Note to Reader: When I re-read the previous chapters, I realized that it
was very bad. I wonder why you people even want me to write another
chapter. But I polished it up some, so there aren't nearly as many spelling
errors, careless mistakes or rushing either. This chapter is also a little
longer than the other three. Oh, and I want to thank Heather Christi for
giving me all the constructive criticism. So here it goes, chapter four to
my story...
Oh, it's not too late to turn back now...
As soon as they stepped forward out of the small cave on the Gagazet Mountain, Tidus was already willing to go back. Tidus stood there, his arms wrapped around his torso, as he looked ahead at everyone walking up the icy trail. He wondered how they could do it. How they could just push ahead through the blizzard waiting for them up ahead without a single word of regret.
"Yuna, are you sure you want to leave now?" He called out to her. The cold started to make his bones shiver.
Yuna looked back at him. She giggled and said, "I know it's hard, to journey up this cold mountain, but I must continue my pilgrimage."
Tidus hung his head low and grumbled, "I know..."
Kimahri walked up behind him and ordered Tidus to move. Then he gave Tidus a hard shove and sent him hurtling onto a patch of ice. Although Tidus wore insulated snow boots, his left foot slid forward and he fell onto his butt. "Oh....thanks a lot Kimahri!" He yelled. But Kimahri paid him no mind, as he flanked Yuna on her left.
Tidus' eyebrows tensed and he squeezed his eyes shut. "First the cold, and now...I take my first step onto this stupid mountain and I'm already falling to the ground."
Tidus stood up and brushed all the ice of his clothes.
Auron walked next to Tidus and said, "Don't make this harder on yourself. If you stay focused, you should have nothing to worry about."
Tidus crossed his arms arrogantly. "Harder? I have 100% confidence in myself. This mountain will be a cake walk," He said confidently.
Auron sighed and continued walking ahead. "Watch your step," He warned him.
"Watch my step?" Tidus questioned. Before Tidus could plant his foot onto the ground, he saw a patch of ice sparkling under his foot's shadow. "Oh."
While everyone was walking up the trail to Zanarkand, Tidus carefully watched his feet as he followed them. He really didn't want to end up falling on more ice, but it never occurred to him that everyone else was about fifty feet ahead of him.
Then he almost tripped on a round object. He picked it up, it was a Movie Sphere.
"What is this?" He said. He placed it onto the snowy ground. He dropped his sword, then he sat down and watched it.
Yuna and her Guardians stopped upon a small shrine on the side of the road. Lulu explained, that these shrines were set up to honor the fallen Summoners and Guardians who never made it through the bitter cold and throws of the evil fiends.
Rikku stepped up to the Shrine. She looked upon it and asked, "Who put these here?"
"Good question. But I am afraid I cannot answer that." Lulu responded.
"I know who put them there." Wakka answered, "Yevon did."
"How did Yevon know if someone died then?" Rikku asked, her hands on her hips.
"They just do." Wakka said as he crossed his arms.
"See? You don't even know the answer either, so just be quiet you big dummy!" Rikku yelled.
"You be quiet you evil Al Bhed! You people don't even have respect for dead people, that's why you captured Yuna back in Luca."
"We Al Bhed are not evil! And how does capturing Yuna have anything to do with having respect for dead people?"
"You know Rikku, it's one thing to be and Al Bhed, but since your so annoying I just can't stand you. Maybe you should just lock yourself up in a cave, ya?"
Auron said, "Senseless arguing isn't going to prove anything." Auron was staring to grow uncomfortable with all this talk about dead people. He felt those same chills in his spine as he did back at the farplane in Guadosalam.
Wakka looked at Auron and said, "Sir Auron, I don't mean to offend you, but were you feelin' alright when you approved this runt to be a Guardian?"
Rikku stepped on Wakka's foot. "Take that back or I'll rip that stupid cowlick right off your forehead!" She demanded.
Yuna gasped. "Rikku, Wakka, must you be so violent?" She asked.
Wakka grabbed his toes and said, "Aw, that little beast hurt my foot! She's becoming more and more violent everyday. I say we throw her off the Summit of Mt. Gagazet. That should teach her some respect for dead people when she becomes a dead person, ya?"
"I don't have anything against dead people!" Rikku yelled.
Then everyone became silent when they heard a faint scream off in the distance. It echoed around in the Mountains and sent cold chills down their spines. Yuna looked around to make sure no one was missing. She gasped when she realized that there were only five guardians instead of six.
"Tidus is missing!" Yuna exclaimed.
Wakka sighed. "It's probably those Al Bhed. Now they wanna capture Tidus too. Where are they Rikku? I know you have something to do with it."
"Enough Wakka." Lulu said firmly. "This is a serious situation and we have no time for arguing. Just grow up Wakka."
"Come!" Auron said firmly, as he sprinted back down the trail. Everyone followed him and ran as quickly as they could.
When they arrived at their destination, they saw a huge octopus-like fiend snarling in a pool of icy water. It swooped up Tidus in one of it's tentacles, and tightly squeezed his body.
"Help!" Tidus yelled again. He felt his bones start to crack under the immense pressure of the tentacle. His lungs were suppressing and he could barely manage to call for help again.
All of Tidus' companions stood around the fiend, preparing to attack. They could all see that Tidus was quickly loosing his strength and becoming petrified under the Octopus' mighty tentacle. In all desperation--although he personally doesn't like Tidus too much--Kimahri charged full speed ahead at the fiend and dug his spear into it's abdomen. The attack was minimal and barely even done any damage.
"Let's hit him with all we got!" Rikku yelled.
"Help!" Tidus screeched again.
"Alright already!" Rikku yelled at Tidus.
While everyone hacked mindlessly at the fiend, Auron looked up at Tidus suffering. He remembered his promise to Jecht; that he would protect his son. In the distance he could hear Kamahri's weapon still trying to pierce through it's armor, and the occasional scorch of Lulu's Firaga attacks. Auron wasn't in the mood for breaking his promise to Jecht, and he was even starting to develop his own personal reasons for saving Tidus. He grunted and swung his heavy blade onto his shoulder.
Wakka hunched over and panted. He sworn he hit that thing fifty times already. "You know, maybe we should just leave him, ya? There's no way we can beat that thing."
Rikku yelled, "What!? Tidus is too young to die! Would you like to be strangled to death or killed by that thing?"
They looked at Tidus yelling excessively and trying to wriggle his way out of it's grasp. The Octopus didn't appear to be harming him, other than tossing him from tentacle to tentacle like he was a baseball. Yet Tidus was terrified, because if it dropped him it was a long way down...
Lulu caught her breath. "Nothing seems to work," She said.
"Let's give it another round, Lu. That should stop 'em." Wakka said.
Rikku looked curiously at Tidus' sword. She was awestricken by the bubbles and water swirling around near it's handle, and by the bulk of it's shape. It's blade shone sharply under the evening sun, and seemed as though it could pierce anything. She grabbed hold of it's handle and attempted to pull it up. It was very heavy, but after a few more attempts she was able to fully swing it in any direction.
She looked back at the fiend. Then an idea hit her when she saw a trail leading up to a forty foot high cliff looming right over it.
Everyone looked around frantically. The sky was rapidly became darker. Electricity was gathering around the fiend in a spirally twister. Tidus stopped screaming and looked around. When he felt a jolt of electricity shear his skin he nearly fainted. "Help! I'm about to be fried to death!" Tidus screamed again.
When Rikku reached the top of the cliff she saw a thin piece of ice jutting directly over the fiend. Rikku gathered her energy, rocketed off the strip of land, and jackknifed above the fiend with the blade aiming directly for it's head. "Your mine's bitch!" She yelled.
