20 Hit the Ground Running
As we walked down the staircase under the cruel sunlight, I wondered to myself how Tidus could possibly have carried me up the massive thing. Seven flights of fifty steps. Wounded, carrying a summoner, in unbearable heat.I knew that he was going to be a really good guardian, I just hoped desperately that it wouldn't spell his death.
I frowned at the thought, trying to dismiss it, but it kept nagging. In my heart, I knew it was very possible, if not probable. After all, maybe after all that time, it was just luck. One lucky thing after another, and after that, our luck will run out…
I knew my train of thought wasn't making things any better. When we got down three flights, there was a large, flat platform, on which the pavement was cracked and piled up in haphazard stacks. Judging by the way my guardians looked around confusedly, I guessed that it was different than the last time we were here.
"Was it like this on the way-" I began, but didn't finish as the rubble exploded in all directions, revealing huge, living vines. One swiped at Kimahri, knocking him off his feet, and delivering three lashes across his bear back from it's sharp, whip-like tentacles.
"Sinspawn!" Wakka shouted, dodging a second vine. Kimahri recovered quickly, making up for his slower reflexes with strength as he dealt a powerful blow at the base of the vine with his spear. It was all Lulu could do to avoid being hit, while sending a barrage of flames at the enemy every few seconds, unable to get to Wakka to pray over his blitzball, rendering him defenseless.
He did his best to evade the vines' attacks while trying to reach her, though it felt futile. The vines were smart enough to try to separate us. Tidus expertly dodged back and forth, delivering several shallow slashes in a vine's flesh before getting a good enough hit to vanquish it.
As I watched the action unfold, I tried to keep my eyes on all my guardians, while keeping from being struck, knowing I had to be ready to heal any of them as soon as they were knocked to the ground, unable to get up, or else the vines would close in to finish the job. The two remaining vines left me alone, focusing on my guardians, who were showing themselves to be a threat.
I took the opportunity, praying for ice, knowing I would help as much as I could. A perfect, sharp stream of ice pierced through the vine, causing it to stiffen for a moment, long enough for Kimahri to finish it off.
Lulu and Wakka had finally reached each other, Lulu praying quickly over his blitzball, before he reeled back, throwing it at the vine. He hit it, and the ball bounced back. He jumped up in an attempt to catch it, but it sailed over his head, bouncing off a pillar, and hitting Lulu.
She gave a brief cry of pain, the flames flaring up, but they didn't catch, so she let another volley of fire fly at the last vine, finishing the battle. For a few seconds, we all relaxed, but then another of the piles of rubble burst, sending large pieces of the stone flying everywhere.
I dove out of the way, but one glanced off my shoulder, leaving a jagged wound. Out of the dust had risen the main body of the Sinspawn, opening its shell to reveal its squid-like interior. As soon as the shell fell open, the spawn sprung into action, sending tentacles with poison tipped claws in our direction.
We danced about, and each time one of us was hit, it stung, leaving a shallow scrape, the poison burning the skin. For some reason, the spawn stopped, pulling the tentacles back to its body, and resting for a moment. We took the chance, I and all four guardians throwing everything we had at it, fire, and blades, and ice. The spawn retaliated from our efforts, shooting a toxic gas into the air as it died.
The gas infiltrated my lungs, and caused my vision to turn fuzzy green. I coughed and gasped, as did my guardians, but soon the air cleared, and we were able to breathe properly again. Tidus stooped, and coughed a few more times to clear the dusty substance that was coating his lungs.
I made my rounds to heal the lashes from the poisonous tentacles and then we were on our way again. Tidus seemed upset, but I didn't mention that I noticed, I decided that if he wanted to say something he would, I didn't need to invade his privacy. After we had cleared another set of stairs he finally spoke what was on his mind, though with a bit of caution, clearly not having forgotten Lulu's warning for him to keep his questions to himself.
"So…what are Sinspawn? Why'd you use fire, and light those pyreflies…?" He asked, his voice strained.
Surprisingly, Lulu didn't seem to mind his query, and answered quickly. "Fiends. When a fiend is killed, it's pyreflies float away, you've seen that. Sin separates the soul from the pyreflies. Sin is made up of those pyreflies, and sinspawn are beings that fall from Sin's body, and are left behind in its wake." Wakka interrupted Lulu, earning a look of reproach.
