M.K.-"Sorry for the long wait, guys been busy with college, work, and family life. Anywho chapter 9 is up."
Sephiroth-"M.K. does not own Final Fantasy VII or Naruto, if she did she would be a multibillionaire."
Chapter 8: "The Way of a Ki Fighter: Think Happy Thoughts, No wait that's not it either-Damn!"
"Dammit! This isn't working!!"
Sweat dotted Zack's brow as he sat on top of the hood of the convoy jeep cross-legged, his eyes closed in deep meditation. Rachel and Zack had reached the Gongaga area by the end of the third day of nonstop traveling and Zack was ecstatic to see his family after not being able to do so for such a long time not since before he joined up to be a SOLDIER for Shinra.
"Oh, my baby Zack has returned! Honey, oh honey come quick!" Zack's mom glowed with happiness when she opened her front door to see her son standing there with a goofy smile. Rachel had used the time Zack was out catching up with his parents by setting up the cameras and placing traps in various places from coast to coast all the way up to about halfway to North Corel just in case the monster was nomadic. When the Tamer had returned back to the campsite her head a birds nest with sticks and leaves sticking out in various directions from climbing in trees and ducking under the brush getting dirt all over in the process, she found herself surprised to see Zack and his parents sitting around a campfire Zack had produced the three just talking the time away.
"Ah, Rach there you are! I was beginning to get worried. When I told Mom and Dad how I had gotten here because of your hunt, they got curious about you and when I explained how you were the Tamer who tracks down monsters and is teaching me to fly they insisted on meeting you," Zack explained to the dumbfounded martial artist.
(A/N: "Okay, I can not find anywhere the names of Zack's parents so I'm just going to make them up if anyone has any problems then you'll just have to put up with it.")
"Hi, I'm Catherine Fair-Zack's mom. You know you've got the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen," the mother now known as Catherine had greeted the same sapphire blue eyes and charisma that Zack was granted clearly showing who was the benefactor in that department.
"Hello and uh thank you?" Rachel timidly responded shaking Catherine's hand clearly display that she wasn't used to greeting other people's parents but nevertheless used the best manner she possessed.
"Oh, Zack she's so charming!" Catherine laughed to her son.
"Hush, Cathy you're making it seem as if they were a couple! Sorry about that, I'm Matthew but call me Matt," the father said zealously with the same ebony locks and masculine features that Zack had acquired.
"Haha, it's no problem. Zack may have already told but I'm Rachel Storm. It's a pleasure to meet you both," Rachel voiced her own thoughts secretly laughing at Zack's blush that seemed to have appeared on his cheeks.
"Zackary, why are you blushing?" Cathy prodded her son who looked like he'd eat his own tongue before he explained his sudden embarrassment.
"It's Zack!" Zack grumbled barely audible.
"Haha, dear leave the poor boy alone," Cathy's lover chided the woman.
"They make a good family and poor Zack he looks so cute with that blush of his!....Ugh, I have GOT to stop doing that!" Rachel mentally groaned.
"Well, I don't want to intrude on your time together so I'll just grab my binoculars and disappear," Rachel piped up making toward the jeep.
"Oh, nonsense. Don't let us scare you off, come sit with us!" Catherine spoke up quickly rushing over to the brunette to tug the female over to the fire forcing, Rachel to emit a surprised yelp when she was shoved to sit down on the log next to Zack with Catherine taking her seat next to Matt.
"Yeah I'm quite curious as to what you do as apart of SHINRA," Matt commented.
"Wah, oh uh okay," Rachel uttered while quickly thinking to herself, "What have I gotten myself into now?"
"So, I'm curious, what exactly do you do as a Tamer?" Catherine asked cupping her chin in her hands as she leaned forward excitedly.
"Uh, well I hunt monsters actually. If there is a new species or unknown type of monster reeking havoc in some random part of the Planet, a report is sent into Shinra who then sends me out to capture the monster. Once I capture the monster it is then sent back to Shinra headquarters for the science department so they can examine monster, find out what type of monster it is and what its name would be and its abilities so they in turn can warn the SOLDIERS and Turks of this new monster that could be found in these areas. That way they know what monsters to beware of when they are deployed to the various areas of the globe in their missions," Rachel construed simply.
