Project S.
Written by: Jessica Davis
Getting out of Midgar again seemed a lot easier than it had been before. When out, I started towards the next place I knew I would be welcome, the chocobo ranch. My travel there wouldn't be as easy as it was to get out of Midgar, however. There were still plenty of monsters, and I was still confused about these new powers the I seemed to be gaining. But then again, this may be the perfect opportunity to try and learn how to use these powers.
As if on cue, snarls came from behind me. But this was from several, not just one. I knew I'd be in deep shit if I didn't think of something fast. Any sudden movement would most likely spark their attack, so I slowly inched my way to the ground. Then quickly, I thrust a handful of stones at their eyes, their were six of them! The two in the front were the only ones affected by my little attack, so I pulled out a green materia. It began to glow in my hand as fire madly spread around the pack, roasting three of the blood thirsty hounds. The two that were hit with the stones, were now pulling themselves together again, so it was now three against one.
The wolf that was not affected by anything thrust at my face. I grabbed it by its throat, dropping the materia. It snapped madly in my face, saliva splattering on my cheeks and forehead. I didn't know what to do. My hands were full with only one wolf, and the other two were circling, getting ready to feast upon my flesh as soon as their boss succeeded in killing me. That's when it happened again. I felt my whole body freeze up, but this time, the cold rushed to my hands and into the wolf! It struggled in pain, and gave a quick yelp before it's face was frozen. This was like what had happened in Kalm when I froze that worker.
The furry beast gained three times its own weight in ice and I dropped it at my side. As soon as the very tip of the lowest part of the wolf encountered the ground, it shattered like glass to a hammer. The other two wolves thought it futile, and fled. What a bloody mess it made. The body was frozen, but the wolf's heart was still pumping the blood, so it was alive when it shattered. I could only imagine what it must have felt like to have your very body shatter to pieces while your still breathing. I stepped away from the bloody grass and remaining wolf, then headed deeper into the field, after collecting my fallen materia.
I was beginning to understand the powers I was possessed with, but how to use them was still a problem. I walked well into night and decided it would be best to stop for a while and eat something. I wasn't too far off the center of the mountains. There, I could find some animals to catch by the fresh water springs. Overhead the stars shone like thousands of diamonds, and light bits of clouds made their appearance known. It had been such a long time since I saw the stars, they even made me smile as I walked my path. The nightly breeze brushed against my face and swept my hair off of my shoulders. The cool breeze felt good.
As I approached the springs, I saw exactly what I planned to see, an animal. It was a giant, flightless bird, not a chocobo, but something else. It's neck was long, skinny and naked, and the body was covered in black feathers that broke out into hundreds of white tips. "What an ugly bird!" I crept as close as I could, avoiding being noticed, though that was kind of hard with no trees and little shrubbery. But the bird was completely oblivious to my arrival, it just lapped away at the fresh water. When it rose it's head, I sprung from my spot, wrapping my hands around it's scrawny neck and started to squeeze the life out of it. I didn't know how strong the bird actually was until it sliced my leg with one of its razor-sharp talons. My grip on its neck released and I dropped to the ground with my leg bleeding.
It hardly gave me a chance to breath before it started its raging attack. It gave off a horrid screech as it pecked at me, The wings flapped madly, and I was rolling on the ground avoiding each of its strikes. When close enough, I snatched one of its legs and pulled it to the ground. It wasn't giving up. It's talons and sharp beak sprang out in every direction, making it extremely difficult to get close to it. So instead, I figured I might as well use my materia again. I pulled to green marble out of my pocket and stared at the bird. It gave another screech before it was up in flames. Sadly, it was still alive. It got up and frantically ran about trying to put out the fire. But it was too much, and the bird collapsed. I stopped the blaze, and checked out my new meal. Carefully, I picked it up and dragged it to the place where I would rest, which wasn't too far from the springs. I plucked the feathers and checked out it's meat. For such an ugly bird, it sure tasted good. My fire attack was all it needed to cook it. After the meal, I settled next to the biggest shrubbery by me, which wasn't all that big, then rested my head, and slept.
The next morning came too soon. I was awoken by the sound of a scared chocobo. When I leaned up, I saw it. The chocobo was being chased by a puny little wolf cub. Chuckling, I got up and ran over to the site. Now the bird was cornered between the pup, and the side of the northern mountain. It wasn't a very mature chocobo, by the looks of it, it was still an adolescence. It squealed as if it were close to death as the little wolf advanced. I got close enough and snatched up the pup. It squirmed in my arms, and snapped a little, but all in all it was harmless. "What's a chocobo like you doing way out here away from the farm?" I chuckled restraining the pup in my arms.
"HEY!! LEAVE JOJO ALONE!" a distant voice screamed. I turned to see who it was. A young girl was running towards me at top speed. Before she reached me, the pup squirmed its way free and took off. I didn't follow it, there was no need. I just watched it scamper away, disappointed at it's failed hunt. I was confused, but smiled when I saw who it was. It was Kili's younger sister, Miho. She had brown hair up in pigtails and blue trousers on, and a loose reign swung in her fist. She stopped a foot away from me, she dropped to her knees panted madly.
"You…better…n-not…hurt…t-that…ch-chocobo!"
"Miho! My how you've grown!" I laughed.
She looked up at me confused, "huh? Who…are you?" she was starting to catch her breath.
"I'm Akemi! Don't you remember me?"
