Whoops. Startling the girl is probably not the best first impression. Neither is placing yourself two inches from the other’s face - personal space was a concept pretty lost to Rikku. She took a soft step back when the girl put her weapon in a defensive pose. She looked a little less harmless now! …But really just a little.
Her apology fell on the girls bowed head, “Sorry! Er? Why are you looking down?” Maybe the girl had caught her eyes and wanted to pretend she wasn’t there? Fine. It was part of why she had pounced so close to the girl - pupils are not necessarily something someone notices off the bat. And sometimes it was just too much, befriending someone only for them to realize and, yeah. Not on such a sunny day.
And then the other rose her eyes. And Rikku felt tingles play a rapture down her spine. Why did this girl look so familiar? When Yuna donned a surprised expression, she realized that, no, Now the girl had recognized her for what she was. Although she could not exactly read what her eyes were trying to convey. At least the Yevonite was meeting her in the eyes, right? Seemed like a good sign.
Rikkus own surprise caught up, her expression brightened to bewilderment her, and the girl leaned in, too close, to drink in the other’s eyes. “Cool! Two colors!”
"Ah -- Ah, I -- " the brunette stammered. It was her initial reaction to shift her gaze away again. It was difficult for her -- metting new people sometimes. Espcially amongst the Temples. If one of the Priests were to remark on the unusual colourings of her eyes and her heritage was found... There would be no where else for her to go.
She felt guilty, thinking those thoughts though. For a pure-blooded Al Bhed, things must have been so much harder. The admiration that she had for her late Father seeped back into her spine. He had known that the Al Bhed were ordinary people. He hadn't descriminated. And although it had been drilled into ther by the teachings... she wouldn't hate the Al Bhed.
She straighted up then, a smile making itself known on her lips. Thoughts of Braska before he left for his pilgrimage flew back to her. She would have his confidence, too. She would make sure of it.
"Yes," she smiled, "two colours. But that doesn't quite match the uniqueness of your own..."
The duel eyed girl seemed to be stuttering. Rikku reflected back on what she said - she’d been speaking the right language right? Or had she let Al Bhed slip and confused the obo off the girl? Primary languages like to sneak in sometimes, no matter how fluent one gets in other tongues. Especially when you’re excited. She sure looked away a lot, this girl. Maybe it was some sort of cultural thing? The thief found herself imagining that on whatever island this girl was from, people looked at walls while they talked to each other. And she had to push down a giggle. Her attention was brought back to the present when the brunette met her with a meek smile. Oh! She’d spoken the right language, and the girl was just shy! How adorable! She summoned a smile of her own, bright and with an accompanying gleam to her eyes. It was nice to run into someone from home. It was even nicer that this someone was being friendly, when circumstances on Spira between the two races were often otherwise. She wondered if the girl just allowed herself to be because they were on the moon and no one from Spira was there to witness? If people submitted to hatred just because others were looking and they thought that’s what they were supposed to do? Nah. “Hee, to you but where I’m from - it’s what everyones got. So it’s pretty same old same old. I wish I had two colored eyes!” The blonde extended her hand in offering after taking the necessary step back so that she actually had to reach to do so. Otherwise they’d have been shaking hands like T-Rex. “I’m Rikku. How ‘bout you? What’s your name, where you from? And what’cha trying to ask people? I could tell you maybe or I could ask for you - louder so people have to pay attention and all.”
"I-I..." Yuna stuttered. She was thrown off by the amount of questions that were thrown at her. With the mentality of speaking only unless spoken to, the answers didn't seem to come out right.
"Y-Yuna, I -- Wait, you're Rikku? I... I talked to you over the machina!" she jumped slightly, excited that she had made contact to a real person amongst all of the wires. Truly a wonder! ... How unfortunate that most tools like that were still considered taboo...
"I come from Besaid!" she seemed to light up now, relaxing. Why was the girl before her's mannerisms seem to catching? "I was trying to ask everyone..." she trailed off, pausing to take one last look at her surroundings. "The way to Mayra. The Dean he said -- that there was a temple there."
Rikku mouthed an “oh” which she then pronounced, loudly. She gave an excited hop, clapping her hands. “You’re Yuna! Awesome! We finally get to meet, hee.” She shifted her weight from foot to foot as she suppressed the urge to continue jumping. “Besaid, huh?” Had she been there? There were so many places she’d seen, it was hard to keep them straight some times. “Oh wait! We talked about that over the wires, duh! And I’m supposed to show you the temple! Forget about these people, puh. They’re losers for ignoring you, I’m more fun anyway. I found the Yevon one too, it’s not too far away….”
