Disclaimer: There's gonna be a lot of stuff i don't own in this. just the characters i make, and any changes in the plot i do are mine. Other then that, not much to say. and it's not worth going to court with me, i have no money as it is.
Please note that the rating is for excessivecursing, and pretty much nothing else. If you reveiew, let me know if i should lower it or raise it, since i gave it this rating just to be on the safe side...
Chapter 1: Arrival
"Spring Break!" All the kids in the small classroom yelled seemingly as one. No school, no homework, no tests, nothing. As they flew out of the classroom three kids strayed behind. They weren't overly excited. Nothing to do anyway, there never was for them.
"Another break about to go to waste." Ryan said as he ran a hand through his dirty-blonde hair. "What the hell did we do to deserve being outcasts again?"
"Learned to read." His friends said in unison. They had a good laugh, and kept joking as they started on their way home.
"Oh, shit. Hang on, my mom said I had to pick up milk on the way home." Ryan said as he turned around and started walking in the opposite direction. "It's my turn this week isn't it?" He asked as his friends caught up with him.
"Yeah, about this. Could be a problem if we show up without you." Matt said as they neared Cumberland farms.
Suddenly there were three loud bangs, followed by a bunch of screams. The three friends had ducked at the sound of the first one, and now saw someone running out of Cumberland farms. He had a gun in one hand, and a bag in the other. As soon as he spotted them he opened fire.
First Matt gasped, taking a bullet to the lung. Ryan was next, but the bullet to his head stopped him from making any noise, aside from his head hitting the ground. Andy took two shots, on in the neck and one in the heart.
As Matt lay there, gasping for air and choking on blood, he at least had the satisfaction of seeing the man get crushed under a Mac truck as he tried to cross the street. Then darkness overtook him…
888
"Do you want to live?" A voice called out from behind the three boys.
"Where the hell are we?" Andy demanded, trying to see anything through the purple fog that surrounded them.
"They will need you." A small child said, appearing out of the fog in front of them. Close behind him were two other small children, and all three wore clothes that made it impossible to tell whether they were boys or girls.
"What the hell…" Andy wondered aloud. "Who will 'need' us?"
"The summoner." The three children replied as one.
"Summoner? What are you talking about?" Matt asked, an irritated edge to his voice.
"It's your destiny." One of the children said. "You must go. We can send you there."
"Send us where?" Ryan yelled, his voice echoing loudly in the seemingly endless void. "Where are you going to send us, and where the hell are we. Who the hell are you, and what did you mean by 'Do you want to live'?"
"We will let you die if you chose to not go and fulfill your destiny." They said as one.
"What kind of fucked up choice is that?" Matt yelled.
"What the hell," Ryan said quietly when Matt was done, "are you guys talking about with all this 'destiny' bullshit? Maybe if you explained that then could give you a fucking answer."
"You will shatter the false hope of the people of Spira. You will help destroy the immortal sin that plagues that world." The children said in unison, as if the three of them should have known all of this already.
"Why the hell should we do that for some world we don't even know? And stop talking in unison you freaks!" Andy yelled at the three.
"Well I don't know about saving a world from and undefeatable sin or anything, but I'm not too found of the idea of dying either." Ryan said with an amused smile on his face. "Why not. I'll play along with your little game for now."
Matt and Andy both sighed. They knew they'd go, and Ryan knew they'd go. Who wouldn't go for another shot at living after having just been shot down outside of a Cumberland Farm? Who the hell would even rob a Cumberland Farm?
"Then we will send you there now." The tree said as a white light began to outline the three friends.
"Wait, what are we supposed to do when we get wherever you're sending us?" Ryan yelled as the light consumed his vision.
"Just follow your heart. You'll know what to do." The voice was the last thing he heard before he fell into an uneasy sleep.
888
Matt woke up to find himself floating facedown in warm water. He panicked, and choked on some water as he tried to right himself. He heard someone call out, and looked up… and took a ball in the face. Blinking away the pain he looked and saw Ryan and Andy floating nearby. He also saw someone with spiky blonde hair.
