Chapter 2
--- Sergeant Beclem AKA The Drill Machina arrives at Besaid
The Youth League has just sent Drill Sergeant Beclem to Besaid, to put the Besaid to put the Besaid Aurochs into the proper shape to be Youth League warriors. On their current visit to Besaid, Yuna, Rikku and Paine meet the Aurochs panting and sweating while Sergeant Beclem bellows at them and calls them slackers.
"I am Beclem. I've been dispatched to Besaid by Youth League headquarters. I'm here to pound some fight into these pathetic slackers" he says to the 3 girls
"He's a hundred times stricter than Wakka" says Jassu
"You must be awfully confident in your strength if you're skipping training just to flap your lips like that. So, I guess you won't mind showing me what you're all really made of, then." says Beclem to Jassu
The Aurochs mumble to each other. The new Youth League Sergeant is just a pain in the neck! Seeing them still slacking off, Beclem challenges them:
"Is no one among you man enough to break my record? You're pathetic" he says
"Okay, he's creeping me out" Rikku whispers to the other girls
"Seriously!" Yuna whispers back
Datto says goodbye to Yuna and proceeds to doing his traditional bow to his High Summoner friend
"Stop that at once!" shouts Beclem furiously. He would not let his men worship the leeches that had been lying and robbing Spira all those years!
"The age of temples and prayers is over. It's about time you let go of those musty old traditions. There's no need to bow down to summoners either. Yes, summoners are a thing of the past." says Beclem hotly
----Gunners Gauntlet Challenge
Ever loyal and protective of her friends, Rikku walks over to Beclem and asks
"Hold it right there! Whose Calm do you think this is, buster?" says Rikku
"There are no more aeons to summon. Summoners are worthless now" answers Beclem
"You will take those words back!" says Yuna icily
"I will. If you succeed in proving your worth to me. Well, what do you say?" asks Beclem
"You're on, Beclem" say Yuna, Rikku and Paine in unison
"The way you twaddled on before, you had best break my record!" challenges Beclem, feeling sure the summoner and her pets would quit after their first try
Like many fooled by Yuna's small frame and gentle demeanor, Beclem soon gets his words handed back to him on a platter: Yuna and the team beat his score handily with more than 1,000 points each to his 510 record. Not being one to admit defeat, and thinking they cheated somehow Beclem remains defiant:
"Take that!" crows Rikku
"Hm. Skill you may have, but I find it hard to believe you defeated Sin! You obviously had some help" says a defiant Beclem
"I did have help from my friends. My pilgrimage was successful because my friends and the aeons supported me along the way. And they still do. Memories of the time we spent together make me strong. I won't stand here and let you call that strength useless." Says Yuna passionately
"Must your kind always prattle on about your precious memories?" says Beclem scornful
"Can I hurt him Yuna ?" asks Rikku, mad as hell
"No, Rikku, please, enough of this silly fighting! He is just trying to get under your skin. Just ignore him " pleads Yuna.
"Oh, poopie!" Rikku complains
"C'mon, let us see how Lulu and Wakka are doing. Leave this idiot behind." says Paine
"Cowards and slackers, just as I figured" murmurs Beclem
"WHAT !" yells Rikku outraged, but then gets dragged away from him by Yuna and Paine.
--- A Summoner's Pet ? You have some nerve!
By nighttime Rikku is enjoying Wakka's antics as worried father to be and trying to calm him down when Beclem shows up, as annoying as always.
"Too bad your master took you away today. I would have enjoyed teaching you how a warrior fights! Of course, being a Summoner's pet you may be incapable of learning" an arrogant Beclem says to Rikku
"A Summoner's Pet ? You have some nerve!", fumes Rikku
"Aw, the summoner's lapdog is growling, how cute! Time for Yuna to pull the leash." teased Beclem
"You, me, behind the temple. Time to teach you some respect!" fumes Rikku
"I'd like to see you try" challenges Beclem
"NOW!" yells Rikku and starts heading towards the temple fuming.
Beclem followed her thinking smugly to himself, "We shall see who teaches whom.." Surely he can take the summoner's pet in battle, he mused
---Battle of wits, battle of warriors or what ?
Alone behind the temple Beclem and Rikku eye each other wearily by the moonlight. Rikku asks Beclem if he wants her to take of her Garment Grid to make this a more even fight.
"Use whatever hocus-pocus you want, it won't change the outcome", he boasts.
