timeandtides_backup | Daring rescue missions.

Entry tags:

Daring rescue missions.

Characters: Warrior of Light, Firion, Tifa Lockhart, (Tidus if he is coming?)
Progress: Incomplete
Summary: Firion got himself trapped in the Ice Caverns, but his friends are finally coming to rescue him.
Location: The Ice Caverns
Date: July (Not long after
Warnings: Hopefully there won't be any need.

The journey from the swamp where he had appeared to this place had been wearying, after having just (in his timeline, anyway) defeated Chaos, but he drove himself to continue. He was still needed, so he would not falter until his task was finished, no matter how tired he was. After all, simply walking there was not any great feat, simply one that took determination. He had done more difficult things for that in the battle against Chaos.

He had made the journey as quickly as he could, and once he arrived, he paused to rest while he waited for Tifa and Tidus to appear. It might have been more productive to begin the search for his lost friend, but he was tired, and it would be better for him to wait until he had others with him. He had already told Firion of the foolishness of going off on his own, and to then do so himself would be hypocrisy, especially if, in his weariness, he became injured. So instead of starting to search, he took a seat on the ground and stayed there to rest.

While he stopped to regain his energy, he caught sight of a glint of metal from among the rocks. Curiosity piqued, he stood and walked over. It only took a moment to shift away the small rocks covering it to reveal a blade, reddish in color and familiar. It was Firion's sword, with his other weapons piled underneath it and mostly hidden from view.

Carefully, the Warrior of Light began to remove each one, checking them for damage or dulling to the blades. Firion had said at one point that most of his weapons were taken, but this might as well be all of them. He was stuck in the Ice Caverns with only a knife to defend himself. At that realization, the Warrior began to search for the entrance to the Caverns. This was even worse than he had thought.

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There were two entrances to the Ice Cavern: one down on the Mist-filled plains and one high up on the plateau not far from Dali. After flying to South Gate, Tifa and Tidus hired a pair of chocobos and headed to the lower entrance, which was closest.

Tifa was worried about Firion. How on earth had he got himself stuck in the Ice Cavern? She knew that he was upset about Cloud and Minwu's disappearances, but she hadn't realised that he would choose to go somewhere so dangerous. And Warrior of Light... What a strange name. She didn't know who he was, only that he was another comrade of Cloud's and the others in that strange other world they spoke of. He had only just arrived; it was unfair to leave it to him to rescue his friend.

"There it is," she said, spotting the dark mouth of a cave. She turned her chocobo towards it and approached cautiously, peering through the Mist.

He'd explain later that Light couldn't remember his own name, so that was just what they called him. For now, getting to the Ice Cavern was more important - whatever Firion had gotten himself into, he needed someoe to pull him out of it.

Tidus was less circumspect in approaching the cavern, not slowing his bird until he was almost at the mouth of the cave - and probably about to run Light over. Brotherhood was on his back, and he'd actually remembered to grab a bagful of healing items, since the best healer they had was... him. Crap.

"Light? Hey, Shiny, come on!" Get out here man! They have a rescue to perform!

Firion had finally killed enough of the monsters to leave him quite a bit of time to just rest. He was tired, cold, and hungry. He huddled beneath a ledge, his cape wrapped around him and his dagger back in its sheath at his calf. Pressing his face into his arms, he wondered when the others would arrive. He was going to have to explain a lot, since this looked completely ridiculous from the outside.

But he knew at this point that he had been tricked. The little girl wasn't real, but the impostor was no where to be found. He'd simply cast a Sleep spell, took Firion's weapons, and left him in an unknown part of the cavern. Firion couldn't find the entrance and he didn't know why. He was sure he had remembered the way, but every corridor of the cavern led to either a dead end or a blocked entrance. He wasn't strong enough to move the blockages either.

All he could do was wait for his friends to arrive and simply try not to fall asleep.

The arrival of the other two made the Warrior glance up, then step hurriedly aside as Tidus nearly trampled him with his Chocobo, all while calling out to him eagerly. "I'm here, Tidus," he said, stepping forward and nodding at the both of them. "I found most of Firion's weapons, hidden near the cave entrance, and there is a pile of rubble blocking much of the way further into the caverns."

