Elma stretched taut muscles, feeling joints snap with the effort. She glanced up at the early-morning sky, watching as soft orange replaced pale, grayish-blue. She hopped out of her cot and moved to wake Tyhlan. "Come on, time for work." The other girl shifted uneasily in her sleep, legs and arms twitching as she moved to get comfortable again. Soft strands of blonde hair fluttered on the pillow as she settled back into peaceful slumber. "G'way, Elma..." she managed to utter, before her breathing fell back into soft snores. Elma shook her head, sending unruly bangs into disarray. She grumbled and pushed them back into place. She needed a bandanna of some sort; her hair, even cut, still managed to be as disagreeable as it had been long. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she slipped on her uniform hurriedly, tying her boots with quick, careful precision. She brushed invisible wrinkles from her dull gray uniform shirt and moved back to Tyhlan's cot, trying to remember the Al Bhed she had picked up from the primers the other girl had given her throughout the weeks. She knelt down close and brushed away loose strands of hair from the half Al Bhed's ear. The best way to learn was to practice. "FYGA IB!" She called sharply. Tyhlan screamed in shock and struggled out of her cot, falling on an awkward angle. "Ahh! What?! What?! What..." The blonde glanced up sharply when she heard Elma's giggles. "What was that for?!" Elma shrugged helplessly, and, still giggling, extended a hand to help Tyhlan to her feet. "You wouldn't wake up," she said simply. "We have to go. Hurry up and get ready. You said it yourself..." she began, waiting for Tyhlan to finish the sentence. "Right, right," the blonde muttered, rubbing sleep from her bright blue eyes. "Slave driver. I think you blew out my eardrum," she mumbled irritably, sticking her index finger in her right ear momentarily. "It's hard to hear on this side," she whined, moving down to tie her boots. "Well learn to wake up on time," Elma said. "You didn't have to scream..." Elma rose her hands in the air in defeat. "Well I tried to wake you up the nice way! Gosh, people are never satisfied." Tyhlan shrugged and hopped to her feet, stretching before trotting ahead. "Well next time you get woken up by someone screaming in Al Bhed in your ear, you try to be satisfied. Last one to the main camp is a shoopuff!" She called out, running ahead. "And oh, your accent's getting better!" she added as she made her way to the camp, running at a pace that would rival a chocobo's. "W-wait up!" Elma cried out, stumbling over stray rocks in her hurry to catch up. "You always get a head start!" ---------------- Elma trotted into the main camp right after Tyhlan, who had already ran over to the other cadets to chat before they started the training for the day. Elma leaned over and took deep breaths, trying to force oxygen back into her lungs. "I don't know how she runs so fast sometimes..." she said in-between gasps. "Hey, you! Cadet Elma!" Elma glanced up sharply at the sound of the voice. The young trainer was standing over her, holding a recording sphere. "You got some mail," he said, handing the device to her. She grasped it tightly, and stared into it, biting her lip as she thought. "Can I...look at it now?" The young man shrugged. "Just hurry up. We've got a little bit of time left before we start." She glanced up and noticed he was holding a sphere as well. She figured it was from his brother, which was why he was giving them the extra time. He probably wanted to watch his sphere in peace as well. "Alright. Thank you sir!" The boy shrugged again. "No problem, cadet. Just hurry up." Elma nodded and trotted off away from the main crowd, slipping behind a large tent in the area. She flicked on the sphere and leaned back to watch. Captain Lucil's face appeared on the screen, and besides looking a little tired, she appeared no worse for wear. Elma sighed in relief. "Hello cadet. I'm pleased to hear you and the others are doing well." The older woman sighed, shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Elma could hear soft voices in the background, caught the flash of a bonfire. "The battle is going...better than I expected. Remember what I said about Sinspawn in one lesson?" She seemed to wait for Elma's nod before continuing. "Well, as I said, they must be killed quickly, or Sin will come back to gather them up...and we certainly don't want that. We've been trying to exterminate them as quickly as possible." Elma frowned, and then giggled softly to herself when she saw the captain hold in a yawn. "Well, it seems as if it is time for me to retire for the night. Continue your training in earnest while I am gone; you have the makings to become a fine warrior. I do...appreciate the fact that you sent me a sphere. It served as a great comfort. Feel free to...send me any of your reports on your training from now on, if the mood hits you. May Yevon be with you." The sphere flicked off, and Elma grinned goofily, going back to the main group. When she approached Tyhlan, the other girl gave her a confused look. "You've got this really funny look on your face, Elma." Tyhlan's eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Are you okay?" "She wants me to keep sending her spheres until she comes back," Elma whispered in a rush. "Isn't that great?" Tyhlan looked a little uneasy, but covered it up quickly with a bright smile. "Really?" "Yep!" "What else did she say?" "Well, not much else. She talked about fighting the Sinspawn, and...oh, well! What does it matter?" Elma hopped around Tyhlan excitedly. "She