Chapter 2- Curiosity Scared the Living Crap out of the Cat
Cait Sith coughed as the old bus spit fumes and exhaust into his face. "Wait! Come back! This isn't the right place!" He ran after the bus as hard as he could, but it was no use. He turned around slowly and walked into town. What a dump, he thought to himself. This place is familiar, but why would I come to a place like this? He entered a nearby pub. Inside it was pretty empty; there was a woman behind the counter and a guy sitting in a chair in the corner reading a newspaper. "Excuse me, what's the name of this town?"
"Nibelheim."
"Nibelheim? Oh, so that's why I recognize this old piece of crap place."
"Ahem..." the woman glared.
"Oh, sorry. Thank you, ma'am." Cait Sith pondered. Now who lives here? Cloud and Tifa? No, no, that's not right... Red is at the Canyon, Yuffie's somewhere, who cares... oh yeah! It was Vincent. "Ma'am, could I borrow a phone and a phone book? That is... if you have one."
Smack! "Here you go."
"Thank... (cough)... you." Cait Sith dialed the number for the Nibelheim Mansion. It rang.
"Hi, you've reached the Nibelheim Mansion. This means that you obviously have nothing to do if you're calling my house. I'm either not home or in eternal sleep, leave a message after the beep and I'll get back to you in either a day or two, or a decade or two."
Cait Sith sighed, hanging up the phone before leaving a message. "It's hopeless... what time does the bus to the airport come?"
"Three hours."
"Oh, great... bye, then." Cait Sith entered the plaza, which was also the industrial zone, the main plaza, and the housing area. Goes to show how big this town really was. With three hours to spend, he made his way up the steep path to the fabled Nibelheim Mansion. "Hm... Vincent's not done much with the place." Cait Sith was hesitant about entering, but then he saw a mat in front of the door that said, 'Home Sweet Home'. With the sight of this, a benevolent force took over Cait Sith and told him that it'd be all right to go in. So he did so.
"Vincent!" he shouted as he walked through the house. "Vince! Vincy! Vince-a-poo! Vince-alishous! Vincy Vincy bo Bincy! Vin-what the hell!" A hideous creature had just appeared before Cait Sith. It was dark teal blue and had the shape of a man. It had three glowing red eyes and a slimy tongue slithered between rows of long, sharp, jagged teeth. "V-V-V-Vincent?" The reply was a snarl.
"Uh...uh...uh... see you!" Cait Sith turned around and ran away in pure fear.
"Wait! Don't you want some tea! Oh... why do they always run away from me? He's looking for Vincent, right? Better go tell him he's not here. Hey, wait up!"
Unfortunately it's very hard to understand this particular creature because he growled and spit acid with every syllable he spoke. Still, he ran after Cait Sith.
Cait Sith had no idea where to go. He didn't know where the door was, or where he was going. All he knew was he wanted to get as much space between him and the creature.
"Oh no! Dead end!" Cait Sith took some time to notice the room he was in. "Hey... this is a pretty nice bedroom. Why does he sleep in that coffin?" Cait Sith saw an open book on the bed. He was never one to believe the old saying, "curiosity killed the cat". He looked in it.
June 15
Hilda brought news that she finally found it. I'm leaving right away. I can't waste any time in helping her to fight what she calls the Angra Mainyu. I'm not sure that I'll ever get back, but if I don't... I hope someone finds this and learns the truth. The truth about it all. I'm sick of holding a secret like this, it's too much of a burden for any man to handle. I wasn't sure if anyone would come in, so I put that Welcome mat out there. It seems to work wonders, I have people visiting me all the time. Anyway, the truth of it all is tha
"GET OUT OF THE BOOK!" Cait Sith, startled suddenly, hissed, and jumped back as the book yelled at him, snarling teeth even more menacing than the creature's, snapping it's covers together in smacks. "Ho...ly...CRAP. This house is messed up." The book was suddenly still. But he did not dare go near it.
