Disclaimer: Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, Spira, blitzball, and all related characters and locations are owned by Squaresoft, with the exception of a few original characters who will be noted as such. This is a work of fanfiction, meaning that it is both created by a fan for no purpose other than entertainment, and it is fiction, meaning that all characters and events are purely fictonal and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Nice early-morning update for you before I head for Megacon (I'm cosplaying Lady Luck Yuna today). Anyway, Nhadala's pretty traumatized right now, so now would be a bad time to sue her for copyright infringement, you follow?
Author's Note: The narrator of this story is Al Bhed, and some dialogue and idiomatic phrases have not been translated into English. Translations of all Al Bhed phrases can be found at the end of the chapter in which they appear.
Green Eyes Plays Dress-Up
by flame mage
spherechange 7: Tempered Will
**********
We raced the sandstorm to the sound of a struggling engine and adrenaline pounding in four pairs of eardrums all the way to the border of the Western Expanse, when it finally died down and we ducked ahead. I had no idea where the others were--or even whether they'd made it out--so I just had to hope they'd see where I was going and follow my lead.
"Goma," I asked when I'd inhaled enough air to speak after holding my breath for maybe ten minutes, "where's the best place in the Western Expanse to set up camp? Somewhere safe, please."
"Not far off the center," he replied instantly. "It's sector B5 on the map. Potential of a sandstorm forming there is virtually nil, according to our current data, and fiend activity is pretty low. In addition to that, there are several large objects--I'm not sure what they are; Picket said either machina or buildings--that could serve as shelters."
"Sector B5 it is." I grabbed the joystick and then stopped. "What the hell is that?"
Smoke was rising from a small pile of what looked like machine wreckage a short distance from the border. I could see the fires, although they were pretty dim.
"That would be our freight hover," Benzo replied softly. "They must've gotten blown off course and crashed there."
"Oh..." I breathed. How well were those things manned? I couldn't see anyone down there. Just great.
I shook my head violently to clear it. Nothing I could do about it--my job right now was to deal with the living. "Uhm...any landmarks that'll help us find where we're going?"
"We should probably get Picket to download that map of yours and install it in the main computers of the hovers--we could do things by autopilot that way," he mused. I looked at him. "Oh, right, right. Go straight for a while and then hang a slight right when I tell you to."
"Gotcha." I backed off the throttle until we were comfortably in cruising speed and leaned back. "Redeci, as soon as we land, we'll give the others two hours to arrive. After that, whether they're there or not, you need to start cataloguing what we have left and making a list of what we need from the next freight hover. If you can, categorize it by what's most important and work from there."
"Yes, ma'am," she replied quietly. I'd just ordered her to do Nedus' job and we both knew it, but her guess as to whether or not we'd ever see him again was as good as mine.
"You can take that right now, Nhadala," Goma told me, snapping me out of Lala Land. "See where those half-buried buildings are?" I sighed and tapped the joystick to one side, starting to take our altitude down. At least Jock was an effective teacher. I was starting to figure this thing out.
The landing was borderline smooth this time, which was good, because otherwise the food cans on the floor would have jounced around and broken all our toes, and no one was really in the mood for foot trouble on top of all our other problems. I felt like getting set up, but eventually I realized that there was nothing to set up. At least Goma still had the emergency commsphere, so if no one else showed up at least we had a shot at being evacuated, but that and the food were about the only things on our side. I knew the guys in the second hover had taken the rest of the cans, but Tuc and Dnac would starve unless they found us. Then again, that was based on the assumption that they were still alive anyway...
"Nhadala," Redeci reported, tapping me on the shoulder. "It's only been about fifteen minutes, but I've catalogued what we have. Right now our stock is as follows: twelve cans of food, about half the boards, the emergency commsphere, a map of the desert, and one hover, plus whatever you had in your bag."
"A handheld sphere recorder, a beach towel, and half an energy bar from the cafeteria in the Luca Stadium," I told her ruefully without thinking. Please, no one ask me what I was doing at the Luca Stadium.
"Well, then, we're really not in terrible trouble here," Benzo piped up, coming over and sitting down on the sand next to us. "We don't have any nails or anything, but we could prop the boards up against the hover to shelter ourselves from the sun, and maybe stretch the towel across for some shade. I have the knife, so at least we can eat. If we have to, we can burn one of the boards for a fire."
