Chapter 2: Only the start of things.
The sky was dark, cruel reality had slammed me against the hard cold floor. I had no idea how long I was there but I do know that when I woke up my body felt like it went through hell. I got up slowly, wincing from the pain. I looked around at the alien place unsure if I was still alive for my body was numb from the cold, damp floor.
"Anybody there?" I yelled, hoping for a response "Auron! Heeey!"
I wanted to sit there and pass away, the pages of my life had seemed to be ripped from its book or so I thought. I sat there thinking about why was I here, what did I do to get this, I didn't want it. There I sat on the little island I awoke on, and it was there that I was startled to see life beyond myself, a bird flew over head and towards a large structure, I don't understand how I could have over looked that for it was enormous. I told myself it must have been clouded in mist, but only in my mind for nothing was clear anymore. Towards it I swam for I had nothing better to do and plus I thought it would keep me warm, I was wrong the water was colder than I thought. When I reached it I walked along a stone structure which looked to have been greatly detailed but was worn down due to time. I would have taken a better look at the sculptures and engravings in the stone if the water below was not all of a sudden broken. I surveyed the watery surroundings and curiosity lowered me under. I descended slowly and cautiously in the water.
Suddenly, a group of fish surround me; I was forced to fight them. I killed off two of them, leaving only one and then the battle was over, but to my dismay a massive fish creature approached me, knocking over some stones along the way. Geosgaeno is what I called it. I had to dive out of the way, as Geosgaeno consumed the little fish's deceased bodies. I was hoping he wouldn't have seen me but he did, forcing me into another battle. After a few rounds the battle had ended but not to my liking, I was chased madly by Geosgaeno to the opening of a place better then where I was, I hoped. I swam to the opening, it was straight ahead. Even though I swam as hard as possible he still gained, he nearly had me in his mouth entirely, it was luck that I was sucked out of his mouth like a vacuum and was flung through the opening into a new building, one that was in ruins. I landed safely but stunned and dazed from the slam against the floor in a small pool of water. Several stones collapsed behind me, blocking the passage I entered through. I raised myself up slowly yet again as it seemed to be a forceful habit of mine. When my vision came into focus I looked around vigorously hoping of finding someone, someone other than myself.......
"Whoa!" I shouted in hope that someone would hear me and come, but no one replied. I stayed there not knowing what to do. So I thought.....
"I had made it out of the frying pan...and into the freezer."
"I thought I was going to die in this place."
I was walking around, I had to or I was going to freeze to death. I entered a large empty room and looked around.
"Cold...Need...fire." I told myself in a somewhat primitive way.
I continued to look around, luckily I found somewhere I could light a fire. It looked like the remains of a campfire, with flint and tinder; I could start another fire here. But I thought the chances of finding flint or tinder or even both were slim to none. Surprisingly I did find the necessary flint and tinder and I made the fire. It was a wonderful feeling; I found my hands and feet as the blood in them circulated once again. The search fatigued my body greatly so I had to lie down even though I didn't want to for it was a strong possibility I wasn't going to wake up. I laid myself on the ground and curled up against the fire looking up at the high dome ceiling
"I need food!" I told myself as I drifted off. As I slept I thought about my childhood, I had a flashback.
"What do you want?" I said, to the missing Auron, in my dream
"It was a bad call." he said "Your team lost because of you."
"You came to say THAT?" I asked with a bit of an insulted tone.
"It's been...ten years." He stated "I thought you'd be crying."
"Who, me?" I asked with curiosity.
Right after a mysterious short person from Zanarkand walked by]
"You cried." replied Auron.
After Auron's last words my flashback ended in a white blur. My mind had returned to my mind, back to the present, it seemed as though time did not pass. I was sitting down as the fire withered away and held onto its last flames. Though everything seemed calm I heard something running around, circling me but I didn't think much of it. I fell asleep again, but my slumber didn't last long for I awoke quickly. I felt another presence but saw nothing. As I began to doze off again I saw the last glimpse of my fire finally dying.
