One fine day, Myao decided to make a very special dinner for Crowdia, Cyan, and Kefka. Now, she couldn't shop at just any store for the foods she wanted, because this dinner was to be super special. So she decided to make a visit to Expel, the food capital of the video game world, for her special ingredients.
Once she had arrived at the food-lovers dream of a planet, she headed straight to the city of Ringa for her shopping spree (Hey! It wasn't her money so what did she care? It was Crowdia's). Once there, she walked in the first store she saw and promptly began picking exotic (not to mention expensive) herbs and spices from the shelves.
"Hm?" She sighed thoughtfully, "I wonder what wolfsbane is?" She plucked the poison herb from its shelf and sniffed it cautiously. "Ack!" She choked, pulling the herb away from her nose, "It smells horrible! I'll take it!" She then placed it into her shopping bag and continued down the aisle.
"I'll take this and that and, Gelatin Steak? That sounds good! Oh! And berry juice! Last time I used this everyone slept really well! Of course, they fell asleep before they could finish the rest of it but at least they rested well!" She stuck all the ingredients she had randomly plucked from the shelves into her bag and turned to precede toward the cashier. "This should be good enough for my appetizer!" She chimed as she skipped to the checkout line, neglecting to watch where she was heading.
"Ow!" The startled blonde cried, bouncing off whatever lay in front of her, "Hey! That wasn't very…"
She looked up to see that she had bumped into a confused dragon that was now staring down at her scornfully.
The poor girl laughed nervously as she looked up at the giant red dragon. "Um, I'm sorry sir," She squeaked timidly, slowly inching away from the huge dragon. "I really didn't…"
A small muffled voice came from underneath the head as her gaze fell to the dragon's body.
"Hey!" A boy screamed as he forcefully pulled his head out of a barrel standing next to him, "What's the big idea! I was only looking!" He turned around to see the startled kitten even more confused than she had previously been.
"Oh!" The brunette boy blushed, "I'm sorry Miss, I didn't expect you to bump into me."
Myao sat there staring between the boy and the now two dragonheads he had attached to him not sure whether to run or cry.
"I see you're staring at my friends here," He laughed nervously, "These two are my companions Ururun and Gyoro. They're my extra set of eyes." He smiled brightly at the girl trying to make her feel a bit easier.
The girl didn't take her gaze off the dragons, "I have one question though," she bit her lip, looking as if she were about to cry, "Can I please…" Just then her face turned bright red and she burst out at the poor boy and his dragons, "PET THOSE CUTE LITTLE DRAGONS!! AHH! THEY'RE SO…" A startled Gyoro lunged at the explosive girl, latching onto her head offensively.
Myao's eyes twinkled as she sat there with the dragon attached to her, "AW! THEY'RE JUST SO KYOOT ^_^!" She smiled at the uneasy but laughing boy whose dragon was tightly secured onto her head.
"Well, if…if you think so miss." The boy stuttered back.
The starry-eyed girl turned to him and sighed, "What are their names?"
"Well," he cleared his throat, still confused by the kitten's reaction, "The one on your…head is Gyoro and this one is Ururun." He patted Ururun on the head and smiled proudly.
"Hello Gyoro," She reached up and patted the latched dragon's head, "Would you like some Wolfsbane?" The absent-minded kitten then pulled out a stalk of the poisonous herb and forcefully pushed it into the dragon's snout.
The dragon, using his common sense, instantly let go of the girl's head, hiding behind his master.
"What's wrong Gyoro?" Myao cooed, waving the plant as close as she could to the dragon, "Don't you want some?"
"Um, miss," The brunette boy finally spoke up.
"Huh? What's wrong…um…" The girl lowered the herb, trying to remember if she knew the boys name or not.
"Ashton," The boy replied, "my name's Ashton."
The kitten smiled sweetly at him, "Oh, okay, Ashton, what's wrong?"
"Well," He shifted his weight, "I don't think Gyoro likes Wolfsbane. It is poisonous you know."
"Really?" Myao looked down at the plant she was holding, "Ewww!" She dropped it to the ground and wiped her hand on her skirt, "I touched that nasty poisony stuff! I hope that I don't get sick!!"
