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FFX. Kimahri Ronso. 074. Dark
Title: Ride the Shoopuf
Fandom: Final Fantasy X
Characters: Yuna, Kimahri
Rating: G
Word Count: 1051
Summary: Kimahri and Yuna take the last Shoopuf across the Moonflow.
Kimahri greeted the above ground with a chuff of relief. Yuna had enjoyed her stay in Guadosalam, too much perhaps. Three days of feasting and listening to the stories of Jyscal's priest son had left her fascinated, and almost adamant on staying in Macalania as Seymour's apprentice. Only Kimahri's invocation of her father's wishes had prompted Yuna to leave Guadosalam for the next land.
"Look! Look, Kimahri!" Yuna pointed to the purple waters in the distance. The pyreflies rose as the sun set, and Yuna ran to the water dipping her hands in and trying to catch a pyrefly. "It's so pretty!"
Kimahri agreed. Though Yuna saw more of the colors than he did, and even listed off their names in a fit of seven-year-old whimsy, Kimahri could see the darkening sky and the beautiful lights that rose from the surface of the water and glowed. Rifts seemed to mend over that sight.
"That's the Moonflow. We learned about it in school. It's the largest freshwater body in all of Spira. And those are the Pyreflies. And when we cross it, we have to ride the Shoopuf? Have you seen a Shoopuf before?"
"Kimahri has not." Hand-in-hand, they walked across the dirt road from the edge of the Moonflow Forest to the boarding platform.
Gagazet had introduced Kimahri to many fiends, many large fiends. Visiting summoners had shown their Aeons to the Ronso, always willing to watch a show of summoner skills, though inevitably, Ronso lore said, only those who made no pretense at having skills actually came down the mountain to defeat Sin. On his trek through the Calm Lands, he even remembered seeing a Chocobo or two, some of them large enough to hold a normal-sized Ronso. Yet Kimahri could not recall ever seeing something quite like a Shoopuf, or their Hypello handlers.
The Shoopuf stood more than twice Kimahri's height, and probably more than twice his width as well, and a nose that could put the Ronso horn to shame. The seat strapped to his back could hold five or more human passengers comfortably. For a human girl and a Ronso this late in the evening, it would be almost too luxurious. Yet, even Kimahri could feel a twinge of excitement somewhere within him to cross the Moonflow on such a beast.
Yuna ran circles around him, giddy..."Shoopuf, shoopuf, shoopuf!" Even before Kimahri could climb up the stairs Yuna was at the Shoopuf Handler asking for a ticket.
"You'sh lucky, yesh?" He said to Yuna. "Thish ish lasht ride for shoopuf tonight. Misshy want a ticket?"
"Two please. One for me, and one for Kimahri."
"All Aboards!"
Kimahri felt his teeth chatter as the little metal lift placed them on even ground with the Shoopuf's back. Yuna boarded first, taking the seat at one of the Shoopuf's sides, the one that would give her a better view than the others. Kimahri sat next to her, not allowing himself to relax even here, where danger seemed non-existent.
The Shoopuf's steps on the ground were heavy, shaking the caravan with each step, but when the creature entered the water, the easy flowing of motion reminded Kimahri of his first attempts at swimming, only without the trouble of getting wet. The warm air of the evening and the faint smell of water and earth on the wind and the crickets chirping made Kimahri's resolve to remain vigilant seem almost unreasonable. Yet anything could happen.
Yuna's scream alerted him to the issue, and then the splash as Yuna disappeared into the shadows beneath the water.
Had he not been trained as a warrior. He would have screamed. He would have jumped into the water, if not to rescue his charge then to follow her into death. The warrior's training could almost, but not quite, hold back those instinctive reactions as he spent the next few seconds in panicked contemplation of what to do next.
The Shoopuf and his Hypello handler did not seem to have this panic. Almost as soon as the scream had sounded, the Shoopuff and stopped, walked back three steps and fished Yuna from the water, drenched and smelling of underwater plants but healthy and none the worse for her fall in the water.
