Shadow of Darkness
Hey! Thanks for choosing to read Shadow of Darkness!
Disclaimer: I'll only say this once because it's pointless to reiterate it. I don't own anything from FFX or FFX2 (Because I would make X3, if I did!) What I do own is what follows: the plot (superlicious, that it is) and any characters and potentially locations that you don't recognize!
Chapter 1:
"Kweh!" squeaked a chocobo as it hopped in place in the hot sands of Bikanel.
"Did you find something, girl?" the young blond woman astride it asked her steed, leaning over its feathery neck. She swung her leg over the chocobo's back and hopped into the sand. "Ooh!" She crouched down to inspect what the sand had revealed. "What a good little chocobo! Nhadala will love this." She scooped her new little treasure into a half-full knapsack and clumsily mounted her chocobo again, grumbling, "They really need to make you birds a bit shorter."
"Rikku, mad'c ku!" ::Rikku, let's go!:: a man shouted from a nearby hover as it hummed to life.
"E ghuf, E ghuf. Gaab ouin byhdc uh!" ::I know, I know. Keep your pants on!:: With a shout, the girl addressed as Rikku urged her chocobo forward towards the hover. Unexpectedly, it lifted into the air. "Hey! You meanie! You're leaving me behind! I don't want to get eaten by some Humongous-Fiend-From-Beyond-The-Farplane!"
The Al Bhed diggers in the craft simply laughed and they began roaring across the dunes.
"Zeud! Syli pesg nihi, vihgc!" ::Wait! Come back here, jerks!:: She scowled. "Come on, Kwehn! Let's go!" Crouching low, Rikku hung on tight as the chocobo raced across the dunes after the hover. "Jump birdie, jump!" she shouted when the approached the steel platform floating behind the craft. She thumped its sides firmly with her heels.
With a mighty "KWEH!" the chocobo, whom Rikku dubbed Kwehn, sprang from the sand and clattered noisily onto the platform. The Al Bhed in the craft all laughed. Rikku scowled at them.
"Haqd desa, frah E cyo fa'na mayjehk, oui kad ouin lida meddma pidd uh dra lnyvd!" ::Next time, when I say we're leaving, you get your cute little butt on the craft!:: the pilot grinned.
She harrumphed loudly, which earned her more peals of laughter. Shaking sand from her hair, she reached over the bench seat and jabbed the pilot. "Fydlr fryd oui cyo un drec lida pidd femm kad oui ehdu dnuipma, secdan!" ::Watch what you say or this cute butt will get you into trouble, mister!::
Securing the reins of her chocobo safely on the flat behind the hover, Rikku then clambered over the bench seat, kicking several Al Bhed in the head and earning a lot of snide comments before she settled in the spot next to the pilot.
"Careful, or you'll earn yourself a mess of enemies, missy," he said in Common.
"Yeah right. Everyone is afraid of me because I helped defeat Sin and Vegnagun. I'm a hero! No one wants to be my enemy!"
He laughed a bit. "If that's what you think…"
She made an insulted noise when everyone laughed again.
''''
Rikku sighed as she stepped out of the bathroom, cinching one towel around her body and using a second to scrub her long blond hair dry. "What a long day…" she murmured, glancing around. It was so empty and quiet in her little flat on Bikanel Island. She was a social creature. She needed friends to talk to or she was miserable! And the Al Bhed she worked with just didn't cut it- she'd made plenty of friends with them… But there wasn't that deep connection she had with her cousin, Yuna, and Paine the Grumpmeister, as she secretly referred to the girl.
"This is so boring!" she muttered, allowing the towel around her to drop to her feet as she rifled through her closet for something clean to wear. Ever since the defeat of Vegnagun and Shuyin, she had been basically on her own. Yuna had earned herself some time alone as she had been reunited with Tidus and Paine said she wanted to go on a self-discovery journey and had to do it alone. Rikku figured Paine was eager to avoid any further company with Rikku, since Yuna wasn't there to help alleviate the girl's hyperactivity. It upset her that someone she considered a friend wanted to avoid her at all costs but she swallowed her pride. Paine was just that way.
Finally dressed and her hair braided into two fat pigtails, she sat down on the edge of her bed and began to clean the sand from beneath her fingernails. She did this in silence for several long minutes, until every last nail was free of the granules. With a great sigh, she tossed the file onto the night table and flung herself across her bed. 'Maybe I should give Yunie a ring… no… she deserves some time alone with Tidus… Paine? Well, of course not, I drive her batty!'
There was a loud buzz that caused her to yelp and fall off her bed with a start. She sat up quickly and stared at the source of the noise, her commsphere, as it buzzed again. It buzzed a third time before she thought to answer it. Stumbling over all sorts of her belongings that were strewn across the floor, she fell again right before the commsphere. With a groan, she reached up and snagged it off the table and flipped the switch. "Rammu?" ::Hello?:: she said in Al Bhed without thinking as she winced, rubbing her ribcage.
