Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ A Time Mixup! ❯ A brave new world: Where is my friend? ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4

A brave new world:

Where is my friend?

Trunks opened his eyes slowly, a distorted, gut-wrenching feeling sweeping over him. He glanced about, but his eyes blurred and his head ached. He winced, doubling up, shuddering as if freezing. He had taken a bad hit, he could tell that now. The pain was so intense that it drowned out the rest of his senses. All he could feel, think, and know was the pain that assaulted his small body. Everything was dark around him, dark and quiet. He felt that he may die, he almost prayed that he would, just so the mind-numbing pain would cease. But a single thought hit him like a sledgehammer.

Goten…

Trunks gasped, his blue eyes going wide. He struggled to sit, despite the pain. He looked around frantically, but there was no sign of Goten. All Trunks could see was the debris from the time machine. It was scattered everywhere. He felt his pocket, and discovered that his capsule box was still there. The boy got to his feet, gritting his teeth against the pain. It was hard going, but the pain was fading little by little. He began to stumble through the ruins of the time machine, still seeking Goten.

He was nowhere to be found. Trunks was alone, and his pain was preventing him from sensing ki.

After searching the area around the crash site, Trunks determined that he was in a forest in a tropical region. There were a few paths, which suggested civilization was nearby. He knew that he couldn't stay in forest forever, and he did need medical attention. He picked a path, and began his slow progression towards what he hoped was a town or village.

Every step he took was agony; every step was another memory of Goten, and another reminder of how Trunks had been responsible for… Not a moment went by that the young Saiyan didn't cry. He knew what he'd done. He'd gotten himself lost, possibly killed Goten, and destroyed his mother's invention. He wasn't a hero… He was an idiot.

Time seemed to crawl by as he made his painful journey. He eventually began to smell the salty air of a seashore, and he quickly followed it down the path, hoping to find civilization at the end. He finally did behold a small town, or at least… The remnants of one.

It was a wreck of a place-obviously the site of a great disaster. Only a few huts of the village remained-and even those had taken heavy damage. The rest of the town seemed to be at the bottom of the bay. Sunken… Lord knew how many people had died… Trunks fought away the thought that he may have caused it when he crashed. The crash couldn't have generated enough energy to do this to a town, it was impossible! Besides… It seemed like a tsunami was the culprit of this calamity. He'd seen the aftermath of one of those before. And this seemed textbook.

The town had been built poorly; obviously it had been built on a series of docks that overstretched the bay. A stupid place to put a village, especially in a tsunami region. When the tsunami had hit, it had plowed over the heart of the village in the center of the bay. Trunks could see that a port on the edge of the bay was still standing, and it was very close to where he was. Even from here he could hear sobbing and the cries of agony. Trunks finally struggled to sense Goten, but he found no trace of his friend. He did, however, feel several strong powers around the world. One of them made him feel terrified, and it wasn't that far away. It was an angry, hateful energy, but it felt sad in a way. Like whatever it was was suffering. Trunks stopped reaching out, for fear that it may detect him. The last thing he needed was some super villain landing right in front of him for a fight. Trunks sighed, and turned towards the village. It was then that he realized that there was debris lodged in the palm trees around him. Whole wooden planks were driven through the trees cleanly. Trunks blinked.

A typhoon, maybe? Kami, what a stupid place to put a town… Tsunamis and typhoons in the same place? Maybe it's just bad luck… He shook his head and started off towards the docks.

He hadn't gone ten steps into the town before he was swarmed by a group of very concerned looking adults. There were five of them-all strange looking to Trunks. A woman with shoulder length brown hair knelt next to him, looking into his face. She had two different colored eyes, something Trunks had never seen before. One blue… One Green… Trunks blinked at her.

"Um, hello there." He said softly. His voice sounded small and scared. Trunks resented that. The woman looked at him worriedly.

"You're hurt… Were you in the attack?!" She exclaimed.

"A…attack?" Trunks asked, feeling his stomach hit his shoes. That huge power… Was that what did this…? He thought. His face paled, and he dropped to his knees in the sudden horrible realization of what may have happened to Goten. At first, Trunks hadn't worried much about Goten being in the village when it was destroyed. A tsunami was nothing to a Super Saiyan, even an injured one. But that huge power… If Goten had been in or near the village, he would have surely challenged it… And…

"You okay? Hey, kid!" Trunks looked up to see that a blond haired man was now bent down over him, giving him a worried expression. Trunks nodded.

"I… I'm fine. Just dizzy. That's all. I fell." He stood up quickly, and the man had to hop back to avoid a collision. Trunks smiled a bit. He wasn't going to let them treat him like a little kid, even after what happened. He pointed up towards the sky. "I took my mom's newest invention out for a test run and I crashed it." He lied. He couldn't tell them that he stole it. That would make him lose credit. He continued, not noticing the surprised looks on all their faces. "My friend fell out over the forest, I think. When I hit the ground, I blacked out, and when I woke up, I tried to find a village, so I could maybe call my mom…" He trailed off. He still wasn't sure if he had actually time traveled or not. He was pretty sure, seeing as he couldn't feel the presence of anyone he knew, but he didn't want to admit to himself that he was stuck in some unknown time zone. The blond haired man blinked at him.

