Bonjour mes amis! I'm here to end your worries with yet another chapter!
T: Hiya everyone. Guess I lucked out since I'm still standing here. Now that New Years has passed Veronia shouldn't be hurting me. Now all I have to worry about is her super psycho fans.
V: You've got that right. Now I can only smother you with hugs and kisses.
T: -cringes back slightly-
V: Oh, don't be a wuss.
HUG!
T: -sigh- Please, can you just get on with the next chapter –starts squirming from Veronia's grasp-
V: Oh, alright! Um, Well… everyone should know what happened in the last chapter. (unless, for some reason, you skipped it. In that case I urge you to read it or you will be terribly confused) I don't want to divulge too much right now because then there would be no reason to read the chapter.
T: Fine then just tell me whether or not the approaching creature is and enemy or friend.
V: Um… a little bit of both
T: Huh???
V: Just read the chapter and you'll find out.
Chapter 17: MisunderstandingsSnow crunched softly as padded feet slowly approached the sleeping travelers. The wind blew hard but was barely felt through the thick blue fur that completely covered the creature. White fangs glinted faintly in the light of the full moon above and a long tail slowly moved from side to side as the creature overlooked his options.
A few days earlier, the Ronso tribe had received an unexpected message from the mountains informing them of intruders entering their sacred lands. This Ronso was chosen to lead a scouting party through the hidden mountain paths in search for the uninvited guests.
Garik kept a tight hold on his spear with his clawed hands as he carefully approached the camp. Even though they looked to be harmless he wasn't going to take the chance of underestimating them. If they had survived through the terrible blizzards then there was no telling how strong they were. They were also traveling on one of the hidden paths. Unless there was someone in their group who knew the trails, then they shouldn't know about these paths.
He shrugged the thought off. It wasn't important at the moment. They could be interrogated later, after they were captured.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Maybe we should get back to watching out for fiends." Yuna whispered as she pulled the blanket more tightly around herself to keep out the bitter wind.
"Just a few more minutes." Tidus muttered as he held her close and placed another kiss on her lips.
"But what if something happens?"
"What are the odds of a fiend attack happening right now?" Tidus whispered as a slight smile made its way onto his lips.
The smile faded though when he felt the tip of a sharp blade pressing against his upper back just hard enough so it didn't pierce the skin. His eyes opened wide and he slowly drew Yuna as close as he could as an attempt to shield her from any attack.
"Do not even make a sound." A gruff voice growled in his ear.
Tidus recognized that voice and had to force himself not to look over his shoulder and confirm his suspicion.
"Garik?" He was barely able to whisper.
He knew that it was the wrong thing to say when he felt the spear tip press harder against his back. A small bloodstain began to appear around the spot where the spear was being pressed.
"How do you know Garik's name?" The voice growled.
Tidus swallowed hard but decided that it would be best not to try and answer that question at the moment. He knew that Garik was not the best Ronso to converse with. Especially when he had a weapon pressed against your back.
There was nothing Tidus could do now but watch as other Ronsos slipped out of hiding and captured the rest of the group. They moved silently over the slippery ice and snow, waking and tying up everyone else one by one. Tidus couldn't understand how anything could move so quietly and unnoticeably. He couldn't even hear the sound of the iced over snow crunching under their large feet.
Just a moment later he felt the tip of Garik's weapon move away from his back but a large hand grabbed the hood of his jacket and jerked him backwards. Another Ronso came up and pulled Yuna away from him. Tidus yelled out in protest and tried to struggle free in order to get back to her but immediately stopped when the blade of a dagger came to rest right in front of his throat.
His hands were jerked behind his back and a rope was tied tightly around his wrists. He struggled slightly when he saw Yuna being treated in the same harsh manner but Garik lightly pressed his dagger's blade against the delicate skin of Tidus's neck to keep him still.
"Stand up." Garik ordered his captive after all of the intruders had been tied up.
