Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Akagi Sphere ❯ Chapter 7: Gate keepers ( Chapter 7 )
[ 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: 7 | Words: 6.0K | Visits: 175 | Status: Completed
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Hentai | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.05.2005 | Pages: 7 | Words: 6.0K | Visits: 175 | Status: Completed
Chapter 7: Gate keepers
“This is starting to become a serious problem, the whole Farplane is in danger.” Braska was discussed the problem with Jecht and Auron, being a summoner he was in tune to these types of things.
“I haven’t seen anything worth looking at.” Jecht said discardingly, he failed to see what the problem was. He sat down in the soft grass, his back against a large canyon that housed a waterfall beside him.
“It’s not what is happening, it’s where it’s happening.” Auron explained to him.
“Yes, it would seem that this place is falling apart.” Braska said with a sigh, this looked like it would be a problem he couldn‘t remotely find a solution too, not even a cause. Why would something be happening here?
“What could be causing this?” Auron pondered.
Jecht looked up with the sudden gleam and grunt of an idea, or a realization, one that made Braska and Auron turn towards him inanely. “Hold on! I just got here! This place can’t fall apart now!” Jecht growled with annoyment, looking around and seeing both Auron and Braska gave silent looks to each other. “Hey, what’s with the look?”
Apparently that look wasn’t one in response to Jecht’s comment. “Do you think…….?--” Auron leaned on his sword rooted tip deep into the ground, adjusting his sunglasses. “It is possible.”
Jecht scratched his head, when they did that silent communication of theirs he always was left out of the loop, he started to get confused. “Hey! What are you two talking about?” No one said anything to him, both were lost in there own thoughts. “Oh come on.”
“Hey guys!”
Tidus climbed up to the small ledge next to a water fall where the three usually convened, though it was always hell to get here, Tidus turned around, on his knees with one hand to support himself as he reached down and grabbed Shuyin‘s hand, pulling him up. “Geez, you guys couldn‘t pick a better spot to hang out?”
Jecht conspicuously looked over the pair, if Tidus hadn‘t reached back to pull him up Jecht would have sworn he was seeing double. “Whose the new guy?”
“This is my ’Friend’ Shuyin.” Tidus told him in a mater of factly tone, then turned to Shuyin and pointed to Jecht. “Shuyin, that guy is my father Jecht, this is my friend Auron, and that is high summoner Braska.” Tidus didn’t mean to put the emphasis on friend, it just slipped in. He still managed to show a good deal of respect for Braska, even though Braska had told him thousands of times just to call him Braska.
“Nice to meet you.” Braska shook his hand with his usual smile, Auron just gave a usual greeting, and Jecht gave a very Auron like one. Again Jecht noticed another look between Braska and Auron similar to the one they gave before, he was starting to it figure it out.
Tidus looked around at the three, judging by the silence that followed where a previous conversation would have ensued, something was going on. “What were you guys talking about?”
“We need to speak to you, both you.” Auron said in a voice that usually meant something serious, but his voice was always pretty serous..
“Hn. If you can keep you hands of each other that long.” Jecht just mumbled, folding his arms and looking away.
Tidus released his grip around the Shuyin’s neck, laughing as he rubbed the back of his head. “I can’t help it!”
Shuyin laughed a little too but tried to conceal it as best he could.
“My, conceded aren’t we.” Auron would have to be blind not to notice the resemblance, one that couldn’t have just been accidental .
“Hey! It not like that!” Tidus replied in his defense.
Jecht smirked. “Sure it’s not.”
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"She says she's Toumeya's mother. Toumeya's always dreamed of seeing waters vaster than our little Oasis. And now he's finally getting his wish. Sands whiter than the desert, a gentle breeze, glistening sunlight... and more water than can be imagined. I can't wait to hear the tales he'll have to tell. That‘s the gist of it." Benzo translated another one of the gate keeper’s mother’s words. The Fiends were coming faster to Cactuar nation now, Maranala was having more trouble then ever.
“Lot’s of water?” Gippal started to think, raising hand under his chin thoughtfully.
Only one thing came to Baralai’s mind. “White sand, sounds like a beach to me.” A beach would make sense, it made perfect sense.
They had time to think about it on the way back to base.
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“Hey good news! The sand storm cleared, you can leave anytime.” Nhadala announced upon their arrival, they didn’t know weather it was a good thing for Cactuar nation or not but one thing was clear, a sand storm didn’t clear up that quickly. Which would mean that something had been causing it and decided to stop, probably to focus it’s attention on other places.
“Hey Nhadala, do you know a place with a beach and lots of water?” Baralai asked, making his way to the main tent set up in a different location.
Nhadala thought briefly on, telling them the first thing that came to her mind “Sounds like an island to me, Why?”
Baralai watched the activity around him, it looked almost as if everything was normal, a very busy normal but normal none the less. Either way they looked as if they had their hands full, He and Gippal would probably be handling this on their own “We need to figure out where a Cactuar is.”
Gippal couldn’t figure it out everything was an island in Spira, and he didn‘t spend much time on beaches anyway. Baralai came up with something though. “Kilika or Besaid…” He said. “…Kilika is all forest so it must be Besaid!” Sands whiter than the desert, a gentle breeze, glistening sunlight, that was Besaid in a nut shell.
As soon as he got the words out, Gippal was arranging a ride.
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“Have you ever been here before?” Gippal asked, looking at the tropical settings, it was just as it was described. Waterfalls, trees, sand, ocean, everything you could picture in a tropical paradise. “
Yes, once.” Baralai walked downhill across a familiar path, taking in the scenery he hadn’t experienced in years. “I don’t remember anything about it though.” They could see Besaid Village just ahead.
They both stopped the gates of the city , looking around, there were a few people out, children were playing tag, and a few people sat around outside the temple, seemed like a typical day.
Gippal ran his hand threw his hair after a breeze ruffled it out of place.
Baralai sighed. “Looks like a nice place.”
“Yeah.” Gippal agreed.
“??“ Both of them heard something behind them, a small look over their shoulders wielded the sight of a man walking into the village. He seemed familiar.
The man stopped and looked over the two, a smile forming on his face. “Hey? Aren’t you the praetor of New Yevon and aren’t you the leader of the Machine Faction?”
“Yes.” Both of them responded at the same time.
The man‘s smile grew wider. “I’m Wakka.--”
It clicked for Baralai as soon as he heard the name. “Your one of Lady Yuna’s Guardians right?”
“Yeah, It’s an honor to meet you guys.” Wakka shook his hand, obviously a bit excited about meeting the two.
“One could say the same thing.”
Gippal did the same, offering a quick greeting. “Nice to meet you.”
“What are two doing here?” Wakka asked, in expected question.
“Well, we’re looking for a Cactuar.” Gippal answered.
An expression of moderate surprise crossed his features, confusing making him draw back for a moment. “That’s what you’ve been doing this whole time!?”
