I couldn't seem to nuzzle my head far enough into my pillow. Dawn would be
coming soon, and I hadn't even fallen asleep yet. Auron's command of my
forehead wasn't working very well. Grumbling, I slapped my pillow and
rolled onto my back, wincing as the rock I had now become familiar with hit
my hip...again.
Sadistic thoughts swam in my head, considering the possibility of killing a rock. Maybe I could take Auron's Masamune and whack it a good one, and then...
"I thought I told you to go to sleep," the quiet, gruff voice of the red clad swordsman beside me interrupted my thoughts. I smacked my hands over my eyes.
"Don't you think I tried that already?" I grumbled at him.
"I would assume so. What did you do to pass the time?"
"Thought of killing a rock."
"Mm," was his only response as his eyes closed again.
Several minutes of silence passed, each second like a gong in my eyes, and my eyebrow got this funny twitch I didn't know it could do. The silence was starting to kill me, and I didn't want to go to the Farplane just then, you know?
"Erg!" I exclaimed, forgetting to keep my voice down. Luckily, none of the others woke up, but it was still close. Clamping a hand over my mouth, I hit my pillow again and stood up. Heavy footsteps followed me, and I turned as soon as I left the tent to stare are Auron incredulously.
"You actually SLEPT in those boots of yours?!"
He gave a nonchalant shrug. Typically Auron, but at least he didn't give me a blank look or something. It was better than nothing, this bored reaction.
"The need for escape could have arisen."
Throwing my hands up in the air in frustration, I contemplated the existence of rocks just as much as I thought about Auron. What purpose do rocks have, and why the hell was it so hard to get a reaction out of Auron? The man was so predictable, and wouldn't that rock under my bedroll be fun to smash?
"Mamma mia!" I said grumpily as I stomped in circles around our camp.
"Frustrated?" an amused voice asked me airily. I whirled.
"You...you....you behemoth! Go back to sleep!" I cried furiously at him. Why did he have to go and interrupt my thoughts? If I didn't even THINK evilly, what would happen then? Ohhh, yes, that rock wouldn't be the only thing to get a beating.
"Behemoth?" he asked me.
I pointed my finger in the general direction of the tent and stormed off, the stars twinkling merrily above me. Since when was my life allowed to get so messed up on absolutely zero notice? Tyed ed! No fair!
Auron raised an eyebrow at me. I knew if he had been Tidus, he would have looked at the tent and said, "There's a behemoth in there?!" and run charging in valiantly, only to get a beating from Lulu, who needs her beauty sleep.
The thought made me laugh, and all other contemplations and worries bubbled away. I giggled like a loon and had to sit down to keep from falling down. Auron's expression grew more puzzled than ever as I tried to hold in my chortles of laughter, desperately not wanting to wake the others. Auron chuckled in front of me as he knelt down, bringing himself to my eye level.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, not much. Just thanking the stars you aren't Tidus at this moment. I'd hate to see what he'd do if I called him a behemoth."
Auron grinned at me, leaving me to look at him dumbfounded. I'd never seen him grin before, at least not that I could remember.
"Vile creatures, those are. I think Tidus is more like a Zu, myself."
"Those things are stupid!"
The grin widened. "Exactly."
I started to laugh even more, and I felt better than I had in a long time. Auron and I sat in companionable silence for a while, watching the stars and awaiting the dawn.
***
Forget horses. I hate chocobos.
Rename the chocobo near out camp "rooster" and you get the idea of what happened when dawn actually came. Having nothing to take my lack of sleep and frustration out on, I continued my sinister thoughts of slaughtering that stupid rock underneath my bedroll.
As I packed my bedding up, I spied the rock underneath. Grinning wickedly, I picked it up and deposited it into my pack. It would be very fun to mutilate later.
Auron looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "Storing away rocks to throw at people?"
I snorted. "To throw at you."
The other eyebrow raised. "What did I do to you?"
"Mr. Eccentric," I grumped underneath my breath in Al Bhed. Louder and in the normal tongue (but still quietly) I said, "I hate horses."
"Mm. I gathered as much."
I whirled on him. "Huh? How'd ya know that?"
He grinned wolfishly. "You talk in your sleep, remember?"
Oh, yes. That rock would die tonight.
