Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Akagi Sphere ❯ Chapter 6: Find a way ( Chapter 6 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: SDI Hypervelocity 
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Hentai | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.05.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.8K | Visits: 148 | Status: Completed
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Hentai | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.05.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.8K | Visits: 148 | Status: Completed
Chapter 6: Find a way
Both Shuyin and Tidus were sleeping peacefully, and fully clothed. Shuyin was laid out on the soft grass of a new island with his hands behind his head. Tidus was laying on his side, his knees up to his chest, resting his head on Shuyin’s stomach.
Well, they weren’t exactly sleep anymore, both hand been awake for the last 20 minutes but with his eyes still closed and unmoving, neither had been sure if the other was still awake. Because of that they were hesitant to move from fear of waking the other, that was until... “ Hey.” Tidus spoke out in a low sleepy voice. “I should be getting back, wanna come?”
Shuyin was half sleep, almost drifting back as he spoke. “Come where?”
“My father….my Friend Auron, Braska… they’re around here somewhere.”
Braska? ‘Summoner Braska? Then that must be the same Auron who held defeat sin...’ “Hn..” Shuyin grunted in agreement, forcing himself to wake up completely.
! - ! - !
;;;;
‘’’’’
“ 221;””””
,,,,,,,,,,,,,
……… ;……….
Hot…
Hot.
Baralai drifted on the edge of consciousness, barely aware that he was alive, or unsure of he wasn‘t dead. His mind was disarranged, just barley sorting out the only thing it could process at the moment, being what he felt around him. His head hurt so much that he couldn’t managed to draw up a thought to himself. He really must have hit his head hard.
He felt….something soft, warm…shifting and grainy, Sand!… Something hot, directly above him, something bright past his closed eyelids…. He couldn’t tell what this was….He felt something wet, pressing to his skin, it was hot, but soft and felt like fabric.... It was his clothes, and they were completely wet….Last he felt a breeze, a cool, wet breeze
Finally his headache dulled down enough for him to think.
’Gippal…?.’ He tried to move but nothing would respond no matter how much he prompted, nothing on his body would move in inch. It was a dream, he was sleeping, yeah, that’s it!...But he felt everything around him just as if he was awake, nope not a dream. Again he tried to move, but he couldn’t mange to gather the strength. ’Come on, get up…’
Baralai tried to speak, his lips moved but no sound came out, but it did managed to make him aware of how unbelievably dry his throat was. ’I can…do this…’ He slowly lifted his head, only making it about in inch off the ground. He kept pushing himself farther, slowly opening his eyes to blinding light. Baralai felt his strength coming back to him, but his body pulled him back down and once again that strength was gone and he couldn’t move. ‘Damn...it...’
He felt something grab his arm.
“Baralai?” Two strong hands pulled him to his feet, he almost fell back down since he wasn‘t expecting it. But Baralai managed to balance himself with a little help from those two strong hands.
“Gippal….” The blinding light dimmed down allowing him to see a little better.
“Are you alright?” Gippal asked, slowly letting him go when he deemed he could stand on his own.
“I.. Think so.” Baralai held his head down shook the sand from his hair, surveying his new surroundings. ’The desert?’
As if Gippal read his mind he said “Yup, we’re in the Bikanel desert.” He took a familiar look around the weaving sand and large dunes.
“But how did we get here?”
Gippal pointed to an oasis, to their left, a small lake with a few palm trees and short grass, a little bit of life in a desolate wasteland. “We must have washed up here. Really lucky...but from the Farplane?...As long as we‘re alive.” Baralai finally gave up on it, there was no way he’d figure all of it out. Besides, there were more pressing matters. “Where do we go from here?”
Gippal placed both hands on his hips and glanced over towards the Oasis, then looked in the opposite direction. “Well there’s a camp someplace around here.”
Baralai lifted his head after he deemed it was free of sand. “Let’s go then.”
“No way.” He shook his head. “It’s too far, we’ll never make it. “ Gippal sat down, crossing his legs and resting his head in his hand.
“What do we do then?” Baralai crouched down next to him.
“Well, I guess we wait, a hover or a Shoopuf will come sooner or later. Always dose.”
“Shoopuf?”
“Uh-huh… Shoopuf stop by here sometimes come for a drink.”
“Interesting.”
“Yeah.R 21; Gippal nodded. “You should see the things that pop up out here. When I was younger this always used to be my favorite spot to go to...I found a emerald here once.”
