Chapter 5—Discoveries

Waking up, the first thing I realize is that I'm still alive. The second thing I notice, is that I'm floating, and that almost causes me to drown. Sputtering water, I finally get myself back to a position of treading water, and look around. Tidus is floating face-down in the water, a couple feet from me, and I quickly swim over to revive him.

'Hmm, guess I get to slap him after all...' I think to myself, a cheeky grin spreading over my face. As I raise my hand to smack him, though, he wakes up, sputtering water much the way I did. Mumbling random curses to myself because of having my fun spoiled, I decide to take a better look around. Water, water, water...hmm. Guess there isn't too much else here.

"Rikku!" Tidus yells, looking around for any sign of the blond haired girl. Suddenly, I notice an object flying towards us, or rather Tidus, at quite the high speed. Before he realizes what's happening, he's smacked in the face by a small blue object, roughly the size of a soccer ball. Holding his head, he looks up at the object, before catching it easily and smiling.

"Blitzball!"

"Hey! You okay?" a voice yells from a distance away, and I turn to the right to see where it came from. When I looked around, I failed to notice the small beach that was a couple hundred feet from us. Squinting my eyes, I could just make out the figures of several men standing on the beach, waving to us.

Tidus gets a nice smile on his face, and yells back to the men.

"Heeey!" he yells, before taking the ball and diving underwater. Confused for a moment, I suddenly get my unspoken question answered, as the ball comes flying out of the water, followed by Tidus a moment later. As the ball reaches the apex of its flight, Tidus flips upside down and smashes the ball towards the beach in a perfect bicycle kick. The ball goes sailing towards the beach at about twice the speed it flew at us, narrowly missing the person who yelled at us, sailing by his head.

"Whoa-ho!" he yells, as we start to swim towards the beach, thankful to finally find some land for once.

And no, the cavern we found doesn't count.

Making it to the beach, the man smirks at Tidus, as I shake the water off of me, shivering slightly from the dampness. Tidus simply smiles back, as he approaches the man, who I now notice to have quite the hairstyle. Tall, orange hair, swept back almost like a crested wave. 'Boy, bet he stands out in a crowd...' I think to myself, recognizing the man instantly. Of course, with the hairstyle he has, it would be hard not to. As Tidus approaches the group, two of the men turn and leave, but the man who yelled earlier turns around as he and the rest of his gang walk towards Tidus, quickly surrounding him.

"Yo! Hiya!" Tidus says, grinning from ear to ear.

"You wanna try that move one more time?" the man asks Tidus, speaking with a definite accent, though I couldn't quite place it. I had thought Tidus' smile couldn't get any bigger, but I was quickly proven wrong as he picks up the blitzball and proceeds to demonstrate the move once more, but this time in the opposite direction. Needless to say, much the same results occur, as the ball goes flying over the ocean so quickly it leaves a small wake behind it. Everyone lets out a gasp of surprise, as the man speaks again.

"You're no amateur. Who you play for?" he asks Tidus.

"The Zanarkand Abes!" Tidus replies proudly, making me slap my face in response to Tidus' idiocy.

"Just ignore him. He got to close to Sin's toxin, isn't that right Tidus?" I say to him, clapping a hand over his mouth and poking him in the ribs with my other hand. Tidus nods, wincing slightly from my sharp, sudden attack, if you could call it an attack. The men murmur to one another, something about 'a miracle', and 'praise to Yevon.'

"Sin's toxin got to you. But, you're still alive. Praise be to Yevon!" the man says, before doing a gesture than I recognized all too well, having always wanted to do it for myself. Right forearm over the left, they move their hands in a circle in front of them, before moving them into a rough sphere shape and bowing. Otherwise known as what I simply called, the 'prayer to Yevon.'

"All right, back to practice!" the man says, as the others disperse off, apparently having been in the middle of blitzball practice when we dropped in, for lack of a better term. "I'm Wakka, coach and captain of the Besaid Aurochs, brudda." he says, looking to me and Tidus with a smile. I smile back, simply bowing for now. I didn't want to mess any of the storyline up for now, as I remembered that Tidus isn't shown the prayer until a little later. Tidus' only response is to have his stomach growl, making me chuckle a bit.

"What? You hungry?" Wakka asks, before turning around and shrugging. "Okay! Back to the village, I'll get you somethin'." he says, as he starts to walk towards what I guess is the path leading to the village. Tidus starts to follow eagerly at the mention of eating, and I follow along too.