The girl trailed off as she pointed in the temples direction. By bus. By bus it wasn’t too far away. But a Yevonite would not want to use a bus, now would they? But then, she’d talked to the girl through a machine…so, huh? Oh well! Rikku was a lot of things, but lazy was not one of them. In fact if they could put lazy in pill form, people would probably be slipping it in the girl’s water.
“Whelp! We better get going if we’re gonna get there.” She started marching forwards, pausing to see that the other was following beside her. “You shouldn’t be traveling alone you know! I heard there were fiends around here, and even murders a person might have done!” And those robes didn’t look particularly fightable-in. How did shy people fight anyway?
Well, not very well was the answer to that. Maybe that was another of the many reasons Guardians were so vital to a successful pilgrimage. Yuna was sure... that when she set out? She wanted to be surrounded with the people she loved and trused most. That way... you could spend as much time as possible with them.
Truth be told, most Summoners relied heavily on magic, rather than their physical attacks. Had her Father been much she same? In her youth, she remembered him as having a healing touch. Now, whether that was real or just a little girl's imagination running away with her, she couldn't be too certain.
An exception... Had to be High Summoner Yocun. The former Crusader had made her way through Spira, fighting all the way no doubt!
"I... I didn't mean to," came the girl's reply, "I just didn't want to bother anyone and... I was trying to get a little bit stronger."
Rikku took a gentle but firm hold of the apprentice-summoners sleeve and gave a light tug to prod her on their way. Groups were always safer, but being far from shelter in a strange world after dark was not something on this thiefs to-do-list, and if they did not hurry that’s just where the girls would find themselves. Reckless and stupid aren’t exactly the same thing.
“Don’t be silly.” She chided the girl, making sure to keep her voice playful and soft so the other would, hopefully know to take it lightly, “I offered. And getting strongers always good! But it’s hard to do on your own, ya know? It’s better to have back up.” Not that the girl was following her own advice to well, wandering about on her own as she was. But she was adept at fighting and holding her own.
"S-Silly?" she whispered to herself, allowing her body to be led forward on her first adventure. With an Al Bhed no less! So -- was she really being silly? She hadn't meant to...
She shook her head, trying to match Rikku's pace as she trailed just slightly behind. "There's not much to know about me, I... Besaid is quite a small island. Not that many places in Spira ever grow large. I'm sure you of all people would understand how dangerous it is for so many people to gather together in big cities..." Because that's when... Sin came.
"What's really interesting is probably going to come from you!" she chimed, her eyes lighting up again. "I've never had the chance to talk to -- I mean, well... " she paused, hoping that she hadn't just opened the floor for akward conversation. Maybe she should change the subject. "Do you really know the way?"
Rikku offered the brunette a smile, “Hey, don’t be so serious! It’s ok, I got your back now. Just don’t wander off on your own again, alright? I don’t want something to happen to you!” She was feeling, oddly protective of the new girl. Perhaps the girl’s shy mannerisms made her feel defensive over the other. And loud people got to speak for the quiet ones, right? That’s why they have extra volume, maybe.
Why did the girl insist on trailing behind? It was flustering her fast pace. Conversations were not best held looking backwards. The blonde flurry reluctantly slowed her pace a bit so she fell in time with the other - it was prolly hard to move so fast in those robes anyway.
“Hey, just cuz somewhere’s small doesn’t make it not interesting!” Her brow furrowed at the mention of Sin as she tried to battle back memories. How was it you couldn’t avoid it, even way out here? Sin had placed a darkness in every Spirain, broken some piece of them. “Ur, yeah…”
Her mood brightened as the shy girl lit up with curiosity. How fun would it be to teach a Yevonite about what Al Bhed were really like? She quirked a brow at the awkward transition. “Never had the chance to talk with an Al Bhed. It’s ok, we know there’s issues between our people on Spira, so why pretend that there’s not?” Attempt to change the conversation denied, but the girl still addressed the last question. “I do! And it’s real easy to find - even if you get lost. Just watch the birds - the hawks fly there, cuz they like to go to the highest points, and its steeple reaches the furthest in the sky in Mayra.
She pointed up as one sliced through the air above them, tracing out their course. “See?! We go feathered guides, how neat is that?”
Yuna was beginning to feel a little bit brave. "I don't... agree with them, I want you to know," she blurted, or at least, it felt like it had just slipped out. Being able to talk to an Al Bhed alone for once... was strangely comforting. Maybe she could even trust the girl with her -- secret. After all, who best to confess you were half Al Bhed to than a full blooded one? Maybe she had even heard of Uncle Cid...
Looking skyward, she couldn't help but delightfully drawing in a breath of joy. Such creatures! The world could be so beautiful if given the chance! And Spira deserved a chance like that. The people should be able to live everyday with smiles on their faces, not just the few and far between ones Sin washed away at the mere mention.
