Hello. I said that I'd be back soon, so I am. I thought that last chapter was a little short. Besides, I can't leave this story alone. I'm too attached! If the characters seem a little too trusting, I apologize. I tried to make it realistic, but they have to trust her a little, so that they can go on. I'll expand on Kamer's relationship with the entire group in this chapter. Oh, yeah! I got 10 reviews!! Thanks to everyone who liked my story. I love you all! One last thing: When you're finished reading this chapter, go read Th'Lady Shadow's Dreams Come True and Fire Rules' A Time For Reflection. They're both awesome, sweet, well-written fics. Now, on with the tale!

Disclaimer: I do not own FFX, Spira, or any of the characters (except Kamer, of course). Please don't sue. Please? I'm begging you.

Chapter 3: The Journey

Kamereon stepped out of the Farplane gate. She took a deep breath, and turned to look at the summoner and her guardians. Auron simply stood, watching her like a hawk. Kimahri was a little more open- he had his lance out, and was pointing it straight at her. Rikku looked at her with a small frown on her face; then it brightened into her customary smile. This gave Kamer nerve enough to stutter out, "Um… hi?"

"Kimahri no like this. New person not smell right. Have no smell at all." Kimahri advanced a step, causing Kamereon to back up quickly, and almost fall over. Then she remembered her abilities, and stood up straight.

"Well, that doesn't mean that you have to point your weapon at her like that! Look, you're scaring her!" Rikku bounded up to Kimahri and pushed his lance point into the ground. "Put your weapons away! She's only a little girl!"

Dammit, why does everyone call me little? I'm not THAT short! Kamer stiffened, and suddenly found herself about 3 inches taller. "You know, Rikku, you must be pretty little yourself, since you're only about a year older than I am!" she said, indignant. "Also, I could technically be older than you!" Suddenly an old woman, with white hair and wrinkles, stood where the teenager had been. "So no more calling me little, all right?" Then Kamer changed back to normal. She noticed that Auron, Rikku, and Kimahri were staring at her, Rikku with jaw almost to the floor.

"O… Okay." Rikku finally managed to speak. "How did you do that, um…"

"Kamereon. Kamer, for short. I can just do it- just like Yuna can summon Aeons, I can do this. It's a power that I was granted. Don't stare at me like that, please- I hate being treated differently, even if I am odd." Kamer looked at Tidus. "I take it you didn't have time to explain?"

"Nope. This going to take some getting used to." Tidus turned to Auron, Rikku, and Kimahri. "Kamer is going to be traveling with us." Kimahri growled, but said nothing. Auron humphed, then turned away. Kamer grinned nervously at Rikku, who returned a reassuring smile.

"Yuna, have you made a decision?" Auron asked in his usual, straightforward way.

"Oh… yes. I've decided not to marry Seymour."

"Then we should go tell him so that we can keep going." Kamer and Rikku both shot Auron a glare.

"Yes, Sir Auron. You're right." Yuna walked down the tunnel to the rest of Guadosalam. Tidus and the rest of the group followed.

"Waste of time…" muttered Kamer.

Rikku, who was standing nearby, heard her. "What?"

"Nothing…"

"Come on then, let's go!" Rikku headed down the tunnel.

Kamer thought for a second. Better not let too many people see me- I don't want to attract too much attention. She darted out of sight of the Guado guards and became a dog the size of a Great Dane- it was as small as she could get in a short amount of time. She then trotted down to catch up with Rikku. The Al Bhed girl turned in surprise to see a huge dog walking by her side. She was even more surprised when the dog barked loudly, then winked at her.

Rikku shook her head. Tidus was right- this IS going to take some getting used to, she thought. She then patted the dog on the head, and grinned when the dog looked up at her. "What? You look like a dog, so can't I treat you like one?" She jumped when the dog spoke in understandable English.

"I'm only going to stay like this until we get out of the city, so don't get any notions of me as a pet. I'm human too… well, most of the time." Kamereon then went silent, because they had entered the main area of Guadosalam. Rikku and the canine were given strange looks by those who didn't remember seeing a dog with them before. Tidus and the rest of the group were waiting at the entrance to the palace. Yuna had already gone inside. Tidus began to have a long conversation with Lulu. Kamer was interested as to what the "real" Tidus thought of Yuna, but she didn't want to look too interested, so she went and lay down near a wall. Rikku followed her over and sat down next to her.

"I'm glad that you're going to travel with us, Kamer." Rikku spoke quietly. "There was never anyone that I could really talk to- nobody close to my age. Or, well, sort of close to my age." The blonde began to idly scratch Kamer in between the ears. This caused Kamer to stiffen for a second, but then the dog relaxed and yawned widely. Then the black dog laid its head on its paws and seemed to doze off, Rikku still scratching its head.

