Chapter 11: The Duty-Bound
As soon as Yuna saw Kimahri, standing on top of the Gagazet mountain trail, she began to run. A brief smile visited Lulu's lips as she saw her enthusiasm, but it quickly straightened as her former protégé almost bumped into someone, suddenly materializing from a well-concealed corner.
"Ah!" she gasped. "I'm sorry, I -"
"Hrmph!" the Ronso grunted, making Yuna step aside without stopping or even looking at her.
"Hm…?"
Not given the chance to apologize further, Yuna glanced back at the crude-mannered Ronso, but then turned away to run up to Kimahri.
"Kimahri!" she called, and something of a smile rose on her ex-guardian's usually solemn face as she reached him.
"Kimahri happy to see Yuna," he said, his deep voice resonating warmly. "The Ronso Yuna meet was Garik. Kimahri apologize for his behaviour."
"No, it's okay," Yuna assured him. "How are you doing, Kimahri?"
Kimahri frowned slightly, and seemed to consider this for a moment.
"Kimahri good," he said at length. "But also… troubled. Kimahri must talk with Yuna about matter most distressing."
"Yes… I know," Yuna said sadly. "But first I need to ask you a favour. My friends would like to search the mountain area for machina. I know it's the sacred mountain, but this is really very important."
"Yuna's friends quite welcome," Kimahri assured her immediately. "Kimahri not mind."
"Thank you so much, Kimahri!" Yuna beamed.
"Yuna come with Kimahri now?" Kimahri asked.
Yuna nodded, and the two of them retreated to a quieter spot higher up on the mountain trail.
"Yuna already know what Kimahri have to say?" Kimahri began.
"Yes, I think so," Yuna said. "Is it true that some of your people seek vengeance on the Guado for what Maester Seymour did two years ago?"
"That is correct," Kimahri admitted grimly. "Garik lead and encourage them. Kimahri the Elder, but before such hatred… powerless."
It was with difficulty that Yuna brought herself to ask the next question, "Have the Ronso… done anything yet?"
"No," Kimahri shook his head to her immense relief. "But Kimahri fear they will. Very soon."
"Have you tried talking to them?"
Kimahri shook his head again.
"Garik not listen. Not want to listen. Garik think Kimahri was fool to forgive."
"They have no right to harm the Guado," Yuna stated firmly. "I suppose it's alright if they can't forgive Seymour… but now he's gone."
Kimahri nodded.
"The ones the Guado hurt were the Al Bhed," he said. "But Kimahri understand they bear no grudge?"
"No, they don't," Yuna said, with admiration in her voice. "It's against their principles."
Kimahri acknowledged this with a respectful nod, and silence fell between them for a moment. At length Yuna said, "Kimahri… do you think Rikku and Gippal should try talking to Garik? Tell him how they forgave something equally horrible. Would that work?"
Kimahri again considered her words carefully, before giving a cautious nod and answering, "It is worth trying."
"We'll do everything we can to stop this, Kimahri," Yuna promised.
Kimahri turned away slightly.
"Kimahri ashamed. Kimahri still leave everything up to Yuna."
"No, Kimahri," Yuna said earnestly, stepping closer to clasp his wide, hairy arm. "I'm sure you have already done everything in your power and more. This is the least I can do."
Kimahri again fell silent for a moment, then suddenly seemed to remember something, but hesitated to bring it up. Yuna, noticing this, gave him a quizzical look.
"Kimahri have question," he finally said quietly.
"Yes, Kimahri?"
"New Yevon and the Youth League," Kimahri said heavily. "Never turn against the Guado… will they?"
"What?" Yuna spluttered, shocked. "What makes you think they would?"
"Garik contemplate which side might agree to assist the Ronso with their revenge. He not believe the Ronso can do it alone."
"But that's…" Yuna stammered. "N-neither of the groups will ever help him with something like that…!"
"Then Kimahri relieved," Kimahri stated calmly. "Kimahri not familiar with the groups' intentions."
Kimahri's choice of words struck Yuna as challenging her to say something reassuring, and she opened her mouth several times to do so, only to realize that she couldn't... not without lying. Kimahri did not seem to notice, however, but looked as though he still wanted to discuss something else instead.
"…Kimahri talk more with Yuna later. Yuna look too concerned now."
"N-no!" Yuna said quickly, recalled to reality. "If there's still something, please tell me now."
