Kirby ATW here...

Surprised at the updates? Well don't be... four day weekends without projects and the like really get your creative juices flowing. So... sit back and enjoy the "double feature".

Disclaimer: 1st chapter... yep.

-----Chapter 11: Chocobo EDsanity.-----

So... take five people, two of them humans, one of them a mysterious black mage, one of them a mysterious lance wielder, and the final one a thief with a monkey tail, stick them at the base of a misty continent with massive amounts of distance to traverse, and a short supply of supplies. What do you think you get? Well, Ed and Eddy find themselves in that exact situation right now. The fact had it that Gizamaluke's Grotto was over 250 miles away from Dragon's Gate, and thats a lot more than Ed and Eddy would ever want to walk. Ed tired out around 10 miles. Eddy was pooped around 5. Zidane, Freya, and Vivi were doing relatively fine, however Vivi showed signs of slowing down, and Zidane really didn't prefer walking this much anyways. The five of them all agreed to stop in an open field right next to a rather large rock. Ed and Eddy collapsed on the spot.

"Guys... there's no way Ed and me are going to make it." Eddy moaned.

Ed nodded in approval. "I hurt more than when Sarah tried to make me take a bath."

Zidane frowned. "Eh, it's a long walk. I can't blame ya. Besides, it's almost night-time"

Vivi sat down and gathered up some stray plants. He put them in the middle of where they were sitting and lit them with a fire spell. Ed inched closer, glad to be near something warmer. In the meantime, Freya jumped on top of the rock and surveyed the surroundings. She took note of a forest in the distance and jumped back down next to Eddy, who jumped at the sudden thud next to him.

Freya chuckled a little. "Jumpy little fella, aren't we?"

Eddy frowned. "So what if I am?" he retorted.

Freya sighed. "Don't take it personally." she said. "I'm still impressed you won over me in the festival."

Eddy frowned once more. "What's that supposed to mean? Did you not think I, the great Eddy could do it?"

Freya sat down, placing her lance beside her. "Take it from me. What you did, especially since Zidane tells me you've only been using that thing for a few weeks, is excellent work." She paused. "But you still have a lot to learn about using a lance properly."

Eddy growled. "And you think you know everything?"

"No. But I'm a top ranking Dragoon Knight, one of the best lance-wielders in the land." she responded. "I never said you didn't have potential. I'm just suggesting you try and learn a little from me before you get yourself into something you may not be able to get out of again." Freya stood up again. "I'm willing to teach you a few things if you're willing to learn, but I'm not forcing you to do anything." With that, she walked away, and began talking with Zidane.

Eddy sat there and began to think. "Who does she think she is telling me off like that. I did perfectly fine on my own, even though Ed and Sock Head did get mortally wounded back there. She doesn't think I can do it does she?"

Suddenly, Edd's voice floated through Eddy's mind.

"Oh come now Eddy, its simple if you think about it. I just don't know why you can't get it. I will teach you if you're willing to learn, but I don't know if you even want to learn."

Eddy stood up and jumped up to Freya, who had once again perched herself on top of the rock.

He landed quietly and sat down next to her. "I'm ready to learn. When do we start?" Eddy could have sworn he saw a smile creep across her face. "Tomorrow."

Meanwhile, Ed and Vivi were currently conversing with Zidane about tomorrow as well.

"So, what you're telling me is that the forest Freya spotted is the local Chocobo Forest?" Vivi asked.

Ed scratched his head. "What's a bochico?"

"Chocobo Ed. Cho-co-bo" Zidane corrected. "Its a large bird like animal you can ride. It should help shorten this distance in which we have to travel considerably. The only downside is that they smell... how can I put this... bad."

Ed frowned. "Awww, no making fun of the big bochicos when they aren't around Mr. Whatever your name is."

Zidane rubbed his hand to the back of his neck. "It's... Zidane..."

Vivi stood up. "So its settled. Tomorrow, we go to Chocobo Forest?"

Zidane nodded. "Yep. Lets break out the tents and have a good night sleep."

While Zidane and Ed began setting up tents (with Zidane doing most of the work, since Ed couldn't keep his tents up no matter what he tried.), Vivi sat next to the fire, wondering about Edd, Steiner, and Nikki.