"Twelve cans," Goma said thoughtfully. "There are four of us. If we keep eating the way we have been--one can per person per meal--that'll last us until lunch tomorrow."
"You think a freight hover can get here that fast?" asked Redeci.
"Hang on, people," I said. "We're talking like we're the only ones out here. If the others show up and they have some more food and the two tents with them, there's no reason to evacuate." Actually, I would have sold my blitzball to get the hell out of there that second, but I was worried that even if I made it out, Gippal would just send me straight back in. There was no point in even trying to get all the sand out of my pores if I was just gonna have to do it all over again. I was stuck.
"So, then," Benzo said, standing up and picking up a couple of boards, "we wait."
*****
It took us another fifteen minutes to get our makeshift shelter set up. Redeci and Goma were sprawled inside the hover with their faces pressed against the air conditioner vents like they were long-lost lovers. Which left me stuck under three boards and a towel in the middle of the desert with Benzo, who was keeping himself amused by playing with the drawstrings lacing up his crazy jumper thing and conjugating irregular verbs in Old Guado.
I was in a bad mood. An hour and a half to go before I'd have to call Gippal again. If no one else had showed up by then, we wouldn't have any choice but to evacuate. Why, why, why, had I decided that my calling this week was to help the Youth League? Why hadn't I just given the mob in the DorkDorm the finger and gotten my double cheeseburger at Mitza's? Why hadn't I kept my big mouth shut about politics during the interview with that twit Shelinda? Why didn't stupid stuff like this ever happen to Miyu or Rin or someone? And speaking of Rin, why was he so freaked out about--oh, *shit.* All of a sudden I put it together.
Naaga was with Naida.
Naida was at Djose.
Djose was where Gippal was.
Gippal was with Naaga.
I was never gonna hear the end of this one.
I slumped against the side of the hover for about half a second until I realized it was still red hot, and then I curled up in the sand and covered my ears with my gloves to try to drown out the sound of Benzo counting in ancient Ronso and trying to remember the word for "fourteen." Then I realized that a forewoman, especially one who was supposed to be tough like me, probably shouldn't be nestled into the fetal position in the sand, so I sat up and sulked.
*****
An hour later, my mood had worsened severely. I was in the middle of a mental blitzball match against the Guado Glories, but even pummeling some sorry blue ass inside the sphere wasn't doing any good--we were losing the match anyway because the morons kept passing instead of breaking tackles, plus Wakka kept leaving the sphere because he said he was about to be a father. When I got out of the sphere, all the water in the shower was cold, and then I went to get a burger at Mitza's but the line stretched all the way across the ocean to Kilika Port and Gippal was in the front and kept laughing at me...
When I woke up I realized that there was probably a direct correlation between the increasing frequency of the appearance of that burger in my mind and the increasing volume of the growling of my stomach. The end of the dream, wherein I'd jumped on Gippal and started squeezing his throat with a blitzer's grip, trying to make him give me his french fries, was definitely a sign that I had too much pent-up stress and hostility in my life and I needed to go on a long vacation from the desert--in Luca. If I couldn't be back home, I decided, the next best thing to do would be to watch the spheres I'd shot of the gang in Besaid a few days ago, but then I realized with annoyance that while these rocket scientists might believe that I was just a really big fan of Linna's fashion sense, carting around a sphere with her boyfriend, sister, and blitz coach on it might be enough to convince them that I was just a little more than I claimed to be. Then I realized that I was thinkin in run-on sentences and that actually realizing that meant that Benzo was probably getting to me.
Auugggh. I really needed some coffee.
*****
Twenty minutes after that, my bad-mood grumblings and violent pipe dreams were interrupted once again, this time by the growling of engines. Right away I sprung into high gear, crashing my head into the towel and sending it fluttering to the desert floor. I dashed out of the makeshift shelter to see the two missing hovers touch down.
"Where have you *been* for two hours?!" I demanded, dispensing with all that I'm-glad-you're-alive crap.
