Start Date: June 24, 2022
Windwillow
Final Fantasy VII
As it turns out, Shinra's threat to the Planet may be dwarfed by Sephiroth's. While Shinra intends to drain the Planet, Sephiroth seems to want to outright destroy it... or whatever his plans are, they have more malice than Shinra's greed. The task now is to fight both the threats at once...
But first comes Sephiroth, if they can find him. After revealing (most of) his past at the village of Kalm, Cloud has explained that five years ago both his life and Tifa's had been torn to shreds, everyone they cared about slain by the mad SOLDIER. Both to stop Sephiroth and fill in the gaps of their memories, they've resolved to follow the battle to whatever its conclusion would be.
After receiving a tip from a boy in Kalm of a "cool man with a big sword," the party has been directed towards the port city of Junon. To get there, though, they have to cross the Midgardsormr's nest, pass the Mythril Mines, and travel all the way to Junon.
But going on foot would be both foolish and suicidal; between the Midgardsormr and the vast distance, they'd need a new mode of transportation. What would it be?
Well, it depends on whatever works: leather or feather?
Chapter Sixteen: Chocobo Hunting
Scene One
The path to the southeast of Kalm was a rough one. It was hilly and rugged, but unlike the Midgar area there was actual life to be found and they encountered a few wild gazelle and zebras in the eastern savanna of the eastern continent. Never really saw a tree, but there were a few ponds dotting the landscape.
"Do we have to climb any more hills, or are we done?" Barret panted, hauling a pack of supplies on his back. "I never knew how heavy meat could be..." He'd been designated to carry their food supplies, while Red XIII carried their water. "Why didn't I get the water, anyway?"
"Because my back can't handle sacks of meat..." Red XIII deadpanned as he moved past Barret. "And it isn't like this water is light. Besides, you lost at roshambo." Lifting his pack over his back Barret angrily flicked him off.
"I still don't know how I lost when you don't have a thumb!" With a shrug, Barret kept walking. There was no point arguing, and to be fair, Tifa did the roshambo for Red XIII. Aerith and Tifa walked behind Barret and Red XIII, with Cloud taking point in the front of the party. Cloud's senses piqued, and he drew his sword. They weren't alone...
From behind the furthest hill, a pack of purple-furred wolves darted into view. Barret angrily plopped the supplies on the ground and lifted his weapon. He was not in the mood for anything else, and these punks were something else.
The six Kalm Fangs snarled and jumped forward. Barret began to unload, but the nimble beasts deftly evaded his shots. As they approached he stopped firing and readied an explosive charge, his barrels heating.
Barret swung with his Gun-arm, and while the blast killed one Fang, the others simply bounded around it. One of the Fangs opened its jaws and clamped onto Barret's leg, dragging him to the ground with a bite wound.
As Barret dropped, Aerith snapped her staff open and smacked the Fang attacking Barret, managing to dislodge it. When it bounced back and came for her, she knocked it off balance with a quick swipe and threw her hand up to incinerate it with a blast of flame.
Three of them surrounded Tifa, formed into a tomoe pattern around her. Tifa shifted her eyes back and forth, and as they charged her she lifted her leg and sent one of them flying into the air, where she followed up and slammed it to the ground with her heel. Cloud gave the second a lethal cut, and Tifa ended the fight by thrusting her knuckle into the third, a violent explosion blowing it back away from her harmlessly (well, not for the Fang).
The final Kalm Fang snarled at Red XIII, slowly pacing around the former research specimen like the proverbial wolf playing with its prey. Red XIII wasn't cowed, content merely to light his mane like a candelabra. But then he slowly allowed the fires to fade.
Damn... I'll turn the water to steam if I up the temperature! And if I move too much... Tch.
With a roar the Fang leapt at Red XIII, claws extended. Red XIII lifted his paw and slammed it down, a column of earth lifted the Fang high into the air, unbalancing it, and allowing for Barret to give an explosive swing that hurled it to the side. As its body rolled and came to a stop, Cloud sheathed his blade. That fight was over, at least.
Barret narrowed his eyes, scanning the horizon. He came upon the sight of several horses grazing in a nearby meadow. They may not have had any harnesses, but it was a start!
