BOOK
1
Chocobo! Chocobo!
_____Their
night at the Kalm Inn
had been relaxing, but merely a rejuvenation of their strength before they
carried on with their harsh journey. They travelled together this time, hoping
to stay stronger than the monsters which roamed the world. Their walking took
them between two great mountains and along the coast, across fields of knee-high
grass and through dense forests.
_____Eventually, they reached a field of yellow
flowers. Aeris knelt down and picked one, holding it up in front of her eyes.
It seemed to glimmer in the crisp morning light.
_____"I know this flower!" she beamed.
"This is called a Chocobo Rose! They call it that because the smell attracts
chocobos from all over during mating season. There must be some chocobos nearby."
_____"You mean there?" Cloud asked,
pointing east. Aeris followed his hand and saw a tiny cluster of buildings
on the horizon surrounded by a few trees. Aeris nodded, slipped the flower
into her pocket and they began to walk again. To the south they could see
a vast marsh. The water was brown and murkey and there was dead trees and
tufts of grass sprouting up out of it. Cloud wondered what sort of monsters
lurked beneath the surface as they made their way to the buildings.
_____They
reached the chocobo farm about ten minutes later. It was made up of a small
farm house, a tall stone tower and a long building which must have been the
stables. A tiny well was built between the house and the tower, and in front
of them all was a large paddock. Three chocobos strutted around within the
fences, chirping every now and then.
_____Aeris walked over to a chocobo standing
near the fence. It seemed to smile, if smiling with a beak is possible, and
rubbed up against her hand as she moved to stroke it.
_____"Wark!" it chirped. Aeris giggled,
glancing back at Cloud.
_____"I think she likes me!" she grinned.
"Hey, what's this?"
_____She reached into its mass of yellow feathers
and pulled out a small red crystal.
_____"Cloud!" she cried. "I think
I found some materia!"
_____Cloud ran over and looked at the orb in
her hand. It was definitely materia, he could tell from the tiny flames burning
inside it.
_____"Red materia..." Barret said.
"Hey, ain't that summon materia?"
_____"That's right." Cloud replied.
"Aeris, you hold on to this. It will summon a great monster to do battle
for you."
_____Aeris' eyes lit up: she had found her very
own guardian monster! She slotted the materia into a hole in her rod and slipped
it back into her belt. It would surely come in handy later.
_____"Excuse me!" cried a voice. The
group turned to see a small man standing in the door way of the farm house.
He looked fairly old and had two small tufts of grey hair poking out of the
sides of his head.
_____"Can I help you?" he asked.
_____The
farm house was small and very cosy. Cloud sat with the small man - Choco Bill
- in the living room. He held a warm mug of tea in his hands and was perched
on the edge of a comfortable armchair. The others were waiting outside, petting
the birds.
_____"So," Bill said, leaning back
in his chair. "Thinking of crossing the marshes?"
_____Cloud paused to think about it. As far as
he knew, the only other towns on this continent were located on the other
side of the wide mountain range, and the only was past the mountains was through
the marshes.
_____"Yeah." he finally replied with
a nod.
_____"Then it'll probably be safer for you
to get a chocobo." Bill said. "That way you can zip through the marshes
with the chocobo. It's the only way to avoid being attacked by the Midgar
Zolom."
_____"Midgar Zolom...?" Cloud asked.
_____"It's a serpent-like creature over 30 feet
tall!!" Bill cried. "It picks up on footsteps that enter the marshes... And
then, BAM!! It attacks!!! To avoid that, buy a chocobo at the Choco Bill and
Choco Billy Chocobo Farm. To purchase a Chocobo, please talk to my grandson.
He's in the Chocobo stables at the far right end of the farm."
_____Cloud placed the mug down on the coffee
table and thanked Chocobo Bill for his help, then left the house. He signalled
for the others to follow him as he made his way towards the cool shade of
the stables. There were two rows of eight pens, some of them with chocobos
inside. A small boy and an even smaller girl were tending to the chocobos,
wearing regular farm clothes and with buckets of greens and nuts.
_____"Do you want a chocobo?" asked
the boy, looking up.
_____"Yeah." Cloud replied.
_____"You old folks are out of luck!"
cried the boy, who must have been Choco Billy.
_____"Old folks...?" Barret whispered
to Tifa.
_____"We're all out of chocobos." Billy
said. "I'm taking care of those ones out there for someone else. You
know if you really want a chocobo, you should go out and catch one. Want to
know how to catch a chocobo?"
_____Cloud
could see that the others were becoming agitated by the boy's ramblings, all
except for Aeris. She seemed to be fascinated by the incredible birds. Cloud
had bought a 'Chocobo Lure' materia - an orb which would attract chocobos
in much the same way as the Chocobo Rose.
_____They headed for the exit, but Billy stopped
them.
_____"By the way," he cried. "There
was another person heading towards the marshes. Without a chocobo, the Midgar
Zolom probably got him. It was a man in a Black Cape."
_____Cloud nodded and they headed for the flower
fields. He slotted the materia into a bangle he was wearing and they sat down
and waited...
_____...And
waited. Finally, after almost an hour of waiting, five chocobos appeared as
if from nowhere. They chirped and squeaked and rubbed their heads against
Aeris' hand, just like the one in the paddock.
