Chapter 5 – Someone Save Poor O'aka
The night didn't provide Yuna with the solace she sought. Often she would retire early because the night brought out all the pessimistic feelings she held around her adventures. The excursions around Spira hunting for spheres gave her a purpose she enjoyed. Gaining a new friend in Paine injected so much joy into her heart. The night stole much of that joy away. Left to her own devices, Yuna doubted any of her sphere hunting would bring Tidus back to life. In the end, he was a dream from a dream world. The Zanarkand he hailed from didn't exist. Like tonight, when the light of the moon above hid behind a shroud of cloud cover, her heart felt most vulnerable. Although she tried to push the doubt away, she couldn't overcome the idea that Tidus never truly loved her—not in the way she loved him.
Yuna eventually returned to the Celsius to bury her head in her pillow. She loathed these desolate emotions that kept swelling up inside her. While her new journey began with hope and optimism, recently the doubt plagued her more and more often. She lulled off to sleep. Her friends returned shortly thereafter to the ship, well past Rikku's bedtime as Paine remarked. They were pleasantly surprised to find Yuna sleeping quietly in her bed.
"Even while she's sleeping, she looks so innocent," whispered Paine to Rikku.
Rikku muffled up her giggle and waved goodnight to Paine. It had been a long day for the three. Rikku thought Yuna just needed a little time for herself.
Somber sunlight peered through the windows of the Celsius the next morning. Unlike the previous day's warm sun, an overcast sky greeted Yuna. Lines of grey clouds ran across the sky, dimming the light on the ground. Yuna fell back onto her bed, sprawled out over her covers, feeling today was a good day to sleep in.
A sudden burst of sirens rocked the Gullwings out of bed. Nobody shared Yuna's sentiment with Brother that it was a good day to sleep in, as he sounded the ship's alarm.
"What's going on?" mumbled a half-conscious Rikku. "Is there some kind of four-alarm fire?"
Not happy by being startled out of a nice dream, Paine yelled out from her bed, "I'm gonna kill someone if that thing isn't shut off!"
Yuna rubbed her eyes while stumbling over to the intercom sphere. "Brother! What's going on?"
The alarm finally ceased, much to her relief. After a buzz and a crackle, Brother's voice roared across the intercom.
"Rise and shine girls, we have an important job to do!" he declared boldly.
"What kind of job could possibly require that alarm to wake us up?" Paine yelled furiously.
"Oui yna cilr yh eteud, Brother!" seconded Rikku, taking a swipe at the intercom.
"Just hurry, I'll explain it on the bridge. It's urgent!" he demanded.
The girls looked at each other with equal confusion. They changed clothes and rushed up to the bridge. Slumped over disheveled on the bridge, Buddy yawned while rubbing his eyes. He rested his head against the console he sat at.
"Alright Brother, what's this urgent job?" Rikku grumbled.
"Well, it seems your friend O'aka the indebted salesman jumped ship last night while you were away," he finally explained.
"O'aka jumped ship?" asked Yuna in disbelief. "Why did he do that?"
Brother shrugged. "How should I know? The guy is kinda fruity, to begin with. Anyway, I figured he went back to his shop, so . . ."
"So what?" Paine asked with rage in her eyes.
"So I used that CommSphere doodad Shinra created and took a peek at his shop in Macalania. It's being attacked by fiends, and he doesn't look like he can handle 'em," explained Brother, taking an uneasy step back from Paine.
"That's terrible! We should help him!" exclaimed Yuna.
"Right! Who else is gonna sell us stuff dirt cheap?" asked Rikku.
"I thought he was just a swindler," glumly remarked Paine.
Brother threw his arm into the air and began to do one of his spastic dances around the bridge. "That's it—Gullwings to the rescue!"
"Here we go again." Paine rolled her eyes.
Buddy set in a course for Macalania and floored the Celsius. Yuna and Rikku were ready to help poor O'aka. On the other hand, Paine wasn't so enthusiastic. Yuna guessed it was perhaps because she didn't know how much O'aka helped her in the past during her pilgrimage. He even went to prison because of her.
The Celsius quickly approached the snowy tundra outside Macalania Woods. Looking out at the swirling flurry outside, Yuna wished she had a big fur coat to wear, maybe something made from Chocobo feathers. At the moment, hundreds of Chocobos all over Spira sneezed.
Buddy prepared to land the Celsius near O'aka's store. "Better get ready to deploy, we're here."
"Gotcha! Let's go bag us some fiends!" yelled a ready-to-go Rikku.
The Gullwings went into full swing and approached the entrance to O'aka's store. Light snow covered the ground, leaving a cluster of different-sized tracks all around the area. Fiends surrounded the building, scratching at the walls and roof of the store.
"Ah, this ought to be easy," declared Rikku, crouching into an attack stance.
"I'd say it'll be a walk in the park, but there's no grass here," commented Paine sarcastically.
Wielding two Al Bhed grenades, Rikku leaped into action first. Pulling the pins out with her bare teeth, she lobbed them at a jelly-like fiend. The two grenades exploded, shooting sticky jelly all over the place.
"Yeah, got one!" cried Rikku in victory.
