In the damp, cold darkness the purest water dripped into a pool of water far away and echoed through the cavern. Blind white bugs huddled against the slimy walls while other blind white bugs hunted them as food. Sunlight had no meaning here; further down than even tree roots dared to plunge. A light cut through the black and reflected off the damp metallic walls, creating shadows that slid about on the wet rocks. Nothing scurried out of the way until someone coughed, sending waves of sound that sent the bugs rushing for cover. "It stinks down here," Rikku coughed out. The ancient air was thick and heavy with age. She stopped walking and checked a little compass-like device. A tiny red arrow glowed, casting red light against her face. Was it much further away? Rikku took a deep breath and coughed again. If it was much further she'd have to go back, the air was too stale. But... something was down here. Treasure. "Oh man, I should have taken my oxygen mask!" The words bounced about and returned again and again - mocking the girl for her mistake. Words seemed out of place here in the dark so Rikku continued in silence. ** ** ** ** ** ** "Geez look at all the bugs... ewwww." Yuffie mumbled as she squeezed through a narrow pass. She pointed her torch back and looked to see the bugs were all gone. "Yargh! They're ON ME!! AAAGHH," she yelled and twitched about, shaking herself like a wet dog. She could feel them crawling up her back. She writhed and looked back at the narrow gap. Almost as one the bugs sheepishly crawled back out of their hiding places. "That's not funny!" she yelped. "If you weren't so gross I'd squash you all!" The pass widened here, the walls seemed smoother than before. Almost metallic. Yuffie grinned, there was treasure down here for sure, she could feel it in her bones. "Any treasure this hard to get to must be good!" ** ** ** ** ** ** ** Rikku ran her hands over the walls beyond the narrow gap between the rocks. They were different to before. Engraved with ... symbols she didn't recognise. Angular abstract shapes jutted out here and there all covered in the strange engravings. Swirling patterns that seemed to draw the eye in and almost not let it go again. The beam of light from Rikku's torch zoomed around the large space and found a gap in the walls. An angular sort of doorway, as if the design meant more than functionality. The torch beam flicked downwards and Rikku noticed even the floor was engraved. The pattern swam around in her mind as she walked to the doorway and shone her torch though. It illuminated only crumbling rock. Something had fallen from the ceiling and blocked the doorway off. Rikku's heart sank. All that way for nothing. She stared at the fallen rock for a way past. The only gap was underneath the rock which... "Oh! It's not a rock it's a stalactite... this must be ... sooo ancient," Rikku whispered on realising the rock had simply formed over thousands of years until it had all but blocked the doorway. The gap was too small to crawl under. Rikku bent down to see under it. Her torchlight reflected off a small bowl covered with more designs. In it was some sort of necklace. It wasn't the treasure she'd come for. Her compass told her that the treasure was still a long way off. She sighed and reached for the necklace anyway. Better to leave with a souvenir, though it was gold, chunky, and a little too ritzy. Studded with red and green stones. Rikku felt the stones with her fingers, they were smooth. Not like a cut gemstone. She tugged at the necklace. It tugged back. Rikku gasped, momentary shock sent a wave of adrenaline through her. She tugged again and tried to peer past her arm at the necklace. It was joined to the base of the bowl. Her fingers felt another tug. She tightened her grip and tugged again. Too absorbed to wonder what would happen next, she tugged harder and felt a fleeting resistance before it tugged the other way again with a violent jerk that nearly pulled the necklace from her grip. Rikku stopped pulling and felt the necklace being pulled away from her. Transfixed by the sheer strangeness of the situation she tugged again. Peering under the rock she could see that the necklace was still joined to the bowl, although it seemed to be coming loose. She gave it one last pull and watched as something silver, like a key joined to the necklace, popped out of its keyhole. The world stopped. Rikku heard a little voice. '..the?' was all it said before the world exploded. Painful white light and a rushing roar caused Rikku to squeeze her eyes shut and clamp her free arm around her ears. The other gripped the necklace tight. Her feet lifted from the ground, air rushed past her face and flapped across her clothes towards her feet. Rikku tried to swallow a breath as the wind picked up. Her legs flailed out as they searched in vain for a foothold. Her fingers stang as the wind increased, she forced her other arm towards the first and grabbed the necklace with both hands, hanging on with every ounce of strength she had. The light vanished. Rikku watched patterns of colour fade into black as her eyes recovered from the onslaught. She looked ahead, seeing nothing but afterimages of patterns and spots. The wind began to ease a little. Rikku took a gasp of air and noticed how fresh it seemed. She moved her legs again, searching for the ground. It was gone. Rikku felt the wind cease and realised she was still floating, holding the necklace tight. Something was pulling her backwards. A gentle gravity. ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** Yuffie clung on to her prize with sheer determination. Nothing, not even this trap, was going to make her let go. 'Weird kinda trap,' she thought. It was too dark to see anything now and her torch was ... gone. Or broken. "Crap," she cussed. One foot searched for some solid ground but waved about in the air like the antenna of those white bugs. She gave the necklace an experimental yank. The world turned blue. Yuffie opened her mouth to talk. She stopped as a strange series of bangs, screeches, crashing glass and crunching sounds echoed out of nowhere. They stopped and Yuffie closed her mouth. She couldn't see walls anymore. There was just endless blue space and herself. The necklace was still there but she could barely see it through a fog of ... glittering symbols. Something like a little gong sounded and everything froze. Yuffie saw a series of odd symbols flash in the air. Unable to move or breathe she could only watch as they zoomed past in all directions. The gong sounded again and she fell, mere inches, stomach first to the floor, still holding her necklace. She gave a triumphant "HA!" and looked up. The necklace was still in one piece and so was she. Except. There was someone on the other side of the necklace, holding on with both hands and staring at her with a look of sheer horror. "Give it up or else!" Yuffie yelled at the stranger. Rikku continued to stare. "Well that explains the tugging at least," she said to herself and tightened her grip. 'I've come this far and I won't give up now,' she thought. Her stomach ached from the rough landing. She looked up; the person lying in front of her was now glaring at her. For a while neither moved. Rikku glanced sideways. She saw a glimpse of rocky wall and a glowing light before her eyes flicked back to the angry eyes of the girl still holding the other end of the necklace. Her eyes returned to the glowing light. It was a pool of water, illuminated from below. The whole area looked like an ordinary cave. Not like the strange place she was in before. "Hey, where are we?" Rikku looked over her shoulder as best she could. The rock walls reflected the gentle light from the pool. Rikku scanned the cavern for a way out. It appeared completely sealed. Crumbled rock with just a few gaps suggested there was once a way in or out. And something else, Rikku noticed, tree roots were everywhere. Long and thick they snaked around the rocks and around the pool. "I'll give you one last chance to let go and then BOOM!" Yuffie yelled. The bewildered looking ginger haired girl in front of her ignored the comment and kept staring about the place. Yuffie glared some more, though it seemed to be wasted on the girl. Yuffie took a breath and eased herself up onto her knees while the ginger girl gawped at the cave. She tightened her grip, hands aching now, and pulled one last time. Rikku yelped, "Hey!" then hauled herself upright and pulled back. "You'll be sorry you messed with me!" Yuffie blurted and stood up, pulling like a tug of war. Rikku wasn't sure why she bothered to argue but she pulled back. She looked at her competitor, a skinny girl like that wasn't much threat, probably needed the necklace to get money for food. Her arms were the skinniest Rikku had seen in a while. 'Probably half starved,' she thought to herself and let go. Yuffie yelped again and fell backwards. A cloud of dust shot into the air. As it settled Rikku saw a triumphant hand holding the necklace aloft, "AHA! See?! You were no match at all!!" "Where are we?" Rikku ignored the skinny girl for the moment and walked over to the glowing pool of water. "I don't care, I'm going now... and don't try to follow me ok?" Yuffie ignored her aching backside and stormed for a few steps before stopping. She looked around the enclosed cavern. It was all blocked off. The ginger girl was poking at the pool of light. Yuffie considered, for a moment, pushing her in. She looked up at the ceiling and sighed. No way out. "Oh well, guess I just have to dig my way out!" Yuffie declared and wandered to where the boulders looked loose. She gave one a kick. It