(Disclaimer: I do not own anything, nor would I ever claim to do so. This disclaimer not only applies to this chapter, but to every chapter of this fic, as well as every story I have ever written and posted on .)

The sun beamed down on the party in an endless array of light and warmth, bringing smiles to some faces and comfort to the most all of them. It was a perfect day in the Calm Lands, one that Yuna had insisted on relishing before they continued on her great pilgrimage, and seeing as she was the boss, they all listened without falter. Besides, after spending most of the day searching for a chimera that seemed to have disappeared off of the face of Spira, and still not finding it, they were all ready for a nice, relaxing break.

They all decided on an ideal location right by the cliffs, where the view was breathtaking and the winds coming in from the west would bring new scents to their tired senses. A few of their chocobos protested for food and water, and while Kimahri and Tidus tended to their needs, Yuna and Wakka helped set out a large blanket to spread out over the tall, wild grass. Rikku delved perkily into her bags, more than happy to contribute to the peppy little break time, and began pulling out snacks and other food stuffs that no one ever knew she had. After laying them all out on one corner of the blanket, she stood to her feet and dusted her hands.

"I think I'm all outta barbuta bites, so I'm going to run and get some more," she announced, checking to be sure that her claw was firmly attached for the short journey.

Lulu turned, tilting her head slightly. "Barbuta bites…?"

"Yeah, they're sooo good! Just wait til you try some – I'll be right back with 'em!"

Yuna turned and held out a hand to stop her cousin. "Wait, Rikku. Why don't you take one of the chocobos?"

"Good thinkin'," Wakka chipped in, throwing his hands casually behind his head. "Everyone knows that you can't get into an encounter when you're on a chocobo, ya?"

The Al Bhed thought this over for a moment. True, she could ride one of the chocobos they had rented for the day and get to the travel agency in a flash without having to worry about monster encounters. But, then again, she was horrible with the big, yellow birds. Absolutely terrible. And they had all grown so powerful from the constant battles that she felt she could almost take on Sin by herself. In any case, the chocobo she had been on before when the group first began riding around had nearly bucked her off of its back, and she half suspected that it was already plotting to kill her in her sleep now.

"I don't know if mine likes me," she finally confessed, glancing at the bird that had been assigned to her. Its piercing little beady eyes seemed to cut fear right into her with a precision that only a true master of archery could hope to grasp.

"You can take one of the others. I don't think it'll matter," Lulu suggested helpfully.

"Yeah…yeah, that's a good idea," the blonde finally agreed, a finger to her chin. Cautiously, she made her way over to the flotilla of chocobos and looked them over. They all looked the same to her. How was she supposed to pick out the friendliest one when they all looked exactly alike, she wondered?

From out of nowhere, the color red appeared in front of her vision, and Rikku jumped as she looked up into Auron's eye. She sighed with frustration. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Try this one," the warrior monk said, pulling the reins of a chocobo closer to her that didn't seem to protest against him. When Rikku saw this, she knew that it would be the only one she could ride. Anything, man or animal, which obeyed Sir Auron without complaint, could not be capable of defying a teenage girl. No way. She was totally nicer than him, and prettier, and lighter, too.

"Thanks, Auron!" she cried, truly surprised by his courteousness. "I guess you're not so much of a dint vyla after all."

"A what?"

Rikku laughed nervously. "Nothing!" Before Auron could say anything else, the girl hopped onto the great, yellow bird and took off unsteadily, only looking back once to wonder if riding a chocobo to the travel agency was, again, a good idea or not.

The red-clad guardian sighed, looking down at the ground. Rikku was a good girl, had her bright moments, and would do anything to keep her cousin from sacrificing herself, but sometimes she could be a little too much. It was nice to have a small break from her, even if it were only for a few minutes.

"Sir Auron!" Yuna called from behind him. He turned to meet the faces of Yuna, Wakka, and Tidus already sprawling themselves out on the blanket. "Join us, please."

