Calling Favours
"Yo! Chris!" Wakka's voice from outside my hut woke me up from my sleep. I sat up in my bed with a jolt. "Got from visitors, ya."
"Okay... give me a minute," I called, getting out of bed and threw my clothes on, quickly running the brush through my hair. When I got outside I saw Wakka with two Al Bhed. "Sorry. Been waiting long?"
"Hu, fa zicd kud ran," one of them said. "Fa ryja y saccyka vnus Gippal. Ra haatc oui pylg yd dra dasbma."
"Ra cyo fro?" I asked. I glanced over at Wakka, I knew he understood what we were saying and we were both curious.
"Ra'c haatehk suna ramb fedr dra dufanc uid eh dra Thunder Plains. Vekinat oui't pa nekrd vun dra zup."
"Uv luinca ra tuac," I said and crossed my arms. Whenever I was at Djose, Gippal did have this habit of dropping me into the difficult jobs. "Mad sa kad so drehkc, E'mm pa y vaf sehidac." Wakka and I went back into my hut and I grabbed my bag, getting my camera first off and putting the books Andra gave me on my table.
"He do this a lot?" Wakka asked.
"Pretty much; it's kind of our thing," I said. "Normally it's other kinds of difficult, like going to Youth League or New Yevon headquarters and dropping off deliveries. I've probably got twelve different ways to reject people now. Though this is... third round of sorting out these towers? Been at all of them so far."
"Just don't yourself electrocuted, ya?" Wakka said and I laughed.
"I'll try be back as soon as it's done, okay," I told him and picked up my bag and the books. "Take care of things while I'm gone, I'll say goodbye to Lulu before I go."
I went off to the clothes shop since I knew Andra was working. I have her back the books and said bye. I wasn't going to be gone off the island for ages, maybe a few days while we got the towers back in order. After saying bye to Lulu as well I went onto the airship the Al Bhed had came to the island on. If I was honest, part of me was glad that Gippal had called me over. It'd give me something more to pass the time with. Guess after travelling for so long I was having trouble getting settled again.
"How you doing up there?" Gippal called up to me. I kept focused on the tower and the platings I was fixing in. Most of the repair work was replacing the old platings with something more conductive and making it safer to get up and down them for any future repairs. We were on the last one at this point and we would finally be done.
"Not long to go..." I screwed in the last little bits and looked up at the sky. I loosened my grip on the tower and pushed back the second I saw a flash. A bolt of lightning hit the tower's rod as I fell down, so I spread my body out to disperse the impact. Still fucking hurt when I landed. The team rushed over to me but I was already sat up. "I'm fine, I'm fine."
"You sure?" Gippal asked as I stood up.
"I can still walk. A fall won't kill me," I said and stretched. Okay I did land on my back and it really hurts but I'll get by, I can still move it's fine. "How's the tower looking?"
"Pretty good, nice job up there," Gippal said and we both looked up at the tower. "Dryd'c dra mycd uv dras. Mad'c bylg ib yht mayja drec bmyla."
"Hang on, I want to record it first," I said and ran to my back, picking our my recorder and looking around the Thunder Plains. There were several lightning bolts that shot down but all of them connected to the towers. "We've just finished making adjustments to the last tower. The Thunder Plains should be a lot safer to travel across now... still, kind of short notice to drag me along, Gippal." I turned the camera over to him, not that he minded in the slightest.
"Hey, now you can't hold that against me," he feigned hurt but couldn't get the smile off his face. "You've been working on this since the start. Besides, didn't you miss me?"
"Oui fecr," I scoffed but I did smile. I recorded some more of the Thunder Plains before turning the camera off. I got my things together and joined the team as we walked back to Guadosalam. "So you working on any more projects?" I asked.
"Well, we did get this huge order from Bevelle not long ago," Gippal shrugged. "Seems like they're getting paranoid about the Youth League attacking since they got that sphere."
"What sphere?"
"Seriously? You hear nothing back on Besaid?"
