Breath of Fire 1. Chapter 01  The Beginning

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Chapter One: The Beginning

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><p>His eyes snapped open and the blue haired youth found himself lying in his bed once more. It seemed real, a void where there was no light it was cold. A single eye, larger than he was, watched him, examining him as though it could see into his mind, trying to judge whether he was up to the task, and then it spoke. The voice hadn't been normal; it was deep, almost demonic, coming from the eye itself.<p>

**"I don't have enough strength left...you must give yourself to God...pray to God…you will become God's strength."**

That was all, the boy remembered before he awoke. It was someone calling him that dragged him from that place, and a moment later, he heard it again.

"Ryu...Ryu, come down here for a moment"

Rubbing his eyes, he quickly ran downstairs to not keep his father waiting. When he got to the base of the stairs he found a tall man waiting patiently. Dark grey hair with the sides going white fell to his shoulders, he had a powerful build, more of a warrior's appearance then the priest he was, and he was dressed in blue robes.

"Ah, Ryu, good. I need you to go out and find your sister, she ran away from me again. I'm not looking forward to her getting older if she can elude me this easily now. It's time for her nap, and I must have let it slip, so she ran off."

"Of course, I'll be back soon" he replied

Ryu quickly exited the church and was outside. He lived in the church with his father and sister, the church of St. Eva was a modern building, a bit smaller than they usually were in cities, but Gate was a smaller village. A peaceful place with a small population of people, they got very few visitors since it was out of the way for most travellers, hidden at the base of a large mountain, and the only way here was through a series of caverns and a large forest, the next nearest civilization being the kingdom of Windia, but it was quite a journey to there.

Being a small community, everyone knew each other well, and as he walked out, he spotted two women who had become good friends with his mother, waving him over. "Hello Ryu, what are you up to this afternoon?" the one named Mary asked him

"Yua ran off again, my dad send me to go look for her so she could go for her nap."

"Little Yua, isn't she usually playing at the back mountains?" the one named Nancy asked her friend "She is really looking more and more like her mother. Oh, I'm sorry Ryu, it must be sad to hear about her still, isn't that right?"

"It's okay, we miss her, but, I still have my dad and sister." He replied

"That's good, I guess you can't be sad forever, you're a big boy now, Ryu" she said patting him on the head. "Oh, and I think the mayor wanted to talk to your dad about something, maybe you could stop by and get the message, kiddo."

With that, the two women started gossiping again and Ryu went to continue his search for his sister, but noticed the Mayor standing just outside of his house, he was the next to wave Ryu over.

"Hey Ryu, come here for a minute, I need you to give a message to Father Ganer. Tell him to be careful, lately there are kids out there stopping by the churches, spending the night, by pretending to be orphans or homeless kids. Once they get in, they steal whatever isn't bolted down. I'd hate to see something like that happen here, so just tell him to keep an eye open for me, won't you?"

Ryu nodded. "I'll let him know, thanks Mr. Mayor"

Behind the mayor's large house, a worn path leads through a grove to where the base of the mountain was. The mountain was home to where a large dragon slept. Appearing a year ago, it seemed to the villagers to be a good omen, during a demon attack on the village the dragon mysteriously appeared and stopped them along with Father Ganer. It was that day that Ryu and Yua's mother disappeared, they were unsure of what really happened. Here by where the dragon's head rested was where Yua often visited, and as he expected, she stood with her palm resting on its muzzle, her eyes closed, looking peaceful.

Ryu slowly began sneaking up to her, he was going to get a hold of her so she wouldn't be able to run away, but before he took two steps, the tall grass beside her began rustling and a strange monster appeared, a monster titled the Gonghead. It was about the size of Yua, but bright blue, floating and covered in spikes, a pair of large eyes and a sharp looking beak told him that it wasn't here to be friendly. Picking up a nearby branch, he ran between the monster and his sister.

"Yua, look out, get back, I'll protect you" Ryu cried out as he began swinging wildly at the monster. It would not be deterred so easily though, the monster began snapping at Ryu trying to get the makeshift weapon from him so he would be defenceless, and after a few attempts it caught the branch in its beak and snapped it in half, then rammed its body into him. Without anything to fight off the creature, Ryu stood in front of his little sister, awaiting it to strike.

"RYU, GET DOWN" commanded a powerful voice. The two children ducked into a ball, and a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky hitting the monster dead on. When the smoke cleared, nothing remained of it. Father Ganer rushed quickly over to his two children.

"I saw what happened, Ryu, you were very brave to try and protect your sister." He turned his gaze over to his daughter "Yua, what in Aspiria were you thinking coming here alone, it's dangerous here, there monsters around. You had me worried."

"I wanted to see Mom" she whispered "when I come here, Mom appears in my dreams"

Father Ganer walked over and placed his hand on the dragon. "Your mother, huh" he said, pausing. "But Yua, your mother..."

"I know dad, mom...is dead." I heard the two really talking ladies say it one day. If this dragon hadn't appeared, we may all be too."

"They do have a habit of gossiping about everything. Yes, perhaps if I had been a bit stronger, she would still be with us." He bowed his head sadly.

"Daddy, you are! You are strong!" she stated proudly "You and the dragon fought to protect everybody that day they say. Mom would have been proud of you, too."

"Thank you, Yua. I still regret that day, your mother loved you both so much, and she would love to see you both now."

Yua ran over to her father and hugged him. "Daddy, would you tell us the story of how you met mom again?"

"Of course, let's head home; it's getting to be time for your nap."

At this, Yua scowled, but knew it wasn't a time to argue after what just happened. "If you sleep here, Ryu" She asked her brother. He nodded, but then she ran over to him and whispered in his ear "you might have a dream about mom too."

He turned around to look at the dragon both his father and sister seemed as fond of as they walked ahead of him, but suddenly his eyes became heavy, and a moment later he drifted off to sleep before it.

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><p><strong>"It is time" <strong>it said as the eye once again watched him with a piercing gaze.

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><p>Ryu awoke again, it was near sunset. It was odd that he just fell asleep like that, and even odder that after he and his sister were just attacked by a monster, his father didn't come back to see what was keeping him, he was usually quite protective. He brushed the dirt from himself and hurried back home before it would begin getting dark.<p>

As he walked back into the village, something about the town felt different to him, less welcoming for some reason. There was no one out even though night had not fallen yet. He was just walking by the local shop when the two women he spoke to earlier came out, knocking him over. The woman he knew as Mary looked down at him, not with a look of apology for knocking him down, but of distaste at him being in her way.

"I'm alright." Ryu said dusting himself off once more, a little upset that she had not even bothered to help him up.

"Nancy, it looks like we have another filthy orphan here."

"Orphan? I'm not an orphan" Ryu replied "It's me, Ryu, Father Ganer's son."

At this, she scoffed. "Ganer? What are you talking about, boy? The Father of this town is, and always has always been, Father Hulk. You are a liar, boy. St. Eva will punish you."

The two women scoffed at him and walked away, leaving him shocked.

_This must be some kind of joke_ he thought _I don't get it, but, it is late, maybe they will be back to normal tomorrow._

Ryu walked to the church, but before entering, he noticed the guardsman at the entrance watching him intently, as though he expected trouble. Shaking off the strange glare from the guardsman, he entered the church and found the strangest surprise of all.

Where his father usually stood at the altar, before the statue of St. Eva at the front of the church, now stood a different man. White hair covered the sides of his head but the top was bald, he was about the same height as Ryu's father, but where Ganer was build like a warrior, this new man was far more portly, and dressed in orange priest robes. He looked up as Ryu entered, and a thin smile appeared on his face, one that did not make Ryu feel comforted, but gave the impression he was waiting for him.

"Hello, my child, welcome to the church of St. Eva. It is getting late; I assume that you are here for shelter for the night." He paused for a moment, examining him. "Do not worry though, St. Eva is merciful, we would not turn you away, even if you were a thief."

Ryu remembered that the mayor mentioned that children were pretending to be orphans to get into churches and steal; perhaps this man had come from another town where that happened before and was being trained by his father. Either way, it was time to get to the bottom of whatever was going on today.

"Excuse me, Sir, where are Father Ganer, and Yua?" he asked

"I'm afraid I do not know who you speak of, child; there is no one here by that name." At this moment, Ryu thought he saw the priest's eyes flash black for a moment, but when he looked again, they appeared normal.

"What do you mean, aren't you here to study under him? He lives here, where are my father and sister?" Ryu was beginning to grow uneasy, Mary and Nancy may be playing an unusual prank on him, but why would a priest he never met participate in something like that?

"I'm afraid you must be mistaken. It is growing late, perhaps after you've had some rest, your memory will be working better. There is a place to sleep for you upstairs, get some sleep child and tomorrow the light of day will make everything clearer."

Ryu was about to question him further, but suddenly felt as though this was not a joke, something unusual was going on, and he wouldn't get clear answers from this man. He nodded and suddenly the priest was at his side, guiding him up the familiar stairs to his room, or what was formerly his room. As he entered, it too felt different, the bed was made for once, he had not bothered this morning after Yua decided jumping on it to wake him was a good idea. The pictures of his family had vanished, and there was someone in his sister's bed. He walked over to it to see if it was Yua, but rather than seeing her blue hair poking above the blanket, a boy with features similar to a puppy was there. His face was covered in light brown and white fur, he had big floppy ears and unlike Yua who slept on her side, this newcomer was flat on his back, his mouth open, and just then a loud snore came from him.

Backing away, Ryu put out the candle lit by what was once his bed, but now felt unfamiliar and climbed under the covers still in his clothes. His mind was racing trying to figure out where his family went, but before he knew it, he was asleep.

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><p>It was pitch black again; a large eye once more looked down on him. Ryu felt as though it was seeing everything, even though there was no light and all he could see was the eye. A moment later it closed and Ryu awoke.<p>

"And up we get!" came a voice from beside him.  
>Ryu looked over at his new roommate; he was young, about his age. It made sense; he was sleeping in his younger sister's bed so he would have to be a kid just like him. The kid grabbed an overcoat from the chair next to his bed and began rummaging around the room.<p>

"There's nothing good in this place, guess I'll just take the candles then." He said to no one as he grabbed the one by his bed and by where Ryu was sleeping and put them into a pocket in his coat. "Guess I better get out of here before the priest wakes up now."

As he was about to leave the room, Ryu got out of bed and walked in front of him.

"Hey buddy." He said "You don't have to say anything; you're just like me, right. Pretend to be an orphan to get into the church, and then take whatever you can sell and move on. This place doesn't have anything good though, we need to hit a bigger town, like Windia or something."

Ryu was about to say something, this was his home after all, and this stranger was saying there wasn't anything good here, but then he remembered that his stuff had vanished. He couldn't blame this kid, his belongings wouldn't have fit in just an overcoat and by the looks of it, even in the dark, and all the stranger had was just the candles he just took. On top of that, this was the first person he met since waking up by the dragon who he wasn't getting a strange feeling from. The boy was looking at Ryu in the dark, waiting for an answer.

"Where are you going?" Ryu asked him.

"I'm not sure yet, but we can't stay here, it's a small village, and if the priests sees that I took his candles, well, there probably isn't anywhere to hide, everyone might know each other here."

Having lived here, Ryu knew everyone knew each other, but, that was before. He still wouldn't want to take the chance. "Yeah, we should probably head away from here; something seems odd about this village." Ryu told him. "My name is Ryu by the way."

"Good to meet you, buddy, call me Bow. Bow Plainsrunner."

"Ryu Bateson. I'm not sure how we'll get out of here though, the guard at the front gate doesn't let children out unaccompanied, and I doubt he'll let anyone past at night."

Bow went over to the window. "Uh, what guard, there's no one there buddy. Maybe he's on break or something, guess we should hurry before he gets back then."

Bow walked out first, as he did; Ryu pulled an amulet from beneath his shirt and pointed it at his new friend. The jewel in the middle turned blue. The amulet Ryu carried he called the Dragon's Tear, he didn't truly understand it, but it read people's emotions. Blue was a sign the person was trustworthy, and Ryu put the amulet back in his shirt and followed him.

Downstairs, the church was lit still by a few candles so they could see easily, but, suddenly Bow stopped. The priest was still at the altar, he'd send them back upstairs and see Bow took the candles, but though his eyes were opened, a light snoring could be heard.

"Praise St. Eva…Let God show you the way" he muttered.

He was sleeping standing up, it was creepy, and they opened the door quickly and left the church. The guard was still gone, so the two of them rushed out of the village.

"We made it out, Ryu. So, I'm guessing you're from around here, right. Where should we g...uh oh" Bow sniffed at the air, something Ryu chuckled at, he put his nose up just like a dog would. "It smells like it's going to rain"

No sooner had Bow said that then a few drops landed on them, and in moments, it was pouring. "Ryu, we can't go back to that town, is there anywhere around he we can get out of the rain?"

Ryu nodded and pointed to an outcropping of rocks. "Over there are a bunch of caves, they lead north, and beyond them is the path to Windia, but it's still far off."

"Well, lead on, we should get out of this rain before we get soaked, neither of us brought more clothes." They both ran as fast as they could and quickly found the entrance. They were out of the rain, but inside there was no light.

"How are we going to get through here, we can't see...oh wait, I took the candles from the church, they should help us get through here." Bow took out both candles and lit both, handing one to Ryu and keeping the other one. They walked for a few minutes but soon found themselves at a fork in the path. "Ryu, which way should we go...hey, did you see that?"

Bow was referring to something that caught the candlelight off to the left path. "There's something shiny over there, maybe its treasure that could be useful for when we get to Windia. Let's go get it before we get out of here."

Ryu was about to say the path out was the other way, and they shouldn't go wandering around in dark caves, but his new friend was already walking towards it, so he followed. Oddly, each time they seemed about to get close, it moved back a bit, almost as if it were leading them somewhere. He figured this out too late as the two of them followed the shiny object into a large cavern and something large and heavy fell behind them, blocking them in. Their candles barely lit what was in front of them but a second later the darkness vanished and they could see as though they were in a well lit room.

What they saw frightened them both. Before them, its head reaching nearly the top of the cavern which was about 20 feet high was a demon. Its body was covered in a hard shell that looked like no weapon could pierce, the tail was as long as the demon was tall, and that was what was blocking their exit out of here, it was covered in tough looking scales that looked almost metallic, which was probably what was the object they mistook for treasure and followed. It stood on 6 legs, each ending in a point, they were like a spiders legs, but covered in scales, and far thicker than either of the two boys. Two powerful claws were at its front, with three sharp nails emerging at the end of each, and they were covered by a thick shield. The worst was that it had three eyes, two almost human looking ones despite them being much larger than humans, and one above in the middle, that was even larger, and strangely was the one that Ryu had been seeing in his dreams from earlier today.

"A d-d-demon!" cried Bow. Those were the last words that he spoke as the demon's tail swung and struck him knocking him against the rocky wall of the cavern. Bow slowly slid down unconscious. Ryu was terrified, he tried to protect his sister from a monster earlier with a twig, unsuccessfully, but his father stepped in to rescue them. This demon was far more powerful than that thing could dream of being, and he was certain his father wouldn't be stepping in soon to help him here.

The demon looked down at Ryu, that piercing gaze analyzing him. **"So, here you are, the destined child"** its voice said, shaking the cavern. **"Long have I waited, patiently. Come then, show me your true strength, the power they believe meant to defeat the demon."**

All Ryu remembered being frozen with fear as the demon swung one of his powerful claws and he felt pain tear across him, then all was dark.

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><p><em>It was like waking from a long dream...<em>

_But, now his father and sister have disappeared and no one else recognizes him..._

_He dreamt of a horrific demon that ripped his mind and body apart..._

_But it remains just a dream_

_Yet, the vision remains strong._

_Deep within the corners of his mind, he hears it calling._

_A different world..._

_A world of silence..._

_A world of darkness..._

_He moves toward it, feeling both fear and exhilaration._

_He succumbs and the darkness welcomes him._

_"You are the one" The demon says, reaching deep within his own heart, he realizes that it is true._

_Then, in that moment, reality washes away and the dream begins to take shape..._


	2. Chapter 02  The Life of a Ranger

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Chapter Two: The Life of a Ranger

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><p>Author's note:<p>

Well, I finally got the beginning written out, I've always found that the hardest because if it doesn't grab the reader right away, you'll lose them, and I've been trying to write it out for a couple months, now after several dozen drafts of the first part of the game, I think I'm finally ready to tackle writing this fanfic. Breath of Fire 2 had been my favourite RPG since I first played it, and many games have been compared to it, never living up to the fun I had with that one game.

I want to try and keep it pretty tied to the original game, and reading through several other fanfics helped inspire me to start my own version of this story. I've liked them a lot, but they always seem to stop around the Simafort part of the game, I'm just hoping I don't fall into the same slump.

Anyways, wish me luck, and I hope anyone who reads this enjoys it, creative criticism is always welcome.

Chris

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><p>15 Years Later<p>

Bow awoke in their small apartment, and looked over at his roommate. Fifteen years ago he met a young blue haired boy in the small village of Gate and the two left together to seek fortune and a place to call home. Bow had been a thief, pretending to be an orphan to get into St. Eva churches and then he would steal whatever he assumed could sell and move on. He had no regrets figuring that because he never got to know his parents, the world owed him, and he could just take what he wanted. That ended when he met Ryu, and they encountered a demon on the journey to Windia where Bow planned to make it big. He was knocked unconscious, and when he awoke, Ryu was gone. His thieving life had led him to a path that nearly killed him, it was then that Bow decided to give up stealing from people that may need it, and focus on helping out where he could.

He was alone, and after spending some time in Windia, he eventually moved to a smaller city called Hometown. It was busy there, but not quite the bustling town that Windia was, so Bow figured it was a good place to make a new start. He got a job assisting the Rangers Guild there, and that was where he was reunited with the blue haired youth.

Ryu had changed, somehow he had become very skilled as a swordsman, grown quite strong, and had knowledge of places that he had never been before. It had only been a year, and though he didn't talk about what happened much, Bow was still curious how he escaped the demon.

Memories occasionally came to him in his dreams, often of a world of darkness and the strange eye, but he never understood what they meant. Being as skilled a warrior as he became, Ryu quickly joined Bow as an aspiring Ranger, and the two eventually shared an apartment once they were old enough, not too far from where the Rangers Guild was located.

Ryu was the hero type. While Bow liked helping people, Ryu was guided to help wherever he could. Having lost his mother, then his father and sister mysteriously disappearing, he worked to make sure that he did all in his power to make sure others didn't suffer the same way. Bow often thought that Ryu would do his job even without being paid.

The sun was already up, and Bow knew his partner would be bugging him in a moment. That was one downside he found to being Ryu's Ranger partner, the guy was the definition of hero, taking little pay, or sometimes none for his work, going above and beyond the call of duty and staying late to help out at the guild often.

Work for the two had been slow lately though. Even though Ryu made a very good partner, they two of them were still considered novice rangers, so a lot of their work kept them around Hometown. Bow wanted to get out and explore the world more, see the exotic women of foreign cities and impress them with his worldly stories.

He pretended to be asleep, but the act never fooled his friend, who already saw his eyes flutter open, and were closed just a little too tightly now. "Keep it down; people are trying to sleep here."

The sound of his bed creaking told him Ryu was getting up, while he was still laying there. "Of course you are, Bow. Are you about ready to head over to the guild, Bow?"

A groan was all he really needed as an answer, Bow still didn't like waking up too early, and when the sun was just coming up was definitely what he considered too early. "What's the point in getting there so soon? The jobs have been so boring lately, and the guy's next door were partying till about midnight last night. I didn't fall asleep till they finally died down. Can't you just go back to sleep for a few more hours?"

Bow turned over in his bed, and pretended to be snoring. Ryu sighed, he went through this a lot, Bow was clearly not a morning person, arguing that getting a good 12 hours of sleep was necessary to a productive day.

"I thought you wanted to see the world, I don't think napping is going to get you there, Bow."

Incoherent mumbling came from Bow for a moment, and then he straightened up and looked at Ryu. "I work just as hard as anyone else there. There are just never any good jobs when we arrive first thing in the morning."

"We're never first, you usually don't want to go in until eleven or so, 11 am is hardly first thing in the morning."

"Who's the nut job that decided we should open up at these crazy morning hours. " Ryu just shook his head as he strapped his sword to his back, and opened the door. "Alright…alright already, buddy, I'm coming, give me 10 minutes to get ready."

Outside, Ryu was waiting when Bow came out, his jacket only half on, struggling to get his arm in the other sleeve while he was trying to wolf down some kind of dried meat before they got to work."

Like when he was young, Bow still had an overcoat, but now instead of using it to steal things, a series of small crossbows filled the inside pockets. Being a Ranger could be dangerous, and journeying with Ryu helped teach him to be prepared for a lot of unlikely situations he would otherwise be unprepared for. While he wasn't a thief anymore, he still kept many of the skills that thieves would use, and honed a few more over the years. He was able to pick locks pretty easily, at least the basic ones, anything more advanced or reinforced with magic were out of his league. For his bulky size, he was quite able to move with a light foot. Training as a Ranger had toned some muscle, he wasn't nearly as lean as his partner, but he wouldn't be considered fat, he had more of a brawlers build, though he preferred to not get too close to his opponent unless it was necessary. His appearance had not changed a lot from when he was a child, his ears were still droopy, he was still covered in light brown and white fur, and he looked like a Border collie.

Ryu was quite different in appearance then Bow. He was a little shorter than Bow, had deep blue hair and an athletic build that had been honed from training. A large sword was strapped to his back, it was heavy, but he had grown accustomed to it. The weapon he used was unlike anything the sword smiths around here had ever seen, the metal it was forged from was quite strong, the blade had been sharpened to surpass what the sword makers here were able to do, and the handle was in the shape of a dragon. It was a mystery how he got such a weapon, he just had it when he appeared in Hometown that day. A dagger was strapped to his left boot, and he wore a simple white t-shirt and loose pants for easy movement. A shoulder guard covered his left shoulder down the arm ending near the wrist, and along his back, made out of strong metal, while the right arm was unprotected.

Arriving at the Rangers Guild a few moments later, they found the new bookkeeper, Sylvia working at the desk. She smiled at them as they entered. "Good morning boys, you're the first ones here again, we have one job posting today. The elder figured you guys would be here bright and early, he's waiting in the back."

"Thanks Sylvia, having your lovely face greet us makes the morning all the more bearable." Bow said to her. Since she joined the Rangers Guild, Bow had often flirted with her, causing her to blush as she was this morning, but he had yet to proceed to ask her out on a date. Ryu merely made a "tsk" sound as they entered the elder's office.

"Ryu and Bow" he looked down at his watch. "You guys are early…for you; it's only 8:30. I know work has been slow lately, but I hope that today starts the trend of you showing up at a decent hour."

Bow's eyes fell on the floor. He knew he was a bit irresponsible, but it always made him feel guilty when he got Ryu into trouble along with him. "Anyways, John and his crew had to go away again, big job came in earlier that sent them up to Windia, but there is a job left for you two. Here you boys are." The elder slid a piece of paper across his desk to Bow who began reading it.

"What? Find a pet. Elder, we're fully fledged Rangers now, I think we're ready for bigger jobs than this" Bow complained.

"Then you don't want the job Bow? It's all we have left today. I'm sure the girl who put in this one will be disappointed." he said, a slight smirk appearing on his face.

Bow had not noticed and was still staring at the job post, "Of course we don't want it, finding a pet. That sounds like a job for a 5 year old, besides, you'd have to be pretty stupid to lose your pet, and come to us to find it."

At that moment the office door opened and a young girl with wings walked in. "Hello elder," she looked at the two of them. "Are these the men that are going to find my pet?" she asked politely.

"Yes, about that Mina, it seems that they don't..." before he could continue, Bow looked up from the paper and saw her for the first time. She was probably about 17, a year or two younger than him, but was the type he usually went for, far out of his league Ryu thought. She wore a simple purple dress, had royal blue hair with a tiara engraved with the seal of Windia at the core, and pure white wings. This was Princess Mina, the heir to the Windian throne, and the elder was about to make a fool of Bow in front of her, it seemed almost cruel, but Bow's knack for complaining about the jobs available was bound to get him into this kind of situation sooner or later.

"Yes, elder, we would be happy to take this beautiful lady's request to find her pet" he quickly interrupted. "We would do anything to help a beautiful damsel in distress, such as you, ma'am." He walked over and kissed the back of her hand, trying to be charming.

The elder glanced over at Ryu and winked as though he expected this quick change of heart from Bow. "Well, boys, I don't have any leads for you at the moment, perhaps you can start by asking around town to see if anyone has seen the Princess' pet."

"Thank you elder. Yes, she has a collar with her name engraved on it. I've had her for a long time now, and she's never run off before, so I'm wondering if something may have happened to her. Please find her soon; I really miss having her around."

"Of...Of course Princess, with us on the job you'll have your pet back in no time, right buddy!" he said, quickly becoming flustered in the presence of royalty. "Let's go Ryu."

Bow quickly rushed out, followed by Ryu, leaving a smirking elder and Princess Mina behind as he rushed to complete the job and impress the girl. "This will be a piece of cake" Bow said once Ryu joined him outside "we just have to sniff out a dog or cat…shut up, Ryu before you say anything about that, and we'll be back by lunch. I'm sure the princess will be so impressed, she'll join me for dinner at our place, so you'll have to vamoose, buddy, them's the rules."

Ryu had gotten used to his partner over ambitious dreams. Who he had a crush on seemed to change from day to day, or just whenever he saw a cute girl. He seemed to be eager to impress the attractive secretary, Sylvia lately, but as he just demonstrated with Mina, everything seemed short lived with him.

Bow was already asking around town, jumping from person to person asking if they have seen a lost pet. Ryu was actually impressed with his partner's dedication to the job, but he had jumped into the job with no idea what to do, again. "She's Mina's pet, Neil" Bow told him hastily. "She lost it the other day, and if Ryu and I get it back to her quickly, I bet I'll get a nice reward from her, I can see the princess falling for me."

"Do you even know what you're looking for, Bow?" he asked him. "I mean, she probably isn't the only one in this city with a pet you know." He looked over to Ryu, "I hope you have some idea what you're looking for, Ryu."

"I didn't get a chance to ask, Bow kind of ran out before we could ask." My reply got a glare from him, "but, she said it was wearing a collar with her name on it. Since it's the princess' pet, I would assume it's probably an expensive looking one, with something related to Windia on it."

Upon hearing this, the guard seemed to realize he had saw the pet they were looking for, a man had left town yesterday evening, heading south with a pet pig on a leash.

"South? What on earth is south of here? Corsair is to the east, the only thing down that way is the Mount Fubi."

There were probably no other people with a pet pig around here, it wasn't a common pet, so the two of them headed out to follow the mysterious pet thief. Mount Fubi was a bit of a hike, and if the man they were looking for left last night, they would have to hurry to catch up to him.

"Great, so much for having this job done by lunch" grumbled Bow. "Who steals a pet pig?"

About ten minutes after they left the walls of Hometown, a massive stripped tent came into view. "Hmm, maybe I should see if Mina wants to take a trip to the carnival, I hear they have some pretty interesting shows here, some people in town mentioned the Grass man, and I'm kind of curious what that's about now."

"When did this get here?" Ryu asked scratching the back of his head.

"Geez, Ryu. You really need to get out more; it's been here for a few months. Maybe you should take a break from your crazy obsession with training, and live a little. Yeah, Neil mentioned taking his girl here the other day, but they probably spend the whole time just making out. I wonder if Mina is anything like that."

* * *

><p>It took about an hour after they passed the carnival to see the base of Mount Fubi off in the distance. People used to come here for the scenery, but it became a ground for monsters and there just weren't enough Rangers anymore to keep the threat down. There was no easy path through, the caverns of Mount Fubi were like a maze, which was great for the monster population, but if the man they were in search of came here, who knew if they'd be able to find him.<p>

"Well, this is just great!" exclaimed Bow. "How in Aspiria are we going to find him if he stays here? Oh" Bow looked down. "Check it out, they did come this way."

Kneeling before the dusty ground, Bow had discovered two sets of footprints, one human, the other belonging to a hooved animal, and he stood up smiling. "He did go this way buddy. We have to hurry up and find him, so Mina will thank me, with a kiss probably. I'm going to be her hero when we get back."

"_Psst, here comes another one_" whispered a voice.

"Hey Bow, did you hear something?" Ryu asked.

"Yeah, that was me, you're supposed to say, 'yes, you'll get the girl, buddy, you're just what she's looking for.' Come on, if you actually showed any interest in a girl, I'd be building you up too, and you should grant me the same kindness."

He looked around, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so he just followed his partner as they made their way up the winding path.

The tracks stopped at the entrance to a cave, going in a few feet before they disappeared due to the rocky floor. Inside it went deep, but the walls seemed to glow enough to see quite well. A large spring lay ahead, and beyond it the path began to curve.

"Hey, Ryu, check this out!" Bow said as he walked over to where the spring was. "I don't believe it; we found one of those healing springs. The water is supposed to be full of magic, and it restores your health. You can tell, look how clear the water is, man, I'm sure the Elder would give us quite a reward for finding something like this. You know, I'm surprised something like this is still around, with all these monsters here, you think they would have used it up or something." Bow stated.

"Bow, you know, you sure have a knack for saying the wrong thing. We have company." Ryu said

He drew his sword and pointed it towards the doorway they just came through. It was blocked now by a trio of large spiders coming up to their knees and looking hungry. "Well, I guess I didn't expect us to come here without a little action, let's hope we don't end up with too much trouble."

Bow quickly drew his crossbow and fired before they got close, hitting the first head on and it stopped moving. The second and third leaped at each of the Rangers. Ryu cut his neatly in half, and spun around impaling it on his sword before it reached Bow who was in the process of reloading his weapon.

"Thanks, Ryu. Guess I owe you one, that's the only problem with this damn thing, having to reload so much. I need to get a better weapon soon" he said.

Before they continued, Bow dumped the canteen he brought and filled it up with the water from the spring, and a moment later they continued. Mount Fubi didn't get many human visitors, as they passed through the cave, they saw a few other creatures; massive leeches crawling across the walls, goblins huddling in the corners and a few other spiders, but they avoided the target of two armed Rangers. Soon the two of them had reached the end and were outside again, though much higher up the mountain than they expected.

The day had passed fairly quickly in their quest, the sun was already casting an orange glow over Mount Fubi, and it wouldn't be too long before night fell. In a monster infested area, night was usually the time you wanted to be here the least.

_"We're lucky; they're handsomer than that last one!"_

_"Good, I'm sick of eating cats and dogs, I want the blue haired one."_

_"No, I want that one"_

"What was that, Ryu?" Bow asked uneasy, holding up his crossbow. Ryu looked up to see three creatures perched on the ledges of the mountain before them like birds. Massive wings grew from their shoulders, their legs ended in sharp talons, they had a female's body, but hideously deformed and razor sharp teeth several inches long to better attack their food. They swooped down to attack the two Rangers.

_"Let's go, 3, 2, 1, Go"_ the one in front shrieked.

"Bow, get down" Ryu called back to his partner.

Ryu rolled out of the way as the first one drove sharp talons into the ground where he stood a moment before, ripping up clumps of hard ground as she took back to the sky. Bow dived out of the way as the second one swooped down, but missed him completely. He fired before she could get too far and his bolt sunk deep in her left thigh causing her to scream in pain.

The third harpy chose to go after Ryu as well. Her talons were aimed at him as she dove, but she stumbled in her attack when the first yelled at her. "No, that one is Puti's, you take the dog."

"No, Puti want that one, you always get the good ones."

Ryu was already on the offensive before she could attack, his sword slashing through the monsters defenses, wounding her left wing and cutting a gash in her left leg with two quick slashes. Bow aimed at her as well with a crossbow in each hand and fired, striking the harpy twice in the chest. Enraged, the third dove at Bow her claws aimed at the back of his head, but was stopped when Ryu caught her in mid-air, his sword running through her chest.

_"Puti, Peach"_ The third harpy screeched "_You miserable humans, always spoiling our fun!" _The last harpy dove at Ryu, but Bow had already reloaded his weapon by then, and a well -placed shot had her join her sisters on the ground.

He turned towards the blue haired swordsman. "Boy, this job is turning out to be a bit dangerous. You don't think Mina's pet was eaten by those things, do you, Ryu?"

"Let's hope not" he answered "I don't think they would have been coming after us if they were still hungry."

The mountain had only one path, and Bow managed to spot similar tracks to what he saw at the base leading to another large cave, only it was blocked by a pretty large boulder. "Hey, I think he went in here. We just gotta move this rock, and then we can follow, and hopefully be back before it gets too dark."

The two began pushing it to the side, but after it was moved a few feet, the boulder continued on its own, rolling further than they planned and off the edge of the cliff. "Woops, oh well, it's no big deal, right Ryu?"

Before he could answer, they heard a loud rumble and looked over. The boulder they just pushed crashed down a narrow canyon before it collided with a much bigger one. "Hmm, well, no harm, right?" The Ranger again spoke too soon as the ground below began shaking, and an avalanche started when the second, larger boulder came loose and caused a river of rocks to run down towards the base of Mount Fubi, coming to destroy the cave that lead them up here.

"AHH, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" a voice cried out, and they saw a Manillo clansman stumbling back to avoid the rockslide. He then turned and ran away.

"I won't tell anyone we did that, if you don't, Ryu. I guess we'll have to find another way down when we go back" Bow stated. Ryu merely nodded in agreement.

"Damn, it's so dark in here" exclaimed Bow. "Kind of glad we're not kids anymore." He pulled a lighter from his coat and lit the tip of one of his arrows; immediately the cavern was brightened to see far ahead of them. "Good thing I picked these up the other day, I knew flare arrows would eventually come in handy for us."

"Yeah, why bother with little things like rent when we could get arrows that _may_ come in handy for us. What inspired you to get those, anyway…not that I'm complaining" Ryu questioned.

Scratching his head, he mumbled his answer, hoping his friend wouldn't hear.

"What was that?"

"I said…never mind, you wouldn't get it, Ryu, you're like a monk."

While he was talking, Ryu walked ahead, and soon they were at a fork in the cave. Passing his partner another lit arrow, they split up. In situations like this, they would go 100 feet, and then meet back.

"Right continues on" Ryu informed him, but noticed Bow grinning.

"Left was a dead end, but I did find this" he said excitedly holding out a bright red stone that was warm to the touch. "It's a fire stone, do you know how rare these things are? This place probably has a lot of treasures hidden throughout. We already found a healing spring, and now this; we should have started coming here a long time ago."

"I bet it would be a great place, if it weren't for the monsters. So, right it is" Ryu stated and led the way.

Where the previous cave was home to many monsters, this one was devoid of any. Bow found another chest that held a leather headband. "Darn, I was expecting something better than this, who puts a headband in a chest? Well, guess it might help if someone tries to hit me in the head."

A bit further and they reached another dead end. "What the hell? I'm sure he came in here, but, we've searched through here…ahhh"

The floor in front of him gave way and the Ranger fell, but landed on a pile of soft earth. "Ow, that could have really hurt. Ryu" he called seeing an opening outside, "looks like I found where he went, come on down, buddy."

The blue haired Ranger leapt down, landing much more gracefully. "Hello travellers" spoke a voice from behind them.

They turned around to see a large man with an enormous crossbow sitting nearby on a flat rock. His hair was turning grey in spots, he was dressed in a tailored hunting suit, but didn't seem though he minded roughing it.

"My name is Azusa, I am a hunter" he said without them asking. "I was hunting a rare animal when I lost the trail around here. Your stumbling probably scared it away. What are you youngsters doing here?"

"We're looking for a lost pet, I tracked it here" answered Bow, trying to sound impressive.

The big man laughed. "Yeah, it takes real tracking skills to hunt down a pet. Look, the only thing that's passed by here recently is the old guy and some pig. I'll save you the trouble of exhausting your tracking skills, the old guy lives in the abandoned town to the east of here. Now, why don't you two shoo so I can find what I'm hunting here."

"Sure thing" Bow replied, shrugging, and left in the direction Azusa pointed them. Once they were out of earshot, the Grassrunner turned to Ryu. "Geez, that guy is a jerk, hiding in caves, and criticizing my tracking skills, I'm probably a better hunter than he is."

* * *

><p>It was almost nightfall when they were back outside the cave, Bow angrily leads the way, and soon the two Rangers saw the ruined town Azusa was talking about. "Look at that place, it looks ready to fall apart, you don't think that guy was screwing with us, do you?" Bow asked as they approached, but suddenly a shout came from inside.<p>

"No, it's mine. MINE! You pests aren't getting any this time!"

Walking ahead of his partner, Ryu entered to see an unusual sight. A skinny old man in green rags was surrounded by half a dozen roaches, each about a foot in size. The old man was swinging a staff at them, but they seemed too aggressive to be scared away.

"Ugh" Bow groaned sickly. "If there's one bug I can't stand, its cockroaches. We should give him a hand squashing those things."

Bow and Ryu got to work trying to help the old man. In moments, they could see why he was yelling, one of the roaches took a bite out of their shoes, ripping away a bit of leather. If they had been barefoot like the old man, that could have really hurt. Soon the six roaches were crushed underfoot, but it didn't put the old man at ease.

"Ahhh, stay back! Don't come any closer!" he yelled to something behind the two Rangers. They turned finding the doorway blocked by a massive roach. The ones they just dealt with were big, but this one was gigantic, about five feet and rose up to their waist in height. It had a hard looking shell covering its back, its legs had sharp edges and its eyes were red, narrowed at the three of them.

"Holy crap, that's one big cockroach" Bow said backing up towards the old man and slowly drawing his crossbow. Ryu stepped between him and the giant cockroach, his own weapon drawn. This had quickly become their standard battle formation, Bow would attack from far back as his weapon took a few seconds to reload after each shot, and would strike vital points, and Ryu would hold their attention on himself fighting at close range. The insect charged at the blue haired Ranger snapping wildly, its powerful mandible, but Ryu easily moved out of the way. Bow fired a couple shots at it as he did, striking at the center of its upper body, but they only drove a few inches into its tough armour.

"Dammit, those are expensive, they should be…" he was interrupted as the arrows exploded, tearing chunks of its armor off, leaving a weak spot opened. "That's better!"

