The Road Ahead
(The Following Morning)
I managed to get a bit more sleep before the sun came up. I woke up to a beam of sunlight hitting my face from a hole in the roof. The scent of flowers reminded me where I was, in the altar of a rundown church in the Sector Five slums in what was left of the city of Midgar. This sunbeam also let me know that the rain finally stopped.
I sat up and stared upward for a bit. There were several sunbeams coming down from several places in the broken roof of the church. A few beamed in through the stained glass windows. It was a nice sight to wake up to.
"Good morning, Miss Moira," called a small familiar voice from behind me. I turned around and saw Bibble flying up to me from the front door of the church. "Did you sleep well, kupo?"
"Yea," I answered with a yawn and a stretch, "How about you?"
"I slept great, kupo! The flowers were so comfy. Miss Aeris did a really good job taking care of them, kupo."
"I guess so."
"Maybe we can look for your scythe a little more, kupo."
"Well, I don't know about you," I started as I got up on my feet, "but I'm ready to get out of this giant scrap heap."
"Yea, kupo." Bibble agreed. "But I'm really not looking forward to the smell on the way through."
"Can't you just teleport us out of Midgar?" I asked, "Or do the limits of your teleporting powers restrict you from going that far?"
"Well, I'm not really sure just how far from the outside we are, kupo," she answered, "So whether or not I can teleport us out I can't really say."
"Well, then I guess we'll just have to find out for ourselves."
"If you say so, kupo," she replied, "But I'd have an easier time if we were outside so I can see where we're going."
As much as I wanted to avoid going back to the foul atmosphere outside, I couldn't argue with it. I wanted to get out of Midgar quickly and without much trouble.
"Lead the way," I agreed.
She turned around and flew out the door. I followed close behind, closing the door behind me as I left the beauty of the broken church. My senses were instantly reminded of the horrible experiences of the day before. The sight of the crumpled concrete and metal, the creepy sound of utter silence, the smell of burnt everything, along with the slight hint of dead bodies, which had gotten stronger over the course of the night.
"I'll be more than happy leaving this place behind," I thought out loud.
"Me too, kupo," Bibble replied.
"I wonder how this place survived the whole thing?"
"What do you mean, kupo?"
"I mean how this tiny section of the slums didn't get crushed by the plate."
"Maybe Miss Moira wanted to keep the flowers safe, kupo."
"I guess so," I replied, looking at the rubble that surrounded the area, "Because the pile of destruction is higher around this area than anywhere else in the whole city. It's like the falling debris was forced to fall around it instead of ontop of it."
"I wonder how we didn't see this before, kupo."
"Probably because it was dark and raining," I answered. "At any rate, I want to get out of here as soon as possible."
"Then there's no time to lose, kupo," Bibble replied as she began staring off into the distance. It was like she was concentrating on something beyond what we could see.
The scenery suddenly changed from everlasting landscape of horrible broken technology into a pile of rubble that used to be a wall.
"Well, I almost got us out, kupo," Bibble said.
"The rest isn't a problem," I assured her, "I've proven that I can easily jump over this thing and we'll be out of here in no time."
So I leapt over and beyond the wall and into the dirt on the other side. A cloud of dust and dirt kicked up as I landed on the ground. I quickly shut my eyes and covered my face to keep the dirt from entering my eyes or lungs. Though I was a little too late because I did some coughing before the cloud disappeared.
I opened my eyes moments later and found Bibble floating in front of me.
"You're scared of getting dirt in your eyes, kupo?" she puzzled.
"No," I groaned.
"Then you shouldn't have to shut your eyes like that, kupo."
"Oh, shut up."
I started walking away from the giant structure behind me, Bibble following close behind.
"So where are we going, kupo?" Bibble asked.
"Not really sure yet," I answered, "I just want to get far away from Midgar and Kalm."
"And you're gonna do that by going west?"
"Whatever works."
"Well, west won't work, kupo. You'll end up at the ocean."
I stopped walking, turned around and looked up at Bibble.
"Well, Miss Smartypants, which is the best way away from here?"
"East, kupo."
"East, eh?"
"Yes, because if you go south, you'll end up at the impossible-to-climb mountains, kupo. And to the direct north is more ocean."
"And Kalm is to the north east," I added at the end, "So then east is my only option."
"Precisely."
"Alright, let's go."