Auron, who was aware of Rikku's plan ahead of time, swung with all his might at the tentacle that was holding Tidus. The fiend screamed with pain once Tidus' blade dug through its head. Rikku stood proud on it's head. "I've done it!" She yelled.
Then the ground started to shake. The fiend screamed terribly as it flailed its tentacles around. Rikku had a hard time keeping her balance, and accidentally dropped Tidus' blade deeper into its head. "Oooppps." She said sheepishly.
"Jump!" Wakka called out to Rikku.
The ice beneath them started to crack and form plateaus and walls. Auron managed to walk on the shaky wall over to Tidus and freed him from the tentacle. Auron looked into his eyes. Tidus was exhausted from all that screaming and could barely keep his eyes open.
A huge iceberg formed in the middle of the battle scene. The fiend was obviously dying, but was trying to take them down with it. Pools of water started to rise from the melting ice and steamed off into the atmosphere. Everyone was soon sliding down the iceberg jutting through the ground. Auron and Tidus soon slipped off of the huge iceberg, and fell into a deep ravine.
All Tidus could remember before he hit the ground, were the screams of his fellow Guardians and Summoner, and then there was Auron floating out of the sky like he was weightless...
Tidus woke up, his thoughts a blur. All he could still hear the shrill screams, and the large fiend snarling horribly as it broke apart the ice. It sent chills down his spine. Tidus' body felt a little numb. Although he could move, there was a tingling sensation in his arms and legs. He opened his eyes, he felt like he was in another dream, as though time was flying by without him...
"Humph. You should hold the record for falling unconscious most often in a week...Though you're a little weak, hopefully you'll learn to grow up and stop being a crybaby...cry, cry, cry, that's all you ever wanna do..."
Tidus sat up on a flat stone. The stone sat on a piece of ice jutting only five feet out the side of the mountain. Tidus looked over the piece of ice; it was a long way down to the ground.
"Are you feeling alright?"
Tidus jumped. He looked to his right and saw Auron leaning against a smooth rock. Auron held out the tip of his sword's handle with his palm, the edge to the ice. Tidus stood; he felt his strength restoring.
He looked around. "Where's everyone else?" He asked.
"Don't know." Auron responded. "We were all separated somehow."
"You know..." Tidus started, "How come we're always separated from everyone else, but somehow stuck together? Don't you think that could be...a sign or something?"
Auron chuckled, "A sign? Maybe."
"Well I think it could be a sign. You know, I kinda don't mind being stuck with you though. At least you keep to yourself and don't like to boss me around all the time..."
Auron chuckled louder this time.
Tidus stared at him. "What's so funny?" He asked.
Auron cleared his throat, "The fact that your so blissfully unaware of how immature you are. All you see are other people's actions and how they affect you. What you don't see is the big picture; why they treat you they way they do, and what you've done to be treated this way. A think that should help you find the answer to your 'sign'."
Tidus sighed. "But see, how was I supposed to figure that out? See, that's way we're always together, so that way you can tell me everything. Right?"
"Perhaps." In one swift movement, Auron lifted his heavy sword onto his shoulder. He started to head up the small path to his right. "Hurry" He said to Tidus. "The others are waiting."
"The others?" Tidus scratched his head, "You mean they're already ahead of us? Well, I'm commin' anyway." Tidus responded. He looked around, but his sword it wasn't there. Then he stood up and frantically searched for his sword. "Auron" He called out, "Do you know where my sword is? Auron--" He looked around but Auron wasn't there either. "Oh great!" Tidus stomped his foot on the ground and he slipped. He had walked onto another patch of ice again. Tidus angrily pounded his fist into the ice until it was shattered into oblivion. He stood and hunched over with his hands on his knees, while he tried to catch his breath.
When he could breath easily again, he hiked up the path Auron trailed about ten minutes ago. "I wonder if he's still there..." He whispered. After about half-an-hour of walking up the agonizingly long trail, he stopped walking. Not only was it steep, but it seemed to drag on forever. "Gosh...how many trails are there in this place..." He said between pants.
"About thirty." Answered a gruff voice.
Tidus jumped and looked around. Auron stood leaning against an icy rock again. "H--how did you get back there? How come I couldn't see you walking past--"
"Ssshh. Don't speak so loud. Your voice is starting to echo, and echo's attract Ahriman and Bashura fiends. They use a technique called echolocation. They measure how long it takes for the echo to bounce back to them, and they can find out how far off we are."
"Echo-tration? You mean that stuff really works?" Tidus asked, "Can you do it?"
Auron chuckled. "Do I look like a fiend to you?" He responded.
"No. But, what about those Bashura fiends. I mean what do those guys look like anyways?"
"They're tall, hairy, strong and ugly. That's basically it."
"Oh, they don't sound so tough. I can take 'em on any day!"
Auron chuckled. Tidus obviously hasn't heard of the great Bashura before. "True. Most of them aren't that strong. But legend has it, that there is one mighty Bashura that's ten feet tall. And when it stretches its arms high into the air it's two stories high. Many Summoners and Guardians never made it to Zanarkand, because of this beast. According to all the movie spheres that I've seen of this event, it likes to eat only half of your body, and leave the rest lying around for other Summoners and Guardians to see, to know it's still there. You'd be wise to be on the look out for it."
Auron continued to walk ahead. But Tidus stood stiff, and shivered from head to toe. What if it comes after me? He thought to himself. Tidus looked around, searching for it, then he ran up next to Auron, seeking his protection.
"Auron..." He said, "Do you...do you think it's really true?"
"I don't believe in such foolishness. But, you never know..." Auron grinned slightly. He realized that the only way to get Tidus to stay focused was to scare him out of his wits.
Tidus took hold of Auron's sleeve. He was already separated from the others, and he didn't want to get separated from Auron either. He looked up at Auron. At his scar trailing up his neck, and his dark shades, and slick hair, and his heavy sword resting on his shoulder. He seemed so distant, yet they were standing so close. He could almost point out every detail of his body, because of their sudden closeness. Tidus impulsively wrapped his arms around Auron in a tight embrace. "I don't want to loose you." He said quickly.
Auron stood still and looked down at Tidus. "There is no time for this." He said. His words were so cold and shallow.
Tidus laid his head on Auron's chest. He closed his eyes and whispered, "I don't want to loose you Auron. I don't want to get lost or die out here alone. You're all I got."
Auron sighed. He remembered Jecht's words warning him about how emotional his son can become. And how moody and impulsive he was also. Auron sighed again. "We'll rest for a moment first. There's no use going on when you're so emotional right now."
"Thank you." Tidus whispered. When Auron's words finally sank into him, he exclaimed, "Hey, I'm not emotional! Give me a break...I-I was just cold, that's all." He sat down on the cold ice. He didn't like the feel of this place. There was more ice than snow, and he knew he would trip on another patch sometime soon.
Auron remained leaned against the rock. His mind was elsewhere. Tidus could tell he was probably thinking about something again. "What's on your mind?" He asked softly.
"No--"
"Don't just tell me 'nothing'. I know you're thinking of something. I know sometimes it's nice to just think all by yourself sometimes. But thoughts should be shared. Maybe I could help you in someway. You know..."
Auron sighed. "Since it interests you so much in finding out my thoughts....Actually, I was just thinking about someone in particular."
"Who?"
Auron looked up the sky, Zanarkand was on the Horizon. It's crystal blue sky was slowly starting to fade closer and closer. And Tidus would finally see it with his own eyes. "Someone personal." He answered.
