Shadow of Darkness
Chapter 12! Oh dear, I cannot believe it! I almost thought I wouldn't make it. It was a very difficult chapter to write (and, while writing it, I came up with something new, which involves the cliffhanger at the end!). I actually wrote most of this chapter today! laughs I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!
Chapter 12:
Chapter 12:
Rikku followed Gippal closely as they headed further into the Den of Woe. Despite being carved into earth and stone, there was still enough light in the cave for them to see where they were going. This light was an eerie sort of glow, provided by the swarms of pyreflies that still lingered, unable to escape to the solace of the Farplane.
Fear was the only thing that kept Rikku quiet. It clenched her throat, making it difficult for her to even swallow.
"So," Gippal finally said uneasily, breaking the eerie silence. "What exactly are we looking for?"
"I don't know," Effram murmured as caught up with them. "Something unusual. Strange markings or an unusual growth are good starting points." He went over to the walls and began to run his fingers over them.
"How about a humongous fiend?" Rikku squeaked.
"Huh?"
"Right there! Big fiend! There! There!"
The cavern was filled with a rumbling growl and just to their left was a dragon-like fiend of monstrous proportions.
"Oh shit…" Gippal shouted, stumbling back, right into Rikku.
"Can we leave now?" she squawked, for once ignoring the collision.
"No," Effram said firmly. "This fiend is here for a reason. We have to fight it."
"No way! That thing is huge! You have to be kidding me!" she cried.
"Do I look like I am kidding? Arm yourselves. It comes!" He hauled his cross bow over his shoulders. After muttering a few words under his breath, he loosed a flaming arrow at the beast. With a solid 'clunk', the arrow hit the fiend's hide and fell away, shattering into splinters. "Oh… that changes everything."
The fiend was not happy at being shot at. It bellowed and lumbered after them. They took off running through the cave with Rikku in the lead.
"What do we now, Effram?" she shrieked.
"Yeah, your big plan blew up in our faces!" Gippal shouted.
Effram swore under his breath and yelled back at them for not offering a better suggestion. "Just… just go down there!" He pointed to a cavern on their left.
"Anything to get me away from that thing!" Rikku veered into the cavern with Effram and Gippal at her heels. Unfortunately, the fiend was not fool enough to keep heading straight. It followed them down the cavern.
And then…
"Dead end?" Rikku yelped. "Brilliant idea, Effram! Just brilliant! We are trapped!"
"It's trapped too," Effram snapped. "Look, it can't move to its full extent."
Indeed, the cavern was narrow and hindered the fiend's movements greatly. However, Rikku pointed out in a panicked voice that all it had to do was stretch out its sinewy neck and they would be lunch.
"Well, we just have to fight it, find its weak spot."
"Did you not miss how your arrow just bounced off its freaking hide?" Gippal yelped. It has no weak spots!"
"I thought you had a brain encased in that blond head of yours!" Effram snapped. "Everything has a weak spot, even if it is microscopic."
"Microscopic won't exactly help us out here!" Gippal jumped out of the way as rock showered onto him from the ceiling. "What the…"
The fiend's movements in such a tight space were causing the cavern to crumble bit by bit.
Effram grabbed Gippal's gun and thrust it into his hands. "Just start shooting before we get caved in!" After instructing Rikku to start using any black magic she knew, he loosed arrow after arrow shimmering with various magical properties- violet fire, crackling lighting, the pearly glow of holy magic.
"Gippal, aim for the eyes!" he shouted, leaping out of the way of a clumsy claw. He turned his own arrows at the fiend's joints.
Rikku unleashed her most power spells- that were truly only just above the basic spells. She was rather unhappy that they didn't seem to be affecting the fiend very much. More rock crumbled onto them from above as the fiend roared hatefully at this assault, inching closer to snap and claw violently.
"Oh, forget this already!" she muttered to herself. Magic was getting her nowhere- and it was starting to drain her terribly of energy. Speed was her forte. It would be easier to find the fiend's weak spot if she joined the brawl. Mind made up, she grabbed her daggers out of her belt and charged in alongside the two men. But the fiend chose that moment to launch a vicious offensive. With a mighty roar, a gigantic clawed paw flashed out. Rikku managed to dodge the blow but a yell behind her told her that someone did not. She glanced back. Gippal's body hit the wall with a crack and slid to the ground heavily. Blood flowed freely from a deep gash across his abdomen.
"Gippal!" she screamed frantically.
"I'll take care of him!" Effram shouted, rushing to Gippal's side. "Distract the fiend! You're fast, you can find his weakness, right?"
"By myself!" she squawked.
"You can do it! Now go! Or it'll finish us off!" Effram began muttering and a gray glow surrounded Gippal.
Rikku made a faint noise of distress. How could she…? She shook her head firmly. No, the guys were counting on her. She helped defeat Vegnagun and Sin, she could do this. If anything, she could at least distract the fiend.
"H-hey, meathead!" she said in an attempt to be menacing. The quake in her voice spoke otherwise.
