Silver Wings 2: 1000 Confessions

[redharry123]

:D i'd never leave a fic unfinished. i only post chapters on tuesdays and thursdays tho...so.....ya....:)

[SoRaBhK_dUdE]

Nooooooooo I'm number 1!!! Awesome chapter. Waiting to find out what happens next. I'm *twitch* nunber one fan *twitch*. ME ME ME!!!!

[Noezel7]

Sorry but i said it first so it must be true!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
*wonders why people hate her*
-_-

[FlyingTomato1]

Wow!I missed so much!My mom didnt let me get on the computer.*starts to cry*I cant belive that i missed all the koolness of your fic!Oh!And yeah!Who ever is redharry's #1 fan, i call dibs on #1 fan for redharry.Notice the diffrence between redharry's #1 fan and redharry's fic #1 fan!Mwhahahahahahahahahahaha!Well, i dont know unless red changes her mind.

[SoRaBhK_dUdE]

I still think I should be Da #1 fan. It's because I've been posting on the first fanfic so neener neener neeener.

[Noezel7]

ok ok. i guess i'll be fan number 2.
*runs off and cries in her room*

[redharry123]

o.o....*feels very loved* :D um........ok how about....o gosh, i have no idea who's my number 1 fan for the fic. *hates makeing big decissions* ok i'm thinking between a number between 1 and 2....no wait....1 and 5

ok computer is being weird, and wont let me open any documents! so no new chapters. i'm on my laptop now, and the chapters are saved to my home computer. but my dad's going to fix it soon so no worries ^_^

[SoRaBhK_dUdE]

A number between 1 and 5 hmmm... 10 I mean 3.

[Jax-Oh1]

Just finished the first page. Cool Story!

[redharry123]

O.O *pokes Jax-Oh1*...O.O..*pinches her arm* OMG YOU'RE REAL! I HAVE A NEW FAN! OMG! yes! *moonwalks* mhhmmm uh huh oh yah!

ok my #1 fan shall be SoRaBhK_dUdE cause he's been reading my fic ever since i posted it.

[Noezel7]

what about me? i want to be number one. i'm sorry i didn't read the original one until a little while ago.
*goes and sulks in the corner, tracing a circle with her finger on the ground*
-_-

[redharry123]

edit: i'm srry. Noezel17, how about ur fan # 1 1/2? does that work?

After much consideration, I have decided that this twist in the chapter is necessary in order to send the story in the direction I want it to go. I’ve thought of other possible directions, but none seem to be as good as this one. Now that I’ve got you sufficiently interested (I hope), below is chapter 8.



Chapter Eight: End of the Line


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The sound of footsteps on the stairs caused Shuyin to quickly put the ring in his pocket and turn his back on the approaching person. He gazed out the window and noted that the trio of females were climbing the sand dunes so he realized that chances are his unwelcomed guest was either Baralai or Gippal.

It was the former. He could sense Baralai’s presence as soon as the former priest stepped onto the landing. He supposed it had to do with the fact that he had possessed Baralai but never Gippal. Straightening himself, he prepared to do his best Tidus impression when the sudden drop of the open locket in front of his eyes caused him to stop in mid-breath. He hadn’t seen Lenne’s beautiful face in so long that he had almost forgotten how truly breathtaking she was. All he had were memories of their time together, but seeing her filled his heart with a joy he thought had died right along with her. However, his joy was short-lived when Baralai hissed, “Look familiar, Shuyin?”

Shuyin was impressed with Baralai’s intelligence and he turned slowly to him with a wide grin, “I’m impressed, Baralai. I didn’t think you’d get it so quickly.”

“You underestimated me, Shuyin.” Baralai replied as he pulled the necklace away from Shuyin’s unwavering gaze, “Now where is Tidus?”

“He’s sleeping.”

Baralai, in a quick move, shoved Shuyin against the wall, “Where is he?” he asked again, each word measured and laden with meaning.

Shuyin started laughing at the sheer absurdity of Baralai’s actions. Who did this former priest think he was? With his free hand, Shuyin shoved Baralai easily off of him and went back to his perch at the window.

