Maximus was stuck in the holds of the boat while the attack raged, fighting off Fiends in the halls, keeping them away from innocent people. His blade was fast and precise as it cut through the smaller fiends that leap at him trying to get to the people behind him. Finally after a bit he managed to clear the fiends, but now the water was rising. Moving behind the people who went to the upper levels below deck he heard fighting on deck, he decided it was best to go out there now.

Running up the steps he saw utter chaos, the massive squid was destroying the ship with each blow of their attacks against it. He saw the group together as they were trying to get some sort of plan. But Saina wasn't there. He looked around and saw her overboard, suddenly pulled under along with another. With out hesitation he sprinted passed the group and dove over the railing.

Hitting the cold water he looked around, the salt water burned at his eyes but he managed to see Saina being dragged further down, using the momentum of the dive he went deeper as well, There was no way he would be able to catch up with her as he raised a single finger just infront of his face, then whipping his hand towards Saina and the tentacle, Ice would form just next to Saina, encasing part of the tentacle and shattering. Hopefully causing enough pain for it to release her. He was not going to lose her again!

Gippal had swam back to the battle as quickly as he could, seeing Braska performing his Limit break. He couldn't believe the guy now finally decided to show up, And of course was trying to take the spotlight. As Braska fell back into the water Gippal dove to swim towards them more quickly. As he grew close however he saw the tentacles grab them, pulling them under.

He quickly casted haste and swam faster, towards Braska who was closer. He just barely made to the tentacle as he pulled out his Knife and slammed it into it. It stuck in and he nearly had it ripped from his hands as it pulled him down as well. Gippal let out a grunt and a lot of bubbles from his mouth as he held on.

He looked to Braska and smiled. "Need help?" His look seemed to say as he wrapped his arm around the tentacle to make sure he wouldn't fall off and began to saw at the ligament. He got about a quarter of the way before it finally released it's hold of Braska.

Suddenly the squid seemed to grow relaxed as if it was slowly falling asleep, it's tentacles grew slack and slipped back into the water. It must of lost alot of blood from all the major attacks it received. Gippal had relaxed as this happened. But it was a bad move. The Squid got it's second wind and was angrier than ever, it's tentacles thrashed with all it's might, Gippal and Braska getting hit and shot out of the water far away from the boat, Same with Saina and Maximus.

As Gippal was falling up side down the last thing he saw was the Squid smashing it's remaining Tentacles onto the top of the ship, shattering it in half before knocking out from hitting the water with his back.

-------

Gippal groaned as his eyes slowly opened, blurry and the world spinning as he laid on the sand below him. Salt water rushed up as he looked down and went up his nose and into his mouth/lungs, causing him to cough and spit up the water. He re positioned his head not to get anymore water in it but he was so weak at the moment that was all he could muster.

He laid there for a moment trying to remember what happened and his brain slowly pieced together what had happened. When it finally came together he realized what happened quickly pushed himself up to look around. "NAI! URICK! EVA! ALEX!" He quickly yelled in a horse crackling voice. This action only caused him to be more dizzy. He pulled himself forward like a wounded soldier and fell down in the more dry sand, His feet now barely touching the waves as they came up.

He touched his head as he felt sticky only to see his blood, semi dried. He must of hit his head on a rock washing up to shore. 'Please...let this be just a horrible dream.' he thought as he passed out again in the sun.

------------------------------

Urick looked at Alex as she yelled at him, Normally he would have clammed up in front of the woman, but it never occurred to him at the moment. Honestly he was getting tired of her yelling at him all the time. This wasn't what he remembered of her five years before. She flew of the lid before but this was getting ridiculous.

She apparently didn't like his plan as she told Eva and Nai a different idea, similar, but different. Why did she have such a problem with him? He let out a low irritated sigh and looked to see Saina and Braska pulled under, but before he could react Maximus had dove overboard towards Saina. He couldn't jump into the water, as much as he wanted to. He had to make sure everyone was alright as well.

He looked over to Eva as she said she wasn't leaving and he made his way over to try and convince her, but that is when all the tentacles seemed to slack, did They manage to kill it??

As if the thought reawakened the beast the Squid thrashed even more violently, with all it's might it lifted it's tentacles and almost in slow motion the tentacles smashed down on the ship. Urick had dove and tried to cover Both Eva and Nai. The impact of the tentacles snapped the ship in two causing everyone to fall to the center of the blow.

The last thing he remembered was Eva slipping from his arms screaming while Nai was tightly wrapped in his other.

-----------------------------------------

Urick woke up with Nai in his arms still, laying on top of him while his back was on the beach. Waiting a minute to gather his senses he slowly sat up and re positioning Nai in his arms so she looked like a parent holding a child almost. He shook her slightly trying to wake her as he looked for the others.

Alex looked to Naisha, blue eyes softening in concern at her struggle before her gaze snapped to Eva at the refusal. "Nai's too tired for a intense battle like this and it doesn't seem your quite used to this kind of thing so you really..." Alex started before the tentacles came down on the ship. She watched as Urick dived for Eva and Naisha into his arms. Alex cursed, quickly leaping, wrapping one arm around Urick from behind, while the other arm grabbed Naisha's chair.

The ship snapped and everyone ended up underwater. Alex struggled in a attempt to pull everyone back above water before reaching for Eva as she slipped away from Urick's grasp but turned her head as she saw a piece of the mast aim toward them. Grunting, she quickly shoved her Urick and Naisha before feeling a sharp piercing pain dive into her left shoulder from behind. Before her vision completely blacked out.

---

Her eyes snapped open, to discover she was once again in the white world. Blinking, Alex looked around to find she was a child again, sitting on a single bench within the world. The only thing colored. A pretty oak color. She sighed as she looked down at her feet, swinging her legs a little before blinking as she looked up to her left. Seeing that blonde woman sitting beside her.

Tilting her head, Alex raised a eyebrow in confusion. "Who are you?" she asked.

The woman simply turned her beautiful emerald gaze on the little girl and gave a playful friendly smile. "Ohhhh a friend. Or maybe a princess." she giggled, causing the red head to stare at the woman in utter confusion before blinking as slender fingers snapped in front of her nose.

"Come come now! Wake up! Or you're going to be eaten~!" she cheered. Alex blinked in confusion more before watching the woman point behind her. Turning her head, she saw a familiar Crimson muzzle and fangs crunch toward her face.

