Rikku felt her freedom slipped away as each cord encircles her body. First it was her wrists being bound behind her with far more cruelty. Her arms are now positioned so that both elbows would be perpendicular with the said rope keeping them in their 'boxed' position. To further ensure that her arms won't find any purchase in the bondage, more ropes are added around them, wrapping around her triceps and underneath her breasts, trapping her arms to her upper body. Some of the ropes the Al Bhed bound her with are erratically wrapping about her naval making breathing a bit more of a task. They took glory in her discomfort and soon they got tired of her protests; a wad of cloth was once again stuffed inside her mouth and her own scarf is the one used to keep the stuffing in. Gagging her was also done with no sense of mercy as they pull as tight as they can, letting the texture of her scarf dig painfully on the corners of her mouth, forcing a painful grimace upon her face, and letting her muffled protests echo as they pull the final knot of her new gag.

Once her upper body and voice were subdued, the Al Bhed moved on to her legs and starting at her knees. Again the rope work held no sense of pattern or aesthetics. They merely applied the ropes to restrain and restrain it did. Soon Rikku's knees are firmly forced together and in the standing position she was in, keeping her balance became a task and the Al Bhed who were her current hosts took pleasure in her inability to even keep a standing position at bay. Eventually her balance gave in and after straining to keep herself upright, Rikku found herself toppling over and falling on her front.

"UUUUMMMMM! UUU BUFFUUUF!"

Rikku cried out in pain yet she was met with more laughter from her painful protests. Laughter and more hands upon her, this time they started to bind her ankles together, cinching with the same rough manner, ensuring that her little stunt from earlier would not happen again. Her leather boots digging into her skin as they finally give her ankle binds its final knot.

"This one's a slippery one!" One of them stated as he patted Rikku in the head, which of course she tried to flinch away from his touch while letting off a growl through her cleave.

"Then we'll make sure she doesn't slip a whole lot!"

As if her feet tightly lashed together wasn't enough to keep her immobile, the Al Bhed took one last final precaution by bending her legs back to her behind; despite her efforts of struggling against their act, there really wasn't much she could do so suffice to say she was helpless against them as they took another strand of rope added another piece to her ankle binds which didn't do much to reinforce her already tight bondage but it was more the piece that would bind her ankles to her upper body rope in a very constricting hogtie position. Out of instinct, Rikku tried to straighten her legs out again and found out that the effort was only detrimental to her as she felt the ropes shift against her skin that caused her to groan through her gag. Again she received laughter and more taunting as a response to her discomfort.

Leaving her in her current predicament, Rikku remained as cooperative as she did so that Yuna would remain unharmed. She could've fought, in fact with how things look right now perhaps she should've but it's about Yuna's safety. No harm should come to the High Summoner who brought the Eternal Calm to Spira; Farplane forbid that if she is to do something asinine that would endanger Yuna it would be the end of the world.

"NNF UUNU GU UMGHF NUM!" Rikku screams from the top of her lungs despite the gag. "NNF HNU GUUUU! MHUFNUNU MF MF UUU MUNF MN FU UU M'NN UU!"

She continues to scream; despite the gag, Rikku's muffled protests can be heard outside her tent where Gippal stands, fighting his best not to enter. He would've a long time ago if it wasn't direct order from his father not to. Despite him knowing just how much devious certain areas of the plans were, he wasn't that aware that it would come to this.

"Gippal," Any ideas he had to going inside immediately evaporates the moment he hears Judas' voice. Posturing himself to a professional stance, Gippal turns around to meet his father's gaze who is standing right behind him. "We captured this girl because she has a purpose. Because she can get us something that no other Al Bhed can apparently. Are we regretting that decision now?"

"N-No… father…"

"I'm more than aware that you and her had enough times in the oasis. In fact, I remember that day you lost an eye saving her from a Cactuar," Gippal can still remember the pain of the needles striking him in the said eye which is now covered by a patch. "Such a bloody mess when you came home and all she had to say was 'I'm so sorry, Gippal', and despite the agony, you said 'it's okay, I'll see you later'. Young romance?"