As we're walking, Tidus seems to be a little edgy over something, almost like he's having a mental fight with himself. Finally, one side wins, as he speaks up to Wakka.

"It's true Zanarkand was destroyed, right? A thousand years ago? So, it's just a big pile of rubble now, isn't it?"

Wakka stops, and turns to Tidus, seemingly thinking Tidus either has amnesia, or just isn't too bright, before beginning to explain.

"Long time ago, there were a whole lot of cities in Spira. Big cities with machina—machines—to run 'em. People played all day and let the machina do the work. And then, well, take a look." he says, motioning to the small ruins around us, that we hadn't noticed before.

"Sin came, and destroyed the machina cities. And Zanarkand along with 'em. Yeah, that was about a thousand years ago, like you said. If you ask me, Sin's our punishment for letting things get out of hand." he says, his voice beginning to take on an angry tone as he continues. "What gets me though...is we gotta suffer, all because of what some goofballs did way back when!" Taking a moment to calm down a little, he begins to speak once again, as Tidus and I just continue to listen intently. "Course, we must always repent for our sins! That's important! It's just that, it's hard to keep at it sometimes, you know?"

Tidus nods, his face falling a little, unbeknownst to Wakka. I watch on, feeling a little sad for Tidus. After all, how would you feel if you knew your home was destroyed? Wakka suddenly laughs, breaking through the somber silence, before grabbing Tidus around the neck in a headlock, and giving him a noogie, Tidus trying desperately to squirm his way out.

"But you from the Zanarkand Abes–that was a good one! Hey, I'm not saying the team never existed, ya? But you gotta figure a team living in luxury like that'd be pretty soft, eh?" he says, as Tidus finally manages to squeeze his head out from under Wakka's arm, rubbing the top of his head. Tidus just smiles a crooked smile, before running off ahead, me and Wakka following. As we approach Tidus, Wakka yells out to him, noticing he's going the wrong way.

"Hey! It's this way!" he yells, turning and running to the left of where Tidus was. I follow Wakka, as Tidus is now the one lagging behind. After a moment, we come to a large cliff, overlooking a lagoon of some sort. Wakka and I stand at the ledge, as Tidus jogs up and joins us. Looking down into the water, the next thing I know, Tidus goes flying down the cliff. I stare on, before beginning to laugh at his situation. Suddenly, I find a hand on my shoulder, which scares me. Instinct takes over, and with deceiving strength for my small frame, I grab the arm that the hand is attached to, and bend over, throwing the thing over my head and off the cliff, into the water below. Only when I get a glimpse of reddish orange hair, do I realize what I just did. I just threw Wakka off the cliff.

"Hey, real funny, ya!" he yells up to me, shaking his fist in mock anger. My face goes from a horrified expression to a look of amusement.

"Well, you shouldn't have grabbed me! What's the saying again, 'never underestimate your opponent'? I yell down to him.

Crossing his arms, he speaks again. "I didn't know we were opponents, brudda!"

Ignoring him, I begin to think for a moment, looking at the sky, then back down to the water again.

'Yup, this is going to hurt, but whatever. Oh well, some famous last words...hmm...Banzai!' I think to myself, before diving off the cliff, turning a full forward flip in mid air, before splashing down in the water hands-first, like an Olympic diver.

When I resurface, the first thing I notice is Wakka waving for me to follow him; Tidus is already near him, so I quickly swim over to rejoin them. After a minute or two of swimming, Wakka stops for a moment. Tidus continues swimming just a second too late, and I wince slightly as Wakka pulls him into a headlock for the second time in about 10 minutes.

"Lemme go!" Tidus yells, annoyed at Wakka's juvenile actions.

"Got a favor to ask ya." he says, though the answer should be painfully obvious, even for Tidus. Sure enough, Tidus gets it right.

"You want me on your team, right?"

Wakka lets Tidus go, who sinks for a moment at the sudden lack of buoyancy, before resurfacing and facing Wakka.

"A major blitz tournament's coming up. All the teams in Spira'll be there! It's so huge, I'm sure someone will recognize you! Then you can go back to your old team, right?" he says, staring at Tidus, who still looks unsure. "It'll be fun! What do you say, huh? Come on, come on!"

"Yea, Tidus, he has a point. It will be fun, especially because I've never seen a blitzball game in person before!" I say, trying to help Wakka convince Tidus. Tidus just floats there for a moment, apparently thinking about it, before smiling.