"Hit the eyes, Bow, that shell looks tough" Ryu called out to his friend as he ducked the creature's front leg struck at him, and swung his sword in a wide arc, slicing it off easily. It spun around towards Ryu limping with the loss of a leg and attempted to charge when the large insect's eye was pierced by a shot from Bow's crossbow, throwing its balance off. It stumbled, crashing into the wall and part of the ceiling collapsed on it, but the roach was still alive, attempting to throw off the debris on it.

"I got an idea, Ryu" Bow called out and he threw the fire stone he found earlier underneath the roach. Three pillars of fire burst from the rock, burning it from underneath. In seconds the creature had been roasted, its body no longer moving though it was still stuck in the wall.

"Gross that smells terrible, I think I'm going to throw up from that stench" muttered Bow.

"Phew, that was the biggest damn bug I've ever seen. In all my years here, I never thought I'd have to fight a cockroach for my supper. What are you youngsters doing all the way over here by the way? Hang on; before we get into that, I'm just going to throw on supper like I was planning to before those pests showed up. Guess you two can join old Niro since you helped me, it's been a while since I had guests."

They heard a splash as the old man dumped something into a cauldron in the kitchen. "Hang on; let's get this bothersome collar off you, that'll taste terrible."

He walked back into the ruined dining area where the pair of Rangers was waiting. "So, it'll be a little while before it's ready, now, what are you guys doing all the way out in the middle of nowhere?"

"We were hired to find a pet, I tracked it through Mount Fubi, and the hunter we met there said something about seeing someone pass by with one recently, heading this way."

"Hmm, well, not sure what to tell you guys haven't seen any dogs or cats anywhere around here."

The room got quiet, but it was broken when they heard the sound of something squealing from the other room. "Could I see that collar for a second, old man?" Bow asked, suddenly jumping to his feet. His eyes went wide, on the gold collar was written the name Suzie and the crest of Windia was carved into it. "Crap, Ryu…I think we found Mina's pet!"

A few minutes later, the three were standing around the table where a small pig looking a little pinker than usual was placed. "Darn" said the old man "I was really looking forward to having that for supper, are you sure I can't just take a bite out of the leg…it looks so mouth-watering."

"No can do, old man, I'm sure Mina would not be very pleased if we returned her pet to her missing a leg. It wouldn't bode well for me being her hero to cripple poor Suzie here."

Putting the collar back on her, Bow lifted her into a satchel and slung it carefully over his shoulder. "Another job well done by us Rangers, right buddy." He said to Ryu as he exited the ruined house.

Ryu followed hearing the old man complain about being hungry still. "Guess I'm stuck with these damn pets to tide me over…if it's good enough for those frogs, maybe I can enjoy it."

* * *

><p>It was already nightfall when Bow and Ryu made it back to Hometown and walked into the Rangers Guild. Princess Mina was waiting for them in the elder's office along with a pair of Windian girls about her age.<p>

"Here you go, Princess Mina, the Great Bow Plainsrunner has worked long and hard to find her, and here she is, your lost Suzie."

He began to tell the story of how he single handily travelled through the dangerous peaks of Mount Fubi, fighting off a few dozen vicious Harpies and came across the poor pig huddled on the other side in the possession of a crazy old man.

"The other side of Mount Fubi?" asked Princess Mina when Bow explained what took them so long. "It sounds like you had quite an adventure, Suzie, and you look so clean! Did you bath her before bringing her back?"

Bow scratched the back of his head nervously. "Yeah, I…thought I would make sure she looked as nice as possible before I brought her back to you, it's just the kind of thing I do."

"Well, thank you very much, Mr. Plainsrunner, I'm glad you were able to get Suzie back in time, I didn't want to have to here without her."

A puzzled look crossed Bow's face and the elder stepped in. "Yes, Princess Mina is heading back to Windia immediately." He turned towards the Princess, bowing. "As much as we love having you in Hometown, your Majesty, we know we cannot keep you here forever. I hope you have had a pleasant time here and we look forward to your next visit."

After another quick thank you to the Rangers, Mina and her entourage left the office leaving the canine Ranger looking glum. "Darn" said Bow after she left "I was hoping she would be here a while, and we'd become really good friends."

"Yeah, setting your sights on the Princess of Windia now, are you Bow? I think she's a little out of the league of a Ranger that wasn't even going to help in the first place. Anyways, I'm actually surprised you guys went that far to get the job done, maybe I've been underestimating you two…could be time to give you some bigger jobs soon." He grabbed a small pouch from beneath his desk tossing it at the pouting Bow. "She did leave your pay, seems the princess at least had faith in your ability, and pays quite well. One thousand zenny for an easy job like finding a pet, you sure do have fools luck sometimes, Bow Plainsrunner."

He cheered up a little receiving their pay. "Well, I guess Mina might have been a little out of my league…for now. It doesn't mean I'll stop trying, but there are quite a few attractive ladies around here that would appreciate my company. So, same time tomorrow, Elder? Noon was it?"

The streets outside were lit scarely from the lamps that came on after nightfall. Everything was already closed. Letting out a long yawn he turned to Ryu. "What time is it? Geez, where did the day go. So, what should we do with our pay tomorrow? They did get a new rapid fire crossbow at the weapon shop recently, maybe that would be worth picking up if we're going to be getting bigger jobs like the Elder mentioned, eh buddy."

"You don't need a new crossbow, Bow. Besides, aren't you forgetting something a little more important?" He raised a furry eyebrow in confusion. "Rent, Bow, you're almost a month late for your half of the rent. I think you owe me about five hundred zenny by now."

"Shoot…way to be a stick in the mud, Ryu. I should have known you wouldn't want to use our pay for anything fun, like women…or drinking…or women."

Ryu just sighed at him, it always came back to the same thing. "Well, I don't know about you, but I think I'm about ready to turn in. I don't see him being happy if we do show up at noon tomorrow."

"I was just kidding…a_t least I was after he gave me that look._" Bow said under his breathe

* * *

><p>Just a quick note on how Zenny works in my story. 200 Zenny would be equivalent to 20 dollars, so when Bow and Ryu are paid 5,000 Zenny, it's like 500 dollars for a day's work between them, not too shabby. That's basically it, I think that's kind of how it worked in the game, potions for 400 Z would be $40, which for a potion that heals your injuries would be a hell of a deal, but in a world where they're so common, it's understandable.<p> 


	3. Chapter 03 Chasing a Thief

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Chapter Three: Chasing a Thief

* * *

><p>It was still dark out, but some kind of commotion was going on, which was odd. Looking over at the clock, he saw it was 3 am, everyone should be sound asleep, Hometown wasn't known for late night activities. He got up to go to the bathroom, and looked over to Bow's bed as he passed, it was empty.<p>

_Why do I get a bad feeling about _this? He thought.

While he was still asleep, it sounded like someone was knocking on the door, but it sounded like Bow got up and answered it. A few minutes passed before he heard the sound of it closing, but now it seemed like his friend had left and that was the sound of it shutting behind him. Looking outside, he saw the town guard was wandering the streets along with men wearing the green uniform of Lord Trout's men.

He could hear the guards shouting orders, but also next door, he could still hear people partying. Throwing on his clothes, he rushed outside to see just what was going on. Hometown was usually lit only a little at night, enough for the guards to see, but not keep the people of town awake all night, but now the streets were bathed in light; every lamp in the street was lit now.

Hometown was built with tall stone walls, sectioning off each part of the city; the Rangers Guild, the residences, the shops, the Magic Academy, the church, and then the rich area, each home getting its own gated area to keep out unwanted visitors.

Ryu found he was ignored by the guards in green uniform; they looked more like hired thugs than guardsmen. The ones in the blue of Hometown gave him a courtesy nod, but had something important to do, though he saw a look on their face that they clearly didn't want to be working with the men hired by Lord Trout. He turned the corner to avoid a group of three in green when someone rammed into him, knocking him over and landing near a trash bin.

"Hey, watch it, road block" a feminine voice snapped at him.

He looked at her, and found she was not the typical Hometown resident. She was young, about a year younger than he was if he had to guess, dressed in a tight fitting leather outfit that covered very little it seemed, her legs and was cut low at the top. She had blue hair, tied in a pony tail that fell down her back between a small pair of what looked kind of like wings a bat would have. Several small pouches were tightly strapped to her arms, waist and legs, and a pair of daggers were hanging just below her waist. She carried a large cloth sack that seemed to be filled to the limit, but it wasn't weighing her down in the slightest, she carried it almost effortlessly.

She caught him staring at her, and a half grin appeared on her face. "It's rude to stare you know" she shot at him, "but I guess I can't blame you, I am a sight to behold." Just then, they heard the sounds of more guards coming, and she started backing away. "Well, that's my cue, I'm out of here." She backed up a few feet and jumped in the air landing atop the wall that stood about ten feet in height as though it was nothing, then ran off towards the Magic School, but passed it, heading out of Hometown.

A moment later, three men wearing green approached from the direction of the wealthy residents. The lead one looked down at him, and gave a sneer. "Look what we have here, fellas, looks like Trout got his wish, they finally starting to throw these poor people where they belong." His reply got a chuckle from his companions and they carried on.

Ryu started to get up when one of the Hometown guards approached. "Ryu, what are you doing out at this hour? Oh, man, this isn't good; don't you know what's happening?"

Ryu shook his head, looking confused.

"Well, there was a break in at Lord Trout's place. The guards say they saw someone fleeing from the scene of the crime; he ran right past them and cleared out of there. I just can't believe that they're saying the thief is Bow…but, if it's not him, what are you doing out here? Damn, this doesn't look good." He looked at Ryu suspiciously.

Ryu sighed. Whatever happened, Bow had gotten himself into a real mess, someone said they saw him at Lord Trout's place, and he was missing from his room when Ryu woke up. The Elder knew Bow used to be a thief, but reformed years ago, though his word wouldn't hold up against these kinds of accusations, especially when there were eye witnesses placing him at the scene.

_Why does trouble always seem to follow you, Bow? Whatever inspired you to break into Trout's mansion?_ He walked past the church where he saw one of Hometown's guards locked in an embrace with the red headed girl, Memeko, neither of them noticed him passing. He had no idea why he was coming this way, but he just knew he had to find Bow before the guards in green did, and after that…he could think of his next step.

A risen level divided the city into the rich area, where Lord Trout lived from the common area where everyone else resided. He was about to walk past it when a well-dressed man stopped him. Dressed in a purple suit and cape, he stuck out like a sore thumb. _It's like when they're rich, they completely lose their sense of style_ Ryu thought when he saw the man.

"You, you're Bow's roommate, Ryu, aren't you?" he asked quietly. "Look, it's my fault Bow is in this mess, I'm the one who gave him a job tonight, but I know he didn't take anything. You're his friend; you have to find him before the guards do. I told him to head back home to find you, if anyone can help him out of this, it's his best friend. Please, Ryu, help your friend, Bow get out of this mess I got him into. "

With that, Lord Kilgore walked away, and Ryu headed back to their apartment where he found the other Ranger waiting.

"Hey, buddy" Bow said glumly as he entered. "I guess you heard about what happened. I just want to say, I didn't steal anything. You believe me right?" he asked

"Of course, I know you didn't steal anything, Bow. It's just going to be tough to explain that to the guards, they're out there hunting for you now."

"Here's what happened."

* * *

><p>"It was late; someone had come knocking at our door. Turned out that rich guy, Kilgore had a job for me. Said the other guy, Trout had stolen something from him, something he had made for a relative, called it the Whisper Hood. I had no idea what it did, you know how those rich guys are, but he had no proof it was stolen, just his word.<p>

Anyways, he needed to hire someone on the down low; all he wanted was proof that it was in the other guy's mansion, that's where I came in. He wanted me to sneak in, find out that it was there, and report back to him, then he could have the towns guards check the place out before Trout could hide it somewhere. Breaking in was the easy part, the guy doesn't even keep his door locked; I was able to walk right in.

The place was HUGE, Ryu…we need a place like that. Huge fireplace, bearskin rug in front, massive booze collection; think of all the girls that would be into me if I owned that place…"

"Bow!" Ryu interrupted "would you get to the point?"

"Right, right. Anyways, I found his treasure room after a few minutes, Kilgore knew the guy who designed most of the houses here, and told me where it would be. It was left unlocked too, I was about to open it when someone on the other side opened it first, and I stumbled and fell face down in front of her.

Oh, Ryu, you should have _seen_ this girl. She was smoking, wearing barely anything at all; I think just a swimsuit or something, long blue hair and a cute face. She just stepped past me saying 'excuse me' casually as I stared, and then ran off down the hallway. I gotta say, I was a little surprised by her appearance, but I got it together quickly and remembered I had a job to do, but when I looked inside, the WHOLE place had been cleared out. There wasn't a single zenny left, and of course, the Whisper Hood which should have been in there was gone too.

I wanted to get the heck out of there before they could pin it on me, but before I could run, I heard someone approaching, a couple of guards were at the end of the hallway she just ran down, and they saw me. I had no choice but to get out of there. I think I got away without them telling who I was, I mean, it was dark in there."

* * *

><p>"But, that's what really happened, buddy. I swear I didn't take anything, but I don't know how I can explain how I was there if they catch me. What am I going to do?"<p>

Just then, they heard someone pounding loudly on their door. "OPEN UP, WE KNOW THE THIEF, BOW IS IN THERE!"

He looked over to his friend. "Uh oh, they're here. Darn, buddy, what do we do?"

Looking around the room, there were few places to hide, the only place they may not check would be the large trash can they had. It was one of those industrial ones, because Bow was under the impression changing the garbage everyday was stupid. Ryu motioned over to it, and Bow, shook his head, grimacing.

The door shook as they continued pounding on it. "OPEN UP OR WE'LL BREAK DOWN THIS DOOR." They ordered.

Having no other choice, Bow climbed in. There was little in there, the majority of empty food containers on the counter still, the Grassrunner not having cleaned yet. Once Bow was tucked in, Ryu piled the stuff on the counter over him, in case they looked there.

"I'm coming, geez, you can't give me a minute, was just sleeping." Opening the door, he saw two of Lord Trout's guards and one of Hometown's behind them looking like he didn't want to be here.

"We know Bow lives here, we're here to do a search for the thief." The two guards shoved their way past Ryu and began checking around the room while the Hometown one just looked around. Just stared at the ground, but he didn't say anything. In a few minutes, the guards walked back to the door angrily.

"It don't look like he's here." The one in the lead turned towards Ryu. "You'd better not be helping hide him" one of Trout's guards told him "he's a thief and we'll have him locked up for what he did to our boss." Several moments later they were gone, and Bow pushed the top of the garbage can off and looked at Ryu.

"Was it really necessary to dump garbage on me, buddy, they didn't even look in here. Plus, now I stink!"

"Well, I had to do something for in case they checked in there," he replied smirking. "They would have just seen some old food and stuff, and not the fugitive whom they're looking for. We've got to think of somewhere to hide you for now though."

Both thought for a few minutes. The Rangers Guild was out, it wasn't that they couldn't go there, but if he was found, it would just cause a lot more problems than necessary. They had a few friends here, but if Lord Trout's guards were searching people's homes, it was the same problem, finding them hiding a thief would put them in real trouble.

"I'm stumped, buddy…I think I may have to just pack up and start a new life elsewhere. Maybe Windia, I did get Mina her pet back, who knows? She might let me live in the castle."

Ryu just glared at him, shaking his head.

"Spoil sport. Hey...what about the old guy, over on the other side of Mount Fubi. Niro or something, we did save him from that killer cockroach, he owes us for that. Remember, the old guy, who lives in that ruined town?"

He just glared at Bow for a moment. "Yes Bow, I do remember things that happened to us yesterday, it's almost like it happened yesterday" Ryu replied sarcastically. He looked out their window and saw two of the gates out of Hometown were guarded. "I think the only way we're going to get you out of here is if we drag you out in that trash can, and hope they don't check inside."

"Awww" he groaned. "Come on, buddy, can't you think of another way out? It stinks pretty badly in here."

"I can't really think of any other way, Trout's guards are pretty determined to find you. I know if they see me walking out the front gate with you, there won't be much I can do here without being labelled an accomplice. You won't be in there too long, just try not to breathe through your nose, and you'll make it."

Dragging the trash can with Bow inside wasn't as easy a task as Ryu anticipated. Bow was heavy, and as dead weight it was even more of a chore. By the time he reached the front gate, he was already breathing heavily. The guard there was one of the Hometown ones that usually watched this gate at night.

"What do you have hear Ryu?"

"It's just Bow…s old comic books" he answered quickly "He asked me to throw them out earlier, and I've been putting it off too long."

"Comic books, eh. And where are you taking them…" the smell from the garbage just reached him at this point. "Actually, never mind, it smells like you put something else in there, like rotten food…or has Bow been sampling foreign food again. Geez, you better get it out of here. Go ahead, Ryu." As he was dragging the can past, the guard whisper to him "I believe Bow is innocent, don't let anyone know I let you two past."

It was hard work dragging Bow this long a distance. The carnival was closed, a strongman standing at the entrance as he passed.

"We're closed" he said to Ryu. "It sleeps at night."

Ryu was planning on letting Bow out after they got out of sight of Hometown, but the guards in Lord Trout's uniforms had already extended their search after not catching him in Hometown. A blockade had been set up at the bridge leading to Corsair that Ryu could see off in the distance. He didn't want to risk getting too close to there in case they decided to search him. Finally, as the sun was starting to rise, he reached Mount Fubi.

"Is it clear yet, buddy? It's getting rank in here."

"No, not yet, looks like we have some company ahead." Ryu replied, seeing a few people ahead examining where the recent avalanche they caused, two from the Manillo clan, and a large bodybuilder with horns.

"Yeah, I was just walking up, gonna get some of the water from that spring, makes the healing herbs grow like weeds, but this big freaking rock came out of nowhere, and smashed the hell out of the cave. No one can get in there now unless they take the long way. I thought this place was pretty sturdy, but if rockslides can just happen out of the blue, I don't think anyone's going to be dropping off food for the nutcase over there anymore."

They noticed as Ryu approached, "Top of the morning to you, Ranger. Whatcha doing out this way?"

"Oh, just a…job, you know us, we get a little of everything."

As he walked away, he heard them joking about some of the things they hired Rangers to do, the Manillo clansman owned a shop in town and often came in to have them escort a caravan, but now and then hired them for cleaning, it was usually a job passed to the new guys, or if anyone got in trouble. He and Bow never got stuck doing that, but some of the Rangers who didn't like adventure jumped at them.

The one benefit to their avalanche was that it made a clear path across the base of the mountain. The cave that they found the spring was crushed, but it also filled up the canyon enough to just walk over, cutting down his trip by a few hours since he wouldn't have to drag Bow through a winding path up the mountains.

At last, he reached the ruined town where they first encountered the old man, Niro. By then, the sun was up and shinning down on the garbage, which only made Bow complain more about the smell. Climbing out just in front of the house, they were greeted by the old man who was looking a bit more cheerful this time around.

"Well, well, well. Look at what the cat dragged in, the two Rangers who decided to swipe my dinner and leave me a few dead roaches to replace it, good thing I know how to cook that kind of stuff. What are you two back here for, and…oh Ladon, what's that smell?"

After picking a few stray wrappers and bits off old food off him, Bow launched into an explanation of what happened. After hearing he was forced to hide in the garbage, Niro began smirking as though he was holding back laughter at his misfortune. Finally Bow came to the point where he had to ask if he could hide out here for a bit until things died down in Hometown, and Niro chuckled at the request.

"Well, looks like old Niro holds all the cards now. Your timing is perfect, if you're going to be staying here, I'll be putting you to work." Just then part of the ceiling collapsed and Bow jumped back, narrowly avoiding being hit by a couple bricks. "This old place is starting to fall apart, and I needed someone to help me do a fix up job on it. I haven't had an assistant for a while, and you'll probably be helping me hunt for food too, you know, if you don't want me to take a little trip to Hometown."

Bow looked horrified, "Relax, I won't snitch on you, not after you folks saved my hide from those pesky roaches, but we got some work to do while you're here, I'm not as young as I used to be, and would prefer if my little hideaway became a bit more comfortable, at least you can help with that while I'm hiding you here."

"Oh…manual labour, that's not really my thing." Niro raised an eye at his response. "But, I guess we all have to put in a little work eventually, I don't know a lot about repairs though…"

"Oh, I'll fix that, don't you worry. Ha ha" he laughed.

Bow laughed too, but nervously and Ryu could tell that he wasn't as pleased with the situation as Niro was; he never liked to do that kind of stuff. "Good, you got yourself a little crossbow, that'll help you with the hunting, there's plenty out here I want to eat, so you better get good quickly so I can. Oh, this is really turning out to be my day, two strapping youngsters here to fix up my place and look after me."

"What? Ryu can't…"

"I know, I know you knucklehead, was just playing. Course I'd like it if you both stayed, but, I guess you're right, that thief isn't going to catch herself. You best be on your way, Ranger, this one doesn't need you distracting him, I'm already thinking out his daily schedule, shoo before I add you to it."

Bow sighed, "Well, it sure looks like I got myself into quite a jam. Good luck buddy, try to find her quick, we got to get this cleared up so we can start on those big adventures soon."

* * *

><p>By the time he returned to Hometown, it was already midday. There were already wanted posters up for Bow's capture with a reward of 10,000 Zenny. He was looking at one when one of the Hometown guards approached him; it was the same one from earlier who let them pass.<p>

"Can you believe it, Ryu; they want him, dead or alive. I've been here for ten years, and never in that time has anyone put out a search like that. They've pulled the Hometown guards off the search, and brought in Lord Trout's guys, I had no idea that guy had that kind of pull, there's like twice as many here as us."

He just shook his head walking off.

He started asking around town, hoping he could get a clue where to find the girl from earlier, but she was like a phantom, no one had seen her. How could someone like that have hidden from everyone so easily, how many people wouldn't remember her, someone with blue hair tended to stick out, not to mention the wings, they were easy to spot. He was lost at what to do, when he overheard a conversation nearby, one of the guardsmen was talking to a beautiful woman with dark blue hair.

"I know people over in Corsair; I could get us in easily, would you like that? Front row tickets to see the Battle of Champions? I'm pretty well connected."

"Tsk tsk, you know, telling tall tales to impress me won't work." She replied shaking her finger at him. "Besides, I'm not really into watching some new girl fight. If it were two hunks, maybe I would consider going."

"I hear she's quite a fighter, just showed up there recently, and is amazing, none of the fighters at the Coliseum can lay a hand on her, she's way too fast. They say she's of a rare clan too, no one has seen anyone like her before, come on, Sied, let me show you a good time."

_Corsair, maybe that's why no one here has seen her, she isn't from this city. It's not much, but it's a start._

As he walked away, the blue haired woman chuckled, walking away herself and leaving the guard watching, awestruck as she walked seductively back to the Magic Academy.

The trip to Corsair didn't take long. It was funny how much quicker he was able to get from place to place without Bow taking his sweet time. He was already at the road block set up by Lord Trout's men by about 2'o'clock, though they slowed him up a bit, questioning him about Bow, but these ones didn't know the two were friends, they were just trying to get some clue about where to find him from anyone that passed.

The area between Hometown and Corsair was mostly open planes, broken only by the lake that formed a deep river running out to the ocean. A massive bridge allowed passage across, built widely for traders to get their caravans across. A few monsters occupied this area, but it was usually pretty safe, it was one of the tasks the Rangers Guild took care off. The only real trouble was the wild Birubary, creatures that tended to get aggressive with people that intruded in their space. They had sharp horns, and were about the size of a horse. He managed to avoid them and reached the city quickly, it was still a couple hours until evening when he arrived.

Corsair was as different from Hometown as day to night. The city was built around a massive circular structure that he could only conclude was the coliseum, Corsair's main attraction. It reached nearly a hundred feet high, and could probably almost all of Hometown inside. Around the enormous building were houses, a few stores, mostly weapon or armour shops, and a large tavern called the Wolf's Head.

It was a lot busier too, posters put up advertising the main event tomorrow evening. The people here were a lot different too; while Hometown had its share of guards, shopkeepers and civilians, with the odd outsider coming through, everyone here looked like they would stick out in the smaller town. Many of them looked like warriors, carrying weapons, wearing armour, or going shirtless to show off bulging muscles.

"Guess I should start somewhere" he said to himself as he walked into the Wolf's Head.

It was empty, aside from the barman, a heavy set guy wearing a white tank top and smock. He looked up at the customer and leaned over the counter, his bicep flexing a skull tattoo to him. "You want som'thin?" he asked gruffly.

Ryu assumed the bartender probably used this stance to intimidate people, but found it didn't work. "I'm from Hometown, the Ranger's Guild. I'm just here looking for someone…" he started, but the words were cut off by him.

"Good luck kid. If you're looking for anyone, you're here at the wrong time. Place doesn't start filling up till dark, I say hang 'round till then if you plan on finding anyone."

Ryu just stood there for a moment, he didn't know this town well, and would probably be better off taking a local's advice. "Hey, if you wanna kill some time" the bartender said to him "why don't you help me set up for the night, you do, and I'll tip you off who to talk to, and who's just pulling yer leg."

The next few hours passed quickly. Ryu helped him unload a few barrels filled with alcohol and bring them out to the bar; he cleared tables and fixed a few of the wobbling chairs. Soon night had fallen, and the bartender was grateful for his assistance. "Thanks kid, you aren't that bad for your size, I thought you'd be a scrawny thing, but you held up well. I'm a man of my word" he scanned the bar after it started filling up, and pointed to someone sitting at the end. "There's the guy you'll want to talk to, friendly chap, name's Rand, he'll be up front with you."

If Ryu thought many of Corsair's residents were tall, this one had them all beat. He stood head and shoulders above anyone else in the tavern, with arms like tree trunks. All he wore was a simple red toga that ended above his knees. He was a Shell clansman, hooved feet, rigged back and a head similar to an armadillo. The bartender said he was friendly, though few people chose to go near him, and Ryu approached.

"Excuse me," Ryu interrupted him as was about to take a drink. "I'm looking for someone." The giant of a man noticed he was being talked to, and turned towards the blue haired Ranger, smiling.

"Let me guess, kid. You want to know 'bout the cute female fighter we have here." He looked Ryu over. "I don't know, she isn't looking for a date far as I know, and if she were" he laughed "I think she'd probably break you in two. You sure you should be in here? You barely look old enough. Hey, Nick, you employing kids now?"

"Shut up, Rand, boy's a big time Ranger, from Hometown, better show some respect. Good worker though, I might give him a job if that doesn't work for him."

They laughed for a moment, but Rand turned back. "Okay, Ranger. The girl, she's got a big fight coming up, Battle of Champions, is why Corsair's been so busy lately. She's new, so is the other guy, Baba. No one knows much about either of them. She's at the coliseum now, so you probably won't be seeing her until she shows up in the ring, kind of shy, that, or she doesn't like people. The other guy won't be coming in till tomorrow, from Tag Woods. He's a loner, they say living alone there has made him a bit crazy. Maybe after the show, if she's desperate, she'll let you take her out, but, don't hold your breath kid. Me, I'll be heading there soon, gotta make sure everything's all set, I'm in charge of keeping that place up to code."

By now the bartender had walked over, ready to refill the drink Rand had just finished. "Look, you're alright kid, I might be able to score you tickets, but the only way you'll meet our new girl right now is if you actually _were_ Baba, and you sure aren't, all I know is the guy uses this giant axe, big thing marked with his symbol. Tough luck this time, better luck next time."

"Where's Tag Woods?" he asked after Rand finished his rant.

"Oh, up north of here, big old forest, but can't say I'd recommend going there, place is the home of quite a few monsters, can't believe Baba is nutty enough to live there."

Seeing no other way, if this girl was the one he was looking for, Ryu thanked the bartender and walked out of Corsair into the night. Tag Woods wasn't far from there, but the forest was like a maze, often coming to an end when the trees made a wall too closed to pass through. The sounds of creatures could be heard all through here, from growls, to hoots to the sound of something almost unworldly. Bears, Harpies, living plants and giant bugs called this place home, but as long as he avoided trespassing into their area, they didn't bother him.

He found a stilted log house, and at first thought he found where this Baba lived, but all that he found inside was a large hollowed barrel linked to a pulley that ran from one house to another on thick ropes, over the tops of about fifty yards of trees. With every other path a dead end, he decided this was the only way forward, and as he dragged himself across, he noticed it wasn't the only one, another house build similar to this one wasn't far away, and he could see where that ended, smoke coming up from a chimney.

_That's the place_ he thought, and very soon, he was nearing it. The sound of someone chopping wood could be heard as he got closer. The sounds of animals had died down now, none living close to the house. A stack of tree trunks was near the house, they looked like they had been ripped out of the earth. The door opened, and out walked a man, almost as large as the one from the tavern, Rand. He had a thick brown beard, was dressed in a brown leather vest and matching pants and carried an axe that was almost as large as the Ranger was, in one hand.

"Here you are, eh. I heard you trespassing in my woods, gotta say, few visitors come out my way. What are you doing here, boy"

"It's a long story; I was wondering if you could help me get a meeting with the girl from the fight, I think she was responsible for something that happened recently in Hometown involving a robbery. A friend of mine was left to take the blame for it, and I'm trying to clear his name."

A laugh was his response. "I gotta say, boy, of all the things I expected, that certainly wasn't one of them. I'll tell you this; I've been looking for a decent fight lately, if you're planning on taking this girl back, that'll interfere with that. Tell you what, I got an idea that'll make us both happy…En Garde, boy."

He was powerful, but slow. What the woodsman underestimated though was the Ranger's skill. Dodging and parrying each swing with ease, Baba was clearly getting annoyed.

"You're like an annoying fly, boy. Stop dancing around and fight me."

He caught Ryu off guard when one of his attacks cut clear through a nearby tree causing it to fall between them. The woodsman leapt over bringing the axe down to cut him in half, but was surprised when the Ranger blocked it with his sword.

"Interesting, looks like you're not as weak as I thought, boy. Some weapon you have there, I thought I'd break right through there."

The fight continued, instead of dodging, Ryu began taking the offensive, slowly wearing down the bigger man with quick attacks that he couldn't avoid. He would block the massive fighter's attacks and counter with a strike of his sword or hit him with the handle. Several more trees fell as Baba began getting angrier with the fight not going his way. Usually taking a defensive position in fights, it was obvious he had to switch it up against this opponent if he wanted to finish it before morning, and soon the woodsman called for him to stop.

"Alright, dammit, kid. You have some skill. I never thought I would lose to a kid, but I guess the day had to come eventually. You want my place in the fight so badly; I'd say you earned it." The large man held out the massive weapon for the young Ranger. "Here, take this, if you show it, it has my symbol on it, that'll get you in, though I'm not sure how many people will believe you could use that weapon."

He got up, walking back to his house. "Maybe it's time to start doing something else; I don't think the coliseum life was for me. Bit of advice for you though, I've been hearing bad things about that place lately, you seem like a straight shooter; don't go falling in with that crowd if you can avoid it."

Ryu took the large weapon from the woodsman, but was struggling with it, unused to carrying a weapon as big as he was, and this earned another laugh from Baba. "Good luck there kid, enjoy your walk back. Well, since you took my axe, I better get to work on a new one."

The return to Corsair took a bit longer than it did to get there, carrying Baba's axe, and he needed a good night's rest after today. The only inn with vacancy was one that ended up costing him a small fortune, and it was either that or sleeping out in the wild.

On his way up to the expensive room, he ran into the two girls that were accompanying Princess Mina before she left Hometown. They were giggling about something, but then spotted him carrying the massive axe.

"Hey, I know you!" the first one said laughing. "Joanne, this is the guy who helped find Mina's pet, we just want to thank you, Mina was so happy to get her back."

The other girl jumped in. "I don't know how she keeps losing that cutie, I think she has a boyfriend in Hometown, she's always wandering off and forgetting about Suzie, and she never lets us know where she goes, but she returns happier."

"Oh my god, do you think this boy is her boyfriend, he is cute, and Mina was friendly with him."

"No, I don't think so, I think it's someone at the Magic School, you don't go to the Magic School do you, cutie?"

They continued peppering him with questions, until Ryu was able to pry himself away, saying he was getting tired. The two seemed sad that he didn't really answer any of their questions, but their giggling could be heard seconds later.

He was just about to walk into his room when he noticed a hooded man exiting a nearby room. His face was hidden, and he was dressed in dark black robes. He looked like a cultist, but quickly walked down the hall and left the inn. _Corsair definitely has some odd looking people_ Ryu thought. He was asleep soon after his head hit the pillow.


	4. Chapter 04 Coliseum

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Chapter Four: The Coliseum

* * *

><p>Before he knew it, the sun was shining brightly, filling the expensive room with light. Morning had come, he got up feeling refreshed. The massive axe he received the previous night was resting against the far wall. He was too tired last night to really appreciate the room, but it was far more luxurious than what he was used to. Hoping in the shower, the labours of the previous day were soon washed away. While he was getting cleaned up, he returned to his room to find his clothes washed, and neatly folded on the large bed.<p>

_Shame I won't be able to get used to this_ thought Ryu. _1000 Zenny a night, but, I guess I can see why people save up for these kinds of places._

"Are you checking out, Mr. Bateson?" the young woman at the counter asked as he came downstairs. He nodded. "Well, thank you for staying at the Augus, Corsair's best inn. We hope you return soon." She smiled brightly as he left.

If Ryu thought Corsair was busy last night, it was even more so now. A huge line was formed at the ticket booth as people were rushing to get a seat, not caring where they were put. _Damn, with all these people here, I don't know if they're just going to let me take her back to Hometown…without making a lot of people angry. Only one way to find out, I suppose, let's hope I'm not getting into something out of my league, like Bow._

A few guards stood outside, keeping anyone from entering. As he walked up, they crossed their spears, ready to stop entry. "No entry. The show doesn't start till eight…only fighters and staff is allowed inside now."

"Good" Ryu replied, holding the large axe in front of him. "I'm supposed to be in tonight's fight, I'm Baba."

They looked at him shocked. "You? You're Baba? You're a shrimp. This is quite disappointing, I was hoping Baba was a beast, I heard you wrestle bears and live like a nut in Tag Woods."

"Well" said Ryu a little insulted "Don't judge a book by its cover, now, can I pass?"

They let him by without another word. The inside of the coliseum was enormous, and it was just the lobby he stood in now. Dozens of counters were set up, an attractive girl from a different clan set up at nearly every one. Beside where he stood was a clan less girl dressed in a revealing outfit. "Whatcha looking for, darlin'" she asked, blowing a bubble with her chewing gum.

"I'm Baba…from Tag Woods" he began.

"Fighter's entrance then, eh." She looked him up and down. "You're Baba then, thought you'd be bigger, and not so cute. Well, you'll be wanting to go over there, sweetheart" she said pointing to a counter to the right of where they were.

He blushed a little before hefting the axe to his shoulder and walked over. The girl at this counter didn't even glance up. She had a serious look, like a librarian, opening up the large book in front of her as he approached.

"Name and identification?" she said as soon as he reached the counter.

"Baba, from Tag Woods" Ryu answered as he placed the axe between them, she glanced at the symbol carved into it. "Well, guess you are, that's his mark. Fighters are to proceed to their assigned room behind me, head down the hall." She immediately went back to whatever she was doing, ignoring Ryu's presence now.

Behind her, the hallway stretched down, and had three doors to pick from. He picked the first one on the right and found it empty, so he entered. He was about to sit down on the nearby recliner when he noticed an open chest next to it with clothes shoved messily inside…women's clothes. At that moment he heard the door open from the adjoining bathroom and a woman stood there wearing only a towel, looking furious.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM, YOU PERVERT!" she yelled at him.

Before he could explain he just made a mistake, she grabbed a staff that was resting against the wall, crossed the room in the blink of an eye and he was flying out the door, crashing hard against the opposite wall. The door slammed behind her loudly, only then did he notice a plaque above the door with KATT carved into it.

_Great, I sure screwed that up_ Ryu thought as he got to his feet. Behind him was the right labelled Baba, which made him feel foolish he didn't read the sign before entering. He was about to enter when the door at the end opened and a red haired woman in a blue cocktail dress appeared. "Mr. Baba, you've finally arrived." She stated. "The manager is waiting for you."

She walked back into the room and sat at a large oak desk. "I see you've met your opponent, Katt Rinshaw, first time we've seen a Woren here, they're a pretty rare clan nowadays. Fierce fighters though, as you've already seen. Anyways, as I said, the manager is waiting, but before you meet him, he set up a little interview with the director. He's in the room to your left" she pointed to a sign above the door, "we like to keep things marked so people know where to go" she said smiling.

_So, that's clearly not the girl from Hometown_ Ryu thought as he entered. _Where the heck did she disappear to then?_

He barely took a step in when someone swung a large fist at him. Barely ducking out of the way, he was facing to…chest with a large oiled up man wearing only short shorts. "Good reflexes! Check!" he said loudly. The big man stomped on the ground, and it began shaking. Ryu almost lost his balance, but managed to stay on his feet. "Good balance! Check!"

He began swinging wildly at Ryu, narrowly missing each time, but was forcing him towards the back wall. Ryu was stuck with little room to move when the man grabbed the front of his shirt and lifted him up, but the Ranger drove his head forward, striking the large man between the eyes.

His face turned red where Ryu hit him, and he collapsed. "You pass!" he said weakly before going unconscious. All Ryu could think was this place was getting weird as he left the room.

The woman outside was still at the desk, but turned when he opened the door. "Congratulations, you pass!" she said happily. "The manager will see you now. Don't worry; he just wants to talk to you before the match. It's the room on the right."

"Okay, then" he replied as he entered the manager's office.

He stood before a large fireplace, his back to Ryu, arms crossed behind him. The manager was a lean man, only a little taller than Ryu. He turned towards the Ranger, a devious smile appearing beneath the well groomed goatee. "Well, _Baba_, we meet at last. I must say, I was expecting something different, but none the less, you're here at my coliseum. Welcome to my place of business."

Ryu looked around, the office was clearly meant to emphasize he was doing well; the large room was decorated in gold statues, expensive wood, and diamond figurines. A massive desk occupied the center of the room, but the light was all directed towards the man, making him the center of vision.