He didn't have to point out the obvious signs of a plot against their friend, or say how worried he was by it. This was not simply Firion getting lost in a cave. Someone had intentionally tried to trap him there, although letting him keep his Sky Phone was either carelessness or the sign of some greater plot. The Warrior sincerely hoped that it was the former.

Tifa dismounted, shooting Tidus a stern look for almost running the Warrior over. "Are you all right?" she asked anxiously, looking for any obvious signs of injury or fatigue.

Then the sight of Firion's lost weapons and the blocked cave entrance distracted her. Firion wouldn't have left his weapons outside... unless he was suicidal, and Tifa really hoped it hadn't come to that.

She walked up to examine the rubble. "So somehow we've got to get through this... I don't suppose either of you guys can blast your way in there?"

If not, they'd have to do it the hard, slow way: by hand.

If Firion had come to that, Tidus would drag him back. No way was he allowed to run off like that without telling him, and no way was he allowed to to get that bad without coming to him first. It wasn't often that Tidus was allowed to be the one to knock some sense into someone, but this time probably counted.

"Okay, Tifa, this is the Warrior of Light, Light, this is Tifa, Cloud's..." Here he paused for a moment, trying to find the correct word. There wasn't... really any way he could refer to this without making Tifa sad, was there. In the end, he just left it. "I dunno, maybe we should've brought someone else with us who's got some explosives. Looks like we're just gonna have to dig."

He kicked away one of the rocks with his boot, watching it roll off and trying to figure it out, frowning just a little. Firion wasn't dumb enough to walk straight into a trap - was he?

"I am well, Miss Lockhart," The Warrior said with a brief nod. The brief and unfinished introduction from Tidus was a bit strange, especially when he trailed off about Tifa's standing with Cloud, but there would be time to go into more detail about it at a later point. At the moment, the priority was still Firion.

The Warrior of Light paused to remove his helmet and set it down near most of Firion’s weapons before stepping to join Tidus by the pile of rubble. The added height from the horns would make maneuvering in a cave difficult, to the point where any extra defense from the helmet was unimportant.

“We do not have anyone with that expertise, Tidus, and we did not know it would be necessary.” He said, already beginning to pull some of the rubble away from the pile blocking the way.

Tifa looked away when Tidus stumbled over her relationship with Cloud, trying not to show that it got to her. It wasn't the right time to dwell on that.

She straightened up and nodded. "Then let's dig."

Joining the Warrior, she too started to clear the rubble. Tifa was strong and used to working with her hands, and very soon a gap appeared in the rubble.

"I'll go in first," she said, climbing in. There was a hole just big enough for her now, as the smallest of the three, and she cleared a path as she crawled through, hoping that the whole thing wasn't about to collapse on her...

A minute or two later, she emerged on the other side, dusty but unharmed. "I'm through! I think it's safe enough for you guys to follow."

"But we know people who can use that stuff here, I've got this friend Rikku and she can blow up anything..." But it wasn't the time to talk about stuff like What If and Might Have Been 'cause they didn't have anyone there like that.

Since the entrance wasn't that big and Tifa beat him to it (and Tidus knew very well not to try and insist he do it instead of her), he stayed more off to the side, tossing aside other rocks and broken branches that were going to get in their way. Once Tifa was through, he was able to climb up and take her place, sticking his head into the hole to test it out.

"We're gonna have to make it bigger, hang on for a sec-" At least it was a problem easily solved, as Tidus just started shoving rocks behind him to fall down the debris slope. Within a couple of minutes it was big enough for him, as the smaller guy, to wriggle through, though Light would probably have some issues with it.

"Blowing up this rubble might not be the best course of action, in any case." the Warrior grunted, as he pulled away pieces of stone and putting them down to the side, as out of the was as he could. He set about it without saying anything more, devoting all of his attention to clearing a path, and not the banter that almost continued.