"Well if it isn't Cid's girl, heiress to the Al Bhed throne," said a taunting voice that grated on every one of Rikku's nerves each time she heard it. She looked at the smirking figure in the sphere.
"What do you want, Gippal? And will you stop saying that?!"
"Is that any way to greet a friend?"
She gave an annoyed sigh. "No, but you're not a friend. What do you want?"
"What a harsh little girl-"
"GIPPAL!" she trilled.
He snickered at her annoyance. "Ygea, ygea, U'cc mea la buisi." ::Okay, okay, I'll say my piece::
"I'm waiting."
"Hasn't anyone ever told you, patience is a virtue, girly?" Gippal laughed and folded his hands behind his head casually. "Anyway, I don't think I'm in any hurry. In fact… I think I have plenty of time for small talk."
"You- you-!"
"Yes me. I'm great, and how are you, kiddo?"
"Don't talk down to me, meanie!"
"Ooh, better watch your language, missy. Meanie, being such a strong word and all-"
"You want strong words, I'll give you strong words, you-!"
"Hey, watch it! There's kids around here, you know." He gestured out of the sphere's visual range.
She wrinkled her nose and took a deep breath, desperately trying to calm herself. This was what he wanted- to get her worked up into a fit! "What do you want?" 'You hotheaded, loud-mouthed, peacock-feather-strutting loser!' she added silently.
"I have a proposition to make, kiddo."
"Well, start proposating, I don't have all day!"
Gippal sniggered. "Is proposating even a word?"
"Gippal!"
"Yeah, well anyway," he scratched the back of his head. "How would you like to come work here at Djose for me?"
She lifted a brow. Something was up. "Work at Djose. For you? What- do you want me to be your lap dog or something?"
"Hmm, do you have a dressphere for that? Something a little sleek, sexy-"
"Oooh, can't you be serious for once, meathead?"
He laughed. "Well, I'm not the one who is name calling. Anyway, no, I don't need a lap dog. I just need someone to run errands, take notes at any meetings that arise, handle my schedule, that sort of thing."
"You want me to be your secretary? Since when did you need help?"
"Since you started working at the Bikanel dig. You've caused productivity to plummet. I figure you'd be more useful here."
She blinked. This was an unexpected reason. "Plummet? Excuse me, but I bring in twice what everyone else does!"
"Exactly."
She stared at him. How did that cause 'productivity to plummet', as Gippal put it? With all her hard work, it should've risen! "How?"
"You work too hard-""Too har-"
"And you make everyone else look bad. So they figure 'why put in the effort when they're being held up against the Al Bhed Heiress, Digging Maniac?"
Rikku made an affronted noise. How dare he!
"So. What do you say?"
"I say you can just go take a jump in the Farplane! You think you can insult me and then expect I'll take a job offer from you!? You must be joking!"
Gippal sighed. "Well, at least I'm honest."
She growled. "You're wrong. Everyone here likes me."
"They tolerate you. Honestly…" He held up his hands. "Hey, you'll see what I mean, if you get off your pedestal and take a look around."
"I'm not on a pedestal! And you…! Gah! If you call here again I'll…. I'll… do something so horrible I don't even know what it is yet!" And with a glare, she flipped off the switch on her commsphere before he could offer a witty reply.
'Ugh!' she thought. 'How can the Machine Faction tolerate him as arrogant and stupid as he is?' She flopped back and remembered there was a time when she hadn't thought so terribly of him. They might have been considered friends, sometimes, in their youth. That was well before she went on her quest to save her cousin from the atrocity that was a summoner's pilgrimage to defeat Sin. When she reunited with him years later- when they were at Djose, just before the whole Vegnagun fiasco- she thought he had changed. He seemed friendly enough- even though he still called her by that dratted nickname 'Cid's girl'. But further discussion with him proved fruitless. Sure, he had matured enough to be capable of running the Machine Faction at such a young age, but this was about all that had improved. He was still immature around those he hadn't employed. He was sarcastic, mean, obnoxious, and- "Ooooh, he just gets on my last nerve!"
Moments later, the commsphere buzzed again. Rikku groaned. "Persistent, isn't he?" she muttered to herself. It buzzed again. She looked at it, arching a brow. "I am not answering you." She turned from it, defiant. It buzzed three more times. "Oh fine!" Reaching back, she smacked the sphere, turning it on.
"Look Gippal, you jerk! I told you I wasn't going to work for you! Nothing you say will make me change my mind! See, you don't offer a girl a job and then insult her in the same breath! Call me again, and I'll sic the fiercest fiend I can find on you!"
Rikku smiled in satisfaction at the silence from the sphere. He was in shock! For the first time ever, she had rendered him speechless!
"Uh… Rikku?"
