Breath of Fire 1. Stranger in Wyndia

The sun beat down relentlessly on the soft fur of the lone rider sitting atop a small creature as he crossed the bridge from the Y'rall Region to Wyndia. His golden fur gleamed as the sun's harsh glare beat down on him, making him stop every so often to wipe the sweat from his brow. He knew what his mission was; you could see it in his eyes. His destination was Wyndia Castle; his mission was to seek help from the King. He rode atop a huge lion-headed creature - whose talons scratched the stone beneath it at every step. Its golden wings beat gently at either side of it and its cat- like tongue rolled out of its jaws; panting.  
  
"Nearly there, girl." The creature murmured; patting it's soft underbelly, "Just past Mount Zubulos and then we're there!" The griffin/sphinx purred gently - a deep rumbling sound - and continued on its four talon-like paws. As they reached the foot of Mount Zubulos, three large dripping creatures appeared in front of it - blocking the path. The rider brushed back his long hair and smiled. "Begone foul creatures." He raised a furry, clawed hand, "Noveik Salum!" A flash of light and the three creatures stood frozen in their tracks. The rider chuckled and gave the griffin/sphinx a slight kick to get it moving. "Tar men." He reported to no one in particular, "Easily beaten by an ice spell, eh girl?" Again he patted the creature and continued on his way.  
  
(***)  
  
Nina stared out of her window at her kingdom-to-be and sighed. There had to be something more out there than this life of luxury! With another dreamy sigh, she remembered her early adventures - spending days, weeks, months and years with the dragon Prince Ryu and the furry Woren Rei by her side. She remembered crossing the ocean for the first time, crossing the scorching deserts, fighting creatures that could tear her in two with just a staff in her hand and fire in her heart, and spending many moonlit nights gazing out at the new territory with the engineer Momo, and her robot companion Honey, by her side.  
  
"There has to be something more out there!" She gazed over at the Y'rall Road behind Mount Zubulos, thinking of Ryu, "There just has to be another adventure worthy of a Princess out there!" As if an answer to her prayers, there was an almighty shout downstairs, "YOUR HIGHNESS! STRANGER IN THE THRONE ROOM! HE SAYS HE REQUIRES YOUR ASSISTENCE, SIRE!" Nina smiled softly to herself and crept from her room to the throne room.  
  
All she saw at first was her father, the King, with an extremely angry look on his face; shouting at someone. When she got closer she could easily recognise a large, muscular, furry creature with long blond hair tied back in a ponytail and the features of a tiger. A Woren! She heard the conversation that the two were having.  
  
"A creature like you does not even have the honour to show your face here and ask for help!"  
  
"Milord, if you please."  
  
"Listen to me, creature.if you so much as take one more step closer to me then I shall be forced to order my guards to execute you swiftly and brutally!"  
  
"And if they should as attempt to fatally wound me, then I shall be forced to wipe every single one of them and then ask for your help again!"  
  
"No." Her father was sweating, "I told you once! I will not have my troops marching into the 'Bad Lands' and fighting against powers that could wipe us out in an instance! No one is stupid enough or brave enough to go there! What with all the demons." her father wiped sweat from his brow and continued, ".I am sorry.we cannot help you.good day."  
  
Nina stepped forwards and raised her staff, "I shall go, father!"  
  
All eyes turned on her as soon as she dared speak. Her father stepped towards her - red in the face - as the Woren watched with his feline ears pricked to attention. The King shook his head and murmured, "No, Nina! You have not been here more than 3 years and already you wish to go on another adventure that would get you killed!" Nina turned on him, eyes ablaze, "I HAVE SURVIVED THE WORST CONDITIONS EVER! YOU DIDN'T COMPLAIN WHEN I TOLD OF CROSSING THE DESERT! YOU EVEN SMILED WHEN YOU HEARD OF HOW I GOT ACROSS THE OCEAN ABOARD THE BLACK SHIP! AND YOU TOLD ME WHAT A HEROINE I WAS WHEN I DESCRIBED IN DETAIL HOW RYU, REI AND I DEFEATED MYRIA!" One of the guards stepped forwards to silence her but she pointed her staff at him with a simple snarl of, "DON'T touch me!"  
  
A high and beautiful voice broke the silence that followed with a golden laugh. The attention turned to the Woren, who was now stood on his hind legs with his twin daggers in each paw; laughing. His voice was rich and high, but had a tone of authority in its laughter. "So this is Princess Nina of Wyndia!" He exclaimed, arms out wide, "You are one of the five that I seek!" A few of the guards were jolted into attention by the creature's sudden joy at the Princess.  
  
