It continues, finally. Beginning to move into the main plots now, and it's not going to be fun for our heroes. On to the replies!
Astral Slayer Asuka: He tried. But I wasn't about to give him a chance. (grin)
Iron Reaver: ...(cough) I'll say nothing. And yes, I will agree with Darius that Shuyin's just a wannabe. And personally, I thought the count was around 40 or so characters. Could be wrong, though. (shrug)
XxCougarxX: Yeah, Yojimbo is not to be crossed. I pay 3 Gil to him in battle...and he does 34,000 damage with Kozuka. I'm impressed.
Daniel Wesley Rydell: (hands some toast)
KamiKaze no Kage: Lenna. She just...comes and goes as she pleases. Later on, you'll see why she never hangs around for long. Shuyin...about the same. He usually talks to Ben when he's already agitated, in order to make him angrier. I'll try to insert more humor, but it'll be mostly dramatic moments from here on out, until near the end.
Ah, well. On to the chapter!
Chapter 20—Tides Of War
My quick downward strike does nothing to delay the attacks of Paine, who has been sparring with me for the past half hour or so. It's become pretty regular, really. When we're not on missions, we'll come down here and spar for a while, until we get tired. Now, however, with the temples in chaos, we haven't had a chance to spar lately.
"Ha!"
The silence is broken once again by Paine's sword slashing out, to be met by my own blade in a vertical block. Jumping back, I switch the sword to where the blade faces behind me, before advancing again. Leaping in, I spin in the air to bring the sword full-circle, the edge slashing diagonally at the girl, who deftly blocks before jabbing an elbow into my ribs. The flat of her blade moves before I can stop it, and my vision blurs some as the sword connects with the top of my head.
"You're unfocused," Paine tells me, sheathing her sword. I simply nod over to her, shaking my head to clear it from the disorienting blow.
"I'm just a bit out of it. It'll pass," I reply, sheathing my sword. Paine gives me a skeptical look, but nods.
"Whatever you say," she says, stepping out of the hold. Sighing, I finally let myself collapse onto the bottom of the steps.
"Why am I so tired..." I mutter, rubbing a hand over my face. "I'm not sick, so that can't be it."
"Perhaps you're just naturally weak," Shuyin's voice replies. I look up...only to find myself staring face-to-face with a transparent image of Shuyin himself. Ignoring the tiredness for the moment, I stand up to look squarely at Shuyin.
"You'd know all about that weakness thing, wouldn't you, Shuyin?" I say, resisting the urge to smirk.
"Cute," he mutters, scowling. "But you are weak. You were shown that by that boy, weren't you? Darius, I believe? He showed you your limits, and how low they really are. And you hate him for it, don't you?" the ghostly form of Shuyin says, smirking.
"...This has nothing to do with him," I remark, eyes narrowed.
"Oh, but on the contrary...it has everything to do with him. You want nothing more than to be the best...but you can't, so long as he remains in the way. To be the strongest, you have to get rid of him."
"Shut up..."
"But you can't. He's miles ahead of you in power, and you know that. It burns inside you, the way he humiliated you. You know that you don't stand a chance, and it eats away at your very being to know that you are nothing to him."
"I said, shut up..." I growl, Shuyin's words beginning to strike a nerve.
"The truth hurts, doesn't it? You know that you're nowhere near the level you once were...and even if you were, that you would fare no better."
"Shut up!" I finally yell, grabbing my sword and slashing through the image of Shuyin. Shuyin simply begins to laugh, shaking his head. "You don't know anything about me!"
"On the contrary...I know as much about you as you do. I can feel your emotions, I know how you think...and I can feel the hatred and resentment inside of you as clearly as if it was my own," Shuyin replies, obviously content that he's angered me. My left hand is clenched into a fist so tightly that my palm is stinging from my nails digging into the skin, and so I take a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down.
"You're right. I am nowhere near the level I once was. But I will get back there. I don't have a doubt in my mind that I can, and will, be just as powerful as I was two years ago. And when I am...I'm coming for you. There won't be anywhere to run, anywhere to hide, or anyone to save you. Just you, and me. And when that time comes...you'd better be ready." Shuyin just gives another chuckle at my little speech, before smirking.
