I don't own anything except the Takahari family, their Dragoon Spirits, and Kenji Okamura
* * *
The terrain that greeted us when we emerged from the portal seemed to be that of a tropical island. This fitted with the scout report, and I now knew for certain that this was not Earth. That flora and fauna didn't come from Earth or Endiness; I'd been through enough of both planets to know that.
"So where do we go from here?" Ryan asked.
Karen pulled the scouting report out of her pack. "There's supposed to be a ship at the dock near here. I'd say that's our best bet."
"Let's go, then. I don't think we're going to find out much on this island. Which reminds me; did the scouts find out what this island is called?"
She shuffled through the report. "Besaid Island. There's one village about a mile from here, with some kind of temple in the back."
"Let's play it by ear, guys. If somebody asks where we're from, let me do the talking. And whatever you do, don't display modern Earth technology if you can avoid it. Albert mentioned a distinct anti-tech sentiment here. We need information, and we won't get it if we tick off the entire populous. Okay? Then let's get going."
* * *
After a short walk, we found ourselves at a dock, where a group that appeared to be of some importance was boarding the ship.
"Looks like there's no fee for the ship," I muttered to the others. "Let's board."
As we walked to pier, I was careful to keep my cloak over my gun; an Ingram Model 11 machine pistol, while somewhat crude-looking, was bound to be recognized as high technology of some sort.
We embarked just in time; as soon as we were aboard, the ship left the dock and headed for open ocean. Once the ship set sail, one of the group I'd noted earlier, a tanned fellow whose hair appeared to need a lobotomy, walked over to us. "Haven't seen you around before. You guys going to Kilika too, yah?"
"That's right," I replied, though until that moment we'd had no idea where the ship was headed. "I'm Ian, this is my brother Ryan, my sister Karen, and this is Rose. We're from the remote island of Nippon, so don't be surprised if we ask odd questions. We haven't had much contact with the rest of Spira."
The big guy stuck out his hand. "I'm Wakka. Remote island, yah? Sin cause problems there, too?"
"Actually, we don't even know what Sin is." Which was true enough, and I was confident that our cover story would keep that from sounding odd.
"You're lucky. Ever since the machina war a thousand years ago, Sin's been coming. Once we've atoned for our past mistakes, then Sin will be gone, but we don't know when that'll be." Wakka shook his head. "Till then, we gotta keep our faith in Yevon, yah? That's why we're going to Kilika. Lulu, Kimahri, and I are guardians, protecting Yuna in her summoner's pilgrimage. Summoners defeat Sin every ten years, giving Spira ten years of Calm. Someday, we'll have an Eternal Calm, and Yuna just might be the one to do it."
I nodded. "I see. So who's the guy in yellow over there?" I indicated a blond-haired fellow with some kind of armor on his left arm.
Wakka shrugged. "Not really sure. His name's Tidus, but that's about all even he knows. Well, that and playing blitzball. He had a close encounter with Sin, and that sometimes makes you lose your memory for a while, yah? He's lucky he remembers his name."
"So what's at Kilika that's important for a summoner?" This Wakka was being quite helpful, and had already given us some much-needed information.
"Kilika Temple. Summoners pray at the temples and, if their prayer is answered, receive that temple's aeon. That's the summoner's power."
"Interesting." I straightened from my leaning position against the rail. "Well, thanks, Wakka. Maybe we'll see you at the temple there."
After Wakka walked away, I turned to my group. "So, what do you think?"
Karen looked thoughtful. "He sounded kind of depressed when he spoke of the pilgrimage. I think there's more to it than he said."
"I'd say they've provided us with a good way of gathering the information Albert wants," Rose said. "We follow them. I get the feeling they attract trouble."
I smiled. "You mean like us?"
Ryan looked at me, then Rose, then back to me. "Oh, no. I know that look. Ian, come on, I did not sign on for another save-the-world trip. Please tell me you're not really going to do this-"
"Ryan, first of all, you didn't volunteer, you followed orders. Second, I got another message from Albert before we left. This isn't just a fact-finding mission. He wants us to find out what's going on and do something about it."
He put his head in his hands. "Not again. I hate it when he gets into save-the-world-or-die-trying mode…" He trailed off, muttering to himself.
* * *
The first couple hours of the voyage were uneventful, but that proved to be merely the calm before the storm, for Sin itself was on the way.
It began when the sea, previously calm, became rough and the waves rode high, threatening to sink the ship. Then the fin rose from the depths.
"Sin!" One of the sailors cried out and raced for one of the harpoon guns mounted on the bow.
"What are you doing!?" Wakka yelled. "You hit him with that and we'll all be dragged under!"