After several minutes of working, they had made a gap in the rubble, and Tifa was crawling carefully through it. He wouldn't have judged it large enough for any of them to fit through comfortably, but Tifa somehow managed to squeeze through the gap ahead of either of the men. It made sense for the smallest of them to go through before the rest, and Tifa certainly seemed competent, but the Warrior was slightly nervous to let an unarmed woman enter the cave before either him or Tidus. He didn’t yet know of Tifa’s fighting abilities.

Tidus was correct about having to make the gap larger. After Tidus’s work, though, it still seemed smaller than comfortable for a man wearing armor to get through. After Tidus finished squeezing through, the Warrior stayed on the other side for several moments, trying to figure out the easiest way to get through without knocking all of the rubble down on himself.

Finally, he set to moving. He took his sword, and Firion’s, as well as his shield, and arranged them into a neat pile. Then, he took off his cape and wrapped it around the weapons to create a temporary bundle. The items would be unwieldy to carry through the small passageway. He passed the items through, and then crawled through himself, wincing when his armor was scraped by the rocks. Still, he got through to the other side.

Tifa smiled in relief when they all made it through unharmed. She looked around the cavern. It wasn't dark at all; in fact, it was almost easier to see because the cavern wasn't so thick with Mist. The sparkling ice reflected the light. It really was a beautiful place, if chilly.

"Well, I guess the only way is up," she reflected.

There was only one visible path. Tifa waited to make sure that the others were ready, then set off through the cavern.

Tidus had absolutely no problem with Tifa going first - she'd deck him if he objected. He kind of preferred his jaw in one piece.

The very first thing that Tidus noticed as he stepped away from the entrance was the cold blasting at him, and he shuddered a little. Luca's clothing was not meant for this sort of weather, and he was already starting to freeze. The rocks everywhere also brought back a set of not so happy memories, and he shook his head as he moved with Tifa. "Like Gagazet all over again... Hey! Firion!" he called out, cupping his hands around his mouth to help the sound carry. "Hello! Rosebud?! Where are you!"

No, the nickname would never, ever die.

Firion hadn't realized that he had fallen asleep until he heard Tidus' voice and even then, he wasn't sure if he was even awake or not. He opened his eyes slightly, regarding the brightness and the ice around him before making a small, weak sound as he closed his eyes. But then he heard, "Hello! Rosebud?! Where are you!" and his eyes opened again. That nickname would, indeed, never die. And Tidus truly was calling him.

Looking around to take stock of his condition, he noticed that he was still under that ledge, curled up beneath his cape. It provided some warmth, hence how he'd curled up in it as he slept. Though he honestly still couldn't remember falling asleep. He hoped he hadn't been asleep for too long. Groaning, he moved his hands to push himself up. His muscles were having a hard time cooperating as they were stiff and cold. He pushed himself to his knees, wetting his mouth and lips that were far too dry to speak properly. "Tidus?" He called, it was weak but it echoed slightly.

He grabbed the ledge and pulled himself up the rest of the way, "Ugh..." His legs were not happy with him, but he ignored the pain in favor of his friends.

The Warrior put on his cape once again- the cave really was chilly- but kept his sword in hand. Firion had mentioned monsters, and had been attacked by them. It would be unwise to let down his guard.

He followed Tifa and Tidus through the passageways of the cave, content to serve as the rear guard while the two of them kept an eye out for Firion. So far, though, the route only had one direction. It couldn’t have been that hard for Firion to find the place where the entrance was supposed to be, unless he had been moved to a completely different part of the cave by his attacker. Hopefully, he was close to them. It would be best if they could leave the cave again quickly.

He almost reprimanded Tidus for yelling, but it would make it easier to find Firion, if the other Cosmos Warrior were still awake to hear them, and he had to hide a smile as Tidus shouted “Rosebud.” It seemed some things never changed.

"Ahead, I heard something. We should hurry." It had been small, only an echo, but certainly not an echo of Tidus's shout.

Tifa nodded and sped up her pace, joining in with Tidus' shouting. "Firion! Firion, are you there?"

The cavern was opening up now, a much bigger and brighter area - and with more than one path to choose. They needed Firion to respond to head in the right direction, so she listened carefully, trying to discern where the faint call had come from.

