Black Moa Chick

A/N: I wrote this story over a year ago, as a present to one of my best friends and guild mates, only rediscovering it on my hard drive a few weeks ago. With her permission, I have posted it here. This story is based on the true events of how I met my best friend Lily on Guild Wars. And for those of you who have read some of my FFXIII stories, this is the same Lily who has betaed my works. Please note, out of respect to my fellow guild mates, all the names in this story have been changed to protect their identities. This story is unbetaed and all errors are mine. XD

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them.

"Montague?"

Tear nodded to the Xunlai Agent in thanks and turned to look for her hunting partner. Even after double checking things for the third time in the past five minutes, she wasn't quite convinced that she had everything yet. Today, Tear would be leading the party into the darkest depths of Sorrow's Furnace. Not a very pleasant place by any means. The Stone Summit reigned supreme over that fiery hole in the ground. And this particular excursion into Stone Summit territory would be taking them down to the Iron Forgeman's very doorstep.

Tucked beneath Tear's Primeval armor, pressed against her bare lower back, was a fully loaded Incubator Kit. Inside was an unhatched black moa egg. Only the searing heat from Sorrow's Flame would hatch it. And that was supposed to be the easy part. It had taken Tear over a month to collect the rest of the items necessary to get this far. Spiritwood Planks, needed in making the incubator kit, were not commonly found in Tyria and cost Tear quite a few platinum. At one point, Tear faced off with a swarm of over thirty Skree Harpies in Elona. Skree feathers were the best nesting material around, and Tear was not about to skimp on such things even if it meant fighting thousands of those screeching squackers.

All of this began five weeks ago, when Tear found Alexis Fleetfoot quite smug in the guild hall. In all the years she had known the little assassin, never once did Tear ever see Alexis so beside herself before. It was rather odd to watch her giggle to herself as much as she did. Thinking that the assassin had finally found a mate worthy of her affections, Tear bounded up to the girl ready to cheer her on with a mighty slap on the back and some words of congratulations. That is when she saw the ball of black feathers standing in front of her friend on the Xunlai storage crate.

Montague's back was to Tear, the Obsidian armored warrior examining something in front of him intently.

"Mon-"

Montague shuffled to the side, still preoccupied in thought, revealing his object of curiosity. It was Lily. The tiny blonde haired monk was a fresh face to the GOFC guild. Not even a month had passed since Officer Kinsfolk sent her a guild invitation of which she accepted. Tear watched the scene, smiling to herself as she remembered the first day Lily arrived. She remembered how small the monk looked next to her fellow guild mate Officer Kinsfolk, half the size of him almost. Lily looked absolutely elegant, adorned in white elite Kurzick armor (of which Tear thought was an excellent choice of protection and fashion) with a purple blindfold. But that was nothing compared to how cute Lily was in her eyes.

"She looks so sad," Montague said, brow creasing as he continued to peer at Lily.

Tear frowned beneath her silver dyed helm. Lily did seem rather sad. So lonely the poor thing looked, standing off to the side in the Cathan designed Isle of Meditation guild hall, head bowed. Even with her cute and stylish attire, Tear's heart couldn't but go out to the girl.

"Yes. Yes, she does," Tear murmured in agreement.

"Hmm…" Montague stroked his chin deep in thought. "What do ya say Tear? Shall we take the little blind monk with us?"

Lily's head snapped up and she turned to Montague once she realized Montague was referring to her. Now it was Tear's turn to contemplate. The little monk turned to Tear.

"Hmm…" Tear stared at Lily before she nodded. "Sure, I don't see why not."

Montague whooped and pumped his fist in the air. "Now come along little Lily," he said to her with a glint in his eye. "But stay behind me so you don't get hurt, okay?"

Tear slapped her forehead. D'oh! 'King' Montague had spoken. Tear sighed. Montague wasn't the bragging type by nature. In most cases he was very sweet and kind, always wanting to help you out. But on occasion, his macho man ego did surface and comments such as that came out. Tear couldn't blame him. After all, the God Walking Amongst Mere Mortals title wasn't accomplished through just talk. But even so, just when Tear thought she had Montague figured out, he surprised her yet again.

"I pity you... you were not born a Norn!"

Steel met flesh as Jora slashed a Stone Summit dwarf with an Executioner's Strike. They were nearing their target now, having traveled almost a whole day to get to this far. It took them a week by boat to get from the guild hall to Port Sledge. Port Sledge was a small port of calling, just south east of Droknar's Forge at the rim of the icy tundra. From there, it took them another day's walk, filled with much fighting, to trek through the Southern Shiverpeaks to reach Camp Rankor.

