Disclaimer: If I'm ever able to own Final Fantasy IX...then I'll take over
the world. But until then, I'm stuck writing stories for your amusement.
Chapter 8: Never Again
Zidane leaned against a wall to rest. He had searched for his missing brother the whole day and had found nothing. Once he had discovered how the aircabs worked, he was able to search three out of the four districts in Lindblum. First, he searched the rest of the business district, where he had started out at the old couple's house. He found the aircab station opposite of the inn and took a few rides on it before he ended up at the industrial district. It was smaller and easier to search, but he found nothing there. He played on the aircabs again before he going to Lindblum castle. He would've been able to search the whole castle if the guards wouldn't have forbidden him to go any further. He played on the aircabs for a third time and finished the day searching in the theater district. He had to stop his search because of the lack of light.
Exhaustion and hunger had tormented him throughout the day, but he was able to endure it. Now that the day was over and he had given in to his exhaustion, his hunger was starting to get to him. He tried to get some food from some of the stores and restaurants in town, but they shooed him away because he didn't have any money. Zidane's back slid down the wall until he was in a sitting position. His stomach started grumbling in disagreement.
"I wish I would've eaten at Millie's house this morning while I had the chance," he thought to himself. "Maybe I should go and visit." He looked to his left and then to his right. "I wish I knew where it was."
He stood up again and headed down the street toward the closest store he knew of. It was a small corner grocery store next to the theater district's aircab station. He heard the bell ringing from the door as he entered. The sleeping woman at the counter snapped awake when the bell rang a second time as the door was closing. "Can I help you...uh...sir?" she asked. She turned up her nose at him when she got a closer look at him and his unusual appendage.
Zidane quickly eyed the shelves. "Got any food?" he asked as his tail swished inquisitively.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, we do. Got any money?" the woman answered shrewdly. Zidane looked surprised and confused at her response. He tried to give her an explanation, but all that came out was a series of stutters that the store clerk quickly cut off. "I thought not. Now please leave, you little hooligan. I don't like your kind in my store."
"But all I want is something to eat. Is that so wrong?" Zidane argued again.
"I don't care! Why don't you get something to eat from one of your little 'friends' instead of harassing my shop?!"
"Wha-?"
"Please leave before I call someone to take you away! How much is the reward for one of you little thieves anymore? There's just so many of them now a days."
"Thieves?...I haven't stolen anything!" Zidane stammered. He was getting a little worried with the woman's accusations.
"I've been more than patient with you! Leave!" The woman was beyond yelling and was creeping over the line to being hysterical. He saw her reach for something behind the counter. Probably something to use as a weapon. He looked closely and saw that it was a broom. She started to raise it causing Zidane to back up slowly toward the door. He wanted to be far away when she started to swing.
He scowled at her once more before leaving, and then scowled at the bell that mocked him as he opened the door. His stomach rumbled in disagreement of his decision to leave the store where the food resided. "Stupid, grumpy, old lady. I never stole anything," he mumbled to himself. "Why do I need money to eat anyway?" He sighed as his stomach started to rumble again. "I'm so hungry!"
The infamous bell rang again, so Zidane ducked behind the wall to keep a safe distance from the judgmental store clerk. He watched her as she locked up the store and put the keys into her bulging coat pocket. Then she started to walk away from her store and towards Zidane's hiding place. Zidane panicked. He didn't want her to catch him and take him to god knows where so she could get her reward. "What kind of sick world makes people catch other people for a reward?" he thought to himself.
When she was just inches away from him, he found out that he wasn't the only one that was watching the woman. A young boy, about his age, was sneaking up behind her. "What are you doing here? I thought I told you to go!" she yelled. He realized that the woman was talking to him instead of the other boy who was currently creeping up behind her. He was panicking even worse now, and breathing was starting to become an issue. He had already been holding his breath for quite some time. Now the woman had him trapped. His worse fear kept coming back to him when he was trying to figure out an escaped plan.
"She's going to catch me for sure."
Meanwhile, the other boy decided to take advantage of the woman's attention towards Zidane instead of trying to help him. His tiny hand reached into her pocket and carefully pulled out a bag of coins. The woman whirled around just as the boy took off. "I knew you were one of those little hooligans!" the woman yelled at him. Then, even louder than before, she called for help. "THIEVES! SOMEONE HELP!"
Zidane decided to run just like the other boy had. Two men had already showed up and were in pursuit of the other boy. It seemed that the other boy got away, but Zidane didn't know if his chances of escaping were as good. His thoughts didn't keep him from running, fortunately. He heard the woman's yelling grow softer as the distance between them was growing longer. "Go get the other one! He went that way!"
"Please leave me alone!" he pleaded quietly to himself. "I wish I knew where Kuja was."
Author's Note: Whew! I finally got that chapter done. It's been a long break (not that that's a bad thing), and I've barely touched my computer. Great to be back. I think this weekend was more exciting than my whole break, ironically. First the Bucks win the Fiesta Bowl (GO BUCKS!), and now my neighbor's barn is burning down (told ya it was an exciting weekend). It's been burning for a while now, and the fire department just showed up. That's the price we pay for living so far out in the country. I don't think anyone's hurt, though. Anyway, on with our lives, sorry to all the Kuja fans out there, but this was another Zidane chapter. It's probably going to take awhile before figure out where the stories going to go next. Stupid writer's block! You'd think with all this stuff going on it would give me some kind of inspiration, but no. *Sigh* Hmmmm...it feels like I'm missing something...Oh yeah! Read and Review!
