"What were you doing out there?" A soft voice asked "Those ruins they...why am even asking, you can't hear me."
She watched the prisoner sleep. Despite the cold air of their surroundings, the captain wouldn't let him in the cabin and so he was left out on the ships bow. The only reason they hadn't killed him was because she was the captains sister, but that was as far as they would go. The mistrust was understood, even expected considering, but still..
"I don't get it," how anyone could have even gotten all the way out there was lost to her, so instead she opted to continue trying (unconsciously?) to figure him out.
He looked about her age, maybe a bit older, but not by much and his layered hair was blond like hers, but unnaturally so. She hadn't had a good look at his eyes when she had first seen him, but he should be awake soon. She thought he looked kinda cute sleeping, like a little kid.
She glanced over as the door to the bridge opened, reveling two of her comrades from earlier. They positioned themselves on either side of the prisoner and motioned for her to return inside. Reluctantly she left him in their care.
---
Tidus awoke with a sense of deja vu and once more he opened his eyes only to be staring at...water. He tried to stand when he was struck across his head and strange yet familiar words came at him.
"Ced, lybdeja!" -Sit, captive!
Tidus felt the anger rise up inside him, "Hey, that hurts!" He turned to his captors, only to find the barrel of a large gun pointed at his face.
"Hu sujehk, rayn?" The gunman asked him in disdain. -No moving, hear?
"Whoa...Ok," although he didn't understand the language, he got the message. He looked around him and saw that they were on a very crude ship, one that seemed to be trying its best not to fall apart. It was fairly big, larger than a fishing boat, and appeared to be composed entirely out of grungy looking steel. On his left there was what resembled some kind of crane, but the door behind him was what really caught his attention as it opened.
Out walked the strangest man he had ever seen; he was also the only person on this ship not wearing a body suit. The man had his blond hair styled into a mohawk as well as purple tattoos running across his chest. He was only wearing black pants and suspenders, yet despite his outfit, he didn't seem the least bit bothered by the cold. He was followed out by a young girl who in all retrospect was a much more pleasant sight. She too had blond hair, which was tied up into a tight ponytail, and striking green eyes. She was cute, but more than that, she was the one who had saved him.
"Caynlr res!" Mohawk man shouted, and he felt rough hands grab him tightly. He clenched his teeth, trying to keep his emotions in check; These people meant business and now was not the time for snide remarks. -Search him!
Then the girl was behind him and she ran her hands down his body, it took him a moment to realize she was probably checking him for any weapons. It was then that he noticed mohawk man had his sword, which he then proceeded to toss down in front of Tidus as he waved his hands about him. Had it not been for the seriousness of the situation and the horrible way he felt right then, he probably would have found it funny but now...he just didn't care.
"Right, whatever." Tidus responded tonelessly.
"Tu oui hud cbayg?" The man asked. He handed Tidus a strange device and resumed with his previous actions. -Do you not speak?
"I said I don't understand!" Tidus snapped back and once more he felt the sharp pain of wood against his head "Ehcumahla!" -Insolence!
"Fyed!" They all turned to look at the girl, she turned to him. -Wait!
"He said you can stay if you make yourself useful," she gave him a small smile.
"You...You can understand me?" He was ecstatic, but cautiously so; He didn't know exactly how much she knew.
"All right, I'll work."
-----------
Tidus bent to pick up his sword as he waited for the girl to explain how exactly he was going to make himself useful.
"We found some ancient ruins right beneath us. It's not active now, but there should still be some power left. We're gonna go down there and activate it...and then we should be able to salvage the big prize!" She told him cheerfully, then with a small frown she bent down to look at him. "You know how to swim right?"
"Yeah, no problem there," He walked over to the edge of the ship and looked down. It was late and the sky still overcast, which made the waters look murky and threatening; he turned back to the girl.
"so what am I supposed to do exactly?"
"That's easy, just follow me!"