So I began walking east. We traveled for several hours. Halfway through the walk, we started following the mountain to our right. There were some hills to our left that were at least twice my height.
After another hour of walking, I started noticing something.
"You know," I started, "we haven't run into a single monster throughout the entire trip."
"Well, kupo," Bibble answered, "That's because whenever I spot one, I always teleport us a couple of miles forward."
I glared up at her as she floated beside me.
"Just how am I supposed to get any money or experience with my claws if you're gonna teleport us away from danger?"
"Er..." Apparently, she'd forgotten that I was planning on fighting a bit during our journey. "I didn't want you hurting yourself."
"The monsters around here are too puny to do anything major to me. I just want some practice and some cash. Not to mention some food."
"You plan on eating the monsters you kill?" She looked at me with a look on her face that resembled raising an eyebrow.
"I don't see why not. If we set up a proper fire when we camp tonight, I might be able to cook us a monster."
"From what I can see, kupo, you don't even know HOW to cook a monster over an open flame."
"I might as well learn."
"Ok, kupo," she said uneasily, "I hope you know what you're doing."
"So then it's settled. Next monster we see, I'm killing."
".....And eating, kupo," Bibble added.
So we continued on. After a few minutes I started wondering where we were going to end up. Then the mountain to the right of us ended.
"Seems like we've reached the end of the mountain," I pointed out as we started walking around the mountain's end.
"We should head south from here, kupo," said Bibble, "After some time, we should see something."
"You don't even know where we're going?" I responded.
"It's been a while since I've been in this area, kupo, so give me a break if I don't remember what's out here."
After passing the mountain, we turned to the south. That was when I noticed the huge plain ahead of us. I stopped for a moment to just stare at the sheer endlessness of this flat green land that seemed to go on forever in almost all directions. To the right of us, there were more mountains, and farther south to the right, the land seemed to turn gray. When I looked straight ahead of us, I noticed a small speck on the horizon. I realized then that the speck might've been that something Bibble was talking about.
We walked toward that speck for what seemed like forever. We didn't run into any monsters, surprisingly. I didn't even see a single one the whole time we were walking through the flat plain. The speck on the horizon slowly got bigger as we got closer to it..... VERYslowly. After a while it didn't seem like we'd ever get there. And I was starting to get tired of walking.
"Hey, Bibble, can you get us there faster?" I wondered, knowing that all this time she'd avoided teleporting us anywhere.
"But I thought you didn't want me to teleport us, kupo."
"I changed my mind. Mostly because there aren't any monsters around here."
"That and you're tired of walking so much and having that speck grow so slowly."
"Exactly, so can you do it or what?"
"Ok, kupo."
Then the small speck suddenly became what looked like a huge ranch. It went from a mile or so away from us to just a few yards in front of us. The ranch had a big barn with an equally big silo, and nearby was a house. The ranch faced to the south, so we were looking at it from behind.
"A ranch," I thought out loud.
"Ya, kupo, let's go see!" Bibble replied, excited to see such a thing. She rushed off in front of me, leaving me behind as I kept my steady pace. I didn't really feel like running, so I just kept walking. Noticing that I wasn't speeding up, Bibble stopped and turned back to me.
"Are you too tired to run, kupo?"
"Doesn't take a mind-reader to figure that out."
"You're right, kupo. I didn't have to read your mind. I saw it in your face."
"It's been a long walk."
"Well, we've gone a long way since we left Midgar, kupo," she said as she floated alongside me as I walked around the barn. "Maybe the ranchers here will let us stay the night."
"Highly doubtful," I replied, "The way I look right now, I'll bet they'll assume I'm gonna eat whatever they raise here."
"You mean you don't know?" she asked, surprised that I didn't know what kind of ranch this was. She pointed ahead of us as we went in front of the barn. "Look in front of you, kupo."
I looked up and saw a huge pen with four chocobos in it. The fence of the pen wasn't very tall, but it seemed to be enough to keep chocobos from walking away.
"This must be the chocobo ranch Will kept telling me about," I said, realizing where I was, "This place belongs to his nephew, Billy."
One of the chocobos in the pen looked like it was staring at us from inside the pen, as if trying to figure something out about us. Then it ruffled its feathers and started "warking" like crazy.
"What's his problem?" I wondered out loud.
"He wants to speak with me, kupo," Bibble answered.
