Waves Hi, everyone, I'm back. I finally got around to writing…. Thank you to Kwiknok for all your completely senseless reviews (hehe), and to Th' Lady Shadow, for her excellent advice. Thanks Shad!!! School's in again, high school's hard. Enough rambling for now. See y'all later.

Therantas

Disclaimer: I don't own FFX. I'm not making any money off this, it's just for entertainment- blah, blah, blah… Are you happy now, Squaresoft? (Note: The little poem-thingy in italics is mine.)

Chapter 5: Alone in the Wild

If you knew

The world had nothing left for you

What would you do?

Tidus was the first to step off the path from the Thunder Plains and into the forest. His eyes widened at the sight of so many trees- before he'd come to Spira, the only trees he'd seen were a few small, stunted ones in Zanarkand City Park. The trees here could only be described as gigantic. As the other members of the group arrived, they too stared at the magnificent forest in front of them (except for Auron).

After spending some time staring, finally Yuna stirred. "Everyone?" The party turned to face her. "I… I've changed my mind."

"About what, Yuna?" Tidus was puzzled as to where this announcement had come from.

"I'm… going to marry Seymour. I think it would be best." Yuna spoke quietly, eyes downcast. "It would make Spira happy, so… I'll do it."

Tidus was shocked- would Yuna sacrifice her own happiness for people who only wanted her to defeat Sin for them? He opened his mouth to ask Yuna this, but a restraining hand landed on his shoulder. He turned to see Kamer, shaking her head. He frowned, but decided that keeping silent might be a good idea after all. Let her do what she wants, he thought bitterly. Why should I care? It's her life.

Auron simply asked, "Are you sure?" When Yuna nodded, he turned back to the forest. "Then let us proceed."

As everyone else left, Yuna glanced at Tidus. Seeing the expression on his face, she opened her mouth to say something- to explain herself- but found that she could not. No words came. Tidus didn't even look at her as he followed behind the others. The summoner stood there silently for a moment, then hurried to catch up.

The sun was nearing the horizon (though you could hardly see it through the trees) when the party stopped for the night. They had been walking all day, and everyone was tired. A small lake was nearby (not that one…), so it was a good place to rest. Wakka wandered down to the lakeside and looked in the water. A gasp was heard by the others, and they all came to see what caused it. Wakka was staring into the water, eyes fixed on something below the surface.

There, reflected in the water, was a red-haired woman. From the way that Wakka was staring at her, it had to be someone he knew- and from the resemblance, it must have been his mother. Other images flickered in the water, of his parents, his brother, even Yuna and Lulu when they were small. Everyone was shocked and confused; why were Wakka's memories being displayed like this?

Suddenly, in a rare flash of insight, Tidus blurted out, "Look at the pyreflies all over the place! I think this water must be what memory spheres are made of!"

Kamer realized that this was the obvious explanation for such a phenomenon, and continued gazing into the water, taking the chance to see Wakka's family. Then she noticed something else in the water, replacing the images of the blitzer's memories.

It was her father.

His smiling picture was soon replaced by others; memories of her mother, her little brother, and others from her world- the water was brazenly exhibiting her life for all to see. Kamer stood in surprise and pain, remembering those she'd left behind without even a thought. When an image of her best friend Kate flickered to life in the water, it was too much. Tears began to flow from her eyes, and she turned quickly and ran. Form flickering wildly, she took off into the forest, leaving the others in shock and bewilderment.

"…Do you think that was her family just there?" Wakka scratched his head in thought. "If it was, then why'd she freak like that? I mean, it must have been a shock, but…"

"Perhaps- perhaps they died recently? She was all alone when we found her." Though saddening, Yuna's speculation seemed to answer their questions. Rikku looked a bit worried for her new friend, but then got to work setting up camp with the others.

Tidus glanced at Rikku's troubled expression. "I'm sure she'll be back. She just needs a little time to herself."

Rikku smiled at him. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I shouldn't worry about her- Kamer can make it on her own."

They all sat quietly around their small campfire, some tired, others in thought.

Kamer flew blindly through the trees, not caring where she was going. She dodged branches left and right, nearly smacking into one. Finally she was soaring out over a lake that seemed to be full of little crystals, with a huge tree in the middle. If she hadn't been in the middle of an emotional crisis, she might have recognized the place-- as it was, she simply landed in a hollow of the tree near the water's surface.

Shifting back into human form, Kamer huddled in the shelter of the tree and began to cry. Her light frame shook with sobs, and tears streamed down the sides of her face. She cried for what seemed like hours. Finally, she sniffled, wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her shirt, and sat up.

Her thoughts moved slowly now, considering, remembering. How could I have just up and forgotten my family? They must be frantic by now! She thought about how excited she'd been upon appearing in Spira, how elated to finally get her wish. What am I DOING here? I should be at home with my family!

