Underwater

I think I had a dream. A dream of being alone. I wanted someone -- Anyone, beside me... so I didn't have to feel alone anymore. I hate being alone, but what's worse is being left alone. As such, this was just slightly better than before.

Again, I have no idea what happened then, but I woke up, some time later. I was in a ruined place, it seemed. I yelled for someone to help me, but I soon found that I was really all alone. Part of the ruins were flooded and it wasn't before long before some other fiends attacked me. They were orange fish-like creatures. I was pretty scared even then, being on my own there. But they went down quickly and I found that they were not really strong...

But just before I wanted to hack away at the last one, suddenly a huge beast appeared and started attacking me. I couldn't seem to harm it, so... I ran, err, swam as fast as I could. Barely made it to a tunnel of sorts. There, I was finally somewhat sheltered, but I was feeling cold. I gathered a few items and was actually able to light a fire.

There, I finally had a chance to finally rest a bit and think about what happened. I was some place I did not know after a monster attacked my home, I was alone, cold and now... hungry too. I always had a large appetite. Fortunately, I didn't show, training and all that, but I was starving then.

I did not know what to do. To be frank, I was totally lost. So, I just sat there, watching the fire, hoping that some idea would strike me. Having nothing better to do, it soon became harder and harder to keep my eyes open and I dozed off a bit. No clue how much time went by, but when I woke up, the fire was nearly all gone out. To make things worse, a fiend had appeared. That one was more like a four-legged spider, and it had blades on its limbs too... I panicked when it started slashing at me.

I could have really died there, too. I started to swing my sword wildly against it, for all the good it would do me. I landed some hits, but so did it. Really, I thought I'd end up being killed there, if not for timely backup.

Yup, before I again knew what was happening, stuff happened. At least it was good stuff, I figured. Five people stormed in the room and the smallest of them quickly ran to my side. It would seem as if she was intent on fighting by my side, so yeah, you could say I was relieved. She just chucked a grenade or two at the monster and boom, it was dead.

I fell on my butt again as the monster vanished, freed of the tension that had stiffened my body. "Phew... hey, thanks for your help.", I thanked her. She had removed the goggles of her outfit and yeah, she was a girl, at least something. Cute girl, too, about my own age, maybe a year or two younger. I think I took a liking to her even then. Of course, having saved my life gives her a few bonus points right off the bat anyway.

But her friends were a little odd. The next instant, I was pulled up. BY MY HAIR! I didn't like that one bit, and I suppose the guy who did that learned his lesson after I punched him square in the face. He let go immediately and stumbled back. Yeah, serves him right, I thought.

But, his buddys were already pointing at me with guns. Okay, now that got me stop. Raising my hand to show them I was no threat, I stood frozen in place. They talked to each other, but I couldn't understand them. It was... a totally different language. "Uhm... hello?", I tried to ask them, but I wasn't even paid attention to.

Instead, a knife was pushed to my throat. Finally, the girl stepped in the conversation. She spoke to the others, and thankfully, they stepped away from me. Instead, the girl now stood in front of me.

"Lyh oui ihtancdyht sa (Can you understand me)?", she said.

Judging from the upswing in her voice, she had asked me something. But again, I had no clue what she had said. "Huh?" was my best answer.

The girl sighed, turned to her friends and told them something in that weird tongue of theirs. Then she turned to look at me again. "So you don't speak Al Bhed, huh?", she asked me, sounding somewhat disappointed.

But I was overjoyed. "You... you do speak my language?", I answered with an incredelous look.

"Yeah. Sure I do...", she said, looking at me as if she was sizing me up.

"Hey, that's great!", I exclaimed. At least things were looking up again. In my joy, I was pretty much about to hug this girl right there, but again, I had guns pointed right at my nose before I could do so much as a step towards her. Those guys were a real downer.

"Uh, the guys think you're a fiend. A fiend using a human disguise.", the younger girl told me.

"What? Are they-... no, I'm not!", I held back the insult back then. I know I'm not the smartest head around, but even I don't risk to anger those with the guns. "The name's Tida, I'm not a fiend.", I tried to explain.

The girl looked at my face one last time, the mask of her outfit framing her face. "I believe you.", she said. Don't tell me she actually believed I was a fiend too for a moment. "You gotta come back to our ship for now, Tida.". It wasn't much of a request, more of an order, but...

"Well, alright... I guess.", I muttered. I still felt uncomfortable with them pointing their guns at me at the slightest movement, but it was a thousand times better than staying here. So, I followed them...