The sun was high in the middle of the sky at this point of the day. No cloud blocked the harsh rays from pouring down on the semi-barren land.
The wind blowing through his long black hair felt refreshing after a long morning of heavy-duty lifting; he could do without the flies hitting his goggles from time to time. It was just what he needed to cool himself off, but he kept reminding himself that he was on the clock. Resting can wait; for now, he needed to find the merchant's missing caravan.
As he zoomed through the open road, he spotted a Chocobo grazing close to the road. The bright yellow feathers were hardly missable in this dull-colored landscape; he had to admit. Noticing that it had a saddle, big pouches, and a leash. He reasoned that those items were typical of a merchant's bird, parking his vehicle off-road.
"Looks like a caravan's Chocobo, alright."
After parking his bike a reasonable distance from the fowl in order not to spook it accidentally and, just for safety's sake, he geared up with his sword magnetized to his back as usual. He then carefully crept his way to the feeding bird, taking a step at a time with his hand out in front, letting it know he meant no harm. "Hi there, girl. Nice girl."
He calmly called it, almost less than a meter away; the bird jerked as it took notice of him. The Chocobo stopped its grazing and stared at him. Lucky for him, even after being seen, the bird did not flee; in fact, it Kwehed gleefully.
"Glad to see me? You're a friendly one, aren't you?" He sighed in relief, giving the friendly bird a few pats; in return, he got nuzzled by the bird fiercely. It was excited to see him, probably missing human contact, at least that he believed.
"You wouldn't know where the caravan you were pulling is, would you?" He knew it was pointless to ask, but it was worth a shot, he thought.
He looked around the area as the bird happily continued to nuzzle him. The saddle, while nice, seemed a bit weighty from the items it was carrying. So it probably didn't sprint too far from the caravan. It didn't take him long to find the Chocobo's footprints on the dry ground.
"Alright, girl, let's go find your owner." He pats its beak as he leads it along, following the tracks, hoping he wasn't late.
~.~.~.~.~.~
Kalm, Town Square, Midday...
"Your boyfriend is late. I hope he didn't get into any trouble." Elmyra, while sounding a bit annoyed, Aerith had noticed her being like that a lot when it comes to Zack. But she reasoned that it was a habit from thinking that he had abanded her in the past—a misunderstanding she had to clarify most recently.
"He messaged me that someone asked him to look for a lost caravan. So I'm sure he won't take too long, mom."
"He'll have a stroke at this rate. The temperature out in the open is scorching; we're lucky the town installed those mist fans in the square to cool the weather."
"I'm sure he'll be fine... I hope." Her mother did have a point; the summer heat in the Midgar region is dangerous at this time of day. Aerith could only hope that he was doing fine.
To distract herself, She shifted her attention to her daughter, who was running around the plaza with the other children. Her favorite doll bouncing in her arms as she laughed and chased after the other kids, probably being 'IT' in a game of tag. It brought a smile to her face knowing that Chole was adjusting quite subtly; In contrast to how shy and reluctant she was before.
"So, are you going to enroll her in school?" Elmyra asked, noticing how distracted she was.
"We did think about it. And we decided to do so after visiting Zack's parents this weekend. We'd probably enroll her in the same school as Marlen and Denzel if they are accepting applications, of course."
"That's a good idea; they could look after her at school when you both can't. Anything else about her you noticed? Powers maybe?"
Of course, her mother would ask that, and in a whisper no less, it's only natural to wonder how mother thought she felt about another Cetra existing when there was only herself before. And while still worried about what power her Chole possesses, it felt like a sigh of relief knowing that she wasn't the only one anymore. However, her ability to keep both of them safe is questionable; the blame rests on her current physical disability.
"Aerith?" Elmyra's worried, please reign her back in; she must have let her fear show through her expression and silence.
"I'm fine, mom. I just think if there was anything about Chole that would give me some hint about her powers. But, I can't really tell yet."
"I'm guessing it's not like your healing powers then."
"No, not healing. While I'm still researching her probable classing, hearing the voice of the planet and feel for the lifestream seems to be a shared ability all Cetra have."
"I see. Has she surprised you with anything else then?"
"If you mean her interests, she loved that old folktale book you hid in the bedroom." Aerith giggled, recalling how Chole's eyes widened when exploring the room and finding the dusty book in a box under the bed. And eagerly ran up to her, asking to be read anything from it.
"She found that old thing? I'm surprised she wasn't scared of some of the intense stories in that dusty old thing."
"Well... She didn't reach those stories yet. She took an interest in the Garm and the Choco Mog stories."
"Why am I not surprised?" Elmyra laughed; it didn't take much thinking when seeing how preciously the little girl held her doll.
The woman stopped their chat as they heard the delighted squeal of said girl. As they turned their attention to her direction, they realized why.
They first saw a caravan being pulled by a Chocobo, following after was the familiar Motorbike and its raven-haired rider. As soon as the motor vehicle stopped, Chole immediately ran up to greet her father.