-----------------------------------
FINAL FANTASY X: DEFINING MOMENTS
by Sartori
-----------------------------------
CHAPTER 5 - TIDUS
"Tidus.......wake up. I don't have time for this."
The recognizable voice pierced the cold darkness with a sense of urgency that Tidus could never effectively anticipate. His perception sensed nothing. Sight, touch, taste, and smell were all inexplicable taboos in this world of empty shadows. The only definite piece of any recognizable physical existence was that voice. That commanding and authoritative voice, which wanted nothing but the attention of someone who was already lost in his own makeshift reality.
"I'm really disappointed in you boy. You were never my son......"
The voice died off slowly. Tidus tried to think of the voice and its implications, but thought was not such an easy thing to come by. He had no body, no mind, and no feeling. Just that sense of awareness. The awareness that you don't exist, yet you do, on some actual plane of cognizance. He lived or just merely existed on some paradoxical island where nothing was truly real or unreal. The emptiness he felt was neither soothing nor the source of any great unease. It was just a pure and unadulterated banality.
Surprisingly, as if a floodgate had been opened, images flashed before his consciousness. Darkness was replaced with the image (or memory perhaps) of a single girl. How lovely it all seemed. Her simple beauty and innocence penetrated Tidus. Was there really someone like that.....out there somewhere? A feeling crept into him that could only be admiration. He assimilated the feeling as if it were a new body part, growing with every moment that passed. The Innocent flashed before him again, this time with another person beside her, caressing her lustrous skin. Someone infinitely more familiar to his weary sentience. The images still made no sense, but they amused him. Each one instilled a new emotion into him making his non-existence that much more tangible. After the joyful symbols had passed, other more painful images revealed themselves. Fear, Regret, Anguish, and Sadness were all represented in the images, and with them newly birthed emotions were formed for this infant, Tidus. Rebirth was a slow process, but he took in each new emotional sentiment like delectable morsels which could never be refused. Faster and faster the images floated past him, snapshots of some actualized reality, these more distinct and relevant than the others. A Kiss. A lake. A girl's hair. A bare hand. A naked shoulder. They blurred together until they were no more.
-----------------------------------
Indeterminate amounts of time passed as Tidus contemplated his newfound emotions. Memories were still fleeting, but at least he had new thoughts to toss about aimlessly. He began to realize how odd and inherently awful his current situation had become. He had no true self to call his own. All he had was this consciousness, which was probably better than nothing at all.
Immediately, almost in direct reply to his musings, his entire body faded into view. Gradually his limbs became tangible. He was a newborn babe again; he would have to become accustomed to these foreign extensions. He raised the gloved hand to his face and marveled at its substantiality.
"This is real," he thought, "This must be what it means to be alive."
However substantial his body had become, it still didn't change the fact that he inhabited a world of peerless shadows. The expanse was never-ending with its horrifying depths. He looked around, fully aware that he was now in possession of all the normal physical faculties that a person grounded in reality would ultimately maintain, but with nothing to test their worth upon.
Silence was the ruler here, amongst this abyss of gloomily dark obscurities. One sound, just one, was all Tidus needed to genuinely validate his existence. Eventually, it came. Waves breaking along a weather-beaten shoreline. Birds squawking and frolicking throughout the air, oblivious to Tidus' eavesdropping.
Pictures began to form to complement the sounds. The living pictures impelled Tidus to recognize this new world. It was a utopian rapture, this island, where no one was present but Tidus. The shore was a milky and sandy white, which supped at the waves gladly. Water had appeared around him, soaking him waist high in its tropical blue shallowness. Now, finally, he was an active participant. No longer a bystander, waiting for something significant to happen to him. He walked through the water, playing his hands along the rims of the waves. Their playful frivolities made Tidus think of something. Hadn't he been here before? Or perhaps seen some incarnation of this scene before him?
Those flashes of remembrance amounted to nothing as he walked towards the beach to explore this new site of wonderment. Suddenly a figure appeared. It was a man with a tattoo etched upon his violently tanned chest. He beckoned Tidus to come to his side with brutal motions of his right arm.
"C'mon I need to hurry up and tell you something," he gruffly spat out, "and I don't have all day."
Words formed in the pit of Tidus' throat, for the first time ever he spoke, with a startling familiarity with the intricacies of speech. "Who are you," he yelled, almost by the man's side, with only a few steps more to cover.
"Oh," the figure chuckled, apparently amused at this comment, "you must have hit your head or somethin'. Well, it'll soon pass."
Tidus arrived by his side, dripping wet from the waist down. "Well, what do you want," he asked with the curiosity of a young child.
"Nothing," the figure vanished as it spoke the word, leaving Tidus to look around with absolute confusion. Regardless of his complete mystification with this disquieting event, the final word that the stranger had spoken resonated with him.
Nothing.
The bare-chested stranger's simply reticent pronouncement was now part of his conscience. It disconcerted his soul because he felt like it should mean something. No matter how long or how hard he tried, he couldn't discern the puzzle that had been presented to him. He knew little of such meta-physical journeys of the soul and mind. They were enigmas to him, and he could never be asked to deal with such a complex thing as introspection. He was still a child, left alone on a small world that called out to him.