Baralai reassured him of the opposite. “No, just a cause we picked up.” Baralai told them they had their hands full with...other problems after Shuyin. “Have you seen one?”
Wakka thought about for a moment, rubbing his jaw line lightly “There aren’t any Cactuar in Besaid…….”
Both of them sighed in disappointment. “--That’s why it was really strange to see one on the beach.”
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Wakka led them two down to the beach, up near the harbor by a rock structure, a small Cactuar was sitting near the water under a palm tree. His knees drawn up in to it’s arms, rocking softly. It was definitely a gate keeper, why else would a Cactuar be in Besaid? “Here it is.” Wakka stopped in front of the small, green creature, folding his arms with an interested look on his face. “What are you looking for it for? Looks harmless to me.” Wakka looked on as Baralai approached the small creature.
Baralai explained. “We need it to help us out at the Bikanel desert.”
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Gatekeeper No. 2
Name: Toumeya
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Off on a south sea
cruise? Still, he
longs for his desert
home...
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HP 10
Strength 3/10
Agility 3/10
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“I got this one.” Baralai drew out his pistol from the holster under his shirt as the Cactuar called his friends, two dog like fiends that joined by it‘s side.
It cast the same gatekeeper spell as Lobivia, changing places with the two fiend rapidly with out moving an inch. But not too fast that Baralai couldn’t keep up, it wasn’t much harder then Lobivia, although there was a distinguished difference in speed. Baralai watching the rhythm, then firing a shot in the center position. The Cactuar was hit, spinning around on one leg before regaining his balance. This is where Baralai’s strategy differed from Gippal’s, He didn’t wait. He kept firing, not giving the Cactuar the time to move again. Finally after nine more shots, it fell stiffly on to it‘s back.
After an embarrassingly quick defeat, Toumeya finally started cooperating.
Wakka rubbed the back of his head nervously “That was weird ya.”
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The pair quickly made their way to Bikanel, taking a hover from Base camp back to Cactuar Nation. They quickly made it across the shaking earth and cloudy sand that had be agitated over the area back to the Cactuar’s mother. With the second Gate Keeper back where he was needed it was onward to find the next.
Benzo translated the next Cactuar’s words.
"According to his mother, Lobeira loves getting into cramped spaces. He left with only one thing in mind: finding the most comfortable box in existence. He finally found a most splendid treasure chest in the home of a sphere hunter. How long it's been since I heard from him, I can hardly say... Oh, my careless little Lobeira. I've told you a thousand times to be careful of boxes with locks on them... That’s the gist of it.”
“It likes boxes? That means it could be anywhere.” Gippal started thinking of locations, it was like trying to figure out a riddle in the middle of a Spira wide scavenger hunt.
“A sphere hunter huh? I don’t think it’s in Besaid.” Baralai placed his foot back to keep himself balanced, this one really was a challenge. Now what Sphere hunters did he know?
This time Gippal beat him to it. “Leblanc’s a sphere hunter, and she moved in to the Guado mansion, there is probably tons of boxes around there. It would be the best place to start.”
“Your right.”
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Back in Guadosalam, the Guado were starting to return to the city, and things were starting to return back to normal. All except that the town was flooded with Sphere hunters, and the Farplane was still unstable, but the Guado were working on it. A place like this was idea to look first considering all of the Sphere hunters.
Gippal was surprised to see the change, he knew there were Sphere hunters everywhere but he hadn‘t expected this. “Look at this place, it’s changed a lot.”
Baralai greed “Yeah, Spira is changing.” Baralai and Gippal waded through the sea of people, making their way from the entrance near the Moon flow to the Guado mansion, now the Le Blanc syndicate headquarters.
Ormi was waiting at the front door, while looking for something he happened to spot them in the process. “Gippal? Baralai? What are you two doing here? Where have you been?”
Gippal waved a passive greeting. “Is Le Blanc here?”
“No, she went to Youth League Headquarters with Nooj. Why?”
“We need to look for something.”
“Like what?”
Baralai try to think of the best way to say this, but the best way was the most blunt. “A treasure chest with a Cactuar inside.”
“A wha--? Well, I don’t know about that, but I did hear some strange sounds coming from a box the boss brought home one day.”
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Figuring their was no harm in letting Gippal and Baralai look around, Ormi led them i to house, threw the living room and into the basement. After a short walk they came to a vault, where a chest that was purple on the top and on the edges that Ormi had identified the strange sounds to originate from the other day.
Gippal folded his arms and looked at it, “This is it?” It didn’t look like a Cactuar could fit into it.
“Uh-huh.” Ormi nodded, before they could doubt what he was saying, a strange sound radiated from it. Honestly, Ormi was curious to see what was inside.
Finally ready to see what was inside, Baralai knelt down and opened it up, revealing a Cactuar surrounded by purple padding, making the box even smaller than it looked from the outside. It was funny to watch the cactus pull itself from the small container that by some miracle it actually fitted into in the first place. Wow, Small. “You’d really have to like small spaces to stay in here.”
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Gatekeeper No. 3
Name: Lobeira
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The comfiest treasure
chest bedding in Spira!
Now on sale!
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HP 12
Strength 7/10
Agility 2/10
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“You did the last one, this one is mine.” Gippal announced, already with his pistol out of his holster.
“Be my guest.” Baralai graciously stepped out of the way, leaning against the wall while watching Loberia push two more chest forward, getting in to the center of them. He enjoyed watching this, it was always amusing to watch.
Loberia seemed to be slower then the previous Cactuar, an easy target. Gippal fired the first shot, easily hitting the slow Loberia while it was in the first spot, struck hit it again going in to the third spot. But this time when it spun around, it fired a spray of needles at out of it’s body at Gippal, most of them hit their intended, and surprised target. Which wasn’t him, but instead his gun. A few got in to the clip, damaging exactly 7 bullets out of the 20 left. “What the hell?” Gippal lifted the handgun, questingly examining the area where it had been struck while he pulled some of the needles out of his hands.
He pulled out the clip, taking out the damaged bullets to toss them aside.
“Wow, it has aim.” Baralai walked over to Gippal, looking at the damaged bullets laying on the vault ‘s floor, pulling a needle from his hand that he had missed.
Gippal pushed him away discardingly. “It‘s nothing, I know what to look out for next time, no problem.” He aimed the gun again, easily hitting the Cactuar, expecting another counter, but luckily none came.
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“How long did we take.” Baralai asked, climbing on to the hover along with Gippal as soon as they left the aircraft.
Benzo climbed in behind him, leaning over his seat to respond.“15 minutes at the most.” Which wasn’t long for a flight to Guadosalam and back.
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“These earth are getting worse….” Baralai held on a railing started to shake as it did when they entered the territory of Cactuar Nation, they were back.
Gippal patted him on the shoulder reassuringly as the hover came to a stop. “Then we’ll just have to move faster, you worry to much.”
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They returned Loberia, heading to the next mother.