"... good luck out there Duo."

-----Morning-----

The sun peeked up from the horizon and showed it's face, shining light on the field in which the five heroes were staying. There was no rooster to wake them up in this world. However, a moogle happened to wander by, and noticing the tents, flew up and poked his head into Zidane's tent. Zidane was having a wonderful dream about who knows what, when all of a sudden, he felt something furry right beside of him. Zidane snapped open his eyes, and was met by the inquiring face of said moogle. Zidane didn't know what to do until...

"...Kupo?"

"ACK!"

The moogle shot out of the tent and went on it's way, while Zidane, with bloodshot eyes, stumbled out of his tent and sat down next to the dead fire. Ed, Eddy, Freya, and Vivi had all heard him, and crawled out of their tents as well, to see Zidane sitting there.

He looked up. "Did I mention that I hate moogles?" Everyone laughed.

Freya looked on the horizon. "Well, I suppose that since we're all up early, we can get going."

Eddy worked a few kinks out of his neck and back and yawned. "Right... how far is this forest thing again?"

Zidane glanced out again to see the dome like forest in the middle of the field. "Eh, I'd say around ten miles, give or take."

"Give or take?" Eddy groaned. "Here we go again!"

So off they went... again. Not much changed from the other day, other than the fact that they ran into a few monsters more monsters than normal. Eddy and Freya were working together to take care of some of the tougher ones up high, while Zidane and Ed sliced at the ones down low. Vivi cast spells where and when needed, and they all reached the Chocobo Forest a lot sooner than they expected. Ed rushed in, followed by Eddy, Vivi, Zidane, and finally Freya. They all looked around and found...

"Where is everything?" Vivi asked.

"What a rip off." Eddy complained.

Zidane looked around. "I can't believe that we came all this way for nothing." he said, frustrated.

Freya turned around, about to step out, but she stopped and smiled. "I wouldn't get too down yet. Here comes a moogle."

Almost on cue, a moogle flew into the forest and landed on a log right near the entrance. Zidane thought there was something familiar about this particular moogle, but he ignored it and walked up to him anyways.

"So, where did all the Chocobos go?" Zidane asked.

The moogle turned to him, but jumped back in surprise. "You're that guy from this morning, kupo!"

Zidane jumped back at hearing that. "And you're that nosy little moogle that woke me up this morning!"

"Nosy?"

"Yeah. What else do you call something that pokes into your tent at sunrise?"

"I dunno, kupo. Maybe CURIOUS?"

"Oh come on!"

"Guys!" Freya interrupted. "This is getting us nowhere."

Vivi stepped forward. "You wouldn't happen to know where we could find a Chocobo Mr. Moogle?"

Ed walked over to the moogle and began to poke the red pom-pom thing dangling from his head. "If you can get him to stop poking me, I'll gladly help you, kupo."

Zidane walked over to Ed and began to drag him away, but he just struggled. "Come on Ed, don't touch the little moogle. You don't know where it's been."

"But the red dangley thing!" Ed complained.

Zidane sighed. "Chocobos will be much better for you, I can tell."

"Aww."

The moogle interrupted once again. "Thank you, kupo. Now, to find a chocobo, there are a few things you need. One of them is Gyshal Greens." he said, and pulled out some green stalks covered in dark green leaves. "Chocobos go nuts when they smell this, so just find some tracks outside and hold them up, kupo."

Vivi held onto the greens while the moogle continued. "Now, the second thing you need is a choco-bell, kupo. Just ring this, and it will alert any chocobos of your presence and spark their interest, kupo." Freya took the bell and put it in her pocket. The moogle continued. "All you need then is some love towards the chocobo and I'd say you're set, kupo."

Eddy jumped. "Well, what are we waiting for, lets go try these babies out!" and with that, he ran back out into the field. The four others followed suit and began searching for some tracks in the ground. Finally, Ed tripped and fell, which brought the rest over to him. In the ground where he was lying were some bird like tracks. Each one had four points, three fanning out from one end, and one opposite of the middle point. Ed grinned and chuckled. "I guess I found something, huh?"