"I am Augus, owner of the coliseum, in charge of everything that happens within its walls."

Ryu suddenly had a strange feeling being in the presence of the man before him. The pendant he wore grew cold against his chest.

"You're up against an interesting opponent tonight, _Baba_" he said, putting emphasis on the name again. "The Woren girl, Katt has become quite popular lately. Don't let the fact that you're up against a girl let you get over confident though, I assure you, she is quite a skilled fighter, so, don't expect an easy victory."

Ryu rubbed the spot where she hit him, knowing she wasn't the type to be underestimated.

He chuckled maliciously. "At least that, Mr. _Baba_ is what I have been telling most of the fighters. You however are in luck." He turned back to the fire. "The scenario for this fight has already been written. Cruel man, _Baba_ tortures the girl, beats her, and then kills her.

The audience will _love_ it. During the match, we plan on having her hit with a poisoned needle, she'll be weakened in moments, and then you can have your way with her. All you have to do is make sure you don't get hit, and then you can do whatever you want to the little vixen."

He turned back towards Ryu, a sneer on his face. "She has been trouble since she got here, but for some reason the audience loves to see her fight, but her time is up. Make sure you put on a good show; it won't do to have those fools think it's a fixed show. But don't be nervous, _Baba_, you'll be paid well for your part, your _incentive_ is waiting in your room. Just make sure you avoid the poisoned needle, and we'll have a long, fruitful partnership, yes we will."

At that moment, a pair of coliseum guards entered the office. "Mr. Corte, the match will be starting soon, are you all done here?" one of them asked.

He gave a lingering glance to Ryu then nodded to them. "Yes, show Mr. _Baba_ here to his room, remember, no one leaves at this point."

"Mr. Baba, this way please."

In moments, Ryu stood alone in the chamber set for him. A few guards waited outside to make sure he didn't leave. Out of curiosity, he opened the golden chest that was left here; a satchel filled with Zenny was inside, there must have been close to ten thousand inside.

_Damn, I can't let them kill her, what in Ladon's name am I supposed to do?_ He asked himself.

He was pacing the room nervously when someone knocked, and in walked the giant man he met at the bar. They just looked at each other when he let out a loud laugh. "Damn, I came here early to see what Katt was up against. Is this some kind of joke…_you're Baba?_" he questioned. "I guess you wanted to do the same thing, is that why you were trying to meet her before the match? Pretty sneaky, kid. What's with the entourage of guards out there, getting nervous, _Ranger_, are they there to make sure you don't hightail it out of here. Probably a good idea, the show is sold out tonight, last thing they need is a no show."

"I had no intention of running" Ryu began, then started telling him about his meeting with Augus, about hearing he was planning on shooting a poisoned needle at her, and having him kill Katt off in front of everyone."

"Come on, Augus wouldn't kill her, she's a main attraction. People come from all over now to see her kick the asses of the muscle bound morons that are here. He's just messing with you; man, you are the gullible type, aren't you."

"It's not a ruse, Rand." Ryu grabbed the large satchel of Zenny and showed it to Rand. "Does this look like what he would pay for a normal fight? The guy is really planning on having her killed off, and this is the payment for it."

Rand was just shaking his head. "That's normal, you don't risk your life in the ring for nothing, you know. It's a big event; he's probably given her the same thing." Rand could see the young Ranger wasn't convinced though. "Look, if you're so nervous about some 'poisoned needle' tell you what I'll do, give me the Zenny you got there, I'll go out and grab a couple of antidotes, and if you take one, and she takes one, will that put your mind at ease?" he asked.

Ryu nodded at the suggestion, glad at least someone was able to do something, but as the big guy walked out, he heard him mutter "damn, that kid is pretty gullible."

He had no choice now but to wait, hoping Rand would be back soon. As the minutes ticked by, it seemed more like he just took off, but he heard a knock at the door across from him. A few more seconds passed before someone yelling could be heard through the wall. "WHAT? I'M NOT FALLING FOR SOME PERVERTS STUPID TRICKS. YOU'VE GOT SOME NERVE TRYING TO RILE ME UP BEFORE THE FIGHT, GET THE HELL OUT, KNUCKLEHEAD!"

With that, he heard a man yell out in pain, and the unmistakeable sound of him hitting the wall. The door to his room opened again, and Rand was back, rubbing him chest where a red mark was already forming.

"You know, I don't think she believed me. Now she's pretty pissed, she's a wild one, like a Bibull. I feel kind of bad for you now kid, she's furious, you're going to have one hell of a fight on your hands now. Anyways, as you probably heard, she didn't buy the 'poisoned needle' thing, so, here ya go." He said handing two antidotes to Ryu.

"Great, I guess if it's not too hectic, I can try and give her the antidote when she gets hit."

"I'm sure Augus was just bluffing, but if you're really that sure he wasn't, here's an idea. You take both of those yourself, and when you see the 'poisoned needle', you protect her. They'll help fight off whatever toxins might affect you for a few hours; otherwise, I'm sure there are no side effects. Anyways, the match is starting soon, and I've gotta get up to the stands, staff here get great seats. Put on a good show for us, Baba."

The door leading to the arena opened. "It's time" a guard told him. "The arena awaits, Baba."

Ryu could hear the cheers and sounds of hundreds of people already in the hallway.

"Once they call your name, that's your cue."

Still armed with his sword, he felt foolish carrying the giant weapon, but it was too late to worry about that now.

* * *

><p>Augus straightened his cuffs as he was preparing to head to the owner's box; a group of men that had been trained as assassins were waiting for him at the door. He turned to them, smiling wickedly.<p>

"When the match begins, be in your positions. I'll signal when I want you to fire, but make sure the audience doesn't see you. They'll all be watching the show, but I still don't want it getting out that we had any part in this."

"So, who do you want us to take out?" one of them asked.

"I don't really care, he dies, she dies, I've have them both killed in the fight if I could. Just make sure you do it in a way that one will beat the other to a pulp."

* * *

><p>The sound of the audience was loud, even outside of the arena Ryu noticed as he awaited. After a few moments, it died down and the announcer began to introduce them.<p>

"Welcome, welcome, welcome to the event you've all been waiting for! Back again, at popular request, the girl we've all come to know and love watching kick ass, your favorite Woren, Katt Rinshaw!"

The audience went crazy as the spot lights shone on her entrance. He thought she wasn't wearing anything at first, but quickly noticed her body was covered in light brown fur with a few black stripes and bright red hair that ended at her shoulders, and a tail swung side to side behind her. His first assumption was pretty close though; all she had on was a purple cut off shirt and matching bracers. Her weapon of choice was the same staff she used to eject him from her room earlier, a five clawed paw at the end, and she carried it with confidence as she walked out onto the large log that ran from one entrance to the other. Ryu noticed that it left a space on either side, and looking down, he saw a pit of water below.

"We love you Katt."

"Yay, Katt, you're the greatest, kick his butt."

A moment later, when the cheers died down a bit, they introduced him.

"And her opponent, brought to you from his hovel in Tag Woods, the woodsman said to wrestle bears in his free time, the psycho who says he isn't going to let some scrawny chick play with the big boys…Baba!"

"That's your cue, out you go, Baba."

His introduction earned a chorus of boos and curses as he walked into the ring.

"You suck, Baba"

"Baba is a stupid name"

"You'll wish you never left the woods when she's done with you."

A spot light shone on him when he walked out, giving everyone in the audience their first view of the Woren's opponent, and the booing renewed.

"Seems a little one sided, these cheers, I mean" Ryu said to his opponent, but saw she was not amused.

"You" she snapped. "You told the big guy to trick me into thinking there was some poisoned needle. I hate people like you, trying to trick me before the fight, that's such an underhanded move, that antidote you tried to pass off to me probably was poison. I'm going to enjoy wiping the floor with a perverted trickster like you."

"I wasn't trying to trick you, Augus is planning on shooting a poisoned needle at you, I don't want to fight you, I just needed to warn you."

"LIAR!" the Woren snapped at him. "If you didn't want to fight, you sure came to the wrong place, stupid Baba. I'm going to make your face so black and blue; it'll match your hair."

She swung her staff at him as hard as she could. Ryu brought the axe up in time, but the force caused it to shake, and he almost lost his grip on it, though it made him too slow to avoid the next attack which sailed right through and struck him in the chest. The Ranger fell back, dropping the axe and coughing. She flipped into the air and was planning on bringing the staff down on his face to end it quickly, but he rolled away and it smashed into the log, breaking a small chunk of it away.

Ryu rolled to his feet, abandoning the axe at this point, it was definitely not his weapon of choice, and with her speed, if he used it, he'd lose this fight in seconds. Her staff collided with his sword as he pulled it out quickly to parry her attack, and suddenly felt like this match was going to be a lot simpler.

She was fast, easily matching the speed he generally used to his advantage, and a lot stronger than she looked, almost on par in the strength of blows as Baba had been, skilled, she was able to quickly counter when they had locked weapons, feigning to make him stumble then using her staff as leverage to drive both feet into his chest before he could recover.

Using his preferred weapon, he was able to focus on trying to see where they could shoot the needle from. Augus sat in a box above the center of the ring, and a few seedy looking men were with him, but he saw one or two moving through the crowd as well. His inattention to the fight landed him a blow to the side of the head and forced him to forget about that for now.

The crowd was starting to hate him less as the fight went on, but the cheers for his opponent were still overwhelming. The fighters were almost at a stalemate, though it was obvious Katt was getting angrier the longer it went on, her eyes almost slits.

"Pain in the ass!" she shot at him, but then fell back into a defensive stance, her staff dropped behind to be grabbed by her tail, and she stuck out her tongue at him, as though challenging him to come at her. "Go ahead, attack me with all you got, I dare you!"

A weird sensation came over him, his sword suddenly felt heavy, and he tried to shake off a dizzy feeling. "What's wrong, Katt got your tongue?" she mocked, but already had her staff in her hands and aimed at him.

Ryu barely managed to get his weapon up in time to block her attack, but went rolling backwards, stopping near the edge. He was about to get up when he saw someone from the crowd aiming something at Katt.

He had to act fast.

* * *

><p>Rand watched, impressed at the kid's fighting ability. He knew Katt was a fierce fighter, she had already beat the crap out of dozens of the coliseum's better fighters in a lot shorter time than the Ranger had lasted. He was still taking a beating, but hadn't really delivered, mostly staying on the defensive. It was funny, here a cute girl was smacking him around, and he didn't hit her back, the other fighters by now would have been swinging wildly to pay her back.<p>

The axe definitely wasn't his, Rand could tell in the first few seconds of the fight when he ditched it after she got under it on the second blow. He was definitely a sword fighter, putting up a good fight with that. After they went on for about twenty minutes, he finally saw Katt use her move. She usually used it right at the start, the guys she was up against were slow, but she seemed so angry this time she probably didn't think it mattered.

It weakened her opponent, Rand had no clue how it worked, but by daring them to attack her, somehow she sapped their strength temporarily and she used that to take them down faster, after all, most of the coliseum fighters were all brawn.

He rolled back after she put all her power into an attack, but as he was getting up, something caught Rand's eye, across the arena, a man in the crowd was aiming something down at the two fighters.

_Dammit, the kid was right_ was all Rand could think as he jumped to his feet.

"Hey, Baba, lookout" he yelled "here comes the poisoned needle!"

It turned out not to be just one, a few were fired down at them, but the odd thing was, no one else seemed to notice, the audience was cheering even more, calling for Katt to finish him off.

* * *

><p><span>Corsair Arena – Katt's Perspective<span>

"Hey, Baba, look out, here comes the poisoned needle!"

I looked around, but suddenly the blue haired fighter was on his feet, tackling me. My staff few out of my hands and I was pinned under him, but I quickly kicked him off.

_What a crappy trick, now he has people in the audience playing his game. I am going to really give him a beating now._ She thought.

I jumped to my feet anger overcoming me, ready to knock him around more. I wanted to use my fists now, but noticed he wasn't getting up very quickly, almost struggling. After the beating he suffered already, he hadn't slowed down, but from a little kick he was suddenly having trouble standing up.

"Yeah, you better stay down, Baba," I yelled at him at, rushing over to hit him a few times. He was breathing heavily, and only then did I see a few darts sticking out of his back. He wasn't getting up now, but as I looked around I was feeling uneasy. The crowd was going wild, screaming my name, demanding I finish him off, but the feeling of adrenaline that usually filled me during a fight disappeared, and I felt like I had been doused in ice water. Angus was looking down at us with an evil smirk on his face, and he turned and walked away.

I picked up my staff, then went over to where the blue haired guy was unconscious, checking for a heartbeat, relieved to find he was still alive. In moments, the massive form of Rand joined shadowed me, and he lifted his limp form, carrying him out of the arena. I had won, and yet, felt bad about it, the guy had tried to warn me, and I just called him a liar and tried my damn hardest to bruise him as much as possible. The end of the match meant the crowd would be departing, but their cheers to end a life for their entertainment left me with a bad feeling.

Rand left to find someone to help after dropping him off at the inn; it seemed he didn't believe the unconscious guy in front of me either, when he was told. I started pulling the darts out of his back while I waited, hoping it would help, I didn't know a thing about healing, but I still knew it was better not to leave a poison dart in someone. After about five minutes, the repair guy had returned with someone.

"Katt, this is Father Ray, he was at the church. He should be able to help Baba."

I stood back and watched. The man was young, when I thought of a priest, I usually pictured some old guy with grey, or no hair, but this one was about our age. He walked over and bowed over Baba, moments later his hands were glowing with magic, and the blue haired guy's breathing became normal again.

"You're lucky, the poison seemed to be mostly nullified, it still managed to cause him some weakness, but the effect they could have caused was greatly slowed."

The large man nodded. "Yeah, he took a few antidotes before the fight; he said he thought Augus was trying to poison the girl, so he took both to protect her. I didn't think it was true."

The priest crossed his arms. "Augus was behind this? Interesting, I thought there was something unnatural going on here, but couldn't be sure. Well, it looks like your friend is starting to awaken, I must return to the church. If you ever feel lost, be sure you can come to St. Eva for answers. Farewell, children." He said before leaving.

"That was weird" I said, thinking he didn't seem to be too bothered about the situation. I on the other hand was annoyed. "So, it was Augus' fault, he tried to poison me? I am gonna march over there and kick his ass!" I said, but the giant man stood in front of me.

"Whoa, hold up a sec, before you go rushing off to get yourself in trouble, why don't you think for a second, do you really want to go barging into Augus' office and get fired? Besides, I kind of want to get a piece of him too; I don't like the idea of fighters getting poisoned during a fight."

"Well, what should we do?" I asked, "We can't let him get away with this, Baba should be mad too, it was him that actually got poisoned."

Baba was awake now, getting slowly to his feet. "Why did you go through all that trouble to save me?" I asked him before he could stand. "I don't even know you, what, are you like some kind of crazy stalker or something? No one is that nice!"

He tried getting to his feet, but I just pushed him down again, and kissed him before I realised what I was doing. His eyes went wide, but then I broke away. "There, that's all the thanks you get, now, quite sitting around; we have to go kick the crap out of Augus!"

They were just standing there, both staring at me. I wasn't even sure why I kissed him, but their staring was starting to bug me. "Well, let's go!" I snapped, and they started following.

I grabbed my staff, and threw the sword in Baba's direction. I just realized he left that stupid axe behind, but none of us seemed to care.

* * *

><p>The match between Katt and Ryu had ended nearly an hour ago, and the fans had already cleared out, but strangely, the staff working there had as well. The counters where Ryu had first seen all the greeting girls was empty, the whole lobby was deserted, and felt unusually quiet.<p>

"Where is everybody?" Katt asked.

"I have no idea" came Rand's reply. "I've never seen the coliseum this empty; there was no one at the front either. It's a little too quiet, I don't like this."

Ryu took the lead; he was heading for the office where he met Augus, with Katt and Rand following closely behind. The door was slightly ajar, and as they walked in, he saw the girl from earlier sprawled over the desk, but she wasn't breathing. He felt for a pulse as he eased her into the chair, but it was missing, she was dead, but there were no visible marks.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Rand said a touch of fear in his voice. She wasn't the only one, the room where he met the director was opened as well, and he laid dead, his chest opened by a massive claw mark.

"What the hell could have caused that?" Katt asked, holding her staff tightly. "Looks like some kind of animal."

They backed away, opening the door to Augus' office finally. The three of them walked in to find him standing just as he had during Ryu's last visit, facing the fireplace, his arms crossed behind him. The shadows cast from the fire were playing tricks with their eyes; they didn't match the figure before them.

His voice was cold when he spoke. "So, the actors didn't appreciate their roles in my little play." Augus turned to them; he seemed taller than before, Ryu thought. "It was supposed to be simple, the cruel man Baba was supposed to torture the girl before the crowd, filling them with hatred, and then kill her. All that hatred, it would have been a feast for me to present to our god."

"That's sick, what kind of a nut are you, people don't want to watch someone get tortured, and killed" Katt snapped.

Augus looked at the Woren, his eyes darkening, becoming black, and Ryu gripped the pendant under his shirt, it felt like ice again. "It is disappointing, _Baba_ that you had to act the hero. You shouldn't have stopped us from killing her, all you're doing is delaying the inevitable, but I cannot have any troublemakers. Since you intruded on my plan, I will have to kill all three of you…"

The three of them watched as Augus' form began to change. He swelled, growing almost as large as Rand, his clothes ripping from the unnatural increase in size. Dark brown fur burst from his skin, covering his entire body in seconds, his hands changed, becoming claws. His head split down the middle and transformed as well, changing into a pair of heads similar to a wolf's, though with eyes as black as night, and fangs as long as knives. The light from the fire behind him darkened, casting an almost indigo hue around the room.

"Those outside were fortunate to be sacrifices to our god" the monster spoke. "Unfortunately, you won't be as useful. It is just a shame that I could not turn our fight into a show for the audience; the negative energy created from them watching would have at least created a meal. At the very least you would have died in style."

"Oh, Namada…what the hell is THAT?" Rand asked.

Ryu drew his sword, not having the same scared reaction. "A demon, if this isn't your thing, I suggest you run. This could get nasty."

"Well, I'm not running if you aren't Baba, you don't try and kill me and get away with it." Katt said, looking ready to fight.

"Well, guess I'd be an idiot if I left you two to do this all yourself, I didn't come here for some boring life."

The demon reached behind him and grabbed two massive stone clubs from the wall, roaring as the targeted Rand. The large Shell clansman caught the first club in one hand, and dodged just enough to avoid the second striking his head. Katt jumped into action, striking the demon's right head with her staff, the claws raking across the side, which forced its attention to her, the wolf head attempting to bite her, but she danced out of range.

Rand managed to flip Augus over himself, throwing him through the table, but the demon was on his feet in an instant, moving with a speed that the large man wasn't expecting, swinging both clubs hard against the big man's side. He stumbled, but quickly recovered, his skin was thick, and almost like armour to protect him. He began throwing hard punches, striking hard against the monster's chest, and both faces. Rand ended with an upper cut that pushed the demon back a couple steps.

Switching his focus to Ryu, the demon swung in a wide arc, missing as Ryu ducked underneath, then dodging to the side as the second club stuck into the ground. He slashed Augus' hand, cutting deeply and causing him to release his weapon, and then drove his sword into his left shoulder. The demon roared in anger, snapping its maw at the Ranger, but was met with another deep cut from the sword across the left head.

Katt jumped back into action, striking the right head again, the blunt side hitting hard to create the sound of a bone cracking, and the eye immediately shut. He swung blindly, knocking the female Woren rolling across the ground. She was on her feet a second later, but in that time, Ryu drove his sword through the other head, causing it to go limp. Black blood poured from the wound, and the fight continued with all three of them delivering blows to cripple him more and more. He let loose a loud roar that caused them to back away temporarily, and the club he still held pulsed with dark energy.

Smashing it into the floor with as much strength as he could, caused the ground to ripple, and knocking the three off balance. He set his remaining eye on the blue haired Ranger and crossed the room in a single leap, hoping to end the swordsman's life, but his chest was cut open as Ryu again ducked under his attack, delivering a fatal blow in the process.

"NOOO!" it roared painfully. "I am a demon, how could I have been defeated by you mortals. I can't have failed, I was so close." The demon stumbled back, clutching the wound. "He is coming, it is no matter how many of us you knock down, you cannot stop it, the seed has been planted, our God's world is coming, and there is nothing…NOTHING you can do to stop it."

Rand stepped forward "What in Aspiria are you talking about, demon, what other wicked plans have you got up your sleeve?"

The answer never came; the demon exploded in a burst of black fire, and nothing was left seconds later, the light of the room returning to normal.

"Well, that was weird" Rand said "what do you think this God he was talking about is?"

Katt just shrugged. "Beats me, I don't buy into all that God stuff, it seems kinda far-fetched to me."

"You just encountered a demon like twenty seconds ago, and you don't buy into that 'God stuff'? All that stuff at the end kind of makes me nervous."

"Bah, you're a spoilsport, hey Baba, what do you say we ditch this stick in the mud, and start our own group, this place kinda turned me off after that whole poison needle thing, let's start kicking some demon butt, just you and me."

"Hey, twerp, I think it's time you headed home, Baba doesn't need some flakey girl causing trouble for him, he needs a partner that isn't going to cause him to nearly die."

"Shut up, I don't have a home. Besides, Baba doesn't want me to leave, do you?" she asked, looking at him hopefully with pleading eyes.

"What do you say, kid, how bout we team up, I bet I could be more useful than this one." He said pointing a thumb at Katt.

"Whatever, old man. So, Baba, where are we heading next? I got a craving for some adventure, let's blow outta this place. I'm not the one who was about to turn tale and run outta here when the guy turned into a demon."

The two of them continued for a few minutes, each trying to one up the other, until Ryu finally interrupted their banter. "Well, I was hoping to find the thief here," Ryu began "but it looks like since it isn't you, I'm back to square one. I was going to head back to Hometown soon, and see if I could turn up anything there, but first I was going to check in on a friend of mine, he's hiding out for now."

"Great, let's go then, Baba" Katt said to him, starting to drag him out of the office.

"Hey, I'm coming, I doubt I have a job here anymore, they don't like when you kill off your boss."


	5. Chapter 05 Home Sweet Home

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Chapter Five: Home Sweet Home

* * *

><p>Corsair was quiet as they left the coliseum. The fall of the owner, Augus caused a strange peace over the town. They guards had found the dead body of the secretary and the director the next morning, and after searching his office, came across a pile of damning evidence linking the man to a string of deaths and ties to several assassins residing in the town. They weren't able to find him anywhere in Corsair, but the arrest of several of his accomplices took place that day. For the time being, the coliseum had been closed until someone could be found to fill the role of managing it again.<p>

The trip back to the ruined town where Niro and Bow were staying was interesting. Rand and Katt quickly fell into a kind of mocking friendship; poking light insults at each other along the way kept them in a positive mood, and usually ended with Katt hitting him with her staff if she got stumped.

"So, Baba, you don't look anything like they described you when they told me about the fighter I'd be against, do you really wrestle bears over in Tag Woods? Why are we going this way if you live in the woods?"

"Come on, airhead, it's obvious he's not Baba, he just took his spot to see if you were the thief he was searching for."

"Shut up, Rand, don't call me an airhead. So, what's the story then, who _are_ you then?"

"I'm one of the Rangers in Hometown." Ryu answered "My real name is Ryu Bateson."

"Hmm, well, that name is better than Baba; at least it doesn't make you sound like some muscle head. So, Ryu, where did you learn how to fight? It's the first time I've ever actually met a match, no one at Corsair fights like that."

"Well, Katt, it comes with the job. If you don't want to get overwhelmed out there, you should make sure you're ready for what could come."

"That's lame, I thought you were going to say something like 'I trained in the wild' or 'I go out once a month and fight monsters,' your excuse just sounds boring."

By the time they reached Niro's shack, it was about lunch time. Katt and Rand were both complaining about being hungry. "I could eat a whole Bibull myself." Katt said.

Rand, it seemed was a vegetarian, hearing Katt talk about the ways to prepare her meal was starting to turn his stomach, and once she noticed this, she began getting more graphic with her descriptions.

"Okay, enough, Katt. You win; can we switch to another topic?"

Just then, Bow walked out, looking a bit exhausted. A tool belt was hanging from his waist. He cheered up seeing the blue haired Ranger again. "Hey buddy, you're back…so, who are these guys?"

Lunch was set before them, the old man, Niro was a really good cook, and had been working Bow hard in the short time he had been here. The living room was already looking better, the holes in the wall had been repaired, the kitchen was cleaned and the fireplace fixed.

Niro was looking much healthier than he had when they first met him, a few days ago. As they ate, Bow began questioning the new companions.

Rand came from the other continent, but moved away quite a few years ago, wanting to experience a different life style than the farm life his clan was used to. He had been at the coliseum since he arrived, and though he had adapted well, he missed the country life every now and then.

Katt on the other hand never really knew her parents. She grew up hoping from Windia to Corsair as she got older, and had a bit of a temper that caused her to get into fights quite often. She kind of reminded Bow of Ryu, the way he was always channeling his energy into training, it was similar to what she did.

"So, how's the search going for the real thief, buddy?" Bow asked as they ate. "Any closer to catching her?"

"I was hoping to turn something up in Hometown; I didn't find anyone at Corsair who had seen her. I'm kind of unsure where to go next if I can't find leads there."

Bow drooped his head. "Great, I'm going to be Niro's servant forever; I'll end up rebuilding his whole house."

"That sounds rough, guy" Rand said. "Not a big fan of construction?"

"It's not really my strong point; I was hoping to be cleared quickly. I'm more of a monster fighter than a repair guy."

"I'll say" Niro piped in.

"Tell you what, I could probably stay here for a while and help out, I kind of feel like if the task is catching a thief, speed is important. I guess I owe Ryu a favour after spending all his money in Corsair."

Ryu looked up at him. "You spent 10,000 Zenny in ten minutes?"

"10,000 Zenny? How the hell did you get 10,000 Zenny?"

"I didn't want it, it was for going along with Augus' plan to kill Katt, and I'm not taking a job like that."

Katt reached over and hugged him, kissing him on the cheek, "that is the nicest thing I've ever heard, Ryu." She complimented.

Bow smiled at his partner. "I gotta say, I'm impressed at you, you're sappy as hell, but here you are with a really hot girl liking you now. I guess I did teach you something after all these years."

Katt narrowed her eyes at him, but pulled away, blushing slightly.

Niro turned his attention to Rand. "Yeah, you should definitely stay and help with repairs, I'm sure Ryu would really appreciate that, it'll repay the favor you owe him for sure."

"I can help too" Katt said, not wanting Ryu to think she wasn't willing to help out.

"No way, do you even know how to do any repairs?" Rand asked her.

"Of course, it's just pounding things, right? I'm a good pounder" she said swinging her staff for emphasis.

"It's okay, Katt" Bow jumped in. "Rand and I can handle this; I think Ryu here would appreciate your help even more if you went with him."

"Good, let's go then, Ryu." She said, dragging him out of the room again. He saw a relieved look cross both Rand and Bow's faces as they left.

* * *

><p>Leaving Niro's home in the hands of Bow and Rand, the blue haired Ranger and his Woren companion set out on their way to Hometown. It was about an hour into the trip that Katt was already getting sick of the silence of Ryu. Without Rand to keep her entertained, she turned her attention to the quiet Ranger.<p>

"So, things worked out well, right Ryu?" she asked. "We got rid of Rand, now our adventure can really start, without the old guy holding us back." He nodded, but continued walking quietly. "I bet his was your plan all along, getting me alone again, carrying through with the plan you started in the coliseum. Well, I won't be dressing in a towel anytime soon for you, so get those thoughts out of your head, mister."

She noticed him blushing, and smiled that she had gotten through to him. "Anyways, I've never been to Hometown, in all the time I've lived around here, what's it like?"

"We have the Rangers guild there, a few apartments nearby, that's where Bow and I live, some smaller stores, the church, and a Magic School. It's not nearly as big as Corsair, or Windia, it's just a smaller city, not a lot really goes on there, the robbery has really shaken things up."

"A Magic School? Hey, Ryu, we should go there first, I've always wanted to learn magic. Summoning fire, creating bolts of lightning, and creating creatures made out of energy. Yeah, we'll definitely start our search there, I bet the thief has been there the whole time, and you didn't even bother to check."

* * *

><p><span>The Magic Academy – Nina's Perspective<span>

The Magic Academy of Hometown was facing its quiet period of the year. Many of the students had left a short time ago, standard classes were finished for the time being, and those that did not call Hometown home had headed back to their families. Only a few teachers and students remained, some lived here; some were taking extra credit classes to catch up, or were dedicated to getting ahead in their learning.

Nina Windia fell into the latter group. She stayed at the Magic Academy, though she would be turning twenty-one this year, but where she would go afterwards was unknown to her.

Exiled. She was a Windian. Long ago, she lived in the castle of Windia, one of two daughters to the king and queen, her sister, two years younger was still there, but she was no longer welcome in the kingdom. A Windian received their wings at a young age, usually before the age of ten. They usually start off pure white, and sometimes change hue slightly, adopting a blue, or yellow, or pinkish hue. Nina was not so lucky, on her wing day; she received a pair of wings that were dark as the night, an omen of terrible evil in Windia.

Her banishment from Windia was a secret she kept to herself as she lived her life at the Magic Academy. She kept her distance from the people at the school, always afraid to get close to anyone out of fear that once they learned about the reason she was exiled, they would turn on her, much as her own clansmen had. Throwing herself into her studies, she passed everyone at the school in terms of skill, and power; even the teachers soon found the young Windian far surpassed them, and it brought her to the point she was at now.

Master Yogi was known as the most advanced teacher the Magic Academy employed, but he was also the least popular. Only two people attended his class in the last year. He was strict; he would stand for nothing but 100% dedication to his lessons and pushed his students very hard. Nina, and a woman named Sied were the only ones he accepted, though a month ago they got into a disagreement and he told her never to come back to his classroom, and now Nina was the only one he taught, pushing her abilities to the limit.

He had one rule, though he taught her to use such power, he never allowed anyone he taught to use magic outside the four walls of his classroom. Other teachers attempted to do this as well, but in a school of several hundred students of very different personalities, they didn't try too hard. Master Yogi was different, his students were trained at a much higher level, they could do a lot more damage than a stray spark, or weak lightning bolt.

Even with a single student, like the other instructors at the academy, he stopped his classes over the summer. A few assignments were passed along to Nina, but she was given the summer off, though she had little to look forward to outside her education.

* * *

><p>The garden of the school was my favorite place. I sat alone, nearly hidden in a canopy of trees, a large tome lying in front of me, but I remained unfocused. Mina, my sister had left a few days ago, and it always left me feeling lonely afterwards. Ten years passed since the day I was banished, and the day she found me at the Magic Academy. We had been close while we were young, but the day I received my wings was the day I was forced from my home, our parents never told her why.<p>

She was the person I missed the most, even with the two years difference in age, she was my best friend. Seeing her again, she had become a beautiful young woman during our time apart. She received her wing day at 9, a large pair of white behind her, looking like an angel, it was almost heartbreaking seeing her again, knowing she had a life I never could, but I could never hate her for it, and I never told her why I was here either, just as our parents had done, but for different reasons, I did not want her to despise me.

The visits from her came often, especially over the last year. She enjoyed our time together, though she never let anyone know where she disappeared to when she came to see me, an attractive young princess, I could only imagine what sort of rumors people would come up with. I was grateful, though she may not have been aware of my secret, I couldn't be sure it had not crossed the ears of others from Windia. After Mina left, I usually found I tended to avoid people even more than usual, it was much easier now, the school only housed a few dozen people, and over the years, they came to keep their distance from me, as much as I did from them.

I jumped in surprise as the leaves parted and a dark blue haired woman leaped in front of me. I dropped the book, feeling my heart racing suddenly.

"Sied!" I said irritated "Would you please stop doing that? You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days."

"Pfft, stop over exaggerating, Nina…you're way too young to have a heart attack. I just came to see what you're up to; I should have known you'd be here moping. So, how is Mina?"

Sied was the only one who seemed to know the things I tried to keep secret. She knew Mina was my sister, even though I never mentioned it, she knew the reason I was banished from Windia, she even knew about who in Hometown I had developed a crush on, though I never said it out loud.

Sied was the closest thing I had to a friend here. When I first arrived, I wanted nothing but solitude, to be invisible. I tried hiding the black wings under my clothing so no one could see them, even though it was very uncomfortable, and often made them sore, a Windian's wings can be sensitive. She forced me to accept that some things cannot be changed, and you can either spend your life hiding away, or just try and live normally.

Though she seemed to know a lot about me, I found she had many secrets of her own. No one knew her last name; she only went by Sied here. She claimed to be only twenty, but often she bragged about her travels, and adventures, things that it seemed almost impossible to have done by her age, and as far as I knew, she spent a good portion of her time here in Hometown. She was a flirt, so many of the boys here, and the guards as well were always trying to get her attention. Sied tended to disappear for sometimes a few weeks at a time, visiting exotic lands, and returning with expensive souvenirs, and more stories. She described events from long ago as though she had actually been there. There was a lot to Sied, but she kept herself quite mysterious, saying a certain mystique is what kept her desirable.

"She is doing well." I answered. "I heard the Rangers found Suzie for her, just in time, and she would be stopping at Corsair before her return home."

"Just in time, indeed, I heard the same night, the guy who found her pig screwed up big time, and they're looking to arrest him. Heard he had to get the hell out of here, Trout's thugs are looking for him."

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"Geez, Nina, you really need to get your head out of the books, and see what's around you. It's the latest gossip. Guy broke into Trout's mansion and cleared it out, completely, not a Zenny left there. If he were smart, he'd be relaxing in some luxurious inn now till things die down."

"A Ranger robbed Lord Trout's place? Who was it?"

She stretched herself down on the grass, getting comfortable before she answered. "Oh, it was the one that looks like a dog. The funny thing is, he's got his partner running around, looking for some chick with bat wings now, think he's got him convinced he _didn't_ break into the place. That guy is way too gullible."

A silence fell over the two of us. I knew who she was talking about; I had seen them many times around Hometown. The Grassrunner, Sied said was kind of lazy, and was trying to be a real ladies man, but according to her, he had no _game_. His partner was the one she often teased me about, the Ranger with blue hair. Even from far away, I found myself interested in him, there was something different about him than the other Rangers, I could sense an aura about him, but that wasn't it, not exactly.

"He just got back, a little while ago, you know" Sied said, lazily. She propped herself up to look at me. "Didn't see the mutt with him, but he was with a girl." A knowing smile appeared on her face, "guess you took too long, Nina."

It often bothered me just how much she seemed to know. She first found me staring at him about a year ago, sitting on the roof, looking out over Hometown. I had formed my own thoughts of what he was like; a little shy, but confident, and caring. He was attractive, his training kept him in good shape, and he had the look of a warrior with that sword strapped to his back. Sied snuck up behind me, and out of all the people below, she pointed him out, mentioning how cute she thought he was. A blush was all it took her to figure me out.

I was about to reply to her when one of the teachers still here approached. "Nina, they're back, again." She said, almost not interested. 'They' were a group of thieves, or worse that had been showing up lately around this area, part of what had been called the Joker Gang. I didn't know why they were focusing their attention on me, but every few days, one of them would show up and tell me their 'boss' wanted to meet with me. I may not have been sure of what I wanted to do after I finished here, but I was sure that associating with a group like that was not on that list.

After giving me the message, the teacher left. She was one of the ones that tended to avoid me, I didn't know if it was because of my wings, or if she was like the others, disliking me because I had advanced so quickly here.

I got up; they wouldn't be allowed in the school, they were only permitted as far as the gate at the entrance. I always told them no, and I wished they would just accept it, but their visits have been getting more aggressive. Sied continued to lie there, but as I was about to leave, she called after me.

"You know, if you want me to handle them, Nina, I could. You don't see them bothering me anymore, do you?"

"No, it's alright, Sied. I'm just going to tell them no, again. I can handle it." They had attempted to get Sied to meet with their 'boss' only once. Moments after she approached them, she had two thugs running away from a wall of fire that chased them out of the town. It was the reason she got into a disagreement with Master Yogi, but his dismissal from the class didn't seem to bother her at all.

Soon I stood outside; the previous times, a single messenger had come telling me the 'boss' wanted to see me, this time, there were three of them, looking a lot less friendly than before. The one in front sneered, "hey, baby, remember us? The boss has been patient, but his good will is running out, I think you should smarten up, and come with us."

"I told you, already, I am not interested." I said, but they started moving closer.

"We ain't here to barter, come on, Blondie" he said, grabbing my arm.

"No, DON'T TOUCH ME!" I shouted at him, and before I could stop myself, a ball of fire struck him in the chest. He immediately let go, and stepped back, dousing the flames.

"Oh, you're a feisty one, ain't ya? The boss likes that." The second one said, and the three of them attempted to surround me.

"I'll give you one last warning" I told them. I already felt the energy at my fingertips, and as they got closer, I let it loose to stop them. Three bolts of lightning struck down in front of them, missing my less than in inch, and dancing before them, slowly pushing them back out the gate they came from. "Now, go away!" I told them as they stumbled to run away from the lightning.

"This isn't over, you crazy witch! You'll regret pissing off the boss." one of them yelled as they ran.

It felt good to let loose a little, and I thought Sied probably felt the same way when she dealt with them, but then remembered, this was exactly why Master Yogi kicked her out, and I suddenly felt less pleased with myself.

I was about to go inside when I saw I had an audience. The blue haired Ranger was standing not too far away, a girl next to him and I felt a bit disappointed. She was barely dressed, only wearing a top, and no pants; standing a bit too close to be just a friend.

_That isn't his type, is it?_ I thought, looking at her, but decided I didn't really want to know.

* * *

><p>"Holy crap…did you see that, Ryu? That's the Magic School, right? I want to learn how to do that!" Katt said excitedly, already dragging Ryu with her.<p>

Ryu had never been inside. The Magic Academy was a place he never really thought to enter before. He knew a little magic, healing spells to recover lesser injuries, but it wasn't that impressive, Bow had learned the same kind of spells, but had advanced much more than he had. Summoning magic like they just saw he assumed took years of dedication, yet the Woren girl pulling him along didn't seem to think about that.