"Oh, rest assured...I will." The image vanishes as quickly as it had appeared, leaving me alone in the cargo hold. Sighing, I put my sword away and exit the hold, deciding to head back to my room and calm down before the next mission. Unfortunately, that isn't to happen, as the first person I run into on the elevator is Yuna.
"There you are, Ben. We're going to head to Mount Gagazet, better get ready to go!" she says happily. I just tilt my head slightly in acknowledgment, causing Yuna to fold her arms.
"What's happening with you? You've been like this for a while now. What's wrong?" she asks, and I shift my gaze to her, eyes hardened into a glare.
"It's nothing, Yuna," I reply, a bit forcefully. "I can handle myself."
"Well, sorry!" she replies, somewhat angered by my harsh reply. Sighing, I let out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding, before turning my attention back to Yuna.
"I'm sorry, Yuna," I say, as the elevator doors slide open near the exit of the Celsius. "I've just got a lot on my mind...and I guess it's stressing me out.
'More like a madman planning to destroy the entire world toying with my feelings like a puppet, pulling the right strings to test my reactions," I think to myself.
"Well...we're here if you need it, you know. You just need to open up more, tell us what's on your mind," she says, and I quirk an eyebrow.
"You sound like you're talking to Paine," I comment, and Yuna's face turns thoughtful for a moment, before she shrugs.
"You two have a lot in common, I guess."
"What's this about me?" Paine says, stepping up beside us with Rikku by her side. A casual, yet somewhat playful expression is on her face, and Yuna's face goes almost angelically innocent as she turns away, whistling softly to herself. I just chuckle, seeing a way to make Yuna quite uncomfortable.
"I think that Yuna over here thinks that I've got a crush on you, Paine..." I say, trying my hardest to keep my face level. The expression on Paine's face is absolutely golden, somewhere in between mute shock and utter disbelief. Rikku's face is wide-eyed and stunned beyond words, while Yuna's is now redder than most apples I've seen.
"I didn't say that! I just said that you two have a lot in common!" she sputters, and I turn to face her instead of Paine.
"Oh, so you're trying to get us together, is that it?" I continue, and Yuna fumbles for words, as Paine's expression turns to a hardened gaze as she steps over to Yuna. Finally allowing myself to smile, I step towards the exit of the Celsius, turning back to the three girls as I do so.
"Consider this a small measure of my revenge for putting me in a skirt," I say, smirking.
"I...I thought you'd forgotten about that!" Yuna stammers, causing me to chuckle.
"Oh...I forgive, and I forget...but I love playful revenge as well. You'd do well to remember that," I say, the grin on my face widening as I step out into the chilling air of Mount Gagazet. Yuna is quick to follow, and Rikku and Paine move after her quickly. Up ahead of us, Kimahri spots us and begins to head towards us, his usual impassive face now beset with a look of worry.
"What's going on, Kimahri?" Yuna asks, apparently noticing the look on her former guardian's face as well.
"Yuna must leave," he replies simply. "Ronso youth use force. Seek vengeance for fallen Ronso. Garik lead angry Ronso youth. Decide to take revenge on Guado. Garik go to battle. Now Garik climb peak, tell mountain battle plan."
"And you're just gonna wait here?" Rikku asks, looking up at the taller Ronso.
"Garik hear voice of mountain. Garik change mind. Kimahri hope so."
"And if he doesn't?" Paine questions. Kimahri sadly shakes his head at this, looking over at Paine.
"Kimahri stop Ronso youth."
"That's crazy," Yuna states, looking over at Kimahri.
"He's got a point, though, Yuna. What else can he do? He doesn't want war," I say, and Kimahri nods.
"Ben knows. Kimahri not want war between Guado and Ronso. Garik not see this. Go to battle, blinded by rage. Garik fall," Kimahri says quietly, glancing up at the peak of the mountain.
"There's still time," Paine interjects, looking at Kimahri. "Should we follow them?"
"We're going up," Yuna cuts in, not waiting for Kimahri's answer. "Maybe we can reason with him."
"If Yuna go, Kimahri think Garik listen," Kimahri agrees, nodding. "Maybe. If not, Kimahri deal with Garik."
