The Adjacency of Ones
Inside the Hole

Leave it to Rikku to be completely enthralled by a small machina in her arms in the wake of the great hollow that was consuming the platform around her. The sides of the hole slipped by as the hanging light cast shadows and monsters all over, but Rikku's eyes were locked on Tau as she looked the machina over, trying to see how it was put together. Jagged spires and fangs of rock were beginning to show all around, truly giving the cave a beastly appearance, yet she ignored it all. She was laughing the whole time.

Gippal was perfectly quiet where he stood, his eye being taunted by the swinging light attached to the elevator but a satisfied smile on his face as he watched Rikku marvel in his little toy. He figured she would have liked it, so to say he wasn't thinking of her as he was putting Tau together would have been a lie. Still, there was a feeling of satisfaction to see his work appreciated. Unfortunately, the platform soon cleared the throat of the hole and set down a bit roughly into the belly of the cave.

"All ashore. Time to get to work," Gippal said as he stepped off the platform. The familiar smell of oil and dust fouled the air around them and caused Rikku to cough lightly upon her abandonment of the lift. She had spent so much time lately out in green meadows or red rock cliffs that being in a work zone was almost alien to her now. Gippal chuckled a bit as he flipped on a string of dim lights leading down a semi-artificial corridor. "Any time you want a breather, don't hesitate to ask," he said dryly. The heavy Mortar was slung over his shoulder and he started down the obtuse hallway, leaving Rikku to stick her tongue out at him.

"Don't treat me like some little kid," she taunted, "I can outlast you. Remember Vegnagun?" The only response was the falling of his shadow as he passed on through the lights. Huffing slightly and making sure Tau was still clinging to her back, she followed.

The cavern opened up after the long corridor and made Rikku slow and look around with wide eyes, awe lodged in her throat at the spectacle before her. Spires of stalagmites rose regally from the floor and reached towards the roof, almost mimicking the suspended stalactites which molded to damp stone. This cathedral of stone and water seemed to tell a story of use, but was just natural enough to make one wonder. A cool wind coursed through the place and over Rikku's bare skin, but the relevance of it didn't occur to her. She was too entranced by the cavernous place and just hugged Tau tightly against her chest.

"We've been through about seventy percent of the caves and found a small entrance to Mushroom Rock," Gippal began, looking about as he walked for some sign of the fiend, "Still, it's too small to let fiends in here so our friend must have gotten in another way. There may be another way into the temple or onto the highroad we don't know about yet. If so, this place could have some history to it."

Rikku really hadn't been paying much attention to him. Wherever they were, it made a very awesome place to explore. With a chuckle, Gippal looked from her and began to cross the cavern, his mind becoming bare and focused. Rikku, however, was letting her mind wander.

"It was a cave just like this…" she thought, yet her memory was blurry and seemed faded as she tried to bring it up.

Although she had been told not to follow the boys into the desert, Rikku always did it anyway. She always told her father it was because Brother was going, but the real reason was because she wanted to be around Gippal. It had to be the beginning of her crush because from the moment she started following them out, she had always wanted to be where Gippal was. Even when he had left to become a member of the Crimson Squad, she had wanted to go with him. But that was a different time.

"Waaaaaaait for me! Hey! Slow down!" a young Rikku called out loudly, trailing behind a larger group of children. She imagined it would be much easier to catch people when she was older. Somehow, older people could run faster. Still, she had to catch up. The group of four boys and two girls was already a few dozen meters ahead, but Rikku wasn't going to let them go without her. Trying to make her little legs run faster, she lowered her head and ran, trying to control how hard she was breathing already. Then she ran right into someone and fell back onto her backside.

"Whoa, slow down! What are you doing here? Cid's little girl shouldn't be going out into the desert," said a familiar voice.

She instantly knew who it was and looked up to him from the ground, her eyes filled with fear that she would be left out and forced to go back. "But Brother is going! I'm not a baby! I can take care of myself, Gippal!" she cried out in Al Bhed with a pout.

