Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ FFX: Shallow Twilight ❯ Cards, Turtle-Knights, and that Damn Thief ( Prologue )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

"Black hands are negatives, red hands are positives, and green hands are neutral. If you get a silver hand you get the pot, and if you get a yellow hand you're out."

A young woman sits at a round table, goggles distinctly of Al Bhed design resting around her neck, short hair framing her face. Several other men are sitting at the table of the tavern, a crowd gathered. She deals a number of light cards seemingly made of a plastic material around the table, a dented projector in the center. In fact, a handful of the tables bear these devices in various states of repair and disrepair, a few other patrons playing cards. A pile of Gil is already stacking up as cards are stared at, handled, and placed in the suspension field above the projector.

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"It is Zeyan's turn, Kimahri!"

Kimahri closed his eyes, exhaling, as the relatively eager young Ronso tugged on his tail. Hard. There were many younger Ronso nowadays... not as much as before Seymour , but the Ronsos were certainly making a comeback of sorts. Of course, that meant that now there were many young Ronso which needed to be 'taught', so they would grow up into strong Ronso Warriors. And although Kimahri wasn't required to help per se, he often found himself... well... Babysitting.

"Zeyan should not pull on Kimahri's tail."

"Zeyan wants Kimahri to give him a turn!"

Kimahri smiled. Working with younger creatures of any race took more patience than any amount of battles. So, sighing, he lowered his arm, as the eager young Ronso grabbed hold.

"Hold on tightly, Zeyan." He said, before hoisting the young Ronso into the air.

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Rikku stares at her own cards, one or two people already having departed, leaving their cash in the pot. Her eyes flash over the faces of her hand, the cards themselves an interesting infusion of magic and Al Bhed machina. Each face has its own value, and as the game progresses colors AND faces shift, unless placed in the suspension field. With a smile and a flash of pride, she sticks her entire hand into the field and calls out.

"Silver! And a Queen Blades hand, at that..."

Emerald eyes gleaming, she reaches for the pot, her cards in the center indeed glowing with a silver sheen, the suits and faces sitting in a specific order to garner such a hefty reward. The two men remaining at the table exchange glances and draw weapons from their waists, well used swords.

"Queen Blades and Silver? Can you beat THESE blades girl?"

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It took a surprising amount of energy to exhaust a child, particularly a Ronso child. But finally, Zeyan showed the tell-tale signs of exhaustion. Kimahri hoisted the young Ronso - causing a growl of surprise - and carted him towards the watchers. The young Ronso, of course, complained.

"Zeyan's not tired! Play some more!"

"Strong Ronso Warriors sleep when they can, so they will be ready for danger."

"Zeyan's ready for any danger! Stop fiends with Ronso power!"

Kimahri froze, hearing someone. Reaching down, he placed Zeyan on the ground.

"Zeyan hears a fiend! Zeyan will stop it!"

Confound it; The young Ronso had acute hearing for one his age. "Go back." Kimahri said gutturally.

"Zeyan's strong enough to - "

Kimahri turned, and just looked at him. No snarl, no angry face, just... a stare. "Go back." He repeated, just as calm as he had a moment ago. This time, however, Zeyan turned, and headed away. Kimahri tensed, fingering his spear. Fiends weren't supposed to reach this section of the mountain range... there must've been some reason as to why the Ronso guards had missed it.

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She offers a sideways grin, calmly stuffing the stack of Gil into a pouch.

"Perhaps I can, boys."

Crossing her arms, Rikku clenches her fists. Through the cloth and leather of her gloves, several blades slide free with a satisfying shhhhk sound, covering the gloves with a polished silver look that gleams wickedly.

"Blades on Silver?"

In a swift movement she kicks off from her chair and ends up behind the two men. Grabbing their already half-empty coin purses she charges for the door, the paper thin sheets of metal at her arms sliding back into place. It was all just a show, a ruse, and as dangerous as the blades really are, half the time they're just there for intimidation. Grinning as she clears the door, Rikku reaches into her pocket and pulls out a grenade. Pulling the pin she chucks it behind her, back into the bar. Amidst the screams of "Grenade!" and "Hit the deck!" the smoke the weapon emits instead of an explosion confuses her would-be pursuers even further.

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The fiend yowled, disintegrating into pyreflies.

Kimahri lowered his spear. At least it wasn't a particularly powerful fiend... still, fiends simply should not have entered this particular area, as Ronso Children were raised here. The fact that they had meant that something was wrong.

Kimahri searched around, looking for the guard of this region. The Ronsos often patrolled their mountain, particularly guarding certain areas. It seemed like they wandered at random, but they actually walked in a fairly rigid pattern, each following Ronso 'covering' the tracks of the prior one, and checking for extra dangers. They were kept on their feet for most of the patrol.

Which is why it made less sense for this to have occurred.

