Back on the High Seas
"I will play, if you will either request, or sing...I have no qualms with playing music...Calix stated almost with a grin. "Music is soothing and calming, why not listen?" He asked to the sailors who were now working, but keeping up an ear to hear the bliss of the notes.
…
Tallulah watched Silver sitting alone on his blitzball. He looked... worried about something and she could tell it wasn't Lady Yuna. He had something else in his mind. She glanced at Serenity who was standing with her brother and almost let out a growl. The two of them had been awfully late, maybe... maybe he had told her something and she had rejected him. But then why did she look so relaxed? No, Silver hadn't proposed to her or anything. Just... he looked so lonely. But that was good, wasn't it? A good chance to go and comfort him. No. It was better if she took him back to that special place where they said goodbye, then it would be like if nothing had happened and they would be together again. She'd just have to keep that girl Serenity away until then.
…
(There was trouble...) Lhinx thought as she watched Silver pass her and go to the back of the boat. (He stinks of blood and demon energy. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck rise. Awe well, I guess if he won't say anything, I sure won't. But this is definitely a good reason to go investigate the temple.) The Ronso looked out at the ocean. The gull's caws and the sound of the tide gently pummeling the side of the boat was a good distraction. (Elder...why do you trust me?) Lhinx wondered. (I can almost feel your spirit when you took this same trip from Besaid to Kilika and how worried you were about Lady Yuna...But, is this a premonition of things to come?)
…
Silver shook his head a little and stood up, looking at the island fading away on the horizon. "A pretty day for sailing," he said in a low voice and stood there, smiling for no reason.
…
"One more," Zephyr said thoughtfully. "I think more people will know this one. . ." She hadn't written this one either, but she sang it with a voice that indicated that she felt every word of the lyrics as if they had emerged directly from her own heart. It was fast-paced, and suited her low range well.
"I let the beast in too soon,
I don't know how to live without
My hand on its throat,
I fight him always, and still,
Oh, darling, it's so sweet,
You think you know how crazy,
How crazy I am . . .
You say you don't spook easy,
You won't go, but I know
And I pray that you will . . .
Fast as you can, baby, run,
Free yourself of me,
Fast as you can. . . I may be soft in your palm
But I'll soon grow hungry for a fight
And I will not let you win,
My pretty mouth will frame
The phrases that will disprove
Your faith in man. . .
So if you catch me trying to
Find my way into your heart
From under your skin. . . Fast as you can, baby,
Scratch me out, free yourself,
Fast as you can,
Fast as you can, baby,
Scratch me out, free yourself,
Fast as you can. . ."
Suddenly, the song she sang became more placid and calm.
"Sometimes my mind don't shake and shift,
But most of the time, it does. . .
And I get to the place where I'm begging for a lift,
Or I'll drown in the wonders and the was. . .
And I'll be your girl, if you say it's a gift,
And you give me some more of your drugs;
Yeah, I'll be your pet, if you just tell me it's a gift,
Cuz I'm tired of whys, choking on whys,
Just need a little because, because. . ."
It wasn't long before the tune picked up again. Zephyr had labeled that verse the "dreaming" section of the song.
"I let the beast in and then
I even tried forgiving him,
But it's too soon, so I'll fight again,
Again, again, again, again.
And for a little while more,
I'll soar the uneven wind,
Complain and blame the sterile land,
But if you're getting any bright ideas,
Quiet, dear, I'm blooming within. . .
Fast as you can, baby,
Wait, watch me, I'll be out,
Fast as I can, maybe late,
But at least about
Fast as you can, leave me,
Let this thing run it's route,
Fast as you can. . ."
…
Lhinx found herself standing near the front of the boat, back straight and her arms crossed across her chest. A contemplative stance, but it was one she had seen Elder Kimahri do many a time, hoping to copy it almost exactly. The wind felt good, nice and cool with the occasional tiny drop of water hitting her face. Lhinx had always liked water. She had been desperate to learn how to swim when she was younger, begging the captain of the Ronso Fangs to teach her.
And so he had, much to the near dissatisfaction of her father, Garik. Her father learned to appreciate her knowledge when she was able to defeat water fiends and hold her breath for quite a considerable amount of time, something a lot of Ronso Lhinx's age couldn't do then. Lhinx, then a Ronso pup, had temporarily dreamed of a career as one of the Ronso Fangs, but soon found her training from Garik was taking up a lot of her interest.
