Author's Note: In this file I will place cut scenes from my other fic, Totem. These scenes were either cut out or just not used in the fic at all, but eventually I just decided to write a few of them out and put them up anyway... since I know you guys love my writing so much. The titles of the chapter here will indicate where they fall in the storyline of Totem, and they're not necessarily in order. For example, the first one is "Chapter 6.5" which means it falls in between Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 of Totem.

Hm, yeah. Before reading these scenes, you should probably go to my author profile and read Totem first. It'll make much more sense in the long run.

Thanks, RyRy

Chapter 6.5 -- Kilika Woods

Gippal and Baralai walked down the pathways in the forest of Kilika. "What're we supposed to be looking for?" Gippal demanded, looking around in confusion. "A tree of three trunks? All these trees have split trunks... how are we supposed to know?"

"I assume it'll be probably in some forgotten, difficult-to-access place," Baralai muttered, stepping over a log that had fallen across the path. "Down some inaccessible path, or underground, or across a pool of hot lava--"

"Gentlemen," Nooj broke in, his voice carrying through the trees. "There's a path in the underbrush here."

"--or down a path in the underbrush," Gippal finished for Baralai, giving the other man an affectionate push on the shoulder.

Baralai shook his head at Gippal and crossed through the thick brush to reach Nooj's position. Once they both had arrived there, they saw exactly what Nooj had meant -- a path that seemed to have been covered with leaves and various other brush, and quite possibly intentionally.

"This has to be it," Gippal said hopefully, clearing off a portion of the brush with his foot. "Who would intentionally cover a path?"

"If it's not going to the tree we're looking for, at least there'd better be something interesting back here," Baralai added, being the first to take the steps down the covered path.

It took them a while, but eventually the sound of running water caught their attention and guided them to a clearing. Once the three of them practically tumbled out of the tangle of bushes barring the end of the path, they were met with a spectacular sight.

This was obviously the source of the sound of the running water. A stream before them cascaded along a small riverbed, obviously once housing a great river that had substantially dried up over the years. Water still ran there, though, and even collected in a rather large pool in the center of the clearing before flowing out the other side down towards the ocean.

"Wow," Baralai said, taking a few steps forward to investigate. "The tree must be around here somewhere..."

"It has to be," Nooj agreed with a smirk. "A place like this can't just exist without a purpose."

"Let's look around," Gippal said, walking towards the small river. "You guys check this side -- I'm gonna go look at those trees over on the other side."

"Be careful," Nooj warned quickly. "We've still got your sphere over here."

Gippal rolled his eye at Nooj and continued toward the river.

Once there, Gippal removed his boots and the thick socks he wore to keep sand from irritating his feet. They wouldn't do him any good in the water, and the last thing he wanted was to have to walk around the woods for the rest of the day with wet shoes. He piled them on the ground along with the small gun he was carrying and his hand knives -- it wouldn't do to get those wet either. After he had suitably rolled his pants up to keep them from getting wet as well, Gippal poked his foot in the water, and instantly squealed like a girl.

It caught the attention of the other two, and Nooj and Baralai turned and gave Gippal an odd look.

"Eheh," Gippal said, looking downwards and hiding behind his hand. "The, err, water's cold, guys? You wouldn't believe."

That did earn a laugh out of Nooj, and an amused headshake from Baralai, but the two didn't even make a single offer to assist. That irritated Gippal just slightly, but then again, what exactly was he expecting them to do, pick him up and throw him over? While that did sound like fun, it would be pretty difficult to get back to the other side...

Anyway, Gippal was now more aware of how cold the water was and decided to try again. He put his foot in the water and managed to retain his girlish squeal, even though the water seemed even colder this time, and eventually managed to get himself fully standing in the water on top of a nice, flat rock.

Feeling rather proud of himself, Gippal decided to take another step to what looked like a rather stable curved rock that rose near the surface of the running water.

It wasn't a rock.

Gippal didn't know what it was, but it grabbed him around the ankle and pulled him downstream with the force of a thousand hovers.

This sudden turn of events really provoked a girlish scream out of Gippal, one that probably surprised Nooj and Baralai with its authenticity.

