It was an odd sight, as Blake Jones crawled around on his hands and knees in front of the chocobo stables. He was looking for tracks leading away and muttering to himself inaudibly.
Finally, he stood up and rubbed his fingers to his temple. Where would I go if I were a chocobo? He thought about the scary noises of the heavily populated areas and the best places to scavenge from the garbage.
Then again… Chocobos weren’t usually as smart as people so following a logical progression may only get them so far. This was probably a waste of time but he sure would love a free ride!
The supercharged fighter approached the chocobo stables, partially disguised with shades to hide the illumination from his softly-glowing mako eyes.
He slowed as he approached Blake Jones, recognition slowly dawning in his mind. He'd been a frantic blur when he'd burst out of that confessional booth, but this was definitely...
"You," the stoic fighter muttered, a small, implacable smile quirking at his lips.
Quiet wanted to make connections. A free ride on a Chocobo could be useful, but more importantly, he had to create a network of allies if he ever had any chance of making a dent against the monolith of Shin-Ra.
Perhaps this creature covered in dirt in front of him might also make for an ally.
Blake glanced over at the approaching form. The man looked vaguely familiar but he couldn’t remember exactly where he’d seen him before. He had been in quite a panic for the short duration of their last meeting after all. He grinned hopefully at the stranger but that smile faded at the word, “you”. That level of recognition was never good omen for Blake and he looked away, busying his hands with tugging on the stable door to test how sturdiness of the latch, while he racked his brain for any memory of this man. Had he stolen something from him?
"H-hello..." He cleared his gravely throat as Quiet approached and spoke without meeting his eyes, "Have you seen a lost chocobo?"
"I get the impression I'm looking at one," the muscular warrior retorted, his hidden, softly-glowing eyes continuing to assess the individual in front of him. Quiet then cleared his throat and turned to face the stable. "No, but I'm gonna help look for them, too."
He sniffed. "So according to the breeder, a local kid scared the beast and it scarpered. Where would a spooked chocobo run off to around here...?" He scratched his chin, before glancing at Blake.
Blake glanced over his shoulder to see what the blonde soldier was talking about but a puzzled expression appeared on his face as he realized there was nothing behind him. The vagabond chuckled with a childlike innocence, “I’m not a chocobo! I’m Blake.”
“Oh! Thank you.” He grinned at the man after hearing him offer to help find the chocobo. It was quite a relief to know that he was not in trouble but also that he didn’t have to complete this task alone.
“Well…” He pondered the question for a moment. “We could say a prayer to the Mother. That’s what I usually do whenever I need guidance.”
Quiet looked Blake up and down. The Mother? A tangle of dread knotted itself in the back of his mind, or something sleeping stirred for a moment. He swallowed these feelings.
"Were you praying to the Mother in that confessional booth, too?" Quiet asked, his voice sardonic. It was about time he recognised him. "You can call me Seif, for now."
The altered warrior didn't know whether he could trust Blake with his 'usual' name. He shook his head. "Anyway, I doubt prayer will lead us to his freaked-out turkey. No offense." The last part was more of a verbal tick than actual courtesy.
He turned to face away from the stables. There were chocobo prints going too-and-from the building, and Quiet really couldn't tell what he was looking for. He cursed. "Maybe you should pray, huh?"
Blake was at first taken aback by Seif’s question. He seemed to be at least familiar enough with the concept of the mother that he needn’t bother asking about her. Maybe he was counted among the Mother’s chosen!
His question also triggered something in his memory. He’d been in such a panic back in the church that he’d only seen a flash of white dropping down almost on top of him but he was pretty sure this was the guy from back then.
“Oh! Yes. I was trying to save that young man… They think they’re gods. You know? They think they should rewrite the laws of nature because they can but… They’ll see the truth in the end.” Blake mumbled in a quiet matter-of-fact tone that was free of any malicious intent. This was not a threat towards Shin-Ra but merely a reporting of the facts of the situation. “They’re going to burn along with all the rest of us when the Mother is reunited with her children.”
Blake fell quiet as Seif shook his head. He didn’t always know when to stop talking but the man seemed to be concentrating on something so the vagrant followed him to see what he was looking at. “Seif? I’m sorry I didn’t heal you before… in the church. I didn’t know you and I’m not so good under pressure. I panicked a little. Will you forgive me?”
He took the reversal of his opinion on prayer as a good sign and nodded. Blake closed his eyes and began muttering quietly to himself as he thought about where the chocobo might be found. He received a vision (or maybe a daydream) of a chocobo picking through the trash behind the diner. He started walking in that direction.
