Chapter 2 : Welcome to Spira.
Snake had little time to reflect on how a child who dressed funny could freeze time and why a giant whale was able to use its body as a means of teleportation when he woke up because within a minute he determined that someone or something had tied him up.
"Mmmph!" was all Snake could say about it due to the gag obstructing his mouth.
Snake tried to remove the gag only to discover that his hands were tied together behind his back. His feet were also tightly bound together by a rope. While he was at it, Snake also found that he had been blindfolded. Whoever had done this to him really wanted him to be helpless. He'd also been put back into his sneaking suit. That must have been the work of the Fayth. Snake began struggling to loosen his bonds. As he did so the door to whatever room he was in opened while he was in the middle of bringing his hands over his head so he could work with the rope better. A group of men pinned him to the ground and once they determined they couldn't put Snake's hands behind his back without breaking his arms or momentarily untying him they decided on a different idea. He counted four men by the sound of their voices as they conversed with one another in a strange language Snake had never heard before.
A woman said something in reply and the men got off of him. After a slightly heated discussion the men left in a huff. The woman did not leave. Snake heard her sigh when the men had left. He huddled into what he thought was a corner and let his arms rest on his lap since he assumed he was now being watched by a guard. He couldn't help but submit to his captors for the time being. They would probably tie him down more extensively a little later for trying to escape. It was clear that he had been taken prisoner, but by whom he had no idea. He calmed himself and tried to guess where he was by using his remaining senses.
It was warm and breezy. He felt a subtle rocking motion beneath his feet. The woman in the room with him opened a window and he could hear the ocean, but he did not smell salt. He must have been on a ship. Snake exercised his mouth in such a way as to remove the gag so at least he could try to talk to his captor.
"Hey! Where the hell am I? Who the hell are you?" he demanded.
Snake couldn't make out what exactly the response was since she was still speaking in some strange language that he couldn't comprehend. The fact that he was completely at a loss when it came to understanding his captors worried him slightly. He replayed the words in his head so he could try to guess what language she was speaking, but it didn't seem to fit into any language group he knew of and he had even taken the time to study Latin. It was nothing more than trivial gibberish to Snake. The only thing he could be sure of was that he was obviously in a foreign country that had issues with outsiders. Since Snake was clearly an American that didn't help his chances of calming their xenophobic disposition.
This was a troubling beginning to the quest the Fayth had entrusted him with. In order to carry out his mission he'd have to escape from the ship and find someone who spoke anything except the weird language his captors spoke. Snake tentatively raised his bound hands to his blindfold and took it off. The cabin he had been forced into was brighter than he wanted it to be. When his eyes cleared up he spotted a woman sitting across from him in a chair. She was in her mid to late teens and had a petite frame with blonde hair done up in a rather unique way. Her outfit appeared to coincide with her work and was made entirely of leather. Snake assumed that she would be a pushover if he had to fight her. She smiled and waved at him. At least she was friendly, which Snake could and probably would take advantage of.
From the looks of his surroundings he had been ushered into a storage room. Unopened wooden crates were everywhere as was rope, spears, fishing rods, and other spare utilities that would keep the ship they were on afloat. There were two exits to the room, the closest one being the door the girl had taken her post beside. It suddenly opened and two men hauled in a familiar figure. Raiden struggled with the tenacity of a hornet caught up in an orb weavers web. Someone not in the room called the woman's name and she got up from her seat and left.
"Hey, you're getting a bit friendly with those hands of yours, you awful, awful man!" Raiden shouted at one of the men holding him.
They threw him to the ground alongside Snake and shouted at him in their odd language yet again. Raiden was soaking wet with water and when he tried to rush them they quickly put him back on his ass. He calmed down enough to notice that Snake was trying not to acknowledge him. Snake had vainly hoped that Raiden wouldn't have made it through. He had also been stripped of civilian clothes and forced into his skull suit.
"It's good to see that you're up, but I'd go back to sleep if I were you." Raiden said. "They're probably going to put you in the water now, but the joke's going to be on them when they do."
"What are you babbling about? You mean to tell me that you didn't fall overboard?"
"No. They put me in the water without so much as a rebreather. I almost drowned. When they finally figured out that I couldn't breathe underwater like they seem to be able to do they got pissed and hauled me back in here."
Snake looked at Raiden as if he were completely mad.
"I'm serious! Ask Otacon when they finish performing CPR on him."
Immediately after Raiden finished speaking Otacon came stumbling in freely without having to be pushed around. He was also drenched in water. A different woman appeared and handed him his glasses back. Otacon muttered his thanks and put them back on. Since Otacon did not own any kind of sneaking suit his normal clothes had been left on, which consisted of a pair of regular jeans and a grey T-Shirt.
