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In Pain and Trying to Escape
Paine leaned her head out the door. Holding on to the door frame, she looked down the right hallway. All she saw was more door ways and a dead end. Signing lightly, she turned her head towards the left. She wasn't too surprised to see more doors, but when she saw that the hallway turned both to the right and to the left, she nearly fell over with relief. She would have left then, but she didn't know who was out there. Although it caused her a great deal of pain, she looked towards the ceiling. Just an inch away from her doorway was an opening to the outside. She could see the sky and smell the fresh air. Well, it was fresh to her since she had been in that room by herself for who knows how long.
What if I can pull that table out here? Then I can climb out! Risking not only her life, but her energy as well, she walked towards the table, ignoring the pain that was shooting through her body. Being careful not to make too much noise, she picked up the small table and took it a few steps before setting it down again. "I have to get out of here!" She decided to ignore the pain completely. Once she was out of here she would heal herself completely.
Picking up the table again she walked as quickly as she could towards the door. Twenty steps later she had the table set down on the floor and was ready to step up. As she slowly stepped up she almost lost her footing, but she grabbed onto the side of the door frame to steady herself. Standing at her full height her arms almost completely reached out the hole. Pulling herself up, she quickly looked around to see if anyone was looking. Good no one is looking and no one saw me! Where am I? She had no clue where she was, but she wasn't going to stick around to find out. She jogged away from that hole quietly. Watching and listening for anyone or anything, she made her way further away from the hell she had been in.
Two hours later she had finally stopped for a break in some underbrush. Finally noticing it was nearing night fall, she decided it was time to find some shelter and something to eat. Boy this charm bracelet works wonders! She had forgotten she was wearing it and became instantly thankful she had put it on. She rested there for what seemed like forever. Getting up was really painful for her. Her ribs felt as if they would cave in any moment and her head felt as if it was splitting in two. But she was learning to deal with the pain. She knew that one day it would be healed.
As she walked away from that little spot she stopped to rest, she noticed a piece of fruit lying on the ground. "Where there is fruit on the ground, there's a tree in the sky!" Picking up the fruit, she realized that it was good. Taking a bite out of it, she knew that it was the best thing in the world right now, besides being away from who ever took her. The juice ran down her chin, but she didn't bother wiping it off. As she finished, she looked around her. She was completely surrounded by trees, except for a small path that was in the middle. To the left of the path she noticed a tree a little ways back from the road. Walking towards it, she saw tons of fruit on the ground and even more on the tree itself. I am in heaven! Now I won't be hungry. I just have to find some shelter.
Before Paine sat down to eat her fill of fruit, she made sure she wasn't able to be seen from the road. When she confirmed it, she cleared out a spot right next to the tree trunk so she could lean against it. Picking up two pieces of fruit at a time, she hastily ate the fruit. At one point she tried to take two bites from two different fruits at once. She soon realized that she couldn't and stuck to one. After about an hour of fruit she decided she had to find shelter. She picked up some fruit and placed it in her pockets.
Looking to her left away from the path, she saw what looked like a small clearing. Making her way towards it, she took her time. Before fully exposing herself into the clearing she looked around to see if anything was out there. There wasn't so she stepped out and towards the rocks. As she neared the spot, she noticed it was a small burrowed hole just big enough for her to fit into. Paine thought quickly and decided to chance going in. Scooting a little at a time, she made her way down the tunnel. As she got further along the tunnel narrowed out more and more. When she reached the bottom, she was able to stand up to her full height. Looking around, she saw a pot underneath some dripping water, a table with two chairs, a small couch covered in grass and a roaring fire. She looked up above the fire and saw that a small hole was allowing the smoke to filter out.
She stood there not knowing what to do. Suddenly she heard a set of footsteps getting closer. Not knowing what to do she just stood there, staring! Just as what ever it was started to come out of the darkness, she fainted onto the floor.