Jock flicked distastefully at a speck of sand lingering somewhere in his shock of blond hair. "Oh, we found you guys right away. But then *this* wonkhead," he gestured with his middle finger at Tuc, "told me he could make it ten times around the island before I could. Such a challenge must not go unmet."
I tried valiantly to control my fingers, which were twitching in a dangerous manner. "If you guys were getting paid anything," I choked out through my tightening throat, "you're not now."
Nedus must have sensed the storm coming. "So," he put in hastily, "why don't we get the tents set up again here, and then I'll start the inventory."
"I'll help," Redeci volunteered.
"Guys, you mind helping me with the tent over here?" I called to the Brothers Three. To their credit--maybe they wanted their salaries back--they sprinted over to the third hover and started dragging out poles and canvas. It took us about three minutes to pitch the tent, and by the time we were done Goma and Jock were setting the boards up in the other one and Nedus and Redeci had finished the inventory.
"Okay, boss," Nedus called, coming over. "The next hover wasn't due for another three days, but maybe you can get Djose to send us something. The first things we're gonna need are a new tent, a couple of spare energy cores, some more food, and please, for the love of Rin, get them to ship some AC units. We're dyin' out here."
"I hear ya," I replied as the sweat trickled down my back. This was no way to beat up a blitz uniform. I'd have to ask Gippal for some new clothes, too. "All right. Let me go get the sphere from Goma and I'll make that call."
This time all I had to do was glare and the tech went scrambling to find Gippal. He strode into the temple, profoundly annoyed that someone was bothering him yet again. When he saw who it was, though, the impish grin spead back across his face. "Hey, how's it goin'? You look a little worse for the wear. Don't they have showers out there?"
I could not believe I was doing this. "Get me outta here, Gippal."
"Who are you kidding? You're the one that wanted to help the Youth League."
"I'm sure Nooj can find me a cushy desk job somewhere--maybe the one you're doing."
"No can do, cfaadraynd. You're just gonna have to tough it out."
I pushed my goggles up onto my forehead and stared into his eyes as hard as I could through a cheap emergency commsphere. "All right, Gippal, what'll it take to get you to throw some muscle around with Nooj? Money? Food? I'll hook you up with my sister. C'mon, she's a babe." This was not exactly a lie.
He yawned. "All things I could get easily on my own. Actually, that sister of yours has been running around here lately. She's working with our techs. You're right; she's a nice piece of work."
The growl was rising in my throat. "You lay a hand on her and you won't have any hands left."
"It isn't the hands that do the laying, but I'll lay off. I'm holding out for you anyway."
"You're gonna be holding out a long time."
He smirked winningly. "What a coincidence. So are you."
He had the kind of look on his face that he gets when he's about to hang up on you and go surfing at Kilika Beach for the rest of the day. I panicked. "No, wait, look, don't hang up on me. The freight hover went down off the border of the Southern Expanse. When the storm dies down I'll send Jock out to check, but I'm pretty sure there are no survivors. We lost one of the tents and several cots and we're in desperate need of supplies here. How fast can you get another freight out here?"
He actually looked at me with some semblance of seriousness and gave me a straight answer. "Depends when the storm slacks off. Remember we're using pretty light transport, even with the freights, so I'd say it takes about six hours to get to you from where we are, one way. Can you make it through the night on what you have?"
I thought quickly. "One tent...it'll be pretty damn crowded, but we're not in danger of keeling over at any minute." We could check out those shelters, too.
"Okay. Say I wait until dawn tomorrow--it's too late to send someone out today, 'cause Djose at night is even darker and more unpredictable than Djose during the day. I could get your supplies there around noon. Now, is that as good for you as it is for me?"
I rattled off the list Nedus and Redeci had given me. "Get me that stuff and quit being intentionally obnoxious and we'll call it even."
"How do you call that even?" he demanded, poise broken for a split second.
"Because you've been trying to look down my uniform for the entire conversation, you loser. I figure you owe me something. Do we have a deal or not?"
He laughed out loud. "You drive a hard bargain."
"Part of my charm, Gippie."
"You can say that again." He shrugged. "Okay, you got yourself a deal. If you weren't six hours away I'd shake your hand, but you'd probably try to kill me anyway. Anything else you need to know before I schlep off to do your bidding?"
"Yeah. Are you *sure* you can't get me out of here?"
