Moonflow:
I stopped, looking at the lake in wonder. Lulu filled me in. "This is the Moonflow."
Yuna pointed out the plants in the water. " These are moonlillies! They say that clouds of pyreflies gather here when night falls."
"The entire river glows, like a sea of stars." Apparently, Lulu's been here before. Well, so have I, but I can't say I stuck here long, Suicune raced across the lake a high speed. I was asleep, so I didn't see anything. She had said she liked it here, but she couldn't linger. We'd wasted enough time in the forest.
Tidus seemed to like the idea. "Really? Hey, I got an idea!"
"We're not waiting till nightfall." How did he do that? Geez, is Auron part psychic type or something? Tidus looked depressed slightly. I know I was.
I looked around carefully, then smirked. "Aw, screw it. Suicune!" Suicune burst out in a red flash (I'd made sure no one was keeping an eye on me). She looked at the water, then I swear, she flashed me the biggest smile I've ever seen. She ran out onto the water, and stayed there.
Wakka elbowed me. "Hey man, what's with her?"
I shrugged. "She's fond of pure water."
Tidus was still talking about coming back. "Then, once we beat Sin, we're coming back!"
The pyreflies began to rise from the Moonlillies. I sighed, as a deadly silence fell. I had a bad feeling – silences like this… are usually a bad sign.
Wakka eventually broke the silence. "Hey, we better hurry or we'll miss the shoopuf!"
I rolled my eyes. "That some kind of boat?"
Wakka pointed to the direction to the dock.
&&&&&
They took the shoopuf across the lake. I didn't, Suicune came and got me. She didn't have to run across, she walked next to the shoopuf. I guess it's one of the abilities she has. Certainly impressed me, she'd always acted like she had to move at a certain speed to cross water. We still were right next to the shoopuf, anyway.
Wakka pointed out some ruins I'd been puzzled about. They were sunken, like a city had fallen into the water. "Hey. Take a look."
Tidus looked at the water, and the ruins. "What? Whoa!" He looked at them for a moment, then exclaimed "A sunken city!"
Wakka stated. "A machina city-a thousand years old! They built a city on top of bridges across the river."
Lulu continued "But the weight of the city caused the bridges to collapse, and it all sank to the bottom."
Wakka crossed his arms (I could see him taking on a 'lecture pose' - it wanted to make me strangle him), and said, "Right. It's a good lesson."
Tidus was confused, clearly. "A lesson?"
Wakka nodded "Yeah. Why build a city over a river, ya?"
I shrugged, from Suicune's back. "Maybe it was convenient. A city with a nearly limitless water supply…"
Wakka shook his head. "Nope, that's not why. They just wanted to prove they could defy the laws of nature!"
I snorted. Tidus must have been of the same opinion, because he said "I'm not so sure about that."
Wakka explained even further (though it was starting to piss me off) "Yevon has taught us: When humans have power, they seek to use it. If you don't stop them, they go too far, ya?"
I sighed. "Yeah, but don't you use machines…machina, too? Like the stadium…"
Lulu explained it to me. "Yevon, it decides...which machina we may use, and which we may not."
I sighed again. "So let me guess. The stuff like cannons… offensive weaponry… that kind of machina? The stuff at Operation Mi'hen?"
Wakka nodded, and pitched in a "Ya!"
Lulu nodded as well, and added, "Or war will rage again."
I arched an eyebrow. The only war I knew of was the one with Sin here. "War?"
Yuna softly explained. "More than a thousand years ago... Mankind waged war using machina to kill!"
Wakka continued where she left off, "They kept building more and more powerful machina."
Lulu finished up "They made weapons so powerful... It was thought they would destroy the entire world."
I rolled my eyes, and softly swore to myself. You'd be surprised what could destroy a world. Kyogre could… and we had two idiot teams, each trying to bring back one of those capable of destroying the world. "Damn them. They'll kill everyone!"
"What're you talking about?"
I sighed, and looked at them. "There are two idiotic groups that are trying to achieve something… and they're threatening my world with their moronic goal. Just like you say… uh… machina did for here."
Yuna looked worried. "What could destroy a world…"
I smiled bitterly. "You'd be surprised. Two pokemon, for example. One of them forged the continents of my world, the other the oceans. Each fought the other… and damn near destroyed everything. After a massive battle, they both fell into a slumber. Those groups are trying to find them, and awaken them. For the asinine idea that they'll listen to them, and then they'll be able to… well, one wants to expand the landmasses, the other the oceans. Beats me why they're so fanatic about that, though."
Tidus fell quiet. He looked at me. "What would happen if something woke them up?"
I shrugged. "All the other legendary pokemon would go ballistic. They'd throw themselves after whichever one woke up, and try to force it into slumber. But I don't know if they'd win. That's why any trainer with a brain is out to stop Team Aqua and Magma. Anyway, what happened with the machina?"