"Hey, guys!" Barret called, pointing at the horses. "Think we could ride these things?" He placed the supplies down and slowly approached one of the beautiful steeds. "Here, horsey, horsey, horse-" He was met with a hoof to the face that send him flying back several feet, his body rolling on the ground before bouncing up and lifting his Gun-arm. "You son of a-"
He was promptly bonked by Tifa, sending him face first into the grass. As the dew wet his face, Barret angrily lifted his head and found Tifa's glaring at him. He knew that look...
"Don't hurt them!" Tifa scolded with her hands on her hips. "They didn't do anything wrong!" Barret stumbled to his feet, pointing at the horses and stomping them.
"It frickin' kicked me!" he shouted. "Just let me-" He was greeted with a downward swing from Aerith's staff, again causing him to fall face first into the dew-covered ground. Aerith swiftly snapped her staff shut, and stored it behind her back. Barret held his aching head and rolled on his back. "And you, too?!"
"They aren't monsters!" snapped Aerith, waving her finger at him. "And we only kill monsters, not innocent animals!" While Barret could argue against the innocent part, he was quickly forced to his feet as the horses began to gather, clopping their heels against the wet ground.
"Uh, guys..." Red XIII muttered, hoisting the water back onto his shoulders. "I think we aren't wanted..." With a furious neigh, the lead horse rammed Cloud from behind and sent him to the ground. As the horses began to gather, Cloud kind of started to agree with Barret...
"Ow!" Cloud snapped, staggering to his feet. "Okay, okay, we're leaving!" The horses seemed to understand somehow, returning to their previous activities. Barret hoisted the supplies back on his shoulder with a scowl.
"I ought to-" Seeing Tifa's knuckles crack, Barret gave up. "Sorry..."
Scene Two
Once safely away from the horses, the party continued on through the plains. The area was mostly flat, its climate warm but manageable. Red XIII had a different opinion; humidity didn't agree with him at all. Barret nursed his facial injury, gingerly massaging the bump on his nose.
If I say anthing else, I'll get smacked again... But, God damn horses... I should've...
"How long does this damned field go on?" Barret asked wearily. "Shouldn't we have found some trees to sit against by now?" Red XIII shook his head, mostly out of frustration. That had been the third time in half an hour he'd heard Barret complain.
"We're in a tropical savanna..." Red XIII groaned. "By definition, it's a large, flat expanse of grass with few trees. On average it has a fifty percent grass coverage, and two seasons: rainy in the summer and dry in the winter. Just be glad it isn't any dryer than it has to be! This weather is murderous on my fur..."
Barret wiped his nose, brushing away the blood that still remained. And his head still hurt, to boot. Bad enough Tifa beat him up, but now Aerith was joining in!
Y'know, I used to be the leader here... Show some damn respect, guys...
"Hey, Red XIII!" Cloud called. As Red XIII turned he saw Cloud extend his hand. "I'm thirsty. Mind if I get some water?" Red XIII stopped walking and allowed Cloud to withdraw a small water bottle from his pack. As he took a sip, Cloud began to choke. "Dammit, it's so hot! My throat's burning!" Red XIII shrugged and kept walking.
Just be glad there's still water and not steam...
They continued to move forward, finally reaching a small river. After pausing to relax with their toes in the water, the party moved on through another large expanse of grassland until they found a bizarre sight: a large pond with two huge, blue-skinned creatures with long trunks drinking from it.
"It's my first time seeing an elephant!" Aerith chirped, rushing forward to watch them. "I read about them before, but I never thought I'd-" She was stopped cold as the Elfadunk turned to greet her with sinister, glowing yellow eyes and a pair of gnarled tusks. "Oh, God, that one's a monster!"
The second turned with a similar glare in its yellow eyes, lifted its trunk, and shot a stream of water that knocked Aerith off her feet. Cloud drew his sword, and put himself between Aerith and the two monsters. Elfadunks resembled elephants, but had actually been tainted by Mako and turned into a violent predator. Barret lifted his Gun-arm and pointed it at the Elfadunks.
