Final Fantasy VI - Day 8 (In Which The Veldt Music Is Awesome)

So into the cave. *whine* And immediately through a cave labia. Fuck. It lets out onto a ledge, and then I jump off... and have to fight as I PLUMMET TO MY DOOM!!! Good times. I'd try to take pictures of the horrifying fish, but the background is moving, so the picture would just be blurred. After about fifteen normal horrifying fish, I run into a purple one. I know he's special, because he's palette swapped. I don't seem to have gotten any XP for that, but I DID get this:


Which is funny watching him float down the river like that. As Mash lays there, this little tyke comes up:


And I'm about to find out about a new party member, whose name is:


Couldn't find a better 'u', so I'll hum a few bars and fake it.
In any case, he pokes Mash a couple times, and then our beloved drunkard wakes up and tries to question the kid... who promptly freaks out and runs away. Good times. And with that we are now in the area with the best music in the whole game. Hooray Veldt!

I go into town, buy some stuff, and manage to get the item I need to get Gau. It was at the top of the list, and the only thing I had none of in my inventory. After I upgrade my equipment, I head off and fight monsters until a kid pops out. I select the correct item (because I only have ONE of it) and after throwing it at the boy, Gau does the happy dance of his people, and then there's talking... followed by spinning, and then synchronized hopping... what? I wish I had thought to get a video of that... because it was special... Still you've probably already seen it, so there's no big loss there. More hopping, Gau cracks up, Mash flails at him, and then Cyan finally steps in and tells them to stop being retards... I guess. Gau jumps around a bit, and then gets very sad when Cyan turns away.


He's so depressed, he lost all of his color. There's some more talking, Cyan turns back around and Gau cheers up. Mash seems to mention Locke a couple times, and then there's some more spinning. Finally Gau joins the party, and then we have...


The Kappa of Exposition! He's filling for the moogle, since the moogle is currently pulling plot switching duties. I'm pretty sure he just explained the Leap ability to me, but I already know about it, so on with my life I go. In time honored tradition of level grinding, I will now run around in circles and have Gau jump a lot. Alright, I got all of the important food groups: magitek, horrifying rats, bunnies, wolves, banthas, hopes, dreams, etc. So now I'm going to move along... maybe.

In my wandering, I find, you guessed it, ANOTHER cave! Fuck! I head inside anyway, since this is the only way to go, watch Gau bounce around and then fall to his knees and slide around in a circle. Why? I don't know, but it's funny. I wander around, find an exit and then come back inside and Gau sniffs out...

His treasure! While Gau celebrates, Mash and Cyan share a wtf look. Maybe they're trying to figure out how it just appeared out of nowhere... or possibly why Gau keeps going grey every time he falls to his knees. Mash apparently figures something out, and has a moment:


He does that A LOT, I've noticed... Anyway, everyone heads outside and looks over the ledge... Gau apparently freaks out and everyone laughs at him. Really nice there guys. Mash and Cyan hop in, and Gau agonizes over the decision before jumping in too. My question? How the feck are all three of them fitting in the ONE dive helm? Yeah, think about that. And while you think about that, riddle me this...


What the feck are THOSE?! They go down pretty easily, but they're uuuuuuuuuugly as shit. Also, apparently I have random moments of button mashing during this underwater mystery tour. Oh joy... I'd like to point out that at no point does any of my brave adventurers just SWIM FOR THE SHORE like sane people. Dive helmet or no, screw floating along on the freaking rip tide, being attacked by shit like this:


What the HELL is that at the top? Is that a freaking head crab?! It's a hardy son of bitch is what it is. I get momentarily spat out in a cave with a treasure chest, and then I go back to riding the current. Can't I find some land somewhere? I mean, it's all around me and all... Would it REALLY be that hard to swim over to it? I get spat out into another cave with a treasure chest I can't seem to get to, and this makes me sad. I finally manage to reach it after falling down a hole. hooray holes!

Yeah, that's what he said.

Anyway... I head back out, and finally wash ashore:


... While trying to back out of a conversation with the sailor on a boat, I apparently choose the option to leave then. FFFFFFFFFFU- I get some cut scenes, and then it's back to the Moogle of Exposition, and time to finally tackle Tina, Edgar and the Cowardly Lion's story. We'll get that next week! Sorry for the short post, but I'm trying to prevent the dreaded tldr without skimping over the events. So enjoy your week, and I'll meet you back here Saturday!