I have a Goofy sticker on my computer desk.
I'm refusing the urge to place said sticker on my forehead.
Willlllllllllll powerrrrrrrrrrrrrr…
(Please ignore the random comments at the beginning of each chapter. They really have nothing at all to do with the story.)
-Lovely Catastrophe
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Chapter Four: The Water Spirit's Gifts
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"Auronnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn…."
"What, Rikku."
"Can we pleaaaaaaaaaaaaase stop and take a break? I'm tired of flying."
"Then walk."
"I'm too pooped to do that, either… Can I ride on your back?"
Auron grunted. They had been walking along the outskirts of Radiant Garden, wandering the paths of the forest that surrounded it. Every five minutes, Rikku would complain of a new ache or pain that plagued her, and would request to stop for a rest.
Yuna had long since ceased flying and walking altogether, her fairy self unable to keep up with the long strides of Auron, or the quick pace of Kairi. So she rested in the Princess's hood, peering over her shoulders every so often to see where they were going.
Paine, on the other hand, toughed it out, and flittered about, barely trailing behind Auron, who was in the lead.
"Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase!" Rikku cried shrilly, dropping to the ground. "I can't moooooove anymore…"
"Fine. Just shut up." Auron plunged his sword into the ground, sitting cross-legged beside it. They had reached a secluded meadow, protected from the other parts of the forest. "We'll rest here for the night."
Kairi sighed with relief, falling to her knees. Thank goodness. Auron's a slavedriver, I swear… Any further and I might have been complaining just like Rikku… (Woo, 100 hits right here at this very moment as I'm typing this, heck yes! haha Sorry to interrupt the story. Heh)
Yuna rolled out of her hood with a yelp, tumbling onto the ground with a small thud. The Princess gasped slightly, having obviously forgotten that she had even been back there.
"Aww, Yuna, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to do that. Are you alright?"
The little fairy was brushing herself off, and she peered backwards up at Kairi with her duo-toned eyes.
"Y-yes. I'm fine. Don't worry about it."
She smiled, and Kairi smiled back, before sprawling out on the ground. Auron frowned, cocking an eyebrow. The fairy trio blinked at her curiously, all three hovering just above her body.
"Are you going to sleep there?" Rikku asked, swirly Al Bhed eyes riddled with confusion. "The ground's not real comfy, you know…"
The Princess laughed, closing her eyes.
"I know. But anything's better than walking, and I'm so tired I could sleep just about anywhere."
"Aww... She was tired too!" The blonde fairy whirled to face Auron, a frustrated look upon her face. "See! I wasn't the only one! I think I liked you better as an old fogey, Auron."
Huh? Kairi sat up, and she, Yuna, and Paine had perplexed looks on their faces.
"What do you mean, Rikku?"
"Nothing. She means nothing." Auron broke in, shooting Rikku a sharp look as she began to protest. How does she remember? He thought to himself, She isn't supposed to remember… not while the Magic Kingdom is still separated… and that was a permanent change… Was it not?
The female members of the group exchanged confused looks, but none of them decided to press the matter. When Auron was in one of his moods, it was best to leave him alone.
Anyways… Kairi got to her feet, brushing the dirt off her pants. "Hey! Who wants to go explore this forest with me?"
"You're going to be dead tired in the morning if you don't go to sleep right now, Princess…" Auron warned. "And then, I'll have no pity on you when you begin to whine."
"Aww, don't listen to that poopypants, exploring sounds fun!" Rikku chirped, tossing her hands up into the air. The other two fairies nodded, looking as though they were too hyper to go to sleep now anyways.
"Alright then! Let's go." Kairi slung her bow and quiver around her shoulder, just in case.
"Don't wander off too far or stay out too late."
The swordsman then turned over to his side, seeming to tune out the rest of the world as he drifted off into a state of faux sleep: he would be keeping an eye on the girls all night long.