"Can I shoot it?!" he growled. Tifa helped Aerith to her feet as the Elfadunk blasted him off his feet with a shotgun-like blast of water. He rolled to his feet and locked onto the Elfadunks. Receiving a nod from Tifa, he began to fire.
Barret's fire downed one of the Elfadunks, and Cloud swiftly slashed the other, leaving it to fall lifelessly to the ground. As Aerith placed her hands over her stomach, she began to mend the injuries she'd received from the Elfadunk. She vaguely noticed a small creature to her left, a small woodland creature with a bushy tail. This one she recognized as a Mu, a monster.
Aerith rolled away just in time to evade the upturned earth that shot out like a fountain where she'd been standing. Still healing herself, she wasn't able to draw her staff. Before it could attack again, the ground beneath it rumbled.
Red XIII's materia lifted the Mu up on a pillar of earth, launching it high into the air. It landed with a thud back on the column of soil, finding Tifa staring down at it. She deftly bonked it and flicked it off the pillar with two fingers.
"Be lucky I don't do more!" Tifa scolded, turning to leave. The Mu rolled back to its feet, snarling, only for Cloud's Buster Sword to embed itself right in front of its face. It looked up to see a very annoyed ex-SOLDIER glaring down at it.
"I don't feel like carving up anything cute right now," Cloud growled. "Beat it." The Mu assessed its options, nodded, and dove back underground. He turned to Aerith and re-sheathed his sword. "Are you okay?" he asked, seeing her finish healing herself. She nodded.
"I'm fine!" she chirped. "It didn't hurt too bad!" She tilted her head, watching Barret hold his stomach in pain where he'd been hit. "Oh!" she chuckled. "Better fix you too!" Barret nodded, annoyed.
"Yeah, that'd be nice! My gut got hit with a frickin' shotgun! Would've been nice if you noticed me writhing in pain earlier!" Tifa put her hands on her hips and sighed.
"What a prima donna..."
Scene Three
Several meters past the pond, the party found a house with a stable situated in the middle of nowhere. There were three big, yellow birds happily frolicking inside a fenced in area. These were chocobos, well-regarded as some of the best rides in Gaia. The party stepped forward into the farm's entrance, Aerith clasping her hands in wonder.
"A chocobo?!" Aerith gasped. "It's my first time seeing one!" Barret inwardly grumbled to himself that the last time she'd said that he'd got a squirt gun to the gut. Aerith dashed up to the fence and began to wave to the chocobos. "Hi, little guys!" Tifa happily folded her arms and looked on.
The three chocobos perked up as Aerith spoke to them. They hopped a couple times and began to flap their wings. With a little hop in their step and a gleam in their eye, the chocobos danced wildly in a circle, amazing Tifa and Aerith with their beauty as they took a bow. Barret was less impressed.
"Think we can have some fried chicken?" Barret wondered aloud. As usual a bad idea, given that Tifa bonked him on the head again. After he whined for a bit, the party entered the farm house to find a portly man in a straw hat rocking in his rocking chair. The farmer hopped up excitedly, waddling over to greet the team.
"Hello, friends! The name's Choco Bill!" the farmer said with a bow. "Finest chocobo farmer 'round these parts! Uh... might be because I'm the only one, but hey! What brings you fine folks to my humble little farm, eh? Come to rent a chocobo?"
"Maybe, maybe not," Cloud said. "We just came here looking for a way to the Mythril Mines. We need to get to Junon..." Choco Bill's face dropped, as he waddled over to Cloud and shook his head vehemently.
"No, no, no!" Bill snapped, surprising Cloud. "You go to the Mythril Marshes and the Midgardsormr will eat you alive!" Tifa tilted her head.
"What's a Midgardsormr?" asked Tifa. Choco Bill ran to his bookcase and rustled through the books. He soon returned with one and opened it up to reveal the image of a monstrous cobra, the size of a small building, causing Tifa to gasp. "Good lord! How are we supposed to get past that thing?!"
"That," said Bill with a gleam in his eye, "is simple: chocobos. When you ride a chocobo, it's faster than any human can travel! Matter of fact, it's the only animal around here that can outrun the sucker! Even horses get eaten!" He paused. "Wild as hell, too. I don't recommend trying to ride one anyway." Barret held his head in his hand.
