~*~ Hey everyone, new chapter up! Hey, I just wanna say thanks a lot for everyone who has reviewed my story and has given me good feedback. You guys don't know how much it means to me : ) I am completely overwhelmed with joy : ) I really am just glad that you guys dig my story and are interested in it…it's rare to see that in people now a days. I'm sorry if I sound like a dork and everything, it's just that it really touches my heart…honest. I swear on Auron and Rikku's relationship ; ) ~*~
Thanks and have fun!!!
We arrived at the command center and little to our knowledge, had to dismount our Chocobo's for the Crusaders use in the future operation. A soldier came and approached us saying that Master Seymour had given our group the privilege to go through the gatekeeper and straight to the Operation command center. We wasted no time and journeyed up the long road to the top of the Mushroom Rock cliff where the command center was held.
The group arrived to the top, encountering some feinds along the way which occasionally slowed us down. The sun was hidden behind thick grey clouds which gave barely any light to the cliff top. As we walked along the cliff's edges towards the command center, there were huge machina weapons placed at the rim of the cliff. Everyone knew that these machina were forbidden by Yeavon. To me, they sorta resembled huge cannons. Walking past these destructive weapons, I walked slightly closer to them to see how much weapon power these bad boy's had. Continuing with the group to the command center in the middle of the cliff, I kept to myself about how much power these puppies were packing.
As the group walked over towards the command center, I ran along with Lulu seeing she told me to do so before we entered the area. I agreed, and thinking about it now, it made me feel happy to know that she was there to take care of me; like a big sister. God how much did I admire Lulu.
While walking by Lulu, Yuna and Wakka began talking to some civilian soldiers about the operation and what they believe the outcome may be. Looking to my cousin, I was worried about her; watching her keep a straight face about the outcome of this campaign and everything. It made me depressed about her future. I left Lulu's side shortly after and walked over to Auron who was abandoning the group, as usual. Together, we walked to the center of the area where a man started to approached us.
He looked about 45 and was a small, chubby human. He wore plain monk attire which consisted of a pale yellow robe type dress and a couple white strips going down the middle. The small monk wore the required little hat that monks wear and kept his balding signs underneath it. He walked over to Auron and I with a huge smile on his face while his arms were spread out broadly to his sides.
The man hugged Auron happily and stepped back after his kind greeting, "I'd heard from Seymour, but I didn't know if we'd actually meet. Good to see you, Auron! Ten years, is it?" he asked happily.
Lulu walked up to me and pulled me aside from the man and Auron.
"That's Wen Kinoc, one of the Four Maesters of Yeavon" she whispered to me. "He leads the warrior monks and also commands the Crusaders."
My blonde head nodded to the new knowledge the black mage gave me. I then sneaked my way back over to Auron again when Lulu grabbed Tidus and started telling him the same information she provided me.
I walked over to Auron unnoticeably, thinking that maybe I could just pop up beside him without him noticing. No luck though; I saw his attention dwell on me the moment I was in his view. He looked at me and gave me that "what did I tell you" expression through his eyes. I clasped my hands behind my back, feeling like I was bugging him at his precious reunion. Patiently, I waited until his conversation dropped down to a lower level with Kinoc so I could ask him where he wanted me to 'go'.
Shortly after their meeting, a man ran into the command center as if something major was about to happen. He stood straight up with his fist against his chest and his elbow out to his side while the other laid straight against his side. "All troops are ready to move on your command, sir!"
Kinoc turned to the solider and nodded his head, "Good, dismissed."
The man kept standing , tall and proud, not moving his eyes or his body. "Sir!" He turned around and ran outside of the command center, running along to relay the message to his fellow comrades. Yuna and Wakka watched as the man left the center and seeing it was a good idea, they did the same.
Kinoc turned to his old friend and smiled, "So tell me Auron, where have you been in the last ten years?"
Auron removed his eyes from the pudgy man, a bit uneasy with him. "We don't have time for this now, do we?" he asked, hiding his true feelings for the stubborn monk.
Kinoc sighed, "You and I both know that this plan won't work." Auron looked down to his long lost friend. Kinoc smiled wickedly up to the red clad man," We'll just let them dream a little longer."
Tidus and I both gasped in amazement, "What?!"
I could not believe what I was hearing from these two gentlemen. How could someone know that a plan is going to fail and then let it continue to go though with a thousand souls at stake? It was ridiculous! I walked away from the two men furiously and faced the huge mountain that was behind them. I thought about how Kinoc was turning to a suspicious person and about how many people are going to die within the next several minutes. I couldn't help but pace back and forth, thinking about this useless operation! Now I realized why Auron had told me to stay away from this whole business to begin with. He knew too that this was a foolish plan. I stopped pacing around in my small, thoughtful circle and held my chin in a different thought.
Was Auron protecting me?
No way, that big meanie? Ha!
