Ureta Tsumi (A Ripened Sin)
Chapter Fourteen: The Great Compromise
By: NurikoLuver (Trudy Haley)
Author's Notes: Blarghadesh! Whoo-hoo! All done. x_X Waaah! Thanks be to Yevon for the yumminess of Boost and Pixie Sticks. ^_^;; And your crazy friend (Elf Toshiba, wai!) To answer a few comments that were left...
Yuppers, I'm scanning the doujinshi for public usage. ^^;; No need to worry. Trudy loves to share the Aurikku-ness.
Secondly, I have no intention of killing off Rikku. Heck, no! *shakes head furiously* Rikku is Yevon! x_X No, not literally.
Anyways, expect the next couple of chapters to be severely off-track from the actual storyline. Nope, it's not permanant. And yes, most of the next chapters will be told by Auron's perspective. (Help!) Any feedback is appreciated, especially suggestions/thoughts, etc.
*eats another blue pixie stick*
Ah, also, if anyone wants to see the derranged NurikoLuver as of 10:30 this morning stomping a furby (no, not playing DDR in someone's front yard), refresh your needs: http://www.idledesign.net/cam/P1010017.JPG (Yesh, that is a pink kitty hat. And yesh, I always wear big freaky clothes and look like a homeless person).
The Furby ish dead: http://www.idledesign.net/cam/P1010020.JPG ! Long live all chickens!
Er...on with the story...
"Rikku..." Even now, Auron was dumbfounded. There was NO way he would be able to find someone to heal Rikku. They were traitors now. Not to mention, their capture was inevitable. The legendary guardian carrying a bloodied girl would be hard NOT to notice.
But he didn't care. He had to try. For crying out loud...who did this girl think she was? Yevon? He shook his head just at the sight of her. She just lay limply in his arms, trying to hold back tears. A faint smile fell upon her lips. Why was she smiling, even now?
"Let me through..." Auron pushed through the crowds in the streets of Bevelle. Certainly, the marriage of a Maester and the daughter of High Summoner Braska attracted crowds of people. Finding someone they knew, let alone trusted, would be a difficult task.
"Halt!" Auron didn't even bother turning around. The commanding voice revealed everything he needed to know. He ran through the city streets like a thief at market, finally coming to a Hotel. Good. Maybe they could stay here. But not for long, surely. They would have to keep moving to avoid being caught.
But even if he had a few minutes with Rikku, surely he could try healing her wound with a X- Potion. He knew it wouldn't heal her completely, but it was worth a shot. One-handedly, he pushed open the door of the Hotel.
"Do you have a room?"
"Yes sir, but--"
"Fine." Auron withdrew a satchel of Gil from the side of his belt and tossed it onto the desk. Coins spilled out, rolling along the tabletop. Taking better hold of the girl, he hurried to a room, placing Rikku on the bed.
Rikku knew she had to say something. If she was going to die, it'd be pointless to die without saying the words. But...it was impossible. She just couldn't bring herself to say them. If she said those words and survived, their relationship might be impaired. But not saying them now would cause her to live an afterlife with regret. No. She would have to say it.
"E muja oui."
Rikku's words came out choked, but Auron was surprised to hear her speak at all. But it wasn't that that puzzled him, it was her use of words. She knew very well that he wasn't fluent at ALL in Al Bhed. Then why use the language? That left him even more mystified.
"Okay, Rikku..." he said, speaking to her as if she were a little child. "I'm going to try and give you a X-Potion, and you're going to have to try and do your best to swallow it, okay?" He hoped that Rikku would be able to take the medicine orally- he really didn't want to have to apply it by hand to the wound.
He pressed the bottle to her lips. Rikku tried hard, but she couldn't seem to swallow. The potion that made it into her mouth caused her to choke and sputter. Potion and blood oozed down the crevices of her face and onto the bedsheets.
"Okay...Rikku, I'm going to take off your shirt. It looks like I'm going to have to apply this directly to the wound."
Rikku nodded her head slightly, her breathing loud but shallow.
Auron knew this was not a time to be modest, but he could't help but feel a little uncomfortable. It wasn't that he had never seen another girl before (because he had), but it was the fact that it was Rikku.
He pulled a dagger from his side and slowly began cutting the fabric of her shirt from around her wound. Ouch. This made the truth even more obvious: internal bleeding. Probably from the lung, judging from the color blood. Finally, his medical studies as a monk were beginning to pay off.
Auron spoke to Rikku soothingly, "I'm going to bend your legs. It should help your blood flow, okay?"
Gently, he bent her knees so that her legs were positioned in a "v". He only wished they could stay here longer than for a quick treatment. But he knew that their pursuers would find their whereabouts soon enough.
