Metempsychosis

Metempsychosis

The first time Auron had seen the young Ronso had been on the foothills leading up to the heights of Gagazet. The former warrior monk had sensed someone was following him, his fellow guardian, and their summoner while they traveled the final leg of the pilgrimage to Zanarkand. His instincts proved correct when he spun swiftly around and caught the glowing yellow eyes peering at them from a cliff-face through the gentle snowfall, the blue and silver fur-lined shape almost fading into the cloudy mists of the mountain.

“What’s the matter, Auron?” Jecht pestered his companion. “Can’t you just relax? We’re almost done with this whole shindig!”

“The end of our pilgrimage is the most dangerous part,” Auron countered as he returned facing forward to stalk up the trail but stopped. “I would expect after this long traveling you would notice we are being tracked.”

Braska shook his head with a chuckle as if he was amused by the bantering of two young children.

“He is no threat to us,” the summoner commented, looking up at the Ronso. “The boy was at the edge of the Calm Lands near the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. He is simply curious.”

“A boy?!” Jecht exclaimed. “That big cat was nearly a head taller than all of us!”

“And he could probably take your head off easily, too,” Auron scoffed and went onward walking. “Let’s go. I do not want to get stuck in the blizzard that is coming.”

* * * * *
The cave was a warm respite from the chill outside but Kimahri hardly felt the cold under his thick coat. He had continued along on the tail of the company heading to the ruins but strayed out of their hearing and sight range after the warrior guardian had spotted him. Now he watched from high above while the men made camp, a small fire their only warmth with the few bits of dry kindling not soaked by the snow.

Kimahri had been wandering blindly for a few days, the shame of his confrontation with Biran and Yenke still fresh in his mind and the throbbing pain from the blow that had sheared off his horn. His uncles had found him running away and were trying in their own way, not understanding his situation well, to talk to him about his honor and future when the three men arrived. He had left his kin’s side at that point, interested to find out more about this group that appeared to be a collection of strange, dissimilar folk.

Having been deep in his thoughts, Kimahri did not notice until he sniffed the scent on the air that the warrior guardian was no longer in sight. He jumped to his feet and turned around, discovering the man several feet away, his large sword unsheathed.

“What do you want?”

“Kimahri bring guardians and summoner no fights,” he answered. “Only want to learn.”

“Learn what?”

“How to be great warrior like Summoner’s guardians,” Kimahri replied. “Kimahri want to be strong and win honor.”

The man stared at him with his dark brown eyes trying to read the Ronso’s intentions. Kimahri saw his gaze alight onto his broken horn so he gritted his teeth and stood taller.

“Do you wish to win honor for yourself or for others to respect?” the man asked.

Tweaking his head to the side slightly and flattening his ears back, he answered, “Kimahri want honor for himself. Other Ronso see nothing, only shame. Kimahri must win honor again.”

The man glanced down at his boots then looked back up at his companion.

“Honor is nothing,” the man finally spoke. “Good men do great things, small and large, everyday but no one may recognize those deeds. They are put into shame by those who crave and hold power.”

“Guardians and Summoner will have honor if Calm comes,” Kimahri said.

“You are still young and do not know the ways of Spira beyond this mountain,” the man said and started to walk away. “You will learn it eventually.”

* * * * *
The slaying of Sin could be seen all over Spira when the stars blazed and the sky lit up like a supernova. Auron had stared at the sky in awe while the waves of color danced on the wind before collapsing to his knees at the loss of his friends. The tears had fallen from his eyes when Braska’s limp body collapsed and vaporized into thin air by the hand of his former guardian, Jecht, the Final Aeon.

What pain that ripped through his body now was compounded by the emotional torment that tore at Auron inside of him. Yunalesca had torn apart his body, slashing skin and muscle from bone, while blood drained from him with his energy. The Al Bhed man who had found him had healed some hurts but Auron knew he was dying with each raspy breath he took. His head throbbing and body protesting, Auron had dragged himself from the tent in the middle of the Calm Lands to fulfill his promise even if it meant dying at his destination. He had collapsed after the strain had become too much, the thin grass of the road poking his face and cuts. No monsters had approached him that night but Auron realized his luck was running low when the gold eyes shone in the dark and came closer. It was only when the creature was a few feet away that Auron could see from his bruised eye, the only one left, that it was the young Ronso.