Finally, Kimahri found the problem. And dashed forward, seeing the Ronso guard kneeling, bracing himself against his staff - his weapon of choice - breathing very heavily.

"Something wrong, Keyan?" Kimahri intoned, grabbing his shoulders.

Keyan panted, tiredly, not answering. "What happened?" Kimahri asked again.

"Not... sure..." Keyan struggled to get to his feet, then slouched over again. "Just...tired."

Kimahri supported/carried Keyan to the 'council', essentially a group of the elder Ronsos who solved problems like this. They immediately had him checked for diseases and poisons and the like. Kimahri crossed his arms in his usual stance, waiting patiently.

Something was up.

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Even louder now, the cries of "Thief!" echo as Rikku runs down the main grass-covered street. In her hand she tosses a small remote to herself, essentially a control device for the Al Bhed designed card suspension field projectors. Hey, a thief is a thief, and a high-stakes game of cards makes for a wonderful cash flow. Adrenaline and looking over one's back, however, never makes for a good sense of direction. Rikku soon finds herself in an alley, and in typical fashion, soon as she turns around to face the street, the two men are there with a handful of buddies. Sighing, she leans against the wall and stares at them.

"Took you long enough."

Again her eyes flash, her light hair shining slightly from the sun overhead.

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Apparently, it was nothing. Keyan just randomly felt a case of extreme exhaustion, and still hadn't shaken it off. But what made this more odd was that Keyan was a bold warrior. He wasn't known for stunts like this... which made it... well... odd. Kimahri wasn't sure if this was important or not. But the Ronsos had returned to their patrol, and temporarily replaced Keyan, so all was back in perfect working order. No more threats existed on the mountain... none besides the usual supply of fiends, anyway. So, he figured it was time he headed for the city. The city had practically appeared overnight. Once Sin was gone, the large amount of empty space in the calm lands proved to be ideal for a place to live and shop. This was also quite known as the first city that had a sizeable population of several races, who coexisted there without much hassle. So, Kimahri hoisted his spear, and trotted down the cold mountain path to town.

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One of the men is still coughing, no doubt inhaling too much smoke from that grenade. Again, they draw their blades, this time the sound of several accompanying it, from the handful behind them.

"We want our money back... with interest, girl..."

The last statement is joined by several ill-natured chuckles. Two of the surliest looking guys you'd ever see this side of Besaid push through the group and growl at her.

"Give. Now!"

The first charges down the alley and swings wildly, slamming his fist into the wall where Rikku was . From the air she comes down, blades on her arms extended, and slashes at the burly man's neck. Silver shining with crimson, she tosses a grenade with her other hand. The group ducking for cover, and the other large man blocking the alley, Rikku winks and ducks behind the still-standing corpse of the first. The grenade explodes, showering the alley with shrapnel, though the two burly men offer up enough cover for the group and the thief. Dusting herself off, she blinks at the group of men, the five of them now advancing with numerous sharp weapons at hand. She gasps, and points.

"Look! Behind you! Its an angry Ronso!"

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Kimahri had heard assorted commotion, scrambles, and then explosions. Which meant that it definitely had something to do with Al Bhed. Promptly thinking of the worst-case scenario, he followed his ears to the sight of the scuffle, just in time to see a group of men cornering... ...yep. He was right, it was Rikku. How did he know it was Rikku? Of all the Al Bhed in the entire world, why Rikku?
Behind you! It's an angry Ronso!"

One of the men snickered.

"Yeah, right."

He reached forward, grabbing at Rikku. Shortly thereafter, he felt a large fist grab his shoulder, and turn him around. The thief gave a quick "Ah!" Staggering backwards (and coincidentally, closer to Rikku). Kimahri crossed his arms, glaring at the group.

"Is something wrong?"

He asked, slowly, meaningfully, and calmly. His eyes lazily maneuvered to his spear. One of the men stepped forward.

"Look, Kitty, this ain't none - "

Kimahri hoisted him into the air, by one shoulder, and glared at him in the face, not saying a word. The man swallowed, and practically squeaked,

"I mean, nothing's wrong! We were just leaving!"

Kimahri placed him down. Shortly thereafter, all five were gone, making tracks quickly enough to put Rikku to shame, which was something. Humans like that... they were getting more and more numerous now. It was as if the fear of Sin had brought out the best in people, and now that Sin was no more, there was no further need to be civil. A quite bothersome fact. Show them some teeth and they melted. They were nicknamed Turtle-Knights, at least by Ronso. Kimahri turned to Rikku, then, wondering what in the WORLD had caused that.

"Rikku?"

He asked, questioningly. Rikku, for her part, had already gotten over the event entirely.

"Hey... you up for some lunch? My treat."

She was holding a sizeable bag of gil, likely 'borrowed' from the would-be thieves. Kimahri just inclined his head slightly, and smiled thinly. It wasn't his nature to press into these things. So he simply nodded once, and crossed his arms.