Hi everyone. –sigh- Sorry this chapter is so late but Tidus has been missing ever since the last time I posted. It's so hard to write without my muse!
Well, I'm not going to accomplish anything just by moping so I may as well continue going. The whole gang continues on their way through the lands of Spira and now Zen is finding more then he bargained for when he first decided to come on the journey.

Sigh!

If only I had placed a tracking device on him, this would never have happened.
…
Wait a minute…-starts pawing through desk drawer- Ah ha! –pulls out remote control- I did put one on him! Just read the chapter while I go find him.

Chapter 22: Chocobo Ranchers

Days passed as the group made their way out of the mountain range. Tidus's condition improved with each passing day until he was just as strong and agile as he had always been. He had also learned a few things from his experiences in the mountains. He started taking his nightly watches seriously and never fooled around when it was his turn to watch for fiends.

No fiends attacked them though. The group was relieved at the prospect that they wouldn't have many battles on their journey. Zen was the only one who seemed to complain about it. He tried to make it sound like he was joking when he said that he would never get any practice in fighting fiends but Tidus could tell that he was serious. If only he knew how dangerous mountain fiends were, then he would be the most relieved.

Even though it looked as though they were traveling alone, it was obvious that the several of the Ronso were following them. They paralleled the group, trying to remain hidden but Tidus would occasionally spot them from the corner of his eye. He never said anything about it though. He was certain that most, if not all, of the others had seen them too.

There was nothing to worry about. Ronso were the type to keep their word and they would not disturb the travelers, especially since Kimahri had ordered it. There had been nothing said about being followed though and that's what the Ronso did. They would just parallel the group until they left the mountains and then return to the rest of the tribe.

That's just what happened a few days later when they left the mountains to the pass that entered into the Calm Lands. Tidus paused for a moment and looked over his shoulder as soon as they had left the mountains. The few Ronso that had followed them were now returning to their home. They didn't bother to remain hidden now since their job of following had been completed.

Tidus turned back towards his friends and saw how far ahead they were.

"Hey! Wait up!" He called as he rushed over to them.

"Slowpoke!" Rikku called back as she charged ahead of all the others. She stopped and waited for them at the end of the pass as she scanned over the fast fields of the Calm Land.

"Sorry." Tidus said with a slight wave of his hand when he caught up to the others. He looked over to Auron and saw him staring out over the flat landscape. Hey Auron," Tidus started to get his attention, "since you seem to be the expert here, why don't you decide what we do next."

Auron scanned over the landscape for a while before pointing off towards something in the distance. "That." He said as though he didn't need to explain anymore.

Tidus looked in the direction Auron was pointing and saw what he was referring to.

"Chocobos!" Rikku cried as she jumped into the air.

"We're going to ride them across the Calm Lands?" Tidus surmised and Auron nodded.

"Chocobos?" Zen had never been out of Zanarkand and, therefore, had never heard of or seen the enormous yellow birds. "What's a chocobo?"

"Take a look for yourself." Tidus said as he directed his friend's attention to the small flock of them a short distance away.

"How will those things help us?" Zen asked as the group started walking into the valley.

"We ride them." Tidus said as they started toward the yellow birds.

Zen stopped in his tracks, gawking at his friend. "Ride them!"
"Yes." Yuna said while looking over her shoulder back towards Zen. "Come with us and you'll see what we mean."

Zen shrugged his shoulders and followed the others. His mind began wandering as he watched the large, yellow birds off in the distance. He wasn't paying attention to anyone or anything around him until he heard the sound of someone calling to him.

"Look out!" Tidus yelled out when he saw the wild wolf charging towards his friend.

Zen saw the creature right before it attacked and dodged out of the way of its snapping maw. The beast let out a low guttural growl as its sharp teeth closed around the long, red tongue that protruded from its mouth. The red fur on its back rose as it growled and prepared for another attack.

Zen tried to move backwards when he saw the monster charging towards him again but he stepped into a hole and fell onto the ground. The creature was still charging towards him and there was nothing Zen could do but protect himself from the wolf's sharp teeth. He brought an arm up to protect his face but the fiend was never able to finish its attack. The wild wolf yelped out in pain as the sharp blade of a sword sliced through its back.

Zen opened his eyes and moved his arm away from his face to see Tidus standing in a cloud of pyreflies with his sword held tightly in his hands. The blade of the weapon still undulated from the impact as though it were made of water.

"You really need more practice when it comes to fighting." Tidus said as he helped Zen back up onto his feet.

"I owe you one man." Zen said as he steadied himself.

"He's gonna hold ya to that." Wakka said while looking around to make sure that there weren't any more fiends close by.

"How are you going to fight?" Yuna asked. Zen gave her a strange look and she knew that she would have to explain her out-of-the-blue question. "I mean, I've never seen you with any weapon, so I was just wondering what weapon you were going to use when fighting fiends."

A slight smile made its way onto his face and he opened his pack. He reached inside and pulled out a pair of metal gloves. "These are what I use." He said while slipping the gloves on.

"You should keep them on from now on." Auron said. "There's no telling when you'll need to use them."

"Hurry up you guys." Rikku whined as she a few yards ahead of them. "I wanna ride a chocobo."

"Alright, alright, we're coming." Tidus said as he put his sword away and followed her.

"There's a few close by." Rikku called back as she scaled to the top of a hill. "Over there."

