15: A Quick Battle
"What in Yevon's name is that thing?" Braska asked between breaths, casting another protective spell over Rikku. The vitality booster was coming in handy; it was lucky that she hit him with it before the creature came into view. The only Espada she'd ever fought before had possessed incredible speed. If this fiend was anything like that one, then she and Braska would need every bit of assistance they could scrounge up.
"It's called an Espada, and..." Rikku squinted at the huge insect, "it's... slower than the one I fought." I guess it's because of all the snow. Still – what was it doing here? She'd always thought the terrible creatures they faced in the Monster Arena were the result of the caretaker's mad breeding techniques. Apparently some of them were natural occurrences. The Espada chittered and advanced.
Rikku swallowed. "Braska... umm, maybe you wanna start summoning? Like, right now?" She edged away from him, figuring two targets were better than one.
Only fuzzy memories remained of her arena battle with the supposedly tame one. She spent most of her time during that fight unconscious, being brought back from the brink of death by phoenix downs. In the end, Kimahri felled the beast with one of his special attacks. The rest of team had already been knocked down by the hellishly quick creature, and the victory felt more like a lucky close call.
This time, there would be no spear-wielding Ronso to save the day if they were knocked out. The only one who could deal any serious damage to the insect's tough shell was Auron, with his armor-piercing sword – but he was much too slow to reach the thing, even if it was hindered by the chill.
Braska chose to forgo his questions and began dancing. The movement aggravated the Espada, which made a gravity-defying leap to land in front of them.
Rikku yelled and fired at the fiend. "Hey, ugly! Your fight's with me!" The Espada swung around, and Rikku's knees buckled. "Uh, yeah!" she said, her voice high with panic. "Braska!" Her words cut off into a shriek as a claw scythed out towards her. "Now would be a good time!" She ducked and scrambled backwards, sending powdery snow flying everywhere.
Braska didn't respond, and the monstrous creature reared before her. Rikku shrunk back in horror.
An earth-shaking roar parted the clouds in a swirl of color. Bahamut swept down from the sky like an arrow. He slammed into the back of the rearing Espada, pinning it down. The noise of their scuffle was deafening.
Braska took no notice of Rikku's return to his side; he was frozen in concentration. They were too close to the battle; a shower of snow blasted over them. In desperation, Rikku stepped in front of Braska. Despite her efforts, the Summoner's concentration wavered, enabling the fiend to score a heavy slash against the dragon.
Freeing itself from Bahamut's grip, the Espada skittered out of range. Its once- smooth shell was marred by jagged slashes where the aeon's claws had injured it. Rikku heard a faint whisper of the Farplane leaking from the wounds.
What? she thought, confused by the hypnotic whistle. I know that sound... Deactivating her dressphere, she returned to her normal outfit.
"The hell is that thing?"
Jecht's shout caught Rikku's attention; he sprinted towards her, sword out. "We leave you alone for two minutes, and this is what you cook up?"
"Shut up! I didn't invite that over for lunch!"
"Watch out!" he shouted.
Rikku spun only to see Bahamut's tail hurtling towards them. The sudden impact sent them flying. She landed face-first in the snow, a good distance away from the fight. Nearby, Braska groaned, signalling the end of his Rapture. Rikku's heart sank as she watched Bahamut's scaled hide turn glossy, dissolving into pyreflies.
Disoriented by the sudden loss of its opponent, the Espada chittered angrily. Taking advantage of the creature's confusion, Auron made his entrance with a forceful blow to its back. Dark blood splattered everywhere as the creature squealed in surprise. Writhing, it searched for the cause of its pain.
"Duck!" Auron couldn't dodge a Death Claw; Rikku dashed forward to distract the Espada. Nothing could stop the fiend's magic attack from slaying its foes if it landed. She aimed for the creature's wounded back, but as she approached, time slowed down.
The whistling in the air grew louder, and through the black ichor spreading across the insect's back, Rikku could make out small flashes of light. Change of plans, she thought as she came closer, closer now, close enough to touch it. Unable to help herself, Rikku reached for its shell, which rippled beneath her fingertips. Her hand delved down into the creature's soul. The sound of the wind was too loud, millions of pyreflies screaming in anguish. She closed her hand around that anguish and pulled –
"Rikkma!" Auron yelled into her ear, and Rikku came to her senses, her hand still tightly closed. He dragged her towards the others. "What happened?"
"I... I don't know," Rikku answered, opening her fist. A few swirls of black mist danced in her palm, emitting faint strains of sound. "A piece of the Farplane," she whispered in awe. So hypnotising…
"Stay focused!" Auron commanded.
Shaking her head, Rikku trapped the murky swirls of smoke in an empty vial. "We can't defeat an Espada by ourselves. Let's run!"
