SpazKit! Thank you for the picture of Auron and Rikku (or Rikku clutching
the life out of Auron) and Ixion. I'm glad I could make you smile! ^.~
WARNING: Majority of chapter written while wired on three shots of coffee. Sorry for typos and things that don't make sense, but my brain is moving so fast and I've got the jitters so bad I don't know how I've typed as much as I have.
Chapter Five - Overdrive (x2)
Auron was gently shaking me awake. I mumbled incoherently to myself and waved my hand in the direction I thought he was. I heard him make a muffled sound and the shaking was gone. Belatedly, my foggy mind hoped I hadn't hit him. I hadn't forgotten about Masamune. It looked like a bad way to die.
Rolling over, I stubbornly kept my eyes shut. Screw the lightning, screw the snow, screw Auron.
Wait. That didn't come out right.
Struggling to remove my mind from the gutter, I grabbed some snow and flung it at Auron. I heard his muffled protest, but only curled up deeper into a ball. I did NOT want to give up my sleep just yet. Sleep...so precious, and it sucks when you do it alone.
That didn't come out right either. But you know what I mean. It's better to wake up with someone by your side.
I gasped as something wet and VERY freaking cold slipped up the back of my shirt. My eyes flew open to meet a russet eye, belonging to Auron, complete with a triumphant smile.
I jumped up as fast as I could and stuck my hand up the back of my shirt, desperately trying to get all the snow out before I became a Rikku Ice Cube. Not fun.
To make matters worse, Auron started to laugh at me. The man has some great audacity, for a stoic man to only blinks when someone dies. Letting out a frustrated noise, I retaliated by hurling a snowball of my own, whacking him in the side of the head.
"Mmf!" Was his only response as he dipped his hand into the snow again.
I realized I wasn't going to get out of this snow fight dry or warm.
Cupping my hands into the frozen beauty beneath me, I hurled a hunk of snow at the guardian in front of my, catching him just as he threw his at me. It beaned me in the butt, to my embarrassment. I turned scarlet as I got ready to throw another snowball, but was stopped with Auron's laughter.
I could tell he hadn't planned to hit me where I had, but he found it damn funny now that he HAD hit me. I think the only place that could have been worse was my chest, but I would have smacked him for that one. Smacked him good, Masamune or no. Well, maybe I'd sick my pet rock on his Masamune first.
The funny thing is, Auron couldn't seem to stop laughing. This man is very strange. Very man like. Very strange. I rest my case. And men think we're mysteries? I snorted at the thought. Yeah right.
His laughter infectious, I found myself smiling to grinning to laughing like a loon. As I rocked back and forth in a crouched position, attempting (vainly) to give my aching stomach muscles a rest, another snowball hit me in the ribs, knocking me over. Auron soon followed the snowball, planting him on top of me.
All humor lost, I stared at him incredulously. This man was plum crazy. Yunie was mad looking to him for guidance, at least I thought so.
"Auron?" I asked softly, curiously, and without understanding.
He sighed and rested his head on my shoulder, his nose brushing my neck as his weight pressed me into the snow beneath us. "Hmm?" was his lazy reply.
"We should see if we can get out of here," I said dumbly, not thinking of anything else quickly. I cursed my mind for the umpteenth time.
Auron sighed again, his chest rising and falling against me. It was a very nice feeling, and I didn't want to move. I was very happy that he wasn't mad at me for my little stunt yesterday.
His lips pressed softly against my neck for a moment. I tired not to inhale, my surprise written clearly on my face, I was sure. My mind, the very same mind that was still in the gutter, was whirling. I don't even want to say where it went, and I hope it took a shower before it came back. I needed something to distract me, and quick.
Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Auron.
Argh! Plan not working! Plan B....Plan B...
Auron turned my head to face him, his eye looking at me curiously. I clamped my own eyes shut.
"Look at me," he told me in a simple statement, just like he had that day at the Moonflow. However, this time his motives were very different reasons.
