--- - 4 - ---


(You're not the one to ask what to do, I know it. Hell, I'm not the one who should be asking! But it's not as if we have any great alternative, do we? Damn that boy. Not even an Aeon yet. And there he goes... as if he just loves it Out There too much to stay away. It's only going to breed trouble, believe you me.)

(Hmm.)

(That all you can say? Hmm? Thought I asked you to take care of the boy. I guess that contract kind of ran out, didn't it?)

(Don't you see we have bigger matters to attend to?)

(Yeah. I see that we're in for a world of hurt if he screws anything up more than it aleady is.)

(That's not the point he was trying to make, Jecht.)

(I can speak for myself, Braska. And as to the point I'm trying to make, I think Jecht's summed it up nicely.)

(Auron... you can't be serious.)

(Have you ever known me not to be?)

(Hah! So what do you think we should do about it? That crybaby's not going to make things easy for us, that's for sure.)

(We do nothing.)

(What? what are you talking about! ...hey, don't you walk away from me! Auron!
(...
(...damn you....)

(Heh. That's just the way he is, I suppose.)

(Yeah. And it's going to mean hell for all of us, I bet.)

--- - - - ---


There was something invigorating about waking up to the crisp mountain air, a skyline you did not know, and the sight of yet another race of sentient cats calmly discussing whether you should be allowed to live or die.

Tidus sat bolt upright as soon as he realized where he was--or rather, where he wasn't. He wasn't in the Farplane, that was for sure. nor was he on Mt. Gagazet, or even the bluffs overlooking "his" Zanarkand. In fact, the matter was debatable as to whether he was in Spira at all.

One of the greying cat-people looked at him, and yawned a yawn displaying all of his remaining sharp teeth. "This discussion should have ended ages ago," he asserted. "He's an abomination to the cycle of death. He should be destroyed."

"H--hey...!" was all Tidus managed to get out. He was heartily ignored.

"You sound like a Sha, old one." said one of the browner cats. "He was born through the planet, so he is accepted. It matters little what he was before that."

"And why not let him have his say, if he's awake?" asked a voice, and the group of cats parted to allow the newcomer into the circle. The grey one snarled.

"You're no Lifedancer yet, Rhek. You have no voice here."

"Let him speak, old one. And I smell he's brought visitors. Where did you leave them, Rhek? Down on the bluffs?"

Rhek looked around the group, then turned to the human. "They want to see the one who smells of dreaming," he said. "Nauri admitted them. They travel with a Cosmo tribesman. I am sorry, old one, but you can't kill him yet."

The grey cat's ears flattened, and he spat and turned away. "Do what you will with him. If the Lifedancers say he lives, he lives."

The one called Rhek trotted up to Tidus, and let loose a rumbling purr. "Be greeted to Aicha clan," he said, dipping his head slightly. "I am Rhek, student of the Lifedancer, Nauri. Who are you, and shall you come with me?"

"...I'm Tidus," Tidus answered uncertainly. "Hey, where am I? What's going on?"

Rhek shook his head. "That is not for me to say. Come see the Lifedancer's visitors."

"Er... what's a Lifedancer?"

Rhek blinked at him. "You will learn. Come see the Lifedancer's visitors."

Tidus glanced around.

"It is one way to avoid being eaten by Old Greyfur," Rhek suggested wryly.

"Why don't I go see the Lifedancer's visitors," Tidus said, face becoming a shade paler.

Rhek smiled and turned, padding away towards one of the many mountain paths that lead away from the bluffs. Tidus followed, glancing at the rest of the cat-people who sat, eyeing him curiously. There were a few muffled murmuring as he passed, and he tried to smile them off.

(...whoa!)

Rounding a bend, he abruptly came face-to-face with someone who might have been Auron's younger brother--the same concealed face, the same brooding expression, and the same affinity for red. The exceptions were that this man's eyes glowed a menacing red, and the claws on his metal left hand mindlessly curled and uncurled slowly. the man met his stare silently, never once blinking.

There was sigh from somewhere, and Tidus pried his eyes away from the man in red to see a brunette, rather pretty by most standards, shaking her head. "That's not him," she said sadly.

"Uh...."

"It was a thin hope," the man in red murmured, crossing his arms. He made an absent gesture with the real one. "What is your name?" he asked.

"...Tidus," Tidus said, then decided to try his luck. "Star player of the Zanarkand Abes!"

Looking around the group of people, he saw a broad range of confused expressions. He groaned.

"I think he's lost," piped up one of the people, a thin girl with a shuriken strapped to her arm. Tidus couldn't have begun to tell her how right she was.

"You must be lost to come into the Aicha territory unaware," said a voice, and the girl turned to see yet another of the catpeople coming up behind her. "Rhek, what have you learned?"

Rhek wrinkled his nose. "That Nijil grey-fur dislikes the unalive, Nauri. Is that my lesson?"

Nauri leapt forward and raised a paw as if to swipe him, then paused. Her nose winkled, and she slowly put down her paw. "Perhaps," she said. "You miss the true lesson, but you have realized it." she turned to Tidus, then to the man in red. "Do you want him?"

The man in read looked towards the brunette, who sighed and turned to Tidus. "I'm Tifa Lockheart," she said. "We were looking for a friend of ours, but... we didn't find him."

"Oh. ...bummer." There was a moment of awkward silence. "Hey, can you tell me where I am?"

This is Aicha territory," an orange catperson said. "A human would know it as the Nibel Mountain Range, on the New Continent."

Tidus scratched the side of his neck. "Does that mean I'm not in Spira any more?" he asked. "Not even in Zanarkand?"

Blank stares all around.

Two of the catpeople, Nauri and Rhek, engaged in a quick round of conversation. Tidus shook his head. "Look, I'm really lost. I don't suppose I could hang out with you guys until I figure out what's going on?"

"It would not be the first time," intoned the man in red.

"Nor the strangest," the orange catperson said wryly.

Evveryone in the party turned to looked towards Tifa, who shrugged. "If you want to," was her only reply.

Tidus was about to reply, when Nauri interrupted him "Good. Then your business with the Aicha-Anshaki is over.Goodbye, humans and Cosmo."

Turning on her heel, Nauri stalked off to her post in the mountains. Rhek wrinkled his nose and followed her. The orange catperson smiled.

"The Aicha are not so unwelcoming," he said.

"Yeah, right," Tidus retorted. "One of them back there wanted to eat me."

There was a noise that could only be interpreted as a chuckle. "Their strange lifestyles make them behave in odd ways. They would have helped us, had we truly needed help."

"We're not getting anything done here," Tifa said. "We should go."

"Yeah." Tidus paused, realizing that he had forgotten something. "Er, who are you guys, anyway...?"