Title: Chocobo Rescue
Author: R.L.N.
Keywords: Romance, A/U
Spoilers: None.
Pairings: Z+C
Summary: While on a mission, Zack learns to respect the mighty chocobo.
Author's Note: I was playing FFTactics and like a dork had a whole bunch of chocobos hatch. In my silliness I got in a battle and only had chocobos fight, and to my disbelief they kicked major butt. This story was written in more of the tactics gameplay style of chocobo battles. Go chocobos!
Rating: G
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by their original creators. No money is being made and no infringement is intended.
When life throws you lemons, the advice is to make lemonade. Unfortunately for Cloud Strife, whoever decided to throw him sour fruit also decided to throw him rain, mud, and icy temperatures. It must have been Karma. Cloud knew he shouldn't have let himself be coerced into late night partying.
It had rained for two straight weeks, and Cloud had trudged through mud for every one of those days. During the night the entire fifteen-member troupe walked through the mud and rain, and Cloud was exhausted with every one of the other Shinra grunts. He glanced up towards the front of the troupe and saw the two leaders riding bright yellow chocobos. The birds were dirty and tired too, but they couldn't stop because of the mud.
They were investigating a disturbance in the mountains by the Midgar Swamp. Something was eating chocobos in the area, and since Shinra caught their birds from this area, the higher-ups deemed it 'ultra important' to catch whatever was eating the birds and bring it back alive for experiments.
That night they reach an outcropping on the mountains, but due to the rain the stone was slippery and they could barely walk, let alone rest. Finally, after three days of nearly non-stop walking, they reached an area in the mountains where it connected with the forest. The ground was firm, and trees gave them a small bit of shelter.
The watch shifts were divided up, and men flopped to the hard stone to rest. Rain continued to pour down, and Cloud noticed the poor chocobos huddled together. Despite wanting to collapse with everyone else, he instead walked up to one of the birds and stroked its yellow feathers.
"Hi, Boko. Hi, Chico," he murmured, petting both birds.
"Something wrong, Private?"
Cloud looked up to see General Sephiroth looking at him, and he blushed. Thankfully, his helmet was on and he knew the General couldn't see his face.
"O-oh! W-well, they look tired," Cloud replied, cursing his stuttering. He recollected himself before continuing. "Should I find them some greens?"
"Permission granted," General Sephiroth said. "Take the birds, but don't go too far."
"Yessir," Cloud saluted, and he gently took the bird's bridles and led them away from the main group.
It was cautious walking, and Cloud slipped more than once before Chico cooed at him and bent its knees, lowering itself to the ground. Cloud hesitated before grasping onto the large bird and boosted himself on top.
The chocobos were much more sure-footed on the terrain, and they traveled along the mountain range easily. Cloud noticed something strange in the air, and he pulled off his helmet to get a better feel.
"Steam?"
The birds continued, and Cloud saw a dip into the mountains, nearly covered by trees. He nudged the birds over towards it, and they walked through thick, green trees before emerging onto a hot spring.
Cloud nearly fainted with joy. Suddenly both birds let out happy warks and charged right into the hot water. Cloud held onto his bird as water rushed up to his neck, but the birds just swam across the wide spring and began munching on a large bush of greens. Reaching over, Cloud grabbed a handful of them to inspect them, and saw that they were ghysal greens, one of the more popular greens on the market.
Cloud still sat on one of the big birds, so he slid off into the water and began cleaning the dirt and grime from them. They cooed with content, and Cloud wasn't feeling too bad himself. He pulled off his clothes, leaving his undershorts on, and washed them too. With his clothes clean, Cloud stuffed the pockets with more greens for the birds later on. He swam back to the other side of the spring, and left his clothes by that side, to remind him where to go. Cloud went back to the chocobos, now resting comfortably in the hot water, and Cloud sat next to them by the edge of the spring and slowly fell asleep.
Cloud jerked awake as one of the birds nipped him. He looked around groggily and noticed the rain had stopped. Then he heard it.
"Cloud! Where are you?"
Cloud swam back to his clothes and hastily pulled them on. The birds followed him, and Cloud climbed back onto Chico and the birds left the tiny sanctuary they had found.
The birds followed the shouts, and when Cloud finally saw who was calling, he called out softly.
"Zack."