Soon I began to pace around in a small circle when another thought popped into my mind. I stopped pacing around because I remembered hearing Auron say to the Maester that he didn't want to discuss about his ten year disappearance. Hearing those words however, made me ponder about what really had happened to him. Then I drew some solutions about his wound. My thoughts were soon interrupted though by a strange character entering the command centers entrance.
The man approaching them had great height within him. He was very pale to the face, almost looking as if he was stuck on Mt. Gagazet for a couple days. The thin man maybe stood about 61/2 feet tall, ½ a foot taller than Auron. A top of his pale head was long, light baby blue hair in which it was styled in many different ways that I have never seen before! A single lock of hair stuck out from above his eye and zigzagged its way down, almost reaching to his chin. On the sides of his lightened hair, were two other locks of hair that, one on the left and right, stuck out and zigzagged their way down to his lower torso. He wore a huge purple robe where in the front, exposed his chest, and extended out at the end as it hit the ground. On his chest, there were patches of thick black hair patches on his upper torso. Around his neck laid a beautiful multicolor beaded necklace that straightened out right underneath his Adam's apple and flowed straight down his chest. Above his eyes were pale blue veins that really creped me out as I looked at them. The man, half Guado and half human, gave off a sorta of feminine side to him which gave me the instinct not to like him when I first laid eyes on him.
Auron turned to me and couldn't help but watch as his eyes left mine and ran along the ground to a place far from the cliff's edge. I nodded brightly as I figured out the hint he sent to me and started walking to that direction.
"Lord Kinoc…" he said to us in a quiet, yet feminine tone.
The man turned to him, a bit alarmed by his appearance. He nodded, "Oh, yes, proceed."
Seymour bowed his head to the pudgy man gracefully and turned to the exit. The Guado walked out of the exit and out of their sight. Auron shook his head, trying not to accept the truth in front of him. He looked up and began walking over to me as I began walking to him.
"That Kinoc," he said gently as he approached me, "a Maester?"
"I heard that Auron." Kinoc had yelled to him before he could unite with me. Auron turned to the man and started heading in his direction while Kinoc approached us. "A lot has happened in the past ten years." The man looked up to his long lost friend, trying to figure him out like I was, "What were you doing, and where?"
Auron took his gaze off of the little man and looked out to the soldiers below, ""Fulfilling a promise I made to a friend." He sighed silently and looked to his old friend, "I still am."
The long pause between them irritated Auron, and once again he started walking in my direction.
"Just tell me one thing." Kinoc yelled to him. Auron stopped and turned his face partly to his the monk. "Have you seen Zanarkand?" he asked with a simple tone of sarcasm hugging the corner of his lips.
Auron's eyes grew with lost memories and hope. His throat chocked up with thousands of words and pictures that seemed to have made him vulnerable at the moment; making him begin to dwell in his mind about his ten year past. He tightened his left fist and "Hmph", ignoring the question completely as he finally continued to me.
I walked up to him and all I could think about was if Auron was alright. I held one of my hands in front of me and reached out to touch his arm. My arm gently touched his and I tilted my head to look deeper in his eyes, "Are you alright?" I was really beginning to worry about my fellow friend.
He didn't say anything. I guess I should have expected him not too. That was Auron. I leaned to the side and saw Kinoc smirking a bit in our direction, having said nothing with his victory against Auron. He chuckled to himself and once he was amused, turned to the exit of the command center. I tightened my fist just like Auron had and growled with anger, "He's a meanie," I said, "Don't worry about it."
I was expecting to get scolded there and so I waited patiently as the man cleared his throat for the harsh words I would soon hear. "It doesn't matter." He said emotionlessly. I watched as he thought about his past that he experienced. How come he had not scolded me for me petty questions? Something was seriously up. It seemed to me that he grasped onto his long, lost memory well and then he suddenly turned his face away from me. I'm guessing at one particular time in his life, something bad must have really happened and he couldn't bear to see it once again. I stood there, waiting for him to say anything so I could assure myself that he was alright.
Nothing came from him though.
He walked over to some benches that were on his far left and stood next to them in his guardian position. Staying behind, I gnawed on my finger tip, thinking about everything that had just happened. I hated to see my comrades in such a depressed state; it really irritated me! It was hard for a cheerful girl like me to bear all of this! All I could do though was smile. I couldn't say anything or go anywhere, Auron and Lulu strictly told me not to. But then again, who were they to tell me what to do?
I shook my head and tried my best to make all my depressed thoughts from within disappear. I looked over to Yuna and saw her beginning to make her way over to Maester Kinoc himself. I then drifted my sight to Auron and he looked to me as if I did something wrong again. Geeze, do I get a break? He started walking to me, his pace quickening as his anger for Kinoc and Seymour rose from within.
He stopped in front of me and scanned the area around me, "This is where is gets ugly." He told me.
I nodded and thought about how cruel he was becoming. "I know." I said as my voice grew into thought.
He looked right into my eyes and kept that same serious guardian expression. "Stay here and don't move." he said sternly.
