Chapter 9: Five Minutes To Midnight
It was morning as the sun shone through the window. Zialas' nose twitched his eyes fluttering open. He sat up to find himself in a bed pulled all the way into the middle of the room. He looked over to see Rekks sleeping on some chairs he pulled together with a sheet next to him. Zialas noticed a glass of water on the night stand. He took a hold of it then pulled its contents over Rekks' face.
Rekks, startled, fell to the ground. He grumbled as he wiped his face off then looked over to see Zialas putting his gear back on.
"What are you up to?" asked Rekks
"It morning. Either I train or I fight. No can train." Muttered Zialas
Rekks stood up and grabbed a hold of the rest of Zialas' stuff before he could continue.
"Whoa, whoa, what the hell are you doing? You were shot!" exclaimed Rekks
"No matter."
Rekks pushed the Ronso back onto the bed. Zialas growled at him as he sat up.
"Yeah, yeah big guy. Would you just relax for once? I know how you feel. But after sleeping on it, I realized now is not a time to be rash." Stated Rekks as he sat back down
"When you get smart?" replied the Ronso
"Ha ha, now relax."
Reluctantly Zialas laid back on the bed getting comfortable.
"How many are left?" asked Zialas
"Four we think. You want me to ask someone to bring you something?" Replied Rekks
"No."
"It really bugs you to have sit there an do nothing doesn't it?"
"Yes."
"I've been meaning to ask you something."
"What?"
"I know that you're a Ronso and you guys are all about your honor and being a great warrior, but for some reason it seems to mean more to you, why?"
"I no know what you talking about."
"Come on you spend most of your time either training or fighting. You even made it your job to fight by being a bounty hunter. You're the only Ronso I know who's a bounty hunter."
"It no you're business."
"Fair enough."
They both sat there in silence for a while.
"I…..ran into Yul."
"What?"
"When I was lost in the desert, I ran into him. I didn't tell anyone."
"Why?"
"Well I guess it's just in my family not to want to tell anyone bad news."
"What happened?"
"So now you want to have a conversation. Seems I've peeked your interest."
"Any information about enemy is good. Should be known."
"I see. He didn't really tell me much about his plans, nothing we don't already know by now. The thing he told me is….why."
"Why, what?"
"Well more or less he told me everyone has a reason for doing what they do."
Rekks smiled at Zialas. Zialas blinked then turned to look out the window.
"What he tell you?"
"He has his reasons. And for more or less I can understand them, even if I don't agree. He got a bad wrap in life and feels like he has to take it out on everyone."
"Nothing justify want he done. Anger no reason to act way he does."
"Speaking of anger, from what I hear you went pretty wild on those two snipers you took down."
"No honor in way they fight. No honor in hiding far away and pulling trigger."
"The snipers really got to you didn't they? Dirty fighting huh?"
"Exactly."
"Care to take another stab at that why you fight question?"
"Must defeat……my father."
"Your father?"
"My father leader of Ronso tribe. I can defeat him in honorable battle then I can become leader. I can prove that I able to succeed him. But first must become wise, must become brave, must learn experience in battle. Already fail once, no can fail again."
"So that's why you became a bounty hunter, gives you a lot of chances to fight different people with different abilities."
"Yes but so far only weak. No one really strong able to test."
"So you agreed to come after Yul because of the way I described him."
"He powerful enemy. But not only one I think strong enough to test me."
"Who's the other?"
Zialas turned to look directly at Rekks. Rekks smirked and nodded at the Ronso.
Down stairs Vid was sitting on a chair in the middle of a dark room with Mr. Kurosawa sitting next to him holding a bucket of ice water. The two thugs they had captured were sitting on the floor tied up. Vid was tossing his Blitzball up and down as he glared at them.
"So ya guys going to tell us anytin now?" asked Vid
"Fck you." Replied one of the thugs
Vid nodded at Kurosawa who dumped some of the icy cold water on the thug then kicked him in the side.
