Ack -_- what a day! I have a bump the size of aa quarter on my arm, a tree caught on fire while I was waiting at the mall for a bus and I tripped like two times on my shoes o.o;;; anyway here’s another lovely chapter! Whoa..that makes two chapters in one day ^^;; thanks for the feedback! Whaha I got a mog plushie today! Look! My friend jamie drew a picture from chapter 2! http://ucsu.colorado.edu/~snyderj/fanart/aukku.jpg

Chapter 7

Forget.

It was a lovely day in Macalania, the sun was peering down on the group of travellers. Auron had carried Rikku back to the camp and placed her under his blanket. He lay next to her in Rikku’s bedding with his back facing her. Jecht and Braska were not too far sleeping next to the lake. Today would be a short amount of traveling however the part of Macalania they’d travel through would be very dangerous as there were many fiends.

Auron opened his eyes. Auron had never cared too much for sleeping, much less on the ground. The group would stay at the Macalania temple and then set out for the Thunder plains that next day. Auron sat up, and looked at Rikku. The events of last night were chaotic, to everybody. Auron was very confused, but the group decided to not say anything.

FLASHBACK

“What do you mean she said your name?” Jecht asked out loud.

“Shh! She’s sleeping!” Braska covered Jecht’s mouth with his hand.

“I don’t know…Its all so very confusing. What does this mean?” Auron asked to the other two.

“I’m not sure Auron, but obviously Rikku doesn’t want us knowing or we’d already know. It may be the reason she’s here but she doesn’t want to tell us.” Braska stated.

“You just want me to wait? Wait until she decides to tell us? What if she never says anything? I need to know.” Auron looked angry.

“Well I don’t know what to tell you Auron, I’m sure she will eventually tell you. She probably has to in order for whatever she’s doing will work. Just have patience my friend.” Braska patted Auron on the back and smiled.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I will ask her if she does not tell me by the time we get to Luca.” Everybody agreed on what Auron said.

END FLASHBACK

‘I don’t know why you’re here, I don’t know why you said my name or made all those claims at me, but I’ll find out.’ Auron thought. He reached into his pocket and took out the necklace. He lifted her head and put the necklace around her neck. ‘I don’t know how or why you make me feel the way I do. Ever since I first laid my eyes on you, there was something about you. I don’t know what it is though.’ Auron thought.

Rikku’s eyes opened. Auron was looking right at her. He tilted his head some then helped her sit up. She looked at him. She felt something on her neck and realized it was a necklace. ‘What happened. Oh no, did I say anything? He isnt saying anything. Wait..did he read that letter? Oh no oh no oh no!’ Rikku thought.

“What happened last night?” Rikku thought she’d find out everything by playing dumb.

“After you ran off, I found you reading a letter. You told me it was from someone that you cared for but died. Then you passed out.” Auron decided not to mention the other details since Rikku didn’t remember.

“I’m sorry about yesterday. I said some things to you that I didn’t mean to. I was very angry and put the blame on someone who wasn’t at fault at all. I don’t deserve this necklace.” Rikku started to take it off but Auron put a hand on hers.

“No Rikku, let it stay there.” All Auron said.

“Thank you.” Rikku smiled at him, they stayed that way for a long time. They started to move closer and closer to each other’s face.

“Hey monkey! Hey Auron! Lets get going!” Jecht yelled. The two parted from one another, their faces blushing.

“Monkey? I’m not a monkey!” Rikku stood up and chased Jecht around.

“Monkey wanna play games? Not right now, we have to go!” Jecht teased. Rikku got a rock and threw it at Jecht’s head. Everybody started laughing. A few minutes later everyone was ready to get going to the temple.

“Lets go.” Braska lead the way into the dangerous yet enchanting forest. The group had an especially hard time. They were fighting most of the way. A creature tore a good sized part of Jecht’s skin. By the time they found a place to rest, Braska was so tired from spell casting that he had to be helped when walking. They rested for a good hour then pressed on. It was nightime when they reached the temple.

