Where No Fic Has Gone Before
Title: To Get To The Other Side
Fandom: FFX-2/Star Trek (2009)
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 1396
Characters: Rikku, Paine, James T. Kirk, Dr. McCoy
Pairings: n/a
Spoilers: None
Notes: Written for the Alphabet Fic Meme for
muggy_mountain's prompt, which was "Rikku/Captain Kirk (reboot), Adventure", and heavily inspired by the Shatner of the Mount remix video by Fall On Your Sword. If that makes this an unholy crossover, so be it. This is my first attempt to venture into the Trek universe, so crit is very, very welcome.
I had a total blast writing this. Many thanks to Mugs for giving me the opportunity. Props also to
renay, who encouraged me to pursue the idea.
The Celsius was parked on the Calm Lands, and Rikku was most of the way back to it when she was stopped short by a scream in the sky.
"What's that?" She turned, shaded her eyes against the bright light of the afternoon sun, and squinted in the direction she thought she heard it coming from.
Paine pulled up next to her and followed her gaze. "Not sure."
"It sounds like-- whoa!" A streak of light cut across Rikku's vision, then ended abruptly in the side of Mount Gagazet. Even at this distance, she could see a plume of snow fly up in the air and hear a muffled crashing noise. She turned toward Paine, eyes wide. "Was that an airship?!"
"Maybe." Rikku could hear a tinge of doubt in Paine's voice. "I don't know what else it could be."
"Let's check it out!" She grabbed Paine's hand and started running toward the open door of the ship, feet slipping on the grass in her excitement as she dragged her friend behind her.
-x-
Paine had eased the Celsius into a landing on a flat spot near the summit, and now she and Rikku stood on the deck, staring up at the crash site. Because that's what it was, Rikku was certain of it, even if the airship didn't look anything like any of them had ever seen before: drab metallic-white paint job, boxy with a snub nose, strips attached to the bottom that reminded her of a hover. It had landed hard on its side, and a steady stream of smoke came from the open door. There were some words painted on it, but she couldn't read them. She wasn't even sure they were in a language she knew.
"I wonder where it came from."
"Maybe we could ask the pilot." Paine pointed up at the slope above the wreck of the airship. "Look." Rikku followed her arm and saw a figure struggling up the mountainside. She thought it looked like a man, although it was hard to be sure. He, if it was a he, was wearing a shirt the color of sand, black pants and black boots. No coat or any kind of flight gear; he looked cold.
"Huh. Why is he climbing the mountain?"
"Who knows." Paine shrugged. "But if he's made it that far up the cliff, he must be okay."
"Either that, or the crash knocked a couple of screws loose. C'mon, we should go see if he needs help." Rikku climbed down the ladder to the ground, not checking to see if Paine had followed. She scrambled around the wreck, glancing just enough over it to be certain that it wasn't a new Machine Faction design -- rumor had it Gippal was building an airship from scratch, but no, this wasn't it; the aesthetic was totally wrong. Gippal would never sign off on something that plain. Curiosity stoked, Rikku focused back on her original goal: catching up with the pilot.
"Hey!" She shouted as she ran toward him, waved her arms over her head. "Hey, you okay?"
The man -- yep, definitely a man, Rikku decided -- paused in his climb, then craned his head over his shoulder to look down at her. "How did you get up here?"
"Same way you did," Rikku replied. "On an airship. 'Cept we just landed. Looks like you crashed pretty bad. Where did you get the airship? I didn't know there was another one."
"Another one?" The guy was too far away for Rikku to see his face, but just from his tone she could tell that he was giving her a blank look. "What are you talking about?"
Rikku kept walking until she reached the base of the cliff, then tilted her head all the way back to look up at him. "Well, there's only two airships in all of Spira. Except I guess there's three now. Where did you get that one? Did you build it? Or did someone find another wrecked one I didn't know about?" She was close enough now to see that, despite his light hair, he wasn't Al Bhed. A Yevonite with an airship? This got weirder every minute. She sighed, curling her lip to blow the hair out of her face. "Can you at least tell me your name?"
The man hung there, almost hugging the rock face, and nearly a minute passed before he answered. "Kirk. James T. Kirk. And you?"
"I'm Rikku. Nice to meet you, Kirk." She paused. "Look, this is ridiculous. Why don't you come down so I can talk to you?"
"Can't." Kirk looked up the side of the cliff, apparently gauging the distance to the top. "I need to get to the top."
Good, Rikku thought, maybe at least I'll get one question answered. "Why?"
He stared back at her, puzzled as ever. "I want to see what's there. Isn't that what most people do when they're exploring?"
"The Fayth Scar is at the top. And then Zanarkand, which is too dangerous to visit right now. Everyone knows that." Everyone but this mysterious stranger, apparently. Rikku propped her hands on her hips. "Now get down here before you fall!"