was wedged in tight. "How are you going to dig your way out? It's all rock." Rikku wasn't sure if the water was safe to drink. The pool glowed from below although it looked as though it was extremely deep. Yuffie kicked at the rock again. A tiny pebble clattered onto the stony ground. "Ha! And you said I couldn't! Shows you doesn't it!" Yuffie yelled and kicked the rocks again. Another tiny rock clattered to the ground. "I'll be out in no time," Yuffie mused to herself. Rikku ignored her and clambered onto a large tree root, hauling herself up as far as she could climb. It wasn't far. From here she saw little more than rock, tree roots and the glowing pool. It was all she could see from the ground too. She sighed and watched the skinny dark haired girl kicking at the rocks. Every time she kicked a few pebbles scattered about her feet. "There must be a better way out than..." A crash stopped Rikku in mid sentence. A larger rock had fallen from the piled up heap, revealing more rocks. Yuffie leapt backwards as the rocks started to shift, flowing in like a bag of marbles. Larger rocks started to rumble and move. Yuffie ran as far back as the glowing pool. "See? See? You couldn't e... AGH!" the rocks piled in like an avalanche. They seemed never ending, flowing like water. Rikku stayed put on her tree root on the far side of the cavern. The rocks poured in, spilling out across the cavern floor. Yuffie clambered up Rikku's tree root as the clattering flood approached the other side. "It'll stop soon, then we'll... I mean I'll be free. Nothing to it." Yuffie stated. Rikku stared at the gap in the wall that the rocks poured from. They came as a relentless barrage until some even started to slosh their way into the glowing pool. "And if they don't stop pouring in?" Rikku looked up at the ceiling and wondered how far up to the surface it was. It made little difference; the ceiling was made mostly of rock. Yuffie watched as the floor was covered from end to end and still the rocks poured in. She stared up at the ginger girl; she was clinging to the tree root, trying to climb higher. "Geez relax... it'll stop soon," Yuffie said. The rocks poured in for a few more seconds while both girls watched in silence. A loud thump shook the cavern as a huge boulder wedged itself against the other side of the gap. Smaller rocks piled past into the cavern for a moment more until the whole 'doorway' was wedged shut again. "Needs another kick I reckon." Yuffie jumped off the tree root and shambled across the loose rocks to the wedged rocks. "No don't do that! Please! We should just stop and think of another way out ok?" Rikku pleaded from her spot on the wall. Yuffie ignored her and kicked at the wedged rocks some more. The larger rock was too large to shift. She cussed and started to climb up smaller rocks to the top. Rikku stared up at the ceiling again and poked at it with her finger. Rock. Too hard even to pry loose. The tree roots had grown through it over countless years. Where they disappeared into the rock there were cracks and gaps but nothing to emit escape. At least the air was nice down here. Rikku looked back at the glowing water. Maybe if she swam for long enough there would be a way out. It didn't look like sunlight. "Great, I'm either going to starve or drown." Rikku sighed. For a brief and horrible moment she wondered how long the air would last also. Yuffie looked over and crossed her arms. "Ya could at least help ya know!" She yelled and went back to pulling rocks from the top of the large boulder. Every rock she pulled let another few in. "How many more can there be?!" Rikku looked at the girl as she worked away at the rocks. Perhaps there was a way out after all. Although, no shafts of light from beyond the loose rocks gave any sign of hope. She made up her mind to help and jumped down from the tree root. A low creak from above made her stop and look up. Nothing. She took a few steps and heard the low creak again. She stepped backwards just as the ground shook for a moment. Rocks near the doorway shifted and settled a little. Yuffie kept digging at them nonetheless. Rikku placed a hand on her pounding chest and negotiated the loose rocks. Another creak from above made Rikku stop and look up again. She turned her attention back to walking just as she saw it. A huge, growing, widening crack was snaking across the ceiling. "Oh no, I don't think this place is stable!" Rikku panicked and tried to run back, falling over on the loose rocks. She watched, frozen and aching, as the crack jig jagged its way across the ceiling on one side of the cavern. Another terrible, low groan stabbed into Rikku's stomach as she staggered to her feet. The floor shook a little and the groan stopped. "Geez you don't half panic!" Yuffie yelled out as Rikku gasped for air. In one silent second the