A Sea of Crystal Blue
Chapter Three
Grrr... everyone should know by now that my nonexistent updates are due to the fact that I have the Sassy virus on my computer. Grrreat. I'm typing his on a '92 Epson laptop. It's a blast from the past and a literal pain in the leg. It's on my lap and weighs ten or so pounds. Yippee. On top of that, I don't have internet connection, so can only hope to get to the library to submit this chapter. So, now that I have sufficiently blathered, on with the show!
Tidus awoke in a hazy fog, her face scraped and arms sore from clinging to a half-submerged rock. She hauled herself up, and tiredly looked around her new surroundings.
A far cry from the glistening turrets and buildings of Zanarkand, Tidus was in the middle of a sea. As far as she could see, there were no buildings, people, or sources of warmth for miles. The water lapped at her feet gently, and with a sort of exasperated horror, she noticed that she was completely alone.
"Auron...?" Tidus whispered faintly, knowing that even if he were there, the old friend would not hear her. Luckily, Tidus still clutched the long red blade that Auron had given her. Looking up, Tidus noticed ripples in the water, and before she could better prepare herself, she was attacked.
A large fish with sadistic looking green fins reared out of the water and bit her arm, leaving a nasty cut. Tidus dove into the water and swam away with all her might. She could scarcely hold her sword, let alone fight. When she finally knew she could go no farther, a large platform appeared before her, and on it she could see a building.
Tidus walked out of the sea, now truly exhausted, and went into the room that appeared to be some sort of temple. She located some dried flowers and flint on a shelf, and lit a fire with them. Warily, she looked around one last time, and then collapsed with a sheer inability to go on.
When Tidus woke for the second time that day, she opened her eyes to a scene of utter chaos. At some point, a large green monster that slightly resembled a dragon had entered her sleeping place, and now several humans had joined it, but not with a friendly air.
The unfamiliar people fought with the green creature, and took turns attacking it until it collapsed in a cloud of colorful lights. The eldest man of the group approached Tidus and asked her something in a language she did not understand. At her obvious look of confusion, the man got angry and repeated what he had said not five minutes earlier, but louder.
"Look, I'm not deaf, I just have no idea what you're saying!" Tidus yelled back, her cheeks flushed at the jeers the other men threw at her. A woman stepped forward, and took the arm of the man threatening Tidus. She said some soothing words and waved her arms. The man appeared to calm down, but instantly barked out something harsh in the same, ambiguous language. Three of the other men came forward, and seized Tidus roughly.
"Hey! What's the big idea? What did I--" Tidus was suddenly silenced, as the elder man hit her on the head from behind with a heavy club. She instantly stopped resisting, and slumped down to the ground.
::Translated Al Bhed:: "That was unnecessary, Father." Rikku looked down at the girl at her feet. She's pretty... her clothes are odd, but she doesn't look like someone who belongs out here...' Rikku thought. She looked up and scratched her head. "Well, we better get her back to the ship!" With a false smile, Rikku helped her brother pick up the girl, and headed back to the boat.
Actually... she looks kind of familiar...' In her head, Rikku thought back to the cry she could have sworn she heard while sitting in her bunk not three hours ago. That's why she and her family and friends were all out at the deserted temple. Although no one else heard the scream, upon telling her father he believed it to be a message: something they needed to check out.
Shrugging her shoulders, the young Al Bhed woman continued back to her current home, ready to wake their new prisoner.
"This is starting to get ridiculous..." Tidus murmured as she once again roused herself from the world of the unconscious. "If I go down one more time today, I might just elect not to get up!" Finding herself on the deck of a large boat, but shackled to one of the masts, Tidus rolled over, and groaned. A large lump had formed on the side of her head, and with little effort she recalled the events before she passed out. "Someone hit me!" Tidus let out a long, low growl, sucked in a huge breath, and started to yell at the top of her lungs.