Everyone was quiet for a few moments, then Wakka said quietly "The war did not stop."
Yuna looked directly at me, then softly said "Sin came, and it destroyed the cities and their machina."
I nodded grimly, my eyes narrowing. "The war ended... and your 'reward' was Sin. It's your punishment for letting the war going out of hand… isn't it?
Yuna quietly said "yes. Sin is our… reward…" I caught a tear in the light. I looked significantly at Tidus, and he brushed it off her cheek. He whispered something to her, and she brightened up a bit.
Wakka ignored them, and said to me. "Yeah… Sin is our punishment. But, it's not like the machina are bad. It's because of people like the Al Bhed screwin' everything up!"
My eyes narrowed again. There he went, blaming the Al Bhed. Damn Yevon to hell for what they'd done. They'd made an entire race of people a scapegoat for something that EVERYONE had done nothing about, or even HELPED. It was no more their fault than the most devout Yevonite.
The shoopuf began to shake. The driver looked around, worried. Then it shook again. Auron grabbed Yuna. "Sit down!"
Yuna apologized, and sat. As soon as she did, an Al Bhed grabbed Yuna, and took her into the water.
What is with them? I think I could really get along with them, if they would just stop this nonsense about kidnapping. Suicune dove under, with me still on. I heard a few words, then Tidus and Wakka dove in as well. She rushed the – well, hell knows what that machine was. Since I had the most experience with tech, I managed to disable it (mostly by pulling wires after every strike). But we kept doing a LOT of that for awhile. Suicune got zapped once by electricity, so she backed off. She's none too fond of it, even if she DOES have Mirror Coat.
Yuna managed to escape from the energy sphere after one final yanking of mine (I pulled a big wire, and got zapped for it), and Tidus took her up to the surface. I stayed down for a moment, then Suicune carried me up. I climbed into the shoopuf this time, but left Suicune out on the lake. The whatever it was had lost power.
&&&&&
Lulu was fussing over Yuna. In her own way, anyway. "Are you hurt?"
Yuna shook her head. "No, I'm fine."
Wakka was beside himself again. "Grrah! Those Al Bhed!" Yeesh, does he ever stop? We foil them every time! He needs to relax a bit. Heh. That's ironic, coming from me.
The driver looked back from his position. "Ish ebullibody okay?"
"I'm sorry! We're all okay now!" Yuna, of course. Why's she so polite all the time?
Tidus was looking strangely at me. "You play blitz?"
I shook my head. "Nope, never existed in my world. Suicune… she's rebuilt my lungs to handle thin air. Holding my breath isn't a big deal. Sooner or later, I'm going to grow gills, with her fiddling." Tidus shrugged. I could probably say most anything, and he wouldn't be surprised by me anymore. Well, there was one thing. But he doesn't need to know that yet.
Yuna took off the amulet I'd given her, and passed it back to me. I took it without a word, and pocketed it. The thing was a mixture of Max Elixir, Max Ether, and Leftovers, made into an amulet. It recovers energy and health rather than just health over time. Didn't work super well on humans, but it helps. Hell knows that I've used it on myself enough.
Wakka kept up on the Al Bhed thing for a while. After listening to him for five minutes, I jumped off the shoopuf, and Suicune carried me to shore.
&&&&&
I walked ahead of everyone else (they hadn't even docked yet), scouting out the path. Suicune stayed out this time. Even if I did get some looks, it was fairly clear she was with me.
Then I noticed someone washed up on shore. She looked to be in bad shape. Suicune gave me a look, and ran over to her.
She moaned, and began to remove most her swimming equipment (wetsuit, helmet, that kinda stuff). She was worse than Lulu, in terms of skin revealed. Short shorts, and a tight shirt.
I looked off to the side until the wind shifted. She was staring at Suicune. I shrugged – we got that a lot. "You ok?"
"No, I'm not ok. You beat me up!"
I blinked. She was in the machine. "Oh. That was you?"
She glared at me. "Do you know how long it took to fix that thing? You broke it!"
I shrugged. "Sorry, but you kidnapped Yuna. Guardian's job."
She looked at Suicune again, and said slowly (like she was wondering about something) "Isn't that a…"
"No, she's with me. She never has been, and never will be a fiend. She's from another world, like I am." Her eyes widened. I noticed they were green – like Yuna's one green eye – but it had swirls in it (that was familiar too). That clinched it. "Surprised, huh? And before you ask, Sin's never gotten close to me…" (I'd heard Tidus use that line once before, so I didn't want people thinking I was just crazy) "well, besides that one time. Sorry to ask, but you're Al Bhed… aren't you?"
She moaned. "You're not going to hate me, are you?"
I snorted, and said lightly, "Hardly. I'm no Yevonite, I use technology myself. Besides, it's kinda fun to see what you lot will think up next to try to kidnap a summoner with."
She giggled. "Nuh-uh. It's not exactly like you think. I'm Rikku, who're you?"
