Stree let out a strange, deep growl as he advanced slowly on Auron and Kam. As he walked, he flipped the knife over and over in his hand. Auron smiled, and said something, though it was impossible to make out over the noise of the flames and Stree's laughter. He grabbed his Masamune and jammed it into the ground, then brought his left arm out of his jacket, and turned to face Stree.
The dragon reared back a bit as Tidus shot towards it, then swiped straight out, but Tidus ducked to the side, and slammed straight into the dragon's side. The Mage Hater grunted, then spun around and smacked Tidus through a series of trees. Tidus stood back up, howled, then flew straight up in the air. He howled again, and gathered a ball of what looked like green lightning in his hands. He then reached up above his head, and threw it straight at the dragon. Using speed faster than anything Yuna had ever seen before, Tidus flew straight down at her, grabbed her in his powerful hands, then shot away as the blast hit. But the dragon had also moved, and was flying sideways out of the way, when he felt something grab hold of his tail. He growled, and tried to pull away, but the grip on his tail was too strong, and he crashed straight through the base of a tree. But he didn't stop there, Tidus continued to swing around and around, punching him through several more trees, until the force became too much and the dragon's tail was ripped completely from the rest of his body! The Mage Hater continued his flight through more trees, then crashed into a crystal rock. Tidus didn't let up the attack though, and flew straight into the dragon, pushing him through that as well. The dragon lay prone on the ground, and Tidus walked over to it, and unsheathed his black diamond claws, ready to deliver the final blow.
He reached his arm back, and was just swinging it when the dragon reached out with one hand, yelling "Stop!" Tidus halted, if only from confusion. Word had it that Fiends were bloodthirsty creatures that lived only for the kill.
"That is enough," said the dragon in a calm voice. It pushed it self up off the ground and stood in front of Tidus, and Yuna, who had come over to see what had happened. "You are good enough. Not good enough to beat me, but then, nobody's that good. But you'll do. Farewell."
With that, a flash of white light erupted into the air, and then Tidus and Yuna were alone. Tidus turned around, and let his body changed back to its original form. "What in the name of blitzball was that all about?" All Yuna could do was shrug.
Stree continued his slow advance on Auron, when he felt something hit him in the back. He growled again, and raised his hands and swung around, ready to smack whoever it was that hit him. He stopped suddenly though, when he saw that it was Paine standing there, Hasamune in her hands. He slowly reached out for her, his hands shaking, and touched her cheek. Suddenly, he felt a hot pain lash across his back, and saw Auron standing there, his sword just touching the ground as though he had just finished an attack. Stree was, through the haze of his mind, just thinking how strange it was, when whole world turned grey.
He stood amongst the trees, watching as Stree turned to stone before his very eyes. He shook his head. It is a good thing your allies can protect you for now, he thought. You would have no chance on your own. Not yet. He then jumped up, grabbed one of the branches above him, and disappeared into the forest.
"What the hell did you do to him?" screamed Kam, running over to Stree's rock solid – literally – body.
"Relax," replied Auron. "I had to have him like this for now. He's too volatile at the moment to think clearly."
"Hey we're ba—what did we miss?" asked Tidus as they ran into the clearing, and watched the slowly dying fires, then a petrified Stree.
"We had a little trouble," replied Paine.
"A little bit of Fiend action," continued Kam.
"We have to figure out why this is happening," stated Yuna bluntly.
"I agree. Fighting as a pack is very uncommon for Fiends, let alone on a scale this big, with such a variety of fiends that by all accounts hate each other."
"Which means that someone is controlling them," said Tidus.
Suddenly, Rikku, Gippal and Rin burst into the clearing, their clothing tattered and their bodies bloodied.
"Let me guess," said Paine. "Fiends?" The three Al Bhed were so completely drained of energy that all they could do was nod.
"I think the first thing we should do is go to Bevelle. Hopefully the walls will protect us for a little bit of time."
"That's if Baralai'll even let us in. We seem to run up a pretty good damage bill wherever we go," stated Rikku, after catching her breath.
"Nah, Baralai's never turned away someone in need," replied Gippal.