Gradually, I peeked a single eye open, avoiding his own.
"I'm not going to bite."
I squeaked and slammed my eye shut again. Wrong thing to say, buddy! Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks.
"Rikku..."
Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks.
His lips pressed against mind, tugging on my lower lips. This time my eyes slammed open, confusion whirling all around with the enjoyment. I was only dimly aware of a lightning bolt striking nearby.
He pressed his lips more firmly against mine, seeming to demand an answer. Trying not to squeak again from delight or the trouble of my mind in the gutter, I kissed back, if tentatively. Auron ran his hand through my hair, playing with the braids at the nape of my neck.
Lightning! Horses! Rocks!
Auron pulled away slowly and dropped a bit of snow on my forehead, and in my surprise, I opened my eyes. I wondered if that was what he had been trying to do all along.
"I suppose we should be going."
Euphoria gripped me at the remorse in his voice. I giggled like a moron, smiled like Tidus and kissed Auron teasingly on the lips before hopping happily up.
"Yup-o!" I said, my hair bobbing happily behind me. Auron looked at me with a puzzled expression. Immediately, my expression turned regretful, even if I had a trembling smile held barely in check.
"Hey!" I cried suddenly, looking at Auron from head to toe. Well, from eyes to neck, but that's close enough.
"What?"
"Where's your collar and glasses?"
Auron's hands went up to his eye, then to his throat, realizing he was missing both articles. Right away I sprang around the camp, bouncing and peeking around corners.
"Guess they fell off in the fall," I said slowly, looking at Auron to try and gauge his reaction. He shrugged.
"I'm sure we'll find them eventually."
I nodded. "Right."
Climbing out was harder than I had thought it to be. The first step I took, I tumbled back down into our little cave. I grumped as I stood back up, rubbing my sore rear end and shooting daggers at Auron's amused expression.
"You're going to have a harder time than me getting out, you know!" I snapped.
He raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"
"You weigh more than I do, and I've got that sword to carry."
The other eyebrow followed the first and he gave me an innocent smile. "Why don't you carry my sword then, to even out the weight? I can get out faster then."
My eyes widened. Tysh that behemoth of a man! Who did he think he was? Why, I oughta....
My diabolical thoughts were interrupted by the enormous weight suddenly smacking itself onto my back. I gasped and tipped over, Auron's Masamune landing on top of me. I groaned and struggled to breathe with the weight on my chest. Friggin behemoth!
"How...the hell do you use this thing?" I demanded of him, shoving the massive blade off me.
"Very carefully," he told me as he helped me stand. I blinked as he pulled to hard and flung me at his chest.
"Jeez, overestimate my weight, will you," I said, rolling my eyes. "I don't weigh as much as Kimahri, you know."
He chuckled and pulled me into a hug. "So I've noticed."
I sighed and pushed off from his chest, grasping his sword and putting the shoulder strap on. Flailing my arms and bug eyed, I tried desperately not to tip over again. Falling on a sword would hurt. Like, du-u-uh.
Auron tried and failed to hide the amusement that crinkled around his eye. I shot a death glare his way, muttering under my breath in Al Bhed about how behemoth's aren't supposed to use sword. Stupid man.
I tried getting a hand hold on the sides of the cave, but that wasn't working too well either. I groaned as I fell over again, and looked at Auron, hoping he would get the hint that I wanted a damn boost. He just looked at me again, and I felt like crushing the rock. Unfortunately, I now realized that Auron's Masamune was just a bit too heavy for me to crush the stone with. Ah, well. I'll beat it to death somehow.
After falling over three more times, I walked heatedly over to Auron and punched him in the chest. That brick hard, gorgeous chest that at the moment I would give anything to see unclothed. Slapping myself mentally, I tired to banish the gutter thoughts that fluttered "innocently" into my brain as he didn't even move when I hit him again.
"Would you mind giving me a boost?" I asked airily.