Baralai sighed and sat down next to Baralai. “Where dose all this stuff come from?”
“I don’t know,” Gippal titled his head upward toward the sky, thinking for a moment, “We came here from the Farplane, so maybe that’s where all this stuff is coming from?”
“Or maybe it’s all buried underground.” Baralai proposed, “Aren’t there excavations going on around here?”
“Yeah.” Gippal told him, “Maybe some of it is getting washed up.”
“Hmm...” Baralai paused for a moment and coughed...no more talking. Water.
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
They waited by the oasis for hours. With no sign of anything, absolutely nothing.
Baralai laid out on the ground, stretching out on the green grass by the oasis, resting his head against the trunk of a palm tree. Gippal on the other hand, was considerably hotter, he stripped himself of his shirt and decided to take a swim.
Baralai watched him emerge from the water on to shore, quickly drying off under the hot desert sun. Gippal sat next to Baralai, leaning down enough to give him a soft kiss on the lips, he started to pull back but thought better of it, pushing himself in to another kiss. Finally he climbed on top of him.
Baralai was, reluctant at first, seeing that the first time they had sex, he was under Shuyin’s control. “You are so hormonal, even when we were younger...”
“It’s your fault, you make me this way.” Gippal said.
“Even back then?”
“Especially back then, we have a lot of time to catch up on....” Gippal paused and lifted his head, then sighed as he went to find his discarded shirt.
Before Baralai could inquired the nature of Gippal’s action, a sound caught his ear, one that made him look around questingly. “Do you hear something?”
“Yeah, that.” Gippal pointed to something far off, coming toward them having picked up the noise before Baralai did, and once he did he recognized it immediately. Beyond a layer of dust, sand and waving, distorted heat was a hover coming in their direction. It was moving pretty fast too, before Baralai had time to get up or Gippal to find his discarded clothing, the machine was coming to a stop nearby.
The person next to the Pilot looked familiar to Gippal, it had to be… “Nhadala?”
The slowing hover finally came to a complete stop just in front of them, and Gippal was right about what he saw. Nhadala jumped off the hover and run up to them, unable to believe who she was seeing, or more like where she was seeing them. “Gippal! Baralai! Is it really you?!” She gasped, hugging Gippal happily in a tight embrace, and enthusiastically shaking Baralai’s hand before he could raise it.
Gippal dusted off his shirt and returned the fabric to his body. “How you been?”
“Sorry Gippal, no time for formalities, we have a real problem on our hands. Let’s go back to the base a sandstorm is moving in over this area. We came out here to check for any remaining diggers before we moved camp.”
! - ! - !
By the time they arrived at the camp winds were starting to pick up, you could tell something was coming from that alone. If that didn’t give a hint, the fact that everything was either being boxed or carried away whole was a dead give away. “Looks like you were ready for this.” Baralai commented, it did seem like they were ready considering how quickly things were going.
“Yes, this is the third one the last two weeks.” Nhadala told him, climbing out of the hover and leading them towards the only remaining tent.
“Two weeks?” Gippal seemed surprised, he was apparently too busy to ask and no one bothered to tell him....no wait, this didn’t add up “Wait, three days ago when I talked to you, you never told me any thing about a sandstorm.”
“Huh?” Nhadala paused for a moment, “Three days ago? You guys have been missing for two weeks.”
Gippal and Baralai looked at each other, two weeks? Had they been out of it that long?
“These aren’t normal sand storms, these new storms are strong enough to burry this place completely.” Nhadala sounded disappointed when she said that, watching the nearby hovers taking off with the loaded equipment. “Well you came at the right time, everyone is really busy. So can you two do me a really big favor?”
“Anything, What is it?” Gippal asked.
“We’ve just open connections with Cactuar Nation.”
“Cactuar Nation?” Gippal scratched his head, he never heard of that, oddly enough considering how well he knew this place. “Wha--?”
“We just found out about it too, we need somebody to go out there, they say it’s an emergency. I don’t know what it is but there’s a large possibility what ever their emergency may be connected to these constant sandstorms.”
Gippal looked at Baralai with eyes that asked a question he understood, it went with out saying that Gippal was going, but Baralai could go back to Bevelle. He could easily get an airship, but with the sandstorms coming in. He wouldn’t be able to get off this island if he didn’t leave right now nor would he be able to get back if he did, Literally he had to leave now, radio communication was starting to lose reception. If reception is blocked due to weather, that’s always a sure sign that air travel was a no go. Baralai sighed, “There‘s no way I can just leave you here by yourself if it is an emergency.”