Kirk lifted his face to the sky one more time. "Oh, all right," he said, then started inching his way down, testing every finger and toe hold. Rikku groaned; this was going to take forever. She rummaged through her dressphere collection until she found the Songstress sphere, then started dancing. The effect was immediate -- Kirk's arms and legs sped up, hastening his descent. As he grew closer, Rikku could see bewilderment in his bright blue eyes. "What the-- ahhhh!" He lost his grip and fell the last few feet, landing with a thud in the snow.
"Whoops!" Rikku ran to him, just in time to see him sitting up. He had hit the ground face-first; there were scrapes on his forehead, and she thought his nose might be bleeding. "Sorry about that. Here, let me help--"
"No way." Kirk scrambled to his feet. "You've helped more than enough, thanks." He slapped his hand against a shiny triangular brooch on his chest, and Rikku jumped back when it beeped. "Scotty? Can you beam me out?"
"Just minute, cap'n," came the tinny reply. "Having trouble getting a lock; let me compensate for interference."
Rikku gaped in shock -- the new voice was coming out of Kirk's brooch! "Wow! What kind of machina is that? Is it like a commsphere?" She leaned forward, her hand reaching almost involuntarily toward the machina.
Kirk jerked away and hit the triangle again. "Scotty, now! Get me the hell out of here?"
"Energizing," the voice said, and even as Rikku came almost close enough to touch him, he disappeared in a swirl of pyreflies, leaving her grasping empty air. Her arm fell to her side.
"Huh." Rikku turned around to see Paine approaching from the wreckage of the airship. "Do you think he was Unsent?"
"But why would an Unsent be flying an airship?" Rikku pivoted on her heels, checking the direction of the sky that Kirk's ship had first appeared from. "This whole thing is so bizarre."
Paine shrugged. "I guess we'll never know. Now we have to get going; Brother will be wondering where you are. And the wreck is burned out, so there's nothing worth salvaging anyway."
With another glance backward, Rikku sighed, then followed Paine back to the boring, everyday world where mysterious good-looking men didn't just fall out of the sky.
-x-
"Well, that rescue was well-timed." Kirk, who had been beamed directly to sick bay, jerked away with a hiss as McCoy touched the abrasions on his face. "Careful!"
"Careful." McCoy snorted, then began dabbing at Kirk's wounds with what Kirk suspected was more force than strictly necessary. "You're one to talk, Jim. How many First Contact rules did you break down there? All of them?"
"Not quite all." Kirk grinned at McCoy. "She was awfully cute, though."
McCoy shook his head, sighing with exasperation. "You're right. We did beam you out just in time."
Kirk settled back in his seat, relaxing enough to let McCoy work his medical magic. "Guess that planet isn't ready for a Federation delegation after all. I'll let the bridge know it's time for us to move on to the next place."
Fandom: FFX-2/Star Trek (2009)
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 1396
Characters: Rikku, Paine, James T. Kirk, Dr. McCoy
Pairings: n/a
Spoilers: None
Notes: Written for the Alphabet Fic Meme for
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I had a total blast writing this. Many thanks to Mugs for giving me the opportunity. Props also to
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The Celsius was parked on the Calm Lands, and Rikku was most of the way back to it when she was stopped short by a scream in the sky.
"What's that?" She turned, shaded her eyes against the bright light of the afternoon sun, and squinted in the direction she thought she heard it coming from.
Paine pulled up next to her and followed her gaze. "Not sure."
"It sounds like-- whoa!" A streak of light cut across Rikku's vision, then ended abruptly in the side of Mount Gagazet. Even at this distance, she could see a plume of snow fly up in the air and hear a muffled crashing noise. She turned toward Paine, eyes wide. "Was that an airship?!"
"Maybe." Rikku could hear a tinge of doubt in Paine's voice. "I don't know what else it could be."
"Let's check it out!" She grabbed Paine's hand and started running toward the open door of the ship, feet slipping on the grass in her excitement as she dragged her friend behind her.
Paine had eased the Celsius into a landing on a flat spot near the summit, and now she and Rikku stood on the deck, staring up at the crash site. Because that's what it was, Rikku was certain of it, even if the airship didn't look anything like any of them had ever seen before: drab metallic-white paint job, boxy with a snub nose, strips attached to the bottom that reminded her of a hover. It had landed hard on its side, and a steady stream of smoke came from the open door. There were some words painted on it, but she couldn't read them. She wasn't even sure they were in a language she knew.
"I wonder where it came from."
"Maybe we could ask the pilot." Paine pointed up at the slope above the wreck of the airship. "Look." Rikku followed her arm and saw a figure struggling up the mountainside. She thought it looked like a man, although it was hard to be sure. He, if it was a he, was wearing a shirt the color of sand, black pants and black boots. No coat or any kind of flight gear; he looked cold.
"Huh. Why is he climbing the mountain?"
"Who knows." Paine shrugged. "But if he's made it that far up the cliff, he must be okay."
