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Chapter 8 – The consequences of meddling

Eighth stop: Thunder Plains

Rikku wasn't scared. No sir! She had spent a week—that was, 7 whole scary dark days and six whole scarier and darker nights—camping right there, and now she was over it. Completely.

- "Hey wait up you guys!" She yelled as she opened back her eyes, only to find out that the rest of the team was already pretty far ahead.

She couldn't stray too much from them. Who would protect them against the thunder if not her? She felt burdened with a mission today.

"Dizzzzzzzzzzzzle." The sound had come from behind her ear, and she jumped, shouting insanities in Al-Bhed. But then a laugh followed, and she uncovered her eyes, only to find Mr. Smartass himself, bursting with laugher. Of course, who else if not him? She stared at him, deeply annoyed. And to top it all off, the responsible of the very bad joke couldn't stop laughing. How much of a creep was he, really? Rikku thought to herself. He had waited behind her a while, enough so that she'd think he was away with the others and all that only for this.

- "That's not funny!" She said as she hit him, so hard he fell to the ground right into a big dirty puddle.

- "Not scared anymore, huh Rikks?" Gippal said, winking at her.

He propped himself up. Well, his butt was soaking-wet, and it was incredibly uncomfortable. But seeing the look on her face just then was worth having his butt wet for at least a year.

- "Can't you ever, like, leave me alone? Honestly, just find yourself someone else to toy with, ok?" She said, clearly upset, and then she left running towards the others. A lightning bolt almost hit her, and she jumped aside, yelling.

Maybe he had gone too far this time. He scratched his head. He had thought it would make her laugh. It usually did, even though he was hard on her. Plus, he didn't want to find someone else to toy with. She was the one he wanted…to tease.

Nooj was awfully quiet. He always was, really, but she could always tell what he was saying, through his gestures and expressions. But he just walked alongside her, his gaze dull. She hadn't meant to spy, but earlier, as they were all talking to their loved ones on the Farplane, Lucil had peeped at her left side. Nooj was all the way in the corner, trying to hide whoever he was seeing with his massive figure. But she had spotted long, blond hair—it could belong to a guy, but that wasn't very likely—and the edge of a long black skirt. And then the image was gone, and Nooj looked in front of him, into nothingness.

Had he chose to send her away? Or had she disappeared because he couldn't remember her? When Lucil tried to summon her mom, seven times out of ten, she -wouldn't appear. She understood the pain. Fewer things were worse than finding out you were in the midst of forgetting the people you had lost. That was why she had wanted to come here. She never had the opportunity of going to Guadosalam, and she needed to practice her memory. The commander didn't want to forget.

She was about to say something, when O'aka sprinted past them.

- "Fiends! Fieeeeeends!"

Yuna looked behind her shoulder, followed by Tidus and Rikku, only to find out that at least five Kusariqqu, three flying Buer and an Iron Giant were chasing them. Gippal briefly looked at O'aka, as he ran past him, annoyed. The guy had, he ignored how, managed to attract half of the fiends living in the Thunder Plains after barely 30 minutes of being here.

They all drew their weapons, getting ready to fight, while O'aka kept running away. How had such a coward managed to survive on his own for so long? Well, he didn't mind, really. He always liked a good fight. And this sure was a challenge worthy of him.

Two of the Kusariqqu were the first to reach them. Rikku ran towards the first and stroke it down with her right dagger, but the second jumped on her, bringing her to the ground. Gippal instantly shot it from afar, and it disappeared in a whirlwind of lights. Yuna healed her with her Curaga, and she was back up, all ready to mingle again. One of the Buer inflicted Confuse on Nooj, who hit himself and fell to the ground, brutally cut by his own blade. Again, Yuna healed him, clearing his mind with Esuna.

All in one movement, Lucil ran, jumped on a third Kusariqqu head, and with her katana, she teared up the Buer responsible for Nooj's state in a powerful scream. It landed on the ground, exploding in a thousand little blue-purple-white lights. She swiftly fell back down, her knee and opposite forearm to the ground, her katana drawn back on her back. Yuna just had the time to cast Shell on her when the angry Kusariqqu opened its dragon mouth to unleash its powerful fire on Lucil. Tidus ran towards it and, aided by his watery sword Brotherhood, cut the fiend head in a nimble move. Just like its Buer ally, it disappeared into oblivion in a firework of pyreflies.

