8
Cloud leaned over to look at the object in Yuna's hands. A letter. A plain parchment letter, written with painstaking accuracy to the elaborate letters. She'd been reading it over and over again since they left Rin's and not for the first time, Cloud realized he needed to learn the language. Not that he'd say so in Wakka's earshot. He leaned over to look over her shoulder; when he tilted his head just right they looked like elaborate letters he knew.
"That's a K," Cloud pointed at one of the letters.
"Oh!" Yuna pulled the letter to her chest and glanced to see if Wakka was looking. "I...yes, it is." She let him take a closer look. "It's from my cousin, Keyakku. He's not adjusting to his new role very well."
"Is he one of the uh, boatmen?"
"No. He's my uncle's firstborn, so he's having to learn how to be the next leader." Yuna folded the letter carefully and slid it into her kimono sleeve. "Maytana Keyakku Minaj...it has a nice sound, don't you think?"
Cloud hummed and looked ahead on the road. Auron was taking lead while Tidus and Wakka goofed off towards the back. Lulu and Khimari to either side of himself and Yuna and nothing but blue skies and dirt roads ahead of them. What he wouldn't give for his motorcycle.
"So where do you fit in?" he clarified at the look she gave him. Where in the royal family was Yuna?
"I don't. My mother was disowned, and I'm only half." She smiled up at him, not entirely genuine but not truly faked. "I don't mind it. It's enough to have a family. Besides, I'd have to be next in line if my mother hadn't eloped with my father." The laugh she let out was relieved and heartfelt.
AlBhed leadership went by the next generation's age. It didn't matter if you were the leader's son, if your cousin was born first then they were in charge. If the title did have to be passed down in this generation, it would go to her cousin Bjarte as the next in the bloodline. It was odd without being confusing. Cloud frowned a bit before asking if she would write up a few letters for him to study while they travelled. If nothing else he'd be able to tell someone where the library was. Plus, if he learned the lingo, he might be able to find out a bit more about how Sin really came to be. Evil demons didn't just appear because of cell phones.
The tail end of Mihen ended far too soon. The bright and sunny landscape of lush green hills and colorful flowers was giving way to something dim and clouded. A chill overtook the air as they went and soon Cloud could smell salt in the air. Salt and gulls until soon he could hear and see the ocean lapping against the silver grey cliffs to the right. This ocean wasn't the same as the calm sea Besaid rested in. It was grim and the chilly wind that blew in off of the water was the kind that seeped into your bones and stayed there.
"It's colder than I remember," Auron scowled as they slowed down.
"What kind of sea is cold?" Wakka crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Cloud took that moment to swing one of their packs over his shoulder and dig around for the sweater he'd nearly abandoned back in Besaid. Yuna was looking too pale and he could see the pinpricks on her skin. When the wool touched her shoulders she turned dramatically; he'd forgotten to approach her from her good side.
"C'mon, sleeves off." Cloud opened his hand to wait for them.
"But it wouldn't be," Yuna shook her head. "If someone were to see that I was dressed in..." The look on his face must have been enough to talk her into taking the sleeves off. Soon the silken flags were handed over and soft white hands were poking out from the black sleeves of his sweater. "It's still inappropriate. Summoners aren't supposed to wear black."
"It's a bad omen," Lulu agreed. "As is wearing the garment of a guardian."
"I'm not asking you to wear it as your guardian," Cloud folded up the sleeves and put them in the bag. Yuna met his eyes for a moment and a small smile began to creep upon her face. It made her eyes light up and Cloud was reminded that she was the brightest thing in his life.
As they continued further along the road they were greeted more and more by the sights of machinery and of soldiers. The normally bright colors of the Crusaders and of the al Bhed were subdued and gritty along the Djose coastline. The men and women falling in alongside their weaponry. Alongside cages of fiends that were pushed dangerously close to the water's edge. A military exercise but against what? What sort of war game was afoot? He could see the command center of this strange operation not far ahead, in the middle of the road. They'd have to pass through it if they wanted to get to the temple on the other side. It was as they came closer to the first of many visible checkpoints that Cloud saw someone familiar to him
"Why only you, sir? I want to fight, too!" Gatta's words were also familiar to the blonde swordsman. Denzel had shouted them time and again whenever he ventured into the world alongside him. He missed the boy.
"Orders are orders." Luzzu said as though everything were explained in that one sentence. And it did to anyone able to listen. Anyone who could truly read those words for what they were.
"I'm not a cadet anymore, sir!" Gatta argued. "Let me go with you, and I'll prove it to them!"
Luzzu sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Guarding the command center is important too you know."
"But I came all the way from Besaid to fight Sin, sir!"
"I know, but an order's an order, To your post, Crusader." The elder's voice was tired and strained. Too many hours of working nonstop and arguing with green boys.
"But, sir!"
Gatta ran away in a childish fit as Luzzu simply prayed for him and his safety. After a few moments of contemplation, he noticed Cloud and Yuna standing there, along with the others.
"They let you through, huh?" He sounded worn out and ready to move on though Tidus would have none of that.
"Gatta deserves better..." Tidus argued the other boy's case.
"At least there's no chance he'll get hurt." Wakka shrugged.
"I'd have chained Denzel at home," Cloud admitted. Yuna looked at him curiously and he mouthed 'later' to her, allowing Wakka to speak as he seemed wont to do.
"Why are you guys fighting, anyway? Aren't the almighty Al Bhed machina enough?" Wakka had grown increasingly petulant and moody with every machina they'd passed on their way here.
"They still need some time to get them ready, our job is to keep Sin at bay till they're done." Luzzu explained. The commander paused for a moment, opening his mouth and closing it again. "Wakka...I might not get another chance to say this…It's about your brother."
"Luzzu, no!" The cry that emerged from Lulu's lips was enough to draw attention, but not enough to make Luzzu stop his admission.
"What?" Wakka asked suspiciously.
"I'm the one who convinced him...to enlist. I'm sorry."
It seemed to any observer that Wakka had been standing one moment and then atop Luzzu in the next. A punch was thrown, and then another, and Cloud was pulling the redheaded athlete off of the soldier with only a small amount of difficulty. He was enraged. The anger over seeing his faith trampled had combined with the betrayal of not only his friend but of the woman he claimed to love. Tidus had taken hold of Wakka's shoulders and was trying to look him in the eyes to calm him.
"Wakka!" Tidus yelled. "That's enough, Wakka!"
"I will knock you to the ground if you don't cool it," Cloud told the burly man.
Wakka stopped struggling and the two blondes let him go after a long and tense moment. Tidus still stood between Wakka and Luzzu and Cloud remained at the redhead's side, a grasp on his shoulder that was undoubtedly firmer than let on.