"Hey, wait! Wait! Don't go out on me! Just hold on. I'll get more wood!" I said to the fire, thinking it was alive for I hadn't seen life for to long.
As I scavenged the ruins for wood and felt the same presence again, I looked around. There it was a big bug on the wall. The large insect blazed around the walls, and then finally jumped down. There I was in the middle of nowhere, stranded; standing face to face with large bug I called Klikk. Even without thinking I drew out the sword Auron gave me, surprised I still had it after my ordeal with "Sin". My battle with Klikk began and with both sides evenly matched. Partway through the battle, when it seemed to be going nowhere one of the ruins' doors blasted open and a group of people walked through with guns blazing. They were being led by a strangely-dressed girl with goggles. Their bullets had no affect so the girl joined my cause, fighting along side me. As we fought I thought an unknown group of strange people are helping me fight, should I accept there help or be scared why they are helping me???? I made up my mind.
"You on my side? Cool!" I told her thinking I received a smile from this mystery girl. The mystery girl and I finally defeated Klikk, I was impressed by her fighting, and it was amazing. I was overjoyed from the battle I didn't notice the girl sneak up behind me so when I turned around I was quite surprised. There we were face to face, unknowing who the other was; I was so close I could see myself in her goggles. She removed her goggles that were masking her face, I was surprised that I welcomed the unfamiliar face, but at best I was relieved.
"Whew! That was close." I called out to the strange group, but I don't think they were greeting of newcomers because one walked up behind me and grabbed my hair.
"Hey, lemme go!" I yelled thinking I should have been concerned why they were helping me during battle. More and more of them surrounded me with there guns aimed to kill. Then I was confused with the foreign language they spoke.
"Fryd ec drec?" ("What is this?") yelled one of them.
"Y fiend! Eh risyh teckieca!" ("A fiend! In human disguise!") shouted another.
"Oac! Ed ec cu!" ("Yes! It is so!") yelled one pulling out his knife holding it at my throat, ready to slit.
"Fa gemm ed?" ("We kill it?") yelled the one with the knife.
I thought that this was my funeral, what a great way to die, in a place in the middle of nowhere by a group of foreigners speaking an alien language. I almost gave up all hope but to my favour the girl spoke up.
"Fyed! Fryd ev ed ec risyh?" ("Wait! What if it is human?") shouted the mystery girl. The man with the knife now pointed the knife at her
"Drao yna dra cysa eh taydr." ("They are the same in death.") shouted the enraged man with the knife.
"E vunpet ed! Fa pnehk ed fedr ic!" ("I forbid it! We bring it with us!") spoke the girl yet again in my defence, at least that's what I thought she was doing. She then walked up to me.
"Cunno." ("Sorry.") she said as she kneed me in the stomach, forcing me to fall and I hit my head hard against a rock, knocking me unconscious.
After that I don't remember much except that I awoke on a large boat floating in the vast ocean that spanned as far as the eye could see. I was surrounded by the people from the ruins. One of them turned around and noticed that I woke up]
"Ced, lybdeja!" ("Sit, captive!") he told me even though I didn't understand a word; therefore he hit me, forcing me to sit.
"Hey, that hurts!" I replied with attitude.
"Hu sujehk, rayn?" ("No moving, hear?") said one of the strangers, still not understanding them.
"Whoa... Okay." I said aloud so I wouldn't get hit anymore.
Two more people approach me. It was the girl from earlier and she was with a strange looking guy with a blonde mohawk
"Caynlr res!" ("Search him!") said the peculiar man as he made a lot motions with his arms, signifying swimming, all the while grunting.
"Right. Whatever." I replied, unsure of what to say.
"Tu oui hud cbayg?" ("Do you not speak?") said the man as he showed me a necklace of some sort, yet he still made no sense.
"I said I don't understand!" I yelled back at him.