- "We're outnumbered. Come on guys, let's do this!" He yelled as he casted Boostaga on the team, increasing their speed and moral.

Nooj was back in the game. He avoided the huge sword of the Iron Giant, and it felt powerfully on the ground next to him, making it shake. He planted his sword on its belly, but the fiend protected itself with its hands. Nooj moved one of his feet backwards, bringing his hand in front of his glasses, two fingers risen. He closed his eyes for a second, and then ran towards the enemy, casting Armor Break on the Giant. It fell back from the chock, making the ground tremble again. But it quickly got up, angrier than ever, and run back toward its enemy. Lucil appeared almost instantly in front of Nooj, taking the damages for him, like a Sentinel. She casted Drain, stealing the enemy's life to heal herself.

Briefly nodding towards her, he silently thanked her, and they both continued to take care of the Iron Giant, while the others focused on the rest.

O'aka came back, and threw a blinding bomb towards the enemy, but it fell short, and landed on Tidus, who missed his attack on the second Buer. Yuna gave him his sight back, asking O'aka as kindly as she could to move away from the fight.

The two Kusariqqu figured out Yuna had to be eliminated first, as she kept on healing the team. They both raced towards her, and she didn't have time to stop them. She fell to the ground, KO. Rikku and Tidus, in one same movement, threw a Phoenix down her way, followed by an Al-Bhed potion.

- "Don't you faint on us, Yunie!"

- "I won't!"

She bent her knees, drawing her staff like a sword. And when the fourth Kusariqqu attacked again, she avoided its armored body covered in dark scales, and threw the fiend away like a ball of golf; hitting it hard on the soft part of the belly. As it was farther from her, she took advantage of the time she had to cast Flare on the fifth Kusariqqu, which stopped it for a bit, but didn't kill it, as it was magic-resistant.

Tidus, to whom Yuna's KO had given just the push he needed, making him just the right amount of mad, casted his overdrive: he ran across all fiends, hitting hard one after the other. Finally, he jumped and did a backflip, as Yuna threw him a blitzball she had just summoned—they somehow hadn't lost practice from two years ago. It hit the second Buer full on its one big disgusting eye, and it fell backwards in a squeak. As the blond reached the ground, the two Kusariqqu fell simultaneously, overkilled.

Only the Iron Giant and one of the Buer were left alive. Rikku stole a few items as she tried to hit it, but she missed, and the Buer stroke her down with its Confuse Ray. Yuna brought her back to life, just as Gippal was throwing her a Phoenix down. It missed, but Rikku appreciated the gesture, and smiled at him. He winked at her in a silent "you're welcome", and destroyed what was left of the last Buer, reducing it to ashes with the big flaming wheel at the top of his big blade.

Two Haarma, attracted by the sound, came flying towards them. Without blinking, Yuna casted Flare on them, one after the other. Before they could even reach them, they dropped miserably to the ground, overkilled. Gippal whistled, impressed, and all of them rushed to help Nooj and Lucil with the Iron Giant.

It didn't have a lot of HP left, and just as they arrived, Nooj struck it down on a strong ultimate blow.

- "Lalalalaaaa laaa laaa lalilaaaaaa!" Rikku happily sang as she did a little dance, her fist up, her butt swinging from left to right.

The rest of the team glared at her, not understanding what it was she was doing. Nooj had been healed, but he still felt a bit tired, and was leaning a bit on Lucil. Gippal, his huge gun resting on his shoulders, acted as if he was totally fine, but his crisped smile and the fact that he hadn't made fun of Rikku just now meant he was equally as tired. And finally, Yuna was finishing to heal Tidus, who still felt a bit weak.

- "What? We won! Don't you think we deserve a little Victory Fanfare to congratulate us?"

They turned away, almost ignoring her and began chatting about how they should go over to that shelter and rest for a bit. She was about to get mad, but she heard Yuna mentioning that they could have lunch, and she forgot all anger and focused on one happier thought: food!

- "I'm sorry for earlier. You want the rest of my sandwich?" Gippal offered, a genuine smile on his lips.