Again, Ashton began laughing nervously.
"Well," Myao smiled up at the boy once again, "I have to go buy some things now." She pointed to her overfilled basket and beamed brightly.
"You're going to carry all of that by yourself?" Ashton queried in astonishment.
"Well, yes, I always do." Myao began lugging the bag to the cashier, "Crowdia says that if I'm going to buy so much, I have to carry it myself."
"Crowdia isn't very nice is she?" Ashton snorted, following behind the girl.
"Crowdia's nice," The kitten stopped and turned to her escort, "She's just a bit moody at times." She whispered at him.
"Oh," Ashton whispered back, "Well, if you need some help carrying that stuff, I'll be glad to help."
"Thank you," Myao whispered back, "I could use the help."
"Just answer me one question," Ashton inquired in his whisper.
"What?" Myao replied.
"Why are we whispering?"
Myao shrugged, handed him the overstuffed bag, and exultantly made her way to the checkout counter.
A few hours and super markets later, Myao (finally) decided she was done shopping. "Phew, that was hard work wasn't it?" She queried her new friend.
"Yeah…" The now bag-covered boy replied, "What did you buy anyway?"
"Um…" The girl thought for a moment then giggled, "A little bit of everything. Except Wolfsbane, I don't like gross wolfsbane." Then, with a content smile she plucked a small box from the thousands of parcels Ashton had. "This one's special because it's just for Crowdia," She carefully rested it in her arms, turning to look at the overburdened dragon-boy, "Thank you so much for helping me, I think we can go home now."
"No problem," The boy coughed out, "Only one question, where is home?"
"Only about three planets away." She smiled again at the boy, "It shouldn't take but an hour or two."
For the third time, the boy laughed nervously. "Now I know why chivalry is dead," He sighed underneath his chuckling.
The kitten then turned away, put her two fingers to her lips, and made a shrilled whistle into the sky.
Confused the boy looked up to see a giant green dragon fall from the heavens and land right next to him. With a tiny gulp, he moved back a step, dropping the parcels and staring at the terrific sight before him. "Who," He looked over at the beaming kitten, "What, where?"
"OH!" The girl's eyes began to sparkle with signs of intelligence, "I know the rest of that one! Who…What…Where…Why…and…" she then repeated herself, counting all the questions she'd previously guessed, "and…WHEN! It's When!"
Ashton shot her a scrutinizing gaze then turned back to the enormous creature before them. "Is he yours?" The boy queried, pointing to the dragon.
"Yeah!" Myao chimed back, running over to pet the monster, "His name is Draco! Isn't he so cute!" She then turned to look at the mercenary, "Would you like to get onboard now?"
"Onboard?" The boy looked up at the dragon's back, towering high above him, "Onboard the dragon? We're riding the dragon?" He hesitantly touched its scaly belly, staring up at the large form.
"Of course silly!" The blonde girl then gave another whistle, signaling the dragon to lower its head to the ground, "What did you think we were going to do, walk?"
Ashton looked at both of his dragons, which each gave him a shamed scowl. He then gathered together the things he'd dropped and walked over to the kitten to be lifted onto the dragon's back.
"This is amazing." He awed, straddling the dragon with the packages bunched in front of him.
"Do you like?" Myao questioned, turning to look at the boy with another sweet smile.
He nodded his head frivolously then turned to look out across the planet. "This is quite amazing isn't it guys?" His dragons let out a grunt of satisfaction as the boy began to chuckle, until another dragon's head appeared next to the boy. With a small shriek the boy jumped, scattering the boxes on his lap and causing the kitten in front of him to turn.
"What's wrong?" She inquired, watching the green dragon sniff the newcomer on his back.
"What, what is he doing to me?" The startled boy mumbled forcibly pushing the enormous head away from him.
"Oh! He's saying hi!" The kitten again chimed. "You of all people should know that since you have two of your own."
"Unless, these two own me." Ashton whispered under his breath, now petting the green head next to him.
"Well, I think it's time we started home," The blonde sighed, "Draco! Let's go home!"
Immediately the dragon took to the air with a force that jerked the boy down into the packages ahead of him. "Talk about a bumpy lift-off!" He complained, snatching up the packages remaining and looking for the closest thing to secure himself to.