Gippal turns his gaze to the side trying not to convey what his father already knows. Judas tilts his head so that he would be able to catch his son's expression; the patched side was the only thing Judas can truly get but he lets out a chuckle at the obvious reaction to his question.

"Go back to your tent, Gippal. And makes sure that you don't let your carelessness be the vibes around this place. We are soldiers, Gippal. We are NOT going to be like this girl's and her father's faction of Al Bhed!"

A reluctant nod is all that Gippal could do. With a quick glance of his father's stern expression, Gippal walks pass him to do what he is ordered to do, after all there are a whole lot more to prepare. Judas takes a few moments to follow his son's not so promising posture as he walks towards his tent. A myriad of thoughts crosses his head but he knows that acting now wouldn't be the best thing to do. With that said Judas turns towards the tent and opens the door. Visual wise, Judas is first introduced to the carcass of the Al Bheds that were slain by Rikku. Stopping instantly after he entered the tent, Judas takes a few moments to study the dead who are a few feet apart; both lives are taken by an obvious shot to the head. Though Judas can tell that the one deeper inside the tent was shot while lying down on the ground due to the blood splattered on the ground originating from the carcass.

"HNU UUU MNUG! M'M UMGHF HNUN!"

Rikku's movements ceased to be the moment she saw Judas enter the tent. The cold shiver in her spine kept her from screaming for a few moments but as soon as she realized that he wasn't paying attention to her and more on the dead Al Bhed she immediately felt disrespected even more so than she already is; with that said she couldn't stay quiet for much longer so she starts to lets out her thoughts in the form of muffles due to the gag. To her dismay however, Judas doesn't give her his attention, instead he raises his hand as if to tell her 'one moment' in a silent way. Narrowing her eyes and biting on her gag, Rikku lets out a growl and wiggles a bit in her tight hogtie.

"You accompanied Yuna as a guardian despite the fact that she followed Yevon's teachings," Even as he spoke, his eyes remains in the dead Al Bhed who Rikku killed while he was unconscious. "You were the youngest in the group. You were the most jovial, the bright moment-type-of-person despite how morbid the situation was. You knew Yuna would die if she proceeded with the pilgrimage. You went against your own peoples' wishes."

The tone and the words more than implies that there is some kind of hostility with Rikku's decisions from nearly two years ago. Al Bhed aren't known to be the most social when the Pilgrimage was a normal occurrence and for an Al Bhed to side with a Summoner in such an endeavor despite family relations would be considered worthy of exile. Cid was still the prominent figure of the Al Bhed so Rikku was able to pull herself in within the Pilgrimage without any serious consequences. The events of Yuna and her Guardians' decisions came to pass and Rikku was considered a hero among her people despite her clandestine ruse of betraying her people; most Al Bhed accepted her action as a means to a better end since the Eternal Calm was the result. Though for some, it seems that the Al Bheds' ways wasn't supposed to be disregarded no matter what the intention. Judas may be making his stand in regards to what Rikku did.

"MN FUUNU NUNUUUNN! FMN MF NUF FUMMNG BUFG!"

"The world is a better place," Judas runs his gloved hands through his slicked back hair and momentarily fiddles with his ponytail. "We have an Eternal Calm and our people are now holding hand and hand with Guados, Ronsos, Hypellos, and every other race of Spira! Such a glorious outcome!"

By now Judas' eyes are now upon Rikku and with a slight smirk across his face, he starts to walk towards her. Unable to stop herself, Rikku whimpers under her gag as she finds herself staring into his cold spiral green eyes as he crouches in front of her. Flinching as his hand reaches for her, she is unable to prevent him from running his fingers through her disheveled locks.

"F-Fnuufh….. n-nf…. hnuh gu…"

"Oh Rikku, you played your part in that Pilgrimage. You acted as Yuna's little cheerleader, constantly having such a ditsy-friendly vibe to you!"

"UUUUMMMM!" The condescending petting becomes an abrupt pull on her hair.

"But you have been lying to all of them, Rikku. You're not that friendly little ditzy girl that you sell yourself to be."

"Muuhf… uuuhn ufh FUNGMNG uhfhuuf?! Nupfh mn… NNF GU! Ufh'uhn… huuhfmng mn!"