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
Getting through to Cactuar Nation wasn’t an easy job on a hover, the winds blew sand in every direction, it was almost impossible to tell which way you were headed. But they eventually managed to make it, it was placed in-between two large sand dunes a canyon wall, possibly a cave. Besides the Pilot, Gippal and Baralai had to take along a translator, a young boy named Benzo who was the one who found out about Cactuar Nation in the first place.
It looked like a field with typical Cactus, and that was it. “This is Cactuar Nation? What’s so special about it?” Gippal really didn’t see why they were going through all this trouble, he was first to climb out of the hover and survey the area for himself.
“Oh, you’ll see.” Benzo reassured them, climbing off the hover after Baralai, then he lead them threw the field to the farthest Cactus next to the large Sand dune inclosing the valley.
“I fail to see the difference between--” Baralai froze, stopping mid-sentence when saw the Cactus move, it wiggled and swayed back and forth making a strange sound.
“Whoa! It moved!” Gippal was amazed at the creature, tempted to give into his first instinct and poke it.
“Allow me to translate.” Benzo said proudly before cleared his throat, then he paused for a moment to process what had been said. “My name is Maranala, I sorry if I startled you but we don’t have much time. There is a Fiend under this desert, it’s a powerful one that was sealed away by my ancestors. But something has awakened it, there is no doubt that it will come here first seeking revenge.” Benzo stopped again, still thinking. “That’s the gist of it.”
‘A fiend under the desert?’ Baralai thought, ’But how could it survive?’ “What is this fiend?”
The Cactus moved again, making more strange sounds in response. “She says she doesn’t exactly know, but it’s been roaming around this island lately looking for this place. Right before it comes, a sandstorm comes, that’s how we know it’s coming here.”
“Wait, that thing is already up and moving around?” Gippal asked. “But it’s buried? How is it up and moving?”
“I know what She's talking about.” Benzo interjected, “I’m sure you do too if you think about it. You must have at lest seen it once when you were excavating in the desert. Right? I mean everyone who’s fought it lost.”
“Your talking about that?” The tone Gippal said that in started to make Baralai worried.
“The eastern expanses, the west, it’s been spotted in all those places and they all have been hit by sand storms.” Benzo said. “A sand storm is forming here, don’t you see the pattern?”
Gippal nodded, but there was still very obvious not coming into place. “But that doesn't explain how it’s showing up in all these places when it’s buried underground, it has to be a different fiend.”
“Not necessarily.” Baralai declined. “One of two things is happening, one, it’s already awake and made it’s way to the surface. And if it’s like you said then it’s been looking for this place which is why it didn’t kill anyone. Or two, astroprojection. If there is a fiend strong enough to cause sandstorms like this then it’s very possible it’s able to project it self on to the surface.”
Maranala shifted around again, making those same incoherent sounds, Benzo again translated “Yes, and the only way to save this place is to awaken the Great Huu Bu. I would like to ask you a favor, could you find the ten gate keepers. Talk to their mothers, they know where they are.”
“--!!”
A sudden earthquake shook the ground, nearly sending the startled three tumbling off their feet. Each second it grew increasingly more violent until it became impossible for something not rooted to stay upright. “What’s happening!?” Benzo shouted, the ground seemly being pulled from under his feet and sending him falling down into a cloud of kicked up sand.
! - ! - !
The shaking managed to tear open a hole in the middle central expanse, strongest in the epicenter, the continuous quake broke lose towering walls of rock and sand buried beneath the surface. They sheeted down into the opened hole, making it wider and wider with each break and loosening.
From the swirling whirlpool of sand draining into the earth Fiends emerged, Inhumanly large, black, snake like creatures with two fins extending from it’s belly for arms or so. On the top of their heads a red, diamond shaped gem shined, and their heads overly large from a helmet like bone structure. Hundreds of them came rushing out, heading inanely towards Cactuar Nation.
! - ! - !
“Where did all these things come from!!” Gippal retrieved his weapon from where it was strapped behind his back, stumbling on to his feet and able to support himself with a shaky stance.
“These are not ordinary fiends, where are they coming from?” Baralai was ready with his bladed staff, having a much easier time balancing himself. All of those fiends were coming in from the north...
“They’re coming this way!” Gippal lifted the heavy weapon to aim, but found it nearly impossible to stand and hold an off setting weight like that at the same time. “Damn, there’s no way we can fight those things during this! We--!?”