Our conversation stilled til I thought we were sitting in something akin to Jell-O. I hoped it was strawberry. I like strawberries.
Um, right. Back to what happened. I had no real reason to be as frustrated as I was, except that little neat corners of my mind continued to crash on me every five seconds. I might as well have been a machina system upload for all the thoughts bashing into each other inside of my brain.
As I left the tent, I touched the metal bar to help disassemble it. I jumped back with a cry as I was shocked, landing flat on my rear. I shook my finger vigorously in the air, whimpering and sticking it in my mouth occasionally. Auron chuckled and tried to muffle it; needless to say, that did nothing to help improve my mood.
"Stupid friggin static electricity hanging on to me from the Thunder Plains because it shocked me so many times and really got me peeved and then it wouldn't even let me stand up and now it's gonna go and shock me and make me fall over and my finger hurts and..."
"Are you going to pause to breathe?" Auron asked with an eyebrow raised...again. How did he do that, anyway? I can only raise both, and just look like a moron when I try to only raise one.
"No!" I snapped as I stood up. Yunie was regarding me wide eyed with her mouth slightly agape.
"What?" I demanded, not meaning to snap at her as I did at Auron.
"Maybe we should talk later, okay Rikku?" she asked me in her usual quiet voice.
I nodded. "Yeah, alrighty."
Storming off, I wondered what the heck she wanted. And why had she looked at me with that expression when I got shocked? Yunie's a strange person, you know? I don't think she'll ever change. Always smiling, always an enigma, always managing to sick her Aeons on me. Stupid Ixion.
And yet, she had said that it wasn't Ixion (not really) who had granted me my wish. Well, who was it, then? Did this shock-and-knock-Rikku-over incident have anything to do with it? Gods, I hoped not. Not fun. No way. No how.
Auron came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't look so stricken. Yuna isn't going to kill you."
I laughed a little. "I know, I know. She just might wound me and then slaughter me when no one's lookin', right?"
He nodded, his expression full of mock seriousness. "Right."
***
As we began our journey to the beginning of Mt. Gagazet, I wondered why Auron was acting so strangely. It was completely not like him. Was it this wish I made, that night in Macalania and in his arms, that I didn't even know I had made until I woke? I desperately hoped it wasn't. I didn't want his little nice conversations to be only works of magic and not genuine. That wouldn't be fair at all, now would it?
Desperately trying to ascend the slippery slopes, I pondered even more how the Rhonsos could have believed Yunie had turned traitor. Yes, the rumors had been spread by the Maesters, but really! Wouldn't they know Yunie enough by now?
No, I suppose not. Things don't work that way.
I put forth all of my energy into watching my footing. I guess I was blind for a few moments, because I slipped on a rock and began tumbling down the steep slope it had taken us over an hour just to ascend halfway. Auron, being the slower of the group right down with Kimahri, was directly behind me. Can you guess where this is going? Yup. I landed right on him.
Together, we tumbled down the incline. He had tried to keep his footing, yes, but a hundred pounds slamming into you on a giant tilted ice cube is hard to keep your footing on.
In a gigantic mass of flailing arms and legs, both of us tried to grasp as some niche in the slope, something to keep us from tumbling into an abyss below. Okay, so it wasn't an abyss. But it was definitely a hole. A big one. Really really!
Nothing reached either Auron's or my hands, and we continued to fall. Gradually sliding toward the left, we took a tumble off the narrow pathway into what must have been a thirty foot drop. Snow followed us, pillowing out around our breathless bodies. Snow had broken out fall, but so did snow keep us from returning.
We were stuck.
Just the two of us.
Auron.
And me.
He grumbled as he untangled his limbs from mine, surveying the cave we seemed to be in. The dim twilight was rapidly fading and preventing much further sight.
"We won't be able to do much with this fading light. We'll have to wait until morning to leave."
Oh, thank you for that wonderful news, Auron! I'm simply jumping for joy.
I sighed and sat down, nodding my head at him. So, this was it. We were stuck.
And do you realized what caused this?
A rock.
A/N: Whoo! Third chapter! Thanks for the reviews! *hugs Rikku* (The author, not the game one. ^.~) You especially! And Spaz? Take care of that cat! *grins* Anyway, thanks also and always to Nefalkariel, Aurikku Chick, Sky Genjustsu and SephirothsGoddess for reviewing the last chap. (And to all of you who reviews the first one ^^) I appreciate it! Let me know anything you'd like to happen, k? Ja ne!