"Morning, Snake." Otacon said.
"Why aren't you two tied up?"
"We were a few hours ago before we woke up. Some girl came in and told us we were going to be put to work." Raiden said.
"We stood around for about thirty minutes until they tried putting us in the water."
"Any idea where we are?"
"It's not the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean, I'll tell you that right now. The water is really funny. I don't think we're on Earth anymore."
"What was your first clue?" Raiden asked sarcastically.
"That despite the fact that we're in the middle of an ocean the water is freshwater."
"Great." Snake muttered.
Snake brooded as unthinkably bothersome thoughts plagued him with the possibilities and connotations of the situation. Before he began to worry too much he recalled that Raiden had stated that he was able to comprehend what one of the ship's crew had said to him.
"Wait a second. You said a girl spoke to you? In English?"
"Is that what you guys call it?" the young woman who had been in the room with him earlier asked as she came walking in again.
She held two oddly shaped translucent bottles containing an unidentifiable sky blue liquid. The girl gave one to Otacon and Raiden.
"Drink this. It'll make you feel better. I guess you guys can't hold your breath for that long, can you?"
The two men shook their heads as they did what they were told.
"That's really strange." the girl said to herself.
Her tone clearly indicated how uncommon she felt their flaw was.
"What is this?" Raiden asked. "I no longer feel like I almost died ten minutes ago."
She chuckled.
"Geez." she said while shaking her head in disbelief. "Oh, I'm sorry. This is our chance for a formal introduction. My name is Rikku."
"I'm Hal, but most people call me Otacon. He's Jack, but most people call him Raiden. That there is. . ."
"Not one more word, Otacon." Snake said sharply. "Call me Snake."
"Your name is Raiden?" Rikku asked, looking at Jack.
Jack perked his head up attentively and nodded.
"That's an odd name." she said.
Jack's head sunk in aggravation.
"It makes up for the boring one my parents gave me." Raiden muttered.
"Rikku, do you speak English fluently?" Snake asked.
"As far as I know."
"Good. What's that other language you were speaking in a moment ago?"
Rikku gave him quite a perplexed look.
"It's Al-Bhed. I'm an Al-Bhed. You couldn't tell? Where exactly are you guys from?"
"Earth." Snake said. "More specifically New York. Have you ever heard of it?"
"No. . .I haven't heard of the old one either." Rikku said as she thought it over. "You guys do know you're in Spira, right?"
"Allow me to explain." Snake said patiently.
He gave Rikku a selective sample of their plight. Snake left out many key details for the safety of himself and his comrades, but properly described how they had arrived on Spira. Raiden and Otacon would have to wait for a full debriefing.
"I see." Rikku said. "You guys fell out of the sky last night and landed on the deck of our ship. It gave us quite a scare. You were all unconscious when we recovered you. Too bad you weren't here a few days ago."
"Why is that?" Snake asked.
"We found some guy at an abandoned temple. He had a funny story somewhat like yours. He said he's from a city in Spira that was destroyed a thousand years ago. You wouldn't happen to know a guy by the name of Tidus, would you?"
"Looks like our resident gimp, but tanned?" Snake said with a gesture towards Raiden.
"Yeah. He fell overboard when an abomination we call Sin attacked our ship the night you guys arrived. I hope he's okay. I kind of liked him."
Snake smirked. He knew all too well how teen-age girls thought. That's why he made a promise to himself to avoid them after the last one he'd been with. There were few things as annoying as buying young women alcohol before they turned twenty one.
"Liked him?" Snake asked.
"Not like that!" she said hastily. "He was just a nice guy."
"Oh, you're not the type who likes nice guys?" Snake teased. "Do you like dating assholes because their stronger personalities are better suited to having children?"
"I didn't get to know him!" Rikku shouted in protest. "Anyway, I hope he made it to the island that's supposed to be around here."
Snake made a note of that. The island she mentioned couldn't be that far off judging by how she had referred to it. They could still catch up with Tidus in a day or two.
"Is it alright if I untie myself?" Snake asked.
Rikku nodded and within a minute he had shed the ropes. Hasty escapes had been a part of his training. This was nothing new to him. Besides, whoever had tied him up hadn't done a good job of it.
"Listen, Rikku. We can't stay here. Will you let us go now?" Snake asked.
"Hold on a second, I can't do that just yet." Rikku said. "We're close to uncovering an airship and we need all the extra help we can get."
Snake stood up and began moving towards her.
"Rikku, you don't understand. We have to go find Tidus now."
Rikku reached for a weapon behind her back and held up her hand to halt Snake, which got him to stop. Obviously she wouldn't be overtaken so easily.