Marnalia obviously surprised everyone when an enormous amount of energy exploded before her in ray form, sweeping across the sand dune they were approaching from behind and destroying the front line of snake like fiends with a localized explosion and a cloud of incinerated sand.
“Amazing!” Baralai stood in awe, looking on as another white ray followed, piercing the cloud of smoke and expelling some place behind. It was a pretty amazing sight for what just looked like a regular cactus, he couldn’t believe no one knew about this before, such an astonishing place about to be destroyed before anyone could learn of it. He had to help.
“Did she get them all?” Gippal looked over at Benzo, who obviously knew more about this then he did.
It would seem that way at first glance, especially since the earthquake was starting to weaken in it‘s intensity, but still didn’t stop. “No.” Benzo shook his head disappointedly but in a clear state of alarm that meant they weren’t anywhere near safe. “She’s barley holding them back, you have to hurry!”
Baralai looked back at the other Cactuses, fighting to keep his balance. “Yeah, we better hurry.”
The first mother they talked to didn’t know exactly where her daughter Lobivia was, but she knew he was still on the island.
Armed with only that vague information and with no other choice, Gippal and Baralai left hastily, no one knew how long Marnalia’s strength would hold or when the scores of Fiends would end.
! - ! - !
It was a considerably longer ride to the new base camp.
“Where would a Cactuar be on this island?” Baralai couldn’t think of anything, but he wasn’t even from around here.
“Damnit, It could be anywhere!” Gippal knew just about as little as he did.
“Is there any other water source besides the Oasis?” Baralai asked, stopping by the save point that lay next to the largest tent, he hadn’t had time to rest completely after his nearly fatal escape from the Farplane, and his pervious injuries from being inhabited by Shuyin.
“No, that’s the only one on the island.”
“Let’s check there again, it would probably say near water.”
Being their only lead and knowing Baralai generally was right when dealing these sort of things Gippal went up to the pilot, tapping him on the shoulder. “Could you make a detour?”
! - ! - !
“Well, when you said Shoopuf, you weren’t kidding…..” Baralai rubbed the back of his head nervously, looking at two large Shoopuf drinking at the oasis, a Hypeilo was waiting with them who was most likely the owner.
The two men climbed out of the hover, walking over to the clear waters, staring at large creatures as they made their way. Baralai was able to tear his eyes away from the unusual sight long enough to look around. But Gippal beat him two it.
“Found one.”
Gippal waved him over to small pile of rocks next to the water. A Cactuar was standing there in it‘s shadow, in the shade between it and a Shoopuf. “Hey, your mother is really worried about you, and Cactuar Nation needs your help.” Gippal said in a friendly voice. Lobivia would corporate easy enough, but not with out a little fun on her part.
*********************
Gatekeeper No. 1
Name: Lobivia
____________________
Free spirit, lover of detours,
and average in every possible way!
____________________
“My, arrogant aren’t we, you don’t know who your messing with. I’m the best gunner this side of Bikanel.” Gippal stood with his pistol in hand, watching as Lobivia got ready in-between the two Shoopufs.
Baralai sat down a safe distance behind Gippal placing his back against a rock wall. “This should be interesting.” Baralai said with amusement, almost laughing when he saw the energetic Cactuar make a strange sound, hoping back and forth in the strange Cactuar way, casting a spell it learned as a gatekeeper.
Gippal rubbed his eyes with his free hand, watching with confusion as the Cactuar switched places with the two Shoopufs with out moving an inch. “Whoa! Is something wrong with my eyes?”
“It has some... fascinating powers.” Baralai looked at him, his eyes asking if he could do this.
Gippal waved his hand dismissingly “Cheap trick, no problem.”
He could easily see in which of the three spots it would appear in next, the pattern was slow and predictable. Aiming for the first spot of 3, he fired a single shot, hitting the Cactuar just as it appeared. Being struck in the side it to spun around on it’s leg in a highly animated manner, switching places quickly. Gippal aimed for the middle spot next, firing again, easily hitting the target a second time.
Carelessly, he aimed for the third spot with his head turned back towards Baralai to show off, firing and hitting his target. He found the Cactuar noises and the spinning grew more humorous every time he saw it, especially in concession.
By the final shot, he could hardly contain his laughter. And Lobivia, probably two injured to keep going, was finally cooperating.