The last sound I heard before the connection snapped off was his laughter ringing in my ears.
**********
Translations:
cfaadraynd - sweetheart
Nice early-morning update for you before I head for Megacon (I'm cosplaying Lady Luck Yuna today). Anyway, Nhadala's pretty traumatized right now, so now would be a bad time to sue her for copyright infringement, you follow?
Author's Note: The narrator of this story is Al Bhed, and some dialogue and idiomatic phrases have not been translated into English. Translations of all Al Bhed phrases can be found at the end of the chapter in which they appear.
Green Eyes Plays Dress-Up
by flame mage
spherechange 7: Tempered Will
**********
We raced the sandstorm to the sound of a struggling engine and adrenaline pounding in four pairs of eardrums all the way to the border of the Western Expanse, when it finally died down and we ducked ahead. I had no idea where the others were--or even whether they'd made it out--so I just had to hope they'd see where I was going and follow my lead.
"Goma," I asked when I'd inhaled enough air to speak after holding my breath for maybe ten minutes, "where's the best place in the Western Expanse to set up camp? Somewhere safe, please."
"Not far off the center," he replied instantly. "It's sector B5 on the map. Potential of a sandstorm forming there is virtually nil, according to our current data, and fiend activity is pretty low. In addition to that, there are several large objects--I'm not sure what they are; Picket said either machina or buildings--that could serve as shelters."
"Sector B5 it is." I grabbed the joystick and then stopped. "What the hell is that?"
Smoke was rising from a small pile of what looked like machine wreckage a short distance from the border. I could see the fires, although they were pretty dim.
"That would be our freight hover," Benzo replied softly. "They must've gotten blown off course and crashed there."
"Oh..." I breathed. How well were those things manned? I couldn't see anyone down there. Just great.
I shook my head violently to clear it. Nothing I could do about it--my job right now was to deal with the living. "Uhm...any landmarks that'll help us find where we're going?"
"We should probably get Picket to download that map of yours and install it in the main computers of the hovers--we could do things by autopilot that way," he mused. I looked at him. "Oh, right, right. Go straight for a while and then hang a slight right when I tell you to."
"Gotcha." I backed off the throttle until we were comfortably in cruising speed and leaned back. "Redeci, as soon as we land, we'll give the others two hours to arrive. After that, whether they're there or not, you need to start cataloguing what we have left and making a list of what we need from the next freight hover. If you can, categorize it by what's most important and work from there."
"Yes, ma'am," she replied quietly. I'd just ordered her to do Nedus' job and we both knew it, but her guess as to whether or not we'd ever see him again was as good as mine.
"You can take that right now, Nhadala," Goma told me, snapping me out of Lala Land. "See where those half-buried buildings are?" I sighed and tapped the joystick to one side, starting to take our altitude down. At least Jock was an effective teacher. I was starting to figure this thing out.
The landing was borderline smooth this time, which was good, because otherwise the food cans on the floor would have jounced around and broken all our toes, and no one was really in the mood for foot trouble on top of all our other problems. I felt like getting set up, but eventually I realized that there was nothing to set up. At least Goma still had the emergency commsphere, so if no one else showed up at least we had a shot at being evacuated, but that and the food were about the only things on our side. I knew the guys in the second hover had taken the rest of the cans, but Tuc and Dnac would starve unless they found us. Then again, that was based on the assumption that they were still alive anyway...
"Nhadala," Redeci reported, tapping me on the shoulder. "It's only been about fifteen minutes, but I've catalogued what we have. Right now our stock is as follows: twelve cans of food, about half the boards, the emergency commsphere, a map of the desert, and one hover, plus whatever you had in your bag."
"A handheld sphere recorder, a beach towel, and half an energy bar from the cafeteria in the Luca Stadium," I told her ruefully without thinking. Please, no one ask me what I was doing at the Luca Stadium.
"Well, then, we're really not in terrible trouble here," Benzo piped up, coming over and sitting down on the sand next to us. "We don't have any nails or anything, but we could prop the boards up against the hover to shelter ourselves from the sun, and maybe stretch the towel across for some shade. I have the knife, so at least we can eat. If we have to, we can burn one of the boards for a fire."