Within a few minutes they were landing on the planet of Final Fantasy VI right in front of a gorgeous castle surrounded by a fresh water mote.
"Wow!" Ashton gasped, taking in the setting, "Is this your castle?"
"Yup!" The cheery kitten replied. She slid off the dragon and then smiled up at the boy, "Do you want some help down?"
The boy (being as stubborn as men can be) smiled politely and shook his head. After all, he was a man and he should be able to do it no problem if a woman could. Slowly the brunette slid his feet to one side of the massive creature, careful not to drop any of the parcels. He then took one glance over the side toward the distant ground, clutched the packages tighter to his body, took one gulp, and let gravity do the rest.
BOOM!
A sharp pain shot through Ashton's back as his rump made contact with the ground. The packages scattered everywhere as he desperately tried to coupe with his throbbing backside.
"Are you okay?" Myao inquired, her big brown eyes filled with concern.
The boy nodded quickly then, using all his self-control, he lifted himself to his feet and smiled. "That's quite a drop, isn't it?"
The kitten looked up to the dragon's back. "That! That's not a far jump! Why my other dragon has a higher jump than that!"
Ashton's jaw dropped, "What?!"
Myao looked at him innocently, "Yeah, he's really big and cute and lovable!" Her eyes began sparkling with childish delight, "Do you want to meet him?"
The brunette boy smiled, "Sure, but not now." He picked up the parcels he'd dropped, "But first let's get these in the kitchen, you have a meal to cook don't you?"
"Oh yeah!" The kitten knocked herself on the head, "Silly me I forgo…" she then began rubbing the area of her head she had just hit pitifully. "Ouch! That hurt!" Ashton shook his head in dismay as the girl continued to rub her head but began toward the kitchen.
The two walked through the long spacious rooms, winding up in the kitchen after what seemed like an eternity of halls. "Here we are!" Myao chimed, setting down the only package she'd carried since the beginning of the trip.
"This is a nice kitchen." Ashton smiled; relieved to drop the multitude of packages he had been carrying.
"Yeah, isn't it?" The blonde then began rummaging through the packages. "Crowdia cleans the kitchen everyday, so it's always nice and shiny." She pulled out some vegetables and tossed them in the nearby sink. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"
Ashton's eyes widened in surprise, "Who? Me?"
Myao giggled at his astonishment, "Yes silly! I'll have enough if you'd like to stay and eat."
"Well," he quickly glanced between his dragons, "I…um…don't want to impose."
The kitten blinked in confusion, "What's impose mean?"
Ashton sat there in silence for a second, amazed at what the girl had just asked. "Never mind," he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Well, I would love to stay for dinner. Thank you."
"Great!" The kitten's face then widened into a smile, "You can search the castle if you like, just be back here in three hours okay?" She then proceeded to remove the ingredients from the packages and placed her concentration on her task, leaving Ashton to search the castle alone.
"Well," The boy sighed, peering out into the long, winding hallway, "I can't get too lost in here." He looked at Gyoro skeptically, "Can I?" He then proceeded into the stone corridor; turning to look down the way Myao had brought him from. "I guess I'll just start in more familiar territory. Besides," He began down the passage gingerly, "I shouldn't be able to get too lost in a castle, I've been to plenty others before."
He shuffled down the hallway until he found an entryway leading to new vicinity. "Hmmm, I wonder where this leads?" He looked between his dragons, shrugged when they refused to answer him, and walked into a giant main hall. The room was lavishly decorated with furniture of rich scarlet and purple accenting the subtle gray of the rock walls and floor. Tapestries hung from the ceilings, as did many paintings of the Castle's past monarchs and their families, adding more of a cultured look to the room.
"Wow!" The boy gasped, soaking up the vast beauty in the Hall, "I've never seen any castle that looked so…so…"
"Refined?" Ashton, startled by the presence of another, turned to see who was there. "Dost thou like it?" A shadow at the corner of the room queried. It then preceded over into the light, revealing an older man of about fifty-five, his hair still a jet black and his eyes hard on the nervous boy.