"When we used to play blitz together, Chappu used to say," Wakka paused in his words and took a sharp, short breath as a single fist raised to his eyes. "He'd say that when we won the Cup, ya? He'd propose to Lulu. And then one day...he goes off and becomes a Crusader. Just like that."
"Chappu also said to me," Luzzu had risen from the ground by now, blinking a few times before he spoke, "That being with your girl is good but keeping Sin far away from her is better."
Yuna glanced over at Cloud and their eyes met. It wasn't a single idea that passed between them but many. They wouldn't hide from Sin and he wouldn't try to keep her from her destiny. He'd stand beside her and together they'd win. Together.
"Luzzu told me...before we left," Lulu confessed. Her somber words broke through and brought the summoner back to the misty cliffs of Djose.
"She hit me, too," Luzzu laughed. Yes, Yuna thought, that sounded like Lulu.
"I don't think you've ever really told me about Denzel," Yuna spoke up as they made their way to the command center.
After Luzzu's admission Lucil had ridden up and given orders. She'd even given orders to Cloud and Yuna; she'd stuttered for a moment upon seeing Yuna dressed in black. He'd worried that Yuna might try to switch back into her sleeves but if anything she'd grown more confident in it and even smiled when Lucil rode away as quickly as possible.
"Haven't I?"
"I just said you hadn't," Yuna gave him a look. There was the faintest of smiles behind her lips and Cloud let his own free.
"I was on a return trip from making a delivery when I saw something on the side of the road." Yuna listened as Cloud told her about his adopted son. Apparently, the boy lived up to his new surname and caused Cloud and Tifa all manner of strife. "He wants to be a fighter for the WRO, a public defender. It's the closest and best thing to being a Soldier I guess."
Certainly a bit more honorable. So far.
By now they were all at the control center, an area filled with cannons and other 'machina' Cloud recognized as pistols and machine guns. There were a few crusaders standing around and Tidus was talking to all of them. Yuna was standing close beside him, making him feel much better considering she was in an army camp.
"Curse these...!" Wakka yelled at a cannon, kicking it. Cloud was surprised when the sound of bones crunching didn't reach his ears. Surely he'd broken a piece of himself.
"He really hates them, huh?" Tidus asked.
Lulu sighed before speaking. "Chappu…he left the sword Wakka gave him in Besaid, and he fought with an Al Bhed machina weapon instead."
"That's got nothing to do with it!" Wakka yelled back at them, "I just hate these sacrilegious contraptions!"
"They do a lot of good where I'm from," Cloud said. "They save lives otherwise lost and put out fires. Build new homes and transport people to see their loved ones."
Wakka muttered something about Cloud being from a different planet and not understanding before he walked over to the ledge of the cliff they were on.
"It won't work anyway," Wakka sneered for the first time since Cloud had met him. Like the rest of them he watched the Crusaders corral the fiends into a large cage
"Don't say that." Yuna whispered to him before speaking up louder as she moved closer to his position on the ledge. "It might be a hopeless campaign, and it might mean defying Yevon…but the Crusaders and the Al Bhed-they're doing their best to defeat Sin. They want to rid Spira of Sin forever. And that's just what we want, too, isn't it?" She looked Wakka in the eye seriously. "Isn't it?"
The blitzplayer was at a loss. He didn't seem to know what to say or even how to say it. Instead he began and ended a half dozen words, arms rising and dropping with each attempt before relenting that their goal was one in the same. One in the same and machina were forbidden for a reason.
Cloud could only nod as he moved to bring Yuna away from the cliff's edge. They couldn't win over everyone but he could certainly keep his summoner from falling to her death.
Yuna was most times a very tolerant person. She was respectful and polite and waited until the thoughtless words or mindless actions had finished before making her escape. Most times. Since coming to Djose from Kilika she was realizing that the people she endeavored to save were thoughtless and ignorant at the best of times. Perhaps she was simply tired or they had no fear of their consequences. Perhaps it was a learned behavior that had helped them survive for so long. She would still save them of course. To give them the chance to become more than they were and to help the children live a life without fear of Sin. She would live up to her potential so that they would as well.
Lucil was someone Yuna felt an unreasonable distaste for. Not because Lucil was cruel or rude, not because she dressed strangely or was excitable for reasons unknown. Yuna just wasn't particularly fond of her and had little desire to speak with her. Unfortunately she had little choice, for the woman was riding up on her chocobo, kicking up dust and stopping just a few feet in front of Cloud.
"Lady Summoner! There you are!" Why on earth had the woman been looking for her? Shouldn't she be doing...something else? "The command center is that way. Maester Kinoc is also there."
This surprised Yuna, why would there be two maesters at such a sacrilegious event. "Maester Kinoc, too?"
"Yes." Lucil was gushing again. "Please hurry, my lady."
"Wait!" Cloud grabbed hold of the chocobo's saddle when Lucil turned to leave. The redheaded woman jerked and her face flickered with both insult and disdain before she schooled it back into a calm expression. "We never agreed to go anywhere so I want to know just Who decided we were supposed to show up and watch?"
"I thought it was made clear-"
"I'm not one of your soldiers," Cloud cut her off. Yuna watched as he became the hero of his world. The leader of stern face and grim determination. "Last I checked none of us were. We'll be going through to Djose temple. You can tell your CO that the summoner politely declines his invitation."
Lucil's face flickered again before she looked to Yuna. Control your guardian it seemed to say. She would not. It was true that everyone should band together against a common foe but in this moment Yuna didn't want to watch as hundreds died. Why would anyone want to Watch their comrades die? So she smiled and thanked Lucil for volunteering to escort them through the camp. Yuna even offered to take full responsibility if the captain got into trouble for not delivering her to the command center.
"Give me a moment," Lucil nodded sharply at them when it was clear neither would budge on the decision. After a few moments of speaking into a sphere Yuna saw Gatta walk up to them, heels dragging and a tired look upon his face. "The Squire Gatta will see that you make it to the other side safely. I'm afraid I have duties to finish."
The dust kicked up around them, perhaps more than the last time, and Yuna tried not to smile.
"She's going to go find something to do so she won't get in trouble," Cloud told her. He was smirking without worry, strong arms crossed in front of him and the leather of his harness stretching across his increasingly tan skin. "Hey Gatta, how's it going?"
"Please follow me to the exit," the young man sighed. "Your safety is my highest priority."
"You know they're going to die, right?" Cloud asked the boy. That seemed to be enough to shake him out of his petulance. "This venture, you're going to lose at least half of your brothers. How can you be so selfish, knowing you'll never see them again?"
"It's not, I just, I want to be beside them!" Gatta argued. "I want to be with them instead of just watching from the distance."
