To everyone who was forced to read this chapter fist time around, sorry, I have no idea what went wrong there, and I do actually use proper layout, as I'm not one of those people who don't know the return key does. Like I said, sorry. Here it is again, updated and properly formatted (I hope). Stupid FFnet.
I'm debating with myself to include the entire Home scene in this chapter, or just the desert scene. You'll probably find out which I chose as you read.
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Darkness Falls
Chapter 9: The Fighters In The Desert
Rikku woke up, and coughed sand out of her nostrils. She spluttered for a few seconds and sprung to her feet. There was only one desert in Spira, so...
Sanubia! Bikanel! HOME!
Rikku grinned and sat back down on the sand dune. She had never been so glad to wake up full of grit. She got back up and climbed the nearest dune. She looked out across the desert and saw only more desert. So, she wasn't anywhere near Home then. Cred.
She squinted her eyes at the horizon and saw a thin cloth strip blowing in the breeze. She argued with herself about whether to stay here and wait for the others or head for it. Eventually curiosity won and she made her way precariously down the dune-face towards the object. The walking only reminded her how thirsty she was, and regardless of what Seymour had told her (if he had been telling the truth) she needed to have a drink. That thought brought a painful jab in her heart, and not due to the metal spike.
Seymour, I trusted you, how could you? Is everything you told me a lie? You said you would help me, but you tried to kill us! Rikku drew in breath sharply. She had hoped that the entire episode at the temple had been a big misunderstanding. She still harboured the thought that he might yet be telling the truth. She didn't want him to be a monster. She wanted him to be a friend.
She reached the dune over the hill and walked down to one of the tents her people had set up for travellers of the desert. Sitting down under the shape she drew a flask of water from the trunk that was always under every tent. Taking a long drag on it, she thought about what she was going to do next. She remembered that she still needed to find the others and Yuna. Rikku searched deeper in the chest and withdrew several cloaks within, putting one on her and swinging the rest over her shoulder. Al Bhed never left anything to chance in the desert. These cloaks would keep them in shade whilst weighing next to nothing. She exited the tent, taking care to close the drapes, and walked up the sand dune. She caught a flicker of movement from her side, and turned around to see nothing.
Then she fell onto the sand as a large shape bounded into her from behind. She turned the fall into an elegant roll and ended up standing and looking at the thing that had attacked her. She raised her eyebrow in surprise as she saw a sand wolf facing her off from about a meter away. She snarled and drew her glove, preparing to attack when...
'Heel!'
Rikku turned around to see the person who had called, and the wolf almost flew past her to a figure in a similar cloak. SAS. That made sense. Rikku sheathed her glove and walked up to the figure, which greeted her in Al Bhed.
'Greetings,' he said formally. Then he gave a small start. 'Oh, sorry Rikku, didn't recognise you for a second there,'
Rikku peered closer, and smiled. 'Hi Ivan,' she said.
Ivan lowered his hood, to reveal a man barely thirty years old, with the swirled-eyes of the Al Bhed, but his were blue instead of Rikku's green. His long black hair tied up in a ponytail and swaying slightly in what wind Bikanel Island had. The wolf bounded up to Ivan and lay down at his feet, seemingly docile. 'What'cha doing out here in the middle of the day?' she asked.
'Training,' he replied.
Ivan was the leader of the Al Bhed 10-person Special Attack Squad, set up recently by Cid after the Mi'ihen disaster to be a front-line team of fighters against anyone who happened to want to fight Al Bhed. They hadn't had many missions yet, although it was rumoured that they had taken on the Omega Dungeon as a practise exercise, and had caused some serious carnage.
'We're thinking (that means Cid's thinking, Rikku thought to herself) of using the native fiends as guards. I don't think it'll come off, but the man seems enthusiastic enough,' he finished, referring to Cid. He patted the wolf, and it ran off towards the north, where Home was located.
'And what about the machina I spent all of last year setting up as guards?' she asked, hands on hips.
Ivan shrugged. 'Sand. Machinery. Guess.'
Rikku sighed and covered her eyes with her hands. All that work, wasted. 'Where are the others?' she asked. Ivan wouldn't be so stupid as to travel alone in Sanubia. She held her finger up. 'Wait, let me guess.' She pointed at an innocuous-looking dune. 'There's no reason for that to be there,' she gestured at a ragged-looking rock behind her, 'and erosion says that thing should be smooth,' she pointed at the tent she had came from, 'someone forgot to put the tent flap down when I walked in,' she continued. Ivan looked crestfallen, but Rikku went on; 'and the person behind the metal sign needs to tuck her hair in,' she finished.
'I think they need more practise,' he said testily, and snapped his fingers
Immediately sand cascaded from the mini-dune, the rock moved, the tent flap moved aside and someone jumped down from behind the sign as the other four commandos revealed or un-buried themselves.
'You weren't supposed to know we were here,' Ivan said apologetically.
She looked at the others, who smiled back. Alexia, Kirsten, Zion and… she didn't recognise the third. That completes Team-1 I suppose... The SAS were separated into two teams, so that one team could be training while the other was 'on-call'. She looked at the new arrival. 'I don't think we've met yet,' she said as casually as she could to the person who didn't know. The soldier looked slightly uncomfortable.
'Name's Caryl,' she said, sounding slightly put upon. Rikku raised her eyebrow slightly.
