the remark.
"Star player of the Zanarkand Abes…" Tidus remarked again, as if trying to remind her of something she should know. He made a kicking motion at the motion of 'Star player'.
"Did you hit your head or something?"
"Yeah, by you guys," he retorted.
Rikku gulped, remembering their harsh encounter earlier.
"Do you remember anything before that?"
"It's a long story… but I guess we've got all the time in the world out here, huh…" Rikku nodded, shifting positions as if very interested. "Well, okay. Here goes nothing."
"The last time I was in Zanarkand, was, from what I can tell, only a day or so ago. I was playing in the championship blitzball game there at the stadium, and we were ahead. I jumped up for a sphere shot, and upon executing the back flip, I saw a huge, and extra emphasis on huge, monster attack the city. He fired what looked like large energy blasts at the buildings, and all I could think about was stopping myself from falling into the crumbling stadium. I grabbed onto a ledge, and I couldn't hang on, so I fell into the debris below. When I regained consciousness, I was near the stadium. I found a friend, and he helped me escape from the city. He told me the big monster was called Sin. We were trying to escape, when the bridge gave way. He caught me by the shirt, and told me that my story was about to begin. Before I could reply, we were sucked into some light. That's when I awoke in some water outside that place. A huge fiend attacked me, and chased me inside, locking me in. That's where I met you guys.
"Are you feeling okay?" Rikku said when he finished.
The boy raised a brow. "Why, did I say something funny?"
"You were near Sin," Rikku said after a long pause, "don't worry, we'll fix you up. When people get close to Sin, their heads usually get mixed up."
"You think I'm sick?"
"Sin's toxin got to you."
"What?"
"Never mind, anyway, Zanarkand doesn't exist anymore," Rikku explained,"Zanarkand was destroyed by Sin a thousand years ago!" She paused, noticing the startled look on his face. "So… Nobody plays blitzball there."
"What? I saw Sin attack Zanarkand! You're saying it happened a thousand years ago? No way!"
Rikku couldn't believe this. She had heard of people forgetting things due to Sin's toxin, but this is the most extreme case she'd ever seen! It wasn't, however, in her nature to just leave someone in this state of confusion or peril, so she explained to him that she would help. *If he's a blitzball player, then maybe someone will recognize him in Luca.* She thought. Until then, I'll try and keep him here with me. No need to waste such a beautiful and interesting human being.
[Translations for Al Bhed will be included.]
Rikku heard a familiar clattering sound coming from the ruined temple hall and she jerked her head upwards quickly. She loved these new fiends her scout team had discovered while scrutinizing the abandoned place of worship. It was not a love of fascination, but more of excitement and anticipation. They provided excellent practice, and were so dangerous looking that she could not help but to give into her temptation for battle and destroy them. This creature, as she found through some brief research, was a Klikk.
With one motion of her hand, her platoon pushed forward, advancing toward the sound ahead that seemed to be careening the room in front of them. Her brother advanced to the door, and attempted to open it.
"Ed ec mulgat! (It is locked!)" he groaned to Rikku. He tried once more. "Un ed maycd eds cdilg! (Or at least it's stuck!)"
"Fryd? (What?)" Rikku snapped. "Veha! (Move!)"
Brother stepped aside, and Rikku reached into a pocket in her suit, scrounging for an item. When at last she found it, she held it up slowly, signaling the impending danger to those around her. Her troop took a few steps back for cover, as Rikku watched over her shoulder. When she was certain they were far enough away, she pulled something out of the item in her hand, and tossed it at the door. She gracefully back flipped away from the door, landing when the explosion set off. The force made her slide into her brother who caught her in his arms. She pushed off of him, in a turning motion, forcing herself to face the dusty wake of the grenade. She waited for the dust to settle, and took off into the room. She made out a boy, standing before the Klikk, and paused. Noticing once again the threat before him, she sped to his side, eager to both exterminate the fiend, and figure out who this person was. She felt his eyes on her, and she tried to ignore it, and keep focused. She pulled out another one of the explosives she had used on the door, and repeated the motions as if she had been using them for her entire life, flinging the weapon at the fiend. The small item landed below the Klikk, detonating upon impact with the floor. The boy beside her raised his forearm to shield his eyes from the rush of air carrying quite a cloud of dust and bits of debris.
