"Sheena!" Colette yelled in a panic, "We need to help them!"
Sheena nodded, "I know! Hold on, we're gonna land fast!"
Sheena landed her rheiard as quickly as she could without crashing it or hurting herself or Colette. She put it away in the wing pack, then she and Colette trudged through the knee deep snow to get to where the avalanche was primarily bad. Colette and Sheena exchanged serious looks then nodded to each other.
"Efreet!" Sheena yelled, as she called forth Efreet, "Melt this snow, but don't harm the huts or the people!"
"Understood," Efreet said in an obedient voice.
Colette and Sheena watched impatiently as Efreet carefully melted the snow without harming anything else. It took a good ten or fifteen minutes, but he finally finished, and the two of them were very shocked at what they saw. Beneath the snow, was more than just the Mizuho huts and the people of Mizuho, but there was a huge pack of lobos underneath the snow as well. Without warning, the wolves charged at Sheena.
"Look out!" Colette screamed, tackling Sheena out of the way.
At a second glance there were ten of the lobos. Sheena and Colette got to their feet and charged forward. A lobos tried to bite Sheena, but she dodged aside and slapped it with a Demon Seal, sending it flying backwards, where Colette was waiting to deploy a hammer rain, which she did flawlessly, finishing off the one, but nine remained. Two lobos charged at once and bit both of Colette's ankles, and she let out a cry of pain, falling to the ground.
Sheena ran to rescue Colette from the two lobos, but five blocked her path, as two more headed towards Colette. In a panic, Sheena suddenly remembered that Efreet had not left yet, and ordered him to use Explosion on the five lobos blocking her path. Efreet did so, and the five lobos fell instantly. Sheena ran forward, realizing that Efreet had left now, and she hadn't the time to re summon him, she cast a seal of fire on her weapons and used demon seal on each of the two lobos, attacking Colette, killing them instantly.
The two more headed towards them. As Sheena helped Colette up, the two lobos leapt in the air charging at Sheena but fell down with a pair of yelps, with a kunai knife in each of their backs. Sheena and Colette looked up to see Orochi standing at the entrance of a hut, with more kunai knives ready just in case.
"That was the last of them, Orochi. Thank you," Sheena yelled out to him, not able to hold back the great sigh of relief.
"The bad thing about the winter time is that there are lobos like that everywhere, instead of just in the Flanoir area," Orochi said, walking towards them with a couple of miracle gels to treat their wounds, "How bad are your wounds?"
"Not that bad," Colette lied, knowing they would know she was lying.
"They're pretty bad," Sheena corrected taking a miracle gel and eating it, "Mine aren't so bad though, but that's only thanks to Colette."
Orochi fed the miracle gel to Colette, who sighed, not wanting to put people out, "There," he started, "all better?"
Colette nodded as Orochi helped her up, "Yes. Thank you. I'm so sorry for putting you out."
"Putting me out?" Orochi laughed slightly, "You and Sheena saved us all!"
The chief of Mizuho then stepped out, "Indeed, you have saved us all. Let us thank you somehow."
"No, please, don't worry. It's okay, really," Colette said frantically.
"I insist that you let us reward you, at least, with some gald," The chief said in a somewhat defiant tone.
"No thank you," Colette said.
"Oh, Colette, just take the money!" Sheena said somewhat impatiently, "I want you to have it too. Don't forget, this is my village as well."
"Oh, okay. If you really want to," Colette said, walking up to the chief and accepting the small sum of 2500 gald, "Thank you."
"You are very welcome. Thanks are not needed, you saved us all," Orochi said calmly.
"Okay, thank you," Colette said cutely, "But I should really be going," she bowed.
Sheena walked to Colette and handed her the rheiard, "Thanks again, and fly safely."
"Okay. I will. Thank you very much, Sheena!" Colette said with a smile and a bow, then took out the rheiard and took off.
Hours later, Colette was laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about what she should buy for everyone. She thought that maybe she could get a book of some sorts for Genis and probably similar for Raine. Perhaps Sheena would like a new outfit of sorts. Colette figured that she would buy a charm of sorts for Presea, and maybe some cooking equipment for Regal. Zelos would be easy to shop for, Colette thought. All he needs is a dirty magazine or something of the like. Lloyd wouldn't be easy to shop for, but then again, he'd probably like anything he got, which is what makes him hard to shop for.
As she pondered Lloyd's gift further, she decided on just looking while she was at the store. Suddenly there was a knocking at the door. She got up and went to the door to see who it was. Chocolat was standing at the door.
"Colette, may I come in?" She asked.
"Chocolat! Of course, come on in," Colette smiled, after a slight gasp of surprise, "What is it? Do you need help with something?"
"I was wondering," Chocolat started, "If you could do me a favor, not as the chosen, but as my friend."
"Right, I'm not a chosen anymore," Colette smiled awkwardly, "What's the favor?"
Chocolat smiled, "I placed an order at a store in Flanoir recently. The item I ordered should be ready tomorrow. Could you pick it up for me? It's a gift for someone."
"Of course," Colette said, clasping her hands, "I was going to go to Flanoir tomorrow anyway, so of course I'll pick it up for you!"
"Thank you, Colette!" Chocolat handed Colette a piece of paper, "That's the claim check for the item. It's at the accessory store."
"Okay!" Colette said happily.
"Goodbye then," Chocolat said, walking towards the door.
"Bye," Colette said cheerfully, "Take care."
After Chocolat left, Colette headed back to her room. It was late and she had a big day ahead of her tomorrow. She decided that it was best to turn in for the night. She went to sleep, with thoughts of all of her friends in her mind. She began to wonder what Chocolat's gift was, and who it was for. She fell asleep with these wondering thoughts of Chocolat. She dreamt that night of Chocolat wearing various necklaces and bracelets, all resembling one of her friends.