"Look at me, Rikku," In her hogtied position, Rikku can't do much to show her defiance except turn her head away. But Judas cups her chin with his index and thumb in a pincer like grip and forces her to keep her gaze with him. Rikku's only solace in this humiliating position is the fact that she no longer feels the pain of him tugging on her hair. "There. That's better. I want to see the eyes of a murderer who pretends she is an innocent oblivious girl."

If Judas' fingers weren't keeping her head still Rikku probably would've kept her gaze despite the discomfort of her position because of the one word he used to describe her: murderer. Mewling under her gag and biting the form of her scarf, Rikku tries to express the need for elaboration, which Judas caught despite the unintelligible sounds.

"There's only two in this tent right now but we both know you killed many more in just those mere minutes of freedom. I could get a head count, but I think I'd rather keep that fact a mystery since it pains me to know that one of us is pretending to be so sweet and innocent when in truth she is nothing but a cold blooded killer."

"M'm… nuf…uh funu fhnuuunu gmnnnuh…"

"To deny it, Rikku, is to only prove me right. The Al Bhed is not your priority. Never have been." Judas finally releases his grip on her and stands up; his eyes never leaving Rikku's even as he stares down on her and making her feel even more insignificant. "Now I'm going to give you a chance to do something for your people again, you may be a cold blooded killer but you are also pretty knowledgeable with things that are foreign to the Al Bhed. Something similar to the Cloister of Trials is getting in the way of our exhibition. You've seen those before, haven't you?"

Despite the vague information, Rikku's even more compelled to listen. If a Cloister of trials is something that is present in an Al Bhed exhibition then it must mean it is archaic and perhaps could have tremendous significance; or for this case it can have detrimental possibilities considering who is demanding the help. Of course the whole notion of redemption for the people of Al Bhed doesn't bode well with Rikku either. Blinking a few times, Rikku looks down for a moment and instinctively wiggles and letting out a few disgruntled groans through her scarf. She does remember some of the trials presented when going through the Pilgrimage. Macalania Temple provided its own Cloister as well as a dilemma that involved an intense run in with Seymour and SIN; in that sense Rikku remembers the trials well enough.

"Oh but I can tell from all your grunts that you aren't ready to jump on the bandwagon and help your own people just yet."

With eyes widening once again, Rikku shoots her attention towards Judas. It could be that he is merely taunting her with such a statement.

"Muuhf?!"

"I know my words won't do much despite hanging the pride of your own people in front of you. But I do know someone who can perhaps who can convince you," Judas snaps his fingers. "She is after all the High Summoner; who would be the better mediator of words than the one who brought the Eternal Calm to our troubled planet!"

To Rikku, it's no surprise that even someone like Judas would speak of Yuna's accomplishments despite having some sarcasm in his words. A sarcastic barb that still pays homage to what Rikku's cousin accomplished is exactly what Rikku doesn't needs right now. Regardless, Rikku veers her attention to the sound of a muffled complaint and some shuffling that comes from the entrance. In mere moments, one of Judas' Al Bhed escorts Yuna into the tent.

"UUNMN!" Rikku cries out to her cousin while tugging on her hogtie. "Uunmn! Uuhn ufh uguhu?!"

"Hummu! Unn uh umuhu?!" Yuna pleads through the cloth tied over her mouth as she tries to run to Rikku's side. Of course with her arm still in the grasp of the Al Bhed, Yuna gets nowhere. "Uh uuh hu uunnunm!"

Yuna tries one more time to run towards Rikku but the Al Bhed pulls her back in causing her to yelp and nearly stumbling to her butt. As soon as she regains her balance, Yuna glares at her captor and lets out a few incoherent complaints.

"Ah so it is true what they say about the High Summoner," Judas walks over to Yuna and pats her cheek. "When seeing someone she cares about in peril she becomes rather feisty. Odd, she looks so fragile."