Then he spoted something on the bedstand. It was beautiful emerald green plant that glowed in the dark room. He touched it. It felt like silk. "Why this is one of the most beautiful things I've ever OH MY GOD!" He thrashed wildly as the plant snatched onto him and feasted on his hand. With a thrust he threw it off and it landed in the corner. "O...kay... I'll just find the door and... leave. I'll just go."
He cautiously left the room, sneaking down the hallway, hearing that creature's snarls on the other side of the mansion. Suddenly he yawned. "Man, am I tired... oh, that plant must've infected me with some sleeping potion..." He yawned again. "I think I'll just go take a rest." He turned another corner to enter another bedroom. It was plain; a regular faded green plant on the dresser, and a queen-sized bed. It was just a normal room. Nothing was going to try to eat him here. He lied down on the bed and driftly... slowly... to sleep...
SNAP! "ARGH! GET ME OUT OF THIS THING!" Of course, the bed snapped in half and began to inhale Cait Sith. "Vincent, I'll get you for this! I'll get you for your literally fatal taste in furniture! Nooooooooooo..."
"Mmm... tastes like chicken."
(meanwhile, in the jungle)
"We're here! We're here!" Red XIII waited eagerly in front of the train doors. "Come on, open up, open up, open up..."
"Welcome to Gongoga Jungle. Please take time to rest and shop for fabulous souvenirs at station." The doors opened. "Yes! Yuffie, come on!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming..." Yuffie, green in her face, stumbled out of the restroom, clutching her stomach. "Alridy... less go."
"Are you gonna be okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, just a little motion sick... nommuch."
"You're slurring..."
"Don't worry aboudda," she waved, "I'll be fine."
"Ninja chick, catch!" A bottle of medicine flew out of nowhere. Yuffie reached out and caught it. Elena and Cid made their way across the platform. "Take a pill," Elena offered, "it cleared up my motion sickness pretty fast."
"Wow... you're right, this does work fast. I'll feel better already!" Yuffie performed some cartwheels in a circle. "Yeah, that's nice... she's a showoff," Cid explained to his wife. "So Red, wassup!"
"What? You know my name?"
"Sure I do. You'd have to be an idiot not to. I only pretend not to know your guys' names because it's fun to mess with you."
"Oh... so, do we have a guide?"
"Yeah, he's young and kind of weird. He's inside buying stuff."
Yuffie retrieved from her pocket some money.
"Yuffie, I thought you said you didn't bring any money."
"Oh, this isn't mine. Anyway I'm gonna go inside and buy something." Yuffie entered the station and made her way towards the souvenirs. She browsed the shelves and spotted a stuffed mog. It was the last one. She walked toward it, and on the same time as she did, a young man put his hand on it.
Yuffie smirked. "Sorry, but, I got here first."
"No, I did." He was about the same age as Yuffie. He was blond and had a weird tattoo on the side of his face. "I think this is mine."
"No, I think it's mine. Why do you want it anyway?"
"It's a gift for my wife. Why do you want it?"
"It's a gift for my friend. So give it!"
"Fine," the man let go, causing Yuffie to tumble backwards. "Why, you son of a chocobo! Get back here!" She sighed. At least the doll wasn't ripped.
After she bought the doll, she went outside. The guide was with the other three. It was the tattoo-face.
"No, not you! This jerk is our guide?"
"What! Look man, I let you have the stupid doll!"
"But you made me fall on my ass! It probably would've been a good gift for your wife anyway since she's probably a blow-up doll."
"Hey you two, shut your #$& mouths! Now let's go, all right?"
"Fine."
"Whatever."
They made their way to a van that they got into. The guide, whose name was Zell, drove the van to a small town in the jungle. It was a very interesting town. The large jungle was very difficult to clear out to build on the land, so to easily build a town in the jungle, it had to be built where there were no trees, and this was only where the water was. So the town of Maru was built on piers over a shining light blue lake.