"I'm tellin ya we can go on forever. Because of ya remaining buddies we have all da time in da world ta just sit in here. And it will git worst for ya two. So…do ya have anytin ta tell us now?" asked Vid
"Fine, we were hired by some weird guy. He had silver hair wore a cloak. We took the job because he paid us a lot. Gave us pictures to know exactly who to target." Replied one of the thugs
"We can figure that much out. But what about your positions? How you and your group set things up? We need to know where the rest of your guys are so we can take them down." Stated Kurosawa
"Like I'd tell you sht bags. We're top mercenaries. It's only a matter of time before they kill you all." Laughed the thug
Vid got up and punched him in anger. He wrapped his hands around the thugs throat then pulled him close.
"You guys are really pissing me off. Ya terrorized da village. Endangered ma friends an killed some one I know. I'm really reachin da end of my rope wid ya. Now where da Fck are da rest of ya ashole friends?"
The thug spit in Vid's face. In anger he started punching the hell out of him. Kurosawa instantly dumped the rest of the icy water on Rekks then pulled him off the thug.
"Calm down!" exclaimed Kurosawa
Vid stood up to collect himself and walked out of the room. Kurosawa followed him into the kitchen closing the door behind him. Vid grabbed a dish towel and wiped his face off.
"It's been a long night. I know, but beating them down however tempting isn't going to get us anywhere." Stated Kurosawa
"I know, I just been a little tense since Cana left to go check on Shay and Tev at the Celsius. Sittin here not knowin how she's doing is buggin me."
"She's a big girl. She can take care of herself."
"I know dat, It's just……"
As Kurosawa and Vid talked Rekks peeked into the kitchen remaining unnoticed. When he was sure that Kurosawa and Vid were distracted he motioned to Zialas and the two of them snuck into the room with the thugs. The two thugs looked up at Rekks and Zialas.
"Some more clowns. You'll get nothing out of us." Snickered the thug
"Okay buddy let's do this your way. Get the info." Smiled Rekks as he patted Zialas on the back
Zialas snarled as he approached the two thugs. The looked up in horror at him as he reached his claws out. Five minutes later Rekks opened the door and looked around. Vid was still in the kitchen talking to Kurosawa. Rekks nodded to Zialas and the two of them snuck out of the house through the back way.
They walked a distance from the house staying hidden until they entered an alleyway. They crouched behind a wall for a second to plan out their next move.
"Nice work, to bad they didn't know where everyone of the last four was. But the two they did tell us about is more than enough." Smiled Rekks
"I go over way and head in from left, you circle around and take out other on from other side. He will be distracted by my attack on his friend. It give you chance to sneak up on him." Stated Zialas
"You're the man with the plan." Replied Rekks
They nodded at each other. Zialas went first hopping over the wall. Rekks waited a few seconds before heading back out of the alley and circling around.
Meanwhile on the Celsius Shay, Tev and Cana were in the engine room. Tev was right in the middle of working on the engines while Shay and Cana were standing back.
"You're the idiot who flew the ship up. So you fix it." Stated Shay
"Yes dear." Grumbled Tev as he picked up a wrench
So you guys are doing alright?" asked Cana
"We're just fine." Remarked Shay
The two of them headed out of the engine room.
"So have you figured out where the rest of them are?" asked Cana
"No ever since we took out those others. The remaining guys have kept pretty quiet. So…how are things with Vid."
"Good, but……"
"But what?"
"It just seems like something's been bothering him lately."
"Do you know what it could be?"
"Not really. Things have been stressful for everyone since all this started. It could be a number of things."
"Well don't worry too much, you guys will be able to work things out. I can sense that you guys really love each other and relationships like yours can weather anything. Just like me and Tev. My brother boy did he object, but we worked through it anyways."
"Thanks. Now we just need to find the rest of these guys. Make things easier on us all."
"Their machina cloaks them from all the ship's scans, plus I'm betting they're moving around ever since we took down their other guys. These people aren't fools."
Unbeknownst to the two women one of the thugs was crawling along side of the ship. His rifle was strapped to his back as he was covered by a sand colored veil. When the thug reached the entrance ramp he pulled out his rifle and entered with caution. He walked slowly keeping an eye out for anyone.
The thug saw the open door to the engine room, he waited by the door frame. Tev smiled as he finished the last of his repairs. He packed up his tools and walked out the door just in time for the thug to knock him over the head with the butt of his rifle. The thug dragged Tev's body and shoved it into a locker.