Rikku smirked, flying over to his prone form and hovering above his ear. "Yooooooooooooooou suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck." She hissed, giggling hysterically after she had done so.
Paine rolled her eyes.
"Can we go now? I thought we were gonna do some exploring."
…Pause.
"Oh YEAH!"
ADD… Wow. At least they're funny… I could have been stuck with Donald and Goofy like Sora… Talk about annoying. Kairi led the way through the forest, not exactly knowing where she was going, but not exactly caring, either. She felt as though she was becoming a little more independent every time she took a step during this journey, and she loved every minute of it.
And then she felt it.
She wasn't quite sure what it was, but she sensed its' presence.
She felt it beckon to her, felt it drawing her in.
So she followed it.
The fairy trio behind her was oblivious to the change in her actions, happy to tag along and poke their heads into this and that along the way.
But then she figured out that it wasn't such a good thing.
Kairi drew an arrow; stringing it to the bow and pulling said string as tightly as she could, aiming the point into the trees ahead of them.
"Stay back!" She warned, the fairies' attention being drawn back to her. They darted into the trees, all three of them alert in case their help was needed.
The muzzle of a large beast poked it's nose out from the trees, its' massive head coming into view before it stopped moving, just inches in front of the point of Kairi's arrow. It appeared to be a dragon, but Kairi had always thought those weren't real… things you found in… Dreams…
It was then that the Princess remembered that she didn't exactly know how to fight with her weapon. The dragon growled.
Crap.
The bowstring went limp as she backed up a step, wanting to put a bit of distance between her and the dragon's foot-long fangs. It closed that distance without any effort, great nose sniffing her all over.
Kairi stood as still as possible, letting the beast do as it pleased. After a few seconds it slunk back into the forest, and she realized that it had meant her no harm.
"What was that all about?"
The Princess jumped, startled by Yuna's voice. She had forgotten all about the fairy trio for a second there…
"I think… I think it was guarding something. And I think it was trying to make sure I wasn't going to try and take or harm whatever it's trying to protect." She replied, returning her bow to her shoulder.
Paine crossed her arms, smirking.
"Well… you're obviously not dead, so I think we passed the test." The leather-clad fairy hovered towards the direction the dragon had just disappeared in.
"…Shall we?"
They continued on, and Kairi noticed that it was getting brighter and brighter with every step they took. Weird… It's not as dark in this part of the forest…
Little spores of light floated around from above, like fireflies, ever glowing, ever bright. It was peaceful, and the girls were filled with a growing sense of awe and wonder. The trees began to become more and more sparse, until they reached yet another clearing like the one they had set up camp in. Only in the middle of this clearing was a pool of water. The liquid was crystal clear, and it seemed to emit a dim, blue aura.
They sat down at the edge of the water, peering down into it.
"Whatcha think, Kairi?" Rikku inquired, hovering inches above the surface. "Looks kinda weird to me…"
Hm… I wonder… The Princess pulled one of her arrows from her quiver, and she decided to dip the tip of it into the water. The pool glowed brightly for a split second, and then it returned to its' calm state once more.
Kairi blinked, pulling the arrow out of the water. The tip was glowing now, not too bright, but it wasn't short of radioactive-looking, either. She decided to test the thing out. Stringing her bow with the arrow, she shot it rather pathetically (hey, give the poor girl a break. It's her first time to shoot the freakin' thing.) at a tree, and almost fell back on her rear when it exploded on impact.
There was no fire, no smoke, just an explosion that left the tree charred and without a bit of its' bark…
"That's definitely magic if I've ever seen it…" Yuna said, hovering over towards Kairi and sitting gracefully on her shoulder. "Hm… maybe…"
Rikku was wiggling excitedly.
"That was cool! I wonder what it does to people!"
…What?
But before any of them could let out a "RIKKU, NO!" the blonde fairy dove into the pool of water.
The pool began to flash, several times in rapid succession, before it spit Rikku back out. She landed on the ground in a heap, and was surprisingly dry, considering she had just jumped into a pool.