"Oh..." Tidus hung his head down low. "I just thought I could help. Do you want to know who I was thinking of?"
"Who..." Auron said sternly.
"I was thinking, about Jecht. I can still remember how, he used to tease me, and call me a crybaby all the time. And how much I hate him."
"Why do you hate him?"
"I don't know." Tidus stood up and angrily pounded his fist against the mountainside. A few small rocks crumbled to his feet. "It's just everything about him. I just can't stand him."
"Come." Auron said. "We've rested long enough."
"Right." Tidus responded. Tidus tried to pull his hand back from the Mountain wall. It was stuck. "Geez, just how hard did I hit that thing?" Tidus used his right hand to pull his fist out, but it was still stuck.
"Tidus." Auron scolded him.
"I'm commin'." Tidus finally pressed his left foot against the wall, and his fist finally broke free. But a large rock collapsed onto his body. Auron turned around when he heard a loud thump, and saw Tidus sprawled out under a small boulder. Tidus gave him a thumbs up. "I'm alright, be there in a minute..."
Auron sighed. What am I to do with him? He thought.
They headed up the long trail. All the while Tidus complained about how much his feet hurt, or how cold it was, or why they even had to take this trail, or how boring the scenery was. He never seemed to just shut up. Until Auron finally told him the story of the Mighty Grendel fiend, which shut him up for good for a while. Tidus would grab hold onto Auron's sleeve, hoping that he wasn't its next target.
By noon, the sun was setting, and everything was a blazing red and orange. And only Tidus and Auron's shadows glistened against the burning sky.
"Isn't that Auron and Tidus?" Rikku asked. All the other Guardians and Yuna looked off in the distance, high up on a mountain they could see two shadows walking across the summit of Mt. Gagazet. Taking the lead, was Auron's powerful and brusque stature and then behind him was another shadow happily dancing across the sky.
"Listen." Wakka said.
Ringing off in the distance, they could faintly hear...
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
Surprisingly, Auron and Tidus hadn't come across too many fiends. Only a Grenade and a few Machina. To keep Tidus from complaining about not fighting enough, Auron explained to Tidus that this road was on the edge of Spira, and that the fiends never came this far off the land. He even explained to him about how honored and sacred this mountain was to Yevon.
"You mean we're on the edge? Like, we could just fall off if we're not careful?" Tidus asked. He tilted himself over the edge to get a better view, "Would we like fall in space or something?"
"Not exactly. But yes, we are on the edge now. Zanarkand is actually the absolute edge of Spira. But we're very close to Zanarkand now."
"Auron...what do you think will happen at Zanarkand?" Tidus asked softly.
"You'll just have to see for yourself..."
"Auron." Tidus asked, "What if we never find the others again?"
"Nonsense. All of these paths lead back to the exact same point." Auron answered. "Same as how a stream always connects to another body of water. Back in the Sanubia Desert, when we were sucked out of Lake Macalonia, we somehow re-connected with an underground stream and ended up in that small lake in Bikanel Island."
Tidus folded his arms behind his head. "How do you know so much?" Tidus asked.
"Wisdom." Auron answered.
When they walked around the corner of the snowy cavern, they saw a monstrous Bashura standing in their way. It was massive and powerful, and saliva dripped down its mouth as it snarled at them. Tidus gasped, he had never seen anything so huge. Auron crouched before Tidus, his sword gleaming high in the air, ready to fight. "Stand back!" Auron ordered him.
"But I wanna help too!" Tidus fired back at him. Then he remembered feeling the unusual lightness to his right hand. Tidus stood hopelessly off to the edge, for without his heavy sword he could no longer fight or defend himself.
Auron slashed a few times to the beasts' abdomen, but it made no puncture or even a slice. For this massive Bashura was no ordinary fiend. The beast threw its mighty fist at Auron, and sent him plummeting off a ledge.
"Auron!" Tidus yelled. He ran to the edge Auron slipped off of and looked down, he was nowhere to be seen. Then he tried to evade the blow of the Bashura throwing its next punch at him. Tidus ducked. But when it came around when a second blow, he was knocked clean off the surface, and fell back down to the hard, icy floor of the Mountains. He skidded back a few feet, almost over a steep drop, when he grabbed hold onto a piece off ice jutting out of the ground. He pulled himself up, and when he looked ahead he saw a narrow path leading up to an even higher peak on the mountain. When the beast came around with another blow, he dashed straight for the path.
He quickly ran up its irregularly shaped sides. It was the closest place to safety, and he knew that monster could never fit on this narrow strip of jutting ice.
Tidus could still feel the ground thumping under the Bashura fiends' furious run. As he looked back, he could tell it was mad now, and charging full throttle toward Tidus. He suddenly halted himself once he felt his feet start to slide over the edge of a great cliff. "Whoa!" He exclaimed. He looked over the edge; it was about a mile long drop. "No wonder so many people die here!" When he heard the ferocious growl again, his skin started to crawl as he searched for an escape off the narrow path. Then he suddenly spotted a cliff down low about forty feet away. "There's no way I can make that!" He thought aloud. "But it beats getting eaten alive..." He stepped back a few yards, lunged back, and ran full speed ahead.
As he leaped off the edge he felt his body soaring into the air. He felt exhilaration beyond words. And his thoughts slowly drifted off to Auron. "Auron..." He whispered. Then his body alerted him when he realized that he was flying off a cliff! He let out a loud yell, as he barely reached his destination. He quickly grasped onto the edge of the steep rock. Some it was tumbling down and crashing onto to Tidus. He yelled when he felt a huge boulder crash next to him, and rip his grasp off the edge he was holding on. His body tumbled backward, the rocks couldn't support his weight anymore and they were crashing on top of him.
When he finally hit the ground, everything went black. He blinked his eyes; some of his vision was restored. He pulled himself off the ground, and struggled to his feet. Tidus fell to his knees when he felt the cold air seeping through his skin. He needed warmth, or he could die. Tidus wrapped his arms around himself, and shivered from head to toe. When he reached out for a place to sit in, he slipped on a patch of ice, and hit his head against the wall of the mountain. Tidus was getting sick and tired off this annoying ice, and wished that this stupid mountain would just disappear.
When he continued to walk again, Tidus tripped onto yet another patch of old ice. He felt his ankle twist before he hit the ground. As he fell to the ground, he held his arms forward; he tried to break his fall. But his gloved hands gave away under his weight, and his face was also smeared against the sharp ice.
When Auron heard the loud thump of Tidus' body colliding with the ground, his eyebrows furrowed. He quickly turned around, his long cloak swaying in the air. He strode towards Tidus and saw that the ice was coated in dark red blood. He knelt next to Tidus, nudged his shoulder a few times and there was no response. Another wounded Guardian, Auron thought. Auron stood, retrieved an X-potion from his coat, when Tidus suddenly rolled over onto his back. Tidus looked up, everything was a blur. He blinked a few times, his vision was still hazy and everything was still nearly colorless and vague.
He sat up and rubbed his head. His face felt as though a thousand needles were jammed into it, and the wind was so cold it burned him.
"You had me worried." Auron responded. As he walked closer to him, Tidus was able to recognize him. "Most people wouldn't recover from such a fall."
"Auron..." He whispered when he saw the familiar scar lining up his neck. He lowered his eyelids. The pain of the ice burn, the rocks falling over him, and the blow of the Bashura fiend was now almost unbearable and the pain was making him unconscious. Auron held out his hand. Tidus winced, for a moment he thought Auron was going to strike him for being so weak. "Huh?" Tidus blinked a few times, it was uncharacteristic for Auron to even help him to his feet, but he gladly accepted.
