Chapter 16: The Journey of a Thousand Miles
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  "So, Indra, how am I supposed to get out of here?"
  The wizened old Master of Lightning looked over at him as they continued
walking.  "I would expect you to know that better than any of us, Scarecrow.
Not one of us has ever left."
  "Point.  But the route I took would take several days to traverse.  Isn't
there any other way out?"
  Indra furrowed his brow for a moment.  "Couldn't you ask Leviathan to take
you to the surface?"
  "I'm not asking Leviathan for any help ever again."  There was a hard edge
to Scarecrow's tone that Indra had never heard before.  Not for the first
time, Indra wondered what had happened between Scarecrow and Leviathan.  They
used to get along fine... all those years ago.
  Scarecrow reached out and opened the door before him.  "So, Indra, there
was something you wanted to show me?"  Before him stood what appeared to be
the chocobo living quarters.  Many of the huge birds were wandering about the
room.
  Indra smiled.  "Yes... do you see anyone you recognize?"  Indra snapped his
fingers, and a small chocobo stepped forward.
  Scarecrow's eyebrows shot up, though it was concealed by his mask.  The
chocobo before him was small, sleek... and black.  Scarecrow had assumed that
his chocobo had not survived the storm.  Apparently, he was wrong.
  "He-lo Sca-co."  Scarecrow's eyes went even wider.  His chocobo could talk!
  Indra smiled again.  "His brothers took the liberty of informing him what
it was to be a real chocobo.  Apparently, he was bred for cruelty.  It took
them a while to get past all the confusion he was feeling."
  "Amazing."  Scarecrow looked his bird over again.  "And they taught him how
to speak?"
  "Sort of.  His vocabulary is... limited, at present.  He can learn, though.
He's exceptionally intelligent."
  Scarecrow frowned.  "They taught him what it was to be a real chocobo, eh?
I guess that means he should be free now."
  "Why, Scarecrow, I didn't know you cared."
  "I don't.  I just realize that he won't want to fight for me anymore.  He
won't be much use to me that way."
  "Oh really?  Perhaps you should let him decide."
  "Want go with Sca-co," the little chocobo chirped.
  Scarecrow just stood there, unable to speak.  "None of the other chocobos
have been able to figure it out either," Indra said.  "He just seems to like
you."
  Scarecrow shook his head.  "I suppose that's his decision.  Well, this
certainly changes things.  There's a shortcut I can take almost straight to
the surface now.  Only one condition: you, chocobo.  You must promise to obey
me.  I can't afford to have you cutting out on me in the middle of combat."
  The chocobo chirped.  "Me o-beh you Sca-co."
  "Well then.  We have no time to waste.  Let's go!"

  ****************

  It was evening as Scarecrow's chocobo finally came out of the caves.  Their
journey had been uneventful, but the chocobo was tired.  They flew a short
distance more before they stopped at a small hut.  One of Scarecrow's message
depots.
  "You wait here, chocobo.  Plenty of good grass around, and probably some
berries or something nearby.  See you in the morning."
  The chocobo chirped and nodded.  Scarecrow turned and walked inside the
small hut.
  The hut was typical of Scarecrow's message depots.  The place appeared to
be completely cleaned out, but open a simple compartment, and...
  Scarecrow blinked.  There were more messages than usual.  And none of them
were job offers.  How strange.
  The first message was about Atma sightings.  Atma had apparently been seen
in the vicinity of the Pheonix Cave.  Finding Atma had been much easier than
Scarecrow had predicted.
  The next message was, oddly enough, also about the Atma Weapon.  Except, in
this case, it was the sword.  One of his agents had reportedly taken it
from a petty thief in Nikeah.  They were even now shipping it to the
Shattered Island to put in storage for later use.
  Something tugged at the back of Scarecrow's mind.  There was just something
odd about the situation.  Why had the Atma Weapon shown up so suddenly, after
many months of being missing?  How had a simple thief acquired it?  SOMEthing
was decidedly wrong.  Scarecrow told himself he would return to it later.
There were other messages he needed to read.
  Several of the next few messages were routine information.  Small things,
really.  But, as Scarecrow knew well, sometimes the small things were the
most important.
  On the sixth letter, Scarecrow paused.  "Sascha and Akfek ready to move
against Jidoor?  Interesting..."  Scarecrow pursed his lips.  There was money
to be made off this, but Scarecrow had something else in mind.  There was
something he needed... and Setzer was the only man alive who might be able to
get it.
  Scarecrow permitted himself a brief smile.  This was the first improvement
to come along in weeks.  The first step in completing his plans.

  ******************

  A noise awakened Scarecrow.  Instincts pulling him together immediately, he
was on his feet in a flash.
  Scarecrow's eyes narrowed as he looked around the room.  "Who's there?" he
demanded.
  After a moment, he heard the noise again.  It was a whistle.  One of the
loneliest, most empty sounds Scarecrow had ever heard.
  Scarecrow shook his head.  "Blasted train.  Why can't it just leave me
alone?"  He walked over to the one window of the shack, and gazed out into
the starlit sky.  "Do you hear that, train?" Scarecrow shouted.  "LEAVE ME
ALONE!"
  The empty sound of a train whistle was his only reply.