"But then I'll have the weight of you AND my sword," he protested, the amusement still glittering in his eyes.
"Alright, alright, I get the picture! I'll stop poking fun at you," I told him, pouting a little. He leaned down and kissed the pout that remained on my lips, causing me to blink in surprise.
"Okay, then," he told me, and picked both me and his sword up easily, tossing me over the edge of the snow bank that had encased us. I gasped and tried not to fall back in, shocked by how easily he got out. Lithely, he climbed out and was soon sitting beside me, almost exactly where we had fallen down in the first place.
I sputtered at him for a couple of minutes before words finally formed. "Why the HELL didn't you just do that last night?!? I demanded. I was only dimly aware as lightning struck some five hundred yards away.
A shrug was the answer to my demand. "Where would the fun in that be?"
Fun. Fun. FUN?! Argh! I had to scream, kick something, and smash that rock. I would have beat Auron senseless if I actually thought it would hurt. But no, those brick hard muscles wouldn't...
Okay, wrong path to take my thoughts down. I stood up angrily and flailed as I tipped over backwards with the weight of his sword. He laughed and took the sword sheath from me, and then we proceeded to return to where the other must be. We both knew they wouldn't have gone far without us.
Placing a hand on my shoulder briefly, Auron took the lead. I stayed close behind him as much for warmth and a pillar to clutch desperately if I should slip, but also as an object to shoot death glares at. The journey back would go a lot faster if I had something in mind to kill.
***
I gasped as Tidus slashed his sword as Seymour. How had the Guado gotten all the way up Mt. Gagazet and past the Rhonsos? A hand flew to my mouth as I realized what the demon must have done. As Yuna took a hit of magic, all my shocked turned to fury as I rushed into battle with Auron next to me.
Auron swiftly pulled his sword into a flawless butterfly sweep, arcing it to the right. One of Seymour's blades caught Auron's shoulder, and Auron gasped in pain. I knew the wound was deep, and I knew I had to do something.
I whirled on the Guado, his form even more demonic than the last time. My blood felt different, like I had lightning pulsing through every corner of me. My hands clenched in fists, my eyes narrowed and every muscle flexed, an electrified wind gathered around me. I wasn't even aware of what I was doing, I just wanted that man down. Now.
I shot my hand forward, lightning springing from it and striking from the sky. Vaguely I heard Yuna cry out in surprise behind me, but I was so wrapped up in the power I wasn't aware of much else. The lightning was like a drug, and I just let more and more of it come, bolt after bolt striking Seymour's changed form. He cried out as he fell, tumbling down the side of the mountain. And then, the power was gone, and suddenly I was aware of the world around me again. I couldn't feel my blood flowing anymore, and I was dizzy as hell. Swooning a little, I was caught by Auron as Yuna looked at me first in shock, then with a smile.
"I'm glad you two are alright," she told us.
"What just happened to me, Yunie?" I asked shakily as the others gathered around. "Is it just me, or did I just take Seymour out by myself?"
Yuna nodded. "We had removed some of his strength, but not enough. Do you remember your wish, Rikku?" she asked me. I nodded slowly while Auron looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"Ixion only gave you your own magic, set into motion with strong thoughts and feelings. I can help you learn to control it so it doesn't go haywire again."
I nodded again, slowly, the world going fuzzy around me. "Gosh, I'm tired..." I muttered slowly. I barely felt Auron lifting me up into his arms and the rest of the party walking on. I felt Wakka's strange gaze on me, Lulu's strange gaze on Yuna, and Auron's arms periodically tightening around me. Sleep and tiredness from my new magic claimed me soon. So, I could use the lightning as a sort of overdrive, hmm? That was funny. Not funny. You know what I mean. I sighed as I nestled into Auron's scarlet cape kimono thing, whatever it was.
Stupid horse.
A/N: ARGH! I don't know if I like this chapter or not. Good, bad? Please let me know. Sorry for the long lack of updating, but I lost my muse for a while and didn't get online very much. I'll try and get the next chapter up soon.