"You asked for it" says Rikku pulling her Dark Knight dressphere, one of her strongest magical suits. "If he wants a lesson he will have one" she grumbles
"What ? " asks Beclem and does a double take. Rikku's clothes have magically changed from her skimpy shorts and shirt to a skin tight black leather suit. Oddly enough in spite of it covering her entire body, the suit made Beclem feel his pulse race faster
"If you are trying to get me distracted it doesn't work" Beclem said. Ha! The girl had a thing coming if she thought that he would be disarmed by THAT old trick. He was a skilled warrior not a lustful kid!
"Shut up and fight" Rikku yells
"As you wish" answers Beclem and throws a Darkness grenade at Rikku.
"Pffft! I said fight, not tickle me." Rikku teases as her Dark proof dressphere easily nullifies the attack. She steps closer and thrusts her sword at his side.
"You are the one who should stop tickling me" Beclem answers as he skillfully avoids the attack and throws an L-Bomb at her
"Hah! You think this puny thing will even scratch my armor ?" laughs Rikku and strikes Beclem on the leg with the flat side of her sword, trying to avoid cutting him with it's sharp edges. She wanted him to know how seriously outmatched he was, not hurt him!
Beclem twists around and grabs at her sword fearlessly. Managing not to get cut he pulls it down trying to get her off balance. Rikku thrusts herself in the same direction, using his impulse against him, dropping him to the ground and tries to pin him down. Beclem feels Rikku's lithe athletic body on top of him. All of a sudden his concentration falters and Beclem almost lets himself get pinned down, his body ignoring the battle and reacting to the presence of the beautiful woman instead. What a tricky little minx!
Beclem curses softly and tries to roll away from under her. Again Rikku rolls in the same direction, causing Beclem to end on top of her. Beclem looks at Rikku's golden hair, floating wildly about her face, shining in the moonlight. Out of impulse he pulls Rikku closer and kisses her roughly. Now who is distracting who ? Beclem thought to himself, grinning fiercely
To Beclem's surprise his "distraction" works too well: Rikku seems to melt under his kisses, she forgets the battle and kisses him back hungrily. Before he can get a hold of himself Beclem starts caressing her back her neck, her hair… Only to get even more passionate caresses from Rikku... Like a fiery snowball going downhill they loose themselves to the heat of the moment and make passionate love by the moonlight.
After their "battle" both warriors stand silently looking at the moon, listening to each other's breathing, until Rikku is unable to keep her silence any longer.
"Woah! What happened here just now ?" she muses out loud
"Hmm.. I suppose it is my fault. I tried to distract you as you did to me with your leather suit… " said Beclem apologetic. He had not intended to cheat and end the fight, he just wanted her to get a taste of her own medicine.. A tasty medicine he wouldn't mind savoring again, he thought to himself
"Huh ? Oh, that is just my magical armor. Didn't I ask you if you wanted me to take it off to make it a fair fight ? You said I should use it!" said Rikku
"Yeah, but you didn't mention how good you would look in it.." Beclem said smiling
"Ahhh, So you thought I was trying to use my womanly charms, did you ? That wasn't it. THIS is it!" Rikku said pulling him closer and trying to kiss him
"Two can play this game you know ?" Beclem says as he starts kissing her hungrily, eager for another chance at making love to the tempting warrior goddess he had in front of him
Things get out of control again until they lay exhausted on the ground, satiated. With the little self control she has left Rikku looks around for her clothes but Beclem puts his hand over hers:
"Truce, warrior goddess, truce!" he pleads in a hoarse whisper, exhausted
"Heh ? I was just getting dressed.. What do you think I'm made of ? Pure energy ? All I can do now is sleep" Rikku said equally exhausted, nestling herself in his shoulder and sighing languidly. "Hmmm.. You smell good!" she said and closed her eyes sniffing his neck contently
----The morning after
Awakened by the sun, Rikku finds herself alone behind the temple. Quickly she runs to a pond's edge, eager to fix her wild hair and erase all telltale signs of her moonlight adventure. Refreshed she walks over to Lulu's hut and meets Paine.
"Where's Yunie ?" Rikku asks
"Walking around with Lulu, listening to a sermon as usual. Where WERE you last night ?" asks Paine.
Blushing furiously, Rikku tells her friend about the "fight" with Beclem and the aftermath.
"Well, he may be a pain, but he IS hot" Paine says
"You have no idea..." Rikku sighs wistfully
Yuna and Lulu come in and get filled in the juicy details of Rikku's late night adventure, amid laughing and teasing from Paine who starts calling Rikku "Mrs. B". After a lot of good humored jibes at Rikku the four girls go out of the hut to look for Wakka and the Aurochs.