(I had dedicated a lot of my time to learning how to fight and protect the weaker Ronso. Father interested me in a career in the military. But I want to be a bodyguard, like Elder Kimahri was. There might not be much need for them right now with Summoner's pilgrimages being gone, but I can still offer my services to merchants going on the Mt. Gagazet trail and to many other places. Of course, I have to prove to myself that I can manage myself. And I'll do so on this journey.)
The Ronso got out of her stream of thought with Lucine tapping her on the upper arm. The Ronso turned to face the Al Bhed.
"Don't look so serious. You're beginning to scare me." Lucine said with a bright smile. Lhinx smiled and nodded, uncrossing her arms. The boat then shifted violently to the right, almost tipping over the entire boat, yet still shocking everyone and knocking some off their feet. "There's a fiend on the port side!" One of the sailors cried, pointing to the left side of the boat.
"It's big!" Lhinx rush to the left, looking into the semi-blue/black ocean for something unusual. (What could it be...) The Ronso wondered, pulling out her poleaxe. The water on the port side of the boat then exploded into a large cloud of white, followed by a rather large sea serpent like creature, which rose up 40 feet over the boat.
The creature looked at the boat, opening its large mouth and exposing long fang like teeth, which guarded row upon row of flat, comb like teeth. It let out a long roar like hiss, which forced the Ronso to cover her ears in pain. The hiss faded out, heralding many Sahagin like creatures to jump on board the ship.
(Well, this is gonna be a pleasant day.) The Ronso thought as she whacked one of the approaching Sahagin in the gut with her staff and into a Sahagin behind it.
…
Serenity closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the wind blowing at her hair. She turned around, leaning her back on the edge now, listening to Zephyr's beautiful singing and trying to feel the emotions expressed in the words and in the tone of the woman's voice. It was then that the boat shifted violently to the right, on the side that they were on.
Her breath got caught in her throat as it tipped almost completely over. It felt like she was floating, they way they were suspended not far from the water's surface. Serenity hit the floor hard when it finally balanced itself out, and she coughed coarsely, for that fall did not help her regain air in her lungs. "There's a fiend on the port side!" Serenity heard a sailor cry. "It's big!"
Serenity narrowed her eyes from the pain she still felt, and slowly made her way towards the port side. The water on that side exploded into a cloud that covered a large amount of space, and she sheltered herself from the water spray. A long, roaring hiss then filled the sound waves, and Serenity squatted down on the boat's wet floor, grabbing onto her ears as if she was going deaf.
When it finally faded away, Serenity opened her eyes to find the boat was overrun with fish-like creatures called Sahagins. She looked around in bewilderment and held out her guns in front of her, her arms crossed at the wrists, wondering which to attack first while backing away from them though everywhere she turned there were more.
…
Silver collapsed on the floor, his ears just being to sensitive as the horrible noise could be heard. It was a terrible pain for him, but when it finally ceased he stood up, a little dizzy though but ready to fight those creatures that jumped on the boat. "Damn you!" He drew his gunblade and sliced the first one that stood a few inches away from him. All of sudden, one of the creatures hit him from behind and made him collapse again. The fiend had opened a wound on Silver's back. He suppressed a scream of pain as he rolled and punched it with his strong fists, then jumping on his fit and grabbing his weapon once again.
…
Two children and a middle-aged woman shivered in terror as many of the amphibious attackers came at them. Lhinx jumped in and took on a defensive position in front of the family. "Go." The Ronso said briefly. The woman nodded and hurried herself and the children away as the Ronso looked to make sure the humans got to safety. But with their potential meal gone, the Sahagin decided to force the Ronso to replace it.
(I've allowed them to corner me...I can take these weak things on, but there are so many. All I can do now is fight and hope for the best.) Lhinx let out a brief, angry roar as she thrashed at the Sahagins coming at her in what seemed like endless supply. Her right arm, which held her weapon, could barely move because of the weight of Sahagins coming at her, making the poleaxe useless until she could get some room. She thrashed both her arms away, knocking back a few of the amphibious creatures. Lhinx put her axe away and decided an even more direct approach may be required.
