#ore quest dark

[viaphni]

The Ambassador of Abyss.

[reponute]

cracked diamond moment and some 2 redesigns for Scientist tan and Researcher VR! and nacre plus! a another form of a guy.

[codajaiden]

🫧Sinking... 🫧

[silvertws]

Quick collection of doodles I've been doing about all the Steve series that I've watched so far.

[silkjade-archived]

alhaitham x mermaid! reader (5) / epilogue

⤀ warnings: fem!reader, no pronouns mentioned, reader has hair long enough to be pinned, kissing ! a/n: recommended to read the previous parts first, since this is a direct continuation. tiny reference to a sumeru hidden quest prev ﾉ series masterlist ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･𓇼

For the first time in months, alhaitham returns to the little cove out by the waters of port ormos. He tosses a chunk of crystal ore, testing the weight—once, twice—before catching it again in the palm of his hand. It skips thrice before sinking below the surface, and internally, he's quite pleased with this exceptional display of muscle memory.

The cyan stone sinks, further and further down into the darkness of the midnight sea, until it lands softly into the palms of your hands, weightless. Despite the long pause in your correspondence, you've never forgotten how the waves shift in response to his disturbance. So when you had sensed that familiar movement rippling through the water, you swam towards the source, smiling because you knew.

“Drown anyone in my absence?”

“No, but that can change depending on what you’ve brought for me today.”

Emerging from the shallows, you sit yourself atop a nearby rock. The water droplets clinging to your skin and tail catch like crystals in the moonlight, and alhaitham has half a mind to pinch himself and confirm that you’re neither a dream, nor another desert mirage.

“Zaytun peaches. Your favorite,” he begins, “and golden roses from aaru village.”

You brush the tip of your finger along the flower’s velvet petals, so brilliantly gold, as if he’d stolen the sun right out of the sky.

“The desert was too harsh an environment for sumeru roses to grow, so an amurta researcher set about cultivating one that could.”

Voice softening, alhaitham continues as his hands unfurl to reveal the hairpin he had once gifted you. “As promised…”

You can feel the lingering warmth of his touch on the metal as you wrap delicate fingers around the piece, re-admiring the florid craftsmanship. It's still as beautiful as you remember, maybe even more so, considering how you've longed for this moment to come.

You brush your thumb over the mysterious symbols carved on the centermost gem, pulsing with a soft ember's glow.

“It’s a protective rune I discovered in the desert. As long as you wear it, you won’t have to worry about needing to return to the sea.”

Perhaps that would explain why it somehow feels sturdier. Or why the nagadus emeralds appear to shine brighter, and more vibrant. You purse your lips in an attempt to quell the thrumming in your chest. He really did it. He really found a solution to something so seemingly impossible.

Alhaitham clears his throat, snapping you from your thoughts. "May I...?"

Nodding, you turn around as he takes the accessory, shifting his fingers through your hair before pinning it in place, a vast improvement from his very first attempt.

"Well, how does it look?"

"It’s beautiful on you.”

Heat blooms in your cheeks, taken aback my his forwardness. His reply hadn’t missed a single beat, answering as if he’d stated a fact rather than an opinion. Sure, you had expected some sort of witty remark tossed into his words, but rarely did he ever outright compliment you so directly.

Turning your head, you successfully avert your gaze; it's the only way you know how to deal with this sudden bout of bashfulness, but his fingers brush your chin, and you follow as he leads you back to him. Alhaitham closes a large hand over your own—his grip steady like his heartbeat, firm like his resolve.

Teal eyes bore into yours, shifting only to linger on your lips for far longer than he should've. How he longs for another taste... The faint glow of a blush dusts across his cheeks and onto the tips of his ears. He must pull himself together before his mind has the chance to stray further.

“Stay with me,” he murmurs, leaning in.

Your breaths mingle in the little space between your face and his, but you pull away at the last minute—just the slightest bit—so that his lips catch the air instead.

“Why should I?”

Alhaitham straightens, taking in your look of feigned apathy, clearly given away by that playful layer of expectancy brocaded in your expression. Of course you want to hear him say it; he's made you wait long enough.

The corners of his mouth lift into that phantom of a smile, one you���ve come to adore so much: small and sly, daring and charming in a way unique only to him.

“Because I love you.”

“And I’m yours, if you’ll still have me,” he adds, confidence unwavering.

There's no hiding the delight and relief that breaks across your features. Your heart soars, and the single breath exhaled during this time-frozen lull, lifts it to impossible heights. Finally.

You don't shy away this time when he comes in to kiss you, grinning at how right it feels. His hands grab at your waist, pulling you closer, eager to deepen the kiss. He's missed you, missed your touch, and of how you taste so sweet, like nectar from the garden of the gods... but you break away.

"Can you say it again?" Your soft laughter rings through the air, and alhaitham rolls his eyes, indulging you nonetheless.

"I love you," he repeats, stealing another kiss in the process. And then once more, for good measure, during the quick moment of air between his barrage of kisses, interrupted only by your yelp of surprise, as he scoops you up into his arms.

“Well?” He looks at you expectantly, a brow raised and a smirk dancing on his lips. You giggle as your hand curves along the side of his face, guiding his mouth to yours once again.

“I love you too, haitham.”

a/n2: the golden rose is actually a reference to a hidden quest in aaru village! i thought it was a cool metaphor hehe ^^ it’s a super easy quest chain + u get a pretty teapot decoration at the end :D

a/n3: and that’s a wrap ! i hope you’ve enjoyed this lil series as much as i’ve enjoyed writing it hehe tbh i was a bit nervous since the last part flopped, but in the end it doesn’t rlly matter ^^;; cus i read every single one of your comments / rb tags and i rlly appreciate them all so so much (இ﹏இ`｡) && while this is the end of this story, my ask is always open for more brainrots ‘n whatnot ! who knows i may write xtras lol ANYWAYS tysm for reading & sticking around ‘til the end ♡

© silkjade — do not steal, plagiarize, translate or repost any content onto any other platform

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

could we get the recent Mr Qi hcs but romantic please? the injured farmer ones?? thanks 😊

Everything is the same, only when Farmer teleported, Qi kissed them. *slap* Hah! 🫵 Trick ya!

Sorry, I'm just kidding 😅 Of course, dear anon! Enjoy! 🫰💕

_________________________________________

Farmer opened their eyes and wrinkled their nose at the bright light and the sterile smell. The white walls, the white bed, the slightly annoying beeping sound... And a worried Harvey checking them over and saying something.

Yep, they were back in the clinic. Ugh...

What a shame, only one floor short of level 100... They were anticipating Mr. Qi rewarding them, praising them for the hard work with his special quest and giving them a kiss for their determination, when suddenly the flying bastard took them by surprise. And then - the darkness, the smell of sterility, and worried Harvey.... Yeah.

The doctor changed Farmer's bandages and ordered bed rest. It was still painful to move anyway, and even with Farmer's incredible regeneration, they definitely needed at least a week's rest. So Farmer obediently nodded and thanked Harvey for help.

Finding themselves alone, Farmer closed their tired eyes again, hoping to sleep at least a little longer. But feeling a familiar aura, they opened their eyes again.

They had never seen Mr Qi like... that before. It wasn't that the mystical blue man had changed in appearance, it's just... Usually, he would smile, praising them for yet another victory or slightly teasing them when Farmer failed to achieve what they wanted, fuelling their eagerness to try again.

This time, Qi's lips were pressed into one thin line, and he himself was silent. Farmer couldn't see his gaze through his glasses. And then it dawned on them - they were balancing on the brink of life and death, in the Skull Cavern. And Qi, the unofficial owner of this dangerous, but rich in ore and gems place, sensed that Farmer was dying.

Uh-oh... So he was furious.

"I see you're already awake." Farmer tried to rise, a whole torrent of apologies for their carelessness were about ready to pour out of their mouths, but Qi raised his palm, calling for silence.

A man whose clothes shone with hundreds of small stars walked over to Farmer's bed and placed a half-litre bottle of an incomprehensible purple liquid on the bedside table.

"Drink it after your nap." Farmer turned their head to examine the bottle and their face cringed with realisation. Iridium snake milk, ewww...

"No buts." Compared to Qi's harsh statement, the milk didn't seem so nasty anymore. Farmer would drink any yucky medicine or elixir just to avoid seeing his lover in this rage.

When they turned their gaze back to Qi, the mysterious man's face had managed to get close enough to Farmer's face that they could feel his breath. Farmer expected a tirade and a scolding, but not a gentle kiss.

"Get well soon, dear. And don't you dare go on any more adventures unprepared." Mr Qi seemed to dissolve into mist, leaving Farmer alone in their room once more.

[blasphemousgoggles]

Strange Mr. Qi

A Mr. Qi x Reader, Part 2 added. I thought this was going to be short.

Warnings: Mr. Qi is the warning (Stalking)

Mr. Qi was, to put it lightly, weird. This may sound rude however you had good reason to think this. While mining, you would be able to get many things such as ores, gems, even artifacts! But you would also find chests, weapons and most importantly notes. The notes had provided you with some useful information on other people but it was a bit confusing. How did all of these notes get into the mines? Some of these are from peoples diaries and you highly doubt someone would rip a page and it somehow gets into the mines. Other notes are drawings which would allow you to find buried items or- a gold statue of Lewis. Why. While strange you could chalk it up to maybe carelessness and coincidence until one note.

“Greetings, Y/N

Have you found my ‘secret’ in the dark tunnel?

I look forward to meeting you!”

- Mr. Qi

You were a bit taken aback because while you had found many notes before, this one had specifically addressed you.

“That's kind of creepy.” you think.

 While you were weirded out, on a whim you decide to see what the ‘secret’ was. The only dark tunnel you knew was the bus tunnel and wouldn’t ya know there's a lock-box! It was missing a battery though. When you had placed that battery pack into the lock-box you hadn’t expected to receive another cryptic note. You don’t really know what you were expecting but now you had another quest to do. Being sent on a wild goose chase to find some guy was the last thing you had expected.

Each note had you complete various tasks such as placing a rainbow shell into a box at a train station or placing beets into Mayor Lewis’s fridge. Out of curiosity you completed each task, and it was pretty fun! It was really refreshing to do something new and it gave you some sort of rush every time you finished a task. You were very interested as to who was behind these letters considering the note had said that he was “looking forward to meeting you”. You eventually had decided to ask around town to see if anyone knew who he was but apparently none of the townspeople knew. It was pretty strange considering that if it wasn’t them then who? Everyone you had asked seemed to have no idea who this person was, you had assumed it was a prank of some sort but everyone had seemed genuinely baffled. Some were concerned if this Mr. Qi was sending you concerning letters but you had assured them otherwise. 

Eventually you had found two notes, one was a riddle to give a dragon his last meal and the other was to make it to level twenty five of the Skull Cavern. Skull Cavern was easy enough but the monsters were stronger than the ones in the mines, and you had received a pretty hefty reward of TEN THOUSAND GOLD.

Your eyes had bugged out when you saw the amount.

“What the-!”

Whoever was sending you these notes had to be hella rich because who does that? You didn’t even have to go that deep!

The riddle however was a bit trickier, you had no idea as to what ‘dragon’ you could feed. After looking everywhere in the valley, it seemed nothing was here so you looked through the desert. You found it! There were the bones of what looked to be a dragon and you had found a small piece of paper in its teeth.

“Its maw gapes at the desert sun. Even in death, it yearns for a taste.”

“That's a bit grim.” you thought. You read the letter again, you have to give the dragon its last meal… and its maw gapes to the sun. Then like a sack of bricks it hits you. Solar essence! That's actually pretty clever. Thankfully you are carrying some solar essence due to your escapade into the Skull Cavern. You place the sun into the dragon's mouth and you see a note.

“You’ve proven yourself, kid. Check out the pile of lumber next to your house.

I’m proud of you.”