The thug continued his trek through the airship finally reaching the main cockpit. Cana and Shay spun around as the Thug opened fire on them. Cana and Shay jumped to the floor as the thug fired wildly. The thug stowed away his rifle then pulled out a knife as he rushed into the room.
Shay sprang up to her feet. The thug lashed out at her with his knife, Shay dodged the attack then hit him with a strong punch. He tumbled back slightly before coming at Shay again. She did her best to dodge his swipes, but the thug managed to slash her arm. Cana came up behind the thug, he spun around to slash at her but she jumped out of the way.
The thug rolled away from the two women sheathing his knife then pulled out his rifle again. He fired some more at them forcing them to hid behind the ship's consoles for cover. The door swung open as Tev walked in still trying to slip on his alchemy arm. The thug fired at him forcing him to scurry around the floor until he could take cover.
The thug smiled as he saw that all his enemies were in the same area. He pulled out a grenade from his belt and tossed it over towards Shay and Cana. Shay's eyes locked on the grenade.
"ShT!" shouted Shay
Tev looked over as Shay grabbed the grenade preparing to throw it back.
"Toss it here quick!" exclaimed Tev
Shay nodded her head tossing the grenade to Tev. He shoved it into his alchemy arm along with two other materials. It shone brightly as he jumped away from his cover. The two barrels appeared on the side of his arm as he aimed them at the Thug. The thug pointed his guns at Tev as they stood each other down. They stood there neither one of them daring to make a move.
"I guess you have to ask yourself one question." Smirked Tev
"What?" asked the Thug
"Do you know where the women went?" snickered Tev
The thug panicked as he looked around for Cana and Shay. The two women had snuck around the other side while the thug was distracted. Shay grabbed a hold of his gun prying it from his hands as Cana punched him in the face. The two women backed away just as Tev activated his alchemy arm.
"Mode 2: Big Shot!" exclaimed Tev
He opened fire hitting the thug dead on knocking him all the way back to the cockpit window. The arm changed back as the three heroes took a moment to catch their breathe. Shay checked the thug to make sure he was dead before turning toward Tev with a glare.
"And what took you so long?" she asked
"Locked in a closet." Tev replied nonchalant
"How did you get out then?" asked Cana
"The power saw was in the closet, by the way we need a new set of lockers in the engine room I had a mishap." He replied
"Did you close the ramp so the rest of his buddies can't get in?" asked Shay
"ShT." replied Tev as he ran off.
"Here help me move this guys." Stated Cana
Together they lifted up the body and began moving it out of the main cockpit.
Back at the house Vid angrily stormed through the hallways with Rose and Mr. Kurosawa right behind him.
"I can't believe dem. Dey sneak out, torture da prisoners. An leave wid out tellin us anythin!" exclaimed Vid
"Okay there idiots, get this. You can calm down Vid. Odd thing is I expected this behavior from Tev but this is totally strange for Zialas." Remarked Rose
"Rekks has the ability to convince anyone to follow his crazy schemes. One time he convinced me ta cheat dis pirate out of money so he could give it ta a orphanage." Replied Vid
"So should we go after them?" asked Kurosawa
"Naw, I know Zialas can handle himself and on occasion so can Rekks. They'll be fine. We should be checkin out da rest of the village, see how da people are doing." Replied Vid
"Yes, everyone must scared to death right now. Hopefully the others can take out the remaining snipers." Stated Kurosawa
"Ya comin Rose?"
"No, I'll stay here with the family."
Vid and Kurosawa headed out the side door staying low to remain hidden. Rose headed into one of the bedrooms to see the mother sitting in the corner of the room with her kids sitting in her lap. The mother stroked her children's hair comforting them.
"Is it over?" asked the mother
"No….but it will be." She replied
The mother turned to her children.
"I hope so." Stated the mother
"My friends are out there right now. And there isn't anyone but them I'd trust the fate of this village to."
"Thank you." Replied the mother smiling
Rekks reached the edge of village. He scanned the dunes overlooking the village, not a sign of anything. He moved slowly up the sand hoping to go unnoticed, but Rekks knew that wasn't the plan. Rekks knew exactly what he was…..the bait. He looked to his side and saw Zialas hiding in the distance waiting for his moment to strike.
