Disclaimer: Why do I even bother with this anymore?
Chapter 9: Never Again
Zidane woke up in a back alley that morning. His was still hungry, and was now aching from head to toe from sleeping against a wall. It didn't seem to bother him, though. He was just happy to get away from the angry store clerk and the two men who where chasing him. He carefully tired to stand up on his own two feet. It proved to be more difficult than he had expected. He had gotten cramps in his legs from crouching behind trashcans and walls when he was hiding from the two men that had started chasing him.
He decided to give up his futile search for his older brother for the time being and went to search for food instead. He went to the aircab station first and rode to the business district. There were more shops to get food from there. The theater district only had one, and he was never going try that one again. He continued to walk along the main street of the business district to nowhere in particular. He still didn't know the town very well, even though he spent the whole day before searching aimlessly through it.
"Hey, kid! Free sample!" a man called out to him as he walked by. Zidane turned around to look at him. "Free sample, kiddo! Wanna try one?"
"What are they?" he asked as he slowly walked toward the man's stand.
"Gyshil pickles, Lindblum's delicacy!" the man answered as he motioned to his unusual merchandise. He picked up one out of the cart and handed it to Zidane. "Go ahead!"
He took it without a word and examined it closely. "Bleh! It smells awful! Are you sure this food is still good? It smells like it's rotten."
"The worse it smells, the better it tastes!" the man laughed.
Zidane looked it over again before he closed his eyes and took a bite. "Hey, not bad!" The man at the cart gave him a quick I-told-you-so smile. "Can I have another one?" Zidane said - trying to take advantage of the man's giving attitude.
"Sorry, only one free sample per customer."
Zidane thought to himself for a moment before answering. "But that wasn't a free sample! It was a test to see whether I liked them or not," he argued finally. His was good at arguing and making up excuses from all the practice he got when fighting with his older brother. Kuja seemed to win most of the arguments, unfortunately. He must have had a lot of practicing from arguing with Garland. This particular argument with the man at the pickle stand seemed to work out to Zidane's advantage.
"Fine, but you're gonna have to pay for the next one," the man said as he let Zidane help himself to another pickle. Because of his hunger, Zidane tried to pick out the biggest one. Unfortunately, a pickle wasn't going to be enough to sustain his hunger. He needed to find a way to get some money.
"STOP THIEF!" a voice in the not-so-distant distance yelled out. Zidane stiffened upon hearing it. Last time he heard it, he was spending the rest of the night running and hiding from two complete strangers.
The man at the pickle stand must have noticed Zidane's sudden discomfort. "In trouble with the law, kiddo?" Zidane quickly shook his head "no", hoping he could get at least one person to believe him.
He noticed that the same boy from the night before was the culprit and was already avoiding his pursuers as he ran down an alley. "Look! There's another one!" To Zidane's surprise, he was being falsely accused again! Someone from behind grabbed a hold of his arm. Zidane easily struggled it loose but lost half of his pickle in the process. He started to run toward the same alley that the other boy had used to escape. By some odd twist of fate, he might be able to catch up with the real thief, and the people might go after him instead.
Zidane accidentally skidded into and knocked over a fruit stand on the way to the alley, which slowed him down a bit, but gave him a more useful opportunity. Seeing that the his first theory of catching up with the thief was more or less a dud, he took a couple of pieces of the fruit that fell from the stand. If he was going to be accused of stealing and then be chased around all the time because of it, he might as well be guilty of it. And how many times a day does much needed food just fall into your lap?
Zidane stood up, dusted himself off, dusted off his fruit, and continued to run. Surprisingly, his pursuers were not able to catch him despite his untimely fall, but they were gaining on him - fast.
Zidane knew this: As a rule of thumb, chases always have obstacles. First the accident at the fruit stand, and now, a fork in the road was coming up. He had a split second to guess which way the other thief went. It didn't matter much if he picked wrong, of course, since he had already discarded the idea that the people would catch the other thief instead of going after him.
His split second was up. Zidane found himself going to the right. No thought involved with this decision, what so ever. And it was a good decision, too, but sadly, it was too late. An angry shopkeeper had his hand wrapped tightly around Zidane's tail. He yanked it with such a force that everything spilled out of Zidane's hands and caused Zidane to fall to the ground along with everything else.
Zidane let out a small sigh. A reaction to panic rather than your usual sigh of relief. "It's all over for me now."
Author's Note: To answer some questions people have been having: Zidane will read the note Kuja wrote him, eventually. Night now, Zidane doesn't know that the piece of paper is a note from Kuja and has some significance, only me, the readers, Kuja, and possibly Garland do. I don't think Zidane even remembers that the note is in his pocket. These last couple chapters seem to focus on Zidane becoming a kleptomaniac, rather than him finding out what happened to Kuja. I hope that clears some things up a little bit, but it probably just confused people more. Oh, and if I failed to answer any questions, it's probably because I don't really know the answer, myself (warning, sarcasm coming up). I'm just so organized with my writing! Anyway, Read & Review!...or I'll cry...*Sniff* *Tear*
-Insomniac-
Chapter 9: Never Again
Zidane woke up in a back alley that morning. His was still hungry, and was now aching from head to toe from sleeping against a wall. It didn't seem to bother him, though. He was just happy to get away from the angry store clerk and the two men who where chasing him. He carefully tired to stand up on his own two feet. It proved to be more difficult than he had expected. He had gotten cramps in his legs from crouching behind trashcans and walls when he was hiding from the two men that had started chasing him.
