Yuna remembers hitting every single target the last few training sessions. She had started to become a bit more of a bullseye kind of girl with her 'Tiny Bee'. But that confidence quickly dissipated with this next training sequence. Targets are not only moving rather erratically, but this time around there are a bit more distraction thrown at her and the point of the sessions is to not hit any of the 'distractions' for they represent an innocent bystander of some sort. The trigger happy technique wouldn't bode so well if she hits one of the forbidden targets; that and in a real life situation she can't afford to have an innocent getting hurt on her conscience. She is after all the High Summoner that brought upon the Eternal Calm; hurting innocent people isn't her style.

"Good Yuna! Two more to go!"

Shinra is in charge of her indoor training by the use of virtual reality simulations. He cheers on rather confidently despite Yuna noticing that time isn't as promising as the last few days. With a quick flick on her gun's switch, Yuna aims at a certain angle, hoping to get the all the intended target with this trick.

"Slow. Focus. Aim." The targets are still swaying in a non-coherent pattern. Their speed is agitating to the eye. Their movements always seems to steer close to the forbidden targets and the timer isn't getting any better. With that, Yuna's patience slightly loses its wage and she pulls the trigger hoping to get the result she had pictured. "Oh no!"

Getting trigger happy was indeed effective in thought, but for hitting the last targets, Yuna sacrificed one of the 'bystanders' and in a time that isn't exactly to her liking. With that said, the training sequence ended and once again the training room shifts back to the rather mundane and storage room that is no longer decorated by the virtual simulation.

"Considering the situation, you didn't do too bad, Yuna."

The next voice wasn't Shinra but their other crew member, Buddy. Despite his rather cheerful tone to the training sequence, Yuna still feels that she failed, that said feeling is apparent through her body language as she puts her guns on their holsters. Taking a deep breath, Yuna nods and walks towards them; her boots echoing with every step and acting like another melodrama to her 'defeated' mindset.

"I should've been able to save all of them." Predictable words which got Shinra and Buddy to stare at each other for a brief moment. "I need to practice more."

"Being a Gunner is new to you, Yuna. Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Buddy's right. Besides, you won't really get the full result of your training until you and Rikku go out into the field and take down some fiends."

"As good as Rikku is with her blades, she isn't a bad shot," Buddy chimes in. "But you won't see her using pistols. She usually handles rifles like a typical Al Bhed."

Still concentrated on her failed endeavor, Yuna looks down for a few moments and soaks in the two Al Bheds' words of wisdom and encouragement. Being cheerful as of late isn't her best skill set since Tidus remains prominent in her mind; sacrificing the one person she loves for the sake of the world… With that, her thoughts immediately shoot to the lack of Rikku's jovial attitude.

"Where has Rikku been?" While the two Al Bhed started to tangent of to talk of fire arms while Yuna got lost in her thought, her straight forward question got their attention back to her real quickly.

"The Sphere I located is probably keeping her busy."

"When was the last time she checked in?"

"We should ask Brother."

"Last I checked I only heard snoring."

Both Buddy and Yuna give the same appalled expression as they stare at each other before reverting their glance back at Shinra.

"He's SLEEPING while piloting the Celsius?!"

"Oh don't worry! I installed an auto pilot sequence."

"Oh good. Brother has more time to harass us about doing our job since he doesn't have to do the one thing that he HAS to do."

Still being fairly new to the team, Yuna has very little idea of who does what. From what she has surmised, Brother is the main pilot and he usually stays inside the ship. Rikku and Paine are usually on the field, which is why Rikku isn't training with her right now. Though the time between when she last contacted her has been longer than what she would like. Seeing her worry herself, Shinra immediately turns on the training simulator.

"I'm sure Rikku will check in as soon as she finds something, in the mean time, let's get you some better scores so you can actually go out there with her."

"Oh… um… yeah."

