Chapter Eleven: Moonflow, Baby, Here We Come!

A small hut had been hastily erected to house those of the survivors who would not fit inside the temple, and that was where Tidus found himself the next morning, with only a vague recollection of staggering there when they had emerged from the temple, heart and body sore from the trials of the past day. He could dimly remember shoving some food into his mouth before dropping off, but right now he didn't feel capable of eating. Tidus dragged himself to his feet and stumbled outside. The sun shone once more in the bright blue sky, mocking his grief and guilt over Gatta's death. All the others except Yuna were scattered about in the open area before the temple. Kimahri looked up at him, his vertical pupils minuscule in the bright morning sunlight. "Dona has left," he announced. "Isaaru, too." Tidus started, still unused to the Ronso's voice.

After consulting the others, he found that Yuna had not come out of the temple yet. The corners of his mouth curled into a sad half-smile. She was probably still sleeping. He entered the temple to find her, noting dimly that the rocks outside had re-attached themselves to the outer wall. The electricity that had been there before was absent. In the main temple room, Luzzu stood quietly before one of the statues, staring off into space with a haunted look in his eyes. He looked up as Tidus came over to him. "I suppose this is farewell, then," he said in a dead voice.

"Huh?"

"I'm leaving...back to Besaid. I can't stay here eating the temple's bread forever. I'm one of the only Crusaders still here."

Tidus' heart felt heavy with guilt that had not abated at all overnight. "Well...good luck, man." He was only slightly surprised at how similar their voices were, both dead and limp. He laid a companionable hand on Luzzu's arm.

"I'll...I'll always miss him," Luzzu said, dropping his gaze.

"Me too," Tidus murmured quietly, and they fell silent. Tidus looked up at Luzzu's face, and a horrid weight settled into the pit of his stomach. He knew what he had to do. "Uh...Luzzu? I was the one who told Gatta to go to the front. I'm sorry. I just...thought you should know."

For a moment, fire sprang into Luzzu's dead eyes, and he gripped Tidus' arm in a painfully tight grip. But then a confused expression crossed his face, and he let his arms drop to his sides. "Then we are both guilty," he murmured, and gave a sigh. "I can't hold it against you." After hesitating for a moment, he hurried out the temple doors.

Tidus wearily pushed open the door to one of the side rooms, slightly relieved to have told Luzzu. Luzzu's words had relieved him somewhat, but a large part of the guilt still remained. This was probably how Luzzu felt about Wakka and Chappu...

The room that he found himself in had housed the wounded the day before, yet was now empty but for one priestess sweeping the floor and Yuna, who lay on a bed in a deep sleep.

The priestess looked up when he entered and leaned on her broom. "She was working until dawn," she said in a low voice, so as not to wake the summoner. "Healing the wounded, sending the fallen."

"Okay..." Tidus looked down at her face, for once calm and unworried. Beautiful... "I guess I'll just let her sleep for now..."

But at that moment, Yuna opened her mismatched eyes and slowly raised herself to a sitting position, yawning widely. "Good morning!" Tidus called, forcing his voice to become cheerful as she blinked the sleep out of her eyes.

Yuna leapt to her feet with a horrified expression. "What? Morning?!"

"Don't worry!" Tidus assured her, but Yuna seemed frantic.

"But it's morning! I'm so sorry! I-I'll get ready right away! Just a moment!" She rushed around the room, splashing water on her face from a pitcher on a table, and trying to gather together the scattered potions and healing devices she had left lying all around the room.

"Don't worry!" Tidus said again. "It's okay!" He almost felt inclined to laugh. Almost.

Together, they emerged from the temple and met the others waiting for them. Wakka grinned when he saw them. "Yo! Sleepyhead!"

Yuna dipped into a quick, apologetic bow. "Sorry! I'm so sorry!" She rushed up to Auron, who leaned casually against the wall as usual. "Please forgive me."

Lulu smiled gently, the stern lines gone from her face, and she stepped towards Yuna. "Really, there's no rush... Here, your hair."

A crimson blush burst forth on the young summoner's cheeks, and her hands flew to her hair, tangled from sleeping. Wakka was still grinning as he approached them as well. "A summoner with bad hair! What's the world comin' to?"