---

Gasping as Alex woke up, the red head tried to sit up but a sharp pain rocketed through her shoulder. Grunting, she turned her blue eyes toward her left to see a large spike of wood impaled through her shoulder. Blood soaking the sandy beach that she lay upon. Looking around quickly, she saw Urick and Naisha, the muscular man seeming to try and shake the Mage awake.

The red head forced herself to heave herself into a standing position. Before grasping the wood and pulling it out, quickly reaching in her pocket and pulling out a potion and guzzling it down. It still hurt like hell, but she felt the magic of the potion mend the wound, surely leaving a heavy bruise and severe sores on her shoulder and arm. Good thing she wore shoulder plates, otherwise that could of been worse.

Tossing the wood on the sand, she went over to her friends, concern in her eyes. "Hey, you two alright?" she asked as she knelt down and placed a hand on Naisha's shoulder before glancing around for the others, yet saw no sign of them.

"Damn. Hope the others made it out alright." she muttered as she glanced to the sea, pondering if she should scout it.

Saina's lungs felt like they were about to burst when, in her dimming vision, she could see someone swimming at her from above. It... She couldn't tell who it was, her vision was starting to give. She passed out entirely as she felt the around around her ankle grow colder...

A failure as always, aren't we? I refuse to die here.

~~~~

The chocobo's had already been ankle deep in water and were panicking, Mercury included. Their handler was below deck and panicking just as much but he did his best to calm all the chocobos when the hull was snapped in two and water flooded in. Their handler floated in the water as the ship capsized, all the ice that had been used to hold it together disappearing as the person who had put it there surely must have died or at least passed out. He blinked awake in the water and looked to the chocobos underwater, flailing in fear and some already dead with boat shrapnel lodged into their long necks.

He swam to their stall and pulled it open with extreme effort, bubbles coming from his mouth as he struggled and took in a lungful of air... and died, just as the stall was opened completely. The chocobos swam out and sped to the surface, their gangly land-made legs struggling to push them above water. Once they made it they cried out in confusion, a mass of 'WAAARRRK!'s and 'Twee-wee!'s as they tried to figure out in vain what was happening. Then they started diving in and out of the water, their fear quickly turning to joy as they learned this new ability. As they dove, thinking it was a game, they picked up the limp bodies of the guardian's crew as they went and finding they floated on the water well enough as a duck might. Some could even run on the water, though this was something they wouldn't learn seeing as they were already swimming in it.

On his third dive, Mercury spotted the bodies of Saina and Maximus and shook his wet tailfeathers in joy. He dove towards them and unaware if they were awake or not, managed to get both of them onto his spacious back. He made his way to the surface in joy and popped up above the water. Another chocobo approached and they rubbed their large beaks together, this one having Urick and Naisha on its back. When they both started to admire each others new 'decorations' a chocobo further from them let out a distressed cry and they looked towards it. The kraken had gotten hold of one of them and was crushing it to death in its tentacle. Their sense of flight rather than fight initiated and they sped off with the crew on their backs, headed straight for the island in the distance and away from the looming threat of death.

~~~

A farmer in the marketplace on Kilika Island balked at the herd of chocobos that had suddenly appeared at his food cart. They were eating all of his wares, playing with it, throwing it around and generally just having the time of their lives. Chocobo's weren't native to Kilika. Where on earth did these playful creatures come from?

