Shades of Wings
Chapter 6: Blue Wings
THAT'S RIGHT! LET THE SUPER WEIRDNESS BEGIN! . I've gotten a lot of reviews on the net, including one that said, "The Luna girl is so cool...I wish I was like her...I envy her." Oo;;; THAT surprised me all right. But then again there was the person who wrote, "I Like Kevi."
Just watch, in a couple of days people will have pen-names such as:
JukaWorshiper22
Kevilover63
Adrianhater000
LunaLeeEnvior785
OKAY, ENOUGH OF THAT CRAP! ONTO THE CHAPTER!
OKAYYYY! NOW FOR THE CHAPTER!
Tai: Good, because if you didn't update soon, I would have been forced to stalk you.
Me: Oo;;;;
As the group made their way out of the Al Bhed Travel agency and back onto the icy road, Juka noticed the large frozen over lake in the middle of the tundra. "Looks scary..." she shivered in her inappropriate attire.
"Be careful everyone," Tiffa warned as she led the group across the ice.
"Yeah!" Juka nodded, "That ice might break and then we'll all freeze to death!"
"That lake is frozen over all year," Ashnigh commented, "It's not going to break."
"Don't you know anything?" Adrian sighed, making Juka only more angry at the black-clad summoner.
"Luna...I'll give you 500 gil if you make a hole in the ice below Adrian's feet..." she whispered.
"Wha--?" she asked, clearing out her ears.
"Nuttin." Juka plastered a sour expression on her face as the group continued to trudge across the icy lake.
The cold was fierce and it was snowing like all get out as the group made their way around icy cliffs and snowy mountains. The ice chilled their skin and for those wearing attire not at all fit for the cold (Juka, Tiffa, and Briu in particular) the weather seemed almost unbearable.
"Are we almost there?!" Juka whined. They had been walking for almost three hours now, with no sign of the temple, or Kevi in sight.
"We should be..." Ashnigh sighed, "It's been so long since I've been here."
"If we had Kevi with us, we wouldn't be lost right now..." Spiler pointed out, "He knows his way around here."
"Yeah, I hope he's okay," Briu nodded, "This terrain isn't forgiving for those who stray away."
"He's got to be okay! He's just gotta!" Juka insisted.
"If only he were here..." Tiffa shook her head.
"I know, we need hi--" Briu started, but was cut off by a booming voice from the icy tunnel.
"WILL YOU GUYS JUST SHUT UP?!" the group swiveled around to see that it was an enraged Tai speaking. "WILL YOU GUYS JUST SHUT THE HELL UP?! KEVI THIS, KEVI THAT! IN MY OPINION HE CAN FREEZE TO DEATH OUT HERE!"
"Tai!" Adrian snapped.
"HE TREATS JUKA LIKE CRUD!" Tai insisted, "AND ACTS LIKE HE'S BETTER THAN THE REST OF US!" He cursed Kevi under his breath, "We DON'T need him... Just because he's experienced doesn't mean he's our leader!""Tai!" Adrian said again, "I did not choose Kevi because of his experience..." Juka's eyes lit up.
She...she didn't?
"But I did choose you because I thought you would be a bright asset to the team," she continued to speak, "Don't prove me wrong."
"But--" Tai spoke, but it was his turn to be cut off, this time by a large roar.
"YARRR!"
"It's coming from around this corner!" Spiler told them, "It might be Kevi!" Ashnigh and the group nodded and ran around the corner of the tunnel, Tai straggling behind. When they rounded the corner, they gasped at the sight in front of them.
Kevi was a bad enough sight himself, blood dripping from his head, clotting in his bangs, his eye battered and bloody; half closed from exhaustion. His axe was drawn, dripping blood of the creature in front of him. His chest looked like it had broken ribs and he panted from exhaustion. "Kevi!" Tiffa yelled and the group ran to his side.
"What happened?!" Juka asked him, grabbing his shoulder.
"OW!" he screamed and Juka quickly released her grip, "Ow...dammit...I was on my way to the temple when this thing ambushed me...""What thing?" Tai asked, running up, trying hard not to look smug at Kevi's condition.
"That...thing..." Spiler pointed a shaking finger in front of himself, and the team turned their heads in awe.
