Chapter One:
Sunrise on the Vayle
The sun slowly crept up over the horizon, bathing the southern slopes of the Jacole Mountains in its warm morning sunlight. As Dalabrac hopped out of bed this morning, it struck him how it looked like the sun had just rolled down the mountainside before getting stuck in a mud hole and had started sinking. What a beautiful sight to wake up to!, he thought to himself.
But Dalabrac had a few things to take care of this morning that were more important than risking his sensitive sunburst-orange eyes to watch a sunrise. First among those priorities was waking up his friend, Adrian, and while Dalabrac knew that Adrian's allergy to water made the waking task quite easy (and, of course, quite funny) when a bucket was handy, he decided that this was not a morning he wanted to spend on the bad side of a cranky man who dwarfed him by over two feet.
An amused smile, almost mischievous, formed on Dalabrac's face. This was just the type of smile that Adrian would describe as "disturbing, for never should a hafling's mischief be mixed with an elf's grace." He began to deftly untuck Adrian's blanket from under his sleeping form. He still couldn't figure out how Adrian pulled it off, but somehow he always managed to wrap himself up in his blanket during his sleep. Once Dalabrac had unwrapped him, he grasped the middle of the blanked with both hands and chimed, "wakey, wakey, whitey!" as he yanked the cover off the long figure beneath, dashing out of the room into the small ranch's main hallway without so much as a backward glance.
The first sight that greeted Adrian's eyes that morning was that of Dalabrac's blonde hair, not even five feet above the floor, disappearing around the corner. He wasn't sure where his prankster friend would decide to hide his blanket, but right now, he didn't really care. Dalabrac may have always been an all-over-the-place character who could lack a lot of focus at times, but Adrian was thankful to live with a friend whose energy always inspired him.
Running his long fingers through his shoulder-length, dead-white hair, Adrian let a huge yawn escape his mouth before enjoying a good stretch. A gleam was in his grey eyes: today was going to be big. This was the day of the chocobo race he and Dalabrac would be a part of in the town of Vayne. In fact, this was the long-awaited first official race of the season, a day thousands of people in the land of Talbia looked forward to every year, when racers would make their fame, the daring would make their bets, and many more would make their week-long trip just to watch the final race in Terbius.
The smell of eggs cooking brought Adrian's thoughts back to his room, and he promptly stood out of bed and began making both his and Dalabrac's as the elfling prepared their breakfast. Knowing Dalabrac, Adrian would have time to spare this morning: they always celebrated chocobo race days with a big meal in the morning, and judging by the newly arrived smell of ham, this breakfast would be no different.
When at last he'd finished making the beds (minus Adrian's blanket) and tidied up their room, Adrian scurried to the kitchen, where indeed, a small feast awaited him and Dalabrac: an omelette for each of them, boiled eggs, ham, bacon, pancakes, fresh fruits, and oatmeal. No one could cook a breakfast this good faster than Dalabrac.
"Wakey, wakey, eggs'n bakey!" the elfling announced as he leaped into his chair and waited for Adrian to do the same. A grin grew on Adrian's mouth as he sat himself down and grabbed his silverware so that he and Dalabrac were perfect mirror images of each other. His grin was mirrored on Dalabrac's face as they spoke in practiced unison, "we thank holy Avalon for providing us with this delicious food, and to show it, let's eat!"
Despite the abundance of food on the table, Adrian and Dalabrac wasted not a second eating, besides the occasional small talk, and in barely half an hour they'd torn through every morsel Dalabrac had prepared that morning. So full were they at for what seemed like the longest time they could only sit there and sigh and grin. "Another delicious success, Dalabrac!" Adrian affirmed, "I couldn't be more full, nor my taste buds more satisfied!"
Dalabrac slowly stood on his chair and took a bow, saying, "thank you! Thank you! Always good to know one's work is appreciated." Hopping to the floor, he added, "now let's clean this place up before Wedge and Biggs get here!" grabbed a few plates, and dashed into the kitchen.
Adrian nodded as he slowly pushed himself out of his chair. Wedge and Biggs may be the best individuals to depend upon if you wanted your ranch kept clean and your chocobos cared for, but Adrian and Dalabrac knew better than to let the two believe there was extra food around. "How long until they arrive, anyway?" Adrian asked as he gathered up what was left on the table and brought it into the kitchen.
"They should be here in about an hour," said Dalabrac, who'd earlier caught a glimpse of the living room clock. "That gives us just enough time to tidy up the place, pack up, and ready the chocobos." Adrian had no doubt they'd finish early, and that was a good thing, because Wedge and Biggs had a habit of being punctual to a fault, and being as tall as horses, chocobos required some time to saddle up.
True to his expectations, in less than an hour they were fully packed and their eight-bird caravan was ready to go: two chocobos for riding, and four to pull a carriage wherein the two most important chocobos rode: Boco, Dalabrac's mysterious red chocobo, and Adrian's beautiful blue chocobo, Laguna. These two birds the ranchers considered as close as any brother, and they spent hours together almost every day training and enjoying each other's company. They were also the two that Adrian and Dalabrac would ride during the races today. Also true to Adrian's prediction was Biggs and Wedge's timing: just as Dalabrac fixed the last strap on Fallia, his chocobo for the trip to Vayne, the teenage twins could be seen walking up the dirt path leading to the ranch's front door.
"Great timing, you two!" Adrian called out as he leaped onto his chocobo Vorash's back. He tossed them the ring of keys to the ranch as he and Dalabrac guided their chocobos to the front of the caravan.
"We'll be back by tomorrow afternoon at the latest, tonight if all goes smoothly," Dalabrac announced over the clatter of chocobo claws and wagon wheels as they started off. "Make sure the house doesn't fall apart meanwhile!" As they brought the chocobos to a near-gallop, the two ranchers were sure they could hear Biggs's hearty and reassuring laughter.