"You…..hunt those monsters? Aren't you afraid of getting hurt?" Catherine gasped in shock. Rachel weighed her words before she spoke them.
"Not so much afraid really because whether this may sound prude or not, I actually like to fight. I don't know why specifically, it's just in my instincts and blood I guess. Even more I love fighting if its for a good cause because if you think about you as a villager of Gongaga wouldn't be able to live in such hostile conditions if it weren't for your knowledge of what type of monsters that live out here and what weakness they have that you can exploit to your advantage if it weren't for the fact that I captured them giving you guys a chance at living as safely as possible within a jungle like this. That's what I do and why I chose to do it. So innocent people can have a chance at the joys and the fruits that make up their lives for as long as possible. The life may not be to our liking but at least you have a chance at shaping it your liking to the best you can that fits your ideals," Rachel elucidated with a small smile.
"Wow and you've been a Tamer for how long? Are you the only one that does this?" Cathy rapid fired the curiosity and awe in her eye growing. Rachel scratched the back of her head while looking up in thought.
"Well lets see…I became a tamer when I was I think 11 years old give or take, my memory is a little foggy and I'm 21 now so that would be-wow 10 years I've been a Tamer. Man hard to believe it's been that long and as far as to my knowledge I'm the only one that performs this job unless the President has been holding out on me," Rachel revealed making all three of her companions gasp in turn.
"11 years old? Why you were only a child! How can Shinra even think to send a child to do something so horrid!?" Cathy screeched behind her hands which had been clasped over her mouth in horror. Zack didn't which he felt more disturbed about, the cruel carelessness of Shinra's treatment of their employees or the way he watched how Rachel just simply lifted her shoulders in a lighthearted shrug as if this didn't affect her at all negatively.
"Well at the time, I had long since been introduced to the concept of living on my own and at the time the threat of being forced to live out on the streets for kami-knows-how-long and no access to food came bitterly down on my shoulders. I didn't know how I was going to survive or what to do next and it was my best friend Salira Drystilia, the current Captain of the SHINOBI division in Shinra who showed me a way out. The way I saw it, it was either digging threw trash cans and fighting against other hobos for a place to sleep out on the streets letting myself rot to death or risk my life for others by rolling in the dirt fighting against monsters that could be more often than not be the size of a house. I had to take the job," Rachel divulged simply.
"Wow…." Was all Catherine could say in astonishment while Zack shook his head speechless.
"And you took the job with no real clue about what you were about to get involved with?" Matt asked a question of his own, his eyes focused solely on the chestnut haired martial artist.
"Well, Sal had given me the heads up, like two weeks before hand but if it weren't for her, then I wouldn't have had a clue when Shinra threw me out to Wutai for my first hunt," Rachel responded.
"What monster did you have to hunt?" Zack queried.
"An Eyetal." (A/N: "Pronounced Eh-Tel my monster idea no copying!!")
"A what now?"
"An Eyetal. It's a monster found only in the deepest parts of Wutai so I'm not surprised you haven't heard of it. An Eyetal is basically a giant ball about a third of the size of the sun made up of entirely of metal with tentacles sticking out everywhere that are equipped with three-pronged claws ten times the length of General Sephiroth's masamune. There are so many tentacles that if you saw it for the first time you would think it was just a ball of moving tentacles. The only way to kill the thing is for a very, very agile and quick person, mind you, to weave in and out all of the tentacles to the center to find the one eye that doesn't move and stab it with something sharp while barbequing it with either lightning or fire, preferably lightning though. You must be careful though because there are about a billion eyes to pick from and if you stab the wrong one the side affects could be disastrous. It all depends on the color which range from blue, green, yellow, red, black, purple, white and grey. The eye that is stationary will always be purple but that doesn't mean it's the only purple eye so be careful because if you stab the wrong one the Eyetal immediately self-detonates with the explosion consisting of about 5 kilotons-basically an explosion that could take out all of Midgar and three times more. All of the other different colored eyes will cast something at you if you try to stab it or if they see you. Blue will cast a Blizzaga spell on you, Red-Fury and Firaga, Yellow is Stop, Green is poison, Black-blind, White is slow, and Grey is petrify and you can't just go up to it and start hacking and slashing at it because it's made up of the strongest metal alloy out there, Titanium. If Zack were to do that with his Buster sword he would maybe put a dent in it but more likely he'll break his sword first before that happens," Rachel elucidated in detail.