Tidus was unable to get up on the slippery ice and snow without the use of his hands and kept sliding back down to the ground until Garik became tired of it and yanked the human onto his feet.
He was shoved ahead by Garik until he ended up grouped together with the rest of his friends. The Ronsos quickly surrounded the group, almost shoulder to shoulder, giving the intruders just barely enough room to move.
Tidus used the slight freedom of movement to slip behind Yuna. He noticed that she was looking around nervously and moved as close to her as possible in an attempt to assure her that he would remain near her. She turned around to face him and hid her face against his shoulder.
"Don't worry." He whispered in her ear. "Everything's going to be alright." He doubted that it was true but he didn't want her to be frightened.
Yuna just nodded her head but didn't move away from him. Tidus looked around to all of the others and noticed the different reactions the rest were having to the situation. Wakka looked miserable but didn't bother trying to fight his way free, while Zen struggled nonstop in an attempt to remove the ropes from his wrists. Auron was strangely calm. He was always calm but something about him now seemed different. It was almost as if he expected this to happen.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?"
Tidus looked over his shoulder to see Rikku struggling with one of the Ronso who was trying to remove her small pack filled with stolen goods.
"That's not yours! Give it back to me!" Rikku was trying everything she possibly could to get her treasures back until another Ronso came up and grabbed her from behind. "Two against one isn't fair!"
The Ronso holding her pack dumped its contents on the ground and, after concluding that nothing in the pile could be used as a weapon, scooped everything back into the pack and tied it around his own belt.
"Hey that's mine! You can't take it from me! Give it back!" Rikku began struggling again and would have fought her way free if several more Ronso hadn't come up and stopped her. They tied more rope around her wrists and ankles to immobilize her as much as possible and shoved a gag in her mouth to keep her quiet.
"Move." A gruff voice ordered from behind as the blade of a lance was jabbed towards the captives.
One of the Ronso picked up the small thief with one arm and dumped her over their shoulder as the march began.
Garik and the rest of his party stayed encircled around the trespassers as they began their trek back to the rest of their tribe. They didn't want to take the chance of any of the humans escaping so they were on watch constantly.
The only opportunity Tidus or the others had to rest was when Garik stopped to allow members of his group to take a break. Rests in the forced march were short though, only a few minutes long, and the Ronsos did not tire easily so there were few of them. The Ronsos refused to stop even if the captured humans were tired.
Occasionally, one of the captives would collapse from exhaustion but then would be forced back up onto their feet by a Ronso and prodded along with the sharp point of the closest weapon.
The trek continued on like this for several days until they reached the Ronso tribe's land. Everyone in the captured party was dead tired from the almost nonstop march. There had only been one time that the march had stopped for the Ronso to sleep but no one really had enough time to get some sleep before the march began again.
Now they were at the end of their forced trek but most of them were too worried to go to sleep.
As soon as they entered the tribes land a few of the Ronso woman came up and separated Yuna and Rikku from the rest of the group. Tidus tried to protest but with his weariness and the fact that his wrists were still tied behind his back prevented him from doing much.
The rest of the group was led away in the opposite direction of the two girls until they arrives at what looked to be a type of prison cell. It was a small cave with a metal gate in front of it. There was no door on the metal gate though so it seemed like the cell was useless.
Several Ronso moved away from the prisoners over to a large chain that was hanging beside the metal gate. With a closer inspection it could be seen that the chain was looped over some kind of wheel and then attached to the gate. When the Ronso pulled on the chain it lifted up the gate.
Garik cut the ropes from the prisoners' wrists and shoved them into the cell as quickly as possible before the gate was dropped back down. Garik moved up to the metal gate, reached in and grabbed the back of Tidus's jacket before he had a chance to get away. He grabbed Tidus's throat and just looked into his eyes before throwing him farther into the cell.
Tidus pushed himself back up onto his feet and ran back towards the gate.
"Where's Yuna?" He demanded as the Ronso were leaving.