Rekks pushed him self and ran up to where the captured Thug said his biddies would be. There were no shots, the guys must have been taking a nap, thought Rekks. He reached the point then reached his hand into the sand and opened the hatch to the Machina. It was empty. Rekks looked confused as he peered into the empty machina.
Just then one of the thugs popped out of his hiding place in the sand and opened fire on Rekks. Rekks stumbled back falling to the ground. His shone bright blue as a hole opened up in the sand swallowing up Rekks. The Thug looked puzzled as he heard the roar of Zialas. Zialas leaped into the air then came down with thunderous force on the thug knocking him out.
Zialas looked to his side as he noticed a small object land near him. He took one look and ran like hell when realized it was a grenade. He leaped out of the way as the grenade exploded only to find the barrel of a gun pointed at his head. The Thug standing over him smirked.
"Got ya. You didn't think we picked up a few things from watching you from before?" chuckled the thug
"That blast kill your man." Snorted Zialas
"Eh, in order to make an omelet you have to crack…."
As the thug was speaking the sand around him sprang up knocking his gun out of his hands. He screamed in terror as the sand wrapped around him then hardened into a rock solid prison. The sand opened up as Rekks rose from the ground eyes still glowing blue. Rekks pulled back his fist punching the thug in the face.
As his eyes stopped glowing the sand prison disappeared allowing the thug to fall to the ground. Zialas used some rope he brought with him to tie up the mercenary. It was at that moment that they heard the sounds of gunfire coming from the village. Rekks quickly ran down to the village as Zialas slung the thug over his shoulders and followed.
When he reached the center of the village he was surprised to find the last sniper standing there with a gun pointed directly at Mr. Kurosawa's head. Vid and Rose were standing there trying to calm the situation. Zialas came up behind Rekks ready for battle. Rekks stuck his hand out signaling to the Ronso to hold. Yul stood overlooking the village watching the scene unfold.
"Let's see how you handle this one." He remarked
Rekks approached the thug slowly. He turned toward Rekks and pressed the gun against Kurosawa's head harder.
"Don't come any closer. I'll kill him." Warned the Thug
"Vid, how'd he get Kurosawa?" asked Rekks as he tried to keep his distance
"He set fire ta da house. While Shay and I were distracted puttin it out, he came in." replied Vid
"Are you and Zialas okay?" asked Rose
"We're fine. But this guy's friends aren't so lucky." Remarked Rekks
Zialas snorted and tossed the unconscious thug he was holding on to the ground. The thug looked down at the body and took a big gulp.
"I want him untied. And free the other two in the house. Now!" demanded the thug
"Hell no." replied Rekks
"Rekks what are you doing?" asked Rose
"Rose calm down. I know what I'm doing." Stated Rekks
"Really?" sighed Rose
"We'll see." Retorted Rekks
Rekks raised his hand up pointing it toward the gun.
"What the Fck are you doing?" asked the thug
Rekks closed his eyes and began focusing.
"Come on, come on. Secret power, secret power, secret power…." He began whispering to himself
Rekks' eyes began to glow once more, when a small Pyrefly fluttered through the air landing on the Thug's nose. Rekks blinked as his eyes stopped glowing. The thug's nose began to twitch as he tried to shoo away the Pyrefly. The thug let out a bug sneeze forcing the Pyrefly to fly away.
Rekks shrugged his shoulders and tackled the thug hard. He used his all of his strength to pry Kurosawa from the thug's grip. The Thug punched Rekks as Rekks tried to hold back his gun arm. As they struggled Rose withdrew her sword and held it at her side.
The thug slammed his elbow into the side of Rekks' head causing him to stumble back. Rose took this opportunity to step forward and with impressive speed sliced him across the chest. The thug screamed in pain as Rose brought down her sword again. The thug fell to the ground lifeless. Rekks stood up and dusted himself off.
"How are you feeling?" Rekks asked Kurosawa
"Good, all things considered." He replied
An hour later all 7 heroes were gathered in Mr. Kurosawa's tent to discuss the events of the past two days. Zialas stood by the tent's entrance while everyone else sat around Kurosawa. Kurosawa poured them some tea to relax.
