Mari: Ahem. I had to change the content of this chapter because I just got a new sphere in the game.

Toey: Yep. Unluckily for us, the sphere took place in this particular boat scene.

Mari: Turns out Paine only started being mean after –

Toey: whispers Shut up! No one has to know we failed.

Mari: Uh right. Well, anyway, I changed this chapter a little bit, so read away!

The caravan bumped across the dunes. Most of the ride passed in silence, but for a few small conversations between Baralai and Gippal. Paine busied herself with polishing her sword, and Nooj stared blankly into the open sands.

Upon arriving at the dock, Paine was surprised at the small size of the remaining group. It was only about a fourth of the people that had arrived. She tried not to think of what happened to the other members.

"Congratulations," the man in green said, "You have passed the first exercise. You will promptly be escorted back to Luca where you will have a two-day's rest. Then you will undertake one final mission to determine if you have passed into the Crimson Squad. Board the boat!"

The disheveled soldiers shuffled onto the boat in the growing dark. Paine followed, brushing the sand out of her hair. She stood out over the bow of the ship as it sailed into the dark ocean. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her three group members sitting together, looking tired and worn from the days' hectic events.

She sauntered over and sat down, lifting up her camera. Gippal looked at her and scoffed. "You're still doing that?" he asked.

Paine pursed her lips. "It's my job," she replied coolly. Gippal only shook his head. She turned the camera on again, recording their conversation.

Baralai, who was sitting cross-legged looked up at the sky. "So what do you make of this Operation Mi'ihen?" he asked, referring to Mushroom Rock's plan to destroy Sin with machina.

Gippal sat back against the mast. "With a weapon like that it's gotta work, right?"

"It's that powerful?" Baralai said in awe. "A machina that can topple Sin...Wow... That's a little scary."

His friend looked down. "Machina this, machina that. There's nothing to worry about if you use 'em right." Baralai didn't respond. "So, once we get Sin, then the Calm'll come. Got anything exciting planned?"

Baralai chuckled. "I haven't really thought about it."

"It sounds dull," Nooj said from his spot by the rail.

The Yevonite laughed and got to his feet. "First he wants to drop dead, now he's looking for excitement?"

Gippal stood as well. "Guess we better think of something fun to keep Nooj entertained, eh?"

"Brats," Nooj snapped as they approached him.

The other two looked at each other, then started laughing. There was no real reason, but the day's events had taken their toll on their sanity. Paine laughed with them, for the first time. She hardly noticed when Baralai approached her.

"Why don't you join us?" he asked, taking the camera from her hands.

Paine's smile faded, replaced with her usual, cold, sullen expression. "It isn't my place," she said, and turned away, walking to the bow of the ship. She crossed her arms and took a deep breath of the salty air. Gippal followed and took the camera from her hands.

"Hey!" she protested. "Give that back!" She chased him back to the others. "Come on! You better not break it, or it's my ass they'll be dragging down to Kinoc!"

Gippal shrugged as he fiddled with the buttons. "Come on! Let loose and have some fun with it! I want to test one of these out! Besides, I'm an Al Bhed. I've handled airships; I think can handle a camera. So there's no need to worry." He brought it up to his eye. "And...Action!" he turned on the camera. "So, whaddaya got in mind for fun?" he asked again. "Any ideas, Dr. P?"

She looked at him a little oddly. "Me?" She asked. Then put a hand on her hip, deep in thought. "A ship that glides through the air," she finally said. "The thing that you mentioned before. If it's for real, I wanna fly it." A feeling of Déjà vu came over her. She had talked like this before. Lying on the roof of the Agency with her brothers.

"You get to be pilot, then," Baralai said. "And maybe I'll try my hand at navigation."

Gippal nodded. "Then I'll be engineer!"

"Nooj?" Baralai asked

Paine sauntered over to him. "Captain," she simply said. Baralai rubbed his chin. "Ah, that's perfect," he mused.

Nooj scoffed. "You'd let an amateur be captain?" he asked, the barest tint of sarcasm showing in his voice.

"Chill out, Noojster," the Al Bhed replied, "All you've gotta do is shut up and look important and you'll fit the part."

"Like a glove," Paine added.

He looked at them. "I'll work you like dogs," he said. The four of them laughed again. Gippal, being the self absorbed person he was, took the camera and waved at it. But just as he flipped it off, it fell down to the deck.

Paine sighed. "Great," she said. "You broke it." She shook her head and cursed herself for being so careless. For a few brief minutes, she had become the fun loving, caring person she used to be before Sin came. Laughing, joking with people who felt like her older brothers. She bent down to pick up the broken camera. The drop had jammed the sphere lock in place, so she couldn't get it out. All the better. She didn't want to remember this anyway. Shaking her head, she walked away to the other side of the ship.

"Hey," Gippal's voice said from behind her, "What's up? I would have expected that from metal-butt guy over there, but what do you have against us?"

