Uhg...my head...

The screams, that was the first thing he noticed; upon opening his eyes, the bodies were next. They were scattered about, entangled with the rubble from what had been the stadium.

What happened..? That thing...what was it..?

Looking at the horror that surrounded him, he felt numb. It didn't feel real, it couldn't be real; nothing like this had ever happened before or...ever!

Grimacing he tried to stand. Despite the fall, he seemed relatively uninjured, but he found he couldn't move. He stood there watching the water from the stadium intertwine and run red with blood. In what now was just a small stream it flowed away from the rubble down into the street, where the survivors were hastily trying to get away from the madness that had consumed the city. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a flash of red and a familiar face.

"Auron! What are you doing here?" In his panic, Tidus failed to notice how calm the man looked.

"I was waiting for you."

Tidus froze, something about the way Auron had spoken...it wasn't right.

"What...What are you talking about..?" But already Auron had begun to walk away. Trying his best not to trip on the rubble Tidus raced after his mentor.

The thing that had attacked the city could be seen clearly hovering above the chaos, as though it was waiting for something. The buildings, machinery, and even the water was being pull towards the creature, as though it supported it own gravitational force. Yet despite calamity that continued to ravage the city, He found that both he and Auron were headed straight towards it. Panicked citizens pushed past him, eager to get away, but before he could think to call out to Auron, everything stopped.

There was nothing. No noise. The people around him stood frozen in place and even the heat from the fires nearby could not be felt.

This...This is a dream... a nightmare...it can't be real...

"It begins" a voice behind him announced. Looking behind him, he saw it was the hooded child from earlier.

no, not just then...he was always...

"Wha?" His head was pounding, nothing was making any sense.

The child watched him.

"Don't cry" He spoke as though apologizing; then he was gone and everything came rushing back. Tidus stood there, speechless and at a total loss as to what was going on.

"What the..." he mumbled to himself, unsure of what else to say, to think.

Looking back the way he had been going, he spotted Auron up ahead, waiting for him.

"H-Hey wait!" Tidus tried to catch his breath, his headache was making him dizzy and he tried to focus "Not that- Hey!"

Auron had already started forward and Tidus, frustrated, followed. When they came to the end of the walkway, Auron stopped and glanced up the creature.

"Look" Tidus watched it unsure as Auron continued "we call it Sin" he spoke almost apathetically.

"Sin..." The name was fitting, but he wisely kept his thoughts to himself.

--

Sin watched the ruined city and the people fleeing from its wake; it was unsure. It wanted stop, to leave them but it felt compelled to continue its rampage. Shaking its fin, Sin let the scales fall from its body the waited.

--

Tidus watched as the scales fell, one almost landing on him.

"What is it doing- ahh!" Tidus jumped back as the scale shook and uncurled itself, forming small insect-looking fiend. It surveyed its surroundings then lunged at the hapless boy. He tried to dodge, but the creature collided with him, throwing him back.

"Take it" Auron said sternly, holding a sword above Tidus. Grabbing on to the handle, Auron hefted the boy to his feet and let go. The weight of the weapon surprised him and he almost dropped it.

"A gift from Jecht" Auron unsheathed the large sword on his back an struck the fiend.

"A gift from...my father..?"

But how? Its been almost te-

"Tidus!" Auron shouted at him, shaking his from his thoughts. One of the scales had rushed at him and he brought the sword down just in time. Looking about him, he saw they were surrounded.

"Don't bother going after all of them. Cut the ones that matter, and run!" Auron started forward, intent on going towards Sin, and Tidus reluctantly followed. They were large in number, but weak and the duo had no trouble clearing a path. Continuing on, they passed the large memorial as in sunk further into the ruined city.

"What are you laughing at, old man?" Tidus sneered at they passed.

"We're expected" Auron said less casually this time.

"Huh, what are- wow!" Before them was what must have been over a hundred of the scales and looking back, those that they had not disposed of had gathered.

"Hmph. This could be bad" The fiends watched, waiting for the pair to make the first move. Auron glanced around him, looking for a way out; he turned to Tidus.

"That--knock it down!" he pointed to a tanker on the right.

"What!?"

"Trust me. You'll see." With that he started on the scales, cutting down those that rushed at the boy.

Tidus ran to the tank and used his sword to cut at the wires binding it. He was knocked down as a huge explosion came from beneath, where the tanker had landed, the bridge began to sink and the scales having lost their balance tumbled off.

"Go!" Auron shouted at him running for the connecting bridge. Tidus sprinted for it and jumped, grabbing on to the broken ledge.

"Auron! Auron! Help!" His grip was faltering, and he was sure he was going to fall, but the older man just stood there, looking up at Sin.

"Are you sure" He asked.

Who is he talking too? Why won't he help me!

Suddenly he is hoisted up, Auron dangling him above the wreckage. A strange light fills everything around him and soon all he can see is Auron.

"This is it. This is your story. It all begins here" with that Auron dissipates into the light. Screaming, Tidus too is enveloped into the light and all goes dark.

--

"Hey!"

"HEY!"