"You'd rather their sacrifice was in vain then." Cloud shook his head. "They're giving it all to you. You think you have it so damn hard, but your brothers are giving up their families. Trusting you with their fate."
"Perhaps you'd rather Sin got to them," Auron spoke from just behind Cloud. The red swordsman wasn't so terrifying as some Cloud had known but his entire being radiated that of severe drill master. "Though, perhaps its all the same with you watching them."
"Sir Auron, Ser Cloud," Yuna's voice was sharp. "Gatta, thank you for seeing us to the other side of the camp. I fear we've all grown road weary and our words are perhaps-"
"No." Gatta shook his head. "They're right."
Gatta continued to lead them through the camp, though midway through Cloud deviated. He whispered into Yuna's ear and shared a look with Auron. He was going to look around and meet up with them in a few moments. Just for a moment to check the weapons stores the Crusaders had. That part was true; Yuna needed a better weapon. Admitted, she was skilled with a staff but every shop they'd passed had given her a wand or a rod. Perhaps one of the Al Bhed would have something more suitable, a mechanized staff or hell, even a ladysmith pistol. As he walked through their section of the camp, standing out like a crow in a flock of canaries, he felt more at home than he had in a while. The flashy sleds, riotous cranes, neon trucks. He wouldn't mind getting a truck after all of this. Set up a chocobo ranch someplace with a curvy red truck and Yuna would do whatever the hell she wanted.
Cloud stopped walking.
The minute Cloud saw the machine before him, he was spellbound. The woman working on the machine looked at him oddly as he ran his hands along it with a smile. This was by far the most advanced motorcycle he had ever seen, and despite it's bright purple and neon blue paintjob...
"It's beautiful."
The woman giggled before motioning a man over. He looked a bit like Loz, save one eye missing and his hair stuck up in front rather than on the sides.
"That she is my friend," He laughed. "Gippal. I built that baby, Battousai."
"How fast?" Cloud asked.
"I've only pushed her to two hundred km. I'm scared to do any more than that," Gippal blushed as he said that and Cloud narrowed his eyes in a mock glare.
"Only two hundred? Seeing her makes me miss Fenrir. I got him up to three hundred."
Gippals eyes widened. "No way…Holy shit…I'm not even worthy."
"You'll get her there one day," Cloud smiled. "Hey, this might sound weird, but is there a gunsmith here? My girl, she's fighting with a stick and I can't take it anymore."
"A smithy? Yeah, c'mon, I'll take you over there." Gippal led the way with all the confidence of a man twice his age. He couldn't have been more than sixteen, seventeen. "You know, most Humes don't go looking for Bedore machina."
"Yeah well, not entirely Hume." Cloud had never heard the word Bedore though he made certain that it was kept in his head for future reference. It felt familiar. Like something his mother had said to him once upon a time. Saying that he wasn't full Hume made Gippal look at him differently though. Cloud knew blonde hair wasn't common outside of the Bedore race -and for some reason he knew it was Bedore and not Al Bhed- but in saying that he'd become something of a lost cousin.
"My father," Cloud shrugged when he was asked. "Never knew him, and I only met him once."
It clicked into place. Somehow. Some way. Cloud finished his purchase and took the man's name down, along with his contact information in exchange for a hefty pouch of gil and the promise he would come back to buy a motorcycle once this was finished up. As he and Gippal walked back through the camp there were flickers of memories he'd never had coming into his head and for a second he worried. There was no need for his head to get mixed up anymore and he prayed it wouldn't be. Prayed it would stop but nothing more had been added than the single meeting between his father and himself.
The sound of a well fed and snide man made both Cloud and Gippal stop walking. Kinoc was calling men and women over to a cliff he wouldn't have noticed otherwise. All candidates for the Crimson Squad were to report for duty.
"That's my cue. Normally they don't let AlBehd into the crusaders," Gippal said. "But I gotta keep my princess safe."
Cloud nodded. "Alright man, be careful."
"Will do!"
Cloud continued to stare at the cave and the people standing before it. Gippal had joined with three other people, two men and a woman, shifting from foot to foot and joking about with the white haired teen beside him. The SOLDIER frowned and crept closer to the cave. Life was about to go one of two ways. The first, it was a normal cave and Yuna had made it to Djose temple without any issues. The second, this was a death trap and Yuna was shanghaied up to the command center by the other maester. Cloud didn't believe in halfways anymore; he was going to stop believing in luck soon too.
"I kinda...think we don't belong here." Yuna said quietly to Wakka. She glanced around, wondering where her other blonde guardian had run off to. She and her guardians had been beset by the elite guard of Bevelle only a few moments after he'd gone to investigate. Even now she wondered if he'd run into some cruel fate. Perhaps his curiosity had brought the anger of the maesters down onto them. Auron was standing just behind her and with him she felt safe but without Cloud nearby she couldn't relax.
"Lady Yuna, I am glad you could join us at last." Maester Seymour was seated near to her, lounging in his own seat as though he weren't about to watch thousands fall on the beach before him.
"My pilgrimage is of great importance to me," Yuna repeated. The same line she'd given to the elite guards when she'd tried to pass them. "I would continue on my path as soon as we've finished here."
"I have no doubt it will all be over much quicker than anyone expects."
Yuna's skin chilled and the hair along her skin stood on end. That was not something a maester should say. That wasn't something anyone with a conscience should say. Perhaps Cloud was right about the man. Where was he?
Kinoc entered the area before Yuna could think of a reason to leave.
"It is time at last." Kinoc said solemnly. "We must tell the Al Bhed waiting outside to begin the operation at once. The fiends may break through," he said, turning to Yuna and the others. "This place is not safe, make sure you're prepared to defend yourselves. Tell me when you're ready."
The next few moments were a flurry of activity: fiends were escaping, Sin was coming, and everything was going to the Farplane. Suddenly, Sin's shockwave shot out through the air, knocking her down and out. When she woke up, only Auron was beside her and he was walking over to Maester Seymour. And in front of the two, the beast that she'd fought earlier was wriggling and attacking.
"Stand back, Lady Yuna." Seymour commanded.
Yuna wasn't happy, but did as told. "The others…" Yuna said suddenly to Auron. "Where are they?"
~!~
Cloud stumbled within the cave, the young woman on his shoulder slipping a bit before he shuffled her back up. Kinoc had planned this. He was certain. Sending people into an unknown situation just to see what would happen. Healthy, young, stupid men and women who thought they'd be helping people. Cloud was going to kill that man, same as Vincent had done to Hojo. Then again Auron seemed to have a vendetta against the guy. Maybe he'd just help.
