Chapter 10: Crimson Flight
The long ride to the Chocobo Farm, the wind smacking the hell out of her, and the fact that the bike was the only thing seperating her from becoming a skidmark, this ride wasn't so bad. It was a straight ride, so there was no erratic turning making her cling to Kuro any harder than she needed to. He also served as a nice wind shield. Rin immediately relaxed (but kept clinging) when she saw a shabby shack surrounded by many of the destroyed machine. But that was a short lived break; Barrett pelted at them with his machine gun with deadly accuracy.
Kuro swore and rode along the side of a cliff wall, and then using a well timed blast of aero to send Quicksilver flying. He slammed into the roof of the stables and immediately stopped when he got cover on the other side. "HEY! YA CRAZY FOO'! GET DOWN HERE SO I CAN WASTE YOU LIKE DEM ROBOTS!" Barretts mocking did little more than enrage Kuro, who now had to pay for a new paintjob after he scratched and put a few bullet holes into his bike.
"HEY! ASSHOLE! SUCK ON THIS!" And with that, he flung down a flashbang grenade which blinded Barrett for a few moments. But that was all him and Rin needed, and they let fly both a silence and a blind spell on Barrett. "ARGH! YOU STUPID JACKASSES!" He rolled on the ground, rubbing his eyes furiously as he could barely make out the two figures in front of him. "I hated to do that...but maybe next time you'll think twice before shooting someones motorcycle up." He gave him a swift kick to the gut, knocking all the air out of Barrett, and strolled into the house.
He was met, with a shovel to the head and a pitchfork to the stomach. His sword merely deflected them to the side...after they were sliced off. Bill gasped and exclaimed "AH! IT'S YOU! What luck we have today!" after a few minutes of happy dancing and the chocobo kid Billy trying to stop his dad from being a total idiot, he started talking again. "So what brings you back here? Trying to help us out? Or perhaps you came back for that sleek beauty you have...?"
Kuro shrugged and replied "Yes...and no. I have been helping out both you and the people in Kalm...er...speaking of which...Rin, go check on Barrett. No, I have an agenda of my own to follow so im kinda just backup. And yes, I do want him back for the time being. You kept him safe eh?" A hearty laugh came from Bill. "Yea, but two of the other 5 chocobo we had lying around got killed. Hated to see em die, but we kept the others safe from harm! Mostly Barrett, but still we got a few of our own." A scream followed by gunshots came from outside.
"The hell?" Kuro looked outside to see Barrett running full tilt at Rin, firing madly. "Oi..." He fired a stop spell at Barrett, who was going so fast that when he locked up...he fell over with a loud thud. Billy fell over laughing, and Bill quickly explained who Kuro is and what was going on. "Oh...thought you looked familiar. You look different without ya damn head being hidden by that hooded cloak. Sorry 'bout shootin up the bike."
Rin, who hid inside a stable after running away (also at full tilt, which made her look like a track runner compared to Barrett) from the barrage of bullets, suddenly noticed something poking her in the back. She turned around, and came face to face with a huge crimson colored chocobo. "WARK!" It yelled, and the first thing that Rin thought was appropriate to say was..."AWWWWW ITS SO CUTE!" And she bear hugged it.
But the dark red chocobo merely jumped out of the stables, with Rin hardly aware of it, and trotted outside. "Well you HAVE been taking good care of him. I hope he hasn't been too much of a handfull." Bill stroked the head of the strong bird, and winked at Kuro. "We've been using him to train the other chocobo. Raking in money for that special treatment. People just want the best chocobo, and this chocobo gives them training like Boot Camp."
Out of all the chocobo breeds, The gold chocobo is coveted for his ability to travel over any moutain, across any river, and swim any sea. But, out of all of them, there is only one chocobo that can fly. Red chocobos are hard to find, and they usually are not used for racing. But they can fly as high as the clouds, and laugh at all the chocobo who can barely hover with their wings. They have an elegance to them like no other bird, and are the strongest upper body chocobo.
Kuro moved to his scratched up bike and dragged it into the stable where his chocobo dwelt. He came out holding Sylkis Greens. "We're on a time limit here, so we must go." Rin finally realized that she had been dragged out, and dropped down onto the soft grass. Kuro fed the crimson chocobo the greens, and hopped onto his back...and after 3 attempts, he helped Rin up. "We'll be back after a while. Dont worry Barrett, they're doing fine in town. Stay here and defend your little girl."
"Oh...and give her my regards for her birthday. I didn't really have anything to give her...but she likes chocobos. so.." Kuro gently plucked one of the largest feathers he could find on his bird, and gave it to Barrett. "That will look great in a hat." Barrett shrugged. "Cheap gift, but its the thought dat counts I 'spose. See ya." Kuro nudged his foot into the back of the large bird, and said in a clear voice, "Hapan! Time to stretch your wings!"
Rin noticed that there was no saddle or anything of that sort to hang onto. "Kuro...what am I supposed to-Whoa!" She lunged forward and grabbed him around the waist as Hapan let out a loud, pridefull 'Wark!', broke off into a trot, then a quick run, and eventually flapping his wings to go adrift. Eventually, they were flying high in the sky, peering down at the small buildings and moutains. They passed over Kalm, which was safe and not under atack, for the time being.
He banked left, eventually coming to another land mass. Costa De Sol came and went, and Rin eyes went wide as she saw what appeared to be a desert...but it couldn't have been. There was a huge amusement park right in the middle of it all! "Im not seeing things, am I?" She said, in awe for the second time this day. "No, your not. That, Is the Golden Saucer. We'll be heading in there first, to see if Hikari is gambling or something. Then we stock up. And..." he groaned, but continued, "We can have some fun." Rin was estatic to hear this, and Kuro felt another sore blow coming to his wallet.
He soared low, riding along side the moving tram car, and people, mostly kids, pointed at the bird soaring defiantly. Hapan moved faster than them, and landed inside the Golden Saucer entranceway. The attendant bowed and patted the chocobo on the head. "Hi. Welcome to the golden saucer. May I see your ticket?" Kuro flashed the gold colored ticket at her. "Very well. Enjoy your stay, and ill take your chocobo to the stables." She stepped out of the way, and Kuro led Rin through the mog mouth archway.
AN : Yes. I am fully aware that the place is called the GOLD saucer, not the golden. But you know what I can do in a situation like this? Plot Device. So I can say its under new management and someone renamed it to golden! so ha! Read and Review Please. And this chapter is kinda short because Chapter 11 is gonna be more focused on the fun and games rather than the seriousness of the situations at hand.
