I Never Let Her Die! (Aerith x Male Gamer Reader)

Disk 01: Chapter 04: Chocobockle Boondoggle

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We arrived at the ranch several days later. It was a much larger place than in game, a sprawling complex of barns, silos, and stables holding thousands of birds for both the ranch itself and many other owners who didn't have room for them in town. As expected, Choco-Bill refused to rent out any of them, instead offering a Lure Materia at a grossly inflated price far in excess of what you pay him in the game.

While Barrett, Cloud and Tifa kept the man busy, and Red distracted the children, Aerith and I went in search of a disreputable stable hand. Such was distressingly easy to find. We were barely out of earshot of the offices when a voice came from a storage room. "Pssst! You need some birds quick eh?"

We joined the man in a spare room. "Who are you?" I asked.

"Just call me Jack."

"Choco-Jack?" Aerith joked.

"No." He said deadpan. I exchanged an uncertain glance with Aerith, wondering if I really wanted to deal with someone who clearly had no sense of humor whatsoever. "Now, what's it worth to you for an, er... 'unofficial' rental?"

"That will depend a lot on how many birds you can get for us." I answered. "There are six total in our party..."

Jack held up both hands to stop me. "Too many. Bill's pretty obsessive with his attention to detail. Even with all the birds we've got here, he'd notice that many missing. The most I can get you and still shuffle things around enough to keep him from catching on is three."

"They'd need to be really strong." Aerith said. "As in, strong enough to carry two adults and still run full speed..."

"Okay, now that part's not a problem. We've got lots of birds here that are strong enough for that. So, for the three birds, let's say... oh... seventy-five hundred gil. All up front 'o course."

I was surprised. I went in expecting the guy to demand ten times that amount. "Mister, you've got a deal." I said. I dug into my satchel and found the pouch of gil coins Ganthet had included. The bribe took almost all of it, but it had to be done.

Jack counted the money, then said "Alright. Get your friends and meet me just over the hill to the north in one hour."

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Almost exactly an hour later Jack appeared as promised, leading three strong healthy birds behind him. "Here you go." He said. Looking over the group, Jack said "If I was you, I'd divide up the weight on each bird as evenly as you can. That way none of them will tire out faster than the others, and you'll be able to stay close to each other."

"How long does it take to cross the marsh?" Cloud asked.

"And how many of these snakes are there? Isn't it possible we'll not even see any of them?" Tifa added.

Jack laughed. "The marsh is damned FULL of Zolems. You'll see them the instant you get there. Listen, here's what you wanna do: Ride slowly until you get there, conserve the Choco's strength. Then, as soon as you get to the edge, go all out. Don't stop, don't slow down. Not for anything. At full speed, you'll need around two hours to get across. Luckily, these birds can take that, they're bred for endurance."

Once Jack was gone, we worked out our distribution. Since Barrett was the heaviest and Red was the lightest, they would ride the first bird. That left Cloud with Tifa, and myself with Aerith. Red looked about nervously and asked "Now, what did you have in mind for me?"

"Simple." Aerith answered. She produced an empty spare satchel she had acquired God-knows-where and opened it up. It was very large, more than big enough to accommodate Red's entire body. "In you go." She said.