Chapter 8: Never Again
Zidane leaned against a wall to rest. He had searched for his missing brother the whole day and had found nothing. Once he had discovered how the aircabs worked, he was able to search three out of the four districts in Lindblum. First, he searched the rest of the business district, where he had started out at the old couple's house. He found the aircab station opposite of the inn and took a few rides on it before he ended up at the industrial district. It was smaller and easier to search, but he found nothing there. He played on the aircabs again before he going to Lindblum castle. He would've been able to search the whole castle if the guards wouldn't have forbidden him to go any further. He played on the aircabs for a third time and finished the day searching in the theater district. He had to stop his search because of the lack of light.
Exhaustion and hunger had tormented him throughout the day, but he was able to endure it. Now that the day was over and he had given in to his exhaustion, his hunger was starting to get to him. He tried to get some food from some of the stores and restaurants in town, but they shooed him away because he didn't have any money. Zidane's back slid down the wall until he was in a sitting position. His stomach started grumbling in disagreement.
"I wish I would've eaten at Millie's house this morning while I had the chance," he thought to himself. "Maybe I should go and visit." He looked to his left and then to his right. "I wish I knew where it was."
He stood up again and headed down the street toward the closest store he knew of. It was a small corner grocery store next to the theater district's aircab station. He heard the bell ringing from the door as he entered. The sleeping woman at the counter snapped awake when the bell rang a second time as the door was closing. "Can I help you...uh...sir?" she asked. She turned up her nose at him when she got a closer look at him and his unusual appendage.
Zidane quickly eyed the shelves. "Got any food?" he asked as his tail swished inquisitively.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, we do. Got any money?" the woman answered shrewdly. Zidane looked surprised and confused at her response. He tried to give her an explanation, but all that came out was a series of stutters that the store clerk quickly cut off. "I thought not. Now please leave, you little hooligan. I don't like your kind in my store."
"But all I want is something to eat. Is that so wrong?" Zidane argued again.
"I don't care! Why don't you get something to eat from one of your little 'friends' instead of harassing my shop?!"
"Wha-?"
"Please leave before I call someone to take you away! How much is the reward for one of you little thieves anymore? There's just so many of them now a days."
"Thieves?...I haven't stolen anything!" Zidane stammered. He was getting a little worried with the woman's accusations.
"I've been more than patient with you! Leave!" The woman was beyond yelling and was creeping over the line to being hysterical. He saw her reach for something behind the counter. Probably something to use as a weapon. He looked closely and saw that it was a broom. She started to raise it causing Zidane to back up slowly toward the door. He wanted to be far away when she started to swing.
He scowled at her once more before leaving, and then scowled at the bell that mocked him as he opened the door. His stomach rumbled in disagreement of his decision to leave the store where the food resided. "Stupid, grumpy, old lady. I never stole anything," he mumbled to himself. "Why do I need money to eat anyway?" He sighed as his stomach started to rumble again. "I'm so hungry!"
The infamous bell rang again, so Zidane ducked behind the wall to keep a safe distance from the judgmental store clerk. He watched her as she locked up the store and put the keys into her bulging coat pocket. Then she started to walk away from her store and towards Zidane's hiding place. Zidane panicked. He didn't want her to catch him and take him to god knows where so she could get her reward. "What kind of sick world makes people catch other people for a reward?" he thought to himself.
When she was just inches away from him, he found out that he wasn't the only one that was watching the woman. A young boy, about his age, was sneaking up behind her. "What are you doing here? I thought I told you to go!" she yelled. He realized that the woman was talking to him instead of the other boy who was currently creeping up behind her. He was panicking even worse now, and breathing was starting to become an issue. He had already been holding his breath for quite some time. Now the woman had him trapped. His worse fear kept coming back to him when he was trying to figure out an escaped plan.
"She's going to catch me for sure."
Meanwhile, the other boy decided to take advantage of the woman's attention towards Zidane instead of trying to help him. His tiny hand reached into her pocket and carefully pulled out a bag of coins. The woman whirled around just as the boy took off. "I knew you were one of those little hooligans!" the woman yelled at him. Then, even louder than before, she called for help. "THIEVES! SOMEONE HELP!"
Zidane decided to run just like the other boy had. Two men had already showed up and were in pursuit of the other boy. It seemed that the other boy got away, but Zidane didn't know if his chances of escaping were as good. His thoughts didn't keep him from running, fortunately. He heard the woman's yelling grow softer as the distance between them was growing longer. "Go get the other one! He went that way!"
"Please leave me alone!" he pleaded quietly to himself. "I wish I knew where Kuja was."
Author's Note: Whew! I finally got that chapter done. It's been a long break (not that that's a bad thing), and I've barely touched my computer. Great to be back. I think this weekend was more exciting than my whole break, ironically. First the Bucks win the Fiesta Bowl (GO BUCKS!), and now my neighbor's barn is burning down (told ya it was an exciting weekend). It's been burning for a while now, and the fire department just showed up. That's the price we pay for living so far out in the country. I don't think anyone's hurt, though. Anyway, on with our lives, sorry to all the Kuja fans out there, but this was another Zidane chapter. It's probably going to take awhile before figure out where the stories going to go next. Stupid writer's block! You'd think with all this stuff going on it would give me some kind of inspiration, but no. *Sigh* Hmmmm...it feels like I'm missing something...Oh yeah! Read and Review!
