Chapter 3: A Meeting Spurred by Destiny.
Snake and his two companions arrived on the island about thirty minutes later. During that time Snake fully explained why they had been so violently pulled from their own world. Neither of them took the news too well. General confusion was imminent, but Snake outlined their course of action by making finding Tidus their top priority. The Al-Bhed ship was but a speck on the horizon when viewed from the shore. It felt like the afternoon and the position of the sun confirmed that assumption. The moment they left the beach they entered into a luscious jungle. Peculiar birds, odd plants, and a very dirty weasel made them feel farther from home than they cared for. It reminded Snake of the Galapagos Islands.
Raiden took the hike well, but Otacon suffered immensely under the tropical heat and rough terrain. Snake's sneaking suit became uncomfortable as time went on. He imagined Raiden was experiencing similar discomfort. The outfit had been made to breathe well, but Snake preferred a loose set of camouflage to this skin tight jumpsuit. None of them had anything to say aside from their grunts of exertion for half of the sweaty trek. When Raiden began shouldering Otacon, Snake decided it was a good time to take a break. Besides which, Snake was getting hungry. He checked the ground for surprises before he sat down on it. His companions followed his example to avoid the embarrassment of sitting down on an ant hill or a venomous snake.
"Why doesn't this place have mosquitos?" Raiden asked nobody in particular.
"We should be thankful for that." Otacon replied. "They're not very detrimental to the ecosystem. All they do is spread disease."
Snake pulled out a random ration and a canteen full of purified water. He tossed his bag out in the middle of his teammates so they could have some of his rations if they wanted. Snake packed nothing but the tastiest MRE's available to the United States' military. Otacon and Raiden sorted through the variety of food and picked out what sounded good to them.
"So let me get this straight. We're supposed to help kill a giant whale creature that can level an entire city with its sneeze?" Otacon asked.
"Apparently."
"You really should have gotten some more specifics out of that Fayth you spoke to." Otacon said.
"I figure that everything will sort itself out as we go along on our journey." Snake said. "Besides, our job is only to protect the person who is destined to kill it."
"This is a rather brazen decision for someone like you." Raiden said.
"We've got our orders. Blame the Fayth for being cryptic. This didn't seem like a mission I could just say no to. Then again, none of them are. Come on, Otacon! I thought that you would at least be happy with this situation. This is just like one of your Japanese anime's, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's almost like Inuyasha in a way." Raiden piped in.
"Shut up, Jacky. I'm in charge of picking on people here." Snake quickly interjected.
Otacon sighed heavily and Raiden glared at Snake, who wasn't phased in the least by their worries. As he said, he expected the means to defeat Sin to become evident and so long as Spira had chaff grenades and a Stinger missile launcher he'd stand a chance if all else failed. If it didn't even have the materials available to make those two weapons he would just have to improvise because he was completely out of rockets and so was Raiden. Of course, he wasn't going to tell his two companions that. He also wasn't going to mention that it might have been a better idea to follow the coast into a village. In any case, Snake was accustomed to taking on things twenty times his own size and Sin definitely was a lot bigger than a tank.
"I guess I should be looking forward to this." Otacon said, trying to be positive. "After all, I get to see an alien civilization and when we're finished we just might find a method of interstellar transportation. I could get the Nobel Prize for this."
"I feel like going home already." Raiden said in a tired tone.
"Forget it. We're stuck here until we kill Sin, understand?" Snake retorted.
"Maybe you shouldn't have pushed Rose out of that beam we were wrapped up in." Otacon said.
"Hold on, that's actually a good thing because we don't have to watch them cuddle and kiss all the damn time." Snake pointed out. "That was pretty good, Otacon. I'm surprised to see that you're capable of such caustic banter."
"I learned it from watching you." Otacon said.
Snake gave Otacon a thumbs-up which he returned with a two fingered salute. Raiden sighed and stayed quiet because he didn't want two of them attacking him at once. He continued eating his beef ration in glum silence.
"Cheer up, Raiden. We'll go home just as soon as we save the world." Snake said to console the blonde ladyboy.
"Again." Raiden said.
