| New life is always a thing of wonder to us. -On wall in Hatchery Part 88 [Oh! Queen Garnet wants to see the hatchlings as soon as they�re old enough to be out. And Zidane, she wants you home immediately.] Zidane�s head popped up. � Why?� [She says that you�re in trouble and that she has something to tell you, though I have no idea what either one is because she didn�t write them down.] � Okay.� He got up and left, walking slowly and absently, as though he were thinking as he moved. [Gelgameth, please be sure he doesn�t run into anything on his way out.] As if on cue, there was a thunk and a curse. � Shit! . . . Ow . . .� [Of course.] He bowed and left, his tail slipping out just before the door closed and latched. I then noticed the level of quiet in the room. Glancing around, I saw that all of my hatchlings--even Kuja--were sleeping. Laying where they�d fallen. I looked to Tiovex and we silently agreed that they would be up and bouncing in no time, so we settled in for a nap as well. *~~* [Sire, has Zidane been here since he left for Alexandria?] I tensed and Tiovex looked at me worriedly. [No. Why?] [Queen Garnet says he never arrived.] [And no one along the way saw him?] [Apparently not.] He looked at me, then turned back to Gelgameth. [Get a few transportation baskets ready. We�re going to find him.] Once we got all the wriggly hatchlings inside the two baskets, Tiovex took one and I took the other and we paused outside to decide who would go to which continent. We agreed to base it on who knew the continent best or had been there the most or weakness/strength problems. I looked at Kuja. [You go to the Lost Continent.] He nodded. I turned to Gelgameth. [You take the Forgotten Continent.] He gave a sharp nod. I switched to Tiovex, who interrupted me. [I�ll take the Mist Continent,] he said. [Okay then. The Outer Continent is mine. Meet at Alexandria in one hour.] We split there, going our separate directions. I landed at the Outer Continent, just outside Conde Petie. I asked around, but they had not seen Zidane. I thanked them and stopped by Madain Sari, but the moogles hadn�t seen him either. Mognet Central had no idea where he was, so I made an aerial search of the entire continent. Turning up nothing, I landed among the roots of the Iifa Tree and let the hatchlings wander. [The Iifa Tree is safe from outsiders, but it has many dangers of its own,] I warned them. [Do not stray so far that I cannot protect you.] *~~* Nothing in Treno, nothing in Burmecia, nothing in Lindblum, nothing in Dali . . . Where was he?! Didn�t he realize that everyone was worried sick about him? Tiovex sighed and landed in Kitiane�s old home in Evil Forest. He let the hatchlings out to play, heaving another sigh when they peeped hungrily. Fifteen hatchlings were too much for him to watch at once. *~~* Oeilvert, Ipsen, Daguerro . . . Nothing. Gelgameth landed over the closed-off Wind Shrine and looked around. [Nobody could survive here. Not even a dragon.] He sighed. [If he�s lucky, he�s alive. If he�s half lucky, he�s dead. If he has no luck at all, he was eaten and slowly digested by a catoblepas� stomach acid or something.] *~~* The people of Esto Gaza were so simple. Disgustedly, Kuja turned away and left, snarling at garudas that tried to start a fight with him. He made a slow flight around the mountains, then lowered his sights to the coast. At first, he didn�t see anything. But then, on the far beach that opened up to the expanse of ocean, he noticed something tumbling in the foamy waves. As he landed on the beach, the thing was washed onto the sand and left behind. He sucked in a surprised breath and ran over to it, crying mentally: �I found him, Mother! I found him!� *~~* I heard the sending and gathered the hatchlings up, then flew toward the Lost Continent. Landing on the beach, I set the basket down and ran to where Kuja was bent over a pale form. � He�s not breathing.� I spun around and slammed my tail down onto his chest. He coughed and twisted in an attempt to get the salty water out. I licked his face as I could reach it, cleaning the salt out of his eyes so they wouldn�t sting when he opened them. � Mother, look!� I followed Kuja�s finger, amazed at the severe burn marks covering Zidane�s body. Nothing that I could think of, not even magic, could have done that to him. The marks were so random it couldn�t be anything magical. � Mother . . .� Zidane rasped harshly. He rolled onto his back again and I was treated to the sight of nearly the whole right side of his face burned almost beyond recognition. [I�m right here, Ziaden.] I laid with my side against him as proof that I was there and touched the end of my nose to his left cheek. [Tell me what happened.] � I was flying . . . to Alexandria . . . There was a storm . . . Lightning streaked in front of me . . . then turned and hit me.� He winced. � My face hurts.� [It�s badly burned,] I told him. [I�m going to take you to Alexandria.] With Kuja�s help, he slid onto my back and held tightly. Kuja grabbed the basket and followed me, keeping a wary eye out on the air around us. At one point, he stiffened and slowed his wing beats. � Zidane? Does one hand still work?� � Yeah. Why?� � Take the basket.� The hatchlings were passed to Zidane and Kuja gave my butt a rough shove. � Go on, Mother. I don�t know what it is, but it�s strong.� <--Part 87 Part 89--> |