Note: Hello again my friends! It's time for another chapter in this story! Angeal is about to learn where Zack had gone missing. Meanwhile, Zack is in the midst of an unexpected rematch with the Scaled Behemoth! What's going to happen? And what about that bully Jabba? Well, you'll have to read and find out! Enjoy!
By the way, there's a reference to the book "Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears", which I do NOT OWN.
Chapter 4: Overcoming Obstacles
Back at the base, Angeal and the other SOLDIER operatives had searched frantically for his lost student. Thus far, they all came out empty-handed. Before long, they were back where they started: in front of Zack's tent. Two familiar figures approached, and neither of them seemed pleased with their friend. "Angeal," Genesis stated bluntly, "Do you mind telling us what's going on? Some of us are trying to sleep, you know."
"I'm sorry." Angeal replied, "I'm looking for Zack. You didn't happen to pass by him, did you?"
"No, we didn't." Sephiroth answered.
The Heart of SOLDIER sighed in worry. "Where could he have gone? The operatives and I have searched everywhere! It's like he vanished into thin air!"
"Have you tried calling him on his phone?" the General suggested.
Angeal slapped his forehead as the idea sank in. "Oh, of course! Why didn't I think of that before?!" Immediately, he took out his cell phone and dialed the number. He waited for a few seconds… and something unexpected happened.
A ringing noise echoed, not far from his location.
All eyes darted toward Zack's empty tent. An operative rushed in, prompting the Frist Class Trinity to follow. Angeal grew pale as the operative picked up the source of the ringing noise from the sleeping bag. It was Zack's phone. "Not good!" the operative muttered, "Zack would never leave his phone behind like this! Come to think of it, his sword and materia are all here too."
"Not to mention his boots!" another operative noted, as Genesis picked up the pair of said footwear.
Sephiroth frowned, and it didn't go unnoticed. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Sephiroth?" Genesis queried.
"Angeal," the General continued, "You searched everywhere in this area?"
"Everywhere I could think of." Angeal replied. "But I found no trace of Zack."
Sephiroth nodded. "Then that leaves out the one place we didn't look." He gazed out at the place in question. "Dagger Valley."
Angeal let out a gasp of horror. His student couldn't possibly have run away from the base… could he? Did he really hurt the boy's feelings that much? "Are you sure Sephiroth?" Genesis queried.
"Absolutely." Sephiroth replied, "Judging by the evidence left behind, I can guess that Zack has run off into Dagger Valley—alone, barefoot and unarmed."
"Oh no!" Angeal gasped with a sense of dread, and rushed toward the Valley.
The other two Firsts stared at their friend in surprise. "Angeal!" the General gasped.
The Heart of SOLDIER spun around to face his friend. "That Scaled Behemoth is still out there, and if what you said is true, then Zack is extremely vulnerable! He wouldn't stand a chance against that thing if they happen to cross paths again! I have to find him before it does!"
"We won't let you go out there alone, Angeal!" Genesis declared. "We're coming with you!"
Staring at his two friends, he couldn't help but smile. "Sephiroth… Genesis… you both have my thanks. Let's go!"
"Commander!" one of the operatives called out, "How can we help?"
"You stay here and keep an eye on Kunsel." Angeal ordered, "We'll be back as soon as we find Zack!"
"Yes Sir!" the SOLDIERs called out, and the First Class Trinity sped into Dagger Valley. No sooner than they departed than a voice among them spoke out, rather cruelly I might add.
"Hmph." Jabba scoffed, "So what if the loser dog gets eaten by that Behemoth in the Valley? That's one less unworthy wannabe on my list."
The other operatives began their chatter. "Hey, have you heard of the monkey that killed an owl chick?"
"Yeah, but that's only because he was alarmed by a crow…"
"Who was startled by a rabbit…"
"Who was scared by a python…"
"Who was frightened by an iguana…"
And all the SOLDIERs glared at the bully as they finished, "Who just so happened to be annoyed… by a mosquito!"
Jabba blinked as the Seconds and Thirds began to surround him. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Two operatives looked at each other and one put out his hand. "For Zack?" he queried.
"For Zack." Answered the other, and he completed the handshake before turning his attention back at the bully. "LET'S GET HIM!" With a yell, the operatives pounced on Jabba, fists flying.
"H-HEY! WHAT THE-! HEY STOP! ARGH! HELP!" Jabba protested in vain as he finally found himself getting a taste of his own medicine—in the form of a long awaited beatdown!
