songerein | closed 🌠 hold on, there will be better days

[He knew that the snoyotes had been a problem, but the number of traps still set seemed excessive. He doesn't think he's dismantled that many, but they'd been at it for so long, maybe he'd forgotten. Why? Why had they'd been so easy to set? And why did people just decide to put out so many?]

[Ugh, he's done with spiders for a while and it's not their fault this time.]

[Hearing he chirp himself, he's busy detangling more web from his glove when Tifa calls for his attention.]

Huh?

[Oh, wow, holy crud that is the smallest chocobo chick he's seen. And it's all bungled up in one of these dumbass traps.]

They mainly stick to the forest. Poor guy's probably lost... [Also, wasting no time in approaching it.] Hey little buddy. We'll have you out in a sec.

[A wayward hatchling that's wandered a little too far from mom... How young is this one, she wonders?

Questions to ask for later as she wanders up a little closer to kneel down and take a better look at the web, and the chocobo chick chirps helplessly at them again, the sight tearing Tifa's heart in two. The web trap that it's caught in is thick, and it's not so much a snare trap as it is just a giant bundle of sticky web that clings to every tiny feather on its body that this one will take some delicate work to free.]

We don't want to tear out its feathers, so we'll need to be careful.

[There's another tiny kweh as it stares up at Zidane through its beady black eyes.]

[It's probable... that this was a hatchling of only a few days to weeks at best. Even a month old, a baby chocobo would be bigger than this.]

[Looking over the trap, it's so bad. Couldn't blame the little guy for panicking and making it worse, but oh boy, they'll having to try for another method than the usual.]

... I think there's something we can use to make the stickiness wear off. Then we don't have to worry about pulling out any feathers.

There is?

[Her voice is laced with desperation, and as much as she wants to reach out to try and untangle the knotted webs, she knows she shouldn't. It would only make it worse... but the poor thing is practically crying now.]

I don't have the right kind of magic yet, but... if you have a way, then let's give it a try.

[Lighting the webs on fire only works when there's nothing trapped inside them. Water magic, on the other hand... That would work, but...]

Nah, no magic. Not everything has to be solved with magic.

[Besides, he's pretty sure between the two of them? They both still suck a little too much with magic to help the baby chocobo like this.]

Some oil should get this off. But then we should clean that off.

[She's a little worried about dabbing even a little bit of oil on the chocobo's feathers, mainly because it'll be a bitch to get out of them, but maybe something less harmful? This likely isn't the first time she's seen chocobos with dirtied feathers... Midgar was likely full of them when they got away from their owners, the poor things.]

I can see if I find any in one of the stores? Some cooking oil, maybe? It won't harm it, at least...

[He doesn't want to either. There's kind of a natural slickness to birds that shouldn't get them caught like this, but webs are a pain in the ass. Still, a good scrub up after should help the baby.]

Yeah, that should work. We wanna make it so the web can't cling anymore.

Okay. You wait here and keep an eye on him. I'll be right back.

[Tifa doesn't waste any time in rushing off to the nearest shop, which shouldn't be far. Thankfully, there have been plenty of artisan and boutique and even grocers shops that have opened up around the plaza, so she's gone before he really has much time to respond.

It will only be a few minutes before she's running back with a paper bag in her hand, and from it, she pulls out a bottle of olive oil, and the chocobo kwehs sadly at her as it tries to wriggle itself free again, but it only makes it worse when the web sticks beneath the plumes on its wing.]

Hang on, little guy. Let's give this a try.

[Popping the cap off, Tifa offers it to Zidane.]

Here. Hold out your hand.

You got it.

[Not that Zidane was about to wander off and leave the chocobo to try escaping again. He'll keep trying to get the webs to loosen even a little, but they're stubborn. Any progress he makes is so-so to nothing changing except for maybe his gloves being a little more gunked up. He's gonna have to wash them later because he does not need sticky hands for his night shift.]

[When she comes back, whatever progress he's made it just officially back to zero and he makes a face.]

Well, so much for that...

[But hey, it's the oil. Taking off his gloves, he holds out a hand.]

[Tifa only pours a small drop of oil into his palm to start—enough that he should be able to coat his hands with it to see if he can at least work with that, as she tries to calm the bird down. It's too bad she doesn't have a toy to distract it with like she did the baby owl, but...

She starts to quietly hum a tune for the little bird, hoping that it will be enough to distract it while he gets to work on the web. And she's prepared to give him more if he needs, but this is a good place to start.

It does settle a little—its stopped kicking its legs and flapping its wings so aggressively, and it watches Tifa as she waves a finger back and forth to keep its eyes on her.]

[That much should do it as he spreads it onto both palms. And now, back to it...]