Yuna flattened down her hair as best she could, frowning. "You could have woken me up!"

Lulu slapped a look of innocence on her face. "We called to you, but with all that snoring..."

Yuna, blushing more furiously than ever, glared around at them all. "What is it today? Everyone's picking on me!" Everyone burst out laughing, and Yuna's gaze swerved to Auron, who allowed himself a small chuckle. "You too, Sir Auron?"

Auron's smile twisted the scar on the side of his face into a weird, grotesque shape, and his voice was filled with half-suppressed laughter. "Once Lady Yuna fixes her hair, we leave!"

They all laughed louder than ever, Tidus forgetting for a moment the grief of yesterday. He hadn't laughed so long and loud for a very long time; he couldn't recall hardly laughing at all since he had entered Spira. And it was only later, looking back, that he realized the only one who was truly laughing then was him.

Yuna retreated into the small hut and came back in a few minutes, still blushing, her hair smooth and combed, and they set off back down the path to the crossroads. Along the way, they came across Lucil and Elma with their chocobo. "Off so early?" Lucil asked as they walked side by side. "Lady Yuna, you must be exhausted after working so hard last night. Will you be all right?"

Yuna glanced at her guardians before replying. "I feel that I have...rested enough. But thank you for your kindness! Will you be leaving, too?"

Lucil inclined her head. "Yes, first we cross the Moonflow, and then we head north in search of chocobos to replace those we have lost."

"Once we find chocobos, our Knights will ride again!" Elma cried enthusiastically.

But Tidus had just realized something. "Aren't you missing someone...?"

"Captain!" a familiar voice cried behind them. "Waaaaait for meee!" Clasko came running up, out of breath and sweating all over his round face.

"What took you so long?" Elma rolled her eyes. "We're leaving!"

"You expect me to keep up with a chocobo?!" Clasko wiped the sweat off his face as he came to a halt beside them.

Lucil bowed low to Yuna. "Lady Yuna, I wish you good fortune. Elma! Clasko! Let's go!" With that, Lucil and Elma set off at a brisk walk, leading the chocobo.

Clasko panted, "Eh?! C-Can't I just rest a sec...?" But he forced himself to trot forward once more, and soon the three of them were no more than mere specks on the horizon.

When they reached the crossroads once more, Tidus squinted at the faded signpost. "Where to next?"

"We cross the Moonflow," Lulu replied.

"Gotcha! Moonflow, baby, here we come!"

The bright morning was beginning to make Tidus feel his usual, cheerful self. He still carried the weight of Gatta's death, but he pushed it to the back of his mind as they started down the Djose Highroad, where fiends regularly leapt out of the trees to either side. They fell back into the routine of killing the fiends as they progressed down the road. Having something to do with his hands numbed the pain somewhat.

As the sun neared its zenith, the party came upon Yenke and Biran, the Ronso Kimahri had met in Luca. As they came within earshot, a man who had been talking to them turned and ran away. "Look!" Biran said in his cruel voice. "One of Kimahri's friends. Looks just like Kimahri."

"What?" Tidus exploded in disbelief. They looked nothing alike!

The Ronso turned and smiled evilly when they saw who it was. Biran answered Tidus' question. "Both follow summoners on all fours! Hornless goatlings!"

"Hornless! Hornless!" Yenke taunted. They both laughed mockingly.

Kimahri stepped up to them, his yellow eyes blazing, and crossed his arms over his chest. "You come to insult Kimahri?" he asked in his deep, calm voice.

"Wrong," Biran replied, halting his laughter. "We come to warn little Kimahri."

"Summoners disappear," Yenke added. "Never return."

"Next will be Kimahri's summoner."

"Poor Kimahri!" Yenke mocked. "Lost his horn, next lose his summoner!"

"Pitiful Kimahri! Howl alone! Howl alone!" They both laughed again and ran away down the road.

"Do those two have something against you?" Tidus wanted to know. When Kimahri shook his head solemnly, staring after his brethren, Tidus felt hatred bubbling up inside him. "What, they were just picking on you?"

Kimahri stood tall and immovable, stark against the sky. The only sign of irritation he showed was a slight twitch of his tufted tail. "Kimahri will deal with them."

"And I'll help!" Tidus volunteered.

"Kimahri alone."