They find Wakka and Beclem by the seashore, disagreeing about something, as usual, while the Aurochs train some water combat techniques. Upon seeing Rikku Beclem turns a deep shade of red and excuses himself, attempting to leave the beach. He barely looks up from the ground, almost bumping into the boat captain who was just coming into the beach. Rikku runs after him
"Where do you think you are going, Mister ?" she asks him
"To the League lodge find some…." Beclem mumbles unintelligibly looking down
"Aren't you forgetting something ?" Rikku asks
"I can't think of anything !" he said angrily and sped past her, trying to get away from her effect over his senses
"Hey wait for mee!" Rikku pleaded and reached out to touch him.
"Why ? Why are you here ?" Beclem asked, jumping at her touch, but finally looking at her with a little hint of the hunger she saw last night
"What do you mean ? What's wrong with you ?" Rikku asked confused. This was not the ardent lover she saw last night
"Why must you be so subservient to your precious summoner ? Why ?" asked Beclem with a quiet fury
"Who is subservient ? Yuna is my friend, we have been through hell and back together" answered Rikku starting to get angry at his rudeness
"No, you have not been through hell. Hell is where I've been in the past 2 years and I have never seen your giggling, self important, useless summoner there!" Beclem blurts out with a dark angry hate
--- Beclem's personal Hell
Seeing his face flush with a deep anger Rikku asked puzzled:
"What are you talking about ? What is this about me and Yunie ? Why do you hate us ?"
"It is about what you two did at Operation Mi'hen" he says angrily
"Huh ? I was nowhere near Operation Mi'hen !" Rikku says baffled
"Yuna was there! Where were you at the time ? Weren't you with her ?" Beclem asks surprised. That changes things, he thought. He had been cursing himself for his weakness, for his actions last night's that betrayed the memory of his dead comrades, but if Rikku wasn't involved there was no betrayal
"No I wasn't, I was diving around Bikanel Island. I only joined Yunie's pilgrimage later. Why ? What happened at the operation ?" Rikku asks, interrupting Beclem's thoughts
"My entire squadron got decimated and your precious Yuna didn't lift a finger to help, that's what happened" Beclem said bitterly
"That doesn't sound like the Yunie I know… Just the opposite, she usually jumps right in to help anyone in need" Rikku answered
"I was there. I saw it with my own eyes. She didn't help and she didn't even mourn the dead afterwards. She was looking at the corpses that littered the beach and laughing like a schoolgirl at a ball" Beclem said snarling, his fury at the memory of that giggling face at Mi'hen filling him with a dark, deep hate.
"You must be mistaken. Yuna would never do something like that" Rikku said puzzled
"I knew you would defend her. Everyone here adores their precious summoner Yuna, the martyr saint…" said Beclem with bitter sarcasm. Why did everyone in Spira had to worship those useless leeches ?
"Stop it! Don't you dare insult Yuna! Not in my presence !" Rikku says and shaked her fists angrily at him
An angry Beclem grabbed her fists and tried to immobilize Rikku but the lithe guardian managed to twist around and almost got him on an arm lock. She is faster than a fire drake he thought - and hotter - his body reminded him, her bare soft skin pressing against his, torturing him with lust. The heat in Beclem's eyes made Rikku's knees turn into Jell-O and she started to kiss him passionately. What a little minx! thought Beclem. He was going to go crazy with her hungry kisses, he thought as he fiddled with her shirt's buttons clumsily. There! Beclem thought satisfied and started to caress her naked breasts, her face, her shoulders…
"Hohum!" Coughed Lulu loudly coming up the path, making Beclem and Rikku jump away from each other, their faces red as a fire flan, Rikku turning her back to Lulu hurriedly
"Time to cook lunch for the girls and Wakka!" Lulu said loudly, looking at the sky, passing by them pretending she didn't see them.
"Owee! They will tease me until the dogs come home!" Rikku moaned to herself as Beclem speeded up towards the beach to resume the Aurochs training.
Beclem was running up the hills to the beach as fast as he could, trying to dissipate all the heat of their encounter with his efforts. It wouldn't do to meet the Aurochs looking flustered like that!
---The Fayth Sings to Yuna
Lunch at Lulu's was delicious, much better than the usual barkeep's fare they had at the spaceship. Yuna and the girls told Wakka and Lulu their plan to sneak up on Leblanc's chateau as soon as they pilfered some syndicate uniforms. The nerve of that thief to swipe a sphere from the Celsius! Motherhood suited Lulu well: Smiling and jovial Lulu was a far cry from the short fused sermon granting guardian she had been in Yuna's pilgrimage. Wakka was his usual self: a warm hearted bear hugging befuddled loyal friend, obsessing about his latest challenge - imminent fatherhood - and moving cheerfully around.