A slight smirk comes out of Shinra; the only part of his face is seen through his attire is his lips so Yuna can always catch his expression. She herself nods and slightly smiles as she takes out her Tiny Bees. With that, Buddy steps out of the training vicinity as the virtual targets starts to emerge from the simulation. As Yuna prepares herself for another round, she can't help but wonder how her cousin is doing at the moment. While she knows that Rikku is more than capable of handling herself, Yuna can't help but have this 'feeling' inside of her that tells her that something is amiss. That thought is slightly pushed back as the virtual targets starts to dance in front of her to state that the training has officially begun.

For almost the twentieth time in the duration she has spent riding with Gippal, Rikku's hair falls on her face again as they dance rather exuberantly with the hot wind blowing on her face. While at most times she merely depends on the said wind to get it out of her face but at the times it becomes too out of control, which happens too often with the way she has her hair styled, she uses her hands to get them out of the way. On instinct she tries to reach out brush her hair out of the way, however she is always reminded that her hands tied tightly behind her. She squirms her hands for a moment, fingers naturally wriggling, trying to find some sort of comfort in their forced position behind her back. Then of course the awkward feeling that her hands are grazing Gippal somewhere as he sits behind her while maneuvering the desert mobile. Stuck in between his arms and forced to lean on him as the two of them sit on the vehicle, Rikku wants nothing more than to get out of the ropes that are holding her hands hostage. Though that would be the first problem, the next is finding a way to get her ankles unstrapped from both sides of the machine. Basically, she is forced to sit on it for more than one reason.

"Watch your hand there little girl!" Gippal yells as loud as he can through the blaring wind. "You don't stop squirming, and you might graze an area that I don't think you should be touching at your age!"

Gippal's voice didn't have a hard time carrying over since his mouth is practically hover over Rikku's left ear as he looks over her shorter stature while driving. Again, the position she is in put in draws up more than enough awkward and agitating situations. Though Rikku can more than capsulize that it is on Gippal's doing that these said situations occur.

"Where the hell are you taking me?!"

"I'm surprised you haven't asked 'are we there yet' the whole entire time!"

As close range as they are, Rikku uses her elbows to nudge at Gippal, the sharp angle of her bones still having the proper affect despite the awkwardness of the action and the position of her arms. Gippal lets out a grunt and slightly swerves from the shock of the small action.

"You do know the rule about NOT messing with the driver, right?" As Gippal says that, one of his soldiers who are also on their own sand mobile speeds up so that he would be riding side by side with them. The obvious ploy of intimidation definitely prominent. "That and all that squirming around with your hands is making me think that you want to get away from our little road trip! That's not what you're trying to do, is it?"

With a growl, Rikku looks over her shoulder so that she would be able to get a glare at Gippal's eye.

"Where the hell are you taking me?" Her eyes still burning with anger.

"Shame you have a bad sense of direction when it comes to your own peoples' land," A few of Gippal's soldiers passes them while a couple still remain relatively close. "Otherwise you would be able to tell where I'm taking you for our second date. Maybe you've spent too much time with non Al Bhed people?"

The words that came out of his mouth did nothing to abate her anger or her frustration at this situation. Taking a deep breath, she looks forward, somewhat giving in at her situation for the moment. As it is there really isn't much for her to do to help her situation. As for right now, she is along for the ride. And the ride on its own remained as uneventful as it could be as contact between the two remained sparse. Once in a while Gippal would have a smart aleck comment or some kind of off the wall 'ice breaker' questions that Rikku ignored the whole time. Her attention still fixated on the route and she tried her best not to work on her binds since that would most likely get Gippal to retie them tighter. If she is to get herself out of this mess, she would need EVERY inch of progress intact and so far, she has gained very little but what she was hoping is that all her effort would count for something.

"Home sweet home," Eventually the vision of what seems to be an Al Bhed campsite caught her eyes along with Gippal's words. "Well, it will be your sweet home for a bit until we can get things situated."