“Guardian must not move,” Kimahri spoke. “Must find healer and Summoner to send.”

“No,” Auron coughed out. “It is too late, there are none to find and my own Summoner… I have failed him.”

“Guardian has not failed. Sin is gone and guardian has honor.”

“I have not finished yet, there are things … I must do,” Auron sighed. “But I cannot go on…”

“Then where must Guardian go?” Kimahri asked as he helped Auron to sit up, propping him against a nearby rock.

“I made a promise to Braska,” Auron drew a long breath. “Where were you going to?”

“Kimahri traveling to find new home and honor,” the Ronso replied.

“You… would do me honor if you take my place… my promise I made… to my Summoner,” the warrior monk said. “Go to Bevelle and find Braska’s daughter, Yuna. Take her away… to Besaid.”

“Kimahri take High Summoner’s daughter to the island?” he confirmed.

“Yes, Kimahri will have… honor and my respect,” Auron said.

The Ronso nodded gravely, “Kimahri will go and bring Guardian honor in his good deeds.”

Auron tried to manage a smile under his mangled face and thumped his fist with his last strength against the young Ronso’s chest, “Sir Auron will remember you.”

Through the night Kimahri stayed with the body of the fallen guardian and had drifted asleep for a short time. When he awoke at dawn, Auron’s body was gone. Kimahri would have heard anyone come or leave the small clearing but he smelled the scent of the undead in the air. He did not understand what must have moved the guardian of High Summoner Braska to become one of the Unsent but it was much greater than the deed he had tasked him.

* * * * *
Kimahri had remained silent when the great Sir Auron had appeared and given his service to Kimahri’s Summoner. To Yuna, the daughter of his first Summoner. Kimahri knew the secrets, their story, of the legendary man who traveled with them now but he left them unsaid.

After Kimahri had went onward to Bevelle and took Yuna in his care, he had learned more of the guardian who had crossed his path. It pained him that such a great man had been tossed aside by those high in Yevon’s grace and temples, one who had shown immense courage and truth. He lived his life the way he thought the guardian would wish him to and would approve, always by Yuna’s side as her protector and friend. The man had become his absent saint and mentor.

This joining was taboo but they did not care. The first night on watch along the Long Road to Djose did they get to speak again since the coming of Braska’s Calm. The presence of the others in Yuna’s ragtag group of friends and guardians had not afforded them a private moment. What passed between them up till then they did not know or understand but the camaraderie they shared came out in the first glance and knowing nod.

It had been a long day along the road and their stop at the Al Bhed camp and shop afforded them the chance for the guardians and summoner to prove their strength, communication, and cooperation in destroying the monster eating all the Chocobos in the vicinity. Despite being on an adrenaline high from the exertion, most of the group had tucked in for the night… but not Kimahri and Auron. The seasoned guardian had found the Ronso standing outside the tent, staring into the darkness like an ancient statue.

“Kimahri watch for more monsters,” he said when Auron walked out the door and spotted him. “Long Road has many fiends.”

“It does,” Auron nodded then paused as Kimahri sniffed the air.

“Kimahri remembers day on road. Kimahri remember Sir Auron,” the Ronso said. “Sir Auron different now. Smell strange.”

“Hhmph,” Auron huffed and walked out a little ways to look upon the ruins in the ocean, the full moon reflecting in the calm waters and bathing Spira in a silvery glow. “I knew you would not be fooled.”

“Where did Sir Auron go?”

“Away,” the guardian responded simply but he knew the Ronso was not stupid and had heard parts of Tidus’ rant and knew of the friendship with Auron, that perhaps Tidus’ rants about a beautiful, bustling city of Zanarkand were really true. “You have become a warrior.”

Kimahri exhaled a snort of appreciation as he walked up behind Auron, “Kimahri do as Sir Auron asked and found Yuna. Kimahri feel great honor to be her friend.”