"Wow! You're on my side? Cool!" she heard him say.
Not Al Bhed, she took in. *He's probably a Yevonite.* She thought to herself. *Just great.*
Rikku reached for another explosive quickly after the dust settled once again, noticing that the Klikk was still alive, and diving for the boy beside her. To her amazement, he jumped away with ease. Before she could pull the pin from her explosive, the boy counter attacked the fiend with startling force using the long sword in his right hand. The sheer force of the blade was enough to severe two limbs, and sent the Klikk to the floor. Rikku raised a brow, staring half at the marvelous boy, and half at the pyre flies that were leaving the fiends body as its life faded away.
Rikku raised her hand again, giving yet again the signal for her troops to advance and give her back up. Her friends seized the boy with a necessary force that without a doubt let him know that they meant business.
"Fryd ec drec? (What is this?)" Ropp, the man with the blue bandanna replied.
"Y fiend! Eh risyh teckieca (A fiend! In human disguise!)," another man wearing goggles said.
"Oac! Ed ec cu! (Yes! It is so!)" a few of them said at once.
He struggled a bit, and the appearance of a long, jagged knife calmed his nerves for the time being.
"Fa gemm ed (We kill it?)?" Nedus, the muscular one in the gas mask asked of Rikku.
"Fyed! Fryd ev ed ec risyh (Wait! What if it is human?)?" Rikku shot back at the hastily violent Nedus.
"Drao yna dra cysa eh taydr. (They are the same in death.)" Nedus replied, pressing the blade against the boy's throat roughly, causing the blonde swordsman to tense.
Rikku contemplated briefly, and came to her own conclusion. *He's amazingly strong, and could be useful.* She grinned subtly. *And he's…* She cleared her mind.
"E vunpet ed! Fa pnehk ed fedr ic. (I forbid it! We bring it with us!)" She told Nedus, who dropped his blade, and released the boy. The boy jerked away and stumbled toward Rikku. He stopped in front of her, and his eyes widened.
Rikku leaned toward him, putting her mouth near his ear.
"Cunno (Sorry)," the last thing she said, before slamming her fist hard into his gut. The boy let out a grunt, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he slumped to the floor. Rikku motioned for her crew to carry the body after her, and follow her back through the opening from which they came.
***
Rikku sat on a rotating chair in the bridge of the machina barge. She scratched her head, pondering the prisoner they had acquired in the Baaj temple ruins. She pictured his face. She remembered his smooth fighting style, and graceful blade handling skills. She admired the precise blow which had rendered the fiend incapacitated, and soon killed it. She sighed noticeably loud, leaning back in the chair which, under her weight, tipped back slightly. The man standing near the main control panel turned to her curiously.
"Ahuikr! Dryd ec ouin vevdr desa cekrehk! Fryd ec ouin bnupmas? (Enough! That is your fifth time sighing! What is your problem?)" Cid, her father, asked irritatedly.
"Ed ec hudrehk… E femm ku du caa dka puo huf (It is nothing… I will go to see the boy now.)." Rikku replied nonchalantly, getting up from her seat suddenly.
"Fryd vun? (What for?)" he called to her.
"Yhcfanc (Answers)," she said, just as she exited through the automated door, which closed behind her.
Rikku continued out to the deck of the ship to where the boy had been left. When she got to the door, she stopped suddenly. With an abrupt about face, she retraced her steps until she came to the door to the bridge and hung a right into the kitchen. She grabbed one of the food trays and placed a fine amount of cuisine onto it for the boy, before returning to the deck exit.
What she found when the door opened, was a boy sprawled out on his back, groaning pitifully. She tiptoed behind him, so that she was looking down over his head from behind, and smiled. He opened his eyes to see her, and jump upwards awkwardly, only to fall again. She handed him the tray, forcing back laughter, trying to seem calm, yet affable.
He graciously accepted it, and immediately, to her surprise, began shoveling down the food with his bare hands, repulsing chomping sounds coupled with smacking and slurping sounds; only to be accompanied by sounds of gulping greeted her ears.