- Mr. Qi

Your heart swelled at that. The people pleaser in you was thankful for any praise you can get. The lengths you go for a stranger. You get on the bus to head home, you thank Pam for taking you home and-Wait. Your lumber pile. YOUR LUMBER PILE! That is at your house! When the hell did he make it to your farm?! You would get how he would know where you lived. Your farm was featured in the newspaper and anyone is able to mail you but the only people allowed onto your farm were the people that you knew. This guy would have had to sneak around the townspeople, get over the fences surrounding your house and place something in your lumber pile.

“Hey kid you alright?” You look over to Pam. She looks pretty concerned. Ah right you were thanking her.

“Oh. Sorry about that. I'm fine, thank you for taking me home.” You get out of the bus and quickly head home, internally freaking out.

You run over to the lumber pile and you see a green card sticking out. It has your full name, a photo of you and the words “Club Member”.

“Do- do I have a stalker?” you murmur. You are more than capable of defending yourself considering all the monsters you had slain but it still unnerved you.

You are starting to wonder if it was a good idea to do all of these tasks, much less even meet the guy. You were still intrigued, if you met him he could probably answer your questions and if he tried anything you could most definitely beat him in a fight.

You remember the Oasis. It had a path in the back blocked by a bouncer. Could that be where you need to go? You decide to sleep it off and go in the morning.

At 6:00 AM you’re up and ready. You tend to your crops, feed your animals and harvest whatever you can and put it in the shipping bin. You decide to look into your mail. You have a few gifts from the others, Caroline had sent you some parsnips while Elliot had sent you crab cakes. There was another letter, it wasn’t addressed by anyone but you had a clear idea as to who it was.

“Someone is

waiting for you

on level 100

in

the

skull cavern…”

Obviously it's Mr. Qi. Seriously you hadn’t even met the guy and he has taken up so much of your life already. You could head down to level 100 in the Skull Cavern but you already have plans to get into that club in Sandy’s shop.

By now it's 10:00 AM and you head over to the bus. You thank Pam for taking you and you go over to the Oasis.

Sandy greets you on your way in and you make some small talk.

“You look really thirsty. Here, have a taste of this ice cold milk.” You smile

“Oh thank you!”

Sandy is very pleasant to talk to however you REALLY have to do this now. You head over to the back to the bouncer.

“!!! Is…is that a ‘Club Card’?” Wow he looks shocked. Guess this club must be a big deal.

“Yes.” He nods “You may enter.”

“You’re a club member!?” You look over to Sandy and sheepishly smile.

“I guess so.” With that you step in. You are now in a casino. The first thing you notice is how purple it is. The purple walls have a lovely wavy design and the windows have a purple blanket of stars and the ceiling is also purple as well. The floor however is black and blue with a star pattern on it. There are two card tables, some slot machines, and the fortune teller you watch on TV.

Then you see him. He turns around and smiles oh so warmly at you like you’re an old friend of his.

"It's good to finally meet ya, kid. Welcome to my exclusive clubhouse.”

[dkniade]

World Quest “Ancient Colours” Act I spoilers?

I was watching a playthrough of the Mamere quest “Ancient Colours” and of course there’s already something off about Mamere (and it’s so sad that she always collects paint alone)—

Warnings: slight horror stuff involving blood, mentions lightheadedness and hearing voices, dialogue on emotional manipulation

—but that just took a really dark turn the moment Jacob showed up.😭

I thought, huh, surely this is just a cute quest about Mamere and painting and Elynas. And for the first half of Act One it is fun for the most part.

The little sound effect that plays when Mamere is talking and gesturing is so cute…. Wiggle wiggle…

Lots of people have tried to buy her art but she doesn’t need Mora, huh. And Paimon tried to appreciate the artwork. This does feel like a sunnier and cuter version of the 2.3 Dragonspine scene with Albedo.

This is not a sunnier and cuter version of the 2.3 and the 1.2 Dragonspine events.

Still, Mamere talks about tall people but it’s really nice that the camera angles are from her eye level when she’s talking to Paimon. It feels nice to be lower to the ground.

-

The paint in the bottle is a warm and beautiful colour… It’s not blood is it

Paimon: No need to apologize! A priceless masterpiece like the one you’ll make should also need priceless paints, after all!

(If player has completed Shadows Amidst Snowstorms)

Traveler: I do recall us helping Albedo gather Starsilver back then…

-

There’s that speech pattern again of Mamere trying to understand Paimon’s intentions

Mamere: Also, there's no need to worry. I've always gone out to get paints on my own, so I'm used to it...

Paimon: Wait, so you don't have friends accompanying you most of the time?

Traveler: Ahem.

Paimon: Oh! Uh... What Paimon means is... Um, sorry...

Mamere: Huh? Why are you apologizing?

Mamere: Oh, I get it, Paimon! You feel bad for me because Seymour can't move and I might be lonely while collecting paint, right? You're so nice... Thank you.

It’s hard to describe. What is it about her that feels notable? Usually people would be sad or upset if someone points out that they don’t have friends to accompany them, but Mamere seems chill about it?

-

…Isn’t the stone mechanic kind of like how you need to get red stones to melt the special ice in Dragonspine

Mamere’s concept of making paint seem to be different from Paimon’s concept

Mamere: These ores contain a lot of impurities. If we were to make them into paint like this, the colours won’t be even—they’ll look dirty.

IMPURITIES….. Albedo… Starsilver… If Starsilver symbolize one’s worth in relation to Rhinedottir, then what do the red ores here symbolize?

Mamere: Hehe. At this time, we need to find purer ones, grind them down, and then mix the powders together.

?? Not going to discard the impurities like Albedo would? Would that really help the paint making process?

-

But, what is this.

Traveler gets dizzy multiple times from presumably toxic ores and starts hearing voices, Jakob breaks into Mamere’s home and emotionally manipulates her. How long has this been going on?

-

Mamere: That "you've never seen paintings like these before," that "you'd like to collect them"... That you could... understand them...

Mamere: You did all that... for things that have nothing to do with the paintings themselves, right?

Jakob: You misunderstand, Ms. Mamere.

Jakob: I have never intended to deceive you. Even now, I have nothing but admiration for your work.

Mamere: But you called them... "shambolic doodles"...

Jakob: And I apologize for my imprecise use of words. I was truly mesmerized by their unpredictable, chaotic nature, and I can appreciate the beauty in them, so incomprehensible to the rest of the world.

-

…

This guy… There’s a word for what he’s doing, aside from manipulation.

[xxwitchylanexx]

One Wheel Short Of A Carriage- Cloud x Reader

Side quest spoilers for Junon Region

Rebirth Retold Chapter 4

Taking care of Gabe's Ranch

Again very little dialog is taken straight from the game to keep it as close to the canon game as possible.

TW brief mention of assault

Masterlist

Chapter 5

*~*

After a long uncomfortable night at the mouth of the mythril mines the early morning sun began to peak over the crest of the jagged mountain tops in pinks, oranges, and yellows. The steep inclines, its metamorphic ore only traversable by the sharp talons that black chocobos possessed, cut this area off from the rest of the continent, and with the aid of the ferocious sea the people who lived here were imprisoned on this corner of the Planet. Unless you had the funds to purchase a ticket to cross on one of the many cruise ships under Shinra’s command, or you were a fisherman, soldier, or a Shinra employee.

The area had flourished at one time, however the natural flora was now dried up and barren from years of pollution and prolonged mako use. The wildlife were thinning over time due to the growing number of mutated fiends hunting at a staggering pace which in turn affects the food supply of all local towns, Under Junon especially. And in your opinion, the worst feature was the long flat terrain of the plains between the mines and city fortress. There was little to no shelter to hide among or set up camp. If you needed a break you’d have to take your chances in broad sight and hope to Shiva no fiend would see you. If you were adept enough you could clear out the fiends in the old rusted workshops that were abandoned here and there, but the risk usually out weighed the potential benefit.

So it should be of no surprise that the first stop in the Junon region would be a chocobo ranch. What better way to get around this region’s atrocious landscape than by chocoback?

You’ve never actually been to this specific ranch. You preferred to cross between the city and mines quickly, often times forgoing a rest and camping inside the safety the mines provided, well until recently. You had heard about this ranch from Bill though. He often talked about how the owner had fallen on harder times a little while back, but lacked the drive to pull himself out of trouble so you had added it to your list to of farms to visit which just coincidentally worked out this time around. Now that you were here you wished you had come sooner.

The stalls and pens themselves appeared structurally sound, but inside the birds looked thin and restless. Their eyes felt hollow just like the dark empty depths of the mine you'd just crawled out of. The metal troughs were empty and a greenish film clung to the sides, long dried onto the metal from sitting in the sun. The ones that did have water in them had flies buzzing around and was murky like the swamps. Piles of hay and feed were scattered haphazardly and appeared to be inedible. You could clearly make out the shape of a boot track in one that was soggy. You circled around the main barn in search of any attendants and when you finally found one the woman quickly scampered away in shame under your scrutiny.

The others crowded around the house in the back and seemingly struck up a casual conversation with the one in charge. You had to stop yourself from stomping up there, and ripping him a new one. Instead you took steady measured steps up to the back of the crowd they'd formed. Aerith chattered on like a perfect ray of sunshine like she often did as you shuffled your way through your friends till you stood the front next to Cloud and Aerith.

He was unimpressive, like many of the other self involved old bastards you've encountered. Dry and peeling wrinkled skin like sun cracked leather faded in desert heat covered the man head to toe, except for the smoothness of his balding head. Black tattoos ran up his arms, across his shoulders and highlighted his collar bones before weaving down his torso, the lines creating an image of a man holding the fate of his world on his shoulders. You guessed he was in his mod to late forties though his appearance was very similar to people well into their sixties.

“I’m Gabe, by the way. Owner of the ranch here, and before you ask, my birds are not for rent, ain’t worth the risk.” You nearly scoffed as you crossed your arms across you chest. What risk? At this rate they had a better chance in the wild. “Used to run deliveries, but Shinra put the kibosh on all that. Still tryin’ to keep it goin’ best I can… well, was tryin’, till my carriage shit the bed. And since I don’t have the parts to fix her, both she and my business are as good as dead. Even the chocobos’re feeling down.” No shit, you thought.

“What if I fix it. ” You interjected, having no patience for the sob story of why he ‘cant fix it’. Both Cloud and Aerith turned to gawk at you with wide eyes and open jaws, clearly surprised you said anything at all.

“Kind of you to offer, but nah.”

“You’d rather let the chocobos starve? How responsible.” You snapped as you pinched the bridge of your nose. You knew what he was playing at. He wanted you to play this back and forth game before he would eventually “cave” and accept your help. You decided to save yourself the headache, and jump right into the details. “Just need parts, right?”

“Says the girl who ain’t gotta fix it… but even if ya were some kinda secret grease monkey, I wouldn’t be able to pay ya for your time. I’m flat broke.” You exhaled the rising anger through your nose. This conversation would get you nowhere. You turned to leave, someone else here would have the details, though his scratchy baritone clawed against your eardrums before you got a step in. “Curious about my birds? I’ve tried settin’ ‘em free, but they just keep comin’ back. Force of habit.”

You looked him dead in the eyes and held his gaze. Your words nearly spat at him. “You’re an ass. If you knew anything about chocobos you’d know they’d rather die than abandon their faith in their owner, no matter how displaced that loyalty may be.”

“What’d you sa- I know you! You’re that assistant girl from Bill’s farm ain’t ya?” His brows pinched angrily and nose scrunched in distaste. You could practically feel the waves of hostility roll off him.

You blinked once, twice, in disbelief. ‘Assistant girl’? “He was right about you. You’re just another deadbeat who can’t get off his ass,” You name flew out of Aerith’s mouth in a shocked gasp, “and fix his own damn problems.” His cheeks puffed and face grew as red as a tomato, his hands balled into tight fists at his sides, as you held him under your stern glare, disgust no doubt written all over your face. “I’ll fix your damn carriage, and save your birds. Not that you deserve it.” You left all of them there to watch him flounder like a fish as you set off to work. You wanted to check in on the barn before you set out to run around and fix his shit.

