Disclaimer: I do not own any CSI related characters, nor any Final Fantasy 7 characters and anything Devil May Cry related. Any additional characters that appear during the whole story are more than likely to be my friends, so they pretty much own themselves. Oh, the chocobo is MINE! (Lord Williams School rocks!)
………………………………...
"KWEH"
"WHAT THE"
Yelina spun around quickly to be greeted by a large yellow bird. Surprised, she drew her gun, backed off and pressed firmly on the trigger, she did not fire, but she was prepared to. Beads off sweats fell of her forehead like rain. The strange bird cocked its head to the left, sweetly smiled and let out another kweh.
"Yelina put it down…" Holly calmly said, whilst making down gestures. Yelina backed off more and lowered her gun, but refused to holster it. "Yelina, meet a CHOCOBO!" Holly pointed to the bird, which fluttered its wings and chirped.
Scepticism appeared all over her face. THIS was their mode of transport? A… bird? She felt like running away that instant, but she knew she'd lose a heck of a lot of respect and would be plagued with taunting for weeks. Months even.
She had to reach this crime scene; she had to, for the victim. The victim needed justice. That's what Horatio always preached. Yelina made herself a vow- to ride a chocobo for the victim AND for Horatio. Horatio would admire her respect for the dead. That's what she kept telling herself anyway. Truth is: she was wetting herself at the thought of riding one. Tim Speedle is gonna PAY.
The MCPD marched up to the chocobo ranch. It was located behind the mountains near Midgar. A large wooden sign had the words 'the Temen-ni-gru Chocobo Ranch' written on it in blue and red paint. The name Temen-ni-gru stroke fear into the CSIs, but no-one could figure out why. They walked up the pebbled path and inspected their surroundings. In the centre of the ranch was a horrendously large tower. On the door to the tower were the words "CAUTION- do not enter!" and a very large lock. To the left were several stables, each containing several chocobo of many colours. On the right was even more stables, but were for private hire only. There was also a large rectangular plot of land were acres of gysahl greens grew and Chocobos played.
A teenager wearing black jeans and a maroon polo shirt with a logo and the words 'Lord Williams School' sewn on underneath strode up to the CSIs. She smiled, brushed back her dark brown fringe from her eyes and readjusted her glasses. "It's nice to meet you." She stuck out a hand which was accepted by a sheepish Yelina and shook it nervously. "I'm Beth, the co-owner of the chocobo ranch. I'm sorry; I'm still in my school uniform…" Beth laughed uneasily. "The owner Emma will be here shortly, as she's just come back from school as well"
Aiden was shocked beyond anything she'd heard recently. "Teenagers? Running a business? This world is seriously…. Warped"
"Earth to Aiden" Tim turned to the CSI "there is a giant meteor coming to kill us all. I think whether kids should run a business is the least of our concerns"
Aiden blushed and looked everywhere else but at Tim.
Beth laughed and shook her head, her ponytail brushing back and forth.
Beth made a follow me gesture to the group and made off towards the chocobo stables on the left. They strolled over to the large wooden stables where Beth stood waiting. Yelina, who was in the lead of the convoy of scientists, stood before Beth. The ground underneath Yelina was surprisingly… squishy. That isn't normal Yelina thought to herself. She looked down and realised… it wasn't normal. Beth couldn't help but giggle.
Yelina turned beet red. "OH SHIT"
"I think we established that" Tim cooed from behind her, desperately trying not to break down into laughter. Unfortunately the rest of the CSIs had failed to restrain themselves.
"Although," Beth said between giggles, "It is actually referred to as: Dung."
Among the chaos, someone entered the ranch. Holly was the first to notice, she cleared her throat and warned Beth. Beth abruptly stopped laughing and quietened everyone down. Yelina stared at her 'soiled' shoe, not detecting the stranger.
She came in riding a yellow chocobo, her short, dark brown hair swishing side to side as she moved into the ranch. She stopped in front of the gang and dismounted, her long black coat swaying as she did so. The teenager bent over and brushed some feathers from her dark blue jeans and her bright orange tee shirt. She glanced up and smiled sweetly. She lifted a finger into the air in a wait gesture. The random teen then took a large brown bag of the saddle of the chocobo and placed it on the ground, a glint of silver glinting from within. She turned around and walked up to Beth.
The two hugged and screamed. "EEEEEEMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAA"
"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHH"
The bemused CSIs gazed at each other.
"Hi! I'm-"
"Emma. We know. Sorry to sound rushed, but we have a homicide case to solve. Can we just take the Chocobos?" Yelina practically screamed with exasperation.
"Whoa! Hold your Chocobos! We'll get there!" Emma said angrily. "Let me put away my stuff first!" Emma took away her chocobo and released it into the nearby field.
"There is the issue of money…" Beth began. A widespread groan was her reply.
"We have… a pitiful amount called a budget…" Holly stuttered.
"Well! Since I like forensics so much, I let you rent them for free- as long as I GET THEM BACK!" Emma yelled.
Yelina looked at the group, who obediently nodded. Yelina turned and nodded to Emma. Emma turned around and unbolted a lock on the stable door where several black Chocobos were held. But all of a sudden a loud crash shook the teenagers and their guests. Emma legged it up to the tower with a very large sword in her hands.
And out of the tower burst a screaming chocobo and a ferocious three headed dog! It stood high above everything and was covered in ice shards. It growled and barked viciously at the petrified chocobo. Emma walked cautiously up to the mutated dog. She stopped beside it and whistled softly. As if on command, the dog stopped and backed away from the chocobo.
Yelina had had enough of this. First the shoes and now her underwear too. Funny enough, Tim Speedle had the same experience. From the stables the group could see Emma petting the dog, who then returned into the tower. She closed the door and locked the tower up again. She then disappeared briefly to tie up the chocobo.
Beth looked embarrassed. "OMG! I'M EVER SO SORRY! That blasted chocobo of Emma's, Y'know, Dante, he keeps trying to open the gateway to he- Erm. Yeah"
"Gateway to what?" Aiden inquired. Beth remained silent. The CSIs had entered a touchy subject. But Aiden wanted to explore, which made everyone want to shut her up. "What's in that tower to need such a freakin' huge MONSTER"
Emma mysteriously appeared by their side, her face gloomy. "You mean Cerby?" Oh, he's lovely really; he's just doing his job"
"Which is to guard…?" Emma glared coldly at her. Then smiled sweetly.
"Don't let it bother you…. Now, your rides…" The two teenagers grabbed the Chocobos reins and led them away. And so Chocobos and favours were traded, and the team of CSIs made their way out of the ranch.
Next Chapter: the journey