[The chocobo is still panicking... for a bit. But he's hearing music. Glancing up, ah, Tifa's humming. Well, someone did say music soothes a savage beast... not that the chocobo baby was 'savage' or a 'beast'. Either way, it's calming the chick down enough that he's actually making some headway.]

[When some of the oil gets on its feathers, it tries to shake it off, but hopefully Zidane's got it covered that it won't stick itself to more web.

And as they work, Tifa grimaces, and a small, disappointed noise rings out in the back of her throat as she dabbles a droplet or two of oil into her own now-bare hands, her gloves stowed aside on the ground.]

What do you think people were hoping to catch with these?

Sorry, buddy. We'll have this all washed off once you're free.

[He gets it's not a pleasant feeling, but it has to be done. If the solution were easier, but this is the safest way he can think of.]

When I agreed to help remove them, I was told it was meant for the snoyotes. But too many were set out to the number of snoyotes actually dealt with so...

And they didn't think to clean it all up...

[The chocobo kwehs and chirps, as if answering the question for her.]

Seems a little strange that this guy's all the way in the city though. I wonder if it tried to escape from the snoyotes and ended up trapped in here instead.

[Maybe the spider trap was its saving grace, who knows, but there's a desperate flap of its tiny little wings. Is that what happened???]

That's possible too. The snoyote decided it didn't want to have its gut filled up by spiderweb.

[Which, if one were to think about it for even a second, sounded worse than getting physically stuck in the web.]

Halfway there...

[Tifa uses some of the oil on her hands to help from the other side, peeling and ripping it away from the walls to give them more leeway to work with before she's picking it out of the chocobo's feathers. And soon enough, between the two of them, they'll manage to free the little bird, but it shudders and shakes on the ground, as if too afraid to move.]

It's okay. The snoyotes aren't coming to get you, and neither are the traps.

[The chocobo looks to Zidane, and gives a little kweh? as if seeking his confirmation too.]

[Really, it took too much work to get this guy out. The hell was with this spiderweb and where's spider he'd have to hunt to get it for future (better) uses? He'll put a pin in that and give the baby chocobo a few reassuring pats.]

That's right. We're going to get all this oil cleaned off and get you back to your parents. They're probably worried sick.

[Or kicking everything trying to find their baby.]

Do chocobos like water...? There's that fountain in the plaza we could take him to for some cleaning.

[Besides that chocobos can't fly and that they kick and run and enjoy gysahl greens, she doesn't know much else about them. Maybe their feathers can't get wet? In that case, they'd only just be making it worse. And she can only assume that Zidane has seen these ones around before in the past.]

Otherwise, we can bring him back to my place for a bath.

We probably shouldn't put oil and soap into a fountain.

[Even if not because of it being a public fountain, just because other animals might want to go into it, whether to drink from it or... other reasons. Not exactly the best place for bathing a baby animal since they could find alternatives.]

Let's do that. We can also dry him off in a nice fluffy towel if you got one.

[Good point.]

Only the fluffiest.

[The chocobo seems to approve of that, or is happy to be carefully scooped up by Tifa. He's small enough that he can easily fit in the palms of both her hands together, but she cradles him in her arms, trying to keep him warm and safe in the meantime.

Off to Tifa's house they go! And as they walk, she offers him little beak and head scratches on the way.]

Do you think he's got a name?

[... Probably not, but no harm in asking.]

Hehe, perfect!

[Gosh, this chocobo is so small. He's kind of worried about the condition of the parents for the chick to be so small, but maybe that's something from behind here? Less that he's used to seeing bigger chicks and more some people have seen chicks this small... huh.]

A name? I doubt it. Unless his parents gave him one, but I don't speak chocobo.

Neither do I.

[But the chocobo chirps expectantly at them anyway, and Tifa arches a curious brow in surprise.]

What do you think he looks like? A George?

[The bird shakes its head vehemently. No no, lady! That's not its name at all! And even if he didn't have a name, that isn't one that he would pick at all.]

No? What about... Steve?

[No, lady!]

'George'? 'Steve'?

[What kind of...? But he guesses some people name pets like that. He shakes his head too. Looking at the baby, he tilts its head. It'd been rejecting names so far.]

It could probably give us some hints to a name it likes.

[Listen. Sometimes people just go for something simple for their pets! She's surely met a ton of cats or dogs named the same way back in the Sector Seven slums! Tifa's brow does wrinkle sheepishly at his echoing the names, but she's quick to move on when the chick kwehs again, almost as if it's confirming Zidane's suggestion.]

Alright. Let's see... What about Ziggy? Or Ace?

[Those sound more like pet bird names, right?]

Hey, Ace isn't a bad name now. Pretty cool too. Hm... if I was a chocobo parent, what would I name my chick?

[Even his birds are named Boco and Roost so he's not that inventive. Honestly, right now, he's about to call the baby 'Slick', but that might be too rude.]

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