The gravel crunched under your stomping feet as you finally reached the large creaking door to the main stable. Chocobos were pretty adaptable creatures. To see them in such a bad condition meant they suffered from prolonged neglect. You've seen it before; ranches often run out of funds to care for their birds. Shinra was known for cutting off travel between regions and monopolizing travel so there was no need for people to rent chocobos anymore. No customer equaled no income which resulted in sick and dying chocobos. Hopefully you made it in time to turn this ranch around.

The employee you saw earlier was now hunched over herself with a pitchfork gripped tightly in her hands. She grunted in exertion with every shovel and shake as she worked hard to muck out the stall. She looked younger than your thought from your first glimpse, maybe fifteen or sixteen. Not that out of the ordinary around Gaia. Most kids had to start working around thirteen to survive these days, thanks to corporate greed and rewarding the ass kissers that rose within the ranks of Shinra. “Excuse me.”

She yelped and banged her head against a support beam. A sharp hiss slipping through her gritted teeth before she rubbed at her head and reluctantly moved to approach you, her straight brown hair swishing back and forth with her movement. “C-can I help you?” She asked, her quiet and meek voice wavering.

You gave her a gentle smile, as you studied her body language. Her swirling chocolate eyes flickering away from your steady gaze, her bottom lip wavering slightly under the pressure of her teeth, and her shoulders hunching inward with tension. She had dirt smeared across her mocha skin, one calloused hands clenching the pitchfork, and the knees of her overalls were stained with grass and dirt. You felt for her. A hard working girl like her didn't deserve to be under the weight of the crushing pressure of caring for so many chocobos alone, and by the subtle shake in muscles you're confident that Gabe must take out a lot of his anger on her. “Do you run the stables?” You asked calmly in your most soothing voice you could muster.

“Um, yes. It-it’s embarrassing to say that since it’s falling apart.” Her face fell as she refused to tear her eyes from her shoes.

“What’s your name?”

She leaned her equipment against the wall and leaned onto the gate in front if you. “Calla.”

“Hi, Calla. I’m Y/n. I travel all around the planet, and help out stables when they need it. I’d like to help you. Can you tell me what’s been going on here?”

“Um, sure, but I-I can’t pay you.” She said as she kicked at some of the straw lining the ground.

“Don’t worry about that.”

She nodded, a fiery determination simmering in her weary eyes, and her bottom lip trembled but she straightened her posture and began to break down the struggles shes been facing. You admired her resolve to work through her emotions, especially at her age. If you had one wish for the future of Gaia it would be to allow the youth of the future to be a child, to have a childhood instead of being thrust into the hardships adulthood to survive.

Anyhow, from your understanding all of Gabe’s clients brought their business elsewhere since the carriage broke down six months ago. She urged him to branch out and allow chocobo rentals to the influx of tourists who came from the central continent, but he deemed it too dangerous for the birds and closed the business down. The ranch wasn’t making any money so all the other stable hands quit leaving Calla in charge of everything. She was left with twelve birds to care for and no funds in either of the business accounts so she hasn’t been able to purchase enough greens to keep the chocobos well fed. Not to mention the troughs are too heavy for her to move by herself so the drinking water often got too warm and stagnant. As a result the chocobos weren’t getting enough water and one by one they were starting to get sick or too fatigued to do anything. “I just love them so much, but I don't know what to do.”

“That's why I'm here.” From outside the barn you could hear your friends discussing what to do next. You inhaled deeply and pushed that to the side for now. This was something only you could do, and if that meant being left behind, so be it. “First things first, you need to clean the troughs, thoroughly. Do you have any oats or wheat?” You asked, placing one hand on her shoulder.

“Oats, in the main house, I believe.” Calla sniffed and wiped at her nose with the back of her arm.

“Great! After you clean the bins, fill them up. You’re going to take whatever you have and mix it with any greens you have in stock. Three parts oats, one part greens. Got it?”

Calla fumbled out of the stall, nearly knocking her head on the wood again, and over to the small desk tucked into a corner of the room. She shuffled through the paper laying around for a pen and notebook then quickly jotted down your instructions. “Got it.”

You reached into your satchel and fished out a small glass container, crossing the room as you did so, and handed it to her. “These are for the ones that refuse to eat or if you feel like they’re getting sick. You only have to give them one of these, unless they don’t start eating in a few hours. In that case give them another. The treats stimulate appetite and help boost immune systems.”

“Oh,” Calla waved her hands in front of her in protest. “I can’t take something that valuable.”

You persisted. “Take them. Its really no trouble. I can make more if I need them.”

Calla’s attention momentarily faltered as her eyes darted behind you, to the new people entering the room, before her focus was back on you. She hesitantly took the stimulants from you in a shaky hand.

“Then I want you to empty the water container, clean them very well, and refill them. When I get back I’ll help you move them.”

“Are you sure this is okay? I really don’t feel right about letting you do this all for free!”

“Calla,” you waited till she looked at you, “You need help, and this is what I do. Let me help you.” Her bottom lip wobbled, before she nodded weakly. “You’re doing a great job. I’ll be back soon.” You paced towards your group, before slowing down and turning to address Calla once more. “And, Calla.” You paused until she peered over at you. “Give yourself some credit. These chocobos would be dead if it weren’t for you.”

She nodded weakly before ducking away to immediately start on her part, but the way her eyes sparkled with a newfound pride and a pep to her step you knew shed be okay. You faced your friends with a heavy sigh. You didn’t want to part from them, but you didn’t feel right asking them to come with you and delay their plans any longer. “I need to take care of this for now, so you guys can go on ahead. I’ll try to meet up with you later.” You pushed your lips into a thin line and shrugged.

Equally disappointed frowns pulled at their faces as well, except for Aerith who smiled brightly at you, and Cloud who was as stoic as ever. Not even the ghost of a frown on his blank face, and why is she smiling? Your brows furrowed, and an uncomfortable disappointment gnawed at your heartstrings. This could possibly be the last time you'd see each other, and neither seemed to care. The thought had you recoiling for a second. Since when do you care?

“Nope!” Her singsong voice captured your attention. She approached you and grabbed your hands firmly in hers. Her eyes reminded you of the ethereal greens that look like the dancing wisps of the lifestream. Her warmth always reminded you of a love from the mother you never had, and homesick for a life that could have been yours. “We’re in this together. You helped us with jobs in the grasslands, only fair we help you here. Right, Cloud?”

“Right.” The lack of attitude took you by surprise, but his eyes showed the honesty of his statement. You’re in this together. You looked around to each if them gathered around you. Barrett, Tifa, Red, Aerith, and Cloud each offering a nod or smile, Red even showed some teeth.

You caved easy. You didn’t try to change their mind, and you were sure you didn’t want to anyway. For the first time, you felt like this might be where you belonged. “Alright. First things first, we need to find a Mountain Chocobo.”

“Gabe said that a chocobo by the name of Belle and her pack was seen north of here.” Tifa explained. “He said she should be able to get us where we need to be.”

“Perfect, and everyone, thank you.” You bowed your head softly, hoping your gratitude could be conveyed properly before a big meaty hand clomped over the back of your head and ruffled back in forth pulling strands of silky h/c strands free from your braid. After trying to swat Barrett’s tree trunk of an arm away unsuccessful he pushed at your jaw line to lift you eyes to meet his, a cheeky grin stretched proudly on his rugged face.

“None of that, now. We got a job ta do.”

*~*

So… how do we catch her?” Tifa asked quietly from somewhere behind you. The group had found its way north to an abandoned, yet unexpectedly sturdy, ore refinery on a cliff that over looked the sea. The mid morning sun shone bright yellow rays that reflected off the crashing waves. that opened up into a field. You stood just inside the gates and crouched down behind a wall of barrels staking out the patterns of the chocobo flock frolicking inside the circular loop of cart tracks. At one time they were used to bring ore into the building and then once done was carted back out to the storage building, now it was just an obstacle keeping you from the alpha bird.

“Sneak up on her, I suppose.” You tracked her movements as she leisurely grazed between large tufts of grass. She was smart enough to graze in the center of the field where there wasn't a lot of shelter for predators to sneak up on her. She was a beauty. Her midnight black feathers looked as sleek as night itself. Her beak the color of a Junon sunset that was sharper than a yellow chocobo, and her shanks were larger in size and talons as sharp as razors to pierce the rock of the surrounding mountains.

Occasionally she chirped and chatted with the surrounding birds, but mostly minded her own business as she looked for the best looking grass to eat. “Well, she seems to be laid back,” you spoke your eyes never leaving the black beauty, “but she must be pretty headstrong to lead the flock.” You finally looked back towards them, your lips pressing into a thin line as you ran through your plans in your head. Before you said anything else a different chocobo began to squawk as it neared your group. You turned your head in its direction. If you could just distract it.

“What’s wrong?”Cloud asked as he crouched on your left and leaned towards you to get a glimpse at what held your attention.

You blinked at him once, twice before you sighed. He was beginning to be able to read you, and you weren't sure how you felt about that. “Those ones there,” you pointed to the two that were scampering in your direction, “seem excited to see us, but we’re not likely to get close to Belle if they’re making a fuss.” You tucked in a breathe when you looked over at him. He was so close, the mako hue made his eyes shine like the sea, his scent invaded your nose. You blinked hard and turned back to the two.

“So only one of us goes then.” He stated rather than asked.

“You got it. However, we might as well befriend them. We need six of them after all. Plus it’ll keep them distracted.” You nearly whispered.

“Give us a job.” You never thought Cloud would follow your lead. He always seemed like he needed to be the one issuing commands, though you suppose at one time he probably had to follow someone’s order given hes a military man.

“Yeah!” Aerith happily agreed with Cloud. You nodded, having no trouble setting your plan into motion.

“Why don’t you three,” you gestured to Tifa, Red, and Cloud, “go give those guys some love. Barret can you stand guard here? It should keep them all from taking off, and Aerith come with me? I’ll have you throw rocks to distract the ones closer to Belle so they don’t see me.”

“You got it.” Tifa answered as she slowly stood from where she hunched over and put her hand on your shoulder briefly before she and Red carefully advanced towards the cluster of chocobos. Meanwhile Cloud gave you one last nod before following after them.

Barret shook his grafted arm in an arc motion, going so far as to aim at random targets to make a show of it. “They won’t get past me!”

You chuckled at his enthusiasm, and rolled your eyes before thanking him. You looked towards your partner. “Ready?”

“You bet!” She held up her hand in search of a high five knowing full well you'd never leave her hanging. With a satisfying ‘clap’ the two of you crouched back down, as low to the ground as feasible, and slowly snuck up against one of the mine carts. You paused there, leaning around the corner of the cart, and searched for the next nearest chocobo. You looked to the other side at Cloud’s group to make sure they succeeded in drawing attention of the other two.

You smiled to yourself at the sight. The only one the birds were interested in was Cloud, he even drew the attention of two more. Two in front of him and two more around his back and side invaded his space. They pressed their beaks into his torso to sniff at his uniform, one of them sniffing at his ear and hair. His arms were raised and pushing gently against them, but even his soldier strength couldn’t rival an eager chocobo. Tifa was doubled over herself and clutching her stomach as she laughed while Red sat next to them with the biggest toothy grin you've ever seen on his face, and tail wagging at a rapid pace.

“You like him!” One of Aerith’s finger jabbed at your cheek.

You recoiled at the accusation and fell back on your hands. Your eyes wide as they darted between Aerith’s as you accessed if she was joking or not. You scowled at her laughter your cheeks heating up in embarrassment. “Wha- no! It’s not like that!”

