**Bad authoress, bad! BAD! Y'see, peoples, my family's been working on MOVING, and school absolutely sucks...so I am sooooo sorry about the lack of a new chapter until now! Writer's block is slightly to blame...gomen nasai. So, finally, the start of the second arc! Yay! The updates will be more frequent from now on (except for finals week which is in two weeks O_O). I promise, lol. Pleeeeeeease stick with me...I feel like such a bad authoress...gomen nasai, and enjoy!**
The blackness was still there when Yueh felt something coming back to her senses. She heard mumbling between three distinct voices. What were these voices? Sins of the past?
She felt achy all over. So this was what it was like to be Sin…achy, and darkness surrounding your every side. But…her body still felt the same. Did you exist as yourself inside Sin, never changing from your past self until the next Sin came along?
The voices became clearer now. "Are any of the others up yet?"
Another voice, this one a bit deeper. "Not yet. The summoner is still in a deep sleep, but the other one might wake up soon."
The first voice sighed. "I hope I didn't hurt her when I fell…"
The other voice choked. "Dude, you got hit by one nasty chick and have scars all along your arm to show for it. And you're worried about falling down?"
What's going on? Aren't I…Sin?
Light began to return to Yueh's eyes. Her eyelids fluttered, and she could barely make out a scruffy-haired blond with wire frame glasses kneeling over her. There was a bandage on his left upper arm, and that same shoulder of his shirt was torn up and a slight bit bloodied.
"Hey, I didn't turn into an Auron, now, did I?" He took a quick look back at Yueh and did a double take. "Hey, she's waking up!"
"I'll go get Hunter," the other, still unassociated voice said. The first young helped Yueh to sit up straight. He put a hand on her shoulder.
"You okay? Yueh, right?" Yueh nodded vaguely, still afraid to move much more for the achiness that she was currently feeling all over. She took a moment to take the new figure in.
He wore mainly tan and light brown garments, with what looked like a karate gi as the main part of it. A dark brown sash wrapped over his shoulder and around his waist as a belt, connected off to the left side with a charm that was similar color to Arashi's crescent moon and in the shape of the planet of Saturn. A small shield was tied onto his right shoulder, and his left was bandaged and bloodied. He also had dark brown knee-high boots, the left with a small dagger attached to the side.
"I'm Gage," he introduced. His voice was somehow strong and gentle at the same time. It was powerful, but not in a threatening way. "The other guy who was just here is Mattian, and the guy he's getting is Hunter. But you probably heard that much."
Yueh nodded again. Hunter…why did that name sound familiar? She put her hand to her head and felt a bandage wrapped around it. Gage chuckled nervously.
"Ah, Mattian had to carry you out but not before Yunalesca had her say in the matter. She nicked you with a piece of stone instead of him, and you started bleeding," Gage explained. "Mattian bandaged you up as well as he could, but he had a harder time with me."
Yueh was about to ask why when two young men walked up next to Gage.
The first was quite tall, and had dark brown hair. It was fairly long, and tied back with a piece of leather into a ponytail. Small wisps had escaped it and hung just about his face. Two leather belts crossed over his chest and tank top, meeting and attaching to one another at a square of darker leather with a small, dark green charm that looked like a comet attached to it. He had a belt that was rather similar to Auron's, with a large wrap-around and a belt holding it onto him. His pants were a bright red, with large black side seams. They hung out of his knee-high boots, which were a dark brown with pitch-black seams at an odd angle wrapped around both. The same odd, almost Y pattern was also on his upper left arm. On his right arm was a bracer with the same pattern.
The second young man was someone Yueh instantly recognized. He was the blitzer in the dome who had stared at her right before the attack on the stadium. His hair was a lighter brown, but still long and shaggy. He almost had a mullet, to be perfectly honest. He wore nothing on his chest, and had shorts that went just past his knees. A sash of sorts wrapped around his waist like a belt, with a small, sun-shaped charm tying the cloth together. His tan shorts had red markings on them, two lines with V-shapes in-between them. He had ties all along his upper left arm and a thick leather bracelet on his right wrist. He wore a scruffy dark blue bandanna around his forehead, and had sandals on his feet. Yueh had a hard time looking at him.
"'Bout time you got up," Mattian commented. He held a large sword over his shoulder, definitely giving off the aura of the master guardian Auron himself. "We were beginning to think you never would."
"He's more compassionate than he sounds," Gage reassured. "We thought the hit to your head had caused more damage, but now that you're awake…"
"No white magic?" Yueh asked vaguely. Gage shook his head.
"Other than Haste, I'm afraid not. We've been trying to convince Hunter to learn some, but he doesn't want to, I guess," Gage said, shrugging. "Anyway, now that you're awake, Hunter can stay with you while we try to wake your companions." Gage gestured to Mattian, and the two headed off in the opposite direction.
For the first time, Yueh took in her surroundings. There was a white ceiling, so she couldn't be outside, unless the sky had become incredibly cloudy and had rivets in it. And the sun had turned into separate light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. She shifted a leg to a more comfortable position, and bounced up and down a bit. So I'm on a bed…I've gotta be on the airship, if there's lights… She rubbed her head lightly and looked at Hunter. Trying to start a conversation, she asked, "So, I'm in the airship, huh?" Hunter merely nodded, his long brown hair bobbing up and down. Yueh coughed, clearing her throat, and looked down at the bed.