“We will rest at the temple for a small bit, and then I will go obtain Shiva. Rikku, I thought you might need these.” Braska handed Rikku a pair of sunglasses, they were similar to Auron’s except much smaller, to fit her face. Rikku understood and then put them on. They all walked through the entrance without a word from the guard. Rikku had not been spotted to be an Al Bhed.

Rikku was shown where the group would stay that night. She put all of the group’s belongings inside the room. She wished the group luck and let them go to the cloister of trials. Rikku didn’t feel very left out as she disliked the trials that they always had to go through. She would just prefer stealing from the guards than going through the cloister.

“Excuse me, miss? Would you like to join us for dinner?” A person asked. Rikku nodded and followed the man to the dining hall. She smiled at everybody and began eating. She made some small chit chat with other people while dinner. She started to feel uncomfortable with the group. ‘For once, they’re not treating me like they always do, or trying to attack me.’ Rikku thought. Someone bumped into Rikku accidentally and her glasses fell off. She turned around to pick them up and looked at the person. ‘Oh crap.” She thought.

“You…you’re al bhed! You heathen!!! How dare you pass yourself as a common person!” The a few men grabbed her arms and dragged her out of the room. Rikku was afraid, she screamed, and tried to struggle free. No luck. They took her into another room and shut the door. They threw her onto the floor and tied her hands and ankles with rope one of the men had.

“You’ll regret ever coming in here you heathen.” The man started to touch Rikku all over her body. Rikku still tried to struggle but was only slapped by the man. She screamed out in pain as the man kept hitting her. He pushed her shirt up, baring her body to the man. She couldn’t take it anymore.

“HELP!!! HELP!!! SOMEBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Rikku screamed, she didn’t care how much she would get hit by the men, anything to avoid what might happen. The men started to kick her, but Rikku just kept yelling.

Meanwhile

“How are you feeling Braska? That sure did take a while.” Auron was helping Braska get to the room. They entered the room and noticed Rikku wasn’t there.

“AURON!” A faint voice cried. It was almost inaudible by the men, and they just passed off as the wind, until.

“H…elp….me.” the voice said. Jecht looked at Auron.

“You stay here with Braska, I’ll see what it is.” Auron grabbed his sword and ran out of the room. As he was getting near the room Rikku was in, her screams were getting louder, however more weak. ‘What are they doing to her.’ He reached a room and put his ear up to the door. He heard a few men in there and ‘Rikku?’ Auron became infuriated and busted down the door.

Inside he saw a terrible image. Rikku was all bruised and bloody. Her shirt was around her wrists. Thankfully her pants were where they’re supposed to be knowing they hadnt done anything else to her. Her bare torso was red and covered in blood. He looked at each of the men.

“You! Leave! This means nothing to you.” One of the men stated. Auron walked up to him and punched his face. He kicked his knee, making the man yell in pain. The other men started to attack Auron and then he took out his sword.

“IF ANY OF YOU DARE, I MEAN DARE COME NEAR ME I WILL SEND YOU TO HELL!” The men paid no attention and still charged after Auron. He took a swing at all of them

“DON’T MAKE ME DO IT.” He stated. The men looked at his face of rage. They all decided that it wasn’t worth the fight and made a run for it. Auron went to Rikku. He pulled down her shirt and untied her, he picked her up in his arms hoping it wasn’t too much pain for the Al Bhed woman. He carried her through the halls of the temple, giving everyone dirty looks. A man came up.

“I’m sorry about this, however it was not safe to bring an al bhed here. What did you think of, having her a guardian.” The man said.

“None of your damn business. I just hope, no you all just better hope no one finds out about this, because if they do I’ll kill every single one of you. You even push my buttons even further I’ll kill you all.” Auron walked past the man and went into the chambers where Jecht and Braska waited.

“What happened to her?!” Braska had a look of hurt, he used a cure spell on her but it didn’t do much good. Jecht also was very worried but he was mostly angry. He grabbed his sword and was about to head out.

“No, Jecht. I’ve already warned them, if we do any further it may become a problem for Braska.” Auron couldn’t believe what he just said.

“Leave them here and unpunished?”

“Its all we can do. Lets get our things and leave, Braska are you fit to travel?” Auron asked.

