[IC] Final Fantasy X: Spira's New Hope [PG-13] [Started/Accepting via OOC] [Co-hosted by Hydra of Thunder]

[Yorukin]

[i]The OOC thread can be found [url="http://forum.yugiohcardmaker.net/topic/254505-ooc-final-fantasy-x-spiras-new-hope-pg-13-not-startedaccepting-co-hosted-by-hydra-of-thunder/"]over here[/url]. Any words in Al Bhed can be translated [url="http://albhed.netfirms.com/"]here[/url].[/i]

Erril adjusted the weapon on his shoulder as he looked out of his airship's window. He always carried his gun with him, and was always ready to use it. He turned back to the main points of the bridge, musing over something. He then smiled and nodded, and looked up at the three other Al Bhed working at their stations. Each of them had a different outfit, but branded on each one was a tattoo of a Scorpion's twin tails. He raised his gun into the air. "[color="#9932CC"]Scorpions![/color][color="#000080"]Cad y tenald luinca vun [color="#9932CC"]Kilika![/color][/color]" He allowed his weapon to drop--it was incredibly heavy, and holding it up for too long played a number on him.

One of the working Scorpions looked up. "[color="#000080"]Teth'd fa ymnayto dno du cad ib eh [color="#9932CC"]Kilika[/color] zicd pavuna dra [color="#9932CC"]Calm[/color] ahtat?[/color]"

Erril shot a glance at the speaker, who immediately dropped his head down and started punching some buttons in. He began making plans for how he would put a defense point there. Now, which machina weapon would be suitable for a jungle island...?

[Hydra of Ages]

Susano wiped the sweat from his brow with a grin. His body glistened in the sunlight, and he felt the cool eastern Oceanic breeze. His muscles were coiled like a serpent, and he fought to keep his mind from wandering. He couldn't tell if his vision was blurry, or that was just the heat waves curling around the fight area.

A snarling beast growled at him from across the small field chosen for the fight, the boundaries marked by the circle of people that enclosed them. Ifrit pawed the ground with his claws, red fur flickering in the wind like firelight. He exhaled periodically, releasing waves of invisible heat; the beast looked ferocious, but one who looked closely could see the strain in his muscles, the uneven panting of his breath, he way he held his head- the Aeon was undeniably tired.

But a cornered Aeon was a dangerous Aeon, Susano knew, and the fight hadn't been kind to him either. He didn't move with the same swiftness he had began with, nor did his strikes hit like they had before. His head was starting to wander, and he wondered how long it had been since he'd had a glass of water. Since before he had prayed to the Fayth, at the very least; the constant fire and sun of Kilika was starting to take its toll. He wouldn't be able to fight much longer.

Ifrit struck with a cry, racing towards him with claws outstretched; the audience gasped. Susano moved, slamming his elbow into the summoned Beast's chest, then darting around and striking twice in the side; he didn't move quite quick enough, and a sideswipe from Ifrit knocked him back a couple feet. He steadied himself quickly, enough to dodge the follow up blow and kick him to the side with a quick side kick. The two red-haired fighters stood still for a second, the human still grinning a little.

"I think...I've...Got it now," Susano said, grinning. It was time to finish off the bout, one way or another. He took a step backward, and with a brief prayer, called Yevon's summon energy. Ifrit seemed briefly confused, and though still ready to counterattack, found himself unwilling to strike during the brief period of charge Susano seemed to be having.

Susano found his mind on fire- literally. Thoughts of heat, burning, flames licking the skies-
[i]Villages burning, houses blown away, screams of despair as the form of Sin silhouetted the blood-blotted sky-[/i]
-Snapped into sudden focus. He opened his eyes briefly, exhaled the excess mana, and held his fists forward. He took a long jump forward, smiling as the power in his fists suddenly exploded into open flames.

"Summoner's Art!" He declared, jumping backward with an arc through the air, grand fireballs appearing in his fists. The crowd around him took a subconscious step backwards, unsure of what was happening. Susano thrust his palms together, forming a great fire in front of his face. "Flames of Ifrit! Hellfire!"

The flame before him solidified into a sphere of hard red magma that he lobbed into the sky, where it gleamed against the Corona of the sun. Ifrit stood still, briefly transfixed by the technique- and somewhat perturbed by part of his power being sudden siphoned off.

Susano leaped into the air until he was level with the sphere, after a couple superfluous flips. He wound up, then quickly smashed both of his fists against the sphere, shattering it into a meteor with a broad tail that rocketed toward the ground. The meteor crumbled and exploded into flame, becoming a broad cone as it impacted Ifrit directly, the Aeon blocking its face from the chunk of its own essence- which promptly exploded into a mushroom cloud of flame, causing the crowed to back away quickly in alarm. Susano fell onto his feet a second later, looking away from the explosion with a grin.

As the flames faded away, Ifrit remained, stronger than ever after having absorbed all the flames of the attack. Susano gave him a massive and exhausted smile.