The monster was huge, at least eight feet tall and burly to boot. Blood decorated its fists, covered in white and grey fur. Fangs, dripping with Kevi's blood hung from its mouth and its feet were webbed, a large fish tail, also covered in the gray fur grew on it. Its eyes were black and beady, squinting around for any sign of its prey. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Tiffa made a reach for her guns, then saw Ashnigh out of the corner of her eye. She paused, her hand shaking, and she instead dug her hand into her bag to reach for the throwing knives.
"The thing that put me in this condition," Kevi spat a lump of blood from his mouth onto the icy floor, "I've weakened it...but watch out...it's tough..."
"You got it! We'll take care of this, you rest!" Juka pulled her sword and faced the monster, "Come at me you genetic freak of nature!"
It seems that insult got the monster's attention and it turned to Juka. "Ack!" she held her sword at the ready as the monster's fist came lunging down on her. "Eeeks!" she held out her sword, but there was no way that the small sharp piece of metal could deflect the monster's fists! She braced herself for the impact...
"PROTECT!" The monster's fist deflected off of a blue barrier that appeared in front of Juka and she hastily opened her eyes to see the shield disappear. She noticed the spell as White Magic and turned to Ashnigh.
"Thanks!" she laughed.
"It...it wasn't me..." Ashnigh shook her head.
"Then...then who did do it?" she swiveled her head around at the guardians, each one shaking their head, Kevi spitting out more blood. Juka took that as a no and turned to the last person in the group...Adrian. "You didn't..."
"I DO have some White and Black Magic on my side thank you very much," she huffed, "I'm not completely useless without my summons."
"But...why?" Juka asked her.
"I can't have you dieing on me, can I?" Adrian sighed, "I don't want casualties so early in the pilgrimage."
"I....gu--"
"JUKA WATCH OUT!" Tai yelled and Juka turned just in time to be hit with the swinging tail of the monster. She was knocked to the ground against a block of ice full force!
"Juka!" Ashnigh ran to her side as Juka felt herself fading out.
Am...am I going to die...? Just like this...? Juka mused to herself as the pain increased.
"Wait! I'll heal you!" Ashnigh insisted.
Mom...Dad...
"Juka! Juka will you stop swinging that stick around? You're going to hurt someone!"
"But Mom! I have to practice if I want to become a guardian like you and Daddy!"
"Oh you do, do you?"
"Of course!"
"Who is your summoner going to be?"
"Lord Braska! He's the best!"
"He may be too old for you honey...he's starting his pilgrimage today."
"Today?! But-but that's means...that he already chose his guardians!"
"Oh honey...don't cry. There will be more summoners..."
"But after Lord Braska defeats Sin, won't it go away? I mean, he's so good at summoning! Won't we finally have an eternal Calm? Won't we ever have an eternal Calm?"
"..."
"Mommy?"
"CURE!" Juka felt her wounds heal as the spell came over her, washing away the blood from her head and arms.
"I'm...I'm alive..." she whispered, sitting up.
"Of course you are!" Adrian spat, "And now that you are, help us fight this thing!"
Juka looked up to see Spiler and Briu wailing on the monster, Spiler easily dodging the monster's attacks. "Eat this!" he yelled and landed a hit straight in the face. "Oh yeah! Too bad you can't do anything about it!" The monster growled and opened its mouth. "What's it doing?" A large light started to form in its mouth, growing, steadily growing and growing.
"SPILER YOU IDIOT, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Kevi yelled, "HE'S GOING TO UNLEASH AN ENERGY BLAST!"
"Wha--?" Spiler asked. "HOW DO WE STOP IT?!"
"IF I KNEW, DO YOU THINK I'D BE LIKE I AM NOW?!"
"HYAH!" Out of no where, two knives were launched directly into the monster's mouth, straight through the energy! The monster clutched its throat, the light dimming. It convulsed and kept having small seizures as it writhed in pain. Finally, it spit out a flood of blood, and two throwing knives. It rested still.
"Did...did we beat it?" Juka asked, looking at the monster.
"Most likely," Tiffa sighed and walked into the pool of blood where the knives rested. She picked them up and doused them in a nearby pool of water. "Disgusting..."
"Tiffa, you did that?" Juka asked.
"Yeah...just guessed that would stop it," Tiffa told her.
"Guessed?" a feeble voice came from behind them, and they turned to realize it belonged to Kevi, who had risen, despite his injuries. "One hell of a guess."
"Hey! You shouldn't be standing!" Ashnigh rushed over to him and held him up on her shoulder.
"I'm fine," he recoiled from her and kept walking, "The...temple should be this way."
"At least let me cure you!"