Even at nine, she felt like she could defeat Sin even! Well, maybe a small Sinspawn. Okay, maybe a smaller fiend, but she wasn't helpless! With slightly teary eyes, she looked up to Gippal in hopes that he would smile at her, help her up and then let her come with him. Her hopes did not come true.

"You never think before you act. You could get hurt out here and then I'd get in trouble. You're too little. Go home, Rikku," he said. Gippal did none of things she wanted him to, but she couldn't find the breath to plead with him anymore. Instead, she lowered her chin and sniffled a bit, wanting nothing more than his nod. Instead, he shrugged and turned, heading back to the others. Taking a second to look back, Gippal rubbed his head while looking at the sulking Rikku, afterward giving Brother a glance. "You should take her back to camp. You're her brother, after all" he said in quiet Al Bhed.

Brother wasn't keen on the idea and stomped in the sand, throwing a tantrum at being annoyed by her presence. "It's her fault she followed! Let her walk back herself! I want to see the cave!" he shot back, not even glancing at the sniffling little girl.

That was the allure for the morning. Gippal and another Al Bhed had found a cave the day before, a dark hole in the earth that was like a drug for any young kid with an eye for adventure. Curiosity had been gleaming in Gippal's eyes, though he had to wait until the next day when he had some lights to look inside. Of course, the other Al Bhed had blabbed around camp and now they had an exploration team assembled. Naturally, Gippal was leading the pack with his two eyes full of adventure.

With one last look back to Rikku, he shrugged and started to walk again. "Whatever. She's your sister," he said, shrugging off the girl in hopes she would just go back. Soon enough, the group had disappeared in the winding canyons and left Rikku alone to cry in the sand.

She was sniffling and trying to rub the tears off her cheeks, though the sand was making it abrasive and just made it worse. All in all, she didn't know who she hated worse, Brother for being so cruel or Gippal for being so disinterested. "I'm not too little. I can do anything the others can! I'll show him!" she said as she rose to her feet, looking up in defiance of Gippal's words. Although a part of her was telling her that what he was saying was right and she feared many of the fiends that tromped around the desert, she couldn't let Gippal know she was just another crying girl. She had to get his attention! With that single thought going through her mind, she started after them again.

"Wait. I think there's something ahead," said Gippal.

Had she not been immersed in a memory, Rikku would have stopped to let Gippal look around. As he stood, he was leaned back against a wall of the cave and leaning his head towards the corner, hoping not to give away their presence just yet. However, as she had been spacing off, she found it rather surprising when Gippal's hand fanned across her stomach and pushed her back against the wall, making her wince and then get flustered at the touch. Before she could yell at him for groping, she saw how serious his face was. It cut her anger short. However, it did give her a chance to realize that his hand was still lying across her bare stomach, holding back against the wall so she wouldn't move. It may have not been the most appropriate place for her desires for him to flower, but his touch had that affect on her. The warmth of his fingers in contrast to the cold wall made her bite her lower lip, noting just where a couple of his fingers had settled in relation to the lip of her shorts. Between the excitement of the fiend being nearby, the temperature contrast felt on her body and the force of his hand on her, her eyes began to dull a bit and she tried to control her breathing.

She always had to catch her breath when Gippal was around.

Although oblivious to her state of being, Gippal could feel Rikku's stomach cave in a bit under his hand and her skin felt hot. She began to fidget and make heavier breathing, making him think she was a little scared. Turning his head a bit, he lookedback at her with a smirk, talking with a voice that showed he took her reaction as a sign of fear, "What's with you? I didn't think fiends scared you anymore."

'It's not the fiends that are making my heart race like this,' she thought as her eyes fawned over him in silence. As desperately as she wanted him to take his hand off of her, she equally wanted it to remain. Even if he was oblivious, she knew exactly why she was breathing so hard and why her body was suddenly feeling strange. She even shifted her legs together slightly to try and stem the prickling sensations but the excitement was too much for the control. Looking up at him, she took notice of the eye patch which now covered part of his face. As she did, the memory of how he obtained it came rushing to her.