"Sure thing." he says, beginning to swim away from the two of us. Wakka quickly swims after him, and I follow, as Wakka yells after Tidus.

"Dude, our team is gonna rock, eh?"

After a couple more minutes of swimming, we finally reach solid ground again, and I resist the urge to kiss it. Swimming is hard, when you don't swim very often, that is. Tidus and Wakka walk up to the edge of yet another cliff, although this one is more like a small overhang then the large cliff we were at a few minutes ago. It's a lot higher in elevation than everywhere else though, and in the distance we can see a small village, with a large building in the background, which I assume is the temple.

"This is where I was born." Wakka begins, staring out at the village. "I started blitz when I was five. I joined the Aurochs at thirteen...ten years ago. Ten years...and we never won a game. Well, after last year's tournament, I quit. Time seemed right."

'No kidding...' I mutter to myself.

Wakka walks away, apparently going to the path leading to the village. Tidus' stomach growls again, and he runs after him, with myself following a moment after.

"So after quitting, I got this new job, ya? But every time my mind wandered, I thought about the game." he says, continuing to walk. Tidus simply nodded, before speaking.

"Ten years without a single win'll do that." he says, as Wakka's face scrunches up.

"My first match last year was my big chance. But something was on my mind. I couldn't focus." Tidus smirks a little at this.

"Nice excuse."

I slap my face, as Wakka turns around indignantly, yelling "Hey, hey!" at Tidus, who continues.

"So, you want to win the next tournament—go out with a bang." he says, folding his arms over his chest. Wakka nods. "So, what's our goal?" he says, thrusting a fist out in front of him, pointed up towards the air. Wakka just shrugs, before answering.

"I don't care how we do. Long as we play our best. If we give it our all, I can walk away happy."

Tidus doesn't seem to like that answer, and waves his hands in front of him. "No, no, no, no, no. If I say 'What's our goal?', you say 'Victory!' When you play in a blitzball tournament, you play to win!"

Wakka looks stunned for a moment. "Victory? You serious?" Now it's Tidus' turn to nod. Continuing down the path in silence, we're suddenly approached by two figures.

"Ah, the two from the sea." the first says, eyeing the both of us.

"Be on guard. There're fiends on the road today!" the second says, turning back to the first.

"After surviving your run-in with Sin, 'twould be a shame if something happened now." the first says, before they walk off towards where we just came from, back towards the beach I think.

"Who were they?" Tidus asks, and I have to agree, not remembering exactly who those two were.

"Luzzu and Gatta—Crusaders." Wakka replies.

"Crews of what?" Tidus asks, not understanding Wakka at all.

"What, you forgot that too?" Wakka says, to which Tidus simply hangs his head. Wakka walks over and places an arm around Tidus' shoulder, before speaking again. "Hey, sorry. Don't worry about it, I'll help you out." he says, as Tidus lifts his head.

"Cool. In return, come tournament time, I'll make sure we take the cup!"

Wakka smiles. "Cool. About the Crusaders, you can ask them yourself. They've got a lodge in the village."

Continuing down the trail once again, I hear a noise, sounding much like a wolf howling. Placing my hand on my sword, I get ready for anything. Wakka and Tidus seem to notice my uneasiness, and slow down some. Suddenly, 2 wolf-like quadrupeds bolt out from the bushes, and stand in front of us, growling.

"Coyotes. Don't worry, they aren't too much of a problem, ya?" Wakka says, pulling out his blitzball.

"Wakka, this isn't the time for a game!" Tidus says, apparently not realizing yet what Wakka is doing.

"Hey, I know. This is my weapon, you know!" he says, grinning at Tidus. Tidus just shrugs.

"Less talk, more fiend whacking, you guys!" I yell, having charged the pair of fiends, and now holding off claw swipes from both of them. Wakka nods, before staring at the pair for a moment.

"Stand back! This is gonna be good!" he yells, before taking careful aim and throwing the ball at the Coyotes, which bounces off the left side of the head of the first, bouncing and smashing into the side of the head of the second. As the ball rockets back towards Wakka, I can't help but be awed by the precision in the attack. That is, of course, before Tidus charges and decapitates the first Coyote completely, the head bursting into pyreflies to be followed by the body. I turn back around, and dodge a pouncing attack by the remaining fiend, before slicing it's neck wide open with a quick slash. The fiend falls, and dissipates as well after a moment.

