Mission Start~!, Yet another Sphere Hunt

[Yuna]

Characters: Yuna, Rikku, Tidus
Status: Permission Needed
Summary: Rikku has contacted Yuna about an awesome sphere, but it's supposedly guarded by some nasty fiends. Paine was too busy being Paine, so they've dragged Tidus along for the ride.
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"Rikku, are you sure about this?"

Yuna stared at the commsphere in Besaid for a good while listening to the hyper-active explanation her cousin was giving. Apparently, this sphere would be well worth the trouble of dealing with whatever nasty things were rumored to be guarding it. Rikku moved in and out of sight on the other side of the camera as Yuna nodded; it had been a while since she'd taken the time to go on a good sphere hunt.

"Alright, I'll do it... but what about Paine?... can't reach her? Are you sure she's ok?... Ok! I think I have a solution." Yuna smiled wryly at the sphere before jumping up and running back to her small Besaid Island home, sliding open the curtain-like doors.

"You here?" she called out, looking around, "Hello?" Still unable to find her love, she went ahead with the explanation, going around in circles in front of the door. "Well, Rikku said she's found this awesome sphere, and I'm going with her... but we can't find Paine! So I was hoping..." She poked her fingers together, smiling at the thought, "you could come with us."

[Squall]

Tidus had grip of quite the amazing dream before a familiar voice had come searching for him. Dreams having dreams, the idea was painful when he took time to consider it. Did his dreams have dreams that had dreams? I'm thinking too much. Drowsily he removed himself from his camouflage of bedding, "...Well, uh..."

Something about Rikku and mind pains? Tidus scratched his head in thought, surely he had misheard something, "Alright, I'll come. Though I don't know much about fixing mind pains..."

[Yuna]

Despite not being quite sure what he meant, Yuna was quite certain he said he'd go. She hopped over to Tidus and grabbed his wrists, pulling him out of bed. With a few more leaps she was outside of the house, beau in tow. She smiled to him as she knelt down by the commsphere. The unfortunate result for Tidus was that he likely went to the ground with her.

"Rikku, Rikku!" she tapped the sphere a few times to clear the connection. It must've gotten through as the cheery Al Bhed popped up on the other side. "Rikku! Is it O.K if he comes?" She pointed at Tidus, making sure he could be seen through the sphere. She smiled eagerly, her eyes begging and almost pleading. Of course, it wasn't long before a whisper was heard through the other side...

"Noooooo! Hud res! Do we have to!?!" A certain mohawk-headed Al Bhed pleaded with Rikku(obviously unaware that Yuna and Tidus could hear him). There was nothing wrong with having Yuna on board, but why did she have to bring him along too? Brother whimpered pathetically, hoping his sister would agree with him. For once.

[Porom]

"Oac res! Pa bumeda!" came back a less accented, much more forceful whisper. Rikku hoped the sound of her foot stepping on Brother's didn't carry over, stifling a giggle as her older brother jumped around on one foot until he tripped and stumbled down the pilot's stairway. Sticking her tongue out, she turned back to the sphere with a big smile as though nothing had happened. "Of course it's okay, Yunie! It'll be just like old times."

Of course, old times were hectic, dangerous, and full of silly mistakes and oversights, many of which had been made by Yuna's would-be guardian - but that's what made them so much fun. Rikku had missed having Tidus around, in a big brother sort of way. Of course, she admitted, she had a big brother, but it was nice to have one that wasn't so totally weird.

Clapping her hands, she giggled and smiled. "We'll pick you guys up at the usual place, okay? Then all of us can go together!"

"Hud ymm uv ic! Ra lyh'd lusa!" an outraged yell from Brother at the background as he tried to take back the sphere, but Rikku held him off with one foot and waved before cutting the transmission.

[Yuna]

Not long after the conversation, Yuna and Tidus waited on the beach, waving down the Celsius. "Coming IN!" shouted Brother as the giant crustacean shaped ship came down onto the sandy Besaid ground. The port opened up, allowing the two inside. Brother was in a particularly grumpy mood, but Yuna was happy to see Rikku again. She tapped her foot excitedly as the elevator rose to the bridge.

