Dissidia Final Fantasy Chronicles (Fanfiction)

Chapter 9- Living forest

When the four essences filled the world, the crystals formed and the world was born.

Hope gave fertility to the Earth; Bravery wakened fire; Nurturance turned water into life; Curiosity set wisdom on the winds.

If the void returns to engulf the world, should mankind hold the four essences, light will be born anew.

The four essences shall rise from the void and weave the light once again.

Two days had passed and they were still stuck in the same place. An earthquake had waked them up the last night and subsequently, the sound of helices above the sky warned them of an apparent mass migration. From time to time, Squall would go check out the sounds and see through the leaves of the trees, various lights coming from the airships that were crossing the sky. Luckily the rain had stopped so he could see them clearly. By the next day, the weather had gotten better but it was not the same with that young tailed man who had collapsed the other day. Bartz had checked on him and could not find a reason to why he was in such condition and still waking him up had been impossible. They had decided to remain in the same place until he recovered consciousness and then go looking for a way to exit the forest. In the meantime, it seemed like a good moment to get to know each other, having Bartz initiating a conversation from time to time yet not as frequent as could have been expected. Neither him nor Squall were that talkative.

If they needed something to eat, it was Bartz the one to go looking for it. He had told Squall he was good at finding his way in forests and so far, he had proved to be right as he would always come back, holding many fruits and vegetables on his hands. He was sure a weirdo, Squall thought, yet seemed like a good person. At nights, the wanderer would go to sleep next to his chocobo, supporting on its feathered wings... it seemed very comfortable.

"What's your chocobo's name again?" Squall asked him one night

"Ah! Boko!" Bartz told him "why?"

"(I like that name...)" Squall thought "(Chocobos are such gentle creatures, aren't they? Yet I can't understand how he can sleep so close to him when they smell so bad...)"

"Boko and I have been together for a long time... he's my best buddy!" Bartz said

He smiled but mostly because of the absurdity of his words. How could a chocobo be your "best buddy"? It was either that man was sure nuts, or rather was so simple at heart he could make friends with animals. He was a very peculiar guy, of course, he could tell by the clothes he was wearing and in the way, he seemed to actually engage in conversations with his chocobo from time to time.

"Are there many chocobos in your homeland?"

"In chocobo forests" Squall told him "you make the little ones fall until the mother comes, then you ride her"

"What?! But you can't ride female chocobos!" Bartz said "It's not right, you know?"

"Why?" Squall asked him

"Um... do you really want to know why?" Bartz told him and he said it with such an exclamation, Squall decided not to keep asking.

It was a long wait, indeed, but finally, on the third day, the young tailed man finally woke up. Both Bartz and Squall were glad he had come to his senses; Zidane only questioned about what had happened to him. The other two only shrugged; they had no idea.

"How long has it been?" Zidane asked them

"About two days" Bartz told him

"That long?! Well, then you must be pretty bored to be here, aren't you?!" he said "guess this forest is making me sick! Let's get outta here!"