"Hello," Ashton responded timidly, "My name is Ashton, I'm a mercenary from the planet of Expel." He lifted his hand to shake with the man.
The old man extended his hand a shook with the brunette cordially, "So, you are a mercenary? What weapon dost thou prefer?"
Ashton smiled, "I prefer my spades, but I am familiar with swords and daggers also."
The old man's cold stare melted into a warm smile, "Then you must be acquainted with sparring, yes?"
The brunette nodded affirmatively, "Acquainted? Why, I love to spar."
"My name is Cyan Garamond, former retainer to the crown of Doma Castle," He again reached out his hand to the boy, "Now I protect this castle and it's inhabitants."
Ashton accepted the gentleman's hand and again they shook. "So, you live here huh?" The boy inquired as the former-soldier led him over to the extravagant couches in front of a giant fire-pit.
"Yes," the knight sighed, sitting down and reclining into the chair. "This used to be a very busy castle, bustling with activity. Now ever since the cataclysm, it's only been me and three others living here."
"Three?" Ashton queried.
"Yes," The knight replied, "Me, Myao, Kefka, and Crowdia."
A sudden thought then popped into Ashton's spacious head. "By the way," He began, tapping an innocent finger on his cheek, "Myao has constantly been talking about that person, Crowdia. What is she like?"
Cyan smiled at him, trying not to laugh, "Crowdia? There's no one way to describe Crowdia."
"Well, then explain her the best you can." The boy continued, interested to here about this girl Myao had constantly gabbed about.
"Crowdia is actually quite calm, unless you do something stupid, then she can be a bit edgy. She is fairly tall, brown hair, blue eyes, and she's a mediocre swordsman."
"That's WO-man!" A voice echoed in irritation.
Both men turned around quickly to face a black-winged woman who seemed quite perturbed.
Cyan smiled sheepishly at the woman, and then turned to Ashton, "This is Crowdia."
Crowdia walked over to the chairs leisurely, her ice blue eyes staring coldly at Cyan, "Yes, I am Crowdia, an EXPERT swordswoman."
Cyan winced, seeming to fear the woman making Ashton very uncomfortable in her presence.
"Oh! Crowdia! Cyan! I see you've met my new friend!" As if on cue, Myao then skipped in, breaking the silence and turning all attention to her. "This is Ashton, my new friend from Expel, he's going to be eating dinner with us."
"Lord help us all," Crowdia coughed to Cyan, who chuckled softly.
Ashton gave an awry face at the two then smiled up at Myao, "Is everything ready for dinner?"
Myao nodded excitedly, "Yes! I can't wait to show you what I made!" She then grabbed the boy's wrist and yanked him to his feet proceeding to pull him down the hallway as the others pursued behind them.
"I made my special recipe tonight!" The kitten chimed as she continued down the hallway.
"And what might that be?" Ashton inquired, trying to free his wrist from her forceful tug.
"Um…" She paused for a moment to think about it, "I don't know! I just added a lot of different ingredients together. But I did add raisins! Raisins make everything special!"
Ashton blinked for a minute, trying to comprehend the statement the girl had just made. "Oh…really? That's…uh…nice, I think." A goofy smiled crossed his face as the two behind him sighed.
"I think we're going to have to call take-out again tonight." Crowdia whispered to Cyan.
"Again!" Cyan whined softly, "Mayhaps we should force her to stop cooking."
Myao then stopped in front of the kitchen door and turned to smile at all behind her. "Okay everyone! I spent all day buying and preparing this, so…" She opened the door and smiled, "Enjoy!"
Everyone except Myao (who was turned toward the others) gasped as a giant yellow blob with various food particles sticking out of it flew above their heads and into the wall behind them.
"MYAO!" Crowdia yelled, her face beginning to flush, "I thought you promised you wouldn't mix lavender and elixir together again!"
Myao stared at the brunette girl innocently, "I didn't! Honestly! Last time it was green, remember?"
Crowdia, ignoring the girl, stormed into the kitchen while Cyan unsheathed his sword and began hacking at the blob.
Ashton confused at what was happening, turned to the blonde and gave an astonished look.
