Then the party seemed to have awakened up from a deep sleep. Delita was the first to get up, yawn, and scratch his head...it seemed as though he had been sleeping for....years? He looked around...no one seemed old at all. Zidane seemed to be the least eager to get up..
"Juss-lemme-shleep a lil' longer..." he said between snores.
BAM! Garnet hit him on the head with her Mythril Rod.
"OW, I'm up--I'm up!" Zidane rubbed his head.
"Where exactly are we--?" Reis asked.
"From the looks of the animal tracks--I'd say an Ancient Forest." Beowulf speculated.
"I think it best, if we find our way to civilization." Agrias said.
"Good idea--but what's that? Do I hear drums...?" Delita asked.
"Native drums, coming from that rocky canyon peak beyond the forest..." Beowulf said, checking the ground for chocobo tracks.
"Let's head that way.." Ramza said.
Beowulf made a slightly altered call than his usual chocobo call, but it still summoned a series of wild chocobos for them to ride. "We'll get there faster this way...follow me."
The chocobos were a lot faster than what they were use to, because they were able to follow the trail of the drums very easily. When they came to the foot of a large case of stone-carved stairs. They looked in amazement to the left of them was an enormous crater.
"Something really big must have crashed there...." Ramza said.
"Something Ultimately huge, I'd say." chimed in Zidane.
As they climbed the large steps they found out that not only were there natives there, but also a large white airship that seemed to run on fire propulsion. On it's side it said simply, "The Highwind."
A large red furry beast came bounding toward them. Delita was ready to draw his sword when the beast spoke...
"Newcomers....don't be alarmed, I am Nanaki, guardian of this...Cosmo Canyon. Bugenhagen had foreseen that 8 travelers in odd clothing not of this world would come here."
"He--speaks?" Delita said in confusion.
"We've been expecting you--please come sit by our meeting fire."
"Well, seems friendly enough--" Ramza said dryly.
"Weird craters, ancient forests, and now talking animals, that's just great!" Zidane said, rather annoyed at his situation.
The party walked over to the strange fire where only Nanaki sat, strangely referring to himself as "we."
Nanaki was motionless, "stare deep into the flame all of you and tell me what you see."
Zidane was pissed, "I see nothing but a hot fire, you crazy redcat!"
"Look hard--he's there......"
Then, even after they blinked, the red flame turned into an iridescent blue with an image of an old sage projecting from it.
"You've never met me before, but my name is Bugenhagen, I have foreseen the coming of the Zodiac Braves for some time now; I will tell you many things this night for which you are to ponder, an ally many of you may know well will be returning to you...but be watchful as he must be guarded, he is unstable at this point in his life, and must learn redemption and forgiveness. He must face both his greatest love and his greatest hatred. You must make him into the Zodiac Brave he was always meant to be, even beyond death. He thinks he was destined to defeat his greatest foe, yet it is his foe who must defeat himself. Just as he must slay the heart inside himself for bloodshed and vengeance. Ponder the words, which I have spoken and use them well, they will aid you in the defeat of your enemies. I can no longer aid you any further except that when the time comes and you find the next three stones, you must go to the city of ancients, you will find your next quest there."
"One word: whoa!" was all Zidane could croak out.
"So you now have your current quest on your hands," Nanaki said, "Bugenhagen has directed that I give you these three smooth stones to aid you on your quest, they will not help you right away, but hold onto them for when the right time comes."
"I'm curious," Garnet asked, "whose airship is that floating over the canyon?"
"You will find out for yourselves in the morning. For now, rest, eat, or prepare yourselves in any way you deem fit."
The sun in this strange new land seemed to shine brightly even at sunset. But since everyone seemed to be refreshed from the seemingly long nap in the time gate. No one was sleepy. Agrias went up to the armor shop to get her armor repaired. Beowulf and Reis, out of curiosity went up to the telescopic deck to watch the stars at night.
Ramza and Delita, out of sheer boredom decided to go out and duel like they used to in Garland Officer Academy.
“Never thought I’d fight you again, Ramza!” Delita drew his sword in a defensive stance.
"Hmph, you were good back then! Let me show you how I’ve improved."
The two crossed swords for a moment, then used the repelling force of the blades to get some distance between eachother.
"Hyah!" Delita brought his sword down heavily on Ramza’s, putting pressure on his forearms.
"Normally I could break a man's forearms with this attack, but you seem to let the blow come!" Delita smiled, "very good!"
"Don’t think that's the only attack I can do!" Ramza slide his blade off of Delita’s and used the hilt to push Delita backwards.
"Ungh!" Delita began to stagger backwards.
"Hurgh!" Ramza pressed his attack, trying to knock Delita off balance.
Delita saw the situation and turned it to his advantage, rolling off the ball of his foot, he spun behind Ramza and was about to give a clean hit to Ramza's armor.
Ramza brought his blade over his head, defensively blocking the blow. Following through, Ramza backed into Delita and got underneath his center of gravity, flipping Delita over his back.
"Hmph!" Delita smirked as he kipped back up, just in time to parry another swing from Ramza’s sword.
"You’re better than I thought!" Ramza smiled as Delita moved closer to him, swords locked, Delita slowly was bringing his sword down on Ramza’s hilt, trying to knock the blade out of his hands.
Ramza countered the pressure by pushing upwards. This forced the blades out of both their hands.
"Well, I guess it's a tie," Ramza laughed.
"You guess?" Delita smirked picking back up the weapon.
"Well, for your information, I would have won against anyone else."
"Oh, really?" Delita and Ramza laughed as they walked back to the huts.
Alma followed Nanaki up to a little hut where she asked him about his strange culture.
"So what is that massive crater?" Alma queried.
"That is what was left of a creature that was once created by the planet to defend it from destruction. Once it was no longer needed, it posed a threat to the planet, and so a great warrior sought to destroy it. He managed to do so, and his prize was a weapon of unlimited power."
"Interesting story," Alma marveled, "Have you heard the old story about the Zodiac Braves?"
Elsewhere, Garnet and Zidane found the time alone advantageous for relaxing under the stars together, not to mention a little affection here and there on Zidane's part.
Resting under a cool pale moon was Delita's favorite part. He asked Ramza, "You know, I just only recently realized, I like your sister..."
Ramza looking a little skeptical replied, "So you want me to give you permission for courtship?"
"Nah, I don't need your permission, I just want to know if you mind that I like her. I mean, she's your sister."
"And I'm your friend, I don't really care, as long as Alma's feelings are mutual and that you don't betray her...."
"This time around...I don't think I'll ever betray anyone ever again." Delita smiled. This was the first promise he would most definitely keep.
The moon rose to its zenith and everyone seemed complacent and content in this place called Cosmo Canyon, the air was cool, even for a desert-like area. Fireflies floated out of the large cave that was built under the entire hut structure, which made the whole place seemed like it was full of peace.
Reis stood next to Beowulf on a balcony overlooking the canyon, then abruptly placed her hand over Beowulf's, this startled him at first, but the two remained silent drinking in the night.
"Mmm," Reis smiled, taking in the view, "It's been so long since I've seen a moon so full."
"Really?" Beowulf asked, half in nervousness, half in anticipation.
"Yes, but.." Reis turned to look deep into his eyes, "I didn't think that we'd be together for so long."
"There must be some reason. After all, we are together now, aren't we?" He smiled. After a moment's thought, she turned and glanced at the stars again.
Meanwhile, Alma stood watch along side Nanaki when she heard a mournful cry echo in the night.
"What was that!?" She said, chilled to the bone.
"That is the cry of a man who lost his only love trying to defeat a foe he never truly faced," Nanaki said grimly.
