A/N: Ahh! Again, I'm soo sorry about not updating in a while, I've been kinda neglecting my ficcys lately and now I feel bad for it because some people actually enjoy reading my ficcys, which makes me happy of course. So again, like my last chappie on my other ficcy, this chappie may be a little forced due to a bit of writers block on my part with not being able to think of what to do next and stuff. Anyway, drop me a review if you like the chappie, and if you don't like it, well tell me what I can do to improve it… nicely, of course. Being mean in reviews doesn't make anyone happy. –nods-

Anyway, hope you enjoy the chappie… -cracks knuckles and gets ready to think of ideas-

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Chapter Three – An Encounter With a Nightmare

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I awoke with a start. I had been dreaming of home, of my mother's reaction to my report card. It wasn't very pretty.

That got me thinking. Now that I was in Spira, would my dreams consist of my future back on Earth? Was time on Earth standing still, or was it still moving? What was the difference in time from here? Was one day on earth weeks or years in Spira? Or was it the other way around? I was starting to make my head hurt thinking of the possibilities.

I sat up on my bed, stretching my arms over my head, listening for the familiar crack of my back after laying down all night. Sighing, I pushed myself off my bed and started my morning routine, which mostly consisted of stretches, and if I was feeling in the mood, and had time, I would also practice my various punching and kicking techniques that I learned in my martial arts classes. Those were fun to do, a great way to start the day.

Tidus opened the flap of the hut just as I kicked my leg out in a kick designed to shatter a person's kneecaps if executed properly.

"Woah, watch it there," Tidus said, backing up a few steps.

"Heh, sorry," I said sheepishly, bowing my head a little to hide my face. I hated people watching me do my morning stuff, it felt awkward to have someone watch me, although I was used to having people watch me, it was only when I was sparring against someone, and they were only watching me to see if they could block my next attack.

"Lulu says to get ready to go, we're leaving soon."

"Oh, okay," I said, grabbing my backpack. I was already dressed, seeing as I had slept in the clothes I came in… and well, they were frankly the only clothes I had with me. It wasn't as if I kept a spare wardrobe in my backpack. This would have to do.

I followed Tidus out of the hut, into the center of the village. The sun was just beginning to rise in the east, and everyone looked a little anxious to get going. Yuna looked especially nervous. Why was she so nervous all the time? And what was this whole trip about anyway? My dreams had never explained that aspect very well. Seeing Yuna's nervous face, I decided to save the questions for later.

"So, are we ready to go?" I asked in a falsely cheery voice.

Wakka rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms above his head. "Ya, I suppose we better get goin'. The boat leaves soon for Kilika, we don't wanna be late, ya?"

"Yes, let's be on our way," Yuna agreed, nodding her head slightly.

"But first, we pray at the overlook," Wakka said. "When Chappu left to fight Sin, he never prayed, ya? We pray, or I'm not leaving this island!"

Chappu? Who the heck was he?

Tidus looked down at the sword he was holding, sheepishly running his finger along the handle.

Lulu saw my confused look and leaned over to me and whispered in my ear. "Chappu was Wakka's little brother, he left to fight Sin and never came back." She sighed. "And now Wakka thinks Tidus is Chappu, or something along those lines."

"Ah," I said.

"Let's get going then," Lulu said as she motioned to the gate leading out of the village.

Wakka was the first to walk towards the exit of the village, leading the way. As we started to walk out of the village, people came out of their huts and waved goodbye to Yuna, many of younger children were crying. I noticed tear streaks on a few of the adult faces as well.

Yuna waved to them and turned towards the gate. I saw the glisten of unshed tears in her eyes. Moving towards her, I nudged her a bit with my arm, letting her know I was there for her if she needed to talk to someone. She looked over at me and smiled the tiniest bit. I knew this was probably very hard for her, having to leave her hometown behind to go somewhere, somewhere that I still wasn't sure of.

After walking for a bit, we came upon the statue at the overlook.

"We stop and pray here, ya?" Wakka said, looking back at the others.

I stood a little behind them, just observing what Wakka was doing. He seemed to be a pretty religious guy.

When Wakka was done praying, we started towards the trail, which, I assumed, would lead us to the Besaid port where we were supposed to get on a boat. Crap… a boat.

"Uhmm…" I said aloud, to nobody in particular.

"Uhmm what?" Tidus asked.

"We're going to Kilika… on a boat… right?" I said nervously. I had always hated boats, I had a phobia of them or something. My dad had always tried to get me to go sailing with him when I was smaller… but I never did enjoy it… especially after I witnessed my own father drown in a sudden storm that came up while he was trying to teach me how to sail the boat. I had been only eight years old then, and he hadn't been wearing a life jacket. I had been knocked unconscious after he had gone under the water, and I had floated back to shore to be found days later by a search party my frantic mother had sent out. They never found my dad's body.

