'Of Booty and Honor'

-Phase One: Audition of Fate-

Chapter One

"You think he actually got it?"

A red-haired man asked his bald friend as the two watched over the calm water of the ocean.

The taller bald male chuckled to himself, "It's him, is there any real doubt in your mind?"

"Well it's just as young as he is, things...slip, savvy?"

The two laughed again, the one with red hair slightly adjusting his black bandana on his forehead. He sighed, turning and placing his back against the banister of the ship, hearing a low creak of the boards.

"Why'd we have to get stuck lookin' out for the kid, yo?"

"Cause we are always stuck with a kind of job like this, Reno." The taller man kept his gaze out over the water, glancing up at the small island they were stopped at, waiting for the Retriever to come back so the two could get some sleep.

-AoF-

The Retriever had indeed gotten what the ship had sent the young boy out for; it was escaping the guards in the excavation site by himself that was the problem. The boy yelped out, avoiding a slash to the head by one of the thuggish and grotesquely huge behemoths guarding the site and made a run for the exit. He glanced up at the large overhanging stone door being hoisted down over his only way out and gasped, turning back around to face the dozens of monstrosities chasing after him.

After a quick moment of thought, the boy jumped onto a nearby ladder leading onto one of the many wooden platforms used by the workers. The men chased after him as the Retriever ran quickly around the many obstacles and knocked a few of them into the pathway of the thugs, surely knocking a few off of their feet. The boy caught sight of a nearby rope, and grabbed it as he jumped off the wooden platforms and swung to the ground. He dashed after the exit with the slowly closing stone doorway, sliding on his knees just underneath as the exit was sealed off behind him.

The boy regained his breath before he stood, and trotted down to the shoreline of the island to get back into his rowboat and head back to home.

Upon reaching his destination, he secured the boat onto the ship, and climbed up the ladder, already beginning to huff from exhaustion. At the last step, he expectedly was pulled on deck and onto his feet. He sighed, looking up at his two saviors.

"Next time, take it easy, Riku, you almost spent a good 8 hours over there on that damn island." Reno said, "Or is it nine now, Rude?"

The taller male looked up at the moon in thought, "Nine and a half."

"So what, I got it, didn't I?" The silver-haired boy reached into his coat and pulled out a torn piece of cloth tied with a string in the center. The two older men looked at the cloth first, then at each other.

"I'd say you go tell captain right away-"

"Eh, he can wait until tomorrow, I'm beat." Riku said, yawning and stretching out his form. He scratched his head as he walked off toward the cabins below deck. He yawned again, passing other crewmen to get to his hammock at the very end. He took off his coat with the cloth hidden inside and set it over himself as he settled into his hammock for some rest.

-AoF-

"Riku...Riku..." The silver-haired Retriever groaned, opening his emerald eyes to look into a pair of silvery-blue ones. He blinked, sitting up and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"S-Squall...?"

"Captain's getting angry..." The 17-year-old said, standing up from the side of Riku's hammock.

"Why?"

"Because he doesn't have his map yet, dummy." The younger boy laughed, putting his hands on his hips.

"Is it noon yet, Squall?"

"...No."

"Then I really don't care."

"Oh, come on, Riku! Cap'n will start yelling at everyone and start his hissy-fit!"

"OH FINE!" The Retriever growled. Squall moved away to let the older boy out and stretch.

"So...where was it?"

"It was in the excavation site, just like the Oracle in Cleyra said." Riku answered, leaning back and cracking his spine.

Riku yawned, grabbed his coat and put it on, reaching into the inner pocket and taking out the small piece of torn cloth. "I may be able to convince Tidus to sell this instead of just going to look for it; who knows if it even exists or not." He muttered, putting it back into the pocket and sighing.

"Alright; let's go see what the kid wants."

"Just because he's one of the youngest on the ship and already captain, Riku, doesn't mean you should make him throw temper-tantrums." Riku smirked, turning to face the brunet.

"He's only captain because I didn't want to sit at a desk, Reno and Rude thought they had it hard enough, you're too much of a noob, and Wakka would've sucked as a captain." He turned on his way to the ladder leading out of the cabins without another word and Squall followed.

Riku was momentarily blinded by the sunlight and salty air as he immerged from the cabins. He groaned, and looked around for any sign of the blond-haired 17-year-old, finally eyeing him as he stood near the wheel with his arms propping his head from the banister, with his attack dog Wakka steering the ship on a steady pace until the map could grant the group a heading. Riku walked quietly up the stairs, and behind the shorter blond boy.

"DON'T FALL!" He shouted, gently pushing him into the banister. He let out a yelp in surprise, turning around and glaring at the taller boy.

To be honest, Tidus didn't fit the roll of captain in his appearance at all. He was shorter then Riku, and only a little taller than Squall although they were the same age, and the hat only made him look even more ridiculous as the giant feather swayed in the breeze.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?"

"For fun. I have your map...thing." Riku reached into his pocket again, eyeing how Tidus' expression lightened. The taller boy held the cloth within Tidus' reach, only raising his arm when the boy tried to grab it.

"Ah, ah, say please." He mumbled incoherently before he muttered "Please." Riku smirked and let the younger boy finally have the cloth and continued on his way back down the stairs and toward the bow of the boat.

"Today, we shall have a heading!" Tidus announced, walking into his quarters and slamming the door shut. The entire ship fell silent for a moment before they went back to work and the bussel began again. Riku stayed at the front of the ship, almost glaring out over the water. Tidus was hiding something...he wasn't sure what, but that little piece of cloth he found only had a compass and a small edge of land around the torn edge. The entire thing only looked like the corner piece of an even bigger map... He'd have to see for himself once everyone else was asleep.

-Deadline-

A/N: Urk, I actually kind of hate how this started out. Gave a weird feeling when I wrote it... IM LOSING MY MIND!!... R+R?