~Chapter 12~
Tidus found his feet and his feet found the ground. He leapt up, but not quick enough; the creature hit him again, sending him flying. Wakka had managed to get to his feet, and after aiming carefully, he threw his Blitzball at the creature with the force of a cannon ball. It hit the creature in the back of the head and distracted it from Tidus, who was dangerously near the bluff himself, and muttering dazedly. Lulu rushed over to help him up to his feet before he rolled over.
The creature blinked stupidly, looking around for what had hit it, when a huge silver blade sliced it down the middle of its face. Auron was back, and he was hacking at the creature in front of him as hard as he could. He got in three good hits before the thing knocked him away with a mighty swing of its arm, dazing him slightly.
The Guardians were regrouping, but now the creature had the advantage; they were on the bluff now. The creature had its back to the Inn, so it didn't notice when Yuna rushed out, followed by Kimarhi.
"No, go back inside!" Wakka yelled.
"Yuna! Do it now!" Auron bellowed.
"Whattsiz?" asked Tidus, still dazed.
Yuna wasn't listening. She stepped forward, almost right behind the creature, but Kimarhi didn't follow; instead, he just watched her.
Auron suddenly realized: "She's Summoning!"
At these words, Tidus, still thoroughly dazed, sat up. He wanted to watch this-she was summoning an Aeon.
They sky turned dark above their heads. For one wild moment, Tidus thought that she was summoning the Aeon Seymour had Summoned at the Blitzball tournament, but it wasn't; the ground cracked and split, and suddenly, Yuna was launched sky-high as a pillar of earth shot out of the ground, containing in its middle a horned, doglike creature, with a muscular body, and colored deep orange and red.
"Ifrit," Auron murmured, watching in amazement.
Ifrit broke out of his confinement, and caught Yuna. It gently put her on its shoulder, and descended back to Earth as gently as a feather. When it reached the ground, Yuna hopped off of the shoulder, and it gave a mighty, resounding roar, its breath filled with flames.
Tidus was aware of things enough to think, Whoa.
As quickly as everything had occurred, things went back to normal-the hole in the ground was gone and the sky was blue again. Yuna stood behind Ifrit and stared at the Chocobo Eater, who had finally turned its attention from the Guardians to what was going on behind it. It stared at Ifrit and Ifrit stared at it, and suddenly, Ifrit was all over the Chocobo Eater. A furious fight ensued, in which the Hellish Ifrit clawed, bit and slashed every bit of the Chocobo Eater it could. It suddenly leapt away, glared at the opposing creature, and the sky turned dark again. A huge ball of fire energy appeared in front of Ifrit, and it reached one of its mighty arms up to it and hit it as hard as it could, straight at the Chocobo Eater. It hit the foul creature full force, and sent it tumbling backwards, towards the bluff-and the Guardians.
"Move!" Auron yelled, and everyone did so; even Tidus had his wits enough to move. The Chocobo Eater stumbled one too many steps and went falling backwards over the bluff, falling to what they were all sure was a very bad fate.
"Whoa. That was, like, cool," Tidus said, still loopy.
"He should be fine. He hit his head fairly hard, and that bluff is pure rock."
Rin was standing over Tidus, looking down at him. The rest of the group was also gathered around him. Rin was holding a bottle of something green.
"This is a potion that should revive him instantly. If you'll allow me too-"
"How much?" Auron interrupted.
"Free of charge, of course, for your efforts to keep my Chocobo stock safe.
Tidus opened his eyes, looking at the ring of people around him. He saw the potion in Rin's hand, and decided that maybe he could recover without it.
"Hey, guys."
They all looked down as Tidus was sitting up.
"Are you OK?" Yuna asked, kneeling next to him.
"I'm fine," Tidus said, "I just got a little out of it, that's all." "You fell unconscious," Lulu said in a strange voice. Was she concerned?
"I've been hit harder," Tidus said lightly, slowly getting to his feet. Auron snorted.
"By what, I can't imagine," he said.
Tidus sent him a look. He shook his head.
"Well, what do we do now?"
"We continue onto to D'Jose," Auron answered. "We leave now."
Everyone was surprised by Auron's abrupt departure plan except Rin, it seemed. "Well, then," he said, "I hope you have a safe journey, Summoner. My and all of Spira's prayers are with you."
"Thank you," Yuna said, bowing, which Rin returned. They all started to leave when Rin called out to Tidus:
"Sir! It has been hali do saud qui."