"I am the mother of those inseparable brothers, Areq & Arroja. Areq & Arroja love being together. It seems they met some large yellow birds on a wide, open plain. Arroja is having such a good time he said he's put off seeing snow, whatever that is. That‘s the gist of it." Benzo translated.
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Gippal leaned back in his chair, sitting inside of the main tent of base camp around a small table right next to Baralai. This was easy, he was thinking about this to much. “Hmm…Wide open plane…. Sounds like the calm lands” Tilted his head back, expanding on that thought. He looked over at Baralai. “Snow, must be Mt. Gagazet. What’s in between the Calm lands and Mt. Gagazet?”
Baralai stood up with a nod. “Let’s go find out.”
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After a short trip, they were dropped off at the end of the wide expanses of the Calm land, they could see the top of Mt. Gagazet from there.
As the airship moved away and the two had advanced to toward the foot of the mountain, they froze, looking on at the most unusual site they would probably ever see. Gippal scratched his cheek, a nervous habit of his, this definitely was awkward. “There’s something you don’t see everyday.”
They watched as two Cactuar rode a Chocobo, the bigger one, Areq, was on his knees on the Chocobo’s back holding the reins and Arroja was sitting back against the tail feathers with his knees drawn up.
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Gatekeepers 4 & 5
Name: Areq & Arroja
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Together they can
conquer anything!
(But Areq does all
the heavy lifting.)
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HP 16
Strength 6/10
Agility 4/10
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“Go ahead Baralai, your up.” Gippal sat against a canyon wall, resting his hands behind his head to watch intently. “Watch it, he looks tough. The older one I mean.”
Areq rounded up two more Chocobo and Arroja stood behind his brother timidly, it was cute actually. He was some what faster then normal, he wouldn’t be to much of a problem, a small challenge for Baralai. “Very Funny Gippal, we’ll just see about that.”
He fired as soon as he saw the Cactuar in the center, but it quickly changed to a Chocobo, which he hit in the wing drawing a loud squawk from the bird. “Huh?” For the first time he missed.... With a grunt and a snicker from Gippal, Baralai tried again, this time striking the Cactuar in the third spot, he continued firing until he was able to get 5 consecutive shots in before it moved again, then hit another Chocobo when it did, luckily only brushing a small feather between it’s legs.
“How you doing over there Baralai?” Gippal asked tauntingly. Baralai just shot him a look that made Gippal laugh. This was starting to turn in to a small competition.
He managed to hit in the center, following his movements with the gun and easily finishing off the Cactuar
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As soon as they arrived, Gippal asked “How long was it this time Benzo?”
Benzo was ready this time, “Exactly 10 minutes.”
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"I am the mother of Islaya the sage. I am often called the wise Mother. Islaya embarked to follow in the footsteps of our Cactuar forebears who left the desert in ages past. Islaya, my sage son, have you found the Cactuar Stones they left so long ago? Try, not to get burned to a crisp, and take good care of yourself...” Benzo stopped again, just to make sure he’d gone over it right. “That‘s the gist of it."
“This is getting harder, maybe Kilika temple?” Baralai suggested, just speaking out the first thing that came to his mind..
“There aren’t Cactuar stones in Kilika, the only place that has that has something like that……The Thunder planes. That’s it.” Gippal knew the area well, the lighting towers were still being calibrated by members of the Machine Faction.
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Entering from Guadosalam, they ran through the thunder Planes, ignoring any Fiends. Checking any stones they could find. Obviously because it was the thunder plains no airship could get close, and they also lost a lot of time dodging lighting because of uncalibrated towers. They round Islaya at the very last stone.
“Hey, Islaya.”
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Gatekeepr No. 6
Name: Islaya
! - !- !
One with cactuars of
ages past, the story
will cry for heaven's
vengeance when hit!
! - ! - !
HP 12
Strength 6/10
Agility 5/10
! - ! - !
“Ok Gippal, go for it. “ Baralai stood under the safety of the lighting rod while Gippal loaded the pistol. Islaya waited by the stone they found her near, and oddly enough a bolt of lighting struck down next to the Cactuar, leaving another stone behind. “Hmm…That was...interesting. “
Gippal wasted no time, quickly aiming and on the Cactuar, but Islaya moved out of the way, quickly switching to another stone. It was quicker then the rest that came before. Gippal fired another shot, which came too slow and hit a stone instead of his target. A bolt of lighting streamed down from the sky in retaliation, causing Gippal to flinch and draw back with a startled shout. “Whoa! That almost hit me.”
“If you think you can’t handle it I can take over.” Baralai offered, but beneath that offer was a clear tone asking him to admit defeat.
“No way.” Gippal shot back, this was simple, if he got fried by lighting when he missed, he just wasn’t going to miss again.
With an audible grunt he turned his gaze forward and fired at the Cactuar as soon as he caught a glimpse of it, who again turned the side and jumped back out of the way, sending a spray of needles at Gippal from rapidly flailing arms. He rolled to the side, landing on one knee and firing again, this time hitting his target. He didn’t stop, taking it down before it could switch with quick shots.
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“ 9 minutes.” Benzo announced on there arrival. “Must be a fast ship.”
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"I am Chiapa's mother, he says he's going to meet up with some friends. The meeting point? It's some secret place high, high, high up- somewhere he can take in town, water and the woods. That‘s the gist of it." Benzo translated again.
“What? How are we going to figure this one out?” Gippal sat down on the hot sand and crossed his legs and folded his arms, he felt like giving up already.
Baralai wouldn‘t give up that easily though, he could figure this out...as a matter of fact there was no way he could forget this place. “Woods……and town, the only place like that is Kilika. That must be it.”
Gippal lifted his head, “Baralai, you’re a genius.” He pulled him down in to a quick kiss and ran for the hover.
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They started off in the forest since it was, well duh the woods. The next clue was water, so they headed to a spot where the woods stopped and the ocean began, the edge of the island. On the edge of that a large rock over looked it all. So they climbed up to see Chiapa, sitting with his knees drawn up, rocking peacefully, very content to stay there and watch.
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Gatekeeper No. 7
Name: Chiapa
! - ! - !
Flanked by fluffy
fiends, and faster
than a flying Flan!
! - ! - !
HP 9
Strength 6/10
Agility 4/10
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“Alright, he’s all yours Baralai.” Gippal stayed off to the side, watching as Chiapa was joined by two blue and gooey Flans.
Chiapa wasn’t too hard, but countered, a lot. When Baralai fired the first shot, it countered as soon as it was hit. Baralai strifed to the side, making an another shot, easily hitting before it could switch. The Cactuar spun around on one leg and countered again, sending Baralai moving to the left. Chiapa shot the thorns before Baralai could even lift his weapon, this time, hitting the pistol dead on. Baralai opened the clip and emptied the ruined ammo annoyedly, reloading and quickly firing again, but hitting a by accident Flan, making it lash out. He didn’t miss again, shooting Chiapa once more, but also getting hit with it’s counter. Baralai quickly aimed and fired 6 more rounds, but getting hit by it’s last counter that ruined the last of his ammunition. In the end, he lost.