"If I'm going to be a prisoner, I at least demand food! Come ON, you foreign wack jobs! I'm freaking starving here, and the fact that one of you bozos hit me with a club does NOT help the matter! GET IN HERE NOW!" Out of breath, Tidus plopped down next to a wall. She raised two of her fingers to her lips and blew, letting out a long, shrill whistle. "They'll come if I annoy them enough!" Tidus whistled again and again, the effort needed to produce the sound was much less than to yell, so she continued.
"All right, all right! Will you be quiet already? If my father gets too annoyed with you, he'll just throw you off the side of the boat!" The girl from before appeared in the doorway to the ship's cabin. She still wore her red spandex outfit and goggles, although they were no longer necessary. In her hands was the most beautiful thing Tidus had seen: a plate of steaming food.
"Ohhhhhhh, I love you! Is the food for me? Yes, right? I haven't eaten in..." Tidus quickly calculated on her fingers. "Since hours before my Blitz game, and now... that makes... at least twenty-four hours!" Tidus eyed the food hungrily, and was delighted when it was set before her. Triumphantly, she dug in, but quickly made a face and gagged.
"What the hell IS this garbage?!" Tidus went as close to the edge of the boat as her shackled wrist allowed and spat over the railing. "Ugh! That was... It tasted like leather!" Tidus feigned a swoon and fell to the deck. "Now I'm gonna starve..." To Tidus, this was a worse prospect than being killed by the green dragon she had seen earlier.
The girl next to her giggled. "I've never seen such dramatic reactions to dried and boiled snow wolf!" She shook her head, two feathered braids flopping over her shoulder.
"That was wolf?! Dried and boiled? How in hell do you people live? That was... that was worse than my Dad's cooking!" Tidus spat over the railing again and pretended to wipe her tongue. "The name's Tidus. Blitz player extrordinaire from Zanarkand!" Tidus stood up and gave a huge bow, and for good measure, a curtsy.
"Zanarkand...?" The girl shook her head again and sighed. "I'm Rikku. I'm sorry, but Zanarkand was destroyed more than a thousand years ago." A look of true sorrow appeared on Rikku's face, and she looked down at her feet.
"That's not possible!" Tidus smiled at the joke; her jovial air faded when it occurred to her that Rikku wasn't kidding. "But... I was just there! With my friend, Auron! And, we were fighting something he called 'Sin,' and then, I woke up on that rock..." Tidus trailed off and looked up at Rikku, utterly confused.
"Oh... You were fighting Sin?" Tidus nodded. "The poison must have gotten to you. Probably can't remember anything about Spira, now can you?" Tidus shook her head, deep in thought. "Well, then I'd better explain."
Rikku was a great help. She tried to explain all about the land they were now in, Spira, and her people, the Al Bhed. Their language was what had confused Tidus when she first woke up, and Rikku said she would probably learn to speak bits of it as they went along.
Tidus again shook her head. This was too much. However much she tried to explain to Rikku that Zanarkand was NOT a figment of her imagination, the more upset Rikku got. Apparently, Zanarkand was a holy place, and people didn't take kindly to those who pretended to be from it.
"Look. We can take you to Luca! There are always plenty of Blitzers there, and you can meet up with your team! I'm sure somebody will recognize you!" Rikku jumped up and down, now truly excited. Just as she was going to tell the captain to change course, the ship gave a great lurch.
"Sin!" yelled Rikku, and before Tidus knew it, the Al Bhed had crowded the deck, and were firing at the giant fish with weapons Tidus recognized to be machina, or machines. The ship gave another great pitch to the side, and Tidus was tossed painfully. Her wrist shackle prevented her from falling too far, but the combined pain of the bruises from her handcuffs and the fear of drowning if the ship went down made Tidus beg to be released.
Rikku's father rushed over to the chained girl and produced the key to set her free. He also handed her back her weapon, and briskly told her to help. Tidus had no bearing for the sea, and at the next slightest movement of the ship, she fell over. Sin threw out scales, and she fought them the best she could, but without Auron, she felt useless and doomed. The ship lurched again, and this time upset Tidus so badly she slammed into the ship's handrail.
