Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.
(The Chocobo Eater)
It was morning too soon. The sun rose into the air and through the blinds, hitting Rayne in the face. She groaned and rolled over, burying her head under the blankets. Auron, who had been awake for a bit, chuckled and walked over to her bed, kicking it.
"Wake up. It's almost time to go."
Rayne drew the blankets around herself tighter, "MMMMMG, no!"
The older guardian frowned and kicked the bed again, this time harder, "The others will be awake soon. You need to wake up."
"Screw you."
Auron sighed and ripped the blankets off the bed.
"Damn it, Auron!"
"Up. Now."
She grabbed her pillow and slammed it over her head. "No!"
There was silence, and Rayne settled down, hoping that he had finally given up. But, as soon as the thoughts 'Auron' and 'give up' had finished crossing her mind, she tensed again. Those two didn't belong together without the word 'never', because Auron never gave up. And she was right.
Auron, who had walked out of the room for a moment, walked back in and over to Rayne's bed. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, ignoring her struggling and screams. He then carried her into the adjoining bathroom, walked her across the room, and dropped her into a tub half filled with freezing water.
He looked down at her stunned face and smirked, "I'd like to see you go back to sleep now." He walked back into the room, reappearing a few seconds later to drop her clothes on the floor. "Hurry up."
Grumbling, Rayne climbed out of the tub and peeled off her sopping night clothes, drying herself off thoroughly before slipping on her Spiran outfit, mumbling curses at Auron the entire time. 'You will pay for that, Auron, I'll see to that.'
She walked into the bedroom, ready to yell at him, but he was already gone. Grumbling, she strapped on her staff and bags and threw on her jacket, storming out of the room a moment later. Everyone was already waiting in the lobby, but Rayne focused her sights on him, "Auron, I'm gonna—"
"Ah! Somebody help! The chocobos!"
Pushing Rayne aside, Auron looked at the others, "That's our cue. Let's go!"
They ran outside and faced an ugly fiend that was all mouth and no torso. It held a squirming chocobo in one had and was about to drop the poor thing into its mouth when Rayne, in a rage, ran at it, "Oh hell no you don't!"
When she was close enough, she began to whack the fiend around the eyes, "You put that chocobo down now, damn it!" The chocobo bit down onto the fiend's hand, causing the fiend to drop it. Rayne stopped whacking and waved off the chocobo, "Run, little Boky! Be free and live hap—" The fiend turned on Rayne and smacked her, sending her sailing.
"Rayne!" "Lady Rayne!"
Rayne lay on the ground, glaring at the dirt and twitching. She heard the fiend stomping closer, so she rose to her feet and glared at it. "Thunder!" The fiend reeled backwards and Rayne turned to the others, "Let's take this thing down!"
They all joined and fought the fiend, quickly finding that it was better to use the beat down method. When the fiend stretched out its massive arms and ran forward, none of them could dodge it as it pushed them backwards. Tidus reeled at the edge of a cliff, "Whoa! Don't let it push us any further! Push it back!"
Wakka blinded it and Tidus, Kimahri, and Auron attacked it mercilessly, Tidus using 'Haste' on them. When they got it onto its back, Lulu and Rayne ran forward and began casting spells on it, Rayne soon turning and yelling, "Help us push!" They all joined and attacked at once, pushing the fiend back to the other ledge. The fiend, not liking this, rocked back onto its feet, where Wakka blinded it again.
This backwards tug-of-war went on for a while until Rayne felt herself pulse and glow red, "Get ready, everyone! I'm gonna use an overdrive soon!"
Somehow, the fiend managed to get the upper hand and had them pushed back to the edge, and was about to do it again when Rayne screamed, "Back! Now!"
The fiend's arms rose into the air, and Rayne focused her energy on her staff. 'Blizzard.' The ruby flashed, turning into a diamond.
The fiend roared, bracing its feet. The others dove out of the way, but Auron didn't make it in time. It was too late to stop, though; Rayne had already begun.
"Permafrost Javelin!"
She hefted her staff onto her shoulder, launching it when a thick sheen of ice formed over its length and formed an icy spike at the tip. It sunk into the fiend's mouth, getting buried halfway.
"Detonate!"
The spear exploded, tearing the fiend apart with millions of shards of glassy ice. The aftershock slammed into Rayne and Auron, rocketing them both backwards. They smacked into the cliff on the other side and dropped, falling into the crag, into the dark.
The others stared down into the dark crag, trying in vain to see their older companions.
"Lady Rayne! Sir Auron! You two okay?!"
Silence, then an answer, "We're still alive, if that's good enough!"
"Lady Rayne! Is Sir Auron with you?!"
"I really don't think there's anywhere else he could have fallen, Wakka!"
Yuna looked both ways down the crag, "What do we do?!"
Auron's voice was heard next, "Keep going! These two paths converge a ways down! We'll meet you there!"
"Hey! Is my staff up there?!"
"Yeah!" Tidus grabbed the staff and held it over the edge, "Look out, here it comes!" He dropped it down before anyone could stop him.
"You bonehead! You didn't give them nearly enough time!" Lulu shouted, looking like she could have strangled the blitzer.
There was silence below, and everyone grew worried.
Lulu shouted, "Are you alright?!"
More silence, then Rayne's screaming voice echoed up, "Damn it, Tidus! When I see you again, I'm gonna 'Fire' you so bad, they won't even be able to use the pulp in your teeth to identify your charred corpse! You nearly ran me through, you spineless little rooster! When I'm though with you, there won't be anything left for Yuna to send!" She went on like this for some time, but the others had already jumped back and run away.