Auron chuckled deeply in his chest, almost like a rusty, creaky door opening. It was fleeting and soon disappeared on the night air.

“Good, and I never expected you to remain with her but… thank you. I see she needed someone when I could not be the one,” Auron said finally. “I meant, though, you have become the warrior you wanted to be. That was good fighting today against the fiend.”

“Kimahri still learning every day. Kimahri glad Auron proud of him. It is great honor to Kimahri.”

It was the first time Auron had not heard the Ronso preface his name with ‘sir’ and he looked up into the furry face of his companion that stared back at him. The heavy paw-hand on his shoulder seemed to test that Auron was truly there and solid, not a ghost. The trust and understanding in the Ronso’s yellow eyes were unlike what Auron had seen in a long time. The adult that Kimahri had grown to become from the adolescent he had met ten years earlier was taller and broader than he once was, stronger of heart and confidence, too. They were peerless except to one another, warriors with no match, and strangers among friends.

* * * * *

The rough bristles of Kimahri's tongue were foreign to Auron but yet unexpectedly exotic and enticing. The warrior monk let his head roll back as the Ronso moved down his torso, from his neck to his chest, and further onward. Auron felt his instincts fighting him, the urge to protect himself kept biting at the back of his mind. Yet, the sensations were alluring as if he were on the brink of danger and teasing death once more. Feeling Kimahri's hot breath accompanying his caresses teased Auron's senses but the occaisional nick and cool touch of Kimahri's fangs sent his blood rushing.

Kimahri paid special attention to the scars and old hurts that marred his companion's body, seeking to give him release from that which still haunted him. He still did not understand what had brought them to this intimacy but they were tied together, Kimahri was part of Auron's life when he was alive and now as an Unsent. They had a common ground that bound them like no other in their group of guardians and summoner. After their discussion on the Long Road, everything had changed. The boyhood role model and worship had taken on a new development but Kimahri did not know what it was that Auron felt to let go and allow their joining. The day had been the worst yet since the carnage of Kilika in Sin's wake; the devilish curse had hurt them all that evening. Both of them had been up most of the night helping Yuna and the other healers care for the injured and the dead. Only afterward when all had finally slept inside the temple from the exhaustion did Kimahri and Auron find their moment further away in the crevaces of the nearby cliffs.

It was an escape from the pain and reality around them. The beginning had started roughly, tearing at one another with their full strength and power to feel the common ground they shared and the limits the other would take them to in their play. Kimahri had pinned him first and Auron had relinquished some of his misgivings and uncertainties to see what the Ronso had planned for him.

Auron moaned loudly when Kimahri's tongue found his arousal, the same bristles shooting unknown currents of pleasure throughout his body. The ocean waves crashing noisily against the cliffs drowned out their sounds and cries while a random rumble of thunder from Djose Temple exploded above and vibrated deep within their chests. The flash of the lightning gave the Ronso an eerie appearance as he hunched over Auron, like an animal stalking his prey, which gave the human guardian more of an adrenaline rush against his instinctual habit. The low grumble from Kimahri's throat further enticed him to find his release yet, he was not quite done. Moving swiftly, Auron grabbed Kimahri's wrists roughly then swung his weight up by grabbing him by the neck and shoulders.

The Ronso twisted away, trying to turn them together onto his back with Auron above but he saw the flash of excitement in Auron's one eye that called out to him to give in a little as well just as the warrior monk had earlier. However, the next turn surprised Kimahri completely and he let out a roar as Auron delved into him. He held onto the man's shoulders, not realizing his claws were no longer retracted and drew blood from the muscled forearms and shoulderblades. The unaccustomed intrusion eventually eased and Kimahri moved with Auron, enjoying the extension of power the man exerted into him. He watched his hero move, muscles taut as he held down Kimahri with most of his strength, their faces not far apart. Flawless and in rhythm they found their pace that kept drawing them higher and stronger: Kimahri's claws loosening as the pleasure finally overtook him and Auron's body sagged, finally dropping on top of his broad chest as he released himself within the Ronso.

Staring up into the starry sky, Kimahri knew that with Auron on by their side that they would defeat Sin again, if not forever.