"You'll never be like me if you keep thinking like that." Snake said.
"Who said I wanted to be like you?"
"You were tickled pink to be in my presence a few days ago." Snake pointed out.
"The reality is no match for the legend, I'm afraid." Raiden muttered.
"I should slap you." Snake said. "But I'll let you do that yourself at night when Rose isn't there to warm the other side of the bed."
Raiden groaned and shook his head in disgust. After the team finished their meals they continued walking through the dense and humid vegetation until they found a road. It was well worn by travelers such as themselves. The decision on which direction to take was determined by a coin toss. They headed west on easier ground.
"So who's this Tidus guy?" Raiden asked.
"Beats me. The Fayth said he'll lead us to the person who's destined to kill Sin." Snake said. "He looked pretty athletic. Maybe he's a member of some track team."
"This is all so vague." Raiden complained.
"Okay." Snake stopped walking, causing Raiden and Otacon to do so as well. "What's your plan, Jack?"
"Mine wouldn't be any better than yours if I went with the information you've been given." Raiden said.
"Then quit whining. Do you know where whining gets you?"
"Dead?"
"Now you're learning."
Snake reached inside his bag and pulled out a ration that had hidden itself underneath his canister of coolant. He handed it to Raiden and resumed his pace forward. Raiden looked at the container and noticed that it was full of apple slices covered in cinnamon cream. The symbolism was quite evident. Sighing, he put them in his own bag to consume later when he was hungry again. The trio continued walking for about a half-hour before rounding a corner heavily shrouded in vegetation and inadvertently initiating what was to be a most fateful meeting. Their lives would be forever changed by what was about to occur, but what happened first was a highly distinctive and slightly painful collision. Someone wasn't watching where they were going.
Snake had bumped into a big blue hairy individual carrying a lance and backed away from him to see who he had run into. An entire entourage was with the hairy individual. One man looked like a surfer and the chick along with them must have been into emo music due to how she dressed. Behind them was a young woman in an outfit that resembled a kimono that quickly turned into a robe of sorts beneath her belly. She was significantly frail and quite shy as she preferred looking at the dirt instead of the strangers.
"What the. . ." Snake said in surprise.
He had to look hard to examine the member of the group he had bumped into. Either the person was wearing a catsuit or something Otacon had once drawn with a few Crayons had finally come to life.
"Look Otacon, it's a Furry." Snake said, pointing at the cat beast.
"I can see what it is." Otacon assured him.
"I know I'm just making sure."
The mere act of pointing at the creature and calling it a name it was not familiar with made it roar in fury, which caused Snake's team spring into action. Snake quickly dove into his bag and pulled out his M-9 just in case the goons weren't friendly. Raiden also took out his own M-9. Neither of them obviously wanted any trouble. If they were to be attacked, then they would simply knock out whoever was dumb enough to try and assault them. Snake and Raiden reverted into defensive stances. Otacon kind of squatted awkwardly, but at least he was trying.
"I 'aint never seen Al-Bhed's like this before." the surfer dude said.
His tone suggested that he was joking.
"What are you talking about?" Snake said. "We're not Al-Bhed."
"Look at what they're carrying! They've got to be rogue Al-Bhed, or something." the surfer dude continued.
"Tidus, get back here." the woman in black called. "We have a situation."
The man who Snake had seen in the vision the Fayth had given him rejoined the group. Snake looked over to Raiden and nodded.
"I'm sorry. I saw a butterfly I've never seen before. It was really beautiful."
"And highly poisonous. Stick with the group or we'll leave you behind." the woman chided.
Tidus' eyes perked up in surprise when he faced Snake's group.
"So is this our first fight?" Tidus taunted. "Get out of our way!"
Before Snake could say anything to the contrary he charged them with an odd sword that seemed to have water inside of it. Snake gritted his teeth and pulled the trigger of his M9. Quite to his immeasurable surprise an actual bullet came out of the gun and struck Tidus in the hip. Snake promised himself he would drag Rikku naked through hot coals by her hair for loading the gun with actual bullets instead of tranquilizer rounds. He pulled the slide back and quickly switched the rounds for a clip that actually had darts in it, but the damage was already done. Tidus was on the ground hissing in pain against his clutched teeth as he put pressure on the bleeding wound Snake had given him.