Gippal couldn't figure out what had happened; had he slipped and was he being carried downstream by the water, or was he being pulled by something, or...? He couldn't understand why, whenever he grabbed onto a rock or a rather large plant, his grip always slid free and he couldn't manage to even slow himself down.

The realization hit him that he was moving faster than the water.

"What in the hell?" Nooj exclaimed as he arrived at the edge of the bank. He saw that Gippal had something attached to his ankle, but that didn't seem like a big deal. He reached out his arm to help Gippal, for the other man to grab onto to stop himself from being carried all the way downstream to the pool and, quite possibly, being pulled underneath. Though Nooj knew Gippal could hold his breath for five minutes like all Al Bhed could, it didn't stop him from being a little concerned that whatever that was that had Gippal's ankle was going to try to kill him.

Apparently, Nooj underestimated things. When Gippal grabbed his hand, a force acted on Nooj's arm that entirely threw him off balance. He lost his footing -- he thought he had been well-anchored with the heavy machina half of him, enough to at least be of some assistance to Gippal.

"Nooj!!" Baralai shouted, leaping over from his position a few feet away, grabbing at Nooj's waist, hips, legs, feet, anything he could possibly reach. It didn't help -- Nooj was wrenched out of his grasp by the combined forces of Gippal and the current or whatever it was that was pulling Gippal away.

Baralai panicked, and immediately started disrobing. He was going to have to jump in and rescue them. He hated water, oh so very much.

Meanwhile, Gippal had latched onto Nooj, because he was sturdy and stable and certainly not water. Nooj didn't appreciate this very much, but it was what happened and there was really nothing he could do about it. "Gippal, kick it, get loose," he instructed, even though his words were obscured by the quick flowing of the water.

"Can't," Gippal said, feeling a rock slam painfully into his lower back. "Knotted, can't... ow!" Another rock.

"Son of a bitch," Nooj cursed, feeling a similar rock in his right shoulder. Of course it had to get his right shoulder. It couldn't possibly get the metal one which he couldn't really feel anyway, because that would have been convenient.

Gippal suddenly realized that it was his fault Nooj was in here, and promptly let go of the other man.

"No you don't," Nooj replied and grabbed Gippal's shoulders with his hands. This wasn't the smartest thing he could have done. The force from the riverbed combined with his changing velocity as he was let go and then caught back onto the fast-moving Gippal flung him up into the air, over the surface of the water, landing sprawled out in a vaguely piggy-backed position on top of Gippal.

Gippal said something, probably an expletive, in Al Bhed, and tried to turn his body. Before he could do so, he became very aware of the sudden lack of a riverbed.

They had been pulled into the pool, the middle of the clearing where the water collected before flowing out into the woods again. This was almost a relief... until Gippal felt something peculiar.

There was a very distinct, very slimy, very disgusting feeling coming from his legs. Whatever had grabbed his ankle before had now grabbed his other ankle and was slithering up his leg... and there was another feeling... something around his waist...

Gippal was afraid to look down. Terribly afraid.

He did, however. And let out a far more frightened, far less girlish scream than he ever had before.

There were tentacles wrapped around him. Two had his legs, slithering around the bottoms of his pants, and a third had wound its way around his hips and waist.

He got the distinct impression that the tentacles were pulling downward, and not on his body.

"Nooj!" he screamed, kicking at the tentacles to try to get away. His shouts dissolved into more incoherent syllables as he felt the tip of one of the slimy plant-like objects on his back, near the waistline of his pants, wet and slithering against his skin as it worked its way underneath the fabric of his pants. Gippal almost retched, but it turned into more desperate screams as he thrashed against the thing which had its hold on him, trying desperately to get away.

He wished like hell he hadn't left his weapons on the shore.

As if responding to that thought, the tentacles pulled him downward into the water, breaking underneath the surface. Gippal barely had time to intake breath before water rushed into his mouth, and he felt the arms of the thing pushing deeper under his clothes. The whole situation was so surreal that it didn't disturb Gippal quite yet -- he was too busy trying to get away.