_____"Wow! It must be the Chocobo Rose!"
she laughed, pushing the birds away.
_____"All right," Cloud said. "Let's
go, everyone."
_____They hopped on to the chocobos and began
to ride towards the marsh.
_____The
marshes had been easy to cross, and they hadn't even caught a glimpse of the
Midgar Zolom. At least until they reached the other side. The marsh was funnelled
down into a point by the mountains and ended with a small entrance to a cave.
Just in front of the cave was a small stretch of grass and a very tall and
dead tree, its bark broken and chipped and soaked with blood. Impaled on the
tree was the giant snake.
_____"Did Sephiroth... do this...?"
Cloud hissed.
_____"Amazing..." Tifa whispered in
awe.
_____"Our enemy is someone that could do
this?" Aeris asked, almost in fright.
_____"Come on." Cloud insisted. "We
have to keep going or else we'll never catch up with Sephiroth."
_____The rest of the group agreed and they headed
into the cave. These caves were known as the Mythril Mines. Miners used to
harvest the rock and metal here for building purposes, but now the cave has
been abandonned because of the Midgar Zolom and other hazards.
_____They proceded through the glistening caverns
and rock passages, climbing vines and slipping down wet rocks. Eventually,
they reached a large cavern with a deep pit. Above the pit was a rocky overhang
and the exit was on top of a platform nearby.
_____Standing
on top of the platform was Rude, his bald head shining in the light coming
through the exit.
_____"Just a second!" he cried as they
stepped into view, his voice echoing throughout the cavern.
_____"Who are you?" Red asked.
_____"Do you know who I am?" Rude asked
Cloud.
_____"From the Turks right?" Cloud
replied.
_____"Well if you now, this won't take long."
he said, folding his arms. "It's difficult to say what the Turks do..."
_____"Kidnapping, right?" Cloud asked.
_____"To put it negatively... you could
say that." Rude replied. "But, that's not all there is to it anymore..."
He paused to think about what else they actually did. The group could almost
hear the cogs in his brain churning away as he thought as hard as he could
for a while.
_____"Sir!" cried a voice. The group
looked up and saw the fourth member of the Turks upon the overhang. This one
was female, one of a very small group of female employees under Shinra. Her
hair was short and blonde and she also wore the compulsary blue suit.
_____"It's all right, Rude!" she called.
"I know you don't like speeches, so don't force it!"
_____"Then, Elena, explain." Rude insisted.
_____"I'm the newest member of the Turks,
Elena." she explained to the group. "Thanks to what you did to Reno,
we're short of people. Although, because of that I got promoted to the Turks...
In any case, our job is to find out where Sephiroth is headed and to try and
stop you every step of the way." She turned away, and thought for a moment,
then spun back again to face the group. "Wait a minute, it's the other
way around! You're the ones that are getting in our way!"
_____"Elena, you talk too much." said
a voice. They all turned to see Tseng enter through the hole in the rock.
"No need to tell them about our orders."
_____"Sorry... Tseng." Elena said softly.
_____"I thought I gave you other orders."
Tseng said, staring her in the eyes. "Now go... and don't forget to file
your report!"
_____"Oh! Right!" Elena cried, clicking
her heels together and standing up straight. "Very well, Rude and I will
go after Sephiroth, who's headed for Junon Harbor!"
_____"...Elena." Tseng said, shaking
his head disappointedly. "You don't seem to understand..."
_____"Oh!" she cried again. "I'm,
I'm sorry..."
_____"Go." Tseng ordered. "Don't
let Sephiroth get away."
_____"Yes, sir!" Rude and Elena chanted
together. As Elena headed away, Rude grinned at the group.
_____"Reno said he wanted to see you after
the injuries you gave him healed." he sneered. "He wants to show
his affection for you all... with a new weapon."
_____He chuckled to himself and ran out of the
mines into the sunlight and disappeared. Tseng ran a hand through his long,
smooth, black hair and closed his eyes briefly.
_____"Aeris, long time no see." he
said. "Looks like you got away from Shinra for a while, now that Sephiroth
has reappeared."
_____"So what are you saying?" Aeris
asked. "That I should be grateful to Sephiroth?"
_____"No..." Tseng smiled. Aeris could
tell that something was brewing inside his head. "Well, I won't be seeing
too much of you, so take care... And... stay out of Shinra's way."
_____He straightened his collar and followed
Rude. Aeris stood gazing at where he had stood. It had been strange that a
man such as Tseng had told her to take care. He was usually a back-stabbing
cold man.
_____Anyhow, they climbed the rock up on to the
platform and stepped out into the afternoon breeze. There were only two other
towns on this continent. The first was Fort Condor, an inland Mako Reactor
which was the home of not only many anti-Shinra folk, but also a giant condor.
The fifty-foot bird sat all day and all night on top of the reactor, protecting
its only egg from the Shinra soldiers who constantly tried to kill it, claiming
that it was disrupting the reactor. The people of Fort Condor fought a non-stop
war against the Shinra, trying to defend the condor, at least until the egg
hatched.
_____The other city was Junon. The largest city
in the world after Midgar, it was located on the western coast of the continent
and ran ships daily to Costa Del Sol which was across the ocean.
_____Cloud took a deep breath. The air on this
side of the mountains was a lot cleaner than what he had been used to for
so long. He tightened his belt and they set off for Junon.