The sight of blood caused the others to promptly identify him and his friends as a threat.
"Wait!" Snake shouted. "Stop!"
They didn't listen to him. The surfer dude took out a volleyball and hit Otacon with it so hard that it knocked him back about seven feet. Otacon landed very badly on his back and rolled a few feet further until skidding to a messy stop. The volleyball magically returned to the surfer dude as if it were a boomerang. Raiden was the next to be incapacitated by a block of ice that appeared out of nowhere and struck him on the head, which knocked him out cold. The woman dressed in black and wearing a gown made out of belts seemed to be the culprit as she smiled in immense satisfaction with herself at the sight of Raiden's broken body. Snake ran off of the path and into the jungle before they could attack him.
The big blue cat man was quick to follow Snake right into the path of a stun grenade, which he made the mistake of looking at directly once the shiny shell landed at his feet. Once it went off the cat guy began roaring in immense disapproval, Snake leaped up from his cover and shot a dart into its neck. This certainly did not help its temper. He yanked it out and collapsed as if his body was completely unprepared to yield to whatever was inside the dart. The creature lethargically managed to stand back up. Snake expected such resistance and was about to shoot it again when he heard the sound of the massive blue cat's friends approaching. Through with dragging out the conflict, Snake harnessed his gun and held up his hands while the blue tiger glared at him. The younger woman stood in front of her companions this time.
"Allow me to explain myself." Snake requested. "My gun is usually loaded with sleeping darts, but it has recently been handled inappropriately by a stupid teenager. Besides, if twinkle toes hadn't charged me, I wouldn't have shot him."
"Actually, there was a Fiend creeping up behind you guys. In his eagerness to show his skills he neglected to warn you of the impending danger." the younger woman said. "But it ran away once you fired your gun. It seems as though we are both at fault. If you did not intend to attack us, then let me apologize on behalf of my Guardians for attacking you."
"A Fiend?"
"One of those." the goth lady said, pointing to the right.
An odd creature completely comprised of jelly gathered its courage to try and kill its prey now that its resolve had been strengthened by positive affirmation. This time it would not cower before a loud noise as it had done in the past. A mosquito the size of a polar bear joined it along with what Snake could only describe as a haunted treasure chest. He quickly pulled out his M-4 and wasted the mosquito by shooting its abdomen open while the beach guy knocked the lid off of the treasure chest. Without an upper jaw it would die a horrible death of starvation. Knowing this, it decided to commit suicide by drowning itself. The chest left the area and began heading towards the ocean. Before cowardice could return to the jelly blob the woman in black flicked her wrist dismissively and watched it melt after it spontaneously combusted. All of this had been done smoothly in under a minute.
Snake was appalled at these freaks of nature and reacted accordingly.
"Jesus Christ!" Snake exclaimed. "Are there more of them?"
"Yes, there are many." the younger woman explained. "Are you not from around here?"
He took a closer look at the woman speaking to him who seemed to be the leader of the odd group. She had heterochromatic irises, which was quite unusual. Typically the colors did not come in the variants she possessed. Snake knew without having to ask that this was the person he had been ordered to protect.
"No. We're not."
"Okay, then. Let me take care of my two Guardians that you have injured and then you can tell us what business you have here. My name is Yuna."
She looked at him, expecting a name. For a moment Snake considered using his real name to avoid confusion or resentment, but decided against it.
"I'm Snake." he replied.
"Any reason why?" Yuna asked.
"Military protocol."
"I see."
Yuna did a gesture remarkably different from a handshake or a bow that Snake was unable to return. Instead, he saluted her under the assumption that the salute was a universal sign of respect she was sure to be familiar with. Yuna did not seem to understand the gesture, but smiled anyway at his attempt to be friendly. She then introduced her companions, who nodded at the mention of their names. The one with the belt dress was Lulu, surfer guy was Wakka, the overgrown cat was Kimahri, and Tidus could certainly not be anyone else other than Tidus. Finished with that formality, Yuna then went on to heal her companions.
