In the morning, Tidus, Gatta, and Barthello woke up beside the banks of the Moonflow. The stream of pyreflies had died down dramatically, leaving only a small amount floating above the surface of the water. The muscular guardian was the first to his feet, with the other two following slowly behind. The former Zanarkand Abes star stretched out and groaned. "Whew, I slept great! I'm ready to hit the road!" he said enthusiastically.
The Crusader yawned and blinked several times to adjust his eyes to the early morning light. "Let's go then," he said.
The three of them made the short journey to the shoopuf wharf. The huge creature was lying down on its side, and the sound of its heavy breathing was very audible. They wandered over to the Hypello beside it, who steered it across the Moonflow waters. He seemed very concerned and was babbling almost incoherently. "Imposhibibble! Thish can't be!"
"What's wrong?" Tidus inquired.
"I don't know. It appearsh to be shick," he replied in the distinctive accent of his kind.
"So how are we gonna get across?"
"You'll have to find another way to crosh."
"Great…Just our luck," Gatta muttered.
"We could swim it," Tidus suggested.
"Are you serious? That's quite a distance," the Crusader retorted incredulously.
"Do you have a better idea?" He didn't answer. "I didn't think so."
Barthello was aware of the growing tension between the two men. He elected not to speak and let them make the decision themselves to avoid adding to the animosity by making him seem bias. He wondered what was the cause of the hostility. Barthello continued to observe quietly.
The silence prevailed for a few more moments before Gatta finally spoke. "Well, let's do it then."
The blitzball star strolled over to the water's edge and leaped in. The other two followed right after him. Nothing was said during the arduous swim to the other bank of the Moonflow. Tidus noticed the sunken city that Lulu and Wakka had pointed out on his first trip across on the shoopuf. He remembered the Besaid blitzball captain talking about how man desired to use if he ever had it. He hadn't believed it was true then, but after encounters with Seymour and Yunalesca, and learning the truth about Yevon, he was no longer sure.
Thoughts of anger entered into Tidus's mind at the memory of the Guado. He had almost stolen his love from him, he had slaughtered nearly all of the Ronso, and he had been so insane as to try to gain control of Sin to destroy Spira and "end its suffering." He never liked Seymour from the first time he saw him. He knew there had been something bad about him, and he wondered why the others didn't realize it sooner.
(No, Auron probably knew, too.) Tidus thought.
Once it was finally over, the tired trio dragged themselves out of the water wearily. They laid on the ground, breathing deeply, while they let the sun dry them out. "Now that wasn't too bad, was it?" Gatta asked sarcastically.
Tidus ignored him and rolled over onto his stomach. He used his arms to push himself up to his knees. Then he stood up to his feet. His two traveling companions slowly returned to their feet also. "Well, Guadosalam is just past here…" he commented. He recalled the situation at the blitzball tournament in Luca with the Glories beating up on him.
"Yeah, and there's no easy way around it if you want to make it to Zanarkand on time," Gatta stated.
"So what do we do?"
"We'll have to find away to sneak through into the Thunder Plains quickly."
"How do we manage that?" the youthful guardian asked curiously.
"I'm not sure, but we'll think of something when we arrive," he assured.
Tidus sighed and they hesitantly headed for the small town. They pondered how they could get through without causing a ruckus and getting themselves killed. As they closed in on the entrance, the Crusader said, "Maybe we can just run past if there's no one guarding the way to the Thunder Plains." However, they were not fortunate enough to have that happen.
"Now what?" the blonde man asked.
"I have an idea. I'll go see if I can get that guy to move. They're not after me, right?" The former Abes star simply nodded in agreement. "You two wait here."
The guardians did as they were told as Gatta scurried over to the guard. They watched anxiously as they conversed, hoping it would work out. They released the breaths they hadn't realized they'd been holding as the Guado guard dashed off. Gatta waved them over, and the two of them hurried over to him.
"Good work," Tidus said.
"We need to be careful though. He said that it's the fiercest storm they've ever seen in there," he warned.
"Better than being here, I guess."
As they were preparing to enter, they heard the sound of dozens of footsteps pounding on the ground in a rush toward them. They turned around to see an enormous group of Guado coming straight at them. "What do we do?!" Tidus asked frantically.
"Run!" Barthello shouted, and they did.
Author's Notes: I apologize for the slowness of my updates. I don't always have the time to write each day, but I'm doing my best here. I'm sorry this chapter was short, but this just seemed like the best place to stop. Let me know what you thought in a review. God bless.