Auron weakly attempted to clean the wound, but found it ineffective. The closer his hand got to the wound, the more blood it drew. He couldn't risk her losing any more blood. He simply dabbed a little bit of X-potion on and near the wound and bandaged it.
"Rikku..." He shook the girl awake. "Rikku, here..."
"H..huh? A...auron?" Her words were slurred. Where was she again? Oh...that hotel...What happened?
Suddenly, the sharp stinging pain in her chest reminded her. She was hurt.
Auron handed Rikku his jacket, helping her sit up. Dropping it on top of her slender shoulders, he quickly fastened the straps and gathered her into his arms. Right now, bundled up in the blanket of his jacket, her face pale, her eyes fluttering, Rikku looked more like a little child than a teenage girl.
Whisking her up and away, he left the hotel before the clerk could say as much as another word. Getting lost in the crowd would be an easy thing to do, but being found would be easier. He needed to get out of Bevelle, as soon as possible. And if he could, he would have to find the others: a near-impossible task in the land of Spira. More likely than not, they would meet at the next temple after Bevelle. Remiem Temple, near the Calm Lands. Getting there with Rikku wounded would prove amusing. He glanced at the girl. No way was she going to last that long. He needed a white mage. Now.
"Halt! NOW!"
Oh no. They had been spotted. Auron attempted to stir Rikku awake, longing for the reassurance of her eyes. She didn't wake.
"HALT! NOW!"
Auron felt the sharp stinging pain of a stunner caress his neck before he stumbled to the ground, toppling over the Al Bhed he had held in his arms only moments ago. He pulled her to him hovering over her protectively. He looked up, staring up at the warrior monks who had managed to apprehend them.
"Forbidden machina, eh?" Auron chuckled. "Aren't WE self-righteous hypocrites?"
With another quick jerk of his finger, the warrior monks had him knocked out.
Auron was more than a bit alarmed when he didn't see Rikku at their trial. The first thing he thought was that she was dead. But no. They would never freely sacrafice such a valuable asset- an asset that could be used against them. Still, it had him worried. If they were using Rikku, there was no telling what they were doing to her. She was still just a kid.
So he said nothing during the trial. And no one else did. There was no need to. They knew all knew that if she was going to be played as a pawn, most certainly her condition would be played in their big chess game. And if not, well...certainly they would be united when their fate was decided. Certainly Rikku was not well enough to stand trial- not yet, atleast. But her fate was preordained to be the same as theirs.
"Where do you think she is?" Tidus, his "jailmate" inquired.
"Rikku?" For all Auron knew, he could be asking about ANYONE. Tidus could be so vague sometimes.
"Yeah."
Auron shrugged. "Yevon only knows."
"What about Yuna?"
"What ABOUT Yuna?" Auron was strangely irritated.
"I hope she's okay."
"She'll be strong. She'll make it."
"She'll make it? What, so she can die?" Tidus sighed. "Why is it that everything in Spira seems to revolve around people dying?"
"Ah, the spiral of death."
"Huh?"
"Summoners challenge the bringer of death, Sin, and die doing so. Guardians give their lives to protect their summoner...and...sometimes other guardians." He paused for a minute to regain his composure before continuing on with his lecture. "The fayth are the souls of the dead. Even the maesters of Yevon are unsent. Spira is full of death. Only Sin is reborn, and then only to bring more death. It is a cycle of death, spiraling endlessly."
Auron and Tidus turned at the staccato of footsteps. "Come out. A compromise has been decided." It was Kinoc.
"A compromise?" Auron couldn't help but be suspicious.
"Yes. A compromise." Kinoc lead the duo to the trial room, where they were reunited with their comrades. Except Rikku.
Auron couldn't help but feel apprehensive. Maybe it was because he felt responsible for her fate. If she was hurt- it would be his fault. He couldn't live with another life on his heart. Braska...Jecht...
Why was he blaming himself? It was *HER* fault for jumping in front of him like an idiot. It was her own free will that determined her fate. Not him.
But for some reason, he couldn't ignore the stinging in his heart. Nor could he quite identify it.
"It has been decided," began Seymour. "That a compromise could be made, in exchange for the life of your little friend." Seymour snapped his fingers sharply, causing a screen to illuminate with the picture of an imprisoned Rikku.
Rikku laid sprawled across the floor of a cage, still wrapped in Auron's jacket. Her wounds appeared to have closed, as the blood crusted on her body and on his trenchcoat was a stubborn metallic. Not the scarlet he had seen sprouting from her chest before. Slowly, the pain he felt inside of his heart subsided- but only a little. She was alive, but captured.
