Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Ninety-ninth Sacrifice ❯ IV ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

IV
982 S.A.
 
Braska awoke late in the night to a sharp rapping at his door. Pulling his vest over his bear chest, he opened the door. After two weeks or so at sea, he became used to the rocking of the boat enough that he could read for hours on end without ever feeling motion sickness. Though, much of his time was spent with the ever mysterious Sara, talking on deck.
Sara was at the door, only her low riding shorts and triangle top on. To Braska's astonishment, she did not shiver in the cold night air, made even colder by the wind coming off of the sea. “Sara, what is the matter?” he asked, looking her up and down as she stood in the cramped hall of the ship.
Shaking her head, she took his hand. “It's nothing. I'd just like you to come with me.”
Feeling the blood rise in his face, Braska nodded, “Okay,” he said before she yanked him through the door.
Quietly, as so not to disturb the other passengers, Sara led him out of the hold and onto the deck. The night shift pilot was at the helm, and a flashlight up in the crow's nest indicated that the look out was up there too. Holding his hand tightly, she walked swiftly to the back of the ship, where no one would see them.
Looking up at the very large moon, Braska asked, “What time is it?”
“About two in the morning.” Letting go of Braska's hand, Sara drooped to the deck and lay down on her back. With her hand she beckoned Braska to lie down next to her. “Just look at all those stars,” she breathed, barely audible.
Braska found her tone of voice beautifully mystical. She was right about the sky; he had never seen so many stars in his life. “I never realized how much you could see in the dead of night.”
“You can never see this much in the city: too much pollution from all of the fake light.” With her left hand, she grasped Braska's right.
After long moments of star gazing, Braska asked, “Did you bring me out here just to look at the stars?”
“No,” she whispered. With her other hand she covered her forehead as though it hurt. “I had a bad dream, the kind where your life falls apart around you.”
Braska sat up, still holding her hand. He looked at her with a strange feeling in the pit of his throat. “What was the dream like?”
“My brother left me behind when we were supposed to do a job together, and I was arrested.”
“Don't worry,” he said, draping his hand slowly over her belly. He could feel all of the sharply prickled hairs indicating she was colder than she let on.
Sitting up abruptly, she crossed her arms over her chest and looked as though she were going to cry. “Hold me,” she whispered quietly, not looking up.
Glad to comply, Braska draped his arms around her. He felt that the warmth from both of their bodies was making them both feel warmer in the cold night air. Lying down to position himself more comfortably, Sara lay her head on his chest. Braska laughed inwardly at the tickle of her hair on his bare chest.
Many long moments ensued with them watching the stars together, in each other's arms. Then, in a move that Braska welcomed but hadn't anticipated, Sara placed her right hand on his cheek and kissed him gently. Upon releasing each other from the kiss, Braska looked intently into her eyes. Just from looking deeply into her eyes he could feel himself falling in love with her. She had beautiful, startling green eyes … with spiral pupils.
“Hmm,” he smiled, realizing the irony. “You're an Al Bhed.”
She tucked her right hand in under her body, but still on top of Braska's bare chest. Pushing back her fringe of hair with her other hand, she asked, “Is there anything wrong with that?”
Placing one of his hands on the nape of her neck, he craned his neck to kiss her again. To ease the strain on his neck, Sara pushed her body forward. “Other than,” he added when they stopped, “I'm student of Yevon.”
Sara dropped her head to Braska's chest and began to laugh quietly. “What a perfect pair we are.”
Sitting up, with Sara in his arms, Braska said, “Let's go back to my cabin.”
“Hey, I'm not that type of girl,” she said, standing straight.
Blushing at her insinuation, Braska stood up too. “Me neither. I meant that my cabin would be a lot more comfortable.”
“Okay,” she said, stretching out her hand. “You've convinced me, just as long as you don't do anything ungentlemanly.”
“Don't worry,” Braska said as they made their way off of the deck. “Wouldn't dream of it.”
 
***
A very muscular Al Bhed with blonde hair cut very close to his head stood at the helm of his ship. All of the lights were snuffed because they were sneaking up on a passenger ship they were about to raid. Determined that this raid go as swiftly as possible because his pregnant wife was on board, he even sent his sister as a scout on the boat they were about to raid.
“Juka, you better be right about the state rooms on this rig,” the muscular man snapped at his first mate, standing behind him.
“C'mon, Cid, have I ever let you down yet?” shrugged the older man with a ponytail of graying hair and a short beard.
Cid smiled and scratched his chin. “Aye, ye did, once or twice. But I never had two capable ladies working with me those times. Isn't that right honey?”
A five-month pregnant woman with long, heavy, blonde dredge-locks adorning her head came up from below deck, a rifle slung over her shoulder. “Sorry,” she smiled, “Blasted runt inside me really likes to push against my bladder. Had to do my business before I could help you guys, of course.” Mitsuki, Cid's wife, having lived among men her entire life on Al Bhed boats, was used to talking to men in a crude manner. And, when it came to Mitsuki, the men were used to the way she spoke. Most of them were sure that she had a fouler mouth than her husband, and a worse temper.
“Now, remember Mitsuki,” said Cid, “You're not to kill anyone or get off this boat. Is that clear?”
Yes Captain,” she drawled out for effect. Even though he was her husband, he was still her captain first and foremost. Well, during the more important parts of the voyage any way.
“Oh, you know it's just because I love you I say such things,” cooed Cid. He gave her an affectionate kiss then prepared to jump off the boat on to the other, now only about a meter away. On the backs of one of the crew members also jumping off was a heavy chain that would link the two boats together by where they would normally link to docks.
Just before he jumped Mitsuki whispered, “Come back soon, boys.” For emphasis she winked at Cid.
***
 