Auron pulled Tidus up to his feet in a swift movement, and stared intensively at Tidus. "Here." Auron held out the X-potion he was about to use on Tidus. Part of him wanted to give it to Tidus. To feel those smooth lips as he...Auron shook his head. Enough! He thought to himself.
Tidus rubbed the back of his head and said, "Thanks." He tilted his head back, and swallowed all of it in one gulp. He felt his pain dissipate, and his energy come back. He stretched his arms high into the air, and sighed. "Now I'm ready for round two!" He exclaimed. Then he looked back at Auron. He didn't remember seeing him with him while the beast came. As a matter of fact, he seemed to have disappeared when the beast came running after him. Tidus put his hands on his hips and asked, "Hey... how'd you get here?"
Auron chuckled softly. "I was waiting for you to ask me that. While you were off running down that narrow path, slipping on the ice, almost eaten alive, and flying off of a dangerous cliff...I simply just left the trail. I turned back, and took another trail that led me directly to this point. Ironic, isn't it...how life can just find another way out of things. I reached this point ten minutes ahead of time, and where able to see how you would deal with the situation. It was quite interesting seeing you flying over that cliff."
Tidus grumbled, "Oh, you know everything don't you! You know....you could've told me there was another way out, rather than me risking my life out there."
"Oh really? Suppose, I hadn't seen the trail. Then we would've ended up jumping over that cliff anyways. Or I could've come up with an even worse plan that could've cost us our lives. Next time, take these things into consideration before you mouth off again."
Tidus stood stiff. His eyebrows tensed and he balled his hands into fists. As his raged boiled up inside of him, he finally yelled, "But I could've died, you inconsiderate moron! Is...everything just a game to you? Don't you even care about me..."
Auron became silent. Then he said, "Humph. You still haven't caught on. You need to mask your emotions. Guardians and Summoners must remain stoic. Caring for others is futile, which is a fault you haven't fixed yet." Auron turned away from Tidus and headed up the trail. Thinking should always come first before acting, and one day maybe Tidus could learn from his mistakes.
Tidus felt a small tear fall down his cheek. I'm not going to cry, don't cry Tidus, He thought to himself. He remembered how his father would nag him for being so emotional. "I hate you Jecht..." He whispered. He squeezed his eyes shut, but the warm tears continued to pour down from his pretty blue eyes. "Auron..." He called out softly to himself. He opened his eyes and saw Auron slowly hazing into the distance. "Auron!" He yelled. The entire mountain rumbled and echoed his name.
Auron looked back and heard the ruffle of wings, as a few birds flew high into the sky, past the thick grey clouds and into the burning sun. Auron looked at Tidus' still form over the brim of his glasses. The boy was stiff and rigid and wouldn't move, save for the tears gently running down his blushed cheeks. The cool air ruffled his golden blonde hair, and his dark clothing. Tidus' dark skin looked so inviting and soft, despite the cold atmosphere. He was the only source of heat, and right now it was radiating from him.
Tidus looked up, and his bright blue eyes stared dramatically back at Auron. Though his face was lifelessly still, those eyes seemed to make a statement. Auron soon felt like the bees back on the Calm lands, as he was now instantly attracted to Tidus. The urge was real. Although he managed to hide his feelings, what Auron really needed was another companion by his side, who differed him in every way. And no one other than Tidus could fit the bill.
Auron walked towards him until he stood a distance of only two feet before Tidus. He stopped. He couldn't move closer, to move closer would be to betray his own way of thought, for he knew what could happen next. Tidus locked eyes with Auron. His teary eyes looked unusually soft and tender, almost as if they would shatter like glass if they were turned in the wrong direction. Auron suddenly felt the urge to hold Tidus. He realized that he had been very cold to him in the past few days, and that it must be hard on Tidus to adjust to the changes in his life. These dramatic changes made even puberty seem simple. To put it simply...First, his home was destroyed, he was sent one thousand years into the future where nobody knows him, he has to deal with all the foreign customs and ideas, he has found out that his father is the terrifying Sin, attacked by fiends everyday, has to deal with the extreme cold of Mt. Gagazet and the annoying ice, and now this. Now, he even has to change who he is, just so he can fit in with everyone else.
Tidus sniffled. He finally found his voice. He felt a hard lump in his throat and he sounded as if he would suddenly start crying. "Auron....it's hard for me, you know, to deal with all this pressure. And, I just can't deal with it anymore! Everyday...people ridicule me for how ignorant I am, what's so obvious to everyone else I...I just can't pick it up so easily. And I have to lie about who I am, I hate lying! Jecht used to lie, and deceive people all the time; it would make me so angry! And now I'm forced to turn into him, because now I have to lie and...and pretend to be something I'm not. And now you're telling me that I can't even show my emotions anymore. But why I can't even be mad or cheerful or sad anymore? Everyone's becoming so serious all of a sudden! And I'm not just going to change just to meet someone else's standards. And I'm not just gonna listen to what you...or Jecht...or anyone else tells me."
Everything became silent. The only noise they heard was the occasional sound of wings fluttering off in the distance, and Auron's name still ringing loud in the mountains. Auron folded his arms over his chest. A million things ran through his mind, but, most importantly, his reason for selecting Tidus as his life long companion was now obvious, for the two were identical in the sense that they were so different. The two both had completely different solutions to problems, and different outlooks on life.
Tidus began to feel weak; his knees were staring to give out. As he thought about what Auron said about becoming less emotional and dynamic, he started to miss his home. At home, after every Blitz Ball match he could hang out til dawn, doing whatever he wanted to. And no body would even care. Not even Jecht.
Auron felt uneasy by how usually quiet and saddened Tidus was at the moment. It made him realize that maybe he didn't want Tidus to change after all. That, this change would be too drastic.
"Tidus..." Auron began. When he saw Tidus' wet blue eyes flicker with curiosity, he continued, "Though you may not want to change for others, do it for yourself. When I was younger, I was also very passionate and emotional, and skeptical and uncertain of other's ways. But, listen to me Tidus, you don't want to learn the hard way..."
Tidus' legs became weak. He fell forward, his body leaning in Auron's direction. Auron grasped him before he could fall, his soft blonde hair brushing lightly against his neck. Tidus felt his eyelids start to fall. He closed his eyes, and embraced Auron's warmth while it still lasted. Auron supported Tidus with his own weight; the boy was so small compared to him. Impulse told him to wrap his arms around Tidus. Though Auron hadn't experienced these emotions in so many years, he could still remember how to hold someone.
"Don't go..." Tidus murmured.
The snowflakes started fall from the sky like sparkly diamonds, and pilled higher onto the sugar coated hilltops. The view of the sun setting off far in the distance was breathtaking. For everything radiated in shades of red and gold, even the pale snow illuminated with color. Auron realized that he should've just recollected his emotions, and turned away. But he knew couldn't. The atmosphere was too perfect. And after Tidus had just said those gentle words to him, his mind was permanently resorted elsewhere. "I won't," Auron whispered under his breath.
Tidus snuggled his head against Auron's chest. Auron felt so nice and warm. He seemed to have a masculine softness at this moment, for his body felt both protective and yielding.
"Auron..." Tidus whispered. "Don't you wish we could just disappear off this mountain?"
Auron replied with a mere "yes", because deep down in his heart, he knew he'd go anywhere just as long as Tidus was with him.
R&R please. I just want to know if this chapter was written better than the previous three. I'm writing with a different tone in this fourth chapter, and I just wanna know if I should change my style back. Thanks for reading!