"But..." Tidus felt Kimahri was the only one who could understand how he felt about his old man, and thus he wanted to help as much as possible.

Wakka interrupted. "It's Kimahri's problem. We can't interfere: it's a rule."

Tidus felt rankled by this repeated phrase, but decided it was best not to mention it.

"I'm worried..." Lulu murmured.

Wakka turned to her, frowning. "Let the Ronso deal with Ronso problems, ya? That's how it's always been."

"I mean I'm worried about those summoners disappearing." Lulu's dark eyes studied Wakka's face.

"They aren't just disappearing into thin air," Auron muttered.

"Hey," Tidus spoke up. "If we guardians do our job...no problem, right?"

"Confident," Lulu remarked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah!" Tidus retorted, and led the way onward. What good were guardians if they didn't protect their summoner?

They passed briefly through a pleasant forest, the shade welcome in the heat of the day, and stopped for a midday meal. When they emerged once more, the sky had begun to turn pink in the west. Tidus stopped short in amazement. No more than two feet away the ground slipped under the clear water of a vast lake. Delicate white flowers floated on the calm surface and minuscule lights were zipping about over them. The water had a pinkish tinge from the sunset, setting off the white flowers wonderfully. It was, in a word, beautiful. "Wow," he whispered.

"This is the Moonflow," Lulu said, walking up to him and smiling at his open-mouthed wonder.

Yuna knelt by the water's edge and beckoned Tidus to her. When he squatted by her side, she pointed at the flowers floating on the lake. "These are moonlilies! They say that clouds of pyreflies gather here when night falls and light up the water. They say it seems like a sea of stars!"

"Really?" Tidus murmured, trying to picture it in his mind. Then he got to his feet. "Hey, I got an idea!"

Auron cut across him, as if reading his mind. "We're not waiting till nightfall."

Tidus' shoulders immediately slumped. But he tried to bolster his hopes once more. "Then once we beat Sin, we're coming back!" No one said anything to this.

He looked at them, and thought how solemn and sad they all looked as they stood there. He gazed at Yuna, who had pulled herself to her feet once more. Something seemed akin with the moonlilies and her sweeping, tapering sleeves, and a sudden image rose unbidden in his mind. A sending here, on the Moonflow, Yuna raised on a fountain of water just like in Kilika, sweeping her staff in smooth arcs and circles, her clothes evenly matching the water and the sky and the moonlilies. He blinked to blot that picture out of his mind. Yet as he looked at her, he felt that she belonged here. More than she had belonged in Besaid, or when the sun had set in front of the Al Bhed inn on the Mi'ihen Highroad. A strange thought, but it lingered in the back of his mind for a long time.

Auron abruptly turned away and set off down the path that swerved to the left, following the bank of the Moonflow. Wakka shook himself, as though coming out of a deep sleep. "Hey, we better hurry or we'll miss the shoopuf!"

"Shoopuf?" Tidus wondered out loud. "That some kind of boat?"

Wakka opened his mouth to explain, then shrugged and beckoned him forward as they followed the others down the path. Tidus hurried along until he saw something that made him stop short. "Whoa, what the...whoa!"

A huge, reptilian creature with a long, curled nose and a sizable carriage tied to its back lumbered along in front of them, ambling off to a small grouping of huts about a large platform with a machina lift. "That is a shoopuf," Wakka grinned at Tidus.

"Whoa...let's ride!" He was practically leaping with excitement. He felt like a small boy, but he didn't care. "Come on, let's go!"

"All right!" Wakka agreed. "We board soon as it's ready, ya?"

As they neared the platform, Yuna appeared just as excited as Tidus. "Shoopufs! I haven't ridden one in so long!"

Tidus started. "What? You've been on one of these before?"

"Well, just once. Ten years ago, with Kimahri." She turned to the Ronso. "Remember?"

Kimahri looked down at her, his great yellow eyes filled with affection. "Shoopuf shook, Yuna fall in water. Shoopuf scoop up Yuna with long nose. Yuna jump in three more times for fun." He paused. "Kimahri worried."

Yuna blushed the same color as the sky above. "Whoops."

Kimahri shook his head. "Yuna had fun. Kimahri happy." The Ronso resumed his usual silence once more.