“Well, 1 down 9 more to go.” Baralai place his hand on Gippal’s shoulder, glancing at Lobivia “This was easy enough, how hard could the next one be.”
Converting /tmp/php14SdiR to /dev/stdout
Both Shuyin and Tidus were sleeping peacefully, and fully clothed. Shuyin was laid out on the soft grass of a new island with his hands behind his head. Tidus was laying on his side, his knees up to his chest, resting his head on Shuyin’s stomach.
Well, they weren’t exactly sleep anymore, both hand been awake for the last 20 minutes but with his eyes still closed and unmoving, neither had been sure if the other was still awake. Because of that they were hesitant to move from fear of waking the other, that was until... “ Hey.” Tidus spoke out in a low sleepy voice. “I should be getting back, wanna come?”
Shuyin was half sleep, almost drifting back as he spoke. “Come where?”
“My father….my Friend Auron, Braska… they’re around here somewhere.”
Braska? ‘Summoner Braska? Then that must be the same Auron who held defeat sin...’ “Hn..” Shuyin grunted in agreement, forcing himself to wake up completely.
! - ! - !
;;;;
‘’’’’
“ 221;””””
,,,,,,,,,,,,,
……… ;……….
Hot…
Hot.
Baralai drifted on the edge of consciousness, barely aware that he was alive, or unsure of he wasn‘t dead. His mind was disarranged, just barley sorting out the only thing it could process at the moment, being what he felt around him. His head hurt so much that he couldn’t managed to draw up a thought to himself. He really must have hit his head hard.
He felt….something soft, warm…shifting and grainy, Sand!… Something hot, directly above him, something bright past his closed eyelids…. He couldn’t tell what this was….He felt something wet, pressing to his skin, it was hot, but soft and felt like fabric.... It was his clothes, and they were completely wet….Last he felt a breeze, a cool, wet breeze
Finally his headache dulled down enough for him to think.
’Gippal…?.’ He tried to move but nothing would respond no matter how much he prompted, nothing on his body would move in inch. It was a dream, he was sleeping, yeah, that’s it!...But he felt everything around him just as if he was awake, nope not a dream. Again he tried to move, but he couldn’t mange to gather the strength. ’Come on, get up…’
Baralai tried to speak, his lips moved but no sound came out, but it did managed to make him aware of how unbelievably dry his throat was. ’I can…do this…’ He slowly lifted his head, only making it about in inch off the ground. He kept pushing himself farther, slowly opening his eyes to blinding light. Baralai felt his strength coming back to him, but his body pulled him back down and once again that strength was gone and he couldn’t move. ‘Damn...it...’
He felt something grab his arm.
“Baralai?” Two strong hands pulled him to his feet, he almost fell back down since he wasn‘t expecting it. But Baralai managed to balance himself with a little help from those two strong hands.
“Gippal….” The blinding light dimmed down allowing him to see a little better.
“Are you alright?” Gippal asked, slowly letting him go when he deemed he could stand on his own.
“I.. Think so.” Baralai held his head down shook the sand from his hair, surveying his new surroundings. ’The desert?’
As if Gippal read his mind he said “Yup, we’re in the Bikanel desert.” He took a familiar look around the weaving sand and large dunes.
“But how did we get here?”
Gippal pointed to an oasis, to their left, a small lake with a few palm trees and short grass, a little bit of life in a desolate wasteland. “We must have washed up here. Really lucky...but from the Farplane?...As long as we‘re alive.” Baralai finally gave up on it, there was no way he’d figure all of it out. Besides, there were more pressing matters. “Where do we go from here?”
Gippal placed both hands on his hips and glanced over towards the Oasis, then looked in the opposite direction. “Well there’s a camp someplace around here.”
Baralai lifted his head after he deemed it was free of sand. “Let’s go then.”
“No way.” He shook his head. “It’s too far, we’ll never make it. “ Gippal sat down, crossing his legs and resting his head in his hand.
“What do we do then?” Baralai crouched down next to him.
“Well, I guess we wait, a hover or a Shoopuf will come sooner or later. Always dose.”
“Shoopuf?”
“Uh-huh… Shoopuf stop by here sometimes come for a drink.”
“Interesting.”
“Yeah.R 21; Gippal nodded. “You should see the things that pop up out here. When I was younger this always used to be my favorite spot to go to...I found a emerald here once.”
Baralai sighed and sat down next to Baralai. “Where dose all this stuff come from?”
