No Way Down
by Meimi

The Angel of Valhalla was an odd bird, strange and familiar at the same time, but useful all in all. That's what Lightning told herself. She had no time to be sentimental, so taking the chocobo along had really only been for his usefulness. And he had been that. The Wildlands were far too vast to get around on foot in a timely manner, so a mount had certainly been a blessing in disguise. The fact that he was a herald for the end of the world and was possibly linked to Etro were just the usual extra weirdness that seemed to dog her on this quest.

Everything had been going along well enough, progress wasn't really in sight yet, but Lightning had felt like she was getting somewhere. Then the Moogle Village happened. Clearing out the dryads had been easy enough, but afterwards the chocobo had decided to get... finicky. He kept walking around the village, his steps careful and measured, warking conversationally at all the gathered moogles. This in and of itself wouldn't be odd, but added to it was the new addition of him shying away from Lightning whenever she got close to him. This bird, who had been acting like they were conjoined twins since he had gotten strong enough to walk around again. A behavior that had been both irritating and amusing. He was very useful, she had no trouble admitting to that. He obviously enjoyed being ridden to where ever their next destination turned out to be, and he certainly seemed quite happy to assist in slaying whatever hapless monster crossed their path. So why was he acting like this all of a sudden?

"I don't get it," Lightning said finally when her latest attempt to get back into whatever good graces she had inadvertently fallen out of failed yet again.

"You didn't do anything to insult him, did you?" It was a dumb question, and they both knew it, but Lightning really wasn't offended by it. At least Hope was trying to be helpful.

"No, I haven't done anything with him since clearing the monsters out of the village." She shrugged and continued to observe her companion's antics. He seemed... happy around the moogles. Maybe he'd been friends with them at one point or another.

"I don't know what to tell you then, Lightning. Chocobos tend to have varying personalities, just like people. Only problem is they can't exactly tell you when something's bothering them, they just act out and their handlers have to hope they can figure out what's wrong."

Because she'd always been ever so good at figuring out when there was a problem even with people who could tell her what was wrong. No, she's wouldn't get annoyed with Hope over this. He was just trying to help. It wasn't his fault that she'd never really been adept at communicating, talking or otherwise. Though, now that she thought about it, he had been pretty good with the chocobos back on Gran Pulse. It had been a long time ago, over a millennia past now, but anything would be better than her fumbling attempts at this point. "Hope, can you just come down and help me with this?"

"...What?" He sounded almost alarmed at the suggestion. Interesting.

"Realistically speaking, you have a much better chance of figuring out what's wrong than I do," Lightning explained, her hands on her hips as she shook her head at the baffling bird in her life. "You remember, right? They really liked you back then, and I'm sure this one would probably like you as well. Maybe even more than me."

Silence. "I... can't."

"Why not?" She could understand him being reluctant to show himself before people who might recognize him. Trying to explain the whole de-aging angle would be beyond complicated (as would the working for God deal, even she had trouble with that part), but she didn't think Mog would really be a problem. Moogles were pretty easygoing.

"I can't leave the Ark. Only you can."

"Why is that?" Lightning crossed her arms and peered up through the canopy of leaves covering the village. She'd known that he'd been up there for awhile doing "God's work". Probably too long, by her estimations. But... he'd never come down? Not even once? Isolation was a terrible thing. It could wreak horrors upon even the best of people. Hope certainly was one of the very best, but could even he be all right after so long?

"The time distortion makes things difficult. If someone isn't up here to make sure everything runs smoothly, then there's no guarantee that things won't get out of whack."

It sounded reasonable enough. The world had gone to crap and was in the process of ending. It just... didn't feel right. He shouldn't be up there alone. Not by himself with only the years to keep him company. "I suppose," Lightning said finally. She didn't like it, but there wasn't much she could do about it. There were only a few days left until it was all over, and he was the one in charge of whether she was up there or down here. "Doesn't really help me much though."

"Why don't you ask Mog? Maybe he'll have an idea." Hope offered. He sounded a bit... relieved to be changing the subject back to the original problem.

Just how long have you been up there on your own, Hope? Lightning wondered as she turned her attention to the moogle in question. It bothered her somewhat, far less than it probably should. But as with all things here at the end of the world, it wasn't an immediate problem so it would have to wait. For the time being, she had a mystifying chocobo to figure out. "Mog, it looks like I'll need your help again."

His bobble practically glowed with excitement at her pronouncement. "Sure thing, Lightning! What can I do for you?"

"I'm sure you've noticed the giant white bird in your midst," Lightning said blandly as she gestured towards the Angel. "I need to get going, but he's being difficult. Any suggestions?"

"Kupo," Mog muttered, one paw to his chin in thought as he hovered beside her. "I dunno, Lightning. Serah was really good with chocobos, but asides from them liking people riding them, I don't really know all that much about them."

"Hmm." Well, he did have an idea even if he didn't realize it. Now, how exactly had Serah always gone about this? Lightning plucked Mog out of the air and stretched her arm back. Just throw him, right? Mog shrieked as he was flung with unerring precision onto the back of the Angel of Valhalla. Mog bounced once. The chocobo froze, craned his head back, and peered down at the little creature sprawled out on his back.

"Kupoooooo." Mog moaned.

The Angel ruffled his feather and warked, but didn't buck off his newest rider. Instead, he resumed his circuit around the village, now with an almost spring in his step. Lightning shook her head at the entire thing and shrugged. Who could tell with this blasted bird? But if getting ridden by moogles was what he wanted right now, then who was she to argue? "Anyone else want a ride?" Lightning asked. The other moogles were starting to look interested, and it would probably make the Angel that much more agreeable. The sooner he was happy, the sooner they could be on their way.