The fiend didn't even look at her. It was too intent on reaching Gippal to finish him off as a tasty snack. Another roar shook the cavern and more rock crumbled around them. Rikku squeaked, dodging the falling rocks. 'I'm not meant to do this,' she thought. She seized a rock off the ground and heaved it at the fiend. 'Man, we are so done for!' To her surprise, the rock hit the fiend square between the eyes and it was effectively distracted away from Gippal and Effram. The fiend shook its head, bewildered by this surprise attack.
Rikku took this moment of the fiend's hesitation to think about what the hell she was going to do next. Perhaps a time stopping spell… if only she could remember it! Damn. What a time to be unprepared. Petrifaction, perhaps? Yes! She knew that spell. And despite the fact that black magic hadn't worked against the beast, maybe status changing magic would… She squared her shoulders confidently. "All right, you dastardly fiend! You asked for it! It's time to be statuary!" After a moment of concentration, she released the spell, beaming with pride at her own brilliance. However, it seemed to be the day that the world chose to go against her. The spell hit the fiend's scaly hide and dispersed in a burst of gray light. The only thing her spell achieved was making it angrier.
"Aw man… I thought that would work," she moaned. "Effram, I could really use your help right now!"
"I need more time!" he shouted in return as she dodged an enraged swipe from the fiend.
"How much more?" she demanded, glancing back. And that was her undoing. She felt a searing pain in her side and the world flipped end over end before she crashed into the wall. All her breath left her.
"Rikku!" she heard Effram shout through the ringing of her ears as she hit the ground. The shock forced her to take a sharp, painful breath.
"Tysh, dryd rind... :Damn, that hurt…:" She groaned and pushed herself up on one violently quaking arm. "I… I'm okay," she croaked to Effram. There was a spasm in her side. Wincing, she glanced down. A huge gash wrapping from navel to mid back was bleeding freely. Or were there two wounds? It took her a moment to realize she was seeing double. "Wonderful." She pulled a rag out of the pouch on her belt and clutched it to her wound. Climbing to her feet, she glared at the fiend. She had to take it down
"It's over for you, fiend," she grunted, taking a few off-balanced staggers forward.
"Rikku!" Effram shouted again.
"Crid ib, femm oui? :Shut up, will you: I have a plan and I need you to shut up so I can think straight!" She stumbled away from the fiend's snapping jaws.
Its body arched and it inched deeper into the cavern. She stared at the fiend's massive head. That was where she would strike. She dropped her blood soaked rag and grabbed her daggers off the ground, trying to psych herself up. 'Despite the fact that I see two of this fiend…' She grit her teeth against her pain and, with a surprising burst of speed, she darted between the fiend's legs. Suddenly, she was behind it. She jumped over its wildly swinging tail. Its hunched back loomed before her. She had to get up that back. Wiping the sweat of pain and toil from her forehead, she charged at the fiend. The blades of her daggers sank deep into the fiend's tough hide. While doing little damage to the beast, it was a source of irritation and the fiend roared angrily, trying to thrust its back into the ceiling to rid itself of Rikku.
Rikku crouched low, clinging desperately to her daggers, and the fiend's back, as best she could. It was difficult. Her blood, mingled with the thin rivulets of blood from the wounds her daggers left on the fiend, coated her knees and made her hold slippery.
"Lusa uh... desa du... suja :Come on… time to… move.:" She wrenched one dagger out of the fiend's skin and, amidst its angry screams, reached out and plunged it into a new spot further up its back. It thrashed around as Rikku climbed towards its great head in this manner- stab, pull, and wrench; stab, pull, and wrench. By the time she reached its head, she'd nearly been knocked out twice, she was literally soaked in blood, and she was certain that she would have a permanent ringing in her ears from all the fiend's angry roaring. But she couldn't stop now. She latched her legs around the beast's rough neck, yelping when it threw its head around in attempt to throw her.
"Drec ec ed, Rikku. Bmayca... bmayca, mad drec fung. :This is it, Rikku. Please... please, let this work.:" She thrust her bloody daggers through the base of the fiend's skull, letting go to ram her fingers in her ears when the fiend let out an earth shattering scream. Dirt and rock crumbled off the cavern walls. The fiend fell silent and burst into a cloud of glittering pyreflies. Rikku found herself plummeting to the ground once again. She gave an agonized moan and remained motionless amidst the crumbling cavern walls.
"You did good, kiddo."
Weakly, she glanced left and saw Effram and Gippal kneeling beside her." Eh… It was … nothing."
"Hold still, I'll heal that wound," Effram commanded. It was an easy order to comply with. She didn't think she'd ever move again.
A warm feeling spread throughout her limbs, growing hot around her wound. She felt a bit of her strength returning. "Thanks Effram, she murmured when he had finished. She tried to sit but he pushed her back down.
"Don't. You really need some rest. We'll carry you out."
"Just like I came in." She smiled faintly. "I told you we shouldn't have come."
"But you did a great job, and all by yourself."
"Thanks…"
"You guys, we better go." Gippal interrupted with a frown. "I think we'll be caved in if we stay any longer."
"Right. Gippal, grab Rikku. I'll get our weapons." Effram ran to get his and Gippal's discarded weapons near the back of the cavern.