"You speak chocobo?" I looked up at Bibble, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't speak it, kupo, but I understand them well enough. I'll be right back," She said as she flew off to speak with the chocobo.
"Ok," I thought, "I'll just look around and see if there's anyone around here."
I went inside the barn, which actually turned out to just be a giant chocobo stable. There were enough stalls to house ten chocobos, though only six of them were occupied.
Two of the chocobos were the usual yellow color. There was also a green one, a blue one, and a black one. When I reached the last occupied stall, I was amazed at the shimmering gold color of the chocobo inside of it.
"A golden chocobo?" I asked in thought.
It looked up at me and stared for a moment, as if it was examining my personality or something. It stuck its head out of the stall to have a better look at me. I reached my hand up to rub its head.
"Hey!" Screamed a loud, angry voice from the barn door. The chocobo jerked back, fluttering its wings. I looked over and saw a young man standing at the doorway, holding a pitchfork in his hands.
"What are you doing to that chocobo?!" He demanded, marching toward me as he did.
"Relax, will you?" I replied, "I was just looking at it."
"Looking does not involve touching!" He yelled, still marching towards me.
"Look, I came all the way from Midgar, and I'm tired, ok?"
"Do you think I'm stupid? Midgar was destroyed two days ago. And it takes at least a week to get here from there on chocobo, let alone on foot, it's too far away for anything human to get here in one day." The man gruffed, "And since when did monsters know how to talk?"
"WHAT?!" That pissed me off, "I am NOT a monster, you smart-ass son of a--"
"Miss Moira!" Bibble interrupted, flying past the angry man, who'd stopped marching about five feet away from me when she called. I saw his face instantly change from completely pissed to completely confused.
"Hey, Miss Moira," She repeated, "You know that chocobo outside, kupo? He says he might know you from somewhere."
"Really?" I responded.
"Ya, kupo," She paused and looked into the stall with the gold chocobo, "Kupo! What a beautiful gold chocobo!"
"I thought so, too," I replied, "And I was just admiring it when Numnutz over here decided to wave his pitchfork at me."
"Hey!" The guy reacted.
"That wasn't very nice of you, Miss Moira," Bibble scolded, "Even if he did deserve it, kupo."
"Well, he shouldn't have called me a monster."
"Well, you certainly don't look human," he bounced back, laying down his pitchfork, "And the name's Billy, not Numnutz."
"Billy?" I repeated, recognizing the name, "Will's nephew, Billy?"
"Uh, yea," he answered, seemingly surprised I knew Will, "How do you know my uncle Will?"
"Kalm was my home town."
"I've been to Kalm a few times. How come I've never seen you there?"
"Well, the last time I saw you was around four years ago. Yes, you have seen me, but I was human back then."
"Four years ago?" he pondered, "Wait... You were that girl that was at the stable that one time I had to ride to Kalm for supplies."
"That right, genius," I retorted, "Your uncle Will was a really close friend of mine."
"So, you're that Moira girl he was always talking about?"
"Ya, that's me."
There was a long and awkward silence after that. He stared me up and down, looking like he wanted to ask me about my appearance.
"Long story," I answered before he could ask.
"And...?" he pointed up at Bibble.
"She follows me around and keeps me company."
"Hi, kupo!" she answered, "My name is Holly Bibble!"
"Uh-huh..." Billy couldn't seem to do anything but stare at us.
"Wark!" squawked a chocobo outside.
"Oh ya, Miss Moira," Bibble turned to me, "That chocobo outside still wants to talk to you."
"Fine, let's go," I said, exasperated, walking past Billy as he just stood there and gawked at me.
When I got outside the door, I immediately saw a chocobo leaping over the fence, flapping its wings to give itself lift. I was nearly knocked backwards by the wind from the flapping as it landed in front of me.
"Woah!" Billy said as he ran out of the barn behind me, "That chocobo flew!"
"He did, didn't he?" I replied, staring at the chocobo's curious face as it examined me head to toe. After a moment, the chocobo warked happily and started nuzzling its head against me, and I couldn't help but rub its head while it did.
"He seems to recognize you," Billy pointed out.
"And I certainly recognize him," I replied, "There's only one chocobo I know that will fly for me."
The chocobo looked down at me, and I looked right back at him.
"Isn't that right, Jamie?"
He warked with excitement and continued nuzzling. I found myself giggling and petting him. After a while, I ended up hugging him as his head went around and behind me.