"Leave 'em alone, and Sin will come back for 'em. You gotta be quick!" Lulu didn't speak again, so I finished. "We don't know what happens to the souls, but Yevon says that once a soul has been absorbed into Sin long enough to reform into a fiend, the person's soul is no longer connected to the pyreflies. So, it's okay to light them, because it isn't hurting a soul, just an orb of light.
Fire is the most effective element in most situations, so we use it whenever we can without hurting a soul." This seemed to put his mind at rest. "Oh." The conversation left me wondering, not for the first time, what happens when a soul is absorbed. By the time we reached the bottom of the stairs, we were all sweating, and relieved by the shade of the trees. At the foot of the stairway, there was a well worn path, which led towards the main Kilikan village, which was were we had originally landed at, and was also the closest. Though it was often said that Kilika Temple was at the center of Kilika, it was actually nearer to the south side. I led us onto the path, gazing around the jungle for signs of danger, but found none. Since the path was well used, there was no undergrowth to contend with, and there were fewer fiends around, because the fiends learned that it is far easier to hunt in the undergrowth were foolish or lost travelers are often found, along with most of Kilika's wildlife. I turned to my guardians, assessing their conditions. "Since we have a straight path cut out for us, and fewer fiends, we can get to Kilika village in about two days, if we hurry. Are you all up for jogging?" They all nodded, and I took off at a slow jog, with them following closely. We kept it slow, able to stay at a steady pace for several hours, with no contact with fiend, human, or animal, before I decided we should stop to rest and eat. I came to a stop, groping for my water skin. The guardians took this as a sign to stop. I rested against a tree devouring some of the food, but quickly realizing that it would take some effort to make it last two days, so I only ate a few pieces. Once the guardians and I had all caught our breaths, eaten, and rested, we were about to set off again when we were ambushed by a few stray scout bee fiends. My guardians, though somewhat tired, were all quick and efficient, killing the bees in a matter of seconds, with no injuries to our party. When we finished, I gestured to the path before us.
"Shall we continue?" We all looked each other over quickly, to confirm the health of all, before going forward. After several minutes of jogging, Wakka sidled up to Tidus.
"So, uh, Tidus…do they got fiends in Zanarkand?" I was surprised at the sudden show of trust, glancing backwards every few seconds to view the conversation. I caught a slightly confused, and maybe pleased look from Tidus. "Just a few…it's a big deal when one shows up, though. And, since when did you start believing me about my Zanarkand anyway?" Even Lulu had grown interested in the conversation, though Kimahri kept his gaze straight ahead.
Wakka got a far off air about him for a few seconds before answering. "I been thinking a lot lately…Maybe people Sin gets too don't die. Maybe, Sin carries 'em through time, Like a thousand years though time. And then, one day, maybe they just…pop back, see?" His hopeful gaze dropped off his face when Lulu let out a breathy growl.
"Amazing! Simply amazing!" She gave him a pained glare, speeding up to be ahead of the whole group, scoffing as she went. "You make up one theory after another, refusing to face the simple truth. Sin didn't take Chappu anywhere! Sin crushed him! And left him on the Djose shore! He won't just pop back!" She stopped, spinning around to face us, as we all skidded to a halt to avoid colliding with each other. Her pain was breaking through on her expression, though she tried to hide it, it was pretty much useless.
"And one more thing. No matter how much you want it, no one can take Chappu's place! No one can take Sir Jecht's place, for that matter, and there's no replacement for Lord Braska, either!" As she looked from Tidus to me, cutting both of us deeply with her words. She looked almost ready to break into tears, which I had not seen in what seemed like forever.
"It's pointless to think about!" She shouted, spinning on her heel and running off, leaving us with no option except to follow. Her outburst brought on new waves of sorrow, missing my father, and Tidus seemed more upset in general, than sad.
I heard Wakka mumbling something about never being what Chappu was, and I would have comforted him, except that I had no words of comfort to offer. After a short time, Lulu tired, slowing to a more manageable pace. Until evening, there was a bitter silence between us, and we kept going until darkness had completely fallen over the jungle. Since there was almost no moon that night, we were left in practically complete darkness. I called two simple words.
"Let's rest." The guardians complied, munching on some food, gulping water, and curling up to sleep, though we were spread out more than wise, clearly, none of the guardians were interested in being near the others. I knew that we would have to deal with these troubles, as we all had them, but something about the dissension between us was going a bit too far. I hoped that by morning, with rest, we could cheer up.