Cloud carried the woman over to her companions, away from the mouth of the cave and the few guards who were still keeping watch and executing whomever was strong enough to escape. Except Cloud and the four on the sand around him. Materia was damn useful in this world. Cloud set her down on the sand and waited quietly as they woke up. The beach was turning red further along the shore and pink foam was washing up nearby. If anything had happened to Yuna he would not let those responsible escape.
"Cloud?" Gippal asked. Cloud made a motion for them to be quiet as he crouched down and began to heal them.
"Kinoc set you up, he's taking a body count right now and soon he'll figure out you four made it out-"
"But we didn't," The woman bit out, "You rescued us."
"Well I can amend that if you want," Cloud growled. "Now shut up and listen. Sin is out there along with a fuckload of fiends, so get out of here, be careful, and for Minerva's sake don't get killed." Cloud peaked out before cursing and looking a bit deeper into the crevice they were in.
Apparently, the four he rescued decided to follow him out, a primal survival instinct taking over at seeing a stronger being go a different route. Travel was easy, even for the woman wearing heels. And they kept up fairly well with Clouds pace.
"We're going to head off to Luca," The man in red said. "Be safe, and thank you for helping us out."
~!~
"Cloud!" Yuna called out, as loud as she could. "Cloud! Where are you!"
"You do not look so well." Yuna turned to see Seymour standing beside her.
"I'm fine, but I don't know where my Primero Guardian has gone."
Seymour didn't frown. To show such displeasure would be unseemly and he was a gentleman and maester besides. That didn't mean he was happy to discover she'd selected a Primero Guard. Not a common occurrence and usually reserved for a summoner's beloved.
"You must be the people's strength right now, their confidence. Anyone else would be expected to show their sorrow for the death of friends." Yuna choked at his words and Seymour felt his bubble of happiness grow just a bit. It would make everything easier in the long run. "You are a summoner. You are Spira's hope. Until Sin is defeated, you must not relent. Do you understand?"
Yuna tried to steady her breath, but only succeeded in holding it. "Yes. I understand."
"Are you afraid? Yuna, take me as your pillar of strength. As Yunalesca had her lord Zaon."
When she came towards him Semour wondered if this would be too easy. Her eyes weren't on his any longer. Her focus was past him and her feet had sped up as she vaulted over the rubble and down the bloodied beach. A man in black was hurrying towards her and Seymour's eyes narrowed when the swordsman caught the teen. She would willingly court death. Those who dealt in death...who would hand her over to her fate. Such was the way of the world.
"Lady Yuna. Until next we meet, farewell."
"Cloud," Yuna cried. "I thought you died, I was so worried!"
"Shh," Cloud said, running his fingers through her hair. "I was helping some people out. They were stuck in a cave. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Yuna nodded, still holding onto him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Cloud smiled. "Come on, Auron looks like he wants to help that Guado kill me."
Yuna looked back to where she'd left her red clothed guardian and the maester. One was looking at them in anger and the other wore a look Yuna didn't care to think on. A look that made her hold tighter to Cloud and hide away from the eyes that watched her. As they came closer the maester bowed and walked away, saving her from the uncomfortable interaction she would have with him. True, he was a high priest in the church but in this meeting, the first real meeting, she wondered why and how he'd come to be in a place of compassion and yet so empty.
"What the hell ya?" Wakka shouted as they rejoined. He took hold of Cloud and attempted to place him into a headlock, but through clever movement and strange luck it was Tidus who received the noogie while Cloud was forced to avoid tripping into Auron.
"A guardian is supposed to watch his summoner."
"What? Didn't think you could handle it?" Cloud asked. "I ran into some trouble. Military secrets and human sacrifice. Kinoc."
Though Yuna had only heard every few words the two exchanged she could see the stormy look on Auron's face and the serious one Cloud wore. They continued to speak, words lower and anger growing between and above them. Though there was no anger between them, instead it went up to the ruins of the command center. It was when Cloud glanced over to her and his eyes softened that they stopped. She took her place next to Cloud and soon they were underway again. Finally heading to Djose to rest and build up their strength.
"Cloud, were you really helping someone out of a cave?" Yuna asked as they checked in to the Djose hotel. She would not go into the temple yet. Not when there were so many to send. Cloud knew what she was planning too. He and Lulu were preparing themselves, as were several others at the inn; all of them in black, like crows ready to feast. He'd taken his sweater back when they entered the Inn and now looked more the part.
"Four people. A woman and three men," Cloud said. "Why?"
"I'm just worried is all. Kinoc left right after you did, and I got worried about that comment you made and…it's silly, never mind." She clutched the borrowed room blanket tighter around herself. When his lips brushed her cheek Yuna wondered if she'd faint from the heat.
"It's not silly. To tell you the truth, I was going out of my mind when I wasn't next to you." Cloud pulled back and went back to looking through the tourist clothing. Pullover woolens and zippered coats on a rack were each emblazoned with the thunderbolts of Ixion and Djose. "I wonder if I'm ever going to find you something warm."
"I feel very warm when I'm with you." Yuna leaned against his back and inhaled. "I don't want to fight again. So, if I say something after the sending, please don't be upset."
"I can't promise that I won't shout back." Cloud's arm fumbled for her until she reached her arms around his waist. "It's not real if we don't fight for it. I want you to say everything on your mind when we're done. All of it. Even the bad parts."
They stayed liked that for a few moments more. Breathing in and out as the people around them moved and laughed and argued. The key to their room was handed over quietly, slid to the end of the counter beside them and their friends and companions could be heard going further inside or speaking quietly by the fire. There should have been more people here. There should have been warriors celebrating.
They'd gone to sit before the fire by the time any of their compatriots rejoined them. Tidus and Wakka had come back from their room talking about sports and Lulu had met up with them. Cloud had seen her talking to the other crows since they'd come in, shooting glances his direction every so often until they all nodded. He'd heard them agree to his backstory as a traveling Dedmin. Student of Zephyr the Sicarii, well known though mysterious enough for his tale to have unquestionable probability. Great. Cloud would have to start remembering his infiltration classes.
"Hey! How much longer till Zanarkand?" Tidus' shout overpowered the quiet talk of the crows in the corner. It was enough to make all of those in black scowl and break apart.
"Still a ways," Wakka answered tiredly. Obviously, he was tired of hearing about the city too.
"First we have to go down the Moonflow to the Guado city of Guadosalam...then we cross the Thunder Plains to the temple of Macalania." Lulu explained as she came over from the corner.
"Oh, boy." Tidus cheered statistically.
Yuna laughed a bit and Cloud tried not to grin as the sparkle in her eyes. "But before that, we get to pray at the temple in Djose!"
"We can't just skip all that, can we?" Tidus asked.