After several more hours of more conversations with Matt and Catherine, Rachel felt it'd be a good time to excuse herself so she could continue her hunt plus she could tell the two were getting a little anxious about getting back home when they saw how close to the horizon the sun was.
"Don't be a stranger, son come have dinner with us tomorrow and Rachel you're more than welcome join us, too," Catherine bid them.
"That's very kind of you ma'am," Rachel responded helping Zack escort his parents back to the village gates safely.
"They were nice," Rachel commented to the SOLDIER as the duo walked back to the campsite.
"Yeah they're great."
"Wish you would've warned me beforehand though-I look like Jane from Tarzan!"
Zack laughed.
Now Rachel is currently trekking through the jungle surrounding Gongaga looking for any abnormal signs that suggested an unknown monster had been in the area. After about an hour of fruitless searching the Tamer tried a new approach and made her way to the village, to interview some of the villagers to see if they had anything to inform her and it was there Rachel stumbled upon her first clue.
"Rachel, to what do we owe this surprising visit?" Matt piped up when on his break from chopping firewood, saw the brunette strolling in through the village gates. Setting down the axe in his possession the man made his way over to the martial artist.
"Actually, I'm here to interview any of the villagers if they've seen any unusual monster activity lately," Rachel answered looking around the village. Matt looked thoughtful as he wracked his brain.
"Well, I remember one of the villagers complaining of a lot of monster attacks. Alec, I believe is his name maybe he knows something-do you want me to take you to him?" Zack's father suggested.
"If you would please, that would be great," Rachel encouraged falling instep with Mr. Fair.
"So if you're here, where's Zack?" Matt inquired curiously.
"Oh, he's back at the campsite meditating. I gave him a walkie so we can keep in touch," Rachel explained to ease parental worries.
"Ah right, the flying slash bet thing, right?"
"That'd be the one."
"I wish you the best of luck then. Even when he was child, Zack was always so stubborn and determined about even the smallest of things. One time I had to dive after the idiot because the water droplets from the waterfall near here gave off a rainbow in the sun and Zack was so sure there was a pot of gold below the waterfall that he literally jumped off the seven foot cliff to get that gold. Cathy was so furious by the end of the whole ordeal she grounded Zack for two months," Matt said with a wry grin.
"Are you serious? Was he hurt at all?" Rachel gasped in shock.
"Actually, all he managed to escape with was a small cut on the forehead from he hit his head on the rocks below but that was it," Matt answered hiding an amused smile at Rachel's concern for his son.
"She'll be good for him," the man mused.
"So I take it he won't stop meditating unless it involves being force fed or something to that extent, am I correct?" Rachel deadpanned her mind shifting to wondering what it was that Zack could possibly ask of her in the hopes of being prepared.
"Yes, he will though he's always excited about new adventures so maybe you could sidetrack him enough by inviting Zack into town for the interviews?" Matt tried to help causing Rachel to raise an eyebrow.
"Selling out your own son?"
"Zack needs his ego taken down a few notches," Matt simply stated with a smirk making Rachel laugh.
"Alright, but when he finds out it's your idea," Rachel said reaching for her walkie.
"Hey, Zack?" she called into the walkie and there was a pause before Zack's voice radioed through sounding irritated yet curious.
"Yeah?"
"How's the meditation coming along?" Rachel teased.
