Chapter 4: Phoenix Flame
The party had finally made it to shore near Gonganga Village. They were much further off course than they hoped, but they were still pleased that Yuffie would no longer vomit all over Aeris and that they could finally cleanse themselves of the horrible stench of vomit. "Someone...get...me...*urp*...a...towel...please..." Yuffie stuttered, stumbling and leaning over the small pond in the forest. "I'm sorry to say that none of us have a CLEAN towel, due to someone constantly THROWING UP on us." CloudXIII scowled with sarcasm dripping. "Gee...*urp*...I wonder...*urp*...who's fault that...*urp*...is?" Yuffie replied sarcasticly, throwing up inside a small wooden bowl she carved while she wasn't sick. Aeris walked into the camp, holding most of their clothes, cleansed of the reeking odour of vomit. "Yay!" Yuffie shouted, jumping up but then plopped back down because she had another attack of vomit. This spurt of vomit was unfortunately on top of all of the clothes that Aeris had just washed. "YUFFIE!!!"
After washing their clothes for the second time in the same day and now taking the precaution of keeping Yuffie away from their clothes, the party finally started again in their journey towards Cosmo Canyon. "CloudXIII?" Aeris asked. "What?" CloudXIII, putting on his usual scowl and defiant look on his face. "Have you ever been to Cosmo Canyon?" Aeris questioned. "Yeah..." CloudXIII replied, trailing off and then staring off in the distance towards a town northwards. "What's it like-" Yuffie interrupted, getting interrupted by Kamau. "What'd you do that for?!" Yuffie asked curiously. Kamau didn't reply, he recognized CloudXIII's gaze as one he was all too familiar with. "Don't talk to him...he's not in a good mood." Kamau said curtly. "Not in a good mood, he's never in a good mood! I'm Mr. CloudXIII Strife and I'm a scowling idiot!" Yuffie mimicked. "Say that one more time and you get a taste of Planet in your mouth." CloudXIII threatened, whipping around and drawing out his sword in the same flowing movement. Yuffie just glared at CloudXIII at him and didn't say anything. Aeris sighed and started walking up the hill towards Cosmo Canyon.
"Yay!!! We finally made it!" Yuffie shouted happily, dancing around. Kamau walked into the magnificent canyon, gazing with awe at the large sculptures and drawings made on the walls of the canyon. He walked over to a wall and ran his fingers along the smooth lines, admiring the sheer detail of the drawings. Aeris went over to the Inn and dragged the bags of items behind her, occasionally wiping the sweat off her forehead with her hankerchief. CloudXIII scowled at them and walked off in the Elder's Cave's direction. Yuffie ran off in the Materia shop's direction with a sly grin on her face. Kamau turned around to see that Aeris was still slowly tottering up the stairs, hanging precariously with one arm on the railing and sliding the bags to her other arm. He ran up the stairs to help her with the bagss and took half of the bags away. Aeris stared at Kamau's back as he walked up the stairs, ahead of her. Aeris shook her head and started walking again.
"You've come to see me again?" The small elderly man exclaimed in surprise. "Yes Elder Bugenhagen." CloudXIII replied. "Take a seat! When was the last time I saw you?" The Elder asked. CloudXIII sat down on a small wooden stool and thought for a moment. "It's been four years since I saw you last." CloudXIII replied finally. "Oh my! How you've grown since I've last seen you!" Elder Bugenhagen exclaimed. "So?" CloudXIII thought. "What does it matter to you?" "So what business has brought you to Cosmo Canyon?" Bugenhagen asked. "A firey red egg that vibrates whenever the element of fire goes near it." CloudXIII replied, taking out the egg from a bag. He held it up to a candle and the egg began to shake violently. Elder Bugenhagen touched and probed the egg until he finally spoke. "Get your friends CloudXIII and prepare for a fierce battle, it's a phoenix." CloudXIII eye's bulged. "SAY WHAT?!" CloudXIII shouted. "You mean I've been carrying a living weapon the whole time?!" Bugenhagen nodded sadly.
