Not much to say...just got into a writing mood, and thus, a new chapter appears!
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Chapter 7 - Stand-in
The next morning proved to be quite interesting around the campfire. Tidus, Wakka, Chappu, and Lulu all looked visibly puzzled as Yuna told them the story of the attack. Kihmari growled at the three guardians, "Yuna in danger. Guardians duty to protect summoner. Kihmari and Rikku only guardians that help last night. Where Tidus, Wakka, Lulu and Auron?" Tidus and Wakka hung their heads sheepishly in defeat; they knew Kihmari had them beat with that one. Lulu on the other hand was a bit more stubborn and refused to admit she was in the wrong. Instead, she brought up the newest topic at hand, which was the current whereabouts of Auron.
"He was with us at Macalania, I know that," Tidus offered, snagging another chunk of bread from the rations bag. A collective wave of confusion passed over the group as each member admitted to not having seen the eldest guardian since he left for firewood. "How could we have just continued on without him?" Yuna worried. "It felt like he was with us the whole time, ya? I guess it's because Chappu came back, we all just sort of took it for granted that he was following," Wakka mused. Chappu quickly replied, "Hey now, don't get me involved...I didn't get rid of him. I never even saw the guy." Rikku glared at Chappu, who still looked exactly like Auron, and was about to begin on one of her rants about how Chappu was Auron and they were all crazy when suddenly the moogle doll, which had been sitting on her lap the whole time, stirred and cast silence on her. Unable to speak, she looked down into its vacant black eyes and heard a voice inside her mind.
"Rikku, remember what happened in your dream...what I told you. It's all true, and now I've taken form inside this doll so I can communicate with you."
Rikku struggled to speak to the plush figure, but her words were still trapped within her throat. She lifted it into the air and frantically shook it about trying to communicate in any way. Finally, Auron cast dispel on her, "But, how? Auron! Come out of there! How can you be talking to me here and standing there?!" Rikku yelled at the motionless figure. The rest of the party stared at her in disbelief as she frantically screamed their lost comrade's name at Lulu's medium. "Um, Rikku...I think you need to lay down for a while." Tidus said, looking at her with concern.
"I'm not crazy! You saw it, didn't you, Yuna? The moogle, it moved last night! It helped us with the battle! Kihmari, tell them I'm not crazy!" The ronso shook his head, "Rikku part not crazy. Moogle cast black magic on fiend, true. But moogle not Auron, Rikku wrong there." Once again, Auron's voice came into her mind, "If you want to get things back to normal, you need to play along with Chappu. I am not in my body, I am now here, but they don't need to know that. Just pretend that you agree for now." She sighed and shook her head, "You...you're right, all of you. I just-" she paused, looking for any excuse for her strange behavior. "I...must have...gotten too close to Sin in the last battle and gotten some of the toxin. Yeah! That's it! Sin's toxin, just like Tidus. I'm feeling better now, though." The others watched skeptically as she stood up and smiled, taking the moogle doll with her as she wandered off toward a nearby hill.
That night, Tidus approached Yuna while Wakka and Kihmari cleaned up and Chappu headed off to his usual nightly activities with Lulu. "Yuna, I'm worried about her...this just isn't like Rikku to be this weird." Yuna smiled a little, "You heard what she said, it was Sin's toxin making her act strange. You of all people should understand." He shook his head, "Yuna, I never HAD Sin's toxin...I don't even know if there is such a thing. I truly am from Zanarkand, a thousand years ago. But that's my story...right now, I'm more worried about Rikku. Something serious is going on, it's been too weird lately. With Chappu appearing, Auron disappearing, and moogles moving...I don't like it."
"You have a plan, don't you?" Rikku questioned to the moogle doll sitting on her lap. She had taken up residence on a low hill away from the group. They had decided to give her some space as they analyzed the situation and tried to make heads or tails of the current problems at hand. Auron replied, "I don't know yet...but we need to get back to somewhere with access to a high concentration of Moonflow. That's the only force strong enough to pull him from my body." "Moonflow...well, the best place to get in contact with the other side is the Farplane itself, in Guadosalam." Rikku mumbled, absently fluffing the moogle's collar. "Then we need to get Chappu there. Is there any reason to return?" Auron questioned. "Well...oh! The Thunder Plains! Remember when we went through there, I was so scared that I rushed everyone through? Well, we're sure to have missed something important, right? That can be our excuse!" Auron thought this over for a minute before crushing her idea, "It won't work...they'll think it's suspicious that you, who was dead set against going there in the first place, wants to suddenly go back. We need a better reason." Rikku sighed and laid her cheek against the moogle's soft body, "There's always a catch. I guess I need to research the Thunder Plains a little better and see if there's something unique it has to offer." With that, she stood and began walking toward the blue sphere situated on a podium in the ground. One touch of its glowing surface and she disappeared in a shimmer of light.