"Kiss my ass!" came Zack's curt reply.
"Why I oughta…" Matt growled angrily before snatching the walkie out of Rachel's hand to her bewilderment.
"That ain't no way to talk to a lady, brat!" Matt snapped into the walkie.
"Whoa, pops! What are you doing with Rachel?" came the surprised and shocked voice of Zack.
"That doesn't matter right now-what matters is that you need to apologize to this young lady for your remark boy! Or so help me, I'll come all the way down there bend you over my lap and then we'll see who's going to be kissing who's ass you hear me boy? I know we raised you better than that!" Matt growled back and Rachel, although amused at the image in her head of Zack getting spankings quickly interjected to help defuse the situation.
"Mr. Fair, really it's not that big of a deal! I know Zack was just joking and if he wasn't he has every right to do so. Coming from personal experience, spirit bonding can be quite frustrating and my jibe at Zack just made Zack a little more annoyed that's all," Rachel quickly tried to say not knowing Matt's fingers were still pressing the speaker button allowing Zack to hear her defending him. Matt waved his free hand at the brunette to stop her words.
"That still doesn't mean that he can just be so rude to you!" Matt said to the Tamer.
"He's right, Rach," came Zack's jumble voice surprising the female and the SOLDIER 1st continued, "I was way out of line with that one and I apologize."
"Uh….apology accepted?" Rachel said hesitantly even though she felt that the apology wasn't needed.
"What was it that you needed by the way? I know you didn't page me just for a tease," Zack prodded sounding curious. This was where Rachel gained back the control over her walkie so she could answer.
"Actually, I was calling to see if you'd like to join me in Gongaga. I'm getting ready to interview a villager of what he knows about the monster, your dad happens to know the guy so he's kindly agreed to show me the way to the villager's quarters."
"Uh, sure but you'll need to come get me I'm kinda surrounded by cliffs here because you felt the need to move the campsite," Zack said meekly.
"Oh, that's right, eugh sorry Zack I completely forgot. Um wait there and I'll be there in a jiffy," Rachel radioed back this time it being her turn to sound apologetic.
"Can you wait here for a minute, Mr. Fair?" Rachel turned to the man next to her to ask.
"One, stop calling me that! I'm already old do you have to remind me about it? Matt is all you need to call me. Two, yes I can wait here," Matt sounded annoyed as he spoke.
"Ehm, sorry Matt. Just wait here, I'll be right back," Rachel once more apologized before blasting off in the air to go retrieve Zack. Ten minutes later found Rachel with Zack in toe rejoining Matt so they could finish making their way over to the residence of Alec.
"I'll leave you to knock Rachel, he's kind of a loon, Alec," Matt said to the Tamer who shot the man a look.
"Oh, well gee thanks," Rachel deadpanned leaving Zack to snigger at the martial artist's misfortune.
"Oh shut it you!" Rachel snapped at the male who simply grinned back at her. With a huff Rachel whirled around to face the front door getting ready to knock when she jumped in fright when the Tamer discovered that the door to Alec's home had disappeared only to be replaced with beady brown eyes that blared at her like an angry owl that had been rudely woken from its nap.
"Oh, um hi?" the Tamer tried to greet the man.
"Are you an alien?" came the low yet suspicious reply that made Rachel do a double take giving the man an odd look.
"Um, the last time I checked I'm sure I wasn't," Rachel replied having found herself leaning back away when the Tamer discovered the man had invaded her personal space just a tad too much peering into her face and eyes.
"They're freaks I tell ya! That sickly blue skin and large unusual colored eyes! As unusual as yours this leads me to believe that you are one! Thos white eyes with the pale green ring around the pupil. What are those contacts? You're an alien I JUST KNOW IT!!!" the man suddenly boomed scaring the poor girl enough to make her jump and stumble backwards almost tripping over Zack's feet. Zack frowned at the oddness of the situation.