"It's good to see you again," I said finally. "You're a sight for sore eyes."
"Jamie?" Billy said in confusion, eyebrow raised.
"This was the chocobo I trained with in Kalm," I explained, letting Jamie go, "While I was practicing my fighting skills, he was practicing his flying."
"And when she moved out of Kalm to Midgar, kupo," Bibble continued, "It was Jamie who flew her there. That was two years ago, kupo, and since then they haven't seen each other at all."
"It must be fate that you got here when you did," Billy said, "My client who caught all these chocobos just told me to release all of 'em."
"This is wonderful, kupo! A happy reunion! See, Miss Moira? I told you things would get better."
"I'm surprised he even recognize me," I replied, "The last time I saw him was two years ago, and now I don't exactly look the way I did then."
"A chocobo never forgets someone who was close to them, and will always recognize 'em," Billy said, "From what Uncle Will told me, you two were really close."
"One of my very best friends," I clarified.
"Wark!" Jamie agreed.
"Now our traveling will be easier, kupo," Bibble said, "And a whole lot more fun, too. 'Cuz now maybe you won't be so angry and sad all the time."
"Oh hush!" I responded, "At ay rate, it all depends on whether or not Numnutz will let us have him."
"Not if you're gonna keep calling me Numnutz!" He yelled.
"Heh, well ok, Billy," I enunciated, "May we have this chocobo?"
"Well, of course you can," he answered, "He's yours after all. And besides, I was gonna release all these chocobos anyway, remember? So it shouldn't matter what I think."
"Kupo! This is so exciting!" Bibble cheered as she did some backflips in the air.
"Wa-ark Wa-Wark!" Jamie agreed, fluttering his wings.
"Say, why don't you guys stay the night before you continue your travels?" Billy offered. "Coming all the way from Midgar, you must be dead tired."
"Well, uh..." I muttered.
"Of course, kupo, we'd love to stay the night," Bibble happily accepted for me before I could say anything coherent.
"You'd really let us stay?" I wondered out loud.
"Our ranch is also a mini inn for our clients," he explained.
"That's convenient," I replied.
"And besides," he continued with a sheepish expression on his face, "It's the least I can do after threatening you and calling you a monster."
"I'd probably think the same thing in your position."
"Yes, but I still feel like I owe you."
"Well this certainly makes up for it, kupo," Bibble replied. "And besides, Miss Moira was reunited with Jamie, kupo, so her mood has already gotten much better."
"Well, come inside the house and we'll talk about everything over a hot cup of coffee."
"That's sounds good to me," I answered as we started walking towards the house.
Jamie was right behind me for a moment, but when I noticed that he was following me, I stopped and turned around a moment.
"Hey Jamie, how about you go back in the pen for the night, and we'll see each other in the morning, ok?"
"Wark," Jamie answered, nodding his head.
With that, he turned around and flew back over the fence and into the pen. He then turned back around to watch me walk away from the pen and towards the house.
The inside of the house was just as nice as the outside. The front door led right into the dining room, with the kitchen to the right. Turning right from the kitchen led to the bedroom, which had three beds in it.
"Hey Grandpa," Billy urged the old man. "We've got company now, Grandpa, so you'd better wake up."
"Wha-rmph urum?" He mumbled? "Did that spiky-blonde-haired boy come back again to rent out more stables?"
"No, Grandpa. These guests are new," he said as he nudged the man awake.
He sat up straight and stretched his arms and back. Then he looked up at me.
"Well, how do you do?" the old man greeted, holding his hand out to me, "Name's Bill."
"Nice to... meet you," I greeted back uneasily, "I thought Billy lived with his father named Bill?"
"He did," Grandpa Bill answered, "But I arrived a few months ago, and Sonny Bill up and left soon after."
"So you're both named Bill?" I asked.
"Yup," Billy answered, "He's Bill, my dad's Bill Jr., and I'm Bill the Third, But I like to be called Billy."
"So to Will, that would make him...?"
"I'm 'is brother," Answered Grandpa Bill. "And how do you know about good ol' Brother Will?"
"She's Moira, Gramps," Billy answered for me.
"Moira?" he repeated "The Moira?"
"Will did a lot of talking about me, didn't he?"
"He sure did," Grandpa answered, "Whenever the topic of 'Moira' came up in a conversation, he'd never shut up aboutcha."
