Chapter 11: Extermination Begins
Mattius2k04: Blah it's Valentines Day and yours truly is without a date. So maybe I can just stay at home and pretend some girls are my GF's lol. No, I am just kidding. Got a busy day ahead of me, but I decided to finish this chapter before anything. Enjoy!
It really was quite a bleak forest, full of strange sounds, tangling undergrowth, and very little light due to the shading from the hundreds of trees surrounding them. The forest was alive with movement, and Tidus could sense the feeling of anger and hatred boiling around them.
"Don't be gettin' too far ahead, ya?" Wakka warned Tidus, who was jogging ahead. "We just gotta stay together, kill some fiends!"
"Let him do what he wants." Muttered Lulu. "If he gets killed, that's his problem."
"Lulu!" Yuna exclaimed, laughing. She knew Lulu was just being sarcastic, despite her serious demeanor. Lulu smiled a rare smile in response.
"Don't worry about me." Tidus reassured his group. "There's nothing in this forest that could-"
With a hiss of power, Lulu blasted a fiend into oblivion instants before it could bear down upon Tidus. "You were saying, hmm?"
"Uhh.... Ah, hahaha!" Tidus laughed, blushing and looking down. "Momentary lapse!"
Yuna laughed a little, but a snapping movement made her jump up quickly and run over to Tidus, clutching his arm softly.
"You okay?" Tidus asked, feeling a little manly and protective right- about-now.
"Y-yes, just... I'm okay." Yuna whispered, letting go of Tidus arm and holding her staff protectively in front of her. She was once again frightened, but not by a monster.
"Ah, haaaahhh!" Rikku jumped in front of Tidus suddenly, and giving Yuna a quick wink, not noticing that she had startled her cousin with her sudden movement. "You'd better protect her, y'know!" Rikku warned, bending towards Tidus and sticking a finger up. "Or you'll have to deal with ME!"
"Thanks Rikku, I'll keep that in mind." Tidus laughed. Rikku smiled and bounced up to Lulu, who looked the other way and tried to ignore the frantic child. Wakka was behind the group, staring up into the sky of leaves and branches wondrously
"Wakka, come on!" Tidus yelled.
"Wha-what?" Wakka stopped. "Oh, yeah!" Regaining his concentration, he caught up to the rest of their small group.
After walking down a barely-noticeable path, Lulu stopped and pulled out a large sheet of paper from a satchel at her waist, unfolding and examining it.
"Professor Trepe gave me this." Lulu muttered. "She gave us directions on how to find the lair where the fiends are coming from. All we need to do is find the lair and destroy the opening, plugging the entrance up and blocking their exits. It should last until a proper extermination team can storm it."
"Uhh... sounds great n' all..." Wakka spoke. "But destroy it with what?"
"You'll be useless in this matter." Lulu explained, cynical and bitter as always. "Magic. My magic."
"Oh, so you're going to destroy the opening with a fire spell or something!" Rikku realized.
"Exactly. This says that we'll come to a clearing if we follow the path, a clearing where there used to be a junction between Balamb Garden and Balamb City before the fiends overtook it." Lulu explained.
"That's great, so all we need to do is follow the path!" Tidus said. "Let's continue!"
"Yeah!" Yuna joined in, leaping to her feet and running alongside Tidus.
It seemed like they walked for days and days, but in reality it was only a couple minutes. It took every ounce of their strength just to walk across the heavily obstructed forest floor, covered in all forms of materials, from bones and rocks to tree branches and leaves.
"Ah, this is it." Lulu stopped suddenly. "I thought it was strange we haven't been attacked, but now I see."
"What is it?" Tidus questioned, although he had a feeling it could not be good. He was right.
"We're being surrounded." Lulu replied simply, to a gasp from Rikku and Wakka.
"Whazzat?! We're being followed?!" Rikku squealed, before clamping onto Yuna's arm and glancing around.
"I just saw some pass in front of us quickly." Lulu spoke. "Get ready."
In a moment, they were ready. Another moment, and sure enough Tidus could hear sounds echoing from the foliage to all sides. "Yuna! Lulu! Stand in between me, Wakka, and Rikku. Stay back!"
"Don't tell me what to do, I know what to do." Lulu snapped. "Stay calm, and we'll be fine."
"This can't be good, ya?" Wakka muttered. "Well, 'least I'm gonna have a good fight!"
"Oooh, Yunie!" Rikku squealed. "Don't worry, we'll protect you!"
"Yes, and I you Rikku." Yuna comforted her ecstatic cousin.
The bushes rustled some more, and stopped suddenly. Then, in an instant, they burst to life, fiends and monsters coming straight from the foliage and attacking the five companions.
"Let's show 'em what we got, Wakka!" Tidus shouted happily, bursting forwards and immediately felling a fiend with his weapon.
Wakka grunted in response, swinging his fist to catch another fiend off guard and kicking it to the ground, destroying it's skull. Dodging the attack from another one, he countered with his blitzball and smacked it high into the air. Retrieving his blitzball, he darted off to fight another fiend.