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“10 minutes.” Benzo told them, picking out a stray needle that Gippal missed, making Baralai jump.
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Benzo listened as another Cactus moved and talked in it’s own langue, it was amazing he could distinguish one thing from the next. "I've gotten word from Erio. His message read: Two brothers, my friends, to a spring went we, I get to see snow... what rhymes with we. He may never listen to his parents, but I can't help but love my sweet little Erio."
This one was too easy to figure out, they didn’t bother to address it. But Baralai did note that he found the Cactuar’s words a little funny, “Cactuar’s write poetry, I never knew they had so much personally.”
Gippal laughed a little. “Heh, Heh, Must be hard to write when you do everything sideways.”
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Of course, snow, spring, Mt. Gagazet. If you didn’t figure it out, you must not be paying close enough attention.
Gippal and Baralai made their way hastily up the Mountain, taking at lest 10 minutes to do so, mostly because Baralai was faster then Gippal and had to stop for him numerous times. They found Erio out on a large landing right before the climb up the path to the hot spring.
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Gatekeeper No. 8
Name: Erio
! - ! - !
His brothers are his
strength. Watch out
for those counters!
! - ! - !
HP 15
Strength 8/10
Agility 4/10
! - ! - !
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“Wow, when he said Brothers, I thought he meant Cactuar.” Gippal watched with eyes widened as the Cactuar lined up his ‘Brothers’, two Iron Giants, and being this close, he could easily notice how giant they were. “Were this things ever this big?” Gippal rubbed the back of his head nervously, how did he get paired up with them?
“No, Maybe their oversouled.” Just a thought from Baralai, one that only served to make him more nervous. “Just make sure you don’t miss.” Baralai told him, backing away out of range in a very uncomforting manner.
Hitting one of those Fiends was the last thing he wanted to do, being hit by one of those swords would be painful, very painful. Gippal decided to have a little heavier artillery for this. Using his cannon, he fired a volley of 2 missiles out, by luck they hit Erio, or maybe by homing.
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“That was cheating.” Baralai argued as they returned to the Bikanel desert Base camp.
“Hey, that Cactuar had Iron Giants, I should be able to have something big too.”
“Technically that doesn’t count unless the Cactuar was big, he’s small.”
Benzo joined them, telling them there last time. “18 minutes.” his voice was solemn when he spoke, Gippal and Baralai looked at each other, that was a lot of time. Did Maranala hold out that long?
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She did, but just as with everything else just barley, she couldn’t hold out that much longer, it was amazing she was holding off this long.
"I am Bartschella’s mother.” Benzo translated. “My daughter simply adores money. She left the desert in search of a 'man of means' - whatever that is. It turns out our 'man of means' isn't quite what you'd expect, hoho! Managed to save up quite a bundle. Turns out it's a former summoner! Don't get caught green-handed, Bartschalla!"
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This one was hard.
“Former summoner? Isaaru?” Gippal made a quick guess.
Baralai shook his head, leaning against the cloth of a tent while people moved around him busily. “She said it wasn’t a man, and anyway, Isaaru’s in Zanarkand, I don’t think he has a lot of use for money.”
“Hmm…“ Now that he thought about it, Gippal couldn‘t believe it took him that long to figure it out in the first place. “I pretty sure it’s not Yuna, So it must be Dona, she’s in Kilika with the Youth League.”
“Well let’s go then.”
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It only took about 3 minutes at full speed to get to Kilika port, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing, air sickness ensued.
Gippal looked around at the island, it was much bigger then before. It would take too long to look through everyone, “Ok, we’re here, now how are we suppose to find it?”
Baralai point up on the second level of one of many decks. “Isn’t that Her?”
It in fact was her, talking to a man out side of her house.
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Gatekeeper No. 9
Name: Bartschella
! - ! - !
Ready to step into the
line of fire... if the
price is right!
! - ! - !
HP 12
Strength 8/10
Agility 5/10
! - ! - !
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“Why am I letting you do this?” Dona stood at the top of a stairway in her home, watching the small Cactuar take it’s place between two vases.
Gippal shrugged, taking a step back out of the way as Baralai carefully aimed.“ I don’t know.” he watched as the Gatekeeper cast another similar spell.
The 2 urns shifted places at dizzying pace along with a blend of green that was the Cactuar. With a small sigh, he took his first shot, knowing that Dona would kill him if hit one of her vases. And he did, but what should have broken it, did nothing but ricochet off. A small creature emerged, throwing out in Elixir. “What was that?” Baralai picked up the Elixir, handing it to Gippal questioningly.
He waited again, aiming at the middle space, pausing until it changed from an urn to Bartschella. The Cactuar twisted around on one foot, firing a spray of needles from quickly moving arms just as Baralai fired another shot. After picking the needles from himself and his gun while discarding useless ammunition, then he took aim again.
He fired at Bartschella, who only jumped to the side and countered again, Baralai avoided it with a sharp step to the side. Hitting the Cactuar and managing to get few hits before it could move, not an easy task. Another missed shot hit one of the urns, making the creature pop out again, throwing out another elixir. His last shot just barely made it, taking down another energetic Cactuar.
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
“Only 7 minutes this time, that’s pretty good.” Benzo joined them again when they arrived, Climbing on to the hover after Baralai.
“How many more left?” He asked, helping Gippal up.
“Only one left.”
! - ! - !
"I hate to admit, but my Frailea can be a bit of a handful. He's really a very nice boy who just wants to be around friends. But he always seems to be falling in with the wrong crowd. I'm worried he may not even be traveling at all.” To check himself over Benzo went over everything that had been told to him before saying “That‘s the gist of it."
“So we don’t know for sure if it’s here or not.” Gippal look around at the other 9 Cactuar, then at a cave that was blocked by a seal. “What’s that? It looks like a good place for someone who isn‘t traveling.” He asked Benzo.
“I’ll ask--Uha?” Benzo stopped when Frailea started to shake and wiggle, making strange noises incoherent to others. Benzo turned to Baralai and Gippal again, repeating what had been told to him. “She says it’s a cave for rouge Cactuars who refuse to protect the desert.”
“Frailea’s mother said she’s afraid that he might not be traveling at all. And she said he’s falling in with the wrong crowd, you think he might be in there?” Baralai asked, touching the seal, which repelled him with a strong force. ’Ow...’ “Maybe, I’ll ask Maranala.”
Benzo cross the rumbling sands, talking to Maranala.
She called all of the Gate Keeper, who made a circle in front of the gate. The started to do a strange dance.
“What are they doing?” Gippal couldn’t help but find it humorous, man he loved cactuars now more then ever.
“I think there’re breaking the seal.” Baralai walked a little closer, watching the once repelling force disappear. “Hn. I guess we’re going in.”
