A/N: Okay, a shorter Chapter than the last and I don't think I quite got what I wanted otu of this chapter. But If I had kept going it would have turned into a bit of a tangled mess; soooo...shrugs R and R and let me know whatcha think, kay?
The villagers heard the laughter first, than the howls, than the footsteps before Zackary and the largest Ravage they had ever seen blasted into the town at high speed," Geez furball; I'd have thought ya'd have a better sense of humor
The villagers heard the laughter first, than the howls, than the footsteps before Zackary and the largest Ravage they had ever seen blasted into the town at high speed," Geez furball; I'd have thought ya'd have a better sense of humor!" The beast merely snapped at his heels; literally. Making the 1st class SOLDIER yelp and turn, managing to duck behind his superior officer as he jogged into town in a stony silence," General! Save meeee!" Sephiroth to their surprise, merely shook his had," You provoked him with those nicknames, you deal with him." Stepping aside and letting the large Ravage and several others corner his 2nd in command as he approached the Mayor," We may have found a solution to your problem-" A shriek interrupted as the Ravages dog-piled Zack, who started to laugh and pat their fur," Okay,okay! Uncle already!"
Shaking his head once more Sephiroth continued," And that would be to a truce of sorts, they get the forests and a certain amount of the mountains that they originally ran, and you stay on your side with a no-mans land between the two. Any thing that ventures onto either side is fair game, AND no more hunting in their lands, or hunting them. They were even willing to offer up these particular Ravages as a gesture of good faith on their part. Other than that…" He rolled one shoulder in a dismissive shrug," I can't guarantee anything since they do have the best reason for their behavior."
" Best reason?! They're monsters; you should be killing them, not attempting to pacify them!" Several people murmured and parted for a slightly portly man to walk up. He frowned at the General and a young brunette girl behind him shook her head sadly," I say you kill them now and let us have our forests back before those animals took over it!" The Ravages snarled, Alpha himself stood to stand next to Sephiroth to glare down at him: How dare you, how dare you try and put US at fault for your actions! You hunt our game, hunt our kind, and cut down our forests and leave us nothing. What did you expect us to do? Go quietly into the night like so many other creatures before?!: The man jumped and coughed nervously into his fist," Har-umph. Did it just-?" The girl behind interrupted him," I told you they were smart dad! Didn't I tell you?! If you and some of the other ranchers had just stopped to consider what your hunting to sell meat to the cities for a high price might have done, you might have listened to me!" She tossed some of her hair back in a huff before crossing her arms.
He raised a brow at the by-play, Mr. Lockheart and his daughter Tifa Lockheart; her father owned the largest ranch in the area. Apparently he was the one who'd decided to make some extra cash without thinning his own flocks.
He crossed his arms and stood straighter than before," Your forests? Last I checked you were a rancher, not a licensed logger nor a licensed hunter. Unless, like Alpha said; you are hunting and cutting more than you need without a valid license?" Mr. Lockheart paled considerably," No, no, I'd never be so dishonest as to do those things; that's why you should get rid of the beast. It's a liar after all." Sephiroth and Alpha narrowed their eyes making the man sweat before backing off.
Returning once more to his neutral expression Sephiroth waved a hand," Take it or leave it, that deal is all you're getting." The Mayor nodded quickly," If it menas safety for the animals during storms and such than I suppose we don't have much of another option. We accept your terms." Nodding as Zack managed to escape the Ravages and step up," Cool, now come on; we're gonna get this hashed out in writing…." Zack lead the Mayor off chattering at a mile a minute as he did.
Alpha laughed softly in his head: Well, that went better than I expected.: Sephiroth silently agreed as they waited for Zack to come back.
A few hours later Zack bounced back with a contract in hand," Got it! Is our ride here yet?" Sephiroth nodded," I was here an hour ago. Come on." HE pushed away from the wall he was leaning on and left the village, heading out towards a small plane of sorts. A black haired male hopped out of the pilot's side," Hello, I am Tseng. Is this all of-" He was cut off as Alpha howled that peculiar howl and his subordinates behind and in the mountains answered before going quiet again. Sephiroth shook his head at Tseng who was point a gun at him," Don't worry, he's not dangerous. He's actually coming back with us; him and his companions." Zack nodded enthusiastically," Yeah! That's why we called for a plane instead of a helio."
Tseng only narrowed his eyes before putting his gun away and popping open a door on the side to let his passengers in," Very well. But you are explaining his to the President." Zack pouted but Sephirtoh nodded sharply," I already knew that." With a flick of his long trench coat he moved to the plane and slid easily inside. Zack came next, scamrbling a tad less gracefully into the plane and the Ravages came last; hopping up and shifting their bulk around before settling in. Casting one last glance into the back before shutting and locking the hatch, Tseng strode back to his own seat in front.
As he went through flight procedure before taking off, he hoped briefly that those flee bitten mongrels wouldn't get air sick.
Tbc...
