How Bartz Met Boko
The Chocobo plains were populated with Chocobos of various kinds. Most of the population was of yellow feathered Chocobos with their chicks and others. Female Chocobos acted like sisters among the other females, and mothers when they sat at their nest of the newly arrived chicks like true guardians. The males were as strong as the females, but when it came to being fathers; they are even bolder.
Walking on a hill top near the plains, a man ventures out into the open world by foot. He wore a purplish blue shirt and with chains of gold trailing across his torso and neck. A gold shoulder guard of somekind was on his right shoulder with a green, emerald-like gem in the center. A two separate fabriced cape was shown on his back with one of the fabrics had a golden trim at the end. Two different colored shawl-like clothes were wrapped around his waist; held in place by his belt. He wore light purple pants, the shade of light color that almost matched his shirt with no blue mixed into the combination, and dark purple boots with designs of yellow and a gold colored toe area of the boots.
He stands away from the edge of the hill top, due to a fear he has of heights. He stands with his eyes closed, feeling the wind blow through him towards the plains filled with Chocobos.
"Hmmmm...It seems the winds of adventure are blowing my way," he said to himself. This adventurer was named Bartz Klauser. He is a wanderer of the world. Before his father died of an illness while Bartz was older, his dying wish was for Bartz to travel the world. When Bartz was younger, his mother died of the same illness that took his father years later. How Bartz became afraid of heights dates back to his childhood on one fateful incident. He was a young child, like any others, playing a game of hide and seek. It soon turns tragic when he accidentally fell off a two story building's roof, traumatizing him for the rest of his life, making him acrophobic.
Bartz travels down to the terrain below, spotting vast herds of yellow feathered Chocobos roaming freely. "There's so many Chocobos," awed Bartz. He walks through the plains, sometimes near nests of mother Chocobos. The female Chocobo at the nest he was near would look towards him nervously, preparing to protect her babies at all costs, even at the cost of her life. She gives warning chirps, saying, 'Stay away or else'. He walks near one of those nests as the mother Chocobo fixed up her nest.
'Aww...That's cute. I bet this momma is going to be busy with seven chicks,' thought Bartz. With the nest fixed up. the mother Chocobo notices Bartz. She moves to the front of her nest and raise her wings up, much like an ostrich, in defense. She gave warning chirps, telling the adventurer to stay away from her babies.
'Uh, oh...She's telling me to stay away...I better get, or she'll peck me to death, or scratch me..' thought Bartz, "I'm sorry, ma'am...I'm going! I didn't mean to be near your nest!" Bartz hurryly walks away from the female Chocobo's nest, knowing all too well how protective female Chocobos are with their offspring. The mother Chocobo relaxes and settles down onto her eggs, keeping them warm with her feathers and body heat.
"Phew...Thank goodness I studied about Chocobos during my travels. She's just being a good mom, its not her fault," Bartz sighed in relief. He continues to travel through the plains til he comes across a forested area. A few Chocobos waddled out through the entry way, carrying Chocobo eggs with them. Bartz was worried.
'What's going on? Did something happen to the mother?' thought Bartz. He couldn't ignore the feeling of investigating this, so he proceeded into the forest to investigate the situation. He arms himself with his own shape-shifting sword, easily earning the alias: 'The Mimic Warrior'. Bartz investigates the forest area for any signs of a Chocobo. He heads deeper into the forest, til he sees something yellow standing out in the forest terrain. Bartz headed towards the area; then, as he approached the area, he gets the shock of his life. He sees a Chocobo, but it was already deceased. Upon closer examination, it was a female Chocobo that already was a mother.
It was attacked by a predator far more deadlier than an adult Chocobo. A wave of sadness blows through Bartz as he fell to his knees. 'Oh, no...Now I see...Those other Chocobos were trying to save the chicks, just after finding her body. Poor thing...Hm?' Bartz's thought was drawn to what caused the fatal wounds. It was from a blade, or sharp object made by man.
'Wait a minute...This wound is from a weapon, made from man. It must've been from someone tougher than an adult Chocobo,' thought Bartz. He then realized that the other Chocobos brought out six eggs, not a full seven. Bartz knew that there was one egg missing.