She put a hand on Kimahri's chest right where his heart was. A swirling wave of green energy passed from her arm into his chest where it absorbed into his body. Kimahri straightened up and no longer looked as though he were about to pass out. All of his energy had returned to him. There was no further proof needed to clearly indicate that the inhabitants of Spira were capable of using magic. Otacon would geek out all over the place. Kimahri gave Snake a menacing look as if to silently assure him that he'd get back at Snake eventually. They returned to the trail where Yuna assisted the other three injured men. Hal had sprained his ankle during the tumble, but Yuna's healing power took most of the edge off. All Otacon do was stare expressionlessly at her as his senses were overloaded to the point where he was so stupefied that he couldn't do anything but drool out of the side of his mouth. The block of ice that had landed on Raiden's head did not incur a concussion, but it left a nasty gash that sealed up as Yuna traced her fingers along it. Tidus' wound healed in a similar manner as his flesh seemed to be stimulated to repair itself at Yuna's encouragement. This entire process exhausted her slightly and by the time she was done mending their injuries she leaned up against a tree to rest.
Otacon stood up and looked at both of his hands excitedly. Dirty, callused palms and gnarled fingertips finely flattened from playing around with a keyboard for far too long leered up at him with eyeless flesh. He placed both of his hands on the lower portion of Snake's back.
"Cure!" Otacon shouted.
Nothing happened.
"What the hell are you doing?" Snake demanded.
"Sorry." Otacon said, hastily removing his hands from Snake's body. "I just wanted to be sure I couldn't do it."
"Well, it didn't work. In fact, I feel worse."
Lulu laughed at him. It was a great cackle composed of nothing more than pure amusement at his stupidity. Asian women did this to him so much that he was no longer perturbed by it.
"One cannot simply use magic. It takes years of training." Lulu said.
"How does it work?" Otacon asked eagerly.
"Magic works entirely through feeling. It is a combination of the will and sometimes the motions required to manifest a desired effect. The energy to do so exists all around us. Anyone can utilize it if they know how."
"Wow. Real magic." Otacon said in awe.
"Yeah, now it's more than just a crappy card game or whatever macro you've assigned to F6." Snake joked. "You'll have to forgive Otacon. He's just eager."
"For?" Lulu asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Pretty much anything. Can you guys summon powerful creatures to do your bidding?"
"Yes." Yuna said. "That's what I do. I'm a summoner."
"You're kidding! I was just being an ass." Snake said.
A fearsome Fiend that looked as though its skin had been pulled over its body and warped into a straight jacket ambled out of the forest with tender steps. It tackled Tidus and the two began to wrestle together like wild animals. Otacon and Raiden looked at Snake, expecting to be given a course of action. Snake watched as the Fiend kept slamming its skull into Tidus' head while he tried to pin it down and retrieve the sword he'd dropped.
"Leave him." Snake said.
"Agreed. He'll work off a lot of his energy." Lulu added.
The adults in the room began to converse while the two children wrestled.
"Anyway, let's get to the point. All three of us were sent here by some odd ghost kid who called himself a Fayth. He wants us to help someone who's going to destroy Sin. Are you by chance interested in that sort of thing?" Snake asked.
"Yes, that's exactly what we've just set out to go do! You said you were sent here by a Fayth?" Yuna exclaimed.
"Yeah. He wore a stupid hoodie."
"Bahamut." Yuna said in a half whisper.
"Gesundheit." Snake said.
"They're holy! It's a sign from Yevon!" Wakka added.
They all did that odd salute and bowed low as if Snake were sent by some type of god. Snake could feel his chest puff out as he began to gloat. It was about time he'd be given recognition for his awesomeness. Medals and paychecks were one thing, but flooring people with his presence was another. Hopefully they wouldn't gush over him. That's when it got annoying.
"So will you let us accompany you on your quest?" Snake asked.
"Of course! I would be honored to have you as a Guardian." Yuna replied. "You seem like a very capable person."
She gasped upon realizing she had forgotten about his companions.