"Either that, or the crash knocked a couple of screws loose. C'mon, we should go see if he needs help." Rikku climbed down the ladder to the ground, not checking to see if Paine had followed. She scrambled around the wreck, glancing just enough over it to be certain that it wasn't a new Machine Faction design -- rumor had it Gippal was building an airship from scratch, but no, this wasn't it; the aesthetic was totally wrong. Gippal would never sign off on something that plain. Curiosity stoked, Rikku focused back on her original goal: catching up with the pilot.
"Hey!" She shouted as she ran toward him, waved her arms over her head. "Hey, you okay?"
The man -- yep, definitely a man, Rikku decided -- paused in his climb, then craned his head over his shoulder to look down at her. "How did you get up here?"
"Same way you did," Rikku replied. "On an airship. 'Cept we just landed. Looks like you crashed pretty bad. Where did you get the airship? I didn't know there was another one."
"Another one?" The guy was too far away for Rikku to see his face, but just from his tone she could tell that he was giving her a blank look. "What are you talking about?"
Rikku kept walking until she reached the base of the cliff, then tilted her head all the way back to look up at him. "Well, there's only two airships in all of Spira. Except I guess there's three now. Where did you get that one? Did you build it? Or did someone find another wrecked one I didn't know about?" She was close enough now to see that, despite his light hair, he wasn't Al Bhed. A Yevonite with an airship? This got weirder every minute. She sighed, curling her lip to blow the hair out of her face. "Can you at least tell me your name?"
The man hung there, almost hugging the rock face, and nearly a minute passed before he answered. "Kirk. James T. Kirk. And you?"
"I'm Rikku. Nice to meet you, Kirk." She paused. "Look, this is ridiculous. Why don't you come down so I can talk to you?"
"Can't." Kirk looked up the side of the cliff, apparently gauging the distance to the top. "I need to get to the top."
Good, Rikku thought, maybe at least I'll get one question answered. "Why?"
He stared back at her, puzzled as ever. "I want to see what's there. Isn't that what most people do when they're exploring?"
"The Fayth Scar is at the top. And then Zanarkand, which is too dangerous to visit right now. Everyone knows that." Everyone but this mysterious stranger, apparently. Rikku propped her hands on her hips. "Now get down here before you fall!"
Kirk lifted his face to the sky one more time. "Oh, all right," he said, then started inching his way down, testing every finger and toe hold. Rikku groaned; this was going to take forever. She rummaged through her dressphere collection until she found the Songstress sphere, then started dancing. The effect was immediate -- Kirk's arms and legs sped up, hastening his descent. As he grew closer, Rikku could see bewilderment in his bright blue eyes. "What the-- ahhhh!" He lost his grip and fell the last few feet, landing with a thud in the snow.
"Whoops!" Rikku ran to him, just in time to see him sitting up. He had hit the ground face-first; there were scrapes on his forehead, and she thought his nose might be bleeding. "Sorry about that. Here, let me help--"
"No way." Kirk scrambled to his feet. "You've helped more than enough, thanks." He slapped his hand against a shiny triangular brooch on his chest, and Rikku jumped back when it beeped. "Scotty? Can you beam me out?"
"Just minute, cap'n," came the tinny reply. "Having trouble getting a lock; let me compensate for interference."
Rikku gaped in shock -- the new voice was coming out of Kirk's brooch! "Wow! What kind of machina is that? Is it like a commsphere?" She leaned forward, her hand reaching almost involuntarily toward the machina.
Kirk jerked away and hit the triangle again. "Scotty, now! Get me the hell out of here?"
"Energizing," the voice said, and even as Rikku came almost close enough to touch him, he disappeared in a swirl of pyreflies, leaving her grasping empty air. Her arm fell to her side.
"Huh." Rikku turned around to see Paine approaching from the wreckage of the airship. "Do you think he was Unsent?"
"But why would an Unsent be flying an airship?" Rikku pivoted on her heels, checking the direction of the sky that Kirk's ship had first appeared from. "This whole thing is so bizarre."
Paine shrugged. "I guess we'll never know. Now we have to get going; Brother will be wondering where you are. And the wreck is burned out, so there's nothing worth salvaging anyway."
With another glance backward, Rikku sighed, then followed Paine back to the boring, everyday world where mysterious good-looking men didn't just fall out of the sky.
"Well, that rescue was well-timed." Kirk, who had been beamed directly to sick bay, jerked away with a hiss as McCoy touched the abrasions on his face. "Careful!"
"Careful." McCoy snorted, then began dabbing at Kirk's wounds with what Kirk suspected was more force than strictly necessary. "You're one to talk, Jim. How many First Contact rules did you break down there? All of them?"
"Not quite all." Kirk grinned at McCoy. "She was awfully cute, though."
McCoy shook his head, sighing with exasperation. "You're right. We did beam you out just in time."
Kirk settled back in his seat, relaxing enough to let McCoy work his medical magic. "Guess that planet isn't ready for a Federation delegation after all. I'll let the bridge know it's time for us to move on to the next place."