Chapter nine time. We'll pick it up straight up from where the last one ended, with Tidus trying to help his friends. He's on his way now, let's go.
Please forgive any spelling or grammar mistakes.
Chapter 9
"Right, I'm in. Now to find the guys," Tidus told himself. He was still on a high for managing to get past those guards outside. But the hardest part was still to come, rescuing his friends from their imprisonment. He walked down the corridor at a fast pace, his armor jingling as he moved. He reached a fork in the corridor and stopped. He needed to decide where to go quickly, left or right.
The right route led to a door. The left one led down to another set of corridors. He thought;
"Perhaps any dungeons would be quite a walk from the front door," he theorised. "Maybe I should go right and see where it leads, the door on the left could just take me to a room full of people."
He made up his mind and turned right, breaking out into a jog. He was right when he said he needed to hurry, if he dawdled then it could cost him dear. The others could have only limited time, he needed to find them as quickly as possible.
"I hope they're alright, I'll never forgive myself if I find them and I'm too late."
Back in their cell
The group were all still slumped and at a loss for ideas. Yuna had gone with Kinoc to see Seymour and they had no idea if she was alright.
"Yunie's been gone an awful long time," said Rikku fearfully now.
"She won't be coming back," Auron said.
"WHAT!? But I thought you said Maester Seymour wouldn't hurt her?" said Wakka.
"I didn't say that," Auron answered coolly. "I said we have no way of knowing what Seymour would do with her. But I didn't mean it like that anyway. I meant she won't be coming back here to this cell because they wouldn't send her back in here with us, even if they don't hurt her. They'll likely keep somewhere else we can't reach her."
"Oh," said Rikku reassured a little. "Still though, I want Yunie here with us. I want to know for sure she's safe."
"Yeah, and to do that we need to bust outta here ya," said Wakka.
"But how, we're locked in. There's no way out," said Lulu now.
"Er…. I dunno," Wakka admitted dropping his head.
"We can't escape," said Auron now. "There's no possible way out of this cell except the door which is locked. We have no choice but to wait for them to come for us. Until then we have no choice but to wait.
"BUT….. YUNIE?" whined Rikku.
"We can only hope," the old warrior told her.
Meanwhile
Tidus was still wondering around trying to find his friends. He'd not come across any clues to pointed where about inside this building they were and after several minutes of seemingly walking in circles down the endless corridors he finally stopped to think. He had to admit to himself that he was more or less lost. He had no choice but to ask the next person he came across where to go. It would be very risky to do because it would easily blow his cover but he had no other options. The longer he stumbled round like this with no idea where he was going the stronger the danger everyone else was facing became.
He'd stopped in the middle of the corridor to think about all this and eventually he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. He looked up to see another guard walking towards him. Seizing his chance, he spoke up as the man went to walk past.
"Hey buddy," Tidus said in a hushed tone (though the guard still heard him and turned around). "This is a bit embarrassing but can you help me with something?"
"What's the problem?" the guard asked shortly.
"Well, you see the thing is," Tidus said very nervously. He was desperate not to give himself away and was trying to sound as plausible as possible.
"The thing is I'm new and I don't know my way around this building very well just yet. Also, the other guards don't tell me anything. The captain outside told me to get in here and help guard the prisoners, Yuna and her guardians. The thing is, he didn't tell me where they were in here, he just assumed I knew. And because I'm new I don't and I didn't have the guts to ask him, he'd have given me a scolding."
The guard listened intently as Tidus told him his "problem" and his expression was unreadable underneath his helmet so Tidus had no idea whether he was buying this or not. When Tidus finished his explanation he gulped and waited for a response with baited breath.
The guard looked him up and down and took his time before answering. When he did he asked;
"What's your name kid?"
"Er… my name?" Tidus replied panicking.
"Yeah, you're name I said. What is it?"
"My name is….. Botta," he said thinking on his feet.
"Botta?"
"Yeah."
"Never heard of you," the guard said suspiciously.
"Well like I told you, I'm new. This is the first time I've been stationed here. So far I'd only been assigned to help guard the stadium."
"Hhmm," said the guard now thinking. Tidus was sweating profusely now, praying that this guy bought his story. After what have been the longest 10 or so seconds of his life the guard finally spoke again.
"The prisoners are in the cells you dummy like we always keep them and the cells are just a little way up ahead, I've just come from there now. This is the only time I'm gonna help you, in future make sure you know what you're doing before you accept a job."
"Yessir!" said Tidus giving him a quick salute (and breathing a massive sigh of relief).
"Now be on your way rookie and like I said, don't screw up like this again." Tidus nodded and then began to walk off in the direction the guard pointed. The guard himself set off in the opposite direction again muttering "amateurs" under his breath as he went.
Tidus didn't care though, he'd got what he wanted to know out and hadn't blown his cover. Result. He had to stop himself from breaking into a run now that he knew where he was going.
"Hold on, I'm nearly there everyone."
Eventually he finally reached the spot he'd been looking for, he walked through a door which led him into a very large room that had made of balconies. If you were to fall over the edge it would be a very long floor, probably into the sea. He looked around and saw a row of doors that went all the way around the room with several guards situated througout. He counted 12 doors and 15 guards in total.
One thing caught his eye specifically though. Most of the guards were walking around different areas patrolling. Two guards however with both stood either side of a certain door off to the right of him. That must be the cell everyone was being held.
"That's got to be where everyone is," he told himself. "Now, how do I bust them out?"
How would he do this, by stealth or by strength? Find a way to sneak to their rescue or to just go the hell with it and try to fight his way through all these guards alone?
