Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Akirame Norwen ❯ The Cave ( Chapter 34 )

Chapter 34: The Cave (aren't I creative?)

Red XIII gave them both a huge grin. "Didn't you know? The face painting and hair braiding is part of a marriage ritual. Your friends proposed, and you accepted. Of course, I'll be attending to the matter of actually performing the ceremony..."

"I am *not* getting married!" Akira exclaimed, and looked up to see that Loki seemed both confused and slightly hurt at her outburst. "I...I mean... I'm not really.... ready for something like this...umm... is there anyway you can like, translate for us while I try and talk to him?"

Red XIII nodded and turned to Loki and hastily said something in their language, and waited while Loki responded. "He says, `Why are you so upset? You seemed happy last night, and this morning you were beaming.'."

"Tell him that I had no idea what was going on... I thought it was just some sort of fun art project."

Red XIII relayed this message, and Loki looked even more upset, and quickly said something. "He says, `I am sorry that you are not familiar with our culture, but you can't back out now, you're already mine.' "

Akirame gave a deep sigh, and looked to her friends for help. "But.... I'm..... umm....."

"She's mine." Riku suddenly said, coming to her rescue.

Loki was rather disturbed by this turn of events, but seemed thoroughly determined to win her. "Since when?" came the challenge.

"Since now, so I suggest you back off." Riku smoothly replied, folding his arms.

Loki gave him a look that would have killed. Akirame, or Waleila, his hummingbird, was the first glimpse into the outside world he had ever had. He was completely captivated by her beauty, and the bright colors of her hair and eyes and the way she seemed to buzz with energy, the reason why he had given her her nickname. He had even given her his mother's necklace and eagle feather, the only memories he had of her, for she had passed away when he was only a child. He quickly sized up his rival and confidently smirked. "All right.... we both can't have her so... I'll fight you for her." Came the response.

Riku shook his head. "I don't want to resort to meaningless violence to solve issues. Is there any other way I can claim her?"

"According to our custom, whomever a girl kisses is instantly entitled to her hand."

Riku looked at Akira, who looked defeated. "There's no other way, unless you want me to kill him." He softly told her.

Akira gave a resigned sigh and scowled as all her friends gathered in close to watch. She turned to face him and stared at her feet for a minute, unable to look him in the face. She quickly looked over her shoulder at Red XIII, and Loki, both of whom were watching intensely. "On the cheek?" She asked.

"Nope, on the lips." Red XIII informed.

Akira squared her shoulders and turned back to Riku. "Well... let's get this over with. After this you're going to take me to a nice restaurant for a steak dinner, and you're paying." She hastily said.

Riku gave her a smirk. "You got it."

Akira took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then raised her head and quickly leaned up while puckering her lips. Her lips firmly pressed against his, and she waited, not knowing what to do. But that was all that was required of her. She could hear Loki angrily growl something, and all her friends began to giggle and squeal.

Akira heavily and quickly turned her face to the ground, unable to stand what she had just done. "God, I think I'm gonna die." She muttered.

"So, you guys want to get married now, or what?" Red XIII asked them.

"Huh... I think I'll just stay engaged for now." Riku said, taking Akira's arm and pulling her away.

Akira looked up at him for a moment, and gave a small smile. "Wasn't that bad I guess." She softly said to him, making him stop and look at her.'

"You think so?"

"Um... actually... it was sorta.... nice?"

Riku felt his heart skip several beats. Did this mean... that she actually liked him now? He opened his mouth to ask her, but was quickly cut off by Loki's furious shout. "Um... I think your ex-fiancee is a little unhappy with this."

Akira shook her head and continued to walk. "Ignore him. I'd rather be engaged to you than some strange person who doesn't even speak the same language as me."

Riku grinned. "So, *fiancee*, any ideas for the wedding? OW! What was that for?" He quickly stopped smarting off after she punched his arm.

"I don't see a ring, buddy." She told him, then headed out the door.

"It's on layaway?" He tried, and earned another smack. "Hey, if you beat me up, there won't *be* a ring!"

"Um.. guys?" Erik finally spoke up, making the gang turn their heads to look at him. He was a pathetic sight, looking scared and confused as Milani affectionately clung to his arm. "Guys, what about me?"

"Oh.... right...." Riku said, stopping and scratching the back of his head. "What are we gonna do about Erik?"

"Guys... please?"

Everyone looked at each other for a minute, then looked back at Red XIII. "He can renounce the marriage if he wants to but... she'll be upset."