"We'll take care of it. Don't worry, Kimahri," I reply, nodding to the former fellow guardian, before stepping towards the teleport pad. "Summit," I mutter, the pad enveloping me with light and depositing me on the summit of the mountain in the blink of an eye. Yuna, Rikku, and Paine quickly follow suit, reappearing beside me. Garik is nowhere to be seen on the long path, and I shrug, turning back to the trio.
"He must be up ahead," I state, turning back around and beginning to run up the trail. The three girls follow me up the narrow path, the snow causing us to slide slightly on the ground as we run. Sparing a glance to the left, I inwardly cringe upon seeing how high up we are.
'Nope...still haven't gotten over my fear of heights yet...'
A roar ahead of us suddenly causes us to snap to attention, and we begin to run slightly faster in order to find out the source. As I suspected, we come across Garik a moment later, standing in the middle of a large, open area on the summit. Two other Ronso are with him, though these are little more than kids. Still, either of them are easily larger than any of us.
"Ronso hold anger no longer!" Garik roars to both us, and seemingly the mountain."Ronso youth fearless. Go to battle with Guado!"
"And if I ask you not to go?" Yuna says calmly. Garik just snorts.
"Mountain tell Ronso to go!"
"What if you can't go?" Yuna asks, stepping up to Garik with a threatening edge to her voice. Quickly, she draws her pistols and aims them at Garik, who seems unfazed by the threat.
"Summoner not hold Ronso anger with puny arms," he states confidently. Slowly, I step up beside Yuna, drawing my sword and holding it beside me.
"One might not be able to...but two surely can," I retort, watching the trio carefully.
"If we do, you will stop this talk of vengeance," Yuna says defiantly, keeping a close eye on Garik. The two youths beside him tense, obviously ready for a fight.
"Very well, but Garik never fall!" Garik shouts to us, stepping into a fighting stance.
"Somebody's a few spheres short of a Garment Grid," I hear Rikku say behind me.
"Typical Ronso," Paine replies.
"Good point...but I was talking about Yunie and Ben," Rikku retorts, the two of them stepping up beside us with weapons drawn.
(Play FF8 theme Force Your Way)
"High Summoner Yuna! High Summoner Ben! Know true Ronso anger!" Garik roars, before charging at us. Quickly, we split up into teams to deal with the enemies. Rikku moves to attack one of the smaller Ronso, as do I, while Yuna and Paine begin to attack Garik. Quickly, I sheathe my sword again, not wanting to wound the small Ronso severely. Apparently, he seems to have no such inhibitions. Running at me, the Ronso opens with a devastating left hook that I'm barely able to block, the force still sliding me back a few inches and leaving my arm throbbing. Ignoring it, I snap a foot up into the Ronso's fur-covered side, which doesn't seem to do very much.
"Armor Break!" Paine yells, her sword flashing up and into Garik's face, barely nicking the Ronso's chest as he jumps away at the last moment. Moving deceptively quickly for a creature his size, Garik smashes an arm into Paine, before Yuna riddles him with bullets in a Trigger Happy attack.
"Stand still, why don't you!" Rikku yells, trying desperately to land a hit with her daggers on the Ronso youth that she's fighting. He seems to be dodging around her attacks, looking for a suitable chance to attack instead of blindly rushing in. After a moment, he seems to find it and charges in, lashing out at Rikku with a right cross that dazes her.
Giving a short cry, I jump back from the straight punch of the youth in front of me, before jabbing out twice with my right hand. The punches connect, but it almost feels like punching a wall to me, what with the thick skin and muscles of the Ronso. Taking a few steps backwards for breathing room to adjust my stance, I step into a mostly defensive stance as the Ronso advances again. Pouncing on me with the speed of a lion, the Ronso lashes out with a fur-covered arm, which I swat aside before striking out with my left arm. A solid strike connects with the Ronso's face, dazing him for a moment, which I use to high kick the Ronso in the chest. A retaliatory strike comes a moment later, the Ronso blasting me in the chest with a fist and sending me off my feet to the ground.
"Take that!" I hear Rikku yell, and look over to see the Ronso stumbling back, blood slowly dripping from several cuts along its arms and chest. Rikku seems to be more agile than the Ronso, and is now going on the offensive again to keep the Ronso off-balance. Meanwhile, Paine and Yuna have their hands full with Garik. Roaring, he opens his mouth and unleashes a torrent of fire, the Fire Breath attack scorching Paine and Yuna and forcing them to move away. Both of them grab potions and gulp them down, as I stand back up and prepare to attack again. Quickly spherechanging into Black Mage, I decide to try my hand with a magical assault.