The group stayed at Camp Rankor for another two days before they continue their journey underground. Tear was concerned about Lily's health. The girl was small and was not built for such travels. While drudging through the icy wasteland, Tear caught sight of the little monk lagging behind a few times, often out of breath. Going non stop for over a week could do that to those not used to such travel. Heck, even as a seasoned warrior herself, Tear was starting to feel the effects of the journey. And now, ten days after this expedition began, they were almost there.

"May peace find you quickly."

A Summit Surveyor crumpled at Jurah's feet. Jurah, known to most as the Master of Whispers, was one of many heroes who helped them on their quest. Jora of the Norn from the Far Shiverpeaks. The Master of Whispers of the Order of Whispers from Elona. And Livia of the Shining Blade from Kryta. These legendary heroes all answered the call to arms at Tear's request, reciprocating the kindness she showed to them when they were in need prior.

The rest of the group was filled out with unknown but soon to be great heroes, one of which was Acolyte Sousuke. Acolyte Sousuke was one of the younger members of the party, still green looking in his perfectly pressed purple Zaishen armor. His master was a good friend of Tear's, Field General Hayao, who was now stationed at Kamadan. Tear and Hayao knew each other from the Battle Isles, where they often ended up facing each other on opposite sides in the Zaishen Challenge. Seeing as how Sousuke couldn't stop talking about how eager he was for some real battle, Tear didn't see any harm in taking the rookie along for a bit. General Hayao was much thankful of the respite.

"You call that fighting? It is to laugh."

Livia watched with disdain as one of her shambling horrors scored Rago Kindlerock with its horns. The elementalist boss flopped to the ground in a bloody heap.

The Iron Forgeman resided in a hexagon shaped area. Three Rage Binders, a different sort of Stone Summit dwarf by the looks of their dress, took up three strategic positions on the edges of the room. The Iron Forgeman hung from the ceiling in the middle of the room, suspended above a scorching vat of molten lava by thick metal chains. Rumor had it that the Iron Forgeman's power came from Flame Djinns. Which would explain the whole hanging above lava thing. Kind of. Tear couldn't be certain, but according to her sources, the Rage Binders were key to defeating the mammoth one-eyed mechanical golem. But there was a catch.

All the Rage Binders had to be taken out at exactly the same time in order to defeat their large metal friend. And that would be no easy feat with two Furnace Guardians acting as bodyguards to each Rage Binder. It was easy enough to take out the Stone Summit patrol meant to guard this place, but with the Iron Forgeman being the same size if not larger than the Great Destroyer, the gang had their work cut out for them.

"Are you kidding me?" Acolyte Sousuke's eyes widened, taking in the sight before them.

"I don't suppose Zho told you how she got that big guy to play nice, did she?"

Montague stood to Tear's left, gawking at the Iron Forgeman's sheer size. Tear heard a little gasp to her right and found Lily examining the metal monstrosity as well. It still puzzled Tear how Lily saw the things around her, being blindfolded and all. But time and time again on this journey, Lily proved that the lack of sight was no hindrance to her. She was just as fast, if not faster than any monk Tear had ever known.

Tear pulled out Zho's journal and flipped through the pages. Alexis would not reveal to Tear how she acquired the little black moa, only that she had talked to Zho. That in itself was not a problem for Tear. Zho was not ill mannered to anyone. In fact, she was rather kind and gentle. But even so, the secret to the black moa would not come without a price to pay.

Tear had to prove herself worthy. She had to defeat Zho in a duel, and only then would Zho speak further on the topic. But Zho only dueled in the Norn Fighting Tournament. And to challenge her, you had to fight through any number of fighters including Nika, Kilroy Stonekin and Gwen. But by far though, Kisai gave Tear the most trouble. The blasted air elementalist kept using Blinding Surge, leaving Tear hacking at air most of the time because she couldn't tell up from down. In the end though, ten attempts later, Tear finally met Zho in the third round and just barely beat the woman before the veteran ranger could land the winning blow herself.

"According to what it says in her journal, the dwarves allowed Zho to-"

"I can handle this!" Sousuke said taking a step forward.

"You seem to be in a hurry to meet death."

Jora was much amused by the young elementalist's reaction to her words. Sousuke froze in his tracks and looked up at the woman twice his height. He hesitated, a bit of doubt in his eyes as he turned to look back at the Iron Forgeman.

"Be careful," Livia said with a grin, making Sousuke all the more nervous when he realized he was the only one ready to charge in there without a clear attack plan.

"Somehow I don't think these guys would be as nice to us," Montague said turning from the heroes to look ahead. He eyed the Furnace Guardians unhappily. The spikes on their forearms could do much damage. Not to mention they were the size of a jungle troll and just as smelly. And pink. Tear could never understand how the giants ended up such a colour.