"Heeeey!" the kid yelled, smiling as he took the ball. Matt watched as the kid went under water, and a few seconds later the ball came flying back up, followed by the kid who sends it back to the beach with a perfect bicycle kick.
"Holy shit!" Ryan cried out, "That was fucking awesome!"
The four swam to the beach.
"Yo. Hiya!" the spiky haired blonde said. "My name's Tidus."
"Well Tidus, wanna try that move again?" a big guy with orange hair that stuck straight up in the very front asked. Tidus smiled and repeated his performance, drawing another set of amazed gazes from everyone present.
"You ain't no amateur. What team you play for?" The orange haired guy asked.
"The Zanarkand Abes!" Tidus replied, drawing a confused look from everyone who was there except Ryan, Andy, and Matt.
"What team you say again?" the orange haired guy asked.
"Uhh…" Tidus started, noting he'd obviously said something he shouldn't have. "Nothing… never mind… forget it. I got too close to sin and, I don't know where I am. Or where I came from."
"Sin's toxins. But you still alive, so praise be to Yevon, ya?" he said, and he and everyone who'd been practicing with the balls did a stupid little gesture. "All right guys, back to work." He yelled at the rest of the people on the beach. "So who are you guys, ya?"
They looked at each other, and Ryan felt like he had suddenly been elected their spokesman when both of them started grinning. "I'm Ryan, and this," he pointed to Matt, "is Matt, and the other the taller one is Andy."
"I'm Wakka, coach and captain of the Besaid Aurochs, ya?" Before he could say anymore four stomachs growled in unison.
"Guess I'm no the only hungry one." Ryan said with a laugh.
"Well let's get back to the village. I'll get you something there!" Wakka said with a laugh, and we followed him when he started off. Along the way Tidus asked something about some place called Zanarkand. Wakka explained that some monster called "Sin" had destroyed it a thousand years ago because people had relied too much on machines. Then he commented how any team living without having to do any work would be really soft. He was obviously trying to cheer the four of us up.
While Tidus slowed down a little, thinking about something, Wakka stopped to wait for us near some shallow water. "It's this way, slowpokes!" He said when we had caught up with him.
"This is water, not a town." Andy said flatly. As he said this Wakka pushed Matt and Tidus in the water. Andy and Ryan looked from each other, to Wakka, and the two in the water. Then they joined Tidus and Matt in the water, and Wakka jumped in soon after.
"What the hell is this all about?" Ryan asked. "I'd just gotten dry Wakka!"
"Lemme guess," Tidus started, "you want me to play for your team."
"What, a soccer team?" Andy asked, drawing a confused look from Wakka and Tidus.
"Not soccer, I've never even heard of that, ya? We're talking about blitzball. There's a big tournament coming up soon. All the teams in Spira are gonna be there, which means someone from your old team will recognize you, ya? Then you can go back to your old team. Come on, it'll be fun!" Wakka said with a big smile as the five swam towards the exit.
"Why not. It does sound like fun." Tidus said with a smile.
"Dude, our team is gonna rock, ya?" Wakka yelled while everyone climbed out of the water, shivering slightly in the cool winds of Besaid.
They walked for a while more, and Wakka was telling them about how the Besaid Aurochs hadn't won a game in ten years. That's a hell of a record. "The first game last year was my big chance. But something else was on my mind, I couldn't focus."
"What an excuse." Matt said under his breath. Wakka might have heard it if Tidus hadn't said nearly the same thing in a normal tone.
"Hey, hey."
"So you wanna win this tournament, go out with a bang, right?" Tidus asked. Wakka nodded. "So what's our goal for the tournament?"
"Well I don't care if we win, just so long as we try our best, ya? As long as we do that, I can walk away happy, win or lose." Wakka stated firmly.