Myao, embarrassed at what was happening frowned and began to blush. "I'm sorry about this," She whispered, "I'm actually not a very good cook, I just want to be." Her eyes began to tear up and she began to sob.
Ashton's gaze softened on her, "You know," he thought to himself, "She's actually quite cute when she's upset." He then grabbed her shoulder and smiled sweetly at her, "It's okay Myao, how about we just eat out tonight?"
Crowdia then ran out of the kitchen with a phone against her ear, talking to someone quite calmly, "Yes sir, she's done it once again. I know…I know…can you just hurry over? You know where to go…yes sir…uh-huh…thank you, good-bye." She then took the phone away from her ear, hung it up, and turned to Myao. "We've got everything under control now Myao. Why don't you and your new boyfriend go out on your date? Me and Cyan can take care of things from here."
Ashton blushed then smiled nervously at the beaming kitten (who did not realize Crowdia's boyfriend remark). "Okay Crowdia! Thank you!" She then, as usual, grabbed the boy by his wrist, yanking him into the hallway and toward the entryway.
Once outside the door, Myao called for her dragon and turned to the boy smiling. "So where would you like to go for dinner?"
Ashton looked at her and blushed again. "I…I…don't know…" He began to shuffle his foot around in the dirt, "I've never, been on a date before…where do people usually go?"
Myao's eyes began to sparkle, "We should go to that new restaurant in the serpent trench! I hear it's really nice!"
"Okay, let's go then." Ashton replied with a charming smile.
The two then hurried onto Draco and began toward the restaurant, both excited for very different reasons.
"Stupid bus-boys," Myao huffed upon her and Ashton's entrance to the expensive looking restaurant, "How was I supposed to know that you couldn't park dragons in the vicinity…whatever that is."
"Well, I did think it was funny when they asked for your keys to Draco." He chuckled, trying to brighten the girl's demeanor.
"Yeah," she pouted, folding her arms childishly, "But it's still not fair that they made Draco leave. He needs to eat too!"
"Velcume to zee Trench De'tua Zeefud Restaurant, 'ow many are in your partee?" The waiter queried in a heavy French accent, turning both of their attentions onto more urgent matters.
"Uh…yes!" Ashton finally spoke up after taking a few minutes to interpret the man; "We'd like a table for…two please." He beamed proudly as he pointed to Myao. Myao stood staring at some multicolor fish in a giant, glass fish tank. Ashton blushed and tapped Myao on the shoulder.
The kitten stood up straight and smiled at her escort, "Yes?"
"The table's ready."
The waiter then stared at the odd two and lifted an eyebrow, "Zees way puleez." He then turned and led them to a table. Sitting them down, he handed them each a menu and left, not even looking back at them.
"Well," Ashton opened the menu, his mouth watering, "What do we have to…" The boy's jaw dropped once the menu's prices registered in his brain.
Myao looked up to see his ridiculous face and began to giggle, "What's wrong Ashton?"
"The…the…the…"
"The what silly?"
"Look at the prices!" He blurted, making a few tables next to them turn.
The kitten then examined her menu and smiled. "Don't worry, I brought some extra money just in case this happened. We'll be fine."
Ashton blushed once again, "But isn't the guy supposed to pay for dinner?"
The kitten laughed, "Don't worry, it's not my money. It's Crowdia's!"
Meanwhile, at the castle, a very mysterious looking man rings the doorbell. Slowly, Crowdia opened the door, peeking out to see whom it is. "Well," she sighed, swinging the door completely open, "It took you long enough!"
The oriental man outside the door glared at her nastily as he handed her two bags. "That will be twenty dalla!" He screamed, extending his hand to her.
Crowdia met his nasty glare with an equally nasty one and pulled out her wallet, looking inside for her money. With a gasp, the astonished girl turned into the house, "Hey Cyan?" She shouted, "Did you take my twenty?"
"No, why?" The knight yelled back.
"Hmm…" The crow pondered, staring into her empty wallet, "Then do you HAVE a twenty, I'm broke?!"
A sigh was heard as Cyan rumbled down to the door. He slapped a twenty into the still waiting delivery boy's hand and looked at the brunette irritated. "I thought thou said thou hath the money for this purchase."