"NOT MY CABBAGES!!!"

~~~

Sand blew over the face of the dark haired woman, and her mouth was filled with the taste of salt. When she cracked open her glowy blue eyes they felt like they'd been welded shut by the saltwater she'd spend her time in. She felt something cold against her lips and glanced down. A torrent of ice had expelled itself from her mouth and now melted on the white sand, the idea of what had happened to make such a thing happen made her stomach turn. She pressed her gloved hands into the sand and pushed herself up against them, her body slouching against the hot, unstable particles... and she realized that nausea she'd felt wasn't getting better, it was getting worse. Her throat burned and her gut heaved as she found herself expelling the clear fluids of her empty stomach onto the sand beneath her.

She stayed in that position for a moment, panting. Then her panting turned into a small whimper before she made herself stand. Saina nearly fell over, finding herself incredibly dizzy and disoriented. In fact, she was only able to take a few steps before her knees buckled and she fell to them while staring out at the ocean. She looked down at her hands which trembled deeply, and pressing her gloved hands to her cheeks she could feel that she was warmer than usual. Her teeth grit and she closed her eyes. Of course. Her body was still just a body, she was extremely dehydrated after nearly drowning in the sea and swallowing all that salt water. Would a potion fix such a malady? She'd been lucky enough that her body forced out the water in her lungs as she was passed out. There would be someone to thank for that. A familiar chirrup made her look over.

Mercury played with the ball that had been stored in his saddle and chased it around on the beach. She smiled grimly. At least one of them felt good. Then her eyes turned back to the sea she considered what to do next. She needed to reunite with everyone. Could she face them after she had failed to successfully kill the Kraken? The weight of what had happened bore down on her shoulders and she looked down, gripping the loose sand tightly as she took to heart what had happened. She felt it was her fault. She could have killed that kraken... but she had failed. A pit formed in her stomach beside the nausea.

She had failed again.

As she realized this her face became stressed and her heart fluttered uneasily. She let out a shuddering breath. Could she really show her face to the rest of the guardians? She was an absolute shame on all of them now. The dread filled her heart as she pressed a hand to her forehead and pushed her floating hair back, absently forgetting to put it back into its ponytail. She didn't even notice the other bodies around her. Though Mercury had, and had stopped playing with his ball to lean down, peering at the body of Maximus. Then, deciding 'Ah yes, this is the best decision ever,' proceeded to jump on top of the warrior monk and snuggle down atop him, wiggling his blue tail feathers all the way as the weight of the chocobo pressed down onto him. He rested his large head in the sand and closed his eyes. His night had been quite eventful after all.

"I, uh, totally knew that!" Sifen shouted as the summoner told him that yes, in fact, she could easily breathe. He hadn't noticed the walls of ice were open to the air and not enveloping her. "Am I allowed to go save her?" He said in response to Saina's location. He had a vague grasp on the rules of the guardians, and Eva obviously came first, but what about the others? He didn't want them to die but he also didn't want to break teh rules either. But before his question was answered the tentacles crashed behind him, ripping the boat apart and separating him from the other's defending the summoner on board.

He felt his body hit the water hard, and his armor filled with water and he suddenly realized how bad of an idea heavy armor made for dry deserts were for swimming in. He tried and tried to swim up to the surface but continued to sink further and further down. His vision went black as he reached for the dimming light of the surface, not from unconciousness, but from simple lack of light, it had only been about 30 seconds of holding his breathe after all. As his body sank, a few items slipped from his pocket, pieces of the medical robot from before and they were still full of the energies that were used to keep the girl alive, well, supposed to at least. He grabbed a syringe and jammed it into where he thought a vein might be on the inside of his elbow and felt his body spring back to life. Now he had only ever drank a potion before, never had it thrust into his bloodstream and let me tell you, he was feeling refreshed. He swam to the surface with all of his armor still on, grabbing at the feet of chocobos and pulling them under the water. Like him, those birds weren't made for swimming. He grabbed their legs and managed to finally pull himself up onto a piece of wreckage surrounded by the birds struggling to swim in any direction other than with the current. He blacked out soon after.

---

Sifen coughed awake, his arm in immense pain and no longer glowing. It was much black. When he had trhust the syringe from the medical machina in he must have pierced the vein as his arm was now an entire bruise and near useless. He couldn't even feel it below his elbow and it was cold to the touch. he could bend his elbow yes, but his wrist and fingers refused to move and there were a few deep gashes along it from being scraped against the talons of the swimming chocobos after he blacked out, but no blood seeped out. It was effectively dead. He sat staring at it, poking it but not feeling anything. Luckily he was right handed and his left got the damage done to it.

He looked around, having no clue where he was, but felt sand under his right palm. Glorious beautiful sand. He grabbed it and rubbed it on cheek, letting it plink off of his shoulder plates. His armor was in ruins but some pieces remained sturdy. He saw Saina and the other man on the beach sleeping and went to stand up, pressing his left hand into the sand and trying to push up with it, only to fall back down upon it. No pain came from the limb, however. The wounds were full of sand and salt and from the water and still nothing. "SAINA!" He shouted, waving to her while propped up on his right arm, his black hand flailing around in the air waving at her. He saw dense jungle behind her, and to his side endless expanses of ocean. He had no idea where he was but he wasn't worried. He lived in a place where no plants grew and survived for years. Chances are an island like this had some civilization on it. His left forearm, however, might not make the trip since he's out of potions and the last one he took seemed to damn the arm in the first place.

Naisha woke up with a deep breath. She confused as the last thing she remembered was everything going to chaos at the boat. She vaguely remembered things breaking up and Urick holding her and Eva before everything went black. Now she was in Urick’s arms still, but he was shaking her by the shoulders so hard, she thought her brain was going to turn into mush. Or at least that’s how she felt with all the headache she had from overusing her magic in that weakened state. Then she managed to see and hear Alex asking if they were alright.

“Alll fineeeee…” She said weakly as Urick finally stopped shaking her. Now that her vision was finally stable and not all over the place because of Urick, she took a look around. It was only the three of them around…”Ugh…” Naisha made annoyed sound as she noticed something was missing… a big comfortable hover chair.” They will most likely be fine… I think. Gippal has the luck of hero from ancient tales, if he died then there is something wrong with the whole world…” The black mage said as she tried to stand up, but the lack of strength and her staff quickly discouraged her from that idea.” I may need some help getting up…” She said quietly in shame."Also should I fire a well fire spell in the air? Maybe someone will see it and come?"