Yuna turned back to Tidus, smiling. "I lived in the city of Bevelle until ten years ago. I moved to Besaid after my father defeated Sin. I was seven then. Kimahri was with me the whole way!"

"Bevelle?" Tidus thought the name sounded familiar, but he couldn't be sure.

"It's the biggest city in Spira! The main temple of Yevon is there. Come on! Let's get on the shoopuf!" She skipped ahead, anxious to get on a shoopuf again.

Kimahri gazed after her. "Biran is troublemaker, but Ronso do not lie. Summoners disappearing - that was not lie."

Tidus nodded. "Right, we'll have to be careful." As they neared the platform and the machina lift, Tidus passed Auron, who grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Ten years ago..." he began.

Tidus rolled his eyes and pulled away from the man's one-armed grip. "A history lesson?"

Auron appeared not to have heard. "Jecht saw his first shoopuf here. Surprised, he drew his blade and struck it."

Tidus gaped. Even his old man wasn't that bad, hurting animals for no reason. "Wh-Why?"

"He was drunk," Auron replied. "Thought it was a fiend."

"Oh, brother..." The shock was still wearing off, but Tidus managed to conjure up some resentment.

Auron was gazing at the shoopuf. "We offered all the money we had as an apology. Jecht never drank again. But, it would seem that the same shoopuf still works here."

Tidus continued on to a small tent, wanting to be alone all of a sudden. Jecht never drank again. One of his biggest complaints about his father had been his drinking problem. Yet now that he had found out that his old man had quit, Tidus felt as though a weapon had been taken away from him. He remembered how he had urged his old man to give it up, how Jecht had always repeated, "Why do today what you can leave for tomorrow?" Tidus had given up arguing with him long ago, but he still wasn't sure how he felt now that he had found out that Jecht had given up drinking on his own.

Finally, Tidus looked up. Lucil, Elma, and Clasko stood by their sole chocobo a short ways off. Lucil was arguing with a strange, short reptilian creature that was entirely blue. "Noo, I don't shink sho," the creature was saying with a strange lisp. "Ish bad idea, yesh."

"Please, we beg of you!" Lucil urged in her firm tones.

"Imposhibibble! Imposhibibble!" The creature turned away.

"What's wrong?" Tidus asked as he came up.

"This guy won't let our child on the shoopuf!" Clasko exclaimed, indicating their chocobo.

Tidus looked the chocobo over. "Uh... It is kinda big."

"It's just not fair!" Elma complained.

Clasko sighed. "He does have a point, though."

Elma was obviously rankled. "So what? We just leave him behind?"

"Hey, I didn't say that," Clasko protested. "Just..."

Lucil cut through their argument with a sigh. "It is no good. We will have to find another way. We will find a ford where we can cross on foot."

"Yes, Captain, sir!" Elma said immediately, saluting. "Er...ma'am!"

Clasko seemed less than willing, however. "But...that'll take days!"

"Where there's a will, there's a way," Lucil said firmly.

"That's our captain!" Elma grinned.

"Oh, boy..." Clasko sighed in defeat. Lucil leapt upon the chocobo and started off at a brisk trot, Elma and Clasko running to keep up.

Where there's a will, there's a way. Though they had not been directed to him, those words stayed with Tidus for years to come.

Tidus approached the elderly Maechen, who stood on the other side of the platform. "Would you like to hear a bit about the wondrous shoopuf?" Maechen asked.

"Sure!" Tidus enthused, still curious about the strange, gigantic animal.

"Very well. There are many things we do not know about the shoopuf. For example, what does it eat? It eats nothing! The water it sucks through its shnoz somehow supports its considerable size. Some theorize it eats teeny-weeny waterborne organisms. And that, as they say, is that. Perhaps you'd like to hear a bit about the Hypello, hmm?" He blinked expectantly at Tidus.

Tidus had no idea what a Hypello was, but that was all the more reason to find out. "What's a Hypello?"

Maechen replied, "The shoopuf handlers belong to a race of water-dwellers known as the Hypello. They may be slow on land, but in the water they're quick as silvery fish! You'd think they'd make admirable players of blitzball, but their lackadaisical disposition draws them to less strenuous pastimes. And that, as they say, is that." With that, he went on his way, humming under his breath.