“I don’t know,” Gippal titled his head upward toward the sky, thinking for a moment, “We came here from the Farplane, so maybe that’s where all this stuff is coming from?”
“Or maybe it’s all buried underground.” Baralai proposed, “Aren’t there excavations going on around here?”
“Yeah.” Gippal told him, “Maybe some of it is getting washed up.”
“Hmm...” Baralai paused for a moment and coughed...no more talking. Water.
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
They waited by the oasis for hours. With no sign of anything, absolutely nothing.
Baralai laid out on the ground, stretching out on the green grass by the oasis, resting his head against the trunk of a palm tree. Gippal on the other hand, was considerably hotter, he stripped himself of his shirt and decided to take a swim.
Baralai watched him emerge from the water on to shore, quickly drying off under the hot desert sun. Gippal sat next to Baralai, leaning down enough to give him a soft kiss on the lips, he started to pull back but thought better of it, pushing himself in to another kiss. Finally he climbed on top of him.
Baralai was, reluctant at first, seeing that the first time they had sex, he was under Shuyin’s control. “You are so hormonal, even when we were younger...”
“It’s your fault, you make me this way.” Gippal said.
“Even back then?”
“Especially back then, we have a lot of time to catch up on....” Gippal paused and lifted his head, then sighed as he went to find his discarded shirt.
Before Baralai could inquired the nature of Gippal’s action, a sound caught his ear, one that made him look around questingly. “Do you hear something?”
“Yeah, that.” Gippal pointed to something far off, coming toward them having picked up the noise before Baralai did, and once he did he recognized it immediately. Beyond a layer of dust, sand and waving, distorted heat was a hover coming in their direction. It was moving pretty fast too, before Baralai had time to get up or Gippal to find his discarded clothing, the machine was coming to a stop nearby.
The person next to the Pilot looked familiar to Gippal, it had to be… “Nhadala?”
The slowing hover finally came to a complete stop just in front of them, and Gippal was right about what he saw. Nhadala jumped off the hover and run up to them, unable to believe who she was seeing, or more like where she was seeing them. “Gippal! Baralai! Is it really you?!” She gasped, hugging Gippal happily in a tight embrace, and enthusiastically shaking Baralai’s hand before he could raise it.
Gippal dusted off his shirt and returned the fabric to his body. “How you been?”
“Sorry Gippal, no time for formalities, we have a real problem on our hands. Let’s go back to the base a sandstorm is moving in over this area. We came out here to check for any remaining diggers before we moved camp.”
! - ! - !
By the time they arrived at the camp winds were starting to pick up, you could tell something was coming from that alone. If that didn’t give a hint, the fact that everything was either being boxed or carried away whole was a dead give away. “Looks like you were ready for this.” Baralai commented, it did seem like they were ready considering how quickly things were going.
“Yes, this is the third one the last two weeks.” Nhadala told him, climbing out of the hover and leading them towards the only remaining tent.
“Two weeks?” Gippal seemed surprised, he was apparently too busy to ask and no one bothered to tell him....no wait, this didn’t add up “Wait, three days ago when I talked to you, you never told me any thing about a sandstorm.”
“Huh?” Nhadala paused for a moment, “Three days ago? You guys have been missing for two weeks.”
Gippal and Baralai looked at each other, two weeks? Had they been out of it that long?
“These aren’t normal sand storms, these new storms are strong enough to burry this place completely.” Nhadala sounded disappointed when she said that, watching the nearby hovers taking off with the loaded equipment. “Well you came at the right time, everyone is really busy. So can you two do me a really big favor?”
“Anything, What is it?” Gippal asked.
“We’ve just open connections with Cactuar Nation.”
“Cactuar Nation?” Gippal scratched his head, he never heard of that, oddly enough considering how well he knew this place. “Wha--?”
“We just found out about it too, we need somebody to go out there, they say it’s an emergency. I don’t know what it is but there’s a large possibility what ever their emergency may be connected to these constant sandstorms.”
Gippal looked at Baralai with eyes that asked a question he understood, it went with out saying that Gippal was going, but Baralai could go back to Bevelle. He could easily get an airship, but with the sandstorms coming in. He wouldn’t be able to get off this island if he didn’t leave right now nor would he be able to get back if he did, Literally he had to leave now, radio communication was starting to lose reception. If reception is blocked due to weather, that’s always a sure sign that air travel was a no go. Baralai sighed, “There‘s no way I can just leave you here by yourself if it is an emergency.”
