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Sialla and Idi

by Zephir

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Chapter 2

Sialla and Idi

***

Part 2

***

It's just any old day in the village when they return. People hardly give them a second glance, save for the odd person who looks at Idi strangely and points her out to their neighbor. Sialla doesn't mind their pointing and staring, however, and simply wears a big grin and walks with a confident stride. She's not even thinking about what her parents will say when she knocks on the front door with a strange animal at her feet, which she regrets as soon as her knuckles rap on the doorframe.

She really wants to duck behind the wall and sneak back in her room suddenly, but finds her feet unable to move as the door swings open. She clenches her eyes shut and grimaces as she waits for that one piercing word...

"Sialla?!"

Clenching her fists at her sides as she winces, she waits for the next wave while opening one eye at them. "Yeah..."

"Sialla Mayal, what are doing out here?!" shrieks her mom.

"Mom, I--"

"You are grounded, young lady! You hear me? Grounded!" Her mother grabs her by the arm and tries to drag her inside. "Now get inside right this min--"

"Mom, Mom, Mom, wait!" Sialla protests, pulling away. "I found Idi out in the forest, and I was wondering..."

"Who?"

"Idi." Sialla steps aside and looks down at Idi, who's been sniffing at the dirt out front the whole time. "I found her out in the forest and--"

"No! No, we are not going to take this strange... animal, into our house, now you come inside--"

"Hello!" says Analei, Sialla's schoolteacher, as she walks up to the house. She inspects the scene for a moment, and noting their apparent arguing, asks, "Did I come at a bad time?"

"No," answers Sialla's mom.

"Yes," answers Sialla at the same time.

They glance at each other and then reverse their answers, both at once.

"Yes..."

"No..."

Analei looks between them and asks, "Well, did I or didn't I?"

Sialla and her mom look at each other again, then answer at the same time again.

"Yes."

"Yes."

Analei arches an eyebrow, but before she can say anything, a woman's cries grow louder behind them. "Help! Help! Monster! Heeelp!"

A mad stampede of villagers comes rushing at them, and at the front is the screaming woman. All of them hurry for cover while a huge bird swoops down over them, though luckily, everyone in danger ducks just in time and avoids being decapitated or cut. Analei screams and Sialla's mother drags her and Sialla into the house, but Idi cowers by the door, spooked by the noise. Sialla tries to turn around to get Idi, but her mom holds her back, imploring her to get inside.

"But Mom! Idi! Idi!"

Idi cowers by the door and curls into a ball, whining and howling over the noise. Somehow, the bird hears her cries above all the others, and turns to make a dive at it, baring its fangs and talons menacingly. Sialla screams out in horror when she sees it make a sharp turn and tries harder to break free, but to no avail. "Nooo, Idi! Mom! Mom, let me GO! IDIII!"

The bird swoops lows and comes in fast, opening its jaws wide, while Idi jumps back and tries to run, but then stops and looks indecisive. Then, in one swift moment, the bird finds itself being thrown back by a powerful sonic blast coming from, of all things, Idi. Desperate and cornered, she'd simply opened her mouth and made the loudest scream she could make, and that resulted in the magical sonic boom that knocks the bird away.

The bird bounces along the ground and rolls back onto its feet, startled and disoriented, and shakes itself off. It glances over at Idi one more time and then takes to the air, flying away from the village. People, who'd gone into hiding behind walls and in houses, begin to come out slowly and watch it fly off into the sky. Sialla is the first out the door and immediately goes over to and snatches Idi up. "Ohh, Idi, you're okay!"

"What was that?" her mom asks in shock.

Analei is the last one out of the house behind Sialla's mother, and she glances down at Idi once outside. With a gasp and a step back, she exclaims, "Oh, where did you find him?!"

Sialla pets Idi and lets her go again, watching her wag her tail and scamper around half-confused. "I found her out in the forest."

"She was alone?"

Sialla looks up at Analei kneeling next to her, then back at Idi. "Yeah, I was just lying there and she came right up to me."

Analei holds her hand out to Idi, who licks at it a bit and then hops up on Analei's leg to beg for a pet, which she receives. "Wow... this here, she's a Yalo Fox."

Analei looks up at Sialla's mom as she goes on. "They have this ability to make a sonic boom when they feel threatened, though they can learn to control it, too."

Sialla's mom looks aghast. "What? You mean you want to take this thing in when it can do that?"

"But Mom~..."

Analei stands up again, shaking her head. "No, no, they won't just do it any time they want without practice, Miss Mayal--"

She waves her off with her hands, moving them in crossing motions. "No!"

"Mom!"

"No, I'm not taking her in--"

"It's perfectly safe, Miss Mayal, they make great pets."

"Nooo!" she protests staunchly.

"Really, I've raised two of them, myself, and there's a lot written about them in books at the library. Besides, she's just a baby."

"A baby? That's even worse!" Sialla's mom protests.

"Pleaaase, Mom?" Sialla asks her with a pouting face.

"We don't need any pets, Sialla."

"Pleaaaase~?"

"No!"

"Hey, what's goin' on?!" Sialla's father rushes up to them, skidding to a halt and checking everyone, patting them and everything. "Are you hurt? What was that? Where'd the monster go?! Are you okay?"

He continues over protestations of "I'm fine" or "No, really, I'm okay", until Sialla finally breaks him off and makes him look at her. "We're fine, Dad, we're all fine; Idi scared the monster off."

"Idi who, who's Idi?"

She points down at Idi, who's having a ball sniffing out their flower garden. "Her."

He almost jumps when he sees her, but instead just gasps and stares at her long and hard. "What is she...?"

"She's a Yalo Fox, Mr. Mayal," Analei tells him.

"A what now?" he asks blankly.

"She's a pet," Analei answers.

"I already told Sialla we can't take any pets," Sialla's mom tells him.

"Pleaaaase Daddy, can we take her, pleasepleasepleasepleaaaase?" Sialla asks, using her best puppy dog face.

Unable to resist, he looks at her mom and asks, "...Well, maybe just this once...?"

While her mom gives her dad an indignant look, Sialla squeals and hugs him around the waist, bouncing up and down ecstatically. "Eeeeethankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"

And Analei watches amusedly while Sialla scoops up Idi and promptly takes her into the house, her dad hurrying after with protests of keeping her off the furniture and her mom spouting protests about having a pet in the first place. Eventually Analei shakes her head and walks away with a smile on her face. Let them figure that one out.

"Not the china!"

A cup crashing, and a moment of silence... until Sialla speaks up. "...She did it!"

Let the arguments begin.
Caves of Narshe: Final Fantasy IV
Version 6
©1997–2025 Josh Alvies (Rangers51)

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