Chapter 16: The Butcher, The Baker, and... ------------------------------------------- He couldn't remember the last time the Moogleteers had had a picnic. Since leaving their home in Elf Grove, they had done a lot of camping out in the wilderness, but they hadn't had a picnic. And picnics were so much fun. So it was that Kurago was daydreaming about all the games they would play and all the food they would eat as he walked into the bakery. A brass bell over the doorway announced his arrival, and the baker looked up from his books. Kurago indulged in the warm welcoming aroma of freshly baked pastries. "You! You audacious mudslinging moogle!" The baker angrily contorted his face and slammed his fists down. "How dare you show your fuzzy white face in my shop!" The baker's unconventional greeting caused Kurago to freeze up. He took a step back and wiped his feet. He wasn't quite sure what he had done to raise the baker's ire, but it never hurt to have clean boots. "You really ought to work on your opener," he commented. "I'll teach you to drive away my customers," the baker declared. Striding towards the corner of the room, he snatched up a well-worn broom. "It's time to do some sweeping!" With that the baker bashed Kurago over the head with a broomful of straw. "OUCH! What the...?" Kurago ducked a second blow and brought up his lance. "Hey! You're not my sister!" He rolled away from the baker's unprovoked onslaught then jabbed at the bread maker, decisively unarming him. "Aha!" "Aha, yourself!" The baker bounced a bagel off Kurago's head. Then a croissant. Then a biscuit. And then another bagel! Kurago wasn't normally the type of moogle to turn his nose up at free food, but he had an unpleasant suspicion that the baker didn't like him. Ignoring the barrage of baked missiles, he tilted his Aura Lance and charged in. "Lali-ho!" He slammed his lance into the baker and pinned him into the wall...by his shirtsleeves. "You fight like a baker," Kurago sneered. "I *am* a baker," the baker retorted. He reached out towards a platter of muffins, but alas they eluded him. "Whatever. Lali," Kurago looked around, "where do you keep the Choco-bo cookies?" * * * * Kulock put his ear to the ground. Nothing. He looked around then walked into the butcher shop. The floor creaked at one spot and the air stank from poor ventilation, but everything else had a cleanliness to it including the countertop. Strange. The butcher paused over a slab of meat and grinned down at Kulock. He wasn't particularly tall for a human, but he made up for it in brawniness. Kulock could just imagine that the blood-tainted butcher had just come from the front lines of some major war; that the cleaver he wielded was really a bone-splitting battle ax. "You're not edible, are you?" asked the butcher. "Kupo, no!" Kulock couldn't believe the impertinence of the question and couldn't help but notice that the butcher hadn't stopped contemplating him.. He suddenly felt very naked. "I'm a Moogleteer, mister. Don't even think about it!" "Moogleteer, eh?" The butcher laid down his knife and wrapped up the meat. Something in the back of the his mind registered his latest customer as some sort of moogle subspecies. "I expected you critters to be a might taller actually." Kulock flared with indignation. He could understand it if someone had wanted to eat him for supper, but there was really no justification for calling him short. "Kupo! I didn't come here to exchange pleasantries," he snarled. "You are the butcher, aren't you?" The butcher nodded curtly and cleaned off his knife. "I might be. Did you want something?" Kulock unfolded a list of meats he needed to get for the picnic/barbecue later that day. He wiped away traces of mud. "You can start by bringing me 5 lbs of Behemoth sirloin." "You must be one hungry moogle," the butcher commented. "But I don't keep Behemoth on stock. I do have a fresh shipment of Buffalax though. Or if you prefer I still have the rotting carcass of ... ..." *Buki! Buki! Bweee!* A ferocious roar interrupted the butcher. Kulock fell two steps away from the counter. "What was that!?" he asked nervously. The butcher threw an irate glance towards the back the shop then smiled. "Wait here," he said. Disappearing behind a curtain, he returned moments later with a wooden cage. Locked inside was menacing little black pig. "I can give you a sweet deal on this baby," he said, setting the cage down on the counter. Kulock pulled himself close to the cage and looked into the pig's soulful eyes. He couldn't believe the butcher would actually fillet such a cute piggy. "Kupo... ...how much is he," he asked. "The whole pig is 1500 GP. But I can give you select cuts for less." Kulock toyed with the 500 odd pieces of gold he carried. He couldn't afford the entire pig nor did he want to see it trimmed of its fat. He had to act fast. He crumpled the list of picnic supplies. "Kupo, that's the sorriest looking pig I've ever seen. Give me the Buffalax instead." "Wait right here, and I'll go get it." When the butcher was gone, Kulock pulled himself up onto the counter and examined the lock on the cage. "Shhh," he warned the piglet. He could hear the butcher hacking away at a tough carcass somewhere in the back rooms. Grasping his Wing Edge firmly, Kulock hammered down on the lock. It broke clean on the first strike, making only a slight noise. Kulock cringed. He could still hear the butcher at his work. He still had time. He looked around then opened the cage and rescued the captive