Filling In The Blanks
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX or any of its characters.
A/N: There is a specific scene in this chapter (all of you will know when you get there) that I fully dedicate to Jesters of the Moon (formerly known as Bobby Corwin). She is the only reason I have continued thus far on this story, and have any determination to finish it, no matter how long it might take :)
Chapter 67: A Little Light
The sun…
Its rays finally cast through the woven roof of the dwelling, making speckled patterns on the wooden floor. The embers of last night's fire flickered, and the empty bowls of a delicious dinner were piled up next to the make-shift kitchen. Quale was already awake, sidestepping all of his tired companions, quick to start breakfast.
He curled his tongue into his mouth in concentration, thinking about everyone who had taken refuge with him for this duration of their stay.
A few weeks ago, Quina had come home and explained the situation to him, a Bermecian and a very large red headed man as his companions. Besides those three, a small group of other resistance members were itching to find a safe place to stay – hoping that the meeting place they'd decided on would work.
How could Quale say no?
He had laid down some ground rules, but otherwise told them as long as they could help get supplies, he would provide food and shelter for them. He also told them that he'd never seen one of Kuja's soldiers before – assuring him that evil forces didn't come near the marsh. Too stinky, too smelly, too big were his exact words.
He watched more and more members of their resistance – new and old – come into the marsh in the last few days… but the one who had surprised him the most…
Vivi Ornitier…
Images of Quan floated through his mind, and he painfully stepped away from his permanent spot in the kitchen to catch his breath. His eyes fell back to the golden fork he had given Quina when their paths had crossed last time, remembering how Quan had dropped it off for him when he began his travels.
"Search for Vivi!"
Quale had met Vivi when he was very small. Quan had been traveling through Dali to Alexandria to get cooking supplies when he had found him. He had brought the small mage back to Quale, and it was easy for the latter to see that in the short amount of time that Quan had known him, he had come to care about him. Eventually, the eldest Qu decided to make his own home – a place he could raise Vivi right.
No matter how many years went by, Quale would never forget the peculiar black mage that his Master had found and learned to love like family. But after Vivi was taken…
"What happened?" Quale curled his tongue in distaste – distaste for Alexandria and the men who had taken Vivi away from Quan.
"Vivi taken! Quan try to hide Vivi, but mean men found him!" The distress in the older Qu's eyes was evident, and he paced back and forth, wobbling with every step he took.
"Where can Quale find him?" He murmured in a pleading voice. Vivi? Gone? The older Qu had grown so attached to him – even through his letters the Master Chef could see that. Anger clutched his being as heaviness sunk his heart.
He shook his head, "Quan not know what they did… Vivi maybe dead…"
The two were silent for a moment, listening to the bubbling kettle over the crackling fire. The wind was soft outside, caressing the trees in a lullaby, as Quan collapsed to the ground.
It felt like that moment was locked in time for years upon years before finally, a tearful Quan rose from his feet, shocking Quale. The master chef's master produced a giant golden spoon from his back, handing it over to his friend and student.
"Give next apprentice…" he said quietly. "Quan not be here to teach…"
"But –"
"Quan find Vivi… Quan travel, brave like Vivi…" He nodded, a little surer of himself as he stood, turning his back on the only life he ever knew outside of the black mage.
"Be careful," was the only thing Quale said to him before the older Qu left.
That was six years ago now, and seeing that Vivi was alive made Quale wish that he knew where his friend was. He wasn't even sure if the mage's grandfather was still alive, or if it was the right thing to do to give him any information at all.
He decided a couple of days ago that Vivi was different than other black mages. While he was sure there was something off about him when he was so young, there was a definite intelligence and sense of purpose and emotion that other mages lacked, even in awareness. Odin was a great specimen, with feelings and curiosity, yet he lacked the depth that Vivi did. The older black mage, he realized, felt more like a person than even Kuja's human soldiers, so uncaring about the world and people they tore apart.
His thoughts were interrupted when the first of the resistance woke up for the day. It was none other than Beatrix – the earliest riser he'd seen yet. He gave her a small smile, his tongue wagging happily in front of his mouth. She returned his grin, and waved to him, signaling she was going out to get supplies for the day's meals.
This was the second time he had met any resistance members – the first being Steiner and Fratley all those months ago. Quale's speech might have been broken despite his long years of life, but he could read people very well… He immediately knew when Beatrix and Freya – the lovers of the two he'd previously met – came forth and entered the marsh. For the longest time, he couldn't stop staring and grinning at the two, having to hold his tongue (very literally, gripping it rather strangely with his hand) from saying something.
