12 Mind Numbing
I fell to my knees, pounding the ground, fighting against the desire to run over and try to heal him from the consuming flames. I knew I couldn't, though. It was a sacrifice that had to be made. I tried to make myself let him go, but I was losing the battle. I pressed my forehead against the ground, his screams echoing in my mind, the heat from the flames that were eating his body stinging my own, but I ignored it.
Then I faced the dying boy and with a powerful resolve I softly said, "Blizzard." while pointing at him. I willed it to be a gentle ice, hoping not to kill him, but I knew that there was no way it could get worse. By the blessing of Yevon, it was actually snow that formed on him, instantly melting and putting out the fire.
I was so surprised that it actually worked, I had finally mastered the element in our moment of desperation, that for a second I didn't react. He moaned in agony, his eyes remaining shut. I got up and ran to him, placing my hands on his charred forehead, praying my heart out to Yevon. He writhed in torture, as the seconds passed, I began to panic, thinking that he was too close to death to be healed.
Then, I felt as if my skin was being torn from my body, fire running through my veins. I screamed, but then the feeling subsided. I opened my eyes, and there, laying on the ground was Tidus, eyes shut, though completely healed, as if nothing had ever happened. Even his clothes were unharmed. I only vaguely noticed this, I was too overwhelmed by the shock to even think about why. His head rolled back and forth, as if clearing his mind from a nightmare. I was so relieved that he was alive that I almost fell over, but when his eyes opened and he smiled weakly at me, I started laughing instead. I had no idea why, I was just so shaken by the whole incident, I didn't even know how to react. They all watched me as if I was crazy, and when I finally got a hold of myself, I shook my head a little, giving Tidus a quick hug, and offering a hand to help him up. He took it, though he stood up basically on his own, barely leaving any weight on my hand, just holding onto it. When he let go, I looked down, clasping my hands together.
"You-you saved my life. Thank you." He had no idea that he had also just saved my soul…
He smiled slightly, though it was tired and worn.
"Anytime. And, you saved mine…Thanks." I nodded at him. Then, I looked over at Lulu, who had woken. She had a giant bruise on her head, apparently she had been knocked out by being struck with something. I went over and gentle touched the bruise and it soon diminished. "Thank you." Lulu walked on, and Wakka followed dumbly after her, Kimahri too, though he gave me a glance to make sure I was okay.
I struggled to take a step, but found that my body was shaking uncontrollably, my breaths coming in short bursts of panic, my heart pounding furiously. He had almost spent an eternity burning because of me.
I spread out my hands slightly, trying to keep my balance, as I closed my eyes, thanking Yevon for his rescue, trying to calm myself. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt a gentle touch on my shoulder. I leapt forward, nearly flinging myself from my unsteady legs into the mud. A strong hand caught my arm, and an arm came around my waist, holding my up. I turned my head to see who it was who had caught me, but I already knew.
All my guardians were walking on, expecting me to continue on. No, it was the one person who was not my guardian, who was truly guarding me, strengthening me. As I expected, when I turned my head, Tidus' face was only inches away from my own, concern written on his expression. His hands slowly pulled away, making sure that I was once again able to stand. My whole body was still stinging from healing him, and my muscles were achy.
I stepped backwards away from him, struggling to walk, pain shot through each burning muscle as I put my weight on it. Still, I sped up, catching up with my guardians in a few moments. Tidus walked beside me the whole way, saying nothing, simply ready to catch me if I fell again. With every passing moment, I wanted him to be my guardian more and more. I was weak and I knew it. I could not escape the fact. I knew I would grow stronger with time, but I could hardly do my task. And my guardians, Lulu, Wakka, Kimahri...They knew that I was weak, they just ignored it, hoping that if they didn't acknowledge it that it would leave. But it wouldn't.
I pulled myself from my thoughts, realizing that I could no longer hear the Fayth through the sound of my mind's voice. I had once again taken the lead, my guardians following silently behind, listening for more fiends. The sounds of the jungle slowly began to return, hopefully a sign that the danger had passed. I listened harder, the Fayth's baritone voice once again entering my mind.
It seemed fainter now, than it had been before, I could not understand any of his words, though I was able to follow it. The sun was beginning to reach its peak, its blistering heat burning through the treetops' leaves, beating down mercilessly on us. My throat was dry and scratchy, my skin soaked and itchy from my sweat. I felt tired and shaky, though I pressed on. Insects landed on my skin, biting me, leaving countless tiny, painful red welts, but I ignored them.
Tidus occasionally slapped himself, in an attempt to rid himself of the annoying creatures, but he eventually figured out that is was useless. I was breathing hard, opening my mouth wide to get more of the precious oxygen from the damp, muggy air, but to no avail. I suddenly heard some rustling leaves, and I could feel my guardians tense around me, Tidus stepping closer to me, his eyes wildly scanning the trees surrounding us, no doubt remembering the painful events of several hours earlier.
Then, vine shot out from a nearby tree, and Tidus pushed me aside, both of us falling to ground, being scraped by the brush, the vine narrowly missing us. Tidus knelt over me, a shield against more attacks as my guardians fought a small but swift plant fiend. No one was injured, and the battle lasted a mere moment, before the area once again grew quiet, and Tidus stood, helping me up with him, and then, not letting go of my hand, beginning to walk onward. He looked sideways at me, fear dancing in his eyes. He spoke under his breath before letting go of my hand."Let's get out of this place."