"L-Lulu!" Yuna cried, warning Lulu of a fiend lunging straight for her blindside. Yuna was about to rush forwards in an attempt to get a lucky swing on it, but was interrupted as Lulu calmly snapped her fingers in the direction of the fiend, immolating it in a wave of fire which burnt it to a crisp.
"I told you," Lulu warned, "that I need no help. Be careful!"
"Y-yes!" Yuna smiled nervously despite the carnage waging around her.
Tidus was being slowly overwhelmed, attacked from fiends on all sides. As they stopped attacking for an instant, he was able to get a good look at them. He realized they were wolves, vicious monsters, not fiends, but monsters. They attacked in packs, which explained what they were doing now. He swung his blade eastward, catching a wolf in the snout and cutting through flesh like paper, spraying blood to the ground as the wolf died. Another wolf lunged towards him, and he was just able to duck, and he raked his sword along the belly of the exposed monster. It landed with a yelp, and scrambled weakly before tripping from it's momentum and never rising again. He was being trapped! Wolves circled him from all areas, and looking around, he realized the rest of the group was enduring the same fate. Wakka fought desperately against a larger, light-purple coloured wolf which could have been the leader of the pack. Yuna and Lulu were trying their hardest to protect a wounded Rikku from a large swarm of wolves, as Yuna attempted to heal her cousin of her bruises and bumps from the wolves that charged her.
"This ain't good, ya!" Wakka shouted. "We shoulda been more careful!"
"It-it's not over!" Rikku whined, standing to her feet and attacking the closest wolf as Yuna successfully healed her. The wolves were everywhere, attacking from all sides and not stopping, more and more pouring out from the bush. It looked like everything was all over, but when all seemed it's bleakest, their saviour appeared from the woods. Standing calmly, hefting his heavy sword in one hand over his shoulder, and his red robes draped about him, Auron had come to their aid.
"Need some help?" He asked Tidus, who grinned and laughed.
"Hey old man, we never said we needed your help!"
Auron replied with a gruff grunt, and charged forwards, bowling over a wolf and killing it from the sheer momentum of his charge. He was a near- invincible force, his slow but powerful sword cutting down foes left and right. Any foe that charged him was crushed beneath his ultimate techniques, there were none that could match him.
Soon, the wolves began retreating, and as the final moments of the battle ended, Wakka was able to crush the midsection of the leader of the pack from a blow from his closed fist, killing it instantly.
"Grim indeed." Auron commented.
Mattius2k04: Blah it's Valentines Day and yours truly is without a date. So maybe I can just stay at home and pretend some girls are my GF's lol. No, I am just kidding. Got a busy day ahead of me, but I decided to finish this chapter before anything. Enjoy!
It really was quite a bleak forest, full of strange sounds, tangling undergrowth, and very little light due to the shading from the hundreds of trees surrounding them. The forest was alive with movement, and Tidus could sense the feeling of anger and hatred boiling around them.
"Don't be gettin' too far ahead, ya?" Wakka warned Tidus, who was jogging ahead. "We just gotta stay together, kill some fiends!"
"Let him do what he wants." Muttered Lulu. "If he gets killed, that's his problem."
"Lulu!" Yuna exclaimed, laughing. She knew Lulu was just being sarcastic, despite her serious demeanor. Lulu smiled a rare smile in response.
"Don't worry about me." Tidus reassured his group. "There's nothing in this forest that could-"
With a hiss of power, Lulu blasted a fiend into oblivion instants before it could bear down upon Tidus. "You were saying, hmm?"
"Uhh.... Ah, hahaha!" Tidus laughed, blushing and looking down. "Momentary lapse!"
Yuna laughed a little, but a snapping movement made her jump up quickly and run over to Tidus, clutching his arm softly.
"You okay?" Tidus asked, feeling a little manly and protective right- about-now.
"Y-yes, just... I'm okay." Yuna whispered, letting go of Tidus arm and holding her staff protectively in front of her. She was once again frightened, but not by a monster.
"Ah, haaaahhh!" Rikku jumped in front of Tidus suddenly, and giving Yuna a quick wink, not noticing that she had startled her cousin with her sudden movement. "You'd better protect her, y'know!" Rikku warned, bending towards Tidus and sticking a finger up. "Or you'll have to deal with ME!"
"Thanks Rikku, I'll keep that in mind." Tidus laughed. Rikku smiled and bounced up to Lulu, who looked the other way and tried to ignore the frantic child. Wakka was behind the group, staring up into the sky of leaves and branches wondrously
"Wakka, come on!" Tidus yelled.
"Wha-what?" Wakka stopped. "Oh, yeah!" Regaining his concentration, he caught up to the rest of their small group.
After walking down a barely-noticeable path, Lulu stopped and pulled out a large sheet of paper from a satchel at her waist, unfolding and examining it.