"Rikku!" She ran forward with her arms open for the biggest embrace she'd given in a while. It almost transformed into a tackle as Yuna tripped over her own feet and landed on her cousin. "Whoops!" she smiled, giggling, almost filled with a euphoria from seeing her friend again.

Once she managed to stand up and compose herself, she greeted the rest of the Gullwings; Brother and Buddy. Buddy gave a hearty, "Hey!" while Brother mumbled something similar to "Hi." He visibly pouted to display his unhappy disposition as he continued onward to their destination-

"Umm, Rikku? Where exactly are we heading anyway?"

[Squall]

Tidus just kept his eyes low and stayed near Yuna. Being in the water was fine, but being in the air... The majority of his aerial adventures ended in him fighting something, or getting attacked, "I was kind of curious of the same thing."

For a moment he kind of felt like grabbing Rikku by the head to probe for mind pains, "How are you feeling, Rikku?"

[Porom]

"Hmm? I'm feeling awesome! Even more awesome than awesome, even! This is going to be great!" she said to Tidus, nodding with a cheerfully pleased noise. It was obvious she wasn't in any pain - the only one who seemed uncomfortable had to be poor Brother, who Rikku almost felt bad for as his head hung low and his arms listlessly rocked the steering wheel of the Celsius back and forth. Almost.

Not enough to stop her from leaning forward with her arms tucked behind her back, grinning mischeviously as she poked his stomach to see if he was solid. It had been a silly joke ever since he'd come back, since it had been months before she had a chance to see him with Yuna regularly - not until after their trip to that one tower. "How about you? I hope you're being a dream come true for Yunie!" she teased once she was certain he was still there.

It took an embarrassed cough from Yuna to remind Rikku she was supposed to be serious. She waved her arms from side to side. "Right, right! The mission!" she said. "Well we almost held this off because of Paine, but there's this really interesting castle near Baaj Temple and lately we've been getting a reading that there's a mega sphere goldmine inside! But, well, it's a pretty big place for little old me on my own..."

She held her arms behind her back, bobbing back and forth on her heels. "So how about it?"

[Squall]

Tidus couldn't help but blush at first. Rikku had made it some kind of ritual to prod him, and every time he just blushed. Scratching his head, only absently paying attention to the mission detail, he examined the ship's interior. He hadn't been in Spira all that long, and he had spent even less time on the Celsius. Since he had returned, he spent most of his time playing blitzball. Next to the time he spent with Yuna, anyway.

"Of course. I'm ready!" Tidus caught the last bit almost perfectly, "I can't let Yuna go on her own."

He turned to Yuna and gave her a dumb smile, "Right?"

[Yuna]

"Right!" She nodded, clapping her hands together for emphasis. It looked like the adventure had begun!

During the time it took to get to the Baaj temple, Yuna showed Tidus around the Celsius; the engine room, then the cabins(and Barkeep the Hypello), then the bridge and finally, her favorite; the Deck. She made her way up atop the airship with him in tow, looking excitedly around Spira below as her skirt billowed with the wind as the Celsius darted through the air.

"It's great, isn't it?!" She chimed excitedly, running to the very front of the ship for the best view, where she seated herself for the ride. Below, the oceans and islands of Spira made themselves present. It didn't take long until the great ancient Baaj ruins presented themselves below, and the Celsius began to slow down. Yuna held Tidus's hand as she looked down at the ever-approaching dungeon.

"I'm glad." She smiles, her eyes bright. "It's been so long since we've been able to do things like this together. Now you can see what it's like when you were... gone." She lowers her head and looks downcast for a few seconds before lifting herself up to a standing position, nodding. "Let's go."

[Squall]

Tidus reached out for a moment, but Yuna quickly seemed to regain herself. He hesitated, Yuna didn't need to look back anymore. Then he just smiled and nodded before offering a hand out to her, "I'm ready, take me away."

[Yuna]

Yuna smiled and took his hand, running into the Celsius where the rest of the Gullwings were prepared to set out. Brother was still pouting angrily, but still gave the group a "Good LUCK! Do not come back without sphere." He nodded to himself; he had to keep his composure as leader. No need to be sad. Of course, then he saw Tidus and immediately went back to moping.