In fact, she laughed. When the Shoopuf placed her in her exact seat, she laughed and squealed, her shrieks disturbing the otherwise tranquil evening. And a few steps later, Kimahri heard another splash, this time without the alarmed squeal, and yet the Shoopuf did the same routine, step back three steps, pick up Yuna and place her back onto her original seat.
Kimahri wanted to invoke her father. He wanted to scream or bellow as one would do to a Ronso child who climbed too high on the mountain just for the thrill of the risk, but the relaxed attitude of the Shoopuf and his handler seemed to prevent him from saying anything. If they were not worried, and they took countless trips across the Moonflow, then shouldn't Kimahri trust their knowledge as humans trusted the Ronso knowledge of their mountains?
Yuna continued jumping in four or five times before the drawl of the Shoopuf handler stopped her. "That'sh enough misshy. We'sh near the shore now, yesh?"
"Kimahri..." Yuna whined.
"Kimahri thinks that Yuna should listen to Shoopuf handler. Has been doing work here for many years."
"Three monsh thish Tueshday."
"No he hasn't." Yuna seemed almost obliged to point out the misinformation.
"Kimahri wrong. Kimahri sorry."
"That's okay, Kimahri. Look, it's the other shore. Can you believe we rode a Shoopuf?" The smooth bobbing ride of the Shoopuf from water transformed back into the bumpy unsteady gait, as it stepped on the shore.
"Good night!" The Hypello handler called, as the elevator took them down to solid ground.
The sky had darkened considerably, the sun replaced by the tiny sliver of a waning moon. And against the perfect blackness, the light of pyreflies glowed against the surface of the water echoing the constellations of Alexander and Leviathan in the summer sky.
"Kimahri, come on! Buy me a towel so I can dry off!" Yuna pulled him away from the shore to the row of garishly lit shops and stalls selling every manner of overpriced goods.
"Kimahri coming." Admiring the night could wait.
Fandom: Final Fantasy X
Characters: Yuna, Kimahri
Rating: G
Word Count: 1051
Summary: Kimahri and Yuna take the last Shoopuf across the Moonflow.
Kimahri greeted the above ground with a chuff of relief. Yuna had enjoyed her stay in Guadosalam, too much perhaps. Three days of feasting and listening to the stories of Jyscal's priest son had left her fascinated, and almost adamant on staying in Macalania as Seymour's apprentice. Only Kimahri's invocation of her father's wishes had prompted Yuna to leave Guadosalam for the next land.
"Look! Look, Kimahri!" Yuna pointed to the purple waters in the distance. The pyreflies rose as the sun set, and Yuna ran to the water dipping her hands in and trying to catch a pyrefly. "It's so pretty!"
Kimahri agreed. Though Yuna saw more of the colors than he did, and even listed off their names in a fit of seven-year-old whimsy, Kimahri could see the darkening sky and the beautiful lights that rose from the surface of the water and glowed. Rifts seemed to mend over that sight.
"That's the Moonflow. We learned about it in school. It's the largest freshwater body in all of Spira. And those are the Pyreflies. And when we cross it, we have to ride the Shoopuf? Have you seen a Shoopuf before?"
"Kimahri has not." Hand-in-hand, they walked across the dirt road from the edge of the Moonflow Forest to the boarding platform.
Gagazet had introduced Kimahri to many fiends, many large fiends. Visiting summoners had shown their Aeons to the Ronso, always willing to watch a show of summoner skills, though inevitably, Ronso lore said, only those who made no pretense at having skills actually came down the mountain to defeat Sin. On his trek through the Calm Lands, he even remembered seeing a Chocobo or two, some of them large enough to hold a normal-sized Ronso. Yet Kimahri could not recall ever seeing something quite like a Shoopuf, or their Hypello handlers.
The Shoopuf stood more than twice Kimahri's height, and probably more than twice his width as well, and a nose that could put the Ronso horn to shame. The seat strapped to his back could hold five or more human passengers comfortably. For a human girl and a Ronso this late in the evening, it would be almost too luxurious. Yet, even Kimahri could feel a twinge of excitement somewhere within him to cross the Moonflow on such a beast.
