Chapter Eleven: Distant Relations?
Shortly after their escape from the Shinra building, the members of AVALANCHE had returned to their apartment in Sector 4, taking all of their personal belongings and papers. What they could not carry was burned, to keep Shinra from discovering anything about them. Marlene was visited, as well as Aerith's mother, to inform them of the decision the group had made. They were leaving the city.
Aerith's mother cried. She had disliked the idea of her daughter living alone in a church, and liked even less the idea of her wandering the world. It was only after Cloud swore to keep her safe, and Aerith secretly informed her that he was Zack's little brother, that she relented. She had liked the mischievous black-haired rogue, and had tried to be there for her daughter when they had learned of his fate. She also agreed to care for Barrett's daughter until they returned. Surprisingly, Marlene was the calmer of the two. The six-year-old sternly informed her father that if he didn't come back, or even if he didn't call in a while, she would be very mad at him. The others snickered under their breath as Barrett solemnly promised his daughter that he would come back. They bid farewell to Elmyra Gainsborough and Marlene, leaving Midgar far behind.
Much to Cloud's great regret, they left the motorcycle behind, along with the Shinra truck they had stolen. Heading out into the fields, they agreed to go north to Kalm first, to stock up on supplies. Which found them where they were now: Staring out across the Zolom Swamps.
"That's gross!" Tifa wailed, backing away from the gigantic stretch of mud and glop. The smell of rotting plants and god knows what else rose from the ground.
"Can't we just go across it?" Cloud asked, missing the look of disgust both Tifa and Aerith threw in his direction. Barrett growled out a laugh.
"Are you a dumbass? Not if you don't want to be eaten, idiot!"
"Huh?"
Red shook his head, saying quietly, "The swamp is so named because of the Midgar Zolom that lives there. It is an enormous snake, incredibly vicious, and would eat us all without a second thought. We are not strong enough to defeat it in a fight."
"You'd have to outrun it!" Cait Sith chimed in.
"Nothing's fast enough to outrun a fucking Zolom!" Barrett said loudly.
"Nothing except a chocobo!" Cait chirped.
"We don't own chocobos, shitfaced cat."
"But there's a chocobo farm to the east, isn't there?" Tifa asked. "Couldn't we go there and see about getting some?"
"That's a good idea." Cloud said.
"All right, fine." Barrett grumbled. "Lead on, Spiky."
"Wait, when did I become the leader?"
"Shut up and lead!"
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It took a few days of good traveling to reach the chocobo farm, but when the small cluster of buildings came into view, they were all grateful. Tifa and Aerith, along with Red and Cait, went to look at all the chocobos milling around in one of the pens. Cloud and Barrett went to find the owner, a wiry old man called Choco Bill.
"Excuse me?" Cloud called to the man, who was sitting on his front porch in an old rocking chair. The man looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.
"And what can I do for y'all?" he asked, standing and coming over to where they waited.
"We'd like to buy or borrow some chocobos. We're looking to cross Zolom Swamp." Cloud said.
Choco Bill laughed. "You want to go that bad? What, a young'un like you don't have a car, or at least a motorcycle, to take the main road with?"
Cloud twitched, thinking of the motorcycle they'd forced him to leave behind. They wanted to avoid the main roads, in case Shinra was looking for them. He forced himself to remain calm, saying instead, "We'd rather go by chocobo, if you don't mind."
"Fine, fine. How many you looking to rent?" Choco Bill asked, giving up on finding out anything about this odd crew.
"Probably four."
Choco Bill whistled. "That'll run you about 1,200 gil."
Cloud gaped at him, unconsciously gripping the pouch of gil in his pocket, all that AVALANCHE had. It totaled around 700 gil. What remained of Tifa's revenue from running the bar was locked in a bank account back in Midgar, run by Shinra, and they hadn't dared to go retrieve it. He heard Barrett curse colorfully beside him, and glanced at Choco Bill. "I… um… don't think we can afford that…"
"Well! Guess you're out of luck, then." Choco Bill shrugged, and turned to go back to his chair.
"Wait!" Cloud called. "Is there nothing we can do?"
"Well, I guess if you went out and caught four chocobos, I could lend them to you." Choco Bill said slowly. Cloud nodded fervently, and the wiry chocobo farmer smiled. "A'right. Go see m'grandson, Choco Billy. He'll get you set up."