"We're pretty far removed from stuff like that," I responded with a shrug.
"Well, long and short of it is that there was a fight between the Youth League and New Yevon on Kilika about this sphere that supposedly documents Spira's history. From what I've heard that the Gullwings grabbed it and ended up giving it to the Youth League," Gippal said. "So whatever's on that sphere has got to be something special if everyone's getting this worked up about it."
"Makes you wonder if every Calm was like this," I said. "The threat that united everyone is gone, so they just go for each other. It's like everyone focused on Sin so much, now that it's gone everyone's realised that there's other problems and just fighting with one another than actually fixing them."
"Well I can't say you're wrong," we got to Guadosalam and he handed me a towel. "Oh, and I'll actually answer your question: apart from the new paranoia, there's not really much else we're up to. I pulled you out of Besaid pretty short notice, and it's been a few days, so feel free to head on back if that's what you want."
"Well I'm already out here and-"
"You missed me so much, I know," I pushed Gippal and tried not to roll my eyes.
"Wakka will send me a message when Lulu has the baby. I'm starting to go a bit stir crazy with nothing to do in Besaid," I finished. Not that I didn't kind of miss Gippal anyway; he was fun to be around. We just seemed to click the first time we met, well met properly.
The first time we met was two years ago, when Sin took us to Bikanel Island. I'd gotten lost in the desert and we crossed paths. It was when the Guado were attacking Home, and he offered to take me there. We didn't really speak much beyond that since, as soon as we got to Home, I ran straight to find the Summoner's Sanctum to protect Yuna. Then... I'm still not entirely sure what happened between times, bar waking up in Bevelle. Something about the whole ordeal still bothered me.
When Gippal and I met again it was when I went to Djose for the first time since leaving Besaid, about a year ago now I think or just under. I went to see what had happened to the place and ended up staying longer than anticipated. Gippal just ended up pulling me along, showing me how to repair different machines, build some basic stuff, and eventually had me going off to help repair the towers in the Thunder Plains. It happened really quick but he kept me right as I got through it. We hung around each other a lot on down time, even if he was the leader of the Faction, and we just got on really well. He was so laid back but in control of everything and just gave off an air of confidence. It was the kind of attitude I like, and part of me wanted to have. He made me laugh, too, which was always a bonus. Really, Gippal was probably the only person outside of the people I went on the Pilgrimage with that I could fully trust.
"So what's the word?" Gippal asked.
"It's all quiet really. Lulu's only a few weeks from her due date and Wakka's running around in a panic as usual," I said. "Some new arsehole from the Youth League's came to the island, since it's pretty much all Youth League, but I've got no time for him. Honestly I'm glad I've been out here for a while; it was so damn quiet on Besaid."
"That's what happens when you destroy the biggest threat to Spira," Gippal nudged. "You gotta find your own work to get busy in... or are you more interested in hero work?"
"My hero days are done," I said dismissively. "It's the same with Yuna. She's done being the High Summoner, she wants to be Yuna. It's great she's a sphere hunter." I looked up at Gippal, who gave me a knowing look and a smirk. "Okay, yeah I'm a bit jealous. But, you know, it doesn't mean that I don't like helping you out and stuff... shut up, you prick." He was so going to laugh, I could see it in his face. He liked teasing me too much, came as part of the relationship.
"Okay, I'll stop for now, but I can't promise I won't later," you never do, you arse. He actually didn't tease me any more on the way back, mostly it was shop talk and that some hovers from the Mi'ihen Highroad that needed repairing. Soon as we got back to the temple, however, he was straight back on it. He knows I take the bait I need to stop that. Goddamn arse.
Al Bhed translations:
"No, we just got here," "We have a message from Gippal. He needs you back at the temple."
"He say why?"
"He's needing more help with the towers out in the Thunder Plains. Figured you'd be right for the job."
"Of course he does," "Let me get my things, I'll be a few minutes."
"That's the last of them. Let's pack up and leave this place."
"You wish,"