"What are its weaknesses?" Auron herded them away from the convulsing fiend.
"None that I know of," Rikku admitted. "It's super-fast, though, and if it scratches you, you'll be a goner."
Jecht bared his teeth. "So whadda we do?"
"You're asking me?" Rikku squeaked. "I point, you punch!"
Auron kept his eyes trained on the confused Espada as he joined Braska. "Are you injured?"
Staggering, Braska took Auron's outstretched hand and found his balance. "Sorry I failed you." His mouth set in a grim line. "But I can still fight."
"Oh great - it's regenerating already!" Rikku said in dismay. "It's got a tough hide - we've gotta hit it while it's still injured!"
"I'll reopen those wounds," Auron said, but Rikku held him back.
"You can't," she warned. "You're too slow."
"So it's up to us?" Jecht looked at his sword and shook his head in disbelief.
The Espada was recovering from its confusion and starting to trail after them; Rikku reached for the first spell she could find – Thundaga, of course – and threw it in the mad hope of delaying the fiend's approach. "Less talk, more fight!"
"Oh, I'll fight." Jecht planted his sword into the ground and mashed his thumb and forefingers into a triangle. A flare of white magic surrounded him as he let the spell fly. "Score!" He grabbed his sword with a mad cackle of delight, eager to strike.
Rikku raced after him, feeling a tingle of hope - or maybe that was just the Haste spell Braska was casting on them both - fill her. She'd recognized the magic Jecht used - a Slow spell. Maybe we can actually beat this thing!
Her euphoria died out as they engaged the fiend; Jecht's slashes were energetic, but he lacked Auron's experience. Ducking and slashing with her daggers, she watched him use the broad side of his massive sword to bat away the Espada's claw. "You're supposed to stick it with the pointy end!" she yelled, dodging another of the fiend's swipes.
"You try -" Jecht puffed, parrying another thrust, "- hitting this thing!"
Rikku smirked; half the battle was attitude, right? "I'll show you how it's done!" She darted between two of the creature's legs and dug her daggers into the weaker segment of an exposed joint. The Espada let out a screech of pain and whirled upon her, faster than she could see it move. Deadly black claws descended and Rikku threw herself back.
One claw grazed her torso, and black spots burst before her eyes. Rikku's rapid descent towards unconsciousness stopped with a violent pull; as her head cleared a few stray tufts of phoenix down dissipated.
"Up and at 'em!" Jecht yelled, swinging his sword at one of the Espada's legs.
Rikku launched herself into motion; she'd already learned the hard way that Espadas were attracted to phoenix downs like moths to a flame. Rolling across the ground, she escaped a repeat performance of the knockout.
"Holy moley!" Rikku leapt to her feet only to narrowly miss being impaled by another one of the creature's legs. This is definitely not the way to recover from a near-death experience! "Jecht! Do something!"
"I'm tryin'!" He was still hacking at the Espada's legs; all the speed in the world couldn't compete with Jecht's lack of skill. After a few futile attempts to distract the creature with his wild swings, Jecht cursed and simply hurled his sword as though it was a blitzball.
The sword whizzed over her head; she was showered with odourless goo as two of the fiend's severed legs collapsed at her side. Seizing the opportunity, Rikku wriggled her way out of the squealing insect's range.
"Strike!" Jecht crowed.
"You idiot!" Rikku replied, her hand snaking out to pull Jecht back towards Braska and Auron in a hasty retreat. Behind her, the Espada's shrieks died out; its legs were probably already regenerating.
A much-needed healing spell washed over Rikku. "We saw what happened," Braska said with worry. "Are you all right?"
"For the moment," Rikku wheezed. She faced Jecht. "I told you this thing had a tough hide! Only you or Auron can even think about piercing it with your swords, and Auron's way too slow!" This earned her a grunt of annoyance from Auron. "You just threw your own sword away! What are we gonna do now?"
"Retreat?" Braska said, picking up his robes and running from the battle. Rikku and Jecht followed, while Auron lingered at the rear as a guard.
"If we live," he huffed to Jecht as they ran, "we're going to have a lesson on proper grip!"
Jecht grimaced. "I threw it on purpose!"
Rikku stopped and turned around. Raising her hands, she tapped into the power of the Conflagration grid. Investing as much mana as she could into a Blizzaga spell, she created a wall of ice between their group and the enraged fiend. "That's not gonna hold," she declared, launching into a second spell.
"Are you tellin' me I shouldn't have saved you?" Jecht growled, catching his breath. "Don't know if you followed, Blondie, but that overgrown bug nearly killed you."