"N-no I am not an alien! I don't wear contacts you idiot and its called mako dumbass! I'm with Shinra-the Tamer? I was made aware that there was unknown monster activity around here and you had supposedly seen it!" Rachel hissed suddenly feeling flustered and yet annoyed.
"Don't blame her; he sounds like he had one too many run-ins with a chocobo on high," Zack mused narrowing his eyes as he observed Alec's facial expression turn from suspicious and wary to a relieved and happiness one in less then two seconds.
"Maybe he's bipolar? That would sorta explain the alien obsession. Really? Blue Skin? I was under the impression they had green skin from all of the times I watched that E.T. movie," Zack held back the snort of amusement at his musings the effort being hard enough hat he had to hide his grin behind the hand that was made to look like he was scratching an itch on the tip of his nose. The gesture caught Matt's attention making him turn his head to glance at his son with wonderment that turned into confusion when he saw through the façade. Matt used Alec's pulling Rachel in his cottage for further discussion as a cover by pulling Zack by the arm out of earshot so he could whisper what Zack found so funny?
"Hehe…I think he's bipolar," Zack laughed to his father who donned an understanding look.
"Ah, yes he is actually. We've seen Alec act like this before and if he likes you enough he'll start going on and on about aliens and how they abducted him ten years back. He's a bit of a pervert too, we found," Matt explained as if it were common knowledge. At that moment a shrill cry of dismay erupted from within the confines of Alec's cottage followed by a loud smack and crash the distinct voice of Alec's emitting a yelp of pain right after.
"Oh shit!" Zack cursed racing into the cottage Matt not far behind halting just short of his son's person to peer over Zack's should to assess the situation and figure out what the problem was. Alec, it appeared, had decided to try his luck with Rachel, reaching to grope at the female's left breast whilst serving tea. The Tamer had reacted violently by kicking Alec in the groin followed by a reverse punch at the chin sending Alec reeling back to land on his backside on the floor. Poor Alec was left clutching his groin and a busted lip when Zack and Matt finally arrived on the scene whereas Rachel just stood there glaring and huffing with her fist still out as if she were daring Alec to pull another move on her.
"Um, do we want to know?" Matt asked slowly.
"I think it's blatantly obvious what happened!" Rachel hissed back not taking her eyes off the figure at her feet.
"Owww… what the hell lady I was just serving you tea!" Alec cried from his prone position.
"Serving tea my ass! And I guess that translates into groping because I know I felt your grimy little hands on my breast and it couldn't have been Zack or Matt because they were both outside leaving the only suspect to be you, you sick, perverted bastard!" Rachel growled out stomping her feet as she towered over the loon menacingly keeping her fists raised in plain view so Alec knew that the Tamer wouldn't hesitate to knock the guy around again if it drilled any common sense into the perv's brain.
"O-Okay, I think we should just calm down," Zack interjected quickly rushing over to the martial artist to put his hands on Rachel's shoulders and lead the reluctant Tamer away from Alec so Matt could help the man up.
"Calm down? How can I calm down the man tried to grope me! I think I deserve some sort of apology or respect at least from that bastard's lecherous move!" Rachel screeched indignantly slapping Zack's hand away. Zack merely turned to face the wincing man still clutching his groin while Matt nursed the cut on Alec's lip with a spare cloth he managed to find.
"Well?" Zack snapped with a glare to the pervert while secretly whining to himself why he couldn't be the one to beat the man to a pulp himself.
"He changes moods fast," Rachel couldn't help but think sparing the SOLDIER 1st an inquiring glance that Zack was too busy glaring at Alec to catch.
"S-Sorry, it won't happen again," Alec muttered what he could through the cloth being pressed to his bloodied lip.
"You make sure of it, now what can you tell us of this monster?" Zack pressed on it was then Alec batted away the cloth so he could hobble over to a vacant armchair and sink wincingly down into its somewhat comforting depths.