wants to keep talking to me!" Tyhlan laughed, but her expression grew solemn soon afterward. "Elma, you might not want to get your hopes up too much. She's probably concerned about you from a professional standpoint, is all." "Well, I know, but..." she smiled dreamily. "It's still really nice..." Tyhlan shook her head. "Well, okay. But...if you're really serious about this..." "Huh?" "...Then, good luck." "Well, thanks." Elma scratched her head. "Are you alright?" "Huh?" Tyhlan looked startled for a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. We better get to work..." -------------- Tyhlan sung a song as she darted back and forth, enthusiastically throwing stones in Elma's direction. "I'm a soldier, whylred oy! E udjadlreg e cit'oy! Oy cduioi hy tijr guhdcyr ukhoy! Ukepyoy jenywre, upkuhoyoy csand' e wrewh'! Oy paki cnywed'coy c dah'oi mwre...Cgum'gu p hedaz ha bmoum upsyh, bugywrad meg cjady ecdehy! Save your tears, for the day, when our pain is far behind! On your feet, come with me! We are soldiers, stand or die!" "That sounds nice!" Elma called out, moving to dodge another stone. "I didn't know you could sing!" "Eh, I er...pfft! I'm okay!" Tyhlan looked a little embarrassed, and Elma frowned. It wasn't like her to be humble about anything. "'Okay'? What happened to being awesome?" "I just don't think I'm that great at it," Tyhlan grumbled. "I'm tired. Let's stop for today." "...You've been acting really odd," Elma murmured. "Are you sure you're alright?" "It's nothing you need to worry about. Really. Don't ask." "I thought...remember what you said about secrets?" "It's...none of your concern, Elma. It'll just cause problems. You should...probably go make another sphere for the captain. I'm sure she'll appreciate it." "Fine then!" Elma scoffed. "If you're going to be a jerk about it, then I'll leave you alone!" She stalked off, leaving the other girl behind. --------------- "Hello, Captain," Elma murmured into the new sphere she had gotten from the main camp. Tyhlan still hadn't returned from the training area, but Elma didn't really care. She was still angry with her. She had taken her advice however, and sat down on a large rock a little ways away from the main camp as she recorded her message to Lucil. "Today was...pretty uneventful. The stone throwing practice is getting a lot easier; do you have anymore suggestions? I also..." "Elma?" Elma glanced up from the sphere and frowned. "What?" Tyhlan took a seat next to her and scratched her head. "I just wanted to see if you were okay...I figured you'd be here." Elma glanced down at the sphere in her hands. "Why aren't you telling me anything?" "Do you know why I want to be in the Chocobo Knights, Elma?" "I...I never...you never told me." "My mom told me to join." "How come?" "...Because a Sinspawn tore off my father's head. There weren't any summoners around, no one. He was out at sea. He died...he died alone." "Oh...Tyhlan, I'm so..." "I'm not finished. Mom told me that tears wouldn't help. 'Nor songs, Tyhlan,' she said. 'There won't be any songs for happiness, no dancing for laughter. You'll learn the way of fighters now.' We traveled a lot, after he died. One look in my eyes, and people would send us away. She...she was just so tired. And you know, for a while...for a while I thought it was me, that it was my fault. But no. It's Sin, and Yevon, Yevon too!" "Tyhlan! That's blasphemy! You can't say that!" "If Yevon hadn't been around, then maybe my mom could have found some place for us to stay! Then she wouldn't have died! That's why I joined! Maybe if we stop Sin, we'll stop Yevon too!" She bit her lip and lowered her head. Sphere forgotten, Elma knelt down and pulled the other girl into a hug. "It's not Yevon's fault, Tyhlan...it's not. Those people that turned your mother and you away, it's them. They're at fault....they should have learned to understand. I did, see? I'm sorry, I really am sorry..." "I...I know." Tyhlan sniffled. "I got your shirt all wet..." Elma laughed. "It's fine! I'm sorry I was being such a baby earlier..." "I'm sorry too. Uh, you mind not...telling anyone about the crying thing? I have a reputation to uphold, you know." Elma grinned. "Sure." Tyhlan bit her lip again, suddenly looking nervous. "Elma?" "Hmm?" "I..." she faltered, shook her head. "Thank you." ---------------- A/N: Woo. I did enjoy writing that chapter, though nothing much in the way of training happened. The Al Bhed for this chapter takes a bit of explanation, so I'll get to explaining! The song Tyhlan sings is from the Ghost In the Shell soundtrack, called rise, by Origa, composed by Yoko Kanno. Now, here's the thing. A lot of it goes from Russian to English and back pretty abruptly, so here's the translation: Al Bhed notes: "FYGA IB!"-WAKE UP! "Whylred oy! E udjadlreg e cit'oy! Oy cduioi hy tijr guhdcyr ukhoy! Ukepyoy jenywre, upkuhoyoy csand' e wrewh'! Oy paki cnywed'coy c dah'oi mwre...Cgum'gu p hedaz ha bmoum upsyh, bugywrad meg cjady ecdehy!" translates to, "Znachit ya! I otvetchik i sud'ya! Ya stoyu na dvuh kontsah ognya! Ogibaya virazhi, obgonyaya smert' i zhizn'! Ya begu srazit'sya s ten'yu lzhi...Skol'ko b nitej ne plyol obman, Pokazhet lik sveta istina!" which translates to, "(I'm a soldier,)and that means! I'm both defendant and judge! I am standing on the two ends of fire! Bending over the steep turns, overtaking death and life, I'm running to fight the shadow of the lies...No matter how much threads deceit weaves, the truth will show the face of light!" (Given the eventual ending of X, it's fitting, huh?)
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