Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter 2: Fiends Attack!
Vidina had appeared a few minutes later, Lulu and Celena close behind. Vidina quickly pushed the younger kids out of the tent so they wouldn't distract him and left them sitting outside. Masurao paced back and forth, becoming more curious and impatient with every passing second.
"Masurao please stop that." Celena sighed quietly.
"I can't, I'm too curious." He answered. "That guy has machine arms for crying out loud. I mean aren't you curious at all about what he is? I mean just look at him, and the way he just wandered into the village like this. I wonder who he is, don't you guys?"
"I guess so." Celena answered from her position of leaning against a tree. Haseo was sitting in front of the tree peacefully and merely shrugged in response.
"Are you guys done yet?" Masurao asked impatiently, sticking his head into the tent.
"Get out!" Vidina snapped, throwing his blitzball into Masurao's head yet again making him fall back.
"If he has any brain cells left after today it's going to be a miracle." Celena muttered, Haseo looking at the fallen boy with a nearly invisible smile. Celena walked over and helped her brother up again.
"Thank you." Masurao said gratefully as he picked the blitzball up and began kicking it up in the air and juggling it. He smiled proudly as he continued working with the ball, starting to do more and more complicated tricks. He kicked the ball up a little too hard and it went flying away from him. "Oops." He said.
"Go get it and apologize if you hit anybody." His older sister ordered.
"Yeah yeah, I know." Masurao said as he jogged towards the brush he had found it in. He moved the plants out of his way as he searched for his missing sports ball. He moved through the plants and soft sand. "Man where did I kick that thing?" he wondered. He turned around and yelled in surprise when he was met by two glowing yellow eyes. He fell back lamely and looked up at who he had run into. "Haseo? What are you doing here?"
"Celena told me to follow." He answered quietly.
"Oh." Masurao said as he stood back up. "Well next time don't sneak up on me."
"I scared you." Haseo said rather than asked.
"You did not! I just thought you were a fiend or something." Masauro snapped embarrassedly. The two boys searched for the blitzball in silence, Masurao feeling awkward around his silent tormentor. Whenever Haseo was around he always seemed to whined up getting hurt or embarrassed. Of course, it was usually through a fault of his own but that's not the point.
"There it is! Masurao said as he pointed up a tree. He turned and smiled at Haseo, expecting him to get it.
"I can't climb." He said simply.
Masurao frowned as he remembered the time Haseo had tried climbing a tree. A childish grin broke out over his face as he remembered what had happened after that. "I guess I'll get it then." Masurao chuckled as he walked over to the tree. The tree was very thick, like most of the surrounding jungle trees. Masurao grabbed a near by branch and pulled himself up. "If I ever get my blitzball stuck in a mountain crevice I'll call you but when it comes to something that requires skill, just leave it to me!" he called back down, happy to be better than Haseo at something.
He reached up and tried grabbing the blitzball. His arms were just barely too short to reach the ball, which had fellen through the leaves and was wedged in three branches. Masurao glared at the ball as he pushed himself further up and grabbed it. He smiled proudly. "I've got you know." He chuckled as he pulled the ball. The ball was stuck in the branches and refused to move. He pulled on the ball harder, using the bulges in it's side as a way to get a good hold of it. He pulled hard, but the ball was stuck.
"Haseo I need your help." He called down.
"I can't climb." He answered.
"Come on Haseo, I've seen you climb up the rocks and mountains on this island easily. It's just a tree, so get your ass up here!" Masurao yelled down.
"I can't climb." Haseo answered, his voice not changing at all.
"Well then what do you think I should do? I'm not as strong as you are, oh no!" he yelled as a branch broke from under him. He fell down, his arms scrambling to grab a branch or something he fell toward the ground and tumbled through branches and leaves. He yelled again as his face got closer to the ground.
He flinched, waiting for a dangerous impact but it never came. He weakly opened his eyes to find himself hanging inches from the ground. He looked up to see his legs tangled up in a mass of vines and broken branches. He sighed with relief, happy to not have suffered an even worse facial injury.
"Masurao can't climb." Haseo said, the ghost of a chuckle in his voice.
"Shut up." Masurao sighed.
SMACK!
