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This whole chapter happens at the same time that the last chapter does, starting from the time the group splits up

Rikku walked into the market place. It kind of reminded her of a more open-air, and less machina-oriented Home. It had that same atmosphere. She let go of Gippal's wrist and he fell into step beside her. She grinned.

"Reminds me of Home." She said quietly. With half a smile, he caught her by the waist and pulled her closer to him as they walked. Not far behind, Paine hid a smile.

"You know, when they're not fighting, they make kind of a cute couple." She commented as she watched. Baralai grinned and was about to say something when Rikku shouted something and began to run. Both Paine and Baralai jogged to keep up with her and Gippal as she approached Niccolo. The rabbit smiled at her.

"Hello! Were you not one of the people I met at the tavern?" He asked when she slowed up. Rikku nodded.

"Yup! My name's Rikku!" She said happily.

"Pleased to meet you! Where are the rest of your friends?" He asked, noting their decreased numbers.

"They went to talk to that Elazul guy." Gippal answered. Niccolo scowled.

"Oh, him. I do pity your poor friends." He said woefully, and very over-dramatically. Rikku made a face.

"Me too." She agreed, sounding rather disgusted. Suddenly, Niccolo's face lit up.

"You are adventures, correct?" He asked curiously.

"You could call us that." Baralai answered slowly. Niccolo nodded, thinking a moment.

"Don't you think the highways have gotten to dangerous to travel on?" He asked after a moment. Rikku and Gippal looked at each other, both of them thinking of the Highroad.

"Well, not really." Rikku answered truthfully. Niccolo eyed her.

"You don't? You must be quiet brave. It is much too dangerous for a merchant such as myself with all those bandits about." He said solemnly. Gippal smirked.

"Bandits? We make a regular habit of kicking bandit ass." He answered arrogantly. Paine was tempted to hit him for being so full of himself. Niccolo, though, seemed thoroughly impressed.

"Do you? Well, then I have a proposition for you. What do you say to giving me a hand clearing the Highway? Of course, you will be paid handsomely." He offered. Gippal raised his eyebrows.

"How much are we talkin'?" He asked, his interested clearly peaked. Paine rolled her eyes.

"We'll do it." She answered. Niccolo clapped his hands.

"Very good, very good. First, I should need to visit a regular customer of mine, I won't be long. This way" With that, he led the group back towards the tavern. Paine and Baralai went into the tavern to find the others and let them know where they'd be, while Rikku and Gippal went with Niccolo to the shop, where this customer would be waiting. They walked through the shop, with Niccolo offering a quick hello to the woman at the desk. She waved them through into the back room. There, they found a man slumped into a large armchair and the onion-boy who had been arguing with Elazul. Resting on the empty chair was a very large teapot. Rikku and Gippal stared at it for a moment. Rikku nudged Gippal.

"Think they drink a lot of tea or what?" She asked, sounding bewildered. They both jumped when the teapot moved.

"Oi! Niccolo! Good to see ye!" The pair stared open mouthed for a moment, and Rikku spoke.

"Am I crazy, or did that teapot just talk?" She asked in a whisper. Gippal shrugged.

"I've seen talking trees, a girl that looked like she was made of bushes and a little kid that wears an onion on his head. I wouldn't be surprised." He answered simply. Rikku nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Niccolo smiled.

"Hello Teapo! I've got a great item for you today, but I don't know if I can let go of it." He said.

"Ah Niccolo! Yo're jus' tryin ta rile me up! Let's see!" Teapo replied. Niccolo pulled out a wooden wheel and showed it off.

"This is it! A sturdy wheel, made strong enough to take anything you can deal it!" He said in his best salesman voice. Rikku smirked. She thought it looked like it was about to fall apart. Teapo paused.

"I dunno…'Ow much?" She asked. Niccolo smiled even wider.

"You're a lucky girl today my dear Teapo, because just for you, and I'd only do this for you, it's just 50000 Lucre!" He announced. Teapo almost fell over.

"Oi! Niccolo! Are ye tryin' to break me? You know I don' 'ave that much!" She replied, exasperated. Niccolo brought himself up to full height.

"Don't you want it?" He asked, sounding surprised. "This is a once in a life-time chance Teapo!" He told her earnestly. Teapo paused again.

"10000, and that's as high as I c'n go!" She replied. Niccolo shook his fluffy head in disappointment.

"Dear me, that just won't do. I'm sorry Teapo, but it looks like I'm going to have to give it to Rikku." He said slowly, handing it to Rikku.

"20000!" Teapo offered hurriedly. Niccolo shook his head, looking truly saddened. The onion-boy jumped off his chair.

"Teapo! Don't listen to him. He's trying to cheat you again." He reasoned. Niccolo looked shocked.

"Cheat you? Never!" He answered, indignant. The onion-boy rolled his eyes. In a huff, Niccolo turned and stomped out. Gippal followed. Rikku was about to, but paused, looking at the onion-kid.

"Ummm, why are you wearing an onion?" She asked slowly. The boy stared proudly at her.

"Because I am Duelle the Onion Warrior!" He replied. Rikku looked at him like he was crazy, and then wandered out after the others. Outside in the square, she met up with Gippal, Niccolo, Paine and Baralai.

"Kairi, Sora, Yuna and Tidus have gone somewhere with that Elazul guy. The girl in the pub didn't seem to interested in telling us where, though." Paine told her when she got to them. Rikku shrugged.

