Hello everyone! First off, let me just say I DEEEEEEEEEEEEEPLY, DEEEPLY apologise for not uploading anything for the past week or so. Most of this is because of homework, and just school in general. So, I will be trying to catch back up with my normal schedule, and continue to post chapters on a regular basis, however I cannot grantee me being able to catch up for a little while. Anyways, hope you enjoy!
That night, Light had another vision with the suit of armor, and began magic training, learning a few basic magic spells, for both of the magic types he had. Cooper and Aqua had also been able to learn a few new earth spells as well, along with Lilly being able to learn a few spells to cure poison, and another that increases speed, and learned a Mystic Mark, however, she didn't want to show the move just yet.
"It'll be my secret for the time being!" Lilly giggled, as she strode off. Later that day, they all decided it would be best if they started to scale the mountain at night.
"We wouldn't want to attract too much attention, otherwise if we did it during the day, some of them might prevent us from going up the mountain." he said, as he was sharpening his blades with some nether dust.
"That's true… But isn't there any other way up the mountain besides walking up it by foot?" Cooper said, as he pulled out a book about music marks."
"Hey, I've been wondering Cooper… Where do you get all of the books, we've never seen you go to a bookstore…. Lilly asked, as she opened up the window in their room.
"Huh? Oh, yea, I sometimes get packages from my mom that usually has a book or two that she thinks I'll enjoy… How any why she's able to get these books to me, I have no idea…" Cooper said, as he went back to reading his story.
"... There is one thing we could use to scale the mountain faster…" Aqua said, as he bowed, folded his arms.
"We could always use Chocobos." Aqua said, as silence filled the room.
"Oh yea, I saw a Chocobo stand a while ago, I heard they're really good at climbing up steep hills or mountains.
"OH! I LOVE Chocobos! I rode one when I was little, it was one of the greatest memories that I had from my childhood!" Cooper said, as he jumped up and down.
Light and Aqua laughed, but Light noticed Lilly looking a bit down.
"Hey Lilly… You ok? You're looking a bit down…" Light said, as he sat down next to her on her bed.
"Wha…? Oh, it's nothing… really." Lilly said, as her cat ears started to droop.
"Uh… Are you sure- Oh, I get it now, you're afraid of Chocobos aren't you?" Light said.
"Wa- No! Why would you think that!?" Lilly said, as she turned pink around the cheeks.
All three of them, except Lilly of course.
"Sure, and I don't know how to do Tinker's Construct! It's so obvious that you hate Chocobos!" Cooper said.
"...ALRIGHT! FINE! I hate Chocobos! HAPPY!?" Lilly yelled, and turned a bright red, and then sighed.
"...Ever since I was a little girl, we've been told stories about how vicious Chocobos can be. We were always told that one of our own was ripped to shreds by a Chocobo… And I've been afraid of them ever since. She said, as the entire room went silent, and fear was starting to fill the room.
"Hey, it's going to be alright. You can ride on my Chocobo if you want." Light said, as he patted her back.
"...No, I need to conquer my fear. Besides, if I don't, Gias will continue to feed off of my fear. So… Let's get this over with." Lilly said, as she stood up, and walked out of room.
"...Right, but there's one important detail you forgot: It's nighttime, and you can only rent Chocobos during the day." Aqua said, as Lilly stopped, and turned back around.
"...None of you say a word." She said, as she crawled into her bed, and fell asleep.
The next morning, they all got up early to rent the Chocobos and have a bit of fun before traveling into Mount Parkspark.
"Uh, hello, we'd like to rent 4 Chocobos for the day. We'll return them at Mount Parkspark's summit Chocobo spot." Aqua said, as he pulled out the Ore Chunks he needed to pay for the Chocobos.