The Ronso flexed her large hands and the one inch long, large black needle like claws that had once been nothing more then just a part of her hand lengthened and became like 4 inch daggers, slashing at anything that would come near. Her pupils thinned into angry, raging lines, making the Ronso much resemble some dangerous fiend rather then a creature that was capable of thought and speech, even though the latter was rather poor.
She continued lashing out at the slimy creatures, feeling an odd animal like rage beginning to take over. The feeling, as Kimahri and many another Ronso had told her, was the ancient blessing of the Ronso tribe, a moment of true unity with their animal side that strengthened the Ronso in battle. This was Ronso Rage. The Ronso youth felt her strength renewed, if not increased as she managed to send back many more of the creatures with one well timed swing of her forearm to the first row of the attackers.
The Ronso youth had a brief amount of personal space for the moment, giving her time to again pull out her weapon and slash the bellies of the few Sahagin who managed to get up from their previous stupor. (This is useless...There's too many of these things. If we could just figure out a way to stop them...but how? What could be the reason for this sudden attack...Duh...)
The Ronso looked up at the towering serpent fiend, which seemed to be watching the entire show. (We have to stop that thing...but my only attack that can reach it would be my Jump attack...) "Kill the serpent!" The Ronso yelled to Serenity. "Long range attack!" (We have plenty of available long-range attackers. I just hope they can manage to kill that thing. I'll get to it as soon as I can get through.)
…
Silver heard Lhinx's advice and reached for his blitzball, lifting it with his feet as he usually did and kicking it real hard. The ball flew and crashed against the serpent's head. Of course it wasn't enough to take it down, but at least to make it dizzy. The black blitzball returned to him and he caught it, letting it fall. A second later he unclipped something from his gunblade... and a huge, silver revolver came out of the blade, which fell and crashed against the floor.
He was about to shoot when another creature attacked him, the revolver falling down as well as him. It was a real luck the gun hadn't shoot by itself for accident. Again Silver managed to take the creature off and got to his revolver, taking aim and shooting. The heavy bullet hit the serpent just under its head and a small explosion could be seen. Expansive bullets, powerful one... ... but only five left...
"Serenity! Aim to the eyes! It won't fight without it's eyes!" he looked around and saw one creature about to hit Tallulah from behind. Without even taking careful aim he shot and hit the Sahagin. The blade from his gunblade rolled next to him.
…The Ronso heard the thud of a sharp attack and looked up at the serpent. (Good, we're on the right track now.) Lhinx thought as she witnessed yet another attack, this time even more painful looking to the serpent. The Ronso felt a slash at her arm and without thought grabbed the offender and threw it into the ocean. The Sahagin weren't coming in such large numbers now. (Now I know it's that creature that's doing this. We should be able to manage these numbers easily if that serpent takes some more punishment.)
…
As soon as Zephyr heard the cry of the sailor, she leapt to her feet and scrambled up the stairs to the highest point she could reach, the second deck of the ship. "Aren't you a handsome little bastard," she muttered to the serpent, which reminded her of the gucumatz that slithered around Guadosalam. With this thought in mind, she loaded her gun's mixing chamber with a flash grenade and a lightning gem.
Logically, when you're surrounded by water, a good shock's gotta hurt like hell. Taking careful aim through the cobalt sight, the halfling let loose three shots of electrically charged shrapnel. They ripped through the beast's flesh and left gaping wounds. Zephyr couldn't help but smirk at the thought of the serpent's pain as the salt water splashed against its torn skin.
Zephyr loaded up again, this time with two flash grenades. She attempted to steady her hand, a difficult task on a ship that moved with the waves, and then released a round of blinding bullets towards the serpent's head. "Come on. . ." she muttered as she peered intently through the cobalt sight, hoping that one of her shots would hit the creature's eyes. "Come on. . . yes!"
Zephyr cried suddenly, jumping to her feet as the fiend's eyes clouded over from her status attack. She knew that one of the bullets had hit home, tearing through cornea and lens of the monster, so that vitreous humor poured down its reptilian face like tears. "Attack like hell, guys, there's no way it'll hit you now! Not for a little while, anyway," she added, mostly to herself. She turned her own attention to the small swarm of Sahagins that had made their way to the upper deck. "Hello there, lovelies," she said sweetly, pulling out a couple of lightning gems. "Today's your lucky day. . ."