Upon returning to the Ark, Lightning was greeted by a pleasing vision. In a cloud of sparks, a figure appeared, her sister, Serah. Light was hesitant, but hopeful to see her. Was this real? Serah had words of encouragement for her, telling her to keep up the fight, so that they might meet again. However, when she was gone, Lightning felt empty. She felt no emotion at seeing Serah, no connection, although she knew she wanted to save her. Something wasn't quite right, but for now, she didn't know what.
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| Lightning on the Ark. |
With her quest in Luxerion completed for now, Lightning turned her attention to the Wildlands. She had visited briefly before, and heard the voice of a mysterious girl talking about the "Angel of Valhalla." The Wildlands were occupied by people who chose to live off the land, and maintained worship of Etro. They wished not for an afterlife and a new world, but simply a calm release from life, at their appointed time. It was not long before Lightning found that the Angel of Valhalla was none other than a legendary white chocobo bird, that signaled the end of the world. As for where to start, she was directed towards the local expert on the birds, Dr. Gysahl.
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| Dr. Gysahl in the distance. Source. |
Dr. Gysahl was a gruff, blunt individual, and he had no patience for someone like Lightning. She was left to try find out more information from his associates around their home, Canopus Farms. The word was that a chocobo eater had been sited in the ruins to the northeast. Where there were chocobo eaters, there were bound to be chocobos. Indeed, it was true. Lightning came upon a chocobo eater in battle with its natural enemy, the Angel. However, although it had fought fiercely, the Angel was losing against its much larger foe. The savior stepped in, and was able to defeat the massive green beast.
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| The Angel "kwehs" for help. |
Word traveled to the farms fast, with local hunters riding their own chocobos. Soon, Dr. Gysahl showed up astride a chocobo drawn cart, ready to pick up the injured Angel.
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| I was trying to get a good pic of the Angel, and got this. I can think of worse things. |
After the doctor and his associate had hauled the bird away for treatment, Lightning paused. "Hope, are you sure that was a chocobo? I felt a weird familiarity with it."
"You felt familiar with a chocobo? Maybe you just need a friend, Light," he said back.
"I know what I felt." Lightning replied, non-plussed.
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| The City of Ruins, after Light saved the white chocobo. |
Returning to Canopus Farms, Lightning found the Angel in stable condition, however, Dr. Gysahl explained that it was a proud animal. It needed food, but would not accept it from anyone who was not its master. Thankfully, it recognized Lightning as such, and would accept sustenance from her hand, saving its life. Lightning had to travel the length and breadth of the Wildlands to collect proper foods for the bird. This included chocobo's favorite food, Gysahl greens. Also, a potent energy mix called "Chocobull", and the rare fuzzy sheep milk. After a lot of travel and hard work, the bird was able to stand up, and was able to carry it's master on his back.
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| Lightning rides her companion in the woods of the Wildlands. |
Continuing to care for the Angel, eventually it fully recovered, breaking its bandages and spreading its wings fully, able to fly some distance. In her travels, Lightning had heard of a village in the mountains of the wildlands. A dangerous, rough land, where the Children of Etro gathered. These Children lived somewhat peacefully, in the shadow of a great palace. This palace was a remnant of Etro's throne in Valhalla. The legends of the people told her she should travel there, that the Angel would take her to the palace, where also was the source of the chaos. Soaring amongst the spires on the wing of her chocobo, Lightning found herself standing in front of the massive structure.
As you can see by the above screenshot, time was running out, I only had 1 day left. Considering I had completed only one of the main quests (defeating Noel), I was feeling my failure was inevitable. At this point, the game had become a bit of a drag. I was playing on normal difficulty. The combats seemed very slow and cumbersome compared to the previous games, and I was having a hard time maintaining hit points with the limited ways to recover. In easy mode, your HP regenerates outside of combat. On normal, it doesn't, and you are limited in how many recovery items you can carry. Soon it came, the inevitable...
However, running out of time wasn't nearly as bad as I feared. The restart was actually incorporated into the game. Light travels back through time, and appears once again on the Ark with Hope. My first attempt had been forgotten, but she retained the items and abilities she had gained. Lightning's only sense that she had been here before was a vague sense of deja vu. Although I was much more powerful, I still decided to give it a go on easy this time. My second time around the game proved much more enjoyable. As you'll see, coming soon, here at This Bard's Tales!
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