Now stuck between a rock and a hard place, Tidus tried her best to hold on and fight more Sinscales. In a roar of fury, Sin rammed the side of the Al Bhed ship, and Tidus fell over. She tucked her limbs in close and screamed, holding her sword tightly so she wouldn't drop it. Rikku ran to the rail and looked over. "Tidus!" She cried out, but had to quickly turn back to the enemies at hand. Tidus slammed into the water, and with one last cry of pain, lost her senses for the final time that day.
The Blitzball captain looked up again, and was rewarded by being hit in the head with one of the team's official practice Blitzballs. He glanced over at the teammate who had hit him and scowled, quickly looking back to the ocean. For some reason, he was positive that an evil force was at work somewhere in it, and someone he should be worried about greatly was being hurt by it. His brow furrowed in concern, and resignedly, the man turned back to his practice.
Finally... I'm done... And HUNGRY!!! I wrote the whole bit of Tidus's obnoxious yelling because of the painful hunger spasms I am currently enduring. All I've eaten all day is a nectarine. A freakin' nectarine! Grrr... This was the longest chapter I've ever written, though. I'm proud of myself. Five pages. WOOT! Hmmm... I've gotten one review on this fanfic, and it didn't answer any of my questions. First off, thank-you Harrypotterfan55 for your review, it is very much appreciated! As you all know, I do a question every chapter, and they are all still open. They are:
1) Where is the hyper, spunky Mistral (yes... I misspelled it in the first chapter... --.--) from? This is worth... 5 points!
2) Who is the author of my favorite manga, Saiyuki? 5 points!
And the new question?
3) What is the name of Akira's successor in the movie, "Akira"? This one is 8 points! Ooh... valuable! I really do keep track of this, so why don't you give it a guess?
Ok, everyone! Review, leave comments, questions, even burning, flaming balls of hate. I'll take it all!
--Mara
P.S.- I don't know when I'll update next. I'm trying to find someone to fix my computer... So, pretty much just put me on your author alert list and you'll never miss my infrequent updates!
(.)(.)(.)
Chapter Three
Grrr... everyone should know by now that my nonexistent updates are due to the fact that I have the Sassy virus on my computer. Grrreat. I'm typing his on a '92 Epson laptop. It's a blast from the past and a literal pain in the leg. It's on my lap and weighs ten or so pounds. Yippee. On top of that, I don't have internet connection, so can only hope to get to the library to submit this chapter. So, now that I have sufficiently blathered, on with the show!
Tidus awoke in a hazy fog, her face scraped and arms sore from clinging to a half-submerged rock. She hauled herself up, and tiredly looked around her new surroundings.
A far cry from the glistening turrets and buildings of Zanarkand, Tidus was in the middle of a sea. As far as she could see, there were no buildings, people, or sources of warmth for miles. The water lapped at her feet gently, and with a sort of exasperated horror, she noticed that she was completely alone.
"Auron...?" Tidus whispered faintly, knowing that even if he were there, the old friend would not hear her. Luckily, Tidus still clutched the long red blade that Auron had given her. Looking up, Tidus noticed ripples in the water, and before she could better prepare herself, she was attacked.
A large fish with sadistic looking green fins reared out of the water and bit her arm, leaving a nasty cut. Tidus dove into the water and swam away with all her might. She could scarcely hold her sword, let alone fight. When she finally knew she could go no farther, a large platform appeared before her, and on it she could see a building.
Tidus walked out of the sea, now truly exhausted, and went into the room that appeared to be some sort of temple. She located some dried flowers and flint on a shelf, and lit a fire with them. Warily, she looked around one last time, and then collapsed with a sheer inability to go on.
When Tidus woke for the second time that day, she opened her eyes to a scene of utter chaos. At some point, a large green monster that slightly resembled a dragon had entered her sleeping place, and now several humans had joined it, but not with a friendly air.
The unfamiliar people fought with the green creature, and took turns attacking it until it collapsed in a cloud of colorful lights. The eldest man of the group approached Tidus and asked her something in a language she did not understand. At her obvious look of confusion, the man got angry and repeated what he had said not five minutes earlier, but louder.