But then, there's really no way for me to leave, is there? She stared out into the forest, not aware of her surroundings at all. I'm here, and it's apparent from what those weird people said when I got here that I have a job to do. A horrible thought suddenly entered Kamer's head- What if I die here? Would I just wake up on Earth, or would I… She shook the thought away. She had a job to do, and just sitting here wasn't helping any.

Kamer stood up, stretching a bit, and prepared to find her way back to camp. She was about to shift form and fly off when she heard a splashing sound. Suddenly aware that there might be fiends in the area, she quickly turned toward the sound and called, "Who's there?" The only response was the sound of the crystals in the lake. Kamer shifted in to a lupine form, dark and lithe, with sharp claws and teeth. She growled loudly.

Suddenly the water lapping near her feet swirled up into several spinning, floating shapes. It frothed on the surface of the water, and Kamer recognized it as an elemental- a Water Elemental. She lashed at it with her front legs, but her claws simply passed through, doing little damage if any. The fiend responded by shooting a heavy jet of water at her, soaking her through and sending her flying into a root.

Kamer quickly righted herself, and realized that a physical attack wouldn't be effective to kill this thing. Let's see, what kills water? Thunder, that's right… thunder… wait a minute! I CAN'T DO MAGIC! She changed into a flying form and tried to escape, but the thing hit her with another water jet, knocking her out of the air. She then found that she was too wet to fly, as the water soaked her wings. Besides, she didn't think the thing would simply let her fly away.

Kamer let out a panicked scream as two more surges of water appeared on either side. Then, as their combined attacks hit her, she inhaled water. Spots swirled in her sight, and she fell into darkness.

"Kimahri hear something." The blue Ronso looked up from the fire, focusing. "Splash, and thump. Could be battle."

"A battle? Perhaps some fiends are fighting among themselves." Tidus was unconcerned, still gazing into the flames as he thought about the past, and the recent actions of a certain summoner.

That same summoner shook her head. "No, it's not often that fiends fight each other. I wonder what it could be?" The answer was soon apparent as a panicked scream tore through the forest's stillness. The group were on their feet in seconds, and Rikku's eyes were wide.

"That was Kamer's voice! I know it!" Rikku turned in the direction the scream had come from. "She must be in trouble!"

Wakka was skeptical. "She can handle herself, ya?"

Lulu shook her head. "I don't know. She only just participated in combat for the first time today. And if she can't do magic, then there are fiends in this forest-" She was cut off by Tidus drawing his sword.

"Come on! We gotta go help!" Then the blonde warrior ran off into the trees, toward the source of the scream. The party followed, only Kimahri remaining to guard the camp because he didn't care. When they arrived at a lake, three elementals appeared from the water. Lulu quickly took care of them with a well-placed Thundara spell. Auron was the first to spot a still form lying on the tree in the center of the lake.

"There." Auron pointed. Yuna immediately spotted her, and quickly summoned Valefor.

"Go get that girl, and bring her back here," she instructed the winged Aeon, "but be gentle." Valefor immediately obeyed, picking up Kamer in its claws and depositing her on the shore. She was not breathing.

Tidus thought frantically- all blitzball players in Zanarkand were taught to help someone who had inhaled water, due to the chance of a player being unable to hold his breath long enough. He bent down to Kamer, put both hands to her chest, and pressed sharply three times. Kamer immediately began to cough, spitting out water in between taking breaths. (AN: Look, I don't know how to save a drowning person- I'm just assuming.)

Slowly, the coughing stopped, and Kamer was able to sit up. She looked around with wide eyes at the people standing over her. She then hugged her knees to herself, shivering, and mumbled something along the lines of "couldn't touch them". Tidus assisted her in standing, and she was able to walk back to the camp with relatively little assistance.

Finally, with a blanket wrapped around her and a warm fire in front of her, the shapeshifter was able to tell them what had transpired. "I was just getting ready to come back to camp after calming down, and I heard this noise. It was a water elemental, and I tried to kill it- but my claws went right through without harming it." Lulu nodded, knowing how hard it was to kill an elemental without magic. "It shot me with water, and slammed me into a wall. Then two more of them appeared, and they all hit me at once…" She trailed off, looking at the ground. "If you guys hadn't come, I would have died… Thank you for saving my life."

Lulu frowned at her. "Whatever possessed you to go out there alone? You knew there were fiends in the forest!"

Kamer was ashamed. "I just… freaked out, okay? I wasn't thinking about where I was going, or anything else. I'm definitely sure that I'll never do it again." She laughed weakly. "I don't ever want to be alone in the wild for the rest of my life." The others nodded, and then Auron declared that he was tired, chose a spot, and promptly fell asleep. Everyone decided to go to sleep then, leaving Kimahri on guard. Kamer, as a cat, stretched curled up on the ground near Yuna, while Rikku climbed into a nearby tree branch.

A quiet round of "good night" was heard, and then the forest was silent.

AN: Okay, wow. Done with this, finally. This part was quite fun to write, actually. Fun stuff next chapter, see you all there.