'Hold on..Those Chocobos brought out six eggs. Female Chocobos can lay up to seven eggs. The seventh one has to be around here somewhere,' Bartz thought to himself. Bartz looks around the forested scenery; til he comes across a glow of a campfire, a few yards away from his location. He quietly rushes to the area, spotting something near the fire.
It was a warrior that was wearing something that mimicked what the feudal era samurais wore. Its helmeted head had a puffed tassel on top. Its face appeared dark gray with light, yellow eyes and what appears to be red war paint. Its weapon was a spear, which had fresh blood on it. Bartz knew this had to be the one that killed the female Chocobo. His rage was further fueled when he spots the seventh egg nearby the warrior.
'No...Its going to kill that chick before its born...How sick is this thing? I'll avenge that Chocobo for what this fiend did to her,' thought Bartz with a vow. The warrior prepares the fire for a meal, which happened to be the seventh egg. "That stupid bird...I'm the hunter here. I'm on top of the food chain...Bwah, ha ha ha...Before this chick arrives, I better do something to prepare a well made meal for a powerful warrior like me...Hm hm hm hm hm," it said with a chuckle. Bartz sneaked closer towards the warrior; then he turned towards the egg.
"I'll get you out of here," whispered Bartz to the egg. He grabs the egg very quietly, but before he could run off, the warrior attacks with its spear. The blade strikes the ground, causing the adventurer to jump. "You fool! No one steals from Gilgamesh!" it roared. Bartz rolls away from the egg empty handed, but he had to fight to get it.
"Who's Gilgamesh? Is that your name?" questioned Bartz. "Of course its my name...Who else would bear the same name?" the warrior replied, revealed as Gilgamesh. "You killed that Chocobo...For food? Your a sick monster...You took away this chick's mother; while the others saved its siblings. You made it an orphan! I will not let you get away with this...I'll make you pay in blood for what you did!" said Bartz, very furious.
"So...You saw that Chocobo, too?...Such ideal threats...No one is as powerful as Gilgamesh, which is I," said Gilgamesh. The fiend lifts the spear's blade from the ground and begins the first attack on Bartz, but misses due to his speed. Bartz swings his sword, only able to cut Gilgamesh's arms and torso. It left medium sized cuts on the fiend, bleeding on site.
"Graaaahhh! I'll slaughter you!" roared Gilgamesh. The attack ensues to extreme levels; turning into a battle for keeps. From a distance, the other Chocobos from earlier gather in a safe distance, witnessing the epic battle for the final egg that the Chocobos missed. It was missed because Gilgamesh got to it first and was spooked by the other Chocobos as they arrived to the scene. Bartz swung as hard as he could to majorly harm Gilgamesh. The fiend swings his spear at the adventurer, causing the mime to spin away from the attack. Without Bartz noticing, Gilgamesh chuckles to himself as he dipped the spear's blade into a red canister, filled with poison.
'I'll make your death painfully slow,' thought Gilgamesh. Bartz turns around with enough time, noticing the spear's blade in the canister. 'What is it doing? What's in that canister? Is it poison?' wondered Bartz. The adventurer retaliates, swinging his sword at the fiend with all his valor. Bartz misses, causing Gilgamesh to retaliate back by swinging its spear at the mimic warrior, nailing his exposed left shoulder.
"Gaah! You...Stay away from that chick!" roared Bartz. He attacks ferociously, nailing Gilgamesh with everything he had. With the major damage dealt on Gilgamesh, the warrior was heavily wounded. Now realizing he was not going to win this battle, Gilgamesh flees and takes his camping supplies with him, including the canister before Bartz knew what was in it.
'What was in that canister?...Hmmm, probably nothing to worry about,' thought Bartz. He turns to the campfire and destroys it, making sure to erase all evidence of the warrior fiend, Gilgamesh; then turns to the egg. "Your safe now, little one. I made sure that fiend didn't hurt you. Your safe now," Bartz said to the egg. Just as he leans down to pick up the egg, he begins to hear various chirps of Chocobos.