"Ehcumahla!" ("Insolence!") shouted the man. He must have told his friend to shoot me because that's what I think was going to happen if the girl hadn't spoken up.
"Fyed!" ("Wait!") she said, I still had no understanding of the language but to my surprise she understood me.
"He said you can stay if you make yourself useful." she responded a second time, it was strange that she became my translator, this person I didn't even know the name of.
"You...You understand me?" I asked her as I was hit in the back by one of the guy's guns. "All right, I'll work!" I approached the girl.
"Oh, almost forgot!" she said. The mysterious girl helped me up and I walked over to the side of the boat curious of what I saw.
"What's this? Some kind of crane?" I asked inquisitively. It was un- believeable how rude some of these people were, that funny looking guy with the Mohawk started yelling jibberish at me again.
"Rao, oui! Kad yfyo vnus drana!" ("Hey, you! Get away from there!") he yelled.
"All right, all right! You don't have to shout!" I replied because I wasn't in the mood for another whack in the back, so I turned around and talked to the girl.
"We found some ancient ruins right beneath us. It's not active now, but there should still be some power left. We're gonna go down there and re- activate it, and then we should be able to salvage the big prize!" she explained. I nodded slightly and acknowledged her with a murmur.
"Okay! Let's get to work!" she said with such energy.
"Roger!" I responded, trying to sound as excited as her. We jumped over the side of the boat, into the water and made our way to the underwater excavation site where this great prize was supposed to be. We must have gone quite deep because there we were, engulfed in a cold, gripping darkness with only a vague light above and below us. Our only life line was a chain so I was under the impression that there was little room for mistake here. When we finally reached our destination we scavenged the ruins looking for machina and power sources to re-activate the lights that already pre-existed in the ruins. Not to long after our arrival the power was up and running, so continued our exploration of the ruins. It was not long before we found out that we were not the only ones exploring the Underwater ruins. The girl and I backed our way out to avoid trouble yet to only lead ourselves into a trap. There we were confronted by a enormous aquatic creature, a creature I named Tros. We eventually defeated it with clever tactics and brute force. After our first encounter we decided we weren't in the mood for a second, so we left the ruins and headed straight to the surface where we re-boarded he ship.
"Fa vuiht dra airship! Dra naluntc fana nekrd." ("We found the airship! The records were right.") I heard one of the crewmen say.
I thought I was starting to understand this language because I began to understand some words here and there, but it was then that I realised I wasn't understanding anything, how I got here, where I was, who these people are, I was even starting to question who I was.
Unsure of anything, I jumped back on board, and shook off the water off that was still beading off my body. Some of those strange people were talking again as if that was all they ever did. When they noticed I was trying to hear what they were saying, even though I had no inkling as to what they meant, they begin to walk to the door leading to the inner quarter of the boat so I followed them.
"Huf, ruf du tnyk ed ib?" ("Now, how to drag it up?") I heard one say, as another turned towards me and said
"Oui, uidceta!" ("You, outside!") he said as he hit me. I got back up trying to get in to the ship passed the shut door. I was starting to get really irritated with all the hitting as if it wasn't bad enough that I was in the middle of no where and didn't know or understand the strangers I boarded with.
"Hey, I helped out, didn't I?" I bellowed. After the first five minutes I gave up and found myself on the deck of the boat lying down.
"Uhh...hungry." I groaned unsure if it wasn't my stomach talking. As I moaned to myself someone approached me and kicked my shoulder. It was that girl from before and this time she was carrying a plate of food. There I sat hoping that was for me and when she put the plate in front of me I couldn't control myself, I went all out on that plate.
"Whoa! Right on!" I said just before I scarfed down the food so fast that I began to choke.
"Hey!" she said as she tossed me a jug of water. I opened it and drunk to my heart content, concluding in a relieved sigh.
"It's 'cause you eat too fast!" she said in a perky heartfelt voice. I stood up, laughed and moved around, stretching as I walked. She followed behind me.
"Hey!" she called out.