"Uh, so…how'd you guys find us?" Yueh asked quietly. Hunter shrugged, and Yueh cocked her head to one side. "Don't you talk?"
Gage heard this from across the room and retorted, "He does, but since the attack on the Blitz stadium in Luca, he's had a, uh…" Gage chuckled, and Hunter shot him a look that would freeze most people in their tracks. "…a slight accent. C'mon, Hunter, I'm sure Yueh wouldn't mind hearing you talk…" He chuckled again before turning back to another figure on the bed, trying to wake them up by tapping them on the shoulder. Judging from the snoring Yueh heard, that person had to be Arashi.
Yueh turned her eyes back to Hunter. "An accent? What does he mean?"
Hunter's face turned a deep shade of crimson, and, his hands balled into fists at his sides, he said through clenched teeth, "He means I sound like Wakka, ya?" Yueh choked back laughter, out of some sort of pity for the young man--he had Wakka's accent, all right, every little nuance of it down to the 'ya' at the end of sentences. He, of course, noticed, and went into a small rant. "I didn't ask for 'dis, ya? After the attack…it just happened, ya?" He turned around and stomped a foot on the metal floor. "Stupid! I didn't want 'dis!"
"Calm down, Hunter, its not that bad," Mattian said from further across the room. This is a huge room…where are we, the biggest suite on the ship? He was, presumably, trying to wake up Niet. He had bandages in his hands as well, so Niet must have gotten a bi scratched, too, Yueh figured. Gage continued his chuckling nearby, making Hunter more infuriated.
"Quit laughing, brudda! If you'd've ended up wit an accent like Tidus, you wouldn't be laughin' now, ya?" Hunter shouted out, waving an arm around wildly. Gage cringed at the thought and stopped laughing shortly thereafter. Hunter, beginning to calm down, turned back to Yueh and actually grinned at her. "That always gets him to shuddup, ya?" This time, Yueh laughed with him.
"I wouldn't want a voice like Tidus, either," Yueh concurred, giggling. Hunter finally sat down on the bed next to her, and Yueh resumed her questions. "Seriously, though, how did you guys find us?"
Hunter's face contorted slightly, and he shrugged again. "I dunno, really. Gage said he knew where you guys were, ya? So, there we went, and there you were," he said. He lowered his voice, which was, thankfully, covered by Arashi's ever increasingly loud snoring. "I tink he's keepin' somethin' from the rest of us, ya? He always had 'dis look on his face, like he knew somethin' more'n the rest of us."
Yueh's eyes blinked rapidly. It sounded like…like…
"Arashi was always kind of the same way," Yueh murmured. "She always…was one step ahead of us."
Hunter nodded, and said solemnly, "It's a conspiracy, ya?" Yueh choked back yet another laugh. The seriousness with which he had said that combined with his whacked-out island accent was just too much. Hunter simply rolled his eyes and stood up.
"I'm…sorry," Yueh said between giggles. "Its just…"
"Ya, ya, I know," Hunter said, waving a hand helplessly. "Gage and Mattian do the same thing t'me, ya?" He sighed. "And I was fine with all 'dis Sin stuff 'til I got 'dis stupid accent…"
Yueh was about to say something when Gage shouted out, "Yo, guys, she's getting up!" Yueh peeked around Hunter's form to see Arashi sitting upright on the bed, with a wrap of gauze and bandage around her right wrist. Arashi's golden blond hair was surprisingly not messed up, but her glasses were, as usual, lopsided on her face, and her goggles sat around her neck. She had her head leaned to one side and was taking in the situation.
She paused before looking at Gage, Hunter, and Mattian in turn. She gave a small grin and a wave. "Hi."
The boys all blinked slowly, and Yueh laughed again, falling back onto her bed. Hunter turned around and looked at her, a questioning look on his face.
"She's fine," Yueh said finally. She saw Arashi stretch, crack the kinks out of her neck, and shake Gage's hand.
"I presume you know who I am…and you are?" she asked politely.
Gage blinked. "Uh…I'm Gage, he's Hunter, and he's Mattian…"
"Ah! So, Hunter and…" She turned around and saw Mattian, which was when she jumped up a little on her bed and squeaked happily. "Mattian? Matt, you're kidding me--you're in on this crazy thing, too?"
Mattian laughed. "So you recognize me, eh?"
"Duh. Glad you guys came to rescue us." Arashi stretched again, cracking noises emanating from her back and neck. "I really thought that was it…that we really would have to defeat Sin that way…"
"Not if I have anything to say about it," Gage said suddenly. For Y--"
Arashi's hand suddenly covered Gage's mouth. He stopped, his eyes wide.
"Not yet, Gage. Trust me."
Hunter and Yueh looked at each other knowingly. It really is a conspiracy…what do they know that they won't tell us?
Arashi removed her hand from Gage's mouth and grinned suddenly. "We'll tell the rest of you later, when the time is right. For now, however…" She pretended to look at a watch on her hand, counting seconds. "We should get some food ready, because Niet's going to wake up in five…four…three…two…one…"
Niet sat up straight in her bed across the way and looked around. She sniffed lightly. "Where's the food?"
Mattian fell off the bed in surprise, and Hunter raised an eyebrow. Gage looked to Arashi, who was still smiling widely.
"Well? Where is it?" Arashi asked, sliding off her bed.
Yueh simply shook her head. Same old Arashi…but a whole new chapter in their adventure had begun.
She was sure of it.