Warning! If you really are uncomfortable reading this story, or if you feel uneasy reading Yaoi, or you just don't like this pairing, I strongly suggest you discontinue reading this FanFiction because in the next chapter they share their first kiss. And in the next chapter is when I finally kick it into gear and things start to become Rated R. ( (
Oh, it's not too late to turn back now...
As soon as they stepped forward out of the small cave on the Gagazet Mountain, Tidus was already willing to go back. Tidus stood there, his arms wrapped around his torso, as he looked ahead at everyone walking up the icy trail. He wondered how they could do it. How they could just push ahead through the blizzard waiting for them up ahead without a single word of regret.
"Yuna, are you sure you want to leave now?" He called out to her. The cold started to make his bones shiver.
Yuna looked back at him. She giggled and said, "I know it's hard, to journey up this cold mountain, but I must continue my pilgrimage."
Tidus hung his head low and grumbled, "I know..."
Kimahri walked up behind him and ordered Tidus to move. Then he gave Tidus a hard shove and sent him hurtling onto a patch of ice. Although Tidus wore insulated snow boots, his left foot slid forward and he fell onto his butt. "Oh....thanks a lot Kimahri!" He yelled. But Kimahri paid him no mind, as he flanked Yuna on her left.
Tidus' eyebrows tensed and he squeezed his eyes shut. "First the cold, and now...I take my first step onto this stupid mountain and I'm already falling to the ground."
Tidus stood up and brushed all the ice of his clothes.
Auron walked next to Tidus and said, "Don't make this harder on yourself. If you stay focused, you should have nothing to worry about."
Tidus crossed his arms arrogantly. "Harder? I have 100% confidence in myself. This mountain will be a cake walk," He said confidently.
Auron sighed and continued walking ahead. "Watch your step," He warned him.
"Watch my step?" Tidus questioned. Before Tidus could plant his foot onto the ground, he saw a patch of ice sparkling under his foot's shadow. "Oh."
While everyone was walking up the trail to Zanarkand, Tidus carefully watched his feet as he followed them. He really didn't want to end up falling on more ice, but it never occurred to him that everyone else was about fifty feet ahead of him.
Then he almost tripped on a round object. He picked it up, it was a Movie Sphere.
"What is this?" He said. He placed it onto the snowy ground. He dropped his sword, then he sat down and watched it.
Yuna and her Guardians stopped upon a small shrine on the side of the road. Lulu explained, that these shrines were set up to honor the fallen Summoners and Guardians who never made it through the bitter cold and throws of the evil fiends.
Rikku stepped up to the Shrine. She looked upon it and asked, "Who put these here?"
"Good question. But I am afraid I cannot answer that." Lulu responded.
"I know who put them there." Wakka answered, "Yevon did."
"How did Yevon know if someone died then?" Rikku asked, her hands on her hips.
"They just do." Wakka said as he crossed his arms.
"See? You don't even know the answer either, so just be quiet you big dummy!" Rikku yelled.
"You be quiet you evil Al Bhed! You people don't even have respect for dead people, that's why you captured Yuna back in Luca."
"We Al Bhed are not evil! And how does capturing Yuna have anything to do with having respect for dead people?"
"You know Rikku, it's one thing to be and Al Bhed, but since your so annoying I just can't stand you. Maybe you should just lock yourself up in a cave, ya?"
Auron said, "Senseless arguing isn't going to prove anything." Auron was staring to grow uncomfortable with all this talk about dead people. He felt those same chills in his spine as he did back at the farplane in Guadosalam.
Wakka looked at Auron and said, "Sir Auron, I don't mean to offend you, but were you feelin' alright when you approved this runt to be a Guardian?"
Rikku stepped on Wakka's foot. "Take that back or I'll rip that stupid cowlick right off your forehead!" She demanded.
Yuna gasped. "Rikku, Wakka, must you be so violent?" She asked.
Wakka grabbed his toes and said, "Aw, that little beast hurt my foot! She's becoming more and more violent everyday. I say we throw her off the Summit of Mt. Gagazet. That should teach her some respect for dead people when she becomes a dead person, ya?"
"I don't have anything against dead people!" Rikku yelled.
Then everyone became silent when they heard a faint scream off in the distance. It echoed around in the Mountains and sent cold chills down their spines. Yuna looked around to make sure no one was missing. She gasped when she realized that there were only five guardians instead of six.
"Tidus is missing!" Yuna exclaimed.
Wakka sighed. "It's probably those Al Bhed. Now they wanna capture Tidus too. Where are they Rikku? I know you have something to do with it."
"Enough Wakka." Lulu said firmly. "This is a serious situation and we have no time for arguing. Just grow up Wakka."
"Come!" Auron said firmly, as he sprinted back down the trail. Everyone followed him and ran as quickly as they could.
When they arrived at their destination, they saw a huge octopus-like fiend snarling in a pool of icy water. It swooped up Tidus in one of it's tentacles, and tightly squeezed his body.
"Help!" Tidus yelled again. He felt his bones start to crack under the immense pressure of the tentacle. His lungs were suppressing and he could barely manage to call for help again.
All of Tidus' companions stood around the fiend, preparing to attack. They could all see that Tidus was quickly loosing his strength and becoming petrified under the Octopus' mighty tentacle. In all desperation--although he personally doesn't like Tidus too much--Kimahri charged full speed ahead at the fiend and dug his spear into it's abdomen. The attack was minimal and barely even done any damage.
"Let's hit him with all we got!" Rikku yelled.
"Help!" Tidus screeched again.
"Alright already!" Rikku yelled at Tidus.
While everyone hacked mindlessly at the fiend, Auron looked up at Tidus suffering. He remembered his promise to Jecht; that he would protect his son. In the distance he could hear Kamahri's weapon still trying to pierce through it's armor, and the occasional scorch of Lulu's Firaga attacks. Auron wasn't in the mood for breaking his promise to Jecht, and he was even starting to develop his own personal reasons for saving Tidus. He grunted and swung his heavy blade onto his shoulder.
Wakka hunched over and panted. He sworn he hit that thing fifty times already. "You know, maybe we should just leave him, ya? There's no way we can beat that thing."
Rikku yelled, "What!? Tidus is too young to die! Would you like to be strangled to death or killed by that thing?"
They looked at Tidus yelling excessively and trying to wriggle his way out of it's grasp. The Octopus didn't appear to be harming him, other than tossing him from tentacle to tentacle like he was a baseball. Yet Tidus was terrified, because if it dropped him it was a long way down...
Lulu caught her breath. "Nothing seems to work," She said.
"Let's give it another round, Lu. That should stop 'em." Wakka said.
Rikku looked curiously at Tidus' sword. She was awestricken by the bubbles and water swirling around near it's handle, and by the bulk of it's shape. It's blade shone sharply under the evening sun, and seemed as though it could pierce anything. She grabbed hold of it's handle and attempted to pull it up. It was very heavy, but after a few more attempts she was able to fully swing it in any direction.
She looked back at the fiend. Then an idea hit her when she saw a trail leading up to a forty foot high cliff looming right over it.
Everyone looked around frantically. The sky was rapidly became darker. Electricity was gathering around the fiend in a spirally twister. Tidus stopped screaming and looked around. When he felt a jolt of electricity shear his skin he nearly fainted. "Help! I'm about to be fried to death!" Tidus screamed again.
When Rikku reached the top of the cliff she saw a thin piece of ice jutting directly over the fiend. Rikku gathered her energy, rocketed off the strip of land, and jackknifed above the fiend with the blade aiming directly for it's head. "Your mine's bitch!" She yelled.
