I don't own Square Enix. Just in case you were wondering.
My Hope?
Day 1: Arrival
"Home sweet home...Welcome to Gran Pulse."
Despite Vanille's wild cheers, Hope Estheim couldn't help but feel that almost being swallowed by a giant sky worm wasn't the best omen for the future. He buried his face in Bahamut's spines as Dahaka spun in the air to face them again, but the Fal'Cie merely swooped on the remnants of the airship. Nonetheless, Fang was unwilling to tempt fate and brought her Eidolon down on a vacant clifftop. Vacant, that is, courtesy of a Pulsar Burst. Lightning was the first to hit Pulse soil, rolling upright with Gladius in hand to scan her surroundings. Surprisingly, Sazh followed almost as quickly. Once they weren't immediately ambushed, Snow let Hope follow, before dropping down himself. Fang and Vanille, of course, were joined at the hip in all their actions, and entered into a whispered discussion immediately on landing.
Following Sazh's example, Hope threw himself flat and hugged the ground, happy to have reached it without being splattered over a wide radius. His eyes closed, he picked up the occasional word from behind him.
"Dahaka's range ... Taijin ..."
"Open plain?"
"...Cliff..."
"...thought... saw Titan."
"You think...?
"Mmm-hmm."
"Damn."
He was dragged to his feet, not unkindly, and met Lightning's eyes.
"You okay?"
"I'll live. You?
She shrugged. Snow, behind them, was about to give his own status report when Fang dismissed her Eidolon and thwacked the still prone Sazh hard in the shoulder.
"Ow! What the-"
"Sorry, but we don't have time to hang around. This is the Steppe. It's what Cocoon had in mind when they first said Pulse was hell." The spearwielder looked to Vanille. "You remember, right?"
The girl nodded. "BAAD."
"Right. Behemoths. Adamantortoises. Adamanchelids. And Dahaka. The things you need to avoid if you want to survive a crossing. There's lots of other stuff too −Tonberries, Gigantuars, Zirnitrae− but there's not so many of them. We should be okay for the moment, but we need to get moving before the weather turns. In fog or rain, we might not see something coming before it lands on us. We can't stick around."
"How about Bahamut?" Hope didn't want to trek through the aforementioned horrors if he didn't have to.
"Dahaka − he's the Fal'Cie that introduced himself back there− doesn't like things in his way. He might not give up so easily next time. It's going to be a long walk."
Had he had the time, Hope would have covered his face, but they were already running.
'Pulse is hell'. And I brought us here.
Thanks for reading. Reviews appreciated, compliments not compulsory.