"Hey, calm down." Rikku said, slightly nervous. "Trust me, I want to help you, but right now we can't afford to dock anywhere. If anyone finds out what we're doing out here, we'll all be in big trouble. You'll all be out of here in a week, I promise. By then I should be able to convince everyone that you're not spies."
"What's that you got there?" Snake said as he gestured to the weapon she was holding behind her back.
As she revealed it Snake made his move and quickly got her into a choke hold. Snake pressed his arm into her throat to prevent her from screaming as the weapon she was holding fell to the floor. Raiden and Otacon gasped in surprise. Both of them looked offended that he was handling a woman so roughly. They obviously were not taking the current situation very seriously. The only lead they had on the mission was Tidus and the quicker they found him the better. There was no telling how far he'd get in a week's time.
"Let me go you big bully!" she croaked. "Take it easy!"
"You take it easy." Snake said, clearly disgusted at himself for doing this. "Rikku, you're a good kid, but you've got to be more careful around strangers. I'm not going to hurt you if you do exactly what I say. I just want off of this boat, okay?"
Rikku gave him what sounded like a yes and tried nodding her head.
"What's this about us being spies?" Snake asked.
"I don't know. Everyone's just paranoid! I know you can't possibly be spies because you're not able to hold your breath underwater for as long as everyone else can."
"I see. Raiden, get that handgun." Snake said.
He hesitated for a moment, not really set on Snake's plan.
"I said pick up that gun now!" Snake ordered.
Raiden grabbed it and could clearly determine the model of the weapon. It was an M-9, the questionable sidearm of the United States military and Snake's favorite alternative to real bullets as it carried tranquilizer rounds. Snake brought Rikku around in such a way that allowed him to get a look at the gun Raiden confiscated.
"Is this mine or yours?" Raiden asked.
"Read me the serial number."
He did as he was asked.
"That one's mine. Rikku, what were you doing with my gun?" Snake asked, tightening his grip around her.
She cried out in surprise and swatted vainly at his arms to get him to stop.
"You don't have to ask me twice! I was only looking at it! It's unlike any gun I've seen before so I wanted to examine it."
"You've used guns?"
"Of course. We regularly use .22 caliber rifles to protect ourselves. We've recently been unearthing stronger weapons in the desert, but we haven't put them into service yet. If you're going on land, you might want to keep your equipment hidden. People around here generally frown upon guns. Except for us Al-Bhed, that is, but we're a minority. That's another reason why you guys can't possibly be from the clergy."
"Noted. Now where's the rest of my stuff?"
"In my cabin down the hallway."
"Raiden, give me my gun."
He handed Snake what was rightfully his. Now Snake had a hostage and a weapon, which made his words carry twice their normal weight.
"I really hope you know what you're doing, Snake." Otacon said.
"Just trust me. I've done this a hundred times." Snake asserted confidently.
"You're not very good at what you do then, seeing as how in order to have done this a hundred times you had to have been captured a hundred times." Rikku retaliated.
"That's quite a smart mouth you've got." Snake said.
"Does it make you feel like more of a man to handle a defenseless woman like myself so roughly?"
"You had a gun." Snake pointed out.
"What if that gun isn't actually loaded?" Rikku asked, hoping to catch him off guard so she could escape his grip.
"Smart girl." Snake said while patting her on the shoulder reassuringly. "Too bad I know you're bluffing. I know my guns very well. It's definitely loaded because it's heavier than it would be if it were empty. Nice try. You could have fooled Raiden with that."
Raiden guffawed in adamant disapproval and Rikku decided to quit arguing with Snake. They exited the storage room and entered into a hallway. Rikku pointed to where her cabin was and Snake began moving with her towards it. Raiden and Otacon followed him closely from behind all the while hoping nobody was going to bother them until after they had armed themselves. The door to Rikku's room wasn't open, which made Snake momentarily suspect that he might be walking into a trap. Thankfully that wasn't the case. Rikku's room was hardly befitting of a woman her age. Gadgets, toolboxes, a workbench, a large desk, a lonely easel, and a bed without a frame or matching sheets made up her unique habitat. The three bags the Fayth had given them were resting on the table. Raiden checked through his while Otacon searched through Snake's since Hal usually knew what Snake liked to take with him on missions.
"We're missing the magazines." Otacon said.
"Don't look at me!" Rikku exclaimed before they could blame her. "Your naked picture books don't interest me. One of the men probably took them."
"Where's the nearest bathroom?" Raiden asked.
"Just right outside my room. Make sure you don't go into the girls' room! The boys' room has Sah written above it."