'What? Those Chocobos watched the whole thing?' wondered Bartz. Knowing that the battle was over, the Chocobo group approaches the site with caution. Bartz immediately sheaths his blade, causing it to disappear into thin air, til he summons it again. A few Chocobos waddled towards the area to Bartz, then to the egg he saved. They gave a few chirps; then turned to Bartz. One of the male Chocobos rubs his beak on the egg; then chirped to Bartz, as if saying, 'You were destined to care for this chick.'
"Me? I can't. I-I mean...I don't know how to raise a Chocobo chick," said Bartz, "All I'm doing is traveling around...It needs a mother that'll provide more than me. I-" The male Chocobo stops Bartz's sentence with a grunt based chirp. The adventurer stops in silence. The Chocobo stares into Bartz's light brown eyes with its own, as if it trusted him with the egg. Bartz understood this very clearly. The male Chocobo is entrusting him to care for the chick after the group watched the struggle over the egg's life unfold. Bartz nodded and picked up the egg with care.
"Don't worry. I'll take good care of the little chick," said Bartz, facing the Chocobos. He then makes his way up the route to the plains, but before he left; there was one more thing left to do. Bartz returns to the site where he found the female Chocobo's body, giving her a proper Chocobo burial. After the burial, the adventurer gives his respects and makes a promise to the Chocobo's spirit.
"I know you sacrificed everything to protect your babies. A noble one, indeed. Even if your in a better place where all the Chocobos go in heaven, I'll take care of your little chick. This I promise you," Bartz said to the plot he made for the mother Chocobo. He then looks down to the egg and held it close. 'I'll make sure this chick is safe...I promise,' he thought.
Leaving the forest with the egg in his arms, Bartz had to find a campsite so he and the egg could rest for awhile. Near the plains with wild Chocobos roaming freely, Bartz setted up camp and rested inside the newly constructed tent, patching up his wound from the battle with Gilgamesh. He brings out fresh water, a wash rag, a pan, and rubbing alcohol to clean out the wound from the battle in the forest against Gilgamesh. He pours one of the containers of water into the pan and dips the rag into the pan. Bartz takes the wash rag and cleaned the wound.
He winced to the pain, but braved through it with each wipe. Careful not to miss anything, Bartz made sure to clean the wound properly, just as the doctors he met on his travels said to do. After the adventurer finishes cleansing the wound with water, he carefully pours little amounts of the rubbing alcohol on the scratch. Bartz immediately felt the burning feeling on first contact. This was a good sign, meaning that the wound was getting more cleaner; ridding any bacteria that tried to leech through.
After a few mintues of the rubbing alcohol's bubbling, burning feeling; Bartz washes the wound in a couple more wipes and grabs a gauze pad and dressing. He places the pad onto the wound to cover it completely and wrap the dressing around it to stay on. Bartz ties the dressing inplace; then turned his attention to the chick still inside its egg.
"Don't worry...I know I ain't a Chocobo, but at least you have a mom to look after you. I better get ya warm..." Bartz said to the egg. He uses a spare blanket and wraps it around the egg; then puts it close to his abdomen to incubate it.
"Your not the only one...To lose a mom..." said Bartz, drifting off to sleep. He falls asleep on his side with the egg close to him, knowing that everything is going to be okay. During the course of the night, a storm blows through the plains. The tent was heavily anchored to the ground as the light winds blew the rain. Bartz was awoken by the thunder, but he didn't panic.
"Oh, boy...A storm is going on...Its going to be alright.." he said to the egg. He brings out a music box his father had given him before he died. Bartz opened it and immediately began to play a sweet melody that was familiar to him. He went back to sleep with the melody playing. The next night was more peaceful than the first without the storm. The third day came like the wind, hoping to bring a peaceful sanctum to the adventurer and the new chick he saved from Gilgamesh. Not wearing his typical shirt yet, Bartz examines the wound on his left shoulder.
"Gah...It still hurts, but otherwise healing nicely...I hope," he said to himself. He changes the bandage and just when he was about to retrieve his shirt, the egg in the blanket began to wiggle. He freezes; then went to it. 'Oh, my god...Is it hatching?' thought Bartz. The egg began to shake, til a small, orangish beak pierces through the shell. The chick inside gave a high pitched chirp. A smile soon shows on Bartz's face as he watched the chick fight its way out of its shell-like prison. After a few minutes, the eggshell bursts into pieces, revealing the chick inside completely, alittle wet and moving frantically with wobbling movements as it continued to chirp.
