"G'Nite Rikku!" Yuna called as she started towards her bedroom in the cabin area of the S.S. Winno.
"You too!" I yelled back as she gently closed the door behind her, disappearing into the darkness. I sat around for a few more minutes, making sure she was officially asleep, then I walked on tiptoe up the cabin stairs, and stepped through the double doors onto the dimly lit deck of the ship. The night sky was filled with tiny pinpricks of bright stars, and even though the moon was not fully out, everything was illuminated with an almost surreal glow. Stepping over to the edge, I leaned over the railing and watched the dark blue waves lap gently against the sides of the cruiser, as if they were trying to rock the giant ship to sleep with their soothing music.
Even though the Winno would take a lot longer to get to the Luca than the Celsius would, I could not help but feel secretly glad that Brother had knocked off two of our rocket boosters on one of the cliffs near Besaid. (He swears it was because he sneezed and took his eyes off the path, but we all knew it was because he had been staring at Yuna in her Lady Luck dress.) I had always loved the sea, and ever since we had started using the air ship, I hadn't gotten the chance to travel by boat much. We would dock in Luca, stay the night for the Eternal Calm celebration, and then walk on foot to see Rin at the Mi'hen Travel Agency the next morning. He would be there with the two parts we needed, and then Yuna, Paine and I could finally continue with our sphere hunting.
Suddenly, I heard a shuffle of footsteps scraping lightly across the front deck and I gripped the railing tightly into my gloved hands. Who would be up at this hour, I thought suspiciously, blowing a stream of air through my teeth.
"Well... you're up at this hour aren't you, why wouldn't someone else be?" I whispered to myself, a small smile creeping across my face. Loosening my grip, I slid quietly away from the railing. My curiosity had gotten the best of me, and I crept silently around the side of the Captain's chambers towards the nose of the ship. As it came into my sights, I crouched down low with a mischievous grin on my face, preparing to pounce on my unsuspecting victim. Whoever was on the deck was going to get a big Rikku surprise, but as I rounded the corner I stopped dead in my tracks.
Standing in the dim light of the lantern post, was a girl that couldn't have been much younger than me, her shoulder length blonde hair blowing behind her in the cool night breeze. Her thin, pale face was pointed downwards, and her eyes were tightly closed, as if trying to shut off the rest of the world from her little place on the Winno. Fingerless gloved fists were curled around a long iron rod, and it looked plenty heavy for a girl with such a small frame. Hoping she wouldn't notice, I ducked behind a pile of large cargo crates, and peeked my deep green eyes over the top, watching her.
Strange... I thought, Why is she standing out here like that, and what's up with her wacked out clothes?
Her feet were clad in the combat boots of the Crusaders, even though that had disbanded long before. Dark black boots, with a thick blood red rubber sole, complete with a thick silver steel toe. A pair of black baggy cargo jeans hung loosely around her extremely thin waist, exposing a thin sliver of her milky white stomach, and I briefly wondered how they stayed around her. She wore an unbuttoned black blouse that fluttered in the breeze, revealing a tight, dark red tee shirt that looked like it was well worn. Topping it all off, around her neck hung a pair of silver dog tags, each reflecting the light of the lanterns.
"She's unbelievably skinny..." I mused. It was the truth; she looked like she hadn't had a good nutritious meal in weeks, and I felt a ping of sympathy welling up in my chest. Being the fidgety person I am, I couldn't stand to just sit in one place any longer, so I emmerged from the shadows, and stepped lightly towards the silent woman. Just as I got close enough to touch her, a board creaked loudly underfoot, and before I could scold myself, the girl's eyelids snapped open, revealing the brightest green eyes I had ever seen. Startled, she raised her weapon above her head, preparing to smash the stranger standing before her.. heh.. meaning me.
With a little scream I dropped to my knees and covered my unprotected head, praying for a quick, painless death. I cowered there for a few seconds, but when the sound of my head cracking open didn't come, I looked up slowly, wondering why I wasn't in the Farplane. The blonde was still there, except now her rod was lying on the ground, and she was breathing quick shallow breaths.
"I...I'm so sorry." She stammered. "I thought you were a fiend and I was so caught up in my meditation that I..." Cautiously, I pulled my hands from my cranium, warily eyeing the weapon that now lay on the ground between us. She didn't grab for it, so I rose all the way to my feet. I stared into her green eyes and when I was was positive she was truly remorseful, I broke into a grin and said,
"Hey, don't worry about it if it was just an accident. At least you didn't uhh... follow through, you know?."
A shy smile played across her small lips and a sigh of relief escaped from somewhere inside her. She opened her mouth as if it talk, but instead she stepped back a few small steps, eyeing me strangely, her head cocked to one side. I laughed nervously, wondering if there was something on my face or if my hair was a mess. Suddenly, she inhaled sharply and her eyes popped open as big as Wakka's blitzballs.