“Fine,” Baralai said, “I guess I’ll just have to let Yuna decide what to do about you.”

Shuyin heard Baralai’s footsteps going toward the stairs and he panicked. He couldn’t let that damned priest tell Yuna or anyone else about his plans. Baralai had barely taken two steps when Shuyin noticed a black belt lying partially visible under a nearby bed. In a quick move, he grabbed the belt and lassoed Baralai, tightening it around his neck until Baralai’s breath was coming out in small gasps, “I don’t think so, Baralai.” Shuyin whispered into Baralai’s face as he pulled on the belt and forced the former priest to his knees.

Baralai struggled to loosen the belt from around his neck as panic set in. He hadn’t thought about what would happen after confronting Shuyin. He hadn’t thought that far in advance. Now all he could think about was how stupid he had been to lie to the girls and to not tell them his plans. He slid his fingers between his neck and the belt and managed to murmur, “Why…”

“Why?” Shuyin asked, incredulous, as if the mere thought of this question was beyond his comprehension. In fact, it was. Shuyin couldn’t understand why Baralai didn’t understand Shuyin’s desperation. Kneeling before the wheezing man, Shuyin replied, “I was left in a cave to starve to death. I starvedto death. I lived on dirt for weeks! By the end I weighed about 70 pounds and all I could think about was being with Lenne again. You’re asking me why!!”

Baralai’s mind was reeling. He starved in a cave? How was that even possible? Everyone knew that he and Lenne had been shot and killed by the Bevelle soldiers after he had tried to activate Vegnagun the first time. His confusion filled brown eyes connected with the blue ones that, to his surprise, were brimming with tears. Shuyin chocked out, “I didn’t die with her if that’s what you’re wondering. I survived. I survived and she died and I’ve had to live with that for 1000 years!”

Baralai pulled back and felt the belt loosen a little more, “Please….” He gasped, “…don’t…”

“Don’t what?!” shrieked Shuyin, “Don’t fight to have my life back?! Don’t fight to be with the woman I love more than anything?!” He gripped the belt tightly and pulled, cutting off the little oxygen that Baralai was receiving. Tears started flowing freely from his eyes and he strained to remain calm as Baralai clawed at the belt, trying to gain a breath of air, “Sucks, doesn’t it?” Shuyin hissed harshly, “I didn’t live long enough to know what it felt like to suffocate.”

He loosened the belt again and Baralai greedily sucked oxygen into his lungs. He prayed that someone – anyone – would come in and see what was going on but with each tick of the clock, that seemed like less and less of a possibility. Shuyin wiped tears from his face with the back of his hand, “I was killed by people like you.” he said sharply, “People who have their heads up their asses and follow other idiots around without ever questioning anything!”

Taking the moment that Shuyin loosened his grip on the belt to blink away tears, Baralai leapt to his feet and made a break for the stairs, taking them two at a time while trying to undo the belt from around his neck, but Shuyin was faster then he had expected and Baralai didn’t make it to the door before he was pulled backward onto his rear by Shuyin’s grip on the belt. Shuyin spun Baralai around to face him and the terrified ex-priest stammered, “I…I won’t tell her…I swear….No...nobody will ever know.”

“I wish I could believe you.” Replied Shuyin as he tightened the belt around Baralai’s neck, cutting off the man’s oxygen again. Shuyin started to cry as Baralai clawed helplessly at the belt and then at his arms, “I’m not a killer, Baralai.” He wailed, “I hate this! I hate this!” Baralai’s face took on a shade of blue that Shuyin never knew existed and the priest started losing feeling in his arms and legs which slowly stopped their struggle. His eyes stared pleadingly at Shuyin who whispered, “You leave me no choice. I can’t let you tell anyone what you know.” Tenderly patting Baralai on the head, Shuyin said, “Enjoy the Farplane, Baralai. Give Zaon and Yunalesca my regards.” And with a quick snap of his wrists, he twisted the belt and broke Baralai’s neck.

