Prophetic Entities (Complete)

Chapter 4

The group started walking off away from the lake, carefully walking through the forest once more. When they reached the branch-off from the lake, they took the right path, having come from the left.

The trees started becoming further from each other as they walked out onto a cliff, overlooking a span of land as far as the eye could see. The sun was clear except a few clouds, and the sun was warm.

"The Chocobo merchants should be just down this hill." Rikku pointed, and sure enough, a fenced in area was off a small distance, large yellow birds held behind the fence, a few men out front.

"THOSE are Chocobos?" Takumi asked. "...Those are seriously huge..."

"Yep!" Rikku beamed, going down towards the fenced area. "Hopefully we really CAN get a hold of some, otherwise we're gonna be kinda stuck."

"That's right, we're pairing up now." Zidane stated.

Takumi nearly froze. "P-Pairing up...?" Her mind almost immediately stirred.

Emma glanced over to Sasha, "...Would you want to pair up?" She asked, smiling a bit.

"Sure thing!" Sasha grinned, taking her hand and running forward.

"W-Wait!" Emma laughed a bit, being dragged behind. Rikku ran off after Sasha, wanting to speak to the men about loaning them the birds.

"What, you afraid of human contact or something?" Zack grinned, glancing to Takumi as the rest followed behind Sasha and Emma.

"N-No, it's not that. What the hell gives you THAT kind of idea?" She said sharply, not looking over at Zack.

"Well, then, what is it, if not that?"

"Does it matter?"

Zack grinned, "Well, Zidane mentioned pairing up, and you froze. So, either you're afraid of human contact, or you're afraid Zidane suggested that we were all becoming life partners, which sent you into a frenzy. I chose to go with the more sane option. Was it the other?" He joked.

"N-NO!" Takumi exclaimed immediately. "Why would I even care about life partners and all that sappy junk anyways!?" Then she crossed her arms and sighed. "...I just... don't really like getting close to people mentally... so... maybe yes, you're right, but maybe you're not, I don't know..."

Zack only shrugged, "Well, it's fun to explore different personalities and expand your horizons. To that end, let's get you outta that silly comfort zone!" He exclaimed, "Which is why I'll give you the glory of being able to ride with me." He grinned as they reached the bottom of the hill, the men already getting out four chocobos.

"W-WHAT?!" Takumi squeaked out.

Rikku looked back towards the two, giggling a bit as she got onto a Chocobo with Lulu. "Hurry it up already!"

Sasha had started getting onto the Chocobo, when Emma spoke up, "Hey, wait!"

"Hm?"

"Oh, uh... do you think I could steer?"

"Uh... do you know how?" Sasha asked, unsure.

"I've ridden horses before. Do YOU know how?"

"Well... no..." She admitted, stepping back to let Emma up, who was grinning. "Just... don't crash us." She laughed, half-way joking.

"Oh, we'll be fine!" Emma responded confidently, looking around to everyone, already on the chocobos.

"Alright, if we're ready?" Lulu glanced around.