Yet again, he was left alone to deal with his own devices. Bored with this depressing isolation he went off to explore the rest of this mysterious island (or was it even an island at all). Something was going to be sated, and it would be this void of curiosity he still carried with him. There had to be some clues as to who or what he was among this dream place. The tree line was not too far away from the massive head of the beach, so he made his way there.
Various species of birds made themselves known amongst the trees' laden branches with a raucous of unsettling calls and shrieks. Their brilliant plumage entranced Tidus and became an added incentive to hurry towards the wall of trees and foliage. Arriving there disturbed the rainbow colored beasts; his presence scared away the birds and left him standing at the mouth of the jungle, admiring the luminous green hue that radiated from the oversized leaves of the striking foliage.
"Hey you," a shout interrupted, "Come here, I knew I'd find you here."
Tidus turned to see the girl from his visions, standing at the edge of the water. Occasionally a gentle wave would hit the side of her leg, moistening her unspoiled pearly hued skin. Her beauty intoxicated him. Forsaking his soul-searching journey into the jungle, he went over to the girl and joined her blithe reverie.
"Sit…with me," she said as a welcoming smile gently crept across her face.
"Who…."
"Stop. You know who I am. Yuna, remember," she expressed curiously.
A slight tinge of undeniable warmth passed through Tidus' body as he faintly remembered her relevance to him. They had been together at one time, with nothing but their amorous contentions to keep them on the brink of sanity. Slowly, old remembrances were instilled inside the once blithering amnesiac. Memories of a previous life began to form; visions were nothing without names to call them by. Those portraits of life he had witnessed were nothing, until someone reminded him of himself.
"I remember," he said to Yuna with a glowing warmth that touched him to the core.
He sat down beside Yuna, who had already knelt down on the sandy beach. He looked into her eyes and recognized their unique peculiarity. He now knew that he would never want to leave her side again.
"Would you….hold my hand," she asked tentatively, growing anxious at his proximity.
How could he refuse the woman he loved. Everything was right with the world now. This other reality he had entered was heaven, now that Yuna was in it with him.
------------------
End of Chapter 5
I'm soooooo sorry for the long wait. I've been caught up in school, but I promise I will complete this fic. There's no way I'm going to stop. Entries may be sporadic, but always remember to check back. And criticisms are entirely welcome (actually I encourage them).
Hope you liked it! I had this entire idea in mind ever since I started the fic, so don't think it was a spur of the moment thing. Don't forget to check back, and Have a nice day. ^_^
FINAL FANTASY X: DEFINING MOMENTS
by Sartori
-----------------------------------
CHAPTER 5 - TIDUS
"Tidus.......wake up. I don't have time for this."
The recognizable voice pierced the cold darkness with a sense of urgency that Tidus could never effectively anticipate. His perception sensed nothing. Sight, touch, taste, and smell were all inexplicable taboos in this world of empty shadows. The only definite piece of any recognizable physical existence was that voice. That commanding and authoritative voice, which wanted nothing but the attention of someone who was already lost in his own makeshift reality.
"I'm really disappointed in you boy. You were never my son......"
The voice died off slowly. Tidus tried to think of the voice and its implications, but thought was not such an easy thing to come by. He had no body, no mind, and no feeling. Just that sense of awareness. The awareness that you don't exist, yet you do, on some actual plane of cognizance. He lived or just merely existed on some paradoxical island where nothing was truly real or unreal. The emptiness he felt was neither soothing nor the source of any great unease. It was just a pure and unadulterated banality.
Surprisingly, as if a floodgate had been opened, images flashed before his consciousness. Darkness was replaced with the image (or memory perhaps) of a single girl. How lovely it all seemed. Her simple beauty and innocence penetrated Tidus. Was there really someone like that.....out there somewhere? A feeling crept into him that could only be admiration. He assimilated the feeling as if it were a new body part, growing with every moment that passed. The Innocent flashed before him again, this time with another person beside her, caressing her lustrous skin. Someone infinitely more familiar to his weary sentience. The images still made no sense, but they amused him. Each one instilled a new emotion into him making his non-existence that much more tangible. After the joyful symbols had passed, other more painful images revealed themselves. Fear, Regret, Anguish, and Sadness were all represented in the images, and with them newly birthed emotions were formed for this infant, Tidus. Rebirth was a slow process, but he took in each new emotional sentiment like delectable morsels which could never be refused. Faster and faster the images floated past him, snapshots of some actualized reality, these more distinct and relevant than the others. A Kiss. A lake. A girl's hair. A bare hand. A naked shoulder. They blurred together until they were no more.
-----------------------------------
Indeterminate amounts of time passed as Tidus contemplated his newfound emotions. Memories were still fleeting, but at least he had new thoughts to toss about aimlessly. He began to realize how odd and inherently awful his current situation had become. He had no true self to call his own. All he had was this consciousness, which was probably better than nothing at all.
Immediately, almost in direct reply to his musings, his entire body faded into view. Gradually his limbs became tangible. He was a newborn babe again; he would have to become accustomed to these foreign extensions. He raised the gloved hand to his face and marveled at its substantiality.