"Hello...Hey. Did you come out alright?" said Bartz as he started to dry off the chick. He examines the chick carefully to make sure it was alright. He also discovered something else: The chick is a 'he'. "Awww...Your a boy, huh?...Yep, you are. Its okay now...I'll go find some Gysahl Greens for you, okay? Chocobos love Gysahl Greens," said Bartz. The chick continues to chirp. It began to open its eyes, viewing its new surroundings, including Bartz. The adventurer gets his shirt on and starts to get up, but the chick wobbles to him, thinking he's its mother.
"Awww...To be honest here...I'm not really your mom, but I will, just to make sure your safe," said Bartz. The chick cuddled up to him like he was its mother. Bartz knew he couldn't leave the chick all alone; then, an idea surfaces. Bartz uses the extra blanket as a homemade pouch and carried the chick with him to gather Gysahl Greens for it to eat. Following where the other Chocobos went, he found a lush thrush of bushes that grew Gysahl Greens where it was plentiful. Bartz began to hum a tune to himself as he plucked the vegetation from the bush.
The chick became restless and began fluttering its wings, chirping wildly. "Its okay...Shhh...Don't worry...Your safe," Bartz soothed the chick, "I'm trying to hurry...Don't worry." He hurries along and gathers enough Gysahl Greens for the chick to eat. They return to the tent with a plentiful amount of Gysahl Greens. The chick wobbles around on the sleeping bag and chirps sweet notes as Bartz prepared the Greens for the chick to digest it easily. As soon as he finished; the chick cried out in hunger.
"Uh, oh...You hungry?" asked Bartz, "Hang on...I'm coming." He carries a bowl of crumbled Gysahls to the chick and prepped a handful to the chick. "You let me know when you get full, okay?" said Bartz. The chick ate the handful of Gysahls with a vigorous appetite. Three days pass and the day for the chick to decide an important decision has come: Should it stay with the other Chocobos, or will it travel the world with its surrogate mother, Bartz.
"Okay, little one. I know you already know that I'm not a Chocobo. Its finally time to decide. Do you want to stay here with the other Chocobos like you, or do you want to travel along with me? Its your choice," said Bartz. The chick, now the size of a year old infant standing straight up, had to make a difficult choice: Should he stay with his own kind, or should he go with Bartz? He looked to the other Chocobos; then to Bartz. It dd this a dozen times. Slowly becoming heartbroken, Bartz knew this was for the future of the chick. While the chick looked towards the other Chocobos, Bartz shedded a tear, knowing this was the last time he would be with the chick.
Memories of Bartz saving its life from the spear wielding warrior, Gilgamesh flooded back to him. The event of the chick hatching from its egg also played in Bartz's head. He began to break down in sadness; knowing it was going to be the very last time he would see the chick before he leaves. Bartz cried to himself, but was soon interrupted by a light pecking from a small beak. He looks up and sees the very chick he helped raised. It had finally made its decision. It cuddled up to him, giving sweet chirps. Bartz was stunned. All this time, it was he it wanted to be with instead of the other Chocobos. Bartz was alittle stunned.
"You...Want to come with me? I thought...You wanted to be with the other Chocobos. You want to travel with me?" questioned Bartz. The chick chirpped and fluttered all his little feathers, giving the adventurer alot of Chocobo love.
"Aww...I think its about time I gave you a name...How about...Boko...Yeah...Your name will be Boko, is that alright?" said Bartz. The chick responded with happy chirps. From that day forward, the chick was forever named, 'Boko'. Three more days pass and the two travel to a nearby town that was as big as a major city. In their hotel room, Boko the chick flutters around on the bed, but soon became worried about its traveling partner. Bartz began to feel feverish, but from what was the main question.
'Guhh...What's going on? Why am I feeling this way? I gotta check on my wound,' thought Bartz. He heads to the bathroom of the room to examine the wound that was healing from the 'Gilgamesh' encounter. What he sees begins to scare him. The wound looked infected by sight and inflamed. Bartz presses on the wound lightly and almost immediately pus began to ooze out. Bartz knew he had a fever by feeling his forehead and taking his temperature, which was 101.4.