Auron, who was aware of Rikku's plan ahead of time, swung with all his might at the tentacle that was holding Tidus. The fiend screamed with pain once Tidus' blade dug through its head. Rikku stood proud on it's head. "I've done it!" She yelled.
Then the ground started to shake. The fiend screamed terribly as it flailed its tentacles around. Rikku had a hard time keeping her balance, and accidentally dropped Tidus' blade deeper into its head. "Oooppps." She said sheepishly.
"Jump!" Wakka called out to Rikku.
The ice beneath them started to crack and form plateaus and walls. Auron managed to walk on the shaky wall over to Tidus and freed him from the tentacle. Auron looked into his eyes. Tidus was exhausted from all that screaming and could barely keep his eyes open.
A huge iceberg formed in the middle of the battle scene. The fiend was obviously dying, but was trying to take them down with it. Pools of water started to rise from the melting ice and steamed off into the atmosphere. Everyone was soon sliding down the iceberg jutting through the ground. Auron and Tidus soon slipped off of the huge iceberg, and fell into a deep ravine.
All Tidus could remember before he hit the ground, were the screams of his fellow Guardians and Summoner, and then there was Auron floating out of the sky like he was weightless...
Tidus woke up, his thoughts a blur. All he could still hear the shrill screams, and the large fiend snarling horribly as it broke apart the ice. It sent chills down his spine. Tidus' body felt a little numb. Although he could move, there was a tingling sensation in his arms and legs. He opened his eyes, he felt like he was in another dream, as though time was flying by without him...
"Humph. You should hold the record for falling unconscious most often in a week...Though you're a little weak, hopefully you'll learn to grow up and stop being a crybaby...cry, cry, cry, that's all you ever wanna do..."
Tidus sat up on a flat stone. The stone sat on a piece of ice jutting only five feet out the side of the mountain. Tidus looked over the piece of ice; it was a long way down to the ground.
"Are you feeling alright?"
Tidus jumped. He looked to his right and saw Auron leaning against a smooth rock. Auron held out the tip of his sword's handle with his palm, the edge to the ice. Tidus stood; he felt his strength restoring.
He looked around. "Where's everyone else?" He asked.
"Don't know." Auron responded. "We were all separated somehow."
"You know..." Tidus started, "How come we're always separated from everyone else, but somehow stuck together? Don't you think that could be...a sign or something?"
Auron chuckled, "A sign? Maybe."
"Well I think it could be a sign. You know, I kinda don't mind being stuck with you though. At least you keep to yourself and don't like to boss me around all the time..."
Auron chuckled louder this time.
Tidus stared at him. "What's so funny?" He asked.
Auron cleared his throat, "The fact that your so blissfully unaware of how immature you are. All you see are other people's actions and how they affect you. What you don't see is the big picture; why they treat you they way they do, and what you've done to be treated this way. A think that should help you find the answer to your 'sign'."
Tidus sighed. "But see, how was I supposed to figure that out? See, that's way we're always together, so that way you can tell me everything. Right?"
"Perhaps." In one swift movement, Auron lifted his heavy sword onto his shoulder. He started to head up the small path to his right. "Hurry" He said to Tidus. "The others are waiting."
"The others?" Tidus scratched his head, "You mean they're already ahead of us? Well, I'm commin' anyway." Tidus responded. He looked around, but his sword it wasn't there. Then he stood up and frantically searched for his sword. "Auron" He called out, "Do you know where my sword is? Auron--" He looked around but Auron wasn't there either. "Oh great!" Tidus stomped his foot on the ground and he slipped. He had walked onto another patch of ice again. Tidus angrily pounded his fist into the ice until it was shattered into oblivion. He stood and hunched over with his hands on his knees, while he tried to catch his breath.
When he could breath easily again, he hiked up the path Auron trailed about ten minutes ago. "I wonder if he's still there..." He whispered. After about half-an-hour of walking up the agonizingly long trail, he stopped walking. Not only was it steep, but it seemed to drag on forever. "Gosh...how many trails are there in this place..." He said between pants.
"About thirty." Answered a gruff voice.
Tidus jumped and looked around. Auron stood leaning against an icy rock again. "H--how did you get back there? How come I couldn't see you walking past--"
"Ssshh. Don't speak so loud. Your voice is starting to echo, and echo's attract Ahriman and Bashura fiends. They use a technique called echolocation. They measure how long it takes for the echo to bounce back to them, and they can find out how far off we are."
"Echo-tration? You mean that stuff really works?" Tidus asked, "Can you do it?"
Auron chuckled. "Do I look like a fiend to you?" He responded.
"No. But, what about those Bashura fiends. I mean what do those guys look like anyways?"
"They're tall, hairy, strong and ugly. That's basically it."
"Oh, they don't sound so tough. I can take 'em on any day!"
Auron chuckled. Tidus obviously hasn't heard of the great Bashura before. "True. Most of them aren't that strong. But legend has it, that there is one mighty Bashura that's ten feet tall. And when it stretches its arms high into the air it's two stories high. Many Summoners and Guardians never made it to Zanarkand, because of this beast. According to all the movie spheres that I've seen of this event, it likes to eat only half of your body, and leave the rest lying around for other Summoners and Guardians to see, to know it's still there. You'd be wise to be on the look out for it."
Auron continued to walk ahead. But Tidus stood stiff, and shivered from head to toe. What if it comes after me? He thought to himself. Tidus looked around, searching for it, then he ran up next to Auron, seeking his protection.
"Auron..." He said, "Do you...do you think it's really true?"
"I don't believe in such foolishness. But, you never know..." Auron grinned slightly. He realized that the only way to get Tidus to stay focused was to scare him out of his wits.
Tidus took hold of Auron's sleeve. He was already separated from the others, and he didn't want to get separated from Auron either. He looked up at Auron. At his scar trailing up his neck, and his dark shades, and slick hair, and his heavy sword resting on his shoulder. He seemed so distant, yet they were standing so close. He could almost point out every detail of his body, because of their sudden closeness. Tidus impulsively wrapped his arms around Auron in a tight embrace. "I don't want to loose you." He said quickly.
Auron stood still and looked down at Tidus. "There is no time for this." He said. His words were so cold and shallow.
Tidus laid his head on Auron's chest. He closed his eyes and whispered, "I don't want to loose you Auron. I don't want to get lost or die out here alone. You're all I got."
Auron sighed. He remembered Jecht's words warning him about how emotional his son can become. And how moody and impulsive he was also. Auron sighed again. "We'll rest for a moment first. There's no use going on when you're so emotional right now."
"Thank you." Tidus whispered. When Auron's words finally sank into him, he exclaimed, "Hey, I'm not emotional! Give me a break...I-I was just cold, that's all." He sat down on the cold ice. He didn't like the feel of this place. There was more ice than snow, and he knew he would trip on another patch sometime soon.
Auron remained leaned against the rock. His mind was elsewhere. Tidus could tell he was probably thinking about something again. "What's on your mind?" He asked softly.
"No--"
"Don't just tell me 'nothing'. I know you're thinking of something. I know sometimes it's nice to just think all by yourself sometimes. But thoughts should be shared. Maybe I could help you in someway. You know..."
Auron sighed. "Since it interests you so much in finding out my thoughts....Actually, I was just thinking about someone in particular."
"Who?"
Auron looked up the sky, Zanarkand was on the Horizon. It's crystal blue sky was slowly starting to fade closer and closer. And Tidus would finally see it with his own eyes. "Someone personal." He answered.
"Oh..." Tidus hung his head down low. "I just thought I could help. Do you want to know who I was thinking of?"
"Who..." Auron said sternly.
"I was thinking, about Jecht. I can still remember how, he used to tease me, and call me a crybaby all the time. And how much I hate him."
