Chapter 6: "Hello, Old Friend!" ------------------------------- "Kupo, Gau, you stink!" "Mog! What you... I mean, what are you doing here?" "Did you make this crater?" "Is this your chocobo? I've never seen a spotted one before..." "You look like Hell, kupo..." "Are the others around?" "HOLD IT, HOLD IT, HOLD IT! Let's slow down, kupopo?" Mog and Gau sized each other up, taking in the assorted bumps and bruises that each had accumulated, with Gau apparently taking the worst of it. Mog peered at Gau intently, a realization coming to mind. Then Mog was suddenly enfolded in blood and dirt-covered arms as Gau swept him up again and spun around with childish glee. "How have you been, furba...ERK!" Gau gasped as Mog planted one foot in his stomach, forcing Gau to drop Mog. "Do that again, and I'm outta here, you got me?" Mog was understandably furious at being treated like a stuffed toy, even by an old friend. "Gau sorry." Gau looked at himself, and realized what a sight he must be. "That's alright, kupo. Let's get out of here and find a place to crash, okay?" "Sure, Mog. So is this your chocobo, then?" Gau walked up to Mocha-ko, who backed off at first, scenting the blood on him, but then accepted a hand on her neck. Gau scratched around the spine, and then dug his fingers in and around the crown of feathers on top as Mocha-ko chirruped in appreciation. "What's her name? She's a pretty chocobo." Mocha-ko nuzzled Gau in appreciation of the compliment. "Uh, this is Mocha-ko. How did you know she was a she?" Mog wondered how Gau could tell in the dark, and then did a double-take. "Kupo, Gau, what's with the speech? Are you going to school now or something? What *have* you been up to since we all parted? It's only been a few months, and now you show up talking like a normal person, and looking like you've been through the Sands of Time. When did you get so big, kupo?" Gau grinned at Mog's confused expression. "I'll tell you about it later, Mog. Let's get out of here, alright?" Mog nodded, then mounted Mocha-ko. "Should we stay in town and find an inn, or camp out in the woods?" Gau checked for his money pouch, that should have been filled with a few coins from his treasure heap at the Veldt Cave, only to discover it was gone. "Uh, you have money? Gau broke." "Huh? Oh, yes, I have some. An inn, then? Kupopo!" Mog grinned at Gau's lapse in grammar. * * * Gau stepped out from behind the dressing screen in the room Mog had rented for the two of them. Wincing as he brushed his hair back, bumping the knot on the back of his head left by the airship machinery, Gau resumed his story. "...and after I killed the Behemoth, I took her back to the Veldt cave. Since her family was killed and she didn't really know what else to do, she decided to stay with me until she felt better. She's been teaching me how to talk better..." "I'll say, kupo." "...and she's got quite a bit of this Rage thing of mine figured out. You would think SHE could do it, not me!" "And you say her name is Dee... Arrowny? Like our friend, Relm?" "Yes. Cool, huh?" "Odd is more like it. Can she sketch or do anything, besides make you grin like an idiot when you talk about her?" "No, and what do you mean?" Gau was wondering just WHAT was going on, first Kefka and now Mog were saying something was up between him and Dee. "Geez, you're dense! You're in love, kupopo! I can't believe you left her, especially in the state she was probably in." "What state?" "Kupo, she just lost her whole family! You don't recover from that kind of shock overnight, ya know." Gau suddenly felt a slight chill run up his spine, then brightened. "Oh. Well, Kefka said she was okay, and..." Gau stopped as Mog's eyes grew even larger than before. "KEFKA! And just *where* did you meet Kefka, kupo? I thought we put his sorry ass in the ground, kupopo!" "Well, after I blew up the engine room in the airship, and got hit by a flying chunk of metal, I dreamed of Kefka, and he told me a little of what's been happening. He's some kind of god now, and he said some bad things were going to happen that were even worse than the new Empire." "Okay, okay, okay, let's start over. YOU blew up the airship that crashed?" Mog suddenly felt cold, almost as if he had discovered a favorite pet cat playing with a crippled mouse. "Yeah, I was coming here, right about the time they attacked, and when one of the airships shot at me, I landed on the ship- did you know they have something like that Vanish spell of Terra and Celes's- and made my way to the engine room. I used an Io- you remember what that is- to blow the place up, and started to fly out when I got hit by a chunk of something, and fell to the ground. What's