Sorry about the slightly late update. I'll write one page one day, a sentence the next...In this chapter, I tried experimenting with first person. I like writing in first better than third. However, if my reviewers (hint, hint) like third better, or think it works better, I'll switch back. =)

By the way, if anyone's interested, Raika means fire started by lightning and Sakura means cherry blossom, both in Japanese.

--- Chapter Four Fatigue ---

We raced out of the Chamber as fast as we could, with Sky still tired. "Sakura." I gasped out.

"I know! I'm not supposed-" a pause for breath-" to come in! But this was important!" Another pause as we rocketed up the stairs. "Who knew when you'd be out! Most people have-" we found ourselves outside.

I was temporarily blinded by the sun, after being in the dim light of the Chamber so long. I turned my attention to the ground, where an extremely ugly turtle-like creature seemed to be planted. Running around the village, racing in and out of homes, and generally making a disaster of everything, were several scores of fiends. The villagers were fending them off with knives and sticks, but couldn't do anything for the roaring abomination in the center of the village.

".have weapons," Sakura continued. "But we can't do anything-"

Sky nodded and stood straighter. "...all right," she said slowly. "Rai, help get the fiends away from the villagers. Get them over here." Sakura pulled out a bow and motioned that she would help. Sky nodded.

We ran over to a small knot of children being harried by a Dingo and a Condor. Sakura used up two arrows in taking down the Condor- she was definitely skilled with her weapon. Grimacing, I took out my shuriken and slashed the Dingo. It turned around at me, growling, and I hit it again. It snarled and ran off. That could have gone better, I thought. Ah, well, I'd never had a chance to practice.

"Get over to Sky," I said to them, and pointed. With some coaxing from Sakura, they obeyed. I grimaced again- dealing with kids isn't my strong point.

We dealt with a few more groups before we encountered a different sort of fiend. It looked almost like the jam I like to spread on sandwiches, and was casting magic on a harried woman. Sakura shot it, but it didn't seem to be harmed.

Suddenly, out of the blue, a bolt of lightning lanced down from the sky to strike the creature. It screeched and melted into the ground, defeated. A handful of pyreflies drifted up. A tired-looking Nyk ran over, a rod of dark wood in his hand. "I can't do any more of that," he said, and rubbed his face. "Lady Sky'd better do what she's gonna quick." I noticed, interested, that he didn't talk formally now- I wasn't surprised, really. I wouldn't want to spare the energy.

I looked around. Some fiends were still running around, but all of the villagers were clustered near the temple. Sky was apparently telling them to get in- as the last one did, she looked at us. I raised the shuriken above my head to tell her to get started, and she nodded. Sakura, Nyk, and I ran to get behind the shelter of a house that was still standing.

Sky stood still, her bladed staff- now where did she get that from? - vertically held in her hand. As we watched, signs seemed to be etched by an invisible hand in the dirt around her. They glowed purple briefly, and in one fluid movement, Sky stepped back with one leg and held her staff above her head. "She's summoning..." Sakura said in a whisper. She was right. What seemed to be a large red and tan cannonball rocketed down from the sky. It flared its wings- it was a giant bird, apparently her new summon, Valefor- and landed next to her. Sky nodded and pointed.

The bird leaped into the air. It dove again and again, striking each fiend. One or two strikes turned each one into a rainbow of pyreflies. The Aeon- Valefor, I reminded myself- then rose into the air in front of the turtle- Sinspawn. It seemed to be filled with power, like one of the old Gods of the tales told by the Kilikan storytellers. But wasn't it a god, really, in its own right? Whether it was or not didn't matter at the moment. The Sinspawn rose up onto what seemed to be legs and fired a jet of water at Valefor. The Aeon dodged it easily, and then seemed to set up for an attack.

It did a flip in the air, and seemed to anchor itself. Bright beams of light shot out from its beak to hover as a giant sphere of light in the air. I had to shield my eyes as the beams streaked down to hit the Sinspawn. It screamed, a sound that was eerily human, and dissolved into the biggest mass of pyreflies I had ever seen.