It took her a minute to process what I had just said, after all, it had been over six years since I last saw her, and she was only twelve. But when it came to her, she thrust herself at me and began crying. "AKEMI!! You've been gone so long! Why??" she looked up at me, her face was red and full of tears.
"I'm sorry Miho. I couldn't come. I was…distracted." she didn't know about Max's death, and I didn't intend to tell her, not now anyway.
"You were distracted? With what?" she looked down at my bloody pants and shoes, then gasped.
"It's not what you think! I was fighting monsters again!" I could practically read her tiny little mind.
"…oh. Well you think you could help me catch Jojo?" she pointed to the scared little chocobo by the rocks.
"Kili giving you chores?" I asked
"Well…kinda. But this is my chocobo. Daddy finally let me have my own. He says that if I take care of Jojo, he'll trust me more with the chocobo work, like he does Kili."
It didn't take long to catch Jojo. The bird was already tired from the pup, and was scared stiff, so it didn't even move when we slipped the reigns over its beak. The walk to the farm was short. I had been closer than I thought. When we reached the grounds, there were several chocobos gathered in a coral and chirping happily with their life. They dug at the fresh green grass as they ran about freely.
"I haven't been here for a while…"
"Six years!" came another voice. It was Kili. She was holding the reigns of a blue chocobo and walking towards us. She stopped when she was about three feet away from me, "Where have you been? Normally it's only a few months every visit from you and Tifa." she checked around me, "where is Tifa?"
"She's not with me. I'm alone. I need to pass the mountains, you think I could borrow a chocobo?"
"I dunno. You'll have to talk with dad. It's up to him."
I nodded and headed to the small house, with the two behind me. Miho stepped inside first then allowed me to follow. Inside was the sweet smell of roasting apple pie, and an after taste of lemons. But it wasn't a woman who was in the kitchen. It was Miho and Kili's father, Barren. He was shoving a dirty pot into the sink as I made my entrance.
"Hello Barren." I said.
He looked up at me and smiled, "Akemi! It's been a while! Where have ya been?"
I sat down at the table, Miho sat beside me staring at my wound from the bird. "I've been rather busy these last couple of years. And I was wondering if I could use one of your chocobos?"
He stopped, "I'm sorry, but those chocobos out there aren't ours, we're taking care of them for one of the racers from the gold saucer. I can however, lend you this." he held out a purple materia.
"What's that?" I asked trying to hide my wound from Miho. He handed it to me and smiled.
"Just take it outside and head to about the center of the field, there, use it and you'll get a chocobo. I warn you though, they're not very easy to catch. Once you call them, you have to fight for them."
I placed the materia in my pocket, "Thank you" and started towards the door.
"Wait!" Miho shouted. I was pretty nervous that she was going to ask about the wound, and I didn't feel like explaining it to them. "I've got something for you!" she ran into her room and came back a minute later with a large, but thin silky blue and white cloak.
I smiled as she held it out to me, "What am I going to do with that?"
"It's pretty, and cool! A nice old lady from the mountains gave it to me. And I want to give it to you!" She crammed it into my arms smiling. She had been right, it was cool. It felt like water. I really didn't need it, considering I had my own jacket, but I folded it up and placed it in my pouch. Then I gave a last look to the three and left. The sun was getting to it's noon stage now, it was pretty high, and some of the chocobos were now resting in the shade, or chirping to go back to the stables in the barn.
I passed by them twirling the cool silk in my fingers and thinking of what may lye ahead. After stopping, I pulled the materia out and tossed it up into the air, then caught it. I repeated this until I was quite a whiles away from the barn. Then I stopped. The breeze ran down my neck and swept through my hair, cooling the sweat on my forehead. I was near the ocean. I decided to check it out, even though it was off my trail. I followed the sounds of the waves crashing against the stones, until I saw it. The ocean reached out as far as the eye could see. The sea breeze was a great scent. But I knew it wouldn't last, it never does, and I had to move on. But I wanted to admire it while I could. I stepped up to the waters edge. The small wave of water splashed against my shoes. I sat in the sand and took my shoes off, then squished the sand between my toes. The chilling water ran up my leg and I stared off into the distance. It was so peaceful here. I had the feeling that this was where Tifa, Max and I were a long time ago.
Taking a deep breath, I leaned back onto the sand and stared at the clouds. I was a fool. The next second, something had my foot and was dragging me into the water. I looked down and it was a strange octopus had wrapped it's tentacles around my foot. It was rather large, and very hard to free myself from. I squirmed about like a fish out of water, but to no avail. I was pulled under the water. It was now wrapping it's tentacles around my body. It pulled it's large body up to me and bit my leg taking a chunk out. Blood filled the water and the salt stung my leg, or maybe that wasn't the salt. This was a stinging monster. I felt my body slowly begin to stiffen. It was almost as bad as it was when I was in that strange mirror room with the creature covering my body. I could taste the blood in the water, but that wasn't what was getting to me. It was the strong stinging pain in my leg from the monsters venom.
It was winning, and I was going to die. I was running out of time. Things were starting to get dark. But something strange happened next. All around me, the water was getting light, then I felt a swift passing of scales pressed against my skin, and the octopuses tentacles let go. I tried to open my eyes to see what was happening, but the water rushed into them and the salt was holding them shut. All I heard was the crushing of bones, and all I could do was prey that they weren't mine. I wouldn't be able to tell because the poison from the monster paralyzed me. But after something scaly had had me, I was dragged up onto the beach, and abandoned on the sand. I glanced back, forcing my eyes open and saw a large sea serpent dive into the waves…could it have been Leviathon?