He heard more and more stories from the people in the resistance about their cause and just how they were going to fulfill the dream they'd been fighting for. But once he'd heard that Vivi – Quan's little, frightful Vivi - was a dreamer – even more powerful than Kuja's hand-selected army – a sense of pride swelled within him. A smile never left his lips for the rest of the day, and yesterday as the murky day turned into a muddy dusk, he met the second dreamer as well.
Zidane was quite a character, but he understood now why Quina looked up to him so much. A smile almost never left his face, unless his loved ones were in danger, and he saw a sort of protectiveness expand off of the blonde onto his teammates and friends that Quale just knew nobody would ever be able to break.
He listened for stories about the pair, and even heard, when Cinna was explaining to Odin, how Vivi and Zidane had escaped the Alexandrian castle together – the older black mage jumping into say he would have never made it out of there, had it not been for the genome.
If nothing else, it was the stories of bravery and defiance that made him interested in helping wherever he could.
The more and more he thought about how much these people were doing for the world behind the scenes, the more and more he unconsciously made the decision to talk to Vivi about Quan. He knew that the little guy would be looking for his grandpa, just as everyone else was looking for someone or something they thought they might have lost. For Ruby, it was a long lost parent, Zidane – a lost friend, Steiner – a stolen family, Dagger – a stolen kingdom… Everyone had something they were looking for, and as soon as Quale's star shaped eyes landed on Vivi for the first time in over ten years, he just knew that his grandpa was what the mage was looking for.
"Quale speak to Vivi when he up…" He mumbled aloud, wagging his tongue to the side with a sort of concreteness. It was official now that he had said it out loud.
Vivi squeezed his eyes shut, as though not wanting to get caught listening to the piercing darkness. He had heard Quale's broken mumble and rolled onto his side, as if the Qu had known he was listening. What in the world could he be talking about? For a moment, the mage wished he could see into the Qu's thoughts, just so he could know what in the world was going on.
Relaxing his muscles on his makeshift bed, he decided it could wait a little longer. Maybe if he was lucky, Quale would approach him on the subject… Though he might have been gaining some confidence with his teammates – there was no way he was ready to mingle with someone he had just met. Though… there was something very familiar about this particular Qu – a green hue in his skin color, verses Quina's blue-white skin. His eyes, instead of boarded with strawberry red stars, sported a lime green color, and although his English was less broken (most likely because he was older, though nobody from a third party opinion could probably tell), his tongue still hung out of his mouth comically closer to the floor than not, and he still wobbled and spit whenever he walked.
"Vivi! Vivi!" His name was called, chiming through the thin wooden walls of the hut, waking almost everyone still slumbering inside.
Odin threw open the door, his purple coat flying behind him, Beatrix on his tail. His eyes were bright with excitement, though nobody could see the rest of his face. "Vivi you have got to come now! I've found something!"
"Found something?" He parroted, slowly sitting up, forgetting about his sleeping façade.
The mage nodded his head animatedly, gripping his hat so it didn't fall off. He motioned dramatically with his arm, hopping a little up and down to get the older black mage to move faster. "Come on, Vivi! You've got to come see now! It might be gone!"
He glanced at Beatrix, trying to find some sort of a clue as to what it was. She didn't give much away, but he knew it was okay because there was the tiniest hint of a smile over her strong features.
Slowly, Vivi wobbled to his feet, and moved towards the door, noticing in the edges of his mind that Zidane, Cinna, Ruby, Marcus and Blank all crept close behind him, also curious to what was out there.
All of them filed out of Quale's dwelling, causing the remaining resistance members who woke up to grumble and flop back down on their blankets.
"Stupid curiosity…" Steiner mumbled grumpily into his pillow, rolling on top of it. He was asleep even before the door slammed shut.
"Where are we going?" Vivi laughed, following Odin who was leading their small group deeper into the marshes.
"I was out looking at the frogs, because they make funny noises –" he stopped, and Vivi imagined if he could see it, Odin would probably be blushing.
"And I found this!" He pulled back some weeds to reveal a large egg. It was a light turquoise color with strange, golden polka dots all over it. It was nestled into the warm ground turned muddy due to all of the rain, right next to a particularly large tree.
"What is it?" Marcus asked, peering closer to it. He adjusted the bandana covering his head, and pulled his pointed ears out from underneath it. Blank, being the shortest of the group, grumbled somewhere in the background, putting his hands on people's shoulders, trying to hop up and see.