He shrugged and in one quick motion, flipped himself over the railing and plummeted into the omnipotent ocean. He heard a splash behind him and turned only to be blinded by a white light. Covering his face with his arms he felt a hand grasp him and pull him away, blinking he saw the girl laughing at him. He looked up and saw a large spotlight attached to the salvage ship. The girl dove down into the path of the beam as Tidus put the breathing device in his mouth and followed.
They dove deeper and deeper; an oppressive darkness surrounded them, making Tidus feel somewhat claustrophobic. He shook his head and focused his attention on keeping up with the strange girl and soon they found themselves in front of a metal guard wire. She pointed to his left and he saw a hole in to the fencing, but leaving the beam had plunged them into blackness. He felt her slide past him as the room lit up (somewhat) and he saw her holding a hand held light. They were in a small chamber, the walls were covered in algae and mud; a door on the left lead out to a long hallway. Tidus glanced at the girl and she held out her arm as if to say, 'after you'.
He smiled to himself as he swam forward, though only going a few feet before he stopped. He could see movement ahead of him and he turned to the girl pointing in the direction of it. The light reviled three medium sized fish with large mouths full of jagged teeth; they watched the pair intently, waiting for them to make the first move. Tidus slowly took out his sword, putting his arm in front of the girl as she had begun to advance. Shooting her a 'stay back' look he drifted towards the fiends; they watched him pensively then rushed at him. He swung his sword down catching two of them then searched for the third, finding it as it bit down on his arm. Bringing the hilt down on it caused it to lose its grip and Tidus fininshed it off. The girl came up to him and made a grab at his arm but he shook his head moving forward. It hurt but it wasn't that serious besides, there was nothing she could about it down here.
They soon came to a large room with a strange device situated in the center of it. The girl swam ahead and started fiddling with the it, trying to make it work. If he could talk, he would've told her it was a lost cause; the machine had to have been years old and after sitting at the bottom of the ocean for so long, well, there was no way it could still be functional. It didn't take her too long to figure that out as she crossed her arms and pouted; he smiled and gave the machine a strong, hard kick. The ruins rumbled as they came to life, light filtering through the cracks and windows illuminating the room. She swam through a broken window and he followed looking for the source of the light; he found it coming from more spotlights attached to the building. The girl smiled at him and began the ascent to the surface.
-----------
The men ahead of him spoke excitedly as they walked towards the ships cabin. Tidus followed, not bothering to listen, he could almost feel the heat coming from inside when he was shoved back.
"Oui, uidceta!" The shover exclaimed. -You, outside!
"Hey! Hey I helped out didn't I!?" But the door had already closed. Tidus lay back down on the freezing deck thinking how this really couldn't get any worse; his stomach growled in agreement.
----------
Tidus drifted off as the cabins door opened and a pain shot up his arm, he gazed up to see the girl smiling at him. She held a tray which she put down in front of him, it only took him a second to realize what was on it.
"Food!"
He shoved the food in his mouth with a large spoon, not caring what exactly he was eating. He swallowed to quickly, then pounded his chest with his fist trying to dislodge what had gotten stuck. A canteen appeared before him and he swiftly grabbed at it, taking a big swig of the contents.
"It's 'cause you eat too fast!" She told him.
He looked back at the girl to find her still smiling at him, but with what seemed like relief in her eyes. It was then that he noticed how different they were; her eyes were bright green, but the pupils were wrong. Instead of the normal round ones, they were swirled, intermixing with her green iris'.
She must have noticed him watching her, because she got up and looked over at the horizon. He ate a few more bites before getting up himself and facing her; his head still hurt, but he felt better then he had all day.
"Hello there. What is your name?" He asked timidly, as it seemed that somehow he had upset her."
She turned back to him, keeping her eyes on the ground, "Rikku."
"Hey, you really do understand me! I thought- I mean, you should have said something earlier." Up until then he really didn't know how much she knew or understood and now he knew.
Maybe she knows how far away I am from Zanarkand or how I could get back!
Her smile had returned as she explained herself, "I didn't get a chance to! Everyone thought oui were a fiend."
"Uh... 'We'?" That didn't sound right.
"Oh, "oui" means "you."
"Oh, um..." He didn't want to hurt her feelings again, but he felt he had to ask, "who are you guys anyway?"