Maximus swam still and saw that Saina was losing consciousness, his arms pumped even faster to get to her. The monster had let go of her as his ice shattered, causing her to float up slightly. He wrapped his arms around her and started back for the surface, grunting as the air was running out in his lungs and his arms began to burn, begging for air. He took in a breath but quickly closed it before too much water came in, this only caused him to cough more and start choking.

This was the time something swam under him and Saina and lifted them back out of the water. Maximus hacked up the water that had gotten into his lungs. He started taking deep breaths to calm down and looked over at Saina still in his arms, but before he could see if she was OK he too was knocked out as the squid flailed and piece of a barrel managed to clock him in the back of the head.

---

Maximus was suddenly awoken, his eyes instantaneously growing wide at the sudden pressure on his back Grunting in pain and in doing so pushing all the air out of his chest. He tried to breath in, only taking in sand in the process and coughing more and more. He tried to yell, but with all the air out of his lungs it was quite impossible. Gritting his teeth he spun his head around to see the giant blue bird on top of him. Growling he hated these damn birds. With all of his strength he turned back to the sand and pushed up, slowly but surely lifting up the bird on top of his back.

Mercury opened his eyes and turned to look at the warrior monk he sat upon with squinted eyes. He flapped his flightless wings unhappily as he was pushed off, giving the man below him a peck on the head before traipsing off to do better things like chase his ball and nap in the shade, chirping unhappily all the way.

Taking in a major breath of air as the bird was pushed off of him, only to curse loudly as the infernal bird pecked him on the back of the head before running off. Gripping his blade he unsheathed it and stumbled a few steps in the sand before falling back into it, stabbing his blade all the way to the hilt in the sand as he did. Cursing again as his body screamed in pain. He looked at the bird as it chased after it's ball his growing hatred for the bird went away partially as he saw Saina on her knees looking to the ocean. Even from his position he could tell she wasn't well. Crawling over and gritting over the pain he finally managed to get up and slowly walk over to her. He looked almost like a wet drunk as he walked, dizzy from being dehydrated as well, not as bad though. He could find some water and be fine. But Saina...

Falling to his knees as well as he pulled a potion from his satchel behind his back, he then handed to her, "Here... take it." He said horsely, as the sand still coated the insides of his mouth.

Saina looked up from her inner musings, her slightly dulled eyes finding his instantly. Then her gaze locked the potion and she took it from him, her fingers shaking. She had trouble uncorking it but eventually managed to wiggle it off. Trembling, she raised the vial to her lips and downed half of it, her nose wrinkling at the taste of it mixing with the bile in the back of her throat. She lowered her head, forcing herself to swallow without expelling the contents of her stomach again. Her expression began to relax as her body instantly took the potion's properties into it's system. She leaned over, resting her cold--but not freezing as usual--head on the older man's shoulder, passing him the other half of the bottle with glazed eyes. She felt somehow nostalgic, like this man was a dear friend of hers from a long time ago... but she'd never seen Maximus before, much less met him. Why then did it feel so natural to take comfort in the leather pressing against her cheek?

"Thank you... Maximus..."

When she spoke it sounded like sandpaper covered her throat, though it was noticeably getting better as her strength returned to her bit by bit. Maximus sighed when Saina's head rested on his shoulder, his eyes closing he went to wrap his arm around her in a embrace...but hesitated, she didn't remember him at all as he remembered. He simply took the vial that she handed him and re-corked it before putting it back into his satchel. He wasn't bad enough to waste the rest of it. It was at that moment that Sifen called to them from behind. Curious as to what he wanted and surprised he was near them at all, she lifted her head from Maximus' shoulder to look behind the two of them. She dropped the potion into Maximus's hand and stood up instantly, her hands covering her mouth and her eyes wide as she faced Sifen. Her surreal hair flowed behind her with every motion and the cloak attached to her hip swayed in sync with it as well. Maximus also noticed Sifen calling to them and looked up at him. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Sifen there was something................off. He couldn't believe his eyes and was thinking it was just the dehydration working against him. Maybe he was a little worse than he thought.

Sifen looked to see the shocked faces of the others on the beach. What was wrong? His hand looked bad but it couldn't be THAT bad could it? He stood up and began walking over. He waddled over, limping a bit from the pain in his legs after straining to swim those last few moments after injecting the potion from that machina. "Whats wrong?" He asked the two. He noticed that their eyes darted between his eyes and his hand. "This?" he brought his hand up using good arm, the wrist flailed around freely and the fingers followed. Strangely, his palm was facing an impossible direction, his left hand was opening to the left. Sifen's face went paler than it already was and he let out a scream that started off soft and got progressively louder. Saina followed suit screaming in unison.

"aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

Maximus shuttered at the sight but did not yell. He looked away and grew even more dizzy as he pressed a hand to his mouth after seeing such a grotesque hand.

"WHY IS IT BENDING LIKE THAT?" Sifen yelled, questioning the sudden appearance of several new joints in his forearm. Maximus looked back at him and coughed, holding back his stomach. Looking away again. Behind him the hand flailed around but Sifen felt no pain, so he didn't stop flailing it around wildly. But Maximus could hear the slapping of the hand and could see it in his head. "STOP IT." He growled as he almost threw up again. Though it probably would have been good to get the rest of the sea water out of him if anything.

Meanwhile, Saina was hyperventilating. Usually her stomach could bear such sights and she had seen much worse before, but she was already sick. She turned away and puked onto the sand... again. "Yevon have mercy..." She spat out the taste in her mouth and dry heaved when she tried to look at it again, forcing herself to turn away. Maximus saw Saina puke as he had looked away from Sifen and groaned. He tried to hold it in. He hated puking. His neck began to tingle and he knew it was coming ."Oh Yevon..." He puked as well, followed shortly by Sifen.

After a moment of them groaning and throwing up, Maximus spat a few more times. The sand was now clear from his mouth. But he would have rather had the sand taste than the bile that passed through it.

"I... I can't feel it." Sifen said, pouring sand onto the limb. "Why is it black? What are those cuts from? What do I do? Should we... Cut it off?" Sifen questioned. He had buried the hand up to the wrist in sand, waiting for the warm sensation he knew in the desert. But nothing came. It was dead.

Despite the obvious Maximus answered, "It's black because it's dead. As for the cuts I don't know, could very well be from the ship as it was split in half." He spat out some more bile and got up, moving slightly away and back to his sword. Falling to his knee to grab the hilt. He took a few breaths and pulled it from the sand. Bringing it high above his head and swinging quickly down to the right, barely skimming the sand as he shook off the wet sand on it.

Sifen saw him grabbing his sword. "Woah woah woah! It was just a suggestion! I'd rather keep it! Maybe we could uh... maybe like.. A um, healing potion?" Sifen spat the words out nervously. He knew it wouldn't help but he didn't enjoy the thought of losing a limb. Saina looked up at where Sifen stood and bit her lip. All of them knew it needed to happen, but her stomach still did back flips at the idea. She looked at Maximus as she tied her hair back in a ponytail, glad that neither of them seemed to notice its odd flowing properties.