"Icewind."
Tidus ran up, and did one of the funniest double takes I've ever seen. "Rikku?" She smiled. I walked over to the shore, and plopped down. Of course, she whacked me once on the head for beating up her machine, but it didn't hurt too much.
The two of them talked for a moment, then Yuna and the rest caught up.
Wakka called out, "Friend of yours?"
Tidus scratched his head. "Uh, you could say that."
Rikku jumped up, and said in a happy tone of voice, "Pleased to meet you! I'm Rikku!"
Tidus looked at Yuna and Lulu. "Yuna, Lulu, Icewind...I told you about her, remember? She was the one who helped me before I was washed up on Besaid! She's an Al…" I punched him in the side (thankfully he hadn't moved), and gave him a warning look. Lulu and Yuna looked puzzled for a moment, then comprehension dawned on their faces.
There was no reason to have Wakka going at her for what she was. Actually, I kind of liked her. She was childish… but so what?
Speaking of that idiot… "Wow, so you, like owe her your life! What luck meeting here, ya? Praise to be Yevon! So, uh... Rikku... You look a little beat up! You okay?" Thank whatever god there is (since Mew obviously isn't here) that he's as thick as a Rhyhorn.
Lulu was shaking her head. "Uh, Wakka..."
"Huh? What?"
Yuna smiled. "There's something we need to discuss."
Wakka scratched his head, then waved to the two of them. "Oh, go ahead."
Rikku jumped in. "Girls only! Boys please wait over there!" Did I mention she had a lot of energy?
Lulu added, "Right. Sorry, Wakka."
I rolled my eyes, and stayed put. I swear, I saw Lulu smile when Rikku tried to move me. She (Rikku) fell over trying to make me move. I might not weigh a ton (actually, I'm lighter than average), but I know how to use my weight. She begged the other two to help, but they had a bit of fun with her – they said no. Rikku sighed, and made me promise not to say anything to the other guys. I agreed.
They wanted to find out, they'd ask someone else, anyway. I think the 'incident' is still on their minds.
&&&&&
It was interesting, what they said. But I'm not going to mention it. Some of it isn't suitable for virgin ears.
After a while, they rejoined everyone else. Yuna was taking to Auron about something, and Rikku was hiding her face from him. I had a good idea why. Especially when she was so reluctant to open her eyes. Thankfully, Wakka has a skull thicker than a Rhyhorn, so he had no clue what the big deal was.
Rikku became another one of Yuna's guardians. Everyone else was moving on, but I sat there for a while. This lake… well, I felt at peace here. Somehow, I didn't feel as stained as I did everywhere else.
Rukki called "You coming?" Apparently, she'd waited for me. I nodded, and followed her. Suicune sighed from behind me, and slowly followed us.
&&&&&
Rikku asked, "What's with you? You're so quiet sometimes!"
I shrugged, as the wind blew into my face. "Weight of the past… sometimes, it's heavy."
She somehow sounded wise (despite the fact that I think she acts like a kid on purpose) as she said, "Maybe you need to let go of your past. You can't live in it…"
I nodded – she was right, but I couldn't afford to forget. "I might as well warn you, since everyone but you has some experience with me… be careful around me. I've had a harsh past, and sometimes I can't control myself."
I swear, the look in her eye when I said that was something like joy mixed with curiosity and a slight amount of fear. "… You wanna talk?"
I shook my head, and drew my sword at the people coming from the trees. Bandits; seven of them. Rikku pulled something out of her pocket (where she gets that stuff in such skimpy clothing, don't ask me), and threw it. They mostly ran, except for the two I knocked out with the flat of my blade. I'm none to fond of thieves. Rocket, thief, same same.
She backed away as the thing exploded. Turns out it was a delayed-fuse grenade.
I sighed, and continued on. Rikku was looking between me and Suicune. "What is she, anyway?"
I smiled at Rikku. "Didn't I answer your question already? She's with me… we're not from around here. Call her Suicune… and she's a pokemon."
She looked at Suicune for a few moments, then shook her head. "I've never SEEN anything like her before. She's just so graceful…"
The wind shifted to a gentle breeze from the north. Well, thank you for the compliment Rikku. You're quite lovely yourself… from what I know about human standards. Rikku looked at me, then Suicune, and then back again. "Did I just hear something?"
I smiled, and nodded. "That's her. Consider yourself honored, she's usually not so social."
Especially here… I hate being called a fiend. It's demeaning! I'm not out to kill everyone! I nodded quietly, and noticed Rikku doing the same. I gave her a small smile. "It's nice to meet a sympathetic spirit here." Suicune's 'voice' was incredulous as she said He's complimenting you. That's new. Take that as a major compliment, he's never shown much interest in females for…a long time. Rikku blushed, and walked a bit ahead. I released Erastrani to make sure Yuna was safe, and followed slowly.