crack on the ceiling jolted apart, then a great slurry of rocks and dirt fell in with a muffled crunch and a soft whumph, sending a cloud of dust through the whole cavern and sending Rikku staggering backwards on the loose rocks. Through the black fog she saw Yuffie run past her to the falling dirt yelling, "Hey maybe that's done the trick!" on her way past. Rikku called out, "Wait!" and saw another pile of debris fall, Yuffie leapt sideways and dodged as she ran to the collapsing side of the cavern and as she ran into the cloud of airborne dirt Rikku lost sight of her. Rikku stood up, her stomach ached with anticipation, she tried to run and fell forwards, her knees slamming into jagged rocks with a pain that knocked the air out of her lungs. She curled up and hugged her aching legs, dust falling on her back as silent black rain. "I'm going to die, buried under dirt... buried alive under..." Rikku swallowed the sobs that emerged and listened to distant coughing and cussing. The ground shook again and another stream of cussing joined the rush of dust that blocked what little light still remained. The ceiling wasn't so much collapsing as allowing a great flow of rock and dirt to pour into the cavern. "Damn!" Yuffie could feel the dirt and rocks flowing across her feet as she turned and ran back from the deluge. The dust was so thick she could barely make out the dim glow of the pool on the far side. The ginger haired girl was sitting in the middle of the cavern, curled up and rocking back and forth. Yuffie ran past her as the slurry rushed across the floor, "Don't just sit there! Get up and run!" Rikku placed some weight on one leg as she tried to stand up, it stang out with pain. The other was worse, Rikku cried out as she stood upright. She grabbed her knee. Sticky with blood and dirt. Yuffie yelled again from the pool side of the cavern, "Come on!" Rikku couldn't see much through her dirt encrusted eyes and followed the sound of the voice as she negotiated the loose rocks. Dirt rained against her back and rocks plinked past, some stinging as they bit into the backs of her legs. The dust choked the air and caught in the back of her throat. Her foot slipped on a loose rock and she fell forwards again, bracing herself for the pain she closed her eyes. An arm grabbed her around the waist and hauled her upright. Rikku reached out and grabbed Yuffie's shoulders to haul herself up. Her 'thanks' came out as a dust choked cough. The dirt piled over the girls' legs as they ran, Yuffie hauling the barely conscious Rikku over the loose ground. The tide forced the pair to the far wall of the cavern and still dirt and rock piled up over their feet as they climbed up the wall using the few tree roots that gave any purchase. Yuffie continued hauling Rikku with one arm as they clambered, pulling their feet out over and over as they were covered with dirt. Rikku regained some strength and began to move a little more as the onslaught died down. Both girls were trapped in little more than a few square meters of free space. The dust caused more coughing fits, the air almost unbreathable. Rikku's mind swam, dizzy with lack of oxygen she thought she'd imagined the waft of fresh air on her face as she collapsed. "Hey! Don't give up on me now!" Yuffie's voice slammed into her ears and woke her up. She felt an arm around her shoulders give a gentle shake. "I've got out of way worse than this!" Yuffie stated with some confidence. Rikku couldn't even open her eyes, stinging bad enough even while shut. As waves of tears washed some of the dirt out of them she noticed a little glimmer of light. "There's a way out!" Yuffie yelled, her voice so loud it sent sudden aches through Rikku's head. She was shaking so hard that she couldn't even wipe the dirt from her eyes. Yuffie's arm around her shoulder shifted and placed itself against the back of her head. Yuffie whispered, "Ahh geez," and then carefully wiped her thumb over Rikku's eyes one by one. Rikku tried to speak but it started another coughing fit. "Come on there's a way out I can see light from here," Yuffie grabbed Rikku's wrist and pulled. Rikku took a gasp of the fresher air as it washed over her face. Her eyes stang so hard she couldn't keep them open to look. "Just crawl forwards ok," Yuffie let her wrist go and gave her back a little push. The dirt was loose and didn't support much weight, Rikku felt herself sinking in with each shaky movement. Yuffie was clambering up ahead, sending waves of dust and rocks down on Rikku's head. It was like climbing a sand dune; the pile was steep and tall. It extended up through the cavern roof, Yuffie realised the cavern had been under a pile of loose dirt, buried like a coffin. Through the gap she could see blue sky and the long dead branches of a tree. She looked back into the darkness and watched Rikku struggling, tears cutting a path through the dirt on her face. One of her knees looked a mess too. 