"Alright then, pick whichever ones you'd like." The Owner said, as he opened the gates to the ranch. For such a small town; they had a very large Chocobo ranch. It was around 40x40 blocks, and had at least 20 Chocobos trotting around, eating the grass, or socializing. Of course, you couldn't understand them because they spoke the Chocobo language. They all scattered around the field, looking at all of them, seeing which one they liked the most. There were all sorts of Chocobo sizes and colors; small, green, normal size, pink, Aquamarine, and they all looked they were taken care of well. While they were looking around, Light noticed Lilly not looking around; in fact, he didn't see Lilly at all. He looked all around the field looking for her, until eventually he found her at the entrance, huddling in a corner.
"Alright you, time for you to face your fear missy, no more hiding in the corner for you." Light said, as he grabbed her by the legs, and dragged her into the ranch.
"WAIT! I'M NOT READY YET! NO!" Lilly screams, as she tries to dig her fingers into the ground, and kick Light's grip loose, but it's no use. He dragged her to a bright pink Chocobo that was talking to the grey colored Chocobo Light had picked. He picked Lilly up, who was still trying to get out of Light's grip, and placed her in front of the bright pink Chocobo, who looked at her with curiosity. Lilly on the other hand, looked as pale as a ghost, and was shaking like crazy. Luckily, since Lilly was so terrified, Light was able to let go of her, and she stood in one place.
"Go on Lilly, reach out your hand and touch its head." Lilly said, as Aqua and Cooper watched from a distance, with their Chocobos picked out as well. Instead of Lilly walking towards the Chocobo, the Chocobo walked towards her, and bowed her head, so that Lilly would be able to pet her. The ranch owner came up behind Aqua and Cooper, and watch the Chocobo and Lilly.
"Wow, in all of my years of owning this ranch, I've never see someone so terrified, and a Chocobo is so friendly. Once she's completed making friends with the Chocobo, come back to the front, and I'll teach you how to ride them. The owner then walked off, and Lilly started to reach her hand out to the Chocobo.
"N-Nice C-Chocobo…. Good C-Chocobo…" Lilly stuttered, as she felt the feathers of the Chocobo's head, and the Chocobo smiled, as she started to pet it more.
"See? This isn't so bad, now is it?" Light said, as he saw Lilly shake less and less, but still look as pale as a ghost.
"I guess so… But i'm still a bit squeamish around them…" Lilly said, as they walked to Cooper and Aqua, who were waiting for them at the front gate of the ranch. The owner walked to them, with a bunch of supplies, and set them down in front of them.
"Alright, let me show you how to equip your Chocobo with the necessary gear to ride them. First off, you'll need to mount your Chocobo with a saddle. Very simple process; just throw the saddle on to the Chocobo's back, and buckle the strap underneath its belly. Now, go on, give it a try all of you." He said, as he walked around, helping anyone who needed it. After about 5 minutes, they all had their Chocobo's saddles on.
"Alright, now it's time to learn how to ride. First and foremost you need to get on the Chocobo of course. Once again, very simple to do, just use the little stepper on the left side of the saddle. He showed them foot sized metallic petal-like thing.
"Now all you have to do is put your left foot in the hole, and hoist your right leg over to the other side of the Chocobo." He says, as he proceeds to do just that.
"Alright, now you all try."
Light was about to get onto his, but he sees Lilly looking like she's about to run off, which she does, but Light catches up to her, and dragged her back to her Chocobo.
"YOU'RE RIDING THIS CHOCOBO WEATHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT MISSY!" Light yells, as he dragged her back to her Chocobo.
"NOO! I DON'T WANT TO! AHH!" Lilly screams, as they get back to Chocobo practice.
Once they got the hang of riding the Chocobos, it was already about evening, so they decided to go back to the inn to rest up for the long journey ahead of them. By the time they woke up from their nap, it was around midnight. They all went outside of the inn to grab their Chocobos, Lilly still being a bit hesitant around them. They grabbed their Chocobos, and decided to make a sort of game plan for going up there.
"Alright, first things first, we need to get up the mountain, we'll head on the mountain trail, and work out the details when we actually get into Mount Parkspark. Understood?" Aqua said, as they all nodded.
"Good, then let's go. Onward for the next Jew of Hex!" Aqua yelled, as he started up the trail.
"Yea!" The three of them said together, and raced off after him.
