From now on my chapters will all solely be focusing on one character, or a group of characters dependent upon where they are in comparison to the others. Each of the following three chapters will be happening at the same time, and so some of the things that happen in the following two chapters will have previously happened in this chapter. This chapter will be focusing only on Kimhari's fight to find his friends. I hope you enjoy it!
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Chapter two- Down But Not OutKimhari felt like he had been walking for hours, even though he knew he had really only left a short while ago. It took him so much more effort to even breathe then it normally did. The desert was so hot and dry, and the sun was starting upon its peak, plus having a broken leg didn't help very much in his travels. He was lucky so far; he had encountered no fiends. No sooner than he had thought that, a pair of cactuars sprung up.
He quickly realized that in his state he would be no match for the two green wretches. He turned to run, but one of the cactuars jumped over him, cutting him off from his escape.
"It seems Yevon mocks me," he growled to himself.
He sprang back to ready for an attack, but he fell down a well covered pit when he landed, leaving the two annoying fiends laughing at him gleefully as he slid down a narrow tube. He landed on something rather hard, momentarily dazing him. When he gathered back his senses, he stood slowly and looked around. The only light was that coming from directly above him from where he had just fallen.
"Fallen for a trap?" He sniffed the musky air, and covered his nose in disgust. It smelled like rotten flesh mixed with some sort of juice, perhaps that of a cactus or desert fruit.
"Smells like sand worm," must have fallen down a sand worm's nest, was the conclusion he decided upon.
There were no sand worms currently at home, giving him a chance to explore. This was a short task, mostly because the cave was no longer than a couple of yards, and only led one way, but also because the sinking desert sun was slowly draining the cave of its little warmth. Kimhari didn't want to have to find out what the cave was like when the cave was at its coldest later at night. Also, the lack of proper tools for even making and sustaining a fire left a sour taste in his mouth.
"Maybe nest of sand worm Auron killed." He said vaguely trying to be hopeful. He set himself to the task at hand of digging a way out, since he found the way he came in was to steep to try to climb to.
Four hours later Kimhari approximated, he had dug a small ditch and nothing more.
"Damn leg." He cursed himself for having gotten injured. It was useless, for every inch Kimhari dug; another two would collapse from above. His broken leg was making the work even slower. He was starting to lose hope in himself, and his morale dropped drastically.
"Am I destined to die here?" he asked of the invisible force that is Yevon. He thought of his friends, and of how he would not be able to complete the pilgrimage with them. With that he lay down in his ditch for what he imagined would be his final rest.
He was awoken slightly before sunset by a sharp rumbling sound.
"The sand worm!"
He just barely managed to dodge it as it slid through the tunnels as he had done before. It was enormous! It had huge gray lines flowing from head to tail, the markings of a leader. Kimhari suddenly got an idea, if the sand worm could go up the tunnel but he was unable to, perhaps he could force the Sand worm to bring him to the surface.
Timing was essential if he wanted to escape, he needed to wait until the sand worm was just falling asleep, and then he needed to startle it into bringing him to the surface. Kimhari knew the plan was a good one, but the only thing bothering him was, if the sand worm did bring him to the surface, would it attack him as soon as he got off?
He had no other chance, he had to try, or he would surely starve. Being very careful not to wake it too soon, he crept over to where he thought the base of its spine was, and got a loose grip on some of its hanging skin.
All at once Kimhari grabbed as hard as he could to its back, and using his pike as a spur, he screamed and stabbed it with all his might. The sand worm suddenly got very scared, and instead of how Kimhari had planned it, the sand worm attempted to buck him off like a bull rider. Trying to give the sand worm the right idea of how to get him off, he stabbed it slightly lower in its hide. This shot an immediate jolt of pain through the sand worm sending it hurtling up to the surface.
Kimhari could hardly keep his grip as the worm barreled upward, he fought to hold on as the worm flew out, stabbing and prodding madly. The worm slowed, and Kimhari instinctively thought it had been vanquished and was loosening his grip when the sly worm flipped trying to crush him. He soared through the air at the worm's sudden forcefulness, landing flat on his back some thirty feet from the worm's quarters.
The last thing he could remember was the worm cautiously, but vengefully approaching him, before he lay limp.
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So how did you like it? I personally like this new format of switching every chapter, but I would appreciate your thoughts about it and any other suggestions you may have. Thank you! (Reviews are appreciated!)
Next chapter: Lulu and Tidus have journeyed into the unknown without the aid of their friends. Tidus is dead set on finding Yuna as soon as possible with or without anyone's help, while Lulu has her hands full trying to get him to wait for the rest of the party and keeping up with him herself…