I was disappointed. In the morning, we all woke at about the same time, and eyed each other almost warily as we finished off the last of our provisions and set off. After only a couple hours, we met with a group of Crusaders, returning from the village, which was being headed by two of the Crusaders from Besaid, young men I had grown up with. They were Luzzu, who was about Wakka's age, and Gatta, who was only a couple years older than I was. With a grin, Gatta shouted orders to the group of men, of whom many were slightly older than he.
"Company, halt!" I bowed, and they all bowed back in perfect unison. "Lady Yuna, it's good to see you alive and well." Though Luzzu said it with a smile on his face, there was grimness in his voice.
"And likewise to you, Sir Luzzu, Sir Gatta. If I may, how far are we from Kilika village?" Gatta glance back at the place from which they'd come, frowning a bit, calculating in his head.
"We left the village yesterday, late morning, though we've been marching, not jogging. If you keep going at your pace, you might reach it by nightfa-" He was cut off from ending his sentence, as a huge plant fiend came crashing down from the treetops, where I cannot understand why we didn't see it before. It landed upon and crushed to the ground the entire group of men. Its loose roots went wild, piercing into their bodies with their sharp tips, and injecting a poison which brought on almost instant sleep. It let out a disturbing roar, climbing off the haphazard pile of men, and lumbering towards us.
We had barely recovered from the shock when it was upon us, though Tidus had been the first to act. Performing a graceful flip, he leapt onto the top of the plant, stabbing his sword into the top of its 'head', though the action did little to effect the monster. It shook him off, though he managed to jump away from its flailing roots.
As the rest of us bounded back and forth, the thing kept roaring, and actually knocked over a small tree. Lulu shouted for us to cover her, and Kimahri and Wakka did so, as she prayed for several, long moments, for a powerful dose of lightening. Tidus didn't seem inclined to guard her, instead moving in front of me, slicing in half any roots that came our way. I wasn't sure if his complete disregarding of Lulu's 'command' was a good idea, but I'm not sure if I would've made it through the short time, without incurring a serious injury if it weren't for his disobedience.
There came a loud buzzing sound, as a thick, blindingly bright flash of electricity fell from the sky, frying the creature where it stood. Pyreflies exploded, flying rapidly to the sky, as the small amount that was left crumbled into dust. As soon as all traces of the monster where gone, the Crusaders began to wake, groaning and moaning in their pain.
Many began to sit up, even stand, as I rushed over to see if I could help. I placed a hand on Luzzu's shoulder, but he stopped me from trying to heal him. "No, we'll be fine, Yuna, we've been trained for this kind of thing." He grunted as he raised himself to his feet. "You need to get on with the pilgrimage."
I nodded, surveying the other men, to make sure no one was seriously injured. When I was satisfied, I bowed again, and my guardians and I hurried off. Only then did I notice Tidus falter, and I grabbed his arm, stopping him. He turned to see what I wanted, but his eyes glazed over, and began to move erratically, as if he was dizzy. He grimaced, taking a few stumbling steps backwards, then forwards, and then to the side, before toppling over.
Wakka exclaimed something in surprise, and Lulu and Kimahri stopped wordlessly, unconcerned, knowing I would just heal him and we would move on. This is just what I did, finding a deep wound on his one of his triceps. He blinked, shook his head, and smiled pathetically at me.
"Sorry…" He said as he rose. I almost laughed, finding his apparent need to apologize for getting hurt, while protecting me somewhat endearing. "It's fine…thanks for being my guardian."
We shared a quiet second of smiling, forgetting the circumstances, before returning to our journey towards the village. Since we had no provisions left, we were all determined to get to the destination by nightfall, leaving us all completely sapped of energy by the time it was dark, having spent the whole day pressing ourselves onward.
It must have been about ten at night when we finally passed through the newly erected village gates, and the village was quiet except the sound of waves lapping on the pillars the village rested upon. With a feeling of complete and total relief, having braved the deadly jungles of Kilika, survived the Trials, and come out with the aeon Ifrit, we proceeded to barge into the nearest inn, letting ourselves into the vacant rooms, knowing that it was common practice for inns to provide free room and board for summoners whenever it was needed.
As I drifted off to sleep, the last thing that was on my mind was something Ifrit's fayth had said to me. "You are indeed special. Bahamut was right" I couldn't fathom why Bahamut, aeon of Bevelle, the most powerful aeon know to Spira, would be speaking to Ifrit about me. I also wondered what was so special about me. I though maybe it was because my father had been a high summoner.
TidusxYuna Always