I grunted in frustration and turned my face from him, irritated by his bossy habits, "Yeah, yeah."
Auron grew irritated and sighed as she began to annoy him more. He turned around, thinking how immature she was being at an important time like this. The red warrior grunted in frustration and left me in his trails.
The only reason I hid my face from him was because I didn't want to see the harshness that he was staring me down with. That wasn't the Auron that I knew and I forbid myself to see anything different. Looking to him as he left, I felt my eyes starting to drown in tears. I blinked them away, refusing them to fall down my face.
Why did he have to be so cruel some times?
Guess I'll never know…
Looking over to Yuna, I found her over by Kinoc who was standing on a small platform just hanging over the ledge of the cliff. She stepped up to him and held her staff for protection.
"Will Sin come?" she asked gently, her eyes swimming in a pool of concern.
Kinoc looked down to her and smiled, feeling as though he was holding some great, mysterious power that Yuna could not handle, "Sin always returns for its spawn."
He pointed out to an enormous cage that hung over the cliffs edge. Inside, you could vaguely see a huge Sin spawn inside. It rumbled and roared in anger, trying to gnaw its way out of the steel bars inclosing it.
"To make sure," he said proudly, "we're encouraging them to call it out."
"You won't have to." Auron said evenly from the bench, "It'll come."
Kinoc looked over to him and snarled discreetly, as he knew Auron was right once again. Kinoc smiled and hid his true emotions while turning from him. Competition was flowing in his veins.
From underneath me, the ground shook and trembled with an uncontrollable rage. I looked to the ground in fear, wondering what possibly could make such a disturbance. I screamed in fear and fell as my knees buckled from underneath me. I was freighted about what was happening because I had no clue what was becoming of the cliff. My legs gave way and I fell to the ground. My body's first instinct was to huddle up in a tight ball and to use my hands to cover my head, just like any normal person would do…right? Being curled up in a tight ball, everything at that moment turned into pure chaos. I clenched my fists tighter as I finally let the tears I had been holding back trickle down my cheek.
The rumbling soon stopped, leaving nothing in its wake. I breathed heavily and tried to recollect myself from the unexpected moment. I lowered my hands and lifted myself up slowly as I thought of something was going to jump out from behind the cliff's edge and attack everyone. I looked around and found no one to be around. Then suddenly to my left, I saw Auron, Lulu and the others running to the huge Sin spawn that had escaped from the cage it was currently trapped in. I covered my mouth unwillingly, trying to absorb what was unfolding before me. The monster was now loose and my fellow comrades were having difficult trying to cease the beast's life.
I ran to the side of the cliff and covered my mouth in fear.
Sin was emerging from the water in the distance.
"Sin!!" I screamed in shock. I watched as shadows in the deep sea were beginning to emerge from the depths of the water. The head of the huge beast head finally rose from the water, letting out a mighty roar to let everyone know in Spira that he had arrived. Thousands of Chocobo Knights gathered down on the beach line, swords and guns waving high above their heads for the battle of their life. I breathed heavily again as I watched the huge monster slowly make its way to the beach line. I ran back to my spot, not wanting to watch what was going to happen as it approached the shore. I looked over too my other guardians to see what may have happened and found them defeating the Sin spawn. It slumped down to the ground, barely moving and barley alive.
As Sin emerged from the water, the Chocobo Knights and the Al Bhed machina prepare themselves for the commands that the captain will soon order. The massive pitiless beast raised his head from the depths of the blue water. The anticipating Al Bhed's immediately fire their powerful cannons in hopes to defeat the deadly beast before it even having a chance to attack their shore of Spira. Each hit that is brought to by the machina Sin though causes a huge piece of skin to detach and fall carelessly into the water. As the skin falls to the water, it turns into huge jellyfish and they attack the beaches in the distance. The Chocobo Knights all charge forward and head to the beach line, attacking the new Sin spawns.
Auron begins to run up to Yunie and I yelling at the top of his lungs for us to watch out.
Sin fully appears from the water and sheds his outer layer of skin, causing it to drop into the water and create an enormous amount of Sin spawn. Sin opens its mouth slowly and as he does, he begins to create a new force field around its gigantic body. It opens its mouth fully and unleashes a huge wave of energy towards the beach.
The Chocobo Knights bravely fight on, risking their lives for the protection of Spira. Before any one can give any type of warning, the wave of energy reaches the Crusaders at the beach and disintegrates everything in its path. Yunie and I scream in fear as the energy attacked everyone below and as it grew closer, I covered her for protection.
Thousand of cries were let out as the energy wave hit the Crusaders below.
The last one that I heard, was Yunie's.
~*~Yeah ok I know, Rikku…in Djose Highroad and all that….well listen up. My ficcy, my story line… : D when I originally wrote it I forgot she appeared in the Moonflow…well..it's ok… it's going good though right? Hope so… lol~*~