"Hello there. What is your name?" I said inquisitively, I had to ask, it was killing me not knowing anything.
"Rikku." She said with a cute smile.
"Whoa! You really do understand me! *Woo hoo!* Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"I didn't get a chance to! Everyone thought oui were a fiend." She explained.
"Uh..."we"?" I asked, confused yet again.
"Oh, "oui" means "you"." She said, like it was second nature. I paused trying to take this in, thinking of my next question.
"Who are you guys, anyway?" I asked
"We're Al Bhed. Can't you tell?" she said as if I were stupid "Wait. You're not an Al Bhed-hater, are you?"
"I don't even know what an Al Bhed is." I replied.
"Where are you from?" she asked. I guess it was her turn so I answered
"Zanarkand. I'm a blitzball player. Star player of the Zanarkand Abes!" I boasted with pride only to get the look of confusion
"Did you hit your head or something?"
"Um, you guys hit me." I replied sarcastically
"Oh, right... Do you remember anything before that?"
"So I told her everything there was to tell about Zanarkand..."
"About life there, blitzball, and Sin's attack..."
"and about how Auron and I were engulfed in this light."
"I just said things as they came to mind. But then I started to wonder."
There I was, there she was. There we sat in a untouched yet awkward silence which I had to disturb.
"Did I say something funny?" I asked. I wondered this cause all through my story she looked quite strangely at me.
"You were near Sin." Was the first thing she said, like that was the strangest thing she heard.
"Don't worry, you'll be better in no time. They say your head gets funny when Sin is near. Maybe you just had some kind of dream?" she said quickly after.
"You mean I'm sick?"
"It's because of Sin's toxin, yeah." She explained.
"You sure?" I asked in disbelief
"Yeah, there is no Zanarkand anymore. Sin destroyed it a thousand years ago. So...no one plays blitzball there." She said. She told me this, she thought I was crazy, I was thinking I was crazy. How could that be, I knew I was real what I did was real....wasn't it? I looked at her.
"What do you mean, a thousand years ago? But I saw Sin attack Zanarkand! You're saying that happened a thousand years ago? No way!" I yelled. I could understand most things but that was too un-real to grasp. I couldn't be here if I was from a millennia ago, couldn't I? Yah I couldn't that's impossible....right? I didn't even know what was right.
"You said...You play blitzball?" Rikku asked.
"Uh huh"
"You know, you should go to Luca. Someone might know who you are, or you might find someone you recognize." She said. That was the best thing I heard in a while, there was just one problem.
"Luca?" I said puzzled. Rikku shook her head, walked around a bit, then returned to tap me on my back.
"Okay, leave it to me! I'll get you to Luca, promise! You'd rather stay here?"
"Uh uh"
"Okay, I'll go tell the others. Wait here." She began to leave, but before she left sight she turned around.
"Oh, and one thing. Don't tell anyone you're from Zanarkand, okay? Yevon says it's a holy place. You might upset someone."
"Oh...uh huh" was the only thing I could think of to reply. There I was alone again, leaning on the railing, trying to take everything in.
"My Zanarkand, some kind of holy place? Yeah right, I thought."
"Since when?"
"Yevon? Sin? Luca?"
"I thought Sin just took me to a faraway place, that I could go back in a day or two."
"But a thousand years into the future?"
"No way!"
In my frustration, I kicked the crane area and fell down; I thought I did something really bad because I heard loud rumble, and the ship started shaking. Soon after it wasn't me after all, in the distance something blasted out of the water. The doors opened and everyone ran onto the deck. That thing in the water began to approach the ship.
"Sin!" yelled one Al Bhed
"Sin ec lusa!" ("Sin is come!") shouted another.
"Ihtan ic! Ihtan ic!" ("Under us! Under us!") yelled a third.
Everything happened so fast, it all went down hill, I felt the ship tip slightly and I fell off and plunged into the dark abyss. There I was yet again shrouded in the unforgiving darkness which had become o' to familiar.......