Aboard the airship, Rikku greeted her father and brother as usual before taking a seat at one of the consoles. She accessed the map and targeted the Thunder Plains for an in-depth analysis of the area. Cid walked up behind and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Where's the rest of the crew? Are you abandoning your cousin already?" He laughed and patted her back before looking down at the doll sitting next to her. "Aren't you a little old for these things? And what's with the Thunder Plains? I thought you hated lightning." He kept rambling on for another minute or so as Rikku ignored him. Suddenly, she jumped up, "The Venus Sigil! That's it! Thanks pop!" She ran back to the teleport sphere and disappeared before Cid could comment. "That girl...she's too much." he muttered, looking toward Brother. "E hajan ihtancduut ran," Brother mumbled.
Rikku ran down toward the camp, which was close to being closed up for the night. "Everyone! I found it! The last sigil! Lulu, we still need your Venus Sigil!" Lulu looked up from the fire she was creating, "We know that, Rikku, but it was YOU who kept us from getting it, remember?" Tidus climbed out of his tent with a piece of dried meat sticking out of the corner of his mouth, "Yeah, I was up to a hundred and twenty-three lightning bolts before you couldn't take it anymore and pulled me back into Rin's. It took me a week to get my hair to stand down after getting hit all those times." "Well we still need it! Look, lets go back to Guadosalam and we can stay there while you and Lulu go in and get the sigil, ok?" Rikku looked at the group for approval, her eyes desperate for this plan to work. Wakka sighed, "She's right...who knows what lies ahead, and I don't want Lulu to be unequipped." "No need to worry, brother. I'll protect her," Chappu quipped, wrapping an arm around Lulu's waist. Wakka scowled and turned away, "All the more reason for her to be equipped..." he mumbled.
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I have a clear picture of the end now, I know what I'm doing!
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Chapter 7 - Stand-in
The next morning proved to be quite interesting around the campfire. Tidus, Wakka, Chappu, and Lulu all looked visibly puzzled as Yuna told them the story of the attack. Kihmari growled at the three guardians, "Yuna in danger. Guardians duty to protect summoner. Kihmari and Rikku only guardians that help last night. Where Tidus, Wakka, Lulu and Auron?" Tidus and Wakka hung their heads sheepishly in defeat; they knew Kihmari had them beat with that one. Lulu on the other hand was a bit more stubborn and refused to admit she was in the wrong. Instead, she brought up the newest topic at hand, which was the current whereabouts of Auron.
"He was with us at Macalania, I know that," Tidus offered, snagging another chunk of bread from the rations bag. A collective wave of confusion passed over the group as each member admitted to not having seen the eldest guardian since he left for firewood. "How could we have just continued on without him?" Yuna worried. "It felt like he was with us the whole time, ya? I guess it's because Chappu came back, we all just sort of took it for granted that he was following," Wakka mused. Chappu quickly replied, "Hey now, don't get me involved...I didn't get rid of him. I never even saw the guy." Rikku glared at Chappu, who still looked exactly like Auron, and was about to begin on one of her rants about how Chappu was Auron and they were all crazy when suddenly the moogle doll, which had been sitting on her lap the whole time, stirred and cast silence on her. Unable to speak, she looked down into its vacant black eyes and heard a voice inside her mind.
"Rikku, remember what happened in your dream...what I told you. It's all true, and now I've taken form inside this doll so I can communicate with you."
Rikku struggled to speak to the plush figure, but her words were still trapped within her throat. She lifted it into the air and frantically shook it about trying to communicate in any way. Finally, Auron cast dispel on her, "But, how? Auron! Come out of there! How can you be talking to me here and standing there?!" Rikku yelled at the motionless figure. The rest of the party stared at her in disbelief as she frantically screamed their lost comrade's name at Lulu's medium. "Um, Rikku...I think you need to lay down for a while." Tidus said, looking at her with concern.