There was an eerie silence for a moment. Then Valefor leaped back up into the air, and Sky collapsed.

I jumped up- I hadn't realized I'd been kneeling- and raced over. The villagers streamed out of the temple, but Nyk kept them back by waving his rod and threatening to fry them. Sakura knelt down beside me.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Fatigue, I think. She hasn't slept for a day, and summoning and the two temples took a lot out of her." Nyk crouched down.

"Yeah," he said. "That's probably it. Sasa, get a stretcher from behind the temple?"

Sakura scowled. "Sakura!" she yelled as she trotted off. By the time she came back, hauling two long poles with cloth strapped between them, we had managed to get Sky into a slightly more comfortable position. She stirred a bit as we lifted her onto the stretcher, but remained out cold.

Nyk picked up one end, and a man came forward from the milling crowd of villagers to pick up the other. Sakura and I trailed the stretcher to the undisturbed healer's tent. The two men put down the stretcher, then picked up Sky and placed her on the bed. I frowned.

"Aren't there potions you use for this?"

"No." Nyk shook his head. "That's only for people who've been knocked out, by a monster or something. All we can do for a fatigued person is let them rest." He frowned. "Hammur, get that basket over there?" The man did so. Nyk stood up and opened a trunk that was on the far side of the tent. He looked up.

"Sakura, stay with Sky. Call me if she wakes up, 'kay? Raika, come with me. A bunch of villagers got hurt before we drove off the fiends." I put my hands on my hips and frowned.

"I want to stay with Sky."

Nyk sighed. "She'll be fine, and Sakura's a disaster when she tries to help."

"Am not!"

"Are too. I can't go by myself; they'd swamp me with wanting to know how the Lady Summoner was doing. If they see a guardian, they'll know she's okay."

I sighed. He was right, and there wasn't anything seriously wrong with Sky. I nodded, and followed him out of the tent.

We were besieged almost as soon as we set foot outside. The villagers clamored to know what was wrong, if the summoner was all right, if they could help. As Nyk was quieting them down, telling them she was perfectly fine, I realized something.

None of them knew Sky. All they knew was a face labeled "Summoner". They weren't concerned about her as a person, they were concerned about her as, I suppose, a savior. I couldn't blame them, really, but something just struck me as wrong.

Summoners give their lives for the people, everyone knows that. But it seems that the people could be a bit more grateful. Value the person, not the deed, you know? But maybe... maybe that's just how people are. Would I think any different, if I didn't know Sky?

"Raaaaaaai!" Sakura's shout jolted me from my thoughts. I struggled out of the crowd, nearly tripping several times before the villagers cleared the way for me. "She's awa-ake!" Sakura stopped in front of me and grinned.

"Already? In, what, five minutes?"

"Mmm. guess she's stronger, cause of the Aeons in her or something."

I nodded- it wasn't worth puzzling over- and walked back to the tent. Opening the tent flap, I saw Sky sitting up on the cot, sipping a cup of water. She looked up at me as I entered.

"That was rather exciting," she said, grinning, "wasn't it?"

I sat down on a chair placed next to the cot. "Heh...guess so. You okay?"

"I'm fine. A bit tired, but some food will do me good." Looking away, I saw Sakura shifting from foot to foot. I raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"Ah.it's nothing. Really," she added as Sky looked up.

"I should be getting up," Sky said, swinging her legs over the edge of the cot. I firmly pushed her back into lying down. "Rai, I'm fine."

"Are you kidding? You just fainted! You need rest and food. I'll go ask Nyk where to find some..." I looked outside, at the shadows cast by the damaged huts. "....breakfast. You lie down"

Sky laughed softly as I walked out the door, but remained in bed. What did she expect me to do, after her fainting like that? She was like that, worrying much too little about herself, to the point you had to sit her firmly down and make her rest.

Breakfast?

Peering back into the tent, I asked Sky, "How long were we in there?"

