You guys might have to wait a few days for the next chapter, because I'll be on science camp for the next few days!
Anyway, thanks for all the response. It was far more than I had expected, and its fantastic! Now... on with the story!
-Icicle Streams
P.S. to chocalateymenta, I am definitely going to finish this, even if i run out of ideas and have to end it really badly. I hate unfinished stories! And to the rest of you... you'll just have to wait right until the end to find out the pairing!
The musty parchment was yellow and aged, scattering fine dust everywhere as Rikku unfurled each ancient document. She was mesmerised though; the precise engineering of each piece of machina from an age a thousand years past astounded her. Detailed diagrams accompanied by complex explanations filled the pages. Her thoughts trailed back to that giant power converter Pops had found in the desert. From what little information she had gained, she could tell it held huge potential. Ancient Bevelle machinery was immensely powerful… perhaps too powerful. The style of the machina was completely foreign to her, aside from that meeting with Vegnagun.
She paused.
It had been more than a year… almost two years now. After Sin, she had known they could definitely dismantle and destroy it… but it had still frightened her, if just a little. If they couldn't destroy it in time… if they weren't strong enough to…
Something on the next manuscript caught her eye.
There was a diagram of a miniature Vegnagun-like machine, armed with giant gun barrels and other destructive weapons. But her eyes darted to the dark, scribbled notes that stood out against the fading ink. Obviously recent; maybe only added in the last year. What the heck? The writing was in Al Bhed… but only a few Al Bhed people would ever be allowed into the deepest libraries of Bevelle. She'd only been granted permission because of her status as former guardian, and knowing the Praetor of New Yevon personally. You had to be important to be here. Maybe that's why the handwriting seemed familiar… she'd seen those strangely hooked letters in someone's office at Djose.
"'Tekkanc haatat…tek pamuf dra K. …' (Diggers needed… dig below the G. …)" she paused and leaned closer, trying to decipher the messy scrawl.
"'Cxiyt?' (Squad?)… tek pamuf dra K. Cxiyt?"
That didn't make sense! But it was definitely a capital K., capital C, followed by a xiyt… What the heck was the G. Squad?
While she pondered this, her stomach rumbled and Rikku decided to pack up for the day. She needed dinner!
Baralai opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out to break the silence.
The dark, armoured figure moved steadily closer, its menacing form hiding the silhouette of an assault rifle. The gaping red mouth that curled into a snarl and the sound of a readied gun that foretold his doom. The soldier advanced towards him; each step he staggered back only brought it closer. It was over; the end was inevitable. He was unarmed and what little strength he had seemed to leave him, nothing more than vapour. His back touched something solid; he was trapped. The soldier leaned his eye to the iron sights and pulled the trigger…
Gasping, Baralai awoke suddenly. He dragged his fingers down his face, damp with sweat. He leaned back into his office chair and breathed, trying to slow his heart rate. He hadn't dreamt of that soldier since the truth about the Crimson Squad had been revealed. That ghostly soldier who represented corruption, who represented betrayal.
Who represented death.
He opened up his schedule lying on the desk in front of him. He needed to distract himself.
The next week was full of meetings and other work. The workmen were to finish up with the renovations on the Eastern Wing, and that fellow… Dyrran was to start work on the mural in the Greater Southern Quadrangle in a few days. He was eager to see his work after all Paine had said. Dyrran had been highly recommended by his secretary, Miss Dryada, who insisted that he be the artist commissioned for the new mural.
Though he tried to occupy himself with work, the shadow of the soldier hung in the back of his mind.
"Whatcha doing, Cid's Girl?"
The dancing Al Bhed girl paused. Her wet clothes clung to her slight frame, but she didn't shiver; she just smiled. She looked so beautiful, so calm, standing there in the rain.
"It's raining."
Gippal smirked and walked towards her. The rain began to penetrate through his clothing as he left the shelter of the terrace and came closer.
"Aren't you a bit old to dance in the rain?"
She ignored him and continued to skip, splashing water from the growing puddles onto him. She spun on her toes, droplets flying from her golden braids.
"Besides, it's not like rains that unusual for us anymore. We're not in the desert anymore."
Opening her eyes, she turned to face him and breathed in deeply. Her face was serene and full of hope; the face of a little Al Bhed girl at the sight of the first drops of the rain season.
"Yeah, it's not that unusual," she said finally.
"So..?"
"But this kind of rain is. Rain on mainland Spira, its always so grey and dismal. It's not like the rain at Home."
Gippal nodded in agreement. The common showers at Djose were empty, nothing like the vital, life-giving rain in the desert.
"But sometimes it's different," he murmured.
She paused, a smile radiating out from deep within her and spread to her lips.
"Sometimes it is."
Gippal hadn't realised how close she had come towards him now. He could see each individual droplet of water in her eyelashes. She opened her mouth to say something and then hesitated… and just smiled, closing her eyes peacefully.
"We'd better go inside, huh?" she said after a while.
"Probably."
Rikku nodded slowly and turned back towards the palace. As they walked back, he couldn't take his eye off her. Her head was turned downwards…was she looking at him? At his hand? He saw her hand move deliberately towards his, her slender fingers outstretched towards his, millimetres apart … but then she dropped it back to her side and opened the courtyard gates
The wind whistled through Paine's silver hair as the hover continued steadily south. She had always liked to ride on the edge of hovers and feel the thrill of the speed. Before she joined the Gullwings, it was the closest she got to flying.
Right now however, she was motionless on the platform. Right now, she wasn't standing in the wind for the excitement, but because it made it seem like they were travelling faster than they were. And the faster they travelled, the sooner they would reach the Moonflow. The sooner she would get to her mother. And that's all that mattered.
The sound of motors and heavy engines filled the air, mechanical grunting and the sound of treads on the gravelly roads. It grew steadily louder; whatever it was, it was coming towards them. Paine squinted, struggling to see what was rising from the horizon. As it drew closer, her eyes widened in realization and shock.
"I have never seen such a sight," said the driver with a thick Al Bhed accent. He whistled long and low, clearly in awe.
And as the never-ending convoy of machina continued north, Paine couldn't help but agree.
Give me your thoughts! I hope you enjoyed that one, and are looking forward to the next! It should be exciting! (I hope... :D)
(5 October) And I just realised how nerdy it sounded, me saying I was at science camp! It wasn't like, Space Cadet camp or anything. Everyone in my year has to go, and we learn about native animals and the environment and stuff. It's pretty cool!
