Roisin Midnight – Okay, I'll keep that in mind as I'm doing the new chapters and stuff. writes down More fighting. Gotcha. :P I won't forget.

Chapter 5: Sinspawn

The massive fiend, Lord Ochu, brought its tentacles crushing down towards Tidus. He was thrown backwards, nearly losing his grip on his sword. "Ow! Stupid plant!" he shouted angrily, jumping to his feet. Energy built up around him as he ran forward, performing flips to gain momentum before bringing his sword down hard. The blade cut deeply into Lord Ochu, and its tentacles flailed around its body as it screeched in pain. Slowly, its body faded away, "pyreflies" flying out from it.

Danielle grinned at him, Lulu, and Kimahri, the ones who had killed the fiend. She had stayed back with Yuna and Wakka, who would occasionally swap places with the ones on the frontline. Gatta and Luzzu, the two Crusaders that had warned them to be careful, came up once again. "I see you defeated Lord Ochu. I expected you would." Luzzu smiled grimly. "So tell me, who is your new companion? I don't recall seeing her on Besaid."

Yuna nodded to Danielle. "This is Danielle. She's with us until we get to Luca."

Luzzu looked over at her, apparently sizing her up. "Well, Miss Danielle, I can tell you that you are truly in good company."

"Yeah! Lady Yuna won't let anything happen to you!" Gatta said with a grin.

Luzzu chuckled heartily. "Gatta is right. Well, Lady Yuna, we must depart. Farewell and good luck. Come, Gatta."

The younger Crusader saluted him. "Yes, sir!" As the pair walked off, Gatta's voice could still be heard as he sung a song happily.

They continued on, and Danielle wondered why Yuna hadn't told Luzzu about her being a summoner. Was Yuna doing this because she wasn't from Spira? She really had no idea, but she was interested in finding out.

"Once we climb these steps, we'll reach the temple," Yuna told them, snapping Danielle out of her thoughts.

Wakka smirked at Tidus and the Besaid Aurochs. "How about a race to the top, ya? I bet I'll beat you!"

Tidus grinned. "You're on!" They all lined up along the steps, Yuna counting off for them.

Danielle merely watched as Yuna took off, and the others followed quickly. This left Lulu, Kimahri, and her by themselves. "What did you mean earlier?" Lulu asked Danielle. "What're you hiding from us?"

Kimahri looked over at her, too, and Danielle hung her head. "I'm doing this to protect all of you. Lulu, nearly everyone who gets involved in this ends up dying. I lost nearly all of my family except for my sister to these things. Even I was nearly killed." Her hand gently traced the deep scar on her cheek. "If I lost you guys because I told you about these things, I could never forgive myself. Please, try to understand—" she was cut off by a loud scream from the top of the steps, and her eyes went wide.

"Yuna!" Lulu and she shouted at the same time. All three of them charged up the steps, coming to a large clearing. A strange, massive fiend was there, its tentacles waving about in the air. The Aurochs had taken off back down the steps, and Tidus and Wakka were pulling out their weapons. Danielle saw that tentacles were heading for Yuna, and she ran in front of them. As they struck her body, cutting deep gashes into it, they also wrapped tightly around her.

She cried out in pain as the monster crushed her. Danielle couldn't breathe, couldn't even shout for help. She was lifted up off the ground, starting to lose consciousness. That was when the tentacles suddenly flung her into the ground. A great burst of pain lanced through her body, and as the air rushed from her lungs and darkness engulfed her vision, she whispered the name of her aeon. "Ki…ryu…"

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Tidus watched the Sinspawn throw Danielle into the ground and felt a surge of anger. The kid had been protecting Yuna, and this was what happened to her. Brotherhood in hand, he rushed at the tentacles, slashing through them. There was a loud screech, and as he looked over his shoulder, he saw a second group of tentacles fade away. The strange sphere-like body of the Sinspawn opened up.

"Let's finish Geneaux—" Wakka was cut off by the arrival of Valefor, and Tidus looked back at Yuna. She was crouched down by Danielle, trying to heal her.

"Yuna, did you summon your aeon?" Tidus asked her.

The summoner shook her head. "No… It's Danielle's aeon!"

The Valefor glowed with energy, and he flew into the air. A white symbol appeared in front of him and it began to spin quickly as multiple blasts of energy shot out at Geneaux. Tidus watched in awe as the blasts tore through the Sinspawn, making it dissolve into pyreflies. The Valefor landed near Yuna, and Tidus approached her along with her guardians.

Danielle's injuries were nothing more than a few faint scars now. She groaned, coming around slowly. Her aeon nudged her face with its head, and Danielle opened her eyes.

