Chapter 5
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Joe had never like thunderstorms. From the time he was a little child the sound of distant thunder would send him scurrying for cover under the chocobo matriarch's wings. Maybe it was because he had been abandoned on a stormy day. Or perhaps he was just naturally afraid of them the same way some people fear heights. Whatever the reason, Joe always got a knot of anxiety when he saw storm clouds billowing on the horizon.
Today was no exception. Looking up at the sky from from inside the starting gate, Joe could feel the contents of his stomach rumbling and tossing nervously.
Why does it have to do this now? Why couldn't it hold out until we're nice and safe back in the stables?
The sky was an ominous purple-green colour, clouds broiling and spreading like the contents of an overturned oil tanker. What made this all the more sinister was the fact that the other half of the sky was as clear as a bell, and brilliant blue at that. It was unnatural, and Joe's superstitious nature immediately kicked in as he gazed heavenwards.
I hope that patch of blue isn't our luck. It will be gone soon; and then the storm will fall.
In the starting gate beside him, looking as snobbish and as confident as ever, sat Rufus Shinra, astride a shining chocobo that dwarfed Teioh in stature. The bird's feathers were the shade of a newly minted penny, and he seemed to be nearly bursting with energy and good health. Joe had never seen anything like him; he wondered if President Shinra had bred this fine fellow himself.
The copper-plumaged chocobo warked nervously and strained at the starting gate, causing Rufus to scowl darkly and swat him hard on the backside with his leather crop. The bird winced once in pain and cowered slightly, obviously used to his master's rough treatment.
Teioh shied at the sound of the whip, remembering how he had been struck, and Joe placed a comforting hand on his neck. It would be a long time before the black cob forgot the ill-treatment he had received, but the gypsy boy had promised that it would never happen again.
It's a shame that beautiful creature over there is owned by such a dog. The world is an unjust and cruel place sometimes.
The waiting seemed to go on forever. The late afternoon sun shone down on the track, heating the humid air to unbreathable proportions. It was like taking breaths through a warm, wet sponge, and Joe found himself wishing for the thunderstorm, even if it meant getting soaking wet.
That was already a given, though; his black shirt and hat were absorbing the sunshine like solar panels, making the youth sweat heavily. Some nice, cool rainfall would be good for a change, despite the unpleasant effect it would have on the racetrack. The approaching storm persisted in stalling, however; it was as if the rain too was waiting for the elastic gate to snap and signal the downpour.
Joe pulled his hat down lower to block the sun, wiping a trickle of sweat from out of his eye. Rufus saw the idle movement from the other side of the gate and laughed, giving his opponent a disgusted glance.
"Crying already, are you? You should be. When Gil and I are finished, you'll have so much dirt in your eye you'll be weeping mud!"
He laughed again, an unpleasant, squeaky sound. Joe ignored the bad joke and continued to stare at the track in front of them.
Why won't they let us run?? Are we waiting for the birds to molt or what?! Let's GO!!
Teioh sensed his brother's nervousness, and showed it by choosing that moment to aim a mighty peck at the mesh door that kept them from the track. Whether it was because of Teioh or just dumb luck Joe never knew, but the gate chose that moment to spring open.
The race was on.
In almost the same moment, a bolt of lightning split the heavens with a thunderous crack. The sun disappeared behind the pall of clouds, the track darkened, and the heavens burst open like an overripe watermelon. The storm had started, and with it came rain so thick that visibility was cut down to nil.
Joe could barely see the outline of the track's fence as they flashed by; everything other than Teioh's outstretched neck and the strip of turf in front of him was a watery blur. He wore no goggles, and was depending solely on his bird's instinct to get them through this race intact.
Rufus, on the other hand, wore racing goggles that fitted snugly down over the eyes when called for. For once his common sense had kicked in, and the rich boy had pulled his eyewear down shortly before the gates opened. He had his own troubles, though; Gil wasn't used to running in muddy conditions and was faltering badly, desperately trying to keep up his speed and balance as the mud sucked at his claws.
Teioh had no real trouble with the mud, being used to running over all sorts of terrain, but he still wasn't running at his top speed. The rain was the black chocobo's main problem, the bird being almost as blinded as his rider. Joe wondered how much longer either of them could continue the race in these conditions without risking a serious accident, and decided then and there that if it came down to money versus the safety of his brother, he would take the latter and be gone.
The fates had different ideas that day, however. The rain slacked off from a blowing gale to a steady downpour, and visibility rose almost as suddenly as it had dropped. The slick brown ribbon of the track appeared before Joe's eyes, while underneath him Teioh jumped forward as if shot from a cannon.
His speed was blinding, and Joe's hat was blown back in the wind, the only thing stopping it from fluttering off into the mud the elastic band wrapped snugly under the boy's chin. He whooped and cheered Teioh on, his long black hair whipping in the wind of their passing.
"Wheeeeeee!!! Faster brother, faster!!"
Teioh, always eager to please, sped up a notch, clearly enjoying this release of his energies. The two were having so much fun they almost forgot about the competition..........until Gil's head suddenly appeared at the black chocobo's flank.
Rufus was whipping the bird as hard as he could, slashing away with the crop in one hand while hauling away at the reins with the other. And despite the brutal treatment his rider was dishing out, Gil was gaining, and running to win. Another push of the strong legs, and the copper-feathered wonder was beak and beak with Teioh.
The two stayed even for a moment, and then Gil's body shot forward again, leaving Joe and Teioh to stare in wonderment at the bird's tail bobbing away in front of them.
Joe let out an anguished cry.
"NO!!"
Teioh's eyes narrowed down to blue slits. With an angry wark, the chocobo rocketed forward, nearly unseating his young rider as he heaved forward on churning legs. If he had been going fast before, he was positively flying now. Joe felt the bird's muscles bunching and releasing frantically underneath him, and he knew there was no way anyone could control his brother at this moment. It would be like trying to guide a meteor through it's orbit.
The world began to blur, colours blending and bleeding together as Teioh reached his top speed. Joe was hanging on for dear life now; he knew they had passed Gil and his rider when a bright spot of burnished copper flashed by his watering eyes and disappeared into the background.
By the time bird and rider hit the finish line, they had broken all of the standing records for chocobo racers, and had left a stunned crowd of racing afficianados and gypsies in their wake.
Joe up in his stirrups and yelled into the chocobo's earholes frantically.
"It's over brother, it's over!! You WON!! WE won!!"
Teioh kept up his blinding pace for a few seconds more, then slowed down, feathers streaked with sweat and mud. He had given it his supreme effort and come out on top, just like Joe knew he would. No one beat Teioh - no, not even an expensively trained racing bird like Gil. Still, the other chocobo had given them a good fight, even if the same couldn't be said for his rider.
Joe turned Teioh around to greet the other racer as he crossed the finish line, expected to see a throughly beaten but still racing Rufus and Gil.
Instead, all he saw was Gil crumpled in the mud of the racetrack, Rufus kicking his fallen form like it was a feathered soccer ball.
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