Erik sighed and looked at the chibi-eyed girl. "Well... I don't want to hurt her feelings or anything but... I'm not really ready for this sort of commitment." He sighed and dropped his shoulders. "Red... um... you're gonna have to break the news to her. I can't... get married.. I'm... just... tell her after we leave, okay?"

Red XIII nodded in agreement and the group resumed leaving the observatory and headed back down into the cliff dwellings to throw their stuff together. Akira kept close to Riku as guilt started to eat at her. No matter what she tried to tell herself, she still felt strangely bad. Riku could sense this as she sat on the bed she had found him in that morning, a mirror in her hand and a Stridex pad in the other, hesitating to clean off the face paint. "I know I want to, but I just can't do it." She sighed. "Maybe I should just leave it all on?"

Riku finished folding a pair of jeans and stuffed them into his bag and looked up at her. "Well... you can wear it until it just fades off, you know?"

Akira nodded and tossed the Stridex pad and mirror away into her own backpack. "I guess... Hyne knows I'll never get over this guilt trip I'm on right now."

Riku finished packing and sat down next to her. "You didn't even know him, how could you possibly marry him? You did the right thing."

Akira sighed and looked up at him. "It felt so.... bad though."

"Well... sometimes the right thing doesn't always feel good. And... just because something feels good doesn't mean it's the right thing to do either."

"What was that supposed to mean?"

"I... really don't know, actually. Just don't let this get too confused with this, okay?" He asked her, pointing to her head and then to her heart.

Akira smiled and nodded. "Got it."

"Well, we're done packing." Irvine said, slinging his bag over his shoulder and approaching them.

"Good, I just have this feeling that we need to keep moving as soon as possible..." Riku responded, standing up and grabbing his gear.

Erik quickly stumbled into the room, Milani fussing over him. "Let me go, crazy lady!" He begged, struggling to get away from her. "Save me!"

Akira laughed and shook her head. "She's got it for you *bad*."

"I know... don't remind me. She all but kisses the ground I walk on." Erik said, trying to pry himself loose from her death-grip.

Riku smirked and waited until everyone was ready. "Well guys, let's get out of here!"

The group eagerly got up and headed out of the room. Red XIII was waiting for them in the hallway with the other Red. "Leaving already?"

Riku nodded.

"There's only one way down into the canyon, it's an underground route that goes down the canyon wall. The entrance is right here in the dwellings, I'll take you directly there."

Red XIII then promptly turned on his heels and softly padded down the hallway, several sets of stairs and finally stopped in a torch-lit cave. At the back of the round sandstone cove was a steel door that looked like it hadn't been used for quite some time. "Here it is." He reared up on his hind legs and pulled down the latch to open the door. "It's a dangerous path, are you sure you're ready?" He asked them.

Riku looked at the others, who were all raring to go. "Bring it!"

Red XIII nodded at them and stepped away as the door swung open. Akira poked her head inside and looked around. She couldn't see a thing, just pitch black. "And... I'm assuming you're going to give us flashlights or torches or something, right?" She asked.

"But of course... here." Red XIII dug through the contents of a box nearby and pulled out several helmets with flashlights attached, as well as some rock climbing gear. "You'll have to rappel down the tunnel until you reach the path.... it's about a 600 foot drop otherwise."

Akira gulped. "I. Hate. Heights."

Riku smiled reassuringly at her as they started strapping on the climbing gear. "Well.. if you do look down, you're not gonna see anything, right?"

Akira shuddered as they finally entered the tunnel. She reached up and flicked on her headlamp, and looked around. The walls of the tunnel were damp and the smell of wet earth was almost overwhelming. The rim they stood on was the only thing between them and a seemingly endless drop. Erik boldly leaned forward over the edge and looked down to see... nothing. Just an endless void. He shoved a small rock with his foot into the tunnel, and no sound was heard as it disappeared.

Akira gave a small whine. "Hyne, I hate this!"

Red XIII clipped the ropes swinging from the opposite wall of the tunnel to their safety harnesses, and showed them how to operate them the best he could. "And that's all there is to it." He finished up as soon as they were ready.

"Well... here goes nothing." Riku said, and bravely stepped off the ledge and swung out over the tunnel's gaping entrance and set his feet on the opposite wall.

One by one the others followed suit, and slowly started to adjust. Red XIII gave them a smile. "Break a leg." He told them, and with that he left and shut the door behind them.