So I got a hoof to the face for nothing?! Damn frickin'...
"Then, can we rent a chocobo?" Cloud asked. "We have some money..." Choco Bill's face broke out in a wide smile, nodding fervently.
"We offer chocobos for a very affordable price!" Bill chirped. "For each chocobo ride, it only costs fifty thousand Gil per chocobo." As Cloud's jaw dropped, Barret angrily stomped his foot.
"Fifty thousand for those chickens?!" snapped Barret. "One for each of us?! You rotten, conniving, greedy son of a-" Bill shrugged, a smile still plastered on his face.
"I like to consider myself a capitalist!" said Bill proudly. "And if you don't want to pay, you can just tame some of your own!" Barret's eyes narrowed. That wasn't it. "Ah, but there is a fee for a chocobo detector. Go see my son Billy in the barn and he'll fix you up for a reasonable price."
Cloud didn't quite believe him. Reasonable for this guy could mean anything. But, lacking any other option, he agreed and the party departed for the chocobo stables. There they found a pack of well-bred and fighting-fit chocobos in the stalls, enough for each of them. Barret briefly considered hijacking them, but with a quick glare from Tifa, well...
Okay, ain't worth it.
"Hello, folks!" said Billy cheerfully. "I take it you were too broke to afford a chocobo, huh?" Barret growled, but said nothing. "Allow me to explain: there are wild chocobos around these parts. If you tame one, you can ride it! And if you do it right, you can even breed them! All it takes is the right nut! Those run five thousand per nut, by the way." Watching Cloud's eye twitch, he shrugged. "You can buy a chocobo detector for two thousand Gil."
Cloud thought for a moment. That seemed reasonable. Better than 50k for five chocobos.
"We'll take it," Cloud said with a smile. Billy took the money and rustled around behind him. He withdrew a round object with a green screen that took up most of its face. Billy's eye gleamed, a look none of them liked.
"Here ya go!" Billy said cheerfully. "Batteries cost 8k for a set." Tifa had to restrain Barret with both arms before he could throttle the boy. But, lacking a better option, Cloud traded the money for the batteries, which Billy clicked into place. "And you also need Gysahl Greens. They cost fifty Gil per pack."
This time Cloud nearly attacked the greedy little sucker, but withdrew the fifty Gil and offered it to Billy. Before Billy took it, he held his chin for dramatic effect. His eye twinkled as he put his fingers together in a ring.
"We sell them in packs of ten," said the boy. "That's five hundred for the set. Pony up."
"Oh, you rotten little son of a-" Cloud was restrained by Aerith, and he angrily snatched up the detector and turned to leave. "I've had enough! Go buy yourself a train set or whatever, I am not paying a cent more to you, you little weasel!" Billy's grin intensified.
"Guess you're gonna have to fight the chocobos, then," he said jovially. "Be careful, they bite when you try to tame 'em without some Greens." Before Barret could lift his arm, Tifa bonked him and began to drag him out of the barn. It wasn't worth dealing with him anymore.
As they started to exit, Tifa was called over by a small girl dressed in overalls and a cowboy hat. She was Chole, the daughter of Bill and Billy's little sister. Sheepishly, she fumbled around in her overalls and withdrew a small bunch of Greens.
"Sorry about my family..." she muttered. "We got hit hard when the economy crashed, and they went nuts. Just keep it a secret, 'kay?" Tifa nodded and the rest of the party left, though Aerith stayed behind.
"Hey, cutie," Aerith whispered cheerfully. "Can I borrow some rope, too?" As Chole tilted her head, Aerith began to giggle. "I've got an idea..." she said sweetly. Chole didn't like the way she said it, but retrieved a rope and handed it to Aerith as she left.
But that red thing can't... ooh, sneaky.
Scene Four
"Those jackasses are greedier than the damn Shinra!" Barret snarled, stomping his foot. "I should've stuff that lettuce right up that greedy little punk's-" Tifa bonked him again, and Barret stopped resisting.
"But that little girl was sweet!" giggled Aerith. "She even gave us some Greens for free!" With a grumble, Barret shrugged his shoulders.