All Paine could think about was getting away from the road. In her opinion she was too close for comfort, so she made a hard decision due to her injuries. As she slowly stood up, pain shot throughout her whole body. Although the pain was almost unbearable, she reached out and grabbed the fruit and stuffed it into her pockets. Cringing as she rose back up, she headed away from the road. She hoped with all her heart that these woods would lead her some where safe, away from the horror that had kidnapped her.
Deeper and deeper she got in the forest until suddenly a clearing appeared in front of her weary eyes. Getting this far with her injuries was a big accomplishment for her when all she wanted to do was curl up and sleep the pain away. The clearing was twelve feet wide and had a small creek flowing through it. How she missed it as she walked, she would never know. Squatting down, she dealt with the pain to quench the thirst that she hadn't noticed before. After four long drinks, she felt a little better. Before getting up she decided to clean her face and wounds to offset the amount of pain she would go through. As she did this, she looked around.
To her back right was the way she had just came. To her front was the creek and a rock cliff that was taller than the trees. Maybe I could go up there and see where I am! No wait! Someone might see me and if it is the person who kidnapped me there is no doubt that he will have me captured again. I don't want that. So...what do I do seeing as I obviously can't go back there? She didn't know and right now she didn't want to think about it. All she wanted to do was sleep. The past how ever long had been hell for her and although she had been locked in a dark damp room she hardly slept. I do know that whoever had me is going to see that I escaped and sent someone or a lot of someone's to find me. "I need to find shelter!" Just as she said it, she saw a hole a little bigger than the size of her hips. She knew that she would be able to fit. After she finished clean her wounds, she took one last long drink of water and headed for that hole. Determined to hide and live she squatted down and started to scoot through the hole.
She looked further into the hole, but she saw no light. "If worse comes to worse, I will sleep in here, even if it is with a wild animal." As soon as she said it, the ground she had been scooting over collapsed. She fell hard onto some cement and couldn't move, didn't want to move. The pain she had before worsened to twice as much, if not more. Barely able to move, she only hoped the place she landed wasn't the place she had been able to escape. If it was, she knew that she would be dead before night fall. Just as she thought about the possibility of her own death, she heard someone coming. As she slowly drifted into unconsciousness she saw a pair of shoes, but never saw the person.
He was standing on the deck of the Celsius staring out into the never ending blue sky. He thought of the times that he had shared with her and knew that he cherished them more than anything in the world, but he would give them up in the heart beat to have her, his Paine, in his arms right now and away from harm. Although he couldn't be certain she was in harms way, he still wouldn't believe she had just went away on a vacation, like Brother said. He didn't know her like he did. She wasn't the type to not tell anyone. She would have let at least someone know, even if it wasn't him.
A single tear fell from his eye as he thought of the kiss he had shared with her the night she disappeared. He remembered the look of surprise in her eyes and then her body's release of her fear and it's acceptance of it. He hadn't meant to hurt her or scare her and he didn't think he had. Baralai would take it all back just to have her here. Feeling as if his soul was dying little by little, he knew he had to get his emotions under control or he might never find her.
The door slide open behind him, which gave him the reason to check his emotions. "Hey Baralai." Yuna's voice sounded worried, but she was trying to cover it up for him. "I brought you dinner. Since you didn't come in to eat, I had Barkeep wrap it up so I could bring it out to you." She placed the plate on his lap along with the cup she had been holding in the other hand, and just as he thought she was going to let him alone, she sat down a few inches away from him. Waiting for her to speak he glanced over at her and saw that she was staring out at the beautiful sunset he was moments before, not saying a word.
He took off the wrappings of the plate and looked down at one of his favorite meals, meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Steam from the food told him, that Yuna had Barkeep wrap it immediately and had brought it out here without eating her own. Before he took a bite, he offered some to Yuna with a simple gesture, but she waved it off. She just sat there looking out at the beautiful view.