"LADY RIKKU?!" she cried. "I can't believe this... I almost killed you, a thousand apologies...I..I..." Quickly dropping to one knee, she bowed her head in Spira's traditional show of respect, and even though I had seen plenty of people bow their heads towards me as I walked by, I still felt uncomfortable when people did so.
"Hey..no need for formalities, just call me Rikku. Oh, and you can stand up." I said gently, as I placed my hand on her shoulder. Reluctantly she got back to her feet and began tugging at her shirt and hair. While she fidgeted before me, I finally got a real good look at her. She reminded me of someone. Someone that I knew or had known before... Did she resemble Paine? Maybe... Both of their faces were solemn and serious, except most of the time Paine looked just plain mean, this girl looked as if she had been through a lot. She had that 'Sad puppy' look. She almost looked Al Bhed, with her blonde hair and piercing green eyes, but she was missing the swirling pupils.
"What's your name?" I asked while she was picking up her rod.
"My name? Oh... It's Raven." She answered. "My friends always used to call me that because most of my clothes consist of one color. Black."
I was not sure if she had intended for her comment to be a joke, but I giggled just the same. She smiled a sheepish smile, her face turning a deep shade of pink A few awkward seconds lapsed and we were left without anything to say, but neither of us made a move to leave each other's presence.
"So Raven... I'm eighteen, how old are you?" I asked, breaking the silence. Hey it was the only thing I could think of.
"Sixteen, not much younger than you I guess." She replied her head dropping a little, and to tell you the truth I was a little shocked. I expected her to be a little closer to my age. She seemed wise somehow.. maybe it was those deep eyes.
She glanced up and our eyes locked, so I just had to ask. "Are you... an Al Bhed?"
"Well..yes... half Al Bhed anyway." She responded. "My mother was an Al Bhed, but she died not long after I was born." Her gaze dropped to her feet, and it was obvious this was a touchy subject.
I touched her shoulder gently..
"My mother died around the same time yours did ... I was two when she passed away." I told her, while I grasped for something to change the subject. "Did you know Yuna is half Al Bhed too? That means we all have something in common!"
"Lady Yuna is on the ship too!?" Raven cried, her head snapping up, her eyes flashing with an excited gleam. She was using those darn formalities again.
"It's just plain Yuna, and yeah!" I said.
"Do you think... I could meet her?" she asked.
"Of course! but I mean, She's asleep now but tomorrow morning I'm sure she'd be happy to talk with you!" I said happily.
Raven grinned, and sat down on one of the boxes I had been hiding behind earlier. Sitting there she sobered up and fixed her eyes out onto the ocean as if asking it what she should say next.
"Where are you headed after we dock in Luca?" she questioned, never shifting her gaze from the dark waves.
"Mi'hen Highroad to visit some old friends and buy some parts for our airship.." I said. "What about yourself?"
"So am I." She said quietly, "For the same reason I guess..well I'm not buying parts for any air ship, but to visit family." I pondered over this for a minute, and then grinning I said..
"Then stay with us in Luca! The Eternal Calm 2nd year celebration is there tomorrow night, and you can sleep over with us afterwards! It'll be fun!" I knew I was jumping into trusting this girl way too hastily, but there was something about her.
Finally she turned to look at me, that same shy smile creeped across her face and she happily agreed. "I'd like that."
"Woo hoo!" I exclaimed. "Meet us on the dock as soon as you wake up in the morning so I can introduce you to Yuna and Paine. You'll like Paine a lot, you guys have the same taste in clothing."
She chuckled and stood up from her seat, stretching her arms above her head.
"So... tomorrow then" she said, stifling a yawn.
Seeing her yawn, I realized just how tired I really was. We had been up all night before trying to fix the airship, and I had gone all day without so much as a nap. It was almost 2 A.M. now and we would arrive at seven the next morning. It was probably time for me to get into bed.
"Yup yup." I said. "It was nice meeting you. Tomorrow. Don't forget. Kuuthekrd." I said sleepily as I turned to walk towards the cabin door.
"I won't. Kuuthekrd." She replied, as I passed through the double doors, gently closing them behind me.
Quickly changing from my daily attire to my pajamas, I hopped into the bed I was sharing with Yuna. I reached up to turn off the light and as I did so, I again thought of how familiar Raven was.
"I'll remember sooner or later." I whispered..
Leaning back onto the mattress, I pulled the covers up to my chin and snuggled closer to Yuna for warmth. Before you could say 'Shoopuf' I had fallen into a much needed, dreamless sleep.
Thanks for reading so far. If I get 10 good reviews I'll continue with this story. If not then I'll probably just drop it. Please review! It'll make me super happy. Oh yeah and Kuuthekrd means Good Night in Al Bhed.