Akira tried to concentrate on anything but the fact that only mere ropes were keeping her from becoming a pancake. She distracted herself by replaying the events of the day as she kicked off the wall and started to descend with the others. She had had to face Loki after the scene in the observatory. Despite her efforts to return the eagle feather and necklace, Loki had only shook his head and insisted she keep them. Surely he didn't think he had any hope of getting her back. Again the guilt came back to gnaw at her, but she remembered what Riku said. "The right thing isn't always what feels best." She said to herself.

After several minutes of moving downwards, Akira became more confident and actually tried looking around and checking out her surroundings. There wasn't much to see, really... just the occasional stalactite or strange cave creature crawling along the wall. The monsters didn't bother her too much, seeing as to how they hadn't tried to leap across and bite their heads off.

Bored, Sora started to talk. "So, how far down do you think we are by now?"

"I dunno... maybe 300 feet." Riku idly responded, looking at his watch and then staring upwards.

Sora looked downwards and gave a small cry of delight. "I can finally see the ground guys! Check it out!" he pointed downwards at the bottom, which was covered with white sand.

Akira felt dizzy when she looked down. The floor had to be at least 70 feet below them. She clutched her rope and closed her eyes.

"Akira, are you okay? Hey, snap out of it, you're gonna twist your rope." Riku said, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

Akira looked over at him, trying to clear her mind. She loosed her grip on her rope, but stopped. There was a strange vibration coming through it. She looked up just as some dust and pebbles tumbled down the wall. Some 30 feet above her, a crab-like creature clinging to the wall had her rope gripped with its pincers... "Oh Hyne, it's eating my rope!" She shrieked.

Riku looked at her wide-eyed then looked up to see that her rope was considerably frayed from the creature's attempts to chew through it. "Don't panic Akira, just move as fast as you can, okay? It's not that much further..."

The group moved towards the ground double-time, and got only ten feet from the ground when suddenly Akira froze up. The others didn't notice until they had already reached the floor. "Akira, get down!" Riku shouted.

Akira gave a small cry. "I can't!"

"Yes you can!"

"No, I can't! If I do, the rope will break, I can feel it!"

Riku tried to take in the situation. He only had a few seconds until that creature would surely eat through the rope. The sand covering the floor was at least 5 inches deep, enough to pad a rough landing... "Jump!"

Akira looked down at him, her eyes wide. "Are you crazy?!"

Riku tried to calm her down. "It's only ten feet, and the ground is soft! I'll catch you, just release the rope from your harness!"

Akira shook her head and clung even tighter to the rope, feeling the frailty of it in her fingers. Her heart pounded in her throat and a few tears streamed down her face. Suddenly there was a loud snap, and the rope shook, swinging her back and forth.

"Akira, just do it!" Riku shouted again, positioning himself right under her. "I swear, I'll catch you!"

Akira whimpered again and tightly closed her eyes, then slowly moved her hand to the clip on her harness. "I'm gonna let go... 1......" another strand of the rope broke, and she clutched the rope again.

"Come on Akira, you can do it!" Riku tried to reassure her, holding his arms up towards her. "Release your harness!"

Akira took a shaky breath and put her hand over the clip. "Alright... one... two... thr-" The last strand of the rope broke, and Akira felt the air rushing around her for what seemed an eternity.

Riku quickly ran under her and thrust out his arms, and caught her in his arms and fell to the ground under her. Akira opened her eyes and looked into his eyes for a second, her face chalk-white with fear. She trembled for a moment, then tightly wrapped her arms around him as he sat up. Riku smiled and hugged her tightly. "You okay?" he asked her.

"Y-yeah... I'm fine..." She said, slowly releasing her grip on him and leaning back, then looked up at the remnant of the rope still swinging in the air. "Wow... that was close."

"Yeah..."

Nearby Sora cleared his throat. "Yo, Action Hero, Damsel in Distress... you two done yet?"

Akira scowled and threw him a hateful look, then stood up and offered Riku her hand and pulled him up. "Thanks Riku." She softly said, still holding his hand.

Riku shrugged and smiled at her. "Couldn't just let you break your neck or anything. I don't wanna carry you to the Ancient Forest."

Akira rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Riku smirked and put an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, Gravity Girl, I hate the dark."

Akira smiled and leaned her head against his chest as they walked out.

"Show off." Sora muttered under his breath as they proceeded down the dark corridor.