Chapter 2
"That's where we're going next?" the incredulous boy asked his chocobo.
"Wark?"
At this redoubtable reply the gypsy boy smiled and patted his steed.
"Yeah, I was wondering that too. How do they see the sun under there? How do they get fresh air?"
The two creatures, boy and bird, sat staring at the gigantic monolith of Midgar, some thirty miles away and already visible. All around, even at this distance, the town had sucked the surrounding land black and withered. Joe had never seen anything like it in all his short years of travelling. The idea of going under those gigantic plates frightened him a little, and he rested a hand on the black chocobo's neck to comfort himself.
The bird seemed to understand his brother's fear. His pushed his head under Joe's idle hand and gave a small cluck. Joe smiled slowly and nodded in agreement.
"Yes, I guess it does look like a gigantic mushroom, doesn't it?"
The boy laughed, and if chocobos can laugh, the one he was astride surely did.
"I will not be alone, eh Teioh? We'll face the mushroom together! And then we'll eat it!"
All this talking of food had made both the youths hungry, and without even a command the chocobo turned and headed back for camp. Grumbling stomachs, much like warks, are a universal language.
---
Within two days the caravan had reached its destination. Midgar was much harder to laugh at when the full unholy glory of the city was stretched out before you, rearing into the sky like the direct opposite of the Iifa Tree of legend. The wagons were drawn closer and closer to the gaping maw of the metropolis with each passing mile, the shadow the city cast threatening to take them all in and never let them go once enmeshed.
Joe wanted nothing better than to bolt out of line and ride Teioh somewhere far away from this ominous city, but he had unfortunately been put in the middle of the caravan so that he could tend to the unhappy chocobos as they neared the town. Black clouds of dust rose up from under their plodding feet, nearly choking both birds and men. There was no vegetation anywhere. The city wasn't a mushroom; the gypsy child understood that now. It was a gigantic leech.
The caravan rolled onwards, and soon the entire motley group was passing through the Sector 3 gates. Most of them didn't know this, as illiteracy ran high in the camp, but it was a way into the city, and that was all that mattered.
Joe felt like he was stepping into a giant corral, great glass walls rising to hem him in and break his spirit. A lengthening shadow had fallen on the group since they arrived at the city, but the boy had still been able to see the blue sky and the sun. Now even they were slowly receding, disappearing more and more behind the plate with every step Teioh took forward. A great suffocating weight fell on him. If this was how it was at the gate, how would it be when he was in the heart of the city? Fear gripped at his heart like a vise, and it was all the young boy could do to stay on the back of his bird and keep moving forward.
He took one final look over his shoulder as they crossed into Sector 3, trying to burn the look of the blue sky into his mind. Then he was jostled onwards by the crowd, and the heavy iron gates slammed shut behind them with a mighty clang. No turning back now.
They were inside Midgar.
---
If the outside had looked intimidating and frightening ... the inside was merely soul-crushing and depressing. Everywhere piles of rubbish and debris stood, looming like perverse imitations of the mountains Joe and Teioh both loved so much. Coal dust and other pollution lay thick over every surface. Nothing grew because of the lack of sunlight and fresh air. Any humans that stayed too long were usually short lived; pneumonia, rickets, and other various diseases ran rampant. The only things that flourished in the slums of Midgar were hopelessness, crime, and the monsters that swarmed thick in the no man's lands between sectors, feeding on rubbish and unwary vagrants.
Joe had never dreamed in all his short life that there was anywhere as bad as this place. His entire existence had been spent outside, first with the chocobos and then with the freedom-loving gypsies. He wondered why the performers were even there; he knew they must hate this as much as he. He moved Teioh up beside one of the wagons and yelled at the driver.
"Claude, why are we here? Aren't there enough villages on the outside to keep us out of this wretched place?"
The other boy, ten years his senior, looked even paler than his young comrade. He shook his head sadly and gestured to the plate.
"Some rich man up there heard about us and wants to see the show. Shin- Shinree or somethin' like that. He's willing to pay more money than any of us has ever seen, if we'll just come and perform for him and his kid. We can't pass up this kind of money, even if it IS in the cursed city." He spat into the black dirt of the road to emphasize his point and turned his attention once more to guiding his caravan through the mine field that passed for a road in this dark place.
Joe nodded and went back to ruminating. With more money he could buy a shiny new show saddle for Teioh, and some clothes that didn't itch ...
"... And more greens than you could possibly eat," Joe whispered to Teioh conspiratorially.
The bird's eyes brightened noticeably at this, but he kept quiet and continued to plod onwards, the very model of a calm, demure bird.
Their journey through the slums continued, and the further they went, the more gut-wrenching the levels of poverty and decay became. Families living in ramshackle hovels came out to beg. Other pedestrians and carts whizzed by, leaving only clouds of soot to mark their passing. Every once in awhile a car would come clanking and honking by, nearly terrifying both the chocobos and Joe to death. The paved surfaces hurt Teioh's clawed feet, used to green grass and soft mud.
Once, while they were waiting for some traffic to clear so the wagons could move forward, Joe saw an odd sight. Next to the busy pathways stood a girl just about his age, looking immeasurably sad. She wore bright makeup and a pretty dress; she looked like she might even have a good life somewhere. Why, then, did she seem so miserably unhappy? The expression on her face nearly broke the boy's heart.
"Hey!" he shouted from Teioh's back, waving one hand at the girl. "Cheer up! Life's not THAT bad, eh?"
The girl eyed him sadly and continued to stare into the traffic, ignoring the chocobo-riders completely. After a few moments an older man who looked to be her father walked up.
See? She's got a father! Why does she have to look so blue?
Then the man handed her a handful of gil and the two disappeared off into the crowd.
Joe stared shocked at the space the girl had occupied only moments before. Then the traffic moved on, and Joe clucked to Teioh, continuing onwards with a bowed head.