(A/N: Hello again! Sorry, I've been busy with school and stuff. It's been really hectic over here for the past few months, but I'm getting used to it. Well, here you go! Please don't kill me! )

Chapter Three

I Dare You

Reaching the other side of the Moonflow, the three adventurers headed to Guadosalam. To avoid any staring eyes, they crept along the sides of the entrance until they got just inside and reached the path that led down to the Thunder Plains. "Ready to run?" Acri asked the two, as she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet as they prepared to head out.

"Can't we get something to eat first?" Nooj complained, "I'm really hungry."

"The sooner we get to Bevelle," said Gippal, rubbing his hands together, "then the sooner we can hit Baralai up for some food and a place to stay."

"Gippal!" shouted Acri. "You can't do that to the praetor!"

The two Crimson Squad members glanced to each other and busted out laughing. "You can do it to anyone. You'll learn, Acri," said Gippal.

"Remind me to stab you," she growled angrily in response.

They stood there for a few minutes, watching the lightning out on the plains, then Nooj looked to them and said, "Who goes first?"

"Well," muttered Acri, "We have three choices." She then lifted her hand and proceeded to count them off as she said, "First there's Foxy; then there's Mr. Lightning Rod; and of course, there's moi, Ms. Beautiful!"

The two males glanced at each other with unenthusiastic expressions and quietly stepped behind the female digger. "So long, guinea pig," muttered Nooj and simultaneously the two men shoved the girl out onto the plains.

Acri took off running, stopping only when she reached the first lightning tower. "I dare you to run your half metal butt over here, Noojie!" shouted Acri, sticking out her tongue and making rude gestures.

Nooj blinked a few times, took a glance at Gippal and then slowly walked over to the tower, not getting struck once. The brunette female stared at him, her mouth slightly agape. "Was it hard for you?" Nooj asked smugly. Acri socked him in the arm, Nooj laughed, and then the Al Bhed made his way over, dodging lightning and coming to a stop next to them.

"Ymsucd kud red drana," Gippal laughed. The female digger blinked a few times and then the blonde added, "I said, almost got hit there."

"Oh," Acri replied simply, shrugging and then easing her way around the tower. Crouching down, she faced another tower and then took off running towards it. Just before she got there, lightning struck the ground just before her; she jumped up but landed upside down, leaned against the lightning tower.

Gippal laughed. "Excellent work, Acri!" he said.

She flipped herself upright and sat at the base of the large structure. "Come on!" she shouted to them.

At the same time, the two Crimson Squad members rushed across the terrain to where the female digger sat. "We're really going to go all the way across the Plains by hiding under towers?" questioned Nooj, "Where's the fun in that?"

"Look, you may want to die," said the blonde, "but not in front of the kid."

"Kid?" questioned the two brunettes at the same time. Acri then got to her feet and growled, "You're the kid, Gippy!"

Snorting with laughter, the blonde said, "I'm the kid? Heh, look who's giving people kiddy nick names."

Acri blushed and looked down at the ground. Shuffling her feet for a few moments, she then looked up into the sky and took off running to another tower. Nooj glanced to Gippal and said, his voice holding a bit of laughter, "I think you insulted my patsy."

"She'll get over it," said Gippal, glancing to the sky and then heading to the next tower. As soon as he got there, Acri moved to the next, not wanting to talk with him.

By the time Gippal and Nooj reached the Travel Agency, Acri was already inside. She had gotten them rooms for the night and had already headed off to bed. "Does this happen often?" Nooj asked, heading to his room.

"Yeah," muttered Gippal. "It actually does happen often."

Entering his room, the Al Bhed stretched and flopped face down onto his bed. The lady at the front counter had given him quite a funny look when he had entered, with Nooj, not wearing any pants. Soon, Gippal was asleep, dreaming of digging, pretty girls, and of the time when he would join in harmony with his pants.

While the blonde slept, Nooj went to talk with Acri. Knocking on the door, he entered, and said, "He pissed you off, didn't he?"

Staring out the window, Acri replied, "There are two things I hate, the first is being called a kid," she yawned and then added, "and the second is being given a dare... I can't seem to turn them down."

"I wonder," Nooj murmured. He then said, "I dare you to act the complete opposite of how you do now."

Still staring out the window, the female digger said, "Make that three things I hate... you included." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Fine," she said, agreeing to the dare.

When morning came, Gippal exited his room, his hair parted on the side and sleeked back. After yawning, he flipped his head forward, his golden locks standing on end in their usual places. Now that his hair was fixed, he entered the main room of the agency to see Nooj and Acri talking. His digging friend looked tired, not the usual bouncy person she usually was. "Good morning," he said, walking over to the two. "Ready to head out again."

She shrugged. "Sure."

Gippal blinked a few times before he said, "Did you fall and hit your head?"

"No," she said.

Rubbing his shoulder, Gippal glared at Nooj, "You dared her, didn't you?" he said. Nooj laughed and Gippal sighed. "Acri, you're going to really get sick of being monotonous and such," he said, looking to the brunette woman. "You're going to crack when you meet the praetor... you'll turn into an average fan girl or something."

"Fan girl?" Acri questioned and then said, "I am not a fan girl."

Clearing his throat, Gippal made his voice sound womanish and squeaky and then clasped his hands together as he said, "Oh Baralai! Can I have your children?"

"You're cruisin' for a bruisin'," said the female digger, a smug, clenched-tooth smirk on her face.

"Hit me," said Gippal, "I dare you."

She stretched, putting her hands behind her head and exiting the door as she said, "Don't worry, I'll get you... in your sleep, with a brick."

Looking to Nooj, the two laughed and Nooj said, "She's already broken from my dare. So she's probably still mad at you from yesterday."

Before Gippal replied to the leader of the Youth League, he turned to where the woman at the front counter stood and shouted, "Will you stop staring at me?" The woman giggled and sank down behind the counter. The blonde then glanced back to Nooj and said, "The whole dare thing... yeah... she was lying."

Nooj blinked a few times. "I take it she's good at that?"

Nodding, Gippal said, "Yeah, she's really good."

The two left the Travel Agency and headed off down the tracks that were left by Acri. Getting through the Thunder Plains, Acri was sitting against one of the strange trees of the Macalania Forest. "You two are really slow," she said, yawning.

"Nooj's metal butt couldn't walk any faster," replied Gippal.

"Will you two leave my butt out of this?" Nooj said, heading down the path to Bevelle.

Acri laughed and then looked to Gippal. "So he knows?"

"About you lying? Yeah." The blonde shrugged and said, "Well, it keeps things amusing around here."

"Huh?" Gippal walked off, leaving Acri behind. "Wait a minute!" she shouted, running after him, "What the hell did you mean by that? Gippal? Hey! Gippy! Wait up!"

(A/N: Yeah, for a while in my past, I was a compulsive liar. I don't think I lied to my friends, but I think I did it just for the fun of it... I was a very bored child. Hehe, anyway, I'm going to be working on my other stories, so I'll update maybe next weekend... Maybe...)