There was also one other, MAJOR difference.
Rikku wasn't really a fairy anymore. She had been returned to her human state, the Rikku she had been before she died and was reborn. Only, the change set her back a few years, so she was actually the Rikku she was when she was a thirteen year old girl. But this fact didn't seem to bother the human-turned-fairy-turned-human-again. She leapt to her feet, flailing about, testing out her new body.
"I'm human again! Yahoooooooooooooo!" The young Al Bhed started doing cartwheels around the place, while her companions looked on, awestruck. Then, once that was done, she strutted around for a bit, the joyous exclamations never ceasing to flow from her lips.
Yuna and Paine glanced at the water hopefully.
And Kairi was still… confused.
"So… wait… you guys aren't actually really fairies? Or, um, I mean, you weren't born that way?"
Paine shook her head.
"No, we were born humans… and we died humans. But…"
"But because of our pure hearts we were allowed to be reborn as fairies." Yuna finished, grinning sheepishly. "Paine… if the water worked for Rikku… will it work for us?"
The warrior fairy shrugged.
"Beats me. We might as well try it, right? Doesn't seem like evil water anyway, so what's the harm?"
And with that, Paine dove into the pool. Seconds later, after the light flashes, she too was spit back out of the water as a teenaged human girl, becoming the Paine she was when she was but fourteen years old.
Her silvery-blond hair was longer now and it covered the emotions in her crimson eyes. But the smirk on her face told it all: Paine was back in action.
Kairi was watching this all happen with fascination in her eyes, when she noticed that Yuna hesitated as she neared the edge of the water.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm just afraid that… something bad will happen. Magic doesn't have to follow a set pattern and do the same thing every time. It has its' own rules."
"Yeah but… It's kinda like everything else in a way…" Kairi smiled. "How will you know unless you give it a try? And if you don't try… you may regret it, because there will always be that chance you could have been alright."
The little fairy looked up at her, giving the Princess a tiny smile in return.
"I guess you're right."
Yuna hovered out onto the water, then gently lowered herself into it. Kairi waited, hoping everything would turn out alright. The waters flashed, and then Yuna was shot up into the air, spinning around delicately before she landed gently back on the ground.
She too had been returned to her human state. The Yuna she had been when she was but fifteen years old. The young summoner checked herself and her old robes, making sure she was still all there. But she said nothing, simply amazed.
"Princess of Heart… Lady Summoner… Thief of the Desert… Warrior of the Night… Chosen few picked to save the world from its' nightmares… I am a water spirit. Guardian of this forest."
The girls turned to look at the pool, startled by the voice from nowhere. An abstract face was visible within the waters, and it continued to speak to them.
"To you fairy creatures I have given you your human selves back again. I also have for you some items that may be familiar…"
The pool churned, and from its' depths, objects were shot forth. Two Spiran-made guns landed at Yuna's feet, two Al Bhed knives nearly beaned Rikku in the head, and a large sword flew towards Paine, who caught it effortlessly.
"And as for you, Princess… I have bestowed you with the magic of Light. It will never run out, and you will always carry it with you. It will protect you in the darkest of times, and will shine brightly when all other light goes out. Manage it well."
The water spiraled out of the pool and began to encircle Kairi's entire body. She felt a tug at her heart, and a warmth immediately spread over her, filling her with confidence she hadn't had before.
The water then subsided, and all was calm yet again.
"Guys…" Kairi started, breathing heavily, awestruck, "We should probably be getting back to Auron now… That's enough exploring for one night, eh?"
………………………….
Whoo, longest chapter yet. Heck yes.
I really like this chapter too, for some reason. Idk why.
Anyways, reviews awesome.
Speaking of them, I'd like to give a shoutout to the two people who did review and are officially awesome: Yume-Yume and Douceur. You guys rock. And I agree, Yume-Yume, Kairi is VERY awesome.