"Lulu? Lulu! Wake up!" Wakka pounded the door of his friend's hut. He was
out of breath and scared because the news he held was devastating. His
cheeks were stained with dried tears and his heart was trying to escape
through his throat, or at least that's what it felt like. "Lulu! Answer the
door! Open it right.."
"What is it?" The door opened and there she stood; hair in a make-do bun and wearing a silk kimono dressing gown. Her voice was groggy and her eyes half open but she still managed to read the look on her oldest friend's face. "Wakka, what's wrong?"
"It's.. Lulu, this is.." The words were choking him, like a creeper. He started to cough and bent over double, his face red and strained.
"What, Wakka? What is it?" Lulu bent down beside him and stroked his back. He turned round to face her.
"It's Chappu, Lulu. He's dead."
***
I woke with a start, the sand sticking to the tears on my face. Sand? All I could see around me was sand and the wind that ruffled my hair and stung my tired face. I sat up and clutched my knees. The wind was cold but the horizon was distorted with the humidity. I scanned my new surroundings. No one else was here.
Am I dead?
Was this the Farplane? Is this what being dead felt like?
I couldn't describe how I felt. It felt normal but everything was new. I was completely alone but I could feel people all around me. I could feel jealousy seething in me but I felt as calm as the waters in Besaid. I felt tired but I wanted to run for miles.
"Where are we?" said a voice beside me. I looked around to face them. It was Ruthy.
"I don't know. Are we dead?"
"I doubt it." Ruthy crawled over my arm and sat on my shoulder. All I could see was sand and the wind; all I could feel was the heat, the cold and the numbness inside of me. "Hey, Miss Lu? Why you crying?"
"I'm not crying," But I was. Small salty teardrops ran over the contours of my cheekbones and the flesh that clung to my face. Ruthy sighed. He took out a handkerchief from nowhere and started to dab my eyes.
"Tut, always trying to be the soldier!" Ruthy stared into my eyes and his voice suddenly became serious. "It's okay to be wounded once in a while, Miss Lu. It's always okay to be wanted to be healed."
"I had a bad dream," I said, swallowing. I sounded like a little girl, my voice going all high and squeaky. "It's the one about the day Chappu died." Ruthy nodded at me to go on. "I'm just sleeping and then Wakka comes to the house. He's crying and shaking.. and then he tells me.. he tells me that.. his little brother is dead." I started crying and shaking myself. Ruthy patted my head.
"I'm sorry Miss Lu. It didn't sound that good."
"It was horrible," my voice returned to it's normal tone, "I just didn't expect it." At that moment, the sky was split in a sound of thunder and the sight of lightning in the distance.
"Bet you didn't expect that either!" said Ruthy, noticeably more relaxed as he was joking again. I stood up, grabbed Ruthy and ran as fast as I could to where the sounds and sights were coming from. "Hey! Wait - where are we going?"
My legs were possessed. It didn't seem like I was controlling myself, making myself run. Someone else was controlling them for me. The heat started to swim round my head, making me grey out but I kept running. I snapped my neck up and kept running.
After what seemed like a second, I came to an oasis. Clear blue water, palm trees, rocks and.. a zu? This huge creature was beating its heavy, leathery wings against Tidus and Auron. It threw them into the air a couple of feet and made them come back down to earth in a storm of electricity. They both stood up again but looked considerably weaker. I ran forwards and stood beside Auron, who was leaning on his sword.
"Are you alright?" I asked nervously. They both nodded but they needed help. More specifically, my help. I raised my arms up high and felt the fire burning in my eyes. I brought them back down, screaming as they hit my sides. All I could see was flames and all I could hear was screams, mine and others I couldn't recognise. Then there was just nothing.
Silence.
Tidus and Auron stared at me. I stared at them, breathing heavily. I turned round and looked at Ruthy. He was breathing fast as well. He looked so tired. I picked him up in my arms and stroked his head. Tidus and Auron were still staring.
"What?" I snapped.
"Didn't you see what you just did?" Tidus said quickly, his eyes full of shock.
"All I could remember was fire," I said, drifting off. I felt my forehead; it was dripping with sweat.