"Professor Trepe gave me this." Lulu muttered. "She gave us directions on how to find the lair where the fiends are coming from. All we need to do is find the lair and destroy the opening, plugging the entrance up and blocking their exits. It should last until a proper extermination team can storm it."
"Uhh... sounds great n' all..." Wakka spoke. "But destroy it with what?"
"You'll be useless in this matter." Lulu explained, cynical and bitter as always. "Magic. My magic."
"Oh, so you're going to destroy the opening with a fire spell or something!" Rikku realized.
"Exactly. This says that we'll come to a clearing if we follow the path, a clearing where there used to be a junction between Balamb Garden and Balamb City before the fiends overtook it." Lulu explained.
"That's great, so all we need to do is follow the path!" Tidus said. "Let's continue!"
"Yeah!" Yuna joined in, leaping to her feet and running alongside Tidus.
It seemed like they walked for days and days, but in reality it was only a couple minutes. It took every ounce of their strength just to walk across the heavily obstructed forest floor, covered in all forms of materials, from bones and rocks to tree branches and leaves.
"Ah, this is it." Lulu stopped suddenly. "I thought it was strange we haven't been attacked, but now I see."
"What is it?" Tidus questioned, although he had a feeling it could not be good. He was right.
"We're being surrounded." Lulu replied simply, to a gasp from Rikku and Wakka.
"Whazzat?! We're being followed?!" Rikku squealed, before clamping onto Yuna's arm and glancing around.
"I just saw some pass in front of us quickly." Lulu spoke. "Get ready."
In a moment, they were ready. Another moment, and sure enough Tidus could hear sounds echoing from the foliage to all sides. "Yuna! Lulu! Stand in between me, Wakka, and Rikku. Stay back!"
"Don't tell me what to do, I know what to do." Lulu snapped. "Stay calm, and we'll be fine."
"This can't be good, ya?" Wakka muttered. "Well, 'least I'm gonna have a good fight!"
"Oooh, Yunie!" Rikku squealed. "Don't worry, we'll protect you!"
"Yes, and I you Rikku." Yuna comforted her ecstatic cousin.
The bushes rustled some more, and stopped suddenly. Then, in an instant, they burst to life, fiends and monsters coming straight from the foliage and attacking the five companions.
"Let's show 'em what we got, Wakka!" Tidus shouted happily, bursting forwards and immediately felling a fiend with his weapon.
Wakka grunted in response, swinging his fist to catch another fiend off guard and kicking it to the ground, destroying it's skull. Dodging the attack from another one, he countered with his blitzball and smacked it high into the air. Retrieving his blitzball, he darted off to fight another fiend.
"L-Lulu!" Yuna cried, warning Lulu of a fiend lunging straight for her blindside. Yuna was about to rush forwards in an attempt to get a lucky swing on it, but was interrupted as Lulu calmly snapped her fingers in the direction of the fiend, immolating it in a wave of fire which burnt it to a crisp.
"I told you," Lulu warned, "that I need no help. Be careful!"
"Y-yes!" Yuna smiled nervously despite the carnage waging around her.
Tidus was being slowly overwhelmed, attacked from fiends on all sides. As they stopped attacking for an instant, he was able to get a good look at them. He realized they were wolves, vicious monsters, not fiends, but monsters. They attacked in packs, which explained what they were doing now. He swung his blade eastward, catching a wolf in the snout and cutting through flesh like paper, spraying blood to the ground as the wolf died. Another wolf lunged towards him, and he was just able to duck, and he raked his sword along the belly of the exposed monster. It landed with a yelp, and scrambled weakly before tripping from it's momentum and never rising again. He was being trapped! Wolves circled him from all areas, and looking around, he realized the rest of the group was enduring the same fate. Wakka fought desperately against a larger, light-purple coloured wolf which could have been the leader of the pack. Yuna and Lulu were trying their hardest to protect a wounded Rikku from a large swarm of wolves, as Yuna attempted to heal her cousin of her bruises and bumps from the wolves that charged her.
"This ain't good, ya!" Wakka shouted. "We shoulda been more careful!"
"It-it's not over!" Rikku whined, standing to her feet and attacking the closest wolf as Yuna successfully healed her. The wolves were everywhere, attacking from all sides and not stopping, more and more pouring out from the bush. It looked like everything was all over, but when all seemed it's bleakest, their saviour appeared from the woods. Standing calmly, hefting his heavy sword in one hand over his shoulder, and his red robes draped about him, Auron had come to their aid.
"Need some help?" He asked Tidus, who grinned and laughed.
"Hey old man, we never said we needed your help!"
Auron replied with a gruff grunt, and charged forwards, bowling over a wolf and killing it from the sheer momentum of his charge. He was a near- invincible force, his slow but powerful sword cutting down foes left and right. Any foe that charged him was crushed beneath his ultimate techniques, there were none that could match him.
Soon, the wolves began retreating, and as the final moments of the battle ended, Wakka was able to crush the midsection of the leader of the pack from a blow from his closed fist, killing it instantly.
"Grim indeed." Auron commented.