"Why do you hate him?"
"I don't know." Tidus stood up and angrily pounded his fist against the mountainside. A few small rocks crumbled to his feet. "It's just everything about him. I just can't stand him."
"Come." Auron said. "We've rested long enough."
"Right." Tidus responded. Tidus tried to pull his hand back from the Mountain wall. It was stuck. "Geez, just how hard did I hit that thing?" Tidus used his right hand to pull his fist out, but it was still stuck.
"Tidus." Auron scolded him.
"I'm commin'." Tidus finally pressed his left foot against the wall, and his fist finally broke free. But a large rock collapsed onto his body. Auron turned around when he heard a loud thump, and saw Tidus sprawled out under a small boulder. Tidus gave him a thumbs up. "I'm alright, be there in a minute..."
Auron sighed. What am I to do with him? He thought.
They headed up the long trail. All the while Tidus complained about how much his feet hurt, or how cold it was, or why they even had to take this trail, or how boring the scenery was. He never seemed to just shut up. Until Auron finally told him the story of the Mighty Grendel fiend, which shut him up for good for a while. Tidus would grab hold onto Auron's sleeve, hoping that he wasn't its next target.
By noon, the sun was setting, and everything was a blazing red and orange. And only Tidus and Auron's shadows glistened against the burning sky.
"Isn't that Auron and Tidus?" Rikku asked. All the other Guardians and Yuna looked off in the distance, high up on a mountain they could see two shadows walking across the summit of Mt. Gagazet. Taking the lead, was Auron's powerful and brusque stature and then behind him was another shadow happily dancing across the sky.
"Listen." Wakka said.
Ringing off in the distance, they could faintly hear...
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
Surprisingly, Auron and Tidus hadn't come across too many fiends. Only a Grenade and a few Machina. To keep Tidus from complaining about not fighting enough, Auron explained to Tidus that this road was on the edge of Spira, and that the fiends never came this far off the land. He even explained to him about how honored and sacred this mountain was to Yevon.
"You mean we're on the edge? Like, we could just fall off if we're not careful?" Tidus asked. He tilted himself over the edge to get a better view, "Would we like fall in space or something?"
"Not exactly. But yes, we are on the edge now. Zanarkand is actually the absolute edge of Spira. But we're very close to Zanarkand now."
"Auron...what do you think will happen at Zanarkand?" Tidus asked softly.
"You'll just have to see for yourself..."
"Auron." Tidus asked, "What if we never find the others again?"
"Nonsense. All of these paths lead back to the exact same point." Auron answered. "Same as how a stream always connects to another body of water. Back in the Sanubia Desert, when we were sucked out of Lake Macalonia, we somehow re-connected with an underground stream and ended up in that small lake in Bikanel Island."
Tidus folded his arms behind his head. "How do you know so much?" Tidus asked.
"Wisdom." Auron answered.
When they walked around the corner of the snowy cavern, they saw a monstrous Bashura standing in their way. It was massive and powerful, and saliva dripped down its mouth as it snarled at them. Tidus gasped, he had never seen anything so huge. Auron crouched before Tidus, his sword gleaming high in the air, ready to fight. "Stand back!" Auron ordered him.
"But I wanna help too!" Tidus fired back at him. Then he remembered feeling the unusual lightness to his right hand. Tidus stood hopelessly off to the edge, for without his heavy sword he could no longer fight or defend himself.
Auron slashed a few times to the beasts' abdomen, but it made no puncture or even a slice. For this massive Bashura was no ordinary fiend. The beast threw its mighty fist at Auron, and sent him plummeting off a ledge.
"Auron!" Tidus yelled. He ran to the edge Auron slipped off of and looked down, he was nowhere to be seen. Then he tried to evade the blow of the Bashura throwing its next punch at him. Tidus ducked. But when it came around when a second blow, he was knocked clean off the surface, and fell back down to the hard, icy floor of the Mountains. He skidded back a few feet, almost over a steep drop, when he grabbed hold onto a piece off ice jutting out of the ground. He pulled himself up, and when he looked ahead he saw a narrow path leading up to an even higher peak on the mountain. When the beast came around with another blow, he dashed straight for the path.
He quickly ran up its irregularly shaped sides. It was the closest place to safety, and he knew that monster could never fit on this narrow strip of jutting ice.
Tidus could still feel the ground thumping under the Bashura fiends' furious run. As he looked back, he could tell it was mad now, and charging full throttle toward Tidus. He suddenly halted himself once he felt his feet start to slide over the edge of a great cliff. "Whoa!" He exclaimed. He looked over the edge; it was about a mile long drop. "No wonder so many people die here!" When he heard the ferocious growl again, his skin started to crawl as he searched for an escape off the narrow path. Then he suddenly spotted a cliff down low about forty feet away. "There's no way I can make that!" He thought aloud. "But it beats getting eaten alive..." He stepped back a few yards, lunged back, and ran full speed ahead.
As he leaped off the edge he felt his body soaring into the air. He felt exhilaration beyond words. And his thoughts slowly drifted off to Auron. "Auron..." He whispered. Then his body alerted him when he realized that he was flying off a cliff! He let out a loud yell, as he barely reached his destination. He quickly grasped onto the edge of the steep rock. Some it was tumbling down and crashing onto to Tidus. He yelled when he felt a huge boulder crash next to him, and rip his grasp off the edge he was holding on. His body tumbled backward, the rocks couldn't support his weight anymore and they were crashing on top of him.
When he finally hit the ground, everything went black. He blinked his eyes; some of his vision was restored. He pulled himself off the ground, and struggled to his feet. Tidus fell to his knees when he felt the cold air seeping through his skin. He needed warmth, or he could die. Tidus wrapped his arms around himself, and shivered from head to toe. When he reached out for a place to sit in, he slipped on a patch of ice, and hit his head against the wall of the mountain. Tidus was getting sick and tired off this annoying ice, and wished that this stupid mountain would just disappear.
When he continued to walk again, Tidus tripped onto yet another patch of old ice. He felt his ankle twist before he hit the ground. As he fell to the ground, he held his arms forward; he tried to break his fall. But his gloved hands gave away under his weight, and his face was also smeared against the sharp ice.
When Auron heard the loud thump of Tidus' body colliding with the ground, his eyebrows furrowed. He quickly turned around, his long cloak swaying in the air. He strode towards Tidus and saw that the ice was coated in dark red blood. He knelt next to Tidus, nudged his shoulder a few times and there was no response. Another wounded Guardian, Auron thought. Auron stood, retrieved an X-potion from his coat, when Tidus suddenly rolled over onto his back. Tidus looked up, everything was a blur. He blinked a few times, his vision was still hazy and everything was still nearly colorless and vague.
He sat up and rubbed his head. His face felt as though a thousand needles were jammed into it, and the wind was so cold it burned him.
"You had me worried." Auron responded. As he walked closer to him, Tidus was able to recognize him. "Most people wouldn't recover from such a fall."
"Auron..." He whispered when he saw the familiar scar lining up his neck. He lowered his eyelids. The pain of the ice burn, the rocks falling over him, and the blow of the Bashura fiend was now almost unbearable and the pain was making him unconscious. Auron held out his hand. Tidus winced, for a moment he thought Auron was going to strike him for being so weak. "Huh?" Tidus blinked a few times, it was uncharacteristic for Auron to even help him to his feet, but he gladly accepted.
Auron pulled Tidus up to his feet in a swift movement, and stared intensively at Tidus. "Here." Auron held out the X-potion he was about to use on Tidus. Part of him wanted to give it to Tidus. To feel those smooth lips as he...Auron shook his head. Enough! He thought to himself.