'She's new, we're training her to be our tech-support,' Ivan said. Caryl lost her gloomy expression and beamed. Entrance to the SAS had been incredibly strict from the start, mainly because Ivan had gotten permission to choose whoever he wanted to be on the team, and he only wanted the best.
Rikku looked at the woman's right arm and saw the distinctive bulge of a terrain-and-lifeform scanner under the cloak. She must be pretty good then. Only those with proven machina talent were allowed to carry TAL scanners. Rikku looked back at Ivan.
'You're in big trouble with Cid, your brother told him you broke his little toy,' he said.
Rikku's mouth fell open slightly and she put on a look of innocence. 'I broke it? That damned thing nearly broke us!' she said indignantly.
Ivan looked at her strangely. 'So it's true then? You're working with the summoner?' he asked.
Rikku nodded. Ivan sighed, so Rikku looked to the others for support. Zion just looked inscrutable, as always. If the man had emotions, no-one had ever seen them.
Alexia just grinned, and Kirsten smiled at her. 'You go girl!' she said.
Ivan closed his eyes slightly. Give me strength...
'Guys!' Everyone turned to look at Caryl, who was looking down at her scanner. 'Company,' she said simply and pointed to the south.
Rikku looked, and saw five figures moving down the sand dune just south of them. She swung back around to tell them it was OK, but was confronted by air. They had taken cover under the sands.
'Erm guys?' she asked, and heard Ivan's voice reply from the ground.
'Rikku! Shhh!' she whispered.
Rikku shrugged and turned back as the other guardians approached. She became worried when it was obvious Yuna was not among them. Auron walked up to her, right over the spot where Kirsten had taken cover, and the woman gave a small 'Ooof!' Luckily Auron didn't hear. Lulu happened to stop directly over where Zion was buried though.
'Are you all right?' he asked.
'Where's Yuna?' Rikku asked.
'We don't know,' she replied simply.
If she's not here, then... A thought occurred to Rikku.
'I know where she is,' she said calmly, and had the instant attention of everyone. 'Al Bhed patrol's would have found her and taken her to Home,' she said. Auron walked closer to her.
'Where is Home?' he asked gently.
'I can't tell you, you'll tell Yevon, and we'll have to relocate again,' she said. Wakka frowned at her. Rikku looked back up at Auron. 'I'll only take you if you promise not to tell anyone,' she said, and looked pointedly at Wakka.
'We agree,' Auron said instantly. Wakka looked like he was about to object, but Lulu put her hand on his arm and he stayed quiet.
Rikku nodded, and began to walk towards Home, the others following.
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Caryl waited until she was positive that the others had gone, then extended the antenna of her scanner and poked it above the sand. Reading that the summoner's entourage was making its way south, she gave a whistle, and raised herself from the sand. She looked around and saw the other four SAS members of Team-1 stand up, Zion holding his arm and gritting his teeth.
'Damn that woman was heavy,' he said.
Alexia looked at him. 'How can you tell it was a woman?' she asked.
'I can tell,' Zion replied, and said no more.
Kirsten went up to him; the small red cross on her cloak's shoulder identifying her as the team's medic. 'Let me see that,' she said. Zion held out his shoulder, and Kirsten took hold of it. Without warning, she gave one sharp tug, and he gasped slightly as his arm clicked back into position. He sat down on the sand.
'Thanks,' he said.
Kirsten shrugged. It was her job. She had always had an instinct for healing; maybe one of her ancestors had been some kind of mage. Kirsten was actually named for one of her ancestors, although she had no way of knowing exactly who. If she had known she would probably been more worried. She shook her head and sand fell out of her long black hair. She usually let it flow, but for missions she put it back into a ponytail like Ivan had. She squinted, and saw the guardians on the edge of her vision.
'So that was a summoner's troupe,' she mused to herself.
Ivan looked up at her. 'Yeah, and if you know what's good for you, you'll be careful. They managed to stop three attempts to kidnap her. They're something special,' he said. In Ivan's lexicon, something special meant the ability to stare death in the face and smile at it.
Caryl sat on the dune, staring at her scanner. Suddenly she put her hand over her earpiece, then looked up at the others, panic tinting her voice. 'Sir! Home reports attack by Yevon forces! They need us to assist!' she said.
Ivan immediately became deadly serious. 'Everyone pack up and move,' he said quickly and professionally. 'We're heading back, make sure your weaponry is clean,' he began to move off, and it took only a second for the others to stow there equipment and catch up.
'And we'd better get there before those guardians!' he shouted. It was a matter of faith that they were the best, and no-one was going to beat them back to their Home over their own territory.
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Auron and Lulu stood side-by-side as Rikku ran up the hill ahead of them, eager to go home, to Home (Amusingly named, Lulu thought). 'She seems to have recovered well,' the female guardian said. Auron nodded, but seemed slightly distracted.
'There's something on her mind though. Did you hear what she said to Seymour at Macalania?' she replied.
Auron nodded, he hadn't, but Lulu had told him, and he was worried for the girl. 'I'd give my blade to know what they talked about at Guadosalam,' he said.
Lulu looked surprised. She hadn't known Auron had actually had curiosity. She was about to reply when she heard a scream, and she turned to see Rikku standing at the top of the dune, looking down at something below her with an expression of terror.
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Well, you know what she's looking at. At least one person will know that Rikku is unsent by the end of the fic, I promise.
