Three weeks had come and gone, and Elma flipped her new sword from one hand to the other. Tyhlan awkwardly did the same, bit her lip. "I suck at this," she muttered dejectedly. "No wonder the captain likes you best. You're better than everyone." "I am not...and she doesn't." Elma glanced down at her feet to hide her blush. "You'll get better. You're already a lot better than you were a couple of weeks ago. So is everyone else." "She does so. Hell, I'd like you better if I were her. Clasko nearly killed himself last training session, and Kehni," she snickered, "well, he couldn't use a sword to save his life, you know. And well, I'm awesome and all, but your awesomeness...it eclipses mine." She grabbed Elma's hands and spun her around dramatically. "You're like, her best student, grasshopper!" Elma laughed. "You watch too many movie spheres." "Yeah, yeah. Hey, did you hear about that summoner?" Elma blinked. "What summoner?" "They say he's a fallen summoner or something. He's going to start a pilgrimage soon." "Why is he a fallen summoner?" Tyhlan's expression darkened. "They said his wife was an Al Bhed," she waved a hand, "and he had a child with her." "Oh..." Elma didn't know what to say to that. "I see." "I hope..." Tyhlan picked up her sword and frowned. "I hope he shows them what he's made of. I hope he brings the Calm. That'll show them. I'm rooting for him, and his Guardians. How about you?" Elma smiled. "Yeah. I hope he shows them." She paused, glanced up at the sky. "What's his name?" "Braska." "And his daughter?" "Yuna, I think." "How old is she?" Tyhlan frowned. "I dunno. Six, I guess. Maybe six and a half? Why?" "It must be...hard for her. To be so young." "I saw a picture of her," Tyhlan said suddenly. Elma glanced over at her and noticed her eyes were very wide, troubled. "She's a cute kid. She looks tough though. She'll be alright Elma. She'll be fine." "I...I hope so. Are...are you okay, Tyhlan?" "Yeah, yeah. I'm okay." Tyhlan swung the sword over her shoulder, avoiding looking Elma in the eyes. "Come on sword master. We've gotta go to training." ----------------- Elma and Tyhlan were surprised when they weren't greeted by Captain Lucil, rather, an older cadet. "I'm going to be taking over your training today, so get in formation." He frowned at the two girls. "You were almost late." Tyhlan brushed him off. "Almost late? What? Doesn't that mean we were on time?" Elma completely ignored the reprimand. "Where's Captain Lucil?" The boy frowned. "If you had been on time..." "We were on time," Tyhlan pointed out. "Where's the captain?" Elma asked again. "Captain Lucil has been transferred to Mi'hen. Sinspawn have been attacking in earnest there." He looked a little troubled at the last sentence, glanced at the ground. Both of the girls slumped. Tyhlan kicked at the ground, and Elma spoke up quietly. "When will she be back?" "I'm...unsure. Lots of Crusaders have been sent there already." He paused. "I have family out there...my brother. I've been sending him spheres." "Spheres? How?" Elma asked. "Geez, Elma, are you in la-la land? With chocobos," Tyhlan muttered. "That's right," the young man said. "You can send spheres to people through chocobo mail. It's not always dependable, but.." "Could I send a sphere?" Elma asked. "Well, yes, of course." The boy looked a little surprised. "Anyone can. You just go into the main camp and ask for a blank sphere." "What are you thinking of, Elma?" Tyhlan asked. "Well, I..." she frowned. "It's a secret." "Riiight, okay..." "Hey, new guy!" Kehni called out from behind them. He and the others were waiting nearby. "Are you gonna keep talking to Wonder Girl and Blondie there, or are you gonna train us? Captain Lucil would have already had us doing drills!" --------------- "Thank Yevon," Elma whispered. Tyhlan had fallen asleep right after they came back from training. What the new trainer lacked in experience, he made up for in diligence, and they were all exhausted at the end of the day. Elma grasped the recording sphere tightly in her hands, the dull, blue glow illuminating her face in light. She flicked it on, and the glow brightened. "Hi Captain Lucil," she began. "Oh, wait, that sounds stupid, I can't say that..." She rewound the sphere and started again. "Hello, Captain Lucil. We got the news today that you had been sent to fight the Sinspawn at Mi'hen. I pray Yevon is with you. Err...our new trainer is very good...though, not as good as you," she amended quickly. "We had a tough time today, but Kehni was really obedient, for once. Clasko only tripped a couple of times. I haven't been falling back to help him, like you said. I've been practicing my technique, like you told me. I had Tyhlan throw stones to help me, but she's not as fast...she's trying really hard though. We all are. I...really hope you come back soon, Captain." Tyhlan shifted in her sleep, and Elma almost dropped the sphere in shock. "I have to go now, Captain, but I hope you're alright. I thought it would help if you saw a familiar face...well...goodnight." She flicked the sphere off and stared at it for a while, shaking her head. "This is...a dumb idea. She's probably going to laugh, but...it's worth a shot, right? That's what Tyhlan would say if she was awake." She set the sphere down and rolled over, closing her eyes. "Right...don't