"No... No potion can bring back a dead limb I don't think," As she talked she walked up to Sifen, focusing her mana as much as possible in her weakened state, trying to not look at his dead forearm. She started to raise her hand up but stopped and licked her lips, thinking. "You appreciate guns and.... machina, right?" Even the word felt bitter on her tongue.

Maximus stood back up slowly and looked back to them, his blade lightly in his hand as he looked at Sifen, the tip of his blade just barely touching the ground. "We will have to cut it off. There is nothing we can do to save it." He said very calmly, despite still being grossed out at the sight of his arm. He cocked his head to the side at Saina's question. What was she getting at?

"Of course!" Sifen said to Saina. What a dumb question, of course he liked Machina and guns, Guns WERE machina after all. "It's what I spent my entire childhood preoccupied with, roaming around Bikanel going from-" THUNK! Saina slammed an ice-covered fist into his jaw, uppercutting him onto the sand and knocking him out instantly. She panted, feeling awful about this whole thing and looked to Maximus. His arms fell to the sides of him, leaving Sifen in a T shape on the sand.

"We're going to have to cut it off."

Maximus was surprised as she uppercutted him mid sentence. It made sense now why she asked about the Machina. Nodding his head head and walked over to Sifen. He looked down at the man and pulled the last of the potion he had and handed it back to Saina, "Give it to him as soon as I cut his arm off." He waited for her to take it before gripping the sword with both of his hands. He let out a breath before raisng his blade high above him.

"Wait!"

Maximus paused with his arms up as he looked at Saina. "What?" He asked. Saina looked at him in disbelief as the ice on her fist faded away.

"You're going to do it like that?" She asked, gesturing to his sword. "Don't be so reckless! With how you're going with that cleaver you'll slice half his body off!"

He blinked at her a few times. Looking at his blade he lowered it again in front of him and raised an eyebrow. He then looked back to her and said, "It's a KATANA. Not a Butchers cleaver!" He said it a little defensively, as if offended that she would call it as such. He straightened his shoulders and raised his blade again, " Besides, I'm fine thank you." He finished as he quickly slashed downwards to get it over with before she would argue more with him. THUMP. Was the only sound that could be heard as the blade cut clean through his arm and bone like it was...a wet noodle... The sound was only the blade hitting the sand under it.

"No wait! ...Ugh...!" She powerslided onto the sand and immediately worked up her mana to ice over the already profusely bleeding wound.

Raising his blade again he quickly slashed to the right, the blood spraying off of it away from them. He then placed the blade on his right shoulder as Saina quickly covered the arm in Ice. Her face looked up at him one she was satisfied and she stood up, marching over to Maximus and stood in front of him, having to look up due to her unbearably short stature.

"Do you always act with such insubordination or are you just that rash?"

Maximus had a blank expression on his face as she stood up and marched over to him. His head pulling back in confusion at her sudden outburst. Insubordination? Rash? What's her deal? "Look, If that arm was dead, it would spread if we waited longer. Also the potion would have stopped the bleeding as well, and I was going to cast a fire spell on my blade and cauterize the arm to keep it sealed. It's done, why are you upset?"

"If you were going to do all of that to begin with you should have told me! We work as a team, as a unit, before anything was done you should have said something." She visibly scowled in frustration and her hands clenched at her sides and she huffed. "Yevon, you're worse than--"

She looked as though she had been shot as she cut herself off. Her eyes looked at his face a few moments more before she turned away, her fingers rubbing her lips in thought as she mulled over what was in her head. Whatever it was, it brought her mood down considerably and she even looked a little sad now.

Maximus took this moment to answer, not seeing her face as she had turned away. "Well it's obvious as what else we could do out here. I'm no doctor in any means. Also Insubordination would mean you are in charge. When did-" He stopped as he noticed she was sad. "What... Whats wrong?" He looked her over once and narrowed his eyes trying to realize what was happening. He then connected it might because of what she was going to say. "I'm like who??" a Sudden hope came to his mind, perhaps she remembered him some how. Saina looked at him, her eyes full of uncertainty.

"It ... It doesn't matter..." She looked out at the sea, her heart beating loudly in her ears. "I... please, forget I said anything...!" She went to step away from him further but as soon as she took the step her knees were buckling on her again and she began to fall towards the sand. She'd used just too much mana in her sickly state,

He watched her as she answered him. It was definitely something. She stepped away and he quickly reached out and wrapped his arms around her. "Saina!" He cursed under his breath as he lowered her slowly to her knees. "Take it easy for a moment." He said as he caught himself falling backwards. He needed to take it easy as well. But they all couldn't clock out he had to make sure they would be fine. Saina clutched tightly to the front of Maximus' coat and found herself burying her head there for a moment, much to her own surprise. Small tears formed in her misting eyes but she shoved them back, only loosening her hold after a good moment. Maximus was taken off guard as she started to cry as she gripped his kimono tightly. He wanted to know what was wrong but he decided it was best to leave it alone for a moment.

Maximus stood back up and moved over to Sifen, bending down he grabbed the mans legs and began to pull. There was no way he could lift the man at the moment, he needed to get some water soon or he will be in just a bad place like Saina was earlier. Grunting as he continued to pull the man and all his armor towards the shade.

He allowed the mans legs to flop down as he stumbled back over to Saina, wiping his brow as he came to her. "Alright your turn." He said as he reached down wrapped one arm around her waist and lifted with that arm only, till she was high enough where he wrapped his other arm under her legs, carrying her slowly to the shade as well. Saina didn't protest, allowing herself to be carried in the strangely familiar mans arms and into the shade.

Once there he laid her gently down against a tree, much unlike Sifen who he had let his legs flop minutes before. Saina looked at him and nodded her thanks, resting her back against the tree as she looked up at the sky. She hadn't gotten her fill of the stars last night, and that idea alone made her even more blue than she already was. She looked at Maximus, her eyes very tired suddenly.

"You act as though you know me, Maximus. And you feel familiar. I... would like to know why."

Kahl was less than pleased with the present circumstances; barely a day over and things were going tits up. It seems as though the day conspired to keep escalating in calamities. He dared not ask if the day could get any worse out of fear of jinxing it and having to deal with a new set of complications. Still it was rather impressive with the day starting with a terrorist attack and ending with a monster from the deep breaking the ship they were on. It was an impressive trick to slow them down, and indeed it would. But it was way too early to be stopped this easily. Racing Across to the other side he didn't bother battling with any things instead focusing on getting the bag and not getting hit. Things were literally falling apart as the oversized seafood buffet snapping the boat like a twig. One mast had fallen off and now he was perched on another fallen mast as more debris fell around into the ocean. Perhaps with more favorable variables it could have been won. But in this very present it was a lost cause to fight more than necessary if at all.