"Now that they've been taken care of, on to the village!" Wakka says, putting the blitzball away again and walking down the path, the two of us following suit.

After a couple more minutes of walking, we come upon the village. It's not very big, but bigger than you may expect. Straw huts decorate the surrounding landscape, looking like an indian village for a moment. That is, until you see the temple. The temple is a huge stone structure, reaching easily ten times as high, if not more, as any other building in the area. As we near the entrance, Wakka motions for us to walk over to where he's standing. We do so, and he turns to the both of us after a moment.

"Besaid Village."

"They got any food there?" Tidus asks, and I groan.

"Is that all you think about, Tidus? Your stomach?" I ask, crossing my arms. Wakka just points to a hut farther off.

"We'll get you two something over there later. Take a look around first." he says, motioning to the village. "Let's see...the Crusaders lodge is over yonder. Luzzu and Gatta are usually there." he says, motioning to a large blue tent on the left side of the village. "Oh, right." he says, snapping his fingers, as if he had just remembered something.

"You two do remember the prayer, don't you?" he asks us. I nod, but Tidus shakes his head 'no'.

"Man, that's like the basics of the basics. Alright, I'll show you." he replies, doing the same gesture he did when he first met us on the beach. "Go ahead, you two try."

I do the gesture as well as I can, and Tidus does the same. Wakka smiles at us, before speaking again.

"Hey, not bad. Okay, now go present yourselves to the temple summoner."

I start walking towards the temple with Wakka, but Tidus just stands there for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. "Hey, you coming or what?" I say to him, which snaps him out of his trance.

"Oh, yeah...uh, right!" he says, jogging down the path to catch up with us. As we reach the temple, I look up, really noticing how big it is now that I'm right beneath the arched walkway. It's bigger than most of the buildings I've seen back home, but then again, I live in the country, so that isn't saying much. As we walk inside, we're greeted by the sight of several people around the edges of the room, praying to what I suppose are statues of former summoners. Tidus walks over to a statue, that appears to be clad in some sort of priestly robe, holding a long staff in his hand. A man then walks over to him, noticing his examination of the statue.

"Ten years have passed since Lord Braska became high summoner. And finally we recieved a statue for our temple." the man says, causing my eyes to go wide for a moment at the mention of Braska. I remember that Braska was Yuna's father, and also that Auron was one of his guardians, as well as Jecht, Tidus' father. Though, wisely, I don't say anything for now.

"Whats a high summoner?" Tidus asks, causing everyone in the room to gasp. "I...I got too close to Sin's, uh, toxin." he stammers, quickly trying to make an excuse for himself.

"The summoners are practitioners of a sacred art, sworn to protect the people of Yevon." the man explains. "Only a chosen few become summoners, who call forth entities of great power: the aeons. The aeons hear our prayers and come down to us. They are the blessing of Yevon."

Tidus nods slowly, before turning to me. "You understand what he just said?" I nod.

"Come on, let's go back and find Wakka. I'll explain it all later."

Walking out of the temple, I look around, trying to remember exactly where Wakka's hut is. Finally spying Wakka waving to us, we walk over so we can rest for a little while, and I hopefully can better explain about summoners and such to Tidus. Wakka speaks first, though, and I can't help but laugh at what's said.

"Sorry, man. Not time for lunch yet."

Tidus' face falls at this, and I just laugh harder, as Tidus punches me in the shoulder, muttering something I can't quite make out. Wakka waves us inside the hut then.

"Take a nap, you two. You look bushed." I smile at the hospitality, before putting my hand up.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Wakka. I can't sleep during the day. It's just the way I am, for some reason." I say, moving out of the way of Tidus. I may not be able to sleep, but apparently Tidus surely can. Within 2 minutes, he's sound asleep on a makeshift bed. Pulling the Sphere Grid out of my pocket, I begin to move around and scan the different nodes on it, hoping to see what abilities it has discerned that I possess. First one that I see is...

"Haste? You're kidding me!" I exclaim, eyes going wide.

I had expected some useful abilities, but not until much later on. I hadn't expected to be able to learn Haste so soon. So soon, in fact, it was only about 4 nodes from my current position.

"Hey, you have a Sphere Grid too? Pretty cool, ya?" Wakka says, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yeah, I do. How do you know about them?" I ask, curious.

"They're pretty common in Spira. Most people have one, to help them defend themselves against fiends and the like." he responds, earning a small nod from me. During all the excitement, Tidus still hasn't moved an inch, or even gave any indication he was alive. The kid sleeps like a rock, I tell you. I turn my head back to Wakka, just in time to see someone approach the door of the hut.

