"Of course I haven't forgotten you, Tidus!" Rikku finished smiling broadly at him.
Rikku hid her face in the vihur's chest, hence her convulsions became more accusated, and her sobbing louder and more incontrollable. Tidus, on the other side, smiled broadly and took in a deep breath, seeing how the girl had remembered him. He turned back at her, worriedly yet slightly more calmly. One thing he was sure of was the fact that women were complicated to understand, hence the situation held before him. A woman was laying, full weight, over him, crying as if the world was ending.
"Why are you crying now Rikku?" he asked calmly, yet allowing his voice to flow with the notes of his happiness vibrating within each wave.
"Because I'm so happy!" she exclaimed through an strangled whisper, her voice weak and unable to rise into a louder scale.
Tidus smiled through his reptilian face, his joy visible, gazing at the woman with the eyes of someone who had never seen a butterfly shine with the colours only morning dew knew how to give them. He would have wanted to rub her tears away, but not only that was a horrible idea considering the size of his claws, but also her face shone almost magically with the humidity this salty drops gave her skin.
Later in the afternoon, the two sat next to a very clear lake. Pireflies surrounded them, spiralling past their bodies, floating lazily up and down the transparent water, making the whole area shine with the glow of something ethereal, mystical. Both creatures sat in the most pleasant, tranquil silence, observing the on goings of the shiny souls.
"What happened to you Tidus?" Rikku's calm voice broke the silence, hence not tearing it cruelly, mostly simply scratching it with tender and care, delicately.
"To me?" Tidus inquired confused, blue eyes landing suddenly upon the girl, whose gaze had not left the inspirational pireflies.
"Yeah, I mean, look at you, big meanie, you are a Vihur, I thought you were a dream! I…I thought I'd never see you again!" Rikku explained tearing her attention from the lazy creatures and focusing onto the white Vihur now.
"Ah, that…well, I was formed out of pireflies too, you know? I mean I was a dream, but I had a soul, after all, nothing can live a full life and simply vanish!" Tidus began with a precise explanation of his thoughts on the matter of his reincarnation, "When I vanished my soul simply couldn't go to the Farplane, I wanted so badly to return to life, to live fully and see all Spira, that was the fact that I reincarnated onto the Vihur I'm now, I guess!" he finished smiling sadly at the woman.
"Ah!" Rikku murmured absently gazing once again at the dazzling pireflies.
"I left too many beloved things here to simply disappear!" Tidus added to his previous argument.
"Too many loved things? Like which?" inquired Rikku with curiosity, gazing at the Vihur intently, almost forcing him to answer the question.
Tidus felt intimidated by the gaze the woman was sending him, the skin under his scale turned slightly pink. His blue eyes stared at the girl with surprise, and his body curled lightly, cowering behind his very own protection like the fiend he was.
"Er…I left all the fun of living like a real human!" Tidus snapped making up such excuse to hide the true reason of his words.
"Yeah, sure!" Rikku said standing up from her place and turning around.
She began walking rapidly into the forest, the glossy image of Macalania glittered in the afternoon flames like a volcano in eruption. Her steps were strong, violent, lacking the care and delicacy needed to keep a secured life in this woodlands. The fiends inhabitants of this place were as cruel and ferocious as they were strong and skilled.
"Where are you going?" Tidus called alarmed, standing up on his four and staring at the girl.
"I need to be alone!" Rikku said never staring at Tidus, never stopping, only vanishing into the crystal depths of the forest.
Tidus tilted his head lightly, her voice was broken, the tone was very different, the young sorceress was sobbing, and this times her tears were of grief, not of joy, and that did hurt the Vihur in his confusion.
"Hey, wait!" he called behind her, and began to chase although her speed had made him loose her from sight easily, it wasn't such a problem given his good scent.
She would not wait, and Tidus knew well, hence the fury he perceived had left a very good trail floating in the thick, afternoon atmosphere. He stopped and sniffed the air, then regained his path. It was a very easy trail to follow, hence his hurry was that he was not the only fiend able to scent her, there were skilled creatures that would catch her easily, for a human was an easy prey and everyone here knew that.
Rikku had walked far into the profound and mysterious depths of the Macalanian woodlands. She was blind, prey of her own fury, of her own, mysterious anger and had been paying no attention to her paces, nor to keep her steps silent. The ground under her feet creaked like broken glass, shattered into millions of tiny pieces the leaves tore and vanished into dust under her feet. She just realized how loud this sound echoed in the always tense silence of Macalania, how deep it penetrated into the always dense air of the forest of glass.