Cinna and Zidane simply stared, unsure of what it was either. They tried twisting their heads, getting a look at it from all sorts of angles, while Odin and Vivi turned to them, awaiting an answer.
"It's an egg!" Zidane decided, probably more proud of himself than he should have.
"No shit, Sherlock!" Marcus snorted, rolling his eyes. The blonde only gave a cheeky grin in reply.
"That ain't no regular egg, Darlin'…" Ruby shook her head, bending down next to it so her skirt was scraping the mud, "That there is a chocobo egg!"
"Whooaa…" All of them seemed to breathe in awe.
"A choc-o-bo?" Odin repeated, tilting his head to the side. His eyes were set on the multi-colored egg, hard, trying to decipher what it was without really knowing.
"It's like a giant yellow chicken that you can ride!" Cinna explained.
Ruby pulled the egg closer to her, "I bet the mama's long gone!"
"Why do you say that, Rubes?" Blank asked, as she turned around, and they all hovered close to her. The egg was in her skirts as she polished it off, trying to get rid of all the rain muck caked on top of it.
"Because that there's chocobo nature!" She decided, glancing at them for only a moment. "The mamas leave 'till the babies hatch, and once they're old 'nough, they find their families again!"
"Isn't that sad? Letting them fend for themselves like that?" Vivi asked, his voice concerned.
"That's the best way to do it, I reckon," she shrugged indifferently, and sat completely in the mud. The boys sat along with her, while all the mages had to do was squat down a little before they were short enough to be level with the others.
Before anyone could do much more with it, there as a snapping sound, and everyone's eyes jerked towards the large egg in Ruby's lap. A healthy crack split horizontally in the middle of it, and eyes were widening. As delicately as she could, she placed it back in the mud and stepped back, advising everyone else to do the same.
Only curious Odin stood close to it still, observing. Another crack – and another step back.
"Odin – be careful…" Zidane mumbled to him.
Another crack and suddenly, a beak poked out of the large hole that started at the top of the spotted egg. If possible, the group's eyes got even wider than before.
"Are we really witnessing what I think we're witnessing?!" Cinna cried, his tone sounding slightly panicked.
"I think…" Blank chuckled, honestly not believing what he was about to see. "I think that we are!"
And as if waiting for his queue, the top of the egg popped open, and there was a small pastel yellow chocobo, barely able to open his eyes.
The first peep had absolutely all of them hooked.
"Awww," they all cooed, leaning in close.
It peeped again and hopped a little, ruffling its tiny feathers. Its head twisted around, glancing at each body, but not really seeing everyone. Its first step forward had everyone sucking in a breath and holding it in pure anticipation.
It walked a little, peeped and ruffled its feathers, then repeated the process. Nobody – not even tough exterior Marcus – wanted to take their eyes off of him.
"He is just so darn cute!" Ruby sighed, clasping her hands together and leaning down. "Hey there lil' fella! You sure are cute!" He cocked his head to the side.
"Fella? How do you know it's a boy?" Odin asked, settling his gaze on the girl for just a moment. He was unable to keep his eyes away from the baby chick any longer than that.
They backed up to give him some space, and found that he hopped around a little bit, pecking at the ground every so often, seeming completely content, despite the mud that his little clawed feet were sinking into.
"He looks like one!" She insisted with a nod of her head.
"I kind of see it!" Cinna declared with a grin, though there was no way to support her theory. But they went with it anyways.
"If it's a boy, what should we name it?" Everyone glanced at Vivi like he was insane. The black mage cowered into himself before giving a small shrug. "Every creature should have a name to tell it apart by, right?"
"He's right," Zidane added with a sheepish grin, "We just experienced this thing be born – kind of – and so we should be able to tell him apart from every other chocobo we meet."
"How about the fact that he is a tiny little fucker?!" Marcus laughed. It sounded harsh, but he had actually sounded sincere, and they all knew he meant it in the nicest way possible.
"I like Bobby Corwen," Odin suddenly decided with a thoughtful voice.
"Bobby… Corwen?"
"Bobby?" Blank snorted, shaking his head. "Where'd you come up with that?"
"It's simple," the younger black mage shrugged. He wasn't really accustomed to the hardships of life yet – and probably wouldn't be until he got into some real action of the war… So far, Lindblum and Qu's marsh - where he'd seen a beautiful baby chocobo be born - weren't really the places to learn how difficult their path was. "And Bobby's existence should be simple and happy!"
