Vyser: After many months of practicing and lying in a coffin underground, I've finally decided to update this story! So rather than get the banter around, I'll just say I don't own FFCC, I only own Drake as my own character. Without further delay, let's get this chapter going!

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Chapter 9: Ore and Trouble Brewing

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The fiery ground shook with each powerful step the huge Iron Giant took towards the trio. Then the unexpected happened, the Giant seemed to jump into air then brought its powerful sword down on the group who managed to jump out of the way at the last second. However the shockwave sent them to fall to the ground.

Kane just growled as he stood up quickly, that last attack had caused him to get separated from Ali and Drake. "Damn it Drake! If we get out of this I'm going to kick your butt!"

"Enough talking and more fighting!" Ali yelled as the Giant raised its might sword into the air once more.

Before the Giant could bring his sword down once more, Drake's shurichain quickly wrapped around it and with a powerful pull the chain wouldn't allow the giant to slam his sword. Ali and Kane turned to see Drake pull hard on the chain as not to allow the giant to attack. "I've got him! Get him before my arms fall off!"

With a quick nod, Kane and Ali charged towards the Iron Giant. Even though the armor was tough the attacks were getting through…that made the giant mad! With a quick pull, the giant managed to slam his sword into the ground in front of him sending a powerful shock that managed to send Ali and Kane flying off towards the side. And where was Drake when this happened?

"NOT AGAIN!" Drake screamed holding onto the chain while the iron giant swung the sword that still had the Shurichain on it.

Kane sighed loudly as the Giant lifted his sword from the ground. "If it weren't for the fact that the Giant is trying to kill us…it'd be pretty funny to watch Drake."

"Kane! Can you distract that giant for a few minutes?" Ali shouted from across the crater. In her hands, her racket was beginning to store energy.

Kane instantly knew what Ali was going to do, and with a quick jump to his feet, Kane began to charge towards the Giant. "You got it!"

'Oh man…I'm going to be sick again!' Drake thought as he held the chain with one hand and covered his mouth with the other. Suddenly, the Giant stopped waving his sword around. 'Thank you Lord!'

The reason why the giant stopped the swinging was because it was noticing that Kane was futilely trying to slash through his armor. A chuckle seemed to leave the Giant's hidden mouth as he raised his huge sword on the intent of slicing Kane in two. However before the Giant could bring down his sword onto Kane, a charge blast of white light slammed into the Giant's back causing it to accidentally throw its sword (along with Drake) to the edge of the crater. The sword managed to be stabbed into the hard rock. With a loud growl, the Giant spun around and glared at the cause of him throwing his weapon…Ali. Kane all the while was still slashing at the Giant's right leg while Drake…well let's just say that he's seen better days.

Drake wiped his mouth before he stood up and pulled his shurichain from the huge sword. "I swear that that is the last time that I do that crap!" Drake turned his head to see that the Giant was charging up electricity in its two mighty fists, and almost immediately Drake's eyes widened at the site. "OH CRAP! GUYS RUN!"

Kane and Ali looked confused and were about to ask why until the giant slammed his armored fists into the crater sending a powerful surge of electricity through the ground zapping Ali and Kane. Their screams filled the air above the crater as Drake watched them fall to the ground.

"Oh man…what a drag!" Drake sighed as the Giant reached for his second sword. "There's got to be something I can do!"

Drake panicked as the Giant slowly made his way towards the two down teens. His second sword seemed to gleam even through all of the smoke and steam that covered the island. The Giant raised his sword into the air aiming to slice and dice Kane and Ali into sushi, when suddenly a small flying rock collided with the Giant's head from the side. The Giant turned his thick head to see Drake tossing a rock in his left hand with his shurichain in the right.

"Come on you big piece of iron! Try facing a fighter that's still standing!" Drake challenged as the Iron Giant turned towards him and began to run towards Drake. Drake then ran towards the Iron Giant ready to give it his all! 'Only get one shot at this! So I better make this count!'

They both ran towards each other while the Iron Giant began to swing his awesome sword wildly. Just as the Giant swung his sword, Drake jumped to the ground and slid underneath the slash and passed underneath the Giant's legs. As soon as he passed the legs he threw his shurichain that immediately wrapped around one of the giant's legs. 'Perfect aim!'

The Giant turned to his right allowing the chain to go around his left leg, it was then that Drake ran in the opposite direction in order to get the chain to go around the Iron Giant's left leg. The Giant seemed to have some idea as to what Drake was trying to do, so in order to stop Drake, he slashed his sword around. Fortunately for Drake, he managed to see that coming and ducked to the ground to have the blade fly right above him.

"Thanks big guy!" Drake laughed pulling on the chain as hard as he could. "MOVE DAMN IT! MOVE!"

With a strong pull, Drake managed to get the Giant to fall forward making him drop his sword. Drake quickly ran over to Kane and lifted up his sword. "Let me borrow your sword for a while Kane!"

The Giant struggled to stand up; it was tough because of his huge weight. However, Drake quickly jumped onto the back of the huge monster with Kane's sword raised into the air, and with a powerful downward thrust, Drake forced the blade to pierce the back of the iron Giant's head. Miraculously the sword went through and the Giant just fell to the ground before it began groan in pain and then finally died. Drake pulled the sword out and wiped his brow of the sweat.

"SWEET! I TOTALLY ROCK!" Drake announced walking over to Kane and Ali. Drake knelt down to them as he scratched his chin. "Guess I better heal them."

"Ya think?" Kane asked scaring Drake a little.

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After some healing, hitting, and some more healing, the trio continued onward through the crater arena to enter a fiery haven for the myrrh tree.

"Didn't expect a tree in this place," Ali commented while Drake was rummaging around the tree.

"Should we get the myrrh drop?" Kane asked as Drake jumped into the air.

