Chapter 6 - The Highroad
Tara and Gian's trip down the Mi'ihen Highroad was not very exciting in comparison to their time in Luca. The pair encountered the occasional machina robot, wolf-like creature, flan, and flying beast, all of which were dealt with in short order. They paused when they arrived at the statue of Lord Mi'ihen.
"Tara, do you know who this is?" Gian asked. When Tara shook her head in response, he explained. "This is Lord Mi'ihen. He started a faction centuries ago, a faction that would become today's Crusaders."
"Ah, yes," Tara replied, "I know who the Crusaders are."
"Lord Mi'ihen's faction fought Sin at every turn, using unconventional means, namely, means forbidden by Yevon. Their ranks grew all over Spira. However, the Maesters didn't like that. They feared an uprising, so they branded Lord Mi'ihen a traitor. Lord Mi'ihen walked down this very road towards Bevelle, to challenge the Maesters and refute their charges. He actually did manage to convince the Maesters that he was doing a good thing. The Maesters relented, and made his faction an official arm of Yevon. That's how the Crusaders came to be."
"That explains the Mi'ihen part of things," Tara replied. "But why is it called a Highroad?"
"A couple of reasons were commonly offered," the guardian explained, "the first reason being because of the height of the road – I mean, take a look...we're pretty high up here! The second reason was that Lord Mi'ihen was reputed to have 'taken the high road' in dealing with the Maesters, instead of confronting them in...shall we say...a less diplomatic manner."
"So which do you believe, Gian?"
The guardian chuckled. "I kinda think it's a bit of both. That's what I've always believed, at least."
"You sure know your history, don't you?" Tara smiled at him. She then did a double-take as several large yellow birds ran right past her. "Whoa! What in blazes was that?"
"Chocobos!" The guardian had a huge smile on his face. "What, you've never ridden a chocobo before?"
"Ridden one? I've never even seen one before! We don't have these things in Kilika, you know! You actually ride them?"
"Oh Tara, you haven't lived! There's a chocobo stable down the road. You're in for a treat!"
"Gian, I don't know about this…" Tara seemed very nervous.
"Chocobos love people. They're the friendliest creatures in all of Spira! We'll find you a nice bird. You'll love them once you get used to them. Don't worry, just trust me. You're about to have more fun than you've ever had. And I know you like fun!"
"True... True..." she remarked, though her tone and expression were dubious "Still, I don't know..."
As the pair made their way further down the highroad, they saw the chocobo stable. Right next to the stable was a brand new building with a sign up top that read "Travel Agency."
"Hmm, that's new," the guardian noted. "I haven't seen that before. Let's go check it out."
They approached the building and they were greeted by none other than Rin.
"Welcome, Lady Tara and Sir Gian!"
The guardian smiled upon seeing his friend. "Rin, please tell me you have some coffee in there."
"But of course," the merchant replied. "I even have extra stock as I knew you both would be headed this way. And how is the Lady Tara?"
"The Lady Tara is fine," the summoner dryly quipped. "But she's also extremely nervous about riding these giant birds that her beloved guardian seems to love so much. First things first: let's get that coffee!"
"Ah, Lady Tara, you have nothing to fear from the Chocobos. If you've never seen one before, I suppose they could seem intimidating. Once you've been around them for a bit, you will come to love and trust them. Please, come inside. I have coffee for you both, straight from Kilika."
Gian was already halfway through the door. "You don't have to tell me twice!"
As the three sat down to enjoy their coffee, the guardian admired the decor of the building.
"This is a nice place you have here, Rin. When did you get into the travel agency business?"
"Very recently," the merchant replied. "It is my dream to open travel agencies all over Spira, with each travel agency having its own stores for weapons, armor, sundries… a one-stop shop for travel, if you will. This particular building is my first. I am pleased that you like it."
"If anybody could accomplish that, it'd be you." The guardian began to pour more coffee for the three.
As the trio enjoyed their coffee, a young girl entered the building and walked up to the merchant.
"The chocobos have all been fed and there is fresh water in all of the troughs. Is there anything else you need from me today?"
"No, Alyssa, I think that should take care of everything for today. Oh, I'd like you to meet the summoner Lady Tara and her guardian Sir Gian."
"Hello, it's nice to meet you both!" the girl greeted the summoner and guardian. "Will you be riding some chocobos today?"
Before Tara could protest, Gian quickly remarked "We would love to ride the chocobos today!" The guardian felt a kick against his shin underneath the table while the summoner had a sickeningly sweet smile on her face.
"Lady Tara, have you ever ridden a chocobo before?" Alyssa inquired.
"I'm afraid I haven't, and I'm rather uneasy with the whole prospect."
"Aww, don't worry, Lady Tara. I'll teach you everything you need to know. It's very easy. Let's go outside and we'll get started!"