Sadistic thoughts swam in my head, considering the possibility of killing a rock. Maybe I could take Auron's Masamune and whack it a good one, and then...
"I thought I told you to go to sleep," the quiet, gruff voice of the red clad swordsman beside me interrupted my thoughts. I smacked my hands over my eyes.
"Don't you think I tried that already?" I grumbled at him.
"I would assume so. What did you do to pass the time?"
"Thought of killing a rock."
"Mm," was his only response as his eyes closed again.
Several minutes of silence passed, each second like a gong in my eyes, and my eyebrow got this funny twitch I didn't know it could do. The silence was starting to kill me, and I didn't want to go to the Farplane just then, you know?
"Erg!" I exclaimed, forgetting to keep my voice down. Luckily, none of the others woke up, but it was still close. Clamping a hand over my mouth, I hit my pillow again and stood up. Heavy footsteps followed me, and I turned as soon as I left the tent to stare are Auron incredulously.
"You actually SLEPT in those boots of yours?!"
He gave a nonchalant shrug. Typically Auron, but at least he didn't give me a blank look or something. It was better than nothing, this bored reaction.
"The need for escape could have arisen."
Throwing my hands up in the air in frustration, I contemplated the existence of rocks just as much as I thought about Auron. What purpose do rocks have, and why the hell was it so hard to get a reaction out of Auron? The man was so predictable, and wouldn't that rock under my bedroll be fun to smash?
"Mamma mia!" I said grumpily as I stomped in circles around our camp.
"Frustrated?" an amused voice asked me airily. I whirled.
"You...you....you behemoth! Go back to sleep!" I cried furiously at him. Why did he have to go and interrupt my thoughts? If I didn't even THINK evilly, what would happen then? Ohhh, yes, that rock wouldn't be the only thing to get a beating.
"Behemoth?" he asked me.
I pointed my finger in the general direction of the tent and stormed off, the stars twinkling merrily above me. Since when was my life allowed to get so messed up on absolutely zero notice? Tyed ed! No fair!
Auron raised an eyebrow at me. I knew if he had been Tidus, he would have looked at the tent and said, "There's a behemoth in there?!" and run charging in valiantly, only to get a beating from Lulu, who needs her beauty sleep.
The thought made me laugh, and all other contemplations and worries bubbled away. I giggled like a loon and had to sit down to keep from falling down. Auron's expression grew more puzzled than ever as I tried to hold in my chortles of laughter, desperately not wanting to wake the others. Auron chuckled in front of me as he knelt down, bringing himself to my eye level.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, not much. Just thanking the stars you aren't Tidus at this moment. I'd hate to see what he'd do if I called him a behemoth."
Auron grinned at me, leaving me to look at him dumbfounded. I'd never seen him grin before, at least not that I could remember.
"Vile creatures, those are. I think Tidus is more like a Zu, myself."
"Those things are stupid!"
The grin widened. "Exactly."
I started to laugh even more, and I felt better than I had in a long time. Auron and I sat in companionable silence for a while, watching the stars and awaiting the dawn.
***
Forget horses. I hate chocobos.
Rename the chocobo near out camp "rooster" and you get the idea of what happened when dawn actually came. Having nothing to take my lack of sleep and frustration out on, I continued my sinister thoughts of slaughtering that stupid rock underneath my bedroll.
As I packed my bedding up, I spied the rock underneath. Grinning wickedly, I picked it up and deposited it into my pack. It would be very fun to mutilate later.
Auron looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "Storing away rocks to throw at people?"
I snorted. "To throw at you."
The other eyebrow raised. "What did I do to you?"
"Mr. Eccentric," I grumped underneath my breath in Al Bhed. Louder and in the normal tongue (but still quietly) I said, "I hate horses."
"Mm. I gathered as much."
I whirled on him. "Huh? How'd ya know that?"
He grinned wolfishly. "You talk in your sleep, remember?"
Oh, yes. That rock would die tonight.
Our conversation stilled til I thought we were sitting in something akin to Jell-O. I hoped it was strawberry. I like strawberries.