Drake quickly jumped on the ground before he ran towards the other two with a huge black rock in his hands. "Ore! I found Ore!"

Kane just sighed in relief at the fact that now they could get out of Mount Kilinda. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get the heck out of here."

"Very well…" Drake chuckled before Kane kicked him in the shin. "OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

Kane just sighed out loud. "For getting us into this mess!"

Ali just smirked as she began to walk to the same way the trio came in. "Last one to the boat has to sit on the bow!"

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Drake leaned over the side of the boat, making sickening noises, which could make anyone look away. Kane and Ali just laughed as they watched their friend. The captain of the boat had the ore right at his right side with a firm grip on the wheel and ore.

Kane shuffled some cards he had left on the boat before the scaling of MT. Kilinda. "I take it that our next destination is at the Fields of Fum…heard it's a great place to be during the summertime."

"I wonder if it'll be peaceful enough to stay there?" Ali questioned as Kane ceased his shuffling the deck of cards.

Kane just smiled and turned towards Ali. "You sound like you want to live there."

"Maybe I do," Ali replied before it hit her. "Oh, Kane…there was something I needed to ask you."

"Go ahead."

"Isn't there some place you've wanted to live?"

Kane closed his eyes as his mind pondered this thought. Then a few seconds later he opened his eyes and looked directly at Ali with a smile on his face to reply. "A place where people are as kind as the scenery is beautiful. A place where peace isn't just a pipe dream."

"…"

"Ali?"

Ali just looked away over the sea, Kane could only guess at what his childhood friend was thinking. He was about to ask what was up until a disturbance sat in between them. "Hey guys!"

"Drake…I take it you're feeling better?" Ali asked as Kane laughed loudly in their ears.

"Yep! And once we reach dry land I'll feel like a thousand gils new!" Drake announced before he quickly ran to the side of the boat once more and made even more of the horrible noises.

Kane just had a droplet of sweat appear on the back of his head as he watched Drake begin to make disturbing noises once more. "Guess he's a little short of gil to be feeling well."

Ali just giggled at the timely joke. "Nice one!"

"Anyway…what were we talking about?" Kane asked as Ali looked away to blush.

Ali just looked away from Kane, and before she could reply to Kane the captain yelled out to the trio. "We'll be landing soon! And it'll be free this time."

"Thanks!"

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The trio had embarked from the boat and was back on the road. Their spirits fully charged and ready for anything that was on their way…well almost anything. The fields they passed were a definite sign of where the trio was.

"To the left is a dungeon, and to the right is where the Fields of Fum are…" Drake pointed out as the trio looked at the fork in the road. "And I have no clue where the middle path takes us!"

Kane just walked towards the right path. "Come on, if we're going to choose from a town, a dungeon or the unknown…what would you pick?"

Drake just chuckled as he began to follow Kane and Ali. "Personally, I'd go to the dungeon to get a few treasure chests."

"And that's why you're not leading us Drake," Ali chuckled as the town of Fum came into view.

"Hey I got us across the river now didn't I?" Drake laughed sheepishly as the town sign was in front of them.

Soon the trio entered Fum; the huge Crystal gleamed in the sunlight, as did the fields filled with either vegetables or livestock. The people of the town looked peaceful as well and a calming breeze blew through the town.

Drake sniffed the air…apparently the nice breeze wasn't the only thing floating around. "Mmmmm! I smell me a restaurant! I'll be seeing you two love birds later!"

Drake just ran off as Kane and Ali growled loudly at the fleeing Selkie. "WE'RE NOT LOVE BIRDS!"

Everyone who was nearby turned his or her heads to see Kane and Ali blushing wildly and scratching the back of their heads. Kane finally managed to squeak out. "There's nothing to see here! Please return to what you were doing before!"

As the many groups of people walked away, two strangely dressed young men walked into town. The Selkie of the two had spiky black hair gently blowing in the wind while his gray camouflage clothes did the same. On his back was a strange racket that resembled a blue guitar. The other, a Litity, had long gray hair that wouldn't be long for a tall person; it reached down past his blue and gray like armor. On his back was a red spear that seemed to have a dragon molding on it.

The Selkie breathed in deeply as he stretched his arms and legs. "Finally we reached Fum! It's been a year since that incident in that overgrown mushroom patch but we've finally got a chance to get a new start." With a quick turn, he looked at his shorter friend. "What's the matter Seth? Don't tell me that you're still worrying about those people in the village?"

Seth, the Litity apparently was caring for he glared directly at the Selkie like he was going to kill the Selkie. "Zaku…of course I'm still thinking about the village! Our families are still there but they think that were nothing but cowards for leaving our dead caravaners in Mushroom forest!"

Zaku sighed out loud as he placed his arms behind his head. "I like to think of it as an opportunity. Now we're no longer chained to that village, we've got our own personal crystals, and we're able to do anything we want."

"Zaku…come closer," Seth sighed as Zaku leaned forward.

"Yeah Seth?"

WHAM!

Zaku stumbled backwards holding onto his head that now had a huge goose egg on it now. "OOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

Seth slammed his lance into the ground twice with an angry look on his face. "For getting even stupider than I thought!"

Zaku just rubbed his head, but his eyes took a quick gaze around taking note of a familiar Selkie in the area. 'Hey isn't that…naw, it couldn't be…yet I've seen that long hair before.'

"What the hell are you looking at Zaku?" Seth asked as he looked to see what Zaku was looking at. The next second Seth's lance fell to the ground as did his jaw at the sight he was beholding. "No…"

"Way," Zaku finished as Seth. "It has to be…"

"Alicia."

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Vyser: I am so evil aren't I? First not updating in like forever, than leaving you all with a cliffhanger. Although, maybe I shouldn't be as evil and update sooner…if you review.