Zack turned at his voice and ran up to him, seizing him off the bird and into his arms.
"I thought something ate you!" Zack exclaimed, holding Cloud in a very awkward position, halfway on Chico, half in his arms. "You've been missing for two hours!"
Cloud struggled to get to his feet, and Zack set him down carefully. Reaching up, Cloud stroked Zack's cheek softly.
"I'm okay," he assured, smiling. "Really, I am."
Wrapping his arms around Zack's neck, Cloud snuggled into the embrace, and it wasn't until someone coughed that they both looked up to see the entire troupe standing there.
Everyone was staring at them, most of the men with grins. Cloud blushed and dropped his arms from Zack's neck, but the older man continued to hold him.
"Still alive, I see," General Sephiroth said, making his entrance. "I told you not to go too far, Private."
Cloud ducked his head a little, muttering an apology. Zack's arms tightened slightly.
"He shouldn't have gone without another team member in the first place," Zack shot back.
"I had two chocobos," Cloud protested, craning his neck to look up at Zack. "Chocobos are very strong, and they swim good too."
"Really?" Zack asked, and suddenly his interest changed. "You smell good."
"Uh, thank you?" Cloud replied, looking unsure.
"No, like, really good," Zack said, sniffing Cloud's hair. "Very clean."
Cloud couldn't escape Zack sniffing his hair, and he blushed as everyone continued to stare. "Zack, please…stop…" He couldn't break Zack's hold on his waist, and finally he sighed in defeat.
"There's a hot spring over there," Cloud said, pointing. "Just past the grove."
Cloud blinked as everyone disappeared. The only ones left standing there were Zack, Cloud himself, and General Sephiroth.
They remained silent, Sephiroth watching the two's public affection, and Cloud stared at the ground, his face bright red. Zack stopped sniffing his hair, looked up at Sephiroth.
"If I knew your boyfriend would be here, I wouldn't have brought you," the General said, and Cloud looked up out of the corner of his eye.
"I couldn't help it," Zack said, no trace of fun or mirth in his tone. "Sorry."
Sephiroth shook his head slightly, his long silver hair shimmering in the moonlight. "You hit me. Granted, it didn't hurt, but still…"
"I said sorry," Zack muttered. "Besides, you made a mistake too."
"He was perfectly fine with both chocobos," Sephiroth said, and saying so he stepped forward and grasped both bridles. "If he was just going off to find greens without them, then someone would have been with him. Private, come with me. Lieutenant, I want the entire troupe back at camp in one hour."
"Yessir," Zack and Cloud said in unison, and Cloud followed General Sephiroth while Zack went to the spring.
The way back was slippery, and Cloud had a hard time keeping his footing as they climbed down the rocky range. It was much easier riding a chocobo, but he didn't want to say anything in the General's presence. Even after dating Zack these past few weeks didn't help him be at ease with anyone higher up in rank.
Slipping on a mossy rock, Cloud landed on his backside, biting his lip to keep from crying out. He tasted blood, but remained quiet as they finally reached camp.
"Here, tie them up," General Sephiroth ordered, and Cloud nodded before obeying. The birds were happier, and Cloud wiped blood from his lip on his sleeve before tying them to a tree.
"Go take watch," General Sephiroth said, and Cloud looked up. "I've relieved the last watchman, and I'll take him to the spring. Keep watch until everyone else returns."
"Yessir," Cloud said, and went to the watch post.
The post was nothing more than a short, fat tree and Cloud climbed up to settle in the branches. It was cold, now that he was out of the hot water and away from any heat source whatsoever. He folded his arms and huddled in the tree, keeping watch to make sure nothing was coming.
He didn't see anything, but a loud wark made Cloud look back towards the chocobos. He could see both moving around, trying to break free from the tree.
"Hey!" Cloud called out, and climbed down from the tree. His foot caught on a stray branch, and he fell the last few feet.
Grateful no one was there to watch his landing, Cloud scrambled to his feet and ran over to the chocobos.
"What's the matter?" Cloud asked, untying the birds to lead them somewhere else.
Chico hunched down, inviting Cloud to climb on, while Boko turned to the forest and fluffed its feathers up threateningly. Cloud climbed onto Chico, and held on tight as it backed away from the forest, warbling uneasily.
"What's the matter?" Cloud asked, wishing he wasn't alone.