"Since I have something you want..." Seymour approached Yuna.. "...and YOU have something *I* want, I'm sure that we'll both get something out of this. Now...you, Yuna. You still want to complete your pilgrimage do you not?"
Yuna nodded nervously as Seymour loomed over her intimidatingly. She took a step back.
"I could have your name cleared, right now, at this moment. And," he gestured at the screen, Rikku still shaking the bars wildly. "...I could free this little bird."
"And what do you want in return?" Auron asked.
"Me?" Seymour laughed. "I want nothing more than what I wanted from the very beginning!"
"To become Sin?" Wakka growled.
"I would like for Yuna's guardians to be dismissed, and I would like to accompany Yuna to Zanarkand."
"What?!" For a minute there was a long silence.
"Rest assured, your names would be cleared and the little bird would be freed from her cage." He glanced at Rikku on the screen and smiled smugly. "...You would all have your freedom again. And of course, you would be able to keep your lives. Those are things that I cannot guarantee if you do not agree."
"Abandon Yuna? No way!" Tidus protested.
"Besides, why should we beleive you?" Wakka added.
"Why NOT beleive me? After all, I have your little sparrow in my hands. Are you going to say Yuna's life is worth more than hers? Either route you take, Yuna's life will end. But with this compromise, the route you choose can determine more than Yuna's fate. But also, hers." He nodded towards the screen.
"I...I will go with you," Yuna said stepping, forward.
"Yuna!" All of her guardians sputtered her name in unison. They hadn't been expecting this from her- atleast without consulting THEM first.
"A wise decision." Seymour nodded towards Kinoc, who opened the door for waiting Warrior Monks. Taking each of the guardians by the arms, they forcefully escorted them out before another word of protest could be uttered.
"What...what about Rikku?!" Auron yelled at Seymour, moments before being pushed through the billowing elaborate passageway from the trial room.
"You can rest assured, I will keep her alive and captive at my own discresion. A hostage may prove useful in manipulating you misguided little rebels." As the doors shut behind him, all Auron could hear was Seymour's loud, mocking laughter. Were they really that stupid? Was Yuna really that spontaneous? Or that stupid?
No. She wasn't stupid. Just too caring. No worries, though. They'd find a way to rescue them. Rescue them both. It just might be awhile.
Chapter Fourteen: The Great Compromise
By: NurikoLuver (Trudy Haley)
Author's Notes: Blarghadesh! Whoo-hoo! All done. x_X Waaah! Thanks be to Yevon for the yumminess of Boost and Pixie Sticks. ^_^;; And your crazy friend (Elf Toshiba, wai!) To answer a few comments that were left...
Yuppers, I'm scanning the doujinshi for public usage. ^^;; No need to worry. Trudy loves to share the Aurikku-ness.
Secondly, I have no intention of killing off Rikku. Heck, no! *shakes head furiously* Rikku is Yevon! x_X No, not literally.
Anyways, expect the next couple of chapters to be severely off-track from the actual storyline. Nope, it's not permanant. And yes, most of the next chapters will be told by Auron's perspective. (Help!) Any feedback is appreciated, especially suggestions/thoughts, etc.
*eats another blue pixie stick*
Ah, also, if anyone wants to see the derranged NurikoLuver as of 10:30 this morning stomping a furby (no, not playing DDR in someone's front yard), refresh your needs: http://www.idledesign.net/cam/P1010017.JPG (Yesh, that is a pink kitty hat. And yesh, I always wear big freaky clothes and look like a homeless person).
The Furby ish dead: http://www.idledesign.net/cam/P1010020.JPG ! Long live all chickens!
Er...on with the story...
"Rikku..." Even now, Auron was dumbfounded. There was NO way he would be able to find someone to heal Rikku. They were traitors now. Not to mention, their capture was inevitable. The legendary guardian carrying a bloodied girl would be hard NOT to notice.
But he didn't care. He had to try. For crying out loud...who did this girl think she was? Yevon? He shook his head just at the sight of her. She just lay limply in his arms, trying to hold back tears. A faint smile fell upon her lips. Why was she smiling, even now?
"Let me through..." Auron pushed through the crowds in the streets of Bevelle. Certainly, the marriage of a Maester and the daughter of High Summoner Braska attracted crowds of people. Finding someone they knew, let alone trusted, would be a difficult task.
"Halt!" Auron didn't even bother turning around. The commanding voice revealed everything he needed to know. He ran through the city streets like a thief at market, finally coming to a Hotel. Good. Maybe they could stay here. But not for long, surely. They would have to keep moving to avoid being caught.