Raiden armed himself with an M-16. Snake narrowed his eyes at the gun, but decided to put off arguing with Raiden until later. The M-16 had never gotten along very well with Solid Snake and they hadn't been on speaking terms since that one time it had almost gotten him killed. Otacon took out Snake's AK-47 and clumsily set it up to work for his defense. This made him feel like one of the guys, but he was quick to dismiss that notion as pure fantasy. Otacon had learned how to use a gun, but he had never been in a situation where he had to apply that knowledge. They darted back into the hallway, fully armed and ready to do some negotiating in exchange for Rikku's comfort. But before that, Raiden found the men's bathroom and yanked the door open. The person inside seemed to be wearing eye shadow and also sported a Mohawk along with an abundant amount of tattoos. He screamed in a high pitched tone as Raiden took the magazines from him.
"Got him with his pants down!" Raiden declared.
Snake decided to take his word for it as he did not intend to check himself.
"See? It's too bad he didn't catch you off guard, isn't it?" Snake asked Rikku.
"Yeah." Rikku said wistfully.
"Everything I do is wrong, isn't it?" Raiden asked rhetorically.
"I've dealt with that for the past twelve hours." Snake whispered in her ear.
"I see. That explains quite a bit." Rikku said.
"You have no idea."
"Rikku, fryd'c kuehk uh?" the man demanded in his strange language.
"Uin kiacdc yna mayjehk." Rikku responded.
"Hu! Drao'na hud mayjehk drec creb!"
He stood up with the intent of bursting out of the room, but the two rifles aimed at him ensured he sat right back down and didn't get too excited. The man looked at Raiden and Otacon with the same hate Snake held for buttered toast.
"Oui mayja Rikku ymuha, oui eteudc!" he shouted.
The gentleman added a furious spit to the end of his sentence to emphasize his aggravation.
"Who is this stink weed?" Snake asked.
"He's my brother." Rikku replied.
"You're kidding!" Snake shouted.
He flipped Rikku around to get a good look at her and then compared her face to her brother's. She smiled tightly for his study.
"Good God! I bet you take after your mother." Snake said.
"That I do." Rikku assured him.
Snake spun her around and put her at a disadvantage again.
"He's also captain of this ship. If you want off, I'll try to convince him to let you go. We should be near Bisadio Island. You can take one of our lifeboats there."
"Alright. Tell him that."
The two of them argued heatedly for a moment before her brother finally conceited. Rikku smiled in victory.
"Let him go." Rikku said. "He'll clear the way for your escape."
"Fine, but no tricks, Rikku." Snake said.
She nodded. Otacon and Raiden eased up and let Rikku's brother step out of the lavatory. He shouted something at them that ended in an octave a little higher than he intended, which really made him sound like a sissy. The man then marched ahead dejectedly. Snake followed him topside where he ordered everyone to stop working and come below deck for a while. None of them seemed to like the idea. A scathing argument ensued with Rikku trying to become as animated as possible in Snake's grip, which did nothing but tire her out. Fingers were pointed, a small anchor was threatened to be used as a weapon, and Rikku's brother exhibited the habit of stamping his feet in protest when he didn't get something he wanted. Snake heard someone coming up behind them. He turned to see more of the crew looking up at him without a speck of trust evident in their aura. This was going nowhere fast.
Snake unhanded Rikku and shoved her forward. She stumbled over herself in surprise before finally regaining her balance. Raiden and Otacon quickly formed a small triangle with Snake at its head. The crew of the ship kept their distance and nodded in approval. Snake spotted the lifeboats hanging from the side of the ship an uncomfortable distance ahead of them.
"Rikku." Snake called to get her attention. "I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances. No hard feelings, okay? We were sent here to do something for someone and that thing which we must do does not involve the Al-Bhed. Take us to those lifeboats."
"Right." Rikku said with a nod.
Rikku continued speaking in Al-Bhed as she lead the three men towards the lifeboats. The atmosphere on the deck seemed to ease up a little as the tension disappointed at her unintelligible charisma. She should have been in charge, but then again her personality could jeopardize the wellbeing of the entire ship. Rikku's brother raised a voice of protest as the three men climbed aboard one of the lifeboats, but he was quickly shut down by a snappy remark from another female Al-Bhed.
"Bisadio Island should be a few miles to the north. In this kind of weather you should be able to reach the shore in about thirty minutes." Rikku said. "Good luck."
She reached into a pocket and tossed them a relatively simple compass, which Snake caught. Rikku and another Al-Bhed lowered the three of them into the water. Snake grabbed both of the oars and began paddling once they were floating safely. Rikku watched them for a moment as they paddled off toward the island in the distance, wondering if she would ever meet this strange Snake character and his friend in the glasses ever again.