"They certainly accomplished their tasks of weakening the village. Are you sure they are all gone?" asked Kurosawa
"Da ones dat are left, said that only ten of dem came." Answered Vid
"What are we going to do with the captured ones?" asked Kurosawa
"Hehe…Probably put them to work fixing all the crap they broke with their attack." Retorted Tev
"Serves them right. I just might beat them senseless again myself." Added Shay
"I see. And how are the people?"
"There are some injuries and a few deaths, but overall the village is fine. None of the snipers reached the caverns." Reported Rose
"They weren't trying to. I've seen these guys at work and Zialas can vouch for me. If they wanted to reach those caverns, they could have. But they didn't, they didn't even try. It was about us plain and simple." Remarked Rekks
"What do you mean?" asked Kurosawa
"What my brother is trying to say is hat these people were hired by Yul for a reason other then to get to the caverns. He saw that we were preparing ourselves. This is to slow us down. He was trying to weaken us before he launched his attack." Stated Cana
"No….more than that. It was test." Said Zialas
Rekks leaned back in his seat, silent.
"Test? Why the hell would he test us? What would he have to gain from that?" snickered Tev
"I'm going to have to agree with Tev. I don't see why he would want to use all of this as a test. This is probably some scheme he cooked up to get at us. He's a creep." Snorted Shay
"No…it was a test." Lamented Rekks
"What do you mean?" asked Rose
"He was testing m….us." Rekks hesitated slightly he didn't want to reveal too much
"Ya still not makin sense brudda."
"I….I just know. He's tried to test us before. He wants to know how strong we've become. We showed him. Now we have to use the rest of this time to repair and get ready. He's going to be a lot stronger when he attacks, we don't have much time." Stated Rekks
Rekks stood up and walked out of the tent. Zialas nodded in approval and followed him out. Rose grumbled and headed out after them.\
"Rekks!" she shouted
He turned around then signaled to Zialas to continue on.
"What do you want?" he asked
"What's up with you? First you act all weird and risk Mr. Kurosawa's life with your crazy antics. And now you're acting all weird, while we're just trying to get to the bottom of all this. I don't know what to think of you you're all over the place."
"I am an intriguing man. But the thing is I just know that this was a test. But even if it was it doesn't mean we can just sit around. Don't ask me how I know all this. Just trust me….that's all I'm asking of you. I may not know everything about all the stuff that's going on I just need you to trust that I'm doing what I think is right and that I'm trying."
"Trust is a two way street. Tell me what the hell is going on. Something happened when we were facing that thug. Your eyes…..if you want me to trust you then you need to give me a reason to."
Fine, but don't tell anyone. When I was in the desert I ran into Yul."
"What? What happened, what did he say…what….Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"I know, I know. It's all complicated. But let's just say I know why he's doing what he's doing. I don't agree with it and don't any of you would. But he believes in what he's doing enough to kill, destroy, and sacrifice everything in the world for it. He sees something in me, he thinks I can stop him. He's willing to do whatever to see if it's true…..I don't think is."
"The power…..Cana told me about it. You can beat him…we can…..all of us together. As a team he can't stop us."
"I don't know. When I as with him…I saw that he had something that we don't and it really makes me question if we can win."
"And what was that?"
"He was willing to die for what he believed in. He wants me to come at him with everything I have, either way he just wants to know."
"Know what."
"If he deserves to accomplish his goal. If we kill him then its no, if he wins its game over for all of us."
"Then I guess we don't want to lose. Remember its more than just our lives at stake Rekks. You've gotten this far don't chicken out on me just yet."
Rekks took a deep breathe then smiled at Rose. She smiled back at him and began to walk away.
"I hope you feel better now. We're going to need you tomorrow. There's a lot to repair."
"I do……and thanks."
They smiled at each other once more. Rose walked back to her room as Rekks stayed there to think. They still had time, but not much.
To be continued…………………..
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter will be much more character intensive and will be the final stop before the big battle. Remember to send in your reviews, thoughts,questions, suggestions, etc. I love getting feedback. Keep an eye out for the next chapter, Chapter 10: E Tu (another title in Al Bhed).