"Ya," Billy agreed, "It just about takes a spontaneous change of topic to get him to stop talking."
"Wish that would work for Cousin Big Mouth Willy, though," Grandpa added.
"Geez, no kidding," I replied, remembering my encounter with Willy, "But there's something bothering me."
"What's the problem?" Grandpa Bill asked.
"How come you're not bothered by the way I look?"
"Why would I be?" He answered, "You seem like a nice young lady, so appearances shouldn't matter."
Then Bibble came floating down next to my ear.
"That and he doesn't have his glasses on, kupo," she whispered.
"Oh," I whispered back.
"Grandpa's extremely nearsighted," Billy answered.
"Uh-huh," I replied.
"Please, both of you, sit down and relax," Billy insisted, as he walked into the kitchen, "I'll make you some coffee, and we can actually have a real conversation."
"You mean one that doesn't involve you threatening me with a pitchfork?" I joked as I sat on the chair across the table from Grandpa. Bibble just sat ontop of the table next to where I was sitting.
"You threatened 'er, Billy?" Grandpa retorted, "Yer not supposed to threaten the guests, ya know."
"I thought she was someone else," he explained.
"Well, you keep speaking as if there was another here with her."
"That's right, kupo," Bibble answered, "I'm right here in front of you."
"Huh?" Grandpa replied in confusion, "Wait, lemme get my glasses."
He picked his glasses up off the table and put them on. He then looked down at the table and saw Bibble waving her little blue pom-pom.
"Hi, kupo!" She greeted, "My name's Holly Bibble!"
"A moogle?" he stared for a moment, then he looked up at me, "Woah!"
"Ya, I seem to have that affect," I replied.
"Well, that explains a lot," Grandpa said, "I was really wondering why you were so concerned with your appearance."
"Well, now you see why," I said, tugging at one of my large cat ears.
"How do you ladies like your coffee?" Billy asked from the kitchen.
"With lots of milk and sugar in it," I answered.
"Just milk for me, please," Bibble answered after me, "Without the coffee, kupo."
"Yea, she's hyper enough as it is," I added, "Without adding a mug full of caffeine into her system."
"Ok, so that's a coffee with lots of milk and sugar," Billy repeated, "And a glass of milk for the moogle. Got it."
After a moment, Billy walked out of the kitchen with a mug of coffee in one hand and a glass of milk in the other. He walked up to the table and placed the drinks in front of us. Then he quickly walked back to the kitchen and came back with two more mugs of coffee. He then sat down at the table next to Grandpa and placed a mug in front of himself and one in front of Grandpa.
"So, Moira," Billy started, looking up at me, "Tell us your long story."
"Are you sure you want to hear it?" I asked, sipping my coffee. "It's not pretty, and it doesn't exactly have a happy ending."
"If you don't tell me, I'll die from the curiosity," Billy answered.
"I dunno, kupo," Bibble replied, "Some of it's pretty hard to believe."
He just stared at Bibble, blinking his eyes for a moment.
"The fact that there's a moogle drinking a glass of milk on my dining room table is pretty hard to believe," he responded, "I don't think there would be anything much more unbelievable than that."
"You'd be surprised," Bibble and I said at the same time, both sipping our drinks.
"Try me," Billy insisted, placing his elbows on the table.
"I'm pretty curious about this myself," Grandpa added in, "Just tell us about it."
"Ok," I said. "Where should I start?"
"Anywhere," Billy answered.
So I began telling my story from the day I met Raven, all the while sipping my coffee. I told them about Hojo and the job offer he gave me. I told them how I handed Raven over to Hojo because I thought Hojo could cure him. I told about Nanaki, the lab experiment in the tank I was "guarding". I told about my capture and how I met Hikorai. I went through how I witnessed Midgar's destruction. And then I told about my transformation in Kalm. I had to pause for a moment and buried my head in my hands.
"I never got to see my parents before they died," I said in full realization, voice cracking as I said it.
"Want me to take over, kupo?" Bibble asked, putting her tiny moogle hand on my shoulder.
"Sure," I nodded. It was like my voice decided to quit halfway through the word. It was right then that I realized just what I'd done. And it made me feel like a monster.
"Later in the day, kupo," Bibble continued the story where I left off, "We went back to Midgar to see if we could find Hikorai's Magecite. We were lucky enough that we actually managed to find it. We spent another few hours looking for Miss Moira's scythe, kupo, but we couldn't find it. After a whole day of searching through Midgar, we left and started walking here. And the reason we got here so fast was because I was teleporting us most of the way. Then we found this ranch, kupo, and you already know the rest."