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
Getting through to Cactuar Nation wasn’t an easy job on a hover, the winds blew sand in every direction, it was almost impossible to tell which way you were headed. But they eventually managed to make it, it was placed in-between two large sand dunes a canyon wall, possibly a cave. Besides the Pilot, Gippal and Baralai had to take along a translator, a young boy named Benzo who was the one who found out about Cactuar Nation in the first place.
It looked like a field with typical Cactus, and that was it. “This is Cactuar Nation? What’s so special about it?” Gippal really didn’t see why they were going through all this trouble, he was first to climb out of the hover and survey the area for himself.
“Oh, you’ll see.” Benzo reassured them, climbing off the hover after Baralai, then he lead them threw the field to the farthest Cactus next to the large Sand dune inclosing the valley.
“I fail to see the difference between--” Baralai froze, stopping mid-sentence when saw the Cactus move, it wiggled and swayed back and forth making a strange sound.
“Whoa! It moved!” Gippal was amazed at the creature, tempted to give into his first instinct and poke it.
“Allow me to translate.” Benzo said proudly before cleared his throat, then he paused for a moment to process what had been said. “My name is Maranala, I sorry if I startled you but we don’t have much time. There is a Fiend under this desert, it’s a powerful one that was sealed away by my ancestors. But something has awakened it, there is no doubt that it will come here first seeking revenge.” Benzo stopped again, still thinking. “That’s the gist of it.”
‘A fiend under the desert?’ Baralai thought, ’But how could it survive?’ “What is this fiend?”
The Cactus moved again, making more strange sounds in response. “She says she doesn’t exactly know, but it’s been roaming around this island lately looking for this place. Right before it comes, a sandstorm comes, that’s how we know it’s coming here.”
“Wait, that thing is already up and moving around?” Gippal asked. “But it’s buried? How is it up and moving?”
“I know what She's talking about.” Benzo interjected, “I’m sure you do too if you think about it. You must have at lest seen it once when you were excavating in the desert. Right? I mean everyone who’s fought it lost.”
“Your talking about that?” The tone Gippal said that in started to make Baralai worried.
“The eastern expanses, the west, it’s been spotted in all those places and they all have been hit by sand storms.” Benzo said. “A sand storm is forming here, don’t you see the pattern?”
Gippal nodded, but there was still very obvious not coming into place. “But that doesn't explain how it’s showing up in all these places when it’s buried underground, it has to be a different fiend.”
“Not necessarily.” Baralai declined. “One of two things is happening, one, it’s already awake and made it’s way to the surface. And if it’s like you said then it’s been looking for this place which is why it didn’t kill anyone. Or two, astroprojection. If there is a fiend strong enough to cause sandstorms like this then it’s very possible it’s able to project it self on to the surface.”
Maranala shifted around again, making those same incoherent sounds, Benzo again translated “Yes, and the only way to save this place is to awaken the Great Huu Bu. I would like to ask you a favor, could you find the ten gate keepers. Talk to their mothers, they know where they are.”
“--!!”
A sudden earthquake shook the ground, nearly sending the startled three tumbling off their feet. Each second it grew increasingly more violent until it became impossible for something not rooted to stay upright. “What’s happening!?” Benzo shouted, the ground seemly being pulled from under his feet and sending him falling down into a cloud of kicked up sand.
! - ! - !
The shaking managed to tear open a hole in the middle central expanse, strongest in the epicenter, the continuous quake broke lose towering walls of rock and sand buried beneath the surface. They sheeted down into the opened hole, making it wider and wider with each break and loosening.
From the swirling whirlpool of sand draining into the earth Fiends emerged, Inhumanly large, black, snake like creatures with two fins extending from it’s belly for arms or so. On the top of their heads a red, diamond shaped gem shined, and their heads overly large from a helmet like bone structure. Hundreds of them came rushing out, heading inanely towards Cactuar Nation.
! - ! - !
“Where did all these things come from!!” Gippal retrieved his weapon from where it was strapped behind his back, stumbling on to his feet and able to support himself with a shaky stance.
“These are not ordinary fiends, where are they coming from?” Baralai was ready with his bladed staff, having a much easier time balancing himself. All of those fiends were coming in from the north...
“They’re coming this way!” Gippal lifted the heavy weapon to aim, but found it nearly impossible to stand and hold an off setting weight like that at the same time. “Damn, there’s no way we can fight those things during this! We--!?”