The sky was dark, cruel reality had slammed me against the hard cold floor. I had no idea how long I was there but I do know that when I woke up my body felt like it went through hell. I got up slowly, wincing from the pain. I looked around at the alien place unsure if I was still alive for my body was numb from the cold, damp floor.
"Anybody there?" I yelled, hoping for a response "Auron! Heeey!"
I wanted to sit there and pass away, the pages of my life had seemed to be ripped from its book or so I thought. I sat there thinking about why was I here, what did I do to get this, I didn't want it. There I sat on the little island I awoke on, and it was there that I was startled to see life beyond myself, a bird flew over head and towards a large structure, I don't understand how I could have over looked that for it was enormous. I told myself it must have been clouded in mist, but only in my mind for nothing was clear anymore. Towards it I swam for I had nothing better to do and plus I thought it would keep me warm, I was wrong the water was colder than I thought. When I reached it I walked along a stone structure which looked to have been greatly detailed but was worn down due to time. I would have taken a better look at the sculptures and engravings in the stone if the water below was not all of a sudden broken. I surveyed the watery surroundings and curiosity lowered me under. I descended slowly and cautiously in the water.
Suddenly, a group of fish surround me; I was forced to fight them. I killed off two of them, leaving only one and then the battle was over, but to my dismay a massive fish creature approached me, knocking over some stones along the way. Geosgaeno is what I called it. I had to dive out of the way, as Geosgaeno consumed the little fish's deceased bodies. I was hoping he wouldn't have seen me but he did, forcing me into another battle. After a few rounds the battle had ended but not to my liking, I was chased madly by Geosgaeno to the opening of a place better then where I was, I hoped. I swam to the opening, it was straight ahead. Even though I swam as hard as possible he still gained, he nearly had me in his mouth entirely, it was luck that I was sucked out of his mouth like a vacuum and was flung through the opening into a new building, one that was in ruins. I landed safely but stunned and dazed from the slam against the floor in a small pool of water. Several stones collapsed behind me, blocking the passage I entered through. I raised myself up slowly yet again as it seemed to be a forceful habit of mine. When my vision came into focus I looked around vigorously hoping of finding someone, someone other than myself.......
"Whoa!" I shouted in hope that someone would hear me and come, but no one replied. I stayed there not knowing what to do. So I thought.....
"I had made it out of the frying pan...and into the freezer."
"I thought I was going to die in this place."
I was walking around, I had to or I was going to freeze to death. I entered a large empty room and looked around.
"Cold...Need...fire." I told myself in a somewhat primitive way.
I continued to look around, luckily I found somewhere I could light a fire. It looked like the remains of a campfire, with flint and tinder; I could start another fire here. But I thought the chances of finding flint or tinder or even both were slim to none. Surprisingly I did find the necessary flint and tinder and I made the fire. It was a wonderful feeling; I found my hands and feet as the blood in them circulated once again. The search fatigued my body greatly so I had to lie down even though I didn't want to for it was a strong possibility I wasn't going to wake up. I laid myself on the ground and curled up against the fire looking up at the high dome ceiling
"I need food!" I told myself as I drifted off. As I slept I thought about my childhood, I had a flashback.
"What do you want?" I said, to the missing Auron, in my dream
"It was a bad call." he said "Your team lost because of you."
"You came to say THAT?" I asked with a bit of an insulted tone.
"It's been...ten years." He stated "I thought you'd be crying."
"Who, me?" I asked with curiosity.
Right after a mysterious short person from Zanarkand walked by]
"You cried." replied Auron.
After Auron's last words my flashback ended in a white blur. My mind had returned to my mind, back to the present, it seemed as though time did not pass. I was sitting down as the fire withered away and held onto its last flames. Though everything seemed calm I heard something running around, circling me but I didn't think much of it. I fell asleep again, but my slumber didn't last long for I awoke quickly. I felt another presence but saw nothing. As I began to doze off again I saw the last glimpse of my fire finally dying.