'Must be painful to crawl on it,' Yuffie thought and continued on. She reached the gap and the fresh air while Rikku rested in the dark below. "It's nice out here! Come on up! You can do it!" Yuffie yelled down the hole. The air was laden with the smell of the sea nearby. Yuffie could see, through the thick of dead branches, a clear deep blue sky and turquoise water. She looked back down the hole as Rikku continued on clambering up. "Atta Girl!" Rikku could sense the light even through her closed eyes and hauled herself up as the dirt collapsed around her. She wondered whether she was even getting closer to the surface. A gentle breeze wafted the scent of the sea over her face and it gave her a little more strength. Exhausted, she struggled on until she could feel the warm sun on her face. "Hey." Yuffie acknowledged her success with an arm around her shoulder, helping her up the last few steps. Rikku lay down on the dirt under the sun and rested. She could feel Yuffie wiping dirt from her eyes, careful fingers picking and brushing. "I'm going to use some water ok?" Yuffie said as a cold gush hit Rikku's face. She tried to blink, it was too painful. She coughed again and felt the edge of a water bottle against her lips. "Take a sip," Yuffie offered and tipped the bottle up, sending a cold rush of water over Rikku's face again. She coughed and drank and coughed again, her shaking hands wiping at her eyes. Yuffie pried one open and doshed a splash of water into it then pried the other open and doshed water again. Rikku blinked a couple of times, the stinging eased a little. "There ya go! Bet you're glad I was here to save your bum!" Yuffie declared then stared again at Rikku's eyes as Rikku tried to sit up. 'Kinda eyes are those?' she thought to herself. Rikku coughed again, dizzy and nauseous, she forced a word out through the coughing, "..who?" Her eyes were sore but she could see the girl staring down at her, outlined by blue sky and a lacy blanket of tree branches. "I'm Yuffie, What's your name then?" Yuffie poked Rikku's arm. "Rikku." Rikku stated, then, wincing from the pain she pulled herself onto her knees and threw up what little was in her stomach. Mostly dust. "Gross-ness..." Yuffie mumbled and left Rikku there. She pushed her way through the litter of dead branches towards what looked like a shoreline. Rikku wiped her mouth and hauled herself to her feet. She followed down the the rough and rocky shoreline, limping on her bad leg. "Hey," Rikku mused, "We're on an island or something look." The island was tiny; from where they stood the girls could see the whole way around. The only things on the island were the bits of dead tree. Nothing green, nothing alive. The turquoise sea stretched out to a deep blue and contained nothing more than a few rocks jutting out here and there. "Hmph... now what?" Rikku sighed. Yuffie continued to make her way around the shore. Rikku, sore as she was, followed her. It wasn't far at that. "I wasn't on an island... I was halfway up a cliff!" Yuffie said and kicked at some rocks. "I was down in some caves, under the... this can't be right..." Rikku searched for her compass, it was missing in action. She gave up and sat on a rock, listening to the little waves sloshing up and down the shore. Yuffie continued to kick at rocks. She looked out to sea and back at Rikku. "So what are you like at swimming?" she asked absently and sat down beside Rikku. "We'll starve or die of thirst... swimming? What?" Rikku searched her pockets. The only food she had was one rather dusty cookie left over from her lunch. Yuffie shrugged, her previous high spirits had since ebbed and she sagged a little. Rikku reached for the cookie. "Here," she said and broke it in half and offered a half to Yuffie who stared at it, her eyes opened wide then narrowed a little, feigning disinterest. "It's all I have," Rikku said, looking at the dusty little morsel. She wondered if she could even eat it. Yuffie hesitated then grabbed a half and bit into it with relish. In two bites it was gone. "Thanks and all." Yuffie shrugged again, giving Rikku a little smile. "Here," Rikku held out the other half, "I still feel sick... you should eat it if you're that hungry." She watched Yuffie's expression change, a flash of insulted pride washed over her face. Rikku thought, 'She's obviously not the sort who takes handouts but she's so hungry she just can't help it'. Yuffie took the other half with a long slow stare at Rikku, a sort of 'kicked dog' look. She even tried, with little success, not to eat it all at once. "You helped me." Rikku said. Yuffie shrugged again and stared at her feet. Both sat in silence, the sun was about to set and the sky took on an orange