"I actually… kind of like it," Cinna gave a guilty grin and a shrug, glancing around. "Huh? Huh? I know at least one of you have to like it!" He laughed when he realized everyone gave a slight nod of the head.
"Bobby Corwen, huh?" Ruby smiled, holding out her gloved hands on the ground. He tilted his head to the side and poked around a little more, before snuggling into the heat of her hands and taking a seat. His tiny, barely-open eyes stared at her, chirping happily.
"I think he likes us!" The bigger thief decided.
"Us? He likes Ruby!" The redhead said, wrapping an arm around the girl. "Which means of course he'll like me-oof!" The southern Tantalus girl had elbowed him in the ribs, causing him to stumble back and massage his sore spot. "Oww…"
"What are we gon' do with him?" Ruby asked, eyes falling back to Zidane.
The blonde scratched his head, "Well… We could bring him with us! Quale could make him some food, and we could help him a little while we're here."
It was decided then, that Bobby Corwen would go with them so they could show the others what they had found.
Dagger winced as she tried to sit up. She knew she'd been asleep for a long time, and the girl was starting to feel anxious. She swept her raven hair up into a bun with one of Ruby's leather hair ties, and tried to relax her aching muscles.
"Hey…"
She turned her head to see Steiner standing in the doorway, looking uncomfortable. The days following the rain were becoming humid, and for someone as heavily armored as Steiner, it probably would have been a health hazard to keep all of his armor on. He was wearing a tunic, stained grey from the constant dust and dirt they were hiding in. His helmet was off, revealing his messy black hair, while he kept his armored pants and boots on.
As she craned her neck painfully to the side, she smiled lightly at him. He always looked so much younger without all of his armor on, and she always found it slightly funny.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, stepping into the room. As soon as everyone had woken up, they had cleared out of Quale's dwelling – save for the Qu himself – so that the raven could have her time to sleep.
"Sore," she told him, igniting a light cough. "Can being out in the rain really do this to someone?"
"I believe you are less sick than you are physically and mentally exhausted…"
She shrugged lightly, cringing slightly at the movement. "You could be right."
He let on a soft smile and sat next to her on the floor, "Trudging all night through the rain, and ocean probably wasn't a very good thing either…" She chuckled and shook her head.
"How's training going?" She asked, adjusting and leaning back on the wall.
He nodded a few times, seemingly lost in thought, before he spoke. "It's going well for the most part… Lysandra is still doing battle brigades, while Beatrix and I are helping start everyone else off with the basics."
She giggled, "It seems like that's all you do."
He glared at her, "I think I'm a little more important than that, Dagger," He said sternly, though a joking tone was evident in his voice.
She rolled her eyes a little too innocently, and let out another laugh. "I know you are, and thank you for being there whenever we need you."
"You know I always have, and I always will be, Dagger."
She sighed, glancing around the room. The light was still leaking through the roof, just as it had this morning, and the aroma of an early breakfast still lingered in the air. "Do you think that we have a chance at beating Kuja?"
Steiner sighed and looked away. While his own opinions about this whole battle were blurred, he didn't like to share them with anyone else. While he had never been the most optimistic person about their predicament, he still fought… meaning he still thought they had a chance… right?
Instead of answering her directly, he placed a delicate hand on her shoulder, "I think there's no reason we need to be thinking like that right now… The time will not come for awhile before we are ready to face Kuja head on, as a team… And you should focus on getting some rest and recuperating before you think about it either."
She let on a half smile, knowing that Steiner was just trying to get her mind off of things. She couldn't understand why no one ever wanted to give her a straight answer, but respected the fact that in her current condition, hearing that they didn't have a chance probably wouldn't have been the best thing.
"You're right," she decided.
"Are you hungry?" He asked after a few moments of silence.
She puckered her lips, trying to decide, before her stomach did for her, letting out a hungry growl. Steiner gave a hearty laugh and picked himself up off the floor.
"We saved you some breakfast from earlier…" He made a face, "You haven't eaten much since we've gotten here, so excuse the strange taste."
"It's food, isn't it?" She told him with a grateful smile.
"Indeed," He smirked at her and then turned, preparing to heat up her food.
Dagger leaned up against the wall and closed her eyes for a moment. She let her thoughts swirl with the warm rays touching her porcelain skin, and the people who were taking care of her out of concern and love.
She was back asleep by the time Steiner brought back the food.
He let out a breathless chuckle, and slowly moved her back so she was laying on the floor. He brushed the hair from her eyes, "Sleep well, Dagger."