That was the best thing about this ship. It had been an improvement from what he heard of the last one. This one was capable to sit idle in the sky, as it was now. He did miss the feel of the wind flow through his hair, but the beautiful sight was worth the loss. He would much rather be up here enjoying dinner and the sunset with Paine, but she was missing. Just as he was about to take a bite, the thought of her made a lump rise in his throat. Yuna had noticed he had stopped mid-bite, but knew that it was hard for him.
It was hard for her too, but in an entirely different way. Since she had signed onto the Gull Wings, Rikku, Paine and her had gotten closer, well mostly. Paine didn't start opening up until after the Vegnagun incident, but even then she still had to pry a little. She knew that Baralai was in much more pain and that although he didn't talk about it, he was ready for the worse, if it should occur. She felt the pain radiating off of him the moment his hand stopped moving towards his mouth.
For some reason Baralai expected Yuna to say something to him, give him some bull about how she was alright. So when it didn't come, he put the bite of food in his mouth. Maybe they have learned to just leave me alone right now, but if that was the case, then why did she sit down? It had to be the sunset. No girl could resist a sunset, including Paine. He had been the witness to the beauty she put off during a sunset. A painful ache started to throb in his heart. "I need to stop this!" He had said it aloud forgetting for just a small moment that he wasn't alone.
"Baralai?" Hearing Yuna's voice startled him. He jumped and looked over at her. He thought she would giggle at the look he gave her and if she did, he knew she didn't know how he was feeling. "I know that you are in pain. I feel it too and so does everyone else." He was amazed she didn't laugh and that Yuna knew how to be serious. "But you can't just sit up here and stare out at the sky." She paused for just a moment and glanced at the sun before she continued. "That's why Rikku, Tidus and I decided that we are going to hunt for her on foot. You are welcome to join us."
"But what about Brother and Buddy? What are they going to do?" He was dumbfounded. "I mean are they just going to sit around?"
Yuna looked at him and was surprised by the feelings she saw in his eyes and face towards the girl that had become her friend. "No they will not. They will take us to a destination and then fly around searching, just like we would be doing on the ground." She had felt as if she said the right thing, but looking at him told her otherwise. He was really worried about her and it made Yuna's heart sore. She only hoped if something was to ever happen to her that Tidus will be like Baralai was now. "We will find her! I know we will." She placed a hand on his shoulder for a brief moment and got up to go inside. "Baralai?" He looked up at her and waited for her to talk. "Paine is a strong woman. I am sure that she will be fine."
His heart knew she was alive, but he still worried. It was his right as the man who loved her, even if she didn't know just yet. The bite he was holding suddenly didn't look appetizing, so he put it down on his plate and set it down. He knew that if he didn't eat he wouldn't have the energy to continue his search for his love. "Another minute or so and I will eat." Or at least try to eat, he told himself. The thought of Paine not having any food changed his mind about eating. He picked up his plate and walked towards the door. One last look at the beautiful sunset seemed like a perfect ending to a not so perfect day. He walked into the cabin and set his plate on the bar. "Night Barkeep!"
He climbed the stairs and laid down on the furthest bed. Looking up at the ceiling didn't seem to help the fact he couldn't get her out of his head. The thought of her being out there alone was almost killing him. He knew that up to full health and as he knows from personal experience it takes a lot of energy to take care of the fiends. He decided to not think about the bad things, so he thought about his day with Paine.
The beach had been wonderful. The water was the right temperature and Paine looked so sexy in her bikini. She had been the only thing he could think about and it showed. He had hoped to show her he was not the enemy and for a short time he had. Just as he thought about her running towards the ocean, his eyes went heavy and he fell into a deep sleep.
She didn't know who's shoes she had seen and she didn't know how long she had been unconscious, but she hoped and prayed that the person that had her before didn't have her again. She noticed things that were different, those that weren't there in her past prison. She was laying on a soft bed with a blanket pulled up to her chin. Trying to move, she felt resisted and started to worry. "They have tied me down. Now I will never escape."