Tidus' face paled. "B-boat?" He glanced at Wakka nervously.

"Ya, a boat. Gotta problem with that?"

Tidus and I both laughed nervously.

"Eh-heh heh. N-no… no problem at all, Wakka. I'll be fine…" I said, my face probably very pale.

"Good. We'll be there soon, then we're off to Kilika." Wakka said.

I let out a silent sigh. How was I going to cope with being on a boat? I hadn't even been able to go near any large body of water since my dad drowned… I hadn't even been able to go near a swimming pool for at least a good two years afterward.

I trudged along a little behind the rest of the group, although Kimahri was behind me. I mulled over the possibilities. I highly doubted there would be any other way to get to Kilika other than on the boat, it's not like we could just catch a plane or anything.

Soon the view of a large beach with pure white sand came into view. My heart skipped a few beats. That meant that we would be getting on that boat soon. Boat. Boat. Oh gods.

Yuna was greeted at the beach by a group of people, obviously there to see her off. A lot of people kept pushing gifts of potions, elixirs, and even jewelry at Yuna. Yuna gave each person a hug, she obviously knew most of them, having grown up in the small village of Besaid.

After the crowd had dispersed into the direction of the dock and the waiting boat, Yuna started to lead the way towards the boat. I let my gaze fall onto the boat, it looked more like a small ship to me. But then again, I didn't have much experience with boats and ships. It did look pretty large, though.

Yuna walked onto the dock, followed by the others. I stopped just before the dock, still safe on solid ground. I stood there, waiting for a revolution, something, anything, anything so I wouldn't have to get onto that boat. There was no way I was going to get on that boat, I couldn't. I wasn't ready to face my fear just yet.

I started to back away slowly from the dock, only to bump into something furry. I turned around and was greeted by the gaze of Kimahri. He put his paw on my shoulder, nodding towards the boat.

"N-no.. I can't Kimahri. You don't understand…"

Kimahri opened his other paw to reveal a glittering chain. He held it out to me, motioning for me to take it.

I took it in my fingers and held it up to my face to study it closely. It was light as air and almost looked like it was made of a translucent type of material.

"Is this for me..?" I asked, looking up at Kimahri's large yellow eyes.

He nodded and I put the bracelet on my wrist.

Kimahri took his paw off my shoulder and started to walk towards the ship. I followed him, walking across the dock and up the ramp leading onto the ship. It wasn't until I was standing beside Lulu on the ship that I'd realized what I had one. I had walked onto the ship without even a second thought. I lifted my arm up to my face and studied the bracelet on my wrist carefully. What was this thing, anyway? Shrugging, I let my gaze fall to the people waving frantically to Yuna on the dock below.

The ship set off from the dock, and Yuna kept waving to the people until she couldn't see them anymore.

Yuna let out a sigh and came to sit beside me near the side of the boat where I had taken up residence for the time being.

"You going to be okay?" I asked her.

"Yes.. I'm sure I'll be fine… it's just hard leaving people behind, you know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean." I replied.

"What's that thing on your wrist? You didn't have it on before," Yuna said, pointing to the contraption Kimahri had given me.

"Kimahri gave it to me, and whatever the heck it is, it got rid of my fear of being on this ship, I think.." I said, playing with the clasp on the bracelet. Maybe it was time to test and see if it really was the bracelet that was keeping me from being scared.

Just as the clasp came undone on the bracelet, the ship lurched and tilted to one side considerably. The bracelet slipped from my grasp and slid to the other end of the boat.

I panicked. And when I said panicked, I mean panicked. I started to hyperventilate, trying desperately to grab onto any solid object that would keep me safe. But this was a boat, nothing on this boat was safe. The boat could tip over at any second, leading me to have the same fate as my father!

"SIN!!" Someone from the bow of the boat shouted.

I crawled over as quickly as I could toward the large mast of the boat. I grabbed onto it, holding on for dear life, breathing heavily the whole time. I snuck a glance towards the bow of the boat, and saw something I never thought I would ever see in a million lifetimes.

A demon from my nightmares. This was Sin, so it had been called. The large gray dome of its back went back under water, the suction causing the ship to lurch violently.

I screamed out in terror, clutching to the wooden mast with all I was worth. I wanted this to end, this had to end, now! I dug my nails into the wood of the mast, the wood splintering beneath my grasp, the shards of wood digging deep into the skin under my nails.

I shut my eyes tight, pleading with any god that would listen, any deity who would happen to listen in on my silent pleas.

I stayed conscious long enough to hear a violent roar come from the starboard side of the ship, the roar accompanied by a deafening whooshing sound.

Silence.

A/N: Woah, that was a pretty long chappie for me. Took me long enough to write, too. ;; Anyway, I hope that anyone who read it enjoyed this chappie… hopefully the next chappie will come sooner than the chappies have been coming out lately. Please leave me a review, they make me want to write!