"Is this the part with the pitchforks?" Grandpa wondered out loud.
"Ya, I found Moira in the barn, looking at the gold chocobo," Billy explained, "I thought she was a monster, so I waved the pitchfork at her. Which, thinking about it now, makes me feel like an idiot."
"No," I replied, "You were right."
"Uh... about what?" Billy asked.
"I don't have any right to be here," I continued, "I am a monster."
"Now don't go feelin' sorry for yerself!" Grandpa scolded.
"Ya, kupo," Bibble added, "You know that it's not your fault."
"I still can't help feeling this way," I replied, finishing off my coffee, "I mean how would you feel if your home town was destroyed at your hands."
"I'd feel pretty crappy," Bibble answered, "But it's still not you're fault, so stop blaming yourself."
"Yea, that's just the shock, stress, and depression talking," Billy added. "You've had a hard week and a very long day, so why don't you go over to the bedroom and rest a while?"
"Ok," I answered as I got up off the chair and started walking towards the bedroom. Bibble soon followed, floating close behind me. Then as I walked over to one of the beds, Bibble floated up to my ear.
"You know, you really should think too hard about it, kupo," Bibble advised, "If you analyze it too much, you'll just make your emotional situation worse."
"It's not like I can help it," I said back softly and sat down on the soft, cushy bed, "Wow a bed."
"See? It's not all bad, kupo," Bibble assured me, "Just lay down, take a nap, and everything will be different when you wake up."
"Maybe you're right, Bibble," I replied as I lay down on the bed and made myself comfortable. "Good night."
"But it's mid-afternoon," Bibble pointed out.
"Then it'll probably be night when I wake up," I groaned, already starting to fall asleep. "Later, Bibble."
"Ok, Miss Moira," She answered.
I then felt my mind fall back into the deep darkness. I was again alone in darkness, but I didn't mind it. I didn't look for Hikorai this time. Instead I aimlessly stared out into the black space and pondered.
"Should I really be allowed to live like this?" I wondered in thought, "A walking disaster waiting to happen? What if I lose control again? What will I do?"
"You should not strain yourself with too much thought," said a familiar voice from the dark. "You might think yourself into thinking that you caused everything."
"How would you know what I'm thinking?" I replied, already knowing who it was, "And besides, what's left for me to do other than think about what's happened?"
"I cannot read your thoughts like your moogle friend, but your expression is unmistakable. You are much too melancholy, even for the situation we are in," Hikorai answered, appearing in front of me, "You could try to think about what you should do next."
"And what should I do next?" I looked up at her, "I'm not sure if I'll ever find Raven again. He could be anywhere. And I have no idea how I'm gonna find a way to separate us."
"I see," she replied, "There is stress coming from both the past and the future."
"Ya, and the present isn't all that great either."
"Really?" She said, raising her left brow, "Were you not reunited with an old friend today?"
Then I felt like my face was smacked with a big wave of "duh".
"Jamie," I remembered out loud, "I forgot all about him."
"And is it not true that your moogle friend has stayed with you through this entire ordeal?"
"That's true," I agreed, "Bibble has stayed with me. And now I'll also have Jamie with me."
"And you must not forget that I am also here," she assured me, "It may not have been my choice to be here, but I am here for you nonetheless."
"Thanks," I smiled, "My past pretty much sucks, and my future looks pretty hopeless."
"So what will you do about that?" Hikorai asked.
"Live with it, I guess," I sighed, "Nothing else I can do."
I shut my eyes for a moment and then opened them again, but when I did I was in the chocobo ranch, lying in the bed. I turned over to face the ceiling, and stared at it for a while. I knew it must've been pretty late at night, and it was very dark in the room, but I could see the details in the ceiling pretty well.
"Hmm. Cat night vision," I concluded in thought, "Wonder where Bibble is?"
I looked around and saw Bibble asleep in the next bed over. She looked a little silly, such a small creature sleeping in a bed meant for a full-sized human.
I sat up and looked around. I was too wide-awake to go back to sleep, so I decided to get up out of bed and walk out of the room. I then found myself walking out of the house. I didn't see Billy or Grandpa Bill as I went, but it didn't matter at the moment.