Yuna closed her eyes and just listened to the excited voices around her. Besaid would always be her home. This is where she settled in after her father died fighting Sin when she was merely 7, this was the place he had chosen for her to grow up. Ever since Kimahri brought her to Besaid all those years ago she had had Lulu and Wakka beside her. Despite being born in Bevelle, and currently being traveling all around Spira on the Celsius, this is where her home was. In Besaid the dull ache that was Tidus absence didn't bother her as much. Unlike the rest of Spira, which they crossed together, here she had many other happy memories that didn't include him. Still, the sight of a blitzball ball always made her heart race, regardless of where she was, and Wakka had his, and the Tournament Trophy he and Tidus conquered hanging on the wall behind her. Tidus and Wakka were so proud of that trophy!
The memories came rushing into Yuna's mind, of Tidus on the boat to Kilika practicing his Jecht shot, of the Luca Goers harassing Tidus and Wakka about the Aurochs endless losing streak, about her getting so mad at the Goers players she wanted to punch them… And there was that lump on her throat back, the longing that came with any memory of her time with Tidus, the urge to yell and laugh madly, like she and Tidus had done on the stairs of Luca and Kilika.
Yuna rushed outside before anyone noticed the tears welling up on her eyes, looking for a place to be alone with her sadness. She definitely didn't want to hear another pep talk from Rikku or another sermon telling her to "let go" from Lulu and Paine. Yuna wished that Kimahri was here. His calm silent presence always made her losses seem less daunting. He had been with her as her guardian ever since her father's death, but nowadays he was needed at Mt. Galgazet, to guide the Ronso trough their troubles. She walked alone towards the temple hill she had gone so many times before. She could swear she heard the hymn of the faith beckoning her there, as it had done all her life until the faith left 2 years ago taking Tidus with them. Deep in her thoughts, Yuna barely noticed there was someone else sitting on her favorite spot, when she heard Beclem's surprised call:
"Summoner ? What are you doing here without your adoring court ?" asked Beclem with an edge on his voice. He had been alone for lunch, as usual. The people from Besaid stopped inviting him to join them after he had uttered some of his choice insults to summoners and to their precious Lady Yuna
"I'm sorry, I didn't know someone else was here already" Yuna mumbled, fighting back the tears that had been falling since she left Lulu's hut. A mission made harder by Beclem's stinging words. "Why does he have to be so ironic ?" she asked herself, losing the battle and feeling hot tears running down her cheeks.
Beclem was preparing another insulting retort when he saw the glistening tears streaming down Yuna's face. Disarmed by them, he kept his silence and was standing up to leave when he heard Yuna's question.
"What did I do to offend you so, Sergeant ?" Yuna asked
The pity was gone and his fallen comrades showed up once more in his mind. With a cold hate he uttered the least offensive thing he could muster. He was already in too much trouble in Besaid. It wouldn't do to insult their famous summoner to her face. Not now.
"You must ask yourself that question Summoner." Beclem said getting up and leaving.
Alone with her tears Yuna stood, looking at the sun reflected in the blue waters of the calm bay. There was no faith hymn anymore. It made the absence of her beloved Aeons and her friends Kimahri, Auron and Tidus even more obvious. Tidus absence was like an open chest wound by now, the pain spreading and making her body feel numb and cold. She was shivering under the high noon sun. Once more she thought of Kimahri and the memories of her father, her mother, Chappu, Luzu and all her other friends lost to Sin came rushing back.
Oddly enough, this made her feel a little bit better about Tidus. Their last battle and his loss ensured that no one else would lose friends or family to that monster. As her father once said, by defeating Sin they had put an end to sorrow itself. He was right. Her own pain was nothing compared to the grief and sorrow Sin and Yu Yevon submitted Spira on the past 1,000 years. Drying her tears in her skirt she slowly made her way back to Lulu's, bent on getting back to the Celsius and away from her memories as soon as she could.
---Sand in your hair
Rikku was goofing off with Wakka showing him Yuna's / Lenne's dance moves while Paine and Lulu discussed the latest information the Gullwings had gathered on Vegnagun and the Tidus look alike Yuna hoped Paine was not getting Lulu worried, she liked this new confident and serene Lulu so much more than her old gloomy and angry, bitingly ironic Lulu! And that's when it hit her - the reason for Beclem's cold anger - he must have lost someone near and dear to Sin, just as Lulu had lost Chappu, a month after their engagement. Well, she had done her best and lost someone dear to Sin too Yuna thought and with a deep sigh entered the hut.