Zidane nodded and motioned towards Vivi and Freya. "If you'll do the honors."

Vivi held up a stalk of greens while Freya rang the bell. A light dinging signaled that the bell was working, while the strange smell of fresh herbs filled the air. Zidane, Ed, and Eddy kept a lookout for anything strange. Finally, after a while, some yellow dots appeared on the horizon, moving very quickly towards the group of five. Vivi began handing out greens to everyone, while Freya pocketed the bell. Eventually, the specks of yellow turned into rough shapes of birds, and got even more detailed. Finally the birds slowed to a stop right next to the group, making various squawking sounds.

Ed felt something well up inside of him. "Cha... Ch... CHICKENS!" he exclaimed, and ran over to one of the birds. Normally, they would have ran away, but when they saw he had Gyshal Greens in his hands, and stayed put. Ed fed his greens to one of the golden-yellow birds, and began to hug it. "Hug, hug, hug. Aww... so soft and cuddly like mashed potatoes."

The rest of the group followed suit, feeding each bird a stalk of greens and petting the feathers on the large birds. Eddy took his time, muttering something along the lines of "I hate birds." Zidane and Freya took no time at all in making friends with their picks. Vivi was a little nervous, but after being around the bird for a while, he was fine. Ed was in heaven the whole time. Each bird stood about ten feet tall, and had golden-yellow feathers covering their entire bodies, except for the beak and legs. They looked around, making little "Kweh" sounds now and then, enjoying the love being given by the five warriors. Eventually, Zidane managed to lead the five birds into the forest once again with the help of some leftover greens, and stopped right in front of the moogle. The moogle looked impressed. He jumped down and began 'speaking' with the chocobos. After a while he broke off and went back to converse with the group of five.

"These birds have agreed to help you. I've given each of them a distinct colored collar so you can tell who is who." The moogle said. "I'm also going to give you guys another whistle. All you have to do to call them now is blow the whistle the number of times for the number of chocobos you need, kupo."

Eddy took the whistle from the moogle and pocketed it. "Can we get on with this already? We have some people to save and stuff."

Freya nodded. "Eddy has the right idea. We should all head out right about now." she walked over and hopped up on her chocobo, with a ruby red collar. The rest followed, with Ed on the emerald green collared one, Eddy on the sapphire blue, Vivi on the purple, and Zidane on the amber. The five bid the moogle farewell and took off.

The good news for Ed, Eddy, and Vivi was that Chocobos had a natural talent for keeping their riders firmly in place as they sped along. Eddy, who was close to terrified from the start, became cool and casual as the wind whipped around him. Ed was constantly latched onto the soft feathers of the so-called "Giant chickens." Vivi had a bumpy start, but he found out that if he grabbed onto the feathers of the neck, he could keep his balance quite easily. The five of them rode off at blazing speeds, as chocobos were naturally fast to begin with. As mid-day turned into dusk, Zidane signaled to the others that they should pull off and make camp for the night. The five of them told their chocobos to slow down, and they did so. They eventually stopped right outside of a marsh for the night, and decided to pitch camp right beside a rather large tree. The chocobos folded up their wings and began to sleep night away, tired from the day of running, and glad to relax. Meanwhile, tents were being assembled. Ed and Eddy put up one, Freya and Zidane put up another, while Vivi, and later on Zidane, put up a third. The five of them said their good-nights and turned in.

As dusk turned to dawn, something stirred within the tent housing Ed and Eddy. Inside, Eddy tossed and turned in his sleep, bugged by some image that kept resurfacing no matter how far he pushed it down.

Eddy found himself once again in the shopping area of the Business District. Eddy spun around, looking for the large monster, and upon finding nothing, he relaxed. His break was short lived as he glanced towards the same corner in which Ed and Edd sat, lifeless. Eddy felt himself get tight in the chest, but he told himself to calm down, as Zidane would come and give him the phoenix downs that would save them. But Zidane never came, and Eddy sat there, looking at two empty shells of his friends. Waves of remorse and guilt washed over him, and he broke down and cried.