Rikku turned to Gippal, feeling a bit awkward. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
They were so close… close enough for a kiss- if either one dared to do it again. Alas, a crumbling cave would run most any mood and Gippal turned away with a violent twitch. "Let's go." In one swift motion he scooped her up and, with Rikku clinging to him for dear life, ran out of the Den of Woe after Effram.
They stopped running only when they could no longer hear the rumbling of the collapsing cave.
"That was close," Gippal gasped, breathless.
'Yes. Shall we vow never to do that again?" Effram asked.
"Yes, can we?" Rikku said pitifully.
They laughed, but it was a tense laugh, the laugh of those who were nervous and stressed rather than merry. Rikku looked at Gippal and a frown blossomed on her face. Something was wrong, was off. There was a struggle in his eyes. And… something… something else. "Gippal, are you okay?" He looked like- "You look like you have-"
"Rikku, you should rest," Effram said, crossing over to them. "Otherwise you will make yourself ill. You must be at the top of your form as often as possible."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
He smiled. "You'll feel better after you've rested." He placed his hands over her eyes. "Now sleep."
Rikku's head lolled onto Gippal's shoulder. She was fast asleep.
"Now, why don't we return to the Youth League Headquarters," he said to Gippal. "We could do with some rest as well."
They headed down the path in silence.
''''
'Who is that? That song sounds familiar…' Rikku stirred and opened her eyes. "Ugh… this room is so tacky." Trust that to be the first phrase from her mouth.
Moments later a face loomed into her line of vision. "It's about time you woke up, lazy."
She barely managed not to scream in fright. "Leblanc? Um… where am I?"
"Noojie-woojie's guest room. I decorated myself."
"I can tell," she mused. She pushed herself to a sitting position. "How is Gippal?" she asked, taking in more of the room's gaudy décor.
Leblanc sniffed with distaste. "He's fine. Just ridiculously grumpy."
"Are you sure it's grumpiness? He likes to pick on people. Blech! Okay, first things first. I need a shower!" She had just caught a look at her reflection in the mirror on the vanity across from the bed. Her hair was atrocious- knotted up and matted with blood. She sniffed. Rank! She smelled too!
Leblanc must have smelled her too, because she immediately led her to the showers. Rikku scrubbed herself pink and washed her hair four times before she felt clean and refreshed. After carefully dressing and pulling her hair back into the usual ponytail and braids, she entered the main living space to find Gippal and Effram chatting with Nooj with packs over their shoulders.
"We're leaving already?" she asked inquisitively.
Effram nodded. "The sooner we find the Plague Master, the sooner everyone can return to normal."
"And the sooner Yuna will return to normal," Gippal pointed out.
He made a good point. She nodded in agreement. "Let's go to Djose and get us an airship then!"
It didn't take the party long to say goodbye. Nooj was kind enough to allow them to borrow a pair of hover bikes to cross the Mushroom Rock Road. They made it across in good time- about ten minutes later, they were handing the bikes off to the attendant who stood at the bridges before Djose. With Gippal in the lead, they crossed the bridges to the former temple. Rikku and Effram were lagging behind, working on exercises to help her improve the control and scope of her power to fight the Plague. Rikku was so absorbed in the exercises that she hadn't realized Gippal had stopped until she ran into him.
"Eh? What's the hold up?" She looked around him to see what the big deal was. And then she screamed.
………..
Oh wow! The number of reviews for Chapter 11 were just unbelievable! I'm so shocked and pleased! Thank you all so much- I'm so flattered you like it! I'd also like to thank you all for reviewing because you guys actually end up providing me with ideas that keep me from getting severe writer's block!
Laura: laughs Elfram… Oh dear, that really makes me giggle! Now I know what to put in the outtakes I am sorry they bicker too much, I hope you still enjoy it! Sometimes I get into the bicker moment… Bah,
Cute-Kitty: oh my gosh… I totally didn't say how Effram looked, did I? Oh dear… Well, he's older than Rikku and Gippal, probably close to late twenties, Al Bhed with shoulder length hair in a ponytail
Rikku: Interesting reviews!
monkeyfish: Awww, thank you for the compliments!
OOoDancingQueenoOo: Well, here is your update!
Black-Eyed Mistress: I'm not quite sure if it was different or not! Knowing me, it probably was laughs Well, I hope you like this chapter, it's going to get more intense from here on out! meep
kingleby: I'm glad you liked the lines! I like those ones too! It seems a lot of people enjoy the line where Rikku can't admit Gippal was right.
Jen: I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Stari-nite: I can't wait to reveal who is doing the Plague!
Angry Girl: I hope to include more Rikku/Gippal but we'll see -
fighter-chick: I'm glad you enjoy my story! And I'm flattered you like the characterizations and such. I hope this chapter was fun to read.
PerfectStranger: You aren't the first person to inquire about the kiss and you know what? I totally forgot about it! meep And I hope that this was amped up enough for you -
Fanfic-Lover: Yay! 10 chocobo feathers for me! laughs And a lot of people think Effram is interesting!