She winced, but soon the look of irritation and annoyance left her face; instead replaced by a slight smile and a chuckle. The boy tried unsuccessfully to cough, and thudded his balled fist into his chest in attempt to clear his clogged throat for air. He fell backwards, and rolled around. Rikku quickly reached for a canteen of water, and handed it to him, which he snatched from her quickly and guzzled. A whoosh of air left his lungs after the many gulps of water, and he slumped back satisfied and relieved.
"It's because you eat too fast." Rikku explained.
The boy stopped suddenly, taken aback by the first communication that he had understood from anyone since he arrived in this strange place.
"You can understand me!" the boy noted.
Rikku nodded, smiling.
"Why didn't you just talk to me before?"
"There was no time for that; everyone thought you were a fiend!" Rikku told him, motioning with her finger a slash across the throat.
"Who are you guys anyway?" the boy asked quizzically.
"We're Al Bhed, can't you tell?" Rikku replied. She turned, leaning her back over the railing of the ship, her elbows supporting her body, while her forearms hung comfortably. Her wet suit, with intricate, Al Bhed design shone in the moonlight, and perfectly complimented the tones and curves of her petite frame. She looked down at herself casually from her position, and grinned smugly to herself before turning back to the boy. She noticed his eyes were on the same thing. The boy noticed her looking up at him and averted his gaze back out over the ship, so that he was facing the direction Rikku's back was.
"Hey, you're not an Al Bhed hated are you?" Rikku asked.
"I don't even know what an 'Al Bhed' is!" the teen exclaimed.
*Is he insane?* Rikku thought to herself. This guy didn't seem to know anything!
"Where are you from?"
"Zanarkand," the boy replied. "I play blitzball there."
Rikku only stared back blankly, a bit taken aback from the remark.
"Star player of the Zanarkand Abes…" Tidus remarked again, as if trying to remind her of something she should know. He made a kicking motion at the motion of 'Star player'.
"Did you hit your head or something?"
"Yeah, by you guys," he retorted.
Rikku gulped, remembering their harsh encounter earlier.
"Do you remember anything before that?"
"It's a long story… but I guess we've got all the time in the world out here, huh…" Rikku nodded, shifting positions as if very interested. "Well, okay. Here goes nothing."
"The last time I was in Zanarkand, was, from what I can tell, only a day or so ago. I was playing in the championship blitzball game there at the stadium, and we were ahead. I jumped up for a sphere shot, and upon executing the back flip, I saw a huge, and extra emphasis on huge, monster attack the city. He fired what looked like large energy blasts at the buildings, and all I could think about was stopping myself from falling into the crumbling stadium. I grabbed onto a ledge, and I couldn't hang on, so I fell into the debris below. When I regained consciousness, I was near the stadium. I found a friend, and he helped me escape from the city. He told me the big monster was called Sin. We were trying to escape, when the bridge gave way. He caught me by the shirt, and told me that my story was about to begin. Before I could reply, we were sucked into some light. That's when I awoke in some water outside that place. A huge fiend attacked me, and chased me inside, locking me in. That's where I met you guys.
"Are you feeling okay?" Rikku said when he finished.
The boy raised a brow. "Why, did I say something funny?"
"You were near Sin," Rikku said after a long pause, "don't worry, we'll fix you up. When people get close to Sin, their heads usually get mixed up."
"You think I'm sick?"
"Sin's toxin got to you."
"What?"
"Never mind, anyway, Zanarkand doesn't exist anymore," Rikku explained,"Zanarkand was destroyed by Sin a thousand years ago!" She paused, noticing the startled look on his face. "So… Nobody plays blitzball there."
"What? I saw Sin attack Zanarkand! You're saying it happened a thousand years ago? No way!"
Rikku couldn't believe this. She had heard of people forgetting things due to Sin's toxin, but this is the most extreme case she'd ever seen! It wasn't, however, in her nature to just leave someone in this state of confusion or peril, so she explained to him that she would help. *If he's a blitzball player, then maybe someone will recognize him in Luca.* She thought. Until then, I'll try and keep him here with me. No need to waste such a beautiful and interesting human being.