"I guess we'll just have to find them after we get done with dealing with the bandit problem." She answered with a shrugged. Gippal nodded.

"Sounds like a plan" Niccolo started towards the edge of town.

"Indeed! Let us go!" He said semi-heroically, leading them off down a road.

The creation of Luon Highway went much like the creation of their Home away from home, and Domina, and the Mekiv Caverns. Luon Highway, though, was not nearly as much like the Highroad on Spira as they had been expecting. There were virtually not trees, and the few that there were had no leaves. The ground was rocky and road was made of packed dirt. All in all, despite its rather lifeless look, it wasn't that terrible a place. The only thing was that the road seemed totally empty. They walked for a good while, and only ever met with a handful of overly-large flies and a couple of carnivorous plants as enemies.

"So, where are these bandits?" Paine asked after along while.

"They like to trap people further down the Highroad, where they're too far from town to be able to escape or chance upon help." Niccolo explained gravely. As he spoke, they rounded a corner and a fork came into view. A cloaked figure was standing at the fork, gazing down one of the paths. Upon hearing the footsteps of the group, the figure turned around, her hood falling off. She was very human like, but for all intensive purposes, she was a cat. An overly tall cat who stood on two feet and carried weapons, but none-the-less, was still a cat. As they approached her, she spoke.

"Are you here to see the Wisdom?" She asked, sounding casual, but her hidden eagerness was still there.

"The Wisdom?" Baralai asked slowly. Niccolo smiled.

"My, what cute ears." He commented in a jolly tone. The cat glared at him.

"I wasn't talking to you." She said sharply. She turned her attention back to Baralai. "The Wisdom. There's one here on the highway." She explained. Rikku scratched her head.

"Are you here to see the Wisdom?" She asked after a moment.

"I don't know. I think so. I need to ask for help for a friend." The cat answered. She blinked. "Oh, I'm Daena, by the way. I'm from the Gato Grottoes." She said in a quick introduction.

"Rikku"

"Gippal"

"Paine"

"Baralai" Each of them introduced themselves in turn. Before Niccolo could introduce himself, Daena spoke.

"Well, I suppose you have much to do, and should be on your way." She said.

"Umm, which way to the bandits?" Rikku asked after a moment. Daena gave her a funny look.

"Well, this is the way to the Wisdom, and there would be no bandits up there." She said, pointing. She looked down the other path. "So I suppose that the bandits would be this way." She pointed slightly, still rather confused by Rikku's question. The Al Bhed girl grinned at her and started down the path, beckoning for the others to follow. Jogging to catch up with the others, Niccolo turned back around to Daena and gave her a quick wink. Daena was visibly disgusted.

….

"Hey hey! What you be doin'?" A voice asked as two shapes cloaked in green scuttled towards them. Gippal raised an eyebrow at Niccolo.

"These are the bandits that you were so afraid of?" He asked, watching the little squirts hurrying towards them with their little bows and arrows, neither more than 3 feet tall. Niccolo crossed his arms, indignate, and glared at the little Bandits

"Hey hey, were are the banditos, in all our terrifying might!" The first one said, looking up at Gippal savagely. The other glared up at Niccolo.

"Guv eus money! Money money money!" He demanded. Rikku grinned.

"Here you go." She said, placing a little candy that she'd had stuffed in her pocket into the little bandit's hand. She growled, outraged.

"That's it! We're gonna sick out boss on you! BOSS!" The pair of them went running down the path away from them.

"I wonder what the Boss is? A masterful, terrifying duck perhaps?" Paine asked sarcastically. Almost in answer, there was a deafening buzzing sound, and a huge mantis ant lowered itself onto the ground in front of them. It was at least 10 feet tall, but despite its imposing size, it reminded them greatly of a handful of very long twigs. Paine smirked.

"Not problem." She said, lifting her sword. Rikku grinned.

"We'll squash him like a bug 'cause he IS a bug!" She announced. Niccolo waltzed right up to the Mantis Ant and dropped a box down in front of it.

"A gift, your worthiness." He said in his slickest, most slimy voice. The rest of them stared at him, wondering if they'd been suckered into a trap. Niccolo backed away from the creature in a low bow, while the others watched him suspiciously. Turning his back to the Ant, he grinned at the others and subtly plugged his ears. Rikku watched him, wandering what he could possibly be doing. Suddenly, her thoughts were answered when the box, which the Mantis Ant was trying to open, exploded. The Ant stumbled backwards, disoriented, and Gippal took the chance, firing a number of shots at it. Rikku jumped up and scoffed her candy back, (which the bandit had given his boss, apparently) and took a bagful of loot. She kicked off and used its already off-balance position to knock it down. Paine and Baralai ran at it, Baralai killing it with a blow to the head and Paine making sure it was dead by cutting it clean in half. There was a series of popping sounds, and the Mantis Ant was completely gone. Paine crossed her arms.

"That was easy," she muttered, sounding not-so-impressed. Baralai grinned. Meanwhile, Niccolo was thanking Rikku and Gippal profusely.

"Oh, your help was very much appreciated. Thank you so very very much! As a token of my gratitude, please accept this popo bug. And this Bronze Medallion. And this Flame amulet. And this payment of 500 lucre." He offered, stuffing the stuff into their hands.

"Wow, that's a lot of stuff…" Rikku observed idly while Niccolo offered his thanks to Paine and Baralai, then heading off down the road.

"Now what?" Baralai asked Rikku and Gippal. Rikku shrugged.

"I say we head back to town and find the rest of the others." Gippal suggested.