"Norn do not know fear!" Jora said pumping her fist in the air.

Tear grinned. "Well said!" she said clapping. Tear turned to Montague. "Montague, you got one set. I got one set. And the last set-"

"Death, come now!" Master of Whispers roared as he charged at the third group with Livia trailing behind him.

"Burn 'em down!" Sousuke said chasing after them, taking this as his cue to cause havoc.

Tear and Montague looked at each other.

"Best hurry, my friend, or there'll be none left for you!" Jora said before following after Sousuke. "Battle at last! Cut them down!"

Montague shrugged at Tear. "Charge!"

Tear darted off towards the group on their left, her metal boots pounding heavily into the dirt below her feet. Jurah and Livia had already engaged the group to the back of the room with Montague running up behind them to support. Jora and Sousuke took the group to the right. Lily stood in the middle of them all, running back and forth between the groups when needed, rapid firing spells to keep everyone healthy.

The Rage Binder heard her coming first and started his spell even before he looked in her direction. Another three steps forward and Tear struck him square across his staff holding arm with Dismember. But the dwarf barely flinched even as red erupted from his wound staining his arm the same colour as his shirt. By then the Furnace Guardians got their wits about them and sent Tear crashing backwards to the ground with a Giant Stomp.

Their fists were heavy and pain bit at her every time they connected with her armor. Though the pain was sharp and unrelenting, Tear used Endure Pain as she staggered to her feet under the Furnace Guardians' pounding. Once on her feet, Tear could feel her strength ebbing away from her. The Life Siphon hex took hold and the Rage Binder smirked at her in amusement. But his amusement soon turned to anger when the hex dissipated faster than it should have. Tear looked back to see Lily a few feet behind her, blessing her with a Glimmer of Light. The Rage Binder shouted something unintelligible and the Furnace Guardians took off towards Lily.

"Oh no you don't!" Tear growled as she chased after them, her legs burning with power from an Enraging Charge. "Save Yourselves!" Tear shouted in warning to Lily. Sousuke, just behind the monk, jerked his head in their direction, unaware of the danger behind him until Tear's shout.

Tear ran past the charging Furnace Guardians, curving around to line up with Lily. Just before she collided with the little monk, Tear pivoted 180 degrees, body blocking them from going any further. She caught one of the Furnace Guardians hard in the thigh with Dismember. The wounded Furnace Guardian roared at her, both him and the other Furnace Guardian now turning their focus upon her.

"That's right big boys!" Tear said lashing out with a Triple Chop. "Focus on me! All on me!"

Unknowingly with her shout, Tear had caught the attention of the Iron Forgeman as well. Having chased the Furnace Guardians as far as she did, she brought herself within range of the Iron Forgeman's signature attack. Fighting two enemies at once was no easy task, but with Lily's healing support, Tear gutted one of the Furnace Guardians, the beast twitching as it fell to the ground face first. Turning to the remaining giant, a large shadow fell upon them both. Lily let out a startled cry and then it was dark.

Light spiraled around Tear as she rose to her feet disoriented. Lily stood in front of her, having just successfully brought Tear back with Rebirth. Behind Tear, the Iron Forgeman retracted his large spiked metal ball from the ground. In the crater left by the Forgeman's attack laid a much flattened Furnace Guardian and a faint imprint of Tear's own body. That's when she realized what transpired.

"Whoa! That had to hurt!" Sousuke said looking at Tear.

"Sorrow's Fist…" Tear said, resisting the urge to smack the elementalist with her Pyroclastic axe. She turned her back to Lily and Sousuke, to look at the place she once stood. "A giant wrecking ball of pain. Remind me never to-"

"By Bear and Raven!" Jora shouted, eyes looking up, wide with horror.

"Oh sh-"

Tear shoved Lily back and few steps, pushing Sousuke back as well just as the Iron Forgeman launched his attack again. Sorrow's Fist just missed them by a few feet, but it came close enough for Tear to feel the impact reverberate in her bones. "Keep moving!" she hustled the little healer. "Keep moving!"

The second Furnace Guardian from Montague's group fell, with the legendary heroes taking down the ones from the third group as well. But unlike their body guards, the Rage Binders proved to be a rather annoying and resilient bunch. As long as one of them remained standing, the others would respawn within 30-45 seconds after they had been killed.

"Why you little-"

CLANK! CLANK! THUMP!

Montague killed his Rage Binder for the third time. "Would you stay down already!"

"Victory does not go to the loudest, but to the most effective" Master of Whispers said to Montague in a non chalant manner. Tear chuckled to herself.

Fireballs exploded against flesh and the second of three Rage Binders spasmed to the ground, a burning heap of singed flesh.