Sin... made everyone suffer.
"So pretty," she commented. "I wish that... someday I could fly," she mused aloud, thinking the idea impossible as she walked on.
Rikku was impressed. For someone who followed the Yevon teachings to the point of seeking one of the temples, she seemed to think things through with her heart. At least to some point. Maybe she should talk to quieter people more. Maybe they were quiet because they knew the way things should be but could not speak, because no one would listen. “I’m glad to hear that, Yuna.”
She watched the sky with her mystery cousin. “I can fly. I could show you….” And she wanted to. She wanted to share the skyship with this quiet dreamer of a girl. Show her what it felt like to soar through the clouds. She bit her lip slightly, better tell her how though lest she get the girls hopes up. Machina were forbidden by Yevon afterall - so unfair, to deny people that freedom. You didn’t feel like even Sin could reach you, up there. “Mh, Cid, my pops has a skyship. It’s…like a boat? By instead of water, it flies…it’s a machine. But if you’d ever want to, I could take you flying.”
"You could... take me?" The Apprentice seemed to be lost in awe. Flying? Up in the sky? Over the trees? With the birds? How could Yevon be so against such an experience? Surely it wasn't wrong to be able to live life to its fullest... was it?
Brought back to Earth suddenly as though her thought rocket had crashed to the surface, she stared at the Al Bhed, the cogs in her mind turning. "Did you say... Cid?" she asked her question carefully. She was so nervous, she stopped moving, her feet seeming to refuse further steps. "Your father... did he -- have a sister?"
Her apology fell on the girls bowed head, “Sorry! Er? Why are you looking down?” Maybe the girl had caught her eyes and wanted to pretend she wasn’t there? Fine. It was part of why she had pounced so close to the girl - pupils are not necessarily something someone notices off the bat. And sometimes it was just too much, befriending someone only for them to realize and, yeah. Not on such a sunny day.
And then the other rose her eyes. And Rikku felt tingles play a rapture down her spine. Why did this girl look so familiar? When Yuna donned a surprised expression, she realized that, no, Now the girl had recognized her for what she was. Although she could not exactly read what her eyes were trying to convey. At least the Yevonite was meeting her in the eyes, right? Seemed like a good sign.
Rikkus own surprise caught up, her expression brightened to bewilderment her, and the girl leaned in, too close, to drink in the other’s eyes. “Cool! Two colors!”
Reply
She felt guilty, thinking those thoughts though. For a pure-blooded Al Bhed, things must have been so much harder. The admiration that she had for her late Father seeped back into her spine. He had known that the Al Bhed were ordinary people. He hadn't descriminated. And although it had been drilled into ther by the teachings... she wouldn't hate the Al Bhed.
She straighted up then, a smile making itself known on her lips. Thoughts of Braska before he left for his pilgrimage flew back to her. She would have his confidence, too. She would make sure of it.
"Yes," she smiled, "two colours. But that doesn't quite match the uniqueness of your own..."
Reply
She sure looked away a lot, this girl. Maybe it was some sort of cultural thing? The thief found herself imagining that on whatever island this girl was from, people looked at walls while they talked to each other. And she had to push down a giggle. Her attention was brought back to the present when the brunette met her with a meek smile.
Oh! She’d spoken the right language, and the girl was just shy! How adorable! She summoned a smile of her own, bright and with an accompanying gleam to her eyes. It was nice to run into someone from home. It was even nicer that this someone was being friendly, when circumstances on Spira between the two races were often otherwise. She wondered if the girl just allowed herself to be because they were on the moon and no one from Spira was there to witness? If people submitted to hatred just because others were looking and they thought that’s what they were supposed to do? Nah.
“Hee, to you but where I’m from - it’s what everyones got. So it’s pretty same old same old. I wish I had two colored eyes!”
The blonde extended her hand in offering after taking the necessary step back so that she actually had to reach to do so. Otherwise they’d have been shaking hands like T-Rex. “I’m Rikku. How ‘bout you? What’s your name, where you from? And what’cha trying to ask people? I could tell you maybe or I could ask for you - louder so people have to pay attention and all.”
Reply
"Y-Yuna, I -- Wait, you're Rikku? I... I talked to you over the machina!" she jumped slightly, excited that she had made contact to a real person amongst all of the wires. Truly a wonder! ... How unfortunate that most tools like that were still considered taboo...
"I come from Besaid!" she seemed to light up now, relaxing. Why was the girl before her's mannerisms seem to catching? "I was trying to ask everyone..." she trailed off, pausing to take one last look at her surroundings. "The way to Mayra. The Dean he said -- that there was a temple there."