CloudXIII ran to the Inn and called Kamau and Aeris out of their respective rooms. "Me? Carrying this living weapon in my bag the entire time? How can this be?" CloudXIII thought with disbelief. "What's the problem, CloudXIII?" Aeris asked, gasping for air. "We've got a problem on our hands." CloudXIII replied. "It's probably too late to do anything but we must save the inhabitants of the Canyon." He thought. "Where's Yuffie?" Kamau exclaimed, looking around them. "Damn! She's at the Materia shop!" CloudXIII cursed aloud. "I'll go get her, you guys stay here and only use ice spells if you see a flaming bird come towards the Canyon!" "Don't tell me...it was a phoenix in the egg we found..." Kamau trailed off. CloudXIII nodded and ran off. "Do you know how to use a grenade Aeris?" Kamau asked, turning around to face Aeris. "I used it once...it was horrible though, the bomb exploded and the monster's blood went all over my dress. It was my favourite one too!" Aeris replied. "Why?"
"I'm going to setup a grenade launcher, that's why." Kamau replied. "Make sure you have lots of shards of ice to make ice crystals, we're going phoenix hunting with ice magic and grenades."
"Yuffie! Get your ass out here!" CloudXIII shouted through the Materia Shop's door. Yuffie was inside, gazing at the materia selection. "Hmmm, no Ultima's, no Full Life, No Alexander's, nothing good here. I'm afraid that I'll have to take my business somewhere else." Yuffie said aloud. "No no no! I'm sure there's some more in the back room! Please stay here and wait!" The shopkeeper exclaimed. He waddled into the backroom and started rummaging around for the materia. "Heheheh, rule number 1, never leave your materia lying around with Yuffie." Yuffie muttered with glee, piling the materia into a bag. "Rule number 2, never let someone watch Yuffie steal materia." CloudXIII interrupted. Yuffie gasped and desperately tried to explain. "I..you...he...materia...no..steal...mistake..." She stuttered. "Shut up. We have more important business to attend to." CloudXIII interrupted. CloudXIII put a large wad of gil on the counter and motioned for Yuffie to follow him.
"Where we going?" Yuffie asked. "To fight a phoenix." CloudXIII replied, increasing his pace. "*Puff* A *puff* Phoenix?!" Yuffie exclaimed between gulping greedily for air. "Yes, a phoenix." CloudXIII replied. "Now shut up and prepare yourself for battle." "Alright, you're the boss!" Yuffie said, equipping her best magic to her sword. They ran into the Elder's Cave, in search of Kamau and Aeris.
"So do you know where this phoenix is?" Aeris asked. "No, that's why we're looking for it." Kamau replied, poking his head around a corner. "How do you know we're not going to get killed by it?" Aeris continued. "I don't, that's why we gotta kill it first." Kamau answered, beginning to sound frustrated. Their conversation was interrupted by a loud shriek. "It's here!" Kamau exclaimed, drawing out his staff. "Get the grenade launcher ready!" Several loud explosions resounded against the walls of the cavern. "It's still coming!" Aeris yelled, casting ice spells everywhere. "Just keep shooting!!!" Kamau shouted back, almost drowned out by the sound of explosions. "There you are!" CloudXIII shouted towards them, Yuffie lagging behind slightly. "We have to save the Canyon!" CloudXIII shouted, unsheathing his sword. With that, he cast a powerful ice spell on his sword and ran up to the phoenix. " This is for the Canyon!!!" CloudXIII shouted, bringing the sword above his head preparing to plunge it into the bird. "NO!!!" They screamed in unison. It seemed for an eternity that the great phoenix swung its sharp talons around to claw CloudXIII away and CloudXIII plunging the ice sword deep into the chest of the phoenix. There was a great flash of light and their thoughts were drowed out by the shrieks of pain from the phoenix. Out of the corner of Aeris's eye, she saw CloudXIII get blasted against the side of the wall and with a sickening thud, he landed on the ground. With that, they all fell unconscious, completely oblivious to the inhabitants of the Canyon creeping in to see what had caused the horrific war cries and explosions. "For the love of the Ancients! We need some help here!" One person shouted. "No! We must bring them to a healer!" Another shouted back. "Just get them out of the cave first!" The first one yelled, putting Kamau on his back and running out. The other people followed his example.