"Twelve cans," Goma said thoughtfully. "There are four of us. If we keep eating the way we have been--one can per person per meal--that'll last us until lunch tomorrow."
"You think a freight hover can get here that fast?" asked Redeci.
"Hang on, people," I said. "We're talking like we're the only ones out here. If the others show up and they have some more food and the two tents with them, there's no reason to evacuate." Actually, I would have sold my blitzball to get the hell out of there that second, but I was worried that even if I made it out, Gippal would just send me straight back in. There was no point in even trying to get all the sand out of my pores if I was just gonna have to do it all over again. I was stuck.
"So, then," Benzo said, standing up and picking up a couple of boards, "we wait."
*****
It took us another fifteen minutes to get our makeshift shelter set up. Redeci and Goma were sprawled inside the hover with their faces pressed against the air conditioner vents like they were long-lost lovers. Which left me stuck under three boards and a towel in the middle of the desert with Benzo, who was keeping himself amused by playing with the drawstrings lacing up his crazy jumper thing and conjugating irregular verbs in Old Guado.
I was in a bad mood. An hour and a half to go before I'd have to call Gippal again. If no one else had showed up by then, we wouldn't have any choice but to evacuate. Why, why, why, had I decided that my calling this week was to help the Youth League? Why hadn't I just given the mob in the DorkDorm the finger and gotten my double cheeseburger at Mitza's? Why hadn't I kept my big mouth shut about politics during the interview with that twit Shelinda? Why didn't stupid stuff like this ever happen to Miyu or Rin or someone? And speaking of Rin, why was he so freaked out about--oh, *shit.* All of a sudden I put it together.
Naaga was with Naida.
Naida was at Djose.
Djose was where Gippal was.
Gippal was with Naaga.
I was never gonna hear the end of this one.
I slumped against the side of the hover for about half a second until I realized it was still red hot, and then I curled up in the sand and covered my ears with my gloves to try to drown out the sound of Benzo counting in ancient Ronso and trying to remember the word for "fourteen." Then I realized that a forewoman, especially one who was supposed to be tough like me, probably shouldn't be nestled into the fetal position in the sand, so I sat up and sulked.
*****
An hour later, my mood had worsened severely. I was in the middle of a mental blitzball match against the Guado Glories, but even pummeling some sorry blue ass inside the sphere wasn't doing any good--we were losing the match anyway because the morons kept passing instead of breaking tackles, plus Wakka kept leaving the sphere because he said he was about to be a father. When I got out of the sphere, all the water in the shower was cold, and then I went to get a burger at Mitza's but the line stretched all the way across the ocean to Kilika Port and Gippal was in the front and kept laughing at me...
When I woke up I realized that there was probably a direct correlation between the increasing frequency of the appearance of that burger in my mind and the increasing volume of the growling of my stomach. The end of the dream, wherein I'd jumped on Gippal and started squeezing his throat with a blitzer's grip, trying to make him give me his french fries, was definitely a sign that I had too much pent-up stress and hostility in my life and I needed to go on a long vacation from the desert--in Luca. If I couldn't be back home, I decided, the next best thing to do would be to watch the spheres I'd shot of the gang in Besaid a few days ago, but then I realized with annoyance that while these rocket scientists might believe that I was just a really big fan of Linna's fashion sense, carting around a sphere with her boyfriend, sister, and blitz coach on it might be enough to convince them that I was just a little more than I claimed to be. Then I realized that I was thinkin in run-on sentences and that actually realizing that meant that Benzo was probably getting to me.
Auugggh. I really needed some coffee.
*****
Twenty minutes after that, my bad-mood grumblings and violent pipe dreams were interrupted once again, this time by the growling of engines. Right away I sprung into high gear, crashing my head into the towel and sending it fluttering to the desert floor. I dashed out of the makeshift shelter to see the two missing hovers touch down.
"Where have you *been* for two hours?!" I demanded, dispensing with all that I'm-glad-you're-alive crap.
Jock flicked distastefully at a speck of sand lingering somewhere in his shock of blond hair. "Oh, we found you guys right away. But then *this* wonkhead," he gestured with his middle finger at Tuc, "told me he could make it ten times around the island before I could. Such a challenge must not go unmet."