Then, Cloud saw the source of the threats. A pack of wild wolves were hunched down, preparing to strike. He aimed his rifle at one, and right as the large wolf lunged he fired.
The pack was large, and very quickly Cloud, Boko, and Chico were surrounded. Boko attacked and killed several wolves, while Chico protected Cloud while he fired with his rifle.
Cloud ran out of ammunition, and he struck with the end of the rifle as a wolf jumped at him and Chico. The wolf caught his boot and yanked hard, dragging Cloud off Chico and onto the ground.
Fortunately, his boots were thick and strong, and Cloud wasn't bitten. But he didn't have much time to plan a counterattack before he was dragged across the ground and hauled through to the forests. He was slammed against a rock, and Cloud was knocked unconscious.
Zack loves Cloud and he wants to be with him. He knew Cloud would be on this mission, and refrained from telling Sephiroth that one of the little grunts was his current love. He knew Sephiroth would change orders, and Zack couldn't let that happen. Cloud needed experience, and Zack would kill himself before he caused any hinder on his behalf.
When Zack found out Cloud had been gone for two hours looking for chocobo food, he hit Sephiroth and ran off to find him. Every worst possible scenario ran through his head, and when he finally found Cloud, sitting on top of a chocobo looking perfectly fine, he lost it. He wanted to kiss him, declare his undying affection, and make love to him right there. Unable to do any of those things, he opted to just hold Cloud close, ignoring every other person that somehow materialized out of nowhere to watch.
Now he was sitting on the edge of a hot spring, 'supervising' the troupe, and listening to Sephiroth rattle on about romance on the job.
"I don't even know what you see in him," Sephiroth mentioned, looking at Zack sternly. "I thought you were all for the Ancient the Turks have been chasing since forever."
"She and I will always have a special relationship," Zack said, getting impatient. "Besides, Tseng has a thing for her too. He's known her since they were kids, practically. Playing in the slum parks together one year, the next, getting chased by him for mad experiments. They will always have a 'special' relationship as well. It's not my fault she's madly in love with me."
"I'm just saying, you're not one to take someone seriously," Sephiroth said, shrugging. "But I suppose if he's worth hitting me over…" Shrugging again, Sephiroth trailed off.
"He's worth hitting many men, Seph, not just you," Zack said, his face breaking into a grin. "Oh, come on, he's the cutest pokey-headed thing to ever try to join SOLDIER, you have to admit it. We're just dating, it's not like he's getting in just because. And he knows that, which makes him even more lovable since we've been together about four months now."
"Really? That long?" Sephiroth asked, disinterested.
Zack nodded, pretending to not notice that Sephiroth was pretending to listen. "Yeah, I met him when he got shoved into a locker. He was there all evening and late into the night when I found him."
"What were you doing in the cadet locker rooms late at night?" Sephiroth asked, now fully attentive.
"Getting contrabands," Zack said, waving it off. "New kids always bring in the good stuff. Anyway, so I found clothes, but no one there. I called around, broke into the locker he was in, took the kid to my room to recuperate and we've dated ever since."
"Really?" Sephiroth asked, losing interest again.
"Well, not 'dated'," Zack admitted. "He's really shy, he took a week to even be my friend. We've only gotten official last month, when I had a party and introduced him to everyone as my boyfriend by slip. He didn't mind too much, embarrassed the hell out of him, but since then we've been really close."
Sephiroth looked like he couldn't care less, and after only a few minutes longer of Zack's idle chatter did he give the order to return to camp.
Zack was in the lead, being careful of his footing. His sharp eyes noticed a particular spot that showed signs of someone slipping, and knowing Sephiroth was too sure-footed, he knew it was Cloud that had slipped. His mind wandered to the younger blonde, and it wasn't until someone cried out that he finally looked up.
The camp was in ruins. Zack quickly took notice of the scattered chocobo feathers and remains of what seemed to be wild Midgar Wolves. There was blood everywhere, and Zack barely heard the order to spread out and search the grounds. He went to the lookout post, but it was empty. Cloud wasn't to be seen anywhere. Zack silently hoped that the blood all over the ground wasn't Cloud's, when someone shouted.
"General! Commander!"
Zack ran over to the voice, and stood next to Sephiroth as they looked down the muddy hill.