________
Converting /tmp/phpn3pEpZ to /dev/stdout
“This is starting to become a serious problem, the whole Farplane is in danger.” Braska was discussed the problem with Jecht and Auron, being a summoner he was in tune to these types of things.
“I haven’t seen anything worth looking at.” Jecht said discardingly, he failed to see what the problem was. He sat down in the soft grass, his back against a large canyon that housed a waterfall beside him.
“It’s not what is happening, it’s where it’s happening.” Auron explained to him.
“Yes, it would seem that this place is falling apart.” Braska said with a sigh, this looked like it would be a problem he couldn‘t remotely find a solution too, not even a cause. Why would something be happening here?
“What could be causing this?” Auron pondered.
Jecht looked up with the sudden gleam and grunt of an idea, or a realization, one that made Braska and Auron turn towards him inanely. “Hold on! I just got here! This place can’t fall apart now!” Jecht growled with annoyment, looking around and seeing both Auron and Braska gave silent looks to each other. “Hey, what’s with the look?”
Apparently that look wasn’t one in response to Jecht’s comment. “Do you think…….?--” Auron leaned on his sword rooted tip deep into the ground, adjusting his sunglasses. “It is possible.”
Jecht scratched his head, when they did that silent communication of theirs he always was left out of the loop, he started to get confused. “Hey! What are you two talking about?” No one said anything to him, both were lost in there own thoughts. “Oh come on.”
“Hey guys!”
Tidus climbed up to the small ledge next to a water fall where the three usually convened, though it was always hell to get here, Tidus turned around, on his knees with one hand to support himself as he reached down and grabbed Shuyin‘s hand, pulling him up. “Geez, you guys couldn‘t pick a better spot to hang out?”
Jecht conspicuously looked over the pair, if Tidus hadn‘t reached back to pull him up Jecht would have sworn he was seeing double. “Whose the new guy?”
“This is my ’Friend’ Shuyin.” Tidus told him in a mater of factly tone, then turned to Shuyin and pointed to Jecht. “Shuyin, that guy is my father Jecht, this is my friend Auron, and that is high summoner Braska.” Tidus didn’t mean to put the emphasis on friend, it just slipped in. He still managed to show a good deal of respect for Braska, even though Braska had told him thousands of times just to call him Braska.
“Nice to meet you.” Braska shook his hand with his usual smile, Auron just gave a usual greeting, and Jecht gave a very Auron like one. Again Jecht noticed another look between Braska and Auron similar to the one they gave before, he was starting to it figure it out.
Tidus looked around at the three, judging by the silence that followed where a previous conversation would have ensued, something was going on. “What were you guys talking about?”
“We need to speak to you, both you.” Auron said in a voice that usually meant something serious, but his voice was always pretty serous..
“Hn. If you can keep you hands of each other that long.” Jecht just mumbled, folding his arms and looking away.
Tidus released his grip around the Shuyin’s neck, laughing as he rubbed the back of his head. “I can’t help it!”
Shuyin laughed a little too but tried to conceal it as best he could.
“My, conceded aren’t we.” Auron would have to be blind not to notice the resemblance, one that couldn’t have just been accidental .
“Hey! It not like that!” Tidus replied in his defense.
Jecht smirked. “Sure it’s not.”
! - ! - !
"She says she's Toumeya's mother. Toumeya's always dreamed of seeing waters vaster than our little Oasis. And now he's finally getting his wish. Sands whiter than the desert, a gentle breeze, glistening sunlight... and more water than can be imagined. I can't wait to hear the tales he'll have to tell. That‘s the gist of it." Benzo translated another one of the gate keeper’s mother’s words. The Fiends were coming faster to Cactuar nation now, Maranala was having more trouble then ever.
“Lot’s of water?” Gippal started to think, raising hand under his chin thoughtfully.
Only one thing came to Baralai’s mind. “White sand, sounds like a beach to me.” A beach would make sense, it made perfect sense.
They had time to think about it on the way back to base.
! - ! - !
“Hey good news! The sand storm cleared, you can leave anytime.” Nhadala announced upon their arrival, they didn’t know weather it was a good thing for Cactuar nation or not but one thing was clear, a sand storm didn’t clear up that quickly. Which would mean that something had been causing it and decided to stop, probably to focus it’s attention on other places.
“Hey Nhadala, do you know a place with a beach and lots of water?” Baralai asked, making his way to the main tent set up in a different location.
Nhadala thought briefly on, telling them the first thing that came to her mind “Sounds like an island to me, Why?”
Baralai watched the activity around him, it looked almost as if everything was normal, a very busy normal but normal none the less. Either way they looked as if they had their hands full, He and Gippal would probably be handling this on their own “We need to figure out where a Cactuar is.”
Gippal couldn’t figure it out everything was an island in Spira, and he didn‘t spend much time on beaches anyway. Baralai came up with something though. “Kilika or Besaid…” He said. “…Kilika is all forest so it must be Besaid!” Sands whiter than the desert, a gentle breeze, glistening sunlight, that was Besaid in a nut shell.
As soon as he got the words out, Gippal was arranging a ride.
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
“Have you ever been here before?” Gippal asked, looking at the tropical settings, it was just as it was described. Waterfalls, trees, sand, ocean, everything you could picture in a tropical paradise. “
Yes, once.” Baralai walked downhill across a familiar path, taking in the scenery he hadn’t experienced in years. “I don’t remember anything about it though.” They could see Besaid Village just ahead.
They both stopped the gates of the city , looking around, there were a few people out, children were playing tag, and a few people sat around outside the temple, seemed like a typical day.
Gippal ran his hand threw his hair after a breeze ruffled it out of place.
Baralai sighed. “Looks like a nice place.”
“Yeah.” Gippal agreed.
“??“ Both of them heard something behind them, a small look over their shoulders wielded the sight of a man walking into the village. He seemed familiar.
The man stopped and looked over the two, a smile forming on his face. “Hey? Aren’t you the praetor of New Yevon and aren’t you the leader of the Machine Faction?”
“Yes.” Both of them responded at the same time.
The man‘s smile grew wider. “I’m Wakka.--”
It clicked for Baralai as soon as he heard the name. “Your one of Lady Yuna’s Guardians right?”
“Yeah, It’s an honor to meet you guys.” Wakka shook his hand, obviously a bit excited about meeting the two.
“One could say the same thing.”
Gippal did the same, offering a quick greeting. “Nice to meet you.”
“What are two doing here?” Wakka asked, in expected question.
“Well, we’re looking for a Cactuar.” Gippal answered.
An expression of moderate surprise crossed his features, confusing making him draw back for a moment. “That’s what you’ve been doing this whole time!?”
Baralai reassured him of the opposite. “No, just a cause we picked up.” Baralai told them they had their hands full with...other problems after Shuyin. “Have you seen one?”
Wakka thought about for a moment, rubbing his jaw line lightly “There aren’t any Cactuar in Besaid…….”
