Once again, another chapter is here.
Kazeshuriken: Thank you fir the comment.
Neal: Thanks.
Enjoy!
Aerith happily walked the cobblestone-lined roads of the small and quiet town of Kalm, which seemed to be nestled deeply beneath a rather homely atmosphere. It was a pure contrast to Midgar, despite the relative proximity. It was mostly stone and wood, rather than steel and iron. It was wrought together in a way that was compacted and orderly to fit within the raised walls that sheltered in its bosom those that lived here, rather than a towering cage that shone in neon on the top while everything below the surface was left to ruin.
The surviving Ancient could imagine enjoying a life here with Elmyra. Her adoptive mother had mentioned it once or twice. If her husband had come back from the drafting they would have left the city behind to stay here as a family consisting of a miner, a housewife, and a girl working to leave the nearby hillside covered in flowers.
Yet, she could hear it now. Small voices, lives lost during the events that Kunsel and Crimson had spoken of. Their deaths covered up in the wake of an accident, the few that remained were still calling for those that were taken and never seen again. She imagined their numbers were greater in the past, but the majority had likely rejoined the flow of the Lifestream.
The beauty surrounding the small town was something she hadn't seen because of her life spent in the city. She wondered how long it would last if they kept siphoning energy from the planet at the rate they did in Midgar. The wasteland would continue to spread out further and further, until it encompassed even these docile lands and withered the grasslands around it while drying out the waterfall and nearby river until they became husks of what they once were.
She hummed as she strode alongside the young man that Zack had taken it upon himself to care for. He was keeping pace with her, but his head was low and staring down at the ground. The thoughts going through his mind weren't unknown to her, and she could guess his reasoning for wanting a new sword.
The Buster Sword was a legacy onto itself. Angeal, Zack's mentor, was given the blade by his father and used it scarcely to preserve it out of his father's memory. Zack was entrusted with it, though the act that led to the bequeathing had left him fragile enough to seek refuge in her arms. Then, as Zack himself died, she heard his voice through the planet doing the same for Cloud.
However, the revelations about Cloud's jumble of memories left him feeling unworthy. There was nothing she could do about that personally. No one alive could. Nothing besides him coming to terms with it would do so, but she could accompany him until then.
"We're here."Aerith came to a stop at a building and he stopped a step later. He opened the door for her and she stepped inside to find there were two shopkeepers, one on the left and one on the right. The two sides were clearly divided, a Materia shop on one end and a Weapon shop on the other.
The Ancient approached the counter on the right, where the weapons were on display. The shopkeeper greeted her. "Welcome to Kalm's Weapon Shop. How can I help you this fine day?"
"I need a Staff." She gestured to her body's length. "It should be about my height, maybe less or maybe more?"
The shopkeeper nodded and went to the rack in the back to pick out a metal one, with two weights on the end. "Good for whacking pesky Mus and wild Chocobos. It comes with three materia slots too. Try it."
She grasped it and felt the weight of it. It was well-balanced enough for her to twirl it with no difficulty, though it had a bit of dust on it. Not many people must've shopped for them. She handed it back. "I'll take it after we get something for him."
"I need a sword to replace the one on my back," Cloud said. "Sharp and durable."
The shopkeeper looked at Cloud closely and scratched his chin. "Hmm… I have just the thing for you." He went to one of the glass cases and opened it to pull out a sword with a wide hand-guard and the edges looked like they were forged out of silver. "Try it."
Cloud took the blade in hand and swung it around with ease, the foreign memories guiding his hands through the motions with enhanced strength. It was a decent sword, he acknowledged. "It's light and sharp. But can it withstand combat?"
The shopkeeper let loose a hardy laugh. "Yes it will. Harder than tempered steel, shines like silver, and sharp enough to cut through the hide of an Elfadunk!" He took a deep breath and sighed. "It is only ashamed we lack the means to make more with the mines closed, but better it be in the hands of someone who can use it than left on display."
"Why is that?" Aerith asked. "The mines, I mean."
The shopkeeper scratched his chin. "Eh… the Midgar Zoloms have been more aggressive than usual. There is a pair there, male and female, who are very large for their kind. Some say because of run-off from Mako Reactors in Midgar, back when the land was fertile and they dwelled there. Recently anyone who enters gets attacked by them and their children, so no one can get to the mines to work."
"… I'll take it," Cloud decided, placing it on his back. The magnet was strong enough that it still attached the blade in a way that he could reach for either one without any problems. "How much?"
"1800 Gil for both."
While Cloud paid, Aerith wandered over to the materia display to find something to complement the Restore Materia she kept on her. She could actually tell what the materia were at a glance because of her Ancient heritage, though she couldn't use magic on her own without the crystallized form of it. The one that Red XIII had was a bit unique, but she suspected that was courtesy of Hojo tampering with forces he shouldn't.