worry about it..." ----------------- "Elma, come on, wake up. Rise and shine!" Elma glanced up at Tyhlan and yawned. "Wha...?" "Geez, did you stay up late or something? You're usually up before I am! Come on, get up." Elma yawned again. "Yeah, we better hurry before we're 'almost late' again." "Right. Geez, what a slave driver. Almost late. I've never heard such silly stuff before in my life! Well, we better get going then." "Right! Oh! Wait, I have to get something." "Get what?" Elma frowned. "Don't worry about it. Just go on ahead, okay? Don't wait up." "Geez. You sure are secretive lately..." the blonde girl shrugged. "Whatever, I guess. You better hurry up though." "Alright." Elma grabbed the sphere and hid it behind her back. "I'll be there in a minute." --------------- The chocobo rider stared down at Elma in annoyance. "For the third and last time, young lady, I swear I'll get this to Captain Lucil." "Are you sure?" Elma asked. "Because I'm going to have other ones, and I have to be sure." "Yes! Yeah, okay? Just go back to your training, alright? Geez, kids..." "Okay then! Just remember, alright!" "Fine, fine, geez." "H-hey Elma!" a voice called. "What are you doing over there?" Elma turned around and smiled when she saw Clasko. "I...was just talking to the chocobo rider! To um, get some tips! I'm not as good with chocobos as you are, you know?" Clasko scratched his head. "Alright, but, you better hurry up! That new trainer..." Clasko sighed and shook his head. "I can't wait until the captain comes back." "Me neither, Clasko..." ------------- Tyhlan threw rocks listlessly, watching as Elma dodged and blocked effortlessly. "You could at least try, Tyhlan." "Well, sorry, geez. I told you that guy was a total slave driver. I can't feel my arms." "Well how am I going to get better before the captain comes back?" Tyhlan fell silent and turned away. "How do you even know she's going to come back?" "Don't say that! Of course she'll come back!" "Yeah, right..." "What's your problem? You've been acting so weird!" "I've been acting weird? Hey, I'm not the one keeping secrets!" "I'm not keeping secrets!" "You are so!" Tyhlan kicked at the ground viciously, shook her head. "You were asking all of those questions yesterday, and then you didn't walk with me to the training area this morning, and earlier, you disappeared somewhere!" "You...you wouldn't understand. You'd just make fun of me if I told you." "Geez, make fun of you? Come on now, am I that bad? I thought we were friends." Elma slumped her shoulders, dropped the sword. "I'm sorry...really. I just...it's really...well..." Tyhlan sighed. "Oh come on Elma, cut it out. If you have a crush on the captain, it's cool, alright? If there's anyone who knows about love, it's me," she said a bit haughtily, crossing her arms in front of her. "I don't love her! I just...I mean, what? How did...I thought you said..." "Well yeah, at first I was gonna stop teasing you because you were acting like your head was going to explode if I kept it up. But I mean, it's totally obvious. At least to me, I mean, 'cause I hang out with you so much. I just felt a little bad because you didn't trust me enough to tell me. I was gonna wait for you to tell me, but, yeah. You know how it is." Elma gawked at her. "You knew this whole time? Even the sphere?" "Especially the sphere. Gosh, you should really check if people are, you know, asleep before you start pouring your heart out." Elma sat down on the ground and put her face in her hands. "Oh...oh no...I feel so stupid..." "Hey, hey, none of that." Tyhlan put her hand on Elma's shoulder. "It's no big, I won't tease...well, I won't tease you a lot." Elma made a whimpering noise in the back of her throat. "Oh, come on Elma. I promise I won't tell anyone! I swear! Listen, if you need any help, I'll help you. Besides, it's just a crush, if you're worried about that. Crushes, pssh, they come and go. Before you know it, it'll be gone!" "You promise?" Elma sniffled a little. "On my word as a future Djose Chocobo Knight, I promise. It'll be gone in no time flat. And you can still send your spheres and all, it's no big. It'll probably cheer the captain up. You are her star pupil and all." "And you won't make fun of me?" Elma asked uncertainly. Tyhlan sighed. "No...I won't make fun of you...geez, the things I do...I'll help you, like I said." "How?" "Well, uh, we'll figure it out." The other girl shrugged dismissively. "Try not to think about it. I'm hungry. How about you?" Elma nodded, and smiled a little. "I still owe you a raincheck..." "Yeah! Last one to the mess hall is a rotten chocobo egg!" "Hey! No fair, you got a head start!" -------------- Short chapter! Hooray! No specific references to anything this time, and no Al Bhed(because I was being lazy), but, the reference last chapter was indeed, a reference to Final Fantasy IX. King Leo(Baku), says, "All who stand in my way will be crush'd!" in Tantalus' presentation of, I Want To Be Your Canary. Anyway, I'm so very happy I'm getting reviews for this! Thanks a lot! Sorry for all the exclamation points, it's just that I'm on edge because I haven't gotten any sleep, as I was lured into watching Gothika by a friend and my brother. Halle Berry or no, that movie was freaky.
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