"Begin!" Lysandra shouted, stomping her foot on the ground as her two contestants darted forward, weapons drawn.
Zidane's eyes glittered, a smirk on his face as he shot forward, dagger clutched tightly in his hand, the hilt pointing forward. He was running low to the ground, his hair whipping back from his face, revealing his determined features.
He was up against an elf they had picked from Ipsen's castle who had been deemed in Lysandra's top five most elite fighters, and naturally, would be forced to go up against Zidane.
"The whole point of this exercise is to use everything you have! We must get to know each other's fighting style, and any secrets that come with it!" The battle-coordinator yelled, flicking her sleek black hair from her one good eye. "Do not hold back!"
"Come on Zidane! Kick his ass!" Cinna cheered, dancing around, beating on his bare stomach. "You're so much tougher than him!"
The genome didn't get cocky however, and when they finally jumped up to clash, he felt the strength of his opponent in the vibration of their steel weapons. In the freefall that Zidane had to assess the elf across from him, his eyes were drawn to his weapons.
The sharp blade was in the shape of a teardrop – one pointed end, though the steel was sharp on every edge. There was a wooden bar in the middle where the user could grip it, and if he swung his arms in just the correct way, he wouldn't cut himself, but had a three hundred and sixty degree range of dangerous slicing.
"Your dagger is nothing against my mighty chakrams!" The elf called, taunting and grinning.
Through the dirt they had kicked up from their slide-landing, Zidane grinned. "They're pretty sweet… But it's not about the weapon –" before he finished, he shot forward again, even faster than last time.
Unfortunately, the elf's eyesight was too good, and he dodged with just enough time. He threw his arm up, and brought it back down, hoping to catch Zidane on the arm. But it surprised him when the blonde twisted around, tossing his Dagger to his tail, that wrapped around the handle, and guarded from the attack.
"-It's about who uses it!" He laughed. While his tail still held one chakram in place, he sprung back on his hands, and broke contact quickly, sending the weapon spiraling into the dirt.
The elf tried in vain to pull it out, too preoccupied with offense to remember his defense when Zidane slid in under him, using the bar of his opponent's grounded chakram as support as he kicked upward, sending him flying through the air. With quick thinking, he went into a one-handed hand stand, still clutching the bar, before flipping back up to his feet, tearing the weapon from the dirt. He sent it gliding towards the elf, where it re-lodged itself in the ground, only inches from his head.
"Lamien!" A woman yelled, her own sharp ears pricking at the sound of his gasp as she pushed forward, collapsing next to him. "Are you alright?" She helped him into a sitting position; he looked unharmed, but still a bit shaken.
"I have never seen someone use my weapon against me like that!" He gawked as he stood, before moving closer to Zidane before bowing.
"Whoa!" Zidane put his hands up in the universal stop signal, before shaking his hands hastily. "There's no need to bow to me man! I bet if we would have kept going, you would have come back!"
The elf blinked in surprise, as though he'd never had an opponent say something of the sort to him before. A smirk overtook his features and his hand extended. "Thank you for a fine fight, Zidane."
"No problem Lamien! Any time you want a rematch, just let me know!" The genome nodded and began moving back, before Lysandra called out, stopping him.
"You move on to the next round, Zidane! But, because in real life you won't get a break from enemies, it's going to start in two minutes!"
"Two minutes? Just who am I fighting in two minutes?"
"Who else, than our two best swordsmen?"
"Two?" Zidane gawked. "Who –" Lysandra only jerked her head towards him, telling him to turn around.
Quickly, the genome whipped in the other direction, and his eyes widened. "I'm fighting both of them?!"
"Why? Afraid you're going to lose?" Beatrix flipped her hair over her shoulder. "You haven't forgotten that we're the best, have you Zidane?" She laughed, her sudden cold confidence that he hadn't seen in a long time, surfacing again.
"I think he has…" Steiner laughed, unsheathing his sword, his eyes hardening on the blonde. "I thought he'd be more frightened."
"You've got to be kidding me…" Zidane mumbled, taking an intimidated step back.
"Begin!" Lysandra yelled suddenly, and before her ringing voice had finally faded, Beatrix and Steiner shot off like a rocket, swords both drawn, ready to show the dreamer their true potential as a team.
A/N: So kind of a weird place to end the chapter I know, but I thought this would be really fun to do to show you guys kind of what their training might be like.
I hope that chapter wasn't sloppy… To me it kind of seems like it was, but I did write parts of it half asleep. I hope you guys were able to bare with it though!
Leave me some love!
-zesty-