She let him go once they crossed the gate, jumping up the steps two at a time. "Hurry up, Ryu." She shouted back to him, and rushed through the doors, joined by him a moment later. She was already peering into a few of the classrooms when he entered, a frown growing on her face. "This is boring, Ryu, where _is_ everyone?"

"It's summer, kitten, school is closed." came a voice behind them, and they turned to see a gorgeous woman walking towards them, she shot a smile to Ryu, standing between him and Katt. "My, you look even better up close, mmm."

Ryu blushed, but Katt was turning red in anger. "Hey, don't call me kitten, you…just tell me and Ryu where we go to learn magic."

"Oh, so, you _are_ together then?" the woman asked slyly, and her anger turned to embarrassment. "Hmm, didn't think so. Not that it would have mattered to me, cutie" she said running her hand over his chest. "So similar, but why mess with a good thing."

She stopped suddenly before she got the poor Ranger in trouble, and turned back to Katt. "So, you want to learn magic, eh, kitten?" she asked. Katt looked like she was getting angry again, but the blue haired woman ran her hand behind the Woren's ear, and she immediately softened, her tail swinging happily behind her. "Could be tough, it takes a few years of dedication before you'd really get anywhere, but, I think if you go talk to the old geezer upstairs, you may just find something interesting."

She turned away from the two of them, slowly walking away. "It's been quite a while since I've seen a Woren around this place, could it really be that time already?" she said to herself.

Ryu was watching her walk away when Katt grabbed him by the shirt. "Stop staring, Ryu, geez, you're acting like a pervert, again!"

"Hey, you're the one who looked like she would have followed her off a cliff…is a little scratch behind the ear all it takes to calm you down?" he asked, raising his hand towards her.

She slapped it away, "Don't you worry about that, jerk…let's just go get me some magic" she stormed ahead in a hurry, muttering under her breathe.

The Magic Academy was quite larger than they thought from outside. A long hallway stretched before them, but every classroom before them was empty. It wasn't until they reached the very end that they found someone, an old man was talking to someone inside, and as he looked in, he saw the woman from earlier.

She was a Windian, that much had been obvious from before, but her wings were different than any others he met, they were black as night. She wore a long blue dress that ran to her ankles, but had been slit up the sides and was lined with silver. Her blonde hair was done up in a pixie style, but fell down below her shoulders, and again, Ryu found himself staring, only broken out of it when Katt elbowed him again, narrowing her eyes at the blue haired Ranger.

* * *

><p><span>Yogi's Classroom – Nina's Perspective<span>

I had only just entered the school again when Master Yogi's voice greeted me, demanding I come to his office right away. He was standing at his desk when I walked in, his arms crossed. "My students are forbidden from using the magic I teach to them outside of these four walls" he began. "The spells I am responsible for helping you learn are far too powerful to be used needlessly, so…" he paused "Tell me what happened, Nina."

His voice was calm suddenly, I looked up, he wasn't upset, he had sat down looking amused.

"I'm sorry, Master Yogi. I was having difficulties with those men from the Joker Gang, they were being aggressive, trying to force me to go with them to see their boss, and I had to chase them away with magic. I let my emotions get a little out of hand, I apologize."

He was smiling at this point, "I'm surprised it took you this long, Sied scared them off right away, I think you've been taking those rumors about me a little too seriously."

"But, isn't that why you removed Sied from your classes, Master Yogi?"

He waved for her to stop. "We both know Sied doesn't really need to be in this class, nor does she bother with the rules of this school. I just tend to enjoy people thinking I can be difficult; it weeds out the hard workers from the slackers. Let the other teachers handle the students that are trouble."

I was actually surprised he had not decided to discipline me, but at that moment the door behind us swung open, and in walked the red headed woman, dragging the Ranger behind her.

"Hey, old man…are you the one that can teach us magic?" she asked bluntly, and I almost laughed. No one was that forward with Master Yogi, the students were a bit afraid of him. "The girl with blue hair downstairs said you could."

"Who are you?" he demanded, shocked at her bluntness. "How did you get in here?"

She stared for a second, and then pointed behind her. "Through there" seeming confused.

Master Yogi was silent for a moment, looking unsure if she was trying to be funny. "Magic takes dedication, willpower and practice to learn, young lady. If it did not, anyone could just come in out of the street and start casting spells. I don't think I could teach you how to conjure even a simple flame."

"Oh, okay, I get it. You don't know anything." She turned to me suddenly, "How about you, I saw that lightning thing that was awesome, can you show me how to do that?"

I didn't know what to say, looking over to Master Yogi; he seemed unsure as well how to deal with this visitor. She stood there waiting for an answer, but we were interrupted once more as another newcomer appeared.

The door swung open, and a man in a red bandana was leaning against the edge, looking at me. It was another one of the hoodlums from the Joker Gang, but he looked a bit different from the others, more commanding. "Hey, babe, we told you it ain't over, you shoulda been a bit more respectful to the boss."

"Who are you?" the Woren snapped at him.

"Who am I? Name is none of your damn business, I'm here for the blonde dame, stay out of this business if you wanna stay healthy, Red." She stepped forward, but the blue haired Ranger stopped her. "The boss is sick'o waiting for you, Nina, this is yer last chance to come peacefully" he held up a gold collar that looked familiar. "Recognize this, Blondie?"

It was Mina's, for her pet, Suzie, the royal crest of Windia next to the name. _No, Mina…_

As if he could tell what I was thinking, he smiled evilly. "That's right, Nina, boss took matters into his own hands, if you don't want her hurt, I think it's about time you listened to the boss, and came with me, otherwise" he took out a knife and cut through the collar, dropping it to the floor. "Well, somethin' like that."

"How about I just kick your ass, until you squeal, and give her back?" the Woren snapped at him, but he laughed at her.

"Oh, the boss will be a bit disappointed and that, if I don't bring the pretty lil' thing back, well, there'll be big trouble for her, boss ain't dumb enough to keep all his eggs in one basket. So, Nina, how about we take a little stroll, boss says if you do what he says, he'll let the little one free, no harm done."

"You…" I didn't know what to say, I never felt so full of hate towards someone. They kidnapped my sister, and if I didn't do what some criminal asked, who knows what would happen, I wanted to burn him to a crisp, but all I could think of was getting Mina free. "Fine…fine, I'll go with you, but you have to promise you'll let my sister go."

"The boss is a man of his word, baby. Let's get outta here, time's a wasting."

* * *

><p><span>Hometown – Katt's Perspective<span>

The old man stood hunched over his desk. He looked up at us. "They've been showing up around here a lot recently, a group of thugs called the Joker Gang. This has gone too far, I'll have to get the Rangers Guild involved. I never imagined they would resort to kidnapping to blackmail one of my students."

"Hey, Ryu here is a Ranger, old man. Don't worry about a thing, we'll go over there and kick those jerks into next week."

He glanced at me for a moment. "Young lady, this isn't some game. They have kidnapped the princess of Windia; it is not a matter to make light of. Lives hang in the balance; it's a job for professionals, not a pair of rookies. If you'll excuse me, I will have to meet with the Elder."

"HEY, you old jerk. Ryu here IS a Ranger, and we're not rookies. He does this kind of stuff all the time. We'll go get the bad guys, and bring her back here in no time, right, Ryu?" I said turning to him.

He nodded slowly. "See; leave it to us, gramps."

The old guy stopped in front of us. "Very well, it may be a poor choice in judgement, but, I do sense you two are capable of rescuing her. The Joker Gang has a hideout somewhere in the Rocco Peaks, it has been kept hidden, but, I'm not completely sure where. This is a big responsibility; I just hope putting my faith in you two will not be a mistake."

"Good choice, old man, you won't be sorry. Come on Ryu, let's go get those jerks and teach them some manners."

* * *

><p>"You know, you almost had me worried I was going to have to knock some sense into you, Ryu." I told him as we were walking along the far side of the lake, east of Hometown. "When you just stood there while he was leading her away, I thought you'd lost your mind, good to know that wasn't the plan."<p>

"I felt the same way as you, I wanted to take him down too, but if we did that, Katt…who knows what would have happened to Mina. The Joker Gang used to be a small time gang, hiding somewhere in these mountains, but lately they've become more violent. At least this way, we'll get to the root of the problem."

"How much further is it?" I asked, "I really want to hit that guy, probably more than once."

"The entrance should be just a little bit before the bridge to Corsair. I think there used to be a mining guild set up there, but they abandoned it a long time ago. If I had to guess where they were hiding, I'd say it's there, they hollowed it out pretty deep."

"Good. The sooner we get her back home, the sooner I can start learning magic from her. She'll owe us big time."

Within an hour, we stood at the mouth of a large cave.

"So, think this is the place?" I asked him sarcastically.

Joker Gang Hideout was sprayed above, and smiling skulls had been painted up and down the sides.

"Yeah, I think we're at the right place, Katt." He answered walking inside.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

Sied, as those who played the game before becomes an important character, I figured being at the school she should have some back story. And being who she is, she shouldn't be posing as a normal student when she clearly has a lot more knowledge than any of them. She could have just taken out the joker gang herself, but prefers to help guide the heroes for now.


	6. Chapter 06 The Joker Gang

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Chapter Six: The Joker Gang

* * *

><p><span>Joker's Hideout – Nina's Perspective<span>

Not a word had passed between us since we left Hometown a short time ago. A few times I caught him leering at me, and he didn't stop as most people would when caught, he just make blew a kiss in my direction instead until I looked away. I disliked him even more, but my worry quickly shifted back to Mina, hoping they had not harmed her in any way; it would be because of me if they had. Once I knew she was safe, I was planning on doing as much harm to them as I could, these monsters would be sorry they used my sister to get to me.

Where ever he was leading me, it was some place few people travelled, we turned west before the bridge that leads to Corsair and towards the mountains there, Rocco Peak I believed they called it. The entrance was hidden beyond a few rocky hills, carved into the largest, and they decorated it to let people know what was inside. Joker Gang Hideout was printed across in bright green, and I was curious why they hadn't been found yet, they obviously weren't concealing their hideout.

It was stale inside, and the stench of body odor immediately hit me. The gate was blocked off by a steel cage, operated by another man in a red bandana similar to the one my escort wore. He gave me a leer as well, and I noticed the headwear seemed to be the gang's identifying piece, they dressed poorly, but everyone I saw was wearing one. There were a few dozen members of the gang inside, most of them were sitting or standing around, but a few had taken to painting more graffiti on the walls or participating in a game of cards. There were a lot more of them here than I anticipated, and was feeling nervous as I followed silently.

The path he took was pretty straight forward, we only passed a few tunnels along the way, but he must have known where he was going, though I was having trouble keeping track in the dim light, and I think once or twice he circled around to confuse me. After about ten minutes, and passing through another gate like the one at the entrance, he led me down the stairs.

"The boss is sure going to reward me for this; you're a tough one to convince, Blondie. Good thing we had a contact that lead us to your pretty lil sis, he knew you couldn't resist our offer then, cause here you are, just like the boss wanted."

"If you hurt her, you are really going to regret it." I said to him.

"Look, doll, you coulda made this a lot easier if ya came when we were being polite. The boss don't like being turned down, he ain't the boss because he takes no for an answer. We're almost there, baby, the boss is waitin' for you. What's wrong, you getting nervous?"

_Of course I'm nervous, you fool,_ I thought at him _this is the last place I would want to be, blackmailed by a gang of criminals, forced to come here, associating with uncivilized thugs like you. I pray Mina is okay._

He laughed when I didn't answer; instead I just gave him a look of hatred.

"We're almost there" he said as we reached another gate. "Hey, open up, the boss' guest is here" he yelled to someone on the other side. A moment later the gate lowered and we were walking down another few flights of stairs, this time leading to a much larger chamber. Stalagmites and boulders were all around, but at the very back was the man I assumed was their leader. He had four minions on each side of him, dressed identically to each other, which was why he stood out.

He was the most disgusting man I ever seen. An open vest revealed his greasy body, very fat stomach and hairy chest. His hair was pulled back, slicked with what I could only think was machine oil, a beard shaved poorly into a goatee. Several of his teeth had been replaced with gold, making him look even more unsavoury.

"We me at last" he said in a high voice, and gave me the same leer I had been receiving from everyone here. "My, my, aren't you a pretty little bird. You're a tough one to get a hold of; my men say you gave 'em quite a bit of trouble."

"Where is my sister" I demanded, though I could feel my voice coming out weaker than usual, my hands were trembling. I felt like I was really in trouble here, I was outnumbered, and they held all the advantages, I was completely at their mercy at this point. "Show her to me, now!"

"Ho, hear that boys, the little bird is trying to give us orders. You are cute when you're trying to act brave baby, but I don't think you're in any position to be making demands." He signaled to the men on his right. "But, I'm a nice enough guy, you did what I told ya to, you're here, I guess I can be a bit flexible." He snapped his fingers, "Pain, bring out the lil' princess, our guest wants to make sure she's alright."

I watched as two of his hoodlums yanked my sister out from behind a nearby boulder. She was tied up, but it looked like they hadn't harmed her.

"Nina" she screamed at me when she saw I was here. I could tell she was scared too; I had to get her out of here somehow.

"There you go, sweet cheeks, your sister is alright for now. But, if you want her to stay that way, you'd better start being a bit more cooperative with me, otherwise the boys here will be getting a bit rough with her."

_As much as I hated the man who escorted me here, I found that was increased many times over for the man in front of me now. He was vile, he spoke of hurting Mina so casually just to get his way, and I wanted to see him writhing in pain._

"Why don't cha come a little closer, babe, I wanna see that pretty face of yours up close when you hear what it takes to get your lil sis set free."

I stood perfectly still, the last thing I wanted was to get any closer to this man, but one of his minions had stepped up behind me, and was moving me forward. I was pushing back against him, trying to force him back when I felt his hand on the small of my, and slid lower.

"You _pig_!" I snapped at him, turning around, and he was engulfed in fire a second later. Rather than putting out the flames, the other hoodlums laughed at him as he rolled on the ground screaming in pain. I doused them myself with a wave of my hand, feeling sick that I could have actually killed him.

Their leader was behind me now, and I stepped away, but found the others had formed a circle around us. "That was good, baby." He laughed. "That there's why I've set my on you, see, the Joker wants to have that kinda power at his command. Here's what we're gonna do, you're going to vow to use them powers at my command from now on, otherwise your sis is going to be feeling the pointy end of the knife."

The hoodlum held a dagger to her throat, "No" Mina screamed to me, "Nina, don't listen to them" but she was silenced a moment later as he clamped his filthy hand over her mouth.

"So, there's the deal, pretty bird. Come on, kneel at my feet here and say 'I promise to use my magic in your service, Master Joker, I vow to obey your every command from now on.' Come on, say it, let's hear those words, or you'll be short one sister."

_I had no choice, the hoodlum had the edge of his knife held tightly to Mina's neck, there was no way I would be able to stop him before he hurt her. I was surrounded, it was my fault she was in this predicament, if it weren't for having me as a sister, she would be safely in Windia, never stepping foot among criminals like this._

I was about to do as this man, the Joker commanded when the hoodlum holding Mina landed in front of the leader, unconscious.

"Hey, no need to worry, Nina we got your sister, now." I looked over and the red headed girl and the blue haired Ranger stood between Mina and the rest of the Joker's hoodlums.

* * *

><p><span>The Joker Gang Hideout – Katt and Ryu<span>

"This is weird. Are you _sure_ we're in the right place, Ryu?" Katt asked her companion as they stood just inside. The entrance would have been sealed by a steel grate, but someone had left it wide open, though they encountered one of the gang members that tried to attack them but now lay unconscious on the ground, and the two were able to walk in with little trouble.

Looking around, a large cavern greeted the two of them. It looked like the hideout had become home to quite a few members of the gang, though they didn't take much notice of the pair of newcomers, continuing with their activities without more than a glance towards them. "Pretty sure" he replied slowly "I only saw one Jokers Gang Hideout sign out there."

The Woren let out an awkward laugh, keeping her staff at the ready as the two of them looked around for any signs of where they had taken the girl from the Magic Academy. The room branched off to several other caves, and they overheard various conversations at they began looking around, though the hoodlums didn't care.

"Way too many new guys here" said one of them from a table where a card game was going on. "I miss when this place just had the family, now I look 'round and don't know half the people, ain't sure what's been running through the boss' head lately."

"I hear ya, been a Joker since I was lil, but when I went to talk to the boss last week, ask why we ain't havin' fun jobs anymore, his bro told me to get lost or he'd stab me. Couldn't even talk to 'em at all, just spends 'is time in the basement now, obsessed with some chick from Hometown. Was gonna give him some datin' tips, but I don't wanna go down there with all the freaks and monsters now."

Katt looked over to the Ranger, hoping for some clue how he wanted to proceed, but found he was looking elsewhere, towards where one of the Joker Gang members were standing in front of a sealed gate like the one at the entrance. While the other hoodlums continued uninterested at the arrival of the newcomers, he watched them with narrowed eyes as they approached.

"You ain't part'o the gang, whadda want?" he spat at them.

"We're here to take Princess Mina and the girl you blackmailed to get here, back" Ryu told him bluntly, but only earned a mocking laugh from the man.

"Only thing you're taking is a trip back out the door. No one sees the boss unless he wants 'em to, and you ain't on the list. Why don'tcha turn 'round and go home before I make ya friends with my pointy friend here" he threatened pulling a knife from his belt.

Katt just gave him an amused smirk at this point. "Good job watching the door for us, but I think it's time for lights out for you, creep" she told him, and before he could react, her staff collided with his head and he slumped to the ground. She stepped over him, "this is going to be easy, right Ryu?"

"Just be careful, Katt, I get the feeling something strange is going on here." He told the red haired woman.

"Bah, you're worrying too much, Ryu, these guys seem pretty dumb to me."

The Ranger just shrugged as they proceeded further into the depths of the cave, reaching a carved out staircase leading down. Here, Katt had grown quiet, feeling the change in the atmosphere as well. It was much darker down here, only a few torches and strange floating essences of fire provided any light, though once or twice they came a little too close to the pair for their comfort. There was a smell of decay, and soon they found the source, a pile of deceased bodies lay crumpled in a corner, and Katt looked seriously at the young Ranger next to her.

"They just kill their friends and leave them here? What's going on, Ryu? Why haven't you stopped these guys yet?"

He wasn't sure how to reply, not thinking of a proper answer. "I never knew they did this kind of stuff, everyone thought they were just a group of practical jokers, they did harmless stuff around Hometown, Bow said most of the people just found them amusing, sometimes funny." He looked down at the pile of corpses, and started pulling Katt away. "Lets' go."

"Right, let's go beat them up now, teach them a painful lesson." A silent anger had fallen over the Woren as she followed, and the two of them had their weapons at the ready.

They were almost there, but Katt was clutching her arm in pain, the area around a nasty bite mark already turning purple before Ryu's eyes.

The two of them reached another gate, the Joker Gang henchman standing behind, mocking them, goading Katt into a furious rage until she wanted to pummel him, and he tricked her into thinking the lever was hidden in a dark crevice on their side of the gate. Eager to get her hands on him, she reached in before the blue haired Ranger could stop her, and immediately recoiled in pain as something inside bit her.

Laughing, the henchman opened the gate. "Only an idiot would be dumb enough to fall for that, looks like you're not that bright, Red" Hoped to make quick work of the Ranger, but lay unconscious in moments, and Ryu quickly rushed over to attend to his friend.

Her hand lay in his. "My arm feels numb, Ryu, this is no time to try and be all romantic" she shot at him, causing Ryu to blush, but he looked down, his hands glowing with white energy, and moments later the wound had closed up and returned to a normal color. She flexed her fingers a few times, looking at him with interest. "Why didn't you tell me you knew magic?"

He shrugged, "I don't know a lot, just a few healing spells, they come in handy now and then. I certainly don't know any spells that summon lightning if that's what you're hoping."

"Oh well, still enough to keep you around for now…I guess, you're kinda useful" she said, feeling a little more cheerful. "So…I'm fine, Ryu, you can let go of my hand now." Turning even deeper crimson, she chuckled as she took the lead and walked down another flight of stairs. "You're so easy."

Moments later, they reached what could only be the lair of the leader of the gang. A large cavern lay before them; dark, separated by a large pit in the center that created multiple levels in this area. They could see where the blonde woman with black wings was surrounded by a throng of the hoodlums, and the princess held captive nearby. The Ranger felt ice at his chest again, pulling the pendant from under his shirt.

"What is that?" his companion asked curiously.

"Something I've had for a while, I call it the Dragon's Tear" he answered. "It seems to sense people's feelings, it hasn't turned black though in a long time" he noticed as the gem in the middle lost all its color.

"Whatever, let's go get them."

"We have to get Princess Mina free, quickly, Katt…it looks like we can sneak around and get her before they notice us, then we'll just have to fight our way out it seems." His plan received a happy nod from the Woren and they moved as quietly as they could across the room, using the outcroppings of rock to remain out of sight.

"You _pig_!" they heard the woman say, and Ryu felt his fist tighten around the handle of his sword. He glanced over and saw they were closing in around the woman, and felt angry upon seeing the looks on their faces. The man was engulfed in fire for whatever he did, but the others didn't seem to care, finding it amusing.

Their leader, a very overweight man was laughing as his henchman burned. "That was good, baby. That there's why I've set my on you, see, the Joker wants to have that kinda power at his command. Here's what we're gonna do, you're going to vow to use them powers at my command from now on, otherwise your sis is going to be feeling the pointy end of the knife."

The hoodlum holding the princess pressed a dagger to her throat, "No" Mina screamed "Nina, don't listen to them" but she was silenced a moment later.

"So, there's the deal, pretty bird. Come on, kneel at my feet here and say 'I promise to use my magic in your service, Master Joker; I vow to obey your every command from now on.' Come on, say it, let's hear those words, or you'll be short one sister."

"On three" he whispered, but Katt had already snuck up behind the hoodlum holding the younger Windian and knocked him flying with a single blow.

"Hey, no need to worry, Nina we got your sister, now." Katt told her happily and the two of them stood between the princess and a bunch of the Joker Gang's men.

The leader looked furious, "Who the hell are you clowns? Get them, you idiots, 'the hell do I pay you for? If she ain't captured fast, you'll be in the pit, hear me?"

Drawing a few daggers, the members of the Joker Gang advanced on Katt and Ryu, splitting to fight them four on one. The two fighters had very different fighting styles; they were both fast, but Katt was offensive, she twirled her staff as she took on her opponents, dancing around them as she pummeled them with powerful strikes from her weapon. She left herself open, but was far quicker than any of the henchman facing her, and they were struck down before they would be able to use that to their advantage.

Ryu continued to stand in between them and Princess Mina. He waited for them to come to him, and every attempt they made to strike was met with a clang of steel, but he didn't just defend, he pressed the advantage when it appeared, and soon all eight of the Joker Gang's hoodlums were motionless on the ground.

"That'll teach you boneheads some respect" boasted Katt, dusting off her hands. "Well, looks like we're all cleaned up here, except for fatty."

The large man stepped forward, seeming not at all concerned about what he just saw. "It ain't over yet, lil'bird, I ain't giving up till you're kneeling at my feet like my slave. I don't care how many of these idiots I have ta lose to get ya; you're mine, sooner or later."

"No way, you stay the hell away from me and my sister" the black winged Windian said, her voice shaking with anger. "I won't ever serve something like you." Her eyes glowed with energy, and the leader backed up out of shock. Magic energy whirled around, she wanted to burn him to a crisp, leave him as nothing but a smoking crater, but she couldn't do that. Her sister stood not ten feet away, and even if she hadn't, she didn't want to kill him; she didn't train to become a cold blooded killer. But, she had to deal with him somehow, and her and shot out, blasting the roof above him, causing it to collapse in a shower of debris that trapped him beneath.

Running over, Princess Mina caught the older Windian in a tight embrace. "Mina, I'm so sorry, they went after you to get to me." Nina turned to the two who helped rescue them both from the situation. "Thank you so much…" she began, but was interrupted as the cave echoed with laughter and the area where the Joker was trapped rumbled.

* * *

><p><span>The Joker Gang's Lair – Nina's Perspective<span>

It was the first time I ever used magic out of hatred, feeling a sense of relief as I watched the disgusting leader of the gang fall under a pile of large rocks, hoping it would teach him to stay clear of me and my family from now on. I held my sister; I just wanted to make sure she just got out of here safely, thankful that the blue haired Ranger and his girlfriend came to our rescue when they did. I hugged Mina tightly in my arms, glad this was over.

_But it wasn't._

Laughter echoed around us, it wasn't human; it filled the cavern, sounding almost demonic. The cavern grew strangely dark, the fire's providing light changed, casting an almost indigo hue, and the avalanche where I buried the gang's leader tumbled as something emerged, stepping forward to great us. "Oh, Ho, that actually _hurt_, birdy" he spat, his voice coming out in a raspy growl.

The leader of the gang was a _demon_.

The four of us stood before a being much larger than the man had been. It stood almost twice as tall as he had as a human. Purple skin stretched tightly over its massive body; a mouth large enough to eat someone whole had stretched across the demon's ugly face filled with rows of sharp teeth, and a tongue hang out that reached halfway down its bulbous stomach.

"I ain't gonna be made a fool of by a bunch of brats. I'll kill these friends of yers, Nina, then kill your sister for what you did to me, and then I'll have fun till ya _beg_ ta be my slave."

"Geez, I'm starting to think it's bad luck hanging around you, like you're cursed or something" I heard the Woren say, thinking she was talking about me. I looked over, shocked but she wasn't, she was facing the blue haired man, oddly, with a smirk on her face. "I've known you two days Ryu, and we've met two demons, what do you have planned for tomorrow?"

The two of them were not fazed at all that they stood before a demon, they had their weapons drawn and stood between it, and where my sister and I stood, their weapons pointed at the monster, defiantly.

He shrugged his shoulders at her comment. "We'll see" he replied, and I found their banter in the face of the situation oddly made it easier not to panic.

I positioned Mina behind me as they began to battle. The two of them split apart, forcing the demon to attack one or the other, and he picked the Woren girl first, surprising her when the massive tongue wrapped around her feet like a whip, drawing her closer. "Gross, get your filthy tongue off me, you demon" she shouted, springing sharp claws from her fingers and ripping into the appendage. A few drops of blood hit the floor as he howled in pain, but released her.

Meanwhile, the blue haired Ranger wasn't idle, he was already within arm's reach of the demon, slashing it with skillful swings, avoiding as the demon attempted to grab him. Moments later, he was joined by Woren, and each time the large demon shifted his focus to one, the other drew his attention back with a strong attack.

Another roar echoed, this time shaking the cavern; he was getting furious, his large eyes turning red after suffering from a few dozen cuts and bruises. The two backed off, coughing, the air around him filling with a thick smoke; he was trying to poison them. Again his tongue shot out, but it went past both of them, and grabbed Mina from behind me, pulling her towards whatever surrounded him. I tried to grab hold of her, but missed by inches, seeing her get closer to the demon.

The wind around me grew powerful, as I desperately tried to do something, and the cloud of smoke almost immediately blew away from him as gusts of wind so strong they formed blades flew at the demon, ripping into him. The blue haired man cut through the tongue holding Mina, and she was safe, the three of us advanced on him together, the Woren clearly intrigued at what she just saw.

_I hadn't spent all that time training for nothing_ I thought as I joined their attack, casting spells of fire, cold and lightning when I could, and the demon soon fell back in defeat, covered in injuries, and scorch marks from the magic I unleashed.

"Dammit, you cursed witch…how could I lose? God gave me power, it isn't possible…" he cried out as his body disappeared in a burst of black fire, and the room became brighter once more.

I turned to my sister once more, "Mina…I'm so glad you're safe. How did they kidnap you? Where are your guards?" I asked her concerned.

"Oh, Nina…they attacked us as we were leaving Corsair" she told me. "They killed our escort, and left Danielle and Sarah out in the middle of nowhere. Some man in a black robe brought me here, but I couldn't see his face." She was close to crying, and I just wanted to get here home after all the trouble she was in because of me.

* * *

><p>Ryu and Katt stood not too far from where the two Windians, Katt jumping in to introduce herself. "Hi" she said in her normal cheery voice, holding out a hand to them. "I'm Katt, this guy here is Ryu. So, since we saved you guys, you can teach me some magic, right?"<p>

Her mood seemed to lighten them up, and Nina just nodded slowly, unsure what to say to her. "Sure, but…you'll have to get Princess Mina home first, I bet the king and queen are worried about her."

"Of course, Nina, right? Let's get out of this place, I don't think they'll be bugging you anymore, you showed them."

* * *

><p><span>The Trip to Windia – Nina's Perspective<span>

_We left the caves where I encountered my first demon, and though we were victorious, I was soon faced with a new fear, the return to Windia, a place I never thought I'd go again. Mina was happy, expecting our parents to welcome me warmly, I was correct, our parents never told her I wasn't welcome there, but, neither had I._

"So, you're a princess too, Nina?" the Woren girl asked me.

_I started to say no, but my sister interrupted me, answering yes. I wanted to avoid going, I was wishing they would take Mina back, allowing me to return home, but seeing Mina happy, it was important, I did not want to know the truth. She was excited, talking about how the family would all be together again, I was dreading it, thinking about the looks before I was banished, the hatred in the eyes of the guards there, the fear behind it. I played along, trying to sound as happy as she was, forcing myself to smile, but they didn't seem to notice, thought I thought I caught the blue haired Ranger looking sympathetic towards me, as though he sensed something was wrong._

_Walking to Windia felt like walking towards a horrible sentence, like each step carried me closer to a doom. It was growing dark, we stopped at Corsair for the night, and it helped me think a little, finding myself warming up to these people, though I barely knew them._

_Mina had met him before, Ryu. He was the one who rescued her pet, Suzie. I wondered where she was now; did she end up dead with the guards? Would Mina's friends be okay, I never met them, but if I had, I had a feeling they would blame this on me, and the secret would be out, the Curse of the Black Wings, an omen in Windia, they would blame all the misfortune they encountered on me, and I felt like I wanted to run, but I couldn't, not without her finding out anyways._

_It was strange, how light the mood among them was, as I felt my heart pounding harder each moment. Mina was popular, loved by the people. She was easy to get along with, caring, she fell into easy conversation with the two of them, sitting close to the Ranger, and I wondered if she too had a crush on him, it was something that never came up in her visits, a boyfriend. In one day, she had gotten closer to him than I would dare after years of watching from afar, placing a hand on his arm in a flirty manner after telling a joke, and I felt a little jealous I wasn't able to be that open; she was a princess, and I was just an outcast, the unwanted one._

_Corsair was a popular place, but Katt said things died down after the Battle of Champions, and it was easy to get a room, though it was a while before we got any sleep. _

_The Woren was almost as talkative as my sister at times. She had only met the Ranger two days ago, and was telling us all about how they came to travel together, starting with him walking into her dressing room, something Mina found hilarious, and caused him to blush as he was teased by the two of them. _

_She was surprised though that someone would go through all the trouble he had just to help, and for a complete stranger. And now he had again, with me. I had only seen him from afar, but somehow it was as I expected he would be; a little naïve, but the type that went out of his way to help people with no expectations._


	7. Chapter 07 City That Leads to the Sky

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Chapter Six: The City That Leads to the Sky

* * *

><p>Ryu's perspective.<p>

Mina had kept me up late asking a lot of questions. I would have assumed she would have shared a room with her sister after being reunited with her, but she thought it was more interesting to ask me a ton of questions.

"Are you and Katt together? Do you like my sister? What do you look for in a girl? What happened to Bow? Where was I going after we reached Windia? Many other as well, she barely waited for me to answer before firing out the next one.

"Do you think Nina is okay?" she asked me, and finally waited, looking at me seriously.

"What do you mean?" I asked her. I knew she clearly noticed something about the black winged Windian she called her sister, and I had noticed her behaviour was oddly forced, she seemed to be putting on a fake smile when I noticed Mina staring at her, yet I did not understand why. Clearly the young princess noticed something amiss as well, but I decided whatever was going on, I wasn't going to honestly answer unless I was sure what she meant. "She was fine, I think Katt and I got there before they could harm her, or you, and the Joker didn't seem to hurt her during our fight. She should be fine..."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it, Ryu. Did she seem to be acting weird to you?"

Mina was not as naive as I would have expected, she could tell her sister was acting odd as I could. "She seemed to be distracted, about what, I have no idea, but, I'm sure everything will be fine once we reach Windia." She seemed to accept my answer, and soon we had both drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Nina's perspective<p>

Katt was quite friendly with me; I found it odd having been mostly isolated from people most of my life. She soon tired of talking about learning magic for now, and began telling me about how she lived at the coliseum. She was a popular fighter, and had become quite popular.

"My next match was supposed to be against some guy named Baba, a woodsman from north, but it turned out to be Ryu. He wandered into my dressing room by accident, and since then I've been bugging him about trying to get a peek at me, but I know I've wandered into the wrong one several times when I first started, they never really let you know which one is your room. Anyways, he found out Angus was going to sabotage the fight by poisoning me, and worked hard to stop it. I must say, I didn't' make it easy for him, I think I enjoyed knocking him around a little bit more than I would have normally, but he was alright in the end. We went to confront Angus together, along with the big repair guy, and found out he was a demon, just like the Joker guy who was after you. Well, he was a wolf or something though, and we beat him up. Then I decided to go with Ryu, I kind of wanted to just get out of there, the people in the audience that last match were giving me a strange vibe, like they wouldn't have cared if it had been me that snuffed if. Feeling unwanted after Angus tried to kill me, it seemed like the perfect time to leave, and joining with Ryu here has already proved fun."

"Fun?" I asked the Woren "We were attacked by a demon; I was terrified something was going to happen to Mina, and you found that fun?"

She just shrugged at me. "Well, maybe not that part, but we took out a demon; the world is a safer place now because of us. Was that the first time you were in a fight?"

I just nodded. She smiled at me. "That's why you were so nervous. Don't worry, it gets easier, and soon you'll get that rush when you kick a demon's ass."

_She spoke like she was an expert, but I suppose compared to me, she was. I knew magic, had memorized spells that could be quite deadly, but that was the first time I had to use them in a real live situation. Those two had found a path that suited them, battling demons and saving people, my main concern now was what awaited me, she looked happy travelling with this group to Windia, I was just dreading when we arrived there still._

"Katt, I think I'm going to go to sleep. So, see you tomorrow then."

* * *

><p><em>"Mom, look!" I called out to her excited. "I have wings!"<em>

_I was so excited that day, it was my eighth birthday, and I would be spending the day with Mina and my mother and father, there was to be a ceremony to attend when the princess had her Wing day, and we would have a celebration in the city, then a dinner at the castle. Mina would be jealous, but soon she would have her wings too, till then, I could tease her about it though._

_I ran to the throne room, only my mother was there, everyone else was gone, I ran up to her expecting her to be happy, but she recoiled._

_"Demon" she hissed at me._

_Then voices began echoing around the room._

_"She will ruin Windia"_

_"Cursed one."_

_"Wings of Death"_

_"Kill the monster."_

_Then, Windia began getting far away; I was no longer welcome here. My mother and father looked at me with hatred, my sister backed away looking scared and the people were calling for my death. Men, women and children were all looking at me as if I were a monster, because of my wings. My grandmother was shouting I had to die, she stood at the head of a mob calling me a demon with the rest of them and I turned and ran._

* * *

><p>I woke up, it was just a dream. I was back in Corsair. It was still night out, and Katt was sleeping in the other bed, purring softly. Sitting up, I smoothed my clothes and decided I needed a short walk to shake off the dream. Tomorrow I was going there, would they still look at me with that fear, with that hatred, or had life moved on. Corsair was quiet, it was 3 in the morning, just like in Hometown, and it was when I would chose to go out to avoid being seen by people. There was only one person out still at this hour, the blue haired Ranger, Ryu stood in front of a strange statue not too far from the inn we were at. It had been years since I saw anyone acknowledging the altar of the Dragon God, but the statues were still around. Most days if anyone wanted to seek advice, they went to the church of St. Eva, though I think some places still refused to have a church of that religion built. I was going to stay out of sight, but somehow he knew I was there.<p>

"Can't sleep, Nina?" he asked me.

"I...just bad dreams woke me up. Is everything okay with you?" I wanted the focus off me, he almost seemed like he knew what was running through my mind, and I didn't want him asking questions and having to make up stories to avoid them.

"Same, just bad dreams, and Mina talks in her sleep, figured I would just take a walk. Always enjoyed the peacefulness of night time, it's quieter." He turned to me. "You seem worried about tomorrow, I just want you to know, and I'm here for you, Nina."

His words shocked me, his eyes seeing much more then I put out, and I felt as though I knew him from before. Nodding, I just said "Thank You" to him and we stood there for several long minutes in silence.

* * *

><p>"Rise and shine, sleepy head." Katt's cheerful voice called out to me. She looked like she had already showered and was ready to head out; her bag was packed up and slung over her shoulder. I felt like I had just fallen into a restful sleep, but the sun brightly lit up the room once Katt threw open the curtains, there would be no more sleep with that much light here.<p>

"Okay, okay, Katt, I'll just be a few moments." She walked out with a bounce in her step, apparently she slept well, and seconds later I had my privacy to get cleaned up. Outside Mina, Katt and Ryu were all ready and waiting.

The funny thing is, the more you're not looking forward to something, and the quicker it approaches. Soon I saw Windia in the distance, and we would soon be there.

* * *

><p>Not much had changed since when I was here last time. From Corsair, a massive bridge covered the expanse leading to the city, but there was also a passage that led to the crypts below the castle. The entrance was blocked by a gate, but seeing my sister, the guard allowed us through.<p>

"A maze begins here to keep intruders away, but you know the way. Welcome home, Princess Mina."

The guard nodded at me and allowed me to pass without saying anything.

"Sister, it has been a long time since you visited home. Mom and Dad will be so happy to see you." Mina said as we were walking through the tunnels. She really had no idea that they would not be happy to see me, but for now she was glad we were together again.

I felt like I was almost numb being this close to the castle again. One foot in front of the other I followed Mina, barely listening now, feeling more nervous as we would be there soon.