"Well I was wandering the village woods, I own a dog-a german Sheppard and poor Willey had gone missing I had to try and look for him in the woods thinking maybe he'd gotten lost out there. It was when I stumbled upon the Mako Reactor that we have out here that I saw Willey. But before I could call out to him he ran off into a cave behind the reactor. I followed him of course and barely made it halfway inside before I got nailed in the side by something bowling me over enough to make me slam into a boulder. When I looked up to see what monster had attacked me I was confused as it looked like a cross between a dragon hatchling and a cat. It had lime green, scaly skin but its body shape was feline-like except for its head that looked like a dragon with one great jagged purple horn sticking up at the top of its head and trailed down its back. It had a tail as long as its body which was the overall size was no bigger than your average house cat. The tail came to a tip of spike but had this weird amethyst purplish-greenish flame above the tip. It floated in mid-air. Its paws hugged this swirling orb of purple and green to its belly and its eyes were a weird silver," Alec detailed. Rachel had taken out a drawing pad and pencil so she could sketch the details of the animal for a visual as Alec described the monster. Using the pause, Rachel showed the sketch to verify the details.
"Is this it?" Rachel stepped closer to the man for Alec to get a better glimpse.
"Mmm, the orb needs to be bigger coming up to where it's neck meets its chest the tail needs to be about a foot longer," Alec responded to which Rachel made the quick adjustments and then showed Alec who nodded in approval.
"What happened after that? Did you find Willey?" Matt prodded. Here Alec looked somber as he shook his head negatively.
"No, I didn't find him-I barely managed to escape from the cave but not without a good bite to the arm that lead me to believe the monster was poisonous because I fell ill afterwards for a good three weeks," Alec responded the three then felt this be the best time to take their leave.
"This feels like a bad omen to me," Rachel thought as she observed the drawing leaning against a tree not far away from Alec's house while Zack and Matt stood off to the side a short ways discussing with each other while shooting concerned looks in the Tamer's direction every now and then while she decided on the next course of action.
"I know this creature! But why would his familiar be lurking in a cave near Gongaga's Reactor? I can't let Zack tag along, too. There's no doubt about what this creature is and where it is, its owner won't be far away. I knew I should have brought Felix!"
Closing the drawing pad, the Tamer pushed off of the tree with her foot and tucked the pad into a back pocket before she made her way over to the father and son.
"Alright Zack, time to head back to the campsite. I have some equipment back there that I need to retrieve before heading to the cave," Rachel said to the SOLDIER who looked suspicious.
"Her attitude and outlook has changed almost as if she were on a recon mission or something. Does she know something about this monster?" Zack secretly mused while nodding to show he understood.
"Well Matt, thank you for your help, but I believe we need to be off now though," the Tamer turned to Zack's father to say and bid farewell to all the while trying to figure out in her head how she was going to keep Zack at the campsite.
"You're welcome; let me know if you need help with the monster. Zack's not the only one who knows how to wield a sword you know," was all Matt said as a response before walking back down the path to his house.
"Well come on, Zack," Rachel said to the remaining male turning around so Zack could wrap a firm grip around Rachel's shoulders before she blasted off the ground to make their way back to the campsite. Rachel was so deep in thought on their way back that she was completely oblivious to Zack's sapphire blue eyes focused on her face watching her thoughts and emotions play within the depths of her crystal blue orbs.
"You know something don't you?" Zack said to the Tamer breaking her out of her inner musings.
"I'm sorry but I don't know what you are talking about," Rachel frowned trying to keep up the façade on her facial features all the while secretly shouting in her mind, "HHOW DOES HE KNOW THAT I KNOW SOMETHING? Okay, calm down Rach. Just act normal and when you get back to the campsite grab your gear and ditch the guy. Thank kami he can't fly yet."
"That mask of yours is useless you know. I use it too, so I know that you are faking your inner thoughts with your emotions. You know something about that monster don't you? And don't try to play dumb with me!" Zack said matter-of-factly.
"Defiantly ditch him!"
Rachel shot Zack on odd look.
"Stop talking as if you know me because I can tell you that you don't! I don't know what led you to believe that I have some inclination about the monster but I can tell you right now that I have no clue," Rachel answered turning her head away to focus on flying and attempt to ignore the SOLDIER 1st on her back.