He sat next to her, and Rikku looked at his face, wary. Was that another joke? Did the sandwich have something poisonous or weird in it? He brought it a bit closer to her mouth, encouraging her to take it. She carefully did, still staring at him, trying to figure him out. She briefly smelled the food before taking a bite. It was very good—tomatoes, melted cheese, nuts, fish—Geosgaeno steak, her favorite!—and all that wrapped in Al-Bhed bread, soft but crunchy.

- "Thanks. And I'm sorry too, you know, for the dance thing at Tromell's place. That was a bit mean", she said, mouth full.

He shrugged, acting too cool for school, when really, he appreciated that she'd apologize. He patted her back, a little bit too strongly, and she almost spitted out her bite. Rikku looked at him, wondering if he had done it on purpose. But he looked away at the stormy sky, suddenly deep in thought. That man was so awkward sometimes. She gave him back his sandwich and took out her own from her bag. Tromell's cook had gently made her one, after she had spent 45 minutes talking about how that chocolate cake tasted like heaven. She cut out a bit of it, and offered it to him.

- "Here, she said. Now we're even."

He was about to grab it, when she took it out of his reach, saying:

- "But don't you ever dare do that to me again, or it won't be just your butt that will come out wet, ok?"

Wait. That didn't sound right. She looked up at the ceiling of their shelter, thinking of what her threat really implied, and trying to find a better one. Gippal, his hand holding up his head, stared at her, amused.

- "I mean…" She started.

- "Message received, Rikks", he said in a laugh. "Now gimme that delicious thing!"

He grabbed the sandwich and ate a huge bite out of it, leaving her with the little piece that was meant for him.

- "Hey! That's my part! Gimme my baby back! Freddy made it for meeheehee!"

O'aka brusquely stood up. He walked until he had everyone in his field of sight, and bowed.

- "Everyone. Please forgive me. You have saved me and that's how I repay you. I am truly sorry."

They looked at each other, perplexed. The man was a disaster, that was true. But he was also a good-hearted person. Yuna was the first one to talk:

- "You're okay, O'aka. But next time, please try not to anger the fiends, ok?"

- "Whatever did happen back there?" Rikku asked.

- "Well…" The famous merchant began, scratching his head. "I saw this weird stone with a Quatuar carved in it. I tried touching it, and it got all shiny. A Quatuar attacked me and it hit a group of sleeping fiends with its 1000 Needle attack."

Well, they thought, it was completely his fault, then. The Quactuars were little bitches, usually.

- "And that's how they woke up?" Lucil asked just to make sure. She felt like it wasn't the whole story

- "Not exactly…" O'aka hesitated, feeling bound to honesty. "I… I may have stepped on a Kusariqqu tail… And… Blinded a Buer, by mistake… It fell out of my bag! It made them slightly angry. But I didn't mean to, I promise."

It was then decided that from now on, O'aka would walk in front of the others at all times. Rikku liked him, though, he had brought a bit of action, and she had forgotten to be scared by the lightning thanks to him.

- "That's AOK O'aks! We'll just have to teach you how to fight!" She added in an encouraging smile.

- "Can't sleep, love?" The voice asked in a Cockney accent.

- "For the love of machinas! O'aka, you scared the living hell out of me!" Rikku gasped, a hand on her heart. Her back found the wall behind her, and she forced herself to breathe.

Indeed, she couldn't sleep, so she figured she would go for a walk around the Inn, maybe go drink some sleeping potion. She felt the wall for the light—thunder powered!—and turn it on. But it wasn't O'aka sitting there.

- "Man! I knew I was getting good with that impression thing!"

Rikku chuckled, shaking her head in amused disbelief. She sat backwards on a chair nearby, her head resting on its back.

- "That your thing, Gippal? Staying up all night to practice your impressions skills?"

- "You betcha!" He said in a dazzling smile. "Do you thing O'aka would have said "love", though? He seems like the kind of guy who'd say "love"." Gippal looked at the celling, deep in thought.

- "Yeah. Yeah I think he would." She agreed, equally reflecting.

Gippal shook his head, and they both chuckled. It was a random thing to be thinking about, yet they found it somewhat interesting.