Already in the moonlight he could see in the distance some of the life boats of people who had taken the smart choice and flee. He could only wish them well as he couldn't help them out. Although judging by how the critter was focusing on annihilating the boat it was safe to assume it wouldn't bother them. Still it was a good reminder that he'd have to get the hell off this boat and away from the monster no matter how implausible it seemed. With rucksack slung over his shoulder he ran over the ship's side. Already he was draining his mana before he even touched the water chaining magics together. The first effect creating a gelatinous mass that appeared in a whorling fractal pattern that was buoyant and supported his weight, and the final spell was a gate of sorts siphoning the water around him and focusing it into a strong jet. Of course since he wanted to get out fast he expended more mana than perhaps needed to rocket over the choppy waters and in the general vicinity of the destination they were headed. The following moments were tense and blurred together as all his efforts were on keeping speed and making sure he doesn't get hit. Come the surface his poor improvised boat was falling apart from the speed with only a drip feed keep it together. That is until he saw the sand and let it fall apart as the snotlike substance made sure to pick up all the sand like a lint roller leaving a lumpy blob until it dissipated.

Finding himself amidst solid land was great but his adrenaline was still in overdrive and he really wanted to find a place rest that seemed safe. As he'd be crashing from rapid exertion once the rush was gone. And it would be such a wonderful end to a night to go to sleep and get mauled by monsters. Still things were looking up compared to where they were minutes ago. Quickly Kahl hunted for dry flammable objects. The blood was really flowing through him even while doing such a simple task. The pressure of the flow through his head made it seem like he'd gain a migraine just from that feeling. With a fire lit he sat down and tried to take some deep calming breaths. What really followed was hyperventilation, light headedness, and some coughing. Still once that was over he found himself dozing in and out of sleep as chunks of time would pass and be hazed by his dreamlike state as he tried to keep vigil from any threats.

Braska's eyes slowly opened to the blurry world around him, unable to grasp what had happened. He used his arms to push himself up, pain shooting through his body. The Kraken had truly did a number on him to which he hoped that the others were safe or at least less hurt then him. Warm blood trickled down his forehead and down the right side of his face. A headache accompanied by a sharp pain in his ribs caused Braska to stagger to his feet. "This was not how my day was supposed to go." Braska commented on the state of things as he finally made it to his feet. His eyes finally began to adjust themselves to the world around him before landing on the pink haired girl that laid only a few feet away from him.

"Holy crap."

Braska stumbled over to the young woman, noticing that he had seen her with Gippal and Nai earlier. "Hey. Are you okay?" He attempted to see if she would awake but to no avail. They couldn't stay here, wherever they were, and Braska didn't intend on leaving the poor woman by herself. Bending downward, the hero Braska lifted the girl into his arms despite the pain his body was feeling. "Sigh. Now to find a way to civilization. I think we might be in Kilika." He spoke to himself and started walking in which ever way he felt was the right one.

Urick looked up and saw Alex walking over to them. "Hey, you two alright?" she asked as she knelt down and placed a hand on Naisha's. He simply nodded at her question, he was sure Nai would be fine as well.

"Damn. Hope the others made it out alright." she muttered as she glanced to the sea, Urick swallowed, his mouth dry, "I'm Sure....they are." He said slowly. He wasn't worried about Gippal, the guy managed to get out of the worst situations no matter the odds. He couldn't be sure for everyone else though. He remembered Eva slipping out of his arms and sighed heavily, his head lowering, If she died because of him...he didn't know what he would do.

Suddenly Nai spoke up, apparently he had shook too hard. “Alll fineeeee…” She said weakly as Urick finally stopped shaking her. ”Ugh…” Naisha made annoyed sound as she noticed something was missing… a big comfortable hover chair.” They will most likely be fine… I think. Gippal has the luck of hero from ancient tales, if he died then there is something wrong with the whole world…” The black mage said as she tried to stand up, but the lack of strength and her staff quickly discouraged her from that idea.” I may need some help getting up…” She said quietly in shame."Also should I fire a well fire spell in the air? Maybe someone will see it and come?"

Urick found it funny Nai thought the same thing, but it was the truth. with out hesitation he lifted her into his arms, one arm under and around her back and the other under her legs. He then shook his head at her suggestion. He then struggled to say, "It's small...we will find them....soon enough" He then looked at her in the eyes. "You Rest."

He looked up into the sky at the sun which was almost half way till noon. Which was helpful, he was able to realize which direction was north because of it. He looked to Alex, who he was a bit more uncomfortable with now, after what happened on the boat. He had managed to talk to her and save her from getting majorly hurt, yet she only lashed out at him.

He pointed in the direction of south west which led into the jungle but was still close enough to the shore. Kilika would be that way if he remembered correctly. With that he started to walk, not waiting to see if Alex was coming.

Eva was terrified as she was pulled from Urick's strong grip. Yelling, "NONONONNONONONONONONONO!" But as soon as he hit the water he was gone, And even when she was under she tried to find him but the current from the Squids body was pulling her towards it. She struggled as much as she could but it was no use, Her head hit something hard and knocked her out cold.

---

She didn't have any dream.... it was black until she felt movement. Someone was asking something. She didn't know what. She moaned as Braska had picked her up but didn't do much as he walked with her in her arms. Slowly she came back to her senses, though the sun hurted her eyes so she didn't want to open them. She felt the warmth of the firm body against her cheek and pushed more against it, giving her some more comfort. She reached up and placed a hand on his chest over his heart, her cool thin fingers running down slightly, But they stopped suddenly. Wait. This wasn't Gippal. She opened her eyes wide as she looked at the bare chested chiseled chest in front of her, her eyes hidden from the mans view as her hair had covered her face. There was a large tattoo on the mans chest, that looked familiar but she was freaking out as she couldn't realize where it was from.

She looked up at the man's face, blacked out from the sun for a moment before her eyes readjusted. Her face was blank as her wide red eyes blinked four times. Suddenly it clicked, She was in another mans arms, not that bad looking, but it was a stranger. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

She shrieked and started slapping, punching and hitting the man who held her. Wriggling free she fell to the ground before scurrying away as fast as she could. till she managed to grab a wood plank. She then got to her knees and held the wood up in defense, totally holding it awkwardly> "PERVERT!" She yelled. Quickly checking her clothes to see if they were covering her still.

She stood up holding the wood blank threateningly at him. "Who are you! And where Am I? Where Are my friends?!" Her legs were shaking partially from being afraid and partially because she was still tired.