“Oh, please! I see the way you look at him!” Aerith brought both hands to her face and pointed at her eyes. “Do you think I’m blind? Every time you see him, your eyes get all dreamy.”

You huffed like a child. “You’re delusional.”

“You know I’m right!”

“How on Gaia- I haven’t even- I’ve only known him for a couple weeks! You know what-never mind.” You brows knit together in irritation as you stared blankly at the grass in front of you.

She sighed wistfully, “I knew the second I saw my first love.” You reluctantly looked at her again, her expression ‘dreamy’ and far away. She smiled softly, almost sad. He must’ve been quite the guy to have the most positive girl on the planet look so lonely. You almost asked, your lips parted and the question on the tip of your tongue yet the loud ‘kwehs’ that chirped from Cloud’s group carried your train of thought, and your eyes, away.

Your pulse beat violently in your throat, and your hands grew clammy. His eyes focused on you and not the chocobo head butting against his hip. Shit, do you?

He gave you a small nod, his way of saying they were good to go. You exhaled deeply through your nose. No use thinking about it now. “Come on,” You shook your head and focused on the task at hand. “We don’t have time for this.”

“Right.” She dragged the word out implying that you just wanted to avoid the conversation, but quickly shifted into work mode. “You want me here?”

You made sure to look closely at the terminal and showed her the correct lever to make the carts travel forward or backwards. “Yeah. When I give the signal, hit this lever.”

She nodded. “Got it.”

One last quiet high five and then you began moving slowly along the carts on all fours to balance yourself. The dried grass pricked at your knees caps, and tiny pebbles molded tiny indents in your flesh. Your grit your teeth and crawled through the mild stings until you finally reached the end of the line. At the last cart you shifted your weight onto your legs and carefully poked your head around the hard edge to get a look at the space on front of you. Just one more chocobo ahead then smooth sailing to Belle.

You looked back to Aerith and gave her a thumbs up, the signal you two had agreed on. A moment later the cart you were behind lurched forward and you crawled besides it as it followed the tracks. As you neared the next chocobo you slowly switched to the other side to stay out of its eyesight. The gentle munching lightened your heart and had you smiling to yourself. Oh how you loved chocobos. You kept at it for another minute, keeping in pace with it before the cart screeched to a stop just a few yards from the target.

Belle looked up at the cart and you sank to the ground so no part of your body could be seen. You waited there for one minute, then two. At the three minute mark you seriously started to sweat that she might not look away, and you'd have to improvise. Then, finally, she straightened out her neck with a sassy chirp and averted her sight towards the old rusty building that’s been long forgotten. You inched forward, slow and steady trying to avoid anything that made noise.

You counted down the feet between you and her. The anticipation grew within you, the rush of taming a new chocobo one of the very things that drew you in to training in the first place. You were so close, literal inches away, when you stepped on a rock and twisted your ankle. A pained hiss slipped from between your clenched teeth, and Belle shot upward and twisted around to look at you.

Her wide saucer eyes stared at your slumped figure with childlike curiosity. Her head slightly turned towards you and a low cluck of her beak had you mirroring her inquisitiveness. Deep blue eyes, much like your solider friend, darted between your own searching you for an malicious intent.

“Hey there, Belle.” You spoke softly yet with confidence to convey your conviction to her safety with an outstretched hand and tranquil demeanor. A mirthful giggle bubbled in your chest as the cool beauty took a step forward, then another until her smooth beak nuzzled into your palm. “You’re not scared at all, are you?” Your other hand came up and twisted gently through a few of her midnight feathers before she knelt and offered her neck to you to help you stand.

Her eager chirps buzzed in your ears as she rose to her full height, lifting you up along with her, and quickly circled into your torso nudging at your satchel for the delicious aroma that wafted through the leather.

“I didn’t need to sneak up on you at all did I?” You fished out one of the homemade treats from your choco proof pocket and offered it on the palm of your hand. “Or did the others scare you?” Belle kweh’ed eagerly in response. “It was Barret wasn’t it?” You laughed a little more, scrunching your nose in a faux disgust look. “I promise, he’s a big softie just outwardly rough.” You patted her neck twice with a firm touch. “We could use some help getting around the area. Are you up for an adventure?”

She jumped in excitement, before moving into a position that would allow you to climb easily onto her back. She hardly waited for you to be seated properly before sprinting out towards every other chocobo she traveled with, chirping directions to her fellow flock members.

By now your friends have also found a feather friend to care for except for Barret, which was no surprise to you, but when the last chocobo realized it was him or being left behind the bird lumbered over and leaned down to offer Barret a ride.

Now equipped with your latest companions, the six of you kissed the rusty building and creaking carts goodbye. Barret shouted out a loud and melodious victory cry, which had Cloud groaning weakly besides at Barrett’s silly antics. You laughed so hard you almost fell head first off of Belle, the other girls joining in. You really haven’t ever had this much fun in your life, and you really didn’t ever want it to end.

Da du du daa duhn duhn du da daaa!

*~*

It was well into the afternoon when you arrived at the wainwright’s residence after two treacherous mountain climb which Belle scaled with ease, and an insanely close rock slide.

You started having doubts about this master craftsman when you seen the state of the ‘house’ he was living in. The shack was built out of old discolored wood that was worn down, and for some reason he used rusted corrugated metal to reinforce what was left of the door instead of replacing the damaged entrance, but the icing on the cake was the person sized hole in the roof that he patched up with a tattered tarp. The only thing that was noteworthy here was the view of the Meridian Sea.

You truly lost hope when you met him. He had to he quickly the planet’s laziest business man. The sheer audacity this man had to turn you away because he wanted to keep sleeping in the middle of the day. How on Gaia has he managed to stay in business? There was a stack of orders a rulers length tall on his for Odin’s sake. You had to crack your knuckles to keep yourself from giving him a wake up call he’d never forget.

“Think a swift kick’d get him up?” Cloud scoffed the corner of his lips ticking up in a wry smile.

“I like the way you think.” You agreed as you placed your hands on you hips.

“How about some magic?” Aerith questioned, pulling out her staff and waving it about as if she was putting on a show. The man cracked one crinkled eye open catching a flash of her weapon and jerked violently to an upright position and the head of the bed.

“Scared me half to death!” He screamed waving his hands side to side rapidly. “Look, you wanna get my ass up? Then you bring me exactly what’s on that list, got it?” He waved his arm, after shooting you the finger, over to the desk you snooped through. Without another word or further explanation he rolled onto his side so his back faced you and returned to his lazy past time .

“Well?” Cloud leaned his weight on one side and brought his hand to his hip. He must be as annoyed with this as you are.

You plucked what looked like a crude map with a tiny list of materials off the top of the stack. You puckered your lips to the side for a moment as you looked through the list before tucking the paper into your back pocket. “I say we get his ass up.”

Everyone shuffled back outside, and saddled back up without a word, eager to get this over with as quick as possible. Until you actually started to travel when Barret started ranting about how much of an ass that guy was, and how he was completely unprofessional. “If you didn’t want to do the work, why the hell would take the orders?!”

After collecting the materials at the first location Tifa shared your sentiment on the matter. “A nap on the job can’t possibly be good for his image.” She said as she dusted her hands of against her high socks.

At the second location, even Aerith chimed in. “The guy’s a jerk. Business requires amazing customer service, and building connections! Like how i gave Cloud a flower on the house the first time we met, and look at me now! He comes to me for all his flower needs.” She joked, as she scratched the top of her chocobo’s head for a job well done.

The only one who didn't have anything to say even after locating and digging up the parts of the last place on the list was Cloud.

Your attention wandered to him as you made the trip back, your gaze studying him from behind as you stayed in formation. It was still difficult for you to get a read on him. He was almost always cool and collected, almost stoic. Though there were times where you got a glimpse of what lied beneath the act. He could be quite the smart ass, and arrogant. He was cocky though with his skills he earned a little bit of slack there, not that you’re one to talk. He acted aloof, but you've seen the gentleness, and kindness that dwells in the depths of his soul.

You were becoming fond of the tiny wrinkle that formed between his knit eyebrows, or the way the tiniest of smirks would appear on his face when he did something that looked cool. Ever the showman, you’d joke. You guided Belle forward to bridge the gap between him and the rest of you.

“Hey, Cloud?” A rumble emanated from his chest to let you know he was listening. “Sorry for this.” You grabbed his attention then. “I know you were in a rush.” Your hands gripped the leather reigns harder.

A singular golden ray of the now lowering sun painted his face in gentle yellows, the front spikes of his hair falling into his gorgeous smoldering eyes. Your eyes fell down to trace the lines of him lips as he spoke. “Don’t mention it. We’re even.”

You squeezed your eyes tight. “Well, thank you.”

You’re not at all surprised that the guy was snoring loud enough to rattle the walls when you returned. You were a tad worried his snores would shake the foundation apart, like a giant earthquake would. Half the group waited outside, Barret too worked up from the earlier conversation and Tifa to keep him calm- ahem- company, while you, Cloud, and Aerith went in. You quickly crossed the room with the burlap sack, you’ve used to haul the parts with, pulled taut over your shoulder. At the edge of the rickety bed you dropped the heavy bag on top of his stomach. “Special delivery!” Aerith called out the second you gave him the bag.

He folded on impact with a loud umpf, then lots of groaning before finally looking through the sack.“Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!” He exclaimed. He shoved the stuff to the side as he swung his legs over the side of the bed frame. “Name’s Freddie. So what was it ya needed again?” You inhaled sharply. Maybe it was because it looked like you wanted to slap the life right out of him, or maybe it was just the planet’s way of tagging you out, but Cloud grabbed you by the arm before stepping in front of you.

“The parts for Gabe.” Cloud’s words were flat and his irritation rolled off him in lukewarm waves.

“Uh, yeah. You did mention that. This’ll just take a sec.” Freddie hopped off the mattress and sauntered over to his workbench in the corner. You rolled your eyes as he made a show of crafting each part. You paced around the small room impatiently looking at the random diagrams that were hung to the walls. You honed in on the faint melody that seized your concentration, eventually zeroing in the origins to Aerith, as she too waited with bated breath. The tune vaguely sounds like something you'd heard back in the slums, and gently tugged at your heart strings.

After thirty or so minutes he finally presented the promised commission. “Tell me she ain’t a beauty. Got a wheel, bed, and brace. Nobody makes ‘em like I do, and that’s no lie. Go on- take it.”

You tugged the part from his grip and carefully inspected the quality of the parts carefully as Aerith chatted the guy up. You didn't want to admit it, but they were pretty damn good. At least his product makes up for the lack of customer service, though if it were you, you’d take your business elsewhere. This guy wasn’t worth the hassle. You shuffled everything back into the burlap and stretched your arms to the ceiling. You exhaled a relieving breath as the pain in your muscles subsided from the prolonged stiffness over the course of the day. “We good to go?” You asked.

With a curt nod Cloud replied “Yeah.”

You didn’t waste time thanking or giving a goodbye to the wainwright. You just wanted to finish up and hopefully make it to Junon before nightfall. What you would give to sleep in an actual bed for the night.

*~*

It wasn't until the evening that you returned to the ranch. You beelined straight to the barns to help Calla with the remaining tasks, opting to trust Aerith and Cloud to deliver the parts to Gabe. Calla’s hard work exceeded your expectations and brought a toothy grin onto your face. It seemed that the little bit of affirmation you offered her was the key to bringing out her natural talents. You believed she has what it takes to own and care for her own ranch one day.

Each trough was scrubbed so clean your own reflection stared back at you. Fresh food, prepared to the perfect ratio, filled each one, and most of the chocobos were chowing down. The stalls were entirely emptied out, wiped clean, and replaced with fresh straw. The birds inside were swaying from side to side content that their bellies were finally full, and energy slowly returning to their bodies. On your way out to the paddock you scratched one of them lightly under the beak, a sense of purpose being relit within you as it eagerly chirped at you for more.

