**I am sooooo sorry! I've been busy. There was this whole party at school, and between that and PROM....gr. Anyway! PLEEEEASE review and enjoy the chap! The next one will be ESPECIALLY interesting, BTW, lol...have fun!**
It was only a half hour later when the group reached the entrance leading up to Mt. Gagazet. Niet packed the backpacks once more and all three girls bid a sad farewell to the chocobos and the wagon, unhitching the former and sending them back towards the inn with a small note around their necks.
"'Property of Lady Arashi and her Guardians,'" Yueh wrote in an untidy, hurried scrawl. "'Take care of them until one of us, if any, return. If none return after the Calm, please give to either Ben of New Besaid or Katy of the Al Bhed. Thank you, and may Yevon be with you.'" Yueh had to stop her gag reflex while writing the last part.
The trio watched as the chocobos sped off into the distance, and Niet let out a sigh before turning to face the entrance.
"We're back to where we started: three girls with backpacks and empty stomachs."
Yueh almost fell over. "Niet, we ate just an hour ago!"
Niet gave a haughty look. "I have stupid metabolism…"
"She gets bad gas mileage," Arashi quipped, passing both of them into the entrance.
"Ye--Hey!" Niet shouted, running after the blond.
Yueh shook her head. They really were back to the beginning…but so close to the end, too. I'd better think of something soon, or else, we really will die. She followed the other two through the darkish small cave and felt a chill go over her. At first, she chalked it up to nervousness, but then she remembered what the climate of Gagazet was like.
"Samui da yo," Arashi commented quietly. 'Its cold.' She pulled a blanket out of Niet's pack and wrapped it around her shoulders and backpack.
"Hey, that's mine! I'm cold too!" Niet said indignantly, trying to pull the blanket off Arashi's back.
"Watashi no," Arashi insisted. 'Mine.' She tugged at the blanket, and Niet lost her grip, falling into a now decent covering of snow. She shivered.
"I'm the one wearing shorts and a tank top," Yueh piped up. "I'm the one who needs the blanket, really…" She heard a growl of dissent from up ahead, and tried (unsuccessfully) to cover up a gasp.
She was staring straight into the fierce, unblinking eyes of a Ronso. Yueh swallowed hard and gave a small bow. "Uh, hi."
"Summoner need blanket more than Guardian," the Ronso stated with a grunt. Yueh shrunk back and nodded quietly. The male Ronso was much scarier than she had ever imagined.
"I think we could all use blankets," Arashi said, stepping up. She stared down the Ronso silently for a moment. "Do you have cloaks that we could buy?"
"That her job," the Ronso said, pointing with a sharp claw just down the snowy road to a female Ronso sitting on a rock next to a large leather bag. Arashi nodded thanks and strode calmly forward. Niet got up and trailed Yueh, who kept her head down low and avoiding eye contact from the Ronso. How can Arashi look these guys in the eye?
Arashi approached the female Ronso and bowed deeply. "Hello. I am Arashi, and these are my guardians, Yueh and Niet." She pointed to them in turn, and Yueh gave a nervous wave. The female Ronso regarded the two with a nod before turning her gaze back to Arashi.
"What you like, Summoner?"
Yueh sneezed, and gained a glare from both Ronso within sight. She winced and stood behind Niet to hide herself from the two. You'd think they'd never heard someone sneeze before.
Arashi largely ignored this. "I would like three cloaks, if you have them." She pulled the blanket over her shoulders tightly as if to prove a point. "We're all rather cold, and they don't sell anything like that in the Calm Lands."
The female Ronso nodded thoughtfully. "Cloaks. Jinka make cloaks well. What colors?"
"Uh…" Arashi looked back at the other two. "Colors, guys?"
"Forest green," Niet said.
"Dark red?" Yueh half-asked.
"And I'd like a dark blue, if you have it," Arashi stated, turning back once more to the female Ronso.
Jinka nodded slowly once again, and reached over at a particularly slow speed to her bulging backpack. Yueh, had she not been frozen by both the snow and her terror, would have preferred to just go up there herself and grab the stupid cloaks out.
"Jinka have colors. Pay first. Five thousand gil for three."
Yueh's fear was temporarily forgotten in lieu of the mention of price. "Five thousa--"
"We'll take them," the summoner spoke over her. Yueh stepped back yet again when the male Ronso from before let out a low growl. What a grouch, she thought.
Jinka took their money and gave Arashi the cloaks. Arashi tossed them to their new respective owners, who had to take off their backpacks before putting on the cloak. Yueh threw the cloak on herself and was completely shrouded in darkness for a moment. The cloak had obviously been meant for a Ronso rather than a human, and Yueh was shorter than even the average human was. She pulled the covering down even farther so she could she.
She had a hard time not giggling. Her hands were completely covered over by at least 7 inches of the dark fabric, and the hem at the bottom was quite quickly getting soaked through with the snow. She did have to admit, however, that it was quite a well-made cloak. Yueh no longer had the feeling that she was stuck inside a freezer. Instead, she was perfectly warm and sheltered from the wind.