I tried valiantly to control my fingers, which were twitching in a dangerous manner. "If you guys were getting paid anything," I choked out through my tightening throat, "you're not now."
Nedus must have sensed the storm coming. "So," he put in hastily, "why don't we get the tents set up again here, and then I'll start the inventory."
"I'll help," Redeci volunteered.
"Guys, you mind helping me with the tent over here?" I called to the Brothers Three. To their credit--maybe they wanted their salaries back--they sprinted over to the third hover and started dragging out poles and canvas. It took us about three minutes to pitch the tent, and by the time we were done Goma and Jock were setting the boards up in the other one and Nedus and Redeci had finished the inventory.
"Okay, boss," Nedus called, coming over. "The next hover wasn't due for another three days, but maybe you can get Djose to send us something. The first things we're gonna need are a new tent, a couple of spare energy cores, some more food, and please, for the love of Rin, get them to ship some AC units. We're dyin' out here."
"I hear ya," I replied as the sweat trickled down my back. This was no way to beat up a blitz uniform. I'd have to ask Gippal for some new clothes, too. "All right. Let me go get the sphere from Goma and I'll make that call."
This time all I had to do was glare and the tech went scrambling to find Gippal. He strode into the temple, profoundly annoyed that someone was bothering him yet again. When he saw who it was, though, the impish grin spead back across his face. "Hey, how's it goin'? You look a little worse for the wear. Don't they have showers out there?"
I could not believe I was doing this. "Get me outta here, Gippal."
"Who are you kidding? You're the one that wanted to help the Youth League."
"I'm sure Nooj can find me a cushy desk job somewhere--maybe the one you're doing."
"No can do, cfaadraynd. You're just gonna have to tough it out."
I pushed my goggles up onto my forehead and stared into his eyes as hard as I could through a cheap emergency commsphere. "All right, Gippal, what'll it take to get you to throw some muscle around with Nooj? Money? Food? I'll hook you up with my sister. C'mon, she's a babe." This was not exactly a lie.
He yawned. "All things I could get easily on my own. Actually, that sister of yours has been running around here lately. She's working with our techs. You're right; she's a nice piece of work."
The growl was rising in my throat. "You lay a hand on her and you won't have any hands left."
"It isn't the hands that do the laying, but I'll lay off. I'm holding out for you anyway."
"You're gonna be holding out a long time."
He smirked winningly. "What a coincidence. So are you."
He had the kind of look on his face that he gets when he's about to hang up on you and go surfing at Kilika Beach for the rest of the day. I panicked. "No, wait, look, don't hang up on me. The freight hover went down off the border of the Southern Expanse. When the storm dies down I'll send Jock out to check, but I'm pretty sure there are no survivors. We lost one of the tents and several cots and we're in desperate need of supplies here. How fast can you get another freight out here?"
He actually looked at me with some semblance of seriousness and gave me a straight answer. "Depends when the storm slacks off. Remember we're using pretty light transport, even with the freights, so I'd say it takes about six hours to get to you from where we are, one way. Can you make it through the night on what you have?"
I thought quickly. "One tent...it'll be pretty damn crowded, but we're not in danger of keeling over at any minute." We could check out those shelters, too.
"Okay. Say I wait until dawn tomorrow--it's too late to send someone out today, 'cause Djose at night is even darker and more unpredictable than Djose during the day. I could get your supplies there around noon. Now, is that as good for you as it is for me?"
I rattled off the list Nedus and Redeci had given me. "Get me that stuff and quit being intentionally obnoxious and we'll call it even."
"How do you call that even?" he demanded, poise broken for a split second.
"Because you've been trying to look down my uniform for the entire conversation, you loser. I figure you owe me something. Do we have a deal or not?"
He laughed out loud. "You drive a hard bargain."
"Part of my charm, Gippie."
"You can say that again." He shrugged. "Okay, you got yourself a deal. If you weren't six hours away I'd shake your hand, but you'd probably try to kill me anyway. Anything else you need to know before I schlep off to do your bidding?"
"Yeah. Are you *sure* you can't get me out of here?"
The last sound I heard before the connection snapped off was his laughter ringing in my ears.
**********
Translations:
cfaadraynd - sweetheart