She called over the shopkeeper for the Materia Shop and had him fetch the Heal Materia to go with their other purchases. The two then left the dual shop behind and headed for the Inn. Outside of it, they found Red XIII by the entrance and looking somewhat peevish as he laid there with his head perched on his crossed paws.
"What's wrong?" Aerith asked.
"I am not allowed inside," he said, flaring his nostrils as he exhaled. "Apparently, I qualify as a pet and the Innkeeper refuses to allow me to stay."
"Oh." Aerith knew that must've stung, being treated less than those around you. It made her remember her time in the lab, both the first one she and her biological mother had escaped from and recent events. They always called her an Ancient or a Sample, but never human. "We'll go talk to them then."
"Do not waste your breath." Red XIII rose to height and stretched himself out. "I do not need to be coddled, nor will I stay where I am unwanted. I will go outside of the walls and hunt. You will find me by where we departed from the vehicle come morning."
They could only watch as he trotted towards the entrance to the town. Aerith couldn't really say anything to soothe what must've been his wounded his pride. It rankled her a bit though, and she wasn't the only one given the yelling she heard coming from the other side of the door.
"He's not a pet!" That was Tifa. "He's a sentient being capable of speech and thought! He won't hurt anyone!"
"He still stays outside." Someone else, the Innkeeper she guessed, stated insistently. "I know some monsters can mimic speech, and I won't be fooled! Besides, his tail is on fire and that is a hazard in its self! I'm not risking my place burning down!"
"We should probably stop this," Aerith said.
Cloud nodded and opened the door. Tifa whipped her head around towards him so fast her hair snapped at the end. Aerith followed behind him as he entered and spoke. "Tifa, there's no more point in arguing. Red left the town for the night."
"Damn… I'll go check on him later then." Tifa shot the Innkeeper a parting glare and then turned towards the stairs. "Come on. The rooms are up this way."
She led the two to their room and Aerith took a seat on one of the beds by the window. It gave her a better view of the town to appreciate. The novelty of being in new surroundings hadn't worn out, so she basked in the sunlight pouring into the window while taking in the placid sights.
"It's not fair for them to treat him like that," Tifa said, pacing the room.
"You're pretty passionate about this considering you just met a few days ago," Cloud noted curiously. "Why's that?"
"He gave me some good advice for one. For another, he's pulled his weight both in the laboratory and the ride here. Think about how far we still have to travel. If he has to be left outside all the time and we don't speak up, he'll end up feeling like we don't treat him like an equal."
"Mhm… I see your point. But we do have to keep a lower profile as well considering how close we are to Midgar. We stick out too much as is, so causing a ruckus will make that worse for—" The words died as the door to the room opened then to reveal that Crimson had arrived with traveling backpacks for all of them on her back.
She looked upset. "So, anyone want to explain why the Innkeeper looked like she wanted to maim someone when I asked if the room was already paid for the night?"
Aerith gave her a general understanding of the situation, and then added, "She might have been more open to letting him stay if the town had easier access to the mines. The Weapon Shopkeeper made it clear they can't get to the mines because of the Midgar Zoloms, and from what I know this town is dependent on mining for income. The shortage of work would lead more people to being agitated."
"There's nothing we can do about the Midgar Zoloms." Crimson said, unraveling the map again and pointing to the location of the mines. "But we will need to get through those mines to get to Junon so we can get to Nibelheim. Cloud and I took a Merchant's boat north and then a delivery truck east to get to Midgar from Junon, but they'll be watching that way after what just happened…."
She moved her finger to a location on the grasslands just above the marshes. "We'll have to get through those marshes, so we'll need chocobos from the ranch just above them. They have racing breeds there that can cross the terrain easy and fast enough to avoid the snakes."
"That's maybe three or four days of walking from here on foot," Cloud pointed out. "We'll have to camp out then."
Crimson pointed over her shoulder to where she left the bags. "I brought two tents. Cloud can sleep with Red XIII in one, while Aerith can share with Tifa. I'll sleep by myself in the old one we used on our way to Midgar from Gongaga. We leave in the morning, so if there's anything in town you want to see then go do so now."
[-oOo-]
"What do you mean we have to catch our own chocobos?" Crimson asked the boy who called himself Choco Billy, with Cloud by her side. The rest were outside, with Aerith and Tifa not wanting to deal with the stench of feces steeped into the wooden pens of the barn and Red XIII keeping a respectable distance away since the chocobos had been riled up somewhat by his presence.
It was a few days after Kalm. They had to cross the hills and grasslands to reach the ranch. It hadn't been overly difficult since they took turns on watching out during the night for any attacks, but coming all this way just to learn they were fresh out of chocobos to rent made their traveling plans harder.
The boy with a hat on his head and a bandage over his nose looked at her like she was deaf. "It's exactly like I said, Old Lady. These are all owned by someone else. I can't just rent them out to a couple of old folks. You have to catch your own."