A large jolt awoke Sara from her sleep. Almost having forgotten the events of the last few hours, she was confused at her location. Then, in an instant she remembered her obligations that night she had conveniently forgotten when she had gone back to Braska's room. Nothing happened, nor did Braska indicate that he wanted any more to happen that night than what had already occurred. Mostly what drew Sara to Braska after she heard he was a follower of Yevon was that he was also a student, and students of the temple usually had higher morals than most men. Then again, most had also sworn their lives to celibacy. But, Braska seemed too young to her to make such a life determinate decision already.
“Oh God!” she cried and leapt form the bed.
“What's the matter?” asked a very startled Braska who had been abruptly awoken from a deep sleep.
“Get everything you own together, right now!” she shouted and then disappeared to her room down the hall.
Drowsy at the early hour, and feeling sick because of it, Braska almost didn't comply. Though, he felt that anything an Al Bhed would start up at in the middle of the night on the ocean was something to worry about. Jumping out of bed, he threw on his pants and tied his black shirt hastily around his waist. Everything he owned was sprawled on the desk so he threw it into his back pack, nonchalant about whether his papers or books would fold. Slipping his feet into his shoes and slinging the strap of his back pack over his shoulder, he ran down the hall to find Sara in her room.
When he found her she had everything on her just as he had, but her vest was zipped up in the front and her tinted glasses were sitting atop the bridge of her nose. “By Yevon Sara, what is it?”
She grabbed Braska's hand and ran out with him to the deck. The scene on the deck was one of the most frightening Braska had seen in his life. There were men everywhere wearing the trademark goggles of the Al Bhed with guns or knives or bludgeons in their hands. At this point they were gathering up the passengers and crew members, most of them in their bedclothes without weapons. Any who had acted up were knocked unconscious and tied to the rail.
Suddenly, a very overbearing man with a severely short military cropped head of hair and a broad unclothed chest came directly for Sara and him. Braska was sure that he was going to grab him and throw him in with the other passengers, but he just came up to Sara and looked intently down at her. “Pep oui velina uid frana dra tacd muud ec?” he asked her in the language of the Al Bhed that was unfamiliar to Braska.
Sara looked straight back up at the older man with the military overbearing and replied loudly, “Uv kuinca! Fryd pu oui druhg U'ja taah puing vun dra bycd drnaa faagc.”
The man then looked Braska up and down, taking particular notice in the fact that the woman was holding his hand. Then, he gave Braska a smile that he never would have expected from a man he thought only moments ago was going to throw him about. Clapping Braska hard on the shoulder, he said, “Cu oui so meddma cusdan'c haf bad!”
“Hu ra'c hud, cdibep pnudran,” she replied indignantly, hitting the man on his bare shoulder. He only laughed and playfully cupped his shoulder that had just been hit.
“Mad'c lu,” he said, beckoning his hand out to Sara. Sara led the way deeper into the ship, Braska in tow. The Al Bhed that was speaking to Sara had called for some of the others to follow. Before long, they were in the captain's quarters. All over the walls were shelves with locks on them.
“The safety deposit boxes,” breathed Braska in wonder. “How are you going to get them all out?”
In response, almost all of the Al Bhed men on the raiding team took out some type of crow bar. The largest, the one Sara was talking to handed them both crowbars. For Braska's convenience, the man said, “Pry open the boxes. If my Sara likes you, then you gotta come with us. And, if you're to come with us, then you gotta pull your own weight.”
When the man went to his own work, Braska asked Sara in a whisper, “What does he mean by, `his Sara?'” Braska felt a pang of guilt as the box he was working on clanged to his feet. An Al Bhed held out a sack and Braska threw the valuables and paper within the box into it.
“We've only known each other for a few weeks and you're already getting jealous over me?” giggled Sara quietly.
“Sometimes,” grunted Braska, pulling a badly locked box a little out of position, “In dire times like ours, a few weeks is all anybody needs. You never know when you could lose the people you love.”
Sara dumped the contents of a box into a sack. “So, that's your story, is it? You lost your family? When?”
Braska pulled the rusty box completely loose. Unfortunately, all that was inside was an old locket. Pocketing the nearly valueless item, Braska replied, “During Sin's last reign. My whole life was destroyed. I hated Sin so much after that, and that's why I joined Yevon.”
“Why didn't you join the Crusaders? They are always trying to destroy Sin and fiends.” Sara pulled out a box positively stuffed with silk scarves.
“Anyone who lives in Bevelle knows that they are just a bunch of no bodies that need to blow off some steam. Sin can't be defeated through physical means, and the current means are only temporary.” Braska forced another box out with a huge amount of force that welled up from the anger he was feeling. “I was going to undergo the trials in eight years, but I may not if I have a reason to live.”
“Hm,” murmured Sara, seeing that the place was becoming messier and messier as the walls were being stripped bare. “That's pretty depressing.”
“Hey, but you're an Al Bhed,” he said very quietly so the others wouldn't hear him. “Your life has to suck a bit too.”
“Aye,” she giggled, “That it does.”
Gathering up one of the sacks, the man with the military haircut and the large muscles said, “Ymnelrd! Fa'na mayjuhl!”
“What was that?” asked Braska, securing his back pack to his back more securely.
Sara picked up her bag and followed the Al Bhed men out the door. “We're going back to the Al Bhed ship,” she said, when Braska caught up to her.
“Really?” asked Braska, “What about the people on this boat?”
“Don't worry,” added Sara, leading Braska to the back of the ship, “They'll be fine. We left them plenty of food, and the pilots will be okay to get the ship to Kilika.”
“Oh, well, I was hoping for an adventure,” said Braska, “And it looks like I'm involved in one that won't stop any time soon.”
 
 
 
 
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