"No, no, no, no! When I say 'What's our goal?' you say 'Victory!" Tidus said loudly. "When you play in a blitzball tournament, you play to win! Right you three?" There was an awkward silence, since none of the three even knew what blitzball was. "Hey, what's the matter, don't you agree?" Tidus asked as both he and Wakka turned on them.
Ryan panicked. He still had no idea what was going on, and no idea what blitzball was. "No, you play to win in everything, not just blitzball!" He shouted back, trying to stall for time. Matt was the liar of the group, guy could get people to believe his lies no matter how far-fetched they were, or so it seemed. Turns out Ryan was better then he thought, or Tidus was denser then he looked, because he smiled and nodded.
"You guys serious? We haven't won a game in 10 years, and you want us to play to win." The four others nodded. As they walked along they came across two guys who called themselves crusaders.
"Ah, the ones from the sea." The first one said.
"Be on guard. There are fiends on the road today." The second one said.
'Military wannabes.' Andy thought sourly.
"After you run in with Sin, twould be a shame if something were to happen to you now." The first guy finished before they both walked off.
"Who were they?" Matt asked when the two were out of earshot.
"Luzzu and Gatta- Crusaders." Wakka replied.
"Crew of what?" Tidus said, as lost as the other three.
"Crusaders, what you forget them too?" Wakka said, looking at Tidus who hung his head. "Hey, don't worry about it. I'll help you guys out."
"Cool, and in return I'll make sure your team wins the tournament." Tidus said.
"Cool. As for the crusaders, you can ask them yourselves. They've got a lodge in the village." Wakka said.
The rest of the trip to the village was uneventful. When they arrived Wakka happily said "Besaid Village."
"Any food around here?" Tidus asked.
'Damn that kid's tactless.' Ryan thought. He wasn't the only one who was hungry, or didn't he hear any of their stomachs rumbling.
"Forget about food for now." Wakka said. "Take a look around first. The Crusaders' lodge is over there, and Luzzu and Gatta are usually there. Oh yeah, over there!" Wakka said, pointing to a large building towards the back of the town.
"A church, here?" Andy asked more then stated. He seemed surprised, just like Matt and Ryan.
"You guys do remember the prayer, ya?" When they all shook their head 'no' Wakka sighed. "You must have forgot or something. Don't worry it'll come back. Here, I'll show you." Wakka said, as he did some stupid gesture.
'I don't even go to church in my own world, and this guy wants me to go in his world and pray too? I'm not sure I signed up for such an annoying job.' Ryan thought as he watched Wakka do the gesture. Despite how dumb it was, Ryan remembered the gesture and tucked it away for future use. Never knew when doing a stupid gesture could get you out of trouble.
When he was done Wakka told them to try. They did, and although it felt stupid they all managed to imitate the movement. "Okay guys, go present yourselves to the temple's Summoner." He said before walking off.
Tidus went to the hut where the crusaders were stationed, and held a discussion with Luzzu and Gatta for a few minutes. "Well, now what?" Andy asked.
"Find some place quiet and private to talk without notice." Matt and Ryan said in unison. "No point in drawing un-needed attention to ourselves." They left the village and sat down in some old ruins to talk. "Well, what have we learned so far?"
"Something called Sin isn't too popular with the people." Matt said quietly.
"And something called Blitzball is. And we've also learned the prayer gesture thingy." Andy said, performing the stupid gesture again.
"And something about Summoners. We're supposed to help some Summoner right? What if the one at this temple is the one we're supposed to help? Just means we get out of here quicker." Ryan said.
"How does he put this stuff together?" Andy wondered aloud.
"You didn't have Mr. Smith for Social Studies last year. If you did, you'd be able to put he pieces together in logical order too." Matt said with an amused smile.
"Whatever guys. So what do we do next?" Andy asked.
"Only thing we can do. Introduce ourselves to the temple Summoner." Matt said quietly.
a/n: Well that's that. This is gonna be a lot like the story for a while. Mostly until I decided where exactly everything's going. But it's shouldn't end up as a retelling of the story. And please keep in mind that this is my first story. Other than that, just RR plz!