"What are you girls talking about ?" Yuna asked Lulu
"Paine has been telling me about the latest sphere you found, the one you guys gave to the Youth League." answered Lulu
"Oh that. That weapon has been lost for more than a thousand years" Yuna said, hoping to downplay Vegnagun to Lulu.
"Yeah, I know. Still, it is a bit troubling… " answered Lulu
"Nothing to worry about Mom. The Gullwings are on the job!" Rikku pitched in
"That's what I'm afraid of.." answered Lulu with a smile.
"Hey! Watch it buster, don't go all Beclem on us!" answered Rikku, felling flushed at her own mention of Beclem.
"That grouch has been bothering you girls too ?" asked Wakka
"No, no, no.. Quite the opposite" Lulu answered
"Beclem is being nice to someone ? Now that's a surprise!" Wakka said
"Well, not quite all of us" Yuna added and at that Rikku busted out of the tent in a hurry before the teasing started.
Rikku wasn't sure she wanted to see Beclem one more time before getting back to the ship. He was a rude, arrogant, offensive pain in the neck. But ohhh so hot! She yearned for his touch, his lean muscular body so agile and strong.. He had such an amazing endurance! Amazing but not invincible.. yesterday she had managed to make him beg for mercy Rikku though slyly. But only seconds before she collapsed herself, exhausted after their intense lovemaking. she remembered wistfully. Those ardent kisses of his! She reached the beach, her heart pounding. Beclem was bellowing at the Aurochs, calling them as unfit and slow as shoopufs but went silent as soon as he saw her.
"15 minutes pause before the next drill" he told the Aurochs and headed towards Rikku with a stern face, which softened as he got closer.
"I guess this is goodbye then" he said looking at her with a mix of pain and raw need that made her knees weak
"Is it ? Is this what you want ? To say goodbye to what happened yesterday ?" Rikku asked very softly, her face full of her yearning for him
"No." Beclem finally said after a long pause and looked at her, his eyes burning with need.
"Then why are we saying it ?" she asked her eyes also burning with her yearning for him.
"Never, warrior goddess, never. I could never say goodbye to this" Beclem whispered in her ear. Unable to resist it any longer he pulled Rikku into his arms, kissing her hotly
This time Beclem kept his self control long enough to remember there was a hidden alcove close by. Without letting her go for a second, Beclem jumped in the water and started swimming towards it: a nearby water cave where they could be together shielded from prying eyes. He lay her on the soft sand of the cave floor and started kissing every inch of her hungrily, thoroughly…
An hour later Rikku joined Yuna and Paine on the beach, to wait for the ship, with a dreamy face, while Beclem came out from the sea shaking himself vigorously with a serene but smug look on his face. He ran up the hill to look for his soldiers. They were sure slacking off by now, Beclem thought to himself
"I think you have sand on your hair and back" whispered Paine to an uncharacteristically quiet Rikku when they boarded the ship.
"Oops! Cover for me while I get cleaned up!" Rikku whispered back and bounced away towards their cabin before Brother saw her
"What are you girls laughing at ? Where's my sister ?" Brother asked Yuna and Paine as soon as they reached the bridge
"She went to the little Gullwings room" answered Paine and both she and Yuna started talking nonstop to him, to take his mid of Rikku's whereabouts
---Mish Rikku Ok ?
The visit to Besaid was soon pushed out of their minds as they planned the best place to get syndicate uniforms to sneak into Leblanc's fortress in Guadosalam. Rikku kept on being as peppy and cheerful as usual, but she could occasionally be found in their cabin staring at the window with a dreamy, far away look.
"Love" diagnosed Paine with a droll face
"Yep, definitely love" agreed Yuna laughing and avoiding a flying hairbrush thrown by Rikku
"Your aim sucks" said Paine and yelped as she got hit by Rikku's bracelet
"You big meannies!" Rikku said and looked around for more stuff to throw while Yuna and Paine rushed down the stairs to avoid getting hit
"Mish Rikku Ok ?" asked Barkeep causing Yuna and Paine to howl with laughter while Rikku's beads, comb and jewelry rained from upstairs.
Soon enough they 3 girls were hot on the trail of some uniforms, then rushing to Guadosalam and from there to Bevelle to find Baralai, Nooj and - to their surprise - Gippal. The girls meant to ask the 3 men about Vegnagun but the guys managed to slip away to parts unknown while Yuna, Rikku and Paine battled a huge and vicious Marlboro fiend.