WARNING: Majority of chapter written while wired on three shots of coffee. Sorry for typos and things that don't make sense, but my brain is moving so fast and I've got the jitters so bad I don't know how I've typed as much as I have.
Chapter Five - Overdrive (x2)
Auron was gently shaking me awake. I mumbled incoherently to myself and waved my hand in the direction I thought he was. I heard him make a muffled sound and the shaking was gone. Belatedly, my foggy mind hoped I hadn't hit him. I hadn't forgotten about Masamune. It looked like a bad way to die.
Rolling over, I stubbornly kept my eyes shut. Screw the lightning, screw the snow, screw Auron.
Wait. That didn't come out right.
Struggling to remove my mind from the gutter, I grabbed some snow and flung it at Auron. I heard his muffled protest, but only curled up deeper into a ball. I did NOT want to give up my sleep just yet. Sleep...so precious, and it sucks when you do it alone.
That didn't come out right either. But you know what I mean. It's better to wake up with someone by your side.
I gasped as something wet and VERY freaking cold slipped up the back of my shirt. My eyes flew open to meet a russet eye, belonging to Auron, complete with a triumphant smile.
I jumped up as fast as I could and stuck my hand up the back of my shirt, desperately trying to get all the snow out before I became a Rikku Ice Cube. Not fun.
To make matters worse, Auron started to laugh at me. The man has some great audacity, for a stoic man to only blinks when someone dies. Letting out a frustrated noise, I retaliated by hurling a snowball of my own, whacking him in the side of the head.
"Mmf!" Was his only response as he dipped his hand into the snow again.
I realized I wasn't going to get out of this snow fight dry or warm.
Cupping my hands into the frozen beauty beneath me, I hurled a hunk of snow at the guardian in front of my, catching him just as he threw his at me. It beaned me in the butt, to my embarrassment. I turned scarlet as I got ready to throw another snowball, but was stopped with Auron's laughter.
I could tell he hadn't planned to hit me where I had, but he found it damn funny now that he HAD hit me. I think the only place that could have been worse was my chest, but I would have smacked him for that one. Smacked him good, Masamune or no. Well, maybe I'd sick my pet rock on his Masamune first.
The funny thing is, Auron couldn't seem to stop laughing. This man is very strange. Very man like. Very strange. I rest my case. And men think we're mysteries? I snorted at the thought. Yeah right.
His laughter infectious, I found myself smiling to grinning to laughing like a loon. As I rocked back and forth in a crouched position, attempting (vainly) to give my aching stomach muscles a rest, another snowball hit me in the ribs, knocking me over. Auron soon followed the snowball, planting him on top of me.
All humor lost, I stared at him incredulously. This man was plum crazy. Yunie was mad looking to him for guidance, at least I thought so.
"Auron?" I asked softly, curiously, and without understanding.
He sighed and rested his head on my shoulder, his nose brushing my neck as his weight pressed me into the snow beneath us. "Hmm?" was his lazy reply.
"We should see if we can get out of here," I said dumbly, not thinking of anything else quickly. I cursed my mind for the umpteenth time.
Auron sighed again, his chest rising and falling against me. It was a very nice feeling, and I didn't want to move. I was very happy that he wasn't mad at me for my little stunt yesterday.
His lips pressed softly against my neck for a moment. I tired not to inhale, my surprise written clearly on my face, I was sure. My mind, the very same mind that was still in the gutter, was whirling. I don't even want to say where it went, and I hope it took a shower before it came back. I needed something to distract me, and quick.
Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Auron.
Argh! Plan not working! Plan B....Plan B...
Auron turned my head to face him, his eye looking at me curiously. I clamped my own eyes shut.
"Look at me," he told me in a simple statement, just like he had that day at the Moonflow. However, this time his motives were very different reasons.
Gradually, I peeked a single eye open, avoiding his own.