Kimahri studied her for a moment and then said slowly, "…No, that was all. Yuna can go back to her friends now."
Yuna smiled faintly, and reached out her hand.
"…Come on, Kimahri. You are Yuna's friend, too."
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Yuna and Kimahri returned to the others to find that Rikku and Gippal had joined them.
"Oh…? That didn't take long," she remarked.
"Not this time, no," Gippal said. "And I don't think the digging will, either." He was eying Kimahri with something that could have been mistaken for respect, but was probably just self-satisfaction in spotting a useful asset. "Especially if your Ronso friend would like to join us?"
"Kimahri will be glad to," Kimahri said with a nod.
"Great!" Gippal said happily, clapping his hands together. "Let's go, then. Okay if we ditch you girls again?"
"Yes," Yuna said with a glance at Rikku, "there's something we need to discuss. Good luck!"
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Once the men had left on their way, Rikku handed the sphere back to Yuna.
"So… did you find out anything new?" Yuna inquired.
"Yep, we did," Rikku gave a solemn nod. "It looks like the machina in the sphere has robot-like parts in its command center, which means trouble if it should fall into wrong hands."
"Trouble?" Yuna echoed.
"Well, let's just say that makes it sort of… easy to take control over," Rikku explained, with that awkward tone of not wanting to worry, but not lie either. "But let's worry about that later. Um… how about that Ronso-Guado business?"
Yuna nodded grimly.
"We were right. They are planning a vengeance. A Ronso named Garik is leading them."
"Oh no!" Rikku gasped.
"Come to think of it… where are all the Ronso?" Lulu suddenly asked with a meaningful glance around.
The three younger girls mimicked her, only to see that she was all too right – the area had quietly emptied even of the few Ronso that had been around earlier.
"…Come on, let us go and look for them," Yuna said immediately, and her friends responded with agreeing nods.
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Eventually, the girls found Garik and five other Ronso crossing the bridge between the Calm Lands and the Gagazet mountain trail. They were all laughing loudly and stupidly, and as they noticed the girls, Yuna in particular, the giants quickly seemed to decide to ignore them completely. Yuna, of course, had no intention to let them, and before they reached their earshot, she gave a sharp whisper to Rikku, "Actually, Rikku… I was hoping you could try and talk to them. You know… as someone who was able to forgive."
"What?" Rikku exclaimed. "And you have the nerve to say that now?"
Yuna gave an apologetic smile, but had to make it quick as the Ronso were just about to pass them, without so much as a grumpy glance their way.
"Garik Ronso?" she addressed their leader.
Garik turned his head, with exaggerated sluggishness and reluctance.
"…High Summoner Yuna. It is an honour."
"…Thank you," Yuna said as coolly as she could manage. "I, uh… I was hoping we could talk."
"Before you say any more," Garik said irritably before she had barely finished her sentence, "our answer is no. We Ronso have the right to avenge those who fell two years ago."
"You are wrong," Lulu stated calmly. "Seymour is already dead. His people have done nothing to hurt the Ronso."
"The Guado attacked us, remember?" Rikku pressed on, earnestly. "The Al Bhed! And you know what? We forgave them!"
"That only prove the rottenness of their tribe," Garik said dismissively. "All the more reason to destroy them all!"
This was met with a boisterous round of applause from the Ronso.
"No, you got it all wrong!" Rikku yelled.
"What we mean to say is that if you should do anything to harm the Guado," Yuna summed up, still struggling to appear unruffled, "we would have to interfere."
"Hah!" Garik grunted. "High Summoner Yuna on the Guado's side?"
Nervous as she was, Yuna felt a rush of fierce resolve as she straightened her posture and replied, "I am only on Spira's side, I always was and always will be." She paused for a moment and added, "We'll leave you in peace… for now. Just think about it. Is this the way you're doing your share to restore peace and happiness to Spira?"
Silence fell for a moment, adding emphasis to her words of appeal, but then Garik shook his head, seemingly unmoved.
"Your Ladyship too naïve, too partial. Let us leave."
He gestured to his comrades, and on their way they went.
"How stupid are they!" Rikku exclaimed as the girls watched the Ronsos' backs grow smaller.
"They are merely another people to believe theirs is the justified war," Lulu reasoned. "The war that will prevent all the rest."
"But that's just… plain illogical," Yuna said sadly.