"I did!" The girl defended, closing the door and preceding down the hall with her companion. "At least," She again looked into her wallet, "I thought I did." She then placed the wallet back into her pocket, shrugging, "That's just strange. I thought I had at least twenty in here."
(Now back to our main story ^.^)
The two had finally got their meals and were eating happily (even though Ashton was still quite nervous about the bill). "So," The brunette coughed, pushing his food across the plate with his fork, "Is that blob normally what happens when you cook?"
He looked up to see the girl spoon another gigantic portion of fish into her mouth and smile at him. "Uh-huh!" She sputtered between her chews, "I con't eva sheem ta get eet right." She then swallowed her food and sighed, "I want to cook just like Crowdia. She's such a good cook." With that she again dove into her meal happily.
"Crowdia's a good cook too?" The boy queried, astonished at how much his date could fit into her mouth per second. "She cooks, cleans, spars; is there anything Crowdia CAN'T do?"
Myao swallowed once again, an innocent expression on her face, "Well, she can't control her temper. Does that count?"
Ashton chuckled at what she had said and took another bite of his meal, "You know Myao you're fun to go on a date with."
"You are too," She chimed back. The two then began on with their meal, both noisily inhaling their portions, causing other customers to turn and stare.
After the couple had had their fill, they both left (using the rest of Crowdia's money to pay for the expensive cuisine) and headed back to Expel. Draco then took them down to Ringa to drop off the mercenary where Myao had found him.
"Thank you for an interesting day Myao." He then slid off the dragon, still staring up at the girl.
"Yeah, it was fun." She smiled at him sweetly, "We should do it again sometime."
"I'd love to. Just stop by Expel whenever you have time."
The girl yanked on the belt around the dragon's neck and turned to wave at the boy, "Or come visit me at the castle, you know how to get there."
"Farewell!" He waved back with a smile. The dragon then took off with one swoop of its wings, sending the boy flying back with such force that he broke a barrel full of fish from his fall. He agitatedly lifted himself from the mess and began wiping himself off, then gasped, realizing what he'd just done. "Ururun! Gyoro! I just broke a perfectly good barrel!"
Myao gingerly made her way through the hallways, trying hard not to make any loud noises, thinking her companions to be asleep. She finally made it to the Kitchen and was amazed to see Crowdia and Cyan lounging on the counter, tons of Chinese food boxes littered around them, watching TV.
"Hey guys!" She chimed, walking in to greet them.
"Hello Myao," Crowdia replied unenthusiastically, not taking her gaze from the screen, "How was your date?"
"Oh! It was so much fun! We went to that new seafood restaurant at the Serpent's Trench, it was really good!"
"Really?" Crowdia inquired, finally turning to look at her comrade, "I heard that place was really expensive. How did you pay for that?" She raised an eyebrow, staring at the kitten intently.
"Um…" Myao's face scrunched into an 'I-didn't-do-it' smile, "Eh-heh! It wasn't that expensive actually." She scratched the back of her head and laughed nervously. "Oh! Look at the time! It's getting late! I'm going to go to bed now!"
"Tis but eight o'clock Myao." Cyan interrupted, staring at the television.
"Myao," Crowdia stood up and smiled mischievously at the blonde girl, "I had seventy-five dollars in my wallet this morning when I woke up. How come by six o'clock this evening, I was missing ALL of it, when I didn't spend one dime today?"
Myao shrugged, taking a step backwards toward the door. "I don't know Crowdia. Maybe there's a thief in this house?"
The brunette pursued the kitten, following her as she stepped back, "Maybe there is."
Without any further warning, Myao bolted out of the kitchen, racing as fast as she could away from her older companion.
"Hey!" Crowdia screamed out, jolting off after the girl, "I knew it was you Myao! You owe me seventy-five dollars!"
"No I don't!" Myao cried back, trying hard to lose her accuser.
"Yes you do!"
"No I don't! I never admitted to taking the money!"
"No, but a face is worth a thousand words!"
"I did not make any such face!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Here it goes again," Cyan sighed, still watching the television before him, "This castle tis even louder with them two then twas with thousands of persons." He sighed and relaxed further against the countertop, "Be it ever so humble, there is no place like this home."
The End