"And you as well," Tidus said, thinking that he might try to learn the Al Bhed language for later use. He looked around one last time at the Inn before he walked out the door.
Back on the Highroad, the going got slow again. The group was talking earlier on, but now, they were all silent, not finding anything worth talking about. They came to a fork in the road and paused, but Auron marched confidently to the left, so they followed him, and promptly ended up at a section of the road that was barricaded by a heavy metal gate, and guarded by two men whom Tidus was sure he had seen somewhere before. Suddenly, one of them, spotting the approaching Summoner party, waved and called, "Hey, Wakka! Way to go at the tournament!"
"Thanks, Gatta!" Wakka called back. Tidus was still drawing a blank. Wakka looked at him, smiling.
"Luzzu and Gatta, from Besaid-remember? They're Crusaders!"
Tidus' memory came flying back. The two men they had seen before entering the village were the Crusaders.
"Hey, guys," Wakka said as he approached the two men. "What're you up to? They got you guardin' somethin', or are you just standin' around?"
Luzzu smiled. "We're guarding something, Wakka. Unfortunately, we cannot allow you to pass at the moment."
"Why not?" Tidus asked.
"We have. An operation going on further down the road. When we're done, we'll notify travelers," Luzzu said. He sounded like he had recited this a lot throughout the day.
"We cannot wait," Auron said, looking Luzzu right in the eye.
"Please take the detour at Mushroom Rock Road-" Gatta started, but Auron cut him off.
"That would mean we'd have to turn around and head right back to where we came from. That's half a day, wasted. This is a Summoner-let her through, for Yevon's sake."
Luzzu and Gatta shrank slightly from this, but still held their ground.
"I'm sorry, but no one is permitted beyond this point," Gatta said.
Tidus expected Auron to try harder to get past the two men, but instead he said "Well I guess we'll have to find another way to D'Jose. Heaven forbid that a SUMMONER doesn't complete her journey on schedule."
He turned to the others and brushed past them, leaving the gated area. The Summoner party followed him until he stopped and said in a low growl, "I don't give a damn over who they are, and they cannot stop us. I'll find a way through that gate."
"Perhaps I could be of assistance," a soft voice called. The group turned and saw none other than Maester Seymour walking towards them.
Tidus found his feet and his feet found the ground. He leapt up, but not quick enough; the creature hit him again, sending him flying. Wakka had managed to get to his feet, and after aiming carefully, he threw his Blitzball at the creature with the force of a cannon ball. It hit the creature in the back of the head and distracted it from Tidus, who was dangerously near the bluff himself, and muttering dazedly. Lulu rushed over to help him up to his feet before he rolled over.
The creature blinked stupidly, looking around for what had hit it, when a huge silver blade sliced it down the middle of its face. Auron was back, and he was hacking at the creature in front of him as hard as he could. He got in three good hits before the thing knocked him away with a mighty swing of its arm, dazing him slightly.
The Guardians were regrouping, but now the creature had the advantage; they were on the bluff now. The creature had its back to the Inn, so it didn't notice when Yuna rushed out, followed by Kimarhi.
"No, go back inside!" Wakka yelled.
"Yuna! Do it now!" Auron bellowed.
"Whattsiz?" asked Tidus, still dazed.
Yuna wasn't listening. She stepped forward, almost right behind the creature, but Kimarhi didn't follow; instead, he just watched her.
Auron suddenly realized: "She's Summoning!"
At these words, Tidus, still thoroughly dazed, sat up. He wanted to watch this-she was summoning an Aeon.
They sky turned dark above their heads. For one wild moment, Tidus thought that she was summoning the Aeon Seymour had Summoned at the Blitzball tournament, but it wasn't; the ground cracked and split, and suddenly, Yuna was launched sky-high as a pillar of earth shot out of the ground, containing in its middle a horned, doglike creature, with a muscular body, and colored deep orange and red.
"Ifrit," Auron murmured, watching in amazement.
Ifrit broke out of his confinement, and caught Yuna. It gently put her on its shoulder, and descended back to Earth as gently as a feather. When it reached the ground, Yuna hopped off of the shoulder, and it gave a mighty, resounding roar, its breath filled with flames.
Tidus was aware of things enough to think, Whoa.