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The men returned later in the afternoon, and once again, Gippal's mood was greatly in dissonance with that of everyone else.
"Three out of five!" he rejoiced, tapping his processor like there was no tomorrow. "What do you say we set off to the next location straight away? Come on, what's with those miserable looks on your faces?"
"Gippal, you don't understand…" Rikku began.
"Kimahri can come with us, if that's what this is about," Gippal said quickly. "A little extra muscle can't hurt, huh?"
"Look, you don't get it!" Rikku snapped at him. "They need Kimahri here. And Yuna's saying we should stay for a while too."
Gippal turned to stare at Yuna, incredulous.
"…What? To be there to stand in their way when they march to Guadosalam with their spears sharpened? You just can't get enough of saving the day, can you?"
Yuna looked away from him, ill at ease.
"…Let's just stay overnight, and think. I… I believe it's the right thing to do."
"We can stop and think anytime, anywhere," Gippal shot back. "Now let's just go."
"No… that's something we never do."
She turned to face him again.
"We never stop. You never stop."
Gippal continued to gape at her, as though unable to satisfactorily express how ridiculous she sounded.
"…Fine," he said eventually. "I never stop. And for me, that's the right thing to do."
Yuna glowered at him, and Gippal gave a deep sigh and rubbed his forehead.
"Look, I believe that weapon is just as big of a threat to Spira as the Ronso are to the Guado, if not bigger. I owe it to Spira to see this through. It's like… it's like my duty. As someone who was able to forgive."
Yuna stared at him, her mouth opening involuntarily. This was perhaps the second time she had seen him serious, and she knew that those were no trivial words coming from a former outcast. She felt a sudden surge of respect for the man she usually found tolerable at best, and whose noble motives she had doubted from the beginning.
She looked into his single unconcealed eye. Now there was no question about it. He had every look of honesty, earnestness and absolute determination about him. He was on a quest to save Spira just as surely as she had been two years ago.
"I…"
But before she could respond, they were suddenly distracted by the sound of heavy footsteps approaching, and turned their heads to see Kimahri descending the mountain trail.
"Yuna," was the only word he uttered, but Yuna nodded immediately, and followed him as he quietly turned on his heels. It was time.
"…Ugh," Gippal grunted as the two of them walked off, much to the puzzlement of the others. "If someone needs me, I'll be in the cabin."
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Even as Yuna and Kimahri were out of the others' earshot, the Ronso elder still seemed strangely unwilling to talk. He kept glancing around with an odd expression, a mixture of anxiety and sadness that Yuna had never seen on his face, only to turn back to Yuna again, as though realizing he could not evade the subject forever.
"…What is it, Kimahri?" Yuna asked worriedly.
Kimahri looked into her eyes with a heavy air, and only shook his head.
"What is it?" Yuna pressed on. "Tell me."
Finally, Yuna watched intently as Kimahri quietly reached out his arm, and slowly opened his fist to reveal a glimmering sphere. Yuna took an involuntary step back.
"… Sinister character come to Kimahri, say to give this to Yuna. For Yuna's eyes only. Kimahri not watch."
Yuna looked up from the sphere at the grim expression in Kimahri's eyes, and accepted the sphere with slightly shaking hands.
"Kimahri try to attack man, to see his face. Man too strong. Kimahri lose."
Yuna's eyes shot up from the sphere again.
"Kimahri, you mustn't have… on my account…" she spluttered in shock.
But Kimahri only shook his head. The next words he said seemed to require great pains to utter.
"…Yuna need not tell what she see. But if Yuna in danger…"
And there it was again – that heartbreakingly sad, concerned expression. Yuna thought she understood what it meant. Kimahri knew the sphere could not bear good news, and wanted her, from the bottom of his heart, to share whatever it brought with it instead. He desperately wanted her to let him help.
Only he knew her all too well to know that she wouldn't.
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On returning to the airship, Yuna found to her surprise that her friends (minus Gippal) were not alone, but talking to an unlikely group of strangers, two of whom seemed to be from New Yevon, and the other two from the Youth League. And the closer she came, the more evident it became that they weren't 'talking' so much as having a full-blown yelling contest.
Rikku turned around in the middle of a fervent argument, and upon seeing Yuna, shouted, "Yuna, you gotta come and tell these guys to get lost!"