'Oh, no...Its infected, despite my efforts...I better get help,' thought Bartz. "Boko...We need to head to a hospital...I'm not doing so good..Come on.." said Bartz as he picked Boko up into his arms. They head to the hospital in the northwest area of the town. As they sat in the triage room and waited for the doctor, Boko fluttered about, playing on the floor. The doctor assigned to the case walks into the room, looking at his clipboard.
"Mr. Klauser...What brought you here, today?" asked the doctor. "Its my shoulder. I fought against this character named 'Gilgamesh' to save this little chick right here. I did my absolute best on cleaning the wound out, but it got infected," answered Bartz.
"Gilgamesh? You saw Gilgamesh?" asked the doctor, shocked by hearing Gilgamesh's name. "Yeah. Please don't tell me you know him," said Bartz.
"A bunch of the patients I saw encountered this fiend before. They were infected with a poison he made that kills within twelve days. Did you see him dip his blade into anything, like a container?" answered the doctor. "Yeah...I did. He did dip the blade of his spear into a canister. Oh, god..Its been nine days. I'm gonna die, arent I?" panicked Bartz.
"We developed an antidote for this poison. Your not going to die. Lets check out your shoulder wound first," said the doctor, assuring Bartz that he wasn't going to die. He removes the freshly placed bandage on Bartz's injured shoulder. He examines it closely and carefully. After a few minutes, he was finished.
"Its definitely infected. We all do our best to clean our wounds, but sometimes bacteria breeches our defenses. We'll get that cleaned out and give you some antibiotics to make sure all the bugs are gone; plus the antidote for the fiend's poison," said the doctor. He then turns to look at Boko, who was looking back at him with curiosity.
"Such a cute Chocobo chick," said the doctor. "That's Boko. He's the chick I saved from Gilgamesh," answered Bartz. The little chick flutters his little feathers and headed towards the stretcher\bed, wanting to get up onto it right next to his companion. Bartz leans down and picks up Boko and situates him right next to him. As the doctor leaves the room, a nurse comes in with a hospital gown and hands it to him.
"Here...We need you to put this on," said the nurse. "Okay...Not a problem," answered Bartz. The nurse pulls the curtains to the right to give the adventurer some privacy so he could switch into the gown. The chick fluttered about and chirped sweet noted coos, worried for Bartz's health.
"Its okay, Boko...Everything is going to be alright," he said to the chick, petting the chick's head lightly. The doctor returns with the items needed to clean out a wound and the antidote for Gilgamesh's poison. The doctor uses a saline solution and washes out the wound carefully, making sure that no bacteria was left behind. Like before, Bartz gritted through it. Boko immediately got restless and began to chirp, as if telling the doctor to stop hurting his buddy.
"Its okay, Boko...Its okay..Its okay," Bartz said to calm the chick, assuring that everything is alright. Boko soon calms down and cuddles up to the adventurer, making sure he was alright. The doctor finishes and uses a type of rubbing alcohol solution to get the rest of the bugs disinfected. The adventurer gritted through that too, like many times before. Boko was trying to be calm, hoping not to attack the doctor. After a tense few minutes, the doctor was done.
"There we go...Now here's the antidote for the fiend's poison. Its gonna be like a pinch," said the doctor as he prepared a syringe with the antidote. He prepares the area of injection on the wounded arm from above the cut; then sticks the needle in. Within a few seconds, it was done. Bartz didn't nudge or move. "Ahh...It definately was a pinch," said Bartz. Boko chirps and raises his head to nuzzle the adventurer's side.
"There we go...All done. I'll get the antibiotics and your good to go. We'll have to keep an eye on that fever for a bit til it goes down a little bit. Better safe than sorry," said the doctor. "Yeah...That'll be a good idea," answered Bartz. For a few more hours, the adventurer was treated for the fever with a start of the antibiotics he was given, but in a liquid form; just like cough syrup. As he took each dose, he winces at the taste, but swallows it, just as the nurses instructed.
