Chocobones (Comedy RP, Open)

[Shimizu no Koichi]

Chocobones (comedy, open)

 

~~~

 

The salty sea air and the sound of waves did little to calm the excitement rising in the white mage's chest. Today, on one of the Au Ra's few days of leisure, would be his greatest triumph; his most sought-after prize was just within his pale-scaled grasp, right after he scratched around in his gil purse one final time to ensure the listed sum was still there. A small smile came to his cheery face as he felt the the warm and slightly-moistened coins were still at his fingertips.

 

The Market row in his new home city of Limsa Lominsa was quite, as was typically quiet so soon after sunrise. The merchants were milling about, preparing for the day and the usual vendors bid him "hello" -- even if it was through a yawn.

 

"Mornin', Ko -- where you off to this blasted early look so keen and casual?" one of the vendors remarked, catching sight of the usually tight-laced and uniformed white mage known as Koichi Shimizu in a light blue tunic and trousersw.

 

"Good Morning! I'm off to finally, with a bit of luck, find that "thing" I told you about last week," his voice cracked a little as he replied, not pausing to control his now flicking tail. If some wandering stranger mistook him for a scaled Miquo'te, he hardly seemed to care. He walked over to the vendor and pulled a piece of paper from his tunic pocket to check the address again.  "Jangle's Junk-Trunk..."

 

"Oh that place....you're after some chocobo doll again, ain't ya--"

 

"Shuushh -- Not so loud!" Koichi, hissed as he motioned to the vendor to keep her voice down.

 

"What? It's nothing to be ashamed of, I used to love collecting dolls as a little girl," she winked with a mischievous smile. Koichi's smile turned into a defiant smirk as he crossed his arms with a flick of his tail.

 

"Ha-- you're not getting to me today, ma'am! Besides, I'm more worried about someone else coming in and taking the beautiful work of art out from under me. Now, if you'll excuse me," Koichi made a dramatic bow before turning quickly to the sound of amused laughter at his back. Koichi looked to the small bit of paper in his fingers once more, shining sapphire-like eyes scanning the address for the countless time as he made his way to the back alleys of Limsa Lominsa.

 

Upon arrival, he felt his excitement swell to border-line anxiety as he took a deep breath and opened the dusty and sea-bitten door. It was if he'd set off some kind of dust storm as the swirling air caused him to cough and sputter. A small, rusty bell over the door gave a half-hearted ring as he crossed the threshold, alerting the shop keep to his presence. The older Roegadyn grunted a welcome as the slightly shaking Raen passed over isles and isle of tempting but dusty curiosities and approached the counter.

 

"How c'n I help yeh?" the shop keep mumbled with a wet cough as he pushed a hanging display out of his field of vision to rest his tired eyes on his customer.

 

"Good morning, I came to see if you still had the off-color, small batch "Lady-in-Lace" barding, signature edition 'My Little Chocobo' figure?" Koichi asked as he held up the listing he had hastily clawed off the market board with a slightly trembling grip. The store keep moved to take the listing and disinterestedly looked it over with a snort.

 

"Let me look in t'back," he gave a small grunt as he got up from his leaning spot at the counter and proceeded to head into the back room. Koichi leaned against the counter, tail flicking back and forth with zeal, nearly knocking a small wooden nick-knack from it's place on a display. He quickly moved to save the little trinket -- putting back in it's dust-covered shelf before catching a small glimmer through the mess of old shoes and wooden toys.  Though it was just as grime-covered as any of the other items in the shop the jeweled object captivated his sapphire eyes and seemed to pull him in close.

 

He picked up the item, a heavy vase of some sort in his nearsighted vision, and began rubbing the dust and dirt with his hand. The more he attempted to clean it, the warmer it became. He assumed the vibrations he sensed were just his excised trembling, and not from the item itself. His eyes sparkled with joy and excitement as a relief of a golden chocobo with a ruby for an eye came into his vision. He feverishly rubbed and cleaned, nearly dropping the vase in the process, revealing five golden chocobos, each with a different precious gem for an eye. He did notice that the 5th chocobo, the one with a sapphire for an eye, had a crack running along it's body where it was affixed to the vase.

 

Suddenly, a loud crash and a muffled curse came from the back room, sending what felt like a bolt of lightning through Koichi's spine and chest. In his surprise and momentary shock, the vase seemed to slip through his fingers, and unlike the wooden toy, hit the ground with a terrible crack. The thoughts of fear, sorrow, and disappointment flooded through his mind as knowledge of the gems alone caused him to lament how he was going to pay for the now pieces of fine art and what looked like ash and bone shards at his feet. The sounds brought hurried and heavy footsteps from the back as Koichi turned to see a look of horror in the shop-keep's face.

 

As he started to apologize and vow to pay for the ruined art, Koichi mistook the look of awe and horror in the shop keep's face for anger, not noticing the sinister black clouds billowing behind him. The gaseous forms began to quickly take shape is four sets of what looked like burning eyes fixated on the shop keep. The red-eyed cloud, which looked like a great bird's shadow seemed to give a mischievous smile with its gaze to the shop keep before turning to the green, yellow, and violet-eyed spirits. Just as Koichi turned to see what the shop keep was sputtering and shouting about, the four shadows burst about the shop, swirling around like angry winds, knocking things to the floor and picking up other items in a curio tornado.

 

Koinchi dropped to the ground and covered his head as the four shadows burst from the windows and door, escaping into the unsuspecting city...