The rest of the group caught up to her quickly and saw that there were three chocobos close by. A mile away at the most. The only problem was that they were accompanied by fiends.

"We'll have to take out the fiends before we can catch the chocobos." Tidus explained to Zen. "But it will have to be done without scaring birds away."

"How are we going to do that?"

"With these!" Rikku said while pulling several stalks of green plants out of her pack.

"Gysahl greens?" Yuna asked when she saw the plants. "Where'd you find those?"

"I found some growing while you guys were chatting." Rikku said. "I knew we'd need them so I took a handful."

"How are they going to help us?" Zen asked.

"Feeding the greens to the chocobos help keep them calm." Yuna explained. "They can be used to distract the chocobos while we get rid of the fiends."

"Zen, you can toss the greens to the birds." Tidus said while placing the gysahl greens in his friend's hand. "Watch how the real pros take care of fiends."

"What! Why do I have to do this! Why can't I fight too?"

"You're a newbie when it comes to fiends." Wakka said. "Best not to break ya into fighting to fast."

"Fine." Zen mumbled as he started down the hill.

The group charged across the land until they caught up to the chocobo convoy. Tidus moved in first and sliced down wild wolfs and lizards before they had a chance to attack. Wakka set his blitzball to work, slamming flying fiends out of the sky. Auron used his strength to take down the more armored monsters. Yuna used her staff to take down any of the monsters that were left and Rikku was busily stealing everything she could from the weakened monsters. All the while, Zen was working frantically to keep all of the chocobos calm. Every time it looked like one was about to run, he tossed one of the greens in its direction and hoped that it would stay.

The battle didn't last very long and they group now had several chocobos to ride on.

"Watch and I'll show you how to ride." Tidus said to Zen as he approached one of the birds.

He slowly reached out and placed one of his hands on the base of the bird's neck. Even though the creature seemed harmless, its razor sharp talons said differently. Tidus pulled himself up onto its back and took a hold of its neck so he wouldn't be thrown off.

The chocobo warked its displeasure at having a rider and started running in tight circles to dislodge him. Tidus held on tightly though and used his hold on the bird's neck to control where it moved. The chocobo soon tired out and was soon just walking along and following Tidus's direction.

"See, there's nothing to it." Tidus panted from the exertion of training the chocobo. "Why don't you try Zen?"

"Are you sure about this?" Wakka asked.

"Why not? He'll have to ride one sooner or later." Tidus said as he led his bird away from the other two. "Do you think you're ready Zen?"

Zen just looked up towards the chocobo that loomed over him. "Ready." He said even though he knew that he wasn't.

Auron stayed on the other side of the bird and kept a firm grip on it so it wouldn't run when while Zen mounted. Auron was able to keep it steady while Zen climbed up onto its back but he couldn't keep it still when it started warking and running in circles. Zen took a tight hold on its neck and closed his eyes tightly to prevent himself from getting dizzy.

"Loosen your grip!" Tidus called out to him.

"What! Are you crazy?" Zen feared that he would be hurled down to the ground if he loosened his grip.

"You're choking it!" Tidus called back to him. The bird was opening its mouth now to try and wark but it couldn't breathe.

Zen slowly relaxed his grip until he could not only allowed the creature to breathe again but was strong enough for him to stay on. With the help of the others, he was quickly able to tame the bird.

"That was a near disaster." Auron said as he mounted the last chocobo. Surprisingly to most, this one tamed quickly under Auron's instructions. In a matter of minutes, Auron was able to ride it with ease.

"We'd better hurry." Auron said when spotted several fiends approaching.

Tidus helped Yuna up onto the back of his chocobo and Zen did the same with Rikku. Wakka was left to ride with Auron.

"What about Kimahri?" Yuna asked when she saw that the large Ronso didn't have a mount and that there was no way they'd be able to have three on one chocobo.

Kimahri looked up to her and shook his head back and forth. "Kimahri does not need to ride. Kimahri can keep up with the others."

"Good to here that Kimahri." Tidus said as he steadied his mount. "Hey Zen, Auron, race ya."

"Think you can keep up?" Zen smirked before the two raced away.

Auron just rested his head in one of his hands and watched the spectacle.

V: Guess what guys… I found him! I found Tidus. Turns out that he had escaped from the fan girls a long time go and was just hiding from me at Zen's house.

T: When did put that tracer on me? –tries to pull away from Veronia's grasp-

V: I hid it in your blitzball uniform while you were sleeping. By the way, what happened after the fan girls carried you away?

T: Well…I…uh…I … -starts turning red-

V: You didn't, did you!

T: What! No! of course not! I'm still in love with Yuna, you know. I'm not going to abandon her even if I'm stuck with you until this story is finished.

V: Then…what happened?

T: Zen came to save me.

V: Save you? How?

T: He got me away and told me that he would distract the fans.

V: Did he say how he would distract them?

T: -shrugs shoulders- He didn't say but he was smiling when he said it.

V: That sick perverted freak!

T: I don't think he knows what he's gotten himself into.

V: What do you mean?

T: Let's just say that my fans won't settle for another blitzer.

V: Poor Zen. He's probably lying injured in an alley somewhere.

T: Should we look for him?

V: Later. –pulls Tidus into a seat- Right now I'm far behind in my writing and I need you here so I can catch up.

T: -sigh- it's always that way.

End Transmission