Chocobo - Go Go Go!

[neverfirstclass]

Who: Cloud, Shining Armor, Zelda, Rukia, Ace, Pyrrha, Yuri, Bartz and K’pandolu
Where: On the road to and adventures in the Crystal Forest
When: February 1-6
Summary: Cloud and his friends embark on a journey south across the continent to visit the fabled Chocobo Forest
Warnings: None

To say that Cloud was overwhelmed by the support he received in chasing down a rumor for the sake of his chocobo would be an understatement. Friends and acquaintances both had come together to help, largely by a single bond: their love of Chocobos and their desire not to see one suffer any longer than he had to from the illness he’d been suffering. It would be a long journey, but as long as luck was with them and they moved swiftly he hoped that they would be back in around a week.

Comments

[pole_position]

This expedition would have been a perfect time to try out the Chocobo Knight Job Pyrrha had received for Christmas, but with the advent of Custom Jobs she couldn't help but want to regain her abilities from home as soon as possible. She's resolved to let this serve as a trial run for fighting Chocobo-back, to see how she might get along in the Job later on.

For the moment, she's riding astride a rented Chocobo from the ranch, but hoping to find a red-colored one once they get to the forest itself. The experience of riding there and back, and getting used to taming and working with the birds along the way, should provide useful training and experience for the future. It's always good to learn new skills, after all.

During the downtime on the trip, the others would likely notice Pyrrha alternately meditating or staring at small metallic objects held in her palm. They don't seem to be special or magical or anything, but Pyrrha's concentrating awfully hard on them for one reason or another.

[neverfirstclass]

The ranch had been kind enough to loan a few birds to the effort of this quest, and that in turn allowed Cloud the freedom to rotate different birds in and out of the job of pulling the sleigh, as well as letting his traveling companions take breaks as well. During one of the rotations, when Cloud was riding Comet by his lonesome to give the bird a rest he noticed Pyrrha fiddling with the metal objects.

It wasn't until the group broke down to camp for the night that he had a chance to ask her about it though. He walked over to her, holding out a bowl of soup in offering. "Hey there. Thanks for coming along with us." He looked around the camp with a smile, "More people showed up than I expected."

[pole_position]

"Oh, you're welcome," Pyrrha replies, awkwardly shuffling the ball bearings out of her hand and back into her pocket. "I thought it would be a good chance to make a chocobo friend of my own."

[neverfirstclass]

Cloud's eyebrow briefly quirked at the sudden hiding of whatever those things were. He thought he caught a glint of metal but that didn't quite narrow down the possibility of what it could have been.

In any case he took a seat himself, set to dig into his own bowl of soup. "That's a good idea. Even if everyone can rent a chocobo most places they need one it's better to have one of your own. I'm sure we can find one for you while we're out on this trip. Did your home world have them too?"

[pole_position]

Pyrrha isn't necessarily embarrassed about what she'd been doing just then, but she prefers to keep her training for her own powers mostly quiet. Regaining her semblance is her own issue, after all - she doesn't want to burden anyone else with that.

"No, we don't have anything like them on Remnant. But I do have the Chocobo Knight Job in storage, so I thought it would be a good idea to get one of my own. Are there red ones?"

[neverfirstclass]

Cloud won't press the point, at least right now. Maybe he'll bring it up again later but he's easily distracted by the discussion of Chocobos at the moment.

"It's a pretty good job, especially if you have a good bond with your bird. They're very intelligent animals, if a bit temperamental. There are red ones but they can be a bit rare. If we're lucky maybe we'll see one though. Just be careful, they can be fierce fighters if provoked."

[pole_position]

"I'm used to fighting, so that shouldn't be a problem," Pyrrha replies with a confident nod.

[neverfirstclass]

Cloud nodded, looking a bit serious but his smile didn't falter. "I'm sure. A lot of us who have been pulled to this world as Heroes have some experience with it. But if you go looking for a chocobo and it does fight, try to understand why. Maybe it's testing you to see if you're worthy of being its companion, but it might be scared or something else too."

He didn't mean to scold her or lecture her. He more meant to give her a word of advice. Sometimes he surprised himself in how attached he'd gotten to his job at the Chocobo ranch, but he was sure that he wanted the best for his fellow Heroes and the avian friends they made.

dropping into brackets because it's just easier for me, gomen

[pole_position]

[Pyrrha smiles softly, nodding again.]

That's understandable. Fighting is a last resort. If it's the sort of bird who wants to know I'm strong enough to handle it, I don't mind it, but I don't intend to attack it outright if there's a better way.

[She may be incredibly skilled, but a true huntress knows that there is a time and place to draw her weapon.]

No worries

[neverfirstclass]

[Cloud is satisfied with her answer. While there's nothing stopping anyone, let alone a Hero, from going out and getting a bird of their own Cloud has always been more willing to help those who seem to understand that a chocobo is not simply a wild animal to be broken and tamed.]

When I met Zack I was out trying to catch a bird of my own and I attracted some monsters instead. He came running out of the bushes to help me out.

[pole_position]

[Pyrrha smiles at the story.]

It sounds like the two of you were meant for each other.

[neverfirstclass]

Maybe. He really does remind me of my best friend back home. That's why I named him the way I did. He really seemed to like it too.

[He smiles and looks back to the sleigh where the chocobo is sleeping.]

He's a good companion, and even if no one else came out here to help with this I'd still be trying to find him a cure.

[pole_position]

I'm sure your friendship and dedication will pay off. And I'm sure Zack appreciates it too.

[neverfirstclass]

I'm sure he does. And when we help you get your own Chocobo you I hope you have just as good a bond with it.

[pole_position]

I hope so as well. I'm looking forward to forming a close partnership.