The second chapter is up! It's kinda… weird. And nothing really happens. Another introduction chapter? Perhaps. Not really though. Um… well, it'll get more interesting eventually, I'm sure.
Certain parts may be a little confusing, simply because I had already written this chapter once and just cut and pasted a few parts in. I did re-read this, but I'm not sure that I caught everything. Also, the first part will make more sense later on.
Oh, I guess I should put a disclaimer on my fanfic… Y'know, just the same old stuff, "I don't own FFX, the characters, I only own my orignal character, Ku. Etc. etc." You understand.
I think I gave Cid too much slang… and I need to find a synonym for "sigh". I'm glad some people are actually reading the story though. ^^ (I still write too much up here in this italicized part, don't I?)
Kirei na Kanjou
Where am I?
Am I alone?
Are you… are you leaving me?
No, please! Don't leave…
I don't wanna be alone… please…
…I am alone…
"Fryd?" (What?)
"Fryd ec ed?" (What is it?)
Kick kick.
"…Ed muugc tayt." (…It looks dead.)
"Fyed, ed ec pnaydrehk!" (Wait, it is breathing!)
"Cruimt fa pnehk ed du Home?" (Should we bring it to Home?)
"Pid fryd ev ed ec y fiend?" (But what if it is a fiend?)
"Ed tuac hud muug mega y fiend. Fa lyhhud zicd mayja ed rana. Mad ic dyga ed fedr ic." (It does not look like a fiend. We cannot just leave it here. Let us take it with us.)
"Cid, fa vuiht ed eh dra tacand!" (Cid, we found it in the desert!)
Two blond men were talking with another, a bald man named Cid. The first two almost cowered in the corner at the other, who was obviously very annoyed.
"Oui eteudc! Fryd ev ed ec y veaht? Un funca, fryd ev ed ec yh Al-Bhed rydan? Ed luimt lyica dra tacdnildeuh uv Home pavuna fa'ja ajah vehecrat napiemtehk ed!" (You idiots! What if it is a fiend? Or worse, what if it is an Al-Bhed hater? It could cause the destruction of Home before we've even finished rebuilding it!)
Cid was red in the face from his frustrated outburst. He sighed and pointed at the figure laying on the couch.
"Fa ryja du kad net uv ed huf. Ku!" (We have to get rid of it now. Go!)
"Unn… what?" The figure that had previously been laying on the couch was sitting up, legs dangling over the side of the piece of furniture. Her black hair was ruffled and matted with sand. "Did you say something to me?"
"Rir?" (Huh?) all three of the men said in surprise.
"…What?" She tilted her head to the side quizzically.
"Fryd ec ed dymgehk ypuid?" (What is it talking about?) one of the blond men whispered to his companion, glancing sideways at the black-clothed person on the couch.
Ku scratched her head in confusion, pain shooting through her body from the movement. Her hand dropped to her side limply. She couldn't understand anything they were saying. Did I really hit my head that hard?
"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I don't understand…"
The bald man sighed and ran his hand through his non-existent hair. Realizing there was nothing there to run his hand through, he let his arm drop to his side and sighed again. "Damn stress made me lose all my hair."
Ku looked up at him. "You speak English? You understand me?"
Cid dismissed the other two men, who had slowly inched their way to the door. After they had left, he turned to face the girl. "Yeah, sure do. Who are ya, kid?"
"Hey!" she crossed her arms and pouted slightly. "I'm 17 years old. I'm not a kid."
The man walked over to her and raised an arm out, placing his coarse hand on her head. "You're under 20 and short. Look like a kid to me."
Ku waved the hand away and sighed in defeat. "My name's Ku. Who're you?" She glanced out of the only window present in the room. The window spanned across half of the round room, revealing a wide expanse of scenery outside. Desert stretched across the plain with only a few cacti dotting the golden land. Leaning closer to the window, she could see an all-metal city below held up by beams, also made of metal. Streets were also down below. "Hey," she reminisced. "It's kinda like Zanarkand."
"I'm Cid. Leader of the-" He lost his train of thought and grabbed the girl's shoulder roughly, causing her to flinch from the touch. "You say Zanarkand? Where you from, kid?"
Ku waved Cid's hand away a second time. "Um… I just said I was from Zanarkand…"
Her answer was met with a startled glare. "Zanarkand, eh…" Cid laughed as he said this and shook his head. "You get near Sin or somethin'?"
She backed away from the man and sat back down on the soft white couch. "I don't really know what Sin is, but why would it matter if I got near it?"
He looked at her oddly and asked, "You sure you don't know what Sin is?" He was answered with a nod. "Damn… They say Sin messes with your head when you get too close to it. You must have gotten Sin's toxin pretty bad if you don't even know what it is-"
"What does Sin have to do with anything?" Ku interrupted. "I just want to go back to Zanarkand. That's probably just a few days away, right?"
Cid almost looked solemn as he talked. "Zanarkand was destroyed 'bout 1000 years ago. There ain't anything left there but ruins. You can't have lived there."
Ku was shocked. She looked down but said nothing.
"Look, kid, ya might think ya lived there, but you probably just got too near Sin. It must have made ya forget where yer real home is."
"But," she stammered, "but I… I know I was just in Zanarkand. I remember it. It was the day of the blitzball tournament, and I left the stadium for a little. Then I started talking to that man, and he said all these… things. After that, it was like he just disappeared. Then I went into that alley, and…" She paused, as though she was afraid that saying the next part would prove it true. That saying she was here, in this place, at this time, would mean that Zanarkand really was gone.
"And ya ended up here in Spira," Cid finished.
"Spira?" she said uncertainly.
"That's where ya are now. To be more specific, yer in Home now. The Al Bhed Home."
"Al Bhed…" She was starting to accept her predicament.
Cid was starting to pity the girl a little, with the lost tone in her voice. Still, he knew that if she asked him any more questions, he'd go insane. "Hey, why don'tcha go and look around Home?" he suggested. "Ya might find something you recognize. It'll be good for ya."
Ku nodded and walked towards the room's exit, looking out the window once more. She smiled a little and walked out.
That must have been the worst conclusion ever written.
I'm having problems with characters now. I'm trying to make Ku actually have a character, while not making her too perfect (cause that's just annoying). I mean, I have her character design made and everything, it's just not really showing. I guess it might take another chapter to actually show. And Cid, he seems a little too… sentimental? Sensitive? But I don't want to make him mean and spiteful or anything… Erg.
By the way, if you didn't understand the part with the Al Bhed and Ku's name, "Go" in Al Bhed is "Ku".
Also, if my story has any kind of similarities with your fanfic, it's really not done purposely. I already figured out the whole plot and the separate parts of my story, but I've read a few fics that have similar ideas to what I'm thinking. So, it's really not meant! I'll try to change a few of my original plans to make them more… original. (I have such great word choices.)
Next chapter might not be very exciting. It will mostly be what Ku's thinking at the moment. Maybe I can finally get in that character development I need! The chapter after that will probably be the one where the real story starts.