"Damn…" Zack murmured before beginning the slide down the mud.
The chocobo was clearly dead, it's bright yellow feathers scattered in the wind. Zack noted it was the one Sephiroth had ridden, for it was the larger of the two birds.
"…Zack, stay here and wait with the squad tonight," Sephiroth ordered quietly. "I'm going to follow the tracks, I'll be back tonight if I find anything or not."
Zack just nodded, knowing Sephiroth would really do his best looking for the missing Private. He went back up the hill, and heard Sephiroth continue on down the hill.
Zack looked around the mess of the camp, and at the rest of the men before nodding, seeming to shake himself out of his stupor.
"All right, let's salvage what we can."
Sephiroth ran lightly and swiftly through the trees and bushes, following the very obvious trail of someone being dragged through. It didn't take long before the trees ended, and Sephiroth stopped to overlook a river cutting through the forest. He noted the sound of a waterfall, and was about to continue on when he noticed something red moving through the brush.
One hand immediately dropped to the hilt of his sword, and Sephiroth began drawing the long sword when he heard a soft wark.
A bright red chocobo came out of the brush, and seemingly unworried walked right up to the edge of the river and jumped in. Sephiroth sheathed his sword and went to the edge, watching the bright red bird swim easily across. But he was no fool, the water was deeper and the current stronger than it appeared. He turned to leave, when another sound brought his attention back to where the red chocobo was climbing out of the water.
Sephiroth's eyes widened at the sight of another chocobo, this one black, and the detail that it had a very unconscious Private Strife on its back. Both birds warbled at each other before walking along the riverbank, and finally coming to rest not far from the waterfall Sephiroth had heard. A yellow chocobo came out, and Sephiroth recognized the bridle it wore and figured it was Chico, the chocobo Zack rode out. It strutted itself right up to the black and red chocobos, and Sephiroth watched as a bright green light showered down on the birds and Strife. The birds warbled a little, and suddenly Strife stirred.
Cloud wasn't sure where he was at first, only that he was warm, something was soft, and he suddenly felt perfectly fine. He groaned and opened his eyes, only to realize he was on a chocobo. Chico was warbling happily next to him, and Cloud managed to slide off the black chocobo he was on and sit on the soft grass. He took notice of the waterfall nearby, and the three chocobos that seemed happy he was moving on his own.
"Thanks Chico," Cloud said, and Chico nuzzled him gently with its beak and warbled.
"STRIFE!"
Cloud stood up, and looked across the river to see General Sephiroth on the other side. "Sir?"
The General nodded at him. "Stay put, I'm going to get the rest of the team, we'll collect you afterwards. Don't go anywhere."
Cloud nodded and saluted, and the General turned and disappeared into the forest. Cloud continued to look where he had vanished, when he felt a tug at his pockets. He looked down to notice the red chocobo in his pocket, searching for something. Cloud pushed it away and reached in himself, pulling out a handful of the greens he had collected from the spring. Both the red and black chocobos warbled happily, and Cloud fed some greens to both of them. They were extremely satisfied, and Cloud moved to sit next to Chico, who was resting on the grass.
"What a day," Cloud sighed, petting Chico lightly. A soft "Wark." caught his attention, and he looked up to see another black chocobo staring at him from behind the trees. It looked worried, but the red chocobo cooed, and it came out fully and strutted right up to Cloud.
Cloud got the hint and pulled out another handful of greens, and fed some to the new black chocobo. He heard another "Wark!" and watched as more chocobos of different colors came out and began begging for greens.
There were fourteen birds milling around him, and Cloud stood up and went to the river to drink. The birds walked right into the deep river and swam around, all of them enjoying the social gathering. Cloud smiled, and noted Chico seemed happy also to socialize with the other red, black, and yellow chocobos.
A loud howl caught all their attentions, and Cloud and the chocobos looked down the river to see a large pack of wild Midgar Wolves running up the riverbanks towards them. The closet one charged at a bright yellow chocobo, and Cloud watched in shock as a giant meteor came from the sky and crashed into the wolf, killing it.
The red chocobo that Cloud took as the leader let out a loud battle "Kweh!" and the chocobos all began making loud "Wark!" and "Kweh!" noises as well. Cloud watched in shock as giant meteors came from the command of the red chocobo wings, and multiple balls of fire shot from the black chocobos, and green light shone from the yellow chocobos as they moved around helping the other birds. Chico was standing next to the red leader, and Cloud moved to stand behind the large birds.