"Actually no," he sighed, "I think it would be better if I arrived at the temple unconscious."
But too bad for Kevi, Ashnigh had insisted on healing his wounds, and soon, everything but his broken ribs had been healed. Bandaged, and slightly bloody, the group finally reached the ice bridge and heard the hymn of the Fayth playing from the temple. A Guado guard met them, "Welcome Lady Adrian and guardians, please proceed to the temple."
"I forgot," Juka told them as they walked over the bridge, "This place is mainly run by Guado isn't it?"
"Yeah, but lots of other people live here too," Kevi told her, "My friends and I at least." The group reached the red carpet that led up to the doors of the temple, "Looks like we're here."
"Kevi..." Juka asked as the Guado opened the door for them and they walked inside, "You said you and your friends live here...right?"
"Yeah."
"What about your par--"
"KEVI, SWEETIE!" In a second, a pair of arms had been flung around Kevi's neck, almost knocking him to the ground. Once the group had gotten their senses back, they looked and saw it was a woman who looked about in her fourties hugging the ice cold guardian. The woman, dressed in a blue dress and with elbow length brown hair laughed as she hugged Kevi. "You're home! And I see you got chosen to be a guardian again! I'm so proud!"
"Mom...get off of me, please."
The guardians remained silent for a few seconds. Then...it suddenly clicked, "M-M-MOM?!"
"You have a mom?!" Juka asked.
"Umm...duh?"
"Why didn't you tell us man?!" Spiler asked him.
"I thought it was kind of obvious."
"Do you have a Da--"
"Kevi! Boy, you're home!" A large pat on the back from a strange man with a brown beard and wrinkled skin sent Kevi almost sprawling in front of his friends. "Me and your mother were worried sick!"
"Oh honey, don't nag him!" the woman told him, "He's old enough to make his own decisions now."
"I don't know," the man shook his head, "He just goes off and runs alone by himself! He could be kidnapped, or murdered, or--"
"DAD!"
"It's true! You need to show us you're responsible before you can go off on these silly, what do you call them, pilgrimages!"
"DAD, I'M EIGHTEEN, GET OVER YOURSELF!"
"EIGHTEEN?!" the group yelled, "WE THOUGHT YOU WERE ACHIENT!"
"I guess I do give that impression," Kevi sighed.
"Oh honey! Look!" she pointed to Juka, Tiffa, Adrian, Luna, and Ashnigh, "Our little boy finally has a girlfriend!"
"First one too!" the man gave Kevi another hearty pat on the back, Kevi almost choking on his own blood. "Good going son!"
"First...?" Tai eyed him accusingly.
"DAD, SHUT UP PLEASE!"
"Is she your girlfriend?" she pointed to Tiffa as though she was some sort of kitchen appliance, not a young woman, "I don't like her, she's too tall! You need someone who's shorter than you!"
"Don't...don't like me...?" Tiffa asked.
"Is she your girlfriend?!" she pointed to Adrian, then wrinkled her nose, "Oh no! It can't be her! She looks all morbid and has dreadful fashion sense!"
"PARDON ME?!"
"Is it her?" she pointed to Juka, "Oh Kevi! You can't be serious! She can't be more than 12!"
"I'M 16!"
"Maybe her?" she pointed to Ashnigh, "You always did like older women, like when you had a crush on that nun..."
"MOM!"
"OLD?!"
"I HOPE she's not your girlfriend, she looks too weird," she shook her head, pointing at Luna. Luna just giggled. "So, which one is it? I'll have to approve her of course!"
"NO ONE! I DON'T HAVE A GIRLFRIEND MOM!"
"Oh, such a disappointment," she sighed, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Reirana."
"And I'm Yeinen," Kevi's father held out his hand to heartily shake Adrian's, shaking her up and down as well. "Glad to meet you."
"Yes, nice, wonderful," Kevi sighed, "Mom, Dad, we're KIND OF in a hurry, so if you would excuse us..."
"Want to see pictures of Kevi from his first pilgrimage?!" Reirana asked them, "He was so cute! It was for a family friend you see! I swear, his axe was bigger than him!"
"MOM, IN-A-HURRY!" Kevi practically grabbed the group and ran up the stairs to the Cloister of Trials.
"But it'll only take a minute!" she insisted.
"TOO LONG!" Kevi opened the door and threw the guardians and Adrian inside, "MUCH TOO LONG!"
A/N's: Well, there it is! Finally done! R&R!