"Oh no..." Rikku shivered. "We're here..."
Indeed they were. Directly behind the great tree of Guadosalam, they began: The Thunder Plains! A wide, open area without any sign of plants or animals. Just rocks and fiends... and storm clouds. Lots of them.
On the Thunder Plains, it was always pouring and rumbling. The thunderstorms never end. Lightning bolts just keep on coming from the clouded skies.
To allow summoners and other travellers to cross this dangerous wasteland, a clever mind once installed lightning towers all over the plains. Near them, you are safe from the lightning impacts. But once you are in an open area... the lightning will strike again.
Rikku freaked out when one of these lightning bolts came crushing down, followed by rumbling thunder.
"I think I forgot something in Guadosalam," she said hastily.
Auron looked at her and walked past her. "It was nice knowing you."
"Okay, okay, I'll go," she said in a panic.
"Man," Ranma said. "If we're gonna make it in once piece through these plains, I'll eat my hat."
"You don't wear a hat," Akane pointed out. Ranma shrugged. "Well, I'll eat your cap."
Akane hold on tight on her horned fur cap. "No way! That's mine!"
Ranma grinned. "I thought you never liked those horns..."
Akane grinned back. "Perhaps I changed my mind..."
"Okay, enough kidding around," Nabiki told them. "Seriously... kids these days..."
Akane grinned at her. "Are you that old already, granny?"
Nabiki fumed. "What did you say?!"
"Quit it, already," Rikku snapped. "How can you all make jokes in such a situation?"
Ranma shrugged. "So we can concentrate on what we're doing."
Yuna snapped her fingers. "I just got an idea. You remember all Shampoo's lightning form, right?"
"Well, yeah," Wakka nodded. "Although she didn't use it that much. Looked like a slim humanoid drake fiend, ya?"
"Right," Yuna said. "And I bet if she would change into her lightning form right now it would absorb any lightning bolts that would hit her."
"Well, but Shampoo isn't here at the moment," Nabiki reminded her. "She stayed back in Guadosalam."
"My point is," Yuna continued. "If I summon Ixion, he can absorb every lightning bolt that will be coming down on us. You can do that, right Ixion?"
'A most excellent idea, Lady Yuna,' the lightning steed's voice echoed in her mind. 'Using my horn, I can attract any lightning bolts that come crashing down nearby and absorb them into my body.'
"Excellent," Yuna cheered. "Do you all agree?"
"Well..." Rikku said nervously. Then, another lightning bolt came down nearby. "I agree. I agree," Rikku said quickly.
"Okay," Yuna said. "Here goes..." She summoned Ixion in a shower of sparks. Rikku freaked out again.
'I'm at your services,' Ixion said. 'As long as I'm around, you won't have to fear any lightning or thunder.'
"Wonderful," Tidus cheered. "Now we only have to be worried about the fiends."
Rikku whimpered.
----
The gelatinous blob of Jusenkyo matter hovered into the woods. Somewhere in here, it could sense an ideal place to rest and to ambush travellers. Then it could grow even more and become more powerful.
It slowly continued its way, leaving a confused lizard fiend behind. It still tried to behave like a butterfly, though...
----
The crossing of the Thunder Plains went smoother than expected, thanks to Yuna's ingenious Ixion plan. Using lightning-proof equipment and water-elemental items Rikku and Nabiki collected at the moonflow, they also managed to beat the incoming thunder fiends very easily.
But Rikku still was very nervous. Every time it thundered, she winced, until she couldn't stand it any more.
"Wow," Ranma said after another thunderclap. "That was a close one."
"I said stop kidding around," Nabiki said grumpily.
"Yes, ma'am..." Ranma muttered.
Rikku was ready to flip. "Ehehehehehehe..." she said in a quiet, frightened voice.
"Hm? What's wrong?" Ranma asked.
"Ehehehehehehehehehe..." Rikku said again.
"Eh-heh-heh-heh?" Tidus copied her. "You're giving me the creeps."
Rikku suddenly threw herself down on the floor, crawled around in a blind panic and latched herself on Tidus' leg.
"I wanna go home! I hate lightning! I hate thunder!" She pointed to a little travel agency, set in the middle of the Thunder Plains, under a safe lightning rod tower. "Let's rest over there. Please?"
"This storm never stops," Auron explained. "Better to cross quickly."
"I know," Rikku replied. "But... just for a little while?"
"Well, I think we should go on," Wakka said. "Maester Seymour is waiting for Yuna in Macalania."
"Pretty please? Just for a few minutes?"
"If Auron is right, then it would really be best to cross here quickly," Ranma pondered.
"I'm scared of lightning. Let's rest, please!"
"You know we ARE safe with Yuna's Ixion, right?" Akane asked.
"Pretty please? I'm too young to die!"
"Besides, what's the worst that could happen?" Nabiki snickered. "Just a few scorches and spasms, that's all."
Rikku fumed. "You're mean! Cruel! Your moms would be ashamed of you! Are you having fun doing this to me?"
"Fine," Auron sighed. "We rest. She's worse than the storm."
See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Tue, 25 Jul 2006 19:37)
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