"Many thanks, mighty Aeon! I shall call upon your strength again... but for now, you may rest!" he said, allowing Ifrit to disappear into motes of bright light. Susano waited until the last mote had disappeared, then turned and with a victorious smile, pumped a first into the air.

The crowd went wild.

[PikMan]

Among the crowd, though, one person was completely silent. His name was Ryth. Normally he would've cheered as well, but Susano's mere presence brought back horrible, painful memories. Trying not to think about it, he silently strode away. Ryth didn't stand out too much among everyone else, but on his belt, hidden by his red robe, were two objects of interest: One of them was a blue lute, and the other was an object that resembled a staff with a red orb at the tip, but it had a long blade at the opposite end as the orb.

Unfortunately, said lute was also responsible for bringing back memories. It was a gift from his friend Josiah... just before he left as one of High Summoner Hedrec's guardians. Ryth had been told that during the pilgrimage, Josiah had been killed... How he was killed, though, nobody knew. Forcing Josiah out of his mind, Ryth began playing his lute.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Sella hated her current job as she cruised towards Kilika in a small cutter with about half a dozen other guns for hire. The Lucan Republic wanted to establish a ferry system with some of the larger islands, like Besaid and Kilika, but the governments of those islands had mixed reactions. Up until the end of the last Calm, most of the islands had been oppressed colonies of the Lucan government. During Sin's last emergence, they had taken advantage of the chaos to gain their independence. Their own forces were sufficient to repel Sin, and Luca proper, faced with the decision to send troops to reclaim their colonies at the great risk of losing their own capital or protecting their core and leaving the rebellious island nations at the mercy of Sin, chose the latter. However, the former colonies survived, and Luca was robbed of a sizable portion of their gross domestic product. Luca needed the ferry network as a way to promote commerce and trade with the new island nations, or else it would continue to lose customers. So Sella had been hired to help persuade the governor of Kilika, the most vocal of the islands in their opposition to everything Luca stood for, to reconsider his decision to not be involved in the ferry network. Kilika was the most central of the islands, and would most likely be used as a staging point between Luca and the outer islands.
Sella loaded her gun and checked her gear as land was spotted. They planned on using the festival in celebration of the new summoner as a cover to find the governor's family, capture them, fall back to a rendezvous point, then hold them hostage unless he agrees to the ferry network. She disliked this because it seemed wrong to kidnap an innocent woman and her two children. Obaa Maebrak seemed like a good man to her, and he had several valid points regarding the extremes Luca had gone to in the colonial days, but she needed the gil, and she needed it badly. And it was either this, or prostitution. At least this job was somewhat sanctioned by the Lucan government, as opposed to being a hooker. It was a simple matter of pride: snatch up a couple of kids and hope you didn't actually have to kill anyone, or potentially be found on the streets, labeled as a blasphemous whore, and brutally tortured. She had a much greater chance of dying quickly or getting away free on this mission.
Little did the ex-Al Bhed know that she was about to cross paths with someone who used to be important to her, and someone who would quickly become even more important...

[Hydra of Ages]

Susano basked in the crowd's adulation for a while, grinning the entire time. Kilika had definitely been the warmest reception he'd had yet, and it was only fitting that he'd found the Fire Aeon there. Since that sounded pretty clever in his head, he said so.

The roar he got in return was enough to make him take a half-step back in surprise, and he chuckled it off, rubbing an ear gently. He almost didn't hear as a bulky man made his way through the crowd and into Susano's ring, rushing to hold the Summoner's hand aloft; he recognized the governor only by his distinctive brown mustache and the jolly quality to his voice, though Susano couldn't even begin to discern what was yelled. As the crowd's response was another swell and wave of sound, he opted just to look happy and triumphant.

He noticed Obaa looking at him with a broad, politically inquisitive smile and Susano thought quickly of something to say that might make sense without knowing what the mayor had announced prior to that. Something daring that the crowd would enjoy, perhaps-

"Sin's days are numbered while I'm here!" he declared loudly. "First, I'll get all the Aeon's- and then I'm going to punch Sin in the face so hard into the next Calm that even YEVON'l be impressed!"

He pumped a fist into the air, and the crowd exploded into noise. Susano reveled in it, jumped up and punched into the air before settling down and giving the sign of Yevon, a signal that was quickly and triumphantly repeated by every Kilikian in attendance.

Governor Obaa Maebrak grinned and chuckled with the rest, also giving the sign to Yevon and shaking Susano's hand again afterwards.

"Great to hear it!" he said, face splitting side to side. "I'm sure all of Spira can feel safer with you on the job! As a gesture of our hospitality, I would invite you and your Guardians to stay the night on my properties- one last chance to eat, drink and be merry before you start on the next leg of your pilgrimage!"

The red haired man chuckled. "Certainly, I'll take advantage of your town's boundless hospitality! Myself, and, of course, my two guardians-" he said, holding up his fists as he did so. Obaa took a step back, partially in shock and gave a couple awkward chuckles, but the rest of the crowd seemed to enjoy the novelty of a Summoner capable of defending himself from the spawns of Sin.