"What..." the voice was so familiar, but from where...wait... "Is that...My...old man"
Tidus opened his eyes and found himself suspended above the ruined Zanarkand. Every thing was frozen in place, but it was fuzzy and distorted.

Am I dying?

Down below him he saw a figure, a child standing on a platform. He tried to move down, to see who was there.

No...it can't be...

It was him, when he was 7. The boy was crying and didn't seem to notice him; but as he reached out to touch the child everything started to fade. Tidus found his eyes involuntarily closing as sleep enveloped him.

He dreamt; and in his dream he was alone, there was no one else, just himself and the darkness that surrounded him.

--

Its so cold...

For the second time that day he awoke cold, wet and totally confused; he was laying on a slab of rock, surrounded by water. He sat up and looked around him, and saw gray sky's and even grayer water. Turning around he found himself staring at an old building; one that was falling apart from the harsh environment and neglect.

"Hey! Anybody here?...Auron?" His only response was silence; his sword was lying next to him and he slipped it on his back, wedged between his shirt and the rubber straps of his uniform.

He started as he slipped into the freezing water, biting his lip as to not cry out. Hurriedly he swam to the platform leading to the entrance. The building looked more then just abandoned, it look condemned and as he stepped further towards it the walkway collapsed beneath him, sending him plummeting back into the frigged waters.

"Dammit! This...how can this get any worse..." Everything was so messed up right now, he felt like crying.

He glanced around him and spotted...nothing. There was no way back up and no other entrances. He punched the water around him in anger, and didn't stop until he heard a large crash behind him. Looking in the direction of the sound, he spotted the culprit; it was a fish, a very large fish and it rushed at him, its mouth gaping wide open, ready to swallow him whole. He was lucky as the fiend was slow, he was able to get out of the way in time. The creature crashed in to the side of the building, but quickly recovered and came back at him. As the fish moved away from the wall, Tidus spotted his way out. A large hole had been created from the impact and he swam towards it frantically. The fiend saw his prey escaping and with new found speed, it rushed at him sucking up everything in front of it. He was being pulled back into the gaping mouth, when the fiend suddenly exhaled, throwing him forward into the building.

Tidus stood up and looked back to see rubble come crashing down, sealing his entrance. Impossibly, is seemed to be colder in here then outside and his cloths were already starting to stiffen and freeze.

"Great, out of the frying pan...and into the freezer" he climbed the broken steps and found himself in a large room; There was some wood and old plants scattered around, and after looking through one of the drawers of an old table, he was also able to find a flint. Using these, he managed to start a small fire in the middle of the room. He heard a large growl and reached for his sword, but he realized it was just his stomach.

"I need food!" But even as the words came out he found himself once again falling into an unwelcomed sleep.

"What do you want?" Tidus sneered at Auron

"It was a bad call. Your team lost because of you," he told the boy.

"You came to say THAT?" He was starting to get really pissed.

"It's been...ten years. I thought you'd be crying" the humor in his voice caught him off guard.

"Who, me"

Then Auron was gone and in his place stood the hooded child. "You cried."

He awoke suddenly and after remembering the days previous events, sighed. Even his dreams were tormenting him.

CLICK

Tidus looked around for the source of the sound and found himself staring at one angry looking fiend. The creature walked on all fours, which where composed of very long blades.

"Aww...Gimme a break!" He reached for his sword, but the fiend was too quick. Tidus barely managed to dodge the creatures long blade as it came crashing down from above and soon it became a crude game of tag.

The front entrance exploded inward and both human and fiend froze. In came four people, covered head to toe in clothing and masks and carrying guns. The smallest one pulled him aside and reaching into the pockets of the suit, pulled out a grenade. They pushed him down and threw it at the fiend. The creature blew apart instantly and the threat was over.

"Whew! That was close" he smiled at his savior, but was thrown to the ground by one of the larger men. "Hey, lemme go!"

"Fryd ec drec?" -What is this?

What...

"Y veaht! Eh risyh teckieca!" -A fiend! In human disguise!

"Fa gemm ed?" Tidus didn't know what they were saying, but he got the message when they pointed their guns at him. He closed him eyes and waited. -We kill it?

"Fyed! Fryd ev ed ec risyh?" The voice was small and obviously feminine, Tidus looked up and found himself looking at his rescuer, but the men with her continued to argue. One of them spoke, but Tidus couldn't catch what he had said, but the severity of it was not lost on him. -Wait! What if it is human?

"E vunpet ed! Fa pnehk ed fedr ic" The girl spoke again and it was final...whatever 'it' was. She walked up to him and whispered in his ear, 'cunno' before kneeing him in the stomach. She walked away and he saw the others coming for him before he blacked out. - I forbid it! We bring it with us. - Sorry

---------------------------------

Thanks everybody for reading. Im sorry for any mistakes I made, I'll try and catch them as I go. As you may have noticed, I altered the dialogue a bit to give Tidus a bit more... humanism. Tell me what you think as I know fans can be pretty picky about these kind of things. Also I left out the find-the-wood-and-flint mission for obvious reasons. Enjoy and please R&R!