Seeing the large cave made Rikku stop in her tracks. It was a great fiend that was in the ground, opening its jaws to any poor Al Bhed who happened to be foolish enough to stray into it. At least, that was how Rikku saw it. Doubt and second thoughts began to race through her until she heard voices from inside and the sporadic flash of light inside, proving that they had indeed gone inside. Fear of the beast and the desire to be part of the group battled in her mind, though she was too stubborn to turn back now.

Taking a deep breath and sticking her chest out, she pushed forward and went shivering into the cave after them. This would prove to Gippal that she wasn't a little girl anymore.

The other Al Bhed were awed by the cave. "Wow! Look at this! Have you ever seen anything like this before?" one of them called out as she looked over a stalagmite on the ground. The others were also looking at everything that could be seen in the cave, except Gippal, who was sitting on a rock formation coolly and watching everyone. It hadn't turned out to be as exciting as he thought it was going to be, so really he was just humoring the others. Gippal got bored easily.

It was then the sounds began to growl out of the cave, making each of the Al Bhed look up from what they were doing and then to each other for confirmation that everyone had heard it. Gippal blinked, averting his eyes to the darker parts of the cavern and a small knife was slipped up from his boot. Of course, he hadn't known any fiend in Bikanel to be small enough for him to be able to do any real damage with such a small knife, but it was just to make him feel better and to pump some blood through his veins.

"Gippal?" one of the Al Bhed girls asked and looked to him, moving with the rest of the group towards him.

Gippal snorted, and then slid down from his perch on the rocks. Although he wasn't afraid of whatever was waiting for him, he didn't want anyone else to get hurt and figured the cave's wonder was wearing off quickly. He did the only thing he could think of. "I think we need to go now," he said and jerked his head towards the entrance.

None of the others were going to argue and Brother was the first to go running towards the light, with the rest of them stumbling over one another to do the same. Gippal was backing his way out, keeping the others safe from anything which could come and attack from behind and searching every ounce of darkness for whatever it was that had made such ghastly noises. Everything seemed to be resolved when the last of the Al Bhed left the cave unharmed. Gippal was the last one and he let out a sigh of relief, relieved that no one had been hurt.

At least, that's what he thought.

Suddenly, a scream echoed through the cave and caught Gippal just as he was about to leave, making him freeze in his tracks and glare back into the darkness. He knew that scream. He had been the source of it a few times and he suddenly realized someone was still left in the cave. He also knew exactly who it was.

In near darkness, Rikku had run into a very fearsome fiend. A Marlboro was viciously sprawled out before her, writhing its tentacles around and biting fearsome jaws in anticipation of a quick meal. Rikku was on her rump, backed against a stalagmite and stared with wide eyes at the beast. She had never seen one so close before but she had heard many stories about them. Not even her father cared to tangle with one. Now she sat, staring right at one that was simply drooling in lust for her. There was a foul smell that emanated from it and it burned the inside of her nose, though she knew that a sore nose would be the least of her problems if she stayed.

It seemed Gippal had been right the entire time. She hated him for that. All she could do was cover her head and wait for it to attack, tears streaming down her cheeks and cries seeping from her lips. It seemed Rikku's story would end here – eaten by a random fiend in a dark, dank cave..

"Rikku!" yelled a voice.

She couldn't hear it, but it was one of the sounds she had truly come to long for in her life and it was coming to make sure she would be safe. Just as the Marlboro began to spit a bullet of liquid at her, Gippal dove in from the side and grabbed her, pulling her out of the way. They both escaped some horrible fate of the liquid, but Rikku heard Gippal scream out in their escape. Rolling together a way of the fiend, the pair of children appeared to have only delayed their fate, yet suddenly two others came from the darkness.

Lying on the ground with a writhing Gippal in her lap, Rikku watched the unthinkable with wide eyes and clenched fists, her heart beating ferociously as the two shadows rushed at the Marlboro without fear, hesitation or respect for the severe damage that such a beast could do. They just went.