Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Akirame Norwen ❯ Dragons & Chocobos ( Chapter 3 )

CHAPTER 3

DRAGONS & CHOCOBOS

The five hour trip wasn't quite as long as I though it would be. On the way Irvine introduced his pals on the boat, the whole time his arm around Jerdania's waist. I wished it would stop.

There was only four other people, but they were of little importance to me. I tried to keep away from the others and sat down on a plastic chair near the back of the boat. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my thoughts. I was nearly asleep when I heard a strange sniffing sound. It was probably a dog, sniffing my shoes. I slightly kicked my foot, but the darn thing wouldn't quit it. I opened my eyes and sat up.

My eyes got wide and I jerked back, causing the chair to tip over backwards. I quickly jumped up and tried to edge away from the bright red, four-legged, four-horned, black-winged, pony-sized dragon that was approaching me.

"Eeeek! Get away!" I screamed, backing away.

Riku and Sora heard me and came running over to see me standing there scared stiff, trying to look the creature in the eye. The dragon turned its head back to see the two guys coming. "Oh dear, not again." The dragon sighed with a slight Scottish accent.

"You can talk?!" I said, beginning to feel overwhelmed as the boys rushed to my side, getting ready to defend me.

"Well, duh. I am half-human, after all." The dragon said, rolling his eyes.

There was absolutely nothing human about him. The dragon could see that we obviously didn't believe him. "Hang on, let me show you." The dragon closed its eyes and put his head down.

My eyes all but popped out of my head as it stood up on its hind legs and its anatomy changed, scales fading into skin and claws becoming fingers, a tail simply slipping away.

There now stood before us another teenage boy about our age in a pair of black leather pants, a white T shirt and a brown leather vest hanging open. He ran a gloved hand through his red-and-black streaked, shoulder-length hair. His brown eyes looked at our stunned faces.

"You have to believe me now." He said, his voice rolling with the same slight Scottish accent.

"Darn." I thought to myself. "Why do all the decently cute guys always have to be half-human?" I looked over at Riku and Sora, the two boys I had always thought of as being half-alien.

"My name's Redd." He held out his hand and I shook it. "Genuine human-dragon hybrid."

"How cool!" Sora said. I had to agree. Until now, we had never seen a genuine monster. Well, except for the recently discovered Riku-zilla.

"So, what in the world are you doing on this boat with the likes of Irvine?" I asked.

Red turned to look at me. "Well, I'm actually sort of a friend of his. We go way back. I've known him since he was a child."

"And how old are you, exactly?" Sora inquired.

"Seventeen," he said, making us shrug our shoulders. "hundred" he finished, making our jaws drop.

"Boy, you sure are well-preserved." Sora commented.

"It's the side effect of being half-dragon. Dragons can live for quite a while and rarely ever die of natural causes."

"Boy. Have you met Kairi yet? She would get a kick out of this!" Sora excitedly said.

I rolled my eyes at Sora's not-so-carefully chosen words. "I have. Her reaction was somewhat more calm than that of you, Akirame."

"So she told you our names. That's nice. Did she also tell you why we're out here?" Riku asked.

"Actually, not yet, but that is of interest to me, why five teenagers would leave their island home and never tell their parents."

"They'll know soon enough. And our reason for leaving is because we were tired of living in a prison surrounded by water. We've left in search of, well, adventure or something like that."

Boy, Riku had a way with words.

"I see. Well, I tell you, I can't tell you how much I've craved a good quest! I haven't been on one for quite a while now."

You already know what was going to happen next. Of course, Red ends up joining our party, making us a group of six. Oh joy. Another person to tell us what to do.

Somehow or another, the boat which had been newly christened the "Idiot Yacht", thanks to yours truly, finally arrived in a huge, busy docking area. Beyond the brief concrete beach was a sight that reminded us of just how far from home we already were. Instead of palm trees, sand and warm air, there was a wide grassy plain hedged by a forest. The air was slightly cold and crisp, making me feel oddly refreshed.

Irvine, who, as usual, had a arm hooked around Jerdania, pointed out the blue building in the distance. "There she is. Balamb Garden, home sweet home."

I silently admired the difference in scenery. If only my Mom could see me now. Then again, she'd probably kill me if she could.

Irvine and his nameless, unimportant friends started walking into the knee-high grass. "So, we're walking all the way?" I asked Red beside me.

"Not all of us. I'm flying." Red, as we from now on will simply put it, transformed back into his dragon form and leapt up, spreading his wings and soaring off, leaving us behind.

"Jerk." I muttered to myself.

Somewhere in the cover of the forest, something was watching. I could feel its eyes scanning us, checking us for weaknesses, planning something. Something evil. Shuddering, I moved closer to Riku for protection. As usual, Riku took it the wrong way and I could see a smirk forming. I rolled my eyes. "Riku, there's something out there. I can feel it. It's watching us. I don't think this is a good idea." I whispered to him, not wanting to alarm the others.

Riku was about to respond when Irvine suddenly stopped short and put his hand out, signaling for us to stop. He then put his fingers to his lips and gave an ear-piercing whistle. Everything was silent for a moment, then the sound of strange, galloping feet could be heard. The look on my face must have been classic as I saw the heard of horse-sized yellow birds rushing towards us. "What in the world?" Kairi said, standing closer to Sora.