But even if he had a few minutes with Rikku, surely he could try healing her wound with a X- Potion. He knew it wouldn't heal her completely, but it was worth a shot. One-handedly, he pushed open the door of the Hotel.
"Do you have a room?"
"Yes sir, but--"
"Fine." Auron withdrew a satchel of Gil from the side of his belt and tossed it onto the desk. Coins spilled out, rolling along the tabletop. Taking better hold of the girl, he hurried to a room, placing Rikku on the bed.
Rikku knew she had to say something. If she was going to die, it'd be pointless to die without saying the words. But...it was impossible. She just couldn't bring herself to say them. If she said those words and survived, their relationship might be impaired. But not saying them now would cause her to live an afterlife with regret. No. She would have to say it.
"E muja oui."
Rikku's words came out choked, but Auron was surprised to hear her speak at all. But it wasn't that that puzzled him, it was her use of words. She knew very well that he wasn't fluent at ALL in Al Bhed. Then why use the language? That left him even more mystified.
"Okay, Rikku..." he said, speaking to her as if she were a little child. "I'm going to try and give you a X-Potion, and you're going to have to try and do your best to swallow it, okay?" He hoped that Rikku would be able to take the medicine orally- he really didn't want to have to apply it by hand to the wound.
He pressed the bottle to her lips. Rikku tried hard, but she couldn't seem to swallow. The potion that made it into her mouth caused her to choke and sputter. Potion and blood oozed down the crevices of her face and onto the bedsheets.
"Okay...Rikku, I'm going to take off your shirt. It looks like I'm going to have to apply this directly to the wound."
Rikku nodded her head slightly, her breathing loud but shallow.
Auron knew this was not a time to be modest, but he could't help but feel a little uncomfortable. It wasn't that he had never seen another girl before (because he had), but it was the fact that it was Rikku.
He pulled a dagger from his side and slowly began cutting the fabric of her shirt from around her wound. Ouch. This made the truth even more obvious: internal bleeding. Probably from the lung, judging from the color blood. Finally, his medical studies as a monk were beginning to pay off.
Auron spoke to Rikku soothingly, "I'm going to bend your legs. It should help your blood flow, okay?"
Gently, he bent her knees so that her legs were positioned in a "v". He only wished they could stay here longer than for a quick treatment. But he knew that their pursuers would find their whereabouts soon enough.
Auron weakly attempted to clean the wound, but found it ineffective. The closer his hand got to the wound, the more blood it drew. He couldn't risk her losing any more blood. He simply dabbed a little bit of X-potion on and near the wound and bandaged it.
"Rikku..." He shook the girl awake. "Rikku, here..."
"H..huh? A...auron?" Her words were slurred. Where was she again? Oh...that hotel...What happened?
Suddenly, the sharp stinging pain in her chest reminded her. She was hurt.
Auron handed Rikku his jacket, helping her sit up. Dropping it on top of her slender shoulders, he quickly fastened the straps and gathered her into his arms. Right now, bundled up in the blanket of his jacket, her face pale, her eyes fluttering, Rikku looked more like a little child than a teenage girl.
Whisking her up and away, he left the hotel before the clerk could say as much as another word. Getting lost in the crowd would be an easy thing to do, but being found would be easier. He needed to get out of Bevelle, as soon as possible. And if he could, he would have to find the others: a near-impossible task in the land of Spira. More likely than not, they would meet at the next temple after Bevelle. Remiem Temple, near the Calm Lands. Getting there with Rikku wounded would prove amusing. He glanced at the girl. No way was she going to last that long. He needed a white mage. Now.
"Halt! NOW!"
Oh no. They had been spotted. Auron attempted to stir Rikku awake, longing for the reassurance of her eyes. She didn't wake.
"HALT! NOW!"
Auron felt the sharp stinging pain of a stunner caress his neck before he stumbled to the ground, toppling over the Al Bhed he had held in his arms only moments ago. He pulled her to him hovering over her protectively. He looked up, staring up at the warrior monks who had managed to apprehend them.
"Forbidden machina, eh?" Auron chuckled. "Aren't WE self-righteous hypocrites?"
With another quick jerk of his finger, the warrior monks had him knocked out.
Auron was more than a bit alarmed when he didn't see Rikku at their trial. The first thing he thought was that she was dead. But no. They would never freely sacrafice such a valuable asset- an asset that could be used against them. Still, it had him worried. If they were using Rikku, there was no telling what they were doing to her. She was still just a kid.