"Greetings. How goes the trials of the apprentice summoner?" the man says, performing the prayer as he speaks. Wakka also does the prayer gesture, before replying.

"I dunno. Lu and Kimahri are in there with her."

The man nods slowly, before speaking again.

"You could at least go see how they are doing." Wakka shakes his head at this, looking down.

"We can't interfere. It's a rule." The man seems slightly angry at this, as his tone gets slightly more fierce.

"But, it's been nearly..."

Wakka cuts him off at this point, walking out of the hut towards the temple, as if to say, "Fine, come on." I follow the two of them, knowing who they're referring to.

(Flashback)

Several people are standing on a dock, in front of a boat in Zanarkand. They appear to be talking to a young woman, who seems slightly disturbed by something. The woman is first to speak, turning to one of the men.

"But, it's been nearly..."

"It's been nearly a day already." one of the men interrupts her, causing her to turn to him.

"Perhaps you could do look for us." she says, her tone hopeful. The man simply smiles.

"People are searching for him now." he replies, before walking away.

"Thank you." she says to no one in particular, clasping her hands.

(End Flashback)

(Flashback)

The same woman from before is talking to a young boy, apparently her son.

"Who cares whether he comes back or not?" the boy says, looking up at his mother. The woman thinks for a minute, before speaking.

"But he might die!"

The boy simply stands there, no emotion showing at all except anger.

"Fine, let him!"

The woman seems hurt by the forceful answer, and hangs her head.

"Do you...Do you hate him so?" The boy nods in response. "If he dies, you'll never be able to tell him how much you hate him."

(End Flashback)

My attention is drawn to the doors opening suddenly as Tidus walks in, seeing Wakka talking to the same man from before, while I'm standing in front of the statue of High Summoner Braska. Running over to Wakka, the man walks off as Tidus approaches. I walk over as well, listening to the conversation.

"Is something wrong?" Tidus asks, confused. Wakka doesn't give any sort of yes or no, just turns to Tidus and speaks.

"The summoner hasn't returned from the trial." he says, before putting a hand to his chin in thought for a moment.

"Eh?" Tidus says, confused as ever.

"Well, apprentice summoner, really..."

"Ah?"

"There's a room in there called the Cloister of Trials." Wakka explains, staring at Tidus. "Beyond is where the apprentice summoner prays. If the prayer is heard, the apprentice becomes a fully-fledged summoner, remember?" Tidus crosses his arms over his chest.

"So, someone is in there somewhere and they haven't come back out. Right, I got it."

"A day's already gone by." Wakka says, looking at the doorway leading to the Cloister of Trials.

"Is it particularly dangerous in there?" Tidus asks, clearly confused as to why it would be of such concern for someone to spend a day in a temple.

"Sometimes, yes."

"Why don't you go in and help?" he asks Wakka.

Wakka shakes his head, before answering. "There's already guardians in there. Besides, it's forbidden."

Before Wakka can respond, Tidus runs up the stairs, almost to the top, before turning around.

"Hey, but what if something happens? What if the summoner dies?"

"The precepts must be obeyed!" Wakka retorts.

"Like I care!" he says, before turning and running through the doorway, making everyone else in the temple gasp for the second time that day.

I stare for a moment, awestricken at what Tidus just said. When I first played the game, I didn't think anything of that line about 'what if something happens.' I passed it off as just another line. Now, though, after seeing his emotions, I start to understand just how admirable he really is. He doesn't even know who's inside, or what's inside, but he's ready to risk life and limb to save them.

"Uh-oh. This isn't good, brudda." Wakka says, turning to me.

"Should we go stop him?" I ask.

Wakka nods. "We don't really have much of a choice." he says, before we run up the steps and into the Cloister ourselves.

"Stick close to me. I know the way through this place." Wakka says, and I nod, knowing how much I hated to do these trials in the game. Frowning at something, Wakka speaks again. "Looks like I'm not the only one, ya?" he says, pointing at a sphere. "That shouldn't be there. Tidus already came this way, and figured out this part of the puzzle."

"So, what do we do?" I inquire.

"We follow his path. What else?" he says, moving down a passageway.

After several minutes of walking, we come upon a smaller hallway, leading to an open area with a circular device in the middle. And who happens to be standing in front of it, but Tidus.