Tara, Gian, and Alyssa exited the building and walked towards the back of the travel agency where the chocobo stables were. Several birds were walking around the fenced-in area as the three entered. One of the birds walked right up to Tara and laid its head on her shoulder, making a cooing sound - startling the summoner. Alyssa had to suppress a giggle.
"Aww, that's Coco! Look, she likes you!"
Tara nervously reached over to scratch the bird underneath her chin. The bird continued her cooing noise and then walked around in front of the summoner, hunching down low.
"What's she doing?" the summoner asked.
"Coco wants to take you for a ride." Alyssa could sense the summoner's nervousness. "Don't worry, Coco is very gentle. She won't do anything to scare you. Go ahead. Climb on!"
Tara nervously threw her leg over the bird's back and settled into riding position. Coco stood slowly, and began to trot around the stable area, slowly, as to not scare her rider.
"See?" Alyssa remarked. "That's not so bad, is it?"
Tara's nervousness was beginning to subside as she began to grow comfortable with the creature.
"Okay, I think I might be starting to get the hang of this. Let's just go slowly, okay?"
"You got it!" Alyssa looked towards the guardian. "How about you, Sir Gian? Do you need any training?"
"Just Gian will do." The guardian smiled back. "I'm an experienced rider, I'll be fine."
"Excellent!" Alyssa exclaimed, as she noticed a larger bird making his way over towards the guardian. "That's Diablo. You think you can handle him?"
The guardian grinned. "We'll see, won't we?"
Gian looked over toward Tara to see how she was doing. Coco was lightly trotting around the stable area as Tara seemed to be a lot more comfortable with things. He mounted Diablo and then asked Alyssa to open the gate. Coco had stopped just short of the exit and was waiting for Diablo to join her.
The guardian looked over to his summoner. "You seem to be getting along with Coco quite well. Are you ready to go for a little run?"
"I suppose so..." Tara was trying to sound confident but was still a bit nervous.
"Don't worry, Lady Tara. You can trust Coco. She won't let anything happen to you, I promise!" Alyssa reassured.
"Alright, let's do this..." the summoner nervously spoke.
Tara and Gian enjoyed a nice little trot on their chocobos, all the way back to the entrance of the Mi'ihen Highroad. As they turned around to head back to the travel agency, Gian looked over to Tara.
"Ready?"
"Ready?" Tara asked. "Ready for what?"
"Ready to turn 'em loose! Just hang on tight and enjoy the ride and the view!"
Tara could sense her guardian's excitement and decided to put her nervousness aside, to try to enjoy things as much as he seemed to."
"All right then," the guardian prepared. 'Go, Diablo!" The guardian's bird took off on a spirited speed run.
Coco looked back at her rider and made another cooing noise. Tara gripped her reins tightly and spoke the words her chocobo wanted to hear.
"Go, Coco!"
Coco took off after Diablo and caught up to him. Tara looked over towards Gian who had a huge grin on his face.
"Watch this!" exclaimed the guardian.
He steered Diablo past the travel agency and chocobo stables, right up to the edge of the highroad. The elegant bird jumped and began to glide down into the expanse, landing at the entrance to the lower portion of the road, appropriately called "The Lowroad."
"Oh hell no!" the summoner shouted. "Nuh uh! No way! Not a chance! I am NOT doing that!"
Coco stopped and looked back over her shoulder and made another cooing noise.
"Seriously, Coco?"
The bird cooed once more. Tara shrugged as Coco backtracked a bit, in order to give herself some room to make the jump. Remembering Alyssa's promise that Coco wouldn't let anything happen to her, she gripped the reins again tightly, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.
"Go, Coco!"
Tara felt her bird speed up and a few seconds later, she no longer felt the bird's footsteps. She slowly opened her eyes - expecting to be falling. Instead, she noticed she was gracefully gliding through the expanse, slowly making her way down in a wide spiral. Coco's touchdown was so light, the summoner did not even feel it. Before she knew it, she was down in the Lowroad area with her guardian.
"Now tell me that wasn't worth the price of admission!" the guardian quipped.
"Okay, you were right..." she replied, pretending to still be scared. She turned Coco back towards the hills of the Lowroad and proceeded to go back the way they both came.
"Where are you going?" the guardian asked.
"Back up to the top!" the summoner exclaimed. "I wanna do that again, this time with my eyes open!"
They turned back towards the far end of the lowroad, when Gian paused.
"Tara, hold up."
He dismounted Diablo and began to walk towards a gleaming object he saw towards the rock base.
"What is it?" the summoner asked. She saw Gian examining a shiny gold object.
"It's a medallion of some sort. It has an odd inscription on it. It appears to be a star pattern, or constellation. It reads 'Centaurus' at the bottom. It also has a middle section that's carved out, sort of like another piece is supposed to fit inside."
"Interesting!" She remarked. "What could it be for?"
"I don't know. But I have a hunch that it might be important, so I'm gonna keep it." The guardian placed the medallion around his neck, admiring it from different angles.