The smile on her face dropped suddenly and she froze. That wasn't Gippal's voice. In fact, it wasn't even male! She whirled on her bed towards the sphere and saw a familiar face in the watery blue. "Yunie!" she squealed.
Yuna's face smiled up at her. "Hi! Upset about something?"
"Just Gippal, but that's nothing new," she said with a sigh. "So why are you calling? I haven't heard from you in ages!" She flopped down on her stomach before the sphere. "So how are things with you and Tidus?"
Yuna blushed faintly and smiled. "They're good."
Rikku grinned. "C'mon. Something is up, I can tell. Spill it."
"Well… last night… Tidus asked me to marry him!" She held up her hand and a pretty blue stone (Besaid's customary engagement gem) sparkled on her finger.
"Ooh! You said yes! But why didn't you call me last night then?!" She pouted. "Why wait so long to tell me?"
"I tried. You didn't answer."
"Didn't answer… Oh, right! I was doing a nighttime excavation with Nhadala." She grinned sheepishly.
Yuna laughed. "Yeah, so don't blame me. Anyway, Wakka's planned an engagement part tomorrow night. And if you came, that'd be great!"
"Of course I'll come! No way would I miss it- I miss everyone too much! How's Vidina?" She loved Wakka and Lulu's son to bits! If she ever had kids, she'd want one just like Vidina.
"He's trying to walk now. Wakka's positively ecstatic."
"I'll bet! Ooh, I wish it was tomorrow already!"
Again, Yuna laughed. "I know. Say, have you heard from Paine recently?"
Rikku propped herself up on her elbows and wrinkled her nose. "No. I think she's trying to avoid me. How come?"
"I just haven't heard from her and I can't connect to her sphere- if she still has it." Yuna frowned slightly. "I was going to invite her to the party too."
"Well, knowing how fast news about Gullwing Yunie spreads 'round Spira, she probably already knows."
She giggled. "That's true." A moment later, a blond young man appeared next to her in the sphere.
"Hey groom-to-be!" Rikku said playfully, waving.
Tidus smiled and waved back. "Hey Rikku. Yuna told you then, I suppose?"
"Of course! You excited?"
He grinned. "Yeah, who wouldn't be?"
Wakka's voice could be heard bellowing in the background. Yuna made a face. "Looks like we have to go. See you tomorrow?"
"You can count on it! See you then."
''''
"Found another part! I'm done for the day!" squealed Rikku as she filled her daily parts quota in just a couple of hours. She held the machina proudly over her head. The Al Bhed near her looked up.
"Well isn't that typical?" he muttered, sitting back in the sand and dusting his hands off, as if in defeat.
She blinked, puzzled. "Huh?"
"Nothing… I'm sure even though you're taking a day or so off, you'll make it up and then some in an hour, won't you?"
Rikku frowned. 'Meanie,' she thought. But at the same time, Gippal's comment the previous day floated to the surface of her thoughts. 'Cripes… he was actually right! Not fair!'
She clambered onto the waiting hover and dumped the sand out of her shoes as it sped across the dunes to the campsite. She remained silent on the way, sulking. She had always liked her coworkers well enough. She knew most pretty well from childhood, as all the Al Bhed had lived in the same area, the same Home. It was upsetting to think that they didn't even like her.
"We're back," the pilot said, rounding the hover and breaking her reverie.
"Oh…" She then realized that yes, they had returned to the campsite. "Thanks, Makkal." She hopped down into the hot sand and tromped over to Nhadala, her scavenger bag clutched tightly in her fist.
Nhadala, as usual, was busy with the work of ten people, but somehow able to manage it all. "Rikku!" the woman called, looking over a mountain of scrap machina parts.
Rikku rounded the mound and emptied her bag next to the others. She laughed when she looked up from the mess and saw the commsphere in Nhadala's left hand and a stack of papers on the makeshift paper near her right. She really did do too much… "Haven't you ever thought to give some of this to the others?"
"Yes, but I have this system and it works very well. Besides, do you think it would get complete to Gippal's nearly unattainable high standards if someone else did it?"
Rikku laughed. "No."
Nhadala gave her a rueful grin. "I didn't think so… though that doesn't stop me from wishing. I'm rather behind today… Let's see what you brought me." She pieced through the new additions to the pile. "Great work Rikku! I can always count on you to bring in plenty of the right stuff."
"Yeah well… I wish the others shared your sentiments…"
"Oh, don't worry about them. They're just jealous of your abilities." The sphere in her hand buzzed. "But anyway, you have a ship to catch, don't you?"
"Yeah, I should be back either tomorrow or the next day."
"Take your time." The sphere buzzed again. "I know, I know!" she told it impatiently.
Rikku laughed. "Caa oui mydan, Nhadala," ::See you later, Nhadala:: she said as the woman answered her call.
"Honestly Gippal, could you possibly pick a worse time to call?!"