"Oh.sixteen hours? I dunno. I can't remember the last summoner, so I figured that it must take a while. Does it?"

I shook my head slowly. "Not. usually. It took three hours before."

"Don't worry- if something really wrong happened, you'd know," interjected Sky. "The Hymn would stop. Remember, how we heard it all through the temple? Ifrit said-"

"He can talk?!"

"He would have to, to teach me, wouldn't he? He said that something else would happen... Something else with eh temple. He wasn't too clear."

I shrugged in acceptance- it was best to expect the unexpected about the temples- and trotted back outside.



"Nyk?" I called. The group of villagers seemed to have moved from the temple to the central fire pit, so I headed there. I found Nyk in the center of them, handing out potions or bandages, depending on how badly hurt the person was. "Nyk?" He looked up, after wrapping a young man's arm in a sling. "Sky woke up, and she needs something to eat. Have anything?"

"mmm," he said, digging in his basket for a potion. "Behind the temple, there's some tables. Food's there. Get her some bread, cheese- nothing too heavy. Yes, I know it tastes bad, you need to drink it," he directed at a little girl who refused to drink a potion. "Some of the villagers should be back there, too. Get Liya?" I nodded and walked towards the temple. Liya- his sister, I remembered.

Even with most of the houses destroyed, Besaid was a pretty village. A stream trickled to my left, and green grass grew around where the houses should have been. Here and there would be a bright tropical flower- some I recognized from Kilika, others were completely different. As I approached the temple, I saw that the tables were made of large slabs of thin stone, probably dragged up from the riverbed.

Laid out on the table were stacks of plates, bowls, and spoons. There were several loaves of bread and rounds of cheese, as well as what looked like sausage. Pitchers of milk and water were dispersed along the table, and there were a couple large bowls of some sort of salad. Next to the table was a large, steaming kettle- probably where they cooked the stew we had eaten earlier. There were several women milling about cooking, some leading children.

As I made a cheese sandwich for Sky, my stomach rumbled. I realized I had not eaten for- sixteen hours, Sakura said?- and prepared a second sandwich for myself. As an afterthought, I made one for Sakura, too.

While I was trying, and failing, to balance three plates and three cups of milk in my arms, one of the cooks watched me. She then came over.

"Need a tray?" she asked, smiling. I nodded.

"Good idea."

"Hold on a moment, please." She walked over to the kettle, presumably to get a tray. I glanced around for Liya as I put the plates back on the table. About half the children were boys, so I could rule them out. That girl? No, I don't think I've seen her before. Hmm.over there? Looking to my left, I saw a girl who looked slightly familiar, leaning against a tree. She had the same red-brown hair as her siblings, but hers was longer and not pulled back like Sakura's. I decided to walk over and ask.

"Ah.excuse me?" The girl looked up from where she was drawing squiggles in the dirt. "Are you Liya?"

She nodded shyly. I crouched down beside her. "I'm Rai, Summoner Sky's guardian. Remember, we came with Sakura?" She looked up and nodded solemnly. "Your brother wants you. C'mon, I'll show you where he is." Liya finished drawing a spiral in the dirt and stood up. She trailed me to the tables, where I saw that my plates and cups had been placed neatly on a wooden tray. I waved my thanks to the woman, who was monitoring the kettle, and Liya and I walked off.

Liya seemed pretty shy- either that, or just quiet. All the little kids in Kilika were continuously talking and running around, but I hadn't heard Liya utter a word since her exuberant welcome of Sakura. Ah, well. I shouldn't worry about it too much- some people were just quiet.

We approached the circle of villagers, now dwindled to five people. "You're brother's over there," I said, and pointed. Liya smiled up at me and trotted over, while I returned to the tent. Lifting the doorway flap, I saw that Sky had fallen back asleep- and so had Sakura. They both woke up as I walked in the door.

"Ooh! Food!" Sakura jumped up out of the chair she had been sitting in and set up a small folding table that had been leaning against the tent wall. "Thanks, Rai."