Tidus rubbed the back of his head and said, "Thanks." He tilted his head back, and swallowed all of it in one gulp. He felt his pain dissipate, and his energy come back. He stretched his arms high into the air, and sighed. "Now I'm ready for round two!" He exclaimed. Then he looked back at Auron. He didn't remember seeing him with him while the beast came. As a matter of fact, he seemed to have disappeared when the beast came running after him. Tidus put his hands on his hips and asked, "Hey... how'd you get here?"
Auron chuckled softly. "I was waiting for you to ask me that. While you were off running down that narrow path, slipping on the ice, almost eaten alive, and flying off of a dangerous cliff...I simply just left the trail. I turned back, and took another trail that led me directly to this point. Ironic, isn't it...how life can just find another way out of things. I reached this point ten minutes ahead of time, and where able to see how you would deal with the situation. It was quite interesting seeing you flying over that cliff."
Tidus grumbled, "Oh, you know everything don't you! You know....you could've told me there was another way out, rather than me risking my life out there."
"Oh really? Suppose, I hadn't seen the trail. Then we would've ended up jumping over that cliff anyways. Or I could've come up with an even worse plan that could've cost us our lives. Next time, take these things into consideration before you mouth off again."
Tidus stood stiff. His eyebrows tensed and he balled his hands into fists. As his raged boiled up inside of him, he finally yelled, "But I could've died, you inconsiderate moron! Is...everything just a game to you? Don't you even care about me..."
Auron became silent. Then he said, "Humph. You still haven't caught on. You need to mask your emotions. Guardians and Summoners must remain stoic. Caring for others is futile, which is a fault you haven't fixed yet." Auron turned away from Tidus and headed up the trail. Thinking should always come first before acting, and one day maybe Tidus could learn from his mistakes.
Tidus felt a small tear fall down his cheek. I'm not going to cry, don't cry Tidus, He thought to himself. He remembered how his father would nag him for being so emotional. "I hate you Jecht..." He whispered. He squeezed his eyes shut, but the warm tears continued to pour down from his pretty blue eyes. "Auron..." He called out softly to himself. He opened his eyes and saw Auron slowly hazing into the distance. "Auron!" He yelled. The entire mountain rumbled and echoed his name.
Auron looked back and heard the ruffle of wings, as a few birds flew high into the sky, past the thick grey clouds and into the burning sun. Auron looked at Tidus' still form over the brim of his glasses. The boy was stiff and rigid and wouldn't move, save for the tears gently running down his blushed cheeks. The cool air ruffled his golden blonde hair, and his dark clothing. Tidus' dark skin looked so inviting and soft, despite the cold atmosphere. He was the only source of heat, and right now it was radiating from him.
Tidus looked up, and his bright blue eyes stared dramatically back at Auron. Though his face was lifelessly still, those eyes seemed to make a statement. Auron soon felt like the bees back on the Calm lands, as he was now instantly attracted to Tidus. The urge was real. Although he managed to hide his feelings, what Auron really needed was another companion by his side, who differed him in every way. And no one other than Tidus could fit the bill.
Auron walked towards him until he stood a distance of only two feet before Tidus. He stopped. He couldn't move closer, to move closer would be to betray his own way of thought, for he knew what could happen next. Tidus locked eyes with Auron. His teary eyes looked unusually soft and tender, almost as if they would shatter like glass if they were turned in the wrong direction. Auron suddenly felt the urge to hold Tidus. He realized that he had been very cold to him in the past few days, and that it must be hard on Tidus to adjust to the changes in his life. These dramatic changes made even puberty seem simple. To put it simply...First, his home was destroyed, he was sent one thousand years into the future where nobody knows him, he has to deal with all the foreign customs and ideas, he has found out that his father is the terrifying Sin, attacked by fiends everyday, has to deal with the extreme cold of Mt. Gagazet and the annoying ice, and now this. Now, he even has to change who he is, just so he can fit in with everyone else.
Tidus sniffled. He finally found his voice. He felt a hard lump in his throat and he sounded as if he would suddenly start crying. "Auron....it's hard for me, you know, to deal with all this pressure. And, I just can't deal with it anymore! Everyday...people ridicule me for how ignorant I am, what's so obvious to everyone else I...I just can't pick it up so easily. And I have to lie about who I am, I hate lying! Jecht used to lie, and deceive people all the time; it would make me so angry! And now I'm forced to turn into him, because now I have to lie and...and pretend to be something I'm not. And now you're telling me that I can't even show my emotions anymore. But why I can't even be mad or cheerful or sad anymore? Everyone's becoming so serious all of a sudden! And I'm not just going to change just to meet someone else's standards. And I'm not just gonna listen to what you...or Jecht...or anyone else tells me."
Everything became silent. The only noise they heard was the occasional sound of wings fluttering off in the distance, and Auron's name still ringing loud in the mountains. Auron folded his arms over his chest. A million things ran through his mind, but, most importantly, his reason for selecting Tidus as his life long companion was now obvious, for the two were identical in the sense that they were so different. The two both had completely different solutions to problems, and different outlooks on life.
Tidus began to feel weak; his knees were staring to give out. As he thought about what Auron said about becoming less emotional and dynamic, he started to miss his home. At home, after every Blitz Ball match he could hang out til dawn, doing whatever he wanted to. And no body would even care. Not even Jecht.
Auron felt uneasy by how usually quiet and saddened Tidus was at the moment. It made him realize that maybe he didn't want Tidus to change after all. That, this change would be too drastic.
"Tidus..." Auron began. When he saw Tidus' wet blue eyes flicker with curiosity, he continued, "Though you may not want to change for others, do it for yourself. When I was younger, I was also very passionate and emotional, and skeptical and uncertain of other's ways. But, listen to me Tidus, you don't want to learn the hard way..."
Tidus' legs became weak. He fell forward, his body leaning in Auron's direction. Auron grasped him before he could fall, his soft blonde hair brushing lightly against his neck. Tidus felt his eyelids start to fall. He closed his eyes, and embraced Auron's warmth while it still lasted. Auron supported Tidus with his own weight; the boy was so small compared to him. Impulse told him to wrap his arms around Tidus. Though Auron hadn't experienced these emotions in so many years, he could still remember how to hold someone.
"Don't go..." Tidus murmured.
The snowflakes started fall from the sky like sparkly diamonds, and pilled higher onto the sugar coated hilltops. The view of the sun setting off far in the distance was breathtaking. For everything radiated in shades of red and gold, even the pale snow illuminated with color. Auron realized that he should've just recollected his emotions, and turned away. But he knew couldn't. The atmosphere was too perfect. And after Tidus had just said those gentle words to him, his mind was permanently resorted elsewhere. "I won't," Auron whispered under his breath.
Tidus snuggled his head against Auron's chest. Auron felt so nice and warm. He seemed to have a masculine softness at this moment, for his body felt both protective and yielding.
"Auron..." Tidus whispered. "Don't you wish we could just disappear off this mountain?"
Auron replied with a mere "yes", because deep down in his heart, he knew he'd go anywhere just as long as Tidus was with him.
R&R please. I just want to know if this chapter was written better than the previous three. I'm writing with a different tone in this fourth chapter, and I just wanna know if I should change my style back. Thanks for reading!
Warning! If you really are uncomfortable reading this story, or if you feel uneasy reading Yaoi, or you just don't like this pairing, I strongly suggest you discontinue reading this FanFiction because in the next chapter they share their first kiss. And in the next chapter is when I finally kick it into gear and things start to become Rated R. ( (