"I'm not surprised!" said Tidus, staring at the spot were the zu had been hovering. The sand was completely burnt; there was a ring of ashes, dark and still radiating heat. The zu was nowhere to be seen.
"W-what did I do?" I said, my breathing returning to normal but a dry thirst was creeping up my throat, making me click when I swallowed.
"You just created," said Auron slowly, "A barbe-zu. All we saw was a huge Ring of Fire burst from you and then swallow the zu."
"Please, Auron," said Tidus, "quit the puns and rhymes."
We started walking because that was all there was to do. Tidus and Ruthy ran ahead of us, 'to find the others' while Auron and I walked together, far behind Tidus.
"You've been crying," said Auron, matter of factly, breaking the bubble of silence that had seemed to form around us.
"And?" I said.
"Well, what have you been crying about?" Auron took a swig from his leather hide canteen. I watched him swallow. I swallowed myself, my mouth dry and sore. Water, any drink, would be good right now.
"Gimme that!" I snatched it from him and gulped, the tepid water running down my throat like a waterfall.
"Hey! Not so fast! Go slower, or you'll be sick!" Auron took the canteen away from me and I started to choke. He caught me off guard and I tried to cough, the water trickling back up from my nose.
"That's better," I said when I'd stopped coughing.
"You're very clever you know, Lulu," he said, turning to me with his russet eye.
"Hmm?" I was daydreaming, watching Tidus up ahead, his feet kicking sand to the wind.
"You're extremely good of finding clever ways to try and change the subject," I couldn't help but let a smile spread over my face. "So why were you crying?"
"Bad dream," I shrugged.
"I have bad dreams too, you know," he said, putting his canteen back on his belt. "It's human nature. What happened in it, or can't you remember?"
"I dreamed that I was dead," I said, in a trance. Auron gulped but immediately started to cough. "You okay?" Auron nodded and swallowed.
"I have dreams like that too," he shrugged. "When I was on the pilgrimage with Braska and Jecht. Every night, I'd watch my two best friends die." He voice went very quiet. "And then they did." The wind carried away his voice.
"I'm sorry, Auron." All I could do was stand there and stare. I'm not very good in a crisis of emotions with men. I'm more of an expert with female feelings and I doubted that Auron was having those*.
"It's not your fault. It's Yevon's fault."
"Shush!" I said, my finger shooting to my closed lips. "Yevon is an omnipresence you know. He can hear you."
"I'm not doubting that Lulu," Auron said, half-laughing. "In fact, I want him to hear this - You can't control me anymore!" He cried to the sky. "I'd forgotten you even existed! You're fake! You're just a dead priest!"
"Auron, w-what are you talking about?" I said, stopping. I was getting really scared. Auron had never done this before. On this pilgrimage at least.
"Who's dead?" We spun round. It was Tidus and Ruthy with Kimahri.
"Nothing," I said, running my shaking hand through my hair. Tidus nodded. He and Ruthy flung their arms out to Kimahri.
"Guess what we found!" Ruthy beamed at us.
"Where is Yuna?" growled Kimahri. "Yuna safe?"
"I-I don't know, Kimahri," I said sadly. I'd let him down again. Kimahri grunted.
"Kimahri knows not neither," He started to walk away from us slowly, but Tidus still had to run to catch up with him.
"So what's the plan?" said Tidus, hurriedly, Ruthy hitching a lift on his shoulder.
"We search," said Auron, "for everybody who is missing."
"Will Yuna be okay?" Tidus said to me quietly. I looked at him. It was that same look I had when Wakka told me the bad news that changed me forever. Now I had that strained, tired face of someone already grieving. My eyes filled with tears, quenching their dry thirst from the sand and the wind. I couldn't look at him. I couldn't even find the courage to be comforting to him and to myself. Tragedy was in my blood and all around me. I looked down at my feet. Ruthy spoke up, his voice serious again.
"Let her rest for a bit kid. She's been through a lot."
"Haven't we all," shrugged Tidus.
***
* Sorry, I burst out laughing when I wrote that line but I couldn't think of anything else to put down. All I could see was Auron swinging this handbag round this fiend's head saying, "That's how it's done!" then descending into girlish giggling. He he ^__^.