“Yes, I will be fine. However the road to Rin’s travel agency is very cold. We need to wrap her up.” Braska and Jecht laid down a blanket to wrap Rikku in. Auron placed Rikku on the blankets, causing her to cringe in pain.

Rikku had been somewhat quiet, not saying a word since Auron found her. She just wanted to get out of there and never go back. She couldn’t stop crying, but she tried to not be so loud. Jecht wrapped the blankets around her, and then Auron picked her up. The other two men gathered all of their belongings and the two headed out of the temple, not once looking back.

The road to Rin’s travel agency was indeed cold. Rikku was protected somewhat from the wind but she still felt like she was going to freeze to death. The blood had soaked through the blanket, making it all the more colder for Rikku.

“Put down your things Braska, hold her for a minute.” Auron took off his coat and wrapped it around Rikku, then took her once again. After a while they saw a building. It was indeed the travel agency. They went inside and waiting was a man.

“Oh no! What happened? Lets get her to a room quick!” The man exclaimed. He told his assistant to bring some bandages and other items in Al Bhed. They took Rikku into one of the rooms, uncovered her and took off her clothes.

“Her legs, everywhere is covered in bruises and blood. Why would they do this?” Jecht wondered.

“Because she’s Al Bhed. They’re heathens to Yevonites, I knew it was a bad idea to bring her to the temple. We only got away with it in Bevelle because no one even saw her.” Auron said.

“ed rindc” Rikku barely spoke. The pain hurt so much, she couldn’t even think. She didn’t care if they understood or not.

“tu hud funno. Braska ec kuehk du ica y cmaab cbamm uh oui” The man spoke. The last thing Rikku saw was a light surrounding her.

They decided to give Rikku a bath before trying to disinfect or bandage her. Auron lifted her carefully out of the bed and put her into the tub. Jecht turned on the water to fill the tub. They let her soak there for about 10 minutes and took her out, then dried her off with a towel, trying to be as careful as possible. They put her back onto the bed and the man bandaged her up. Braska used some more spells on her. After all that could be done, was done they covered her up and left the room.

Everybody gathered in another room. It was a private conversation room for personal friends only. The man introduced himself as Rin, and then discussed his travel agencies all across Spria. The other men introduced themselves and thanked him greatly for what he had done.

“We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your help. How much should we pay you?” Braska asked.

“Do not worry about it, how about just the pay for the rooms you will be staying in tonight, everything else will be taken care of by me. Now let me ask you, what happened to this poor girl?” Rin offered tea to everybody.

“It was at Macalania temple. They found out she was Al Bhed but we’re not sure how they found out.” Jecht explained.

“Hmm..yes I do remember that the people at Macalania temple are extreme Yevonites. I’ve almost closed the travel agency here because of it.” Rin took a sip of his tea, and got up to start a fire. Auron stood up as well and walked next to him.

“Please, whatever you do, do not mention him. Also we request you do not mention Rikku, not her description, her name, anything. It may cause, problems.” Auron put a hand on his shoulder.

“I understand what you are saying. Do not worry, your secret is safe with me. No one except me knows her name here anyway so if anything I’ll just lie about her name.” Rin gave a smile, assuring that the secret was safe with him. Auron nodded to him, then to Jecht and Braska. He walked out of the room.

He entered Rikku’s room. She was lying there soundly asleep. He sat on the bed next to her and held her hand. He saw her bruised face and frowned. ‘Damn Yevonites, its because of them all this stuff happens. They don’t care as long as they’re not Al Bhed. I hate them.’ He laid down still holding Rikku’s hand.

“I’ll be here, I’ll never let you out of my sight again.” Auron kissed her hand and fell asleep.

End notes: I think I may have to change my rating o.o;;; you know what…this chapter was really really hard to write. I still smell like freaking smoke%@#$! Hehe I have olives now too! *points to three containers of olives. Oh yeah…al bhed translation!

“ed rindc” – it hurts

tu hud funno. Braska ec kuehk du ica y cmaab cbamm uh oui – do not worry. Braska is going to use a sleep spell on you.