Author's notes
Greetings! I finally made a fic and posted the first chapter here. I hope you like it!
There will be some spoilers if you haven't yet played the game through, so you have been warned. This story is purely fictional and I do not own any of the characters or anything from Final Fantasy X . And, it's my first fic, so I would appreciate some reviews.
"I thought we walked past this large tree once before already?" Auron asked, and Jecht waved his right hand; "Don't be silly, Auron. Every tree looks alike in this forest." They arrived to a crossroad, the path split in two: first one went to the right and the second went to the left. Braska looked troubled and muttered aloud his thoughts; "I wonder which one we'll have to take.."
"To the left!" Jecht answered right away and marched along that path which lead deeper into the thick forest. "Are you sure that this is the right path? How can you know?" Auron shouted after the man which has already disappeared among the leaves, plants and trees surrounding them. Jecht's laughter came from the forest;" Auron, Auron, Auron. I wouldn't't mislead you, now would I? This is the right course. I can feel it, man." "And I can feel that this means trouble for us.." Auron muttered under his breath as he followed Braska.
After walking along the path for some time they began to heard noise which sounded like a torrent. The arrived to the edge of large crack in the ground, it was an enormous canyon which contained a roaring river at it's bottom. On their right they saw an old man standing and watching across the canyon. Jecht walked up to him;" Hey, old man, could you tell me where this canyon can be crossed?" Old man shook his head slowly, and pointed to the right with his hand; "It can not be crossed at the moment, lad. There was a bridge, but it broke over a month ago and it's not rebuilt yet. Where are you heading?"
At that moment Auron and Braska appeared from the forest. "To the Macalania's Temple." Braska's calm voice answered, and he smiled friendly to the old man. The man jumped a bit and his eyes went wide in surprise; "L…Lord Braska! This is a honor!" "I assure you, the pleasure is all mine." Braska smiled softly, and looked across the canyon; "So there isn't any way to cross this? We have to get to the temple as soon as possible." "I am truly sorry, my lord, but the temple isn't at this side of the forest. It's on the other side, I wonder how you ended up in here?" the old man answered, looking surprised. "I knew it! We're lost!" Auron snorted and looked at Braska; "My lord, Jecht evidently does not know the correct way to the temple. We could use a guide." Jecht opened his mouth in an attempt to protest, but was silenced by Braska's wave of hand; "You're right, Auron, we could use the skills of a guide."
Suddenly they heard a yell; "Carl? Where are you?" The old man gave out a little laugh and clapped his hands together before yelling back; "I'm here, my dear." A young woman appeared from the woods, looking frustrated and worried, but relieved when seeing the old man; "Carl! Your wife is looking for you, she really cares for your safety and doesn't't like that you come here.. What if some fiend would attack you? Next time tell me before leaving, I'll come with you." Carl just smiled and patted woman's right shoulder; "Yes yes, I'll do that." It was after that answer when the woman became aware that the three men who Carl was talking with weren't familiar to her. And it took only few heartbeats when she recognized one of them; "Lord Braska!? Forgive for my rudeness, it is an honor to meet you!" She bowed to lord Braska and greeted his guardians. "Do not worry about it. And you were..?" Braska asked with a smile, and young woman blushed a little;" Oh! I am Faye. Can I ask what're you doing here? The temple is so far away, I've thought you don't have any spare time to visit villages like ours.." She added quickly before Braska could answer; "B-But it is a pleasure to have you visit us, we are really grateful, Your Highness." "Oh I gladly pay a visit in Macalana, but you're right, we do not have any spare time. Unfortunately, we got lost in our way to the temple and now we're in need of a skilled guide." "Really? I-" a smile rose to Faye's lips, but she was cut off by Carl; "Faye." "But Carl! I know this forest throughout!" Faye defended oneself and crossed her arms; "You can't deny that." "This.. Guardian -thing, it's dangerous. I don't want for you to hurt yourself, or get killed by some large fiends.. You don't know what's out there." Carl answered and Faye sighted; "You really won't give up this time either, huh?"
Carl looked at the woman and sighted heavily; "Well you're all grown up, you can decide for your own life. I won't stand in your way anymore, dear." "Thank you. And you aren't in my way, Carl.. I appreciate your concern." Faye smiled to him and hugged him gently. "Do I understand correct, would you like to become a guardian?" Braska asked and Faye bowed to him; "Yes, my lord. I.. I want to assist a summoner in their pilgrimage. More than just guiding them to the temple like the last time.."
Braska looked straight into her eyes; "You do understand that a guardian will sacrifice their life if needed to for the summoner to survive and proceed their journey?" "I understand." Faye told him, and Braska looked at the other two men; "Well?" "It's your decision, my lord." Auron answered and Jecht scratched his head;" You seem to be pretty confident and determined about this." "I've known this since a dear friend of mine went to her journey. She fell because her guardian, she took only one, betrayed her when they encountered some unknown and enormous fiend. I offered to become her guardian but.. She told me that she would not want for me to get myself killed because of her. I had to let her go to that journey.." Faye told him, looking Jecht with a hardened face. Braska closed his eyes, muttering a little prayer before speaking; "My commiserations." "Thank you, my lord." Faye thanked him, and Jecht cleared his throat; "Ehm. I.. I see no reason why you shouldn't't become a guardian." "Thank you." Faye said, and looked at the three men, her expression a mixture of joy and some sadness.
"I know that you're in a hurry, but could you stay a night in our village? It'll take five hours to travel to the temple. I assume you're exhausted." Carl suggested, and after little thinking Braska decided that they'll stay in the village for this night. He thought that Faye would like to say goodbye to her friends and other townsfolk, and of course gather her things.