I set the plates on the table, which Sakura had set up where Sky could reach. Sky sat up in bed and picked up her sandwich. "I think not eating for sixteen hours had something to do with my fainting, also."

I frowned as I picked up my glass of milk. Taking a sip, I realized I was ravenously hungry. Apparently the other two girls were too, because all three sandwiches were gone within five minutes.

Setting down my cup with a contented sigh, I remembered the reason I had been frowning. Several reasons, actually. Before I could get any of them from my head to my mouth, Sakura blurted out, "Sky, what's it like to summon?"

Immediately after, she turned bright red. "Sorry...didn't mean to... I don't know if it's taboo to ask."

Sky shook her head. "It's okay. I don't mind." She paused. "Do you know how, when you're underwater too long, your ears get that odd roaring feeling?" Sakura nodded. "That happens...only they don't hurt. There's a feeling of... something, some force, being drawn out of your body..." she frowned thoughtfully and rubbed her temples.

"You want something more to eat?" I asked, concerned.

"No... I'm all right. It's just hard to remember, that's all. I think I was already half-fainting when I summoned. I'm still not sure how it all happened..."

"T-that's okay, Sky," Sakura stammered. "I probably shouldn't have asked in the first place. There's a ship to Luca tomorrow morning, are you going to take that one? The next one after that is in a week."

"Yes, probably," said Sky, seeming not to notice the deft change in subject. I looked at her meaningfully, and she laughed. "Don't worry, Rai. I'll sleep all day and eat a huge dinner! Why, Sakura?"

Before she could answer, Nyk entered the tent. "Sakura?" he asked, before seeing her. "There you are. C'mon, we're going to Luca on the next ship!"

"..."

"Kirel's pretty good at healing now, so I don't have to stay. Grandpa'll let us live with him, and it was a pretty good idea to go there in the first place." Sakura stood up and walked over to him, peering at his head. "What?" he asked, faintly annoyed.

"Nothin'. Just wanted to see if it left a mark when you hit your head." Nyk brought his hand to his forehead as I giggled behind my hand.

"Sakura! I've been thinking about this a while, even before you left. Liya seemed pretty happy when I told her. Lady Summoner, do you need healing?" he said, turning to Sky. I blinked at the quick change in subject and formality.

"No, I'm fine. I just need a bit more rest. In fact, we'll be on the same ship, then."

"See, Sakura! It's a good idea," Nyk said, grinning.

"Huh. Just wouldn't expect you to come up with it, is all!"

"C'mon back to the tent, then. We've gotta pack," Nyk said as an answer. Sakura shook her head and followed him.





The mist was still thick near the ground when Sky and I woke. As we didn't really have much with us, our walk to the beach was quick. The forest looked transformed in the mist, like something out of a fairy story. For all we were on a tropical island, I had to rub my arms to keep away the chill as we waited on the docks.

Ten minutes after we arrived, we heard a small commotion on the beach. The commotion moved onto the boards of the docks, and three familiar people emerged from the mist. Nyk had a large basket that carried all sorts of potions, as well as several books. Sakura was wheeling a small suitcase, and Liya was carrying a stuffed moogle.

"He-ey!" Sakura called. "We're early!" She plunked down next to us. Nyk sat next to her, and Liya crawled up on his lap. She yawned and hugged her cat- like doll closer.

Three minutes passed, with only Sakura's occasional chatter breaking through the silence. Apparently, she was the only morning person among us. However, soon even she resigned to tossing chunks of wood into the water.

"I think I-" Sky yawned- "hear it." Sure enough, as we all stood up, we saw a light blue ship approaching over the water.

"Wo-ow!" Sakura said. "I didn't get to see the other ship, it was too dark! This is neat!" She scampered on board, and the rest of us followed a bit slower.

"Bye, Besa-aid!" Sakura called. "Everybody say bye!" She grinned cheerfully. Nyk groaned and gently smacked the back of her head, which didn't seem to alter her mood at all.

I think I was the only one who heard Liya say softly, "Bye, 'Said."