That precious sleep which he had fought so hard to resist had now engulfed him. However now he roused from slumber as he sat up straight. It was a scream. High pitched, possibly human and female. Or it was that of a fiend making some sort of call. Either way it was something that needed investigating quick. While the run may awakened him him his spirit wasn't quite rearing to go. Hopefully he wasn't running to hostiles as him not being there 100% wasn't going to help should things get hairy.

When he got to the source of the scream the scene wasn't exactly the most innocuous thing. What with the half naked man in close proximity to this panicking screaming girl. Things were definitely looking up. He just had to deal with one dumbass and not a horde of monsters. Sauntering over to them he said to the man, "And here's the part where I tell you to start talking or find yourself shredded into ribbons. And the only good you'll be is feeding the gulls and whatever else is on this island. So I suggest you get to it."

Gippal jerked awake at a scream. Groaning he pushed himself up ignoring the pain from his head, as well as the dizziness His eyes blinked many times trying to get in focus. Growling as he got to one knee. He looked around, seeing debris all around him and the sword that he had used to stab the squid with. How it managed to land up next to him he would never know. He gripped the hilt, he would probably do better with this blade than his Knifes as he couldn't move around like he normally did.

Standing up he staggered over to where he heard the scream. He then heard the same woman yell pervert. He knew that voice. He stumbled as he started to run. After what seemed forever to him as he pushed himself past rocks, trees and bushes. Till he saw her holding up a wood plank at some man who he couldn't see yet.

His adrenaline finally kicking in he managed to run up a rock and leaped infront of her slashing the sword forward towards the outline of the man he saw. No where near an attack, more of a threat. He didn't manage to land on his feet but on one knee. Wincing at the jolt, he breathed hard as he glared towards the man infront of him, blood from his head wound going into his right eye, forcing it shut. "Get back!" he said with a growl as the blade shook slightly in his hand, the weight of it plus how weak he was, was the factor in it.

Reaching back he grabbed Eva's hand asking "Are you ok?" with out looking back. His left eye finally adjusted to the sun and he saw who it was. Letting out a sigh he dropped the sword into the sand, holding onto the grip still. "Damn it Braska..." He said with a small smile. "No means no."

Alex sighed in relief at Naisha before standing up as Urick did before looking around. She jogged about the beach, her feet splashing against the water before she found a familiar handle. In which case she yanked it out and held up the hover chair. Shaking it a little to rid of the sand, she set it down and started to roll it as she walked beside Urick as he started walking. Her lips clenching together as her blue eyed stared ahead. She knew she snapped and she went overboard. It's not like Urick understood. He'd never understand. No one would. That wasn't their fault though.

She always had difficulty apologizing. It was hard. Even though it seemed she should do it often.

"Sorry... For snapping at you like that. Thanks for not letting me get crushed. I'm just... Mad. Or bitter. You're the first one crossing the border. And you weren't there when I needed you. It's not your fault, so sorry. You and Gippal are just... Really important to me. I have to thank Nai she was still around. I just wish... Eh forget." Alex said, her words fading as they went on, as if she didn't want to say them. She kept them cryptic, not really wanting her two friends to understand them. They'd just worry.

The red head had several reasons for snapping like that, though perhaps not good ones. She always had to be independent, had to protect herself, survive herself, so being protected now was a smack to her self esteem. Someone like her couldn't afford to need to be protected, especially by her friends. She knew. She would be dependent. She already was. There was the fact Urick seemed only able to talk to her when it was in a fight, and it wasn't usually friendly and it was so... Not Urick like. Yet he was fine with talking to Saina, and he couldn't talk to her when she wanted well needed information. Just pissed her off. It made her think he only thought her... As worthless. Then the other was the reason she gave. Although cryptic. She wondered, what would of happened if Naisha was nearby either? Perhaps, she really would have never seen her friends again. She couldn't help but wonder if they would ask about her.

Deciding not to dwell on the topic, Alex looked to Naisha and smiled. "Hey beautiful Nai-Magester! How bout I get you some nice Hot Cocoa when we get to Kilka? I think we hella deserve it! And tell me I'm awesome for getting you magic floaty chair!" she joked with a smirk and cheerful expression, taking a 180 in order to switch moods and be cheerful or her friend.

“Fine… I will preserve my strength…” Naisha said as Urick took her in his arms. The mage tried to keep herself from turning to face him directly as that god damned horn of hers now was going to hurt him if she didn’t pay attention.

“Hmmm… who are you calling magester..?!” Nai made surprised sound as she heard Alex talk. Then she heard about the hover chair! The mage’s eyes lit up brightly as she saw the familiar chair that Alex was holding by the handles.” Hoverchair!” Nai said with great joy.” Urick! Put me in my chair! Quickly… faster!” Nai was a child who finally found her favorite toy again. She loved her chair! Given how normally she barely can walk around, that chair was her salvation. She didn’t dislike being carried, but it was something else to be able to move as you want.

“Nothing appears broken…” Naisha said once her friend placed her in the chair. There was this problem with the fact it didn’t want to move actually. The mage made annoyed expression, the chair was hovering on magic so that was pretty much impossible to break, but it moved on alhbed technology. Maybe the engine broke in the water or it took a hit from a piece of the ship. Her joy quickly lessened.” It appears I need help still… and I will buy you all the hot cocoa you want!!! The drinks are on me!” Nai said and quickly made a happy expression.

“Hmm does anyone else have the feeling that sea monster attack wasn’t much of a coincidence actually? It appeared too well set up… damn… it still irks me… had I been in my top condition I would have blown off all them tentacles on that damned squid…” The mage added in annoyance.

Braska shook in pain of the girl slapped his sore body and screamed out pervert. "wait...." He threw his arms up in front of himself, waving them back and forth followed by shaking his head. He couldn't blame the woman as she had never seen him before but, he had to stop such overreacting. The concern of a fiend hearing them was quite large in his head and only grew as he heard the grass around him rustle. Suddenly another individual jumped out of nowhere to protect the pink haired woman. This just wasn't his day at all or was it? The young lady's noble knight turned out to be Gippal, a very hurt Gippal at that.

"I wasn't doing anything. I was helping and she got startled." Braska sighed and dropped down to one knee, his ribs still pulsing, "You look like crap, Gippal." It was nice to see a familiar face among the trees and the screaming female. Pushing back to his feet, Braska just smiled at his friend. Gippal and Braska had been friends for a long time, growing up in Besaid together. Yuna and Paine had the most hilarious stories of the kids together. Braska could count on Gippal to get out of this situation together.

Her lips pursed and eyes narrowed as the man tried to reason with her by shaking hsi head and waving his hands back and forth. Before he said anything though she glanced over to see someone running towards them, She let out a gasp as the man jumped out infront of her and landed on one knee facing her would be pervert. It was then she noticed it was Gippal! Her heart leaped when she saw him, he was alive!