"It's headed for Kilika!" the sailor yelled back. "Our families are in Kilika!"
"Forgive us, Lady Summoner!" This from the crewman manning the other gun. Then they both fired, and the only thing on our minds was avoiding falling overboard.
One harpoon connected, and the ship was dragged in close to Sin. Once we were close, Wakka and the other "guardians", one a Gothic-looking woman in black, carrying a doll of some kind, the other a nonhuman warrior with a spear, moved to the bow and prepared for battle. Meanwhile, the summoner, Yuna, pulled out a staff, and the amnesiac Tidus drew a bizarre sword.
As I struggled to keep my footing, I turned to Rose. "We can't let the amateurs handle this alone!" I shouted, trying to be heard over the roaring sea. "Let's go!"
I tossed off my coat, then drew Raiden-Ken. Making my way quickly but carefully to the bow deck, I finally leapt into the air, slicing some kind of monster along the way.
The experienced guardians gave us barely a glance when we joined the fray, but Tidus looked startled. "Keep your mind on the battle, kid, if you want to live through this!" I jumped easily to the railing, then took a flying leap at another batch of monsters that were on their way to us. "Raiden Kai!"
Ryan was hurling kuji spells at the fin itself, while Karen and Rose were guarding the deck with the summoner's group.
I had to duck on one occasion when Wakka's weapon, a ball of some sort, sailed through the space where my head had just been. "Watch it, newbie! That could have taken my head off!"
"You watch it! Battles aren't the place for amateurs, yah!?" Somehow, he managed to catch his weapon, only to throw it again. "You could get hurt!"
"Amateur!? Listen, Wakka, when this is over, there's some things you need to get straight!" I ducked, then used a kuji teleportation spell to get over the fin and drop a small explosive on it.
Finally, the fin moved off, but it took the harpoon gun with it and knocked Tidus overboard. Wakka jumped after him, while we waited on the deck.
When they returned, Ryan spoke. "That was the high-and-mighty Sin?" As usual, his voice contained more than a bit of sarcasm.
Before Wakka could explode in righteous true-believer anger, Yuna spoke up. "Thank you for your help there."
I bowed. "My pleasure, Lady Summoner."
"Call me Yuna, please. Will you also be going to Kilika Temple…?"
"I'm Ian. These are Rose, my brother Ryan, and my sister Karen. And, yes, we are heading for the temple. We don't know much about the rest of Spira where we come from."
"You're welcome to travel with us, then. If my guardians don't mind…?" Yuna turned to Wakka.
"That's okay with me. You guys fought pretty well there, yah? The more like you around, the safer Yuna is."
I nodded. "Then we shall, thank you. But, Wakka," I said, turning. "You need to get some things straight. First of all, I'm older than you are."
Wakka shook his head. "Wait a minute. I'm twenty-three. You can't be more than eighteen, yah?"
I half-smiled. "Appearances can be deceiving. I'm twenty-four."
His eyes widened. "No way. Appearances don't deceive that much."
"I don't age." I grinned as he gaped. "Ryan and I were born identical twins, in the year 1985 A.D., by our reckoning. That was twenty-four years ago. Six years ago, I stopped aging, via a form of magic you wouldn't understand and I'm not prepared to tell you about yet anyway. Ryan is now a year older, physically, but he, too, ceased aging. As did my sister, a year after that. Rose is a lot older than she looks, as well, but I'm not going to go into specifics. That's why I called your friend here 'kid'. You're, what, seventeen?"
"Yeah," Tidus replied.
"Another point is that I've been training in the martial arts all my life. I was thirteen the first time I killed a man, and fourteen the first time I faced multiple opponents. Since then, I've faced the most horrifying creatures in existence. So don't you call me… an amateur."
I turned away, heading below decks to rest, picking up my coat along the way.
* * *
Author's note: First of all, to answer Dragon God I's question, there's more than one reason I chose to write this crossover story instead of something returning to Earth. For one thing, it was stated in Chapter 13 of The Story of the Diamond Dragoon that the Takaharis would have no reason to go back. Also, I felt that the Legend of Dragoon would mesh better with a world already familiar with magic.
For those new to the adventures of the Diamond Dragoon, I realize are events and abilities mentioned here that aren't elaborated on, such as kuji, and, of course, the characters themselves. However, if you read The Story of the Diamond Dragoon, the original fic involving Ian Takahari, everything is explained there, with the exceptions, of course, of the events that occurred between the two fics.
The translations for this chapter: "Nippon" is another word for Japan, and "Raiden Kai" means "Thunder and Lightning Cut".
Read it and let me know what you think. ~Solid Shark
