"Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself Hope?", Hope's father asked in concern. He had loaded up the carriage with his invention and was now holding the Chocobo back with reins. Hope nodded up at his dad, "I'll be fine. You go and win for us okay? Make mom and I proud." Hope's father smiled, "I will. I have hope after all." Hope chuckled and waved, "Bye!" "Bye!", Hope's dad called back as he loosened the reigns and the Chocobo sped off down the cobblestone road.
Hope stood and watched the carriage go until it had disappeared from the horizon. A chilling feeling set in, the kind Hope got when he read something foreboding in one of his stories only to find out that someone died the next chapter. He bit his lip, pushing the thought to the back of his mind and convincing himself he was thinking too hard, that it was just the cool evening breeze against his skin.
He went back into the house with a slightly hurried, nervous stride. He plopped down onto a chair again and pulled out his book. He examined the book's binding out of boredom. The book was thick, indicating it held many a story in its pages. It was covered by layer of red leather with fading gold accents on the edges of the pages and spine. The pages were on the thinner side because of age but they still had full color on each wonderfully detailed illustration. Hope caressed the edges of the pages gently every time he had to change pages and handled the book with great care. He ran his fingers over the book's front. A strange seal graced the cover of the book, an imprint of a blooming rose and a 5 pointed star overlapping it. The gap was colored by the same accent gold and it shone in the light when Hope held it up.
Hope gave his thumb a quick lick then carefully turned a page. He scanned the words on the page until a knock came from the door. He looked up with a confused and slightly nervous face. He hurriedly hid his book under his basket and hesitantly answered the door. Cid Raines stood before him, flourishing a large sack.
"Hey kid.", Cid greeted him, "I was wondering if I could chat with you." Hope's eyebrows lowered, "Why?" "You know why. I wanted to show you some of my treasures too." Cid lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. Hope curiously leaned out of the doorway as Cid pulled out an exquisitely painted porcelain teapot. "Wanna see it?", Cid held the teapot out carefully with both hands. Hope pouted but opened the door wider and cautiously took the delicate teapot. Hope turned the pot in his hands and he closely observed the shiny surface. It was pure white with jade green dragons snaking their way along the teapot's curve. Hope's eyes lit up and Cid chuckled.
"I have a lot more where that came from. Care to let me in?" Hope lowered the teapot and looked up at Cid, "Well..." Hope pursed his lips but backed to the side, allowing Cid passage inside. Cid sat down on a chair and looked around the room, "You live alone?" Hope's eyes narrowed as he shook his head, "No, my dad's just tinkering with his inventions right now." Cid flicked his head, "That's quite a collection of books over there." Hope followed Cid's eye line and noticed that Cid was admiring Hope's book shelf, "You must have thirty by the looks of it." Cid got up and walked over to it.
Hope placed the teapot down on the table then hurried next to Cid. Cid had pulled out a book and opened it. Hope took hold the top of the book with a strong hand and said, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't touch them." Cid's eyebrow raised, "Why is that?" Hope's tone was even, "They are my mother's. I'd like it if you left them the way she did." Cid chuckled darkly, "You're just hoarding precious books here when people like me could use them?" Hope didn't flinch, "I read them."
Cid gave Hope a condescending look, "Really now? What does a little ten year old kid do with hard books like these? Look at the pretty pictures?" Hope glared back, "A fourteen year old can read. Especially one who is smarter than a selfish old badger who takes things that don't belong to him."
Cid ran a finger down the bridge of his jutting nose. His eyes were black like his hair and he suddenly became very self conscious of his badger-like face. Hope smirked as Cid's lip turned down. Cid slammed the book shut then shoved it back into the shelf, causing dust to fly into the air. Hope recoiled his hand, blinked, and swallowed hard, regretting upsetting the brutish man.
Cid gave a serious look down at Hope, "You don't want to cross me kid." Cid raised a fist and took Hope's chin in a firm grip with his thumb, "Now then, I showed you my treasure. Show me yours." Hope knocked Cid's hand down and backed away, "You already saw the books. Now you leave." Cid tightened a fist, "I didn't want to have to do this kid but..."
Cid charged forward, running at full speed towards Hope. Hope stumbled to the side in surprise, nearly falling backwards when he clipped a chair. Hope snatched the side of the table to stay upright and quickly ducked as Cid punched the air above his head. "Where is that book kid?", Cid shouted as he kicked Hope in the stomach. Hope stumbled back but kept his head raised, "Like I'd tell you!" Hope quickly shot out a leg and pushed Cid's legs out from under him. Cid took a step back to regain balance, Hope taking the opportunity to snatch his basket.
Cid's eyes flared as he took another jab at Hope. Hope ducked again, leaving the basket open for attack. Cid snatched the basket out of Hope's grasp and kicked Hope back. Hope's lower back hit against a chair but he held his balance. "No! It's mine!", Hope shouted as he jumped at Cid. Cid punched Hope back again. Hope shook his head then looked up.
A gun was pointed at his face, right between the eyes.
Hope slowly drew back and his face was wide eyed in terror. Cid chuckled as he kept the gun pointed at Hope then took the book from the basket. "Now then, I'd hate for your father to come in and find your body so..." Cid threw the basket down to Hope, "Take that and run. I'll give you a 5 second head start." Hope stared in fright down at the basket then up at Cid, his green eyes round and empty with fear.
The gun clicked from cocking, "4..."
Hope nearly tripped over his own feet from the speed he was running. He flung the back door open and raced off down the hill. He placed a steady hand over his basket, making sure that the contents inside didn't fall out. His muscles began to ache but he didn't dare stop. He focused all of his efforts on getting away, even if it meant losing track of where he went.
Which he did, he realized when his eyes refocused and he saw a dark wood ahead of him. The trees were blue in color and an eerie haze blew amongst the ensnaring flora. Hope turned his head in every direction, holding his basket tighter in his fists. He started back a little bit, not wishing to enter into the dangerous looking place.
"1!"
Hope's blood chilled. Hope looked back at the dark trees then back the way he came. A gun shot rang out from the 'friendly' direction.
Hope staggered back then sprinted into the dark woods. The foreboding chill crept back up Hope's spine to whisper 'I told you so...'.