And, as if he had sensed the events happening right outside the base, the unconscious form of Kunsel gave a small smile.
Bare feet sped across sharp stones as Zack rushed to avoid another of the Scaled Behemoth's attacks. Using its wings for momentum, the beast leapt up to try and pounce on its victim. In a split second, Zack unleashed a burst of speed, narrowly avoiding the force of deadly claws. The impact of the monster's landing was enough to force him into a tumble, rolling himself in a way to avoid a nasty crash. Once on his feet again, though, he found himself sliding—scraping his left foot in the process! He let out a cry of pain and grew stiff, and he had no time to avoid the monster's headbutt. He was lucky that the horns didn't pierce through him, but he was tossed into the air with such force that he landed a good distance away with a crash. He couldn't be more thankful for his SOLDIER training, as he was able to survive with some minor scratches; he already had to deal with the cuts and scrapes on his feet! Slowly rising to his knees, he glared at the Scaled Behemoth. "Damn…" he muttered, "I can't run away from that thing forever! I'm gonna have to fight… but what am I gonna do without my sword or my materia?" He glanced up, immediately noticing the barren tree. And resting on a small cliff, not very far from the tree…
His eyes widened with sudden inspiration. "Of course!" he gasped before his lips curled into a confident grin. "That might do just nicely!" Immediately he dashed toward the tree, picking up a dagger-shaped rock along the way, and jumped up to snap off a long, strong-looking branch with a sharped tip, brandishing it like a makeshift sword after a graceful landing. Undeterred, the Scaled Behemoth let out a menacing roar. "You think you're so tough, eh?" Zack taunted, "Let's try this again, shall we?" And with that, he rushed toward the beast, ready to swipe at its rear. And once more the Scaled Behemoth swiped its tail at him. This time, however, the young Third was well prepared for that maneuver, and he leapt backward out of the tail's range. He rushed forward again, swinging the branch and striking the beast. The weapon was no sword, and it barely made a few scratches with its sharp points, but it was amazingly sturdy in Zack's hands. Still, the damage it currently made wasn't significant enough, so he brought out the sharp rock and slashed its hind leg. It did its job well in spite of the hard scales, and the monster roared in pain. It began to turn away, ready to leap into invisibility. "OH, NO YOU DON'T!" Zack shouted, and channeled his energy to unleash a limit break, a Blade Beam, and swung it toward a large standing rock, breaking the tip off into a boulder that crashed right on top of the beast. It wasn't enough to kill it, but it definitely kept it from escaping and from becoming invisible. The beast roared in anger, struggling to lift the heavy weight off its back.
"That'll buy me some time." Zack stated to himself, "I'd better hurry and get that dragonsbane!" Quickly, he climbed up the tree and jumped over to the Cliffside where the plant in question grew. Keeping his bleeding feet away from the poisonous leaves, the young Third pulled some up. "It's a good thing I'm wearing my gloves." He noted, "I heard this stuff is dangerous to handle." The Scaled Behemoth pushed itself free from the annoying boulder, but even then Zack had enough time to rub the dragonsbane leaves on the 'blade' of the rock and coat it with its poison. Enraged at this persistent human, it exhaled a fireball toward him. He barely had enough time to avoid the blast, jumping off the small cliff before the patch of dragonsbane caught on fire. Again, the beast swiped at the boy with its paw, who merely tumbled away from the claws as he rushed once more toward its tail end. "ALL RIGHT," he shouted, "IT'S TIME TO END THIS!" The Scaled Behemoth rose up on its hind legs and spread its wings, ready to bring forth a gust of powerful wind, but that was when the young Third made his move. Using all his strength, Zack thrust the dragonsbane-coated stone into the open wound on its hind leg. The poison did its work almost immediately, and the beast collapsed on all fours, paralyzed. But the paralysis wasn't going to last for long, and the young Third knew it. Good! he thought, Now's my chance! Lifting the branch, he channeled all his energy into another limit break.