Both of them sighed in disappointment. “--That’s why it was really strange to see one on the beach.”
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
Wakka led them two down to the beach, up near the harbor by a rock structure, a small Cactuar was sitting near the water under a palm tree. His knees drawn up in to it’s arms, rocking softly. It was definitely a gate keeper, why else would a Cactuar be in Besaid? “Here it is.” Wakka stopped in front of the small, green creature, folding his arms with an interested look on his face. “What are you looking for it for? Looks harmless to me.” Wakka looked on as Baralai approached the small creature.
Baralai explained. “We need it to help us out at the Bikanel desert.”
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
Gatekeeper No. 2
Name: Toumeya
! - !- !
Off on a south sea
cruise? Still, he
longs for his desert
home...
! - ! - !
HP 10
Strength 3/10
Agility 3/10
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
“I got this one.” Baralai drew out his pistol from the holster under his shirt as the Cactuar called his friends, two dog like fiends that joined by it‘s side.
It cast the same gatekeeper spell as Lobivia, changing places with the two fiend rapidly with out moving an inch. But not too fast that Baralai couldn’t keep up, it wasn’t much harder then Lobivia, although there was a distinguished difference in speed. Baralai watching the rhythm, then firing a shot in the center position. The Cactuar was hit, spinning around on one leg before regaining his balance. This is where Baralai’s strategy differed from Gippal’s, He didn’t wait. He kept firing, not giving the Cactuar the time to move again. Finally after nine more shots, it fell stiffly on to it‘s back.
After an embarrassingly quick defeat, Toumeya finally started cooperating.
Wakka rubbed the back of his head nervously “That was weird ya.”
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
The pair quickly made their way to Bikanel, taking a hover from Base camp back to Cactuar Nation. They quickly made it across the shaking earth and cloudy sand that had be agitated over the area back to the Cactuar’s mother. With the second Gate Keeper back where he was needed it was onward to find the next.
Benzo translated the next Cactuar’s words.
"According to his mother, Lobeira loves getting into cramped spaces. He left with only one thing in mind: finding the most comfortable box in existence. He finally found a most splendid treasure chest in the home of a sphere hunter. How long it's been since I heard from him, I can hardly say... Oh, my careless little Lobeira. I've told you a thousand times to be careful of boxes with locks on them... That’s the gist of it.”
“It likes boxes? That means it could be anywhere.” Gippal started thinking of locations, it was like trying to figure out a riddle in the middle of a Spira wide scavenger hunt.
“A sphere hunter huh? I don’t think it’s in Besaid.” Baralai placed his foot back to keep himself balanced, this one really was a challenge. Now what Sphere hunters did he know?
This time Gippal beat him to it. “Leblanc’s a sphere hunter, and she moved in to the Guado mansion, there is probably tons of boxes around there. It would be the best place to start.”
“Your right.”
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
Back in Guadosalam, the Guado were starting to return to the city, and things were starting to return back to normal. All except that the town was flooded with Sphere hunters, and the Farplane was still unstable, but the Guado were working on it. A place like this was idea to look first considering all of the Sphere hunters.
Gippal was surprised to see the change, he knew there were Sphere hunters everywhere but he hadn‘t expected this. “Look at this place, it’s changed a lot.”
Baralai greed “Yeah, Spira is changing.” Baralai and Gippal waded through the sea of people, making their way from the entrance near the Moon flow to the Guado mansion, now the Le Blanc syndicate headquarters.
Ormi was waiting at the front door, while looking for something he happened to spot them in the process. “Gippal? Baralai? What are you two doing here? Where have you been?”
Gippal waved a passive greeting. “Is Le Blanc here?”
“No, she went to Youth League Headquarters with Nooj. Why?”
“We need to look for something.”
“Like what?”
Baralai try to think of the best way to say this, but the best way was the most blunt. “A treasure chest with a Cactuar inside.”
“A wha--? Well, I don’t know about that, but I did hear some strange sounds coming from a box the boss brought home one day.”
! - ! - !
Figuring their was no harm in letting Gippal and Baralai look around, Ormi led them i to house, threw the living room and into the basement. After a short walk they came to a vault, where a chest that was purple on the top and on the edges that Ormi had identified the strange sounds to originate from the other day.
Gippal folded his arms and looked at it, “This is it?” It didn’t look like a Cactuar could fit into it.
“Uh-huh.” Ormi nodded, before they could doubt what he was saying, a strange sound radiated from it. Honestly, Ormi was curious to see what was inside.
Finally ready to see what was inside, Baralai knelt down and opened it up, revealing a Cactuar surrounded by purple padding, making the box even smaller than it looked from the outside. It was funny to watch the cactus pull itself from the small container that by some miracle it actually fitted into in the first place. Wow, Small. “You’d really have to like small spaces to stay in here.”
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
Gatekeeper No. 3
Name: Lobeira
! - ! - !
The comfiest treasure
chest bedding in Spira!
Now on sale!
! - ! - !
HP 12
Strength 7/10
Agility 2/10
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
“You did the last one, this one is mine.” Gippal announced, already with his pistol out of his holster.
“Be my guest.” Baralai graciously stepped out of the way, leaning against the wall while watching Loberia push two more chest forward, getting in to the center of them. He enjoyed watching this, it was always amusing to watch.
Loberia seemed to be slower then the previous Cactuar, an easy target. Gippal fired the first shot, easily hitting the slow Loberia while it was in the first spot, struck hit it again going in to the third spot. But this time when it spun around, it fired a spray of needles at out of it’s body at Gippal, most of them hit their intended, and surprised target. Which wasn’t him, but instead his gun. A few got in to the clip, damaging exactly 7 bullets out of the 20 left. “What the hell?” Gippal lifted the handgun, questingly examining the area where it had been struck while he pulled some of the needles out of his hands.
He pulled out the clip, taking out the damaged bullets to toss them aside.
“Wow, it has aim.” Baralai walked over to Gippal, looking at the damaged bullets laying on the vault ‘s floor, pulling a needle from his hand that he had missed.
Gippal pushed him away discardingly. “It‘s nothing, I know what to look out for next time, no problem.” He aimed the gun again, easily hitting the Cactuar, expecting another counter, but luckily none came.
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
“How long did we take.” Baralai asked, climbing on to the hover along with Gippal as soon as they left the aircraft.
Benzo climbed in behind him, leaning over his seat to respond.“15 minutes at the most.” Which wasn’t long for a flight to Guadosalam and back.
! - ! - !
“These earth are getting worse….” Baralai held on a railing started to shake as it did when they entered the territory of Cactuar Nation, they were back.
Gippal patted him on the shoulder reassuringly as the hover came to a stop. “Then we’ll just have to move faster, you worry to much.”
! - ! - !
They returned Loberia, heading to the next mother.
"I am the mother of those inseparable brothers, Areq & Arroja. Areq & Arroja love being together. It seems they met some large yellow birds on a wide, open plain. Arroja is having such a good time he said he's put off seeing snow, whatever that is. That‘s the gist of it." Benzo translated.