As Baralai’s body slumped to the floor lifeless, Shuyin dropped next to him and let his breath come out in ragged sobs. He had never taken a life before, not even 1000 years ago, and he couldn’t believe what he’d just done. How would Lenne forgive him? How would he forgive himself?

“Where is everybody today?” came Rikku’s voice from just down the hall.

“Maybe Gippal and Baralai are in the crew quarters?” suggested Yuna.

Shuyin felt his panic rise. He hadn’t thought about the aftermath of murdering Baralai. He had killed him in the heat of the moment when he felt that he had no other alternative. However, if anyone found him standing over the corpse, his cover would be blow and Baralai would have died in vain. Quickly throwing Baralai over his shoulder and trying to ignore the odd angle his head hung in, Shuyin jogged up the stairs and dropped Baralai to the side of the farthest bed on the right. His escape was the large bay window on the side of the ship. If he could climb down and then come back to the ship no one would think he had anything to do with the death.

Shuyin took a step toward the window, hearing the voices closing in, when he realized that he hadn’t retrieved the locket from Baralai. Spinning and quickly digging into the pockets, he grabbed the golden necklace and put it around his neck and escaped out the window just as the door to the crew’s quarters opened.

“Baralai?!” called Rikku, “Gippal?!”

Paine frowned, “Do you think Baralai’s still looking for him?”

“I guess that’s a possibility.” Yuna replied as she started up the stairs, followed by Rikku and Paine.

Shuyin ducked just beyond their view as they reached the landing. Baralai was well hidden except for his hand which stuck out from under the bed, but none of the girls noticed yet. Clutching the necklace that hung around his neck, Shuyin began to tentatively slide down the hull of the Celsius. He couldn’t hang around and wait for the discovery. He had to appear like he was just coming back.

His feet hit the ground and he climbed up the gangplank back to the Celsius just as Gippal came up from the engine room entrance. Shuyin momentarily felt himself panic when he realized that Gippal might have been in the ship the entire time, but he calmed when the eye-patch wearing man smiled at him. YRP’s screams invaded their comfortable silence and the two men broke out into a run. Following Gippal to the landing of the crew’s quarters, Shuyin took in the scene. The girls had apparently found and then moved Baralai’s body out from its hiding place. His head was at an even stranger angle then it had been when Shuyin had dropped him there. No one had made a move to remove the belt that was wrapped around his neck and Paine had just sat the phone back on its cradle, “Cid will be here with the Al Bhed police in a minute.” She said.

Time seemed to stand still for the group as they waited for the authorities to trek through the sand to their ship. As his crystalline eyes gazed at Baralai’s body, Shuyin felt as though he’d be sick. He’d just committed a cold blooded crime. He was a murderer.

“Okay, where is he?” came Cid’s voice. Rikku’s father was a portly bald man with a tendency to shout and tell it like it was. He was followed by two incredibly muscular Al Bhed men whom Shuyin assumed were the police officers. Cid stopped in the space that a sobbing Rikku and Yuna had formed in the half circle around Baralai and he shook his head, “Poor bastard.”

Rikku backed up to let the officer’s through and smacked into Gippal’s hard chest. She let him wrap his arms around her and she turned to embrace him. The both of them had lost a friend that day and Rikku didn’t understand why. As she ran her hands down his sides, her fingers hitched in his belt loops and her breath caught in her throat. The last words she heard Gippal say to Baralai echoed in her head.

“Stay away from her or you’ll regret it.”

“Stay away from her or you’ll regret it.”

“Stay away from her or you’ll regret it.”
Rikku felt her hands; her whole body starting to shake and she forcibly pried Gippal’s arms from her body. She knew the color had drained from her face from the look in his eyes but she didn’t care. Once she was at a safe distance, she let her eyes graze his waist and realized that he indeed wasn’t wearing his belt. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw why.

His belt was wrapped firmly around Baralai’s neck.

“Rikku, what is it?” Gippal asked as he took a step toward her.

Shrieking in a high pitched wail, Rikku held her hands out in front of her, “Don’t get near me! Stay away from me!”

“Rikku?” whispered Yuna, “What is wrong with you?”