He decided to give up his futile search for his older brother for the time being and went to search for food instead. He went to the aircab station first and rode to the business district. There were more shops to get food from there. The theater district only had one, and he was never going try that one again. He continued to walk along the main street of the business district to nowhere in particular. He still didn't know the town very well, even though he spent the whole day before searching aimlessly through it.
"Hey, kid! Free sample!" a man called out to him as he walked by. Zidane turned around to look at him. "Free sample, kiddo! Wanna try one?"
"What are they?" he asked as he slowly walked toward the man's stand.
"Gyshil pickles, Lindblum's delicacy!" the man answered as he motioned to his unusual merchandise. He picked up one out of the cart and handed it to Zidane. "Go ahead!"
He took it without a word and examined it closely. "Bleh! It smells awful! Are you sure this food is still good? It smells like it's rotten."
"The worse it smells, the better it tastes!" the man laughed.
Zidane looked it over again before he closed his eyes and took a bite. "Hey, not bad!" The man at the cart gave him a quick I-told-you-so smile. "Can I have another one?" Zidane said - trying to take advantage of the man's giving attitude.
"Sorry, only one free sample per customer."
Zidane thought to himself for a moment before answering. "But that wasn't a free sample! It was a test to see whether I liked them or not," he argued finally. His was good at arguing and making up excuses from all the practice he got when fighting with his older brother. Kuja seemed to win most of the arguments, unfortunately. He must have had a lot of practicing from arguing with Garland. This particular argument with the man at the pickle stand seemed to work out to Zidane's advantage.
"Fine, but you're gonna have to pay for the next one," the man said as he let Zidane help himself to another pickle. Because of his hunger, Zidane tried to pick out the biggest one. Unfortunately, a pickle wasn't going to be enough to sustain his hunger. He needed to find a way to get some money.
"STOP THIEF!" a voice in the not-so-distant distance yelled out. Zidane stiffened upon hearing it. Last time he heard it, he was spending the rest of the night running and hiding from two complete strangers.
The man at the pickle stand must have noticed Zidane's sudden discomfort. "In trouble with the law, kiddo?" Zidane quickly shook his head "no", hoping he could get at least one person to believe him.
He noticed that the same boy from the night before was the culprit and was already avoiding his pursuers as he ran down an alley. "Look! There's another one!" To Zidane's surprise, he was being falsely accused again! Someone from behind grabbed a hold of his arm. Zidane easily struggled it loose but lost half of his pickle in the process. He started to run toward the same alley that the other boy had used to escape. By some odd twist of fate, he might be able to catch up with the real thief, and the people might go after him instead.
Zidane accidentally skidded into and knocked over a fruit stand on the way to the alley, which slowed him down a bit, but gave him a more useful opportunity. Seeing that the his first theory of catching up with the thief was more or less a dud, he took a couple of pieces of the fruit that fell from the stand. If he was going to be accused of stealing and then be chased around all the time because of it, he might as well be guilty of it. And how many times a day does much needed food just fall into your lap?
Zidane stood up, dusted himself off, dusted off his fruit, and continued to run. Surprisingly, his pursuers were not able to catch him despite his untimely fall, but they were gaining on him - fast.
Zidane knew this: As a rule of thumb, chases always have obstacles. First the accident at the fruit stand, and now, a fork in the road was coming up. He had a split second to guess which way the other thief went. It didn't matter much if he picked wrong, of course, since he had already discarded the idea that the people would catch the other thief instead of going after him.
His split second was up. Zidane found himself going to the right. No thought involved with this decision, what so ever. And it was a good decision, too, but sadly, it was too late. An angry shopkeeper had his hand wrapped tightly around Zidane's tail. He yanked it with such a force that everything spilled out of Zidane's hands and caused Zidane to fall to the ground along with everything else.
Zidane let out a small sigh. A reaction to panic rather than your usual sigh of relief. "It's all over for me now."
Author's Note: To answer some questions people have been having: Zidane will read the note Kuja wrote him, eventually. Night now, Zidane doesn't know that the piece of paper is a note from Kuja and has some significance, only me, the readers, Kuja, and possibly Garland do. I don't think Zidane even remembers that the note is in his pocket. These last couple chapters seem to focus on Zidane becoming a kleptomaniac, rather than him finding out what happened to Kuja. I hope that clears some things up a little bit, but it probably just confused people more. Oh, and if I failed to answer any questions, it's probably because I don't really know the answer, myself (warning, sarcasm coming up). I'm just so organized with my writing! Anyway, Read & Review!...or I'll cry...*Sniff* *Tear*
-Insomniac-