Only decent person in the family...
Tifa slowly came to a stop. "Hey, Aerith?" she asked. "Um... why did you stay behind?" Aerith began to whistle innocently. Tifa's eye twitched. "I guess I don't want to know. Anyway... Cloud, activate that thing, okay? For the cash we paid it better work, or I might go back and throttle him..."
Nodding, Cloud clicked the button on top of the device. The green screen displayed a large circular grid, one that slowly widened with a beep for each movement. Eventually, the radar stopped as four yellow dots appeared with a small readout.
"We've got four about... a hundred meters to the southeast," Cloud muttered. He was just glad it worked. He was also hoping it actually led them to the chocobos...
A hundred meters southeast, there was a small fenced-in area that seemed to have been abandoned by the Choco family. There were, indeed, four large yellow chocobos wandering about inside the fence.
"I can't believe it worked..." Cloud groaned. "Maybe it was worth the Gil after all. Hey, Tifa, can you get the Greens ready?" Nodding, Tifa rustled around in her pack, but stopped suddenly as she heard a shrill shriek.
"Cloud?!" she gasped, causing Cloud to draw his sword and rush forward to find five large, monstrous ostriches called Levikrons appear on the horizon. Though not the most intimidating of predators, these were known to hunt chocobo meat, and their flaming pecks were not to be underestimated.
"Can I fry them?!" Barret chuckled, readying his Gun-arm. "I always liked white meat!" Before his barrels could warm, though, one of the Levikrons charged him faster than he could react. "What the flying-" Before he could lift his Gun-arm, the Levikron reared back and its beak caught on fire.
With a sharp peck the Levikron's beak tore a hole in Barret's Gun-arm, twisting its barrels slightly like it was bending a stick. The Gun-arm, damaged as it was, couldn't fire. Barret angrily slugged the beast and snapped its neck, but the remaining four were almost on top of him.
The first, and closest, one of the four promptly flew into the air with Tifa's foot on its neck, and dropped to the ground with a broken neck. She followed up by dropping her leg in a kick that knocked out a second, as Cloud cut down a third. The fourth and final Levikron loomed above Cloud, its beak flaming.
Not that!
Before the beak could connect, the Levikron was skewered by a spire of muddy rock. The stone retracted and the beast fell dead on its side, Red XIII angrily baring his fangs at its remains. With all five Levikrons dead or dying, Barret turned his attention to the damage on his right arm.
One of his Gun-arm's barrels had been ripped open, a deep gash scarring half the remainder, leaving it torn and too damaged to fire. Barret furiously pointed his weapon at the Levikron he'd killed, but Tifa grabbed his arm and wrenched it away.
"You're just going to blow the damn thing up!" snapped Tifa, dragging Barret to his feet. "And we can't lose you! We need you!" Barret shrugged her off, inspecting the damage more closely. And, not liking the result, he stomped his foot hard onto the wet ground.
"Damn!" he cursed, his good fist clenching. "So that's it?! I'm useless?! Without my Gun-arm, I can't-" Barret had a flash of inspiration and turned to Cloud. "Lend me a materia! Any one will do, just-"
"You don't have anywhere to equip it!" Cloud snapped, causing Barret to stop yelling. He sighed, lifting up his materia gauntlet. "See this? I've equipped the materia here so I can draw from it!" Gesturing towards Tifa, he directed his attention to her wrist. "Tifa's bracelet allows her to use magic!"
"Well, what about Aerith?!" Barret growled. "She doesn't have any-" Aerith clicked open the gauntlet on her right wrist, revealing four multi-colored materia. As she closed it, Barret snarled again, frustrated and, seemingly, hopeless.
"We can find a weapon smith somewhere," Cloud said, re-sheathing the Buster Sword. "Between here and Junon, there has to be someone to fix it. Until then, Aerith and I can pick up the slack at long range and Tifa can be a close- and mid-range combatant. We're just going to have to make do."
"Kweh!"
Cloud turned back to see the chocobos, all four of them gathered around him. One of them tossed a small red orb into his hand, and as he caught it, he examined it closely. It wasn't a Fire materia, and he'd never seen anything like it before. He didn't feel any magic from it at all...