Reply
The girl trailed off as she pointed in the temples direction. By bus. By bus it wasn’t too far away. But a Yevonite would not want to use a bus, now would they? But then, she’d talked to the girl through a machine…so, huh? Oh well! Rikku was a lot of things, but lazy was not one of them. In fact if they could put lazy in pill form, people would probably be slipping it in the girl’s water.
“Whelp! We better get going if we’re gonna get there.” She started marching forwards, pausing to see that the other was following beside her. “You shouldn’t be traveling alone you know! I heard there were fiends around here, and even murders a person might have done!” And those robes didn’t look particularly fightable-in. How did shy people fight anyway?
Reply
Truth be told, most Summoners relied heavily on magic, rather than their physical attacks. Had her Father been much she same? In her youth, she remembered him as having a healing touch. Now, whether that was real or just a little girl's imagination running away with her, she couldn't be too certain.
An exception... Had to be High Summoner Yocun. The former Crusader had made her way through Spira, fighting all the way no doubt!
"I... I didn't mean to," came the girl's reply, "I just didn't want to bother anyone and... I was trying to get a little bit stronger."
Reply
Rikku took a gentle but firm hold of the apprentice-summoners sleeve and gave a light tug to prod her on their way. Groups were always safer, but being far from shelter in a strange world after dark was not something on this thiefs to-do-list, and if they did not hurry that’s just where the girls would find themselves. Reckless and stupid aren’t exactly the same thing.
“Don’t be silly.” She chided the girl, making sure to keep her voice playful and soft so the other would, hopefully know to take it lightly, “I offered. And getting strongers always good! But it’s hard to do on your own, ya know? It’s better to have back up.” Not that the girl was following her own advice to well, wandering about on her own as she was. But she was adept at fighting and holding her own.
“So, tell me about you!”
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She shook her head, trying to match Rikku's pace as she trailed just slightly behind. "There's not much to know about me, I... Besaid is quite a small island. Not that many places in Spira ever grow large. I'm sure you of all people would understand how dangerous it is for so many people to gather together in big cities..." Because that's when... Sin came.
"What's really interesting is probably going to come from you!" she chimed, her eyes lighting up again. "I've never had the chance to talk to -- I mean, well... " she paused, hoping that she hadn't just opened the floor for akward conversation. Maybe she should change the subject. "Do you really know the way?"
Reply
Why did the girl insist on trailing behind? It was flustering her fast pace. Conversations were not best held looking backwards. The blonde flurry reluctantly slowed her pace a bit so she fell in time with the other - it was prolly hard to move so fast in those robes anyway.
“Hey, just cuz somewhere’s small doesn’t make it not interesting!” Her brow furrowed at the mention of Sin as she tried to battle back memories. How was it you couldn’t avoid it, even way out here? Sin had placed a darkness in every Spirain, broken some piece of them. “Ur, yeah…”
Her mood brightened as the shy girl lit up with curiosity. How fun would it be to teach a Yevonite about what Al Bhed were really like? She quirked a brow at the awkward transition. “Never had the chance to talk with an Al Bhed. It’s ok, we know there’s issues between our people on Spira, so why pretend that there’s not?” Attempt to change the conversation denied, but the girl still addressed the last question. “I do! And it’s real easy to find - even if you get lost. Just watch the birds - the hawks fly there, cuz they like to go to the highest points, and its steeple reaches the furthest in the sky in Mayra.
She pointed up as one sliced through the air above them, tracing out their course. “See?! We go feathered guides, how neat is that?”
Reply
Looking skyward, she couldn't help but delightfully drawing in a breath of joy. Such creatures! The world could be so beautiful if given the chance! And Spira deserved a chance like that. The people should be able to live everyday with smiles on their faces, not just the few and far between ones Sin washed away at the mere mention.
Sin... made everyone suffer.
"So pretty," she commented. "I wish that... someday I could fly," she mused aloud, thinking the idea impossible as she walked on.
Reply
She watched the sky with her mystery cousin. “I can fly. I could show you….” And she wanted to. She wanted to share the skyship with this quiet dreamer of a girl. Show her what it felt like to soar through the clouds. She bit her lip slightly, better tell her how though lest she get the girls hopes up. Machina were forbidden by Yevon afterall - so unfair, to deny people that freedom. You didn’t feel like even Sin could reach you, up there. “Mh, Cid, my pops has a skyship. It’s…like a boat? By instead of water, it flies…it’s a machine. But if you’d ever want to, I could take you flying.”
Reply
Brought back to Earth suddenly as though her thought rocket had crashed to the surface, she stared at the Al Bhed, the cogs in her mind turning. "Did you say... Cid?" she asked her question carefully. She was so nervous, she stopped moving, her feet seeming to refuse further steps. "Your father... did he -- have a sister?"
Reply
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