Marnalia obviously surprised everyone when an enormous amount of energy exploded before her in ray form, sweeping across the sand dune they were approaching from behind and destroying the front line of snake like fiends with a localized explosion and a cloud of incinerated sand.
“Amazing!” Baralai stood in awe, looking on as another white ray followed, piercing the cloud of smoke and expelling some place behind. It was a pretty amazing sight for what just looked like a regular cactus, he couldn’t believe no one knew about this before, such an astonishing place about to be destroyed before anyone could learn of it. He had to help.
“Did she get them all?” Gippal looked over at Benzo, who obviously knew more about this then he did.
It would seem that way at first glance, especially since the earthquake was starting to weaken in it‘s intensity, but still didn’t stop. “No.” Benzo shook his head disappointedly but in a clear state of alarm that meant they weren’t anywhere near safe. “She’s barley holding them back, you have to hurry!”
Baralai looked back at the other Cactuses, fighting to keep his balance. “Yeah, we better hurry.”
The first mother they talked to didn’t know exactly where her daughter Lobivia was, but she knew he was still on the island.
Armed with only that vague information and with no other choice, Gippal and Baralai left hastily, no one knew how long Marnalia’s strength would hold or when the scores of Fiends would end.
! - ! - !
It was a considerably longer ride to the new base camp.
“Where would a Cactuar be on this island?” Baralai couldn’t think of anything, but he wasn’t even from around here.
“Damnit, It could be anywhere!” Gippal knew just about as little as he did.
“Is there any other water source besides the Oasis?” Baralai asked, stopping by the save point that lay next to the largest tent, he hadn’t had time to rest completely after his nearly fatal escape from the Farplane, and his pervious injuries from being inhabited by Shuyin.
“No, that’s the only one on the island.”
“Let’s check there again, it would probably say near water.”
Being their only lead and knowing Baralai generally was right when dealing these sort of things Gippal went up to the pilot, tapping him on the shoulder. “Could you make a detour?”
! - ! - !
“Well, when you said Shoopuf, you weren’t kidding…..” Baralai rubbed the back of his head nervously, looking at two large Shoopuf drinking at the oasis, a Hypeilo was waiting with them who was most likely the owner.
The two men climbed out of the hover, walking over to the clear waters, staring at large creatures as they made their way. Baralai was able to tear his eyes away from the unusual sight long enough to look around. But Gippal beat him two it.
“Found one.”
Gippal waved him over to small pile of rocks next to the water. A Cactuar was standing there in it‘s shadow, in the shade between it and a Shoopuf. “Hey, your mother is really worried about you, and Cactuar Nation needs your help.” Gippal said in a friendly voice. Lobivia would corporate easy enough, but not with out a little fun on her part.
*********************
Gatekeeper No. 1
Name: Lobivia
____________________
Free spirit, lover of detours,
and average in every possible way!
____________________
“My, arrogant aren’t we, you don’t know who your messing with. I’m the best gunner this side of Bikanel.” Gippal stood with his pistol in hand, watching as Lobivia got ready in-between the two Shoopufs.
Baralai sat down a safe distance behind Gippal placing his back against a rock wall. “This should be interesting.” Baralai said with amusement, almost laughing when he saw the energetic Cactuar make a strange sound, hoping back and forth in the strange Cactuar way, casting a spell it learned as a gatekeeper.
Gippal rubbed his eyes with his free hand, watching with confusion as the Cactuar switched places with the two Shoopufs with out moving an inch. “Whoa! Is something wrong with my eyes?”
“It has some... fascinating powers.” Baralai looked at him, his eyes asking if he could do this.
Gippal waved his hand dismissingly “Cheap trick, no problem.”
He could easily see in which of the three spots it would appear in next, the pattern was slow and predictable. Aiming for the first spot of 3, he fired a single shot, hitting the Cactuar just as it appeared. Being struck in the side it to spun around on it’s leg in a highly animated manner, switching places quickly. Gippal aimed for the middle spot next, firing again, easily hitting the target a second time.
Carelessly, he aimed for the third spot with his head turned back towards Baralai to show off, firing and hitting his target. He found the Cactuar noises and the spinning grew more humorous every time he saw it, especially in concession.
By the final shot, he could hardly contain his laughter. And Lobivia, probably two injured to keep going, was finally cooperating.
“Well, 1 down 9 more to go.” Baralai place his hand on Gippal’s shoulder, glancing at Lobivia “This was easy enough, how hard could the next one be.”
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