Okay so I managed to write this quicker than expected, I hope my homework turns out that way anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and please read and review as I always like to get peoples opinion because if I don't then get lonely sitting here while my cat tries to get my attention by walking on the keyboard, lol.
Chapter Two: Jumping At Shadows
Lightning slowly opened her eyes examining the camp. A small amount of sunlight could be seen in the sky and Chocobo's could be herd kwehing in the distance. It took a moment for her to notice a warm feeling against her back, she sat up and looked around seeing that Hope had shuffled over to her in the middle of the night, "probably just got cold", she thought to herself, before standing up and walking closer to the rest of the camp. Snow was still passed out over on some grass and hadn't looked to have moved all night, Sazh was also still sleeping peacefully with the Chocobo nesting in his hair and Vanille looked like she had just woken up, Vanille looked up happily when she approached, "hey Light, good sleep", she said tiredly,
"yeah, thanks",
"ok then I'm gunna go get Fang", she said happily to Lightning, who nodded and the girl shot up and skipped off.
After a moment of silence Snow's awakening was announced with a yawn loud enough to wake the dead. Hope shot up thinking it was a monster and collapsed back down once he had identified the source of the noise. Sazh groaned and covered his ears, "you got'a stop doin' that man",
"sorry", said the offender sitting up cracking his back, "so Lightning we're going to head over to that ruin further east today, huh"?
"Yeah, we'll set camp there later tonight and if we can't find anything the day after we can move on", she replied, "We can stop to get water on the way".
"Sweet", he said pulling on his gloves.
"Yeah", Sazh spoke up still unwilling to open his eyes, "with any luck we'll find some duct tape while we're there", Lightning chuckled at the comment causing Sazh to open his eyes and smirk.
"and what's that supposed to mean", Snow responded,
"it means you're as effective as any alarm clock only we can't set a timer on you", Sazh said finally siting up causing a small squeak from the Chocobo,
"and your one of those alarms that make an annoying noise", said Hope walking over. Lightning chuckled again,
"hey, you're one to talk sleep mumbler", Snow called back,
"sleep mumbler"? Said Hope raising an eyebrow,
"yeah last time I slept near you I woke up to you muttering in your sleep", he said, his smile growing.
"I didn't… why didn't anybody tell me", he said looking worried,
Sazh chose to lend a hand, "because it doesn't really bother us, he's just taking the mickey out of you", he said smiling.
"Still", he said cautiously, "you guys don't remember anything I said, do you"?
"Sounded like a battle plan last time", said Snow, defeated in his teasing.
"Oh, ok", he finished looking relieved.
It was then that Fang and Vanille returned to the rest of the group, "you guys ready to leave", said Fang, who looked tired but ready. They all nodded in agreement and began to move towards the entrance. They headed though the winding natural passages encountering small groups of monsters that were quickly dispatched by their ever growing powers. By about mid-morning they arrived at the lagoon that contained fresh water, as they filled their containers Lighting called over, "hey Hope come here for a moment", he looked at her curiously and made his way to where she was,
"what's up"? He said quietly,
"well… I need your help", she said,
"what… y-you need my help"? He said clearly surprised,
"in exchange for my own help", she said,
"what's this regarding"? He asked slowly, frowning,
"you once expressed to me a desire to lean to wield a Gunblade" she said, "is that still correct"?
"y-yes I've always admired how graceful you look while wielding one", he said, then quickly ducked his head as his face went slightly red,
"good then If I teach you to do this will you help me… with magic",
"oh, y-yes of course, if you're having trouble I'll gladly help",
she smiled at his enthusiasm, "thanks", "that wasn't so bad".
He turned to her smiling widely, "dido",
"needless to say I don't want Snow to hear of this or he'll never shut up", Hope just laughed
After that they moved on through more pathways until they came to their destination a small ruin of what was probably a medium sized village. As the made their way through the ruin looking for a good building to camp in Snow began glancing around, after a while he finally spoke up, "anyone else feel like we're being watched", he said quietly,
"getting jumpy hero"? Fang asked,
"this place is creepy, I'll give it that", Sazh said.
It was just then that Lightning noticed something move on a rooftop, "what was that", she said pulling her Gunblade out in gun form and aiming were she had noticed the movement.
After a moment Fang chipped in again, "you guys are just jumping at shadows", she said smirking,
"Light look out", Hope shouted, she turned to see a man in strange fur clothes running towards her with a spear similar to Fangs in his hand, what struck her as strange was the completely blank look he had on his face, even his eyes seemed empty. He took another few steps before he was hit with a lightning bolt, the man stumbled at the hit and fell to his knees. However he quickly recovered and continued to advance although slower now. Sazh walked in front of them and aimed a pistol at the man,
"Stop", he said clearly, the man showed no reaction, "don't make me do it", the man continued, Sazh took aim and fired a shot hitting the man in the right shoulder. He stumbled back pausing for a moment then turned to Sazh and continued walking. "Dam", said Sazh, he then took aim again and fired at the man's left knee. The man fell to his knees but merely pushed himself back up and continued limping forward. "What the hell"? Sazh aimed both pistols and shot the man in the chest once each, he fell back now splattered with blood from multiple wounds.
"Are all pulse native warriors trained to withstand that much pain"? Lightning said, aiming the question at Fang.
Fang shook her head as they approached the body, "he doesn't even look like a warrior, just looks like some guy who picked up a weapon".
After a few moments trying to examine the body Lightning found something curious, "hey, is that… a L'Cie mark"? She asked pointing to a mark on the natives shoulder.
"No, at least I don't think so, it looks different to ours see", Fang replied,
"Could a Fal'Cie make something other than a L'Cie out of a human"? Hope queried,
"With Fal'Cie there's no telling", said Sazh looking around, "could explain why my rounds didn't hurt him, might not even be able to feel pain, like a Cie'th or something".
"Why would he attack us any way"? said Lightning, "he must have realised he couldn't beat all of us",
"could be he was forced to", said Snow, "we all know Fal'Cie don't put much value on human life",
"we don't even know it's a Fal'Cie we're dealing with", Lightning said, "either way I don't think there's anything else on him", she stood and turned to Fang, "is there any burial rights we should perform for him", she asked,
"well typically any deceased from Oerba would be cremated and the ashes spread from the highest point", said Fang seriously, "that's if the individual didn't have a preferred place in mind".
"Hmm… is magic ok"? Lightning asked,
Fang nodded, "should be",
"ok then", she said turning to Hope,
but Vanille must have guessed what she intended to ask, "wait, I'll do it, I think it's better if another person from Pulse does it".
"ok then, you deal with that, we'll ignore fire spells from over here use thunder if you're in trouble" said Lightning, "in the meantime this house looks good, Fang and Snow you check it out, if it's good both of you should get some rest, you're on watch tonight Snow", they both nodded and moved toward the building she had indicated,
"I'll look around for a while, I'll meet you guys back here with firewood", said Sazh putting his pistols back in their holsters and walking off.
"Right, come on Hope", said Lightning moving toward what looked like a courtyard area.
Ok so before anyone asks no that was not some kind of zombie. However if you want to know what it really is you'll have to follow the story *evil laugh*
Disclaimer: although I don't see the point in putting a disclaimer on something I make no profit on whatsoever I will comply with the multimillionaires who are so afraid of losing a few dollars.