Eddy shot up from his sleep, panting, and sweating a river. The sound of Ed snoring, rather loudly, filled the background and set him at a level of ease and familiarity. He hit his fist to his chest a few times to calm himself down and slow his breathing. "Why won't these images just leave me alone?" he thought to himself. "That was by far, the creepiest experience I've ever had, but why won't these thoughts go away?" Eddy poked his head out from the tent just as the sun poked its head from over the horizon, and Eddy parked himself on top of a small mound of earth a little ways away from the campsite. More voices from the past floated through his head.

"Eddy, come and help me! I can't do this on my own."

"Eddy! Can you help me butter my toast?"

"Dork, stop looking in a mirror for once and watch where you're going!"

"Three haired Ed boy, please assist Rolf!"

"Dude, why don't you try helping someone for a change?"

"Honestly Eddy, sometimes I think you care more about yourself than everyone else."

"You're never going to get anywhere in life without your peers. Get your priorities straight man!"

"You guys are the best friends money could buy."

Eddy sighed. "Maybe everyone was right. Maybe I do care a little too much about myself. Ed and Double-D might have not made it, and had I not been so... greedy, I may never have entered that contest. Still, those two joined me for my safety, and look where it got them." he groaned and put his palms to his temples. "All this thinking is getting me nowhere... I need to talk to sock head as soon as possible."

As the sun continued to rise, Eddy decided to not wake everyone and explore the marsh. It seemed safe enough, and just a quick inspection of what's inside would satisfy his morning craving for adventure. As Eddy peered through the initial bushes, he came across a wooden bridge set up a few inches above the murky water. Eddy carefully stepped across, testing the strength, and praying that it wouldn't snap under him as he heard the first creak of the boards. A few steps later, and much more sweat lost, he pushed his way through some thick bushes and into some rather tall grass. Eddy thought he had gotten lost, but eventually, he heard a voice. Eddy pushed through the grass, and came across an interesting sight.

He came across a medium sized frog pond, with around 15 to 20 frogs jumping in and out of the water. That wasn't what caught his eye though. Dressed in light red shirt, and white dress type thing with blue pants, along with a chef hat, was the strangest creature Eddy had seen on this world so far. Most notable about this creature was one of the longest red tongues Eddy had seen in his life. As the creature dashed about, diving at frogs, Eddy silently watched from a bush, not knowing whether this thing was friend or foe. The creature he was watching stopped on a bridge to catch it's breath, and Eddy listened in as it began to speak in broken English.

"Quina never catch frog. Quina starve!" it exclaimed, and Eddy, remembering the little reflections he had had that morning, decided to come out and help. "Hey, nobody is around. It can't damage my reputation"

Eddy approached, albeit cautiously, and tapped Quina on the shoulder. Quina jumped and spun around, and Eddy backed off a little bit. He mustered up a little courage and spoke. "Hey. Would you... I dunno. Like me to help you catch a frog?"

"Oh, Quina would love that!"

That settled it then. For the next 15 minutes, Eddy tried to catch a frog for this unknown creature that he had met seemingly at random. Finally, mud stained and dirty, he came back with a struggling frog in his hands. Quina gladly accepted the frog, and in what was probably the strangest eating ritual Eddy had ever see, swallowed it.

It took everything Eddy had not to turn green and lose it right there. "That... is going to scar me for life." he thought, and turned away anyways. Finally, after a few minutes, Eddy decided to try and communicate with the thing again.

"So, do you have a name or something?"

"My name Quina. What yours?"

"Err... just call me Eddy."

"Thank you for frog Eddy."

"You're... welcome?" Something within Eddy sparked. It was a good feeling, and just left him feeling happy overall. "So. Where exactly is this place anyways?"

"This is Qu-Marsh, home of Qus'. We eat frogs, but eat many other things."

"So you're like, a food critic or something?"

"Not critic. Quina food adventurer. Quina travel world, eating many foods."

"So where have you been, big guy?"

"Quina have yet to leave marsh. Quina leave someday."

From the distance, the sound of Ed calling for Eddy could be heard. The voice of Freya, Zidane, and Vivi also traveled, and Eddy called out, figuring since they were up, they could leave. Through the bushes crashed Ed headlong into Eddy, who was taken by surprise, and was now out of air.