"And I'm grateful, but now you're out a sword and that thing's still coming for us!" Rikku groaned; they were running out of options, and not even her dresspheres could help them out of this one.
"We need a strategy," Braska said as the Espada scrabbled at the icy barrier, its murderous chittering rising in volume.
"Well, you could let me throw Auron's sword at it too," Jecht said.
Auron's grunt was unamused. He held his sword out as the barrier shuddered; a web of cracks spread through it. "The rest of you keep moving," he said. "I'll hold it here."
"Hell naw!" Jecht cast a Scan spell. "No fair takin' all the glory, man. It's still injured, them legs I chopped off ain't back yet. Let's make a comeback in the second half!"
Hit it with everything we got, Rikku thought as she cast again, restrengthening the barrier. Auron really is our only option left to hurt it, but I'm the only one fast enough to hit it. So if he's too slow, then…
"Somebody Haste Auron!" Rikku yelled as she leapt onto her target.
Surprised, Auron staggered and tried to shove away the questing fingers that reached inside of his coat.
"Rikkma!" he bellowed.
Reach low, she thought determinedly.
"I know you think we're all gonna die, Blondie, but this ain't really the time to be fillin' those last requests," Jecht said.
Ignoring them both, Rikku continued her search under the waistband of Auron's trousers. "Ah-ha!" she yelled, her fingers closing around the sack of gil they'd collected earlier and pulling it out. Dancing away, she hooked the pouch around her own belt and stuffed as many coins as she could into her palms.
Her three companions stared with varying degrees of disbelief, the heat of the battle momentarily forgotten. Oh well, she thought. It wasn't often that anyone dove into Auron's pants and lived to tell the tale. She'd just have to make sure she didn't fall victim to friendly fire. "Did you Haste him?" she asked, as the sound of splintering ice echoed over the field.
"Ah... yes, yes I did," Braska answered her.
She spread clumps of coins between her fingers and lifted her hands. The Espada stopped after clearing the icy rubble, staggering on its uneven legs. Regaining its balance, it scrabbled down the snow bank.
"Your plan?" Auron demanded, readying his sword.
"Hit him with everything you got when he's distracted." Rikku lifted her arms, sweating as she took aim. It'd been awhile since she'd literally thrown money away like this; wasting cash pained her to the bone. But, she thought with a mental sob, dead Summoner's entourages didn't need to eat, either. "Rush him now!" She spun and flicked her fingers out, letting the coins fly.
The money whizzed towards the Espada with a low whistle; the small size of the coins, coupled with their disproportionate weight allowed Rikku to launch them much faster than any dagger. Even a coin, when tossed just so, could be a formidable weapon; when there was more than one, they could be deadly. She reached back into the pouch and sent another spray flying without hesitation. They arced towards their target, creating a dangerous tapestry of thin golden threads.
Auron ran, closing the distance between himself and the fiend. The projectiles had their desired effect; though more than a few missed the mark, they still confused the Espada and created enough cover for Auron to break through its defense.
He charged in from the fiend's weakened side, avoiding the flailing stumps as he leapt. With a lithe twist, he brought his sword down on the creature's back, ramming the weapon into the wounds Bahamut had inflicted. The sound of chitin breaking filled the air as his heavy sword caught, tearing its victim open like a fish being gutted.
The piercing scream of the Espada echoed across the snowy canyon one last time, and then pyreflies erupted everywhere. Rikku sank to her knees, too exhausted to appreciate the lightshow drifting towards them. Soon, only bruises and the mournful echo of pyreflies remained.
Braska followed suit when the last pyrefly disappeared, and even Jecht fell backwards, breathing heavily.
Rikku's trip down from her adrenaline-induced battle high was fast and painful. "Holy chocobos," she gasped. "I really thought we were gonna buy it there!"
"We won't be buying anything in the near future." Auron trudged towards them. His eyes fixed on the ripped, discarded pouch that lay next to Rikku. Only a few coins remained, even less than they had started out with before their hunting and gathering session. Rikku winced.
"Sorry," she mumbled, waiting for Auron's inevitable explosion. When none was forthcoming, she cracked an eye open and glanced up at him.
He was still staring at the pouch with an unreadable expression. Finally, he leaned over and scooped it off of the ground, making a quick note of the coins remaining in the bag. Noticing Rikku's scrutiny, he gave her a miniscule shrug. "This pouch wasn't used to carrying much money anyway."
Braska looked up with an expression of mock surprise. "Why Auron. Are you implying that I might be financially disadvantaged?"
"I'm not implying anything," Auron answered, seating himself next to Rikku. "We are now poorer than Jecht's education."
"Heard that," Jecht mumbled from his position on the ground.
"Sorry. I meant to say we are fortunate that you have such extensive experience living frugally, my lord." Auron smirked.