"I'm sure your friends are unique as well. To be singled out by a Fayth is an extraordinary thing."
There was a distinct rubbery snap as Tidus finally broke the neck of whatever had attacked him. Its neck split open as a result and black blood began to pour out of the hole. Tidus retrieved his sword and kicked the foul beast for good measure.
"Keep that up and you might make division finals." Snake said to Tidus.
"But you know nothing of Spira, do you?" Yuna asked.
"Not one damn thing." Snake replied. "All we know is what we've seen up to this point and that much has left me with an incredible amount of questions."
Yuna bit her bottom lip and looked to Lulu for support.
"We'll talk along the way." Lulu said. "We're headed for a port so we can take a boat to Kilika."
"You sound as if you've been through this sort of thing before." Raiden observed.
Lulu pointed at Tidus, who offered a weak smile.
"Feel free to ask me anything." Lulu offered as genuinely as she could.
The next hour was full of nothing but a crash course in Spiran history, customs, ethnic groups, religious beliefs, and all other such important things. Short breaks were taken to kill Fiends of all different kinds. At times they would finish a battle and take three more steps only to be attacked again by the same type of Fiends they had just killed. It did not take long for this to become annoying. Snake proved himself a valuable asset to their team with his M-4 and deadly accuracy. Occasionally it took more ammo then he would have liked to put a Fiend down with. Raiden was at an inexplicable advantage with his katana. Blades seemed more effective when it came to killing the creatures. Snake would need a bigger gun or better bullets. The rifle was fine, but he'd feel better if his gun would tear down the Fiends like regular animals. Their battles were leisurely enough to allow for him to smoke and fight at the same time.
Otacon busied himself with taking notes on everything Lulu said. Snake only bothered memorizing what he thought was important. If needed, he'd refer to Otacon's notes at a later time. A group of people called Maesters ruled Spira. Their authority was absolute. Each member was a representative of a certain race. A priesthood also held some power, but it was the Maesters who made the rules based on the Yevon religion they followed. In other words, Spira was under the complete control of a religious cult. Snake knew he was going to run into problems with that. One key component of this suspicious ideology was the suppression of technology. The Al-Bhed were a race of people completely dedicated to unearthing lost machinery and weapons. By and large they were a peaceful group, but using technology was strictly forbidden by the Yevon religion unless under the guidance of the priesthood.
Snake made no mention of what the Al-Bhed's he encountered were doing offshore. Tidus also kept his mouth shut. Sin was initially born because of technology and that was why the Al-Bhed were looked down upon. Sin punished Spira for all of its passed transgression every ten years. Because of what some people did a thousand years ago, everyone had to suffer. The holes in this logic were too numerous for Snake to count. When he got to know them a little better, he'd have to shake up their beliefs. He hadn't even been in Spira one full day and already he was very suspicious of their political structure. What surprised him the most was how easily everyone believed everything. Nobody questioned Yevon. They all really truly were fine with the existence of Sin. It would be nice if it could be permanently gotten rid of, but perhaps that would not be the best course of action. The Maester's were apparently still debating that topic.
So far the only proven way to kill Sin was by sending summoners to destroy it. A summoner was capable of calling upon the Fayth's, who took the embodiment of several different mythical creatures known as Aeons that were incredibly powerful. It was Yuna's job to acquire all of the basic Aeon's. She would then confront Sin and use the Final Summoning, which would temporarily defeat it. Once Lulu had covered all of that, she then explained Tidus' predicament. He claimed to be from Zanarkand, which had been destroyed for nearly one thousand years. Tidus showed proficiency in blitzball, a form of recreation Lulu could not properly put into words and decided it would be best if Snake saw it for himself. Part of their journey would lead them into Luca, where Wakka would take part in a blitzball tournament alongside Tidus. Apparently he was the captain of Besaid's home team, which really needed someone of Tidus' caliber to even begin hoping that they would win. They believed Tidus was suffering from Sin's toxin as he had gotten too close to the creature. Nobody accepted that he was from Zanarkand and they discouraged him from saying so.