Another tentacle, leaving a slimy trail along his skin, curled up around his neck and grazed his cheek. Gippal wrenched his eye closed, not wanting to look at the disgusting green slimy thing that seemed to have a mind all its own.

It was poking at his mouth.

The tip of that green slimy tentacle was running along the edge of Gippal's lips, leaving a trail that Gippal could feel there, and now it was using force.

Why in the hell would a tentacled monster be trying to push its way into his mouth??

Gippal thought it was disgusting and disturbing until he realized that the thing was trying its damnedest to push its way into other orifices as well.

That, indeed, caused Gippal to struggle even more. He kicked as much as he could at the tentacles holding him down, suddenly realizing that he really could have used more air in his lungs, until he heard a scream from underneath him.

Looking down, Gippal saw a flash of silver. It was either a fish or Nooj, and Gippal was really hoping for the latter.

He realized slowly that the scream wasn't really human and had come from below him. He then looked over, saw a dagger lodged in the tentacle beside him, and realized that the tentacles had let go of him. Kicking fiercely, he swam towards the surface, needing to get away from that disgusting thing that had attacked him.

Breaking the surface, Gippal inhaled deeply, looking around for the nearest shore. He saw that Nooj had surfaced nearby, but realized that he was probably going to have some trouble swimming with a non-water-based half of a body. With a powerful kick of the legs, Gippal propelled himself over to Nooj and grabbed the man around the waist, proceeding to haul him toward the shore.

Towards Baralai.

Who was standing there armed with a pair of firearms.

Appropriately so, since seconds later a loud splash indicated that the tentacled thing wasn't done with them yet. Gippal shouted half in fear and half in disgust, shoving Nooj onto the bank of the pool. As the other man hauled himself upwards, Gippal did similarly... except he was too slow.

He could feel the slithering sensation against his leg again, sliding up under the pants, across the skin, making a strange slurping noise--

--followed by a barrage of gunshots.

Hearing that loud, shrill scream, Gippal took the opportunity to climb onto the ground, depositing himself in a heap next to Nooj, panting and dripping wet. The gunshots continued, and Gippal even found himself covering his ears from the screaming of the plant.

Finally, the noise ceased after a loud splash in the water behind him. Uncovering his ears, Gippal looked up sheepishly at Baralai, who was still holding the guns at ready position in both hands. A thin cloud of smoke rose into the air, partially obscuring his face. "Geez Lai," Gippal murmured, looking back towards the remnants of the plant in the center of the pond. "You really annihilated that thing."

"Never knew you were so good with the machina, Praetor," Nooj teased, wringing the water out of his hair.

Gippal looked over at Nooj gratefully. The plant had freaked him out so much that he had almost forgotten that Nooj had gone into the water to save him; and now, likely, the man would probably pay for it by having the metal joints creaking for the rest of the day. Gippal made a mental note that as soon as he was dry and had access to his supplies that he would remedy Nooj's future problem.

Baralai lowered his weapons, and dropped them on the ground. "I'm just glad you're alright," he said to the other two, walking towards them and crouching to inspect for wounds. "You are alright, aren't you? That thing didn't do anything to you?"

"I... think..." Gippal shook his head, adjusting his pants. The reality of what that plant -- that fiend! -- had been trying to do to him fell on his brain like a ton of bricks off the edge of an airship. "No, I think I'm okay," he finished, looking back at the water apprehensively. That plant-fiend had been trying to tentacle-rape him! Gippal certainly would not have enjoyed that, no matter what anyone said. "You really saved my ass, Lai."

Baralai shook his head, waving it off. "You were giving it quite a fight. Most people would have just given up--"

"And probably enjoyed it," Nooj muttered. At least, that's what Gippal thought he heard, and it made his stomach clench.

Enjoy that?? Was that even possible?

Who in their right mind would enjoy being raped by a cold, squishy, tentacled fiend?

Gippal didn't want to think about it anymore. "So," he said, running his hands through his wet hair to dislodge some of the water particles, "shall we continue on our search for the tree?" He picked up one of his boots and began to lace it up.

Nooj snickered deep in his throat. "I'm surprised you can even walk."

Gippal laughed bitterly and threw his other boot at Nooj.