"Everyone will be shocked you're home, won't they, sister?"

"Yes" I felt myself say to her quietly.

A few more moments passed when I found she stopped and looked at me, she had just said something, but I didn't hear. "What was that, Mina?"

She looked into my eyes. "I said, I wish you could home every once in a while, you're spending too much time at that magic school."

"I'll try." I replied to her, and thankfully she just walked ahead of Ryu and kept leading us through the crypt here. Finally we reached the passage that lead to the lobby and I took a deep breath as I followed them up.

* * *

><p>We were surrounded. A dozen guards were waiting for us, and there stood my mother. Instantly I was frozen in fear, I don't think I could speak if I tried.<p>

"Another cursed one? I thought we killed it years ago" I heard one of the guards whispered to the man beside him.

"What do we do with it? She has the black wings" someone said from behind me.

Their words hurt, but I was only looking at my mother, waiting for what she was going to do. She had been the one who announced to everyone that they had the black winged princess killed, what would she say now that I was here. Katt was the first to speak.

"We rescued Mina for you and brought her home." She said to the queen. If the situation wasn't so serious to me, I might have laughed, she didn't' use my sister's title even here in the castle, and didn't refer to my mother as majesty, yet no one noticed, all eyes were on me. At this moment, I would have given anything to be invisible.

"Mom, what's wrong, I brought my sister home..." at this point the queen stopped her.

"...I..." I was trying to speak, but, no words came. Katt looked confused, she was expecting it to be a celebration, bringing my sister home after rescuing her from a demon, but Ryu knew that something was wrong. Then I swallowed and was able to talk again. "Princess Mina was lost, we thought it best to bring her home, and I think she started calling me sister just to comfort herself. I should have corrected her."

My mother nodded, she probably wasn't expecting me to ever appear here again, and I caught her by surprise.

"Sister, what are you talking about, Mom, what's going on?"

"Mina, hush, you do not have a sister." The guards were looking as confused as Katt was, but my mother had now regained her composure. "Please escort these three to the gate and reward them for helping Princess Mina home."

The guards soon had led us to the gate, Katt looked like she wanted to slap him for hustling us out of here, but she seemed to stop when Ryu gave her a look. I was once again rendered speechless, thankfully no one would believe I was Mina's sister, and my mother would probably be forced to tell her something to keep her from finding out just why I could no longer be associated with them, a feeling like wanting to vomit was building in me, but I was able to fight it down, and soon we were outside, the castle doors shut on us, and the sound of them being locked could be heard.

"What the hell was that about?" Katt asked Ryu, and then looked at me. "I thought you were the Princess?"

I sighed. It was something that still was tough to talk about. "I'm not a Princess, Katt, I'm sorry for deceiving you, but it's something that is difficult to talk about."

"Is it because of your black wings?" she asked me. Her innocence was admirable, I was always afraid of people despising me because of them, but these two seemed to not give it a second thought. "I think your wings are beautiful, they are much prettier than everyone else', don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

The two of them began walking away from the castle. I took a deep breath. The reaction of the guards scared me into thinking what would happen when I walked into the town, how would the people react? The dream of a mob waiting to attack me was pictured in my mind, and though I couldn't become invisible, I thought of something that may make the trip here less terrifying to me.

I touched both of my wings and they began changing color from black to white. It was just a temporary solution, a spell that gives the illusion that my wings were white. I almost felt shameful doing this; many times I hated the fact that because my wings were a different color, I was unwelcome. It wasn't my fault, I didn't do anything wrong, but, for once I wanted to walk through here like a normal person.

I caught up with my two new companions, they seemed confused. "Nina, what happened?" Katt asked me. I told her it was just temporary, and would explain later, and we were in Windia finally.

* * *

><p>For the first time in a long time, I was walking through town and didn't feel people's eyes on me disapprovingly. A man even smiled and winked at me as he passed. It was a lie and I knew it, but it felt good to be a part of the population of Windia for a change. Not in years had I been able to walk through Windia and just admire the kingdom that should have been my home, it was a beautiful city. The castle stood behind me now, and before the three of us paved streets led to the bustling food market, a wide variety of stores that sold weapons, armour, clothes, trinkets, spells and so many other things. Before I could stop myself, I felt a tear on my cheek; this was my home until the wings on my back snatched it from me. As much as I would be able to enjoy today, once it was over, I vowed that I would not return here again with this ruse.<p>

Ryu and Katt were waiting for me ahead. Rubbing my sleeve against my face, I caught up to them, and acted like everything was fine, today I wanted to have some fun and laugh while I could.

The market was the first stop, we picked out some food, the vendors gave us free fruit because we were two attractive young ladies, and he flirted with both of us. Katt seemed to have strange tastes, she picked out several unusual meats from a butcher that I wouldn't dare try and packed them for the trip. She seemed to have assumed that I would be going with them, and I was warming up to the two of them, so I was considering it. Hometown was my home, but perhaps it was time to see the world a little bit.

Ryu had wandered away from us; he was talking to a few of the locals here, asking about some woman with blue hair and bat-like wings. I didn't know why he was searching for her, but in the meantime I was having fun with Katt, who was already becoming a close friend. Sied before her had been the only one who really talked to me, and as much as I respected her, she seemed to be much worldlier and experienced than I was, and I felt like she could be an aunt or something if she wasn't only a few years older than me. Katt was much more of a friend, she had travelled some, but didn't give off a know-it-all vibe and I was already feeling like I could open up to her.

After we left the market, we did some shopping for clothes, it was definitely a girl's day, and Ryu probably wouldn't be caught here with us if he could avoid it. She picked out some things for me, and I for her, neither of which were of the style we were used to, and soon we left laughing, but not having bought anything. Finally we were in the town center where a magician, a highlander clansman in a blue suit was awing the audience with magic tricks. It was here Ryu had decided to rejoin us.

Rabbit out of the hat, pick a card, sawing a man in half, making water spiral in mid air, they were all showy types, but still entertaining to watch, and after each one, Katt leaned over to me to ask how he did that, but I "Magician's secret" and she gave me a wicked glare before watching him again. As the crowd started thinning out, he wanted to do something drastic to get more people's attention.

"I need a volunteer for my next trick...How about you good sir?" he said to Ryu pulling him into the center of the shrinking crowd "Are you brave enough to get in this box while I send you to another dimension? Come, come, you don't want to look like a chicken in front of the prettiest ladies in Windia here" he nodded to us. Ryu was stammering as the Highlander opened the door to a large blue box that appeared out of nowhere and pushed him inside. Shutting the door on him, he did up the latches at the side and turned back to the audience. "Now, on three, everyone yell '**_abracadabra_**'. 1...2...3!"

"ABRACADABRA" both Katt and I yelled and we started laughing.

A puff of smoke burst out of the box, and the sides all fell down and the box was empty. The crowd cheered and he thanked everyone for coming. People clapped, but for some reason the man was packing up. _That was the trick?_ I thought, isn't bringing him back the big finale?

Looking disappointed, many people started clearing away, and the Highlander was putting away his box of magic tricks when Katt walked over to him.

"Hey, monkey, is the show over? Where's Ryu?"

He looked down for a moment, "Is that man, Ryu, is he your boyfriend?" he asked her.

"What? We're...we're just friends."

He looked over to me, "What about you miss is Ryu your boyfriend?"

I just shook my head, hoping I wasn't blushing.

"Good, then I don't feel so bad telling you two. The trick wasn't a complete success, it failed. Ryu is in another dimension. I can bring him back, but..." and he paused, looking at us.

"But, what, monkey man?" Katt asked him.

"But, I'll only do it, if you go on a date with me." He said smiling evilly. "Shall we go get a cup of coffee, kitten?"

"What are you talking about?" Katt said "I don't get it, where did Ryu go?"

I stepped closer to him. "Look, we know you didn't send Ryu to another dimension, what did you do to him?"

"Ooh, another pretty girl, I think if you two babes want me to bring Ryu back, you'll both have to go out with me..." It was then that I noticed the ground looked loose; I kneeled over it and started digging, soon seeing blue hair...

The Highlander had turned towards Katt before I saw the key to his little disappearing act and wasn't looking at me now. "First I'll go out with you, kitten, and then Blondie the next night, then both of you together the night after..."

"Hey, there's Ryu" Katt interrupted him seeing me help him out of the hole the magician sent him to. "Another dimension, you're such a sleazy little man. Time to teach you what happens to sleazes." She started swatting at him with her staff, and I cringed when I heard it hit him particularly hard. The sounds of him crying out and encouraging her to do it harder were kind of funny, and Ryu and I laughed knowing Katt wouldn't really hurt him.

* * *

><p>About 10 minutes Ryu left to find a nearby bathroom. Being buried underground covered him in dirt and he wanted to go clean himself up a bit before we would do anything else here. The Highlander whose name we learned was Sten apologized to Ryu profusely and vowed to repay him. We weren't' sure what he meant, but he insisted on coming with us to help catch the thief Ryu had been asking about. He said something about seeing a hot blue haired woman here a few days ago and she left yesterday. After he begged to join us for a bit, we finally agreed to let him, though Katt said she was going to be keeping him on a short leash, to which he replied "The shorter the better, kitten," which earned him another bump on the noggin.<p>

It was the best day I had in a long, long time. I should have known that it would be too good to last. Ryu was off cleaning up, Katt went to the store with Sten to get a few supplies when Ryu told her that the land between Windia and the port town, Captaina was home to poisonous creatures and they were out of antidotes, and I was sitting alone on the edge of a beautiful stone fountain at the center of town. I was wishing I could see Mina before we left, but there was no way that they would allow me in the castle, the guards saw my black wings and my mother wouldn't allow it.

It suddenly felt colder here, and a man in black robes appeared beside me. I had never seen him before, but instantly felt a dark aura from him.

"**Nina..."** he said coldly

"Who are you?" I replied to him "my friends will be back in a moment, if you're here to cause trouble." Something about him told me that he was, and I hoped someone would be returning soon to send him away.

**"I put a lot of my time into helping that gang of idiots capture you, and I was highly disappointed when you and your friends ruined my plan. I had high hopes for what I was going to use your power for, but seeing as how you ruined my day, I shall do the same to you."**

"You, you're the one who captured Mina..." I said to him, but suddenly he vanished. It was strange; I didn't understand the meaning of his words until I heard a child nearby scream "Mommy, the demon!" Looking back I saw my wings were no longer disguised white, they had turned black again, and I was right in the middle of town surrounded by people.

* * *

><p>"Mommy, the demon!" It was a little girl that said it, she was no younger that I was before I got my accursed wings, and the fear she said the word demon with, it hurt. Her cry alerted anyone nearby who hadn't noticed that I was suddenly in their midst, and dozens of eyes suddenly turned to me. I tried to run, but they had me surrounded, all I could see was fear. Fear that I would harm them...that I would bring about the destruction of Windia. The prophecy told that the black winged one would cause Windia to burn, and they all knew of the prophecy. It wasn't like in Hometown where they just didn't like the woman with black wings; here they thought I was their enemy.<p>

I backed away from them as much as I could, with my back to the wall of a nearby store, I couldn't go any further, and their callings for my end rang in my ears. I couldn't use magic, they thought I was a murderous demon, and I was not going to prove them right, but my heart was hammering in my chest, I was trapped. It wasn't like last time when I was able to run away from them, this time I was cornered, and they were going to kill me.

What would Ryu and Katt think, would they find my body when they got back and think, good riddance, once someone told them what would happen to Windia if I lived? Would they be sad I was gone, or angry a demon had walked with them, fooled them into thinking I was a real person. Again, tears came to my eyes, and someone noticed.

"It's trying to fool us, demons can't cry. Stop the trickery, monster!" a man said loudly. I looked over, the man was holding a large rock, and preparing to throw it at me. This was how I was going to die, they were just going to throw whatever they could at me till I stopped breathing, it was a horrible way to go, so much pain, but I just curled tighter into a ball praying it would end quick...but it never came.

The sound of a rock striking metal made me open my eyes, and before he knew what had happened, Ryu floored the man who threw it. A look of fire appeared in his eyes as he walked back to. The crowd backed up when he pointed his weapon at them.

"Ryu..." I began, not sure what I was going to say "...don't, lets, just leave here"

I saw Katt and Sten walk out of the store and them immediately notice the mob, all directed at me. She shoved the bag she was carrying into Sten's arms and in a second was at my side. It was quiet, the crowd didn't make a sound as Katt pulled me up and they parted for the Ranger. We left Windia, what started off as a great day had turned into a nightmare for me in mere seconds, my worst fears of how people saw me reflected in their eyes. An hour or two outside of Windia we had set up camp, and sat in silence, Katt just held her arm around my shoulder while Sten and Ryu worked quietly preparing a meal. Eventually us two girls went inside and fell asleep; I hoped it would be a dreamless night.

* * *

><p>Another chapter finished. Every play through of the game I always found it disappointing that Nina was banished from Windia, but you could take here there anytime, and nothing happened. I wanted to make it a place she was not comfortable visiting and try and give a reason why, though I think I'll try and go into the story of the Black Wing Prophecy a bit more in later chapters.<p>

I also wanted Nina to have a reason to join with Ryu and Katt, after they get Mina to Windia, it seemed dumb in the game how she didn't go back to Hometown, she just joined, I wanted an explanation out there why she left her home, and I think having Katt form a friendship with her when she never really had one was a good start.

Anyways, I hope that I did a decent job conveying how I think Nina would be welcomed in Windia, and the thought of mindless prejudices. Thanks for reading.

Chris


	8. Chapter 08 Down the Well

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Chapter Seven: Down the Well

* * *

><p>Windia Outskirts – 9pm<br>Ryu's perspective.

_To say the events in Windia left me feeling uneasy would be an understatement. I came outside to hear a mob of normal people, the ones that I would usually go out of my way to help surrounding Nina ready to kill her for no reason other than her wings being different from theirs. They called her demon and formed into group of monsters themselves while she cowered before them. She may have told us she wasn't a princess here, but there was clearly far more to the story than she was telling, Mina didn't just pick some random stranger to pretend was family, and the shocked look on her face when the queen said she never had a sister when we arrived in their company._

_Bow I don't think ever felt the demon lurking in the back of his mind as I do, I don't think he was ever the one it wanted, but I feel its presence constantly. When I feel my emotions running high, it's almost like I can hear it egging me on, in that situation if I let it, it probably would have had me kill everyone there while it laughed. The first man to throw a stone was a middle aged man with his son standing beside him._

_The demon wouldn't have just struck him, he growled for me to take the man apart, filled with emotion as I was, as I felt before like when the Joker wanted to use Nina as a slave to fill his selfish desires. That was the difference between us though, the demon would inspire fear if he were here, but I refused to follow his ways, I wanted to help people, and I couldn't do that by compromising or killing because it's easier. What is it they say, all it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. I had vowed many years ago that I wouldn't be the one to stand by while people got hurt._

_The demon watched as I knocked him unconscious disapprovingly but did not do anything more. They were already scared, but moved as Katt helped Nina up and we left wordlessly. It was one of the few times I did want to feel him take over and let me scare them as much as they scared Nina, and for the rest of the night I didn't speak as it mulled over in my mind._

_Katt did her best to comfort Nina, and with us there, she seemed to know she was safe, they wouldn't come after her. She seemed at peace when we were there today, as though walking through Windia with her wings changed to appear normal had opened up a new life for her, a, day that showed her what could have been, but it never helps us feel better when it's gone. She probably wasn't expecting her glamour spell to fail so soon, it was probably like being doused in ice water, a rude awakening, but it was over for now._

_Anyways, I need to think of something else for a while. The newest companion, Sten – it was probably not the most welcome night for him. He tried to weasel a date out of the girls by making it seem like I disappeared into another dimension. The trick put me in a cramped hole in the ground, and when Katt discovered he was lying, she had fun slapping him around a little. I thought that would be the last we would see of him, but he bowed before us and begged to join so he could make up for his little stunt. I was unsure, the girls may not take too kindly to a new traveller whose first impression was of trickery to get a date out of them, but he mentioned seeing the thief I was looking for, it was a lead in my search finally when I thought I had lost her trail._

_Both of the girls were asleep in the tent, Sten lay flat on his back spread out sleeping near the fire and I think I had dozed off, but was sat leaning against one of the logs we used as a bench. Only coals burning weakly lit the area, and before I knew it, it was morning._

Sten woke up first, and was already dressed by the time I opened my eyes. The Highlander had ditched blue magician suit in exchange for a pair of pants with many pockets and an open vest. A pair of long daggers hung at his waste and a few throwing knives were strapped to a holder diagonally across his chest. He was shorter than Katt was by at least a foot putting him at about four and a half feet tall. Like her, Sten wore no boots, clawed feet would have made footwear uncomfortable and cause it to wear out fast.

The Highlander was not a mere magician; the way he prepared himself was as though he was formerly of some military unit. Katt was the next to awaken. She had a bad case of bed head, her red hair sticking out in spikes on one side and flattened on the other. She looked as though she slept well though. Finally Nina emerged looking much more calm than last night, luckily Katt was able to comfort her, I don't know if I would've had any words that could have improved her situation being a little upset at the behaviour I saw in Windia myself.

Packing up the tent, Windia was already out of our sights and the four of us made out way to Captaina, a port town far west of Windia. Between the two cities was a large area of mountains we had to pass by the base of, and then it was wide open grass plains for miles. Like I told Katt yesterday, there were creatures around these parts that were poisonous. Strange shelled centipedes that stood almost 5 feet tall called Deathpedes, unusual slug creatures that had flexible tendrils they used to try and bind us and the worst were the Kimono clan, walking lizard man that used bows and sharp blades. They weren't that smart, attacking in groups of two at the most, but they were a nuisance, they were the predators around here. Most of the time they could be easily avoided if people stuck to the worn path, but every now and then they would have one of the creatures wander out to attack them.

We were about halfway across the plains I assumed when a much larger group of the Kimono clansman came out of hiding and surrounded us. Several of them had chains around the Deathpede creatures leashed like pets. We were outnumbered three to one, but I wasn't going to just sit by and let them take us, and Katt looked like she was itching for a fight as well. Sten drew his daggers and I noticed Nina summoned a short staff out of thin air. She's the one who began the fight by summoning two large blocks of ice that crashed in their midst. They scattered, but two of their pets weren't quick enough of were hit by Nina's spell and crushed under their tough shells.

A few had drawn bows and were firing at Nina now, but Katt leapt in front of her and deflected the arrows by twirling her staff so quickly it made a shield before them. Sten countered, tossing a handful of his throwing knives at the archers hitting their mark and they fell over dead. I was surrounded by three of them armed with short swords or small axes. They were not skilled close combat fighters, they just kept trying to stab as they would with an animal they were hunting but it did not work on me as I was able to easily to deflect when they got close and defeat them with little trouble.

Katt had seemed to become Nina's defence, was fiercely protective of her suddenly, standing guard over the young Windian while she cast her magic while she bashed anything that came close enough to interrupt her. I noticed that she had come of that nervous shell she was hiding in when we fought the demon. Then she tried to help but seemed scared of hitting us, today it was like she wanted to prove she didn't need to be protected, and she could be a force to be reckoned with. It was like a competition when I fought beside Katt, seeing who could take down our target first, but looking at the two of them together, there were actually a good team despite only knowing each other a few days.

I was keeping an eye on Sten as well in the fight. He was a strategic fighter against these creatures, stabbing points on the Kimono's body that would cripple them before going in for the kill. Of the larger group that attacked us, soon only a pair remained, and when we heard some people call out to us, they turned and ran, using the tall grass nearby as cover.

It was a large group that approached, but they weren't here to attack us. The leader approached. "We were watching you guys, you handle yourselves well. Usually we keep these roads safe for travellers, but the monster population has been getting more aggressive lately. Those pets of the Kimonos used to be peaceful, but they changed, became poisonous, and vicious. Something around these parts is affecting the creatures, and the Deathpede isn't the first creature that we've come across that has been tainted by demonic corruption lately, and I'm sure it won't be the last. We're just working on getting to the bottom of it.

I'm Bassen, leader of the Monster Hunters in this region. We travel Aspiria seeking unusual and deadly monsters to study." One of the other hunters whispered something in the leader's ear. "Yes, well, the way before you travellers should be clear; we must be continuing our patrols. Good Luck."

They were gone in a few minutes, disappearing down the road we just came from. Sten and I took the lead, Katt and Nina trailing shortly behind us.

"You're no amateur in combat there, boss," he said to me "where did you learn to fight like that?"

Where I learned how to fight, it was really almost a mystery to me, when I was reunited with Bow a year ago, I just knew how. Telling him that would open up more questions though, and right now it wasn't something I wanted to think much about. "I'm a Ranger; we're trained to defend ourselves."

"Well, I've never seen a Ranger fight as well as you before, boss. I think there's more to you than you let on."

"You fight pretty well for a magician. I think there's more to you then you let on, too."

That seemed to make him quiet, and he walked in deep thought.

* * *

><p>It was about midday when they arrived at Captaina, but all four seemed to know something was amiss in the town. There was no one here, the stores were unmanned and the streets and gate were bare of people. Captaina was a port town, but even the ports were empty. In the center of town was a massive well, but it was empty. It was only a few minutes that they stood by it when a handful of people came out to greet them.<p>

"Thank St. Eva; you've come to help us."

Ryu stepped forward. "What's going on here?" he asked him

"Our town, something strange has happened to us. Our well mysteriously dried up one day, we couldn't understand why. Some of the townspeople went to discover what happened but never returned. On top of that, even the children vanished one night. The last week, everyone has been living in fear, strange sounds are heard outside at night, and everyday another one of us goes missing. A paladin from St. Eva showed up yesterday to help, but I don't think he can handle whatever is down there himself. Please, can you help us?"

"Of course, we will" Ryu replied, and soon they had lowered a ladder into the well for the four of them. It was deep, soon only a small circle of light could be seen above. Nina was able to summon a ball of light to illuminate their way. The floor was paved with stone and down here had dried up as the townspeople said. A large cavern had been carved out and which was where the water normally came from, but several much smaller ones looked recently dug out about the right size for people to walk through. Before they could take more than a few steps, something rushed out of one of the tunnels directly at Nina. Katt jumped in front of her and knocked it away with her staff, and they got a good look at it as it wiggled around on its back.

It had the appearance of a giant bug, but looked demonic. The creature's eyes were tiny black holes in its head; a thick shell across its back. Massive jaws opened and shut frantically. Its six legs were moving quickly trying to get the creature upright, but Ryu stepped forward and drove his blade into it to prevent that from happening. In seconds it stopped moving, and blackish blood poured from the wound.

"These things are corrupted." Ryu said, "We'll have to destroy any we find. Only then will the townspeople here be safe."

"Yes, we will, Ranger" said a voice from the main tunnel. A man in blue robes with long blonde hair approached them. It was the same man Katt met in Corsair just after Ryu was poisoned by Angus' men. "We meet again, once more under unpleasant terms. The creatures you're referring to are part of a colony, known as the Creon. They are creatures of darkness, they despise the light and water, and in turn it hurts them. Your friend here caught their attention by illuminating this cavern, but most will try and run from light. However, they are fiercely protective of their home, so they may not continue to avoid your presence here. I discovered the queen's nest down this tunnel here" he pointed at the largest path, "but was waiting for you before I proceeded."

"Well, we're here to help, lead the way...I'm sorry, I don't know you're name" Ryu told him.

Bowing he replied "My name is Father Ray Braddock. I am a paladin for the St. Eva church. I travel Aspiria helping where I can and spreading the word of St. Eva. I believe I met your feline friend here, St. Eva is with you, Katt Rinshaw, but I have not met the rest. .."

Before he had a chance to say more, a series of sounds echoed from the tunnels around them. "It looks as though this is not the time for pleasantries" he said calmly. Six more of the creatures hurried out and rushed at the light, but met a barrier before Nina. "I will hold these ones off if you could go deal with the queen. She must be killed if we're going to be rid of these monstrosities."

Several of the Creon continued to ram at the wall he created, but Ray drew back his arm. Suddenly a spear of light formed and he pierced the first creature's hard shell with it effortlessly.

"Go" he pleaded to the four of them. "I shall stop them here, but you must destroy the source of this chaos."

With that, Ryu drew his sword and led the way down where Ray indicated. A few tunnels had been dug along the way, but none of the creatures seemed to be around. A path winded downwards until the sound of water, and what sounded like someone sobbing could be heard by them. The next chamber was where the water from the ocean must have filled before, but now only half was underwater. Several flat rocks made a path across the room to where the source of the crying was coming from. Near the other end of the room was a young boy, one of the townspeople's children, and a damn of boulders was stopping the water from coming in just behind him.

It was oddly quiet there in the chamber. They were deep in the demon's creature's home, but hadn't encountered any of them yet. Something was definitely wrong with this situation, Ryu thought, the creatures attacked us when we first entered, but we hadn't come across another one since we met Ray. Nina's light continued to light up the cavern, and they had reached the boy without any problems. Ryu approached him and lifted him up, and he immediately held on tightly, but then the silence was broken.

They were on the largest of the islands of rock in the chamber when a roar shook the chamber, and from a large hole in the wall nearby they saw a massive Creon. It had been sleeping, but the light woke it up, and it was furious. Like the ones they encountered before, it had a pair of small black eyes, but they were at least the size of a human hand. Its skin was about the same color as the rock it was resting near. Several rows of sharp teeth filled its maw, and just behind the creature a small pile of eggs lay. They had met the queen of the demon infestation.

The boy started crying again, pointing behind us. "It's coming to get us!" he held on tightly to Ryu, but the Ranger needed to put him down if he was going to help in this fight. Another roar shook the chamber knocking some of the stone loose from the ceiling and the four heroes backed up to avoid being hit.

"Nina, surely you've got something up your sleeve for this, I'll keep you covered." Katt told the Windian. They had adopted a good partnership from the last battle, and it seemed to work for them. She nodded and began channelling her spell. A moment later, two massive blocks of ice formed above the Creon queen's body and fell hard on its back. They caused a small crack in the creature's shell and it turned its attention to the two women.

"Damn," said Sten nearby "we can't let it get close, with its size, that thing will crush us, boss. What's the game plan?"

Ryu wasn't sure yet, there was room on the platform they were on to manoeuvre a bit, but if it charged, they might have trouble avoiding it. Ryu handed the child to Sten quickly, assuming that the Highlander might not be able to help much in this fight, the demon's skin was tough, and daggers and throwing knives would do little to cut through that armour. Drawing his blade, he slashed deep in the creature's side to draw it away from Nina and Katt. The Creon now turned his attention to Ryu.

"Sten, get the child to somewhere safe, we'll keep it distracted." The Highlander just nodded and ran back to the entrance they just came from.

Now furious at Ryu, Nina had another chance to cast a spell, and a moment later when the Creon queen was about to try and bite Ryu, a pillar of fire rose under its head and engulfed it. The demon roared in pain, but attempted to attack Ryu again. This time, when it tried to snap at the ranger it was met with a slash that cut open its jaw and caused the queen to gush blackish blood. Katt, now that Nina wasn't its focus rolled under it and drew blood from the soft underside when she hit it hard with the clawed end of her staff. It attempted to crush her with its legs, but she was far too quick and in moments danced away.

Sten, having placed the child a safe distance away returned with a surprise. A pair of spheres were thrown into the creature's face and exploded in a flash of light that blinded the monster. "That should help us out, eh boss" Sten said when he landed near Ryu.

"I have an idea, Ray said they're weak against light and water, you got the first one down, but if we destroy the dam, we might be able to drown them, and destroy the whole lot in one shot." Ryu told him. "What we need is a bomb or something to take out those rocks."

Sten just smiled. "I got just the thing, keep him busy for a minute."

Sten moved to where the dam had been created, but the creature was starting to rampage with its sight gone. It stomped nearly crushing Katt and Nina, but the Woren grabbed her companion and leaped out of the way. Ryu ran underneath and slashed through two of the large demon's legs and it fell hard against the ground creating a small tremor.

"Hey, boss, careful, trying to work here." Sten called out.

"Shut up, Sten, what are you doing over there while we're doing the fighting?"

"Katt, he's going to break the dam, Ryu, will we have enough time to escape?"

"**NOO,"** the queen screeched out **"You will not drown my children..."**

"Damn, it can understand us?" Sten said.

The queen started crawling over to where Sten had placed the bombs and snapped at him, but the Highlander was quick to move away. "They're set, we better get moving people."

Moments later an explosion was heard and the rocks were destroyed in a blast of fire. The water began rushing in, but the queen placed herself as a barricade in the tunnel. **"My childrrreeeennnnn!"** it screeched, but as the water hit her, it seemed to burn the demon's body.

Ryu had already made it to the entrance and picked up the child they rescued. "This way, hurry, I don't think we have much time." He worried for a moment the queen would have stopped the flow of water coming in, but steam was appearing behind it, and soon torrents of water were pushing past. The four of them ran up the twisting tunnel as the water flooded around their feet, but suddenly Ray appeared there.

"Excellent, you defeated the monster I take it?"

"No time for small talk, priesty." Sten blurted out to Ray's disapproval "The dam's been broken, we're about to be flooded in."

Nodding, the priest stepped forward towards the way they just came and summoned a wall of magic energy just as a tsunami came at them. "It's not over yet, I can hold this off for a short time, but there are still villagers trapped down here, please help them."

Nodding Ryu and his friends ran through the tunnels created by the Creon colony. A few were homes of some of the demonic insects, but some had been occupied by the townspeople, only they were working to carve out a tunnel for some reason. As they came face to face with them they discovered why. A parasite looking like a small version of the Creon attached itself to them and seemed to be controlling the people.

"Be careful" Nina said softly "destroy the parasite, and we'll be able to save them, but they'll fight back until we break the parasite's control."

Trusting that she knew what to do, Ryu slashed the smaller Creon creatures off with his sword, Katt knocked one off another townsperson with a precise swing of her staff, Sten had an easy time stabbing just the parasite without touching the person it latched itself too and Nina was able to burn them off with a small fireball. In a few minutes they had rounded up everyone they could find in the tunnels and guided them up the ladder, then went back to find Ray.

The priest looked to be struggling; holding off such a force of water was showing as he was breathlessly fighting to keep the shield up. "Have...you rescued...the villagers?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, they are already out of the well." Nina answered him "You're barely able to stand."

He smiled at her. "Well, I'm about at my limit, It will break a few seconds after I stop maintaining the spell, I don't think that will be enough time."

"We'll just have to make due, you guys get a head start, and I'll help Father Ray here." Ryu told them.

In seconds Katt, Sten and Nina had gotten a bit of a start. Ray stopped his spell and Ryu grabbed hold of him and helped him move as fast as he could. They weren't able to make it too far before the torrent of water reached them.

* * *

><p>Soaked, the five of them stood back in town. They didn't make it far before the tunnel was flooded, and they had to swim as hard as they could to avoid hitting the walls from the force of the water. Gasping for breath, they reached the mouth of the well and were helped emerge quickly by the townspeople who showered them with gratitude once they were all out.<p>

Once he had recovered, Father Ray also thanked them for their help. "I am grateful you four showed up when you did. As appreciation for your help I would like to bestow upon one of you a spell to make your future journey easier. Please discuss it amongst yourself and come back to me when you've decided." He walked away from them towards the inn where the innkeeper offered them free lodging whenever they visited.

"A spell, what do you think he'll teach us?" Katt asked hopefully.

"Seeing as how he's a priest of St. Eva Katt, I assume it will be a spell for healing." Nina replied. "I think I'll pass, healing magic is not my speciality, and as I'm not a follower of St. Eva, I wouldn't feel comfortable accepting it."

"Oh, a healing spell, it might be useful, but I don't want it either." Katt replied after she answered.

"I say never look a gift horse in the mouth, but, if you want it boss, it's all yours." Sten told them.

Ryu, like Nina didn't feel comfortable accepting Father Ray's blessing, and after discussing it with his friends, they politely declined his offer. Looking a little disappointed, Ray accepted their answer regardless.

Now that the town was safe, Ryu asked the townspeople for any information on the thief they had come in search of. It seems that she had passed through here recently, but had boarded the ship going to the western continent, and it wouldn't return for another week. Falling a week behind, when they finally would reach the other continent, it would be difficult to catch her trail again.

They spent the night at the inn deciding what they would do the next day.

* * *

><p>Captaina Inn – 1 am<br>Nina's perspective.

Everyone had already gone to sleep, but I was having trouble drifting off. It had been an interesting day, I never expected when I left the Magic Academy that I would be travelling with a group of heroes, or find a group that accepted me for being me, and not seeing the black wings. Katt, and Ryu, they seemed to already make me feel welcome in their group, and I can't thank them enough, especially after what happened in Windia.

I already feel like I'm coming out of my shell around them, and look forward to seeing a new continent soon. I'm still trying to figure out Sten, he seems to have secrets of his own, but I can't say I fault him for that, some people have had a painful past, and he seems to be one of them. He has taken to Ryu, calling the Ranger, boss, which is cute. He quickly got over flirting with Katt and I after that beating she gave him, but I don't' think he was really interested in us anyways, I think a lot of what he does is acting, but I'm not sure why.

The people of Captaina are incredibly grateful to us, and it feels good to have accomplished something that helped many people without ulterior motives. Ryu seems to be the type of guy that does that a lot, maybe that's why we were drawn to following him.

I decided to go downstairs for a short walk when I came across another person that couldn't sleep the priest who had joined us here, Father Ray. He was sitting at the table downstairs as though waiting for me.

"Hello, Nina. I was hoping to have a chance to talk to you." This surprised me a little, as I didn't really think the two of us had anything to discuss.

"Hello Father Ray, what can I do for you?" I replied.

"I wanted to talk to you tonight to discuss what I can do for you, or us, the church of St. Eva." He began. Listening carefully he continued. "I have been keeping an eye on Ryu, and you since I first met the Ranger in Corsair and there is something unusual about him that I'm sure concerns the Head Priest. Though I think he is not a threat, I wanted to make you an offer."

"I'm sorry, I am not a follower of your religion, Father Ray, what reason could the church have to offer me anything?" I asked him. I had an idea where he was going, at the school, Yogi knew people that possessed magic talent would be trying to collect me, to make me a pawn of something bigger, and I could sense that this man was one of the types that saw not me, but what my power represented.

"Perhaps, acceptance by your people," he said to me. I was shocked, it was not the answer I expected from him, and for a moment I was intrigued. Being accepted in Windia was something I wanted, to rejoin Mina there, no longer be an outcast, but...

"I see I caught your attention. Yes, I know about you, Nina. The curse of the black wings I believe it's called is it not. Hated by the people for what they believe you represent, we could make that go away, much more than the simple glamour you yourself used, we would like to help you become a part of the Windian kingdom once more, in exchange for a small favour."

I was silent, thinking things through at this offer. It was hard to say it was something that I didn't want, the looks on everyone's faces because of my wings. Yet, how was it really any different from what occurred just a few days ago. Yes, it was a great desire, to walk through Windia, but it was all a lie, whether I was merely disguising myself, or St. Eva had somehow managed to do whatever they would to accomplish the goal. After a moment, Ray assumed that I was still conflicted, but my mind had already been made up.

"St. Eva's word is spreading, we seek to unite the people under a single peaceful goal, yet the King does not want a church in his kingdom. Several ambassadors have been to visit him to try and show him our peaceful ways, but he is reluctant. If we were to convince your people to accept you, all we would ask in return is the right to construct a simple temple there for people to come and pray to."

His words, though they held what was something I did myself desire, seemed as though they had some hidden purpose. Looking into his eyes, I noticed an almost impatience, eagerly seeking my answer, for it to be one that he could benefit from. "I appreciate your offer, Father Ray, and as much as it is something I have dreamt of, it is unfortunately something I cannot accept." For a moment his eyes flashed in anger, but in the blink of an eye he reverted to his calm visage. Twice today he had been refused by us, first with his offer to teach one of us a blessing, and now his path to Windia through me was being closed.

"I do think that St. Eva may have the power to change the people's minds about me, about what they see, and I can tell now that you were aware of what happened in Windian. Though I do not blame you for the behaviour of the people who lashed out at me, nor will I accuse you of failing to stop what could have happened because it did not bring anything to St. Eva's table, the truth is what is important. Whether you can make me accepted by changing my wing color permanently, or have some other method, either way it is a lie, and until I joined Ryu and Katt, I may have been weak enough to accept it, but I see now that the easy way will not be the one for me."

He was disappointed, but suddenly changed his tactic. "I understand, yet...I cannot feel as though a talented magician such as you could be more help to Aspiria through St. Eva's guidance. Surely you could be doing something more worthwhile then running around with a Ranger and fighting monsters."

"And what would St. Eva have a talented magician such as I doing that would help people more? You agree that our defeat of the Creon queen here has helped everyone in this town, do you not? I'm sorry Father, but I believe that my path is the one I am currently on. I have seen how Ryu helps people from the first time I saw him, he hasn't shown his actions to be self-serving, perhaps that is why the three of us have joined him, and I think you can tell that he has something unique about him too. I must ask you, why have you come to me first and not sought his acceptance to your offer first?"

My words seemed to leave Father Ray with the answer he definitely disapproved of. He put on a kind mask, and I'm sure people would be drawn to accept his offers that would give them what they would want, but there was something about him that seemed a little off to me, he was good at manipulating people, but I would not be one of them.

"I'm sorry that we could not come to a better agreement, Nina Windia. Ryu was never one that we would seek to have joined us, and I must confess myself disappointed that you have chosen to follow him rather than put your faith in St. Eva. I pray one day you will see our ways to be the better choice for you."

* * *

><p>With that, Father Ray excused himself, and I sat alone for a few moments before going to bed. The next morning, we awoke to find he had departed. Ryu, the one who had helped bring us together was talking to an attractive red haired woman when she grabbed hold of his hand and began leading him off somewhere. Katt, seeing this began screaming at him and I felt hurt that he was suddenly leaving with her and ignoring our calls to him, meanwhile Sten just smiled and called out cheers of encouragement to him.<p>

* * *

><p>Well, this chapter took a bit longer. I wanted to try and set up Ray's character a bit to be less of a good guy, and also wanted to work on how I write combat a little better, it took some time because fighting against a foe that is humanoid is easier to plan out than a massive creature that would be able to just crush the heroes. I'll try and get chapters out quickly, but also want to make sure I don't regret the way the story is going.<p>

Thanks for reading so far.