Later, Tidus and Lulu returned to the palace. Lulu commented, "Don't fall in love with her. Kamer's ears perked up at this.

Tidus stood still for a moment. Love… Am I in love with Yuna? Thoughts spun through his head: his first meeting with Yuna, the time in Luca when he taught her to whistle, and the night before, when he had asked Yuna what she wanted. He ended up with no doubts about his answer."Too late." He whispered. Kamer and Lulu both heard.

Lulu responded by saying, "You'd better keep your feelings inside, then." She turned away. Kamer smiled secretly, then suddenly stood up and shook herself, then trotted up to the palace doorway and barked.

Tidus strode over and said, "What's taking so long?" The dog simply pushed open the door with her head and went inside. "Good idea." Tidus followed. They found Yuna on the stairs leading up to the second floor, looking at paintings of former maesters. A Guado emerged from the inner palace and told them that Seymour had departed for Macalania Temple, because he was not expecting Yuna's answer so soon. Kamer snorted and departed the palace. Tidus went up to Yuna. "Hey, let's go- if you're ready."

Yuna turned, and smiled at him. "Yes, I'm ready. We should leave." The group stopped near the tunnel to the Thunder Plains.

"Wait a second… we can't go down there! That's the Thunder Plains! There's lightning there, and thunder!" Rikku was obviously terrified. Kamer turned to her and whined. Rikku didn't understand, and she was NOT going to go down there. Kamer realized that this could take a while if she didn't do something, so she checked to make sure no Guados were around, then moved in front of Rikku and spoke.

"Come on, Rikku, we've got to go down there sometime." Tidus jumped at hearing the dog speak. Auron said nothing, and Kimahri growled softly. The rest of the group was looking at Rikku. The blonde shook her head, still frightened. Kamer continued speaking. "It's the only way to get to Lake Macalania. You do want to help Yuna, right?"

"Yes…"

"Well then, we have to go through here. It'll be okay. There are towers that attract the lightning. You're not going to get hit, like when you were little. Okay?"

"Okay…"

"Good. Come on, let's go." Kamer mentally whacked herself again. Rikku hasn't told us why she's afraid of lightning… I need to stop saying things that I shouldn't know! She was glad that nobody had noticed, and tried to continue normally. The dog proceeded to trot down to the Thunder Plains. Rikku followed, nervously, and Yuna, along with the other guardians, came after.

Once on the Thunder Plains, Rikku lost her nerve again. "Uh… guys? I think I left something back in Guadosalam." Auron rolled his eyes and was about to say something when the canine shimmered, and Kamer, in her normal human form, stood.

"The only other option is staying behind, Rikku… It's your choice, but we're going on." Kamer grinned. "Plus, you might get to see Tidus hit by lightning!" Tidus grumbled something about "stupid new girl", but didn't do anything. Rikku cheered up a little, but she still darted toward the nearest tower.

Time passed, and the group was about halfway to the Travel Agency when they had to move across an unsheltered spot. Kamer was walking beside Rikku in human form when she saw a flash in the sky. Oh, shit. She yelled "Watch out!" and dove at Rikku. A lightning bolt struck where Rikku had been- but Kamer wasn't fast enough, and it hit her in the arm.

Rikku got up slowly, staring at where she'd been standing. Then she noticed that Kamer was still on the ground. "Are you okay, Kamer?" Kamer struggled to her knees, shook her head, and managed to stand up unsteadily. There was a large, black burn on her forearm where she had been hit.

"I think so." Then the shapeshifter tried to push herself up, but her wounded arm wouldn't support her weight; she fell to the ground again. "Argh…" Wakka grabbed her arm and helped her stand up. "Oww… damn. That hurt…"

"Kimahri think scentless one get what it deserve."

"Kimahri!" Yuna frowned. "We can't leave her like this!"

Kamer sighed. "No, no, Yuna, don't. You'll tire yourself, and there's a ways to go… I don't want to slow you down." She tried to move her arm again, and winced. "I'll do my best to keep up."

"Good. Now let's keep moving." Auron then continued toward the Travel Agency. Everyone except Rikku followed.

"Rikku?" Kamer stopped and turned when she realized Rikku wasn't following. Rikku was silent, looking at the dirt. She looked up at the sound of Kamer's voice, and hurried to catch up.

"I wanted to say… thank you for saving me. How did you know that bolt was coming?" Rikku was curious.

"The flashes in the sky… If you see one, jump to the side. That way you won't get hit."

"Oh, okay! You seem to have been to all these places before... You must travel a lot."

"You have no idea."

So… Chap. 4 done. Kind of a long chapter, but it was fun to write. I hope ya liked it. Now go read those other fics I told you about, if you haven't already. Next chapter up soon- now that school's almost over, I have more time to write. See ya later!