She looked a little taken aback by his question, "We're Al Bhed. Can't you tell?"
Al Bhed..?
"Wait, You're not an Al Bhed-hater, are you?" She was staring at the ground again.
"I don't even know what an Al Bhed is" he was thankful that at least this shouldn't hurt her.
Or not...
She was staring at him as though there was something wrong with him, and he felt like maybe he shouldn't have said anything.
"Where...Where exactly are you from?" She prompted timidly.
"Zanarkand. I'm a blitzball player. Star player of the Zanarkand Abes!" He felt a bit of pride seep into his voice at that, but it was gone instantly as she just turned away and walked over to the railing of the ship. He followed her, leaning next to her trying to catch a glimpse of her face.
She turned back to him, "um, did you hit your head or something?"
He was worried, but he wanted to cheer her up again so...
"Um, you guys hit me."
She involuntarily smiled at that, "Oh, right..."
She though a moment before continuing, "Do you remember anything before that? "
He looked over at the cloudy horizon and told her everything there was to tell about Zanarkand...About life there, blitzball, and Sin's attack...he stopped as what almost could be called relief flooded her face.
"What is it?"
"You were near Sin." He could hear an undertone of fear as she spoke its name. He nodded.
She gave him a weak smile. "Don't worry, you'll be better in no time. They say your head gets funny when Sin is near. Maybe you just had some kind of dream?"
A dream..? No it...it wasn't a dream it, couldn't be....
"How- I mean, why would it make me sick?"
"Because of Sin's toxin" he felt panicky, as she seemed so sure of herself.
He didn't believe her, but he needed to know more. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, there is no Zanarkand anymore. Sin destroyed it a thousand years ago. So...no one plays blitzball there."
"Huh?! What do you mean, a thousand years ago? But I saw Sin attack Zanarkand! You're saying that happened a thousand years ago? No way! I don't believe it!" His anger quickly dissolved and was replaced by dread; he turned and sank back against the railing. If she was right then...
----------------
Rikku watched him helplessly. He looked so crestfallen, she felt like it was her fault. She wanted to say anything to cheer him up but what?
"You said...You play blitzball?" She asked hopefully.
"Uh huh," He didn't even look up at her.
"You know, you should go to Luca. Someone might know who you are, or you might find someone you recognize."
He glanced up at her, confused but interested. "Luca?"
She groaned, if he really didn't remember anything else how was she going to explain this. He must have heard her because he sighed went back to watching the ground. She paced a moment, thinking. How could she possibly help him with this? She smiled as the answer came to her. Brother wouldn't like it, but it was her decision.
"Okay, leave it to me! I'll get you to Luca, promise!" She patted him on the shoulder as he looked up at her skeptical.
"What, you'd rather stay here?"
"No!"
"Okay, I'll go tell the others. Wait here."
She stopped in front of the door, if he said the wrong thing...
"Oh. Don't tell anyone you're from Zanarkand, okay? Yevon says it's a holy place. You might upset someone." She left him with that as she thought of a way to tell Brother.
-------------
My Zanarkand, some kind of holy place? Yeah right, since when?
The very idea of it seemed ridiculous.
Yevon? Sin? Luca? I thought Sin just took me to a faraway place, that I could go back in a day or two. But a thousand years into the future? How...Why..?
He stood up angrily. He couldn't believe this, any of it! He raised his foot to kick the ship when it lurched and he found himself falling back against the deck. Waves crashed around him, threatening to throw him overboard.
The Al Bhed came rushing out talking fearfully amongst themselves. They glance out at the ocean and yelled.
"Sin!"
"Sin ec lusa!" -Sin is here!
"Ihtan ic! Ihtan ic!" -Under us! Under us!
The ship wavered as another wave swept it. Unable to find a grip, Tidus was pulled in with it falling into the vortex that was Sin.
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Sorry my chapters are a little short right now, but I'll try and get more into them. I left out the octopus boss because it seemed like it would be hard for Rikku to use her grenades underwater. Please tell me if you don't like the style I'm writing this in. I need to know to make it better. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!