"Cloud!"
Cloud looked up to see Zack standing on the other side of the river, panting from his run. "Zack!"
Zack looked up as Sephiroth and the rest of the team came up behind him. "We need to get down there," Zack said, and Sephiroth nodded.
"See any way down?" Sephiroth asked, and all of the men started scanning the area to cross.
"…We'll have to swim it," Zack said, and was about to jump into the river when a loud "Kweh!" caught his attention, and watched in a stunned stupor as a giant black chocobo flew over the river and landed softly next to him. It cooed and knelt down, inviting Zack to climb on. Another black chocobo flew over, and Sephiroth climbed onto that one and both birds flew over the river and landed softly on the other side.
Zack turned and noted the rest of the team were crossing, but at a much slower pace. He turned his attention back to the wolf pack, noting how large it was.
"Cloud, are you all right?" Zack asked, and Cloud nodded, safe behind Chico.
"I've got the chocobos to help me," Cloud said quietly, and Zack drew his sword and watched the black chocobo he had just ridden dart forward and blast a wolf with some giant fireballs. Zack was impressed at how the giant birds knew how to battle. Once he and Sephiroth had joined the fight and were killing the wolves much faster, the pack began to retreat. Soon the entire pack had turned and run and Zack struck one last wolf before going over to Cloud.
Cloud smiled at Zack as he approached. "See? I told you chocobos were really strong."
Zack leaned down and kissed Cloud lightly on the lips, and opened his mouth to respond when the big red chocobo went "Kweh!" and pecked him hard, knocking Zack to the ground with an indignant "Ouch!"
Sephiroth watched the interactions with little interest, but something did catch his attention elsewhere. The men had finally managed to cross the river, and a few were struggling onto shore, but most remained in the water. The large red chocobo suddenly let out a loud "Wark!" but Sephiroth could tell it was a tone of fear. The birds feared something, and if they were strong enough to defend against a wolf pack twice as large as they were, Sephiroth was wary of whatever was approaching the river from the other side.
The terrified cries of the team caught Zack and Cloud's attention, and Sephiroth was already moving to the river to help. A giant beast loped out of the forest, and leaped into the river, crossing quickly with its giant arms. It caught up to the struggling men, and tossed them all aside, more intent on the bright birds, which were retreating back towards the forest in fear.
Cloud was caught up in the retreat of the birds, and Zack had moved to defend against the large monster, which had surged forward to grab at a terrified black chocobo. He knocked it away, but the other arm came sweeping across and Zack jumped out of the way, slashing at the arm as he dodged. The giant chocobo eater paid neither Zack nor Sephiroth any attention, and swung an arm forward, this time catching a red chocobo and immediately began devouring it as the bird let out screams. The chocobo eater ate it nearly in one huge gulp, and reached forward for another bird.
Zack sliced into the arm, and the chocobo eater retracted its arm and swatted at him, forcing him back a little at the sheer strength of the blow. Sephiroth was fairing no better, the giant chocobo eater having such powerful defenses against their blows.
The chocobo eater reached forward into the herd of chocobos, and Cloud let out a terrified shriek as he was seized around the waist and hauled up into the air, being flung around like a rag doll.
"Cloud!" Zack exclaimed, and sliced at the arm grasping Cloud, and the chocobo eater just swatted at Zack with his free arm, fully intent on eating Cloud. The enormous mouth opened wide and suddenly a giant meteor smashed into its open mouth.
With a startled cry, the chocobo eater dropped Cloud, who fell to the ground and scrambled to his feet, running towards Zack. He didn't make it ten feet when a giant arm knocked him sideways, and Cloud crashed to the ground with a groan. He looked up and saw bright yellow feathers, and Chico was standing there healing him. He got up and Chico warbled at him as they backed up away from the monster. The giant red chocobo fluffed its feathers up threateningly, making the large bird look even bigger. The chocobo eater didn't seem fazed, and reached forward to grab the red chocobo.
Sephiroth sliced at the arm, and the chocobo eater hesitated, its attention on the General, and the red chocobo let out a loud "Wark!" and a series of multiple giant meteors came from the command of its wing. The meteors stunned the chocobo eater and Zack and Sephiroth both attacked, finally destroying the chocobo eater with the help of the meteor storm of the red chocobo.