Tidus saw Wakka beckoning to him next to the shoopuf, which appeared to be ready to set out across the Moonflow. His head was buzzing from too much information absorbed at once, but he managed to follow the others as they headed for the machina lift that would allow them to get into the carriage atop the shoopuf.

"Riding a shoopuf isn't that much fun," Lulu was telling Wakka.

"How little you know!" Wakka retorted. "Some things little boys never grow out of, ya?"

They all clambered into the carriage, and the driver, what Maechen called a Hypello, one of the blue creatures Tidus had seen earlier, swept up to his seat right behind the shoopuf's neck. "Shoopuf launchin'!" he called.

Tidus whooped with boyish delight as the great beast entered the water and began to ford across the Moonflow. It was very comfortable up there, in the carriage with all the lake stretching out around them, dotted with moonlilies. The carriage swayed ever so slightly as the shoopuf began to swim into deeper water, but the rocking was gentle and rather calming. Wakka glanced down at the water and looked over at Tidus. "Hey," he said. "Take a look." He tilted his head to indicate the lake below them.

Tidus got to his feet and looked over the side. "What?" he inquired. Then he saw the shapes under the surface of the water. Spires and bridges and luxurious buildings, all sunken below the water. "Woah! A sunken city!"

"A machina city," Wakka explained as Tidus returned to his seat. "A thousand years old! They built the city on top of bridges across the river."

Lulu continued, "But the weight of the city caused the bridges to collapse, and it all sank to the bottom."

"Right." Wakka nodded. "It's a good lesson."

"A lesson?" Tidus arched an eyebrow. He couldn't see any lesson!

"Yeah. Why build a city over a river, ya?"

Tidus immediately thought of Zanarkand, and how the majority of it was suspended over water. They had always had enough water to drink and play blitzball in. "Uh... Well, it would be convenient, with all that water there."

Wakka frowned. "Nope, that's not why. They just wanted to prove they could defy the laws of nature!"

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Yevon has taught us: When humans have power, they seek to use it. If you don't stop them, they go too far, ya?"

"Yeah, but don't you use machina, too? Like the stadium and stuff?"

Lulu replied this time. "Yevon decides...which machina we may use and which we may not."

Tidus felt as though they were insulting his city. He crossed his arms over his chest. "So what kind of machina 'may we not use', then?"

"Remember Operation Mi'ihen?" Wakka spoke up. "That kind."

"Or war will rage again," Lulu said, half to herself.

"War?"

Yuna spoke for the first time in this conversation. "More than a thousand years ago...mankind waged war using machina to kill!"

"They kept building more and more powerful machina," Wakka added.

"They made weapons so powerful..." Lulu put in. "It was thought they could destroy the entire world. The worst was the Vegnagun, created by the armies of Bevelle against their greatest enemies, the summoners of Zanarkand."

Yuna clasped her hands together in her lap and she stared at them. "The people feared that Spira would be destroyed."

"But the war didn't stop!" Wakka interrupted furiously.

"What happened then?" Tidus asked breathlessly.

Yuna's voice was quiet when she spoke. "Sin came all of a sudden, and it destroyed the cities and their machina."

"The war ended...and our reward...was Sin," Lulu said, looking out over the lake.

Wakka leaned forward. "So, Sin's our punishment for lettin' things get out of hand, ya?"

Tidus gave a low whistle. "Man, that's rough."

"Yeah, it is."

"But it's not like the machina are bad," Tidus protested, not about to admit his beloved city was in the wrong.

Lulu turned her piercing gaze on him. "Only as bad as their users."

Wakka's face contorted. "It's because of people like the Al Bhed screwin' everything up!"

As if on cue, the entire shoopuf shook violently, nearly throwing them off. "Whatsh could thatsh be?" the driver wondered out loud, but there was no tone of worry in his carefree voice. At a second jolt, everyone leapt up and searched the water around them for the cause.

"Sit down!" Auron cried to Yuna.

"S-Sorry!" she cried, but before she could obey, a goggled, masked man leapt up behind her and grabbed her around the middle, leaping back into the water with her.

"The Al Bhed!" Wakka cried immediately, and before anyone else could do anything, he and Tidus dove over the side into the water, yelling together, "Yuna! We'll save you!"