"A… flying machine?!"

Trunks nodded.

"That's right. It flies. It's a new air car."

The group still seemed in shock about the flying part. A red haired man marched up to him, glaring.

"You flew?! In a forbidden Machina?!"

Trunks blinked.

"Machina?" He looked down. Damn it… Where am I…? Quickly, he whipped up some tears. If flying in machines or "Machina", were forbidden, then he'd just fake another story. He began sobbing, and he landed back on his backside, which brought some real tears of pain.

"I… I… I hit my head!!! I can't think straight anymore!!! My friend Goten… I think he was here…!" The blond man glared at his redheaded friend.

"Way to go, Wakka, now he's crying!" The brown haired woman knelt next to the boy, running her hand through his hair tenderly. Trunks looked up at her, sniffling.

"Don't cry…" She said softly. "It's okay… I did the Sending… Your friend is in the Farplane now, if he was here… He's safe. Everything will be alright if you're strong."

Trunks blinked, sniffling again. She was treating him like an adult. She was talking softly, in a soothing voice, but she wasn't talking down to him. He threw his arms around her, and this time, real tears came. He didn't deserve to be alive right now. He didn't deserve it, and he knew it. He spoke softly.

"What's your name?"

She smiled to him.

"I'm Yuna. What's yours?"

"Trunks…" He blushed a little, smiled through his tears. "I know, it's stupid… It's a family thing, my mom-"

"I don't think it's stupid." Yuna said, smiling. She looked up towards the others. "I am a Summoner, and these are my Guardians. Well… Most of them are." The blond guy smiled at Trunks, waving a bit.

"Hi there. That would be me. I'm Tidus, the outsider."

"Hi." Trunks answered back. The red head held up a hand.

"Name's Wakka. Sorry 'bout the freaking out. Just not used to hearin' things like that. No hard feelings, ya?"

"No hard feelings." Trunks agreed. A woman with long black hair walked to him and sighed.

"I'm Lulu. Don't mind Wakka-he speaks without thinking." Wakka glared at her.

"Hey! He agreed! 'No hard feelings!'" Trunks laughed softly. Tidus spoke up again.

"The big quiet feline guy is Kimhari. He… Just doesn't talk much." Trunks smiled.

"Oh. Well, that's okay… My Papa doesn't talk much either."

Yuna blinked. She was looking at his shirt, which, though in tatters, still bore his mother's company's logo.

"Capsule Corp.? What's that?"

Trunks shook his head.

"It's… Well…" He paused for a moment. He didn't want to make them mad again. "I just thought it sounded cool." He laughed softly. "Um… Anyway… Where am I?"

Yuna gestured behind her.

"Kilika. A port town."

Trunks shook his head at the wreckage.

"What did this?!"

Wakka sighed.

"Sin attacked them. You must have forgotten if you hit your head…" He said softly. Lulu bowed her head.

"It's been like this far too often. We are on our way to Kilika temple to speak with the Fayth."

Trunks looked up.

"That horrible power I feel… That's Sin… Isn't it?"

Yuna looked at him surprised.

"You can… Feel Sin?"

He bowed his head, then looked at Yuna. "You're gonna fight it, aren't you? You're ki is really focused, like you're determined on something… You don't have the power to beat that… None of you do…" Trunks slowly stood up. Yuna nodded.

"I know that I don't have the power yet. I must obtain the Final Aeon. Once I do… Then I'll be able to defeat Sin."

Trunks turned towards her.

"You people… You can't fight that. You should wait for a hero or something… Don't you guys have any defense forces?"

Wakka shook his head.

"You musta hit your head real hard, kid. Or Sin's toxin got to you. You're talkin' weird."

Tidus knelt next to Trunks, his blue eyes locked on the boy.

"You talk like you're not from around here… You even look different… Like me." He seemed to hesitate, but then he abruptly asked a question. "Are you from Zanarkand?!"

Trunks blinked.

"Zanarkand? No… I come from West Capital. Well… I don't know if it is around here… But can we not talk about that right now?" He looked to Yuna. "May I please go with you guys? Maybe Goten's at the temple." Trunks looked at them with determined eyes. "Plus-I can help you fight! I'm really strong! Just give me a chance, and I can help!"

The group looked at each other skeptically. Tidus suddenly spoke up.

"You know kid… Maybe your friend's in Luca! That's where I'm going! I'm trying to find familiar faces too! You could go with us to Luca, and then you could maybe find someone you know!" Trunks nodded. He suddenly felt very hopeful that they might actually allow him to accompany them.

"Yes!" He exclaimed. "Just don't leave me here in this creepy dead town, okay? I need to find Goten-then I've gotta find us a way home." Yuna nodded.

"You can pray for your friend in the temple as well, Trunks." She said softly. "Maybe Yevon will protect him."

Trunks sighed.

"I hope so…"