"Hello?" A voice asked timidly. "Ugh..." I replied. "Back then you could only get by with scraped knees." The voice said again. "Back then?" I asked. "What about right now?" The voice murmured. "Right now?" I asked, beseeching the voice for an answer. "Hello! Wake up!" The voice trailed off. I pried my eyes open and I blinked at the bright light in my eyes. "You've woken up already?" Elder Bugenhagen asked cautiously. "Yeah...I guess..." I replied. "I see you've defeated the phoenix, that was one tough old bird I tell you." Bugenhagen continued. "Sure..." I replied. "You nearly sacrificed yourself to save the Canyon." Bugenhagen finished. "And?" I asked. "The phoenix seemed to be controlled by someone and you released it from captivity." Bugenhagen answered. "It wants to talk to you." "What about the other's?" I asked. "You're the last one to wake up, I spent a fortune on potions and you used them all in one day!" Bugenhagen griped. "Ok...I'll pay you back for them." I replied. I handed over a large stack of gil. "They're waiting for you downstairs." Bugenhagen finished.
CloudXIII walked downstairs, thinking about the voice that spoke to him when he was being revived. "Hey!" A familiar voice broke his train of thought. "You're all right again!" Yuffie shouted, doing a dance. "No thanks to you." CloudXIII muttered. "What'd you say? Anyways, that phoenix thing wants to talk to us!" Yuffie continued. Aeris gave CloudXIII a patronizing smile and then walked off. Kamau just stared at him and then turned off in the other direction. "Come on Cloudy! Let's go!" Yuffie shouted, putting her arm around CloudXIII's arm. "Get off." CloudXIII said, dropping Yuffie onto the ground. "Hey!" Yuffie shouted, still on the ground. "Come back here!" "Whatever." CloudXIII thought, walking off towards the cave.
When CloudXIII arrived in the cave, he saw the phoenix talking with Typhoon. "So did'ja see that hot chick from the Ice Kingdom?" Typhoon asked. "Shut up." The phoenix muttered. "And did'ja see the hot one from the Water Kingdom? *whistles*" Typhoon continued, paying no heed to the phoenix. "Oh, CloudXIII, nice to see you. I hoped you didn't get hurt too badly." The phoenix asked, turning to CloudXIII, away from Typhoon. "Hey!" Typhoon shouted indignantly. "My name's Phoenix." The phoenix introduced. "Charmed." "So why were you kept in captivity inside that egg, Phoenix?" Kamau asked. "Ah...it's a long story for another day...but I was controlled by the Sephiroth." Phoenix answered. "What was Sephiroth doing with a hot slick dude like you?" Typhoon broke in. "Shut up, I was captured by him and controlled by him to do his bidding and occasionally dry his hair for him." Phoenix continued. "I didn't get very good wages, I'm telling you." "Anyways, what I called you here for was to ask if I could join your party because I need to go to the Icelands and I need to have someone escort me there." Phoenix asked. "Sure, but it'll cost you." CloudXIII replied. "Extra if you're royalty." "Money is no problem. I just need someone who can protect me from Sephiroth." Phoenix replied. "But it's going to be kind of hard if you go as a flaming bird..." Aeris trailed off. "That's fine, I can morph into a human." Phoenix replied. With that, before their eyes, he turned from a talking flaming bird to a tall man with flaming red hair and hawkish nose. "Wow! I wish I could do something like that!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Only gods and goddesses can do that!" Typhoon and Phoenix boasted proudly. "If all gods and goddesses can do it, why doesn't Typhoon turn into a human like you?" Kamau asked. "Umm..." Typhoon noticeably got more nervous and little droplets of rain started dripping off his forehead. "Just do it Typhoon before I make you morph." Phoenix said curtly. "Fine fine.." Typhoon muttered with an air of resignation, morphed from a red faced floating man to a red faced man on the ground. "Happy? Now I have to walk!" Typhoon complained. "Shut up." Yuffie retorted. "OK, let's head off to the Icelands then."
Next Chapter Preview: Who is this mysterious voice? What will happen along the way to the Icelands? Enlisting the aid of a goddess? Stay tuned!