hue. There were no birds or crickets chirping. Just the gentle swish of waves against rock. They stared out at the horizon, the sun on the other side of the island, waiting for nothing. Ten minutes wandered past without any sign of life. No sea birds, no fish, no crabs under the rocks. No insects buzzing amongst the dead branches. Rikku stood up and stretched, "Maybe we should ... make a kind of... camp for the night?" She stood over Yuffie, still staring out to sea, and waited. Yuffie shrugged one shoulder without looking up. The determined spark she had before seemed to have dimmed. "Well... it's going to get cold and we could use some dead branches to make... maybe a fire?... maybe a hut... hey maybe tomorrow we could make a raft!" Rikku waved her hands in front of Yuffie's face. Yuffie glared at Rikku for a second then stood up and looked about at the island. "I wonder if we can go get some of that water from the pool," she said to herself. "Hey yeh! And tomorrow we can fish right?" Rikku was eager to sound positive, if just to cheer herself up. Yuffie walked back from the shore onto the dry land, she broke a twig off a nearby branch and gnawed at it, vaguely, while she looked around. Rikku scanned the horizon; there was no sign of any land nearby. "Someone will find us... a boat will go past... someone... probably they're looking for us already right?" Rikku's optimism was on shaky ground. "Where... I was halfway up a cliff... no-one knew I was even there." Yuffie sighed and kicked at the dry dirt. "Think about just tonight ok? We just need somewhere to sleep and some... water for now ok?" Rikku walked back to the hole where the cavern had partially collapsed. She peered down the hole. Yuffie joined her and stared, with little interest, into the black. "I can't see it but I bet if we go down there we'll be able to uncover some dirt to get at that pool," Rikku placed a foot on the loose dirt, it sank a little way, "It's probably safe enough." She looked at Yuffie, still chewing on the end of the stick she held. "You'll get a splinter in your tongue," she joked. Yuffie threw the stick onto the ground and sat near the hole. "I had a whole half a sandwich back there ya know," she moaned. "Well... there's still some light lets see if we can find at least some seaweed or something ok?" Rikku wandered back to the shoreline. The rocks were jagged and bare of even barnacles. She could see that even under the water there were loose bits of old plants. Rikku looked back to land and noticed that Yuffie was gone. "Oh she's gone down that hole... I hope it's ok down there." Rikku stared down into the hole for half a minute before calling out, "Is it ok down there?" There was no reply. She sat near the entrance, and then stood up to go down and help. She sighed and sat down again, "I'm not much help down there." The sun touched the horizon and the light waned enough that the brightest stars stood out against the purple sky. Rikku heard, from deep within the hole, a few random curse words. Her heart sank. By the time Yuffie had clambered to the top again, fighting the ever sinking dirt, Rikku was trying to think of another way. "Ahhh it's hopeless, it's all filled in with dirt and muck. There's no water anywhere... we'll just have to drink seawater even if it does make us sick." Yuffie groaned and sat down. "We can't drink seawater, but I was thinking... sometimes there's fog overnight right? So we could get the dew from the rocks and branches right?" Rikku looked out to sea. Yuffie looked up at the sky and studied the stars. "It doesn't even look like the sky at home," she said to herself. Rikku looked up, nothing familiar. Rikku sat down next to Yuffie, as one they lay down and stared up at the sky. "So where's your home?" Rikku asked, making casual conversation. There was no reply. She decided against asking again. "What about you then?" Yuffie asked once the awkward silence had dissipated. "Oh... well... it's... not really anywhere much... we're rebuilding it of course. I'm not allowed to say where." Rikku wasn't sure that was technically true anymore. Yuffie remained quiet again. "It's been a whole year and you're still rebuilding?" Yuffie asked. The last of the air's light and warmth was fading fast. "It's not so easy you know, well it's mostly rebuilt now but... we go out and find more machina to help us... that's where I was supposed to be going, only this happened." Rikku closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 'I wonder if anyone's noticed... course they have!... they'll be looking for me... but like she said... where will they look?' "You know you said you'd got out of worse before?" Rikku asked. She continued without waiting for an answer, "Well so have we, I mean I, and we'll ... us ... we'll get out of this one too." Yuffie remained silent; Rikku watched her staring up at the stars, lost in her own thoughts. "We should get some rest. We'll get some water before dawn and some food after that. See? We could last for ages doing that... just like I said. We'll be fine and someone will find us eventually." Rikku edged a little closer to Yuffie; "If it gets cold we have each other for warmth too right?" Rikku thought for a moment, memories and conversations played their well worn loop in her mind, "Not that'd I'd try anything or anything! You know... it'd just be..." She stopped. Yuffie wasn't listening anyway; she uttered a quiet "Hmm?" and closed her eyes. 