"Hey! What's gotten into you?"Wakka says, placing a hand on Tidus' shoulder, causing him to turn around. "Hey, it's okay. Only summoners, apprentice summoners, and their guardians can enter here. It's a tradition. Very important." Wakka explains to Tidus, who simply looks at Wakka.

"So what about you?"

Wakka smiles again. "Me? I'm a guardian."

"A guardian?"

I cut in for a moment, hoping to draw attention back to the task at hand.

"Shouldn't we get moving again? The apprentice might be in danger." I say, even though I know the truth.

Wakka nods, as we all step onto the circular device, while reveals itself to be an elevator, leading down to below the Cloister of Trials. Turning to Tidus, he begins to explain about summoners and guardians.

"Summoners go on a pilgrimage to pray at every temple in Spira. Guardians protect them. The guardians in there now...One of em's got a short fuse, and who knows what the other's thinking."

I chuckle to myself. "Sounds like Lulu and Kimahri, alright."

As the elevator reaches the bottom, Wakka sighs, before turning to the two of us.

"Well, now that we've come this far...might as well go all the way!" he says, before walking towards the door leading to the inner chamber. Opening the door, we're greeted with the sight of two people. The first is a woman, wearing a long, black, strapless dress, than seems to be made of belts from the waist down. Her hair is also done up exquisitely, reminding me somewhat of Japanese hairstyles.

The second is a large bipedal lion creature, completely covered in blue fur, and wielding a large polearm of some sort. He seems to be the more serious of the two. The woman then turns to Wakka, her face holding a slight expression of anger.

"What are you doing here? Didn't think we'd be able to handle it?" she says, her slight glare causing Wakka to cringe for a moment, placing his hand on the back of his head sheepishly.

"No, it's uh...it's just..." he trails off, turning to Tidus. "See, I told you she gets mad easy."

Tidus doesn't seem to notice the woman's anger, or care for that matter, as he walks closer to her.

"Is the summoner okay?"

The woman's face goes from anger back to apathy, before momentarily switching to confusion.

"Who are you? And for that matter, who is he?" she says, pointing to me. Suddenly, the introductions are interrupted by a door at the top of the stairs across the room opening, and a young girl walking out. The girl stands still for a moment, before suddenly falling forward, towards the stairs. Everyone gasps and steps forward, but the lion creature races forward, darting up the steps to catch the girl in his arms gently. She regains her balance, and fixes her hair, before standing up straight and speaking.

"I've done it. I have become a summoner!"

After checking to make sure the girl is okay, the group of guardians exit, myself and Tidus trailing behind, as we go back up the elevator and exit the Cloister of Trials. As we exit the final door, a group of people run up, surrounding the summoner and her guardians, happy to see that they are all okay. Tidus and I simply exit the temple, deciding to leave the group alone for now. Unbeknownst to us, Wakka had followed us out, shortly after followed by the summoner, guardians, and rest of the group of people.

"Hey, over here!" he yells as he runs past us, towards a large circle in the middle of the village.

Walking over, we see that there are people now coming out of their houses and heading towards the circle. Suddenly I remember what's about to happen, and grin to myself.

"This is going to be awesome!" I think to myself, walking up to the edge of the circle.

As the summoner walks into the circle, everyone gathers around, as Wakka punches Tidus on the arm.

"What? Ow!" he exclaims, caught unaware.

"Wait till you see this!" Wakka replies, grinning from ear to ear, much the same as myself.

Tidus looks around. "I can't see anything!" he retorts.

Wakka walks closer to the summoner, before speaking.

"Ready?"

She nods, before gripping her staff with one hand. "Okay."

As Wakka steps back, the girl brings her staff back behind her, spreading her legs out, one behind the other, as 4 beams of light rise up from a circle formation around her and spiral around each other in to the sky. As the 4 beams meet, a bright flash of light appears, and something comes diving down, before it stops and levels out a few feet above the ground, spreading its wings and revealing itself for the first time. It appears to be a giant, multicolored bird creature, easily 5 times as large as the summoner herself. As it lands, she strokes its neck gently, before an outburst of cheers erupt from the gathered crowd, signaling the success of the girl's first summon. Turning to look at Wakka, I stretch for a moment, before speaking.

"I think I'm going to go relax until tonight. There's a celebration or something, right?" I ask, turning to leave.

"Yeah, there's gonna be a big party tonight, ya? You better show up! Don't want to miss it!"

I smile back, as I walk away. "Don't worry, I'll be there!"