Outside you found Calla hunched over the two feet by 10 feet silver water container, her lanky form kneeling in the dirt and arms working furiously at the mineral build up on the bottom.

“Hey. Nice job!” You complimented, taking up a spot against the wooden planks of the fence, looking in on her from the outside.

Her smile said it all. Brilliantly bright as she beamed up at you as you swiped at the sweat beading at her hairline, unknowingly smearing a streak of algae across her temple. She set the wire scrub brush down, and pushed herself to a stand, brushing the harsh pebbles and dirt off her knees. “Thanks! You were right about that supplement. Chochi is usually really stubborn but one of those treats and he gobbled the feed right up!”

“Glad to hear it.” You scaled the side then hopped into the pen next to her. “Let’s get this moved.”

The two of you moved the sixty pound rectangle to the side of the barn under the overhang from the roof so it’s shadow would always cast its shadow over the box. She thanked you profusely for all of your help with hugs, a handshake, and even a few tears. She made you promise that if you ever needed any help to search for her. You ruffled her hair a bit, internally nostalgic at finding yourself in the mentors position for once, and thanked her, but ultimately telling her not to worry about you. She’d do anything to return the favor. You wished you had more time to get to know her full story, but promised one day you’d seek her out to see how she’s doing. With a heavy heart, and a few more tears on her end, you parted ways. Before you could continue your journey you needed to have a serious discussion with the man in charge.

When you rejoined your friends Gabe had just finished installing the new parts on the carriage. You gave Aerith another high five for a job well done before he cleared his throat in a pathetic cry for attention. Your nostrils flared angrily with the low breath you inhaled, a whiff of motor oil lingering on the breeze.

“Good as new. I gotta say, that old dog really outdid himself this time. Helluva job. Don’t think my carriage has ever looked even half this good!” He gave your a once over with a discreet flash of false superiority before dismissing you as he turned his attention back to Aerith. “‘Preciate it, kids. I can finally get the business back up and running again.”

“That’s great.” she said, “But before we head out, I just wanna ask one more thing. If we hadn’t showed up, would you have even tried to give your birds a better life?” You nodded with her question. Part of you was curious, or maybe hopeful, he had a suitable answer, but deep down you knew he didn’t. If there ever was a time to pull his shit together, it would’ve been when his chocobos livelihood had been jeopardized.

“Maybe.” Gabe shrugged, his lack of empathy and morality had you seething with a white hot rage.

“Not good enough.” you barked through grit teeth, hands clenching at your sides.

“I see, but I get it.” Your face morphing from angry to genuine bewilderment when Aerith’s words regarded him with honest understanding. What? “Shinra’s a big company- and what they say goes.” Your jaw loosened when you realized what she was doing. “I can’t blame you for being too scared to fight back.”

“Hey! I ain’t scared of those sons of bitches. Not one bit.” His rasp rising an octave in defense.

“Oh?” She asked, her voice laced in thick honeyed mockery as she caught him in her carefully spun web. “Then why did you shut down the business?”

“It’s like I told ya- my carriage broke- and getting the parts to fix it sounded like a real hassle, so. So there ya have it! I just… let it go.” The deep frown on your face slide up in a sly smirk. This is why you loved Aerith.

Despite his fumbling you still had a bone to pick. “So you’re birds aren’t worth the ‘hassle’?” The revulsion you harbored for this winkled leather bag seeping into your words. His posture grew rigid at being challenged, his jaw squaring with the effort to keep his mouth shut.

“How responsible…” Aerith sarcastically scolded.

“Okay, fine!” He screamed, his decibel making her flinch though she recovered quickly. “I shouldn’t’ve been so quick to throw in the towel! Ya happy? Starting today, I’m giving this job my all. I’ll stock up on parts so I can keep the carriage moving, and make sure my birds never get bored again.”

“You hear that?” Aerith addressed the distant chocobo near the carriage, before turning to you for confirmation. “Then the deal is sealed.” She shook Gabe’s hand.

With the job done each one of your companions broke off to stock up on anything they needed by the nearby store counter. Eventually it was just you and Gabe, the latter returning to a the carriage. He crouched down to inspect the wheel he had just replaced, the wrench in his hand tightening the jiggle of one of the bolts. You discreetly confirmed none of your friends were in earshot before you stalked over to him. You hovered above him, your voice lowering and taking on a sharp dangerous pitch you only used on rare the occasion you needed to intimate a selfish prick. “Aerith might believe you turned over a new leaf, but if I find out you quit on those birds again, I won’t be so forgiving next time.”

“Yeah? And who the hell asked you? Old Bill send you to scare me?” He huffed and threw the wrench onto the ground the metal clinking roughly against the dirt. “Guy nev’r could mind ‘is own business.”

You sank to his level to glaze straight through his uncaring eyes to the pit of his rotten soul. “I don’t work for Bill.” You spat. “I save chocobos, and the next time you throw in the towel and just let them suffer because it’s ‘a hassle’ will. be. your. last.” You seethed enunciated the consonants of the last three words very clearly before bouncing back up and on the balls of your heels and sauntered to the crumbling staircase only halting your descent when his slimy voice grated against your ear drums.

“Ya know, ‘ere’s this rumor about a jockey could read a bird ‘n get it ta do whateva she wanted. Choco Whisperer they called ‘er” He paused to pick the wrench back up and to continue to fiddle with the bolt. “Guess she was somethin’ real pretty, the jockey that is. Everyone wanted ‘er. Turns out she was sponsored by Choco Sam himself!” The blood in your veins ran down cold. “Gotta wonder how she got his attention, eh?” A sickly cackle had you turning back at him. His implication both horrifying you, and lighting a match to your unrivaled temper. “Guess it don’t matter though. Went missin’. Nobody knew why. Though people say its cause she almost killed ‘nother jockey.”

You gritted your teeth and swallowed your fury. It wouldn’t help anyone if you lost it here. “Your point?”

His prying eyes scanned your body, leaving you feeling dirty and uncomfortable. “Well that was round the time Ol’ Bill hired you, wasn’t it?” A smug toothy grin stretched across his face like he caught you red handed.

Your face didn’t betray the faux confidence as you held his challenging stare, though internally a frantic claw worked through your chest and settled in the pit of you guy. “Must be a coincidence.” You left then. You spent the last four year visiting ranches, and leave it to this bonehead to connect you to the harsh past of your jockeying days. You walked at a brisk pace away from him as the distance between you would rewrite your actions that night.

You tried so hard to leave your unique talents behind when you left the slums, but that night four years ago, the underlying atrocity in you surged. You didn’t regret it, not in the slightest, and you’d do it again if it meant keeping that poor girl, or anybody, safe.

It didn’t happen like he was implying, and thanks to the security cameras in the gilded stall room saved your reputation.

You had stumbled into the stable to check on the chocobo you had raced an hour prior, it was an intense obstacle course and you were worried about a prolonged fatigue might effect your partner, only to find the one jockey you couldn't stand already within. You thought nothing of it at first. You tried to avoid him when possible. You had heard rumors he couldn't keep his hands to himself, and while the other women might not, or couldn't, fight him off you would never let anyone touch you like that again. Not ever. So you were brushing your bird when an unsettling ruffling of clothing caught your attention. As you strained your ears to assess what was going on you realized he wasn't alone. You still hear her cries as she pleaded with him to stop like yesterday. The dark creeping fingers still echoed across your skin as you watched her try to push him off, but she was frail and he was far too strong. Hells, he was twice your size.

There was no way on Gaia you were just going to watch him take advantage of her. So you took care of him. You applied extreme force to his joints, and pressure points before he even turned around. He crumpled to the floor in complete sobs, but you didn't stop there. You crushed his femur, and the hand that he had snaked under the woman’s blouse. He was far from death when you left him, but you later found out from Sam that you had damaged the ligaments in his arms and he needed emergency surgery to save his leg.

You turned yourself in immediately, completely mortified with yourself, however even though you were protecting someone you were no longer permitted to jockey. The saucer had made an exception that aloud you to remain employed, but only to train and care for the chocobos. Which you still do from time to time, but you make sure you never stay for too long. He was completely disqualified ever work at the saucer again. The last you heard, he had recover and took up a residence in the Dustbowl and make a living betting on the races.

Suddenly your arm collided with a solid wall of muscle, your eyes snapping up to the swirling mako pools peering down at you. His scrutiny was unclear, and stormy in a whirlwind you haven’t seen in them before, though you hadn't had the energy to decipher their meaning. The only thing repeating in your head was the fear that he overheard what Gabe had said.

“Y/n, you alright?” His timbre was smooth and calm that soothed the overwhelming emotion bubbling beneath your skin.

You swallowed the thick lump that had formed in your throat. “Uh… yeah. I’m fine. Sorry. Lost in thought.”

Cloud hesitantly stepped backwards to give you more space. “Alright.” His hand hovered in the air, the concern in his eyes trying to convey something to you that his lips couldn't speak. You gave him a tight lipped smile before you staggered away to stock up on your own supplies.

Cloud looked back at Gabe with hardened eyes, a compelling since of protection urging him to take action. He only wished he knew what the right action was. He’d spent the past sixteen days trying his best not to notice you, but he’s done the exact opposite. He quickly realized you were quick to act, your reflexes like lightning, before he’d even seen you in action. You ability to perceive danger and avoid any harm was a skill he so rarely seen in others, and the way you moved in combat was like art. Your body swaying between fiends, only leaving death in your wake, was like the perfected ballet of Loveless- he’d reluctantly seen when he had first enlisted at Shinra. To see you fogged over and dazed was unsettling. You looked so empty like a night without stars, and felt just as cold as the northern continent, that he nearly followed after you. To do what, he didn't know but when he looked into your glassy far off eyes, his heart clenched like someone had ripped into his chest and squeezed.

He continued to watch you from afar, and you seemingly returned to normal. You gave Tifa a long hug, and bantered with Aerith like always. You returned Barret’s playfully punches by trying to push him over, before you finally took a seat and the old blue bench with Red, giving him a few scratched behind his ear as you waiting for everyone else. You appeared to be just fine so why was the bleak feeling still lurking with in him, and why was the only thing he wanted to do was to wrap his arms around you and hold you close until whatever pain or sadness you felt disappeared?

[melonthesprigatito]

Before Legends Arceus came out (so, two years ago whoops) I started coming up with my own Hisuian Ancestor and I spent a lot of time brainstorming (cough, cough daydreaming) about a hypothetical scenario of what their encounter would be like in the actual game. I tried to make it realistic as possible by making it seem like an actual event that could happen in the game, and the one thing I have to say is that it serves as the obligatory "Spooky Encounter" that's been in pretty much every Pokémon game since the Old Chateau.

I'm not going to tell you which character is the descendant of this ancestor just yet, because the story is better if you don't immediately know what's going on. All I can say is that this ancestor is the ancestor of a Gen 7 character.

The quest is intended to be more of a post game thing because it eventually leads into an Ultra Beast catching quest involving the space time distortions (which isn't the main focus, more of a bonus quest really). Think of it as a second update story quest like the Daybreak Update. I'm just going to call this entire thing the Nightfall Update I guess.

WARNING: SUPER LONG POST, FULL OF PLOT SUMMARY, HEADCANONS AND ART (Uh.... Don't read the post tags before clicking the blue read more button pretty please. Kinda spoilery

To start the story quest you have to buy a special charm called the Otherworldly Charm from Lucille in Jubilife Village. Item description: ("A Mysterious charm made of an unknown material, discovered in Obsidian Fieldlands. It bears an inscription of a six pointed star.  Perhaps something will happen if you keep it around.") Why does she have this? Oh, she just found it lying out there in the field and thought it looked neat. Someone must have dropped it.

After you complete your expedition for the day, a short cutscene will occur. A random merchant from the Ginkgo Guild is making his way though the forest when he suddenly hears a noise behind him. He looks around, but it's completely silent. 