"Garik tells you after you answer Garik's questions."
Tidus's hands clenched the metal bars and when the Ronso began leaving he reached down and grabbed a large stone off the ground. He was about the hurl it at the back of Garik's head but a hand took a hold of his wrist and stopped him. Tidus looked over his shoulder and saw that it was Auron.
"Not a good idea." Auron said as he took the rock from Tidus's hand. "You'll only get us into more trouble then we already are."
"But they have Yuna. I can't just sit here and do nothing."
"Nothing will happen to her." Auron tried to reassure his friend.
"Yeah," Wakka began. "The Ronso may be rough but they're not the type to be hurtin' others for no reason."
"This is bad." Zen said as he leaned against the metal bars. "This is real bad."
"Not necessarily." Auron put it.
"What!" Zen jumped up onto his feet. "We're being held captive by these bizarre creatures, our group is separated, we have no idea where we are, no idea what we are going to do or how we are going to get out of here and you say that things aren't bad!"
"We came through the mountains to find Kimahri." Auron stated calmly.
"Of course!" Wakka said, suddenly realizing what Auron was trying to say. "Now we just have to be findin' Kimahri instead of searchin' the whole mountain, ya?"
Auron nodded.
Tidus turned and glared at Auron. "You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?"
Auron nodded again.
"You planned this to happen. That's why you led us through those paths that were almost impossible to see."
"Yes." Auron answered calmly.
"So you've put us all in danger because of something you thought was best." Both Wakka and Zen could see that Tidus was getting more and more upset. "You didn't even tell anyone about what you were planning and put us all in danger!"
"You have to stop worrying about Yuna so much." Tidus was taken aback slightly at Auron's ability to know who he was referring to. "She's tougher then you think. You shouldknow that. She'll be fine without you."
"Besides," Zen put in, "she has Rikku with her. I've never seen a kid with so much spunk before."
"The only thing we can do now is rest." Wakka said when Tidus started pacing back and forth.
Most of the group nodded their agreement and settled down in the large piles of dried up long grasses that were scattered about the small cave.
Tidus reluctantly nodded his head and lied down on one of the piles but the couldn't rest. He couldn't stop thinking about Yuna. Even though he knew she was strong enough to take care of herself he couldn't help but worry about her. He wished that she were with him just so he would know for sure whether she was alright or not.
The worry prevented him from getting any sleep and he spent his whole time shifting and trying to turn over in an attempt to get some rest but it wasn't working. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get any sleep until he knew that Yuna was alright and where she was.
The sun slowly sank behind the sharp peaks of the mountains making the insides of the cave pitch black.
It wasn't long after the darkness came that Tidus heard the sound of the chain outside the cell being moved and the gate being lifted. He sat up to try and see what was happening but the darkness was too thick. The only things he saw were two glowing eyes slowly approaching. A clawed hand grabbed onto his collar and pulled him up to his feet.
"Time to answer Garik's questions." A voice growled asTidus was dragged from the cell.
V: Ah. Another chapter finished.
T: You ended on another cliffhanger, I see.
V: Oh, it's so hard for me not to.
T: Some fans won't be happy.
V: I can never make them all happy! I write a cliffhanger; some people love it while others hate it. I put in another character (i.e. Zen); some fans like it and others don't. I CAN'T WIN!
T: I see your problem.
V: You understand! –runs over and hugs him-
T: -tries to squeeze free- This may not be the best predicament but at least it's better then being hit on the head.
V: Oh, for all your readers out there I have some sad news… with school Mid-Terms coming up I won't be able to finish the next chapter on time.
T: You never do finish them on time.
V: -sighs- too true. Oh well. C'est la vie.
T: For those of you who don't speak French, that means: That's life.
V: I didn't know you could speak French.
T: Well… that's almost all I know.
V: Oh. I see. Anyway… so long everyone!
T: Yeah, see you all later.
End Transmission