The four men motioned anxiously, surprised by her sudden arrival.
"Now, young lady," one of the New Yevon representatives said pompously, "we'll take over from here."
He gave Yuna a hasty bow.
"Lady Yuna… It is an honour."
Before Yuna could respond, one of the Youth Leaguers continued, "We have come to request your visit in Luca tomorrow."
"…Visit Luca?" Yuna echoed. "Tomorrow? ...What for?"
"For you to make an important announcement," at least three of the visitors declared in one voice, almost to a comical effect.
"What should I announce?"Yuna asked, slightly amused.
"How should I put this, now…" one of the New Yevon monks mumbled. "The citizens of Spira have been… a little confused as to your allegiances lately. Especially after what happened in Kilika last night. We request you announce which side you are on in public, in front of all Spira."
Rikku and Wakka made noises of disapproval and exasperation, but Yuna could only stare at the men.
"…Excuse me?"
"See?" Rikku cut in. "They're a bunch of buffoons just begging to be sent packing!"
"… I couldn't have put it better myself," Yuna said sternly. "Now please leave. I refuse."
"…I'm afraid that's not really an option," one of the Youth Leaguers stated simply.
"What?"
"You heard him," the other Youth Leaguer said. "We're truly sorry for the inconvenience, but you have to come. Also, we would like Gippal of the Machine Faction to be present as well."
"But… you can't just…" Yuna spluttered.
"Consider this your duty," one of the New Yevon representatives cut her short. "Your duty as the High Summoner."
This silenced Yuna for a moment, and even made her signal Rikku not to argue back.
"…Is this really what all of Spira wants me to do?" she finally asked.
"Yes," one of the men said, Yuna could not even tell which as she had turned her head away. "You must not let them down, Lady Yuna."
Yuna clenched her fists, still not meeting their eyes. Rikku continued to motion at her to say no, and she turned her head to another direction before finally facing the men.
"…I won't. I… I will come."
"Yuna!" Rikku and Wakka protested in one voice, but the men ignored them.
"Excellent," one of the monks said. "We beg your leave now, my lady. We'll meet again in Luca."
With that, they saw themselves off, the Youth Leaguers quickly assuming a quicker pace so as to put some distance between them and the monks.
"Well we can't wait!" Wakka yelled after them.
"Yuna, I understand why you did that, but…" Rikku began, but stopped short as Yuna turned away.
"…I guess… we should let Gippal know," she said quietly.
"He might not exactly throw a party," Paine snorted.
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And sure enough, when Gippal heard the news, he yet again gaped as though having trouble to do justice to the full absurdity of the situation described to him.
"…What? C-could you just repeat that? That's… just… completely…"
"Repeating it won't alter the contents, you know," Paine scoffed.
"And they want me there too?" Gippal ranted on. "I get Yuna and all, but me?"
"Leader of the Machine Faction, remember?" Lulu reminded him. "And a puzzling new friend of the High Summoner."
"I think we should go," Yuna said before Gippal could spout a retort. "Tell them that we're not on anybody's side and that there's no need for them to be. We won't accomplish anything by just running away."
Gippal stared at her, starting to look more frightened than incredulous, but all the more adamant.
"Okay, newsflash: Not. Coming."
"You still need Yuna's sphere, right?" Rikku pointed out. "So you'll follow her wherever she goes!"
"Yeah, about that…"
"Gippal," Yuna interrupted him. "…Please."
Gippal considered her a fair while, and once again, it was impossible to read his expression, which was already calmer, but with an odd, calculative undertone.
"Okay, fine," he said at length. "We'll go to Luca."
Yuna gave him an approving, relieved smile.
"Come on. Let's go do the comparison now."
To her puzzlement, Gippal looked surprised, almost unpleasantly so, and opened his mouth to say something before blatantly changing his mind and assuring her instead, "Uh, that's alright. The comparison… can wait."
"…Are you sure?" Yuna asked, bewildered.
"Yup," Gippal said quickly. "I'm sure you have loads of other stuff on your plate. I know I do."
Yuna regarded him in confusion as he tried to pass off his anxious fidgeting as stretching, but could still not decode the falsely blank look on his face.
"…Right," she said finally. "Um… thank you."
Gippal shot her a smirk, and swung on his heels in a playful manner, looking suddenly extremely pleased.
"You're welcome, Yuna. Pretty damn welcome."