So he said nothing during the trial. And no one else did. There was no need to. They knew all knew that if she was going to be played as a pawn, most certainly her condition would be played in their big chess game. And if not, well...certainly they would be united when their fate was decided. Certainly Rikku was not well enough to stand trial- not yet, atleast. But her fate was preordained to be the same as theirs.
"Where do you think she is?" Tidus, his "jailmate" inquired.
"Rikku?" For all Auron knew, he could be asking about ANYONE. Tidus could be so vague sometimes.
"Yeah."
Auron shrugged. "Yevon only knows."
"What about Yuna?"
"What ABOUT Yuna?" Auron was strangely irritated.
"I hope she's okay."
"She'll be strong. She'll make it."
"She'll make it? What, so she can die?" Tidus sighed. "Why is it that everything in Spira seems to revolve around people dying?"
"Ah, the spiral of death."
"Huh?"
"Summoners challenge the bringer of death, Sin, and die doing so. Guardians give their lives to protect their summoner...and...sometimes other guardians." He paused for a minute to regain his composure before continuing on with his lecture. "The fayth are the souls of the dead. Even the maesters of Yevon are unsent. Spira is full of death. Only Sin is reborn, and then only to bring more death. It is a cycle of death, spiraling endlessly."
Auron and Tidus turned at the staccato of footsteps. "Come out. A compromise has been decided." It was Kinoc.
"A compromise?" Auron couldn't help but be suspicious.
"Yes. A compromise." Kinoc lead the duo to the trial room, where they were reunited with their comrades. Except Rikku.
Auron couldn't help but feel apprehensive. Maybe it was because he felt responsible for her fate. If she was hurt- it would be his fault. He couldn't live with another life on his heart. Braska...Jecht...
Why was he blaming himself? It was *HER* fault for jumping in front of him like an idiot. It was her own free will that determined her fate. Not him.
But for some reason, he couldn't ignore the stinging in his heart. Nor could he quite identify it.
"It has been decided," began Seymour. "That a compromise could be made, in exchange for the life of your little friend." Seymour snapped his fingers sharply, causing a screen to illuminate with the picture of an imprisoned Rikku.
Rikku laid sprawled across the floor of a cage, still wrapped in Auron's jacket. Her wounds appeared to have closed, as the blood crusted on her body and on his trenchcoat was a stubborn metallic. Not the scarlet he had seen sprouting from her chest before. Slowly, the pain he felt inside of his heart subsided- but only a little. She was alive, but captured.
"Since I have something you want..." Seymour approached Yuna.. "...and YOU have something *I* want, I'm sure that we'll both get something out of this. Now...you, Yuna. You still want to complete your pilgrimage do you not?"
Yuna nodded nervously as Seymour loomed over her intimidatingly. She took a step back.
"I could have your name cleared, right now, at this moment. And," he gestured at the screen, Rikku still shaking the bars wildly. "...I could free this little bird."
"And what do you want in return?" Auron asked.
"Me?" Seymour laughed. "I want nothing more than what I wanted from the very beginning!"
"To become Sin?" Wakka growled.
"I would like for Yuna's guardians to be dismissed, and I would like to accompany Yuna to Zanarkand."
"What?!" For a minute there was a long silence.
"Rest assured, your names would be cleared and the little bird would be freed from her cage." He glanced at Rikku on the screen and smiled smugly. "...You would all have your freedom again. And of course, you would be able to keep your lives. Those are things that I cannot guarantee if you do not agree."
"Abandon Yuna? No way!" Tidus protested.
"Besides, why should we beleive you?" Wakka added.
"Why NOT beleive me? After all, I have your little sparrow in my hands. Are you going to say Yuna's life is worth more than hers? Either route you take, Yuna's life will end. But with this compromise, the route you choose can determine more than Yuna's fate. But also, hers." He nodded towards the screen.
"I...I will go with you," Yuna said stepping, forward.
"Yuna!" All of her guardians sputtered her name in unison. They hadn't been expecting this from her- atleast without consulting THEM first.
"A wise decision." Seymour nodded towards Kinoc, who opened the door for waiting Warrior Monks. Taking each of the guardians by the arms, they forcefully escorted them out before another word of protest could be uttered.
"What...what about Rikku?!" Auron yelled at Seymour, moments before being pushed through the billowing elaborate passageway from the trial room.
"You can rest assured, I will keep her alive and captive at my own discresion. A hostage may prove useful in manipulating you misguided little rebels." As the doors shut behind him, all Auron could hear was Seymour's loud, mocking laughter. Were they really that stupid? Was Yuna really that spontaneous? Or that stupid?
No. She wasn't stupid. Just too caring. No worries, though. They'd find a way to rescue them. Rescue them both. It just might be awhile.