Um, right. Back to what happened. I had no real reason to be as frustrated as I was, except that little neat corners of my mind continued to crash on me every five seconds. I might as well have been a machina system upload for all the thoughts bashing into each other inside of my brain.
As I left the tent, I touched the metal bar to help disassemble it. I jumped back with a cry as I was shocked, landing flat on my rear. I shook my finger vigorously in the air, whimpering and sticking it in my mouth occasionally. Auron chuckled and tried to muffle it; needless to say, that did nothing to help improve my mood.
"Stupid friggin static electricity hanging on to me from the Thunder Plains because it shocked me so many times and really got me peeved and then it wouldn't even let me stand up and now it's gonna go and shock me and make me fall over and my finger hurts and..."
"Are you going to pause to breathe?" Auron asked with an eyebrow raised...again. How did he do that, anyway? I can only raise both, and just look like a moron when I try to only raise one.
"No!" I snapped as I stood up. Yunie was regarding me wide eyed with her mouth slightly agape.
"What?" I demanded, not meaning to snap at her as I did at Auron.
"Maybe we should talk later, okay Rikku?" she asked me in her usual quiet voice.
I nodded. "Yeah, alrighty."
Storming off, I wondered what the heck she wanted. And why had she looked at me with that expression when I got shocked? Yunie's a strange person, you know? I don't think she'll ever change. Always smiling, always an enigma, always managing to sick her Aeons on me. Stupid Ixion.
And yet, she had said that it wasn't Ixion (not really) who had granted me my wish. Well, who was it, then? Did this shock-and-knock-Rikku-over incident have anything to do with it? Gods, I hoped not. Not fun. No way. No how.
Auron came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't look so stricken. Yuna isn't going to kill you."
I laughed a little. "I know, I know. She just might wound me and then slaughter me when no one's lookin', right?"
He nodded, his expression full of mock seriousness. "Right."
***
As we began our journey to the beginning of Mt. Gagazet, I wondered why Auron was acting so strangely. It was completely not like him. Was it this wish I made, that night in Macalania and in his arms, that I didn't even know I had made until I woke? I desperately hoped it wasn't. I didn't want his little nice conversations to be only works of magic and not genuine. That wouldn't be fair at all, now would it?
Desperately trying to ascend the slippery slopes, I pondered even more how the Rhonsos could have believed Yunie had turned traitor. Yes, the rumors had been spread by the Maesters, but really! Wouldn't they know Yunie enough by now?
No, I suppose not. Things don't work that way.
I put forth all of my energy into watching my footing. I guess I was blind for a few moments, because I slipped on a rock and began tumbling down the steep slope it had taken us over an hour just to ascend halfway. Auron, being the slower of the group right down with Kimahri, was directly behind me. Can you guess where this is going? Yup. I landed right on him.
Together, we tumbled down the incline. He had tried to keep his footing, yes, but a hundred pounds slamming into you on a giant tilted ice cube is hard to keep your footing on.
In a gigantic mass of flailing arms and legs, both of us tried to grasp as some niche in the slope, something to keep us from tumbling into an abyss below. Okay, so it wasn't an abyss. But it was definitely a hole. A big one. Really really!
Nothing reached either Auron's or my hands, and we continued to fall. Gradually sliding toward the left, we took a tumble off the narrow pathway into what must have been a thirty foot drop. Snow followed us, pillowing out around our breathless bodies. Snow had broken out fall, but so did snow keep us from returning.
We were stuck.
Just the two of us.
Auron.
And me.
He grumbled as he untangled his limbs from mine, surveying the cave we seemed to be in. The dim twilight was rapidly fading and preventing much further sight.
"We won't be able to do much with this fading light. We'll have to wait until morning to leave."
Oh, thank you for that wonderful news, Auron! I'm simply jumping for joy.
I sighed and sat down, nodding my head at him. So, this was it. We were stuck.
And do you realized what caused this?
A rock.
A/N: Whoo! Third chapter! Thanks for the reviews! *hugs Rikku* (The author, not the game one. ^.~) You especially! And Spaz? Take care of that cat! *grins* Anyway, thanks also and always to Nefalkariel, Aurikku Chick, Sky Genjustsu and SephirothsGoddess for reviewing the last chap. (And to all of you who reviews the first one ^^) I appreciate it! Let me know anything you'd like to happen, k? Ja ne!