"This is real," he thought, "This must be what it means to be alive."
However substantial his body had become, it still didn't change the fact that he inhabited a world of peerless shadows. The expanse was never-ending with its horrifying depths. He looked around, fully aware that he was now in possession of all the normal physical faculties that a person grounded in reality would ultimately maintain, but with nothing to test their worth upon.
Silence was the ruler here, amongst this abyss of gloomily dark obscurities. One sound, just one, was all Tidus needed to genuinely validate his existence. Eventually, it came. Waves breaking along a weather-beaten shoreline. Birds squawking and frolicking throughout the air, oblivious to Tidus' eavesdropping.
Pictures began to form to complement the sounds. The living pictures impelled Tidus to recognize this new world. It was a utopian rapture, this island, where no one was present but Tidus. The shore was a milky and sandy white, which supped at the waves gladly. Water had appeared around him, soaking him waist high in its tropical blue shallowness. Now, finally, he was an active participant. No longer a bystander, waiting for something significant to happen to him. He walked through the water, playing his hands along the rims of the waves. Their playful frivolities made Tidus think of something. Hadn't he been here before? Or perhaps seen some incarnation of this scene before him?
Those flashes of remembrance amounted to nothing as he walked towards the beach to explore this new site of wonderment. Suddenly a figure appeared. It was a man with a tattoo etched upon his violently tanned chest. He beckoned Tidus to come to his side with brutal motions of his right arm.
"C'mon I need to hurry up and tell you something," he gruffly spat out, "and I don't have all day."
Words formed in the pit of Tidus' throat, for the first time ever he spoke, with a startling familiarity with the intricacies of speech. "Who are you," he yelled, almost by the man's side, with only a few steps more to cover.
"Oh," the figure chuckled, apparently amused at this comment, "you must have hit your head or somethin'. Well, it'll soon pass."
Tidus arrived by his side, dripping wet from the waist down. "Well, what do you want," he asked with the curiosity of a young child.
"Nothing," the figure vanished as it spoke the word, leaving Tidus to look around with absolute confusion. Regardless of his complete mystification with this disquieting event, the final word that the stranger had spoken resonated with him.
Nothing.
The bare-chested stranger's simply reticent pronouncement was now part of his conscience. It disconcerted his soul because he felt like it should mean something. No matter how long or how hard he tried, he couldn't discern the puzzle that had been presented to him. He knew little of such meta-physical journeys of the soul and mind. They were enigmas to him, and he could never be asked to deal with such a complex thing as introspection. He was still a child, left alone on a small world that called out to him.
Yet again, he was left alone to deal with his own devices. Bored with this depressing isolation he went off to explore the rest of this mysterious island (or was it even an island at all). Something was going to be sated, and it would be this void of curiosity he still carried with him. There had to be some clues as to who or what he was among this dream place. The tree line was not too far away from the massive head of the beach, so he made his way there.
Various species of birds made themselves known amongst the trees' laden branches with a raucous of unsettling calls and shrieks. Their brilliant plumage entranced Tidus and became an added incentive to hurry towards the wall of trees and foliage. Arriving there disturbed the rainbow colored beasts; his presence scared away the birds and left him standing at the mouth of the jungle, admiring the luminous green hue that radiated from the oversized leaves of the striking foliage.
"Hey you," a shout interrupted, "Come here, I knew I'd find you here."
Tidus turned to see the girl from his visions, standing at the edge of the water. Occasionally a gentle wave would hit the side of her leg, moistening her unspoiled pearly hued skin. Her beauty intoxicated him. Forsaking his soul-searching journey into the jungle, he went over to the girl and joined her blithe reverie.
"Sit…with me," she said as a welcoming smile gently crept across her face.
"Who…."
"Stop. You know who I am. Yuna, remember," she expressed curiously.
A slight tinge of undeniable warmth passed through Tidus' body as he faintly remembered her relevance to him. They had been together at one time, with nothing but their amorous contentions to keep them on the brink of sanity. Slowly, old remembrances were instilled inside the once blithering amnesiac. Memories of a previous life began to form; visions were nothing without names to call them by. Those portraits of life he had witnessed were nothing, until someone reminded him of himself.
"I remember," he said to Yuna with a glowing warmth that touched him to the core.
He sat down beside Yuna, who had already knelt down on the sandy beach. He looked into her eyes and recognized their unique peculiarity. He now knew that he would never want to leave her side again.
"Would you….hold my hand," she asked tentatively, growing anxious at his proximity.
How could he refuse the woman he loved. Everything was right with the world now. This other reality he had entered was heaven, now that Yuna was in it with him.
------------------
End of Chapter 5
I'm soooooo sorry for the long wait. I've been caught up in school, but I promise I will complete this fic. There's no way I'm going to stop. Entries may be sporadic, but always remember to check back. And criticisms are entirely welcome (actually I encourage them).
Hope you liked it! I had this entire idea in mind ever since I started the fic, so don't think it was a spur of the moment thing. Don't forget to check back, and Have a nice day. ^_^