"Look, I'm not deaf, I just have no idea what you're saying!" Tidus yelled back, her cheeks flushed at the jeers the other men threw at her. A woman stepped forward, and took the arm of the man threatening Tidus. She said some soothing words and waved her arms. The man appeared to calm down, but instantly barked out something harsh in the same, ambiguous language. Three of the other men came forward, and seized Tidus roughly.
"Hey! What's the big idea? What did I--" Tidus was suddenly silenced, as the elder man hit her on the head from behind with a heavy club. She instantly stopped resisting, and slumped down to the ground.
::Translated Al Bhed:: "That was unnecessary, Father." Rikku looked down at the girl at her feet. She's pretty... her clothes are odd, but she doesn't look like someone who belongs out here...' Rikku thought. She looked up and scratched her head. "Well, we better get her back to the ship!" With a false smile, Rikku helped her brother pick up the girl, and headed back to the boat.
Actually... she looks kind of familiar...' In her head, Rikku thought back to the cry she could have sworn she heard while sitting in her bunk not three hours ago. That's why she and her family and friends were all out at the deserted temple. Although no one else heard the scream, upon telling her father he believed it to be a message: something they needed to check out.
Shrugging her shoulders, the young Al Bhed woman continued back to her current home, ready to wake their new prisoner.
"This is starting to get ridiculous..." Tidus murmured as she once again roused herself from the world of the unconscious. "If I go down one more time today, I might just elect not to get up!" Finding herself on the deck of a large boat, but shackled to one of the masts, Tidus rolled over, and groaned. A large lump had formed on the side of her head, and with little effort she recalled the events before she passed out. "Someone hit me!" Tidus let out a long, low growl, sucked in a huge breath, and started to yell at the top of her lungs.
"If I'm going to be a prisoner, I at least demand food! Come ON, you foreign wack jobs! I'm freaking starving here, and the fact that one of you bozos hit me with a club does NOT help the matter! GET IN HERE NOW!" Out of breath, Tidus plopped down next to a wall. She raised two of her fingers to her lips and blew, letting out a long, shrill whistle. "They'll come if I annoy them enough!" Tidus whistled again and again, the effort needed to produce the sound was much less than to yell, so she continued.
"All right, all right! Will you be quiet already? If my father gets too annoyed with you, he'll just throw you off the side of the boat!" The girl from before appeared in the doorway to the ship's cabin. She still wore her red spandex outfit and goggles, although they were no longer necessary. In her hands was the most beautiful thing Tidus had seen: a plate of steaming food.
"Ohhhhhhh, I love you! Is the food for me? Yes, right? I haven't eaten in..." Tidus quickly calculated on her fingers. "Since hours before my Blitz game, and now... that makes... at least twenty-four hours!" Tidus eyed the food hungrily, and was delighted when it was set before her. Triumphantly, she dug in, but quickly made a face and gagged.
"What the hell IS this garbage?!" Tidus went as close to the edge of the boat as her shackled wrist allowed and spat over the railing. "Ugh! That was... It tasted like leather!" Tidus feigned a swoon and fell to the deck. "Now I'm gonna starve..." To Tidus, this was a worse prospect than being killed by the green dragon she had seen earlier.
The girl next to her giggled. "I've never seen such dramatic reactions to dried and boiled snow wolf!" She shook her head, two feathered braids flopping over her shoulder.
"That was wolf?! Dried and boiled? How in hell do you people live? That was... that was worse than my Dad's cooking!" Tidus spat over the railing again and pretended to wipe her tongue. "The name's Tidus. Blitz player extrordinaire from Zanarkand!" Tidus stood up and gave a huge bow, and for good measure, a curtsy.
"Zanarkand...?" The girl shook her head again and sighed. "I'm Rikku. I'm sorry, but Zanarkand was destroyed more than a thousand years ago." A look of true sorrow appeared on Rikku's face, and she looked down at her feet.
