Yay! People actually like it!

I would like to thank those who reviewed me (LeonFan2k3, nohaydeque, Triforce Guardian, Not Jack Frost), and I thank you for your opinions and constrictive criticism.

To nohaydeque; yes, I agree. Rayne is an… unorthodox name(to say the least), and I apologize to you because… well… if you keep reading this, you probably won't like how Rayne comes off. But I assure you, despite how she may seem in this Pilot, she comes off far better… at a later time (hinting at something yet not going to say anything just yet).

YES, RAYNE WILL MORE THAN LIKELY COME OFF AS A MARY-SUE (my greatest fear, realized. pardon me while I go out back and throw myself into the horse trough) BUT IT'S ONLY FOR THE PILOT. THINGS WILL CHANGE!!!!

…No anger meant in the above statement, just capitalized to give emphasis.

I apologize to anyone who does/will not like where this goes, but don't loose faith in me. And, if all else fails, I'll just post the entire story and move on to others I have waiting in line. Anyway, moving on…

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Welcome To Spira)

"This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening…" And on and on the chant went. After all, she was right, right? Rayne couldn't be in Spira; it was impossible right? Impossible, inconceivable, impractical, implausible, and remarkably incredible. This could not be happening!

And yet, somehow it was. When she could feel the cold of the night seeping into her legs, when she flicked the bug off of her arm when its many legs tickled her, and when she heard the cry of a nearby fiend that was so realistic, it chilled her to her bone marrow, part of Rayne accepted the truth. She really was in Spira.

But a part of her brain, the one part of herself that was desperately making its best efforts to try to repel the truth to keep her sane, refused to accept what her body knew. Her brain had told her to crawl into a dark corner and rock back and forth and chant 'This isn't happening' over and over again until it was true, something we all know wouldn't happen; things were and are still never that easy.

And yet another part of her brain, the part that dealt with tangible facts, was trying to convince the part that had taken over to stop it before it made Rayne hurt herself. Some of the message getting through, Rayne stopped rocking and mumbling and, instead, sat rigidly still, her muscles so taunt they were sore. She must have sat that way for hours, because it didn't seem like very long before the sun began to peek over the horizon.

Feeling damp, cold, and miserable, Rayne allowed herself to take solace in warmth of the rising sun and drifted off into a light, uncomfortable, and dreamless sleep. She was awoken quite abruptly by the fairly close sound of, what she assumed to be, battle. She could hear metal cutting through something thick, several shouts, and loud roars.

Not wanting to get caught in the middle, Rayne crawled on her hands and knees into the tall grass, hoping to get a glimpse of the battle and still stay out of sight. When the sound was closer than ever and she could see the end of the line of grass, she gingerly reached out and parted the blades and leaves, the fray revealed.

It was three men battling a group of savage dog-looking monsters. One of the men she recognized as Auron. He was noticeably younger, but with his red coat and large katana standing out as his signature items, she highly doubted it could be anyone else. But she wasn't quite sure who the other two were.

One of them was, to her shock, shirtless, with a pair of shorts that had a piece of red cloth hanging from the waist, and had a familiar symbol tattooed on his chest and was wielding a large, broad blade. He was the one making the most sound, both with his blade and with his shouting

The other was in rather odd robes, the cloth made in a sort of overlaying leaf pattern with three main colors of red, brown, and a lighter brown with a large metal plate around his chest and stomach. He was wielding what appeared to be a long staff with a sort of upside-down fan on the top. He was standing behind Auron and the other man, waving his staff and making green and white lights come out of it.

Rayne watched in awe as they fought the monsters, all three of them working in almost perfect sync with each other. She could tell that they had fought together several, if not many, times before.

None of them, though, seemed to notice the monster that was sneaking up behind the robed man. It was huge and had horns protruding from its back, and a huge maw that was now open and ready to bite down on the man. Rayne couldn't watch.

"Behind you!" She jumped out of the grass and picked up a large rock, throwing it with all of her strength as she ran forward. The rock sailed through the air and, by some work of miraculous luck, smacked the large monster right on the head.

The battle seemed to freeze as all eyes, both human and monster, fell on her. Rayne was frozen in place, caught in a running pose as her brain processed her actions. Oh, why on Earth… or Spira, had she chosen to throw that rock?!

All of the monsters roared and abandoned the three men, choosing to go after her instead. The large monster jumped over the three, startling them, and lunged forward, sailing passed the smaller monsters and diving at Rayne with its maw open. She fell onto the ground, her arms raised in a feeble defense, her eyes closed as she waited for the end…

That never came.

Rayne opened her eyes and blanched at the sight before her. The large fiend was caught in midair, its maw still open and its eyes rolling back inside of its head. Out of its chest protruded a black clawed hand, and a large black head was clamped onto the back of its neck. The monster suddenly erupted into what Rayne remembered to be pyreflies.

She looked in horror at the huge black creature before her as it dropped onto all four of its legs and brought its face close to hers, the huge multicolored wings on its back spreading wide. She started trembling as it opened its mouth as if to eat her, only to feel its rough tongue scrape across her forehead, much like a cat.

'Don't be scared.'

She looked the creature, which appeared to be a dragon, with wide eyes when she recognized the voice. "Is that…"

The dragon nodded and stood back up, turning to face the still present dog-monsters. Four sparking purplish-white lights shot from the dragon and hit the monsters, most of them exploding into pyreflies while the rest fled. The dragon then turned to her one final time and nodded slightly before taking off to the sky, disappearing into the clouds.

When Rayne looked back to the three men, she found that their eyes were still on her. She blanched again and got to her feet, staring at the men with wide eyes. She now recognized the other two men. The one with the tattoo was Jecht, so the man in the robes had to be Braska. Though it could hardly be considered possible, Rayne went even paler when she realized what their presence meant.

'I'm trapped in Spira ten years before the actual Final Fantasy X story line.'

With this thought in mind, Rayne did the only thing that seemed appropriate for that kind of revelation: she passed out.