- "So anyway, what brings you down here?" He asked, distractedly playing with his weapon, tossing the handle from one hand to the other.

- "Too much noise." She answered in a sigh, pointing at the celling. The unceasing thunder echoed her statement, as if provoking her.

And just like that, the power went off. Rikku jumped, for a brief second feeling very much awake. She cursed in Al-Bhed, and Gippal laughed.

He was sitting at the other end of the room, the blue thundery light coming from the window underlining some of his features, like his nose and left cheekbone. His head was a bit turned, and Rikku could only see half his face. He looked down at the celling, clearly bothered by something.

- "You?" She asked, her hand lazily coming to sustain her lazier head. She suppressed a yawn.

- "Same, same." He said, a bit too suddenly.

She studied him for a moment. He had been acting weird ever since they had left Guadosalam. Could he actually be sad? Wow, that would be a first. Mr. Smartass actually displaying emotions.

- "You sure, big boy?" She asked, her second hand coming under her other cheek.

He breathed out a long, powerful sight. Then he slipped his hand through his hair and on his face, giving himself little taps on the cheek.

- "It's a long story."

- "Hey, got all the time in the world, you know." She replied, stretching her two legs from either side of the chair. She knew she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. Plus, she was curious now. And a little worried.

- "Ok. Swear you won't laugh."

- "I solemnly swear!" She said, raising her right hand, her entire head's weight instantly dropping to her other hand, making it tilt in a weird way.

- "I had a nightmare", he said in a grimace, studying her reaction, as if somewhat scared of her.

- "So? I'm not gonna laugh. Nightmares suck ass."

Gippal half-smiled, appreciating her not judging him. He finally looked at her, and she noticed he wasn't wearing his usual eye patch. She tried not to gasp, but she was sure he read some surprise on her face. She quickly erased it, acting like nothing had happened. She wasn't entirely sure because of how dark it was, but she could now guess why he was wearing the black leather strip: he had only one eye. She suppressed a shiver, wondering how that could ever have happened to him.

- "Wanna talk about it?" She asked as carelessly as she could.

- "It was about my parents and my little brother." He shrugged.

She looked at him sadly. His birth parents had died in a machina incident, and his adoptive ones in a Sin attack. Talk about bad luck. And to top that off, his little brother, Kim, and him had been separated from a very young age, and he still wasn't sure where he was. Or even if he was still alive. By then, after everything Gippal had tried to find him, and how famous he was among the Al-Bhed, he could only think that he was either dead, or he didn't want to be found. Rikku didn't dare ask which parents he was talking about. She realized then that he had lost a great deal of people. And although he was pretty popular with girls, he didn't seem to have anyone who deeply cared about him.

It didn't seem to affect him at all, so she had never wondered really. He always looked so indifferent about everything. But of course it was just an act. How could she have missed that? She mentally kicked herself. Rikku decided that from now on, she was going to cut him a lot of slack, he deserved it. Gippal looked at her then, and she tried to mentally send him all her empathy and affection in one gaze. Not even the thunder made her blink.

- "You know…" She started.

- "Shhhh!" He said, listening at something.

Well that was rude! She was about to get mad when she heard it too. In between thunders, this fleeting noise, like the wind carrying something at a high speed. They weren't sure why, but with one quick glance at each other, they both knew whoever or whatever that was, it was not friendly. Gippal, a finger on his lips, gestured for Rikku to come near him. He went to hide behind the bar and grabbed her arm, pulling her close to him. Just in time.

Slowly, the door of the Inn opened in a creaking noise. Two shadows came in, and Rikku was about to gasp when Gippal put a hand on her mouth. He was hunkered down behind her, and both were trying to see what was happening from the right side of the bar. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't see their silhouettes. The shadows drew two massive swords that seemed to hang up in the air. Under the surprise's influence, Rikku's hands came rushing on her mouth, settling for squeezing Gippal's hand still covering it.

- "Are you sure he's here?"

- "What do I know? The people in Guadosalam said they saw someone who fitted the description coming that way. He probably stopped here for the night."

Rikku silently turned to face Gippal, pulling out his hand from her mouth. She mouthed "O'aka?" and he nodded gravely, agreeing with her. He eyed his weapon that he had stupidly left on the chair nearby. If he could only stretch out his arm…

- "You heard that?" One of the voice, probably of a man, asked his partner.