The padded feet sounded softly on the royal red rug as he stepped forwards and bent down low, a grin on his furry face, "Princess Nina, I am Siren Thunderclaw of the Bad Lands. I seek an engineer named Momo, a Dragon Prince named Ryu, another Woren like myself named Rei, a mutant of wisdom named Pecoros, and you, my fair Princess. I was told by one of my sources that you five defeated Myria - the Goddess that wiped out the Brood. I am at your service and humbly ask for your help. There are several creatures and mutants that are unlike anything we have ever gazed upon terrorising my homeland. They appear to be coming from a rift that joins our world to theirs in the mountains. Only someone with magical powers like yours can close the rift. Will you help?"  
  
Nina stared into his emerald green eyes and thought this over. She bent down and cupped his furry chin in her hand, making him look into her own eyes. "It would give me great pleasure to help one such as yourself, Lord Thunderclaw." 


	2. On the Y'rall road

The journey to the Y'rall region was in silence. The Woren – Siren Thunderclaw – spoke little of the quest that he had asked Nina to come on, and sat atop the Griffin/Sphinx staring ahead at the little town formerly called McNeil. He had now donned a cloak to hide his breed from the other humans.  
  
Nina herself was perched atop a shining white steed – Thunderbolt – that had been raised by herself from a foal. She stared at the Woren with interest, many a question burning in her mind. What are you doing here, my traveller? Why must you take me to the lands beyond? Are you going to be this quiet all the way? Instinct told her not to ask any of these questions. It could possibly anger him if he knew her suspicions.  
  
Instead, she eyed the villagers of McNeil with a smile of happiness and wellbeing on her face. Everyone returned her smile; some nodding courtly, some even bowing down to her gently. A small child rushed to her side and gave her a small flower as a token of appreciation. Nina took the flower from her and patted her small head as Thunderbolt continued on its way.  
  
The Woren looked as though he was in a world of his own – gazing down at the villagers with a lifeless expression on his face. Something about all this attention seemed to bother him and his creature. Nina trotted to his side and whispered, "Something wrong?"  
  
He spoke as if to ignore the question, "These people seem to love you like a Queen. The show respect to you. That is unusual in my land. We have no hierarchy in the Bad Lands. It is a place of thieves and demons. It feels unusual to be in an environment like this." Nina laughed gently and then caught herself when she saw that he wasn't even smiling. "Well," She said softly, "I think you'll find that the Y'rall region is much more different than what you're used to. I once arrested their Lord for scandal. They really appreciate it. I think I have changed their lives around. Once upon a time, I came here with the palace guards and put a stop to Mr McNeil's plans. There I met Ryu and Garr, and I was once again off on a mission that I had very little chance of surviving on. When we all arrived back, the tale of our adventures spread like wildfire across the lands. I guess these people feel that I have power and authority."  
  
Siren smiled, "Ahh…but what do you think you are?" Nina gazed at him and smiled, "To myself, I am just Nina. A princess who longs for adventure and wishes to one day find her true prince." She blushed slightly as she spoke and then dared to ask, "So why do you need our help?"  
  
Siren stared at her intently and then turned his attention to the road again, "I was hoping to answer that question when I had the five of you heroes together…it saves me having to explain again. You understand, princess?" Nina sighed and stared at the ground, "I understand."  
  
(***)  
  
Ryu pulled on the rope as hard as he could and then cried out loud when he slipped forwards again, pulled by the weight of the wood on the other end. Rei watched him from above, grinning and lying back until Ryu could get the spare wood up to the top of their hut.  
  
Ryu winced in pain and then shouted up at him, "Y'know, you could give me a hand!" Rei shrugged and laughed, "Naw. It's more fun this way, and besides, I need to grab a hold of the rope and bring the wood in when it reaches here…so carry on!"  
  
The large furry Woren stood up as a final heave from Ryu sent the wood for the repairs upwards towards him. He caught the rope with one swift movement and pulled the wood onto the small balcony of the hut. Below him, Ryu flopped to the ground and lay on the grass – tired. Rei grinned and laughed to himself.  
  
Both were working at making their hut in the woods a little more spacey. Ever since Teepo had met his untimely end at the hands of Ryu himself, work on the hut had progressed slowly and had eventually come to a halt. After a shocking Winter in which the roof had caved in under the weight if the heavy rains, both Ryu and Rei had decided that it was time to start the repairs come Spring.  
  
The hut was looking quite well nonetheless. Now upgraded to a three- floored, seven roomed house that sat atop a hill with stairs leading up to it. Rei stood on the balcony of the second floor, allowing the gentle breeze to ruffle his fur. Suddenly, his ears pricked and his nose twitched. "Heads up, Ryu!" He shouted, leaping from the house to the ground, "I can smell our old friend Nina coming, but there's someone with her…"  
  
The dragon prince leapt to his feet ad placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. His blue hair waved slightly in the wind and his keen blue eyes stayed fixed on the road ahead. Rei held his two thieves' daggers at the ready and lashed his tail furiously. Both were ready for action.  
  