All of a sudden the merchant gets ambushed by the Miss Fortune Sisters. Unable to defend himself, he has no choice but to drop his goods and run. The bandits laugh among themselves at the successful robbery. They're still pissed that their scheme to steal the Origin Ore went up in smoke and they're just SOOO frustrated that the Player (in my case Akari) keeps absolutely destroying them in battle so this ambush was a morale boost for them.

Suddenly they hear a noise. Clover suspects it's another poor defenceless merchant unfortunate enough to cross paths with them, about to be robbed blind. A mysterious hooded, deathly pale figure with glowing eyes watches them from the treeline. The bandits are unnerved but launch into their motto anyway, because they're idiots, but become highly offended when the figure doesn't respond or show any sign of emotion at all. How dare they not acknowledge their perfectly rehearsed intro that strikes fear into people's hearts?! Coin says "Forget this, let's just rob them!" and lunges at the ghostly figure and she instantly gets hit with a blast of lightning coming from the figure's hand. 

The screen goes black and it cuts to the beginning of the quest.

Quest [Insert Number Here Because I Forgot How Many Quests Are In This Game]: The Witch of the Woods 

The sidequest continues when you talk to Ginter from the Ginkgo Guild. He is upset because some of the guild's merchants have been suffering from an increased number of attacks from bandits and supplies in the village have started mysteriously vanishing. At the same time, people have spotted a mysterious pale figure sneaking about Jubilife Village in the dead of night, stealing items such as food and clothing and rumours have started to spread around that it might be the evil witch that supposedly lives in a dark cave, deep in the woods at the edge of the Obsidian Fields which has gotten everyone in a panic because they're afraid that the witch might go after their children next.

Ginter doesn't believe in witches so he suspects that this supposed witch might be behind the thefts of the Ginkgo Guild stock, so he wants the player to look into the rumours and put a stop to them. At this point Zisu approaches them because she's heard ALL about this wicked witch and is really eager to join the investigation. As the Captain of the Security Corps, she feels that it's her duty to defend Jubilife Village from any threat so she wants to look into the rumours about this supposed witch so she can come up with a plan to defend the village from them if she needs to.

Current objective: Investigate the rumours in Jubilife Village (I'm using these quest objectives as a way to break up the giant wall of text. I can't remeember if the quest objective does update as you progress because I haven't played in months but whatever)

So Zisu tags along with the player and they start asking around Jubilife Village about the witch to gain more insight into the rumours. Several people recount different bits of information, but the most damning evidence is a tale from one farmer in particular who tells them a story about how one night when he was working in the fields, a big hole opened up in the sky, and what came out of it was this inhumanly pale woman with glowing eyes that spoke in a language he didn't understand. The farmer had the everloving crap scared out of him because he was convinced that this woman was an evil being that emerged from the underworld (a kid friendly way of saying that he thought it was a demon from hell) so he gathered some of the other villagers and they chased the witch off into Necro Forest.

Zisu is excited because "Sweet! Now we have enough evidence! Let's go investigate that forest then!"

Current objective: Head to the Necro Forest, north of the Obsidian Fieldands

What happens next is an escort mission where the player has to take Zisu across the Obsidian Fieldlands by fending off any wild Pokémon to a new area unlocked exclusively by this quest called the Necro Forest (Eterna Forest in the modern day) which is filled with Ghost Types. The background music is the Night Time Field theme no matter what time of day it is, or maybe a remix of the Old Chateau theme.

Later the Miss Fortune Bandits are encountered in the Necro Forest and they're running for their lives as they crash into Akari Barry Style (Charm dragging a paralysed Coin behind her). Charm is immediately aggressive but resists the temptation to battle Akari, especially because she's accompanied by the head of the Security Corps. Zisu asks what happened to Coin, and Clover freaks out about a witch in the woods that casted a lightning spell on Coin.

Akari wants to help Coin but the other two bandits are vehemently opposed to accepting help from some "Galaxy grunts." So Zisu purposefully drops a Cheri Berry on the ground and is like "Oh noooo, I dropped my berry! It would be a shame if it got stolen by bandits!" and Clover begrudgingly "steals" it, and the flee the scene, saying that you'd have to be stupid to go after the witch.

Eventually the Player and Zisu reach the cave which is supposedly the witch's home and at first Zisu doesn't want to go in because she's been pretty spooked the whole time in the forest, then she tries to play it off like she's not scared at all "What? I'm not f-f-frightened or anything! Let's just go!" then she dashes into the cave.

Current objective: Explore the Necro Cavern!

There is no cave in modern day Eterna Forest. The idea is that the land was dug into and smoothed out in order to build the Old Chateau on top of it. Its a small cave with a suspicious lack of Pokémon inside. The music is the cave theme that only appeared in the cave with the torches that you pass though with Ingo. I dunno, I just think that theme should have played in more than one location.

At the end of the cave, they discover an open chamber filled with signs that it's been lived in, such as scraps of food and clothing lying everywhere as well as a makeshift bed on the floor. Zisu finds the stolen merchandise in the far end of the chamber and runs towards it, while the player notices some weird looking metal things lying in the corner. Zisu comes screaming in the opposite direction "IT'S HER! IT'S THE WITCH!" and immediately uses the player as a human shield. The player turns to see a pair of glowing eyes in the darkness, orange pupils with silvery blue irises. As well as the eyes, she has weirdly pale blue skin and she's wearing a stolen dark green torn cloak over some sort of dirty grey and blue futuristic clothing. Her hair is an absolute mess, riddled with sticks and leaves and she has sun burns all over her face.

All in all, she does look like some sort of evil forest witch, and she's started to freak out about the intruders, showing a particularly negative reaction to Zisu in particular and Akari gets dragged into a Pokémon battle. The witch sends out a Poipole aka a Pokémon that no-one in Hisui has ever seen before, and honestly if the player has any Psychic or Ground Types it gets defeated very easily.

After the battle, the witch is still freaking out, but now she just seems more terrified and upset. She quickly grabs a stick and starts brandishing it at Zisu, trying to scare her off. Zisu squeals like a little girl because she thinks the witch is waving some sort of magic wand at them but Akari puts herself between her and the witch and tries to diffuse the situation.

Nothing seems to be working until Akari has the idea to show her the Otherworldly Charm in case it belongs to her because the charm resembles the other strange metallic objects in the cave.

Akari holds the charm out as a peace offering and the woman recognising the charm, hurriedly snatches it out of the Akari's hands and backs away again. It finally hits Zisu that she's not a witch at all, just a really strange looking desperate woman.

The witch calms down a little because now she knows they're not a threat since they're not attacking her and the Player was kind enough to give her the charm back, but she's still really uneasy.

Zisu tries to ask her who she is and what she's doing here, but she doesn't understand a single thing she's saying. The woman shakes her head and tries to respond and it becomes very clear that the woman doesn't speak the Hisuian language at all and Zisu doesn't recognize the language she speaks either.

Zisu is perplexed at how they're supposed to help her when there's a language barrier, but she decides that at least they should tell her their names and try to get across that they want to help her in some way.

Zisu points at herself and says "Zisu", then she points at the player and says "Akari" (or whatever name you picked for your player) and the woman is confused at first, but then she catches on to what she's trying to say, so she points at herself and says "Hijiki."

Hijiki frowns for a moment until she suddenly decides to do charades to try to communicate with them. She mimes writing in a notepad and Zisu grabs a pen and a notepad from her bag and hands it to her.

Hijiki finds it way easier to communicate with drawings so after a while she flips the notepad over again to show them.

The first drawing is an image of a sad face and some strange device that has smoke coming out of it. Zisu is confused and Hijiki gets frustrated and points at the pile of metal objects. She walks over and grabs a small device from the pile and Zisu acknowledges that it even though she has no idea what it is, it looks very broken.

The second image is a crude drawing of several Pokémon: Luxray, Raichu, Electabuzz and Jolteon, surrounded by lightning bolts.

The third image is of lightning striking the device, making it look shiny and new, with a picture of a smiley face beside it.

Zisu is still confused but she deduces that Hijiki needs the Pokémon in the image to fix whatever her strange device is. The idea is that she needs electricity to charge her device again and it's up to the player to go out and catch these Pokémon and bring them back to her. Zisu decides to stay with Hijiki DEFINITELY not because she doesn't want to go back into the forest again, no sirree, she has to protect Hijiki and although Hijiki doesn't want her to stay with her, it's not like she can speak up and object so she just stays silent and anxious.

Current Objective: Catch the Pokémon from Hijiki's drawings and bring them back to her.

One catching quest later, the Player gives Hijiki the Pokémon and she starts tinkering on her device with whatever tools she has on her. The Pokémon strike her device with lightning and when she's finished, she attaches the device to her belt and has a distinctly relieved look on her face.

The device gets switched on and immediately Hijiki starts to speak English (well, the text is English, but in universe she's speaking whatever language the Hisuians speak), much to Zisu's shock. The device she fixed was a universal translator and she's so glad that she can finally explain herself she doesn't have to keep producing those terrible drawings with her embarrassing lack of art skills.

And with that, the truth finally comes out and the mystery is solved. Hijiki explains that she's from another dimension called Ultra Megalopolis and she and her Poipole fell into this dimension through an Ultra Wormhole. She lost most of her memories and woke up scared and alone in the Obsidian Fields, having no idea where she was. When she spotted civilisation, she tried to get help but because of her appearance and the language barrier, she got chased off and fled for her life into the Necro Forest. Because of how badly the first contact went, she assumed that the inhabitants of this world were extremely hostile, (hence why she attacked them on site) so she created a shelter for herself inside a cave to hide from them.

She then explains that there is no natural light in her world, so it was impossible for her to travel outside of the cave during the day because she got blinded and burned by the harsh sunlight. All she has is the clothes on her back and a few gadgets and tools that were in her backpack, so in order to survive she had no choice but to ambush passing merchants venture into Jubilife Village at night when it was dark and where no one could see her so she could steal supplies for herself.

She's very sorry that she had to steal from the Ginkgo Guild because stealing is a crime in her world as well. She didn't mean to scare anyone and she really wishes she didn't have to live in the wild anymore but she's too afraid of being attacked by the villagers again to try to ask for help.

Zisu is very shocked and saddened by Hijiki's story, and after a few moments be asks her if she wants her to escort her back to Jubilife Village. Hijiki doesn't want to because she'll get attacked, but then Zisu says "No you won't! I'm the Captain of the Security Corps. Everyone trusts me to keep the village safe, so if I say that something is not a threat, they'll listen to what o have to say, so I'll clear up the misunderstanding for you!"

Hijiki is still sceptical. She finds it hard to believe that the villagers will accept her just like that, so Zisu sighs and says "Maybe we should report to Commander Kamado about the situation, and give the village a heads up first?" 

Hijiki thinks that's fair enough. She's willing to wait in her cave for the Akari and Zisu to come back for her.

Current objective: Report back to Captain Kamado!

Zisu and Akari have a meeting with Ginter, and Commander Kamado to discuss their findings. Firstly Zisu reassures Kamado that there's no threat to the village. The witch of the woods was really a faller from another world like Akari and Warden Ingo and one of the Pearl Clan's Wardens. She was driven to stealing for survival after the villagers attacked her and drove her away even though she was lost and confused, and most likely in pain from the suburns.

Kamado is incredulous when Zisu tries to argue that they should take her in. Kamado is against inviting Hijiki to stay in the village. Akari is already on thin ice about being allowed to stay and the villagers only tolerate her because she's been busy quelling the frenzied nobles and slowly earning their trust. To invite someone who's KNOWN TO BE A WITCH would be disastrous. Zisu insists that Hijiki isn't magical, she just has some gizmos from her world that haven't been invented in this world so they only seem like magic. She tries bringing up the Pokéball, it looks like magic too but it's really just an ordinary object.