Chapter 5: The Icelands
The party had finally made it to shore near Gonganga Village. They were much further off course than they hoped, but they were still pleased that Yuffie would no longer vomit all over Aeris and that they could finally cleanse themselves of the horrible stench of vomit. "Someone...get...me...*urp*...a...towel...please..." Yuffie stuttered, stumbling and leaning over the small pond in the forest. "I'm sorry to say that none of us have a CLEAN towel, due to someone constantly THROWING UP on us." CloudXIII scowled with sarcasm dripping. "Gee...*urp*...I wonder...*urp*...who's fault that...*urp*...is?" Yuffie replied sarcasticly, throwing up inside a small wooden bowl she carved while she wasn't sick. Aeris walked into the camp, holding most of their clothes, cleansed of the reeking odour of vomit. "Yay!" Yuffie shouted, jumping up but then plopped back down because she had another attack of vomit. This spurt of vomit was unfortunately on top of all of the clothes that Aeris had just washed. "YUFFIE!!!"
After washing their clothes for the second time in the same day and now taking the precaution of keeping Yuffie away from their clothes, the party finally started again in their journey towards Cosmo Canyon. "CloudXIII?" Aeris asked. "What?" CloudXIII, putting on his usual scowl and defiant look on his face. "Have you ever been to Cosmo Canyon?" Aeris questioned. "Yeah..." CloudXIII replied, trailing off and then staring off in the distance towards a town northwards. "What's it like-" Yuffie interrupted, getting interrupted by Kamau. "What'd you do that for?!" Yuffie asked curiously. Kamau didn't reply, he recognized CloudXIII's gaze as one he was all too familiar with. "Don't talk to him...he's not in a good mood." Kamau said curtly. "Not in a good mood, he's never in a good mood! I'm Mr. CloudXIII Strife and I'm a scowling idiot!" Yuffie mimicked. "Say that one more time and you get a taste of Planet in your mouth." CloudXIII threatened, whipping around and drawing out his sword in the same flowing movement. Yuffie just glared at CloudXIII at him and didn't say anything. Aeris sighed and started walking up the hill towards Cosmo Canyon.
"Yay!!! We finally made it!" Yuffie shouted happily, dancing around. Kamau walked into the magnificent canyon, gazing with awe at the large sculptures and drawings made on the walls of the canyon. He walked over to a wall and ran his fingers along the smooth lines, admiring the sheer detail of the drawings. Aeris went over to the Inn and dragged the bags of items behind her, occasionally wiping the sweat off her forehead with her hankerchief. CloudXIII scowled at them and walked off in the Elder's Cave's direction. Yuffie ran off in the Materia shop's direction with a sly grin on her face. Kamau turned around to see that Aeris was still slowly tottering up the stairs, hanging precariously with one arm on the railing and sliding the bags to her other arm. He ran up the stairs to help her with the bagss and took half of the bags away. Aeris stared at Kamau's back as he walked up the stairs, ahead of her. Aeris shook her head and started walking again.
"You've come to see me again?" The small elderly man exclaimed in surprise. "Yes Elder Bugenhagen." CloudXIII replied. "Take a seat! When was the last time I saw you?" The Elder asked. CloudXIII sat down on a small wooden stool and thought for a moment. "It's been four years since I saw you last." CloudXIII replied finally. "Oh my! How you've grown since I've last seen you!" Elder Bugenhagen exclaimed. "So?" CloudXIII thought. "What does it matter to you?" "So what business has brought you to Cosmo Canyon?" Bugenhagen asked. "A firey red egg that vibrates whenever the element of fire goes near it." CloudXIII replied, taking out the egg from a bag. He held it up to a candle and the egg began to shake violently. Elder Bugenhagen touched and probed the egg until he finally spoke. "Get your friends CloudXIII and prepare for a fierce battle, it's a phoenix." CloudXIII eye's bulged. "SAY WHAT?!" CloudXIII shouted. "You mean I've been carrying a living weapon the whole time?!" Bugenhagen nodded sadly.