Lulu also expressed concern over Snake's weapons, which fell under the category of machina. This was a generic term used to describe all items not approved by Yevon. Since he was sent by a Fayth, there had to be a good reason behind it. Only the summoners and priests were allowed to see the true identity of the Fayth's and they did not share this information. Since Snake knew what the Fayth who had sent him here looked like, his story was more believable than Tidus'. A Fayth was apparently a person who gave themselves up for the greater good in order to assist in the effort to destroy Sin. They were no longer taking applications. Snake noticed that each Fiend they killed erupted into a yellow mist. These were pyreflies and they were a physical manifestation of the soul. When people died on Spira their souls, or pyreflies, wandered around waiting to be sent. Those that could not be sent either turned into Fiends or reincarnated into the person they were before. This was a strictly forbidden practice with a punishment that extended to the offenders entire family.
Summoners were able to send dead souls into the Farplane where they could finally rest, but since these souls had already turned into Fiends, there was no need to perform the sending. The sun had already begun to set on the horizon by the time Lulu finally finished explaining everything. During her lecture, she drank a great deal of water. Apparently talking for an extended period of time numbed her mouth.
"Is there anything else you wish to know?" Lulu asked.
Snake pulled out his empty Stinger missile launcher.
"Any idea what this is?" Snake asked.
"No." Lulu replied after examining it for a moment.
"Then I don't suppose you've ever heard of missiles?"
"You'd have to ask an Al-Bhed for anything related to machina."
"Maybe I should have searched that ship a little further." Snake muttered to himself. "What about plastic explosives?" Snake asked.
"I don't even know what plastic is."
"Never mind, then. Damn!"
"Is something wrong?" Yuna asked.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me. I was sent here to help you destroy Sin so I'm merely concerned with how I'll be able to do that without the necessary resources."
Yuna smiled.
"There is no need for that. Our final battle will be quite different from these minor scuffles. I can destroy Sin with the Final Summoning by myself just as my father did ten years ago."
Snake sighed. After a few more battles against the same type of Fiends they'd been quarreling with since the morning, Otacon finally got tired of taking notes. He looked at the AK-47 he hadn't returned and felt inclined to use it.
"Hey, Snake. Can I keep the AK-47 I borrowed for the duration of the journey?" Otacon asked as the group passed a waterfall.
"That's a pretty nasty gun for a rookie." Snake said. "But that's fine. Make yourself useful."
As far as Snake knew, Otacon had no experience when it came to firing automatic weapons. They'd had an odd date together where Snake taught Otacon how to shoot a variety of firearms, but since then he hadn't even shot so much as a Derringer.
"I'll let you and Raiden handle the fighting." Otacon said. "If things get thick, I'll help out if I can."
"Works for me." Raiden said with a shrug as he twirled his katana around.
"Same here." Snake said.
Everyone seemed to be getting along fairly well despite the earlier incident. Random conversations sprung up appropriately. Wakka didn't talk to them much. He wouldn't even look at their weapons as everyone else had done. He must have been deeply ingrained in Yevon's lies. As they continued walking, Snake purposefully lagged behind to watch their rear and hopefully catch Hal. Otacon naturally gravitated back towards Snake while Raiden walked alongside Tidus. When Otacon was close enough, Snake threw his arm around him and drew him in even closer.
"Does something about this entire journey seem a bit iffy to you?"
"Definitely." Otacon immediately agreed. "Those Maesters sound a lot like our Patriots. I hate them already."
"Likewise."
"Come to think of it, the general concept of politics reminds me of the Patriots."
"They're all in the same game. The only thing that separates them is a different set of rules. We're going to have a lot of problems, Otacon. By the time we're done with this journey, I'm sure we'll have broken more than a few laws."
"Are you asking if I'm up to it? You know that I am."
"I do. I just thought you'd like to know that I probably don't plan on doing anything by the book around here so you can be ready when we have to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire."
"Okay. Not like that's such a big surprise."
"Keep taking notes. I don't know whether or not Jacky boy is having second thoughts about this whole thing quite yet, but don't tell him we are. He can't keep his damn mouth shut."