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
Gippal leaned back in his chair, sitting inside of the main tent of base camp around a small table right next to Baralai. This was easy, he was thinking about this to much. “Hmm…Wide open plane…. Sounds like the calm lands” Tilted his head back, expanding on that thought. He looked over at Baralai. “Snow, must be Mt. Gagazet. What’s in between the Calm lands and Mt. Gagazet?”
Baralai stood up with a nod. “Let’s go find out.”
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
After a short trip, they were dropped off at the end of the wide expanses of the Calm land, they could see the top of Mt. Gagazet from there.
As the airship moved away and the two had advanced to toward the foot of the mountain, they froze, looking on at the most unusual site they would probably ever see. Gippal scratched his cheek, a nervous habit of his, this definitely was awkward. “There’s something you don’t see everyday.”
They watched as two Cactuar rode a Chocobo, the bigger one, Areq, was on his knees on the Chocobo’s back holding the reins and Arroja was sitting back against the tail feathers with his knees drawn up.
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
Gatekeepers 4 & 5
Name: Areq & Arroja
! - ! - !
Together they can
conquer anything!
(But Areq does all
the heavy lifting.)
! - ! - !
HP 16
Strength 6/10
Agility 4/10
! - ! - !
“Go ahead Baralai, your up.” Gippal sat against a canyon wall, resting his hands behind his head to watch intently. “Watch it, he looks tough. The older one I mean.”
Areq rounded up two more Chocobo and Arroja stood behind his brother timidly, it was cute actually. He was some what faster then normal, he wouldn’t be to much of a problem, a small challenge for Baralai. “Very Funny Gippal, we’ll just see about that.”
He fired as soon as he saw the Cactuar in the center, but it quickly changed to a Chocobo, which he hit in the wing drawing a loud squawk from the bird. “Huh?” For the first time he missed.... With a grunt and a snicker from Gippal, Baralai tried again, this time striking the Cactuar in the third spot, he continued firing until he was able to get 5 consecutive shots in before it moved again, then hit another Chocobo when it did, luckily only brushing a small feather between it’s legs.
“How you doing over there Baralai?” Gippal asked tauntingly. Baralai just shot him a look that made Gippal laugh. This was starting to turn in to a small competition.
He managed to hit in the center, following his movements with the gun and easily finishing off the Cactuar
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
As soon as they arrived, Gippal asked “How long was it this time Benzo?”
Benzo was ready this time, “Exactly 10 minutes.”
! - ! - !
"I am the mother of Islaya the sage. I am often called the wise Mother. Islaya embarked to follow in the footsteps of our Cactuar forebears who left the desert in ages past. Islaya, my sage son, have you found the Cactuar Stones they left so long ago? Try, not to get burned to a crisp, and take good care of yourself...” Benzo stopped again, just to make sure he’d gone over it right. “That‘s the gist of it."
“This is getting harder, maybe Kilika temple?” Baralai suggested, just speaking out the first thing that came to his mind..
“There aren’t Cactuar stones in Kilika, the only place that has that has something like that……The Thunder planes. That’s it.” Gippal knew the area well, the lighting towers were still being calibrated by members of the Machine Faction.
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
Entering from Guadosalam, they ran through the thunder Planes, ignoring any Fiends. Checking any stones they could find. Obviously because it was the thunder plains no airship could get close, and they also lost a lot of time dodging lighting because of uncalibrated towers. They round Islaya at the very last stone.
“Hey, Islaya.”
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
Gatekeepr No. 6
Name: Islaya
! - !- !
One with cactuars of
ages past, the story
will cry for heaven's
vengeance when hit!
! - ! - !
HP 12
Strength 6/10
Agility 5/10
! - ! - !
“Ok Gippal, go for it. “ Baralai stood under the safety of the lighting rod while Gippal loaded the pistol. Islaya waited by the stone they found her near, and oddly enough a bolt of lighting struck down next to the Cactuar, leaving another stone behind. “Hmm…That was...interesting. “
Gippal wasted no time, quickly aiming and on the Cactuar, but Islaya moved out of the way, quickly switching to another stone. It was quicker then the rest that came before. Gippal fired another shot, which came too slow and hit a stone instead of his target. A bolt of lighting streamed down from the sky in retaliation, causing Gippal to flinch and draw back with a startled shout. “Whoa! That almost hit me.”
“If you think you can’t handle it I can take over.” Baralai offered, but beneath that offer was a clear tone asking him to admit defeat.
“No way.” Gippal shot back, this was simple, if he got fried by lighting when he missed, he just wasn’t going to miss again.
With an audible grunt he turned his gaze forward and fired at the Cactuar as soon as he caught a glimpse of it, who again turned the side and jumped back out of the way, sending a spray of needles at Gippal from rapidly flailing arms. He rolled to the side, landing on one knee and firing again, this time hitting his target. He didn’t stop, taking it down before it could switch with quick shots.
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
“ 9 minutes.” Benzo announced on there arrival. “Must be a fast ship.”
! - ! - !
"I am Chiapa's mother, he says he's going to meet up with some friends. The meeting point? It's some secret place high, high, high up- somewhere he can take in town, water and the woods. That‘s the gist of it." Benzo translated again.
“What? How are we going to figure this one out?” Gippal sat down on the hot sand and crossed his legs and folded his arms, he felt like giving up already.
Baralai wouldn‘t give up that easily though, he could figure this out...as a matter of fact there was no way he could forget this place. “Woods……and town, the only place like that is Kilika. That must be it.”
Gippal lifted his head, “Baralai, you’re a genius.” He pulled him down in to a quick kiss and ran for the hover.
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
They started off in the forest since it was, well duh the woods. The next clue was water, so they headed to a spot where the woods stopped and the ocean began, the edge of the island. On the edge of that a large rock over looked it all. So they climbed up to see Chiapa, sitting with his knees drawn up, rocking peacefully, very content to stay there and watch.
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
Gatekeeper No. 7
Name: Chiapa
! - ! - !
Flanked by fluffy
fiends, and faster
than a flying Flan!
! - ! - !
HP 9
Strength 6/10
Agility 4/10
! - ! - !
“Alright, he’s all yours Baralai.” Gippal stayed off to the side, watching as Chiapa was joined by two blue and gooey Flans.
Chiapa wasn’t too hard, but countered, a lot. When Baralai fired the first shot, it countered as soon as it was hit. Baralai strifed to the side, making an another shot, easily hitting before it could switch. The Cactuar spun around on one leg and countered again, sending Baralai moving to the left. Chiapa shot the thorns before Baralai could even lift his weapon, this time, hitting the pistol dead on. Baralai opened the clip and emptied the ruined ammo annoyedly, reloading and quickly firing again, but hitting a by accident Flan, making it lash out. He didn’t miss again, shooting Chiapa once more, but also getting hit with it’s counter. Baralai quickly aimed and fired 6 more rounds, but getting hit by it’s last counter that ruined the last of his ammunition. In the end, he lost.