CloudXIII ran to the Inn and called Kamau and Aeris out of their respective rooms. "Me? Carrying this living weapon in my bag the entire time? How can this be?" CloudXIII thought with disbelief. "What's the problem, CloudXIII?" Aeris asked, gasping for air. "We've got a problem on our hands." CloudXIII replied. "It's probably too late to do anything but we must save the inhabitants of the Canyon." He thought. "Where's Yuffie?" Kamau exclaimed, looking around them. "Damn! She's at the Materia shop!" CloudXIII cursed aloud. "I'll go get her, you guys stay here and only use ice spells if you see a flaming bird come towards the Canyon!" "Don't tell me...it was a phoenix in the egg we found..." Kamau trailed off. CloudXIII nodded and ran off. "Do you know how to use a grenade Aeris?" Kamau asked, turning around to face Aeris. "I used it once...it was horrible though, the bomb exploded and the monster's blood went all over my dress. It was my favourite one too!" Aeris replied. "Why?"
"I'm going to setup a grenade launcher, that's why." Kamau replied. "Make sure you have lots of shards of ice to make ice crystals, we're going phoenix hunting with ice magic and grenades."
"Yuffie! Get your ass out here!" CloudXIII shouted through the Materia Shop's door. Yuffie was inside, gazing at the materia selection. "Hmmm, no Ultima's, no Full Life, No Alexander's, nothing good here. I'm afraid that I'll have to take my business somewhere else." Yuffie said aloud. "No no no! I'm sure there's some more in the back room! Please stay here and wait!" The shopkeeper exclaimed. He waddled into the backroom and started rummaging around for the materia. "Heheheh, rule number 1, never leave your materia lying around with Yuffie." Yuffie muttered with glee, piling the materia into a bag. "Rule number 2, never let someone watch Yuffie steal materia." CloudXIII interrupted. Yuffie gasped and desperately tried to explain. "I..you...he...materia...no..steal...mistake..." She stuttered. "Shut up. We have more important business to attend to." CloudXIII interrupted. CloudXIII put a large wad of gil on the counter and motioned for Yuffie to follow him.
"Where we going?" Yuffie asked. "To fight a phoenix." CloudXIII replied, increasing his pace. "*Puff* A *puff* Phoenix?!" Yuffie exclaimed between gulping greedily for air. "Yes, a phoenix." CloudXIII replied. "Now shut up and prepare yourself for battle." "Alright, you're the boss!" Yuffie said, equipping her best magic to her sword. They ran into the Elder's Cave, in search of Kamau and Aeris.
"So do you know where this phoenix is?" Aeris asked. "No, that's why we're looking for it." Kamau replied, poking his head around a corner. "How do you know we're not going to get killed by it?" Aeris continued. "I don't, that's why we gotta kill it first." Kamau answered, beginning to sound frustrated. Their conversation was interrupted by a loud shriek. "It's here!" Kamau exclaimed, drawing out his staff. "Get the grenade launcher ready!" Several loud explosions resounded against the walls of the cavern. "It's still coming!" Aeris yelled, casting ice spells everywhere. "Just keep shooting!!!" Kamau shouted back, almost drowned out by the sound of explosions. "There you are!" CloudXIII shouted towards them, Yuffie lagging behind slightly. "We have to save the Canyon!" CloudXIII shouted, unsheathing his sword. With that, he cast a powerful ice spell on his sword and ran up to the phoenix. " This is for the Canyon!!!" CloudXIII shouted, bringing the sword above his head preparing to plunge it into the bird. "NO!!!" They screamed in unison. It seemed for an eternity that the great phoenix swung its sharp talons around to claw CloudXIII away and CloudXIII plunging the ice sword deep into the chest of the phoenix. There was a great flash of light and their thoughts were drowed out by the shrieks of pain from the phoenix. Out of the corner of Aeris's eye, she saw CloudXIII get blasted against the side of the wall and with a sickening thud, he landed on the ground. With that, they all fell unconscious, completely oblivious to the inhabitants of the Canyon creeping in to see what had caused the horrific war cries and explosions. "For the love of the Ancients! We need some help here!" One person shouted. "No! We must bring them to a healer!" Another shouted back. "Just get them out of the cave first!" The first one yelled, putting Kamau on his back and running out. The other people followed his example.
