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Chapter 2
Summoner
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Shouldering my small bag, I crept out my door. I tiptoed over the wooden walkways, careful not to let them creak. I tested every step first, just to make sure that there was, in fact, a walkway there, and I wasn't stepping out into the ocean. I wasn't used to walking around in pitch-blackness. After a few minutes, I made it to the edge of the woods, where I finally allowed myself to relax. Who knew who could be watching me sneak out of the village?
"How's it going?" whispered a voice from the shadows. I jumped, clutching the shuriken, and stared into the darkness. The voice laughed. "Don't worry, Rai, it's just me." Sky stood up from where she had been sitting on a rock.
"Sky! Warn me next time, okay? You scared me!" Sky laughed again, softly, and picked up a spear that had been leaning against the rock.
"Come on. If we hurry, we should be able to reach the temple by dawn," Sky said quietly. "There's probably fiends around; be ready."
"They should be sleeping… right?" I asked in a whisper. If they were, I didn't want to wake one up. I had never fought one before—I probably should have learned how, exactly, you fight before becoming a guardian.
"Maybe." We walked quickly, but cautiously, through the tropical forest. The only sounds were the drip-drip of water always in those places, the wind in the trees, and the occasional rustle or growl as an animal was disturbed from its rest. I found myself imagining what kinds of animals these must be in a forest at night-- perhaps giant snakes, with venomous fangs just waiting to sink into you. Or large wolves, which would surround you and tear you to bits. Or- I shook my head impatiently. It was no good scaring myself. Not for the first time, I wondered if I should have told Mom where I was going- we would be on our way to Besaid before Mom would know. Sky had left a note on her bed, explaining that she didn't want a big fanfare upon her departure, so she and I were going to leave that night. When she defeated Sin, everyone could celebrate. I tried to turn my thoughts to other things—I don't like to worry—but I just ended up thinking of fiends with dangerous teeth and claws.
In no time at all- or far too long, from my outlook- we reached the tall flights of steps leading up to the temple. I groaned softly-- first strange sounds, now millions of steps? But Sky was already doggedly climbing, and I wasn't about to be left behind.
When we reached the large platform at the top of the steps, Sky paused. "I wonder what the view from here would be like without all those trees in the way…" she said thoughtfully.
"Yeah… then again, the jungle's pretty," I said.
"Of course, when there are no fiends around." We both giggled softly for a moment before resuming our walk to the temple.
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"Wow…" I said softly. I'd seen the temple plenty of times, but never at night. The darkness seemed to add an element of mystery to the statues around the edge; the light from the candles only made the shadows deeper. The intricate floor pattern was invisible in the dim light. I walked up to one of the candles and lifted its holder, meaning to light the way through the Cloister.
"Don't bother," said Sky. "It's light in there." I shrugged and placed the candle back- Sky had been in the cloister more times than my zero.
We stepped on the platform to enter the Cloister, and I was momentarily thrown off balance by the sudden descent. By the time I stood up, the platform was settling into the floor. Peering around, I followed Sky to the door of the Cloister and walked in.
Sky was right- it was light in there, although the light didn't seem to come from the small orange sphere nestled in the wall. It was dim, and more yellow than orange. I shrugged it off as one of the many mysteries of summoning, and picked up the sphere. It was slightly warm, and glowed brighter once it was in my hand. Walking over to the other door in the room, I cautiously put it in the slot by the door--
And yelped as the door burst into flames. Stumbling back, I rubbed my eyes to get rid of the light-blindness. Sky stepped forward confidently and removed the sphere from the slot. The flames died down to reveal an open passageway. As I frowned and followed Sky through, I realized something- the flames had been only bright, not hot.
The next room was full of fire, leaving only a ledge a few yards wide. Although the fire in the doorway had seemed to be only light, this fire was hot. Both of us shielded our faces from the flames as we searched for a sphere, and sighed in relief as the fire disappeared.
We made quick work of the rest of the puzzle, and in no time, were in front of the door to the Chamber. I was glad Sky had made her way through Kilika's trials before—it made the entire puzzle a lot easier. Sky smiled at me and walked through the door. It closed behind her.
I sat down to wait. Within the half hour, I had traced with my finger all the inlaid designs in the woodwork I could reach. Within an hour, I had hummed all the tunes I knew, and made up a few of my own. In the next hour, I took down my multi-braided, blond-streaked brown ponytail, redid the braids, and put it back up again. By the time the third hour had rolled around, I was getting seriously worried. I knew it often took a long time for the Fayth to accept a new Summoner, but something could have happened to Sky! Only the strict taboos of the temple kept me from going to see what was wrong, and even then I had to concentrate very hard on the floor pattern to keep myself from jumping up and running into the Chamber.
At three and a half hours, Sky stumbled out of the doorway. I leaped up, and got to the stairs just in time to keep her from falling. Sky looked at me and smiled- a smile that was, nevertheless, tinged with an edge of sadness. As she said her next words, I felt an odd happiness mixed, nevertheless, with a chill of foreboding.
"I… I have Ifrit. I've become a Summoner…"