"Hey, wait! Wait! Don't go out on me! Just hold on. I'll get more wood!" I said to the fire, thinking it was alive for I hadn't seen life for to long.
As I scavenged the ruins for wood and felt the same presence again, I looked around. There it was a big bug on the wall. The large insect blazed around the walls, and then finally jumped down. There I was in the middle of nowhere, stranded; standing face to face with large bug I called Klikk. Even without thinking I drew out the sword Auron gave me, surprised I still had it after my ordeal with "Sin". My battle with Klikk began and with both sides evenly matched. Partway through the battle, when it seemed to be going nowhere one of the ruins' doors blasted open and a group of people walked through with guns blazing. They were being led by a strangely-dressed girl with goggles. Their bullets had no affect so the girl joined my cause, fighting along side me. As we fought I thought an unknown group of strange people are helping me fight, should I accept there help or be scared why they are helping me???? I made up my mind.
"You on my side? Cool!" I told her thinking I received a smile from this mystery girl. The mystery girl and I finally defeated Klikk, I was impressed by her fighting, and it was amazing. I was overjoyed from the battle I didn't notice the girl sneak up behind me so when I turned around I was quite surprised. There we were face to face, unknowing who the other was; I was so close I could see myself in her goggles. She removed her goggles that were masking her face, I was surprised that I welcomed the unfamiliar face, but at best I was relieved.
"Whew! That was close." I called out to the strange group, but I don't think they were greeting of newcomers because one walked up behind me and grabbed my hair.
"Hey, lemme go!" I yelled thinking I should have been concerned why they were helping me during battle. More and more of them surrounded me with there guns aimed to kill. Then I was confused with the foreign language they spoke.
"Fryd ec drec?" ("What is this?") yelled one of them.
"Y fiend! Eh risyh teckieca!" ("A fiend! In human disguise!") shouted another.
"Oac! Ed ec cu!" ("Yes! It is so!") yelled one pulling out his knife holding it at my throat, ready to slit.
"Fa gemm ed?" ("We kill it?") yelled the one with the knife.
I thought that this was my funeral, what a great way to die, in a place in the middle of nowhere by a group of foreigners speaking an alien language. I almost gave up all hope but to my favour the girl spoke up.
"Fyed! Fryd ev ed ec risyh?" ("Wait! What if it is human?") shouted the mystery girl. The man with the knife now pointed the knife at her
"Drao yna dra cysa eh taydr." ("They are the same in death.") shouted the enraged man with the knife.
"E vunpet ed! Fa pnehk ed fedr ic!" ("I forbid it! We bring it with us!") spoke the girl yet again in my defence, at least that's what I thought she was doing. She then walked up to me.
"Cunno." ("Sorry.") she said as she kneed me in the stomach, forcing me to fall and I hit my head hard against a rock, knocking me unconscious.
After that I don't remember much except that I awoke on a large boat floating in the vast ocean that spanned as far as the eye could see. I was surrounded by the people from the ruins. One of them turned around and noticed that I woke up]
"Ced, lybdeja!" ("Sit, captive!") he told me even though I didn't understand a word; therefore he hit me, forcing me to sit.
"Hey, that hurts!" I replied with attitude.
"Hu sujehk, rayn?" ("No moving, hear?") said one of the strangers, still not understanding them.
"Whoa... Okay." I said aloud so I wouldn't get hit anymore.
Two more people approach me. It was the girl from earlier and she was with a strange looking guy with a blonde mohawk
"Caynlr res!" ("Search him!") said the peculiar man as he made a lot motions with his arms, signifying swimming, all the while grunting.
"Right. Whatever." I replied, unsure of what to say.
"Tu oui hud cbayg?" ("Do you not speak?") said the man as he showed me a necklace of some sort, yet he still made no sense.
"I said I don't understand!" I yelled back at him.