Quiet chuckled. "Well, I think you did manage to save him. A shame, after what I did to him." His expression turned solemn on listening to the rest of Blake's words. Again, the tug of some familiar feeling... or a memory? The fighter couldn't help but look uncomfortable with some suppressed recollection.
Despite this, his eyes twinkled with a mischievious lightness as Blake asked for his forgiveness. "Find the chocobo and we'll see," he said.
Quiet watched as the odd fellow prayed, folding his arms. If the information he divined from this ritual, well, it might be worth Quiet taking his words more seriously. The bulky warrior followed Blake as he began to make his way towards the diner. It'd make sense for the chocobo to head this way, after all; they might be able to scavenge some food from the dumpster. Quiet shuddered to think what Midgarian fast food might do to the insides of an animal like that. Then again, he ate it pretty regularly himself.
Blake absentmindedly followed where his legs naturally carried him. They weaved through a labyrinth of back alleys until they came across a pile of black garbage bags. Unlike the junkyards this was almost entirely food waste and the nostrils would confirm that fact as the putrid stench of rotting lettuce and mayonnaise hit their nostrils.
There was no big yellow bird in sight. Blake scratched his beard thoughtfully and a couple of lice tumbled out, taking this opportunity to abandon ship. The man frowned. “I don’t understand. I- I was sure this was the way she wanted me to go...”
Blake glanced down the alleyway in his desperate search for clues. This was about more than just a free ride now. The reputation of his Goddess was on the line.
If Quiet looked down he would see a large yellow feather resting on the pavement by the nearest can.
The psuedo-SOLDIER sighed, choosing, for now, to ignore the insect life evacuating Blake's person.
Quiet began to make his way back towards where he came from, when his mako-electric hues noticed the significant yellow feather, disguised by a relatively-fresh layer of recently discarded food. The warrior would kick the debris aside and pluck the feather from the pavement, waving it in front of Blake's face. "We might be onto something, friend. Let's ask in the diner."
Quiet walked around to the front of the diner and, quite firmly, pushed the door open. "Yo! Any of you seen a giant bird recently, like in the last hour?"
The weight of despair lifted from Blake’s shoulders as the yellow feather appeared in his new friend’s hand. The Mother had not forsaken him after all!
“I knew it!” His face lit up as he snatched clear evidence of divine intervention out of Seif’s grasp. “We’re on the right tra-ah-ck….”
“Uh… I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” Blake scratched his head as he tried to explain but Quiet was already headed for the door. He jogged to keep up but lingered awkwardly in the door frame as his partner grabbed the attention of the diner.
A burly man with curly brown hair on his head and arms looked up from behind the counter. “You there!” He hollered as his eyes fell sternly on Blake, “You know we don’t allow loitering.” Blake backed up into the street in the hopes that he could avoid a scene.
The owner flipped a dirty towel over his shoulder as he walked around the counter towards Quiet, “I hope that guy isn’t bothering you. I did see that bird about a half hour ago. It was pecking around in the back alley and I shooed it away. I think it headed off towards the Colosseum.”
Quiet glanced back at Blake as the diner owner yelled him down, widening his eyes in a half-apology. He hadn't considered Blake's, eh, appearance and general aura.
"Thanks for the tip, and sorry that the chocobo was bothering ya."
Quiet darted out of the door as the owner raised a hand in goodbye.
"The bird was seen heading towards the Colosseum," Quiet told Blake, before he began to jog at a moderate pace in that general direction.
"So, uh, Blake" he began, inbetween breaths, "is there something in your religion that prevents you from taking a bath every, hell, couple of weeks?"
Blake scratched his head and kept his eyes on the ground as Seif conversed with the diner owner. He’d managed to sneak into the diner a couple of times when the owner wasn’t around. Blake liked to talk to people on the street. Usually, they would just push past him but other times they would hand him a few gil before continuing on. Maybe they felt sorry for him. Maybe they just wanted to shut him up. Either way, he would come here and order a coffee like he used to. It was nice to be somewhere with an artificial climate and just feel normal again.
Blake looked up from kicking a rock as Seif jogged past him. His arms dropped to his sides and ran after his new friend. Even with Blake’s long legs it was a struggle to keep up with the obviously more athletic leader of this quest. Thankfully, Seif was mindful of this and after a moment both adjusted to a reasonable pace with Blake breathing rather hard. “I know- we’re- getting” He gasped excitedly, “close.”
Blake beamed at Seif but his smile faded as his companion brought up personal hygiene. His pace slowed and he dropped to a walk, trailing a little behind the other man as he suddenly felt self-conscious about his musty odor. He wasn’t sure if it was intended to be an insult, a friendly jab, or a legitimate question.