When he took her hand she couldn't help her face turning red. She had to admit, she had had dreams like this during her two years with him. Everytime it happened she felt like a little schoolgirl. He looked back and asked if she was ok, She nodded, an grew concerned when she saw the blood on his face and in his eye. He looked back forward and after a moment he let his sword drop. Saying "Damnit Braska..." She pulled her head back in surprise. He knew this man? Apparently so as he said jokingly "No mean's no." What did he normally carry away knocked out women? She thought to herself. Only to realize it was a joke.

Braska then said Gippal looked like crap, to which Gippal threw back, "Funny I was about to say the same to you..." He let out a few pained chuckles. It was this point she knelt down next to him, not wanting to let go of his hand but had to while she took her own sleeve and wiped the blood from his face. While she did she softly said, "Enough Gippal..." She smiled softly when their red eyes connected. "You always push yourself too hard." whispered sadly. Once done she whispered a cure, sealing up the wound and used it once more on his body. He would be bruised but at least he wouldn't die.

Gippal smiled and said, "Thank you Eva." Ignoring her statement. He stood up and said, "Braska this is Eva. Eva, Braska. He's an old friend." She had stood slightly behind Gippal,using him as a shield almost against the pervert. she moved from behind him and whispered another cure for Braska, and saying softly with her eyes adverted. "Sorry for hitting and kicking you..."

“Fine… I will preserve my strength…” Naisha said as Urick took her in his arms. The mage tried to keep herself from turning to face him directly as he carried her.

Urick looked at Alex as she apologized to him for snapping at him, and thanking him. He raised an eyebrow at this, this was strange she usually had a hard time doing this, and it was completely out of the blue. She then said something that she decided against, but before he could tell her to say it she moved on running into the water. some how finding Nai's chair.

Deciding not to dwell on the topic, Alex looked to Naisha and smiled. "Hey beautiful Nai-Magester! How bout I get you some nice Hot Cocoa when we get to Kilka? I think we hella deserve it! And tell me I'm awesome for getting you magic floaty chair!" she joked with a smirk and cheerful expression, taking a 180 in order to switch moods and be cheerful or her friend.

“Hmmm… who are you calling magester..?!” Nai made surprised sound as she heard Alex talk. Then she heard about the hover chair! The mage’s eyes lit up brightly as she saw the familiar chair that Alex was holding by the handles.” Hoverchair!” Nai said with great joy.” Urick! Put me in my chair! Quickly… faster!” Urick nodded and moved over to the chair and placed her gently in it. He found it strange how the two were acting so soon after what happened. At which he blinked a few times watching them.

“Nothing appears broken…” Naisha said once her friend placed her in the chair. after checking it over.” It appears I need help still… and I will buy you all the hot cocoa you want!!! The drinks are on me!” Nai said and quickly made a happy expression. Why would she offer, didn't she know that they would help her with out the hot chocolate? Besides...hot chocolate in this weather? He would prefer a tall class of water...or a stream what ever came first.

“Hmm does anyone else have the feeling that sea monster attack wasn’t much of a coincidence actually? It appeared too well set up… damn… it still irks me… had I been in my top condition I would have blown off all them tentacles on that damned squid…” The mage added in annoyance.

Urick started walking again towards Kilika town, as Alex already was pushing the chair, not wanting to stand around a feel useless. When he heard her he swallowed. "Thane....wouldn't harm....Eva." He forced out as he started to sweat more, not because of the hot sun. He wondered if they would hear him this time, as they seemed to didn't hear him as he spoke before besides nai with telling her to rest.

He then started to wonder where the others were, also if Saina was alright, as he walked through the jungle with the others his thoughts turned to her question on the docks, looking around the jungle...which was similar to the forest.

---

Gippal looked as Eva healed Braska and apologized, he smiled wishing he had seen that. He moved up to Eva and said, "Come on guys lets go find everyone else. They were on Kilika, but he dare didn't say that. Last time they where here. He looked to Eva. Eva freaked out. To this day they don't know why she did, and nor did she. He would rather they be at the town when she did so he can get a room for her calm down in, or on the next ship out of here.

Looking up to the sun and noting the position he began to walk west. "The town might be this way." He said motioning them to come. as he kept the sword and let it rest on his shoulder. "What have you been up to these last five years Braska?" He said trying to make sure Braska doesn't say anything about the island

Alex grinned as Naisha perked up happily, eagerly demanding Urick to return the Mage to her rightful personal throne. Seeming to agree on Alex's words on hot cocoa and even dared saying she would pay for it. "Well if your offering to pay, I wouldn't mind a meal then until you tell me to knock it off." she laughed in a joking manner. Considering her appetite did usually cost quite a bit, one usually didn't offer to pay for her meal. She's forgotten how many times Lady Lulu's scolded her for being a glutton. Yet the black magic master still fed her occassionally when the younger girl came begging at her door. Scary woman, but nice all the same in her own way. It reminded her of the fond memories of a child. Hungry and looking for food. Usually from Lady Yuna or Lady Lulu and Naisha's mom. Whom also scolded her for wolfing down meals. Usually, the red head had to pay by doing choirs.

At Naisha's words about the monster and Urick softly stating that Thane wouldn't hurt Eva, Alex scoffed a little. Rubbing her aching sore shoulder a bit before resuming to push. She felt it throbbing but chose to ignore the pain. "Wouldn't put it passed him to try something like this but if was at least not willing to hurt Eva, it wouldn't be surprising if it was just a fiend as well and we have rotten luck. The fiend's as of late have been a bit out of control and dangerous. Since there haven't been summoners for twenty or so years to send them off to the Farplane and stuff." she mused before rolling her shoulders to stretch them a little.

"Well no worries, you'll get rested in no time and we can go and chop and fry those tentacles if it tries it again." Alex said confidently as she pushed the chair, being careful and looking out for anything to trip over or if a Fiend just decided to launch at one of her two friends.

Now that she was enjoying the comfort of her own chair, Nai was a lot more calm and relaxed. The chair was made specially to be extremely comfortable for her as she spend a lot and lot of time in it. Listening to her friend the mage tilted her head.” You know you may just be right on this one, Urick.” Nai stated nodded at Alex’s remark too.” I’ve heard from Lady Yuna and Lady Lulu that their luck when they were on a journey to combat Sin was all over the place. Surviving some pretty bad odds, but encountering monsters at every step almost even when Sin wasn’t commanding those monsters… Monsters do seem to be a lot more unpredictable and dangerous…, but does that mean that if Eva was about to die, then Thane would just fly over and save her?”

“I believe it may take me up to a few weeks to completely recover from the aftereffects from that ice spear…” Nai mentioned as she reached to her chest with her human arm. The pain she still felt seemed very real despite the absence of wounds.” Along with these… mutations my body is in complete mess… well I’m going to meditate a little bit to try to speed up my recovery. Wake me up if something happens… anything happens.” Nai said as she relaxed her body completely to enter a state of mind where she can sense the energy flowling through her body.'No wonder I can't channel magic energy properly...' She thought as she finaly saw exactly how messed up her body was. And then there was this problem with the additional presences in her mind. She ignored them for a while now, but they were getting annoying.