The blitzball had fallen from it's loosened orison and had hit Masurao's face at just the right angle. "Is everything going to try hurting me today!?" Masurao howled a she shook violently out of anger. He yelled again as the vines loosened and he dropped down to the ground. He looked up at Haseo who was standing over him, holding the blitzball. "Don't. Say. Anything." Masurao threatened with the taste of dirt in his mouth.
When the boys returned the saw Yuna, Lulu, and Vidina talking with Celena. The group turned to the boys and Vidina smirked.
"Wow brudda, what happened to you?" he laughed. "You look like you just got on the bad side of a ronso, ya?"
"That's one way of putting it." Masurao grumbled.
"What happened to Masurao?" Lulu asked calmly.
"Fell out of a tree." Haseo answered blankly, earning a death glare from Masurao.
"Enough about me and the fact that I attract injuries like dad attracts fangirls. What's with the machine guy?" Masurao asked impatiently.
"We're not sure. Not yet anyway." Yuna answered. "We patched up his wounds and Vidina managed to do some minor repairs to his arms. It's one of the weirdest things I've ever seen though."
"And that's saying something considering all of the freaky things she's seen." Vidina chuckled. "The long story short is, his body is laced with Machina. It's not just his arms but some of his bones are metal, some of his normal nerves or blood vessels have been replaced by wires. It's like he's really half human and half machina. I've enevr seen anybody like him before, ya?"
"So then what about his arm?" Celena asked.
"I couldn't get it back on. There are way too many things for me to mess up if I don't do it just right." Vidina answered.
"What do we do?" Haseo asked.
"We've decided to call in a specialist. Somebody who excels at working with odd types of machines." Lulu answered. The three teens looked confused for a moment before Masurao's face lit up, Celena smiled, and for a brief moment Haseo frowned.
"Aunt Rikku!" the siblings shouted.
As if saying the machine genius' name was enough to cause a disaster, a large crash sounded through the small village followed by a scream. The group ran towards where the loud noise had sounded from and saw several people running away from the area. Yuna gasped in shock when she saw the large fiend attacking one of the buildings.
It was very large, it's body covered in hard scales. It had a reptilian mouth and it's arms were swollen to the point of looking like shields. It's head had a hard shell and it had a hunched back. A stout tall shifted slowly as the fiend lunged forward into the tent again, this time completely destroying it. It was quickly joined by two other fiends that proceeded to charge after some of the people running away.
"What on Spira are those Sallets doing here?" Vidina wondered.
"I'm not sure but I think we should get rid of them." Masurao answered bravely.
"Indeed. We should get rid of them." Lulu said as she stepped forward. "You two run back to the temple and defend it in case some of the fiends break through our defense." A small doll jumped in front of Lulu. The doll was shaped somewhat like a lion and mimicked her movements. She raised her hands and brought them down, unleashing a lightening storm that fried two of the Sallets. "I've still got it." Lulu smirked.
"Not bad mom." Vidina laughed as he threw his blitzball at the other Sallet, knocking it over. "You guys get back to the temple ya? We got things covered here!"
"No way, we can fight them too!" Masurao protested.
"Masurao come on, let's get back to the temple." Celena pleaded with her brother.
"But we can, Wooh!" Masurao cried as Haseo slung the younger boy over his shoulders. Haseo nodded to Celena and the two of them ran towards the temple. Yuna smiled as she watched them go, sure that Haseo would protect her children. But now wasn't the time for that, now was the time for action. Yun drew her gun and aimed it at a charging fiend. She shot the monster, the bullet firing through it's skull and killing it instantly.
"Looks Like I've still got it too." She chuckled with a wink.
Meanwhile, Haseo and Celena were running back to the temple. Masurao protested but the two ignored him. They rushed into the temple and retrieved their weapons in order to guard their home. Haseo dropped Masurao unceremoniously to the ground and stabbed his sword into the ground next to him. "Stand and fight." Haseo barked when a lizard like fiend came rushing towards the group. It was down on all fours and had sharp spines on it's back. It was covered mostly aqua blue.
Masurao smirked when he saw the charging reptile and picked up his hooked sword. He jumped forward and struck at the lizard, creating a large slash on it's back. The lizard hissed angrily and lunged at Masurao, but the boy used his natural speed to his advantage and parried the claw. He spun around and cut the lizard's head off, reducing it to disintegrating pyreflies.