'It doesn't matter... nothing does. After everything.' An hour into darkness. The air drained warmth from everything and Rikku curled up, hugging her knees. Shivering with cold. Yuffie lay staring up at the stars as if transfixed. Rikku wavered between wanting to ask if they should cuddle and not wanting to ask. When her shivering became shaking she relented, "Aren't you cold?" "No." Yuffie's voice drifted from her mouth drained of energy. 'She's so skinny she must be freezing.' Rikku asked again, "Are you sure you're not cold? I'm freezing." Yuffie found herself suppressing a sudden urge to insult Rikku for being a crybaby. "Are you ok?" Rikku asked. Yuffie's resolve broke, "Geez already, get some sleep will ya?" "I'm... cold..." Rikku stopped and curled up a little more. She wondered how much colder it would get as she closed her eyes. A brief flash of light stamped a red glow in Rikku's mind, she sat up and looked at Yuffie. "Did you see that?" Yuffie was still staring at the sky, "It's the light..." she whispered. "Huh?" Rikku looked up at the sky, a beam of light poked out from the blackness overhead and streaked across the water. It returned to the island and Rikku watched as it rushed over the dirt toward them both. "Bye Rikku... it was nice meeting you n all," Yuffie whispered. She remained motionless as the light hit them both, causing Rikku to squint from the glare. "Huh?" Rikku watched Yuffie; she was paler than before, staring up at the sky, up into the light. For a moment Rikku wondered if this was some spell, some calling or even a summoning. She looked up, squinting, at the light. A shadow flashed in front of it for a second and vanished. Rikku watched. The shadow appeared again, washing over the beam of light like a pendulum. It was a rope ladder. "Yuffie?" Rikku's heart, already pounding painfully fast, lifted when she saw a figure clinging to the ladder. "Yuffie!... someone's found us! We're being rescued!" "Hey!" a man's voice called down from the ladder as it approached, swinging from side to side. Rikku jumped up and winced from the twang in her bad knee, it was easy to ignore, "Hey!" she called back and sank to her knees from the dizziness that lack of water had induced. "We need a carrier down here," the man on the ladder yelled up to the sky. He hovered closer and closer. Rikku watched in silence, too overwhelmed even to cry. "I can't lift them both... Hey girl!" the man pointed at Rikku, he was close enough that Rikku could make out his face, "Can you climb up on your own?" "Well... Yes... Yes I think so!" Rikku bent down and grabbed Yuffie's arm, it was so cold she dropped it with a shock that stabbed through her whole body. "Yuffie!" she yelled and shook the motionless girl. Now the tears came. The man jumped off the ladder and placed a hand on Rikku's shoulder for just a moment then bent down to Yuffie, placing his hand against her neck, "She's ok... go up the ladder as fast as you can, we need to send a carrier down for her," the man ordered without turning around. Rikku stumbled backwards a little then caught herself. She took a deep breath. 'She's ok... she's ok ok ok ok' she told herself and clambered, dizzy and in shock, towards the ladder. It stretched up into the sky so far it was frightening. Rikku grabbed the rope and forced herself to go on. Once she had started up she looked back down at Yuffie, she was sitting up and the man had put his coat around her shoulders. Rikku found herself hoping that Yuffie could see her being strong and brave, for once. It gave her the strength to climb even over the pain in her knee. "Are you ok?" someone else called out from above Rikku as she hauled herself up, eyes shut to reduce the glare of the light. A huge hand grabbed hers and hoisted her onto solid ground. She opened her eyes. Wooden floor. Huge boots. Her eyes, blurry and sore, set upon a huge face. It grinned. Rikku sighed; her dizziness turned her stomach into painful sickness. A warm coat landed on her shoulders as she was picked up. "Welcome aboard," said the huge face in a big, deep voice. The voice also expressed, in a tired way, the opinion that 'It's been a long day.'
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