Rikku hasn't seen Yuna's angry side a whole lot, in fact this can be considered as one of the first few times that Rikku can honestly say that she has seen it. It's a strange thing to witness since Judas is right, Yuna has a fragility to her that makes her somewhat easy to manipulate, but beyond all that, Yuna also so has an enduring quality and a 'I'll do anything to protect everyone' attitude that makes her more than adequate for the role of Spira's savior. To protect her own cousin, Rikku would guess that Yuna would do or say anything to abide by Judas' demands. But of course Rikku is aware that Judas would use Yuna as an insurance against as well to get Rikku to do everything that he needs her to do. How would it look if the Al Bhed guardian of the High Summoner was the reason that she is harmed? So of course Rikku has to comply.

"Nng hnuh gu uhnuhnuhuu, Muuuhf! M'nn uu mf!"

"Oh look at that, High Summoner, I think your cousin wants to talk to you," Yuna turns her head away as Judas' hand finds itself playing with her tail. "Tell you what, I'll let you put the final nail to the coffin to convince your murdering cousin that both of your safety is in jeopardy."

In a rather harsh manner, Judas lowers the cloth that was plastered over Yuna's mouth revealing that a black wad of some sort was jammed inside her mouth. Almost immediately, Yuna spits the wad out and works on her jaw before deciding to speak.

"You're a monster! What did you do to Rikku?!"

"Made her more comfortable. Did you want to be just as comfortable as she is, High Summoner?"

Rikku clenches her teeth tightly as best as she can and growls seeing how Judas' statement of 'comfort' was nothing more than just salt to the wound. While Yuna is in no good position, Rikku can tell that she just has her hands tied behind her, which does its job well enough. It's no chair bondage like Rikku first saw her in the monitor but she Yuna isn't exactly hogtied on the ground. Rikku would do anything to feel less rope on her right now since every simple tug on her legs would bring the ropes to slightly constrict around her body.

"I'll take the silence as a no," Grabbing Yuna by her arm, Judas shoves her forward causing her to almost trip on the dead Al Bhed on the ground. "You two enjoy your little time."

Both Rikku and Yuna give Judas a good glare, which he gives them a wink in return. With a quick snap of his finger, his Al Bhed walks of the tent and he follows not too long after only to peek his head in while tossing Yuna's pointy purple mage hat in the tent making it land in the general vicinity of Yuna's feet.

"I know how you girls are with your apparel so there you go. Oh and if you ladies get the idea of freeing each other and causing some havoc, let me remind you now that there are cameras in this tent. Always has been. So your little escapade earlier was monitored," Rikku's eyes widen at this. "Of course if I was here earlier you wouldn't have gotten very far. I can guarantee you two that you won't this time around."

With his last words, the tent closes and the latch clicks that signifies that the tent the two of them are being held in is fully secured. There were a few more words from Judas to his guards outside but by now Rikku and Yuna aren't giving much attention to them; at this moment there is at least some sort of solace to be received.

"We'll get out of this, Rikku," Yuna states in a somber voice as she lowers herself into a sitting position. "Don't you worry."

Yuna's comforting smile is different this time around as well as her body language. Something is peculiar about her and probably because they are both captured and held in a tent where there are two dead bodies. Rikku takes a quick glance to see her dirty work and she can't help but justify that there was no other choice. She isn't Yuna; she isn't the persevering testament of peace; Rikku is and always will be a girl in the shadows doing the dirty work so that her cousin will never have to stain her hands. In more ways than one Judas is right. Despite her jovial persona and always high energy self, Rikku has been more than willing to do whatever is necessary to accomplish her task; before the Pilgrimage everything she did was for her people; times changed and ever since she found out Yuna was going on the suicide run of Yevon, her own morals and her own pride had to be set aside… it was never her story after all, it was Yuna's.

"You hide a lot of things you know," Yuna's voice snaps Rikku back to reality. Out of instinct, Rikku once again writhes in her tight bondage getting nothing but a coarse tug from her ropes. "That's practically the main reason why I'm here. To make sure that all those dark and dirty secret that you submerge floats out of their hiding place."

"Uunmn uuuhf uuuhn ufh…?"

The comforting smile from Yuna's face shifts into a colder smile as if trying to confirm the eerie words that came out of her mouth. Somehow Rikku can feel another cold shiver run down her spine.

To Be Continued ...