"Hello?" A voice asked timidly. "Ugh..." I replied. "Back then you could only get by with scraped knees." The voice said again. "Back then?" I asked. "What about right now?" The voice murmured. "Right now?" I asked, beseeching the voice for an answer. "Hello! Wake up!" The voice trailed off. I pried my eyes open and I blinked at the bright light in my eyes. "You've woken up already?" Elder Bugenhagen asked cautiously. "Yeah...I guess..." I replied. "I see you've defeated the phoenix, that was one tough old bird I tell you." Bugenhagen continued. "Sure..." I replied. "You nearly sacrificed yourself to save the Canyon." Bugenhagen finished. "And?" I asked. "The phoenix seemed to be controlled by someone and you released it from captivity." Bugenhagen answered. "It wants to talk to you." "What about the other's?" I asked. "You're the last one to wake up, I spent a fortune on potions and you used them all in one day!" Bugenhagen griped. "Ok...I'll pay you back for them." I replied. I handed over a large stack of gil. "They're waiting for you downstairs." Bugenhagen finished.
CloudXIII walked downstairs, thinking about the voice that spoke to him when he was being revived. "Hey!" A familiar voice broke his train of thought. "You're all right again!" Yuffie shouted, doing a dance. "No thanks to you." CloudXIII muttered. "What'd you say? Anyways, that phoenix thing wants to talk to us!" Yuffie continued. Aeris gave CloudXIII a patronizing smile and then walked off. Kamau just stared at him and then turned off in the other direction. "Come on Cloudy! Let's go!" Yuffie shouted, putting her arm around CloudXIII's arm. "Get off." CloudXIII said, dropping Yuffie onto the ground. "Hey!" Yuffie shouted, still on the ground. "Come back here!" "Whatever." CloudXIII thought, walking off towards the cave.
When CloudXIII arrived in the cave, he saw the phoenix talking with Typhoon. "So did'ja see that hot chick from the Ice Kingdom?" Typhoon asked. "Shut up." The phoenix muttered. "And did'ja see the hot one from the Water Kingdom? *whistles*" Typhoon continued, paying no heed to the phoenix. "Oh, CloudXIII, nice to see you. I hoped you didn't get hurt too badly." The phoenix asked, turning to CloudXIII, away from Typhoon. "Hey!" Typhoon shouted indignantly. "My name's Phoenix." The phoenix introduced. "Charmed." "So why were you kept in captivity inside that egg, Phoenix?" Kamau asked. "Ah...it's a long story for another day...but I was controlled by the Sephiroth." Phoenix answered. "What was Sephiroth doing with a hot slick dude like you?" Typhoon broke in. "Shut up, I was captured by him and controlled by him to do his bidding and occasionally dry his hair for him." Phoenix continued. "I didn't get very good wages, I'm telling you." "Anyways, what I called you here for was to ask if I could join your party because I need to go to the Icelands and I need to have someone escort me there." Phoenix asked. "Sure, but it'll cost you." CloudXIII replied. "Extra if you're royalty." "Money is no problem. I just need someone who can protect me from Sephiroth." Phoenix replied. "But it's going to be kind of hard if you go as a flaming bird..." Aeris trailed off. "That's fine, I can morph into a human." Phoenix replied. With that, before their eyes, he turned from a talking flaming bird to a tall man with flaming red hair and hawkish nose. "Wow! I wish I could do something like that!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Only gods and goddesses can do that!" Typhoon and Phoenix boasted proudly. "If all gods and goddesses can do it, why doesn't Typhoon turn into a human like you?" Kamau asked. "Umm..." Typhoon noticeably got more nervous and little droplets of rain started dripping off his forehead. "Just do it Typhoon before I make you morph." Phoenix said curtly. "Fine fine.." Typhoon muttered with an air of resignation, morphed from a red faced floating man to a red faced man on the ground. "Happy? Now I have to walk!" Typhoon complained. "Shut up." Yuffie retorted. "OK, let's head off to the Icelands then."
Next Chapter Preview: Who is this mysterious voice? What will happen along the way to the Icelands? Enlisting the aid of a goddess? Stay tuned!
Chapter 5: The Icelands