"Tifa! The Greens!" said Cloud. Tifa nodded and offered the Gysahl Greens to the chocobos. They looked at it, took it, snacked on it, and sped away. "God damn it!" Cloud screamed. "Come back here, you ungrateful punks!" As they lost sight of the chocobos, Cloud's fist clenched around the materia.
So, what? We have to go back to that son of a bitch and beg for a chocobo?!
"Um... Cloud?" Cloud turned to see Aerith standing in front of him. "Can I see that materia?" He handed it over to her, and as she inspected it, she gasped. "Do you know what this is?! It's a summon materia! The chocobos gave us a summon materia! With this, we can perform a summoning spell!"
As he rubbed his chin, Cloud quickly understood. The chocobos hadn't abandoned them! With the red summon materia they could bring them from anywhere they liked! They gave them a new form of transportation anywhere they could find chocobo tracks!
"Well, we have the chocobos..." Tifa muttered. "But I just had a thought: How are we going to get Red XIII on a chocobo?!" Cloud perked up immediately. He hadn't thought of that! And since Red XIII didn't have thumbs, he couldn't just piggy back on one of them!
Aerith raised her hand mischievously. Cloud turned to her and saw Aerith lift the rope she'd got from Chole. He got the idea, grinned, and looked over at Red XIII with a rather naughty smile, one that Red XIII didn't like at all.
"Um... Why are you looking at me like that, Cloud?"
Scene Five
"I object! I object!" Red XIII screamed. "You can't do this, dammit! I'm not a-"
"Oh, quiet," Cloud said with a grin as he finished tying Red XIII to Barret's back. Neither Barret nor Red XIII were pleased with the arrangement, but necessity was the mother of invention. Aerith suppressed a giggle, provoking a death glare from each of the mutual captives. Tifa was cautiously amused. Sort of...
So that's what the rope was for... Geez, Aerith. You're sort of mean.
"Why do I gotta carry him?!" protested Barret. "I mean, I-"
"You're the strongest," deadpanned Cloud, "and you aren't going to be doing much anyway. May as well make yourself useful." As Barret flicked him off, Cloud nodded to Tifa and Aerith. With Red XIII... secured... that left the deed itself. "I'm activating the summon materia!"
Clicking the chocobo's summon materia into his gauntlet, Cloud lifted his left arm and pumped it. From the materia they heard a whooshing sound, followed by flash of light that ended with four chocobos ready to be mounted standing right ahead of them.
With a nod and a wink from Aerith, Cloud and the others mounted their steeds. Red XIII continued to flail about, but a stern glare from Tifa withered his resolve and he gave up. Barret held onto the reins that the chocobos had been so gracious to provide, struggling to carry his passenger. They'd had to limit the amount of food and water they could carry, though.
With a sharp "Kweh!" the convoy set out. As they did the speed of the chocobos impressed all of them, moving at several meters per hour, fast enough that it seemed reasonable they could evade whatever the Midgardsormr could throw at them.
"We're making good time!" yelled Aerith to Cloud. "Even Red XIII's having fun!" As he hugged onto Barret tightly, Red XIII shot a death glare in Aerith's direction, though he said nothing. "I can't believe how fast we're going! Look, we're already inside the marshes!"
The soft ground of the marshes clapped against the chocobos' claws, kicking up water at a rapid pace. Their speed was amazing, easily moving fast enough to outrun the Midgardsormr.
Except the Midgardsormr had a different opinion. With a violent roar, the monstrous cobra burst from the marshes. It was just as big as Bill's illustration showed: big, muscular, and mean. And it was less than happy at the party's intrusion.
"What the flying-" Barret screamed, shaking his head. "The damn thing's frickin' gigantic! If it catches us, we are so-"
"Then make sure it doesn't!" snapped Cloud, speeding up his chocobo. "We have to outrun it, 'cause we can't outfight it!" The Midgardsormr's speed was like lightning, slithering through the wet marshes with the grace only a serpent could muster.