"Ehcumahla!" ("Insolence!") shouted the man. He must have told his friend to shoot me because that's what I think was going to happen if the girl hadn't spoken up.
"Fyed!" ("Wait!") she said, I still had no understanding of the language but to my surprise she understood me.
"He said you can stay if you make yourself useful." she responded a second time, it was strange that she became my translator, this person I didn't even know the name of.
"You...You understand me?" I asked her as I was hit in the back by one of the guy's guns. "All right, I'll work!" I approached the girl.
"Oh, almost forgot!" she said. The mysterious girl helped me up and I walked over to the side of the boat curious of what I saw.
"What's this? Some kind of crane?" I asked inquisitively. It was un- believeable how rude some of these people were, that funny looking guy with the Mohawk started yelling jibberish at me again.
"Rao, oui! Kad yfyo vnus drana!" ("Hey, you! Get away from there!") he yelled.
"All right, all right! You don't have to shout!" I replied because I wasn't in the mood for another whack in the back, so I turned around and talked to the girl.
"We found some ancient ruins right beneath us. It's not active now, but there should still be some power left. We're gonna go down there and re- activate it, and then we should be able to salvage the big prize!" she explained. I nodded slightly and acknowledged her with a murmur.
"Okay! Let's get to work!" she said with such energy.
"Roger!" I responded, trying to sound as excited as her. We jumped over the side of the boat, into the water and made our way to the underwater excavation site where this great prize was supposed to be. We must have gone quite deep because there we were, engulfed in a cold, gripping darkness with only a vague light above and below us. Our only life line was a chain so I was under the impression that there was little room for mistake here. When we finally reached our destination we scavenged the ruins looking for machina and power sources to re-activate the lights that already pre-existed in the ruins. Not to long after our arrival the power was up and running, so continued our exploration of the ruins. It was not long before we found out that we were not the only ones exploring the Underwater ruins. The girl and I backed our way out to avoid trouble yet to only lead ourselves into a trap. There we were confronted by a enormous aquatic creature, a creature I named Tros. We eventually defeated it with clever tactics and brute force. After our first encounter we decided we weren't in the mood for a second, so we left the ruins and headed straight to the surface where we re-boarded he ship.
"Fa vuiht dra airship! Dra naluntc fana nekrd." ("We found the airship! The records were right.") I heard one of the crewmen say.
I thought I was starting to understand this language because I began to understand some words here and there, but it was then that I realised I wasn't understanding anything, how I got here, where I was, who these people are, I was even starting to question who I was.
Unsure of anything, I jumped back on board, and shook off the water off that was still beading off my body. Some of those strange people were talking again as if that was all they ever did. When they noticed I was trying to hear what they were saying, even though I had no inkling as to what they meant, they begin to walk to the door leading to the inner quarter of the boat so I followed them.
"Huf, ruf du tnyk ed ib?" ("Now, how to drag it up?") I heard one say, as another turned towards me and said
"Oui, uidceta!" ("You, outside!") he said as he hit me. I got back up trying to get in to the ship passed the shut door. I was starting to get really irritated with all the hitting as if it wasn't bad enough that I was in the middle of no where and didn't know or understand the strangers I boarded with.
"Hey, I helped out, didn't I?" I bellowed. After the first five minutes I gave up and found myself on the deck of the boat lying down.
"Uhh...hungry." I groaned unsure if it wasn't my stomach talking. As I moaned to myself someone approached me and kicked my shoulder. It was that girl from before and this time she was carrying a plate of food. There I sat hoping that was for me and when she put the plate in front of me I couldn't control myself, I went all out on that plate.
"Whoa! Right on!" I said just before I scarfed down the food so fast that I began to choke.
"Hey!" she said as she tossed me a jug of water. I opened it and drunk to my heart content, concluding in a relieved sigh.
"It's 'cause you eat too fast!" she said in a perky heartfelt voice. I stood up, laughed and moved around, stretching as I walked. She followed behind me.
"Hey!" she called out.