"Stupid little…" Rayne grumbled to herself as she limped over to her staff and yanked it out of the ground.
Auron, who was leaning against the rocky wall, chuckled, "He at least needs to live until Zanarkand, so don't kill him yet."
Rayne growled and slid her staff into its sleeve, digging out several Potions and handing a few to her fellow. She sank down onto the ground beside him and began downing the Potions, gagging when she had finished four.
"Jeez, they really need to come up with something to wash away this aftertaste."
"Can you hold your alcohol?"
"Huh?" Rayne looked up at him and he shoved his jug in her face. She took it and stared at it. "You do remember what happened the last time I drank, right?"
"You want to get rid of the aftertaste?"
"Point taken." She lifted the jug and tipped it in his direction, "To washing away the taste of the oversweet. Cheers." She then brought the jug to her lips, downing only a little before she had to yank it away. "GAH! That is STRONG!"
He chuckled, taking the jug back, "I know." Then he, himself, took a swig, and a rather long one.
"How can you stand that?" She asked as she watched with mixed horror and awe.
"Years of practice. Besides, it tastes better than the overbearing sweetness of a Potion."
She smacked her lips, making a slight face, "I guess you're right…"
After a few moments of drinking Potions and washing them down with alcohol, they both stood and gathered their things, beginning the long road down the crag. There were fewer fiends in the pit, so Rayne took out her Grid and began working on it some more, successfully reaching and passing the second level spells before she had it ripped out of her hands. "Hey!"
Auron shoved the Grid into his coat, "You will not be doing that again. You can either work on the Grid or walk, and right now, we're walking, so no Grid."
"Why not? I did perfectly fine the last time I did it. Besides, I just reached the second level spells."
"Then you should be fine. And, last time, you weren't under the influence of alcohol."
"Oh, yeah, alcohol that you offered me!"
"Any alcohol I offer is still alcohol. You accepted it, you live with the consequences and rules I force upon you. You're my responsibility."
Rayne's eyes narrowed and she snapped. "That is not a liberty that you have to take, Auron! You will not boss me around!"
"Oh, really?" He stopped and turned on her, pinning her to the wall. As he loomed over her, he bent down and whispered in her ear, "Who's gonna stop me?" She trembled, so he softened his grip, "You drink, you're skills of observation and reaction are dulled. You drink, you're under the influence. We both know how you get when you drink, and, since I'm the only other one here, that makes it my job to watch you. Live with it."
A pang went through Rayne's body and she jerked, a memory suddenly flooding back to her. She remembered the last time Auron had been this close to her; he had been just as commanding, his tone had been the same. But, last time, he had left her.
"Nothing is possible between us."
She jerked again, making Auron pull away and watch her. "Rayne?"
"Power isn't everything. You aren't ready for this."
Auron grabbed her shoulders as she slid to the ground, still trapped in the memory. "Rayne, answer me."
"You can't come."
"Rayne?"
"You have to stay."
"It's alright Rayne, I'm here."
"You have to have the chance we don't."
"You'll be alright."
"I'm sorry."
"Rayne?"
"No, you weren't."
Auron watched her closely. Her tone was dark and her eyes were shadowed, she was clenching her hands tightly. He reached out to her, "I wasn't what, Rayne?"
When his hand was close, Rayne's hand snapped out and slapped it away, her skin shocking his, "The night you left, you weren't sorry. You said you were, but you weren't. None of you were."
"We were, Rayne. Leaving you was the ha—"
"I was nothing but a burden, and I obviously still am. It was easy for you to get rid of me then, but this time is different. This time you have to convince Yuna to get rid of me, and you know that won't be easy. You never liked me and you still don't, so you're trying to make me out to be irresponsible. Getting me to drink, just so you can use it against me later. Saying I'm your responsibility so you can make me out to be a burden."
"Rayne, it's nothing like tha—"
He froze as the air around her crackled, forming visible sparks. He remembered the last time this had happened. "Rayne?"
She snapped. Rayne lunged out at Auron, striking him so hard he flew across the path and slammed into the wall. He sat back up and saw her standing, looking at him. Her pupils were dilated. "YOU WEREN'T SORRY. YOU NEVER WERE!"
He jumped out of the way as a Demi spell went off right where his head was. Jumped again to avoid the Death spell. Jumped again to avoid the three consecutive Blizzaga spells. He jumped again, this time to land right in front of her. As her right hand went for her staff, he grabbed it and slammed it against the wall. Her left went for it, it was slammed against the wall. She began to thrash wildly, so he used his body to pin her.
"Rayne, calm down!"
She screamed in a way which sounded too feral. She couldn't understand him anymore. He thought back to the way Kala and Harref had calmed her and began to talk to her.
"Rayne, it's all right. You aren't alone anymore. I'm here, and I'm not leaving. I'm going to stay right by you. We're going to Zanarkand, remember? Yuna, Tidus, Wakka, Lulu and Kimahri are coming with us, and their waiting for you."
The spells lessened, but she was still struggling.
He leaned in closer, talking into her ear, "No one is trying to get rid of you, especially not me. You're staying with us. Like you said, we older guardians have to keep an eye out for each other, right? But, in order for me to do that properly, you have to calm down."
She stopped struggling and the spells ceased. "Auron?"
He held on to her as she slumped forward. "I'm here; I promise."
The world of red that Rayne had been trapped in faded away and she saw, or rather felt, Auron holding her. She felt so tired, so worn. "Auron, what…?"
"Sleep. I'll watch over you. Just sleep."
Her eyes grew heavy and she drifted into the kind embrace of darkness.