Heyyyyyyyyy everybody! I hoped you liked that chapter although it wasn't the best I've written, I know. See ya all later.
Sayonara!! ^__^
"What is it?" The door opened and there she stood; hair in a make-do bun and wearing a silk kimono dressing gown. Her voice was groggy and her eyes half open but she still managed to read the look on her oldest friend's face. "Wakka, what's wrong?"
"It's.. Lulu, this is.." The words were choking him, like a creeper. He started to cough and bent over double, his face red and strained.
"What, Wakka? What is it?" Lulu bent down beside him and stroked his back. He turned round to face her.
"It's Chappu, Lulu. He's dead."
***
I woke with a start, the sand sticking to the tears on my face. Sand? All I could see around me was sand and the wind that ruffled my hair and stung my tired face. I sat up and clutched my knees. The wind was cold but the horizon was distorted with the humidity. I scanned my new surroundings. No one else was here.
Am I dead?
Was this the Farplane? Is this what being dead felt like?
I couldn't describe how I felt. It felt normal but everything was new. I was completely alone but I could feel people all around me. I could feel jealousy seething in me but I felt as calm as the waters in Besaid. I felt tired but I wanted to run for miles.
"Where are we?" said a voice beside me. I looked around to face them. It was Ruthy.
"I don't know. Are we dead?"
"I doubt it." Ruthy crawled over my arm and sat on my shoulder. All I could see was sand and the wind; all I could feel was the heat, the cold and the numbness inside of me. "Hey, Miss Lu? Why you crying?"
"I'm not crying," But I was. Small salty teardrops ran over the contours of my cheekbones and the flesh that clung to my face. Ruthy sighed. He took out a handkerchief from nowhere and started to dab my eyes.
"Tut, always trying to be the soldier!" Ruthy stared into my eyes and his voice suddenly became serious. "It's okay to be wounded once in a while, Miss Lu. It's always okay to be wanted to be healed."
"I had a bad dream," I said, swallowing. I sounded like a little girl, my voice going all high and squeaky. "It's the one about the day Chappu died." Ruthy nodded at me to go on. "I'm just sleeping and then Wakka comes to the house. He's crying and shaking.. and then he tells me.. he tells me that.. his little brother is dead." I started crying and shaking myself. Ruthy patted my head.
"I'm sorry Miss Lu. It didn't sound that good."
"It was horrible," my voice returned to it's normal tone, "I just didn't expect it." At that moment, the sky was split in a sound of thunder and the sight of lightning in the distance.
"Bet you didn't expect that either!" said Ruthy, noticeably more relaxed as he was joking again. I stood up, grabbed Ruthy and ran as fast as I could to where the sounds and sights were coming from. "Hey! Wait - where are we going?"
My legs were possessed. It didn't seem like I was controlling myself, making myself run. Someone else was controlling them for me. The heat started to swim round my head, making me grey out but I kept running. I snapped my neck up and kept running.
After what seemed like a second, I came to an oasis. Clear blue water, palm trees, rocks and.. a zu? This huge creature was beating its heavy, leathery wings against Tidus and Auron. It threw them into the air a couple of feet and made them come back down to earth in a storm of electricity. They both stood up again but looked considerably weaker. I ran forwards and stood beside Auron, who was leaning on his sword.
"Are you alright?" I asked nervously. They both nodded but they needed help. More specifically, my help. I raised my arms up high and felt the fire burning in my eyes. I brought them back down, screaming as they hit my sides. All I could see was flames and all I could hear was screams, mine and others I couldn't recognise. Then there was just nothing.
Silence.
Tidus and Auron stared at me. I stared at them, breathing heavily. I turned round and looked at Ruthy. He was breathing fast as well. He looked so tired. I picked him up in my arms and stroked his head. Tidus and Auron were still staring.
"What?" I snapped.
"Didn't you see what you just did?" Tidus said quickly, his eyes full of shock.
"All I could remember was fire," I said, drifting off. I felt my forehead; it was dripping with sweat.
"I'm not surprised!" said Tidus, staring at the spot were the zu had been hovering. The sand was completely burnt; there was a ring of ashes, dark and still radiating heat. The zu was nowhere to be seen.