"This isn't going to be easy either way, but I have to try." Deciding that the all swords blazing approach wasn't the best idea Tidus went with the stealth option. He was going to try and use this guard outfit for all it was worth, hopefully he could get close too or even inside that cell with everyone. He came up with an idea and decided to push his luck again.
"Hey," he said approaching one of the guards standing by the door. "The commander wants you outside?"
"Me, why?" asked the guard confused.
"Something about taking breaks when you shouldn't," he quickly made up.
"Taking breaks?" said the guard even more at sea. "But, I ain't had a break for days! He must have made a mistake."
"Well you're going to have to go tell him, he sounded pretty angry."
"But, I can't this spot. I'm on duty."
"I'll stand here and guard whilst you go talk to him and sort it this out," Tidus offered as subtlety as he could.
"Yeah thanks, you stay here so we don't get in trouble for leaving a post unmanned. I'll be back as quickly as I can."
And with that the guard shot off leaving Tidus bewildered that his idea had worked. Clearly some guards weren't as smart and wary as others. He took his spot outside the door and gripped hold of his title tight to try and look convincing to the other guards walking around. The guard on the other side of the door hadn't said a word during that previous exchange.
Now that he'd managed to reach the guys (he could hear their voices inside and could barely contain his excitement) he had to find a way to get the door open and let them out. Hearing them talk though made him desperately want to call out and let them know he was there but he couldn't otherwise he'd blow his cover. He decided to push his luck for a third time.
"Hey, do you think we get…. the prisoners…. some water?" he asked tentatively to the 3rd guard now."
The guard slowly turned his head to look over at him. He simply replied with;
"No."
Realising he'd have to try harder Tidus pushed on.
"Why, have they already got some?"
"No. We don't give them anything. What the hell kid, is this your first day on the job?"
"I'm new," he repeated.
"Well you got a lot to learn. We don't feed the prisoners unless ordered to you fool, especially prisoners like this lot."
"How long have they been in here?"
"About a day."
"Are they going to be moved."
"That's for the maesters to decide. What's with all the questions?"
"I just want to learn, just like you said."
The guard just shook his head now muttering something under his breath just like the first guard had done.
Tidus was running out of ideas now, clearly he couldn't talk his way past this guard. He'd noticed a set of guys (presumably they opened the cell door) on the guard's belt. He looked to have no choice but to blow his cover now and start warring. He's have to attack the guard and get the door open fast. At least if he got the guys out he wouldn't have to fight all the other guards alone.
Waiting a minute or so to make sure he caught the guard unawares, he leapt forward and drove his fist hard into the back of the guy's head. Caught completely stunned and disorientated, the guard went down in a heap.
"WHAT THE HELL!?" he roared before Tidus began wailing on him some, desperate to incapacitate him.
"What's going on over there!?" barked a guard from close by. He watched as one guard proceeded to attack another viciously.
"HEY, CUT IT OUT! EVERYONE, GET OVER HERE. PULL THEM APART!"
Hearing this Tidus realised he had to act fast.
Inside the cell
"What's going on out there?" asked Lulu as everyone inside listened the commotion on the other side of the door.
"I dunno, sounds like something's happening," replied Rikku.
"Everyone, get ready," demanded Auron. "They may open the door, if they do then pounce and try to make a break for it."
Outside
Knowing he had only seconds before the guards reached and apprehended him, Tidus grabbed the guys off of the guard's belt, stood back up and fumbled as he tried to turn the key in the lock.
"STOP HIM!" roared the guard from the floor realising what he was doing. Just seconds before he they tackled him to the floor, he managed to turn the key and thankfully heard the lock click.
"This is now!" roared Auron. "They've unlocked the door, run for it!"
Kimahri effortless yanked the heavy cell door open and the group all burst through it, a heap of guards outside greeting them.
"Fight your way through and go!" roared Auron now. Without their weapons the guardians had to rely on their fists to fight. Luckily because most of the guards were in a huddle on the ground or were caught off guard they couldn't draw their own weapons. A giant brawl erupted as the group (led by Kimahri) punched and kicked their way through all the guards in their way, soldiers were falling like flies and were in a complete state of confusion.
Tidus had been tackled to the floor and looked up as he watched the crazy brawl unfold. Trying to pull himself back to his feet (he had a lot of bodies on top of him) he reached out an arm to Rikku who was in front of him.
"RIKKU, IT'S ME!" he tried to tell her. She turned around to see him reaching for her and delivered a swift, hard spinning kick which caught him square on the jaw. She hadn't heard him and because he still had his helmet and armour she'd assumed he was attacking her. The kick hit him and Tidus as knocked backwards, completely dizzy. Had he been a cartoon he'd have had little birds flying round his head.
With most of the guards fallen or incapacitated Auron then yelled;
"Come on, through that door. We need to find Yuna as fast as we can before getting out of here."
"What about our weapons?" asked Rikku.
"We'll probably find them along the way," Lulu told her. "Now come on, hurry."
With that they all ran towards the door that led to the endless maze of corridors, leaving the beaten guards and Tidus behind. He hadn't even be able to let on to them.
"Guys….." he croaked (his jaw in agony). "Wait for me….."
But none of them heard him as they went. He tried to pull himself back up to his feet to follow them but his legs were now jelly.
"Damn it," he cried pounding the floor in frustration. Well, at least he'd freed them from their cell. He'd have to catch up with them later.
Hope you enjoyed this update and that it was worth the long delay since the last one. Added as much action as possible for that reason. I won't lie, I'm not sure when I'll find time to do the next one because as I've stated before, I have other stories to write for too that need updates. Hopefully I can around to doing something for this next week but no promises. Until the next chapter (where I promise more action and drama) see ya!