"Hello there. What is your name?" I said inquisitively, I had to ask, it was killing me not knowing anything.
"Rikku." She said with a cute smile.
"Whoa! You really do understand me! *Woo hoo!* Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"I didn't get a chance to! Everyone thought oui were a fiend." She explained.
"Uh..."we"?" I asked, confused yet again.
"Oh, "oui" means "you"." She said, like it was second nature. I paused trying to take this in, thinking of my next question.
"Who are you guys, anyway?" I asked
"We're Al Bhed. Can't you tell?" she said as if I were stupid "Wait. You're not an Al Bhed-hater, are you?"
"I don't even know what an Al Bhed is." I replied.
"Where are you from?" she asked. I guess it was her turn so I answered
"Zanarkand. I'm a blitzball player. Star player of the Zanarkand Abes!" I boasted with pride only to get the look of confusion
"Did you hit your head or something?"
"Um, you guys hit me." I replied sarcastically
"Oh, right... Do you remember anything before that?"
"So I told her everything there was to tell about Zanarkand..."
"About life there, blitzball, and Sin's attack..."
"and about how Auron and I were engulfed in this light."
"I just said things as they came to mind. But then I started to wonder."
There I was, there she was. There we sat in a untouched yet awkward silence which I had to disturb.
"Did I say something funny?" I asked. I wondered this cause all through my story she looked quite strangely at me.
"You were near Sin." Was the first thing she said, like that was the strangest thing she heard.
"Don't worry, you'll be better in no time. They say your head gets funny when Sin is near. Maybe you just had some kind of dream?" she said quickly after.
"You mean I'm sick?"
"It's because of Sin's toxin, yeah." She explained.
"You sure?" I asked in disbelief
"Yeah, there is no Zanarkand anymore. Sin destroyed it a thousand years ago. So...no one plays blitzball there." She said. She told me this, she thought I was crazy, I was thinking I was crazy. How could that be, I knew I was real what I did was real....wasn't it? I looked at her.
"What do you mean, a thousand years ago? But I saw Sin attack Zanarkand! You're saying that happened a thousand years ago? No way!" I yelled. I could understand most things but that was too un-real to grasp. I couldn't be here if I was from a millennia ago, couldn't I? Yah I couldn't that's impossible....right? I didn't even know what was right.
"You said...You play blitzball?" Rikku asked.
"Uh huh"
"You know, you should go to Luca. Someone might know who you are, or you might find someone you recognize." She said. That was the best thing I heard in a while, there was just one problem.
"Luca?" I said puzzled. Rikku shook her head, walked around a bit, then returned to tap me on my back.
"Okay, leave it to me! I'll get you to Luca, promise! You'd rather stay here?"
"Uh uh"
"Okay, I'll go tell the others. Wait here." She began to leave, but before she left sight she turned around.
"Oh, and one thing. Don't tell anyone you're from Zanarkand, okay? Yevon says it's a holy place. You might upset someone."
"Oh...uh huh" was the only thing I could think of to reply. There I was alone again, leaning on the railing, trying to take everything in.
"My Zanarkand, some kind of holy place? Yeah right, I thought."
"Since when?"
"Yevon? Sin? Luca?"
"I thought Sin just took me to a faraway place, that I could go back in a day or two."
"But a thousand years into the future?"
"No way!"
In my frustration, I kicked the crane area and fell down; I thought I did something really bad because I heard loud rumble, and the ship started shaking. Soon after it wasn't me after all, in the distance something blasted out of the water. The doors opened and everyone ran onto the deck. That thing in the water began to approach the ship.
"Sin!" yelled one Al Bhed
"Sin ec lusa!" ("Sin is come!") shouted another.
"Ihtan ic! Ihtan ic!" ("Under us! Under us!") yelled a third.
Everything happened so fast, it all went down hill, I felt the ship tip slightly and I fell off and plunged into the dark abyss. There I was yet again shrouded in the unforgiving darkness which had become o' to familiar.......