For safety purposes, vehicles weren't allowed on the actual city. All cars had to be put in a special lot. Besides, there was an intercity transportation system, sort of like a tram. As they left the van and walked towards the tram station, Zell explained some things. "This place is big on tourism because there is a special sediment in the water that gives it short of a shine. At night, the water is like a giant nightlight. It's pretty cool, actually. Also you'd be pretty surprised that a town like this is so stable. It has not once collapsed into the lake. All the wood, that's just a beautification tourist thing. Everything that you can't see is made out of concrete. All the underwater support posts, and all that."
After Zell had showed them where they were staying, they went on their first exploration. Outside the town there was a trail that led deep into the jungle. Zell took them here. "Everyone got bug repellent on? You won't believe the kind of stuff that lives in this place. Well, let's go."
Lots of good and bad things happen in the world every day. They can range anywhere from effecting one person for one second, or effecting all the world forever. But whatever does happen, it all starts with a single action. The events that would occur for the next period of time, would in one instance, be resolved before much harm, while in another, would bring the entire world to its knees. Although alot of decisions and actions would soon decide which of these two occurances would take place, it all ultimately came down to what Elena was about to say to Zell.
"So, Zell, where are you from?"
"Where am I from? Well, I, I' from, uh... whoa! See the mouth on that thing!" A big-mouthed sloth was latched onto a tree next to the path. "That's big even for a sloth, folks. That's just crazy."
And so the fate of the world was sealed. Why was this question so important, and which path would it eventually cause fate to conspire? To find that out, you'll just have to wait.
(meanwhile)
Walking... walking... walking...
Walking... walking... walking...
Walking... walking... crawling...
Crawling... coughing... bleeding...
Bleeding... bleeding... dying...
Dying... playing cards with myself... dying...
What is this place? Cait Sith thought to himself. After he was eaten by the bed, he thought he was dead. But he woke up in the middle of a barren desert. Was this Hell? Didn't he do enough good deeds when he was alive to get into Heaven? Then again, he worked for Shinra for a long time, doing their dirty work. Maybe this was punishment. But then again, it was only criminals that he went after. But, maybe they were just misunderstood heroes like the gang.
Cait Sith's head was racing. But his thoughts were interrupted when he saw it. It was a small camp, but there were people. People! Cait Sith stumbled down a hill, eventually falling and rolling to the bottom. When he sat back up, a woman with goggles was standing over him. "Hey there little guy, where'd you come from? Oh, you poor little kitty... come here." She picked him up, scratching his back. Cait Sith decided that he was too tired to say anything now, and as long as he pretended just to be a simpletant cat, he could get free backrubs. So he relaxed, started purring, and rested his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes and taking the role as the silent observer as he listened to the conversation. Sucker... he thought jovially.
"Nhadala, come look at this!"
"What is it?"
"This kitty came out of nowhere. Look at him, he's so tired."
"What are you talking about? What would a cat be doing in the desert?"
"I don't know. He's almost dead, though."
"Ha ha, you're right. Whatever... go take him inside and feed him some water or something. But work double-haste when to get back out here."
"Now just a second here."
"ARGH!" The woman, terrified, jolted, accidentally throwing Cait Sith. "Ow, lady, that hurt..."
"He... he talks! Oh my god he's talking!"
"What, you've never seen a Sith before?"
"A what?"
"What... kind of place is this anyway?"
Nhadala, and a few spectators, were just as shocked as the woman. "This... is the Bikanel Desert, buddy."
"Never heard of it..."
"Geez, this is weird... first some weird guy in a cape comes, and then a talking cat who... are you some kind of Ronso?"
"What did you say?" Cait Sith's ears perked. "Man in a cape? A red cape?"
"Y-yeah... said he was looking for an... angry man or something."
"Angry man? You mean Angra Mainyu?"
"Yeah, that's it. What about it?"
Cait Sith knew something was going on. He would have to find Vincent. It was his mission.
Please review! New chapter coming soon.