"We won't!" Yuna said with a smile. "Right Rikku?" She high-fived her cousin. "We can handle whatever they throw at us!" She seemed to be in a peppy mood; trying to get everyone good and excited before they entered the castle and went sphere hunting. She made sure to glance over her Garment Grid before they headed out, and once she was happy with the way the Spheres were arranged, she walked up to Brother.

"We're ready to move out Brother!" She said with a close-eyed grin.

"Ooo kaaaaaay." Brother moped, getting the ship ready to land at the right destination.

[Porom]

As the Celsius hovered at the drop-off point, an opening hatch was extended, allowing for any number of ways to drop the Gullwings off at a dangerous location. It had a winch for lowering vehicles, a tether for shimmying down gradually, and various other gadgets Shinra had concocted. Rikku's favorite method of landing, however, was just to run down the ramp and leap out with a gleeful cry. "Yay! It's time to get us a new sphere!"

Her feet landed on the edge of the turrets at the castle's exterior, but she hadn't taken into account the constant rain in the Baaj area, wobbling back and forth as she flailed her arms comically on the rain-slicked precipice before steadying herself. She rubbed the back of her neck with a nervous giggle, before waving the others to follow. It seemed sturdy enough.

"Hope you don't mind a little water," she said, blowing some damp hair from her eyes.

[Squall]

"I don't mind water, but rain doesn't count," Tidus reluctantly went down the ramp, and leaped out next to Rikku; thankfully with more grace. Nothing good ever happened when he was on an airship, and nothing good happened when it rained. The fact that he hadn't fallen over yet was all but a miracle.

"I guess all the blitzball pays off," Tidus gave a thumbs up to Rikku before turning his gaze back to Yuna.

"I'll catch you if you need me to," He teased, knowing full well she was probably a tougher person than he was at this point.

[Yuna]

Almost as soon as the words left Tidus's mouth, Yuna was prepping to jump. She took a few steps back, took a deep breath, ran as fast as she could... and flew. The rain wasn't pleasant and distracted her from thinking about her landing, but fortunately she managed to catch herself in time. With the poise of a gymnast, she landed right next to Rikku, keeping her balance.

"Is it just me, or do you hear something?" Her eyes scanned the area as she drew her weapons; to machina pistols that fired everything from bullets to magic. The sound was getting closer- whatever it was. Maybe it was a fiend? Before she could get a better listen, a particular annoyance came over the communication device she and Rikku had.

"Is everything alright Yuna?! I'll coming to save youuuu!" he called as the Celsius, still nearby, began to shake and rattle. Brother could be seen running towards the ramp to jump, only to be intercepted by Buddy, who grappled him and dragged him back towards the bridge.

"Don't worry about him." Buddy said, "Just get that Sphere. Call us if you need anything." The Airship finally seemed to stabilize now that its unwilling pilot was at the wheel. It floated upwards before jetting a great distance away. It was still visible, but only as a red blob on the horizon.

Yuna giggled at the events, but recalled the sound now that it was particularly close; something armored was walking alongside the castle walls, approaching them rapidly. It was a large knight-looking fiend wielding a giant sword, uninhibited by the rain as it stared at the three intruders.

[Porom]

Rikku waved cheerfully to Buddy and Brother as the Celsius withdrew to a safe distance. It was standard procedure, but Rikku wasn't too worried. Usually fiends and ruins went hand in hand, but that was because fiends and monsters wandered into them. There was no way a bunch of icky fiends could have gotten into an ancient old fort like this. She wasn't as good using the sphere locator's radar as Shinra had been, but she was certain there was no other way for any thing to get inside.

"Hmm? What's up, Yunie?" Rikku asked, turning to see the advancing fiend and belatedly realizing she'd forgotten some thing when she was planning out this hunt. There was no way for any fiends to get inside - unless they had already been there to begin with. "Oopsies... I knew I missed some thing. Not good, not good!"

Leaping down from the terrace, Rikku reached for the trusty weapons at her side. Though she didn't have the range of her cousin's machina weapons, Rikku's strength lie in her agility rather than her distance or defense - so her preferred fighting weapons were a pair of large crimson knives with circular handles shaped like a targe to deflect attacks.

Spinning them in her hands, Rikku prepared for battle, looking for an opening in the approaching fiend's guard. "Want to show this meanie who's boss or can I?"