As quickly as everything had occurred, things went back to normal-the hole in the ground was gone and the sky was blue again. Yuna stood behind Ifrit and stared at the Chocobo Eater, who had finally turned its attention from the Guardians to what was going on behind it. It stared at Ifrit and Ifrit stared at it, and suddenly, Ifrit was all over the Chocobo Eater. A furious fight ensued, in which the Hellish Ifrit clawed, bit and slashed every bit of the Chocobo Eater it could. It suddenly leapt away, glared at the opposing creature, and the sky turned dark again. A huge ball of fire energy appeared in front of Ifrit, and it reached one of its mighty arms up to it and hit it as hard as it could, straight at the Chocobo Eater. It hit the foul creature full force, and sent it tumbling backwards, towards the bluff-and the Guardians.
"Move!" Auron yelled, and everyone did so; even Tidus had his wits enough to move. The Chocobo Eater stumbled one too many steps and went falling backwards over the bluff, falling to what they were all sure was a very bad fate.
"Whoa. That was, like, cool," Tidus said, still loopy.
"He should be fine. He hit his head fairly hard, and that bluff is pure rock."
Rin was standing over Tidus, looking down at him. The rest of the group was also gathered around him. Rin was holding a bottle of something green.
"This is a potion that should revive him instantly. If you'll allow me too-"
"How much?" Auron interrupted.
"Free of charge, of course, for your efforts to keep my Chocobo stock safe.
Tidus opened his eyes, looking at the ring of people around him. He saw the potion in Rin's hand, and decided that maybe he could recover without it.
"Hey, guys."
They all looked down as Tidus was sitting up.
"Are you OK?" Yuna asked, kneeling next to him.
"I'm fine," Tidus said, "I just got a little out of it, that's all." "You fell unconscious," Lulu said in a strange voice. Was she concerned?
"I've been hit harder," Tidus said lightly, slowly getting to his feet. Auron snorted.
"By what, I can't imagine," he said.
Tidus sent him a look. He shook his head.
"Well, what do we do now?"
"We continue onto to D'Jose," Auron answered. "We leave now."
Everyone was surprised by Auron's abrupt departure plan except Rin, it seemed. "Well, then," he said, "I hope you have a safe journey, Summoner. My and all of Spira's prayers are with you."
"Thank you," Yuna said, bowing, which Rin returned. They all started to leave when Rin called out to Tidus:
"Sir! It has been hali do saud qui."
"And you as well," Tidus said, thinking that he might try to learn the Al Bhed language for later use. He looked around one last time at the Inn before he walked out the door.
Back on the Highroad, the going got slow again. The group was talking earlier on, but now, they were all silent, not finding anything worth talking about. They came to a fork in the road and paused, but Auron marched confidently to the left, so they followed him, and promptly ended up at a section of the road that was barricaded by a heavy metal gate, and guarded by two men whom Tidus was sure he had seen somewhere before. Suddenly, one of them, spotting the approaching Summoner party, waved and called, "Hey, Wakka! Way to go at the tournament!"
"Thanks, Gatta!" Wakka called back. Tidus was still drawing a blank. Wakka looked at him, smiling.
"Luzzu and Gatta, from Besaid-remember? They're Crusaders!"
Tidus' memory came flying back. The two men they had seen before entering the village were the Crusaders.
"Hey, guys," Wakka said as he approached the two men. "What're you up to? They got you guardin' somethin', or are you just standin' around?"
Luzzu smiled. "We're guarding something, Wakka. Unfortunately, we cannot allow you to pass at the moment."
"Why not?" Tidus asked.
"We have. An operation going on further down the road. When we're done, we'll notify travelers," Luzzu said. He sounded like he had recited this a lot throughout the day.
"We cannot wait," Auron said, looking Luzzu right in the eye.
"Please take the detour at Mushroom Rock Road-" Gatta started, but Auron cut him off.
"That would mean we'd have to turn around and head right back to where we came from. That's half a day, wasted. This is a Summoner-let her through, for Yevon's sake."
Luzzu and Gatta shrank slightly from this, but still held their ground.
"I'm sorry, but no one is permitted beyond this point," Gatta said.
Tidus expected Auron to try harder to get past the two men, but instead he said "Well I guess we'll have to find another way to D'Jose. Heaven forbid that a SUMMONER doesn't complete her journey on schedule."
He turned to the others and brushed past them, leaving the gated area. The Summoner party followed him until he stopped and said in a low growl, "I don't give a damn over who they are, and they cannot stop us. I'll find a way through that gate."
"Perhaps I could be of assistance," a soft voice called. The group turned and saw none other than Maester Seymour walking towards them.