"Fira!" I cry, the ball of flame smashing into the Ronso youth and forcing him back. Glancing over again, I can see Yuna now spherechanging, aiming her staff at Garik and casting a Thundara spell. The spell makes Garik flinch, but he stands tall, looking at Yuna and unleashing a spray of water. The Aqua Breath washes over Yuna and Paine, causing them to step back and sputter as the water hits them in the face. A cry of pain from the Ronso youth that Rikku is fighting causes me to glance over, and I can see him on the ground, obviously out of the fight. Rikku moves to join Paine and Yuna, as I turn back to the Ronso in front of me.
A moment later, I'm in the air, courtesy of a powerful uppercut from the youth. Landing on my back hard, I roll to my stomach and spit some blood onto the ground, standing up again slowly and painfully. Gritting my teeth, I cast another Fira on the youth, before spherechanging back to Warrior and pulling out my sword. Before he can attack again, I run up and slash downward, the Ronso taking the attack across the forearm in a block that cuts into his skin. Seizing the moment, I press the advantage, slashing quickly and repeatedly at the youth. The strikes begin to take their toll on the Ronso, though I'm not cutting deep in order to avoid severely wounding the youth. After a minute, the Ronso falls to his knees, admitting defeat.
Spinning to Yuna and the others, I look over to see Rikku and Paine striking fast and furiously at Garik while Yuna showers him with spells. Though Garik is indeed strong, he can't hope to defend against the strikes from all three girls, and falls to one knee.
(End FF8 theme Force Your Way)
"Enough vengeance, Garik," Yuna says, stepping over to the Ronso again. Garik gives what I can only assume is a sigh, and stands once more.
"Ronso keep word. Yuna defeat Garik in battle. Garik honor Yuna's wish. Not go to battle." With a wave of his hand, the Ronso youths walk away, leaving us alone with Garik on the summit.
"Thank you," Yuna says, looking up at the Ronso.
"Garik not need thanks," he replies, looking down. "Garik underestimate Yuna. Garik now understand he is weak in battle. Garik wait. Destroy Guado after he become better warrior."
Leaning over to Rikku, I roll my eyes. "I guess it's better than nothing," I whisper.
"Guess so," she whispers back, as Yuna steps back over to us.
"Come on, let's go let Kimahri know," she says, and we all begin to follow her back to the teleport pad.
Reappearing on the base of the mountain, the first thing I can see is Kimahri, talking with two other Ronso. As we approach, the Ronso walk away, Kimahri turning to us.
"Yuna stop Garik?" he asks, and Yuna nods.
"We beat him in battle. He said he wouldn't go to war yet, but wait until he was a better warrior," Yuna responds.
"At least he quit for the moment," I state, and Kimahri nods.
"Kimahri glad Garik fall. Garik learn discipline. Strength not all that matter to warrior. Warrior also learn control."
"Kimahri's got a point," I say, looking over at Rikku.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" she protests, and I chuckle.
"Just messin' with you," I reply, turning back to Kimahri. "We're glad we could help, Kimahri."
"Let us know if anything happens, okay?" Yuna asks, and Kimahri nods.
"Kimahri will," he states.
"Alright. Should we get back to the Celsius?" I ask.
"Why not," Yuna says. As I start to walk back towards the ship, however, I trip over something and wind up face-down in the snow. Spitting snow and ice out of my mouth, I stand back up to see Rikku giggling, as well as Yuna. Even Paine seems to be trying to hold a laugh back.
"Oops," Rikku says, smiling evilly, and I direct a playful glare in her direction.
"Oh, you're mine now..." I mutter, beginning to chase her. With a playful yelp, she sprints off towards the Celsius, with me not far behind. Yuna and Paine follow behind us, both of them laughing quietly at my misfortune.
I've found that Shuyin is one of my favorite characters to write, simply because he's so antagonistic towards Ben. Which makes it quite fun to write. Kimahri, on the other hand...hard. Up there with Barkeep. Anyhow. We are now around the halfway point of the story, so everything will start moving more smoothly now. As always, please read and review!