"Oh bullshit Rachel!" Zack snapped not even showing any emotion when Rachel abruptly sped up like a rocket shooting through the air to use the roar of the wind to block out any questions or prodding that the raven male made.
"WHAT, SORRY I CAN'T HEAR YOU THE WIND IS TOO LOUD?" Rachel shouted over the wind only to speed up even more when Zack made to shout back the shout turning into a yelp as he had to cling tighter to Rachel's form to prevent himself from falling off. Before Zack knew it, the two had arrived back at the campsite and Rachel had taken Zack's hesitation to release herself from the SOLDIER'S grip so she could walk over to the back of the jeep using a ki technique to change her clothes to her hakama and haori with the spikes on her arms.
Reaching the jeep, Rachel opened the trunk to climb in and opened a compartment on the left side below the side window. The compartment turned out to be a weapon storage unit that had a selection of throwing knives to broadswords to bows and arrows. The only thing that seemed to be missing from the selection were guns strangely enough. Rachel had picked out what looked like another set of spikes but instead of placing them on the fist or arms, the Tamer stepped out of the back of the jeep and used the bed to support herself and loosened the leg wrappings around her left foot up to her ankle so she could slide the holster onto her claves with a metal bit like bracer curving down the back of the ankle and heel to stop just before the arch of the foot with more bracers coming under the toes at the tips. Scale like sheets of metal covered the top of the foot after the wrappings were tightened to cover the braces, the sheets of metal spiking out as it ran all the way up to the knee cap covering the front of Rachel's legs. Like the ones on her arms, spikes jutted out and curved along the back of her calves stopping at the back of the knee with the last spike reaching all the way up to the bottom of her waist if Rachel were to stand up. The other set of spikes were placed on her right calf just like the one on her left. Reaching back in the trunk the Tamer retrieved a sling of arrows that had an unstrung bow in the mix and slung the pack over her back and reached back in a last time to retrieve a belt that had a sheathed broadsword with hilt wrapped in black leather all the way up to the cross-guard and the pommel capped with a crystal gem the size of Zack's fist. The broadsword was strapped around the martial artist's waist to let the broadsword dangle down her left hip. Grabbing a cord of rope from the back of the trunk door, Rachel hooked a left arm through the loop to sling it up to her shoulder.
"Don't ignore me, Rachel! I know there's something you know that for some reason you aren't telling me. So what is it, huh?" Zack kept up his prodding keeping up with the female as she grabbed her gear.
"Look it's personal okay? Something I'm not particularly fond of sharing with someone I barely know so just butt out!!" Rachel whirled around to release a snap of her own glaring at the SOLDIER 1st.
"It's personal, huh? Then why do you have all of those weapons? I thought you were a martial artist-someone who uses their hands and feet to take down monsters," despite his shock from Rachel's outburst Zack was able to push back with more questions.
"What I can't have multiple preferences? Besides everyone knows to bring some kind of back up weapon or two when fighting monsters especially if its something you've never faced before. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a monster to catch!" Rachel snarled before angrily launching into the air high up enough to be out of Zack's reach if he tried to jump.
"Wha-What-HEY! What about me!? You can't just leave me here!" Zack cried indignantly whirling around to face the Tamer in the air above him shaking a fist at the Tamer in growing anger.
"Oops, sorry, I guess you'll just have to wait here and meditate considering you can't fly yet. Well toodles," Rachel quipped in fake innocence with a fake grin and waved before flying off back toward Gongaga.
"RACHEL!!!" came Zack's shout of rage shortly after.
M.K.-"Uh oh, Zack's pissed."
Cloud-"I found it funny, considering how rude he was to Rachel it was only fair that she ditched the guy."
Zack-"What did you say?"
Cloud-"Uh, bye?" (Runs off the set with Zack on his heels)
M.K.-"Anywho please read and review, it's not a crime you know and I would like some feedback so I know what to fix in the future."
