********** II - Going Down The River **********
At the airport, Fujin and Seifer met with the rest of the gang, and the eight of them boarded a plane to get to 'Chocobo-Town' in northern Esthar, a few miles west of the 'Chocobo-Shrine', near the shores of the 'Nozama River'.
For once, Squall had company in his brooding, for Seifer had a look of pure doom pasted on his face, while he read the brochure he was supposed to have checked out a month before.
Once they got to 'Chocobo-Town', it would take four days of canoeing down the 'Nozama' to reach a small town called 'Journeyman's End', where another plane would take them back to Balamb.
Four days, thought Seifer with despair, four long, horrible days, eating canned food, and whatever suspicious fish they would manage to catch. And lets not forget about the three nights of sleeping on uncomfortable foam pads, in a small tent, inside a tight sleeping bag, in the company of mosquitoes, snakes, and Hyne knows what unfriendly beasts roamed the place.
It also meant no warm showers, no ice cream for a midnight snack, no remote, no air-conditioning, and -worst of all- no PSX console. Why, Oh why, did Fujin submit him to such ungodly torment? Would he even survive this terrible ordeal?
After quite an unpleasant flight [for the guys that is] they reached their destination, and the time came to pair-up in the canoes.
Driven to the limit of her patience, Quistis snapped at her boyfriend, "Lighten up, Zell! You're on a camping trip, not on death-row, for Hyne's sake!"
Zell had the bad, truly no good, awfully poorly timed, offensively dire, dreadfully unfortunate, terribly inappropriate, appallingly dimwitted, horrendously not intelligent at all, regrettably deplorable, really, reeeally stupid idea of answering, "It's a matter of point of vue, I guess."
And so it was that the following teams were made: Squall & Irvine, Quistis & Selphie, Seifer & Zell, and Rinoa & Fujin in the supplies canoe. This arrangement came to be, mostly because the women were sick and tired of the guys' complaining, brooding, and long faces.
Finally, they started they journey down the 'Nozama', en route to camp One. Seifer noticed that Quistis was shooting death-glares at Zell, while at the same time trying to calm down an excited Selphie, so she wouldn't make the boat tip, but the martial artist either did not notice, or tried his best to ignore it.
The first stretch of the trip was a relatively short one, and they spotted their first stop in a bend of the river, on the western shore, after little more than three hours.
Except for the two blond guys, who lost an additional two hours arguing, shouting at each other, trying to bash each other's skulls with the oars, and realizing that performing said actions, while standing up in a canoe, are not good ideas.
After salvaging most of their gear from the river's waters, and managing to climb back aboard the boat, they finally arrived to camp, drenched, and in a rotten mood.
The tents were pitched, and they caught some fish, which Seifer refused to eat after choking on a fish-bone. Once inside his tent with Fujin, she surprised him by a loving kiss, and saying "Thank you."
"What for?" Inquired Seifer softly.
"For doing this for me." She replied, kissing him again, and then promptly falling asleep.
The blond man looked at his wife fondly, for she looked so fragile, with her pale skin, delicate features, and sweet expression of contentedness.
He didn't sleep well that night, because a mosquito had elected to spend some time with them, and it obviously didn't have a taste for albino-blood.
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