wrong, Mog?" Gau noticed that Mog had an uneasy expression on his face. In an emotion-filled voice, heavy with sorrow, Mog started to speak. "Gau, kupo, why did you make the whole airship crash? A lot of people died on that ship, people with families. People that weren't your enemy. People that might have been conscripted, there against their will. And what if the ship had landed in the middle of the town?" Gau suddenly felt embarrassed, and ashamed. None of this had occurred to him. "I guess I didn't think..." Gau started, but was cut off by Mog's sudden outburst. "That's right, you didn't, Gau! People could have been killed, people HAVE been killed, kupopo! This isn't like you, Gau, not like you at all! When did you start killing people for fun? People that weren't attacking you? Huh, kupo? I see you've changed in some good ways, but some bad ones as well. Think about it, Gau. Think of the children. Remember Lola, and her soldier boyfriend who died? How do you think she felt? Do you understand me now, kupo?" Finally Gau had had enough. He hadn't come back to find the others to be scolded, or lectured, and enough was enough. "Gau not a killer! Ship attacked Gau, doesn't matter if they attack Gau in person or not! Gau tried save city! Gau..." Gau realized he was lapsing again. Stopping to take a breath, he started up again and resumed his defense. "I'm sorry if some people died that shouldn't have. But this was war! They were helping the enemy, one you should be very familiar with! It may not have been the best thing to do, may not have been a smart thing either, but it was all I could think of. I'm not a strategist, like Celes or Edgar, okay? I acted on instinct, and I don't apologize. You got me, *kupo*?" Gau's inflection on the moogle expression was enough to convey a deep sarcasm, and make Mog wince as a result. Finally, the two friends realized what a sight they were making, and sighed deeply in unison. Mog broke the tension first. "I'm sorry, Gau, I didn't mean to fly off the handle like that. It's just that I've never noticed you to act like that, and any loss of life is disturbing." "Gau sorry too! I mean, I'm sorry as well, Mog. I just got a little defensive there." "That's ok, kupo. Now, what's this about your dream of Kefka again?" Gau smiled, and started to think back, trying to put his recollections in order. "Ok, here goes. It started out with me in back in the cave. I was laying down, and I noticed Kefka, dressed like he originally did. Naturally, I tried to jump him, but he somehow knocked me down without even getting up. Then he *helps* me up, which is what first made me think it was a dream. Then he started to tell me how he was now a god, how we freed him when we killed him, if that makes any sense. Then he told me about his brother, who's the guy in charge of the new Empire, and some woman he called "The Beast" that's helping this guy, named Afkek, like Kefka sorta reversed, and then he told me about this other threat, someone named "The Master" who lived elsewhere, with fiends or something like that under his control, coming to put out the lights, or turn off... no, SMOTHER the light! He said this guy is waiting for the right moment, but he could show up any time. Then he showed me Dee, who was poking around the cave, and acted like she could tell we were there for a moment, then he showed me everyone else- did you know Edgar was dead? And then..." Mog was beginning to get a headache from Gau's nonstop rambling, and finally held up a hand. "Hold it! Slow down, let me digest some of this, kupo? And let's go get something to eat, while we're at it." "Gau sor... I'm sorry. Let's go, then." As he started to head for the door, he was met with a dark shape thrown in his face. "Gau, please, put on a shirt. This is a *somewhat* classy place here. And it looks like you dropped this when I found you. Here." Mog tossed Gau a striped bandanna that was somehow unsullied by dirt it had been lying in, and was silently thankful that the innkeeper had had some spare clothes he would part with. Gau put on the shirt, then pulled his Zephyr cape, threads shimmering in the candlelight, over his shoulders. Tying on the bandanna, not recognizing it but liking it anyway, he looked in the mirror, and then heard Mog whistle in surprise. "Kupo, Gau, I think I see what Dee saw in you now. But you still haven't explained how you got so big." Gau started to open his mouth, until Mog held up his hand again. "Let's get something to eat first, kupo?" With that, the two companions headed downstairs to the tavern section of the inn for a much-needed meal, savory smells and the sound of laughter and conversation rising to meet them...