"I have to pray to the fayth in every temple in order to earn the Final Aeon," the summoner explained. Cloud knew that not even a final Aeon could really defeat Sin, not if it hadn't done so in the past.
"That's a Summoner's training." Wakka continued in the explanation. "She's gotta prepare, purify her mind and body," That bit was stressed and directed at Cloud. "All just to get ready for the Final Summoning."
"Must be tough, Yuna." Tidus attempted at conversation with the young summoner. "Does that mean you have to avoid doing all the really fun stuff?" Cloud turned to stare at the boy. Was he really trying to start this? Thankfully Lulu and Wakka were just as shocked by his words.
"I'll be fine with all of you here!" Yuna smiled at him. "And I'm having lots of fun with Cloud and Lulu, and sometimes Wakka."
"I think it's time for us to go to bed," Lulu interrupted the strange turn this conversation had gone. Tidus was staring starry eyed at nothing while Wakka held back his chuckles to little avail. "Cloud, I need to speak with you about something."
"I should change," Yuna nodded. "I think I saw something behind the counter I can wear out tonight."
Cloud watched her head towards the Inn's clerk and wondered if they'd find another one of Rin's establishment. The color there was more comforting than this Yevon-run place. Thank the goddess that she didn't have trouble talking to the nun on the other side. Within moments she was laughing and holding brightly colored garments.
"How much did you hear us say?" Lulu asked. He'd nearly forgotten she remained.
"What is a Dedmin?" Cloud leaned forward so their words wouldn't be taken by passersby. "What's a Sicarii?"
"Hm, I should have expected you to hear that." Lulu kicked her shoes off and pulled her feet up and under her. "All Sicarri and Dedmin, but not all Dedmin are Sicarri. I am a Dedmin, but I could never bring myself to become an assassin." Her red eyes focused on him and Cloud frowned. "We respect the dead and treat them as though they still drew breath while preparing them for the final journey. In some cases we must remove one of the living to keep the balance."
"Today upset that balance."
"Yes. It is blasphemy for me to speak of what needs to be done. Yevon is a guiding light to all Dedmin."
"But not Sicarii."
"No."
Cloud leaned back and pondered the strange turns his life was taking. By wearing black, by respecting the departed, he'd earned himself a role as assassin. He was also being asked, in not so many words, to remove those who were responsible for the crimes committed today. He wondered how many times Sephiroth had wanted to do this until he remembered that the silver general had. Was he about to follow in his Idol's steps? Perhaps. Perhaps he would find a way to do it better.
"Who's Zephyr?" Cloud asked.
"One of the senior members of our order. Few have ever seen him, though his works is flawless."
"Why would he agree to let some nobody take his name?"
"Because he saw you in action."
"What? When?"
"I don't know. Perhaps in Kilika or Luca. He saw you and when word was sent out others began to watch you as well. Somehow he discovered that you weren't from this land and now he wishes to take you on as his own."
"I have to protect Yuna. I can't go off and train for months."
"You could, if you talked Yuna into it." Lulu wanted her to quit. It was plain for anyone to see. She wanted Yuna to quit the pilgrimage and go do something else, be someone else, live someplace else. "He doesn't want you to quit. He's merely agreed to lend his name to you."
Yuna was coming back to them with a brightly colored robe hanging over her arms. Neither wanted to tell her about the strange man who'd seen them and seemed to know what was going on. For now Cloud would put it onto the back burner; between Sephiroth and Sin there was no room for a Sicarii. His mind wandered and planned as Yuna slipped into the kimono robe she'd purchased from the nun behind the counter. He registered her words as she explained that many summoners left their robes as they travelled south for others traveling north. It wasn't as important compared to the fact that someone besides Yuna and their companions knew he was from another world.
"So?"
Cloud looked up at her and took in the vibrant white and purple robe that draped over her shoulders. It looked rather thin but she looked happy in it. One of the small joys of their journey.
After the three of them were sure of their companions slumber, Yuna, Lulu, and Cloud headed out and onto the battlefield in only the most essential and utilitarian clothing.
It was still covered in bodies and wounded men and women, fiends already birthing from the corpses of brave people and chocobos alike. Thieves too littered the battle field, searching the pockets of the fallen and taking better weapons from them, altogether ignoring the summoner that walked through their midst. They worked just quickly enough to avoid coming into contact with the Dedmin who were working already. As those in black spread outward from the middle, offering quicker blessings than Cloud had learned in Kilika and wrapping only their heads, so too did the thieves spread out and away.
"Loz would have enjoyed kicking these men in the head," Cloud muttered as he hefted one of the larger men up and over to a pyre that had been erected. Once it was all prepared she would dance and they would work on the next one. There were hundreds of bodies, dead or dying, only a few were well enough to stumble away off of the battlefield.
"He was the big one, right?" Yuna asked. She'd been casting Sleep spells on those who sputtered and gasped for life. Sending them peacefully to the Farplane with grace and a smile. She'd just finished with the man Cloud was wrapping.
"Yeah," Cloud nodded. "He thought scavengers like them were the lowest of the low. And he thought everyone unlike our 'family' was low."
Yuna giggled. "I'm sure he was a trying brother."
"He was," Cloud smiled. "I think he might have liked you though. He liked kind people."
They continued working, Yuna praying as those in black continued wrapping. She helped when she could. Helped some take a final sip of water, helped others set their broken limbs and hobble away. Helped to find the limbs which had gone missing or to place gil over the eyes of fallen AlBhed.
An old tradition. Older than Yevon and older than Zanarkand but kept alive by the AlBhed and the nomadic tribes of Spira. Two gil for the soul. One to pay the guardian who would lead the soul into the afterlife and one to enter. Every single AlBhed had carried those coins around their neck and for those who'd lost theirs she pulled from her own wallet. Even the Dedmin carried out the tradition. Their duty to the dead.
The sun rose crimson in the thick smoke blooming up into the sky. Ashen and coal colored and smelling of roasted flesh, burned blood, and hot steel. Salt air was thick with the scent of rendered fat and salt and waste. It was an essence that would never come off. Something that would cling to your clothes and hair for days to come, weeks even. An event that would linger in their minds. Nothing at all like the devastation in Kilika for that had been a tragedy and this was something far worse. The dance Yuna gave was not like the one on the island. Surrounded by agents in black instead of loving family members, there was no one to comfort save the dead. Her footsteps sloughed not through clean water but across frothing sand and blood. She rose up into the filthy air and danced in stained linen borrowed from a summoner who'd abandoned the cause. There was no color, no joy, and no tears.