Rikku looked at him reprehensibly. He had moved a few items from behind the counter by trying to reach for his sword. Thankfully, the storm kept raging on, and he took advantage of the noise to grab it.

- "That's just the thunder, you paranoid twat." The other voice replied, definitely more high-pitched. "Ok, you go look at room number 1 to 10 and I'll do the rest, ok?"

- "Erm… Don't you fancy a little tea first? I'm cold and tired and I need a break from all that running. We have all night, anyway."

The higher voice sighed, but seemed to agree, since they heard footsteps, almost as light as the air, coming towards the bar. Rikku's eyes opened wide, and she repetitively hit Gippal's arm to both warn him and work off her nerves. Just when she thought he was about to draw his sword, he dragged her under a trapdoor.

They arrived in a teeny tiny compartment and she threw him a questioned look. Where were they?

- "I used to work here." He shrugged, explaining why he knew about this place.

They could stand up, but the room was so small their bodies were forced to be in contact. Rikku looked away, suddenly very uncomfortable. Why weren't they attacking them already? Gippal gulped, his mouth suddenly dry. Rikku was wearing a small t-shirt and shorts, and she was pressed against him. Her breath was blowing down his neck, leaving ghostly kisses and goosebumps on his skin. He closed his eyes, trying to focus.

- "What do we do?" He whispered on her ear. His breath was warm, tinkling her earlobe. She shivered, surprised by his effect on her. We can't even see them.

She closed her eyes, trying to focus. And when the blond finally looked up at him, what she had suspected earlier was confirmed: a reddish scar traveled in waves across where his right eye used to be. He flinched under her gaze, his brows furrowing. He was about to hide it with one of his hand, but she stopped him, grabbing it. It didn't bother her. He still looked incredibly attractive, with his green eye intensively fixing her, his thin, straight nose and his enticing lips, half open now, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't. Butterflies grew in her stomach as she remembered how they tasted like. He moved a tad closer, drawn to her. They both seemed drunk on the other, in this close, warm space.

- "What are we to do with him once we found him?" A voice upstairs said.

She mentally kicked herself as she came back to reality. This was definitely not the time to be having a moment. He cleared his throat, embarrassed. She let go of his hand and they both stood there, listening close.

- "We'll take him to The Boss. He asked for him alive. And that won't be pretty."

Rikku looked at him. Poor O'aka, he sure had fallen onto a big mess. And now they had to get him out of it.

Rikku looked around them. The walls were full of shelves packed with diverse objects. Maybe some could be of use to them. She grabbed a greenish grenade. A smoke grenade, perfect. It would probably help them see the enemy. She took a few potions as well, just in case, and stuffed them in her pockets, handing some to him.

- "We should go back. We can take them."

He sighed, reluctantly agreeing. Rikku contorted herself to move pass Gippal—was she trying to kill him? He thought as she rubbed against his legs. She climbed the little ladder and opened slightly the trapdoor, Gippal on her back. They weren't behind the bar anymore. Or at least they didn't appear to be. Carefully, she got out of the little room and sighed as silently as she could. Man, she was hot right now. Gippal followed. He gestured for her to stay down here, as she didn't have her weapons with her. She shook her head, bringing her hands into fists. He rolled his eyes. No way she'd listen, so why bother?

They walked like toddlers until they reached the left end of the bar. Gippal looked at her, counting on his fingers: 1…2…And…

3! She threw the grenade and they both jumped, expecting to see the two shadows sitting by the table. But no one was there. The grenade quickly dispersed, and all they saw were two cups of steaming tea left on the table, only mark of the spies' presence. They looked at each other, intrigued. A sharp pain rose in Gippal's neck, and he fell down to the ground.

- "Gippal!"

Rikku jumped, turning over. No one still. Ugh, those two were seriously pissing her off now! She grabbed a potion from her pocket and broke it on Gippal.

- "What? Who? Where?" He bolted, as if just awoken by a bucket of cold water.

- "Stop being such cowards and show yourselves!" Rikku yelled, growing angrier by the minute.