"Chocobos." Irvine said with a smile, winking at Jerdania.

The herd of birds slowly came to a stop in front of us. The birds were evidently tame, and all bore saddles and reigns. "We're going to ride the chickens?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Chocobos." Jerdania corrected him.

"Whatever."

"Alright ya'll. Let's see, there's about ten of us here, and there's five Chocobos. That means we'll all have to share. I'll take Jerdania." Irvine announced, grabbing her wrist and leading her to a bird.

"I'll go with Kairi." Sora said, and the two mounted a bird.

"I'm not with Riku." I said, walking towards a bird and quickly pulling myself on.

"Too late." Riku replied in the same sing-song voice, getting on behind me.

"Ugh." Why me?

As soon as we were all set the birds began to gallop towards the building at a dizzying speed. I couldn't help but laugh as my hair flew back. Riku, however, got to eat the hair as it blew directly into his face. Uncomfortable, he shifted around and then leaned forward, resting his head on my shoulder so he could see. Ugh. Physical contact. "This is great!" I heard him laugh into my ear.

"Well, it was."
I spoke too soon. Suddenly in front of us a figure flew up out of the grass, startling the Chocobos, making them jump back and ruffle their feathers. "What was that?!" I heard someone cry.

We all looked around us but couldn't see where it had come from. "It was moving so fast." I heard Kairi mutter under her breath, slightly tightening her arms around Sora's waist. Sora looked just as alarmed.

At least Riku had sat up behind me, and was now fully alert. A stone mask had slid over his face, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking. "R-Riku, are you…okay?" I heard myself asking.

"It's not safe to stand here. Akira, I need you to switch spots with me." I quickly obeyed, standing in the saddle and swinging myself around him.

Riku looked around for a minute, his eyebrows tensing. "Come one, come ON! LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" he shouted, jabbing his heels into the Chocobo's sides, making the bird leap foreward. I quickly leaned forward and tightly wrapped my arms around Riku's waist. It wasn't like I was scared or anything. Well, okay, so maybe I was scared… a lot. I mean, come on, give me a break. You'd grab the waist of the guy who's driving too, if you were in my spot!

The others quickly followed behind us. I began to panic as saw the grass in front of us parting as something invisible sliced through it. A silver and black streak flew up at us from the side, threatening to knock us off. Riku tightly jerked the reins and twisted in his saddle, steering us away in a tight turn.

I looked back and could see the streak rushing back up out of the grass in front of Sora and Kairi's Chocobo. The bird gave a terrified squawk and jumped back at an awkward angle, causing it to fall over, dumping the riders into the grass. "Riku!" I screamed.

He looked back and saw the rider-less Chocobo running off. He made another gravity-defying turn with the reins and rushed up alongside the fleeing bird, then reached out and grabbed the reins with one hand, still steering with his other. I took the other bird's reins and let Riku steer us back toward the spot where Kairi and Sora were now trying to run from something invisible in the grass. We rushed past, relieved when Sora and Kairi both grabbed part of the saddle and mounted while we still moved, barely being missed by the streak which now rushed toward us. I braced myself as I let go of the reins and Riku kicked the bird again, making it whiz forward at a break-neck speed, trying to catch up with the others.

After what seemed to be an eternity, I finally opened my eyes, (Hey, when did I close them?) and lifted my head from where my face had been buried in Riku's back. (How embarrassing!) I looked back and could see the grass parting, moving away from us. "Thank Cetra! It's leaving!" I muttered.

Riku turned his head to look over his shoulder at me. "If you're still scared, you can hold me again." He teased.

"I wasn't scared! I was… hanging on so I wouldn't fall off!" Hey, it was true! Well, mostly.

"Whatever."

I groaned and leaned in the saddle to see past Riku. I could see the beautiful and strangely designed Balamb Garden only a little ways away. The rest of the ride was somewhat pleasant. If Riku just wasn't a darn four inches taller than me I would have had a better view. Darn you Riku!

I looked at our companions and could see that Jerdania was happily holding the waist of Irvine, looking up at him with adoring puppy-dog eyes. Yuck. The other four unimportant characters were now looking very much relieved, and Sora and Kairi were now very much enjoying themselves, turning to look at each other and laughing as Sora kicked the bird to go faster.

We finally slowed down as we approached the entrance of the school. We finally jumped off the Chocobos and followed Irvine to what was apparently a Chocobo stall house. After putting the birds back and making sure they were fed and watered, I couldn't help but feel a small sense of accomplishment.

"Riku, you ride a Chocobo with skill far beyond your experience." A voice said from behind us. We all turned to see Red standing there in his human form.

"Where were you? We really could have used your help out there!" Irvine scolded.

"I can't help it if I'm faster than you! Jeez. And when I did hear all the commotion, Riku here seemed to have everything under control for the most part."

"You still could have warned us or something."

"Aye. Well that's all done for now. Irvine, why don't you go ahead and show these guests around, introduce them to Leon and Vanchessca?" Red suggested.

Irvine complied and led us away from the stall and up to the open entry gate. I looked up and couldn't help but admire the beauty of the school.