The water crashed around Tidus' head, sharp and cold. He opened his eyes and followed Wakka, who cut cleanly through the water to a large machina near the bottom. It was similar to the one that had been on the ship when they had gone to rescue Yuna in Luca. Two mechanical arms with heavy built-in guns curved to protect the small portal through which they could see glimpses of an Al Bhed controlling the machina. On top, encased in a bubble shimmering with energy, was Yuna, her eyes closed and her limbs limp. Rage filled Tidus as he brought out his glittering blue sword. He exchanged an agreeing look with Wakka, and the two of them set to work.

Wakka drew the machina's attention away, taking quite a few blows, while Tidus grimaced and swam around to the back. He plunged his sword into the bubble, driving the point to the outlet of energy. But whatever the bubble was made out of was very resistant, and it pushed his sword away. He attacked it again and again, his point inching nearer to its goal each time. At last, with one final thrust, he hit the energy outlet and the bubble dissipated. Tidus caught Yuna around the waist and sheathed his sword, kicking off from the machina, knowing that it would blow soon. Wakka labored after them, trailing thin streamers of blood.

As soon as they broke the surface, Yuna's eyes opened. "I'm sorry!" she gasped. Tidus' gaze suddenly snapped to Wakka, who was struggling to keep his head above the water. The water around him was stained red, and with one final gasp, he sunk under the water.

"Wakka!" Tidus cried. After making sure Yuna had a firm hold of the ropes leading up to the carriage and could climb up by herself, he took a deep breath and dove back under the water. Wakka fell slowly, his blitzball sixth-sense holding his breath. As Tidus neared the older blitz player, he could see for the first time the full extent of Wakka's wounds. Several bullets were still embedded in his flesh, and his chest was pockmarked with little bloody holes. Tidus pulled one of Wakka's arms over his shoulders and struggled up for the surface once more, towing Wakka's heavy weight with him.

Tidus broke the surface once more and managed to grab the ropes with one hand. He never knew how he made it up to the carriage, but he decided he must have somehow, for he found himself panting and dripping on the floor of the carriage with Wakka on top of him, bleeding profusely. Yuna placed a shaking hand on his wounds and murmured under her breath. Her hand glowed white and the wounds healed immediately as she moved her fingers from one to another. Wakka's eyes opened as she healed the last one, and he pushed himself to a sitting position. Yuna and Lulu helped him back onto his seat, and Auron pulled Tidus up. For once, he was grateful of the man's one-armed grip on his arm, and the way it lingered on his shoulder in a calming way.

"Did they hurt you?" Lulu asked Yuna next.

"No, I'm fine."

"Grrah!" Wakka growled. "Those Al Bhed!"

The driver called back to them, "Ish ebullibody okay?"

Yuna got to her feet to call to him more clearly. "I'm sorry! We're all okay now!"

"Yuna!" Auron said in a reproving tone. She gasped and quickly sat back down.

The driver urged the shoopuf onward. "Shoopuf full shpeed aheads!"

As they continued, Wakka exploded. "The Al Bhed! What do they want from us? Could it have something to do with Luca? What are they after Yuna for?" He paused, thinking. "Wait! They're mad they lost the tournament! Or, wait! They're mad about Operation Mi'ihen!"

"I wonder..." Lulu mused, conjuring a small flame to dry up the puddles on the carriage floor. "Didn't Kimahri's clansmen say something about summoners...disappearing?"

"Ah!" Wakka almost shouted. "So the Al Bhed are behind that! Those sand-blasted grease monkeys! What are they thinking?!"

Tidus thought for a moment before he spoke. "Hey, Wakka. It's no use complaining about the Al Bhed now, right? We'll protect Yuna from anyone, anywhere. It's that easy. That's all I need to know!"

"Well...I guess so," Wakka admitted at last, sitting back with a sigh.

Yuna caught Tidus' eye and smiled her thanks.

Soon after, in the growing dusk, they reached the other side of the Moonflow and descended to a platform like the one on the other side. There was a similar collection of tents and huts surrounding it, and they decided to spend the night there. As they headed for a tent the Hypello had prepared for them to use, Tidus heard Kimahri mutter, "Kimahri fail as guardian on shoopuf. Kimahri never fail again."