"That blew up good. That blew up REAL good," Sousuke said admiring his handiwork. "Did you see that?"

"Hurry!" Tear cried out, barreling towards the remaining Rage Binder. "Before the others revive!"

It took another five seconds before the last Rage Binder fell. Everyone circled the Rage Binder before striking all at once, like a snake coiled around its prey before it delivered the final blow. No one spoke as they looked from body to body waiting to see if something stirred.

"Did we make it in time?" Tear whispered, daring to ask the question that was on all of their minds.

A distorted screeching echoed from above. Tear did her best to block out the grating sound with armored hands over her helmeted ears. The Iron Forgeman shrieked and wailed, metal scraping and screeching on metal as the magical seals which the Rage Binders held in place started to come undone. First a finger, and then a hand and then an arm and then everything just fell apart. Three flame djinns erupted from the Iron Forgeman's mouth and zoomed out of the room before anyone could flinch.

Tear watched in amazement as the remains of the Iron Forgeman crashed to the ground before them like a crumbling jig saw puzzle. Before anyone could react, one of the larger chest pieces plunged into the vat of molten lava, creating a tsunami sized wave which jumped the edge of the vat and raced towards them.

"By Balthazar's-" Montague did not finish his sentence as lava came crashing down upon their heads.

"Hoooooooooooooooooooooot! Hot! Hot! Hot!" Tear cried out jumping up and down. She appeared to dance around as if performing some sort of tribal dance in the hopes of escaping the fire. Her armor was enveloped in flames.

Thankfully for all of them, Lily kept her wits about her and threw up Aegis just before the wave of lava struck. This was their only saving grace and the only reason any of them were alive right now. Calling forth Heaven's Delight, Lily wasted no time in using Mend Ailment on everything that lived and breathed and soon enough, the fires were out and everyone was flame free.

"Thank you Lily," Tear said catching her breath. "You are truly a life saver. We would have never made it this far without you."

Lily brought her hands up to her mouth and giggled. Oh how cute she was! Tear couldn't but stare at her with a smile on her face. That's when Tear remembered the real reason they had come down here in the first place. The egg!

Tear scrambled to loosen her armor in search of the incubator kit that was originally pressed between her back and her back plating. The incubator kit had only slightly shifted in its position, but now large cracks branched all over it. To Tear's horror, the incubator kit shattered to dust once she held it in her hands. But the egg remained intact.

"Oh thank the gods…" Tear said, breathed in relief. "I thought…"

A small crack formed in the shell.

"No… Noooooo!"

Tear gasped as another crack and then another crack and then another crack appeared in the freckled shell. Tear collapsed to her knees in despair. All of this, the fighting, the trekking, the hunting for everything, was all a waste. The egg broke during the fight, probably from that wretched wrecking ball attack earlier. What a fool she was to let that happen!

"Cheep…"

"Huh?"

A tiny orange beak broke through the shell.

"Cheep cheep…"

Something inside the shell fluttered about, before the egg shell cracked some more. It wasn't long before the egg split messily down the middle. The halves of shell fell to the ground leaving a black moa chick peppered with shell bits in Tear's hands. The little bird was hungry.

"Cheep…"

Lily gasped at the sight of the creature, clearly adoring the newborn chick. The little black bird ruffled its feathers, shaking out the stray bits of shell from itself before it made a little cheep in Lily's direction.

"Awwwwwww!" Lily said as the black moa chick continued to look at her expectantly.

Tear smiled. "Here…" she said, holding the little bird out to her guild mate. "I think he's better off with you." Tear gently dropped the little bird into Lily's cupped hands. The black moa chick nuzzled Lily's fingers and cheeped softly, once more looking up at the monk. Lily squealed.

"That is so cute!" Montague said, almost squealing himself.

Tear laughed.

"That was the best fight ever!" Sousuke said jumping up once, just barely containing his excitement. He was beaming brighter than the light house in Lion's Arch at this moment. With his first real action battle won without casualties, Sousuke was already listing the next great battles he wanted to take part in.

"I hate an enemy that dies easily," Livia said in boredom. "The least they could do is make it interesting." She sighed.

"Come on now, it's all good," Tear said, grinning from ear to ear. "We beat the bad guys. Lily got a chick. And we're still alive."

"Here here!" Montague said cheering.

An odd grumbling noise silenced the group's celebratory cheers. Tear was very thankfully that her flush was hidden under her helmet. She looked down at her stomach.

"Hungry again Tear? Didn't you eat a few hours ago?" Montague said with a chuckle.

Tear grinned. "Battle makes me hungry I guess." She shrugged. "I would have some eggs, but we're fresh out."

The group burst out laughing.