When Yuna tripped in between sendings Cloud decided it was time for them to go to bed. At least two other summoners had passed through and sent the dead while another was just beginning his first sending. Each dance was different though no less encouraging to any lost spirits. The dancing man was left to Cloud's back as he gathered up Yuna and half carried her back to the temple inn. She wouldn't let him carry her fully and in a strange way he was proud of her choice. To stand up for herself and make her own choice. She was just awake enough to nod at their companions as she wandered back to their room.
He knew the sun was rising on the other side of the walls but as he pulled his boots off and undid Yuna's, he couldn't be bothered. He only just managed to get the bloodied layers off of her form before she feel into bed and he followed not long after. They were tired, they were drained, and they still had miles to go.
One of those miles to go concerned their traveling companions. Lulu was watching him as he stumbled out of their room and Auron had his single good eyes trained on Cloud from his place at the bar. Lulu had left the battlefield earlier than Cloud and Yuna last night, which, as a guardian was the right thing to do. It warred with what Cloud had been taught by the Dedmin he met upon the field though. As a Dedmin she should have remained out there until like Cloud, exhaustion took over. She should be on her way back out now, having rested and eaten. He was considering going back out once Yuna woke up; there were enough guardians to watch as he helped the others.
"I assume you kept your hands to yourself," Lulu watched him. The brightly colored robe he wore was courtesy of Djose Inn.
"I didn't have sex with her," Cloud yawned as he accepted some coffee from a nun. "And the staff took my clothes to be laundered. No idea why. They're going to get bloody again in a few."
"You," Lulu huffed and blinked until Wakka came out from the room he and Tidus shared. "Wakka, I thought you were going to share with Cloud."
"Ah, they been sharin' a room since Besaid," The blitzball player shrugged it off. He took grabbed a cup of coffee from the counter. "Hey, how much longer we stayin' in Djose?"
"About half the bodies were cleared yesterday," Cloud answered around another yawn. "There's still a lot more, not counting the pieces that can't seem to be matched up to their owners."
"You seem to have made a lot of progress last night," Lulu admitted softly. "I couldn't stay longer. The smell had begun to make me dizzy."
"A couple others got the same way," Cloud nodded. "I'm going to head out again while Yuna's in the temple."
"She'll sleep through the day," Lulu dismissed it. "Mass sendings always drain a summoner. Once you get your clothes back, I'll go with you."
Yuna was somewhat awake and aware when he and Lulu returned that evening. The overwhelming emotions without name or owner were coursing through her and Cloud decided that no matter how tired he and Lulu were, they were going into the temple once they showered. Even though Wakka wanted to let her rest further and Tidus seemed ready to fight him. Auron was on Cloud's side in this, and Lulu remained silent.
Even though his muscles screamed and his body and mind begged for a break, he couldn't. He shouldn't have let her sleep for so long either. As it was they were forced to sit in the temple and wait for the current summoner to finisher their prayers. Djose temple had one thing going for it; it ran on visible electricty. Bright white lightning flew in great arcs across the ceiling from one rod to another and the air itself was charged with the idea of a great bolt. It wasn't like Kilika with it's cloying heat and tropical spices nor was it like Besaid's pleasant coolness and lulling florals. Djose was alive and ready to escape it's bonds. To fight.
Cloud was ready to pass out from exhaustion; Yuna was already dozing on his shoulder.
"Why are we waiting?" Yuna asked as she drifted in and out. She was more aware in the temple than she had been at the Inn and for that Cloud was glad.
"There's another summoner in the cloisters," Cloud kissed her forehead. "We're waiting for them to finish up."
"What if it's Dona?" Tidus chirped. While he'd been fully battle ready at the idea of prayer, he'd reverted back to his excitable puppy persona. It was both a blessing and a curse for the three who'd been working nonstop with the dead. "We have to beat her right?"
As the younger blonde bounced around Auron and the others, Cloud met the old man's single eye and recalled te words that had passed between them this morning. Lulu was in the back, helping Yuna into something to wear and waiting for the other guardians to wake up and pack.
"You don't like me do you?"
The man in red gave a grunt. "I'm fulfilling a promise."
"Mind if I ask what it was?"
"I have to make sure the kids are happy." Auron was staring ahead at Yuna and Tidus, where they stood laughing and talking with a Summoner not of Dona's profile. In fact, it was a man dressed in blue.
"What if she's happy with someone else?"
Cloud frowned when he saw Yuna hurry over to the newly exiting summoner. It was the dancing man from before. He looked exhausted, his guardians as well, but he looked ready to continue his journey. Cloud stayed back a moment while he and Yuna spoke before the temple stairs. The rest of the guardians were distant as well, respecting some unspoken reverence to Summoners meeting each other.
~!~
"Yuna, are you ready?"
"Ah," Yuna jumped when her favored guardian spoke up behind her. "Cloud, I didn't expect you to, my apologies Issaru. This is my Premiere Guardian, Sir Cloud." She knew that claiming he was her Premiere would ruffle more than a few feathers amoungst her guardians but he was the only one who could destroy Sin at it's source. The one who could track down the fayth that it came from instead of helping her die for a few moments of peace. That wasn't fair. "He's been with me since the beginning, I only hope we will be together at the end."
"We will." Cloud's hand rest upon her shoulder and Yuna smiled. "Issaru, I saw you sending last night."
"What?" The darker skinned man behind Issaru yelped.
"Thank you, Sir Cloud. My brothers thought I was sleeping in my bed, now they don't."
"Sorry," Cloud apologized. "I didn't know I was supposed to lie about it."
"You wouldn't have anyway," Yuna laughed. True, Issaru was now in deep trouble with his guardians but if Cloud was anything, he was honest.
"You're in very good hands Lady Yuna," Issaru nodded as he ignored his guardian's glower. The little of them ran forward and Yuna could see her own guardians coming closer now. Discussion between summoners wasn't a confidential thing, but for centuries everyone had treated it as such.
"I'm Pacce." The child exclimed as he ran forward. He didn't offer his hand as he spoke, instead he tugged on Cloud's chap and smiled widely at him. Was he the one the brother's intended to use? "Pleased to meet you."
"And I'm Maroda." The other figure said. The glowering one. The frown hid the pain behidn his eyes and Yuna knew that yes, they were intending to use young Pacce as a vessel. "I'm guarding my big brother here."
Issaru smiled sheepishly. "You always have been brother, as I was saying before…you must have some of your father's talent in you Lady Yuna, I believe you might someday defeat Sin."
"I...I'm not really..." Yuna couldn't very well admit that she was chosen by the Fayth and the Lifestream to destroy Sin. "I've only just become a summoner."
"Of course, I've not intention of losing, either." Issaru laughed. "So perhaps we should race to see who can defeat Sin first, no?"