"No problem!" he cheered. He saw a hadow loom over him and turned around to see a fish like fiend jumping through the air. It had harp piranha jaws and it's fins acted like arms and legs. Masurao cried but the fish never struck him. Haseo had lunged forward and shoved his spear through the fish's body and down to the ground. The fish disappeared into a cloud of pyreflies. "Well, maybe a small problem." Masurao said embarrassedly.
Haseo only looked at him for a moment with his hard yellow eyes before turning away and moving back towards Celena. Masurao frowned as he watched Haseo leave, suddenly feeling useless compared to the older boy. However he didn't have long to feel this way as he was quickly attacked by a sallet. Masurao struck his sword against the sallet's arm, but his sword bounced off uselessly. Masurao cried as he charged again, determined to destroy the armored monster.
The sallet lunged at Masurao, shoving his arm into his stomach and knocking him back. Masurao felt the air leave his lungs as the sallet shoved all of his weight into his stomach. Masurao fell back but caught himself before he fell. He lunged at the sallet and beat mercilessly against the sallet's hard head. He cried as the sallet knocked back again and fell over. The sallet charged making Masurao cry out in fear. He lunged his blade forward, surprised when he felt it sink it. He opened his eyes to see his blade had been shoved through the sallet's softer stomach and out of his back.
"That's it!" Masurao cried as he jumped up. He turned to see Haseo defending Ceolena against two sallets. He charged forward and struck one of the sallets through their stomachs, destroying it instantly. Haseo saw what the younger boy had done and smiled, knowing just what to do. The sallet ran towards him with reckless abandon, but Haseo would not back down. He stopped the fiend's charge with his spear's shaft and glared at the fiend. He pulled back, letting the sallet's own weight and force carry it forward.d He grabbed it's head and a light blue energy surrounded his hand and the sallet.
Haseo twirled his spear and then raised it up and through the sallet's head, moving his hand away just in time to avoid piercing himself. Celena let out a sigh of relief when she saw the fiend disappear. "So, get anything interesting?" she chuckled. Haseo only shook his head, a very slight frown on his face.
"That little trick should make getting rid of the sallet guys easier huh?" Masurao asked confidently.
"Alright, I'll admit it. You get extra points for that one Masurao." Celena laughed, earning a smile from Masurao.
"Yep. I saw something even Haseo didn't." Masurao said confidently, resting his head in his hands. Haseo ignored his comment and instead charged at another lizard fiend.
"It's not a competition you know." Celena said.
"I know, but if it was I know I'd get second place. Way ahead of you and just barely behind Haseo." Masurao laughed.
"Hey, just because I don't have my weapon with me doesn't mean I can't kick but too you know." Celena shot back.
"Yeah yeah, next time don't break your own weapon. And people say you're the more responsible one. It's a good thing dad was heading to Luca anyway, or who knows how long it would be before you could get your weapon fixed. How did you break something like that anyway?" Masurao asked.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Celena answered.
Masurao shrugged before looking around. While he and Celena had been taking Haseo had finished off the remaining fiends that had tried breaking into the temple. Masurao frowned when he saw all of the pyreflies moving away and Haseo bent over, his spear in his hands. "Wow Haseo, you work fast." Masurao admitted. Haseo turned and gave the two a weak smile.
"How are things going on over here?" Vidina asked as he ran up to the group.
"Pretty well. Haseo and I took these guys out." Masurao answered.
"It was Haseo mostly." Celena corrected.
"That's no surprise. The little brudda has always been a great fiend hunter." Vidina chuckled, patting Haseo on the back.
"Why the attack?" Haseo asked, his breathing returning to normal.
"We're not sure why they attacked the village, but most of them are gone. Your mom is out getting rid of the last of them. She's still got great aim after not fighting for so long. I guess she's been finding time to practice ya?" Vidina answered.
"Well mom has had her fair share of fiend hunting." Celena answered, a proud smile on her face.
"Yeah, if mom can dismantle something like Vegnagun then some sallets are no problem. It doesn't matter how old she is!" Masurao agreed.
"What about that?" Haseo asked as he pointed towards the main pathway of the village. Masurao, Vidina, and Celena's jaws collectively dropped when they saw the fiend leading the other fiends. It was a very large, very muscular, and very angry looking fiend made of thick samurai armor. In it's right arm was a very large, very thick, very heavy looking sword. It's eyes were glowing lights that stared over at the group. It slowly raised it's sword and let out a roar of rage.
Then, it charged right for them.