The woman's head shot up alarmed when the floor creaked again, when the glass broke and shattered, when all that happened being her feet as still as stones. She reached out for her staff, the one she had left in the cave, touching only a cold, metallic handle. Rikku, lacking something else with which to defend herself pulled out the enormous sword. The vast and long amulet she always carried along with her glimmered in the twilight like a dripping wave, being infected with numerous air bubbles in it's depths.
Holding the long sword with not much effort, hence her length and size it was extremely light, Rikku prepared herself to fight for her life. Indeed, second after the whole manoeuvre a pack of hungry fangs emerged from the glossy foliage. Brown eyes bore into her with hunger, red coats glowed like fire in the afternoon sun, and long tongues lolled out with the thirst for blood. The girl gripped the sword tighter and got ready to strike at the first creature that threatened to bite.
As if her thoughts had been read, a smaller fang approached the girl and threatened to bite. However Rikku's quick and accurate swishes and lances with the water sword kept the wolf on bay, at the same time it kept her distracted. Indeed, they were playing a perfect strategy, keeping her attention on one point while the attack came from the back, by treachery. Indeed a larger fang leapt at the woman from behind her back, growling to give himself the satisfaction of observing her shock and fear by calling her attention on the last second.
A white blur appeared from the Al-Bhed's side surprising the pack of fangs and the sorceress herself. A growl, a sound similar to a deep moan of despair made it's presence in the small hunting area. The fang that had leapt collided to the floor, an acute yelp sequenced by a whimper broke the tension. The sound of a stick breaking cleared the pained yells that echoed from the fang's mouth, having a few ribs and the left foreleg broken by the strength of the impact.
The wolf whimpered more weakly, the body layed on the floor feebly, crawling with surprise, with fear, gazing at the sudden spirit with terrified eyes. Tidus simply gazed down at the fang with disdain, and turned around to focus on the rest of the pack. The white Vihur lowered his head and growled again, his tail low and curled with a convex curvature, his position indicating to the pack of fiends that he was ready to fight. On the first moments of the attack the fangs were slightly confused, and doubted whether to attack their brother of territory or let him be.
A howl, it was all they needed, the melodious song of the wolves, a chant of war emitted by their alpha male. And they leapt forward, all to one like a single unit, attacking the larger creature with cruelty, without giving him even the possibility of a fair match one to one. This was wilderness and only the strongest survived. Tidus knew that, and he knew well the functions of a pack of fangs, he would not let himself be defeated with his knowledge about the habits of all the creatures that lived in Macalania.
The Vihur slashed at one of the fangs, hitting him strong enough to send him flying against another, both canines colliding to the floor for various seconds, and very useful ones at that. He engaged into a full body combat with the largest of the fangs, trying to keep the rest at bay, for the treacherous creatures attacked him from behind without any mercy, or shame. His long, white tail whipped off one of the beasts while his eyes were fixed on the larges and strongest of all the fangs, the alpha male obviously.
Blue eyes stared into brown eyes, time froze through infinity, it was just him and the alpha male. Hate, anger, fear of loosing someone he cared greatly for, all this feelings revolted in his stomach, in his veins, in his blood. The euphoria of battle made all of this sensations mix into the pit of his guts and ignite into a dangerous mixture that stood in the boundaries between courage and insanity. The wolf leapt, the Vihur leapt, and the white fiend was suddenly engulfed in an explosion of brightness, a light so luminous, so intense that all living creatures had to hide their eyes to preserve them from blinding.
"Tidus!" yelled Rikku alarmed, her passiveness and surprise at the battle, her observant posture was replaced by a very active and hysterical one when the strange event took place before her eyes.
Worry was her first sensation, her first reaction, fear for the Vihur's well being. It was such an strange event, such an unnatural event considering the nature of Vihurs that Rikku's worry was understandable. Once the glow subsided, leading to the same twilight before the whole phenomenon had taken place. Rikku dared to open her eyes, to see the outcome of the brilliance, to find out what had happened, and maybe to see nothing changed at all, only her imagination playing crazy tricks on her eyes. Whatever she expected however was not what she was seeing for, in the centre of the clearing, utterly confused stood…
To Be Continued…
AN: Who is standing in the centre of the clearing? What is going on? What will happen with the fangs? Leave your wild guesses on the reviews, I'd like to know if you are catching all the hints:P.