Chris


	9. Chapter 09 The Hidden Power

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Chapter Eight: The Hidden Power 

* * *

><p>Captaina – 8am<br>Katt's perspective

Ray had left the town early, before anyone had woken up, and I noticed Nina seemed almost glad he was no longer with us. We came downstairs, the innkeeper had breakfast waiting for us, which was great, I felt my stomach growling, we hadn't really eaten since before getting here. Captaina was a lot different from when we first arrived, children outside playing, people working the docks to get ready for when the ship we needed came back and stores opened again, eager to give us anything we wanted as repayment for us rescuing them. Being a hero had its perks.

We weren't up for too long when I saw Ryu talking to some redhead that was dressed in a short red skirt and small top, she looked like one of the women I saw in Corsair falling all over the popular fighters, I immediately not like her.

Even from far away I could hear her giggling, and she had her hands all over Ryu, he wasn't like that, why was he still talking to her, I was starting to get angry.

Suddenly she took hold of his hand and was leading him somewhere, and he FOLLOWED her, with a stupid grin on his face. What was he DOING?

"Ryu, come back here!" I yelled to him, but he didn't even turn around, which made me angrier. "Ryu, you better not walk past that building with HER!" Again, he ignored me; Nina looked over at me with a funny look. "RYU, Fine, you're not stopping, you better not be ditching us for that FLOOZY!" Again, he ignored me; I can't remember being this angry. After all we had been through, she flirts with him a bit, and he leaves us...I didn't think Ryu was such an idiot, some girl pays him a little attention and touches him and he follows her like a stupid puppy.

Nina stood beside me, looking shocked, but I was just so mad. "Did you see that, Nina, that dummy Ryu left us for some skank in barely any clothes? She looked at me and was about to say something, but I just grabbed her and started dragging her with me. "Fine, if he wants to leave us here, we'll just go back to the hideout and leave him here too."

One of the sailors agreed to take us south of where Hometown was, after I threatened to beat him, and from there, it wasn't far to find the place Rand and Bow were working on. Boy was Bow going to yell at Ryu next time he saw him, forgetting all about why we were even here to run off with some girl, when he's framed for stealing something.

"No priorities, just goes off and leaves us..."

Nina was trying to calm me down as we sailed across the shore till we came to Hometown, but I couldn't care less about what she was saying, I wanted to hit Ryu the next time I saw him, he'd be in real trouble when he got back here.

* * *

><p>Captaina – 8am<br>Ryu's perspective.

The paladin that we met again in the well was gone by the time we got downstairs. He must not have taken kindly to us turning down his blessing, but since long ago when I found my home changed, I never found myself following the religion. Captaina was back to what I assumed to be normal; children were playing outside, everyone looked happy, I was glad we were able to restore a safe home to these people. Nina, Katt and Sten had taken to exploring the town when I heard a voice next to me.

"Hey there, cutie. I need you to come with me for a moment."

Turning, I felt my face grow hot, a tall red haired woman stood only inches from me. My mind felt fuzzy, but all I could think was how beautiful she was, dressed in a short red skirt that showed off long tanned legs, a top that barely covered her chest and high heeled boots. She ran her hand across my cheek and all I could see was her. Taking me by the hand, I thought I heard something, but it wasn't important as I followed her to wherever she was going.

"Close your eyes, Hun, we're almost there."

Sounds good, I thought as she continued leading me somewhere. I wasn't sure how long we walked, I was just following her, I could only see the inside of my eyelids, but it was her idea, so I listened, opening my eyes when she asked me to close them seemed crazy. I almost tripped over something, but she apologized and kept pulling me along. The sound of a door creaking open, and we were on a wooden floor.

"Okay, you can open your eyes" she said huskily.

Instead of seeing her, a short wrinkled lady stood in front of me. "What the...who are you? What am I doing here?"

"Sana, you did explain to this boy why he's here, didn't you?" the old lady asked.

"Well, granny" she started, and I turned to see her leaning against the door "I saw him in town and figured he was cute, and we needed to test out the spell. Besides, who would have come with me if I told them we needed a guinea pig to try out our experiment?"

"Ah, I see, so you bewitched him. Tsk, tsk, not very honest dear." I heard the old lady say, but I was just staring at the red haired woman who led me here. "Oh well, he'll be our guinea pig anyways."

Her words finally registered with me. "Wait, what?" I asked.

The red haired woman walked up to me. Sana, what a perfect name for her, so sexy...

"It's nothing, we're trying out uniting, you and I..." she leaned near my ear "We'll become one...and all that" she finished stepping back.

"Sana, stop flirting with him, you're going to give the boy false dreams." She told him.

She grabbed my hand again and pulled me a few feet. "Now, stand here, darling, and we'll begin." She whispered. I just nodded, vaguely noticing the large circle filled with symbols beneath me. The red haired woman stood a few feet away and blew me a kiss, and again, I felt my face feel warm.

The old lady was muttering something, and suddenly Sana was bathed in light, then the same light surrounded me too.

* * *

><p>I felt a roar tear from me. Power was exploding within me. My hands were no longer human, they were much larger and looked like scaled claws, and I felt something moving on my back near the shoulders. My senses were heightened, I could hear the old lady and the woman, Sana calling out, but they sounded far away. The house we were in suddenly seemed too tiny. It felt very warm in here, and for the first time I saw there was fire all around, I had to get out of here, the two of them had already run out the door. I started trying to follow, but instead of going straight, I went straight up, higher and higher I raised, my wings carrying me effortlessly. It wasn't just the house that was on fire, she had led me to a cabin in the woods, and everything around was set ablaze. I must have been in the center of it, but didn't feel anything, though my wings had safely carried me away...wait, I didn't have wings...<p>

* * *

><p>The old lady and Sana stood before me. Somehow I didn't feel the urge to mindlessly follow her around now, sure she was attractive, but my head didn't feel clouded anymore. I felt differently, like I was suddenly stronger than I had ever felt.<p>

"By Ladon, Sana, who would have ever guessed, he has the power of the dragon!" she squealed in excitement.

She walked over to me. "When I tried to join with you, I was driven off. Against the power of a dragon clansman, our shaman power is worthless."

"I thought they had all been wiped out" the old lady stated.

The two of them excited about something, but I looked past them. Their home was a charred ruin, along with a great area of forest around it. Was it because of me? Was it because of what they had released within me? Had this burned area been the act of me losing control of something? They were still talking about me as I looked at the damage that I caused, and a moment later they were quiet, the woman who lured me here standing next to me.

"Granny, look at our home, where are we going to live now?" she asked.

The old lady was still looking at me, a strange smirk on her visage. "Who cares about that, we have the power of the dragon with us now."

What was she so excited about? I had destroyed their home, and found out I could be capable of such destruction when I lost control, but she was happy about it. I looked around, suddenly realizing that Katt, Nina and Sten were nowhere near here, Sana had led me away from the town and left my companions behind. The thought that I may have just left them caused me to turn around, Captaina lay in the distance, and I had not even realized I was led so far from it.

"You're not leaving are you?" the old lady spoke. "I helped awaken the power of the dragon within you; you'll at least offer us a new house in return for that won't you, seeing as how you accidently burned ours to a char."

I was about to mention that they were almost as much to blame as I was, but Sana turned towards me with a bright smile. "Yes, we need a new house. Nothing too spectacular, it just needs to have a soft bed...and a roomy bathroom, a loft to relax in...Hard wood floors, a nice balcony, a garden..." at this point the old lady looked sternly at her granddaughter "oh, and a room for our Joining experiments. That's all we need" she finished.

I didn't really have a house for the two of them; the most I could offer was to maybe stay where Bow was hiding out. The woman seemed disappointed, she wanted something luxurious, but I had never been wealthy, I had some money saved, but it sure wasn't enough to build them a house. Though looking down, they agreed when I offered to take them there and see what I could do, hoping that Niro would be willing to accommodate them, though I was sure he wouldn't turn a girl like Sana away. Soon we were walking back to Captaina, yet when we arrived, I found that all three of my friends had disappeared. A man approached me looking a little shaken and told me what happened.

Katt had apparently yelled for me to come back when Sana was leading me away, but I must not have heard her. He said she was furious about that, and made one of the ship's crew take them across the sea to some place south of Hometown. I knew where he was talking about, but he continued. Katt had threatened to turn his face different colors if he didn't set out to take them where they wanted to go within minutes...It clearly wasn't good news to me, and he looked sympathetic, Katt was probably difficult to calm down when I next saw her, and I expected Sana to feel somewhat guilty, but she was just smiling devilishly at me.

There was another ship here, but it would be setting off someplace else, so I would have to walk back, with two new companions in tow. It would probably take at least 3 days to get back to Niro's town; hopefully by then, the fiery coliseum fighter would be reasonable.

* * *

><p>On the way back, I was starting to learn a bit about the two of them. The old lady was Sana's grandmother, I knew already, but she also had many other grandchildren that were living around Aspiria. They came from a long line of Shamans. Shamans are in tune with a specific element, in Sana's case, fire. They have no magic, they are just in tune with that element, and in some cases can control it a little, but she would never be able to cast spells like Nina or another magician.<p>

For years, the old lady had been working on a way to combine the power of a shaman with that of another, they would perform this 'Uniting' and could allow two Shamans to bond with a host to unleash hidden powers within that person. It wouldn't work for just anyone, the person that would be playing the host to this Shaman's power needed to have some sort of hidden power already; they had to be a clansman of some sort.

It was sounding like an unstable form of magic, the old lady was saying the combination could increase a person's magic or strength, and in some cases even change their appearance, but for some reason certain clans were unable to use this branch of magic, they were ill suited to share their power with another, the Dragon Clan being one of the few she could think of.

As the first day passed, the old lady who had finally told her name, Mara, but she preferred just to be called Granny began asking me questions about the Dragon Clan. She seemed very curious as to how I suddenly appeared again when she said my clan was supposed to have died out long ago. I had nothing I could tell her, not having known about them myself, and soon she gave up her questions.

It was a pretty uneventful journey to Niro's home, Sana was watching me curiously throughout the trip, and Granny as she preferred to be called was thinking about what kind of house she wanted when we got there, I just hoped that Rand and Bow would not be too upset at giving a new task.

* * *

><p>Niro's Town – 2pm.<br>Nina's perspective.

We arrived at the home Katt was talking about by shortly after noon. Taking a boat cut what had taken days to travel down to only a few hours, and the way she described it, I was expecting a shack that would be cramped with us joining the other people here. What we came to was nothing of the sort, the house that Katt said was falling apart had been rebuilt to be an impressive 4 story apartment with a very nice living room, dining room, kitchen and even a library, though that was empty at the moment. The people here had been busy, a nice Grassrunner clansman and a Shell clansmen had done all this, and for some reason the Grassrunner was expecting Ryu to have returned with more people.

Bow Plainsrunner as he introduced himself was Ryu's partner in the Ranger's guild. I had seen him travelling with Ryu many times, but never knew his name as I usually just watched the town from afar. He was a kind person, and seemed to already have met Katt, they had an almost brother and sister type relationship, bickering at each other from the get go, though for the first day it seemed kind of tenuous, Katt still being furious at Ryu for running off with the red-haired woman. I admit, I found it kind of disheartening as well, I think I was starting to feel attached to him, but had not moved past the point of companion at all.

The other man who I assumed had done much of the more laborious work was named Rand. I had seen a few of the Shell clansmen passing through Hometown, but this man was bigger than any of them. When we first entered he was carrying two massive logs all by himself, they would have probably taken a few people to carry. He was very strong, but quite nice as well. Katt seemed to have a strange relationship with him as well, and when I thought about it, I was the only one she hadn't taken to hitting...well, me, and Ryu for some reason, though when we saw him next, I had a feeling that may change.

The apartment was not the only addition, the two had started work on a smaller house not too far from it, which Bow was telling me he wanted to be for Ryu and him to live in, and start his own Ranger's business. When Katt was telling him that Ryu had forgotten he was chasing the thief who framed him, she was expecting him to be as upset as she was, but he gave her a grin similar to what Sten was wearing when Ryu walked off with the red-head, a grin that said 'good for him'.

While we were there, they had us helping out with the construction. I had no experience with this kind of work, and wasn't used to this sort of physical labour. Soon I was covered in sweat, though having done very little, being a magician was hard work, but it was more about having a strong will then being strong. Katt on the other hand was very athletic, she didn't even seem tired, but she had no experience with constructing a building, and many times we'd hear 'oops' from her, followed by Rand shaking his head at her. Sten, he seemed to have more of a knack for destruction than construction, and Rand put him to work gathering wood and other materials for us.

Though it was hard work, and I felt I was little help compared to the others, it was actually fun, Katt worked with me often telling jokes and seemed a lot more cheerful than when we first got here. It was three days later that Ryu returned, and Katt immediately became angry again when she saw that the woman who lured him away was still with him.

"Ryu, you ditch us to run off with this tramp, and then you bring her here? You have some explaining to do!" Katt yelled at him. Ryu just scratched the back of his head as though he was trying to think of what to say, but fortunately, or unfortunately for him, the red-haired woman stepped forward before he could.

"Aww, don't be upset with the poor boy," she told him, "I just needed him for a moment, nothing to be jealous of, kitty. Few men can say no to a girl like me...but, we're here because Ryu here burned down our house, and he owes us a new one."

For a moment, I wasn't sure if Katt was going to hit her, but then she clutched her sides laughing. "Oh, Ryu, you burned down their house? Way to make a first impression."

We all joined Katt laughing at the poor Ranger, and his face turned red. Yet, as we were laughing, I looked over at him, something seemed different since we parted in Captaina, I couldn't tell what though.

Bow pulled him off, but I chose to follow as he began giving Ryu a tour of the Niro's new home. "I had a feeling after you showed up with Rand and the Woren that you'd probably be joining up with a few more people along the way...That Nina seems like your type, much more than Katt does." Apparently they didn't know I was behind them, and I felt my face get a little red. "So, Rand and I have been working pretty hard, he's shown me a lot so far and there are plenty of rooms upstairs here for anyone you meet. They're bare now, but everyone can pretty much pick the room they want and put whatever they like in there. For us though, buddy, I started setting up an office, I figure it's time we started branching out from the Ranger's guild, if we get a few jobs from people like Mina, we won't be getting a small cut, we'll get the whole enchilada, and be set."

Ryu looked like he wanted to interrupt, but Bow kept going, leading him back outside. "This, buddy, this'll be where we're staying." He said pointing at the house we were working on. "it's not finished, but, just picture it, running our own adventure business, travelling Aspiria, maybe we could convince Sophia to work for us once you find the thief and I'm clear."

"Uh, Bow" Ryu began "I kind of promised that I'd help them find a new place to live since I burned down their home when...when I was there." Ryu looked like he was started to say something, but changed his mind. "I know you probably worked hard on that house, but would it be all right if we let them live there now? I kind of owe them a favour."

The Grassrunner's mouth fell open. Clearly this was the last thing he was expecting, he had been talking the last couple days about maybe hiring a few of us once he got the business started, though none of us were really keen on him being our boss. "But, buddy...oh, darn. I guess so; it's just that I worked hard on that place. All right, I guess, you do owe them, and I can't really say no when they're homeless...I guess I can take one of the rooms in Niro's place for now while we build up a new office...or, maybe I'm going about this wrong."

"What do you mean, Bow?" Ryu asked him.

"Well, I was thinking since you said we should give them the house..."

"That was 10 seconds ago." I interrupted

He looked over, surprised to see me finally. "Oh, yeah, well. We built up a big mansion for Niro, and everyone, and got a new house built up, maybe we should keep going; I think we could set up a new town here. Niro was saying that years ago, this place used to be a town, it could be again, with me as the mayor."

I was getting the impression Bow came up with ideas like this often, but rarely followed through with them, at least from the impression I was getting from Ryu nodding along with him. Although, it seemed that he did have something here, this place could probably be turned into a small village with a bit more work. A few minutes later, I decided to wander away from them when Ryu said they better go tell Sana and her grandmother they could have the house. I wanted to go rest for a bit, and thought if I was welcome to stay here, it was time to pick a room. No sooner had I walked into the common area of the apartment had Katt approached me.

"Can you believe him, Nina, bringing her here? He probably doesn't think he did anything wrong, and that sleazy monkey just keeps saying good for him, even Rand can't keep his eyes off her." I could tell that she had worked herself up again, for some reason she was alright with me here, but didn't like the completion of another woman here. "Hey, Nina, aren't you mad at Ryu too?" she asked me after there was silence for a moment.

"Katt...I don't think Ryu is interested in her, I really think he's just trying to make up for burning down their house." I said, trying to convince myself as much as her. She eyed me suspiciously for a moment, and then took my hand.

"Who cares, he's a doofus anyway. Let's go see your room, I already picked mine, it's at the top, that way we don't have to worry about the boys accidently wandering into our rooms by mistake, they have no reason to come up to the top floor, and you can have the one next to me." I soon found myself being dragged by her, and up the four flights of stairs we went quickly, and I was out of breath trying to keep up with her.

There were four rooms here, two on each side of the hallway. I hadn't really seen in here yet, we slept in the common area after working all day, but Rand and Bow had done a fantastic job. At the Magic Academy, my room was small, just enough room for a bed, desk and bookcase. This room was big enough for me to fit ten of those in there. A large bed at the far right left corner, the wall had a bookcase built in that could have stored everything I had in there easily, the one in Hometown was quite small, and the desk on the left side was massive. I was speechless.

"Oh my god, Katt, this is beautiful. Are we really all given a room like this?" She just nodded at me.

"They did a good job here; it was probably mostly Rand, that Bow guy seems kind of lazy. I figured this could be your room, and I'm right next door."

For only working for a week or however long they were here, they accomplished a lot, Katt's room was equally as nice, though I could tell she was less interested in filling it with books and more interested in putting more dangerous stuff up on her wall. After giving me an idea that she was planning on setting up a few combat dummies in her room for practice, and some animal skin rugs, she showed me the bathroom. Clearly she had chosen this floor for the bathroom mainly, it was massive, several large showers, a big hot tub, nicely tiled floors; it was very fancy for being in a town that not long ago was ruins. Even the carpenters in Windia would be impressed, I wanted to ask how they did so well so quickly, and after Katt finished showing me around, we went back downstairs to find Rand and Bow upset about something.

"I'm not your personal carpenter, old lady." Bow said to her. "That was going to be my house, but you got it, how about a thank you?"

Sana had moved close to him, and he seemed to be tongue tied now. "Please, Mr. Carpenter, we just need a few small changes if we're going to live here, Granny needs a special room if we're going to turn it into a Uniting center, and I need a nice place to sleep, surely you don't want me to sleep in a boy's room?" she said playfully playing with the hair on his chest. Bow stammered looking very flushed. Clearly this woman enjoyed using her body to get what she wanted, and I, like Katt had started to dislike her.

"Well, yeah, I...yeah, we can do that for you...what's a Uniting center?" he said trying not to be caught staring at her chest. They began trying to describe what they wanted, Bow looking more and more confused, but agreeing anyways. Sana was getting giddy when he said he'd do whatever he could to make her happy and soon she skipped off to the house to tell her grandmother. Katt and I walked over to him, and she punched him in the shoulder to get his attention.

"You dummy, do you even know what you agreed to? What were you thinking agreeing to build her six rooms, and a spell chamber..?"

"I didn't...what, she didn't ask for that!" Bow said his eyes wide.

Katt sighed exasperated at him. "Were you even listening to her?"

At that moment, Rand walked out of the house where Sana and her grandmother just entered. "Bow, I think I need to have a word with you about what you told our new guests..."

* * *

><p>Though Rand was annoyed, he didn't seem to fault Bow much, Sana seemed to have a way to get men to do exactly what she wanted, and when he tried to go tell her he couldn't build a Uniting room, he came back a little while later saying he agreed to it as well. They needed some help though since the directions for it seemed complicated, and Sten said the people of Captaina would probably be glad to help after we saved their town, and he overheard that several carpenters had businesses there.<p>

It was agreed that we would head back there the following day to ask them for their help building our new town, and then the topic came up what we would call it.

"Niro City" the old man Niro nominated. No one seemed to think it was a good idea, but I don't think he had really expected us to.

After several of us tossed out names, "Corsair" already taken, Katt, Ryu came up with the name "New Haven" which everyone seemed to think suited it, it sounded welcoming. We would be leaving early the following day, and slowly everyone began heading up to bed until it was just Ryu and I sitting at the table, the room lit by a few lamps and the fireplace. It had been the first time I had been alone with him since we were in Corsair, and he seemed distracted.

"Is something wrong, Ryu?" I asked him after a moment

"Of course not, Nina, I'm just thinking, we've done well here, a new home for everyone that felt lost, and even a new place for Sana and her grandmother after they lost their home because of me. It's good, I really think people will be happy here, how many people can say they helped to create a village, I'm proud of Bow and Rand."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that. How did you manage to burn their house down accidently? I feel that you're not telling us everything." I watched him carefully. There was something different about him since he returned, and he didn't seem like the careless type, burning down a house was not something that usually happened because someone tripped.

"Something happened. When they performed the uniting, I felt something awakened in me, I'm just not sure if it's something that I can deem good or bad, I guess only time will tell. I think I lost control though, and that's something that I'm not comfortable with...I don't like that feeling."

His answer seemed to be plaguing his mind with questions. "There is something different about you, I've noticed, Ryu. You seem stronger...tougher somehow. I noticed it when you returned; you have a different aura about you. Try not to worry; I don't think you would hurt anyone if that's what is on your mind." I placed my hand over his comforting, and he smiled at me. "Well, I think we should head off to bed, we have to clear Bow's name still, and we want to make it back to Captaina in time for the boat to arrive." I stretched my arms and wings, and bid him good night, then went up to the fourth floor. "One last thing, Ryu... Has bow mentioned how they were able to do all this? It seems pretty impressive for a repairman and someone who had no previous experience building a house."

"I was curious about that too, Rand said they received some help from a secret sponsor, even he doesn't know who, but some people showed up with a bunch of supplies to help, and then disappeared a few days before we arrived. He had no idea who they were; they just dropped off a few things and set up the plumbing for us, then were gone the next day. Bow said they insisted the top floor have the best bathroom though, so I guess you and Katt lucked out."

It sounded mysterious, but why look a gift horse in the mouth they say. Someone had a hand in helping turn the ruined building into a nice home for us, and didn't even want a thank you. I passed Katt's room on the way; she left the door open, but was asleep peacefully. Closing the door to her room, I walked into mine, changed and went to bed as well.

* * *

><p>Author's note: This chapter was mainly about setting up the start of the heroes town. I wanted to give a reason why by the time they went back to the hideout, and a mysterious sponsor seemed to me like an interesting twist. It will probably be playing a part in later chapters, so I just figured I'd start setting it up now. In the game, Ryu doesn't really reveal that he is a member of the Dragon Clan right away, and I wanted him to keep it secret for a bit, but when it's awakened, something does change within him. I also plan to give the shamans more of a role in the story than being just power ups to a few characters, when they unite with someone, I think it has to play some kind of role.<p>

Anyways, hope that you're enjoying it so far, I'm trying to make the chapters better as I go, and they might take a bit longer starting next week because hours are picking up, but I want to get this story done before Diablo 3 comes out.

Chris


	10. Chapter 10 The Witch

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Chapter Nine: The Witch's Tower 

* * *

><p>New Haven – 10 am.<br>Nina's Perspective.

The following day, Ryu, Katt, Sten and I were prepared to head back to Captaina. This time, Rand joined us, he had done more than his share in helping rebuild Niro's home, and as much as he deserved some time to relax, he wanted to get away from there for a little bit. It would have been faster to take the boat back, but Katt insisted she hated travelling by sea. I found it a little odd since she didn't seem to have a problem with it the other day, but when I asked her, she just said it was because her mind was on other things, mainly what a jerk Ryu had been.

She seemed to not be thinking about that now though as we travelled along the path from Mount Fubi. By noon, we were nearly at the first bridge that led to Corsair. A rather large group of armed guards were inspecting people as they passed, and a wanted poster hung at the outpost with Bow's face drawn on in a mean looking grimace that I felt didn't suit the cheerful Grassrunner at all. A reward for his capture was listed at 50,000 Zenny, whoever wanted him captured meant business, the rich man I heard them talking about seemed eager to get what he lost, back.

One of the guards just held the picture up, looking at it, then each of our faces as we passed, to me it seemed obvious that none of us fit the appearance of the picture, but they seemed to be trying to match it. Finally we were past them after an hour's delay of asking if we knew where Bow was, where we were going and where we came from, all of which Ryu had answered easily, lying about us coming from Hometown though, but telling them we were going north. They didn't think about that much and we were beyond the outpost afterwards.

By nightfall we were at Corsair once again. I guessed the boat would be arriving back at Corsair within two days, and was sure Ryu would want to depart quickly so he could pick up the trail of the thief once more. We split apart again, Katt and I sharing a room, the three boys in another. For some reason my mind drifted to Mina, she had known where to find me before, but if we were crossing the ocean to go to the other continent, would I ever see her again? Maybe after a while, I'll find a way to contact her, with a home at New Haven, I'm sure we would go back there, and I could arrange a visit from her at some point.

The next morning we left early, a bridge covered the gap south of Windia so we didn't have to go near that town, much to my appreciation. Again, we passed the Monster Hunters on the way to Captaina, but this time they seemed in grim moods. Two of their group had vanished the other day, shortly after we passed them; they were working in the woods south investigating an unusual monster sighting, when something came out of the shadows and killed them without even showing itself. Ryu looked like he wanted to help, but before he could offer, they said they were waiting for reinforcements from the Rangers guild to arrive in the evening, and had it covered. Once more, it was evening by the time we reached Captaina, and we were again greeted by grateful villagers. They offered us free lodging at the inn, but Rand and Ryu went off to talk to a few people before they were ready to turn in. Sten was still with Katt and me but he seemed to be looking around the town.

"Missing something, Sten?" Katt asked him after she caught him checking out a pair of young women standing not too far off.

"Hmm? Yeah, I was just checking to see if maybe Sana's sister might be around here somewhere, but no one as hot as she was seems to be here anymore."

At that, Katt wacked him on the head with her staff and walked away in a huff. A silly grin was on his face when he was rubbing the bruise. "So, think she's warming up to me, Nina? Why else would she keep giving me those love taps?" He seemed to think Katt was hitting him out of affection, but I knew it was to keep him in line. A moment later I went off to find her, she was at the docks.

"We're really going across there, aren't we, Neen?" she asked me; though the nickname wasn't one I was fond of.

"Yes, that's why we're here after all Katt."

"Darn" replied after a moment. "I really don't like boats, isn't there some other way we can get across? How long do you think it'll take us?"

"Probably about a day, maybe a little less. Don't worry, Katt, it'll be over before you know it, I'll be here for you." She still looked unsure about the upcoming trip, but was less nervous now.

* * *

><p>The next morning, we weren't the only ones getting ready for a big trip. Rand was telling me when they began looking for a carpenter to undertake the job of building New Haven; all three of them were excited to try their hand at a new project. Three men were commanding several others to load up a new ship and make the preparations to travel to our new home. It was exciting to think that the next time we made it back there, it would look even better, Hometown a distant home in my memory, here I wouldn't have to worry about moving to a town where they may not accept me, I would be among the first settlers there.<p>

They were working in a very organized manner, and before I knew it, the ship was ready and sailing off into the distance. Just afterwards, when the carpenter's ship faded out of sight, another one was approaching from the west. Katt notice it too, and called out to our companions.

"It's come back she said. Ryu, the ship, it's returning."

The dock workers knowing we were in a bit of a rush had the supplies all ready to be loaded. The foreman assured us that it would only take an hour or so, and then we could be ready to go. I for one was excited, as were Rand and Sten, Katt had grown quiet, and I noticed Ryu standing off deep in thought. As I found him in Corsair, he was standing before a statue of the Dragon God again.

"Are you all right, Ryu?" I asked him as I approached. He replied with a simple nod, but I could tell he was hiding something from us. "Well, if you ever need to talk, I'm here for you, you know?"

"Thank you, Nina that means a lot. I'll keep that in mind." With that, I left him to his thoughts, whatever they were, and went back over to where Katt was waiting. She was watching them load up the ship, and with Rand's help they had gotten it done quicker, he was much stronger than any of them and was able to hoist some of the more massive crates onto the ship single-handily.

* * *

><p>The ship was large enough for nearly a hundred people, yet only the five of us, the captain and a crew of ten were on it. They were transporting a great amount of supplies to a place called Namada, but agreed to drop us off at the port town just across the sea. The previous trip did bring a young woman fitting Ryu's description across and dropped her off there as well; she paid handsomely for an early departure, but kept to her room. It wasn't much, but it was a lead on where she had been, and Ryu seemed thankful for the news.<p>

* * *

><p>The Captain's Voyager – 5pm.<br>Ryu's perspective.

Three days, that was how long it would take us to cross to the western continent. The captain of the ship had called this vessel the Captain's Voyager, and had been in charge of it for over 20 years, travelling to and from the continents. He had seen the woman I was looking for, polite he described her, but solitary, she paid a lot to depart quickly and kept to herself during the trip, mainly staying in a cabin below.

I was still thinking about what happened with Sana, of all the friends, Nina was the only one who seemed to know that something had happened. Katt was angry for a while that I was led away by her, but seemed to be over it now when she found out that I was responsible for burning down their home. Rand, Sten and Bow were all just glad I had gotten an attractive woman to stay at the town now, and Sten asked several times if she had any sisters I could hook him up with.

Watching my companions, they didn't seem to have that train of thought, Nina looked pleased to be here, standing at the fore of the ship, or flying up to the crow's nest. It was the first time I noticed she didn't seem to be trying to hide her black wings, spreading them out to catch the air. The captain learned she was a skilled magician and she helped us along by summoning the wind to allow us to move faster during the times it had died down.

Rand said he came from the west when we met, but he never really got to go to this part of the continent, and was interested to see what lay here. Sten had never really been anywhere near here, telling me that Windia was the furthest he'd been from his hometown. Katt didn't talk to any of us during the trip really, she slept below at night, and during the day she stayed near the mast, holding on to it tightly. Nina told me it was because she really didn't like travelling by sea, obviously, because she was looking a little green. A few people tried to get her to eat something, but she refused after the first day because it just came back up on her.

A storm the second night only made things worse for the poor Woren. Heavy winds and lightning rocked the boat a lot more, and below the deck Katt was hiding out in the bathroom while the rest of us watched the storm through windows below the deck. It passed uneventfully and shortly after sunrise on the third day we reached land. Katt was the first off the ship kissing the ground happily for a few minutes. The rest of us followed moments later, we had been dropped off at a large beach that had a dock set up for ships, it was, the captain informed us, where he dropped off the mysterious woman we were looking for. As soon as we were off, they bid us farewell and the ship was on to its next destination.

After a few more minutes, Katt got up and reverted to her normal cheery self. We walked along the beach; just past it was a large forest full of swamps. Even being careful to climb around the large patches of muck, we soon found ourselves dirty and sweaty from the humidity. It reminded me of Tag Woods a little; every so often we came across a dead end and had to backtrack.

"We should have just stayed on the beach" Sten complained. I didn't know what he really had to complain about, he was sitting atop of Rand's shoulders far above the ground. Katt didn't seem to care much about getting muddy, but Nina eventually climbed on my back to avoid the swampy parts. Katt just glanced over every now and then, giving Nina a knowing smile, there was some secret between the two of them.

As we walked through this swampy area, more and more frogs began populating the area. We were almost out when our way was blocked by a massive swamp that we would have to walk through. It came up to my knees, Nina holding tightly on to me as I was the first to lead the way through. Rand followed with Sten on his shoulders and even Katt climbed on the big man as well, but moved as far away from Sten as he could when he gave her a flirtatious look.

"Pardon me, travellers" a voice around us said suddenly in a strange accent. Looking around I didn't see anyone here but the frogs that inhabited this area.

"Did you guys hear that?" Katt asked us as we were all trying to find the source of the voice. We didn't see anything, and a moment later I continued moving through the swamp.

"Excuse me, travellers" it said again. I looked around, and my eyes fell on a nearby frog.

"Are you talking to us?" I asked it.

"No, no, not over there, I am right here, sir" it said. Suddenly the ground beneath me started moving and I lost my balance falling into the swamp, Nina landing behind me. She was not pleased and glared at me as I helped her up, but then looked behind where I stood. Following her gaze, I was face to face with a much larger version of the frog I thought was talking to me. It stood about 6 feet wide and was about the height of Rand.

"Holy crap!" said Katt suddenly. "Is it a monster, Ryu?"

"No, no, I mean no harm, bonjour to you all. I was hoping I could have a moment of your time." It said politely.

"Alright..." I answered unsure what a large talking amphibian could want with us. "Can we help you with something?"

"Ah, how generous of you kind adventurers to offer to help one such as me. I have been here for a few weeks now, waiting for someone like you to pass through here, and voila, here you are!" he was excited. "I was visiting the beautiful witch to the west of here, she was down and I wanted to do something to cheer her up, and alas, she put a spell on moi. I was hoping that I could met some people such as yourself soon that may go there and ask if she could remove it for me. She is living in the tower over yonder, and I can no longer fit in there, would you be so kind as to do this for me, kind adventurers? I would be so grateful to have my normal form returned to moi."

"A witch cursed you to this form?" Nina asked the large frog "How awful."

"Oh, do not be upset with her, she is just a young witch who has fallen a little off her path. If you just asked her nicely she would probably undo the spell and then everyone would be happy again. It is not far from here, and I would like to be getting home soon. Thank you in advance kind travellers, I look forward to being back to normal. Oh, and where are my manners, my name is Jean, if you were to be helping moi, I believe we ought to be acquainted, do you not agree?"

Each of us introduced ourselves to the large frog, it was unusual as far as the greetings I've had up till this point are concerned, I never expected to be on a first name bases with a talking frog, but after we got the witch to release her curse on him, I supposed it wouldn't seem so strange.

"Very nice to meet you all, ze beautiful Nina, ze fiery beauty Katt, ze strong warrior Rand, ze brave Ryu and the wise Sten. Thank you for your assistance, and good luck, I hope to be able to repay you all soon."

With that, we left the swamp, and luckily for us, just beyond lay a lake we were able to wash up quickly in. If we were going to try and confront a witch that had the power to turn people into giant frogs, it would probably help to make a good first impression, and I could tell Nina was not happy having been dropped into the swamp, she had been covered in mud after I accidently fell. Soon we were on the way. It was not hard to spot the tower Jean spoke of; we could easily see it from where we exited the swamp, standing many stories high, it was a circular building that rose high above the tallest trees.

"Looks like we're in for quite a climb" Sten said to us as he glanced upwards. "Hope you know what we're getting into boss."

I didn't really think we could be asking for a lot of trouble, all we had been asked to do was go ask a witch to remove her curse on somebody, but as I thought that, it occurred to me that lately nothing had been a simple task, finding a thief, going to Corsair, even walking into Captaina proved to provide us with an unusual occurrence, and I'm sure the others felt the same. None the less, we now stood in front of a massive gate at the base of the tower.

Rand stepped forward to open the gate, but then a bolt of lightning struck down, he narrowly avoided it.

"Now now now, it's not that easy to enter my chambers. I'm looking for someone a little cuter than you big boy. Come back some other time."

Sten stepped forward. "I know I'm cuter than old Rand here is, let me give it a go, big guy. She sounds like my type, really cute." He said patting Rand aside and trying to open the gate."

"Tsk tsk, I said I wanted someone cuter, I don't like hairy boys, shoo, shoo monkey, shoo."

Katt ran forward and started pounding on the gate. "Let us in you witch, we have to talk to you about Jean. You can't just go around cursing people whenever you like!"

The witch didn't seem to be listening to her. "I don't like girls, go away, kitty cat."

Nina tapped me on the shoulder and pointed at an orb, she must have figured out that was how she was able to see down here. "Ryu, stand in front of the orb, I think...she'll think you're cute enough." Nina said to me turning away quickly. "Then we can go talk to her."

Katt glanced over and then grabbed me by the arm and dragged me in front of the gate. A moment later the female voice spoke again. "Mmm, very nice, I like this one you brought me, but are you just a pretty face I wonder? I'll have to test you a little to make sure you're worth my time, cutie."

The gate opened up and a large man with a pig snout and heavy armour came out brandishing an axe at me. I drew my sword. The guard she sent at me was slow and clumsy, and soon lay unconscious on the ground. "Impressive, I think I'll have fun with you, my boy. Come on in, I'll be waiting upstairs for you, don't disappoint me."

The gate now open, Katt was the first to walk past me. "Guess keeping you around is starting to have some benefits, Ryu. But, you had better not think of running off with this floozy, or I'll be really mad this time." Rand, Sten and then Nina followed leaving me to take up the last spot. Inside, we found ourselves in a large open room, a platform built at the back stood a young boy about fifteen or so standing between two statues. They looked to be of young men as well, but very lifelike. The boy in the middle almost seemed scared of something. Sten approached him, and he backed away.

"You shouldn't be here, it's not safe. If she isn't happy, she puts a spell on you, it's only a matter of time before she changes her mind and curses me..."

"Now now, I hope you're not telling my new toy anything bad about me, are you?" the witch's voice echoed around us. A moment later a beam of light surrounded the boy and seconds later he had turned into a statue.

"Oh no, Ryu, she really is a witch." Nina said. She touched the statue for a moment. "He's still warm; do you think these two were people as well, before she turned them to stone?"

I just nodded, it was obvious that despite Jeans assumption she may just be misunderstood, she seemed to think nothing of just doing what she wanted. Hopefully a short word with her would make her see the error of her ways, but would it be that easy?

The tower was a bit of a maze, winding paths eventually led us to the staircase leading up, but soon we began coming across puzzles blocking our way, a riddle had to be answered correctly or a large golem would not move out of our path, sometimes a lever opened one gate and closed another, it took a little experimenting, but soon we had passed that little obstacle as well. A few more of the strange pig men as we proceeded through the witch's home, they weren't very good fighters, and Sten said something about them just being here as servants for the beautiful witch.