But Kamado is firm in his decision, even if Hijiki does have technology that seems like magic, what if she were to use her technology against the village? And some of the most superstitious villagers wouldn't accept that she's not dangerous and would still consider her to be a bad omen. Letting Hijiki stay would be too much of a risk.

Zisu is worried and disappointed. Even though she was one of the people who was terrified of the forest witch, now that she's discovered that she's actually an innocent person who's suffering hard, she feels absolutely horrible that they can't do anything help her. Zisu decides that they should at least head back to Hijiki's shelter and tell her what Kamado said. Maybe they could formulate a different plan, maybe the Diamond Clan or Pearl Clan could take her in instead?

Akari and Zisu return to the shelter to find it completely ransacked and Hijiki is nowhere to be found. Zisu finds a ransom note among the rocks. Turns out that the Miss Fortune Sisters had been spying on them ever since they bumped into them. After they found out that Hijiki wasn't really a witch, they wanted to take revenge on her for attacking Coin, so they kidnapped her and stole all her technology. Seeing an opportunity to spite Akari as well, they wrote on the ransom note that they took Hijiki further north to the Alabaster Icelands. If she wants to get Hijiki back she has to go the ice caverns in the Bonechill Wastes.

Zisu is outraged, but warns Akari that it's most definitely a trap. The Miss Fortune Sisters are most likely using Hijiki as bait to lure her into an ambush far away from where she can get help, and they're probably intending to leave her to die in the frozen wastes. But Akari wants to go save Hijiki anyway so Zisu decides to head back to the village to rally some of the Security Corps as backup and tells Akari that she'll meet her in the Icelands.

Current objective: Chase after the Miss Fortune Sisters!

Meanwhile, Hijiki has been thrown into the the ice pit in the Bonechill Wastes and the Miss Fortune Sisters are currently occupied. Clover is whining about how cold it is as Charm and Coin go through Hijiki's belongings.

She had things like her taser, an aura scanner, a GPS, an Ultra Smartphone etc but they can't figure out how any of them work or what they're used for. Clover is whining about all the effort they put in ended up being for nothing because everything "the witch" has is useless junk, but Charm snaps at her. At least they might be able to sell this overworldly technology on the black market after all. Coin isn't convinced. Who would buy useless garbage that don't work?

Coin starts threatening Hijiki into telling them how to use her gadgets, or else she'll sicc Toxicroak on her, but there's just a slight hiccup. Hijiki is unable to understand what they're saying because they took her translator away so all she does is stare blankly at them. All three of them are oblivious to the fact that Hijiki can't speak Hisuian at all, and that they all sound like nothing but enraged gibberish to her.

All this really does is piss them off. Clover starts yelling at her again, just completely exasperated and baffled. She's literally being held captive by bandits and tossed into an ice pit, probably freezing to death. How could she possibly feel so blasé about it????? Does she not realise the situation she's in right now??? Coin has had enough and decides to let Toxicroak attack Hijiki anyway. If they can't get any use out of her things, at least she'll be able to get payback for the "lightning strike"

At that moment, Akari shows up just in time. The Miss Fortune Sisters do their motto and start evil motive-ing about how THIS TIME for sure they'll win against Akari and leave her to perish in the ice forever. This time they're going to attack her with all three of their Pokémon at once instead of one at a time like the last few fights and overwhelm her with numbers.

Charm and Clover release their Pokémon and instead of joining in, Coin decides to sit it out. She tells the other two that she's still going to attack the witch with Toxicroak and that they could stall Akari long enough to let Toxicroak get enough hits in. Charm and Clover start arguing with her because that was NOT the plan, but Coin just tells them to shut up.

Charm and Clover go 3 Vs 1 as Toxicroak attacks Hijiki, with Charm substituting Toxicroak with her Rhydon. Akari beats them because of Main Character Plot Armour and Charm goes full villainous breakdown and just decides to attack Akari herself, but then out of nowhere, Hijiki's Poipole breaks out of it's Pokéball and glues the Bandits to a rock. Akari jumps down the ice pit to save Hijiki and you end up battling Toxicroak with Poipole instead of your Pokémon.

With the bandits finally defeated for good, the Security Corps show up to apprehend them. Akari stays with Hijiki who's in a really rough shape. She tried to avoid Toxicroak for as long as she could, but it eventually weared her down, and now she's lying unconscious at the bottom of the pit. Zisu immediately orders the two Medical Corps people to take Hijiki back to the village to get her medical attention. The medics are like "You want us to WHAT-" because that would involve taking THE WITCH TO THE VILLAGE, but Zisu yells at them again and they have no choice but to do what she says.

A day later

Scene transition to a day later and Akari is waiting in Kamado's office. There was quite a uproar in the village when the Security Corps returned with the famous Miss Fortune Sisters somehow stuck to a rock and near mass panic occured when the Med Corps rushed the rumoured witch of the woods to the hospital room in the Galactic Building. Professor Laventon runs in, very upset. He can't get any work done with the noise of that many people crowded around the entrance trying to catch a glimpse of the witch to see if she's really as terrifying as people say she is. Kamado informs him that he already sent Cyllene to get them to leave.

Pesselle arrives from the hospital room to give them an update on Hijiki's condition. They're currently treating her for Toxic poisoning, as well as suburns and eye damage. Pesselle is clearly shaken and explains that she's never seen anyone like Hijiki in her life, she's not even sure that she's human. For starters, her eyes are extremely unnatural looking and she's so deathly pale that her skin looks pale blue. Not to mention that she appears to have bioluminescent eyes and freckles.

She's willing to take Zisu's word that Hijiki is still a normal human from another world, but she wonders what kind of world would have people who are so obviously weakened by sunlight. Kamado thanks her for her help and Pesselle returns to her duties, not before telling her to bring this supposed witch to his office once she's recovered enough.

Professor Laventon talks to Akari about the strange purple Pokémon that was following Hijiki around because he's having trouble identifying what it is. Rei speculates that if the witch is from another world, then maybe the purple Pokémon is too. Laventon nearly explodes with excitement because they have the chance to document a Pokémon from another world! Maybe he could ask the witch if he could have a look at it, which is something he immediately goes to do. Rei runs after him in a panic.

Zisu enters with Ginter. Ginter confirms that they managed to get back some of the things Hijiki stole from the Ginkgo Guild, though obviously things like food couldn't be recovered. Zisu asks if he wants to press any charges, and Ginter considers for a moment before ultimately deciding not to. From the sound of things, Hijiki went through a lot and he would feel terrible if he added to her suffering. Zisu regretfully tells them that the Miss Fortune Sisters got away. After they were freed from the glue, they used a smoke bomb and escaped in the confusion, though she thinks that hopefully the bandits would think twice about confronting Akari again.

A while later, Pesselle brings Hijiki up to Kamado's office and the poor woman is shaking like a leaf, half from because she's still weak and the other half because she's obviously terrified of Kamado. In a scene echoing Akari's first meeting with Kamado, he stares Hijiki down and she loses her nerve instantly, backing away and hiding behind Akari. Pesselle scolds Kamado because this is clearly no way to treat a patient, but he reminds her that this is an outsider he's dealing with, and he must test her by having her face him in combat like he did with Akari.

Hijiki stammers and tries to say that she has no idea how to do that "creature combat thing" that Akari and the bandits did and Kamado clarifies by saying he meant PHYSICAL combat, not a Pokémon battle. Hijiki freaks out because she'd just die if she did that. Kamado retaliates by saying that surely someone who is capable of survived in the wilds and ambushing Ginkgo merchants MUST be able to fight, and if she wants to prove herself, she has to.

Hijiki takes a deep breath and just edges close to him, hesitating to even touch him AAAAAND Kamado throws her. Cut to black with a CRASH! text box and fade back in to see Hijiki flat out unconscious on the floor again. Cue Pesselle totally ripping him a new one, yelling at him about how that was totally unnecessary, why does he always have to do this, has he no shame, as text box after text box hits the screen going by too fast for the player to read.

Zisu helps Hijiki to her feet but she's distressed because Kamado managed to dislodge her translator from her belt so she doesn't understand him when he says that someone so cowardly and unwilling to fight clearly isn't a threat to anyone. Hijiki quickly retrieves her device and turns back to Kamado, saying

Hijiki: "I'm very sorry, my translator fell off. I don't speak in whatever language this is so I couldn't understand any of that. Could you please repeat what you said, sir?"

Zisu: "He said that someone so cowardly and unwilling to fight clearly isn't a threat to anyone."

Hijiki: "Oh…"

Kamado then says that if she wants to stay in Jubilife Village she has to be able to contribute to society, so what skills does she have? Hijiki thinks for a moment because she can't remember much but she does have a vague idea of what her old job. She remembers that she was probably a Poipole handler which is why she has one with her, and she was one of the people tasked with taking care of them as they were typically adopted as companions or to help with construction because of their glue (kinda a Zookeeper/animal shelter worker kind of deal)

Pesselle speaks up and says that it kind of reminds her of the people who look after the Pokémon in the village's pastures. Kamado turns away, thinking about it. He would half to discuss it with Zisu because that falls under the Security Corps jurisdiction. Zisu barges in like "DID SOMEONE SAY SECURITY CORPS?" at that moment and startles everyone. She's 100% on board with letting Hijiki help at the pastures.

Hijiki interrupts, unfortunately she can't work during the day because the sun is straight up harmful to her so she doesn't know how useful she could be. Zisu turns to her and proposes that she'll give her a lodge in exchange for her services at the pasture on the night shift. They're needing more people who can stay up all anyway.

Hijiki is stunned. They wouldn't really do that for her, would they? One encouraging grin from Zisu is all she needs to accept the offer and become a full fledged member of the Security Corps.

Catching Poipole

Hijiki thanks the player for everything, and as a reward for completing the sidequest, she gives the player her Poipole because she feels that the player would be better at taking care of it in this new world…. If she can catch it that is.

Catching Poipole plays out like a Legendary Pokémon battle like how you catch Enamourus. As in, it flies around attacking you with poison blasts and you have to stun it before you can throw a Pokémon to battle it.

After this, Hijiki just becomes an ordinary NPC that you can talk to near the pastures (though she can only be encountered at night.) Her appearance changes, as she's now in the Security Corps uniform instead of her Ultra Space/ cloak get up.

As a little easter egg, you can have a rematch with her and she battles you with the Pokémon you gave her in the sidequest. She excitedly explains that Zisu taught her how to partake in "creature combat".

Her dialogue is mostly showing amazement at how cool everything is in Hisui and how she really wishes she could go out and investigate everything like the Ultra Recon Squad. She realises that Akari wouldn't know who the Ultra Recon Squad is and she explains that they're basically her world's equivalent of the Galaxy Team.

She's heard of the legends about Hisui from Rei and is just as intrigued by them as he is. Though her main complaint is that Hisui is a little… behind, technological wise. Though she expresses interest in the player's Arc Phone as it seems a little out of place in this world…

Since the quest is available during the post game, she talks about how scared she was when "the sky turned red and green" (aka that part of the game when the Player is banished from the village and the sky distorts. She remarks that thought that the Blinding One had escaped from the Tower and drained Hisui of it's light, but apparently it was something else. She figures she shouldn't worry about it since it's not this century's problem anyway. The Tower isn't predicted to break down for another two hundred years anyway (Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon Necrozma foreshadowing!)

Ultimately she doesn't affect the story in any way and her sidequest is completely optional, but it is required if you want to be able to catch Ultra Beasts.

Sidequest: ??? The Beasts from Beyond

To trigger the next quest, you have to enter a Space-time Distortion. The next day, Melli barges in to the Galaxy Team headquarters demanding to speak to someone, ANYONE. He claims that he was minding his business, in the Coronet Highlands when all of a sudden a pile of bricks just up and attacked him! They completely ruined his day and scared Lord Electrode and he demands that someone does something about it! Nobody takes him seriously and Rei just thinks he's gone nuts.

