Waaaa! Waaaaa! This can't be happening! It can't be happening!
Tidus: What happened? What's wrong?
V: My FFX game isn't working! I've been playing it to try and get out of my writer's block but it won't work. It keeps freezing at the same point every time I play.
T: What happened to it? Why doesn't it work?
V: I don't know! It's been in its case, on a bookshelf for the last six months. There's no way it could have been broken.
T: Well, there is some good news.
V: Yeah? And what would that be?
T: The price has gone down dramatically since you first got it. What's it down to now? Maybe twenty dollars?
V: (sniff) I suppose you're right.
T: Um… since you haven't posted in the longest time, maybe you should hurry up and get to the story.
V: Oh, right. I should. …Sorry that this chapter is so late but as I told you, I've had severe writer's block. I wrote myself into a corner and didn't know what was going to happen next. Plus, schoolwork and finals projects… I haven't had much time to write. Anyway, Chapter 23 is finally ready to read and the mystery of who will win the chocobo race is about to be resolved.
Chapter 23: The Race"Hold on tight Yuna!" Tidus said as he veered his mount in front of Zen's. Zen bent lower over his chocobo and kicked his heels into the bird's sides to speed it up. He tried to slip around his friend but Tidus made sure that he always stayed in front of him.
"Come on Zen, you can beat them!" Rikku cheered right behind him.
Her arms were wrapped tightly around his waist so she wouldn't fall of the speeding bird as it made its way across the uneven landscape. She laughed out loud as Zen finally slipped beside Tidus's chocobo. She was having too much fun to be worried about the outcome of the race but she continued to cheer for Zen. It would be good if was actually able to beat Tidus, for once.
Zen's mount slipped into the lead as the both of them came closer and closer a large cliff wall. Close to that was their finish line. Zen looked over his shoulder to give a victorious grin towards Tidus but he noticed that Tidus was veering his bird off the to the side.
"Look out Zen!" Rikku cried.
Zen looked back in front of himself to see that the cliff-face was approaching much faster then he liked.
He pulled back on the chocobo's neck to try and slow it down but it was moving to fast to stop in time. The bird let out a loud wark as it jumped up and kicked its legs off of the towering rock. Sharp claws scraped through the solid stone as the creature tried to push against its forward momentum. Rikku fell of the back of the chocobo as it kicked and was just able to scramble out of the way as the bird landed back on the ground.
"Rikku!" Zen called out as he tried to steady his mount. "Rikku, are you alright?"
"Owwie." Rikku muttered as she rubbed her soar leg.
Zen jumped off onto the ground and ran over to Rikku to see if she was hurt or not. "Are you alright?" He asked again. "You're not hurt, are you?"
Maybe a few bumps and bruises," Rikku said as she placed a hand against the side of her head, "but I should be alright."
Zen helped the injured Al Bhed back up onto her feet and back over to his calmer chocobo. He climbed up and helped Rikku climb back up just as Auron, Wakka, and Kimahri caught up to them.
"Enough of this foolishness." Auron scolded them as though they were young children.
"Yeah." Wakka put in. "You guys were lucky this time but Rikku came close to bein' hurt."
"Sorry." Yuna said as she leaned her head against Tidus's back. "It won't happen again."
Auron just nodded and lightly kicked his chocobo in its sides to get it moving again. The others followed close behind but Zen's bird was still a little disorientated from its run in with the mountainside so he laggard behind.
"Say," Zen said as scanned over the open landscape, "where are we going anyway?"
"Macalania woods." Rikku said as though that should answer everything.
"Woods? There isn't a tree to be seen." Zen was confused. "Where are these woods?"
"Up there." Auron said as he pointed to an opening in the cliff side.
Zen looked up to the opening but noticed that there was no clear path to it. "Are we leaving the birds behind?"
"What?" Tidus said as he looked over his shoulder to look at Zen. "Why would we need to leave them?"
"Well, there's no way they can get up there." Zen explained. "The slope is too steep."
"You're underestimating these chocobos." Rikku said while stroking one of the bird's large wings.
As the group stopped at the base of the steep rock Auron led his bird up to the passage. Sharp talons clawed deep into the stone as it made its way up. It would jump several feet into the air every time the slip became too steep and would sometimes seem to be running straight up the side of the rock.
Auron and Wakka made their way to the opening in the face of the rock and disappeared from sight.
"Ladies first." Zen snickered as he looked over at Tidus.
"Go right ahead then." Tidus responded.
"Oh, you guys are so immature." Rikku complained.
"Look who's talking." Tidus said before starting his journey up the side of the rock. Kimahri soon followed before the others had finished and Zen was the last up.
As the group continued down the only path that was open to them the brownish, clay colored ground seemed to slowly transform. It began with only a few bluish crystals on the ground but soon grew until all of their surroundings seemed to be made from icy crystals. Everything looked so delicate but it was obvious that these woods had to have been standing for centuries.
The chocobos slowed their pace as the continued deeper into the woods until they would not go any farther. Every time a member of the group tried to force them on, the birds would let out a pitiful cry and try to move the opposite way. It was obvious that they did not want to go any farther into the crystal forest.
Everyone slipped off of their birds and allowed them to run back to the Calm Lands.
"Looks like we walk from here." Tidus stated as he watched their mounts leave.
"What do you think spooked them so much?" Yuna asked.
"I don't know," Tidus answered, "but whatever it is, we can't deal with it now." Tidus turned back towards the forest and continued walking. "We've got to keep moving."
T: It's a short chapter, isn't it?
V: Yeah, I know. Sorry but this was just a filler chapter. I have some great ideas about what will happen to them in the Macalania forest but I couldn't just jump from the Calm Lands to the forest. I had to have something in-between.
T: Makes sense.
V: I want to apologize right now to all my readers. I know how it feels to wait so long and be disappointed but I promise you that the next chapter will be better. It will be longer and more eventful and I'll try to post it sooner.
T: Then you'd better start typing it.
V: You're right (starts typing like a madman.) See you all later.
T: Yeah. Good-bye.
End Transmission