Yuna ran circles around him, giddy..."Shoopuf, shoopuf, shoopuf!" Even before Kimahri could climb up the stairs Yuna was at the Shoopuf Handler asking for a ticket.
"You'sh lucky, yesh?" He said to Yuna. "Thish ish lasht ride for shoopuf tonight. Misshy want a ticket?"
"Two please. One for me, and one for Kimahri."
"All Aboards!"
Kimahri felt his teeth chatter as the little metal lift placed them on even ground with the Shoopuf's back. Yuna boarded first, taking the seat at one of the Shoopuf's sides, the one that would give her a better view than the others. Kimahri sat next to her, not allowing himself to relax even here, where danger seemed non-existent.
The Shoopuf's steps on the ground were heavy, shaking the caravan with each step, but when the creature entered the water, the easy flowing of motion reminded Kimahri of his first attempts at swimming, only without the trouble of getting wet. The warm air of the evening and the faint smell of water and earth on the wind and the crickets chirping made Kimahri's resolve to remain vigilant seem almost unreasonable. Yet anything could happen.
Yuna's scream alerted him to the issue, and then the splash as Yuna disappeared into the shadows beneath the water.
Had he not been trained as a warrior. He would have screamed. He would have jumped into the water, if not to rescue his charge then to follow her into death. The warrior's training could almost, but not quite, hold back those instinctive reactions as he spent the next few seconds in panicked contemplation of what to do next.
The Shoopuf and his Hypello handler did not seem to have this panic. Almost as soon as the scream had sounded, the Shoopuff and stopped, walked back three steps and fished Yuna from the water, drenched and smelling of underwater plants but healthy and none the worse for her fall in the water.
In fact, she laughed. When the Shoopuf placed her in her exact seat, she laughed and squealed, her shrieks disturbing the otherwise tranquil evening. And a few steps later, Kimahri heard another splash, this time without the alarmed squeal, and yet the Shoopuf did the same routine, step back three steps, pick up Yuna and place her back onto her original seat.
Kimahri wanted to invoke her father. He wanted to scream or bellow as one would do to a Ronso child who climbed too high on the mountain just for the thrill of the risk, but the relaxed attitude of the Shoopuf and his handler seemed to prevent him from saying anything. If they were not worried, and they took countless trips across the Moonflow, then shouldn't Kimahri trust their knowledge as humans trusted the Ronso knowledge of their mountains?
Yuna continued jumping in four or five times before the drawl of the Shoopuf handler stopped her. "That'sh enough misshy. We'sh near the shore now, yesh?"
"Kimahri..." Yuna whined.
"Kimahri thinks that Yuna should listen to Shoopuf handler. Has been doing work here for many years."
"Three monsh thish Tueshday."
"No he hasn't." Yuna seemed almost obliged to point out the misinformation.
"Kimahri wrong. Kimahri sorry."
"That's okay, Kimahri. Look, it's the other shore. Can you believe we rode a Shoopuf?" The smooth bobbing ride of the Shoopuf from water transformed back into the bumpy unsteady gait, as it stepped on the shore.
"Good night!" The Hypello handler called, as the elevator took them down to solid ground.
The sky had darkened considerably, the sun replaced by the tiny sliver of a waning moon. And against the perfect blackness, the light of pyreflies glowed against the surface of the water echoing the constellations of Alexander and Leviathan in the summer sky.
"Kimahri, come on! Buy me a towel so I can dry off!" Yuna pulled him away from the shore to the row of garishly lit shops and stalls selling every manner of overpriced goods.
"Kimahri coming." Admiring the night could wait.
no subject
Lovely description and characterizations in this one, right down to the minute details like the handler only working three months, and Yuna's bossy correction.
Kimahri's so very patient.
I
BTW: your description of Yuna has just confirmed my decision to avoid children at all times and in all ways.
This was a telling little tidbit. I enjoyed it greatly. ;)