Rikku tilts her head as it to catch a glance or perhaps to let Gippal know her displeasure through her glare. His face however is a bit stoic and she could only wonder what does 'situated' really means. As the destination gets closer and closer, Rikku starts to become more attentive of her surroundings and perhaps pick and choose choices on her escape. The entrance itself is heavily guarded for a campsite with a wall that is obviously made within a short amount of time. Barricaded and defensive Machinas installed, Rikku can also point out more than enough heavily armed Al Bheds patrolling on top of the walls. There are a two towers that could very well have snipers and/or watchmen, and Rikku hasn't even taken into consideration that as Gippal's vehicle slows down, two well built Al Bhed stands guards at the door with firearms ready. Rikku makes no eye contact with them as Gippal merely gives a head gesture towards her. Seems that they have been expecting her arrival and in this position, so with that, they stand back and allowed Gippal's vehicle in. Rikku can feel her heart beat faster as her fate seems to be getting closer to unveiling. Whatever plans are set for her, it is obvious that the kidnapping is going to get attention so whoever Gippal works for is prepared. Judging from the small army occupying this campsite, Rikku can feel that this faction of Al Bhed is among the ones that her father Cid does not have the highest respect for and vice versa. Though she always thought Gippal and his father had a good rapport with her father; she thought wrong apparently.

"Alright little one," The vehicle finally stops once they are deeper into the campsite. The tent they stopped in front of seems to have guards outside which most likely means this will be her place of captivity. "Let's see if we can get you comfortable."

The idea of comfortable to Gippal in regards to Rikku's predicament doesn't spell solace. In fact from what she can gather, she will be in far more discomfort than she would like. As Gippal eases himself off the vehicle, Rikku finally gets the breathing space that she has been longing, however that doesn't last long as he is upon her again, now crouching down, working on the straps on her ankles that are keeping her pretty secured on the vehicle. As soon as it loosens, she feels the wrinkles on her blue and white boots ease off and they start to take their usual 'lax' form. Walking over to her other leg, Gippal does the exact same thing and again Rikku can feel the movement of her legs unhindered. The whole time he was unstrapping her legs, Rikku kept her eyes on her daggers still sheathed on his belt. Though she has lost sight of the one who has her items and garment grid, gaining her daggers back would prove a bit more promising than being bare handed. Though the idea of being in an almost fortress campsite filled with heavily armed men, the fact that she is outnumbered and practically in the open, and the fact that her hands are still tautly tied behind her, Rikku could hold off on impulsive 'show them what you got' tactic. Besides, if she wanted to be that reckless, earlier would've been a bit more prudent when she had ALL of her belongings. As of right now, she is as Gippal has her: a somewhat compliant captive.

Gippal's grip on her arm is now reaffirmed which gets Rikku to ease off the vehicle in a somewhat rough manner. Though he could be a bit more aggressive so she is thankful he gives her enough time to catch her steps and her balance since it is a bit odd getting off such a mobile without the usual mobility of her hands. Leading her to the obvious holding tent, Rikku again scans every bit of detail as much as she can trying to find something that she could perhaps use to her advantage; again not gaining any new knowledge that she didn't observe from earlier on. Passing the two guards and into the tent, Rikku is now ushered, stumbling a bit forward while Gippal closes the tent behind them. It is at that moment that Rikku is able to observe what would most likely be her 'place' of rest for however long she will be detained; or at least how long they can detain her until she escapes. Naturally, it is a tent of mundane features with no real furniture to keep one comfortable or anything that could aid her to loosen her bonds.

"You still haven't told me what the hell you want from me." Rikku turns around finally breaking the more than awkward silence. The defiant glare burning right through Gippal.

"I'm just the delivery guy, Rikku," Grabbing her by her arm again, Gippal pulls her towards the other side of the tent away from the entrance. Of course the rather abrupt manner he did elicited a squeal from Rikku and a bit of an instinctive fight. "Not my place to say what's going on. Nor do I want to."

There was a slight pause in movement after Gippal's last statement that evokes a raised brow on Rikku's expression. A bit curious as to why there was a slight change in Gippal's gesture and his expression altogether.

"Gi- HEY!"