pig. "What's going on here?!" Yikes! Kulock almost dropped the pig. The butcher looked enraged. Kulock shifted the black boar to one arm and shot his other arm out at the butcher. Oblivious to the pair of Ninja Stars that struck either side of the doorway, the butcher rushed forward. Kulock sprang backwards. The butcher’s cleaver bit into the counter, spewing animal guts all across the store. Kulock faltered but recovered himself nicely on the landing. He didn't wait around for his ten pounds of Buffalax. Instead, he tightened his grip on the little black pig and busted through the door, towards the streets, the open air, and freedom... * * * * Kurune unfurled a large square picnic blanket, officially claiming the small hillside overlooking Maranda. She set down a wicker basket and started unpacking: four thermos containing soups, cider, and warm cocoa; a bowl of freshly chopped salad, including a Thamasan dressing; peaches, tomatoes, and even a watermelon. After arranging plates and folding napkins into little chocobos, she cleaned out a fire pit left by previous picnickers. Where was everybody, she thought. She didn't spy anyone climbing up the hill, but then she was probably just early. Ignoring everyone's supposed tardiness, she collected wood and grass for tinder. The previous night's showers had left everything too moisture-laden for a good fire, but Kurune wasn't planning on a conventional fire. She fitted her Mysidian Shades across her eyes, and they boosted her magic. She unsheathed her Flame Sabre, and it...well, she wasn't sure what the blade did. But she felt an intense warmth suffuse her body. Tremors raced down her spine and her heart fluttered. Kurune concentrated and sparked a fire; it burned in magical shades of blue and green. With a bit more effort, she was able to mold the flames. She fiddled with the patterned colors within her Shades until she got what she wanted. Inside the fires, a translucent green frog took form. Kurune enticed her fiery creation to hop out into the open, and it did. It seared the ground where it landed and gave its surroundings a cursory glance. Without anything better to do, it to took a few hops towards Kurune then settled down patiently. Kurune tinkered with the fields of magic in and around the frog, changing the amphibian to a deeper, darker green. At her behest, it rolled over, revealing its pale underbelly. As she continued to play with the frog, she added refinements so that it began to look more and more like a real frog. She was able to instill behaviors and characteristics that - to the best of her knowledge - were frog-like. *Rrrrck...* It wasn't a genuine sounding croak, but Kurune managed to imitate a sonorous though slightly scratchy note from what was essentially the crackling of the fire. "Good boy. Sit up. Sit up. Good boy." The fire frog was as stable as she could hope for, so she warped her magic in another direction. As both Kurune and the frog watched, a blue fly darted out of the camp fire. It circled around Kurune then around the frog, zigging and zagging tauntingly. Zig. Zag. Zig. Zag...ZAP! A tongue of fire shot out of the frog's mouth and engulfed the short-lived fly. Kurune giggled fitfully as the slimeless amphibian digested its meal. * * * * Kurago had never seen anything like it in his life. Little fire frogs and fire flies. And his sister having more fun then he had seen her have since they were little. He kept himself unnaturally quiet while she encouraged the ghostly amphibian back into the fire. "That was so..." "Kupo!" Taken by surprise, Kurune reacted instinctively. Kurago didn't even see her turn around until it was too late. His Aura Lance was torn right out of his hands, and Kurune's Flame Sabre flashed across his eyes, the tip of the blade clipping a single hair from his eyelash. Kurago blinked, and a few more strands surrendered. He smiled nervously and took a slow step backwards. Kurune stared at her brother wide-eyed. She was overloaded with her own adrenaline and couldn't believe the fear she felt. Something was wrong. There was something inside her. She wasn't herself. The Flame Sabre fell from her hands, falling and falling. Kurune couldn't think. All she could feel was fear. Fear and sorrow. The Flame Sabre struck the ground, and Kurune began to sob. If Kurago had been confused before, he was even more so now. He had always thought his sister was a bit peculiar, but that was only because she was a girl. Girls were like that, and they usually grew out of it - or so he had heard. Kurago looked down the hillside toward Maranda. Everyone else was late for their little picnic, so he surreptitiously gave Kurune a hug. They hugged and wept until Kurago was no longer self-conscious and Kurune had forgotten what had upset her so. "Thanks, Kurago." They broke apart unsure what to do next. Fishing for a way to break the silence, Kurago handed his sister a Choco-bo cookie. While Kurune nibbled on the cookie and stared off into space, Kurago fetched a handful of cookies for himself. He stared at his lance and her sabre, both fallen on the ground, thinking that he should pick up his lance, but then he'd have to pick up Kurune's sabre; thinking that he should pick up both the lance and the sabre but afraid to do either; and finally thinking and deciding to just leave things alone. "I didn't hurt you, did I?" asked Kurune. She looked like she was about to start crying again, so Kurago quickly shook head. He blinked and smiled. "You missed by a mile."