"Well, aren't you special?" she smirked.
"Who knows? Maybe we'll find another one? It will be interesting to learn what they're for."
The pair made their way back up to the travel agency where they saw a horrified Alyssa.
"Lady Tara! Help us, please!"
"What's wrong, Alyssa?" the summoner asked, concerned.
"The chocobos!" Alyssa wailed. "They're in trouble!"
Gian saw a large beast with a chocobo struggling to get out of the creature's huge fist. He dismounted Diablo quickly, and drew his sword.
"Tara, let's go!"
Tara had already dismounted Coco. She readied her staff, and the pair proceeded to the stables to confront the giant beast.
"What is that?" the summoner asked, bewildered at the sight of the huge beast.
"It's called a Chocobo Eater!" Alyssa cried. "Why would it want to hurt the chocobos?"
"That's not an indigenous creature, that's a fiend." the guardian stated. "Time to take care of business!"
The gigantic fiend growled, tossed its chocobo aside, and swung a large fist down on top of Tara who had rolled to the side to avoid being crushed by the blow. The guardian slashed at the beast's arm, enraging it. The fiend swung his large arm and backhanded the guardian, knocking him up against the travel agency building. Gian slumped to the ground, unconscious.
"Gian!" Tara screamed. She turned to the Chocobo Eater, raised her staff, and began the summoning ritual - calling for Ifrit. The ground shook and the fearsome aeon appeared. Ifrit charged at the beast with a flying tackle which momentarily stunned it. While Ifrit was readying a large fireball, the beast swung its fist at the aeon. Ifrit absorbed the blow, and slumped to ground, defeated.
"No..." the summoner said to herself, stunned. She turned to the beast with raw fury in her eyes, raised her staff, and cast a fire spell more powerful than anything she had ever cast before.
"Fira!" the summoner screamed. Waves and waves fire enveloped the beast as it howled in pain, staggering backwards, moving closer and closer to the edge of the highroad.
Ifrit turned to his side as he felt a strange pair of hands upon him.
"Cura," the guardian weakly spoke. A green wave washed over both guardian and aeon, and a few moments later, both were back in the fight. Ifrit gazed curiously at his benefactor, then turned his attention back to the gruesome beast. Ifrit flew at the beast and hit it with a tackle, knocking it back further.
"Ifrit!" shouted the guardian. "Fire!" He waved the aeon towards himself. The aeon seemed confused for a moment, then he readied a huge fireball and hurled it right towards the guardian. Gian raised his sword and deflected the fireball, with blinding speed, directly into the face of the Chocobo Eater. The beast roared and howled in pain, edging even closer to the end of the highroad.
Guardian and aeon locked eyes, somehow seeming to be in communication with one another.
"Now!" the guardian shouted. Their combined tackle forced the Chocobo Eater over the edge of the highroad. The beast fell down into the expanse, and disintegrated into pyreflies upon contact with the ground.
Tara ran to her guardian, worried. "Gian, are you okay?"
Gian smiled at his summoner. "I'm fine. Nice fire spell, by the way!"
"Yeah," giggled the summoner, "I kinda lost my temper there a bit. I'm so glad you're okay!"
Guardian and summoner hugged each other tightly, then they walked up to Ifrit. The guardian patted the aeon on its shoulder.
"Thanks, friend."
The aeon rumbled his approval as Tara patted him as well.
"I dismiss you, Ifrit. Thank you again." The aeon disappeared into a cloud of smoke.
Tara looked at her guardian curiously.
"Gian, it seemed like you were actually communicating with Ifrit. How is that even possible?"
Gian shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not even sure, really. He just…I don't know... he seemed to know what I wanted from him. I was in physical contact with him when I cured us both. Perhaps he was able to sense my thoughts or emotions? That's the best I can think of."
They both hugged each other again, relieved that another battle was over with.
"Well, whatever it was, I'm glad it worked!"
"You saved the chocobos!" gushed Alyssa. "Thank you so, so much! I won't forget this! Ever!"
"Indeed!" Rin exclaimed. "We owe you a great debt for finally getting rid of the Chocobo Eater. The chocobos will be safe now, thanks to the two of you. As a token of my gratitude, any time you wish, you may come to the Highroad and ride the chocobos at no charge."
Tara hugged the merchant. "Thank you, Rin! That's very generous of you! We'll definitely be back!"
Gian shook hands with him as well. "Rin, thanks for everything. We should be heading out. We've had a ton of fun here, but the journey calls."
"Farewell until next time, my friends!" Rin waved as the pair made their way down to the end of the Highroad.
"See you next time, Rin!" Gian turned and shot his summoner a wink. "Told you, you'd love the chocobos!"
"Yeah," Tara giggled. "That was a good call!"
The summoner returned her hand to its usual position - inside that of her guardian, as they made their way towards Mushroom Rock Road.