"How do you know she's beautiful? She could be as ugly as that floozy Ryu brought home."

"Trust me, with a voice like that, there's no way she's not a ten. And besides, you're just mad she easily took your boyfriend's attention."

Sten jumped out of the way as Katt swung at him. "Ryu is not my boyfriend, shut up Sten, if you know what's good for you."

"Come on guys, now isn't the time to be bickering; we've got a job to do." Rand told them strictly. Katt stuck her tongue out at him causing Nina to laugh quietly, but accepted what he said.

I think we were at the top floor finally when Sten called out to us. "Hey, Ryu, over here a sec, boss." He was standing in front of a statue of a woman that looked familiar. "Think this girl looks like Sana? You don't think she came here too, do you?"

It did look a lot like Sana, but she was in New Haven, probably flirting with a few of the carpenters to get them building a fancy room for her, but I had to admit, it looked an awful lot like her. "It looks like her..." I said, avoiding both Katt and Nina's glare, "but, I think it's just a statue, she couldn't have followed us here."

Sten tapped on the statue's chest when Katt grabbed him and threw him forward. "Up front, monkey, we don't have time for you to ogle the manikins, keep going."

Sten was the first to enter the room, a large bed near a fire place, several more statues lined the wall of the room and red carpeting covered the floor. In the center standing by a large crystal orb on a golden stand was the witch. She was dressed similar to how Sana had been, tall black high heeled boots, a short skirt and tight top that revealed a lot of skin. She also wore pointed witch's hat and her long red hair hung down. Sten's mouth immediately hung open. "Oh, baby, told ya she was hot, Katt, told ya."

"Sten, shut up!"

The witch walked up to us, moving her hips as she walked, she seemed to enjoy causing men to stare at her, and for Sten it was working. She moved right past him, and stood in front of me. "Ah, you made it up here cutie, good; I was starting to get lonely up here all by my little self."

"Maybe that's because you're cursing everybody, witch!" Katt yelled to her, but the witch ignored her words.

"My name is Nimufu, I've been waiting for a big, strong handsome man to come up to my bedroom, none of the others made it up here before you, they weren't strong enough, but, you are, you cute boy." She placed her hand on the side of my face, the same way Sana had done, but I didn't feel like my mind was cloudy this time.

However, Katt stepped in between us, and I heard Nina tell her to back off. Pushing Nimufu back with a shove, she turned around and slapped me hard. "Get it together Ryu; what's with you and the trampy chicks...geez."

"I thought I told you I wasn't interested in girls, what are you doing in my tower, kitty, and you, Windian...this tower is only for me and the cute boys, not all you riff raff." Katt looked like she was going to punch her, but Nina stepped forward, putting her hand on Katt's shoulder.

"We're only here because what you're doing isn't right." Nina told her. "You cursed the man Jean and left him in the swamp, and how many people have you lured here and turned to stone? You have to turn them back to normal!"

"Oh, feisty little Windian girl aren't you, and why should I do that? What is in it for me? You don't have anything I want girly."

This wasn't going the way I expected. I had hoped she would be reasonable, if we asked her to remove the curse she placed on Jean then we'd be done, I should have known that it was never that simple. The next words out of Nina's mouth shocked me.

"Ryu." She stated simply. "I challenge you to a duel, if you win, Ryu will stay with you, if I win, you release Jean and everyone else here you put a curse on."

_What? She was bargaining for me? This was crazy!_

"Nina, what are you doing?" Katt asked surprised. "You like..." she paused looked at me. "You, are you sure you can beat her?"

Nina just nodded, "It's okay Katt, I know what I'm doing. It will be all right, we'll get everybody back to normal in no time."

* * *

><p>The witch's viewing orb was moved off to the side, two circles appeared magically on the ground when Nimufu waved her hand lazily, she took the one closest to the fire place, and Nina stood in the center of the far one. Each of them drew a few runes within their circle, I didn't really understand what was happening, but Sten seemed to know.<p>

"It's a magician's duel, the objective is to either knock the opponent out of the circle, or render them unconscious." He explained. "I've seen a few of them back home when people were training, each person can chose three schools of magic to use for it, Nina has chosen fire, lightning and wind, it looks like Nimufu has picked water, lightning and dark magic. It's always interesting to watch, but I hope Nina knows what she's getting into, the witch is older and probably has more experience, and with you being on the line...actually it's win-win for you, boss, either you go free, or you spend some time with a sexy witch most people would jump off this tower for."

"I think I'm rooting for Nina to win there, Sten, maybe she should have put you up on the bargain block here. Anyways, what else should I know about this duel?"

"Well, summoning isn't allowed, Nimufu seems like she enjoys using people to do her work for her, so that could have put her at a disadvantage, she might be a bit rusty, and Nina's a very advanced magician from what I saw. I assume she wouldn't have put up this bet if she didn't think she could win, well, we'll just have to watch and see."

Nimufu stood in her circle and a long black staff appeared in her hand, Nina summoned a blue rod the same way.

"It's not too late to just walk away, rookie" Nimufu told her "I understand if you're scared of facing me without your hero by your side."

"You wish!" Nina told her "Shall we begin?"

Nimufu didn't wait, she waved her staff and a ball of blackness surrounded Nina, but seconds later it was devoured by a shield of fire then what looked like blades of wind fired quickly at the witch. She held her staff in front of her and a wall of water appeared in front, the wind blades striking harmlessly against it, but before Nimufu could counter, three arms stretched from the nearby fireplace seeking to grab hold of her, burning her before she was able to douse the flames.

Nina looked confident, she was powerful, and it seemed Nimufu hadn't really exercised her power in a while. She summoned two bolt of lightning that streaked towards the Windian, but she drew them to the rod she held and threw it back at her with more power, three powerful bolts of lightning struck down on Nimufu and broke through her shield of water, giving her a fierce shock. A hurricane formed around the witch's circle, and as much as she struggled to counter, it soon swept her away tossing her hard onto her bed.

Nimufu screamed out in frustration. "Ahh, I'm so beautiful, and the only one who comes to meet me is that stupid FROG. Fine, you win, I'll keep my word," she snapped her fingers. "There, now everyone will be back to normal, now, please just leave me alone. You can change the frog back with a kiss from a girl; his spell was a bit more complicated."

She stood with her back to them after getting out of her bed. "Leave me in peace, please; I'm in no mood for company anymore. You can go out the way you came in."

It was clear the witch was disappointed with having lost, and slowly we departed her chambers. I thought I heard something about her really looking forward to playing with her new toy, but seeing as how the 'toy' she referred to was me, I couldn't feel too sorry she didn't get what she wanted.

The tower was a lot more active now, yet when we walked out of the witch's chamber, a wall appeared behind us. The first person we came across was the woman who had turned into a statue looking like Sana. Now that she no longer stone, it was obvious it wasn't her, but had looked very much like a twin, the only difference being this girl had blue hair, and dressed in a long blue dress and halter top, she revealed less of her body than her sister.

"Oh, thank you, I came to confront the witch a while ago, but she turned me to stone. You broke her spell, and just in time, I think Granny is calling me home."

"Are you and Sana sisters?" Sten asked her quickly.

"Oh, you've met Sana? Yes, we're sisters, we come from a big family, and there are six of us all together." Sten found this news great. "I got to get back to them or she'll be mad."

"They're staying with us now!" Sten told her, "Ryu here burned down your grandmother's home, and had to give her a new one, its south of Hometown."

"Oh, thank you, I would've been confused if I appeared in a new area and it wasn't my home. Well, I must be off, thanks again."

She began casting a spell, and Sten called to her "Can't wait to see you again," before she disappeared in a flash of light.

As we worked our way back down the tower, we encountered a few more of the people Nimufu had turned to stone, some were happy to be getting away from her, but some insisted she wasn't really that bad, and wanted to stay to comfort her now that they were free to move around. It had begun to rain by the time we were outside again, and the swamp had a darker appearance because of it. On the way there, Katt and Nina were arguing about who'd have to give him a kiss, both seemed reluctant to have to give a giant frog a little peck to break the spell, and resorted to flipping a coin.

"I'll take tails, because, I have one" said Katt

"Fine," replied Nina and pulled out a ten Zenny piece. Throwing it up in the air, each of the women held their breath to see what the outcome. When it landed, Katt shouted out her cheer, the tails side was up, she won, and Nina would be forced to kiss the frog.

* * *

><p>"Ah, ze brave adventurers, did you not go talk to ze witch, I am still a frog, you see."<p>

"We just came from there," Katt told him nudging Nina forward. "The way to break your curse is for one of us to give you a little kiss, and Nina here couldn't wait to do it."

"Ooh, ze beautiful Nina wishes to give me a kiss, well, I am here waiting, mon Cheri."

Nina stepped forward, then back nervously. "It's...it's to help someone right?" She had lost the bet to Katt, and now seemed to be really regretting it. "Okay...everybody, turn around, look the other way please."

We all turned around so we couldn't see Nina, but we could hear her still struggling. "Okay, it's to help somebody...anybody would do it since it's to help someone."

"I am waiting, mademoiselle. All it takes is a little kiss, and I shall be back to normal."

We waited. "Okay, here we go."

* * *

><p>Sima Swamp – 6pm.<br>Nina's perspective.

I closed my eyes as I leaned forward. I would get Katt back for this, damn that Zenny piece, I really didn't want to kiss a frog, but I guess she won fair and square. His skin was not slimy, but scaly and didn't feel pleasant, but a second later it was over. I stepped back, and he began glowing very brightly. I had to turn away because the light was hurting my eyes, and suddenly everything in the swamp was foggy.

"Ah, thank you so much, my beautiful Nina, it is good to feel like myself once more. I don't know how I will ever repay you all, but I have an idea, I shall greet you to a delicious dinner at my castle."

We turned around slowly, he was a prince? This was interesting; the witch had turned away a prince that came seeking her company. When we finally got a look at him, I knew why.

"You're...you're a frog?" I stated.


	11. Chapter 11 Identities

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Chapter Ten: Identities 

* * *

><p>New Haven – midday<br>Bow's perspective.

It had sure gotten busy here since the guys from Captaina arrived. Since Rand left, I was kind of lost, not sure what to do. Sana was insisting I start on her Uniting room, telling me how it should be built, but she didn't seem to get I wasn't a carpenter. I agreed that we'd built it how she wanted, but I really had no idea how to even begin.

I was definitely grateful when they arrived, she turned her attention to them, and they had a much better grasp of what she wanted than I did. It had been a few days since the four of them left, and the carpenters had set up homes for themselves and their families, as well as homes for people to move into, and even a warehouse to store food. Some people from Hometown had shown up to look for me here, but luckily Niro was a good guy and didn't tell them I was here, so they left.

Looking around, Ryu and his new companions would be impressed when they saw this place next, it had already turned out to be a great little town, but I knew I couldn't hide here forever, if he didn't find the thief soon, something bad could happen, and I really didn't want to stay hidden for much longer.

* * *

><p>Sima Swamp – midday<br>Ryu's perspective

"You're...You're a frog?" Nina asked him.

"Why didn't you tell us you were a frog man?" Katt demanded.

I think all of us were caught a little off guard, we thought he had been some unfortunate human who ran into some bad luck with the witch, Nimufu, but none of us had expected this.

"Ah, my friends, this is my true form, I am not a frog, I am ze Prince of Simafort, and for freeing me from ze Witch's spell, I invite you all to come with me to my home. My father, ze King and my sister will be very pleased upon my return, and we will have a big celebration for you all. I shall be cooking your meal for you personally."

"What's Simafort?" Sten asked him.

"Ah, wise Sten, Simafort is ze home of my people, we play music, we paint, we dance, we cook, and I would be greatly honoured to have brave guests such as you accompany me to there. Now, shall we be off, adventurers?"

Without waiting for a response, the prince, Jean began leading the way out of this swamp, and south towards a giant lake. Across the shore he went for about an hour till they came to a small cabin with a wooden dock just beyond.

"We have arrived!" he said excitedly

We just looked at him. "This is Simafort?" Katt blurted out "it's just a shack by the lake."

"Ha ha, no, this isn't my home, Simafort, Katt. This is just how we will be getting there; Simafort is in the middle of the lake. It is mostly under ze water, but we do not want to scare away visitors such as yourself, ze ocean doesn't flood our home, it is mostly just the deeper parts of the city where you may have to swim a little. We are an ocean people, you can see ze pillars of my home, just off in the distance there" he pointed far off, and beyond a light fog I could make out the tops of several towers.

"It's in the middle of the lake?" I asked him

"We don't have to go on another boat, do we Ryu?" Katt complained "I thought we got that out of our system when we came over here, we should just stick to land."

"Oh, madam Katt, it is but a short trip, we will be there before you know it." Jean assured her. "Come, come, everyone aboard, we do not want to keep everyone there waiting for us."

Reluctantly, Katt climbed into the boat, followed by the rest of us. "I thought the Manillo clan were the only ones who lived in an underwater city." Nina said to Jean. "At least, that's what I read; I think it will be interesting to see your home, Jean." She looked eagerly towards the city ahead. Katt was quiet for the trip, staying near the center and holding on tightly to her seat.

* * *

><p>Simafort Kingdom<br>Nina's perspective

Jean had been dragged away by a pair of armed guards shortly after we arrived. When we reached the dock he was the first off the boat. Music could be heard as we entered the main part of the kingdom. It looked as though Simafort people were very interested in the arts; music, painting, cooking from what Jean was talking about and sculptures were hung or placed about. This was clearly the gathering place for his clan, everyone here had the appearance of a human-like frog, the Creeping clan I believe they were called from what I read, and they all spoke with an accent similar to Jean's.

He greeted the people as he walked through, and for a few minutes, they were pleased to see him, but that changed when another of their clan approached us wearing a crown and with several armoured guards. The newcomer looked very similar to Jean, but his skin was a much darker color; where Jean was a vibrant green, almost emerald, this man leading the guards had a very dark coloured skin, almost an olive green. He accused Jean of being an imposter.

We all thought it was a joke or something at first, and I think he did too, from the way he seemed to be speaking with the guards. They grappled with him; "Oh, no, what are you up to, oh, you have me in a headlock, this is fun, but we must not be kidding around right now." It was amusing that was, until they dragged him away. The newcomer approached us and introduced himself as Prince Jean.

"Ah, I was afraid this would happen, ze man you brought here told you he was ze Prince of Simafort, did he not?"

"Yes," Ryu answered, "he said he wanted to bring us to his home and thank us for freeing him from the witch's curse."

"He was turned away before for trying to impersonate me, our people do not have a great focus on detail, and that is why they assumed he was the Prince for a moment." He explained to the five of us. "I do not fault you for helping him here, for others have been fooled by his story, but alas, as rude of me as it may seem, I would prefer if you were to depart for now, the imposter has acted up too often, and we must lock him in the jails for a while till he regains his senses."

With that, he had a few of his remaining escort take us back outside towards the docks we just came from. I did not like this Prince Jean much, he seemed cold towards us, but the people recognized him as their ruler, we were really in no position to question him here. The others must have thought the same thing; though Katt was angry we were basically turned around and sent back where we came from. The gate closed behind us and we heard a lock snap in place.

"Well, so much for that" Sten said. "We go through all that to convince a crazy, super hot witch to turn a giant frog back human, turns out he was just a frog, bring him back home, and he ends up being the town's nut job...what a day. Not even any hot women here, eh boss?"

Katt glared at him, but before she could snap at the Highlander again, someone called out to us. Turning around, I saw a female of the Creeping clan approach, she must have been royalty as well, she wore a golden crown similar to the one Prince Jean had on when he had us escorted us out and was dressed in pink dress robes that looked like something a princess would wear.

"You, you are the people that returned Jean here, correct?" she said to us.

"Yes, we apologize for the trouble," Ryu began, but was cut off.

"Do not apologize, the man you returned with is in fact the real Prince Jean, he is my brother. I beg of you, please help me, you helped him to return, but the man posing as the prince is the imposter."

"What? If he were the imposter, surely everyone would see it, just by looking at them." Katt told her. "How do we know you're even the princess?"

She was angered by Katt's words. "I assure you; I am Princess Petape, daughter to King Sima and have lived here my whole life. The imposter has cast a spell over this kingdom, our people, as carefree as they are have always been easily manipulated, and when he had the king convinced he was my brother, all the rest of our people just carried on normally, as though nothing had changed. But, I fear this imposter has a reason for coming here, several people that may have helped me unmask his secret have vanished, and I believe he has a dark plan for our kingdom. Please, you saved Jean and returned him to us, you must help me." She pleaded.

Her words seemed sincere, and it did not seem as though the Jean we helped in the swamp was some crazy man, a little unusual, but certainly not crazy. Ryu had agreed to help her, and she led us to a passage hidden that led to the dungeons.

A guard at the entrance greeted her. "Princess Petape, you are looking lovely as always. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes, Captain Tata, I have come to see the man my brother just locked up, please, which cell was he put in."

"Umm, Princess, your brother gave us an order not to let anyone communicate with him, he said he was going to have him executed tomorrow evening as punishment."

"WHAT?" Princess Petape exploded "On what grounds?"

The guard captain looked uneasy. "He said something about a new law created, anyone challenging a member of the royal family or helping someone to would be put to death. It's a little extreme, and I feel a bit sorry for the guy, he seemed nice. I thought about bringing him some food, they weren't even going to give him a last meal."

"Surely you cannot think this is right, please allow us to speak with him."

The guard captain looked unsure, but finally sighed and agreed. "Of course, Princess, I do miss the ways things used to be, we were never so cruel before. He is just at the end of the hallway and last door on the right. Please don't tell anyone I let you pass, the way the Prince has been behaving lately scares me a little."

The princess lead the way down a long hallway, it was there that Ryu came across a small surprise when passing a caged pit where a young woman with wings was being held.

"That's her!" Ryu stated. "The thief I met in Hometown who took Trout's belongings, excuse me, Princess, how did you manage to capture her?"

"Pardon? Oh, that woman, she was trying to break into the lower treasure room, but managed to get herself trapped, we just recently checked and came across her asleep. The guards found her this morning and locked her up immediately."

"Ugh, let me out of here, you walking toads, this place is INFESTED with bugs, every time I try and sleep, I can feel them crawling on me, it's GROSS!"

"She has been yelling all day, according to the Jailers here, and the imposter is talking about having her executed, the true Prince would never do something as cold as that."

We were standing in front of the cell holding the Jean we brought here when a guard approached us. "Princess Petape, you know that under Prince Jean's orders, he did not want you visiting the imposter here" This guard had a darker look about him, his eyes not having the gentle look of others of his clan we had met, and I felt that he could be trouble. "You'll have to be taken to him, and these associates of the imposter must be dealt with." He drew a spiked mace from his belt but a moment later Rand knocked him out with a single punch.

"Take a nap."

Princess Petape took a set of keys from the unconscious guard's belt and unlocked the cell holding the Jean we brought here. I walked in and was surprised, rather than being chained up or sitting miserably, the Creeping clansman was painting and humming to himself, being locked up having no damper on his cheerful mood.

"Jean...Jean...JEAN!" Princess Petape called out to him and he finally turned around when she shouted at him.

"Ah, hello my dear sister, what brings you here today?" It was almost comical, if the situation wasn't serious, he was acting like he wasn't even in a jail cell.

"Jean, we have to get you out of here, and convince everyone that you're the real you, that imposter is changing things here."

"But, sister, we must not be afraid of change, like the summer changes to the fall...oh, that inspires me to create a new painting." He turned away from us and brought out a new canvas.

"JEAN! Pay attention, he's going to have you executed tomorrow, you cannot stay here. You have to help me prove you are the real Prince Jean and he is the imposter or else..."

"Oh, proving that I am the correct prince is simple indeed, dear sister; only the real Prince Jean has the Royal Simafort ring."

The princess broke out in a wide smile. "OF COURSE! All we have to do is show them you have the Royal ring, and they will know that other man is the imposter, why didn't you do that sooner?"

"Alas, my dear Petape, I do not have the ring on me..."

"What? You don't have your ring, what did you DO, Jean?"

"Ze beautiful witch, she was saddened, and I wanted to make her cheerful, therefore I gave her the ring as a gift to make her happy, but it did not work, she was still sad."

"You GAVE the Royal ring to a WITCH? Jean, what are we going to do? We could have used that to prove you're the true Prince Jean, without it, they're going to execute you, don't you even care?" It looked as though she was close to tears.

"There there, Petape, it will all be alright, please do not cry. Perhaps the new friends here I have made will go ask her for the ring back" he told her pulling the princess into a hug. "Yes, my new friends, would you be so kind as to do my upset sister a favour and go ask ze witch to return ze Royal Ring I gave her as a gift. We would be so grateful to you again if you were to do this for us."

* * *

><p>And that was how we ended up having to go back to the Witch's Tower, she surely wouldn't be happy to see us. Princess Petape had tied up the guard Rand knocked out, and they would be awaiting our return. How we would even get in was a mystery to me, but, when we arrived there, a note was posted on the gate.<p>

_Witch's Gathering  
>Wild Cat Cafe<br>8pm till midnight._

"Where's the Wild Cat Cafe?" Katt asked.

"It's just past the lake, near the waterfall" answered Ryu.

"How do you know that? I thought you had never been here before" Katt said to him.

Ryu just shrugged, yet none of us knew where anything here was, so we just followed hi directions. Beyond the waterfall was a cavern with the sign "Wild Cat Cafe" above it, clearly Ryu had known where it was. We were about to enter when a pair of big men dressed only in black underwear and bowties blocked our path. "Sorry, folks, the Wild Cat Cafe is booked for tonight, only witches are allowed in right now, but we'd be looking forward to your visit some other time." They had a friendly smile, but were clearly not going to allow us in. We turned around and walked out of sight of the two bouncers.

"Ryu, I was thinking" I began. "If it's a witch's gathering, they're probably not going to let us in unless we look like witches. Katt and I will disguise ourselves and find Nimufu; you three can wait out here till we return."

* * *

><p>I didn't think my plan through nearly that well. Katt and I had to ambush a pair of witches as they approached the cafe and after knocking them unconscious, took their outfits. Katt didn't seem to mind much, but I was used to something a little less revealing, it felt like I was wearing almost nothing, the skirt riding much higher than I was used to, and I kept trying to pull it down so I didn't feel so revealed, and the high heels weren't uncomfortable. Katt seemed to find my discomfort almost funny; she didn't have to wear the heels because she never wore shoes.<p>

We had told the boys to wait by the waterfall while we were inside, and I was grateful now, Ryu and Rand probably wouldn't have said anything, they were too polite to, but I figured Sten would probably start making comments to me after seeing me dressed like this.

I was nervous, and worried the bouncer might not let us in seeing as I didn't seem like this is what I normally wore, a short skirt and halter top. Yet, when we got there, the bouncer just smiled at us and waved us in, clearly not recognizing us from before. Inside, there were probably about 30 other witches, all dressed pretty much the same way as we were, though I think we were the only Windian and Woren here, they didn't seem to care much though. A few bouncers were walking around with trays of wine for the customers here, and Katt grabbed one as he passed us.

"Katt, we have to find Nimufu!" I told her "Jean is going to be executed tomorrow if we can't prove his identity."

"I know Nina" she replied "but, we have a bit of time to have fun here, and after spending three days on a stupid ship, I need to unwind a little, we'll find her soon, relax. And, stop looking so nervous, that look suits you." She was still smiling as I tried adjusting the skirt again, it was leaving little to the imagination, and I felt like the bouncers here were staring at me.

"Hey, I've never seen you two at one of these before" a blonde witch said to us as she came over. "Where are you two from?"

"We're...uh, friends of Nimufu, have you seen here around here?" Katt asked quickly

The witch looked at us for a minute. "Ha-ha, that lightweight? She's probably in the back praying to the porcelain god. You can see her later; I think we should introduce you to some of the more popular people here so you're not stuck with that loser for the night."

Katt seemed to be enjoying herself already, no one really cared that we didn't look like we shouldn't be here, they hadn't even thought a Woren and Windian could be witches, but were intrigued by Katt's stories of the coliseum, some of them weren't very adept at magic, a couple were fighters like she was, and at one point challenged her to a short fight.

A circle was drawn on the ground in pink light, and soon the two were in a friendly battle to knock the other out of the ring. Without really trying, Katt won, and the Cafe was filled with laughter, but it suddenly died down when two witches entered in their underwear. I thought at this point we were caught; we wasted a lot of time here, had not found Nimufu and were probably going to be kicked out, if they were even going to let us off that easy.

"There they are, those two ambushed us and snuck in here after stealing our clothes!" a nearly naked witch with black hair yelled. The cafe was silent for a moment, every other witch was looking at the two of us...but then they all erupted in laughter, even the two who we robbed. A round of drinks came from the bar and Katt let the truth out, we were here because Jean had given Nimufu his ring, and now needed it back. Her story brought another round of laughter from the witches, but I didn't join in, it seemed almost cruel the way they were talking about a fellow witch that was almost an outcast in their little group.

Leaving Katt to enjoy sharing stories with her new friends, I went to find Nimufu. As the blonde haired Witch had told us, she was in the bathroom, draped over a toilet. I saw a few people in the Magic Academy suffer the same condition, too much to drink, too quickly for them. I walked over to her and gently woke her up.

"Hello again, Nimufu" I greeted her trying to be friendly.

"Ugh, you," she said tiredly "you're not supposed to be here, this party is for witches...did you come here to make fun of me too?"

"No," I told her "we came here to ask a favour of you. You remember the man Jean, which you turned into a frog."

"Of course!" she snapped. "What does he want now? I already turned him back to normal."

She looked up at me sadly. "He said he gave you a ring when he came to talk to you, but now he needs it back, it's important."

"I don't have his stupid ring, why would I want a ring from some ugly frog? I can do so much better than that thing."

She sounded upset, but I could sense that it wasn't about us appearing again, there was something else going on here. "Please, Nimufu, he needs that ring back..."

"I got rid of the ring. He's just an ugly frog..." at that moment she threw up again. I helped her up when she finished and guided her over to the sink. Tears had started to form in her eyes. "Everyone...everyone thinks I'm such a loser, they all have good looking men chasing after them, so desperately trying to get even a kiss from any other witch here, and I have to trap men just to get them to talk to me. The only one who comes willingly is that crazy frog...Carina, Dolly, Melinda, they all keep telling me I'm going to be alone forever, and they're right..."

I found myself feeling very sad for her. It hadn't been too long ago that I too was feeling quite lonely, the outcast among my own people and a wave of understanding washed over me. Her situation was a little different, they didn't seek to kill her, but words could be almost as hurtful. "Nimufu, Jean, he's a good man, sometimes you have to look beyond the physical appearance. We came here to help him because he's in trouble. The ring he gave you was from the Royal family of Simafort, if we can't prove his identity with that ring, he'll be executed. Please, can you tell me where you put the ring he gave you?"

She looked up at me sadly. "You're lying, no one would ever give me anything that important, are you trying to pull some kind of stupid trick on me too, like everyone else does?"

"Nimufu, it's not a trick, I think that Jean gave you that ring because he wanted to help you feel better about yourself. You don't have to have the best looking man draped on your arm, or the fanciest tower to prove yourself to others, and I know that as much as we may want those things, it won't make us happy to have them. You have to become comfortable being you."

The witch then did something that surprised me; she pulled me into a tight embrace and cried on my shoulder. I wasn't sure what to do, I had never been the one comforting another, but I just hugged her back and it seemed to be enough.

"If Jean is really in trouble, and the ring will save him..." she said, removing her glove "I want to help. You're right, Nina, he was a nice guy." On her hand was a golden ring with the Simafort crest carved into a bright glowing gem, she was wearing it, hidden, it must have been more important to her then she let on. "Here, take it back to him then, and Thank you for listening to me. I'm going to clean up a bit, go get out of here before they find you snuck in here and do something."

"It's all right; Katt is out there keeping everyone entertained. Let me help you." Soon we emerged from the bathroom together and rejoined the gathering.

The party turned out to be quite enjoyable, even Nimufu seemed to be enjoying herself after a little while, Katt had finished off a few more glasses of wine and had assumed it made her a better dancer, several of the witches joining her in a very awkward looking stumble around the Cafe that ended with them all falling down laughing. The food had been good, a little spicy for my tastes, but Katt was apparently more used to it and participated in a little game of trying to see who could eat the hottest things on the menu without tearing up.

By midnight, the two of us were welcome among all the witches for the next gathering, even though we weren't witches, Katt had made several friends among the group, and Nimufu said I could be her plus one for next time, that way we wouldn't have to knock out two witches and sneak in again. When we left, Katt was having some trouble walking, and held on to me for support as I led us to where we told Ryu, Sten and Rand to wait for us. Before leaving however, I changed back into my normal clothes, Katt didn't care, but I didn't want to give them all a free show when we got back.

* * *

><p>Outside the Wild Cat Cafe – 10 pm.<br>Ryu's perspective.

The sound of the waterfall was fairly calming. Rand seemed to have grown bored just waiting for the others to return, and I think he was starting to get a little annoyed with Sten after a while.

"Why couldn't they have snuck us in there too, think of what we're missing you guys, an all girl party, tons of super hot witches all getting drunk there, in short skirts like Nimufu. I should've become a bouncer there, instead of a lousy magician; they're probably having a blast flirting with all the girls there. Hey Ryu, think they're going to hit on one of your girls?"

"I'm not seeing either of them, Sten, they're there to get Jean's ring so we can prove he's the Prince and won't be executed. I don't think they're there to party."

"I don't know, boss, they've been gone for a while now. That Katt looks like she's used to partying, she was the big event at Corsair, right? Nina, she's the innocent school girl type, it'll be tough for her to break out of that shell by the look of it. So, which one do you prefer boss, Nina or Katt? Both are pretty hot, and I think both like ya, but...whoa, what are you doing big guy..."

Rand had picked up Sten and tossed him into the pond in front of them. "Think you better cool off there, Sten. Give it a rest already, this player act you're trying to pull off is getting old."

He quickly popped his head above the water. "You Knucklehead, I can't swim!" he called out to us, but it wasn't deep and he was back on land shaking the water off himself a moment later. Rand just laughed at him, "well, here's your opportunity, keep quiet or you'll be thrown in again."

"Pfft, you only caught me because I wasn't paying attention; big slow guy like you wouldn't catch me normally." Rand took a step towards him. "I'm kidding; I'm kidding, big guy. I'll shut up, okay?"

We sat in silence for a short while, but it was obvious Sten was getting bored. "They sure are taking a while in there, boss" he said, but I ignored him, not taking the bait to allow him to ramble on again, so he began throwing his knives at a nearby tree to pass the time. Rand had curled himself up in a sitting position against a rock and seemed to have drifted off.

A few fireflies lit up the area and eventually Sten wandered off to catch one. It was after he got out of sight I heard someone calling my name. Looking around, I noticed an old man in robes standing by the waterfall beckoning me towards him.

"Ryu, I've been waiting here for a long time for you to arrive." He called out, the sound of the waterfall nearly drowning out his voice. "I see that you have questions, young dragon, perhaps I have some of the answers you seek, come inside if you're ready for them."

Rand was still asleep, Sten was far away now, and I was curious to discover what this man could tell me. Not even any of my companions knew what was awakened when Sana attempted to perform that spell on me, and this man seemed to know or see it. Unhooking the sword from my back, I swam over and walked through the waterfall. It was not what I expected inside, which would have been a simple cave.

Several large book shelves lined the walls, a large bed lie in the center of a well furnished room. The floor was carpeted, weaponry hung above the bookcases and a statue of the Dragon God stood near the back of the room. As I took a step onto the carpet, it was like walking through a curtain, something invisible passed over me, but a moment later it had passed.

"Sit, please, Ryu, I believe that your recent ascension has left you with many questions, and as I have told you, I have been waiting here for a long time to arrive."

"Who are you?" I asked him.

"Me? You may just refer to me as the Dragon Sage; I too am a member of the dragon clan as you are." I was going to ask how he knew, when a pair of chairs appeared around a large table that moments ago had also not been here. "I sensed who you were from a long time ago, our kind; the Dragon Clan has a certain aura about us."

"Our kind? The old woman said I was a dragon, but that the dragon clan was wiped out."

"Alas, that is what many believe; our people had decided that a new home was in order. History for what happened has been forgotten. The reason for that, you will realize in time I think, we shall not get into it now. I appear now to you because things are changing in Aspiria, we believe a day will come soon when darkness will threaten to over throw the world; I wanted to prepare you a little before that time arrives. The experiment you participated in before was incomplete, you have awakened something, yet it is unstable, I just wanted to set things on the proper path."

With that, he stepped forward and with a glowing hand touched my forehead. I felt a power course through me, only for a second, but then it was gone. "Ah, there, that should set you on the way my boy" he said. "How would you like a tea?"

I had no idea what he just did, something happened, but then faded, and now he wanted to have some tea? "Are you serious...tea?" I asked him, feeling confused.

"Serious? Why do I have to always be serious? Anyways, I'd hate to cut this little visit short, but I think it's time you got back to your friends out there." The room around me began fading and I felt water soaking me.

"What are you doing there, boss?" Sten called out to me. I was standing underneath the waterfall staring at a solid wall of rock. Had I imagined the whole thing? "Guess I wasn't the only one who needed a cold shower, thinking about the women a bit too, weren't ya?"

I just shook my head at his words and swam back to dry off. Nina and Katt met up with us a few hours later, Katt still dressed as a witch, carrying the pointed hat and humming merrily.

* * *

><p>It was far too dark to bother going back to Simafort tonight, and when Katt and Nina returned, Katt being quite drunk and complained that she didn't want to deal with getting on a boat right now, so we ended up camping out in the open. It was a while before I fell asleep, thinking about the so called Dragon Sage's words, and still wondering if I had imagined it. I fell asleep and the nightmare from my childhood took over.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>"Come, show me your power. Prove to me you are the destined child, the one for the mission."<strong>

The demon's claw tore through me, I felt like I was dead, but was still there. It felt like my life was ending, my vision was fading, and it felt cold. He towered over me, his front leg so close when I heard another roar shake the cavern. It was powerful, and gave the demon pause. I didn't see anything, just knew the demon had backed up.

**"Interesting, very interesting"** It said, then there was no more.

* * *

><p>It was morning already. The sunrise had woken everyone up, everyone except Katt who was trying to cover her head with part of a sleeping bag. Nina was shaking her, but she was reluctant. "Just a little longer" I heard from under the cover.<p>

"Come on, Katt, you knew we had something important to do, and I warned you not to have too much fun there. Let's get up." She punctuated the last three words by pulling the sleeping bag off her in three sharp tugs.

"Fine, fine, FINE, I'm up Nina." Sitting up, her eyes were still half closed, but Rand had breakfast waiting for her when she finally got to her feet.

We ate quickly, Sten trying to get details about the party Nina and Katt were at the previous night, but they weren't telling him anything he hoped. "They did invite us to next year's get together, Katt made a good impression, and Nimufu says I'm welcome to come again as her guest, but I don't think you can come, Sten, no men allowed." Nina told him.

It was a fairly pleasant ride back to Simafort. Katt, feeling better now, was barely bothered by the rolling of the boat beneath them. We arrived at the docks of Simafort within an hour; the Princess was waiting for us alone.

"Thank God, you're back, what took you so long?" she demanded. "You better not have been off dilly dallying when Jean is in trouble." The Princess I noticed had a fairly strict demeanour, very opposite to the Jean we met. She rushed us back to the dungeon where Jean was kept, passing a different guard from the previous day. He tried to stop her, but she gave him a very stern look and he waved us past. The door was still unlocked, the guards clearly not to obsessed with prisoners here, but Jean was patiently waiting for us, several complete paintings now hanging around the cell he was in.

"Jean, your friends have returned, they got the ring you foolishly gave away. Quick, give him back his ring" she ordered.

Nina stepped forward and handed it to him. "Alas, poor Nimufu, she will think I was just toying with her, giving her a ring to make her cheerful, then seeking to get it back. I hope she wasn't too upset with you" he said to Nina.

"She's going to be all right" Nina told him. "She's doing much better now."

"Enough, we must get you out of here, Jean." The Princess told him and called for a guard. "You have locked up the wrong man," she told him "I told you all that the man pretending to be Prince Jean upstairs was an imposter, look, Jean here has proof."

Princess Petape grabbed her brother's hand with the ring and showed it to the guard. "There, see, now take us to my father."

* * *

><p>In a few minutes time we were standing in the throne room. The king, a much shorter person than his two children stood before the throne. She had her brother by the hand still and was about to approach him when the Prince we encountered earlier entered surrounded by a group of guards.<p>

"Ah, my beloved Petape, what are you thinking bringing the imposter from his cell, it hurts me so that you think I am not your brother."

I noticed his eyes flashed for a moment, and understood just why Petape was determined to get rid of him, he knew she wasn't fooled by him, but revelled in the fact everyone else was. She smirked back at him. "You aren't my brother, this Jean is, you imposter, and he has the Royal Simafort ring to prove it." She pulled his hand forward to show everyone.

"See, these last few weeks, you were all following an imposter, I have been telling you all along..."

"But, my dear Petape, the imposter obviously has you fooled with a forgery, I have had the true Royal ring all along." He told her showing us all an identical ring on his hand. "Would you please give up this charade, now? We will be executing this crazy man today, and then we can put it all behind us."

"Father!" she pleaded to the king. "Are you listening to this? Your son would never want to execute someone, do something!"

Finally the king seemed to register what was happening around him. "Petape? Are you yelling again? You remind me so much of your mother, you are just as scary as she was. Anyways, I think I'm getting hungry, we should eat soon."

She looked like she was going to explode in frustration, then her eyes lit up. "That's it, that's how we can prove you're really the imposter, the true Prince Jean was the greatest cook in the kingdom, we'll have a cooking contest, and when he beats you, everyone will know I saw you for the fake you were all along."

"That sounds good, a cooking contest will make a delightful dinner, let me know when it's ready."

The king departed, and many of the guards that surrounded the dark skinned Prince Jean left to follow him, leaving just him, Petape, the Jean we brought here and the five of us. He turned towards us with a dark look in his eyes. "You just couldn't leave it alone, could you, you little wench?"