"Very well, then. I accept your challenge." Yuna would defeat Sin if only to keep another child from suffering.
Maroda called out from beside the exit, obviously ready to go.
Issaru gave a laugh. "Yuna, I beg your leave. Good luck, to both of us!"
"Yes." Good luck to he and his family, that they might have a home at the end of all this.
~!~
Cloud was the last to head towards the Cloister of trials, along with Tidus whom he was speaking to about 'The Bike'. Tidus was drooling just as much as Cloud had been, if not more, bemoaning that his jetski back home only hit around one hundred and eighty. It was one of the few bright spots of the Djose Massacre; Cloud would make sure that was how history remembered it. History would remember the callous and flippant way the maesters had treated human lives and the folly of giving too much power to men who cared too little to join the fray themselves.
"Hey, you two!" Cloud turned to see Issaru coming towards them, guardians in tow. "You are Yuna's guardians, no? Maroda's heard a curious rumor. I thought you should know."
"I heard it from those Crusaders." Maroda leaned forward as though sharing a great secret. "Seems that Summoners have been going out on pilgrimage and just...disappearing."
"It could just be the fiends got them..." Issaru continued, "but not so many so quickly."
"Sorry I don't know more," Maroda apologized. "But...watch your back. Ain't much future for a guardian without a summoner, eh?"
"What? What?" the little boy had run over now. "Whatcha all talkin' 'bout?"
Cloud and Tidus waved an awkward farewell to the trio of brothers; Tidus actually spoke to them while Cloud tried not to focus on how incredibly odd they seemed. Until Tidus leaned over and pointed it out. They were quite odd, and something about the way they treated the littlest was just off.
"Like, really weird," Tidus crossed his arms above his head.
"We'll still take their advice. I'd rather not risk her life." Cloud frowned. His frown matched Lulu's, though the anger behind it was different. For one, Cloud wasn't angry. He saw Yuna standing patiently behind her, fully clothed though her laces were done a bit differently and the frown on her face had little to do with anyone in particular. He didn't like that look on her.
"All right!" Wakka yelled. "Guardians, at attention!"
"I am ready," Yuna nodded.
"All right..." Wakka nodded. "Let's do it!"
Cloud was ready to swear electricity off altogether when they reached the Chamber of the Fayth. Never in his life had he gotten motion sick from an elevator until this temple. Not once. Not on escalators or moving sidewalks or any sort of thing like that. But by the Goddess if he had to lift his head and move in the next few hours then the temple was going to be custom painted with the bile in Cloud's stomach. And he wasn't going to clean it up.
He tried not to think so negatively about it. Yuna was praying to the Fayth and receiving a message form Aerith and the Lifestream. His sour attitude and stomach wouldn't help the energies travel, or something like that. He'd gone through enough of these prayer and energy related things to know just enough about how to not mess it up. So he focused on his breathing and held very still over the earthenware pot someone had placed in front of him.
Lulu sat down beside him and he had a good guess.
"You should rest," he managed to say. "We've been too busy."
"Your dedication as a Dedmin is admirable Sir Cloud. I think you should rest as well." Lulu gave him a look. "I trust that's all you did last night with our summoner."
"We were too exhausted for anything else." He couldn't help but tease the black mage. Maybe it was the lack of sleep getting to him but it seemed like a good idea.
"One day you'll disappear and no one will find your body."
Lulu was just in between the line of waking and sleeping and just tired enough to let go of his comment. Her own response had sounded more like a reflex than anything. So the two of them rested on the steps, waiting for Yuna's prayers to be answered and for the Farplane and the Lifestream to deliver their messages. Perhaps it was a perk of being a Dedmin, or perhaps it was travelling with the right companions, but they allowed Cloud and Lulu to drift off as much as they were able in the temple antechamber. Until the scent of sharp cinnamon and ripe fruit came into his senses. His stomach had just managed to settle and that scent which he'd eventually come to associate with Kilika came into the room, clinging to the form of Summoner Dona as tightly as her brightly colored robes. If one could call them robes. He'd seen women and the Honeybee Inn wear more thought out costumes. Hell, Wutai streetwalkers wore more concealing garments. Then again, Kilika was one of the few places he'd stripped down to the bare minimum from the heat.
"Well, well. You again." Dona stalked towards them. "She's still traveling with a crowd, I see." Despite her disdain, the guardian behind her was beside himself with excitement. Cloud could only guess it came from one man because everyone else in the party had seen them in Kilika. "What is it, Barthello? You know this riffraff?"
"You are...Auron, no?" The man asked, taking a small step forward. His mighty axe was held in both hands, head towards the ground as he waited for an answer. Cloud thought he acted very much like a younger Denzel waiting for permission to do something wonderful.
"What of it?"
After a series of poses and excited sounds that Cloud had definitely seen both Marlene and Denzel emit and act out, Barthello approached a rather wary Auron. "Can...I shake your hand? Auron-no, Sir Auron, you're the reason I became a guardian!"
Cloud knew he was jaded in regards to heroes and idolizing someone so ideal. The truth of a hero was always bitter and blood filled. Yet as he watched he did't see Auron pretending to be anything other than he was. This wasn't merely a fan and a celebrity. This was a human being realizing that their hero was one of their peers. Barthelo had achieved equal standing with his idol.
"Thank you, sir!" The man gushed. "This means so much to me!"
Cloud ignored as Wakka and Tidus teased the other summoner. Lulu had only just woken up beside him and despite her attitude, Dona had never targeted the two of them whenever they met. Respect for Dedmin culture. He had a realization though as he watched it play out.
"Can you shut up?" Cloud called out to the room. "Unlike some of you, we've been working for the past three days solid." He included Dona is his gesture for 'we' and for the first time the other summoner gave him a look of thanks. It was an odd look, but nonetheless, it was there. Dona turned away from them and found her own place to wait in silence. She was a summoner too after all. Dona carried the bitterness and memories of the dead inside of her as well; Cloud knew Yuna hadn't been able to send everyone on Kilika. He'd wrapped more corpses than she'd danced for and their first meeting of Dona had been after that dance.
The buff man gave a small noise of despair earning some misplaced encouragement from Tidus. He hadn't gotten it even if Wakka was beginning to.
The wait for Yuna was nearly as long as that of her first session in prayer and agains, she exited exhausted and on unsteady feet. This time however, Khimari raced to Yuna's side and helped her down the stairway.
Dona decided to make herself known to the other summoner, unsatisfied with the biting remarks she'd given to the guardians as the worries of the dead clung to her.
"You owe much to your father," she said examining the girl closely, hoping to find some chink she could tear away at. "All these guardians... and Sir Auron, too? And I hear Maester Seymour's quite taken with you. The world must look different when you're the daughter of Lord Braska."