Within two more hours, a nurse comes in and checks on the status on his fever. Boko was curious of why they were sticking a thermometer in his friend's mouth. The chick hops into the adventurer's lap and tried to reach for the thermometer. The nurse chuckled at this and found it very cute. Boko tried to reach for the thermometer, but just as he was in reach, the nurse moves it. The chick chirped in frustration. "I was just checking to see if your friend still had a fever, that's all," said the nurse.
The chick chirped in response, flapping his wings. "Oh, Boko..." said Bartz. "Your fever is down to 99.1 degrees. That's good," said the nurse, reading the thermometer. Bartz sighed in relief as Boko cuddled up with affection. Within a few more minutes, the adventurer was discharged with the liquid form of the antibiotics that he took previously. Boko waddled right next to his traveling companion back to the hotel to recover further. Each day, the little Chocobo chick always brings his companion his medicine, just as the doctor instructed on the label.
Boko would always wake him up, giving sweet chirps and handing him the medicine he needed with his beak. The little chick knew for sure that Bartz was not his mother, but knew from an unexplained reason that Bartz risked everything for the little one. In return, the chick wanted to risk things too, like being a nurse for his companion. Three years has passed from that fateful day of Bartz rescuing Boko from Gilgamesh before he hatched. Bartz sits in the same field where he camped in with the young chick he rescued. He sat from a distance eating a sandwich, til from a bush behind him, an adult Chocobo peeked its head up to see what the adventurer was doing.
Bartz eats his sandwich, not suspecting that a Chocobo was up to something. The Chocobo reaches over and pecks the adventurer's left shoulder, causing him to look to his left as the sandwich was in his right hand. "Huh? Who's there? Hello?" asked Bartz. While he looks away, the Chocobo reaches over to the sandwich and nabs it; gulping it down within three bites. The adventurer was a bit puzzled, but when he turned to take a bite of his sandwich, it was gone.
"Huh? Where'd it...Wait a minute," Bartz said to himself. He slowly turns around to face the bush behind him and by pure instinct went to it. The bush wiggled a bit, giving little chirps. Bartz parts the bush from both left and right and spots a Chocobo, which it appears to be wearing a saddle and a type of tie around its right leg.
"Boko! You ate my sandwich, did you?" questioned Bartz. The adult Chocobo, revealed as the fully grown Boko, gives playful chirps and wiggles about on his saddled back, just as Bartz was hugging him. "Boko...If you was hungry, you should've letted me know. You silly Chocobo," said Bartz. Boko gets back up and gives dove-like coos, nuzzling his human companion with Chocobo Love. He flapped his wings in happiness. Bartz eats another sandwich and mounts onto the saddle, preparing to leave the area with the supplies he carried. To this day, Bartz still held onto the empty antibiotic bottle, for it was a symbol of a special bond that he and Boko shared while he was ill.
Standing still for a moment, Boko started grooming himself like any typical bird and Chocobo. He cleaned his golden feathers, til one of the feathers simply fell off. Bartz saw this from the saddle. "One of your feathers fell off...Its probably an old feather. Huh?" Bartz was stunned from what he saw next. Boko pics up the feather and turns to his companion, giving the fallen feather to him.
"Boko...Your giving this to me?" asked a shocked Bartz. Boko nodded and placed the feather on his lap. Bartz picks it up and looks at it; then he turns to look at Boko. The Chocobo nuzzles the adventurer with love and gave dove-like coos. Bartz could now understand. He risked everything to make sure that Boko was safe from harm, even before his birth from monsters like Gilgamesh. The adventurer acted as a surrogate mother for the chick and together they traveled the new horizons. The roles soon change when the wound from Gilgamesh and his poison took effect, causing Bartz to become ill from its poisonous grip.
Boko stayed with him through the hospital visit and aided as a nurse to get him well. The bond between the two was so strong, that this feather today would cement this bond further. "Oh, Boko," said Bartz, hugging the Chocobo's head. Boko gave a few chirps and nuzzles him. They hugged for a few more minutes; then prepared to go on their voyage together. From that day forward, Bartz never letted go of that golden feather. They traveled together for a long while like two very close traveling companions.