Not to be outdone, Paine charged up a ball of energy in her gigantic samurai-like sword. Two beams shot out from her like fireworks, plastering two flying bat-winged eyeballs into oblivion.
Yuna, calmly and quietly, ripped the living pyreflies out of three wolf creatures with her pair of pistols. The thunderous barrage sent attracted the attention of the remaining fiends. Rikku and Paine looked at her in awe.
"Didn't think a little girl like me could pack so much heat?" boasted Yuna, winking at her friends.
Her partners smirked and went back to clobbering the fiends still in the vicinity. In short order, the hoard of fiends had been dispatched. A handful of pyreflies spiraled up into the sky, vanishing from sight. Noticing the fiends were slain, O'aka slowly poked his head out of the door.
"Is it safe to come out?" he asked, peering around cautiously.
"Yes O'aka, it's okay now," replied Yuna warmly.
O'aka sighed in relief. "Thank you very much Gullwings! I don't how I can repay you."
"It's nothing—" began Yuna.
Cutting in front of her, Rikku interrupted. "Got any cool stuff we can buy?"
"Uh, well of course I do m'lady. O'aka is always open for business. A couple of measly fiends can't keep me from making a sale!"
O'aka led the Gullwings inside his store when the ground rumbled violently below them. They quickly turned around to see a gigantic fiend approaching from the distance.
"That sucker is huge!" bellowed Rikku.
"Oh great, just what we need," growled Paine, sizing up the colossal size of the fiend.
Towering above them, the fiend's three heads roared profusely, each appearing to bear a different elemental type. Its feet and hands were red, and its tail took the form of a hissing snake. Suddenly a dual burst of fire and ice flew at the girls and O'aka. High-tailing it to safety, O'aka once again ran inside his shop.
"Alright girls," commanded Yuna. "It's time to coordinate!"
Rikku pulled a quartet of big gems out of her pockets. She chucked them at the beast. Blasts of red, blue, white, and yellow bombarded the fiend. Shaking off the energy blasts, the fiend snarled and charged toward them.
"Oh man, that wasn't part of the plan," shuttered Rikku, giving a nervous chuckle afterward.
"Let's try this again!" yelled Paine as she charged the beast.
Large swirls of black engulfed Paine's sword and the fiend as she charged for her attack. It took a lunging swipe at Paine, but she swiftly dodged it, not stopping her advance. The burning gaze in her eyes hit its peak when she ran into striking range.
"Zantetsu—die!" yelled Paine demoniacally at the fiend.
Driving her sword down deftly against the fiend, it clanged against its hide. Much to her surprise, the fiend wasn't eliminated by her strike. It countered with a blast of electricity, shooting white-hot lightning at her, singeing her hair.
"Wait a sec!" called out Yuna. "I have an idea. Distract it for a minute!"
"Oh sure, Yuna. Maybe Rikku can make faces at it," replied Paine, wisps of static still shooting from her hair.
Rikku winked at Paine. "I can always cause distractions!"
Paine gasped at the sinister smile on Rikku's face. In a sudden, insane burst of thinking unimaginable to a normal person, Rikku started running circles around the fiend. All the while, she hollered insults in Al Bhed while making idiotic faces at it.
"Rikku!" Paine cried. "For all the goodness in Spira, stop doing that!"
Tracking Rikku's circle around it, the fiend shifted its focus onto her. Its eyes narrowed, the creature intelligent enough to know when it was being taunted. In fits of rage, it threw all repeated magical attacks at Rikku, all of which she ducked and dodged. Blasts of fire and ice crashed around Rikku, kicking up snow into the air. She twirled like a ballerina, leaped like a stag, and stuck out her tongue continually.
"Got it!" Yuna yelled, placing a blue-colored bullet into a funky-looking gun. "Stand back, Rikku!"
With a howling blast, the bullet shot from Yuna's gun pelted the fiend straight in one of the heads, dropping the fiend in one clean shot. Letting out a final, curdling whimper, it plopped down dead, quaking the ground with its collapse.
"Duck soup!" cheered Yuna delightfully.
"Duck what?" questioned Paine, glaring at Yuna.
"Aw, I was having fun playing with the fiend, " pouted Rikku.
"What?" shouted Paine. "That thing could have killed you!"
Rikku didn't reply, only giving Paine a mischievous wink. Then, a crackle sounded behind them. Once again, it was O'aka poking his head out of the door. This time, he made extra sure it was all clear.
"I certainly hope that is all of those wretched fiends. That'll show 'em," he said, bolstering his voice to save face for cowering away.
"Right. . ." Paine sighed, rolling her eyes.
A buzzing sound came from Yuna's CommSphere.
"Yuna, have you guys finished up?" came the sound of Brother's voice.
Yuna smiled. "Yep, we just liberated O'aka's store."
"Once again, thank you. You're a real lifesaver," thanked O'aka vigorously. "Please come by any time to buy your supplies. I'll give you all a really terrific discount."
Paine shook her head. "I still say he's a swindler."
Yuna and Rikku laughed. "Goodbye O'aka!"
The Gullwings returned to the Celsius, ready to leave Macalania's frigid weather and get warm. Barkeep, thoughtful as always, had three cups of hot cocoa ready for them. Once again, the Gullwings completed a successful mission.