With a nod, he sat down on the topmost corner of the blanket. Once Yuna, Tidus, and Wakka were situated, Lulu came and joined them, followed by Kimahri, whom preferred to stay on the grass beside Yuna. Finally, a half a day to relax for our future heroes of Spira. No one had any fear of being attacked by fiends, as they had nearly wiped them all out during their side-pilgrimage to find the chimera brain, and not one of them thought about Sin, or Jecht, or Spira's pain. All eyes stayed on the lazily passing clouds above them.

"Look, up there!" Yuna pointed to the sky, smiling at the image she made out in the clouds. "I see…a turtle!"

Tidus laughed freely, holding his stomach. "A turtle?" He laughed some more while he searched for what Yuna had seen, but none of them could make out any turtles in the sky. "Well, I think I see a really big boot."

As most of them began to search for the supposed boot and turtle in question, Kimahri suddenly grunted. "Kimahri see peace and justice at hand of Ronso."

"Are you sure that's not just an oddly proportioned chocobo?" Yuna asked, holding a dainty hand over her mouth to keep from giggling too loud.

Kimahri thought about it a moment, then smiled. "Kimahri think Yuna could be right."

Everyone laughed easily, as though there were never a care at all to be had. Even Auron could not help but allow a small smirk to show. The only person not enjoying themselves, whom seemed to be too lost in cloud-observing to hear what anyone else was saying, was now frowning. "I only see a bunch of clouds," Lulu replied finally, her frown deepening.

"I see blitzballs!" Wakka pitched in, attempting to cheer Lulu up a little. He gave her a grin for good measure.

Yuna, still laughing a little, propped herself up on her elbows and looked over to the legendary guardian. "What do you see, Sir Auron?"

With a ghost of a smile, he searched the sky. "I see…" Movement to his right caught his eye. He squinted hard, just making out the figure in the distance. "…Rikku?"

Everyone sat up, confusion lacing their faces, and searched in the direction of Auron's gaze. Far, far off across the plains to their right, holding onto her chocobo for dear life, was was the crazy, fun-loving girl they all had come to know and love. She was still pretty far from them, but as she came closer, they could finally hear her high-pitched shrieks and ear shattering screams just before they were carried off by the wind. Something was chasing her, they realized. A chimera.

With a small gasp, Yuna sat fully up and looked at Auron. "What should we do…?"

"…Let's draw straws." The entire party looked to him in shock. "We are all powerful now – powerful enough to take on the fiends here by ourselves. It's my belief that only one of us needs to go and help her." When they remained quiet, looking down in consideration, he added casually, "Rikku could have handled this by herself…if she would have calmed down first and dismounted the chocobo, of course."

After the thought sunk in, they realized he was right. "Okay, then," Lulu replied, looking around the grassy area for suitable stalks of grass to substitute for straws. "Drawing straws sounds like the fairest way." After they were all gathered, making sure to make one of them shorter than the rest, the black mage knelt before everyone on the blanket and held out her fist of thick grass blades. They chose their straws. Auron pulled the shortest one.

"Figures it'd be the one who didn't want to go save her in the first place," Tidus joked, laying back down on his back. Yuna joined him, giggling and commenting on how bad he was.

Wakka laughed loudly before turning to Auron. "Good luck."

"I'll be back shortly," he assured them, taking up his enormous katana before stalking off in the direction of the screaming girl.

A:N: If you haven't noticed, this collection of short stories kind of jumps back and forth in time, and I'm sorry if it causes confusion. This is just a pile of silly stories that aren't supposed to have any real direction except for the direction they take themselves. Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed this one! I wrote it to reflect my own personal experience in the Calm Lands, when I was attempting to get a chimera for the monster arena, and it just would not come out! I fought so much that I became ridiculously over-powered, and it got to the point where Rikku was one-shotting everything. I thought it would be cute to write it as though she got into trouble, yet again, but it was a situation so easy to handle that no one would really treat it with immediate urgency. More like, "Oh. Rikku's in trouble again? Okay. sigh Let me get my coat."