Cloud sullenly turned, trudging back to where Aerith and Tifa were petting chocobos. "We have to catch our own chocobos."
"What?" Tifa asked. "You're kidding!"
"Nope." He motioned to the barn, where two teens were standing around, saying, "We have to go talk to some kid named Billy."
They walked to the barn, and the kids immediately came over to them. "Hi, I'm Choco Billy, and this is my sister, Chole. What can we do for you?"
"Your grandfather said we could ask you about catching chocobos." Cloud said drearily.
Billy laughed. "Don't you look enthusiastic! Well, catching chocobos is no easy feat! You'll need the proper equipment." He and Chole vanished into the barn for a minute or two, and returned with a bag full of stuff. Chole began pulling out each item in turn, explaining what they were for.
"These are greens. Chocobos love greens, so it's your best bet to get close to one. And, of course, when you're close enough, lasso'em!" She showed them the thick green plant, as well as rope. "That's the best we can do. Grandpa doesn't let us lend out the chocobo lure materia."
"Great." Cloud said.
"This'll be fun!" Aerith chirruped brightly. Tifa nodded in agreement. After all, how hard could it be to catch a few giant yellow birds?
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Two hours later…
"WARK!"
"Goddamnit!" Barrett roared. He dove at yet another frantically squawking chocobo, missing by a mile. "Damn you, bird!"
Tifa and Aerith were trying a gentler tactic. They let the chocobos come up and nibble on the greens, but to the same result. If any one of the birds caught sight of the rope, it squawked loudly in panic and raced away. All three sighed defeatedly. They had left Red and Cait back at the ranch, since Red scared the chocobos and Cait Sith wouldn't be much help anyway. Cloud was nowhere to be seen.
"This is just retarded!" Barrett said in disgust. "I bet those two bratty kids are hiding here somewhere, laughing their asses off at us."
"Where's Cloud?" Tifa asked.
"I hear chocobos." Aerith said. All three looked for the source of the sound, hoping for better luck this time. After all, twenty-eighth time's the charm, right? They pushed through a large clump of bushes and stopped in surprise.
Cloud sat on a tree stump in the middle of the decent-sized clearing, a scowl firmly etched into his features. At least ten chocobos milled around him, warking and occasionally pecking at his hair. It made for a very unusual picture.
"If I had a camera…" Tifa sighed wistfully. "I told him his hair looked like a chocobo…"
"Tell me they aren't worshipping his as a chocobo god or something." Aerith said, mirth lacing her voice.
"Why can't we just sneak up on them while they're occupied with Spiky there?" Barrett suggested. The girls nodded and began to creep forward. Cloud looked up, noticing his friends for the first time. If possible, his scowl deepened. Aerith raised a finger to her lips, indicating him to be quiet, and crept up behind one of the chocobos.
Within two minutes, they had caught four chocobos with no problems at all. Cloud was in a horrid mood, grumbling nonsense about how chocobos were the stupidest things to walk the Planet.
"Oh, but Cloud, be nice!" Tifa said, poking him in the shoulder. She had a huge grin on her face. "They might be your distant relations or something!" Cloud rolled his eyes, going to Billy and Chole.
"We got them. Can we go now?" he said shortly.
"Wow!" Billy yelped. "They're really hard to catch without the lure materia! How'd you do it?" Cloud scowled at him, and Billy relented. "Okay, never mind. So, you're all set, huh? Just bring them back by here on your way back from Kalm."
"Right." Cloud turned and walked away, leaving the two teens and the remaining members of AVALANCHE to stare after him.
"He seems unhappy." Chole stated.
"The chocobos mistook his hair for one of their own." Aerith giggled. "That's how we caught them so easily. Cloud distracted them. Not on purpose, mind you…"
Chole and Billy both laughed, and it was a good thing Cloud was out of earshot. He would have been furious. The remaining AVALANCHE members bid farewell to the children, hurrying to find Cloud and mount their chocobos, eager to be on their way to Kalm.
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Li: And a lighthearted chapter to set off the blood. Yes, my wolrd map is screwed. Oh well. I'm heading to New York with my high school band next weekend, so it might be a while before a new update. Enjoy these two chapters, and don't forget to review! Reviews make my world go round!