As soon as I stepped outside the door, I looked over at the chocobo pen. Three of the four chocobos were missing.
"I guess Billy let the others go," I assumed.
I looked closely and saw Jamie sleeping in the corner of the pen closest to the house. He was sitting down on the ground with his head buried in the feathers on his back. Seeing this, I decided to go somewhere else, not wanting to disturb his peaceful sleep.
I walked around the back of the house, looking over at the mountains in the distance. The sky was clear of clouds and full of stars, which was surprising to me. I wasn't used to seeing a clear sky anymore, living in Midgar as long as I did.
Then I heard a noise coming from around the corner of the house. It sounded like footsteps coming from a large animal, and it sounded like it was walking towards me. I braced myself for an attack. I was surprised when I saw what walked around the corner.
"Jamie?" I said, recognizing the chocobo as it came walking towards me.
"Warrrk," He trilled and nuzzled his head on my face.
"I was just enjoying the view," I said, looking up at the sky. "I'd forgotten what a star-filled sky looked like."
"Wark?" Jamie asked, looking at me.
"Living in a big city, like Midgar, there's too many lights to see very many stars in the sky, even on the clearest nights."
"Wark," he replied, looking up at the sky.
"It's beautiful," I commented, "I hope I can always look up at the sky and see the stars. It would be a shame if something happened where I couldn't."
"Miss Moira?" Called a small voice from around the corner.
"Bibble?" I called back as Bibble came floating around the corner.
"I woke up not long after you did, kupo," she explained before I could ask, "I wanna look at the stars, too."
"Well, here they are," I replied, looking back up at the sky.
"Well, actually, Miss Moira," Bibble started, "I was thinking that since we're all awake now, maybe we could start getting ready to go now?"
"I don't see why not," I answered. "I'm all rested. How about you, Jamie?"
"Wark," Jamie nodded. Then he bent down, lowering his body so I could get on.
"Bareback?" I wondered.
"Warrk wark warark," Jamie squawked.
"He said he never really cared much for saddles, kupo," Bibble translated.
"Oh, ok," I replied as I hopped onto Jamie's back.
"Do you mind if I ride with you, kupo?" Bibble asked, "I can't fly as fast as a chocobo can."
"No problem," I answered. She immediately flew down and sat down in front of me where Jamie's back and neck met.
"Alright, Jamie," I said, "Let's go."
Jamie then walked back around the house, heading to the west. After passing the house, he started picking up his pace, going from walking to jogging and then finally to sprinting. As he went faster, he lowered his head and lifted his wings. All the while I pressed myself down, though careful not to crush Bibble under me. As he reached his top running speed, he opened his wings and took off.
We soared higher and higher, until the ranch looked like a doll house set. I looked down at Bibble to see if she was ok. She looked very happy, feeling the wind in her face. Her pom-pom dangled in the wind, much of the time hitting me in the chest, but it was soft, so it didn't bother me. Then she looked up at me.
"Are you ok now, Miss Moira?" Bibble asked, "Did sleeping help?"
"Yea it did," I answered, "I'm sorry if I worried you."
"That's ok, kupo, you just have to watch out when you start thinking too much about your situation."
"You're right," I replied, "It's not gonna be easy, though."
"Whatcha gonna do now, kupo?"
"I'm gonna do what I set out to do," I answered, "I'm gonna look for a way to help Hikorai go back to being dead, and I'm gonna look for Raven."
"But what if you never find them?"
"I'll worry about that later," I said, "Right now, I just wanna get this search started."
"Ok, kupo," She replied and then went back to enjoying the wind. "You can say that we're kinda having an adventure."
"Really?" I replied, "What makes you say that?"
"Well, kupo, we're going to see lots of neat new places along the way. We'll be having all sorts of new experiences, and we'll meet all sorts of new people."
"I suppose you're right," I said, "This flight over the swamp would just be our first step."
"Beyond the swamp is the mountains, kupo, inside which is a place called the Mythiril Mines."
"Do you know what's beyond the mountains?"
"Nope."
"Great," I groaned.
We flew over what looked like a giant swamp. I thought I saw something large slithering through it, but I dismissed it and looked ahead. All I saw was mountains stretching to the left and right in front of us, so I had no idea what to expect ahead. It didn't really matter, though. All that mattered was starting the journey, taking the first steps, and starting the search for what I'd promised to find.