"Now see, why can Auron get away with callin' you cheap when he's the real tightwad? You should be bustin' his balls, not mine!" Jecht protested, sitting up.
"Auron's abilities afford him a measure of tolerance that I'm afraid you haven't earned yet," Braska replied amicably. "When did you learn to cast time magic, and just where is your sword right now, Jecht?"
"I'm a pro blitzer. We all got our tricks. Helps with the game! Damned if I know what happened to the sword, though."
"Your sword should be an extension of yourself," Auron growled. "And it should be somewhere over that hill," he added, pointing back towards the canyon.
Jecht waved a lazy hand across the field. "I'm too tuckered out to get it right now." Then he brightened. "But whadda ya know, my ass ain't turnin' blue from the cold anymore!"
"Good," Auron said. "Then you'll feel it when I beat it." He made a motion as if to stand.
"Alright! Chill the hell out, Stiff, I'm gettin' it already!" Jecht sat up unwillingly, moving at a glacial rate.
Rikku covered her face, still trying to believe the conversation she was hearing. These three don't seem all that legendary. Auron cleared his throat, and Rikku peered at him through her fingers.
"Though this was an unexpected battle," Auron began, "we prevailed in the end. That wouldn't have been possible without your help, Rikkma." He paused, letting the words sink in. "You did well today."
Rikku couldn't help the smile that bubbled to the surface; Auron's words cloaked her like a gentle caress. Well, a gentle caress for Auron. Which was more like a brutal slap on the back from anyone else. But Rikku wasn't complaining – after all, a pat on the back was better than nothing, coming from the legendary Guardian of Grumpiness himself.
"If you glow any brighter you're gonna start meltin' the snow," Jecht observed, and Auron shifted uncomfortably. Rikku ignored them and continued to beam her thousand-watt smile towards its instigator.
Auron said I did good. Auron thanked me! Well, sorta. In her head, Rikku was doing handsprings through the snow. Her body was not feeling quite as cooperative, though; after a few moments of hopeful twitching, she managed to bump her shoulder against Auron's side. "Glad to help," she said through her grin, noting with amusement that Auron refused to look at her.
In fact, he was hyper-aware of the keen observation of Braska and Jecht, and rose to his feet. "Fiends attract fiends." He dusted some snow off of his coat. "We need to move out before any more unpleasant surprises occur."
A collective groan rose from the others, and Rikku pouted as she stood, sticking her tongue out at Auron's back. Jecht snickered, and Auron stiffened.
"Stop making those faces, Rikkma."
Rikku froze, tongue still extended. How does he do that? On a whim, she reached down and gathered the snow at her feet into a compact ball, tossing it at the back of Auron's head. It hit with a wet plop, and silence settled among the group. Nobody threw snowballs at Auron. He just wasn't the snowball-fight type. In fact, it was something of a wonder - or a clue to how tired he was - that Auron didn't turn around and cleave the offending snowball in half for daring to approach him. He turned slowly, a menacing glint in his eye.
"What was that for?"
Rikku crossed her arms and shrugged. After staring down an Espada, death glares from exhausted Guardians just didn't cut it anymore. "Chill out a little," she replied with a brazen wink. "I heard snow helps with that."
Auron glowered at her, then dropped his shoulders. "Be thankful I'm in no mood to respond to that attack right now," he grumbled.
Braska chuckled, moving to Rikku's side. "I think you've finally broken him, Rikkma. Auron just admitted that he may be willing to participate in a snowball fight."
"Humph," Auron grunted as he turned away and started walking. "Who said anything about snow?"
Braska's smile widened and he nudged Rikku, eliciting a giggle from her. Even Jecht was grinning as he sidled up to Auron and threw his arm across the other man's shoulders, whispering something into his ear. Whatever he said earned him a disgusted sigh; Auron all but shoved Jecht down the hill towards the missing sword.
Rikku trailed after them, feeling lighter somehow. "Click," she said, trying to bank her smile. She could feel it happening; they all could. It kept the grin on Braska's face, the lewd jokes spewing from Jecht, and stayed the tense set of Auron's shoulders. And, it filled them with enough energy to complete the last leg of their journey to Macalania's temple.
They were a group now, not just a motley collection of warriors thrown together by fate or circumstance. They were becoming something like friends.
Edited 6/16: Rewrote … everything. Seriously. This chapter lost over 2,000 words in the edits.
Battle abilities in this chapter:
Death Claw [Espada]: instant K.O. if it hits
Spare Change [Rikku]: every 10 gil inflicts 1 point of special damage
Interesting to note, "Spare Change" is a special ability of the Samurai dressphere in FFX-2. I guess Auron learned something here today. ;-)