"I'm not going to bite."
I squeaked and slammed my eye shut again. Wrong thing to say, buddy! Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks.
"Rikku..."
Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks.
His lips pressed against mind, tugging on my lower lips. This time my eyes slammed open, confusion whirling all around with the enjoyment. I was only dimly aware of a lightning bolt striking nearby.
He pressed his lips more firmly against mine, seeming to demand an answer. Trying not to squeak again from delight or the trouble of my mind in the gutter, I kissed back, if tentatively. Auron ran his hand through my hair, playing with the braids at the nape of my neck.
Lightning! Horses! Rocks!
Auron pulled away slowly and dropped a bit of snow on my forehead, and in my surprise, I opened my eyes. I wondered if that was what he had been trying to do all along.
"I suppose we should be going."
Euphoria gripped me at the remorse in his voice. I giggled like a moron, smiled like Tidus and kissed Auron teasingly on the lips before hopping happily up.
"Yup-o!" I said, my hair bobbing happily behind me. Auron looked at me with a puzzled expression. Immediately, my expression turned regretful, even if I had a trembling smile held barely in check.
"Hey!" I cried suddenly, looking at Auron from head to toe. Well, from eyes to neck, but that's close enough.
"What?"
"Where's your collar and glasses?"
Auron's hands went up to his eye, then to his throat, realizing he was missing both articles. Right away I sprang around the camp, bouncing and peeking around corners.
"Guess they fell off in the fall," I said slowly, looking at Auron to try and gauge his reaction. He shrugged.
"I'm sure we'll find them eventually."
I nodded. "Right."
Climbing out was harder than I had thought it to be. The first step I took, I tumbled back down into our little cave. I grumped as I stood back up, rubbing my sore rear end and shooting daggers at Auron's amused expression.
"You're going to have a harder time than me getting out, you know!" I snapped.
He raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"
"You weigh more than I do, and I've got that sword to carry."
The other eyebrow followed the first and he gave me an innocent smile. "Why don't you carry my sword then, to even out the weight? I can get out faster then."
My eyes widened. Tysh that behemoth of a man! Who did he think he was? Why, I oughta....
My diabolical thoughts were interrupted by the enormous weight suddenly smacking itself onto my back. I gasped and tipped over, Auron's Masamune landing on top of me. I groaned and struggled to breathe with the weight on my chest. Friggin behemoth!
"How...the hell do you use this thing?" I demanded of him, shoving the massive blade off me.
"Very carefully," he told me as he helped me stand. I blinked as he pulled to hard and flung me at his chest.
"Jeez, overestimate my weight, will you," I said, rolling my eyes. "I don't weigh as much as Kimahri, you know."
He chuckled and pulled me into a hug. "So I've noticed."
I sighed and pushed off from his chest, grasping his sword and putting the shoulder strap on. Flailing my arms and bug eyed, I tried desperately not to tip over again. Falling on a sword would hurt. Like, du-u-uh.
Auron tried and failed to hide the amusement that crinkled around his eye. I shot a death glare his way, muttering under my breath in Al Bhed about how behemoth's aren't supposed to use sword. Stupid man.
I tried getting a hand hold on the sides of the cave, but that wasn't working too well either. I groaned as I fell over again, and looked at Auron, hoping he would get the hint that I wanted a damn boost. He just looked at me again, and I felt like crushing the rock. Unfortunately, I now realized that Auron's Masamune was just a bit too heavy for me to crush the stone with. Ah, well. I'll beat it to death somehow.
After falling over three more times, I walked heatedly over to Auron and punched him in the chest. That brick hard, gorgeous chest that at the moment I would give anything to see unclothed. Slapping myself mentally, I tired to banish the gutter thoughts that fluttered "innocently" into my brain as he didn't even move when I hit him again.
"Would you mind giving me a boost?" I asked airily.
"But then I'll have the weight of you AND my sword," he protested, the amusement still glittering in his eyes.
