Chapter 2: Shadow

          He sat Indian style in the dojo behind his home. Wind chimes were attached to the ceiling of it; the only part of the house to have any at all, as the Calm Lands are always windy, and can cause the chimes to cause a ruckus during the nights. This particular night however, found no pity or rest for Tidus.

          Blindness. It was his price to pay to return to Spira. He remembered the shock that found him as the pain had slowly ebbed in him, the white hot energy burning at his very eyes, taking away the one asset that he truly ever believed that he had. Now, at age 22, he felt just like any other blind man: he had nothing left to loose.

          He quickly stood up, snapping himself out of his thoughts and pulled out Caladbolg with extreme speed and precision and danced. He moved from stance to stance, going through attack after attack, defense through defense. He let his gut, instincts, and other senses guide him, forming the pictures of his surroundings in his mind. He swung and swung at his imaginary opponent, more and more accurate with each successful swing, more accurate than he had been his entire life.

          He paused in mid stance, letting the Caladbolg  resonate for a split second. Someone else was there, sneaking behind him. He felt the lung and quickly moved aside. Hearing the sound of whatever fiend that had attacked him, he let the resonating sound come to him. He smiled, realizing just what the fiend was. He quickly charged and swung. The fiend however, was prepared this time. The fiend parried the blow and swung it's own weapon. Tidus ducked and stabbed upward towards the fiends neck and froze, just a millisecond away from penetrating it, and smirked as the fiend froze in place.

          "Look like Tidus get back Kimahri for stupid Ronso Bean joke," he mocked as he took Caladbolg away from Kimahri and sheathed it. He heard Kimahri mumble "Kimahri no sound like that…" before saying "Tidus has improved greatly. Tidus can now defend himself again."

          "Thanks Kimahri," said Tidus. "Thanks a lot….. you really don't know how much it means to finally be able to fight again. I really do owe you a lot."

          "Kimahri do anything for Yuna's friend."

          Tidus stopped smirking at the sound of his loves name. He sighed heavily, not wanting to ponder on her for too long, for fear of what he might do or say. Instead, he changed the subject. "Did you find Shadow yet? I've been whistling for him all night before getting tired and coming in here."

          "Kimahri find Shadow near watering hole. Shadow waits outside."

          Tidus nodded towards Kimahri's direction and went outside the dojo. He let Caladbolg's sheath. As the mental image popped up, he saw the figure of his short friend, as well as guide, Shadow.

          At first glance, Shadow might have just looked like any regular guide dog, but a closer inspection tells us a different story. Shadow is a gray wolf. His hide is a steel gray color, and has blue eyes. However, as cute as he might look, he holds a power within him that no other beast or fiend can have – the ability to merge. Tidus no longer uses his old Overdrives, but now uses Shadows merging ability. Once he is merged with Shadow, his strength, speed, agility, and senses increase by incredible amounts, making both Shadow and himself a very dangerous and lethal opponent.

          Tidus looked down at the figure of the animal before him. "Hello Shadow, it's been quite a while since I last saw you old friend."

          The wolf trotted up to him and licked his hand in a friendly manner. Tidus smiled. At least he had a few friends left that he could rely on. "Tonight we're going to start our journey to Luca. There's gonna be a lot of people on the way, so you need to behave yourself. Okay?"

          He heard Shadow whine a little and started chuckling. "Yes Shadow, you have to. And that means no whizzing on Kimahri's leg in the middle of the street like last time."

          This time, a growl came out of him. Tidus frowned. "Now I know that you don't like Kimahri, but you have to mind yourself. If not it's Kimahri's Ronso Bean coffee for you."

          He heard a second whine telling him that Shadow got the picture. "Good boy. Now come on. We need to finish packing."

          "But Wakka! We've still got two weeks and the trip from here to Luca is only three days!" whined Yuna. They were in Wakka's hut, where everyone had slept the night before from lack of energy to get up and go home.

          "Ya, dat may be true, but if we wanna beat da crowd, we better be der really early, or else we'd be in a stickier predicament den da last time, ya?" explained Wakka.

          "As much as I hate to admit it, he does make a good point," exasperated Lulu.

          "Hey! What's dat supposed to mean, ya!?" exclaimed Wakka, sounding offended.

          Lulu smirked mysteriously at him before getting up and leaving.

          "Hey, come back here! I ain't done wit you yet!" yelled Wakka, chasing after her. Yuna giggled at their antics and heard a gasp behind her. "Yunie! That's the first time you've laughed in years!" squeaked Rikku, coming out of her own room.

          "Thanks Rikku." She did have to admit to herself, ever since the dreams became more clearer, her mood had been getting better.

          "Oh my god! YOU'RE SMILING TOO!?"

          "RikkuUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she didn't have time to complete the thought before Rikku started her attempt at squeezing the life of the human being in front of her, consequently, her cousin.

          "OH YUNIE, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW HAPPY I AM!"

          "Rikku… can't… breath…"

          "Opps," mumbled Rikku, dropping Yuna. Somehow she had managed to lift her cousin off the floor, cutting off her breathing and circulation. "Sorry Yunie."

          "Keep that up and Tidus might not have to wait that long in the Farplane," said Yuna. She then walked out of the hut and made her way down to the beach, leaving a stunned Rikku alone.

          "She cracked a joke… SHE CRACKED A JOKE! AND IT WAS ON TIDUS!"

          Yuna smiled as she walked down the shores Besaid Beach. She knew why she was in such a good mood that day. Her dreams had started to become more vivid….. more detailed. She now knew that Tidus was afraid. He was afraid to come back for some reason.

          She still didn't recognize the house that he stayed at, but the houses surroundings did seem familiar to her.

          'He's in the Calm Lands. Tomorrow we go to Luca, and from there… I just need to find a way of loosing them…'

          She walked on, formulating a plan to get her to where she needed to go…..

          To Be Continued…

          A/N: Well people, there you have it – Chapter 2 good and done. Or at least, in my opinion it is. Also, another thing. This story is the first of it's kind, to me at the least. I have yet to see a story with a 'Tidus is blind' scenario, and therefore, can't understand for the life of me why there aren't more people reading this. No, I'm not discontinuing this, but I'm merely requesting what few ARE reading to spread the word on this fic! The more reviews I get, the faster I upload! AND unlike the other fics that I've started, I know where this one is going. It'll be from around fifteen to twenty chapters long, so get ready for a long one.

          …I guess that's it. So keep reading, keep reviewing, and until next time True Believers, I'll be watching you…