The relaxation let Shinu lay down his gaurd as the gentle white light continued to sustain his weight. The only thing he had control of was his mind, and he began to think of some reasonable explanations for what happened. Even his creative mind couldn't wrap his mind around what was going on, and before he could get any closer to understanding, he felt free. Free was of course follwed by a powerful thud as he slammed into the ground back first. He let out a small exasperation as he was not prepared for the impact. He cringed and rolled up on his butt while looking up at Mieli who had convineintly landed on his feet.

Wow, you really stuck the landing.

It was hot, really hot. The fine beads of sand were sticking to the back of Shinu's bare arm as the humidity took it's toll. Looking around there was nothing but endless sands. Where there was sand, there was water right? Wrong. At least not in Shinu's view. He looked behind him and thought he might have seen a small oasis, but he shook it off as nothing more than a mirage. For a second he felt closed in by the mounds upon mounds of sand dunes. Mieli didn't seem worried, and now it was time for Shinu to get some answers.

Ok, so this is Bikanel, I think I have that much figured out. I don't even need to know how we got here Mieli, that can be for another time. What I would like to know is, why are we here? Better yet, what are we going to do now?

Shinu really felt as if he'd done well keeping his cool so far, and indeed he had. He was working on asking all the right questions. These two questions weren't bad, they just weren't the right question. When he got to that point, he'd be in for a rude awakening.

Note** The Al Bhed language will be colored in Orange!
--------------
Stomp.

An unknown figure stepped upon a cement base.

Stomp, stomp.

The day was hotter than usual. Fiends were on the prowl. The sound of metal clinging aginst itself filled the air.

Stomp, stomp, sto-...

"Tif! This area is strictly off limits! You know better than that!"

"Ugh, yeah, yeah..." said a young girl, who goes by the name 'Tif', who was walking around a place of construction. A place that would be called Home. A place where the Al Bhed race could live their lives peacefully in Spira.

The Al Bhed do not believe in the teachings of Yevon, and for that, they have been shunned by the residents of Spira. Home was the place to be when the outside world was too much to cope with.

Tif, however, was different. Her mother is a priestess of Yevon, her father an Al Bhed. She never could call herself a Yevonite or an Al Bhed, because she wasn't. Tif lived with her father amongst the other Al Bhed, while her mother lived in the great city of Bevelle, the base of Yevon.

Deciding she spent too much time at Home, she headed out for the desert. She wanted to go to her favorite spot that none of the other Al Bhed new about - that special place was the oasis.

While walking, Tif looked up at the clear, blue sky. She stopped and took a very large breath. She looked at her surroundings, seeing signs written in Al Bhed and the remains of a great city that was destroyed by Sin that were slowly being eaten by the desert sands.

Soon after, she continued on her little quest.

"Bikanel Desert...Bikanel Desert...damnit, of all places why do I have to be stuck in Bikanel Desert? It is always so hot here. I hate this stick and sweat. I could change all my clothes every five minutes and still feel swampy and stinky. This weather is so bad for the body."

Mieli looked over yonder with his hand shielding his eyes from the sun.

"At least I have these."

Mieli reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. His retinas were always important to him, and he wasn't going to let sunshine take his eyes away so effortlessly. Feeling the heat, he tossed his leather jacket on the ground. This made him feel a little scrawny with nothing covering his arms but the short sleeves on his red camo shirt, but cooling off was literally more important than figuratively being cool at this point.

"You're right. We are in fact in Bikanel Island. Unlike Yevonites, I have nothing against the people here, but the heat makes me feel like we're actually on the island closest to hell.

Why are we here? Well, every story has a setting and part of your story takes place here. I don't know of a single story that has only survived with a climax, so like the others you'll have to make it through your introduction and rising action.

Philosophically though Shinu, if you are an accute enough of a thinker to understand purposive causality, you'll know that we are here, because we must do something that cannot be done anywhere else. This definately means that our first goal is to acquire some of the finest cigarettes Spira has to offer.

I hear that the Al Bhed here on Bikanel have begun to do very well with their technology including the field of tobacco irrigation. It is suprising that a desert has become the place to grow cigarettes which yield a smooth yet solid drag.

There doesn't seem to me much glory to get here, but I know I can't continue without some of the Al Bhed Camels."

As much as Shinu felt that he was misunderstood by many, he knew full well that Mieli was misunderstood. Perhaps all the black and the long hair with that stoic face of his didn't do him any favors, but most people took Mieli to be pretty antisocial and quiet. The thought of it made Shinu laugh. Mieli was always full of philosophy and never short on jokes for Shinu. This newest example was more than enough to convince Shinu that people must be crazy to think Mieli was shy or anything close. He asked him two questions and felt like he'd just been given a lesson. Shinu didn't mind, he took in everything Mieli said, even the stuff he could do nothing with. This time however, he was in a bit of a fragile state and had no clue what was going on, and the best Mieli could do for him was tell him that they were here to get the finest Al Bhed camels so he could harm his body. Great.

Well, alright, I guess we should go get what we came here for.

After a long pause, and a valiant attempt to cool off, Shinu gave up. The sun was beating on him, his questions weren't answered, and he didn't know what happened back there in Kilika. He calmed himself, slightly, and tried to think of the right question to ask Mieli. It was not a game to these two, but something close to it. When in sticky situations, they made each other ask the right questions. This wasn't the time though, Shinu wasn't thinking very clearly, and he was getting pissed.