Yuna didn't think before she fought back against the woman who threw her words about so carelessly.
"This has nothing to do with my father! I am traveling on my own, as a full-fledged summoner!"
"Oh," the dark skinned woman sneered. "Is that so? Then try standing on your own two legs for once." Dona turned away and headed up the stairs to the chamber Yuna had so recently vacated. "Your guardians won't be able to protect you when the time comes."
~!~
Yuna didn't hear anything other than the pounding of blood in her ears as they made their way out and into the main chamber of Djose. She didn't hear the remarks Tidus made about ugly old witches and she missed Tidus being set on fire by their own witch in black.
"Yuna."
She turned when someone came up on her blind side and took her elbow. Normally people didn't approach from that side, she was always careful to keep it guarded but Cloud had snuck in and judging by the look in his eyes, he had meant to snap her out of her musings.
"It's alright. She'd been sending since Goddess knows when. She was already out there when we got there, remember?"
"So she sent more souls to their rest than I did," Yuna sighed. "She's helped more than I have."
"She's older than your are, more experienced with a higher stamina and more refined magic." Cloud set his palm against her cheek. He'd taken his gloves off and the callouses on his skin were offset by the gentlness of his touch. "You'll get there one day."
"This has been my second sending," Yuna admitted as she thought on it. "I suppose, I lost track of what was going on around me."
"It's alright. Come on. I plan to sleep off another night before we head out into the wilds." He pointed to where Auron and Wakka were leaning over a map. "They're trying to leave now."
"It's the middle of the night," Yuna gasped. She glanced around the room and saw Lulu as exhausted as before and Dona, who'd been so tense in the temple, was entering the Inn with a more serene and tired look upon her face. She didn't pick a fight or attempt any conversation; she went into the back to find her room. "I'm tired Cloud. Will you hold me?"
"Of course."
~!~
Yuna knew that she and Cloud weren't the only ones choosing to lie in bed a bit longer. She could still hear that unmistakable silence that came with a sleeping household. Cloud' arms tightened around her a bit and Though his breathing was slow, she knew he was awake. His breathing was always slow.
It was around mid-day when Yuna woke up, Groggy and rather unwilling to move from bed. She peered at Cloud who lay beside her, just as awake, for a few moments before snuggling up beside him and closing her eyes again.
"Yuna," she heard.
"Hm?"
"I know, this is probably the wrong time to ask…" Cloud paused for a minute and Yuna opened her eyes to look at him. He laughed a bit before speaking. "This was a lot easier in my head and while you weren't looking at me."
"Oh! Do you want me to look away?"
He laughed again, uneasily, "No, nothing like that." He took a deep breath and let his eyes slide shut. When he opened them again they were calmer and focused on her. She could see the way his irises spread out and where mako lit up the tissue. "Yuna, I love you. I want us to be more than a summoner and a guardian. When this is over, I want to continue to be by your side."
"As a lover?" Yuna ask hesitantly.
Cloud smiled at her. "We've already become lovers. I was thinking of something a bit more committed."
"I'd like that," Yuna smiled.
Yuna jumped when he kissed her before relaxing and moving her lips along with his. It was tender and gentle causing Yuna's heart to flutter in her chest as he moved to lean over her. He broke away, smiling at her before he lay back down and rested his head upon her breast.
"Cloud?" Yuna asked.
"Hm?"
"What do we tell the others?"
Cloud laughed from his spot, causing her chest to rumble. "If they can't figure it out by the end of the day, I promise we'll tell them." His warm breath fanned out across her skin and she tried not to focus on the pleasant sensation. "Besides, Auron already knows and Lulu suspects."
!#$&()
Wakka was the first to say anything about their late arrival into the temple yard.
"Yo! Sleepyhead!"
And while Cloud wasn't particularly worried about the fact that had had slept in, Yuna was going half mad and apologizing to everyone she could. They hadn't spent enough time there. He hadn't been able to kiss her as much as he liked but her lips were pleasantly bruised from his attentions.
"Sorry! I'm so sorry!" she begged. "Please forgive me."
"Really, there's no rush..." Lulu assured her. "Here, your hair."
Yuna blushed, as did Cloud, knowing just how her hair had gotten so rumpled. She didn't speak on it nor did she say anything about Yuna's flushed skin or rumpled clothing. Instead she was giving Cloud the coldest glare he' ever felt. Wakka was of course oblivious to any dissent. Tidus had given up for the most part.
"A summoner with bed hair! What's the world comin' to?"
"You could have woken me up!" Yuna argued.
"We called to you," Lulu said, "but with all that snoring..."
Cloud silently conceded that he hadn't kept his hands to himself by looking away from the black mage and fellow dedmin. Yuna was first to recover, complaining about people picking on her and creating a bit of a scene to draw attention away from the storm known as Lulu.
"You said you wouldn't touch her," Lulu hissed at him as she grabbed him by the arm. "And yet there she stands, looking as though you ravished her before she could even speak."
"I never said that," Cloud watched her. Her nails were digging into his arm through the fabric of his shirt. He knew this was coming though. For all Lulu pushed towards Yuna as a way to keep her alive, she didn't seem to want the girl to get too distracted from her suicide. "I already told you, I have no intention of letting her die. Besides, I'm sure you've done the same thing a few times."
"That was different!" Lulu argued. "Chappu and I were…oh Yevon…" Jerkily, she let him go, almost like she was burned, and stalked away.
Yuna was talking to Tidus when he returned, talking about their fathers and what Yuna remembered of 'Sir Jecht'. That got Cloud to thinking about his new title. Sir Cloud? That sounded silly, there was just no question. Sir Wakka was only less silly, but that was due to the blitzplayer's name not being the same thing as an object. And Lady Lulu? That was too many L's. That brought him to another thought. What was Yuna's full name? Did she have a family name or did she simply have her given name? He needed to find out. Of course by the time he found himself back to reality they were talking to the Chocobo Knights.
"-earch of chocobos to replace those we have lost." He must have tuned in a bit late, especially if Lucil was finishing her long winded speech.
Elma was the next to speak, the perky gushing woman who reminded him a bit much of Elena.
"Once we find chocobos, our Mounted Forces will ride again!"
After a bit more information from the trio, and a petulant looking Clasko running after his commander, they went back to traveling.
"Where to next?" Tidus asked then, eager as ever to reach his beloved Zanarkand.
"We cross the Moonflow," Lulu said.
"A river?" Cloud asked quietly. He was not looking forward to seasickness.
Beside him Yuna was laughing before assuring him that the ride would be gentle, while Tidus simply laughed about Cloud being 'not so bad after all'. The little putz.
~!~!~!
~!~!~!~