"Eddy! You're safe! And dirty and icky. Have you been playing in places that aren't made for playing?" Ed rambled.

Zidane rushed over to Ed and began to pull. "Ed, lungs... remember our little talk?"

Slowly, something surfaced in the empty ocean of Ed's mind and found it's way to the brain. "Oh... right." and with that, Ed released Eddy and got up. Eddy nodded towards Zidane and coughed slightly. "Thanks. I owe you one."

"Hey Eddy. Who's that?" Vivi asked, pointing at Quina.

Eddy shrugged. "Thats Quina. I found him while doing a little exploring in this marsh."

"Eddy helped Quina catch frog." Quina exclaimed.

"So it is true." came a voice from the bushes. Another Qu that looked sort of like Quina appeared from the plants and stepped into the light. "Quina. I very disappointed in you." All six of them stared at the new Qu, but only Quina seemed the most disappointed.

"Master Quale."

"I have heard enough Quina. Come with me." With that, Quina followed Quale through the grass and disappeared.

Zidane stepped forward. "Well... that was odd."

"Something about those two seemed very familiar, but I can't put my finger on it." Vivi stated

"Whatever. I say we follow them." Eddy said. Everyone turned around and looked at him. "Sure Quina may be quirky and strange, but it would only be like having a second Ed around."

Zidane rolled his eyes. "Alright, your call." With that, the five disappeared into the grass that the two Qu's disappeared into. A very scratchy trip later, they came upon the outskirts of a hut planted in the middle of the marsh. They traveled up the stairs and opened the door.

"And furthermore Quina... oh... hello strange travelers." Quale said.

"You shouldn't do anything to Quina!" Eddy blurted out.

Quale was taken aback. "You have large mouth. Like frog."

Eddy grinned, "Yeah, so? Back home they called me the..."

"... Frog Mouthed Kid!" Ed exclaimed.

"Eddy. Quina did bad. Quina need catch own frog." Quina stated.

Eddy thought for a moment. "Hey. You said you were like, a food adventurer person, right? Why not let Quina come along with us? I know we are going to go some cool places in the future."

Quale thought for a moment. "Quina. This could be way for you to visit other Qu-Marshes." He thought for a few more moments. "It is agreed then. Quina will go with you to all Qu-Marshes in world as punishment."

Quina smiled. A rather strange smile, but a smile none-the-less. "Thank you Eddy. Quina be good travel partner."

Eddy felt something well up inside of him again. "Yeah... don't mention it." he said softly.

As six heroes left the marsh, the sky seemed to turn a little bit brighter. As they came upon fields once again, they noticed they only had five chocobos for six people. It didn't turn out to be a problem however, as Ed and Eddy agreed to ride together on the back of his chocobo, while Quina took Eddy's. With everything packed away, and a new member of the team on board, the five chocobos took off for the 20 miles left over on their journey to Gizamaluke's grotto. Once again, Eddy fell victim to high winds and balance problems, but it didn't bother him much as he clung to Ed's waist. Not 40 minutes later, the six slowed their chocobos to a halt outside a rather large arch. They all dismounted, gathered their equipment, and walked slowly up to the 15 foot, rusted arch above them. Engraved around it were various pictures of bells, and vines, all intricately connected.

Ed was the first to say something. "Whoa... big."

"Yeah. Welcome to Gizamaluke's Grotto everyone." Freya responded.

The six heroes made a final look back, and delved into the darkness.

-----End Chapter 11-----

Ah... I picked on Eddy so much this chapter. Just trying to show that guilt can strike a small change in the greediest of people. And for those of you thinking Freya/Eddy... well, I'm not going to say anything against it. ;)

Coming up next chapter. The six warriors enter the Grotto, and have a little fun with bells as they go along. And what are Steiner, Edd, and Nikki doing? Two battles for the price of one next chapter!

Be sure to read "Ask not for Whom the ED Tolls", coming to a story near you.

Once again... review, tell me what you think. You may be surprised at what I take into consideration.

KATW, over and out.