"THIS IS FOR KUNSEL!" he roared, and with a yell, he leapt up high and plunged the sharp point of the branch straight into the Scaled Behemoth's skull. The monster let out a strained roar of pain, blood spraying from what proved to be a fatal wound. Zack leapt away as it began to thrash about before finally it fell to the rocky ground with a resounding crash. Then all was still, all was silent. Seeing that the Scaled Behemoth was dead, Zack leaned against a rocky wall and sat down, panting heavily. The unexpected battle left him covered in blood and sweat, and as his adrenaline started to fade, the stabbing pain in his feet returned with a vengeance. It was enough for him to shut his eyes and emit a long hiss; the agony was even worse than before, and it had become so great he could barely feel the pain on the rest of his body! Nevertheless, he laid still for a moment. Then, he proceeded to remove his gloves, soaked in dragonsbane, and discard them. He didn't know if the poison would spread by touch, and he certainly didn't want to find out. "All right… no more time to waste. Let's go get the prickleberries." With new resolve, he rose up and stepped toward the patch. Kneeling down near the ripe berries he let out a sigh of relief. "Good. The berries are safe." He took out the bag and opened it up, then reached a hand toward the berries. Of course, without a pair of gloves to protect his now-vulnerable fingers, he soon discovered firsthand why the fruit was given its namesake.
"OW!"
He quickly withdrew, clutching his right hand. Looking down, he could already see blood trickling down from his pricked fingers. "Damn! They don't call them 'prickleberries' for nothing!" He quickly shook his head. "C'mon Zack, man up! Kunsel needs these berries!" Once more, he proceeded to gather the prickleberries, and this time he didn't hold back. The thorns stung his fingers mercilessly, but one by one, he gathered as much berries as he figured were needed. As an extra precaution, he filled the bag with exactly twenty berries. However, he himself refused to eat a single berry, even though he knew that doing so would heal his wounds. They were for Kunsel after all.
Satisfied, Zack sealed up the bag. "Okay, that's done! Now all I need to do is head back." He scanned the chasm walls, looking for a way back up to where he came. Luckily, he noticed the indents sticking out on the walls and he didn't hesitate to climb his way back up. It was not easy, given the injuries on his hands and feet, and the cuts on his fingers were minor! He slipped a couple of times, and it took all the strength he had to keep from falling. Once he reached the top, he rolled onto his back, trembling and exhausted from the effort. The bag was carefully laid on the side to avoid crushing its precious cargo. After a few moments lying still in this manner, he finally sat up. Soon he found himself gazing at a familiar trail of bloody footprints.
And he realized that he had to go back to the base the same way he came. Which was the last thing he wanted to do.
Zack shook his head and sighed as he stood up, taking the bag full of Cosmo Thorns. "Boy, oh boy!" he groaned, "Dagger Valley really hates me tonight!" He paused for a moment, staring at the sharp rocks. "Well… here we go again!" And with that, he stepped once more upon the treacherous ground. Excruciating pain overwhelmed him, giving him pause. He let out a cry of pain but nevertheless, he was determined to keep walking. "You know… who would have thought—OW—that you would feel both—AGH—the thrill of victory… and the agony of de-'feet' at the same time!" Even in pain, Zack couldn't help but grin. At least he could crack a joke in the face of adversity.
"ZACK!" Angeal shouted out, his voice echoing in the wasteland. "ZACK!" It had been nearly an hour in the Trinity's search, and the Heart of SOLDIER was growing more and more worried by the minute. And that didn't help to ease his guilt one bit. "ZACK!" he called out again. When no response came, his strong shoulders slumped in growing despair. "Oh Sephiroth, it's all my fault! If only I had given him a chance to redeem himself…"
"It's going to be fine Angeal." Sephiroth reassured, "We'll find your lost puppy." Genesis stared down at the ground and suddenly stepped ahead of his friends. "Genesis!" Sephiroth stated, "Did you find something?"
The SOLDIER in red knelt down. He had discovered something all right, and he winced at the sight. "My soul, corrupted by vengeance… hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey…" He let out a hiss of sympathy. "Sephiroth was right about Zack going barefoot. Look here." And the rest of the First Class Trinity did.
Right before them, there were footprints formed of blood. Just from the shape alone, they could tell that the one who made those footprints had no shoes at all. And he had been running. Angeal grew pale. He could only imagine the kind of pain his pupil was going through.
"It's your call Angeal." Genesis stated, "What do we do now?"
Snapping out of his trance, Angeal expressed his determination. "It's painfully obvious, isn't it? Follow those footprints! If we're lucky, they'll lead us to Zack! And hopefully, he'll still be alive!" The other two nodded, and they all began to follow the trail.
Note: You know, when you think about it, Zack can be quite the warrior's MacGyver: in the actual game, he used an umbrella as a weapon (again, thank Costa Del Sol for that tidbit)!
And so in spite of his victory over the Scaled Behemoth, Zack's torture continues! Muhahaha! But don't worry: in the next chapter, his ordeal is gonna be over soon! How? You'll just have to wait and see! Until Next Time!