Chapter 3: Cabin # 10

After Cosmos departed, one of the warriors stepped forward to explain the bedding arrangements. There was something in there about "Fostering friendship" and "Assistance in trials to come" and "Light" but the main point was that they came directly from Cosmos. Many groans were made and suspicious glances were thrown about, but the warrior insisted that "until further notice" the arrangement stood. As no one really wanted to start a full on brawl, much less with a goddess, they reluctantly agreed.

So, with three other people whom he didn't know and certainly didn't trust, Hope entered his cabin, marked as #10. He gasped at the interior. While on the outside the cabin looked to be nothing more than just that, on the inside it was just that. A main room with a wooden table, two bookshelves, and a small kitchen area. The main room had four doors, two on each side, leading to what he assumed to be their rooms.

Looking around, he easily found his room, the sign hanging from it with his name. He stepped inside and found something he had been dreaming of since the day he was turned into a L'cie.

A bed!

He sprang onto the bed, kicking off his shoes in one swift movement. He was finally able to sleep on something besides dirt! No more sleep shifts, no more night ambushes, no one hunting him! He could care less that the people around him had all been choosen because of their killing abillity, because at least he could die rested.

He curled himself up and snuggled close to his pillow, set to drift to sleep, his eyelids heavy. He had closed his eyes when a light knocking forced them wide open in shock.

"Excuse me, um.. Hope is it?" came a soft voice from behind the door. "we were meeting each other and we would like it if you would introduce yourself."

"Oh. Ok I'll be out in a sec." he replied, rubbing his eyes. It would be simple, he thought, meet his roomates then go back to bed and only see them when he needed to, if at all.

Hope left his room to find that the others were gathered around the table, and the three were eying him expectantly. He sat on the seat closest to him, a little nervous.

A boy stood up, younger than him and covered in red armor. He had to stand on the chair as only his head would be visible if he were on the floor. "My name is Luneth!" he said in a cheery voice "I'm what's called an 'Onion Knight' a title given only to the bravest of the brave and the strongest of the strong! Me and my friends are out to save the world from darkness! And... that's it." The boy quickly sat down, beaming with pride.

The girl stood up next, her long, green, ponytail waving as she did. "I'm Terra Branford and uh... I'm from Narshe... I think," she rested her chin on her hand, thinking. "I don't really know for sure, but Narshe is nice. There's a lot of snow, and good people, and... I'm sorry. I'm boring, aren't I?" she sat down quickly, blushing a bit from embarassment.

"I don't think so, Terra," said Luneth, "there's not much snow where I come from. Could you tell me about Narshe later?" Terra nodded her head and the two turned to the next person.

The man stood up so fast it made Hope jump! "Name's Wakka, ya?" he said, full of confidence. Hope thought he looked right at home on the beach. "I'm Yuna's guardian! We're on a mission to destroy Sin and bring the Calm back to Spira!"

"Uh... Wakka?" said Hope, "what does all that mean?"

"Huh?" he asked, scratching his head in confusion with an equally confused face. Suddenly he understood. "Oh yeah!" he said, making Hope jump again, "see, Sin's a giant fiend and he goes and destroys people. And that's bad. So Yuna's gonna defeat it and bring the Calm, ya?" Feeling like his roomates understood him, Wakka sat down, proud of his introduction.

Three pairs of eyes set themselves on Hope. He stood up, "Hi, I'm Hope and... um..." what did they expect? He didn't have some kind of hero life like them, he was just trying not to become a monster. "I'm just me." he sat back down, feeling a bit ashamed.

Everyone else in his team had a life, a soldier, a pilot, two hunters, whatever Snow did, but he was just a teenager. Before he was a L'cie he was just... normal.

"Okay, thank you Wakka and Hope," said Terra happily, "Luneth, you wanted to talk?"

Hope walked to his room, his head hung low. At least he would be getting some sleep now.