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
“10 minutes.” Benzo told them, picking out a stray needle that Gippal missed, making Baralai jump.
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
Benzo listened as another Cactus moved and talked in it’s own langue, it was amazing he could distinguish one thing from the next. "I've gotten word from Erio. His message read: Two brothers, my friends, to a spring went we, I get to see snow... what rhymes with we. He may never listen to his parents, but I can't help but love my sweet little Erio."
This one was too easy to figure out, they didn’t bother to address it. But Baralai did note that he found the Cactuar’s words a little funny, “Cactuar’s write poetry, I never knew they had so much personally.”
Gippal laughed a little. “Heh, Heh, Must be hard to write when you do everything sideways.”
! - !- !
! - ! -!
Of course, snow, spring, Mt. Gagazet. If you didn’t figure it out, you must not be paying close enough attention.
Gippal and Baralai made their way hastily up the Mountain, taking at lest 10 minutes to do so, mostly because Baralai was faster then Gippal and had to stop for him numerous times. They found Erio out on a large landing right before the climb up the path to the hot spring.
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
Gatekeeper No. 8
Name: Erio
! - ! - !
His brothers are his
strength. Watch out
for those counters!
! - ! - !
HP 15
Strength 8/10
Agility 4/10
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
“Wow, when he said Brothers, I thought he meant Cactuar.” Gippal watched with eyes widened as the Cactuar lined up his ‘Brothers’, two Iron Giants, and being this close, he could easily notice how giant they were. “Were this things ever this big?” Gippal rubbed the back of his head nervously, how did he get paired up with them?
“No, Maybe their oversouled.” Just a thought from Baralai, one that only served to make him more nervous. “Just make sure you don’t miss.” Baralai told him, backing away out of range in a very uncomforting manner.
Hitting one of those Fiends was the last thing he wanted to do, being hit by one of those swords would be painful, very painful. Gippal decided to have a little heavier artillery for this. Using his cannon, he fired a volley of 2 missiles out, by luck they hit Erio, or maybe by homing.
! - ! - !
! - !- !
“That was cheating.” Baralai argued as they returned to the Bikanel desert Base camp.
“Hey, that Cactuar had Iron Giants, I should be able to have something big too.”
“Technically that doesn’t count unless the Cactuar was big, he’s small.”
Benzo joined them, telling them there last time. “18 minutes.” his voice was solemn when he spoke, Gippal and Baralai looked at each other, that was a lot of time. Did Maranala hold out that long?
! - !- !
! - ! - !
She did, but just as with everything else just barley, she couldn’t hold out that much longer, it was amazing she was holding off this long.
"I am Bartschella’s mother.” Benzo translated. “My daughter simply adores money. She left the desert in search of a 'man of means' - whatever that is. It turns out our 'man of means' isn't quite what you'd expect, hoho! Managed to save up quite a bundle. Turns out it's a former summoner! Don't get caught green-handed, Bartschalla!"
! - ! - !
This one was hard.
“Former summoner? Isaaru?” Gippal made a quick guess.
Baralai shook his head, leaning against the cloth of a tent while people moved around him busily. “She said it wasn’t a man, and anyway, Isaaru’s in Zanarkand, I don’t think he has a lot of use for money.”
“Hmm…“ Now that he thought about it, Gippal couldn‘t believe it took him that long to figure it out in the first place. “I pretty sure it’s not Yuna, So it must be Dona, she’s in Kilika with the Youth League.”
“Well let’s go then.”
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It only took about 3 minutes at full speed to get to Kilika port, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing, air sickness ensued.
Gippal looked around at the island, it was much bigger then before. It would take too long to look through everyone, “Ok, we’re here, now how are we suppose to find it?”
Baralai point up on the second level of one of many decks. “Isn’t that Her?”
It in fact was her, talking to a man out side of her house.
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Gatekeeper No. 9
Name: Bartschella
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Ready to step into the
line of fire... if the
price is right!
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HP 12
Strength 8/10
Agility 5/10
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“Why am I letting you do this?” Dona stood at the top of a stairway in her home, watching the small Cactuar take it’s place between two vases.
Gippal shrugged, taking a step back out of the way as Baralai carefully aimed.“ I don’t know.” he watched as the Gatekeeper cast another similar spell.
The 2 urns shifted places at dizzying pace along with a blend of green that was the Cactuar. With a small sigh, he took his first shot, knowing that Dona would kill him if hit one of her vases. And he did, but what should have broken it, did nothing but ricochet off. A small creature emerged, throwing out in Elixir. “What was that?” Baralai picked up the Elixir, handing it to Gippal questioningly.
He waited again, aiming at the middle space, pausing until it changed from an urn to Bartschella. The Cactuar twisted around on one foot, firing a spray of needles from quickly moving arms just as Baralai fired another shot. After picking the needles from himself and his gun while discarding useless ammunition, then he took aim again.
He fired at Bartschella, who only jumped to the side and countered again, Baralai avoided it with a sharp step to the side. Hitting the Cactuar and managing to get few hits before it could move, not an easy task. Another missed shot hit one of the urns, making the creature pop out again, throwing out another elixir. His last shot just barely made it, taking down another energetic Cactuar.
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“Only 7 minutes this time, that’s pretty good.” Benzo joined them again when they arrived, Climbing on to the hover after Baralai.
“How many more left?” He asked, helping Gippal up.
“Only one left.”
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"I hate to admit, but my Frailea can be a bit of a handful. He's really a very nice boy who just wants to be around friends. But he always seems to be falling in with the wrong crowd. I'm worried he may not even be traveling at all.” To check himself over Benzo went over everything that had been told to him before saying “That‘s the gist of it."
“So we don’t know for sure if it’s here or not.” Gippal look around at the other 9 Cactuar, then at a cave that was blocked by a seal. “What’s that? It looks like a good place for someone who isn‘t traveling.” He asked Benzo.
“I’ll ask--Uha?” Benzo stopped when Frailea started to shake and wiggle, making strange noises incoherent to others. Benzo turned to Baralai and Gippal again, repeating what had been told to him. “She says it’s a cave for rouge Cactuars who refuse to protect the desert.”
“Frailea’s mother said she’s afraid that he might not be traveling at all. And she said he’s falling in with the wrong crowd, you think he might be in there?” Baralai asked, touching the seal, which repelled him with a strong force. ’Ow...’ “Maybe, I’ll ask Maranala.”
Benzo cross the rumbling sands, talking to Maranala.
She called all of the Gate Keeper, who made a circle in front of the gate. The started to do a strange dance.
“What are they doing?” Gippal couldn’t help but find it humorous, man he loved cactuars now more then ever.
“I think there’re breaking the seal.” Baralai walked a little closer, watching the once repelling force disappear. “Hn. I guess we’re going in.”
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