Ranma groggily lifted her head from the soft cushions. "Dang it," she cursed. "When I get that overgrown tuna fish..."
She looked around. She was in a simple, circular hut with just one exit. Next to her was another bed. The hut was a small place to live, but it certainly looked comfy. There's everything you need to live: Beds, a place to cook, a wardrobe... A nice, refreshing breeze blew through the entrance.
Ranma swung her legs around and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Tidus?" she called.
Then a young man entered the hut. But it wasn't Tidus. "Ah, finally decided to wake up, ya? Glad to see you're okay! Your friend was starting to get worried."
"Do you mean Tidus? Is he all right? Where am I?"
"Whoa, slow down there! He's fine, he's fine! He's just taking a look at the village."
"Village?"
"Besaid village! This is where you are right now! As they say: My home is your home! Make yourself comfortable!"
"Thank you, um..."
"Oh, I'm Wakka! Coach and captain of the Besaid Aurochs! Heard of us?"
"Wait, you mean you're a blitzball player, too?" Wakka nodded. Ranma shook her head. "Sorry, can't say I heard of you before."
"Well, that's no problem!" He seemed a little down. "Ya see, after playing for ten years... we never managed to win once! So, it's really no wonder you never heard of us."
Ranma took a look at Wakka. He was a big man, with muscled arms and a burly physique. He had a funny hairstyle and was wearing a broad, blue headband. "Come, I'll show you the village!"
Together, they left the hut. Standing around, Ranma saw several other huts forming a circle. A little further behind another hut, she could see a blue tent that was slightly bigger then the huts. And rising above the small village was a big building made of stone. It looked like some sort of shrine, or temple.
The vegetation surrounding the village was lush and tropical. Ranma could ses several villagers walking around the huts, doing their daily work, or going inside the temple. Little children were playing around with a dog. It certainly looked like a nice place to live.
Tidus ran up to them. "Heya, Ranma! Glad to see you're finally awake! Isn't this village a great place? Oh, I see you already met Wakka! He's a great guy, eh? I promised him to play for his team on the tournament in Luca. The very last thing I could do for our saviour!"
Wakka smiled bashfully. "Hehe, stop it, you're embarassing me! Anyway, Tidus... what did Luzzu and Gatta want?"
"Oh, they just wanted to know if I met Sin around this island. They were worried if he would come for the village."
"Ah, that's pretty understandable. Crusaders really have a hard job, ya?"
"Why?" Ranma asked. "What do they do?"
"They explained it to me," Tidus said. "They defend Spira's towns and villages from Sin. Well, they didn't manage to beat him for real, but at least they try to keep it away from the towns."
Wakka worriedly looked at Ranma. "I see Sin's toxin got to your head as well, ya? Well, don't worry! As I told Tidus: It will come back to ya in time! Well, I've got some work to do... Gotta tell my team to keep it up! They can really be slackers sometimes."
While Wakka was walking away, Tidus leaned over and whispered. "Hey, sorry about that, but I had to tell Wakka that Sin's toxin had messed around with our minds. Like Rikku, he told me that Zanarkand was destroyed by Sin 1000 years ago. And he was surprised that I didn't know who the crusaders were. So I came up with the toxin story again. I thought you would be in a similar situation, so I told him the same for you. You don't mind, do you?"
Ranma shook her head. "Nah, it's okay! I probably would have said the same thing. So... you say you're really from this world's past, then? Man, that must suck! I feel sorry for you, man..."
"It's all right... I pretty much got used to the idea... of never returning home... But I'm curious now... you said: 'From this world's past'! Does that mean you aren't really from Spira?"
Oh no, Ranma thought. I messed up!
'Well,' Carbuncle told her privately. 'Tell him from your homeworld then, but not from your mission, okay?'
Ranma mentally nodded. To Tidus, she said: "Well, you see... my friends and I are from a different world, that's true. We got caught up in some kind of... messed up teleportation spell that brought us here. But we kinda got scattered all over Spira, so now I've got to find them."
Tidus smiled. "Looks like we're in the same boat, eh? Well, kinda... I'm lost in time and you're lost in space!"
Ranma snickered. Tidus probably never saw that movie, but it was funny anyway.
Then a ball hit Ranma's head. "Ouch!"
"Uh, sorry!" a deep male voice called. "My mistake! Throw it back, will ya?"
Ranma turned around. Several steps behind them, some men dressed in some sort of sports uniform were practicing with balls. Ranma picked the ball up. It looked kinda cool with the white-blue pattern and all these little knobs on its surface.
"So that's a blitzball?" she murmured. Tidus nodded.
"Hey," they heard Wakka's voice. "You gonna throw it back? Keepa's gonna practice his goalie skills!"
Ranma smiled. She hold up the ball, jumped high into the air and yelled: "KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"
And with the speed of the chestnut fist, Ranma smacked the ball back at the players. They barely had the time to jump out of the way, before the blitzball slammed down into the sand. When Wakka looked down, he saw that the ball was embedded deeply in the soft ground.
"Whoa, did you see that?" one of the players asked his kinda rotund friend. They all looked pretty impressed.
Wakka's jaw hung open, then he looked at Ranma. Next to her, Tidus looked as impressed as the Aurochs. "Wow," he said. "And you told me you never played blitzball before? You even got a trademark move."
Ranma shook her head. "Nah, not really! It actually is a martial arts move. With it, I can hit my opponents at full speed. I learned it while grabbing chestnuts out of a fire."
Tidus grimaced. "Yeouch! Sounds painful!" Ranma nodded. "Yeah, but the results made it worth it."
Wakka walked over to them. "You... can you... um, I mean... I kinda wanna ask you, if..."
Ranma grinned. "You want to have me on your team as well, do you?"
Wakka nodded. "Well, yeah!"
Ranma thought about it. "Okay! Why not? I never played blitzball before, but it shouldn't be that hard. Besides, it's a good chance for me to train my moves underwater!"
Then a kind and cheerful voice came out of the crusader's tent. "Everyone, I made some tea! Would you like some?"
The players looked relieved, a good chance for a little break. Wakka sighed. "Okay, but only five minutes, ya hear?"
Tidus nudged his new friend. "Hey, they're serving tea! You want some, too?" Ranma didn't answer. "Ranma?"
Ranma looked at the girl serving the Aurochs the tea. The nice smile, the brown hair, the apron... Could it be... "Kasumi?"
Kasumi turned around. "Oh my! Ranma-chan, how nice to see you again! Now that's a surprise! Oh, Akane will be happy to hear that you're all right!"
"A-Akane's here as well? Where is she?"
"Oh, at the moment, she's gone with some new friends of her. But I'm sure they will return by dinner. So, do you and your friend like some tea?"
Ranma snickered. That's typical for Kasumi, she thought. Always staying cheerful, always supporting the others and always making them feel at home, even if she's stuck in a different world. "Hey, Kasumi, do ya have some hot water?"
"Oh, certainly, Ranma-chan! Wait a minute, I'll ask the nice crusaders if they can give me some."
"Miss Kasumi," the rotund goalie Keepa asked her. "Can I have some more of your cookies? They're delicious!"
Kasumi beamed. "I'm glad you like them, Keepa-san!"
"Whoa, whoa!" Wakka waved around his arms. "No more cookies for you, ya? If you eat any more, you will sink to the bottom of the stadium during the tournament."
Keepa sighed. "Yes, cap'n Wakka..."
See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Thu, 13 Jul 2006 09:52)
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