DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in this fanfiction. They belong to the creators of Final Fantasy IX.

This is just something I came up with randomly during school. I was telling my friend about the mini-game Chocobo Hot and Cold, and a random idea popped into my head. I immediately wrote it down and gave it to her to read. She told me it was good and that I should show it to more people, so... That's what I'm doing. I hope you all enjoy this burst of randomness!

Note: This story has been edited. Now Garnet makes an appearance and the conclusion is more clear.

"Left, Choco!"

"Kweh."

"To the right!"

"Kweh."

"Um... Uh... Back to the left!"

"KWEH."

"Choco says you're frustrating him, kupo," Mene, the moogle of the forest, called out to Zidane. "Oh, and you only have fifteen more seconds, kupo! Good luck!"

Zidane cursed. Garnet hadn't wanted him to play because they were running low on gold and because gambling was a waste of time, but he'd somehow managed to convince her that playing Chocobo Hot and Cold would give them more money or at least stuff to sell. Unfortunately, though, he'd only found 50 gold so far. He glanced over to where Garnet was standing beside Mene, arms crossed, and suddenly felt dread at having to admit she was right.

"C'mon," he said to Choco, "let's see if there's anything on this ledge." He held on tight as Choco sprinted up the moss-covered rocks to the stone ledge on the right hand side of the forest. "Try digging here."

"Kweh!"

"Ten seconds!" Mene warned from below.

Zidane steered Choco to the very middle of the ledge. "Kwehhh!" Choco was spun around and around, searching desperately for the treasure that both he and Zidane knew was close at hand. Finally, on an impulsive guess, Zidane got Choco to search over near the forest side of the ledge. Choco's beak landed in the dirt right near a tree, almost underneath. He let out a loud "K-KWEHHH!" and began digging furiously.

"Five seconds, kupo!"

Dirt sprayed everywhere as Choco's beak furiously pounded the hard ground. Mene counted the seconds aloud, but his voice was ignored by both Choco and Zidane. They were too caught up in the finding of a new treasure to care how much time was left. "Four... Three... Two... One..."

Choco stopped. Zidane stared. "Time's up!" Mene called. "Did you find that last treasure, kupo?"

Choco looked over his shoulder at Zidane, and they shared an uneasy look. "K... Kweh..." Choco lied weakly in response to the question.

"That's too bad, kupo," Mene called cheerfully. "Maybe next time!"

Choco silently turned away from the exposed "treasure". With his legs, he threw the dirt back into place and patted it down, good and tight. When he was done, he slowly made his way down from the ledge. Zidane sat with a face drained of color the whole way, but when Garnet asked him what was wrong, he just gave a weak, fake smile and replied, "Nothing... Heh... Heh..."

"Come again, kupo!" Mene said cheerfully as Choco hurried out of the forest. Garnet had to run to keep up.

"What's with you two?" Garnet asked suspiciously as they got outside.

"It's nothing," Zidane answered quickly. He dismounted and looked at Choco. "We have all the chocographs, right?" he asked with a quavering voice.

Choco nodded. "Kweh."

Zidane turned to Garnet. "You were, um... right. Gambling is a waste of time, so, uh... we're never going to come back here."

"Well, I'm glad you've realized that," she said huffily as she turned around and started walking.

Zidane and Choco looked at each other and nodded. They silently agreed never to return to the forest and never to speak of the 'treasure' they found.

Choco had always wondered what'd happened to his previous master. Zidane had never known how murderous moogles could be.