There was still, however, the matter that she had trouble seeing out of the gaping hood, as well as even being able to use her hands in any normal manner. Yueh looked to Niet for help, but saw that both she and Arashi were having the same problems she herself was having. Although, it seemed Arashi had it better than the other two: she was at least 5 inches taller, and her cloak seemed to have been made for a teenage Ronso rather than a full-grown Ronso.
All three girls looked back at Jinka who, to everyone's surprise, let out a low chuckle.
"Cloak will resize. Mage helped Jinka make them. Trust Jinka. Wait." She smiled, all her pointy teeth gleaming somewhat kindly. Still, Yueh wasn't completely reassured, and figured she would have felt better had Jinka not smiled. "Watch."
Yueh looked down to see the cloak slowly shrink to her height. The hem stopped so it just barely grazed the ground, and the sleeves quit shrinking as soon as the ends barely covered her fingertips. Niet's had done much the same, and Arashi's had been fine to begin with.
"Jinka told you. Now, go talk to head Ronso. He welcome you." She nodded firmly before going back into a sort of stupor seated on the rock.
Yueh scooted up to Arashi and hid behind her form. Arashi's body half blocked the remaining wind that blew Yueh's bangs around. Niet hid behind both of them, most likely in the same hope.
"So now we have to find the head Ronso," Niet muttered.
"He's probably just up ahead," Yueh told her. She pulled up her hood in an effort to block more of the wind. As they were walking into it, it was no use: the gusts simply blew the hood back onto her shoulders. She cursed under her breath as they approached yet another Ronso.
"Lady Arashi." He bowed. "Nice to finally meet you. I hope your pilgrimage so far has been…well?"
Arashi smiled despite the wind. "Quite." Yueh knew Arashi was lying through her teeth. "It has been rather uneventful, as much as they can be, I suppose." Yueh thought she could hear Arashi's teeth grind together, but the Ronso didn't seem to notice.
"Wonderful. I hope your journey up through Mount Gagazet goes just as well. May Yevon be with you." Another bow, and he stepped back. He swept his arm towards the high rising mountain, and smiled. "I hope you complete your journey."
"Thank you," all three girls said in unison. Arashi led the way up the trail, with Yueh, then Niet, following.
Yueh shook her head wildly. "Those guys were scary."
"No kidding!" Niet said. She pulled up her hood and held it up with her hands. "I got worse shivers looking at them than from the cold."
"They weren't that scary," Arashi put in. She shrugged. "They kinda remind me of my cats I used to have back home. Chance, especially. He was this big cat, all white with black spots that made him look like a cow…" She trailed off, her voice fading into the wind.
"Are you okay, Arashi?" Niet asked suddenly. "Is it because…because we're so close?"
Arashi shook her head. "No. Its…nothing." She kept her eyes straight forward. "Nothing. I just miss them, that's all."
Niet patted Arashi on the shoulder. "We'll see them again soon, I know it. We'll beat Sin without calling the final Aeon, and totally kick its butt back to the Otherworld!" She pumped a fist in the air, her robe's sleeve falling all the way up to her shoulder.
"I think you're Rikku in this universe, or something," Yueh said, laughing. The three walked side-by-side up the mountain. Yueh was still nervous inside, but she trusted Arashi. Everything would work out…
Right?
*-*-*-*-*
Genki was certain that Mariana had taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way. Mount Gagazet was snowy and cold. This place was most certainly neither. In fact, this place was downright scalding with sand as far as the eye could see.
He had woken up staring at the ceiling of a cloth tent, and quickly realized that he was in the Sanubian desert. Genki scrambled to his feet and ran outside of the tent, looking around everywhere for his wife.
He didn't have to look very far at all, for she was sitting on the small beachside, her toes grazing the water lightly, and her eyes staring out at the horizon. He ran up next to her and kneeled down in the wet sand beside her.
"Mariana? I think we took a wrong turn somewhere. Weren't we supposed to go to Mount Gagazet?" Genki waved a hand in front of Mariana's unresponsive face. "Mariana? Love?"
"We took the right turn." Mariana's face remained forward, towards the open sea. Her eyes seemed focused on something Genki couldn't see in the distance. "Those girls…none of them are strong enough. They will fail to beat Sin. I've seen it before…"
"Summoners who rely on luck and blessings from others. But when it comes down to the time to receive the final aeon and bring the Calm…they fail. My parents always told me about those kind of summoners. We never talked to those types. Only one of them ever really succeeded."
Genki swallowed. "Who was that?"
Mariana's eyes narrowed, and she whispered quietly. "Braska." She finally moved, slamming a tight fist into the sand and water. "That idiot Braska. Killing Sin for vengeance for his wife…it was just a waste. You have to do it for yourself. That's the only way…the only way."
Genki tried to speak, but stumbled over his words so much that he just gave up when Mariana stood and brushed off the sand. She left her shoes off, to his surprise, and simply kept them in her left hand as she walked into the desert. He blinked his chocolate brown eyes and jogged up next to her. He opened his mouth to speak, but was dumbfounded by the odd look Mariana had on her face.
She was smiling, the corners of her mouth just barely upturned, but still, it was a smile.
Genki gave one of his usual sighs and kept quiet. He knew well enough by know…she'd explain more when she was good and ready.
…which is usually a long time from when I'm good and ready to know… He heaved another sigh and adjusted the bag on his back, ready for yet another long walk of silence.