Bartz looks up at the sound of footsteps. "Hey! It's Zidane and Lunith!"

"Bartz!" Zidane waves and grins. He limps over to him and sits down heavily. Lunith the Onion Knight trips and falls, Tidus barely catching him before he hit the ground. Crossing his arms, Squall stares at Zidane.

Zidane scratches the back of his head, embarrassed. "We thought it would be a fun idea to wait in the trees until Cloud came to meet us, like he said he would. Then we would jump him, taking him by surprise!" Smiling defeatedly, he continues, "Obviously, he wasn't surprised...or amused." Suddenly, there's a large explosion from the woods, startling everyone present, even the sleeping ones.
Lightning bolts upright and screams, the sound obviously bringing back bad memories. Firion, still shocked by the sudden awakening, rushes to her and holds her tightly. "Shh, you're fine, Light. You're safe, everything's fine..." Another explosion shakes the earth, and Lightning buries herself in Firion's chest. Looking up at Squall, he yells, "Go! Find out what's happening! I can protect the camp!" Squall nods, and races off towards the woods. Around Firion, the newly-risen Vaan and Kain race to follow the lion-hearted youth into battle. Tidus starts off after them, but he stops after a few steps. He walks to Yuna's side, and kneels beside her, ready to spring up and protect her.

Catching Firion's look, he grins and says, "You didn't get your full sleep. I'm here to cover your slack, Rosebud." He winks, and looks down at Yuna. Bartz helps Zidane and Lunith lay down with Tifa and Laguna, then positions himself in front of them. He summons the Warrior of Light's shield and sword, and stands ready for a fight. Firion can't help but feel thankful for his friends staying with him. There's no way he has the strength to be much protection to this group.

"EWWW! Look at the big, strong men protecting their pretty little prizes!"

Kefka, the twisted clown, floats down and touches onto the ground. Seeing Lightning hiding against Firion, he cackles. "Well, what's this? The female soldier can't handle a little noise?" When she doesn't pay him any attention, he frowns. "Hey, I'm TALKING to you! The nerve of this girl...she didn't used to be like this! Maybe it was the preservation chamber incident..."

"What do you know, fiend?" Firion yells. Lightning's sobs begin to fade away, and she looks up at him.

"Oh, calm down! It's not like we had anything to do with that...what HE did was cheating. CHEATING, I say!" The clown turns back to Firion, and actually shows sympathy. "Usually, I don't feel sadness or pain for anyone...but this one time is an exception. Since this is a 'special' occasion, I'll tell you what happened. I watched him put each of these six into 'preservation chambers', which I guess kept them alive without us knowing. However, she was the only one that woke up during the procedure. She panicked when she found herself up to her eyes in water, and she began drowning. He started banging the wall of the crystal, which would send shocks through the water while it was still hooked up. He must've banged on it about a dozen times before she finally fell unconscious...but apparently, it's left it's mark on her."

Firion looks down at Lightining, tears in his eyes. "Oh, Light..."

She looks down. "I told you, I thought I was dead...I thought I had been drowned or shocked to death..." Lightning looks back up at him, her eyes full of tears again.

Kefka cackles again. "Woo, boy! She really HAS been changed! Now she's all teary and emotional!" Seeing Firion glaring at him, he grins. "Uh-oh, looks like someone's grumpy. C'mon! I've been bored for HOURS! Fight me!"

Firion's glare turns cold. Slowly, he stands up, facing the clown. Lightning grabs his shoulders, trying to drag him back down to the ground. "No, Firion, please. Don't do this. You're weak, you need rest. Please, ignore him!" But she can tell by the look on his face that it's useless.

"All RIGHT!" Kefka yells excitedly. "Bring it on! Show me what you've got!"

The liegeman smiles darkly. "With pleasure."

Sprinting forward, Firion grabs his bow off his shoulder. Kefka laughs and fires dozens of bolts of fire and lightning that home-in on Firion, who dodges with ease. He jumps over a scattered ice attack, readying an energy arrow. The harlequin lets loose a massive fireball, which gets ripped through by a bolt of energy. With the fireball gone, Kefka can see that his target is missing, too!

There's a poke at his back, and Firion's voice says, "I won't kill you, because I have no reason to. But I want you gone. Now." Kefka jumps away, startled. Whatever he's about to say is lost, due to Firion's sword pointing into his throat. Glaring, the clown fades and disappears.

"Firion!" Tidus yells, drawing the liegeman's attention.

Screams echo across the Shrine. I've led us straight into an ambush...Firion thinks dejectedly, watching as four more villains attack his party.