"Alright then, it has been decided," said Auron. "We should pack up our things."
"Well, wait. What about Stree?" asked Kam.
"I'll carry him," replied Auron.
"Why not just un-petrify him?" asked Tidus.
"It's too dangerous at the moment. Come on, let's go."
While the others turned away to pack up he remainder of the camp, Auron grabbed a rope to tie around Stree's hulking body.
"Auron," said Kam, running back over to him. "Why did he go nuts like that?"
"He didn't trust me. When the fiends attacked, he thought I brought them, then he saw what he thought was me hitting you."
"Okay, I can see how he'd go nuts, but how come he went so big and crazy?"
"It's his Berserker nature."
"He's a Berserker?"
Auron smiled. "You've seen how he can react when he's angry. The flames and all. That's a partial manifestation of his Berserker side. That released the majority of it."
"Wow," breathed Kam. "Wait, what do you mean by majority?"
"If he was in full Berserker state, there would have been no way the petrification would never have worked on him."
"So why cant you take him out of that state yet?"
"Because he'll try to kill me, and though he's not fully in control, he's still strong enough to do that."
Kam nodded, then went back to her packing.
As the motley group trudged along the path of the dead crystal forest, Kam found herself continually staring at Auron, watching as he struggled to carry the stone Stree on his back. In her mind, she kept flashing back to what had set Stree off in the first place. A fiend had rushed at her from behind as she argued for Auron to go help Stree fight. He had seen the beast though, and knocked her out of the way. She couldn't help but notice how hard it would have been for Stree to miss that. But she shook those thoughts away; all they did was raise more questions. The group turned onto the road leading to Bevelle, and Kam suddenly had no trouble at all forgetting. There, at the gateway to Bevelle, stood quite possibly the most handsome man she had ever met! He stood there, dressed in green robes, with pure white spiked hair, until Yuna reached him, then he bowed very gracefully.
"Lady Yuna, a pleasure, as always," he said in a soft, yet compelling voice.
"Ah, cut the crap Baralai; act like a good soldier, and just salute!" Gippal said loudly, and jogged over to him. "How ya going Mister Navigator?"
Baralai smiled. "Not bad, Mister Mechanic. I hear you've been getting these people into trouble lately?"
Gippal's mouth dropped open in mock horror. "Me? I was living a peaceful life then these guys showed up at my door with a couple hundred friends in tow. And that guy trying to go nuts!" he finished, pointing at the statue of Stree that Auron was just now dropping to the ground.
Baralai laughed softly. "I think we should go inside, and figure out what's going on." He bowed to Yuna, then gestured for them to enter the huge building. Kam walked past him, hoping he wouldn't notice her shallow breathing. He did, though. "Excuse me, but are you alright?"
Kam nodded. "Uh, I'm fine, thank you," she stammered.
Baralai stared at her a moment more, then smiled. "Forgive me. I'm Baralai."
"Uh, Kam, Kam Kry'tal." She accepted Baralai's held out hand. As Baralai turned to leave, Tidus snuck up behind Kam.
"Wow, girl, I never knew you to get blubbery around a guy," he remarked, draping an arm over her shoulder.
"I wasn't blubbery. And wont Stree kill you if he sees you talking to me?"
"Ah, but he is encased in stone," he laughed, pointing at the statue that for some reason was pointing at them.
A mischievous grin appeared on Kam's face. "Do you know for sure that he can't see you?"
Tidus gulped, looked at the statue for a second, then laughed. "Come on we should go in." Kam laughed and walked through the door.
Auron followed the rest of the group in, dragging the stone man along in his wake. "Paine," he grunted, stopping suddenly. The leather-clad woman stopped and turned to face him. "I want you there when I turn him back," he said, pointing at Stree.
"Me? Why" asked Paine.
"Because for some reason you can calm him in a way that even his sister cannot. It may be the only thing that will allow him rational thought again."
Paine nodded. "When do you want to do this?" she asked.
"As soon as possible. He needs to be involved in the planning of our next move."
It didn't work this time, thought Auron. Hopefully soon, otherwise he'll have no chance.