"Old folks?" Cloud mumbled.
Crimson sighed at the set back. These were tamed racing chocobo in the pens and could easily cross the marshes without any problem. Would random ones they find really suffice? "Can wild ones cross the marshes without getting caught by the snakes in the water?"
The hat shifted as the boy nodded his head. "If they're adults they can go through the marshes quick because of their legs being fully developed. There's a reason they're so hard to catch if you don't know what you're doing."
"So, how do we go about catching one then?" Cloud asked.
"You need a lure materia so they don't immediately run off when you find a trail they run along, and some greens to keep them calm. A chocobo doesn't pay attention to much of anything while it's eating. We sell them both here since there's a bunch of wild ones running around the grasslands. Good luck getting them though since monsters like to hang around them."
"We can deal with the monsters," Cloud said. None of them had been extremely difficult so far and the sword he bought was certainly worth what he paid for it. Once everything was paid for the pair left the barn and was greeted by a wind that made the viridian grass billow like waves in a sea of green….
Well, that and dancing chocobos. Yes, really.
They were surprisingly coordinated, much to the delight of Aerith and Tifa. The pair of girls clapped at the display with smiles on their faces that wouldn't be out-of-place, if not for the fact they were technically all wanted by Shinra and on the run. Once the performance was finished, one of the chocobos walked up the edge of the wooden fence folding it in and placed something in Aerith's hands.
"What did it give you?" Tifa asked as Aerith held it up to the sun, twisting it around and peering at it intimately. "A red-colored materia?"
"It's a Summoning Materia," she said as Cloud and Crimson approached them.
"Huh. Those are pretty rare." Crimson was a bit suspicious that something like that simply fell into her hands so easily. "And it just gave it to you?"
Aerith nodded. "From what I can tell, it summons a chocobo and its rider, a moogle called Mog."
"That… doesn't honestly sound like something the company would waste development funds for. There's no military use for it, nor can I see it being something with commercial value either given how expensive making materia can get. So how did the chocobo get it in the first place?"
"It's naturally formed, not artificially." Aerith held the materia between her palms and closed her eyes. "Let me call it out."
The air around the Ancient distorted as she concentrated, briefly illuminated as she gathered her will and power. Then there was a pop and plume of white smoke that was blown away by a stray breeze. Where there was nothing but empty space before, there was now a healthy adult chocobo with a moogle on top of it, made distinct by the bandana on its head.
"Moogle Rider Mog, reporting for duty, kupo!" the tiny creature declared proudly, joined by its chocobo rearing back and flapping its wings. "How can I be of service, kupo?"
Crimson found herself enamored with how adorable it was, though she restrained herself from saying it aloud. Aerith, on the other hand, had no such qualms as she plucked the moogle off its mount and hugged it.
"It's adorable!" She squeezed it tight against her. "And it feels so fluffy!"
"Urrggg… Let go, kupo!" It struggled somewhat comically, flapping its wings and waving its stumpy arms. "You're crushing me, kupo!"
Tifa was focused on the chocobo, which responded rather pleasantly to her rubbing its feathers by pushing its head up under her hand for a stroke. "It feels so real. Did you bring them to life from the materia?"
"The summoning in itself is not alive exactly." Aerith loosened her hold on the struggling moogle, which took a deep breath in relief. "Rather, the planet's knowledge of the creature stored inside of the materia was called out. The energy I'm using to cast the spell forms a construct for the memories to inhabit. So it's sentient, but its body's duration among other things is reliant on the summoner's ability."
"I think I get it." Tifa turned to the other two. "Did you manage to get the chocobos we needed?"
Cloud shook his head once. "None for rent. We've got to catch them ourselves. It shouldn't be too hard, but considering they're wild it'll be a rough ride."
"That could be a big problem." A small frown appeared on Crimson's face. "I never learned to ride in the first place since it wasn't part of my training, so I was counting on tame ones that were more suited to new riders."
"I haven't ridden on one either," Aerith admitted as well. She turned towards Tifa. "What about you?"
"Well no. I haven't done it either." That was going to be a problem in the grand scheme of things. If they fell off while riding one in the marshes, then they would likely be overwhelmed by the Midgar Zolom and its kin. "How about we ask the ranch owner to teach us?"
"I can help with that, kupo!" Mog flapped its wings and finally managed to free itself. It landed on its mount, waving its tiny arms to grab their attention. "I can make you passable riders in less than a day, kupo!"
Cloud was more than a little skeptical about that. "Can you really?"
The moogle bobbed its head and raised a tiny hand to the sky. "Of course, kupo! How many moogles do you see that ride chocobos, kupo? I had to earn my way into becoming a summoning, kupo."
Aerith seemed ecstatic at the chance. "Okay then. Let's go catch some chocobos!"