"That's not possible!" Tidus smiled at the joke; her jovial air faded when it occurred to her that Rikku wasn't kidding. "But... I was just there! With my friend, Auron! And, we were fighting something he called 'Sin,' and then, I woke up on that rock..." Tidus trailed off and looked up at Rikku, utterly confused.
"Oh... You were fighting Sin?" Tidus nodded. "The poison must have gotten to you. Probably can't remember anything about Spira, now can you?" Tidus shook her head, deep in thought. "Well, then I'd better explain."
Rikku was a great help. She tried to explain all about the land they were now in, Spira, and her people, the Al Bhed. Their language was what had confused Tidus when she first woke up, and Rikku said she would probably learn to speak bits of it as they went along.
Tidus again shook her head. This was too much. However much she tried to explain to Rikku that Zanarkand was NOT a figment of her imagination, the more upset Rikku got. Apparently, Zanarkand was a holy place, and people didn't take kindly to those who pretended to be from it.
"Look. We can take you to Luca! There are always plenty of Blitzers there, and you can meet up with your team! I'm sure somebody will recognize you!" Rikku jumped up and down, now truly excited. Just as she was going to tell the captain to change course, the ship gave a great lurch.
"Sin!" yelled Rikku, and before Tidus knew it, the Al Bhed had crowded the deck, and were firing at the giant fish with weapons Tidus recognized to be machina, or machines. The ship gave another great pitch to the side, and Tidus was tossed painfully. Her wrist shackle prevented her from falling too far, but the combined pain of the bruises from her handcuffs and the fear of drowning if the ship went down made Tidus beg to be released.
Rikku's father rushed over to the chained girl and produced the key to set her free. He also handed her back her weapon, and briskly told her to help. Tidus had no bearing for the sea, and at the next slightest movement of the ship, she fell over. Sin threw out scales, and she fought them the best she could, but without Auron, she felt useless and doomed. The ship lurched again, and this time upset Tidus so badly she slammed into the ship's handrail.
Now stuck between a rock and a hard place, Tidus tried her best to hold on and fight more Sinscales. In a roar of fury, Sin rammed the side of the Al Bhed ship, and Tidus fell over. She tucked her limbs in close and screamed, holding her sword tightly so she wouldn't drop it. Rikku ran to the rail and looked over. "Tidus!" She cried out, but had to quickly turn back to the enemies at hand. Tidus slammed into the water, and with one last cry of pain, lost her senses for the final time that day.
The Blitzball captain looked up again, and was rewarded by being hit in the head with one of the team's official practice Blitzballs. He glanced over at the teammate who had hit him and scowled, quickly looking back to the ocean. For some reason, he was positive that an evil force was at work somewhere in it, and someone he should be worried about greatly was being hurt by it. His brow furrowed in concern, and resignedly, the man turned back to his practice.
Finally... I'm done... And HUNGRY!!! I wrote the whole bit of Tidus's obnoxious yelling because of the painful hunger spasms I am currently enduring. All I've eaten all day is a nectarine. A freakin' nectarine! Grrr... This was the longest chapter I've ever written, though. I'm proud of myself. Five pages. WOOT! Hmmm... I've gotten one review on this fanfic, and it didn't answer any of my questions. First off, thank-you Harrypotterfan55 for your review, it is very much appreciated! As you all know, I do a question every chapter, and they are all still open. They are:
1) Where is the hyper, spunky Mistral (yes... I misspelled it in the first chapter... --.--) from? This is worth... 5 points!
2) Who is the author of my favorite manga, Saiyuki? 5 points!
And the new question?
3) What is the name of Akira's successor in the movie, "Akira"? This one is 8 points! Ooh... valuable! I really do keep track of this, so why don't you give it a guess?
Ok, everyone! Review, leave comments, questions, even burning, flaming balls of hate. I'll take it all!
--Mara
P.S.- I don't know when I'll update next. I'm trying to find someone to fix my computer... So, pretty much just put me on your author alert list and you'll never miss my infrequent updates!
(.)(.)(.)