Chapter 12: Morrid’s coffee

The sound of seagulls filled the air as the ships docked at the Wutai ports. Large and small ships of all kinds were floating near the cherry blossom streets. People of Wutai and the rest of the world walked through the streets, tending to their needs. Wutai had grown since they were last there. After all, Wutai was now independent from ShinRa. (The only other country in the world.) The sky was a brilliant blue and April 29th was looking better than ever. Vincent, who didn’t belong there at all, walked towards a gray rusty shipping boat. Eyeing it carefully, he walked up the gangplank and approached the man on it. It was an old man, bent foreword with a cane and white mustache. Vincent approached the man.

"Excuse me old man, but where does this ship go to?" Vincent asked.

"No need to be so formal young man. I am Morrid." He pulled out a coffee mug and sipped from it. "Ah, I love coffee. Now, you were asking?"

"Where this ship goes to?"

"Oh. This ship is headed too…uh…I can’t remember." He sipped his coffee again. "Oh yes. It’s headed for Rocket Town."

"…Thank you …Morrid." Vincent replied. "When does it leave?"

"…Can’t remember for the life of me…" He took a gulp of his coffee. "Ah! Now I remember. It leaves within the hour."

"…Very well. How much gil to ride?"

"Uhh…"

"The coffee…"

"Oh, thank you." He sipped it. "That will be 200 gil per person."

Vincent put his claw in his cape and felt around for a bit. He then pulled out a sack. "Damn. Not enough."

"Do not worry young man. Tell you what. If you bring me three different types of coffee, I’ll let your party ride free."

"HIIIIIIIIII!" At this shrieking noise Vincent jumped with a shocked look on his face. He turned around to see Yuffie.

"Yuffie?! Can’t you see I’m trying to get a ride here!?" Vincent yelled.

"Oh so that’s what you’re doing. Gawd no need to yell. Can I help?"

Vincent turned around to see Morrid smiling. He blushed and then cleared his throat. "Ahem. What kind of coffee do you need?"

"Well, it would be nice to have some Moccha, with a spice of Kirman, and a hint of Burman. Yup, those are the three I need."

"All right. Thank you Morrid." Vincent grabbed Yuffie by the arm and walked down the gangplank, pulling the flopping girl with him.

"Ouch! Hey! What the hell are you doing Vinnie?!" she yelled as the got out of the docks.

"All right. We need money to get on a boat, but we don’t have any, so therefore if we get Morrid the ship captain three different types of coffee he’ll let us ride free. You’re going to help me search." He let go of her arm.

"Geez, why should I help you. Can’t we just steal the money?"

Vincent glared. "Stealing would be a sin. Just direct me to the coffee shop. You’re from Wutai."

"All right, Gawd. It’s, like, down the street." Vincent smiled and grabbed Yuffie by the arm and raced down the street, Yuffie screaming the entire way.

** *

Vincent walked into the Wutai coffee shop, dragging Yuffie behind him. He approached the cashier.

"How may I help you?"

"I would like some Burman, Kirman, and Moccha coffee."

"Is that all?

"Yes."

"That’ll be three hundred gil."

Vincent slapped himself in the face. "Three hundred gil?!"

"Yes, these are very rare coffee varieties. But I’ll tell you what. I’ll give them to you if you get me three different potions, the strange potion, the beauty potion, and the unusual potion. There somewhere in Wutai." The cashier said.

Vincent sighed. "All right." He turned to Yuffie, who was caressing her wounded arm. "Yuffie, you look for the strange potion and I’ll look for the unusual potion."

"Ok, but who will look for the beauty potion?" Yuffie asked.

Vincent shook his head. "Don’t worry, I’ll get someone to help. You just start looking at the-"

"Materia Shop!" She interrupted him and sped off. Vincent waited a second and then walked out.

** *

Cait Sith hopped down the street, kicking up flower petals as his moogle hopped by. "Gee, I wonder where that beauty potion can be?…" He continued down the road. "If I were a beauty potion, where would I be?…" The little cat put his hand up to his chin in thought as the cave moogle continued hopping through the market place. "That’s it! I’d be in the hands of a very vain woman." He looked about. "No very vain women here." He continued till he approached what looked like an arena. In front of the arena was a tall pagoda, with a very nice looking Wutainese woman in elaborate gown watching the swordplay between two contestants below. "…Bingo."

Cait Sith approached the very first row of people watching the sword play. Two large Wutainese fighters were clashing swords in a contest. The crowd was cheering wildly. The man on the left suddenly jabbed the one on the right and knocked him out. The crowd cheered. The K.O man was dragged out of the circle and the victor stood up and shouted.

"I am the champion again! Numba 1 a O.K! Is there any out there that wish to fight me?!"

Cait Sith thought. If he won against this fellow, there might be a chance that he’ll get the beauty potion. He jumped up. "I will fight you!"

The wutainese man looked at the toysaurus and laughed. "All right little neko. Come on!"

The cave moogle climbed up into the ring. Cait Sith picked up a sword, which was very hard for him to use with his little paws, so he handed it to the moogle and picked up his HP shout. The Wutai man jumped foreword and Cait Sith hopped back. Cait Sith swung the sword and the man hopped over. They both clashed swords. This went on for a while, the crowd was cheering wildly. Roses and gil fell onto the arena. The man clashed swords with Cait Sith for the final time. "We will fight again." He ran off into the crowd and turned to watch. The crowd was very pleased. All of the commoners were impressed. 83 of the nobles were impressed. The vain woman was impressed. They seem to want an encore. "Fight again?"

"No thanks." Cait Sith said as he dropped the sword. He picked up the roses and gil (879 gil to be exact) and bowed. "Thank you. Thank you."

As Cait Sith descended from the stage, the noble woman came down to him and greeted the cat. "I was very impressed sir. That was quite a show. Here, have this as a present for your talent." She handed him the beauty potion.

"Gee thanks. I got to go. Bye!" Cait Sith quickly bounced down the street as two new fighters went into the arena.