"I'm not crazy! You saw it, didn't you, Yuna? The moogle, it moved last night! It helped us with the battle! Kihmari, tell them I'm not crazy!" The ronso shook his head, "Rikku part not crazy. Moogle cast black magic on fiend, true. But moogle not Auron, Rikku wrong there." Once again, Auron's voice came into her mind, "If you want to get things back to normal, you need to play along with Chappu. I am not in my body, I am now here, but they don't need to know that. Just pretend that you agree for now." She sighed and shook her head, "You...you're right, all of you. I just-" she paused, looking for any excuse for her strange behavior. "I...must have...gotten too close to Sin in the last battle and gotten some of the toxin. Yeah! That's it! Sin's toxin, just like Tidus. I'm feeling better now, though." The others watched skeptically as she stood up and smiled, taking the moogle doll with her as she wandered off toward a nearby hill.
That night, Tidus approached Yuna while Wakka and Kihmari cleaned up and Chappu headed off to his usual nightly activities with Lulu. "Yuna, I'm worried about her...this just isn't like Rikku to be this weird." Yuna smiled a little, "You heard what she said, it was Sin's toxin making her act strange. You of all people should understand." He shook his head, "Yuna, I never HAD Sin's toxin...I don't even know if there is such a thing. I truly am from Zanarkand, a thousand years ago. But that's my story...right now, I'm more worried about Rikku. Something serious is going on, it's been too weird lately. With Chappu appearing, Auron disappearing, and moogles moving...I don't like it."
"You have a plan, don't you?" Rikku questioned to the moogle doll sitting on her lap. She had taken up residence on a low hill away from the group. They had decided to give her some space as they analyzed the situation and tried to make heads or tails of the current problems at hand. Auron replied, "I don't know yet...but we need to get back to somewhere with access to a high concentration of Moonflow. That's the only force strong enough to pull him from my body." "Moonflow...well, the best place to get in contact with the other side is the Farplane itself, in Guadosalam." Rikku mumbled, absently fluffing the moogle's collar. "Then we need to get Chappu there. Is there any reason to return?" Auron questioned. "Well...oh! The Thunder Plains! Remember when we went through there, I was so scared that I rushed everyone through? Well, we're sure to have missed something important, right? That can be our excuse!" Auron thought this over for a minute before crushing her idea, "It won't work...they'll think it's suspicious that you, who was dead set against going there in the first place, wants to suddenly go back. We need a better reason." Rikku sighed and laid her cheek against the moogle's soft body, "There's always a catch. I guess I need to research the Thunder Plains a little better and see if there's something unique it has to offer." With that, she stood and began walking toward the blue sphere situated on a podium in the ground. One touch of its glowing surface and she disappeared in a shimmer of light.
Aboard the airship, Rikku greeted her father and brother as usual before taking a seat at one of the consoles. She accessed the map and targeted the Thunder Plains for an in-depth analysis of the area. Cid walked up behind and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Where's the rest of the crew? Are you abandoning your cousin already?" He laughed and patted her back before looking down at the doll sitting next to her. "Aren't you a little old for these things? And what's with the Thunder Plains? I thought you hated lightning." He kept rambling on for another minute or so as Rikku ignored him. Suddenly, she jumped up, "The Venus Sigil! That's it! Thanks pop!" She ran back to the teleport sphere and disappeared before Cid could comment. "That girl...she's too much." he muttered, looking toward Brother. "E hajan ihtancduut ran," Brother mumbled.
Rikku ran down toward the camp, which was close to being closed up for the night. "Everyone! I found it! The last sigil! Lulu, we still need your Venus Sigil!" Lulu looked up from the fire she was creating, "We know that, Rikku, but it was YOU who kept us from getting it, remember?" Tidus climbed out of his tent with a piece of dried meat sticking out of the corner of his mouth, "Yeah, I was up to a hundred and twenty-three lightning bolts before you couldn't take it anymore and pulled me back into Rin's. It took me a week to get my hair to stand down after getting hit all those times." "Well we still need it! Look, lets go back to Guadosalam and we can stay there while you and Lulu go in and get the sigil, ok?" Rikku looked at the group for approval, her eyes desperate for this plan to work. Wakka sighed, "She's right...who knows what lies ahead, and I don't want Lulu to be unequipped." "No need to worry, brother. I'll protect her," Chappu quipped, wrapping an arm around Lulu's waist. Wakka scowled and turned away, "All the more reason for her to be equipped..." he mumbled.
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I have a clear picture of the end now, I know what I'm doing!