Cloud cautiously went forward towards Zack, who was kneeling on the ground panting. Zack stood up and quickly glanced up and down Cloud's body, checking for injuries. He didn't have any, and both men went over to where Sephiroth was examining the dead chocobo eater.
"…This may be what has been attacking the chocobos in the area," Sephiroth said thoughtfully. "It seemed unnaturally strong for a wild monster, though."
"That's for sure," Zack agreed, walking around to the back of the body.
"Do we still need to take it back?" Cloud asked quietly. "Orders were to bring it back alive…"
Sephiroth looked over and Cloud, who instantly turned bright red and glanced away to look at the ground. Sephiroth stepped closer to Cloud and leaned down, whispering something in his ear. The blush over Cloud's cheeks rivaled those of red chocobo feathers, and it spread over his entire face. Sephiroth walked away to meet up with the rest of the team, and Zack went to stand next to Cloud.
"What did he say?" Zack asked, looking curiously at his boyfriend's blushing visage.
"H-he said…" Cloud stuttered, turning to look at Sephiroth, "that you were right…I am the cutest pokey-headed thing to ever try to get into SOLDIER…"
Zack hummed thoughtfully, and looked at the red face of his boyfriend and then the back of his General. He knew Sephiroth would be up for anything, but convincing Cloud would be another issue. However, Zack didn't have time to voice any of his thoughts before a loud 'Wark!' sounded through the air, and the chocobos began retreating back into the forests.
The bright red leader was the last to leave, and Chico cooed at it softly and they nuzzled affectionately. Chico turned and went back towards Cloud, who gave it a gentle pet and waved at the red chocobo as it left into the forest.
"They seem like good friends," Zack mentioned, helping Cloud up onto Chico.
"Some people say chocobos remember things better than humans," Cloud said as Zack led the bird back towards the river. There were shallow parts amongst the deep river, and Zack had an easier time crossing then the team beforehand. "I bet they were friends before Shinra came and took Chico away. And they remember each other even after all the time that had passed."
Zack nodded, and the entire team began making their way back to the camp to gather the rest of the salvaged equipment. Many dragged the dead chocobo eater, and Chico was keen on making it clear it did not want to walk near the carcass. Once back at camp and everything was ready to go Cloud slid off Chico to let Zack tie the chocobo to the carcass and have the bird drag it instead. Zack took one step towards the dead chocobo eater and Chico squawked loudly, and jerked away, knocking Zack to the ground as it backed away quickly. Sephiroth stepped in to intervene, but it was no use. Chico was not going anywhere close to the dead chocobo eater, and it certainly wasn't going to drag the carcass back to civilization. In the end, the men had to drag the body, and Chico wouldn't let Zack or Sephiroth ride anymore. Cloud was the only one Chico allowed on its back, and Cloud smiled from behind his mask as they began making their way back.
"Stupid chocobos," Zack mumbled, stumbling on a hidden branch. Chico warbled at him, and Zack shot Chico a glare. "Quit laughing at me, bird."
Cloud laughed silently from behind his mask.
"You know what Zack?" Cloud asked, not hiding the mirth in his voice. "I think Chico thinks the same thing about you."
Zack lost his witty remark when his boot sunk in a mud hole and he got stuck all the way up his thigh. Cloud continued on, hearing Zack's complaints as well as the loud squelching noise as he was pulled free. Chico warbled again, and Cloud chuckled.
"His opinion of chocobos probably changed today, though," Cloud said, petting Chico. "Thanks, Chico."
The return to civilization was an interesting one. The troupe got many stares as the men dragged the dead carcass, and the General Sephiroth walked like a common grunt while a common grunt rode the chocobo, and the Lieutenant walked unevenly while missing one boot.
Zack scowled darkly at the bright yellow chocobo that his boyfriend sat upon. It was the dumb bird's fault. Stupid, no-good…
A manhole Zack was walking over lacked its cover, and Zack didn't finish his train of thought as he plummeted into the sewers below with a loud splash. Cloud looked back, and just shook his head in amusement as Zack's frustrated voice reached them up on the street. It had to be Karma. For coercing poor Cloud into all those late night parties.
The End