Chapter 1- The Fin

"I don't know why you don't like boats so much Auron. There's nothing wrong with them," Jecht told me as he leaped onto his small sailing ship, completely ignoring the gangplank.

I pushed my black hair out of my eyes so it was easier to glare at him. "It's just not normal. We're supposed to stay on land. If we were meant to live in or on the water, we would've been born with fins and gills," I replied somewhat testily.

"So, you're afraid?" Jecht said, taunting me into getting on. Guess what? It worked. I carefully climbed aboard and almost fell face first into the deck as a large wave crested against the side of it's wooden hull. Of course, Jecht had to laugh. After all, it was in his nature.

I slowly got up from my cat-like position on the smooth, sun warmed wood of the deck and moved into a more comfortable squatting position on my two booted feet. It was hard to do, considering the fact that my boot are basically unbendable, but I managed it. The boat didn't seem to move as much from that position, so I decided to stay there for the duration of the entire trip. It was safe there, after all. Or, at least a hell of a lot safer than Jecht's position.

He was standing on the railing of the boat with his arms outstreched, leaning over the water. He was always tempting fate like that. I wonder what would happen if I went and pushed him in, I thought. The thought made me laugh. The noise caused Jecht to lose his balance slightly and start to windmill his arms about to regain his balance. This, in turn, made me laugh even harder. Still, what else could one expect from a star Blitzer though? No, wait. I former star Blitzer, I amended. Jecht had only just retired from Blitzing, and I think that fact was still sinking in. I think it still was for a lot of people though. I mean, Jecht was a legend in his own right. Legends aren't supposed to grow old and retire.

When I looked up again, I saw the dock suddenly start to recede. Quickly I ran to the side, suddenly finding my sea legs from out of nowhere. "Jecht, why the hell are we moving?" I asked him, never taking my eyes off of the rapidly disappearing shore line.

Jecht looked over at me from his place behind the rudder, or wheel or whatever the hell it was called on a boat. "Auron, Auron, Auron," he said, shaking his head from side to side. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Apparently, I must have left it on the shore," I remarked dryly.

Jecht laughed at my comment, then continued on. "Be that as it may, how else are we going to catch anything if we don't leave the dock and the sight of land?"

"I'm more curious as to how you plan to catch anything in these waters. There hasn't been anything that even remotly resesbles life here for decades," I told him.

Jecht only shrugged. "What can I say? I've always been one for a challenge."

I smiled slightly. It was true though. In all the time I've known him, I don't think I've once seen Jecht turn down a challenge. And, if my observations proved ture, that meant we wouldn't be returning anytime soon. At least, not until Jecht had caught something. Resigning myself to a long, several, boring hours, I walked over to the main mast and sat down with my back against it.

I don't know when it happened, but I must have fallen asleep out there that day. When I woke up, the sun was hanging on the horizon. The orange ball of fire cast a clear reflection in the smooth water. The reflection looked kind of like a path that I might walk on back in the city. The site of it calmed me a litte. I think it was because it reminded me so much of Zanarkand.

Slowly, I got up from my spot and walked over to where Jecht was still fishing. "Catch anything yet?" I asked him.

"No, but not for lack of trying," he told me. Suddenly, he stiffened, something he only did when something had caught his intrest.

"What?" I asked him.

"Look out there. In the sunlight. You see anything?"

I looked out to where his finger was pointing. Squinting, I was able to make out the barest hint of a fin, and it's shadow. And I shouldn't have been able to even do that. It was too far away to evenbe able to think about seeing. There was nothin in this world that was that big. Nothing, natural, that is. "Yeah, I see it," I replied slowly. Then, I turned to him. "And do you know what I think we should do?"

"What?" he asked me, not taking his eyes off of the fast approching... thing.

"Get the hell out of here," I told him sharply.

In an instant, Jecht was on the move. He was pulling up sails and lashing tigether things faster than I even thought was possible. "Good idea!" he yelled back at me.

I had no clue what I could do to help though. I was never good on boats, and hated the damn things. So, I mainly just stood at the side, whatching that dreaded fin get closer and closer. It took Jecht all of about two minutes to get under full sail. That thing was at us five seconds later.

It hit us with the force of Jecht doing his famous shot times 100. Yeah. It was that hard. I was thrown from the boat and crashed headfirst into the crystal clear water. All the sir I had held in my lungs at that point was crushed out of me, and I nearly blacked out. I think that was the fastest anyone has ever learned to swim. As I made my way back up to the surface, there was a brilliant flash of blinding light ahead of me. I closed my eyes, but the damage had already been done. My eyes becaue ultra sensative. As I poped back up to the surface, I saw that even the receding sunlight was hurting them. I also saw that our boat was nothing more than a few splinters and spars.

Sighing inwardly, I began my long journey back to the shores of Zanarkand. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't stay out there. Someone had to be the one to tell his wife and Tidus that he was dead.