She heard it again, a flicker of movement. So, in one quick move, she seized an empty glass bottle on the counter, smashed it partly and brought it in front of her, just as the shadow appeared in front of her. Like drops of ink falling on a blank piece of paper, the silhouette finally appeared from her contact with it. It stopped abruptly, breathing heavily from the shock. Gippal, hearing the same meager noise, did the same with his big sword, stopping the second shadow's blade only inches from his neck, just as the silhouette grew visible to the naked eye. Gippal kicked it out of the intruder's hand aided by his weapon. It dropped to the ground in a piercing metal noise.

Suddenly, they had them both overpowered. Rikku grabbed the braid of what she guessed was a girl, making her spin to immobilize both her arms, while Gippal caught the neck of the second, just as he was trying to disappear again. He knocked him out with the handle of sword. They didn't need the two of them conscious, anyway.

Both the intruders were wearing complete black uniforms, a mask covering their faces, with only two holes for their eyes, and one for their mouths.

- "Who send you?" Rikku asked, putting some pressure on the woman's neck with the broken bottle. "I'm not going to ask twice."

- "A man you should pray you'll never met", she answered, distilling all the horror she could in her voice.

- "Wow, scary stuff. Did you practice that sentence in a mirror or something?" Gippal sarcastically said, failing to be impressed.

- "You have no idea what's coming, fool!"

Rikku made her spin again, so she was directly looking into her enraged eyes:

- "Now you listen to me, and you listen close. You go run back to your little boss, and you tell him that two legendary guardians and the high Summoner who defeated Sin forever, two ex-members of the Crimson Squad and an ex Crusader are waiting to kick his little bitch ass."

She turned her head towards Gippal:

- "Anything to add?"

- "No, no I think you said it all." He replied with an impressed upside-down smile, both his palms up.

- "Alright. I'm going to release you now. You grab your little partner and you get the hell out of here. And you better hope we never see either of you again. We won't be as merciful next time. Are we clear?"

The woman nodded, grimacing under the fierce grasp of Rikku. She let her go, and the intruder fell to the ground. She grabbed her companion by both his arms and disappeared with him. Rikku imagined her running off into the night like a scared kitty, its tail between its legs.

- "What?" She snapped at Gippal who hadn't stopped looking at her. She knew he was hitching to make fun of her, so he might as well get on with it.

- "I'm just… So turned on right now." He let out, bewildered.

She punched his arm, and she burst into laughter, letting the steam out. He followed, falling back into a chair behind him.

- "Maaan." He said, his hands over his face. "That was intense. Where do those creepy disappearing people come from?"

Rikku shrugged and shook her head, equally worried. They had to tell the others about this.

As they went back to their rooms, Gippal stopped in front of her, leaning the side of his body against her doorframe:

- "Can I sleep with you? You know, I might have another nightmare…" He said with his best puppy dog eye look.

- "Good night, Gippal." She said, rolling her eyes at him. But he noticed she was trying to suppress a smile.

And she slammed the door in his face.

- "'Night partner!" He yelled across the door.

Progress, he thought as he nodded for himself, going back to his room. Progress.

On the next day, the team walked slowly, wary of ever noise. Knowing the enemy could be anywhere without them seeing it made it very nerve-racking for everyone. And adding that to the fact that the thunder kept falling at their feet, threatening and growling, they all couldn't wait to get out of here.

Yuna and Tidus were walking ahead, hand in hand. They seemed to have no problem stating loud and clear their relationship anymore. Rikku was glad! She was walking with Gippal, who hadn't said much to her since they awoke. The memory of their bodies clasped together appeared in her mind, and she shook her head, shaking the memory away. Gippal threw her a look, amused. He would have given everything to know what she was thinking. Although he hoped he could guess.

O'aka followed, too scared to open the march. He kept a low profile with them, especially since Rikku and Gippal had told the team about their little encounter last night. He shivered, not wanting to think what would have happened if they hadn't been awake at that time. He would probably be at the horrifying man's lair by now. He had decided: he was done with doing business with anyone for a long while. Digging at Bikanel didn't seem so bad.

Nooj and Lucil closed the march, often turning back to make sure they didn't catch anything abnormal.

No one talked, really. They had decided they would stop in Macalania's woods to evaluate the situation and come up with a plan.