CHAPTER TWO
Hey, so you decided to come back; you will find it to be worth your time. The port here is excellent. Now, where was I? Oh, yes, my resolution to join SOLDIER, that's where I was…
Memory is a funny thing. What I mean is that I can remember everything about that day except the town. I can recall exactly the springy feeling under my boots as I strolled through the woods outside of town. I remember the sounds of dripping water from wet leaves; it had rained in the morning. I can still feel the tendrils of spider webs brushing my face and the dappled sunshine leaking through the canopy. I still remember the soreness in my feet as I wore in my brand new black boots; they were waterproofed and durable. However, I have no memories of the town or its people on that day. I know I saw them and talked to them, because I remember that I was weeping as I left the town where I had spent my entire life.
But enough about that. I made good time that first day; by noon I reached the edge of the Gongaga forest, and I could stare out north across grassy fields to the Golden River, which was but a faint glimmering on the distant horizon. Staring at that empty plain, I got a hunch that it would be safer to make a night crossing. My logic was that the sun would be beating down upon me, and should I falter, I would be nothing but a nice, fat meal for whatever scavenger happened along. However, should anything at night attack me, well, I had my sword, and at least I wouldn't be weakened by the sun. Go figure, huh?
Much to my surprise I ended up spending that afternoon rather productively. I filled up my water sacks from some leaves and vines. I also built a few snares and trapped some leafers. For those of you who don't know what a leafer is, it's a rabbit that wears cabbage over it's hide. Weird, huh? Anyways, those little bunnies make a good stew, so I caught a couple, ate my stew, and slept until sunset. I think that I spent the afternoon well; as a result I was rested and energized for the crossing.
The crossing went fairly uneventfully. The only thing of interest that happened was that I slew my first monster. Since it was dark, I never identified it, but I suspect that it was just a typical troll. It was an easy battle; I simply chopped off its head. This battle was significant in two ways. First of all, it showed me that I was an excellent swordsman; I was capable of destroying anything that threatened me. Secondly, this battle taught me that monsters carry Gil and items; I discovered that killing monsters was an excellent source of income.
The next morning found me on the banks of a broad, deep river. As the sun rose, the entire river turned a bright yellow, giving testament to its name as the Golden River. However, I was too perplexed to care for the beauty of the scene as the bright yellow stream cascaded down from the brown, barren hills and wound its way through the emerald, verdant plains until it reached the deep, azure sea. Instead of studying the fiery sunrise, I was using its goldenrod light to examine my map. According to the map, there was supposed to be a ford at the point in the river where I then stood, but there was only deep water and a desert on the far side that most certainly wasn't on my map.
Anyways, to make a very long story not so long, I found the ford and made my way across the Corel River on the northern side of the next set of grasslands, and eventually to the resort town of Costa Del Sol. I have learned that some major changes had taken place. The town of Corel was no more, and its sister city of North Corel was in a slump. A casino was to be built in the middle of that quicksand desert I had skirted. I never learned how that desolate, empty place of shifting sand and dying, desperate creatures came to be. Like I've said before, go figure.
In Costa Del Sol, I used the Gil I had lifted off of monsters to buy a ticket to Junon. The only event of any significance was my run-in with a nasty little guy named the Midgar Zolom. I guess that on that continent, this creature was well known and feared. However, I knew nothing of the eastern continent, so I had no worries other than normal as I began crossing the Great Marshes.
As I trudged through that miserable, damp, bug-infested place, I became aware of a presence tracking me. It was always there, in fact it was so ominous that I never made camp in the three days it took me to cross those terrible swamps. About noon on my second day in the marshes, I began to hear it: a raspy slithering noise, as if ten thousand snakes were chasing me through the marsh. Ever brave, and coldly calculating that I could not outrun the monster, whatever it was, I turned to fight it.
At that moment an enormous serpentine beast reared fifty feet above me. Having no choice but to fight it, I began studying its movements. This is always my first step in any fight; I study my opponent for bad habits and potential weaknesses. I discovered that I could sink my sword through its hide, but it seemed to do little damage. The only way to slay it was to run my sword through the creature's head and destroy its brain. I recall thinking, "I should have just built a raft and sailed to the north coast. Oh well, too late now."
All this went through my head in about a minute. Then I caught a fatal flaw in the serpent's maneuvers: he (maybe it was a she…whatever) kept most of its body close to the ground, only the head end was raised above the ground. Seeing that there was only one thing to do, I jumped on its back and climbed up the creature's neck until I stood on top of its flat, triangular head. This is not as easy as it sounds, not with the lack of handholds and the snake's frantic attempts to shake me off. I actually had to use my sword and my dagger to climb by sticking them into the overgrown garden snake and pulling myself up with them. Finally I stood victorious on top of the mountainous serpent. I swiftly jammed my sword straight down to the hilt.
I was definitely not prepared for what happened next. That idiot of a monster began having death spasms! I nearly got thrown from my perch; now that would be irony. I go out of my way to save my hide from this thing, and then I get killed by its death throes. Sorry, but I'm not into that droll humor, thank you. I held on to the hilt of the Buster Sword for dear life, literally. Finally, ten minutes later, the beast was dead, so I drew my sword from its head and cleaned it off with a leaf, and then I continued my journey.
After another day in the marshes, I reached some pastoral farmland with a chocobo ranch in the middle of it. I told the owner about my run-in with the snake.
"That's amazing!" he said. "No one has ever single-handedly slain a Zolom before! You must be nearly as good as Sephiroth, may he protect us!" (Be still my gagging heart.)
"Whoa. So, is it possible to get a ride to Midgar?"
"Not for free. Normally it would cost you 50,000 Gil for a chocobo of your own, but since you've killed a Zolom, I'll sell you a chocobo for only 10,000 Gil."
Needless to say, I took the chocobo, paying for it with the money I took from the Zolom. Two days later, I looked down from a tall hill into a deep valley wherein lay the destination of my travels: Midgar, the city of eternal night. I let the chocobo go and began my descent. I was a little sad since I had grown a fondness for the bird, but there was no place for him in Midgar. On a whim I named the chocobo Cal. I wonder what happened to him.
Oh, but I digress. I never saw the next morning dawn since I was in Midgar when it happened.