"Alright, alright, I get the picture! I'll stop poking fun at you," I told him, pouting a little. He leaned down and kissed the pout that remained on my lips, causing me to blink in surprise.
"Okay, then," he told me, and picked both me and his sword up easily, tossing me over the edge of the snow bank that had encased us. I gasped and tried not to fall back in, shocked by how easily he got out. Lithely, he climbed out and was soon sitting beside me, almost exactly where we had fallen down in the first place.
I sputtered at him for a couple of minutes before words finally formed. "Why the HELL didn't you just do that last night?!? I demanded. I was only dimly aware as lightning struck some five hundred yards away.
A shrug was the answer to my demand. "Where would the fun in that be?"
Fun. Fun. FUN?! Argh! I had to scream, kick something, and smash that rock. I would have beat Auron senseless if I actually thought it would hurt. But no, those brick hard muscles wouldn't...
Okay, wrong path to take my thoughts down. I stood up angrily and flailed as I tipped over backwards with the weight of his sword. He laughed and took the sword sheath from me, and then we proceeded to return to where the other must be. We both knew they wouldn't have gone far without us.
Placing a hand on my shoulder briefly, Auron took the lead. I stayed close behind him as much for warmth and a pillar to clutch desperately if I should slip, but also as an object to shoot death glares at. The journey back would go a lot faster if I had something in mind to kill.
***
I gasped as Tidus slashed his sword as Seymour. How had the Guado gotten all the way up Mt. Gagazet and past the Rhonsos? A hand flew to my mouth as I realized what the demon must have done. As Yuna took a hit of magic, all my shocked turned to fury as I rushed into battle with Auron next to me.
Auron swiftly pulled his sword into a flawless butterfly sweep, arcing it to the right. One of Seymour's blades caught Auron's shoulder, and Auron gasped in pain. I knew the wound was deep, and I knew I had to do something.
I whirled on the Guado, his form even more demonic than the last time. My blood felt different, like I had lightning pulsing through every corner of me. My hands clenched in fists, my eyes narrowed and every muscle flexed, an electrified wind gathered around me. I wasn't even aware of what I was doing, I just wanted that man down. Now.
I shot my hand forward, lightning springing from it and striking from the sky. Vaguely I heard Yuna cry out in surprise behind me, but I was so wrapped up in the power I wasn't aware of much else. The lightning was like a drug, and I just let more and more of it come, bolt after bolt striking Seymour's changed form. He cried out as he fell, tumbling down the side of the mountain. And then, the power was gone, and suddenly I was aware of the world around me again. I couldn't feel my blood flowing anymore, and I was dizzy as hell. Swooning a little, I was caught by Auron as Yuna looked at me first in shock, then with a smile.
"I'm glad you two are alright," she told us.
"What just happened to me, Yunie?" I asked shakily as the others gathered around. "Is it just me, or did I just take Seymour out by myself?"
Yuna nodded. "We had removed some of his strength, but not enough. Do you remember your wish, Rikku?" she asked me. I nodded slowly while Auron looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"Ixion only gave you your own magic, set into motion with strong thoughts and feelings. I can help you learn to control it so it doesn't go haywire again."
I nodded again, slowly, the world going fuzzy around me. "Gosh, I'm tired..." I muttered slowly. I barely felt Auron lifting me up into his arms and the rest of the party walking on. I felt Wakka's strange gaze on me, Lulu's strange gaze on Yuna, and Auron's arms periodically tightening around me. Sleep and tiredness from my new magic claimed me soon. So, I could use the lightning as a sort of overdrive, hmm? That was funny. Not funny. You know what I mean. I sighed as I nestled into Auron's scarlet cape kimono thing, whatever it was.
Stupid horse.
A/N: ARGH! I don't know if I like this chapter or not. Good, bad? Please let me know. Sorry for the long lack of updating, but I lost my muse for a while and didn't get online very much. I'll try and get the next chapter up soon.