But the next day, Warden Palina shows up, looking really worried. A strange pure white Tentacruel creature showed up in the Coastlands and has been behaving aggressively towards anything that approaches it, and even the Alphas won't go near it. Cyllene calls Akari into her office because she's been getting continuous reports of strange monsters being sighted across all of Hisui that apparently emerged from the space-time distortions.

Hijiki runs in, and quickly excuses herself for interrupting. She's really panicked because she heard from the villagers that Hisui is being invaded by monsters that sound suspiciously Ultra Beasts. She volunteers to help because they're creatures from her homeworld so at the very least she's familiar with them and knows what to expect if Akari goes out and attempts to catch them.

To learn about where to catch the Ultra Beasts, you have to talk to Hijiki. She's heard rumours of monsters and such from the people who visit the pastures to see the Pokémon and she thinks she knows exactly what the monsters really are. She has dialogue talking about each Ultra Beast and a hint as to where it's found.

"There's a ghostly figure floating around the Deadwood Haunt. I don't know much about spirits but it sounds an awful lot like Nihilego. It would float around like a ghost, I think." (Deadwood Haunt, Cobalt Coastlands)

"I heard from someone in the Pearl Clan that an insect with huge muscles is challenging an Alpha Machamp to a flexing contest…. I don't understand, do Buzzwole normally behave like that…?" (Arena's Approach, Alabaster Icelands)

"There's a Pheromosa going wild in the bog. What terrible luck to fall into a wormhole and end up in a place so muddy. It hates getting dirty." (Scarlet Bog, Crimson Mirelands)

"That rude man can't catch a break. Apparently his Electrode is being bothered by a Xurkitree that's trying to eat it's electricity… " (Moonview Arena, Coronet Highlands)

"I've heard that a Celesteela has taken root near the Floaro Gardens. The soil there must be very fertile. It's a giant creature that blasts off like a rocket and- Wait, have rockets been invented here yet? Never mind." (Floaro Gardens, Obsidian Fieldlands)

"I've heard that a sharp creature that looks like paper has been cutting down trees in the Heartwoods. It's Kartana, I'm certain. That Lord Kleavor must be jealous of it's cutting edge sword techniques…" (The Heartwood, Obsidian Fieldlands)

"Oh, this is absolutely terrible! A huge monster is eating giant lumps of ice and snow in that tundra! Sounds very uncomfortable, chewing ice hurts my teeth… Oh wait, what was I saying? Yes! Guzzlord! You must stop it before it consumes everything in sight!" (Avalugg's Legacy, Alabaster Icelands)

"The creature that's that looks like a pile of bricks in must be Stakataka, I'm certain. Where did that unpleasant man say he encountered it? Must have been near some ruins?" (Celestica Ruins, Coronet Highlands)

"Um… What's a volcano anyway? I've never heard of such a thing… Apparently there's been the sounds of explosions coming from the volcano that's making people worried. I don't think the explosions are coming from the volcano itself, sounds more like a Blacephalon is causing them." (Firespit Island, Cobalt Coastlands)

To get Naganadel, talk to Hijiki. She'll explain that Poipole have been selectively bred to be unable to evolve by themselves. They must be taught a special move that lets them evolve that only experienced handlers know how to teach, because it's stronger form is too wild and dangerous for the average civilian to handle. She's seen Zisu teach Akari's Pokémon new moves and tells Akari that she needs to get Zisu to teach Poipole the move Dragon Pulse.

Other stuff

And that's everything I've got about Hijiki. If you haven't worked it out already, she's the ancestor of Zossie from the Ultra Recon Squad. Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are kinda my favourite 3DS Pokémon games and there was a time when I was absolutely obsessed with the Ultra Recon Squad and I was so sure that they'd come back as an explanation for being able to catch Ultra Beasts in the post game of future Pokémon games that I felt ROBBED when they never showed up in the Crown Tundra.

So with the dawn of the idea of Hisuian Ancestors, I thought "Wouldn't it be cool if the ancestor of one of the Ultra Recon Squad fell into Hisui and got mistaken for a supernatural creature because the locals thought their technology was magic?" Because of how massively technologically advanced Ultra Megalopolis is, I figured that even if it was 200 years ago, it'd still be way more advanced than Hisui so anyone who fell through a wormhole would be in for a sort of time traveller-esque fish out of water scenario but without the time travel.

Hijiki is Zossie's great great great great great great great great (however many greats that can fit in 200 years) aunt. She can't be Zossie's great great grandmother because the grandmother has to stay in Ultra Megalopolis for Zossie to even exist at all.

The name of Necro Forest has a double meaning. As soon as you walk into it you think "Oh, Necro = Death because of the Ghost Types" but it's also the first foreshadowing that the ancestor is from Ultra Megalopolis. Who stole the light from Ultra Megalopolis? Necrozma.

If you're one of the 47 people who played USUM, you'd remember that the Ultra Recon Squad had to wear full protection against the sun, which Hijiki lacks, hence the sun burns.

Hijiki is scared of Zisu because she's been stealing from the Ginkgo Guild and she recognises that she's part of the village's law enforcement so she was afraid that she came to catch her and punish her for the thefts.

About the whole glowy eyes thing, that's a headcanon I have about how the inhabitants of Ultra Megalopolis have bioluminescent eyes. It's based off official art of the Ultra Recon Squad where Dulse's eyes appear to be glowing in the dark. What is canon is the whole thing where the Ultra Recon Squad has silver irises and pupils that match their hair colour. If you zoom into their concept art you can see it.

I picked the name Hijiki because it has the same seaweed theme naming that the individual members of the Ultra Recon Squad have. The seaweed she's named after has been part of the Japanese diet for centuries. (At least according to Wikipedia.)

But what was that "lightning magic?* It was just an ordinary taser. Hijiki just nonchalantly tased Coin. You can find the taser among Hijiki's other gadgets in the cave

Bonus: my thought process while reading over part of this:

"Ok, so Hijiki jumps Gingko merchants in the woods and mugs robs them. Wait... wasn't Volo a Ginkgo merchant---"

The result:

This post took me two years of procrastination to make-

[lorwolf-salt]

I love Lorwolf but they have to start addressing long-term issues and suggestions. Current long-term bugs... - Broken Achievements (still standing, mirror mirror) - Broken Smelting (4 ore will not smelt when stoked if a gem was smelted prior, can be circumvented by dropping another ore) - Puppy Predictor (does not work with customs, which means you cannot check to see if you want to sex swap) - Icons (panda buns still swapped, green bamboo makes orange, red bamboo makes green) - Dark Overlay (random overlay that prevents further actions until refresh) - Companion Index being inaccurate (features consumed legendaries which have been confirmed will never be added) - Mole Market visual bug (when buying out a section, does not show as bought out until refresh) - "Does Eat Oats" (still encounterable even after quest completion) - Mobile Wolf Bio (cannot edit on mobile) - and probably a lot more Granted, some of these are smaller, and they have been fixing bugs. Gauntlet achievements prevent the final tier from being reached. Custom demo being broken fucks up one of the biggest aspects of the site (breeding). Dark Overlay is such a damn pain in the ass. And then there is the suggestion boards. Pointless. Still cannot sell more than 100 items at a time. Fishing is still the worst profession, but they've obviously been too concerned about cooking. Inability to sort wolves and search wolves in market and breeding. Inability to lock wolves. I wouldn't be surprised if the Murkwood event ends up being a reskinned Icerun event. Different apparel, sure, but the same gauntlet/arena thing. Same milestones, same pricing.

[viaphni]

this is canon right guys

[reponute]

Diamond Fantasy Series Genderbending collection

I BEEN DOING THIS.. FOR A SHORT WHILE, AND I'M GOING TO ART DUMP ABOUT THE STEVE SERIES I WATCH....

[codajaiden]

OQD: CC Diamond banner 💥💥💥

For once I'm proud of how this turned out, the pickaxe design was a PAIN but I am satisfied after I finished it.

[silvertws]

Oh... you thought my hyperfixation was over didn't you ... WELL THINK AGAIN! >:D

Currently updated list of different Steve sagas I have watched or I'm currently watching:

1) LOTB (Legend of the Balancers) (first one I've come across, where it all started, thanks for the hyperfixation :D)

2) RR (Ruined Reality) (I'm not saying I have favourites but...)

3) Steve Saga (The one by EarthlyCrown)

4) Bedrock Rising

5) OQP (Ore Quest Prime)

6) Crimson Life Origins, (if anything happens to the triplets I'll throw hands, for legal reasons, this is a joke)

7) Fragmented Realities (AH-! I FINALLY FOUND IT AGAIN >:D),

8) A Dark Soul (ok maybe I slightly do have favourites)

9) Rainbow Quest, (sobs aggressively in Orange Rainbow Steve)

10) Steve Legends, (still sobbing over Seer and Colle? Yes.)

11) Twisted Rainbow, (I'm literally obsessed with Sabre's insane arc)

12) Before We Fell

13) Elemental Quest

14) Elemental Quest Air

15-16) Elemental Quest Commander (I put them as 15-16 because I watched both Air and Ocean povs)

17) The Dark Steve Saga (honestly??? Slay. I would too sell my soul to be the mc lol)

18) The First Saviour (I can totally see nothing will go wrong here, what?? Noooo definitely not going to have a traumatized mc)

19) Shattered Origins

20) Fragments

21) Alex Era (*sighs* I have given into the Darkside and went back to watching it)

22) Tale of the Spirit Walker (it was funky, I like funky)

23) Lost transfiguration (the mc naiveness is hurting me, also he's definitely being played by Plague, COME ON. IT'S LITERALLY PLAGUE.)

24) Steve World

24) Astral Origins

Series that I'm unsure if I'll finish for...reasons

Steve Saga (yes, Sabre's one this time)

Purple Legends

Series that I want to watch:

Elemental Quest (oh yes, all of them, leave me be) and literally whatever else I can find >:3 your recommendations, hand them over.

Update: I watched them >:3

This should probably be my wake up call that I may be slightly obsessed over the funky Minecraft men, but whatever.

It's fine.

The Steve-verse is full of limitless possibilities.

I hate the fact that I have an idea for a storyline that I'm never going to make.

Pain.

Why do I do this to myself you may ask?

i.dont.know.

I just do.

If only I had the motivation to make some funky animations or animatics about the silly goofy traumatized Minecraft men.

Hand your motivation over. Now.

Oh... and another thing... I've watched... many, many Minecraft roleplays in my life... so.many. and let's not talk about the animated series??? Like hello?????? Some of them are just ✨ the urge to make fanart is strong.

But studying for two upcoming tests is stronger TwT

Back to make my brain explode I go.

[gehayi]

*pant* *pant* Made it to Idylshire in the Dravanian Hinterlands. And Warrior and Paladin are 58.

Still have to do the following (in no particular order):

Get White Mage to level 58 (currently 57).

Get Dragoon and Bard to 58 (currently 56).

Get Samurai to 58 (currently 55, and yes, I have been grinding this one, it’s just been painfully slow).

Get Dark Knight to 45 (currently 41).

Try to find out why the guy teaching my Warrior of Light how to be a Dark Knight is mad at him.

Get Machinist to 40 (currently 36).

Craft a better gun. Also good armor that a machinist can wear. (Which seems to be almost nothing.)

Work on crafting and gathering quests now that I can gather needed plants and ores in the Hinterlands. (Crafting skills range from 57-61. Gathering skills are 58 [Botanist] and 59 [Miner].)

Do more collectible quests.

Craft items needed to obtain the Master Crafters Books II.

Continue working on quests for all three Heavensward beast tribes (Vath, moogles, and Vanu Vanu).

Do Shiva Extreme Trial and Ifrit Extreme Trial to get them off of my quest menu. Ideally with a DPS class; those need a lot of work.

After all this—and not before—progress the main quest.

*flops down*