"W-what did I do?" I said, my breathing returning to normal but a dry thirst was creeping up my throat, making me click when I swallowed.
"You just created," said Auron slowly, "A barbe-zu. All we saw was a huge Ring of Fire burst from you and then swallow the zu."
"Please, Auron," said Tidus, "quit the puns and rhymes."
We started walking because that was all there was to do. Tidus and Ruthy ran ahead of us, 'to find the others' while Auron and I walked together, far behind Tidus.
"You've been crying," said Auron, matter of factly, breaking the bubble of silence that had seemed to form around us.
"And?" I said.
"Well, what have you been crying about?" Auron took a swig from his leather hide canteen. I watched him swallow. I swallowed myself, my mouth dry and sore. Water, any drink, would be good right now.
"Gimme that!" I snatched it from him and gulped, the tepid water running down my throat like a waterfall.
"Hey! Not so fast! Go slower, or you'll be sick!" Auron took the canteen away from me and I started to choke. He caught me off guard and I tried to cough, the water trickling back up from my nose.
"That's better," I said when I'd stopped coughing.
"You're very clever you know, Lulu," he said, turning to me with his russet eye.
"Hmm?" I was daydreaming, watching Tidus up ahead, his feet kicking sand to the wind.
"You're extremely good of finding clever ways to try and change the subject," I couldn't help but let a smile spread over my face. "So why were you crying?"
"Bad dream," I shrugged.
"I have bad dreams too, you know," he said, putting his canteen back on his belt. "It's human nature. What happened in it, or can't you remember?"
"I dreamed that I was dead," I said, in a trance. Auron gulped but immediately started to cough. "You okay?" Auron nodded and swallowed.
"I have dreams like that too," he shrugged. "When I was on the pilgrimage with Braska and Jecht. Every night, I'd watch my two best friends die." He voice went very quiet. "And then they did." The wind carried away his voice.
"I'm sorry, Auron." All I could do was stand there and stare. I'm not very good in a crisis of emotions with men. I'm more of an expert with female feelings and I doubted that Auron was having those*.
"It's not your fault. It's Yevon's fault."
"Shush!" I said, my finger shooting to my closed lips. "Yevon is an omnipresence you know. He can hear you."
"I'm not doubting that Lulu," Auron said, half-laughing. "In fact, I want him to hear this - You can't control me anymore!" He cried to the sky. "I'd forgotten you even existed! You're fake! You're just a dead priest!"
"Auron, w-what are you talking about?" I said, stopping. I was getting really scared. Auron had never done this before. On this pilgrimage at least.
"Who's dead?" We spun round. It was Tidus and Ruthy with Kimahri.
"Nothing," I said, running my shaking hand through my hair. Tidus nodded. He and Ruthy flung their arms out to Kimahri.
"Guess what we found!" Ruthy beamed at us.
"Where is Yuna?" growled Kimahri. "Yuna safe?"
"I-I don't know, Kimahri," I said sadly. I'd let him down again. Kimahri grunted.
"Kimahri knows not neither," He started to walk away from us slowly, but Tidus still had to run to catch up with him.
"So what's the plan?" said Tidus, hurriedly, Ruthy hitching a lift on his shoulder.
"We search," said Auron, "for everybody who is missing."
"Will Yuna be okay?" Tidus said to me quietly. I looked at him. It was that same look I had when Wakka told me the bad news that changed me forever. Now I had that strained, tired face of someone already grieving. My eyes filled with tears, quenching their dry thirst from the sand and the wind. I couldn't look at him. I couldn't even find the courage to be comforting to him and to myself. Tragedy was in my blood and all around me. I looked down at my feet. Ruthy spoke up, his voice serious again.
"Let her rest for a bit kid. She's been through a lot."
"Haven't we all," shrugged Tidus.
***
* Sorry, I burst out laughing when I wrote that line but I couldn't think of anything else to put down. All I could see was Auron swinging this handbag round this fiend's head saying, "That's how it's done!" then descending into girlish giggling. He he ^__^.
Heyyyyyyyyy everybody! I hoped you liked that chapter although it wasn't the best I've written, I know. See ya all later.
Sayonara!! ^__^