Ok, now is not the time for all of this. I'm just a little bit on edge, and I'm not in the mood for this heat.

As Shinu began to follow Mieli through the sand, he let his brain get away from his thoughts about what happened. He wasn't in the right frame of mind, and Shinu learned not to ask questions that you didn't want to hear the answer to. At this point, Shinu wanted to his home, and he wanted his mom, but it didn't seem like he was going to get either of those soon. He scooped up Nuraki and put it away quickly. He turned to look up at Mieli again, and this time felt he had a question worth answering.

This change Mieli, there is something about it. I don't think being caught in those portals was something meant to bring us a small change like just our location. You mentioned my story, and my question is, what type of character do I have in this story? Oh, and nice shades, I might have to get some of those for myself some day.

Finally Shinu could smile. He thought he asked a good question, and Mieli's shades calmed him down. It was just interesting to see him with shades and no jacket, a first for Shinu. He may have been sucked into a portal, attacked by sinsacles, and stuck in Bikanel, but he had Mieli, and for now, that was more than enough.

"Over this one last dune and I'll be-huh?"

Tif had been running excitedly as she was almost to the oasis. She was, of course, really hot, especially from the running she had just did. Beads of sweat ran down her face and raced each other towards the hem of her shirt. They did nothing but absorb the liquid, which made them felt very warm and uncomfortable while rubbing against her milky, white skin.

"Who are those people?" Tif said as she watched the two young strangers walking around aimlessly and minding their own business. As she continued to watch them to make sure they did not defile the desert in any way they could, she knelt down and hid behind the dune that had promised her her prize, just like a professional thief, and stalked them while they were making their way.

Deciding that these people were wasting her time and made the decision mentally that they must be lost, she got up and started down a dune. She wanted to know why they were on Bikanel. Thoughts and questions raced across her mind: What if they are part of Yevon? If they are, will they destroy Home? And the Al Bhed? I bet I can take 'em! They don't look tough at all!

"Right you are Shinu, every story has its characters, and for the story to be your story you would have to be the main character, right? Typically most stories you've read are either existential slice of life dramas attempting to teach you something, or they are fanatical sci-fi adventures taking place in faraway lands in never before concieved times.

Does this story look like either to you? No, at least it shouldn't. Since your story does in fact take place here in Spira, the real world, there must be only a limited number of outcomes, right?

Now for some collective thinking. In Spira there is a common enemy. Who is that enemy, the source of all evil we know today. Knowing that who is the only protagonist thought to be able to eliminate this evil?

I suspect you know your enemy, but right now I question as to whether you know yourself. When that becomes clear to you, all else will begin to fall into place."

Mieli sees an oasis up ahead. The water is a sight for sandy eyes.

"Seems there's an oasis up ahead. I say let's have a drink. Of course nature only furnishes the non-alcoholic kind, so I hope water is good enough for you."

Shinu almost forgot that he was walking as he relied soley on msucle memory for that task, and put all of his attention in trying to put the pieces of Mieli's puzzle together. The use of literary terms was nothing new to these two, as they would talk nearly everything deep in the Kilika Woods at night. Shinu remembered that night well, as they talked about the future and the way things happened in life. Everyone had their role, and whomever could accept, embrace, and fill their role in the story was the most successful and happy in the world. Now Shinu knew what role he had, and it wasn't what he expected. Then again, hardly anything that happened lately was what he expected. This one hurt though, badly. He would need some time to come to grips with the puzzle that he had just solved.

I'm afraid... I understand what you're saying Mieli. I don't know why this is happening, but I know that as long as you are in my story, all will indeed fall in place.

Shinu shook his head to himself. He wanted to doubt it so badly, he wanted it to not be true, he wanted his life to just be normal, he wanted to not get on that boat. It was too late, and Shinu never felt as if he was above destiny, and now his appetite would be more than alleviated as he was going to have to consume his own grand words. Shinu wanted a legacy, the greatest legacy in the world, and now, he was going to be given an opportunity that he would have never thought to conceive all those nights in the woods. Suddenly, he was really thirsty, almost feeling like he was going to dehydrate.

Yeah, water will do just fine, I could use some right about now. I thought that was just a mirage, but it's a good thing I'm not alone to depend on my desert knowledge or lack there of.

"Haha it's got nothing to do with desert knowledge. I just know a hallucination when I think I see one."

"Well, if you have no knowledge of the desert, then why are you here!?"

Tif had snuck atop a huge rock that lay aside the oasis. She was waiting for them, waiting like a venus fly trap, where flies came to the sugary scent to replenish, only to find themselves trapped within its mouth. (Like the comparison? )

only seconds later, she jumped off the rock and stood in front of the young men.

"Say, you guys don't look like Yevonites. If you're not, then why are you here?" Tif asked them as she walked in circles around the two.

"A Yevonite? I suppose it isn't safe for anyone to say they are in this desert. Have no fear of me though, I don't surrender myself to any faith. I only speak for myself though."

Mieli pauses briefly to look over at Shinu


"I know why I specifically am happy to be here. I was travelling via ship with my companion here, and we were attacked. Somehow we've ended up here. While we were attacked, I ran out of cigarettes, so I desparately need a pack of Camels. Believe me, I am willing to pay, and isn't it cigarettes that really get people talking? I hope you realize the profit your wallet and your curiosity will make."