She replied without turning around, "I am here to do a job and get paid. I shouldn't be laughing while the souls of my family wander the Farplane." Why didn't this Al Bhed idiot understand? She just wanted to be left alone.

Gippal rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I'm sure they wouldn't want you to be sad about their deaths," he said experimentally. "I mean, now you have friends to watch your back." He put an arm around her shoulder.

Paine whirled around, pushing him away. "You just don't get it, do you? I want to be left alone, so just go away! You do your job and I'll do mine!" she stomped off to the lower cabins. Gippal began to follow her, but was stopped by Baralai.

"Let her go," he said. "She's hurting. You can't do anything now. I know what that's like, losing family to Sin," he continued in a softer tone, "It'll be a while before she opens up."

The Al Bhed shuffled uneasily on his feet. He stole a glance at Nooj, who seemed to be oblivious to the whole situation, staring blankly out over the ocean. So grumbling something about not getting enough rest, Gippal and Baralai headed to the second deck for some sleep in the cool air.

Nooj, on the other hand, had heard the commotion. Part of him was glad that the Al Bhed had gotten what was coming to him. The cold, machina part. But his living half knew what Paine felt. He knew the anger and the fury of facing Sin head on, yet not being able to fight it off. He wouldn't tell her things would get better, because they didn't. Instead, he closed his eyes and waited for morning.

Paine didn't sleep that night. Instead, she swung her sword left and right, fighting off her demons, banishing them from her mind. It did her little good and left the cabin in shambles. However, she did manage remember a competition being held in Luca the next day.

The best swordsmen in all of Spira would gather for one, blitz-free day, and duel for the championship title. It was worth a shot, and she did have two free days before the final task. Besides, she needed to see how good she had really gotten over the years.

She spent the last few hours before dawn training in order to keep her mind off of the conversation on the deck. A knock on the door interrupted her.

"Who is it?" she called, trying to clean up her mess of shattered pots and lamps.

"It's me, may I come in?" Baralai's smooth voice answered. Paine sighed and opened the door a crack.

"What do you want?" she snapped. His persistent attitude was beginning to get on her nerves. "I'm kind of busy right now."

Baralai peeked his head in and saw the shattered pots and miscellaneous overturned objects. "Uh, yes, I can see that. Listen, I came here to apologize on Gippal's behalf for being so insensitive last night. He doesn't know what it's like to lose someone to Sin."

Paine rolled her eyes. "Oh, and I suppose you do. Well save it. You don't bother me, and I don't bother you. Let's keep it at that."

He bowed. "Whatever you say," he replied, and left. Paine waited for a few minutes, just standing by the door, and then climbed up to the deck. Gippal was there as well. She threw him a dirty look, and went over to the side, where they were pulling into Luca Harbor.

She clambered onto the railing and jumped from the moving ship onto the dock. Setting off at a leisurely pace, her first stop was to sign up for the competition. Preliminaries would be starting soon, and she didn't want to get left behind.

Soon, the stadium was packed and the clashes of metal on metal were heard. Paine's opponents went down easily and quickly at her blade. "This is too easy," she muttered as she disarmed another soldier.

"And the winner of the match is Paine!" the announcer shouted. She smiled. One more match and victory would be hers. She heard the door open as the next challenger walked in. The crowd gasped. "Her next opponent is the winner of the Swordsman Guild's championship. Sir—Auron?" The announcer couldn't hide his surprise as the legendary guardian of Lord Braska, the high summoner who defeated Sin 10 years ago, stepped into the stadium.

He was a tall man who, by the gray streaks in his hair, looked to be in his forties. Dark glasses hid a scar running down his weathered face, and his right arm was in a sling made out of his red robes. He freed it and lifted the great katana onto his shoulder. Paine shook her head in disbelief and readied her own sword for the battle.

Auron rushed at her, swinging his blade at her head. She ducked and countered with a lunge at his middle. He struck her sword aside and leapt back, circling her. When he attacked again, Paine dropped into a roll, and sliced at him from behind. But the old man was quicker than he looked and blocked the hit and whirled to face her.

"You're good," he said from under his high collar as their blades locked, "But you can't beat thirty years of experience.

Paine met his eyes squarely under the metal of the swords. "I can and I will," she hissed. He closed his eyes in a, "Yeah, right," expression. Paine took the opportunity and jumped back. She lowered her sword and hooked it under his in and attempt to disarm him, but the former guardian grabbed the top of her sword and pulled it towards him. She pulled back fiercely and he let it go at the worst possible moment for her, sending her sailing onto her back.

Auron walked over and pointed the tip of his sword at her throat. She felt him smile. "I win," he simply said, and walked out of the ring. Paine watched him go, and then shakily stood up off of the dusty stadium floor.

She was so tired...maybe a little rest would help...

Paine fainted.

Toey: That would have been an awesome CG cutscene.

Mari: Oh, the fight with Paine and Auron? Yeah, I just made that up.

Toey: Good imagination.

Mari: smiles Thank you!

Toey: gasps You smiled!

Mari: OO