But the chocobos were faster still! Darting and weaving, they evaded each snap of the Midgardsormr's fangs. As it approached, they broke formation and lost its trail several times. The problem was, they didn't lose it completely.
Cloud formed a ball of flame and tossed it at the snake, hoping to deter it. When the serpent belched out a flame strong enough to both fizzle his spell and ignite the marshes in a sea of flame, he promptly sped up.
The flames caused by the Midgardsormr's massive breath scorched the earth itself, coiling across even the water and accelerating closer to the party. Aerith recognized that none of her spells could stop it, if Cloud's Fire materia had only irked it.
"Red XIII!" Aerith exclaimed, tightening her grip. "Use your Gaea materia and shake it off!"
"Oh, so now you're asking me to do something?!" snapped Red XIII. "If you hadn't realized, you never gave me the option before latching me onto this huge piece of meat!" Barret scowled, but couldn't loosen his grip so he couldn't do anything about it. "Fine, whatever! Hold on tight, folks!"
The marshes trembled, both from the heat of the flames and the thunderous roar caused by the Midgardsormr. Red XIII concentrated and lifted up the earth like spears, aiming to skewer the beast.
Each time, however, it slithered around his spears, growing angrier each time. As flames licked its fangs, its speed accelerated. With its next attack, no amount of speed could prevent its coming.
"Do something else!" Cloud shouted. "If the spires don't work, why not just smash its head in or something?!" The idea was alluring, and Red XIII eagerly concentrated all his power behind them.
They were almost past the Midgardsormr's territory; just a bit further and it could no longer chase them. But as its fiery fangs bathed in flame, Red XIII closed his eyes tight. Just as the chocobos passed a certain point, a huge wall of earth jutted from the ground, wide enough to cover their escape.
With its speed being so great, the Midgardsormr ran head first into the wall, stopping its assault just in time for the party to pass the point of no return. Within minutes, the Mines were in sight.
And so was another, more terrifying sight. The four chocobos gave a shrill "kweh!" and skidded to a stop, stopping just as short as the party's hearts. There was a tree there, the first they'd found since leaving Kalm.
Impaled on that tree was the titanic corpse of a Midgardsormr, bent back like it had been snapped in half and tossed onto the dead tree. Everyone, frightened, dismounted and stepped cautiously over to what used to be a Midgardsormr. As they did, the chocobos began to glow and dispersed into motes of light, but they barely noticed that.
While no one wanted to say anything, the words were clear in their heads: Sephiroth had been here, and he'd left a calling card. But after all the effort it had taken just to escape the beast, to think he'd snapped it in half and hurled it onto a pike chilled their souls.
"I, uh..." Barret stammered, trying to form words. "Now I see how he killed a Dragon... That is frickin' unreal..." The rest of the party concurred, but didn't have the ability to form words that could be printed. Everything that went through their head is over this story's age range.
"We, um... We're here!" Aerith said semi-cheerfully, choking back her fear. "Let's go, guys!" With no other option, there was nothing to do but pass by the gruesome spectacle and enter the Mythril Mines.
Author's Notes
The mental image of tying Red XIII to Barret's back had the same appeal to me as Aerith beating the living daylights out of the bandit leader, so I had to do it. Other than that, the only thing to mention is that I held back on the fights with the Levikrons and Elfadunks a bit.
They're close enough to real-life animals that I didn't feel comfortable lopping their heads off and mutilating them. Originally, I was going to have the horses act as enemies as well, based off Final Fantasy I's Crazy Horses. For the same reason as above, I dropped it. I got to injure Barret, so at least I got something out of it. Always fun.
Also, damaging Barret's weapon may be too off-script, but I have plans to upgrade it, so hopefully you won't be too mad at me.
As for the cellphone puzzle, I'm going to delay it a bit. There's a new character coming soon with her own puzzle, so I'm going to wait until after she appears to reveal the answers.
It also occurs to me I never gave any clues. Crud. Let me repeat them...
Cloud: 287-837 - Look carefully at his weapon.
Aerith: 356-937 - She plants, she cast spells, she kicks ass... Are any of those related?
Tifa: 432-836 - Her fist is mighty, in fact divine.
Barret: 285-538 - Can't figure out a good clue... shoot...