Picking up the pace next to Tifa, Tidus charged ahead easily - until reaching the fork in the path. Whatever monsters existed here seemed, for the moment, to have been eradicated, although of course more would come. They always did. For now, though, it was one less obstacle.

But Tidus skidded to a halt at the branching paths, looking between them in confusion and then shaking his head and raising his hands again. "Firion! Tell us where you are, man!" Come on, did you want to be found or not?

Firion was still in the process of trying to get his limbs to work again when he heard both Tifa and Tidus call for him once more. If he remembered correctly, this passage led to a fork in the tunnels, allowing him to get lost. Using the wall to keep himself steady, he continued to walk. "Down here! Stay where you are or you will lose your way."

No use in getting each other lost, after all. It wasn't long before he reached the end and it was a welcoming sight to see everyone there.

It was frustrating, to be forced to stop for something as small as a split in the path. But the way voices echoed in these caverns, they couldn’t tell which way the sounds had been coming from. The only thing they could do was stay by the fork and continue to call for Firion. Hopefully, he would call back to them.

He did. It was still difficult to tell which passage the sound was coming from, but that didn’t matter, because soon enough Firion had appeared in one of the passages, leaning against the wall and looking wore the wear for his time in the caverns.

As soon as he saw his comrade, Light started forward. “Firion! Are you all right?” he asked, stepping to his friend’s side to help support him.

Tifa was right behind the Warrior, looking at Firion with concern. "What happened?"

And Tidus was there too, only he was pulling up what little magic he had in order to throw it all at Firion. Magic strength be damned, he wasn't letting his friend look that weak, and he cast Cura after Cura trying to get him to wake up a little more. "Yeah, what happened? Why's all your stuff outside and why'd you walk right into a trap?"

The curas helped his strength, but he was still cold and waved his hand to stop Tidus from wasting what little magic he had. Firion shook his head. "I'll be fine," He murmured, gently waving off the Warrior of Light and turned to Tidus and had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. "If you had gotten a call from a terrified little girl and monsters in the background, would you have thought it a trap?"

Besides, that had not been the first random call Firion had gotten, Cid Highwind had done the same thing to him. Granted, the first time he knew the person but Firion wasn't exactly tech-savvy when it came to the phones other than what he had to learn himself. He shook his head with a sigh. "When I came to help, there was no girl to be found. I know now that it had been a trap, but I do not know the reason behind it or who did it. The monsters were the only creatures I found and I was attacked before I could escape. I was then ambushed and put to Sleep. When I awoke, my weapons were gone and the Caverns were sealed off."

The Warrior stepped away from Firion after the curas set in and the other gestured him away, but he didn't go far. He simply stopped hovering so directly. Instead, he took off his cape and offered it to Firion, who was clearly freezing from his forced stay in the Ice Caverns.

“I do not blame you for attempting to come to the child’s rescue. It was a trap I am sure many others would have fallen for as well.” The Warrior said, glancing back the way they had come. Now that they had found Firion, he was eager to leave the caves. Firion had been ambushed and trapped, after all- who was to say that the one who had done that was not waiting to attack or trap their larger group as well? “However, it was unwise of you to leave without letting anyone know. It should not have taken so long for you to be retrieved from this place. I should not have been the first to learn that you were trapped within this place.”

Tifa frowned. "A little girl? Do you think she might still be here? Maybe whoever lured her here did it to get to you..."

The idea that someone had kidnapped an innocent child to get to Firion was chilling. Who would do something like that? Firion didn't have any enemies on Gaia as far as Tifa knew.

"Maybe not, but I would've told somebody where I was going!" Come on Firion, Tidus was actually making a good point. For once. Please listen.

At least Light was backing him up on that. But Tifa... Tidus hadn't even considered the idea that a kid might still be trapped in this place, but now that she'd spoken the words, he couldn't ignore it at all. With a frown, he looked off at the forks in the path, wondering if there was a kid lurking around one of them in even worse shape.

"We should split up, take a look around. We can't just leave anyone in here."

"I know, my apologies," He said softly, he already knew it had been a foolish move but he hadn't been thinking straight. As he had been known to do, it seemed.