"Hey, you okay?" Wakka asked her.

Danielle nodded slightly, slowly sitting up with Yuna placing a hand on her back to help. She rubbed her head and looked around, apparently surprised to see her aeon. "What happened…?"

"I think you managed to summon your aeon before you were knocked out. He finished off that Sinspawn for us," Tidus explained.

Danielle gently stroked the side of her Valefor's face. "Thanks, Kiryu. You can go now." The aeon bowed its head and departed. Both Tidus and Yuna helped Danielle to stand. Tidus looked up at the last flight of stairs to the temple and heard Danielle say, "Well, let's get that aeon."

Yuna nodded and smiled. "Right," she replied before going up the steps. Lulu, Wakka, and Kimahri followed her, but Tidus stopped when he noticed Danielle had fallen behind. She was staring out over the cliff at the sea, and it was only when Tidus called her name did she turn around.

"Sorry," she whispered softly, proceeding up the steps past a very confused Tidus. He stared at her for a second before going up after her. What was going on?

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Danielle was silent as a summoner from Kilika, Dona was her name, taunted the group. That was when Dona turned to her. "And who are you? You're too young to be a guardian. Are you some kid who just wanted to tag along for fun?"

Tidus jumped in before Danielle could speak. "Danielle's a summoner, so I'd take that back if I were you!"

Dona looked surprised. "A summoner? Then perhaps a contest of aeons." A smirk appeared on her face. "Let us see how great of a summoner a child like you really is." Danielle followed her outside and watched as a strange beast was summoned. "Choose your aeon to fight Ifrit."

"You can do it, Danielle!" she heard Wakka cheer. She gave them a grin as she closed her eyes. In seconds, she felt Kiryu land beside her, and she gently stroked his head.

As her hand fell away, the Valefor rose into the sky. "Okay, Kiryu… Let's show them what we can do!" Kiryu flew at Ifrit, tearing at his skin with sharp talons. Ifrit tried to swipe at the airborne aeon, but Kiryu merely rose above the claws. This pattern of attacking continued, and Dona was apparently annoyed.

"Meteor Strike, Ifrit!" A fireball slammed into the Valefor's chest, nearly knocking him to the ground. He managed to stay in the air, using his Sonic Wings attack on the enemy aeon. But as another of the attacks hit him, he fell to the ground. Ifrit rushed forward and slashed with his claw, making Kiryu cry out in pain.

Dona wore a confident smirk on her face. "Just give up, and your Valefor will be spared the pain."

Danielle's body shook with rage. As she glared at Dona, Kiryu slowly rose into the air. "No one hurts my aeon… Kiryu!" She pointed at Ifrit. "Energy Blast!" The air around Kiryu crackled with energy as the Besaid emblem appeared in front of him. Beams of energy shot rapidly at Ifrit, hitting him so hard that he was thrown backwards to the ground. As the attack ended, Ifrit let out a weak roar and faded away.

Kiryu's victorious cry rang out in the silence that followed as he flew away. Dona, looking angry and surprised, approached Danielle. "Impressive. You are skilled, Summoner Danielle, but I will not go so easy on you next time." She turned away. "Barthello! Let's go." Her guardian looked back at them before running off quickly after Dona.

"All right! You did it!" Tidus shouted as he and the others came up to her. "You really let her have it!" Wakka nodded in agreement with a grin.

"You truly have great skills," Lulu remarked. "Your second time commanding Kiryu in battle, and yet you manage to beat a summoner who has trained years to call the aeons."

Danielle wiped a trickle of sweat from her forehead. "Well, it's not exactly easy for me to summon compared to others, but I manage it."

"Well, Summoner Dona was put in her place. And tomorrow, we're going to do the same to those Luca Goers!" Wakka thrust his fist into the air. "Come on! Let's get the aeon here and head for Luca."

As they re-entered the temple, Danielle thought about the battle. Dona didn't seem to care much about her aeon like Danielle did. And when Danielle's feelings for her aeon were strongest, he was able to perform his strongest Overdrive. Was she starting to develop a bond with him? It had to be.

Danielle forced the thoughts to the back of her head and followed the others into the Cloister of Trials.

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A figure watched from near one of the statues as the group entered. Its golden-yellow eyes were barely visible from under its hood. The figure watched one person in particular: the young girl from the world it had been to just before this one. She had done better than the figure expected. Maybe it was time to test the skills of her and her companions.

As two humans passed through into the Cloister of Trials, the figure slid out of the shadows and darted out of the temple. People shot confused glances at it, not sure of who it was or what it was doing. As it entered the forests, it leapt impossibly high into the air and grappled onto a tree with sharp claws, its instincts taking over completely.