Rikku’s entire body continued its uncontrollable trembling as she pointed to Gippal’s waist, “Where’s your belt, Gippal?” she asked for the second time that day.

It was at that moment that Shuyin realized what he had done. The belt he had grabbed belonged to…Gippal. It was also at that moment that Gippal’s face lost all color as he realized what Rikku was insinuating, “Ri…Rikku,” he managed, “You don’t seriously think that I…”

He made to reach out to her, but Cid was faster and smacked his hand away, “Don’t touch my daughter.” He hissed. Cid motioned for his officers to move in and faster then Gippal could react, the men each held one of his arms behind his back. Ignoring Gippal’s shouts and struggles, Cid turned back to Rikku, “What makes you think Gippal did this?”

The tears streamed down Rikku’s pretty face and she could barely form coherent sentences, but Paine had followed her line of thought. She, in fact, had thought the same thing briefly herself. With a frown, she said, “Gippal threatened Baralai this afternoon. He went missing and Baralai went to look for him. That’s also Gippal’s belt.”

“Paine!” Gippal shrieked, “You know I wouldn’t do this! Baralai was like my brother!!”

“Yeah, a brother you threatened!” Rikku shouted back, finally regaining her voice. Her upset was diminished only by her anger as she stormed up and slapped Gippal hard across the face, “Did you honestly think we’d be too stupid to figure it out!!”

“Rikku,” said Cid, “are you accusing Gippal of this? You know what will happen if you do.”

Rikku had to hide a shudder. Al Bhed prisoners got no justice. It wasn’t like being tried in a court of Yevon. In a court of Yevon you were innocent until proven guilty. In an Al Bhed prison, you were guilty. There was no innocence. Gippal’s fate most probably included the death chamber. The fact that Cid was asking for his daughter’s final say was quite a gesture. Rikku had this one final chance to take back her suspicions and let the man who had probably brutally murdered Baralai walk free. This was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t form the words. As much as she loved Gippal, she couldn’t let him walk free if he had murdered Baralai. She knew that her father adored Gippal and would do everything he could to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was guilty before he was condemned and that was the thought she clung to. Ignoring his pleading eyes, she whispered, “Take him away, Pop.”

“Rikku!!!!” screamed Gippal as the muscular men started to pull him backward down the stairs. The Al Bhed struggled with them, “Rikku!!! E fuimth'd tu drec! Oui ghuf sa! Rikku!!!”

His voice echoed through the corridors as the men struggled to drag him from the Celsius and when his voice could no longer be heard, Rikku burst into tears.


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AL BHED TRANSLATION:

E fuimth'd tu drec! Oui ghuf sa!: I wouldn’t do this! You know me!



note: I really hope that nobody was turned away by this chapter. Killing him wasn’t what I wanted to do initially with this story. I wanted to ultimately have the triangle end with a Rikku/Gippal, but I just couldn’t seem to figure out a really fantastic way to end the triangle. Everything I thought of seemed so trite and overdone. This idea came to me and I thought it was a really good idea. I had wanted Baralai to figure out that Tidus was Shuyin and I was initially going to only have Shuyin hurt Baralai, maybe by pushing him down stairs or something, but that didn’t seem to work. Shuyin couldn’t let Baralai live knowing his secret. I wanted Baralai to figure it out and by doing so, Baralai had to die. I hope that you all bear with me because I’ve got some good stuff coming up.

Thanks for reading!
~Redharry123

chapter 9 will be posted tomorrow...or later today..

[Noezel7]

great! this is a wonderful chapter, even though Baralai was my favorite. but it is only a story. wish my fan fic could be as descriptive as yours!

[FlyingTomato1]

o_o....i got nothin to say.My vocabulary span doesn't go that far!BRAIN OVERLOAD!
*Head explodes*
Then after some ducktaping...
Me;Must read Dictionary!Gain vocab!
*explodes again*

[redharry123]

o.o.....*pics up the peices of her head* here..you um.....dropped these.....
lol wow. i love postin chapters for all of you guys/gals! i love reading your comments. so much fun ^_^

new chapter in: 10 minutes