Nina slowly came into view with her companion/captor behind her. She rode her horse Thunderbolt and was carrying what looked like supplies. Behind her, a cloaked figure upon a griffin/sphinx, rode – carrying two huge knives and more supplies. Nina waved as she saw the two, and Rei relaxed, allowing his daggers to go into his belt once more. Ryu smiled and allowed his hand to slip off the hilt of his sword. Rei noticed the strange look in Ryu's eyes and snorted. When they had travelled together, Rei had always suspected that the Dragon Prince was in love with the Wyndian Princess.  
  
He brushed back his long, blond mane and shook his head lightly. The great white steed came to a halt beside him and Nina smiled joyfully. "Long time no see, Rei…Ryu." She exclaimed, un-mounting the horse as she spoke, "I bring you good tidings, love, a companion…and food!"  
  
(***)  
  
Ryu gazed at Nina with lust shining in his eyes as he ripped apart a chicken leg with his teeth. The small wooden table that had been made by Rei strained under the weight of the feast that the stranger and the Princess had brought. As he ate, he looked at each one of his brethren in turn.  
  
Nina smiled and winked at him as she drank wine from a silver goblet, her blue eyes staring straight at him. Rei was sinking his teeth into a leg of lamb and staring with interest at the stranger, chewing and gulping as he did so. The stranger slowly pulled chunks of beef jerky from a tin and placed them in his mouth, which was still hidden beneath the dark cloak.  
  
Rei broke the silence. "So," He spoke with a different and lower tone to the stranger, "What do you want with us? And why is it that you smell so familiar?" The stranger uttered a high and bell-like laugh, "Funny you should ask that question of a fellow race." Rei's eyes widened and he laughed with him, "Well, well, well, if it isn't ol' Siren Thunderclaw! My very own training partner!"  
  
Ryu watched as the stranger – Siren – pulled off his cloak to reveal another blond-furred Woren. He nearly choked on his chicken, but managed to force a question out, "So you guys, like, know each other?" Rei laughed and nodded, "We used to be training partners in my ol' home. He was a right li'l thief, this one. Could take the food from right outta your mouth, he could. Glad to see you looking well, Siren."  
  
Siren nodded and then put the tin of beef jerky down on the table. Straightening himself, he took a small scroll from his pocket and handed it to Rei. "This is a message from Lord Hereford himself, explaining our current situation against a band of rogue demons that have managed to cross the rift from their world to ours. They have taken many a Woren prisoner, and are now attacking the younger of our race. I was asked to travel here and obtain help from the champions of these regions. I pray that my people are okay when I return, but please…will you help me?"  
  
All three looked at each other in surprise and stared at Siren with fear in their eyes. Ryu stood up and faced the old Woren; "I will go with you. You have my sword as your weapon." Rei also got to his feet, "And you have my daggers as your eyes." Nina smiled, "And my wand as your guide."  
  
Siren seemed pleased by this, a small purring sound erupting from his feline throat, "Thank you, my friends, thank you. If I may ask, where are your other two friends, the ones called Momo and Pecoros?" Ryu shot a glance at Nina, who shrugged and motioned for him to continue; "I'm sorry to say this, but we haven't been in touch with Momo and Peco ever since we defeated Myria. As a matter of fact, Nina and I were out adventuring three years ago with Nina's sister, and we didn't see Momo OR Peco on the way. The fearies in the fearie village claim that they haven't seen them in a long time."  
  
Siren looked thoughtful, "I see. This provides a problem. I suggest we go to wherever they were seen last then. I was hoping to make this a short journey, but it looks like I'm gonna have to stay a while longer." At once, Rei slammed his fist down on the table, "DAMMIT! I'M NOT GONNA GO AROUND LOOKIN' FOR SOME HOT-SHIT ENGINEER WHEN MY RACE ARE AT WAR WITH DEMONS! SIREN, TAKE ME AND RYU WITH YOU! NINA CAN GO LOOK FOR MOMO!" He snarled and brought out his twin daggers, "I'M NOT ABOUT TO LET MY PEOPLE DIE!"  
  
Nina clutched her staff tightly and Ryu for minute thought that she was going to blast Rei on the spot…but instead, she turned to Siren and nodded, "I agree with Rei. You guys go ahead and I'll catch you up when I've found Momo and Peco. I know the way to the Bad Lands, so I'll come there ASAP. Okay?"  
  
Ryu felt his heart sink. He was going to be apart from Nina again! His hands clenched into fists as he tried to hide his feelings from the group; sweat rolling down his forehead, the dragon blood burning inside him. He whispered a curse under his breath and then relaxed his hands. Both the Woren were looking at him as if waiting for him to come. "Sure," he spat, unaware that he was nearly red in the face; "I'll come." 


End file.

Breath of Fire