Though that curiosity fades away real quickly and reverts back to pure anger when Gippal forces her to sit on her butt rather painfully. Finding her back leaning on the frame of the tent, Rikku can then feel Gippal grabbing her ankles and forcing them together and before long, the same rope that keeps her hands hostage are being looped around her ankles. Again his rope work in play as he wraps them around the form of her boots, constantly pulling to make sure the said rope held tight. Rikku lets out grunts of discomfort through the process as she can feel the leather of her footwear starts to distort from the constriction. With one final pull and an unreachable knot, Rikku's legs are securely tied together. A small movement on Rikku's part causes the rope to further wrinkle the material of her boots which of course is a sign that her bondage will not be an easy thing to undo with the discomfort it already provides; Both her hands and feet alike.

"You're not going to be loud are you?"

Having her attention focused on her new binds for the past few moments, Rikku was a bit oblivious that Gippal had pulled out a black cloth in his hand and tied a knot in the middle. Now that she notices it, she cringes and of course her glare burns even further through him.

"You're not putting that in my mouth." Rikku clench her lips together, trying her best to seal them shut, trying her best to delay the inevitable.

"Who am I kidding, you're going to be loud," Gippal leans closer getting ready to gag Rikku. Her response is nothing short of anger as she shrivels away as best as she can given the circumstance of her position. "Come on, Rikku. You can make this easier on yourself you know. At least I'm not stuffing anything in your mouth or tie you up to a more fun position."

Rikku's little defiance stops almost instantaneously with those words. Though being gagged isn't exactly something Rikku wanted to happen, the thought of things could be worse is far more of a incriminating picture so with a heavy sigh between her sealed lips, Rikku becomes stark still as she opens her mouth, making things easy for Gippal to apply the gag; Of course her glare remaining as vehement as possible.

"Of course this won't mute you completely since we both know how loud you can be," Placing the knot between her teeth, Gippal then proceeds to tie the gag behind her head, pushing her downwards a bit. The ruffling of her disheveled braided hair echoing in the tense air. "But I'm sure this will make it a bit difficult for you to be totally as mouthy as you usually are."

"Ffuhnu ufh mnuhg!"

The cloth digs into the corners of her mouth rather aggravatingly as Gippal finishes the last pull for the knot with some of her hair being trapped with the black cloth. And while it doesn't silence her completely, it does serve to be as annoying as Gippal had stated so her screaming and letting out her complaints won't be as easy as she would like. Pushing her head back, of course he is met with Rikku's unhappy expression; her spiral green eyes almost flickering with rage as he still keeps the same sardonic look on his face.

"Look, behave and this might not be as bad as it seems. Cause some problems, and well, I can't say that I can be of any use to you."

Petting her head like she was some pet further ignites her rage and of course even her flinching away does nothing to deter him from doing the degrading gesture. Biting down on the knot between her lips, Rikku narrows her eyes even further and decides to let out some nonsense through her gag.

"Uh funuuuh Gmpfpfuhn! Whnn Uh gnf uuf uf fhmf fmfuuhfmun M'm gumng fu muhgn fuuhn fuuhf ufh'nn fhn unuuuhmng FWU nunpfuhffhnf! Ufh MNUG ufh uun'f gnf uhuuhu umfh fhmf!"

Shrugging his shoulders, Gippal stands up and makes his exit, opening the tent and closing it quickly cutting off the bright light from outside rather abruptly. Alone, bound, and gagged, Rikku's temper starts to shuffle through the events of the day that led her to this moment and in frustration, Rikku starts to struggle wildly against her binds. Pulling, twisting her wrists, kicking her bound legs, shaking her head in every known direction, and fruitlessly and frivolously struggling. It took a few moments before the depletion of her energy catches up to her. With that, Rikku lets out a sigh through her knotted cleave gag and leans her back on the tent wall. Chest heaving as she takes in every air that she can, Rikku knows that she has to do this tactfully if she is to get out. Bringing her knees closer to get a bit more of a stable posture that was lost through her struggling, Rikku can't help but feel one of her foot somewhat budging from the confines of her boot. Not much but as she wiggles her toes, Rikku couldn't help but wonder. Perhaps …

To Be Continued….