I agreed, though I knew it would be days before we could leave for Luca. The thought of leaving this island, being able to rest on a boat, on the way to Luca, was sounding more and more pleasant every day, even despite the fear of Sin attacking again. In actuallity this journey through the Kilikan jungle was even more dangerous that traveling on the sea. Lulu had told me that Kilika was the most dangerous part of Spira, and also probably the hardest to travel. The heat and lack of water, the fiends, the fire, everything about Kilika was dangerous, that is why people chose to live on docks, built off the land, only entering the jungle to get food and resources.
I tried to keep a careful eye out for more danger, while listening to the ever fading sound of the Fayth's call, but white and black spots where appearing in my vision, making it hard to see anything. Eventually, I had to strain just to hear the call, and I could hardly even see what was in front of me, let alone keep an eye out for danger.
The air was still damp and thick, but the air was beginning to cool, signifying that it would soon be night. My body was begging me to stop now, but I knew that as long as I could, I would go on. I knew by the fayth's call, that I was coming towards it, yet, it was getting harder and harder to hear. Still, I pushed on. From beside me, I heard Tidus' stomach announce grumpily that it had been far to long since we had eaten, but there was nothing I could do about it.
The jungle had few trees for food, usually, people on Kilika would eat mostly fish, though it seems with the recent attack, the Kilikans would rather brave the jungle to find food than go out into the sea to fish. Right now, I would have taken either happily, but there was no food around.
As we traveled on, my legs began to fall asleep, prickles running up and down them with every step, and I finally could not even hear the Fayth's call. Night was once again upon us, and I knew I had to stop. "We'll rest here." I stumbled into a tiny clearing, between two trees, collapsing on the hard ground, my eyes fluttering shut, sleep instantly taking over my senses.
Blackness surrounded me. I didn't know where I was. I heard "Sin!" being shouted over and over. I felt like I was being pelted with stones, my shoulder felt sore and hot, a sticky substance, blood, oozing from it.
I faintly heard my father's voice, though I could not understand any words except,
"Yuna."
As the screams slowly faded, though the pain did not, my father's voice echoed over and over, getting louder and louder, until it grew so loud, it was as if he was shouting, though his voice still sounded calm.
"Yuna."
"Yuna.""YUNA."
"Yuna. Wake up." "Hmm?" I blinked my sore, tired eyes, seeing Lulu leaning over me. "Yuna. We should go. It's almost dawn." I closed my eyes for a second, wishing that I was back in my wonderful, soft cot in Besaid, and I could wrap myself in my blanket, lose myself in sleep.
I groaned, stretching as I slowly forced myself to sit up. I examined the bandage on my shoulder, which was stained with dried blood.
I forced myself to my feet, immediately taking in my surroundings, and listening intently for the Fayth. His voice was much stronger this morning that it had been the day before, perhaps I had simply not been able to hear it because I had been tired. I leaned over, hunger gnawing at my empty stomach.
Kimahri was standing near by, arms crossed, and eyes half closed. Wakka and Tidus weren't around, and my eyes swept the surrounding area for them. I began to feel uneasy, wondering if they were safe. Then I saw Wakka, curled up under a bush, about twenty feet away. I went to wake him, and he sat up groggily, habitually straightening his cowlick. "Wakka, do you know where Tidus is?"
"I see him." Lulu's voice sounded almost bewildered, and yet pleased, and I looked in her direction to see what she saw. She was looking into a bush, and I walked over, Wakka meandering behind me, still trying to fully wake up. When I reached Lulu, I gazed into the bush, and there, lay Tidus, a small pile of mangled fruit at his feet, a piece gripped tightly in each of his hands. I just didn't understand how he did it. Apparently either people from Zanarkand have naturally way too much energy and strength, or Tidus was very unique. It seems that when the rest of us are too exhausted to take another step, that's when he goes to find food.
Wakka instantly became more alert when he saw the fruit, and leaned over into the bush, slapping Tidus in the back. "Brudda! Wake up, ya! We gotta eat!" "Huuhh?" Tidus groaned, rolling over, kicking the pile of fruit, mangling some of it further. "Aaah!" Wakka reached down, grabbing the fruit away from Tidus' feet, handing some of it to Lulu, and then another handful to me, and keeping the last two pieces in his own hands, taking a large bite. He shoved Tidus with his foot, stuffing more of the fruit into his mouth, and trying to swallow, but choking on the pit, coughing it out. The slimy, hard seed shot right into Tidus' face, and he grimaced in disgust.
"Eww!" He flung it away from his face, sitting up and scowling at Wakka. "Sowwee brugga!" Wakka mumbled through a mouthful of fruit. Lulu let out a quiet snort, clearly unimpressed by the childish behavior. Tidus noticed the fruit still gripped in his hands, and promptly stuffed it into his mouth. Lulu and I took this as an invitation to also eat, and I gratefully consumed a piece of the strange, bitter fruits, before Wakka reached into my armful, grabbing three, shoving almost an entire piece in his mouth at once.
It didn't take us more than about five minutes to finish off the fruit, and I'm sure that none of us was satisfied, but it was all there was. The fruit really tasted awful, but we were all so hungry, we would have eaten just about anything. I sat, pulling the makeshift bandage from my now very sore shoulder, revealing a puffy, red, infected wound. I rolled my arm, grimacing at the pain. Our efforts to avoid infection had failed. There was no way I'd be able to perform a sending with this…
TidusxYuna Always