Firion shook his head. "I have been here for a few days and during that time I searched as far as I could. The girl is not here. Either she was just a decoy like you said or..."

Or should could have been eaten already. Firion couldn't bring himself to say it, it was too horrible to even entertain the thought.

Tifa got the implication. She looked horrified for a moment before managing to control herself. It was all too easy to imagine Marlene or Denzel in the same situation.

"Who would do something like this?"

The Warrior gritted his teeth when Tidus suggested that they split off and search, though he listened to Firion's next words as well. He wanted to go and search- he would not wish this place upon anyone- but Firion spoke wisely, and there was also the chance that they would be caught in the cave again if they went off to search. So, as much as he might wish to do otherwise, they could not go off to search the caverns just to be sure.

He had meant to be silent, since his short time on Gaia had not allowed him to meet many people, let alone figure out who might have a grudge against Firion, but a memory of Sephiroth responding to him when he first arrived prompted him to speak. "Tidus, Firion. Are any of those we faced in the Void present in this world as well?" he asked.

For a brief moment, it looked like Tidus was going to argue - but he shut his mouth again after Firion spoke. If it had been several days...

"Come on, we need to get you some food."

Tidus was about to pick up and carry his friend to get him out of there. Who cared that Firion was the taller of the two, he needed to get out of the damn ice. The blitzer turned around and started walking back the way they'd come as he thought about Light's question. "Uhhh... A couple. Sephiroth, but he seems ...okay here, and Kuja and Garland and Kefka. Garland's supposed to be the one messing everything up over here and Kuja's supposed to be helping him, but I don't think any of them've been there. Like Zidane."

As if on cue, his stomach growled. Firion's cheeks colored brightly and he his his face is Light's cloak in embarrassment. To move on from that, he followed Tidus and nodded at Tidus' answer. "Though we do not know where any of them are. Kefka is careful to disguise his whereabouts. Kuja and Garland do not make contact."

Tifa followed too, though her mind was still on the missing child.

"It could be any one of them," she mused. "It's just the kind of crazy thing Kefka would do..."

If Firion had faced all three of them, then he did have enemies on Gaia. Kuja and Garland at least seemed to have some goal in mind from what Tifa could tell, and she couldn't think what reason they would have to trap Firion. Kefka, on the other hand, delighted in random chaos.

"This does seem to be the kind of act Kefka delights in," the Warrior agreed with a frown. "Could it be possible that he knows us from the Void? Or do you think that he does not remember that time?"

It would not make too much of a difference, of course- Kefka would cause destruction no matter what period of time he came from- but if Kefka knew them specifically, and was singling them out, then they would have to be wary, and warn the others who had fought for Cosmos in the Void, whether they remembered their time their or not.

"I don't think so, but anything's possible." Tidus' face was very, very dark at mention of the madman - he still hadn't forgotten, and never would, all of Kefka's acts against him and his friends. Torturing Yuna. Stealing Vidina. Torturing Braska. If there was anyone on this world Tidus honestly wanted to kill, it was the clown, and his face easily said as much.

"Whenever we see him, he's dead anyway. Doesn't matter whether he remembers us or not."

"It is alright Tidus, he will receive his punishment in due time," Firion replied, reaching out to place a hand on his companion's shoulder. "But let us concentrate on leaving this place. He may be responsible for putting me in here but I was the foolish one and he knew it."

He just wanted to forget it ever happened.

Tifa nodded. "Yeah, let's get out of here. We opened up the entrance, Firion. It's not far."

They'd already walked some of the way while they'd been talking. As pretty as this place was, Tifa was quite keen to leave.

The Warrior of Light kept his sword ready, even as they neared the exit to the caverns. It was being overcautious, but he wasn't going to relax until they had all left the caverns. Outside was safe. There were fewer ways outside for someone to surprise them. When they reached the entrance he waited for the others to go before him once again, this time so that he was acting as a rear guard.

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Daring rescue missions.

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Yes Plz!

Don't mind me, just settin' up the sceeeene

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Getting a bit squished XD;

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