Petape gasped. The lights in the hall seemed to dim a little bit as he approached. "Very well, we'll continue with this charade, but when you lose, Jean, I'll have you and everyone who helped you put to death. This kingdom will be mine. I didn't work this hard to have you ruin my plans now, I had hoped you would stay away, but it's best to tie up the loose ends. What will you do after I kill off your little friends, Petape, no one will be left to believe you, and it will just be your word against everyone else's, but it won't be long, I have plans for you too."

"Oh, you son of a..." Katt started walking towards him looking angry, but I held her in place.

"I don't know what these 'plans' of yours are, but we won't be standing by to allow you to fool your way into ruling a kingdom, we will reveal you for what you are soon."

"Do not assume that I will fall to a simpleton's petty swordplay like the other two, I have planned this far better than they did, Petape, you will soon be all alone, and mine."

"No, I could not let my sister be part of some fiend's plans, I shall be ze winner of this competition, I won't give ze burden of being Petape's brother to just anyone. We shall duel in ze kitchen, let us be going, friends!"

Prince Jean and Princess Petape led the way to the kitchens; it seemed like a silly way to me to determine the outcome of a serious issue like the one we were presented with, but to each their own.

* * *

><p>Author's notes:<p>

So concludes another chapter, I figured I would change the whole situation at the Wild Cat Cafe a bit, Nimufu wasn't really a bad witch, just misunderstood, and I figured that there should be something between her and Jean, however small. Also wanted to change how all the party members were able to just walk into a witch's party, there was one who said they wished there were boys there, she shouldn't have said that if 2-3 of the party can be made up of males.

The darker Prince Jean will be a little more devious than the previous demons they encountered, he'll have more of a grasp of control over Simafort, and defeating him won't be as easy as the previous ones because he'll be more prepared. I expect the cooking competition will be a bit like Iron Chef, and am starting to plan out a good reason why they'll have to go get special ingredients, so the next chapter may take a little longer.

Anyways, thanks for reading up till here, hope you're enjoying it.

Chris


	12. Chapter 12 The Secret of Simafort

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Chapter Eleven: The Secret of Simafort 

* * *

><p>The kitchen was busy since the King had announced the fate of Simafort would be left to a cooking competition. Katt, Sten and Rand had left to get away from the smell of the Creeping clan's cooking, while Nina and Ryu remained at Jean's request, he required their assistance for a task.<p>

The cooking competition was divided into two tasks, gathering the special ingredients for the meal, and preparing it.

"I am very appreciative to have found such friends as you" Jean began. "My meal will consist of three grand dishes, first I shall prepare a delightful salad peppered with crispy cockroach and onions, second I will be making caramelized worm and for ze finale I shall serve my famous Golden fly pudding. I need your assistance however, ze dishes I plan to make require fresh ingredients, so if you would be so kind, travel to ze depths of Simafort to retrieve them for me?"

As Jean was talking, the dark skinned prince Jean entered followed by a staff of chefs. He just looked disapprovingly over at his opponent and walked to the opposite side of the kitchen. The creeping clansmen working with him seemed far less light hearted than the ones working with Jean, and began working mechanically to prepare the prince's meal.

"Anyways, my friends" he continued after a moment "Ze competition is a twofold event, while I prepare ze meal, I need you adventurers to go get ze ingredients for my dishes, I shall write what I need for you to gather for me, then ze competition will be in ze bag for us."

Scribbling quickly on a sheet of parchment next to him, Jean handed the list to Nina. "And, please, hurry, ze sooner I get ze ingredients, ze better my dishes shall be. My imposter opponent has already sent his servants down to ze deep parts of Simafort to get what he needs, just beyond ze dungeons; you shall find where they are."

Once he handed off what he needed, Jean turned back to his task, leaving Ryu and Nina to go find what he wrote down. Looking over the list, it was just as she thought; Golden Fly, Jaggerworm, and Blue Bottle Cockroaches. She handed the list to Ryu who looked it over and folded it up before they left the princes to their competition.

* * *

><p><span>Simafort – Ryu's Perspective<span>

It was the first time we were among the people of Simafort since we arrived, and there was something strange about the mood of the people. Just beyond the kitchen, past the Royal Dining hall was the main courtyard for the kingdom, where many of its citizens gathered. Much like the cooks working with the imposter, the people here seemed to be mindlessly absorbed in what they were working on, whether it is painting, sculpting, or other various forms of art.

**"You sense it too, don't you?"** the voice inside my mind spoke.

"You sense it too, don't you, Ryu?" Nina said beside me. I looked over at her, for a moment unsure if she said anything, but she was waiting for a reply.

"Yes," I answered her "the imposter has a grasp over this kingdom, the cooks in the kitchen were almost afraid of him; we should hurry and drive him out of here before he can do anymore."

She merely nodded at me, the timid nature she had first shown quickly vanishing in the short time we met. The others were already out here by the time we rejoined them, Rand, Katt and Sten approaching us.

"Hey boss, so, what's the word?" Sten asked.

"Prince Jean is confident he can win this easily, we just have to go get a few things for him from the cellar here" I answered him. "I would like someone around to keep an eye on him though; there is something about the imposter that I do not trust."

Nina, Sten and Rand volunteered to keep an eye on Jean while Katt insisted on joining me to journey below to get what we needed. After we split into two groups, we went our separate ways, Katt following me to the catacombs below the castle.

* * *

><p>The dungeon was fairly quiet, only a single guard remained when Katt and I passed through. The only sounds were of the female thief still here yelling to be let out of the bug infested pit she was in. I would be escorting her back to Hometown once this ordeal was over so that Bow would be cleared, but that was something to worry about later.<p>

The area beyond the dungeons wound down further than I would have expected, water from the lake made some areas impassable, but the people of Simafort had constructed bridges across flooded spots which made it easier. Katt was fairly quiet, which was unusual for the talkative Woren, and it was the first time since Windia that I found myself alone with her, having taken a protective role over Nina since then.

It was well lit down here despite being so far below ground, lamps and torches lighting the way for us and reflecting off the surface of the water. Ahead we heard voices, they must have been the guards that were under the imposter's control, the people of Simafort might be easily fooled and manipulated, but I could easily tell he was not like the others here, a dark aura surrounded him.

"Hey, Ryu" Katt said suddenly "That girl that you came all this way for...what is the plan after you get her back and clear Bow?"

Her question had crossed my mind as well, what was the plan after we left here, would Nina return to the magic academy after this? Would Katt return to Corsair, Rand, Sten, what would they do? Bow and I were Rangers, but...

Luckily my lack of an answer was interrupted when we heard someone ahead yell for help. Rushing ahead, a very strange sight greeted the two of us; a Simafort guard was slumped against the wall at the end of hallway and being repeatedly struck by a large golden fly that was laughing.

"Idiots, you think I could be caught by losers like you? Hahaha"

Odd enough we were down here hunting after bug ingredients for a meal, but one of them could speak? This kingdom was getting weirder and weirder. Our footsteps echoed on the stone floor and the Golden Fly turned in our direction.

"More morons venturing into my home, shoo humans don't bother me" it said to us in a singsong voice. "I won't be caught by you or these fools, farewell humans." It flew away from us, and I was by the guard it had attacked a moment later.

"Prince Jean forced us to come here, to search for the fly for him, but we had no idea it had grown so strong. He threatened us to help him win or we would suffer...when did our prince become so cruel?"

I tried casting a healing spell on him, the Golden Fly opened up some deep wounds on the guard, but it wasn't powerful enough, and a moment later his eyes closed and his breathing stopped. Katt seemed to be watching me as I stood up, I don't know why when someone died, people expected me to say something, but death isn't something I know how to advise through, when I can't stop it, I don't know what to say. I just drew my sword, and led the way, following the Golden Fly.

Katt seemed unsure what to say as well. This could be traced back to the imposter, demons cared little who died, who they hurt, it was as good a reason as any to draw them out and deal with them.

"Ryu, I came here with you, because I wanted to talk to you, away from the others. When you left us to go with Sana...what happened? Nina said when I finally decided to talk to you to give you a chance to explain."

I paused. How was I supposed to explain...when in doubt, just stick to the truth, I guess. "It wasn't what you think Katt, and don't be upset, but, it was a spell that made me follow her. Nothing happened if that's what you're thinking."

I glanced over my shoulder quickly, and thought I heard a sigh of relief, though I couldn't be sure. "Good, she doesn't seem like your type, Ryu. I think you need someone a little more adventurous, and not so trampy. Nina said the same thing, but enough talk, we got some bugs to kill, Ryu"

I was glad that little moment was over, discussing my type; especially in a bug infested crypt like this wasn't my idea of fun. We were crossing a long wooden bridge when something below began striking it from beneath. It burst through just as Katt and I jumped several feet from where we were a second ago, and through a hole had emerged an enormous worm nearly eight feet in length, and that was just what was now above the surface of the bridge we were on. It tried lowering itself, but seemed to be caught, though that didn't prevent what looked dangerous.

It had no eyes, but a massive jaw that could have fit a whole person inside easily. Tough looking skin covered its large body, and its mouth showed large teeth. Without eyes, the only way it could tell where we were was by sound, our footsteps must have set it on our trail.

I motioned to Katt silently to split up, the bridge providing plenty of room to manoeuvre, but it went for her first hearing the sound of her clawed feet against the wood. The large worm may not have been able to move about, trapped by the bridge, but its body could easily swing down at us. She rolled out of the way as it snapped at her, but countered, bringing her staff hard against what was its head. It must have hurt the creature because the worm roared loudly before trying to attack her again. With its focus on Katt, I severed the creature from its lower body, yet the attack didn't finish it off, it could now move, albeit slowly because it was injured.

Focusing on me, it advanced, but Katt and I quickly adopted a strategy, while one of us had its attention, the other would strike from behind, the creature wore down fast and soon lay dead before us.

"Do you think this is the Jaggerworm, Ryu?" Katt asked once we killed the creature.

"I assume so, it's a worm, not sure if it's what Jean is looking for, but, we'll take it anyways." Katt and I quickly carved off bits of its flank. They had barely taken a few steps when the Golden Fly reappeared.

"So, you idiots killed the big worm. I guess he wasn't so tough, but I still won't be beaten by you fools, just give it up" the Golden Fly laughed at them before flying away.

"We're not idiots, you stupid Fly, you'll be soup soon enough!" Katt called after it.

Past the bridge, we were on stone flooring again, but the corridor wound around in a maze. Several cockroaches were around, but they scattered when we approached. We ignored them for now, the Golden fly was what we were after now, and the roach could be caught last. At least that was what I thought until we reached an open chamber that was home to one that was much larger. Similar to the giant cockroach I encountered when I first met Niro, this bug was much larger than any we had seen before, standing as tall as we were, it was over six feet in length and covered in a hard, blue shell.

We weren't welcome by the large bug; it turned towards us chattering angrily, but was slow even on six legs. It would be easy to defeat this opponent, but suddenly the Golden Fly made an appearance, taunting us, calling out to the roach to attack Katt or me whenever we turned our attention to catching the fly. Before long, the giant cockroach was dead too, and the Golden Fly angrily began attacking us.

"Stupid cockroach!" it said angrily, "couldn't even beat these idiots, I have to do everything myself down here. How any of you would have survived without me is a mystery."

The fly was fast, but the ceiling wasn't too high, and after a few minutes of trying, Katt finally trapped it in a sac and we could finally get out of here.

"Come on Ryu, we've spent enough time down here with all these bugs, time to go get rid of that imposter and get back home."

* * *

><p>Simafort Courtyard – Nina's Perspective<p>

"You sense it too, don't you Ryu?" I asked him. He seemed lost in thought for a moment before answering.

"Yes," he answered "the imposter has a grasp over this kingdom, the cooks in the kitchen were almost afraid of him; we should hurry and drive him out of here before he can do anymore."

Since the Ranger had run off with Sana, he seemed a bit distant, something was on his mind, something he was hiding from us, and it probably had to do with the change in his aura. He seemed stronger, yet didn't confide in us just what happened there, which worried me a little.

After he and Katt left to go gather what Jean needed for the cooking competition, I started to head to where Jean was to keep an eye on him when a Simafort woman approached us.

"Excuse me" she said politely "you're the people that Princess Petape entrusted to help the real Prince Jean, are you not?"

"That's us" Rand said to her. She seemed more focused than most of the people here we had come across; she was dressed in leather armour, carrying a sword at her waste, and did not seem to be as easily distractible as her fellow clansmen.

A sigh escaped her. "Good, my name is Lady Fiona, I figured since you are gracious enough to help the princess, perhaps you could let assistance to me as well. You met Captain Tata yesterday in the dungeons I heard, correct?"

"Yes," I answered her, nodding as well.

"Well, he was going to take the true Prince Jean some food yesterday while he was locked up, but he never returned home last night. I have a feeling that something bad could have happened to him; would you be so kind as to help me find him? I feel that any of us that oppose the other Prince Jean are disappearing lately, and it is getting dangerous here."

I knew what she was afraid of, the feeling around Simafort did not feel like one of safety, the guards were being controlled by the imposter; I had a feeling that Captain Tata was not the first to disappear, and if we didn't reveal him, more would probably join him. Lady Fiona was looking at us hopefully, I didn't want us to just leave the true Prince Jean unguarded, yet, we could not just sit by when asked for help.

"Yes," I told her "what can we do to help you?"

"Thank you so much," she replied gratefully. "The last I heard, the Prince wanted to have a word with him in his quarters, perhaps we could start there."

In moments she had led us to the upper floors of Simafort where the Royal Family resided. Prince Jean's door was locked, but Sten attempted to pick the lock. He may have gotten it, but the sound of approaching voices warned us to hurry. Rand quietly broke open the lock and we hurried inside, closing the door behind us before they were able to catch what we were doing.

I listened by the door while the others stood quietly in the Prince's bedchamber.

"Did you hear something, Pepe?" asked one of the guards

"Perhaps the fake Prince is questioning another person he thinks is against him, I'm just glad he hasn't labelled us as traitors, he's got most of the guards terrified."

"Wait, you mean...the one we locked up as an imposter is the real Prince? But, where has he been all this time?"

"I don't know he was off on one of his little adventures away from Simafort when the new guy showed up, and took over. It's not like you can't see the difference, and tell just by the way they act, Prince Jean may have been a little airheaded, but he was never cruel like this guy."

"If you know he's a fake, why haven't you said anything yet?"

"Are you kidding? The king believes he's his son, his vision is weak, but I heard that he's been taking anyone who questions him and threatens their family if they don't fall in line, or makes them disappear. Rumour has it that Captain Tata got in his warpath last night. If this keeps up, there's going to be very few of us left."

That was why they were so afraid to speak up against the imposter sooner; he was doing something to those that spoke against him.

"Somehow he knows who to pick out, I've seen a few new faces here, I think they're people he's brought in to replace those he took away. He's also changing a lot here; did you hear what he was teaching a few people in the song club the other day? I don't know who St. Eva is, but he had them singing some song about her, it just sounded weird. Hopefully this cooking contest straightens things out and we can get back to normal."

It was all I needed to hear. They knew this new Jean was an imposter, but couldn't stand up to him for fear of what he would do. People were missing, and a lot seemed to be riding on the upcoming event. I turned around and saw Lady Fiona standing in front of a large portrait of the imposter Prince Jean, he looked intimidating; dark skin, a broad sword and he had used a fellow clansman as a stool to raise his left leg upon. Fiona was grasping around the side of the frame for something, and a moment later the portrait moved out of the way revealing a passage.

"I have served the family for years" she said "I know each of the members of the Royal Family have had passages put in their room in case they needed to escape. It leads to the roof where they can access other parts of the castle. I think we might find some answers up here."

She led the way, up several flights of stairs till we came across a sight I had not expected. The roof was set up with dozens of wooden pillars, and each had a Simafort guard chained to it. Fiona ran to one that I recognized as Captain Tata. He looked weak as did several others while some had stopped breathing. Fiona began frantically pulling at the chains holding Tata trying to free him, until Rand was there and pulled them from their hinges.

"...Water" he said weakly. It was a cruel way to die; they looked like they had been beaten a bit, but then chained up here in the son to die of dehydration. Rand freed everyone who was still alive, but among a few dozen, only six remained alive. Fiona pulled out a cantina and split it among those that she could but we had to get them down to a source of water.

The cooking competition didn't matter now; witnesses would stand up to the false prince when they saw what he had done. Sten looked especially angry for some reason as he helped two of them stand up. Rand picked up a few of them easily and was about to go through the way we came from when Fiona called for him to stop.

"The door would have closed itself by now; we have to take another passage from here. It will take us down to the dungeons, but it will be easier to get water for these men from there then we can confront the prince who did this to them."

* * *

><p><span>Simafort Kitchens – Ryu's Perspective<span>

"Finally, it took you two long enough!" the Princess snapped at us when we returned. "You know what's at stake here right? Jean, your friends have returned."

"You ungrateful bi...OW" Katt stopped when I stepped on her foot. She didn't seem to think much about snapping at the princess, but gave me an angry look when I stopped her. Jean was ecstatic about what we were able to bring him, meanwhile the imposter seemed far more irritated when his crew returned without the Golden Fly. They would be ready in about half an hour Jean told us and we were asked to wait in the Royal Dining Hall. Katt dragged me with her from the kitchen and as soon as we were alone together she turned and stomped hard on my foot.

"Jerk!" she said to me. "That princess is really starting to bug me, she's such an uptight bitch, how Jean and her are related, I'll never know."

"She's one of the few standing in his way, Katt. "You can't expect her to be all easy going when she has been the only one standing between him and taking over this place."

She just rolled her eyes at me. "Always taking every other girl's side, Ryu; Sana, the frog princess, and whoever else we come across." I was trying to keep her from getting in trouble, but I didn't want her to think I didn't care.

"I'm sorry, Katt, I...it won't happen again."

She turned, smiling, and I knew she had just chosen to mess with me a bit. "You're easy; Ryu, a little pouting and you just break into apologizing. Stop being such a pushover."

We continued to wait, Katt trying to tease me a little more, but we started wondering where the others were, they were going to keep an eye on what was happening around here, but were nowhere in sight. The Dining Hall was quite large, a table that could have sat at least 20 people stood in the center, and a second table up on a balcony overlooking the room had 3 spots saved, it must be where the royal family usually sat for events such as this. Just then, a bell rang off and someone called out.

"Let the tasting begin! The judges will be the cooks and the King, the Princess, and myself." said a Simafort man at the door from the kitchen; he must have been an important chef as he wore a hat much taller than the others, and a golden jacket instead of white. "First, we have our very own, beloved Prince Jean who has prepared" he took out a card "stir fried cockroaches, worm pasta in garlic sauce, and a delectable bluebottle fry pudding. I'm sure that it will be a magnificent palate for us to taste."

The imposter entered confidently, followed by a few cooks who were carrying three plates. Setting them on the table, they removed the cover to reveal a dish that looked to me to be terrible, the bugs cooked into it lying around the plate, whole flies swimming in the blue paste pudding, worms that replaced noodles in the pasta, and roaches that were just cooked with various meats and vegetables. The Simafort cooks looked at it much more fondly than Katt or I, and I saw one of them lick their lips.

"And his challenger, claiming to be our Prince as well, has prepared" taking another card out "Worm Caramel, Cockroach salad with Wild Onions, and...Oh my, Golden Fly pudding?"

"Ah, yes, my mentor, I hope that I have prepared them up to the standard you have instilled upon me."

"I think you must be mistaken, I do not remember ever teaching you, young man. Now, we shall begin with Prince Jean's dishes." He walked over to the first one while Jean was putting his dishes on the table. "Excellent, you have done a fantastic job bring out the taste of the worms with just a hint of garlic, truly a dish to savour."

I looked up to see a frown come across Petape's face as she tasted the same dish, it didn't appear that she thought as highly of it. As the chefs tasted the other dishes, I could tell that they were overly pleased with the food, yet Petape seemed to have a much less approving look of it than they did. Finally they finished trying the imposter's food, giving it all good reviews, and moved over to the other side of the table. Prince Jean's food looked far different; you could hardly tell that there were bugs in there at all. The Worm Caramel looked like some kind of fancy meat covered in a brown sauce, the cockroach salad looked like a normal salad, the bugs not even visible, and the Golden Fly pudding was a thick gold texture with whipped cream. It certainly looked like something that you would see in a fancy restaurant, but I don't think Katt or I would try any of it regardless, we would leave that up to the judges.

"Oh, this is a grand dish, the worm meat is, the taste is...I mean, for this dish, it must have come from a giant, it is excellent...I mean, it isn't cooked properly, it's too well done." He moved onto the second dish. "Mmm, the roach's taste is amazing, it must have come from an aged creature, and perfectly blended with...I mean, the combination is unthinkable, for this you should have used leek onions instead of wild onions, such a mistake I will have to deduct points for."

It was obvious that something was wrong with this; the head chef was starting to compliment the food, but stopped part way through. Finally he moved to the final plate. Taking a quick bite, he suddenly dropped the utensil. "Oh my, I must be dreaming."

"Is something the matter, head chef?" the imposter's cold voice asked him.

"Its ahh...no, nothing is the matter. The Golden Fly pudding, it does not taste as though it has been created properly, it's..." he stopped; he was trying to think of something to say, but seemed lost for words. "I'm afraid that I must award this contest to Prince Jean, he has clearly created superior dishes in all three categories, I'll just take one more bite then we shall leave here."

He moved to the third dish when the princess' voice echoed through the hall. "STOP! I refuse to believe that you can think that he" she pointed at the one we knew was the imposter "has prepared anything superior to my brother's cooking."

"Oh, my beloved sister" the imposter began "it hurts me that you still think I am not your brother, let us put him to death and then we can put this behind us. Perhaps if the word of the head chef isn't good enough, the cooks that assisted me will give their opinion."

The three cooks ran over to Prince Jean's cooking.

"It's awful"

"It's absolutely bad"

"It's terrible...it's terrible, but...I think I'll have another bite."

The Princess screamed out in frustration. "You fools! The cooks cannot be trusted; you've got them under your thumb, just like everyone else here. This contest is a sham, you have corrupted the cooks, and I hereby declare the winner of this contest my real brother, that man there" she shouted pointing at the lighter skinned Jean.

"Ahem, I would have to agree" the King said standing up, "I feel the first three dishes didn't taste very good at all, but the second three were absolutely delicious."

At that moment, Rand, Nina and Sten returned with Captain Tata and a female dressed in leather armour. "He has been threatening us if we didn't do everything he said" Captain Tata said weakly "but, we cannot act afraid of him anymore, we have to stand up to him or else he'll slowly pick us off one by one."

"There, you've been shown for the miserable fake you are, everyone knows that my brother wouldn't be such an awful cook, guards, seize him!"

The imposter began backing up to the wall. "Such a ridiculous kingdom, I cannot believe my God sent me here. But, I won't be defeated so easily, if I'm going to be unseated here, I will take this stupid clan with me." The imposter grabbed something from a pouch at his side and threw it onto the ground causing the hall to fill with blinding light. When it cleared, he was gone, but a new cook with dark greenish had appeared and was attempting to sneak out towards the courtyard.

"He's getting away, STOP HIM!" Petape shouted.

"We know, PRINCESS!" Katt shouted back at her and we chased after him, but when we reached the courtyard, he had disappeared again.

"Ryu, he's a shape shifter" Nina said beside me. "He could have taken anyone's form, how will we find him in time?"

The courtyard was full of people, all looking at us confused. The imposter seemed to have trouble disguising the shade of his skin, but with so many people here, it would be more difficult to pick him out quickly. We split apart trying to find him quickly, but a moment later Petape's scream could be heard from where we just came from; the imposter had doubled back on us.

Back in the Dining hall, the princess was gone, as was Jean, and the cooks were dazed. I ran to the nearest one which turned out to be the head chef. "He came back and grabbed Princess Petape, oh, if only we resisted him, we were all foolish, please, help the prince and princess."

"Where did he take them?" I asked

"Deep below the castle, a machine resides that requires a sacrifice to use, I fear he plans to use the princess to activate it. Prince Jean ran after him, but he doesn't know, the false prince has power. Please go save them, it's a hidden passage through the kitchen, the wall hides a passage down."

Moments later we were making our way down where the head chef sent us. An elevator took us far below the castle, even deeper than Katt and I had gone when we were hunting for what Jean needed. A long corridor that was dimly lit greeted us when we stepped off of it. Nina was able to provide light for us, but it was the same as when we fought against the Joker and Angus, the lighting down here was dimmed. It was colder here; ice had formed making a few barriers as we wound deeper under the castle.

I wondered just how deep this corridor went, did Jean follow him all this way? Would he be fighting the imposter when we arrived, or would we be too late? I picked up the pace and soon we were before a large double door. Rand broke it open and we found them.

Jean lay unconscious, sprawled against the wall to our left, a crack in the stone where he must have been thrown. The chamber we were in now was unusual, to our left and right, and ahead, the floor just ended, dropping off into blackness. A single Pillar lay beyond too far to reach, but it wasn't' a concern now, as two others occupied this room. Princess Petape was unconscious as well, lying before a very strange looking machine and the imposter was waiting for us, and his back turned facing a keypad that must operate the machine. When Rand broke open the door he turned to face us, no longer looking like Jean or any other Simafort clansman, but lizard like. Black eyes stared at us with hatred; he was tall, almost as tall as Rand and covered in dark green scales. He looked much like the Kimono clansmen we encountered in the Windian plains, but far more sinister.

"The princess, she worked so hard to keep this castle from falling into my god's hands, but she shall be its destruction, after I kill you meddlers, I shall use her life to activate this machine and bring about the annihilation of Simafort. It no longer matters, if you had not interfered, the people would have embraced my god, too stupid to realize, but giving their strength to my god, and my God would have grown stronger, but I suppose their souls will suffice."

"This God you speak of" Nina said "You're talking about St. Eva, aren't you; I heard one of them singing the hymn, said you taught it to him."

"Very clever, little girl, there is far more to St. Eva then you could possibly imagine, we're spreading faster now, and soon my God will be strong enough to rejoin us, and take this world under my God's command, and the loyal followers such as myself will be given great power."

"We won't let you do this, what makes you think that we won't stop you here like we did to your fellow demons, Angus and the Joker?"

"Hahaha HA HA! You think to compare me to those fools? They were weak, they didn't know you were closing in on them; they were easily manipulated by outside forces. I have known of you since their defeat, and prepared in case you interfered with my plan. Did you think that we would all be so easy to defeat? I shall show you just what we are capable of, mortals. When I, Kuwadora, kill you all, I shall rebuild in a better kingdom and become my god's favourite."

His skin began expanding, his hands changing to massive paws and he fell to four legs. The tail he had now had grown longer and multiplied into 3 separate tails, each with a series of spikes formed of ice on the end. His mouth filled with razor sharp teeth as long as a hand. "Yes, I look forward to killing you for ruining my plans." The demon struck the ground with all three of its tails, the ice breaking but leaving three cubes that formed into copies of Rand, Katt and I within a few seconds. "The fools of Simafort are so blind, they wondered how I was able to keep an eye on them, talking about standing up to me even when I was nowhere around, they couldn't even tell that these weren't human, merely a copy of some of their friends, this is just some of the magic bestowed upon me by my God, and will help me kill you faster."

The ice they were formed from changed, it became scaled as Kuwadora had been in his humanoid form, a dark green stone that made it easy to tell that it was an imposter, yet dealing with them would be a distraction while fighting the demon. The demon roared loudly, shaking the cavern and its three creations charged at us, each with similar weapons. Rand's copy began swinging wildly at Sten, but it was slower, and the Highlander rolled under its massive legs leaving a handful of bombs that hit it head on, knocking it over while he lunged at Kuwadora with his daggers drawn.

Katt's copy was twirling its staff wildly as it moved towards Nina, but was met by the original who stepped in front so Nina could cast a spell. The stone Katt's staff was weak, and after a few swift strikes, cracked down the middle, breaking into two smaller weapons. The stone Katt was grabbed by Rand who threw it at the demon, narrowly missing Sten as he dropped a Flare into the demon's eyes, temporarily blinding it.

My imposter came directly at me, attempting to stab me with an identical weapon, but it was slower, and easy to dodge. I leapt back from it, and turned to face Kuwadora who was still blinded, driving my weapon into its side, but a second later I felt my arm cut open, the copy had moved fast and attacked while I was focused on its master. I held onto my sword, trying to pull it free while dodging the stone Ryu's attack, but Kuwadora struck with one of its tails knocking me far back, near the edge of the platform.

Nina in the meantime had finished her spell, three sharp bolts of lightning struck from above, two hitting Kuwadora and one striking my imposter. Against the stone they had little effect but to knock it off balance, but two smoking wounds were left on the demon's body. In rage, the demon turned towards where Nina was and unleashed a wave of cold striking both of them, freezing their lower bodies in place. Katt's imposter took the opportunity to use her movement to her advantage, getting behind Katt and striking several times with her broken weapon. Nina was trying to cast a spell to free them, but it looked like the demon was about to hit them again, its sight returning quickly. It opened its maw to hit them with what looked like blue fire when Rand rushed at it, forcing its mouth closed and the spell exploded within it. Kuwadora began clawing at Rand angrily trying to force him off but was just short of range the way Rand was holding him, but his stone imposter had gotten behind him and was hitting the big man with strong blows while Rand struggled to keep the demon incapacitated. Sten jumped onto Rand's imposter's back and drove two daggers deep into the stone before flipping away. A second later they exploded shattering a huge chunk of stone from the construct. The copy of me ran towards Rand to try and stab him, but Sten got in its way, getting his attention and dodging a lot of its attacks occasionally dropping an explosive that hit it, breaking off pieces of the stone making it up.

Katt meanwhile was being pummelled by her stone counterpart but Nina had hit it with a powerful wave of water that knocked it away from the two of them, and then freed them with a wave of fire that instantly melted the ice holding them in place. Katt had gotten a few wounds from her stone imposter but it was nothing that she wasn't used to after the coliseum. She lunged at Kuwadora, flipping out of the way as the tails struck out at her and got several well placed hits on the demon's middle before she was forced to back up from Rand's doppelganger.

Rand still had the demon in his grasp, but was losing it while I dealt with its three tails, each striking out at me wildly, but soon the first, then second were severed. Kuwadora roared in pain and shook Rand off him, turning his attention to me again. The remaining tail wound around me after I narrowly avoided being caught between its jaws, trapping me. Nina struck the demon with another powerful bolt of lightning, causing it to shriek in pain, but it would have a clear attack on me before she could strike again, Katt, Sten and Rand were all occupied. I was trying to free myself, but the tail was unforgiving.

The eye appeared before me again, looking disapproving.

"**Destroy this worthless foe, you can't let some two-bit demon ruin what I groomed you for, your power has shown itself, use it**" the voice in my mind again.

"You again, I can't put them in danger just to clean up your mess, last time it destroyed a forest, what will it do here, I won't kill off everyone just to take out a demon, it makes me no better than them."

"**Are you afraid again, little destined child? Scared of the power the witch allowed to run wild, it's yours to control, the lesser beings had no place awakening it, they could not handle what you're capable of, but you can. Show this foolish demon just what we are; if you can't control your ascension, you should just quit this foolish quest now**."

The eye once again vanishing and I was face to face with the demon again, but my sight had changed. An aura surrounded Kuwadora, like a mist; it was visible, dark and full of hatred. The grip he had on me was loosening, Kuwadora looking smaller before me, and I reached forward with a powerful scaled arm, tearing off the last tail holding me. Strength filled me, I drove my own claws deep into the creature's shoulder holding him in place and opened my mouth releasing a powerful wave of fire that covered his face, and so forceful it tore my claws free and sent the demon rolling across the floor to stop next to Petape. Its scales were burned off, smoke rose from its burned body. I felt myself return to normal, the scales turning back to skin, my talons returning to hands and I shrunk to my normal height.

The others were looking at me, unsure of what to say, and I felt the same.

* * *

><p>Simafort depths – Nina's Perspective.<p>

Ryu was trapped by the demon, the tail wrapped tightly around him and he looked like he was unable to break free. Katt was busy fighting the construct Kuwadora created to deal with her, a copy of Rand that was trying to use its size to trap her, Sten was occupied with what left of the stone Ryu, one more explosive and it crumbled but he was far from the two of them, he wouldn't be able to help; Rand was knocked away and struck hard against a wall. Katt's stone imposter had been knocked over the edge.

Lightning seemed to hurt the demon most, I called another bolt of it down, focusing more of my energy into it, and it struck the demon in the center of the back, but aside from a cry of pain, it didn't seem effected enough to drop the Ranger. It would take a moment to cast another spell, time Ryu didn't have as he was brought closer to the demon's maw, but something in his eyes flashed with power, the aura I sensed since he returned to New Haven was growing stronger, and he was changing.

A pair of leathery wings burst from his back forcing the tail around him to give, and Ryu was growing larger, his skin changing to deep red scales. His eyes changed to slits and a long tail grew along his back. In a second he broke free of the demons grasp, tearing the tail off and trapping the demon in a grasp. Opening his maw, a wave of fire engulfed the demon and seconds later it was rolling across the ground, stopping just short of where Petape laid. Ryu in his draconic form looked over to us, and began reverting to his human self once more, and we were all quiet.

Kuwadora groaned, struggling to get to his feet. He too had returned to his normal form, the lizard man that he was when we first entered this chamber. His skin was blackened, blood dripping from his chest and pooling beneath him, but he was standing a moment later, breathing heavily.

"No, I can't lose...not now, I was so close. My God gave me such grand power to deal with people like you, but I wasn't expecting one of your kind to show themselves. I shall still have the last laugh" he muttered and lunged at the computer hitting several buttons that activated it. "Ha-ha, this castle will self destruct and your precious Simafort will be just a floating pile of junk, a damn improvement if you ask me."

He collapsed, his entire body turning black and fading to nothingness, but not before the machine beside him began coming to life. The chamber around us was already shaking and light shinning out from the pillar that lead up out of sight.

"Ryu, this place is going to collapse on us, everyone above will fall down here if we cannot stop it..." Sten began, but a voice called out from behind us.

"No, no, no, do not worry my friends, it is not what you think" Jean said, slowly limping towards us. "Simafort does not have a machine that self destructs ze kingdom, but ze imposter must have believed Petape thought it did. It is how we have hidden our most important treasure, watch..."

The room had stopped moving, but light still shone from the pillar across from us. A portion of the wall began opening and a bridge was coming across to us. Once it reached the edge of the platform we were on, Jean walked across and we followed. Carved into the stone was the image of a frog wielding a sword, and light shone brightly from behind it, then it began to open.

It was nearly blinding when the vault opened, white light filled the chamber and gradually began dimming till we could see what was inside; a sword sticking out of an altar of stone, it looked very silver and the handle was crafted of gold and jewels. Jean walked forward again and grasped the handle.

"Yes, I was hoping that we would never have to use this again, but ze times they are changing, Simafort will not remain safe forever, and I vow to not allow it to fall into such cruel hands again." The sword shone brightly for a moment, then it surrounded him and he pulled it free from the stone altar. He looked much less like the silly prince he acted like up till now and much more like a warrior now that he carried that weapon, and walked over to where his sister lay.

"Petape" he whispered to her. "Petape, it is over, ze heroes have defeated ze imposter and Simafort is safe for you once more." A pale green glow spread from his hands to her and a moment later her eyes fluttered open.

"Jean? He wanted to destroy Simafort with the self-destruct machine, and said I deserved to watch since I was in his way for so long." She sat up and hugged him.

"Oh, poor Petape, we never had a self destruct machine, we would never do that. It was just a tale to scare off thieves and invaders, ze legendary sword of our ancestors was hidden down here. I have taken it up to help protect our home from now on."

He helped her to her feet and they began walking out of here, leaving us to trail behind. Ryu was the first to follow, trying to avoid our eyes for some reason, like he was unsure about what to say to us, now that we saw what he became during the fight, but, we would talk to him soon, once we were away from the prying eyes of Simafort.

* * *

><p>They had celebrated the imposter's defeat late into the night. Kuwadora had done a good job spreading fear throughout Simafort in the short time he was here. Posing as the Prince he was able to spread chaos through the kingdom quickly, a position of power, he commanded the guards who followed without question, and as a shape shifter he could travel unnoticed through the crowds, so when the guards came and arrested someone for speaking bad about the prince even in secret, it seemed like he was able to read thoughts. On top of that he was a powerful demon, and the people were forced to help him out of fear.<p>

We were the heroes who helped vanquish fear from here, helping another town, and it felt good. Ryu had been quiet most of the night. Luckily for us, the Simafort chefs were able to cook up food free of insects for us, and it was fantastic. Katt had become the life of the celebration; she really seemed to take pride in helping defeat malicious forces, dancing well into the night. Sten was hanging about the buffet table sampling various different items and flirting with any of the women that wandered near, though unsuccessfully even though he was one of the heroes that saved Simafort. Rand seemed to be attracting the attention of many of the guards, retelling the story over and over, impressing them with his strength against Kuwadora.

I found Ryu a while later by the lake; he must have wandered off earlier, shortly after Katt forced him to dance with her. She was getting pretty grabby with him after a few drinks, and I was kind of glad to see her not hanging off him anymore, though she then started dragging me around after he was gone, until I too found myself tiring of the crowd. The moonlight lit the area around here casting a blue light over him as he stood overlooking the water. He seemed deep in thought when I approached, but I was curious why he was standing here alone.

He just turned when I approached, and sat beside him. I was wondering what to say first, "You're a dragon..." I could just blurt it out like that, and I felt stupid once I did.

Ryu just sighed. "It seems that way; I wanted to find out more about it before I told you all. I've only known since that day Sana dragged me away, that's what burned down their house, and much around it, and you're probably the only one who noticed anything different when I returned. We all have our little secrets it seems, whether intentional or not."

Secrets...perhaps, I had yet to confide in anyone about why I was looked at with such fear and hate in Windia. Ryu, there was much more than being a member of the long lost dragon clan, I could see it in his eyes, he had secrets. Katt, the cheerful Woren seemed the most forward and honest, yet Sten and Rand seemed to be withholding something.

Just then, Katt burst through the doors, interrupting us as we sat together. "There you two are!" she said loudly, "out here spending a little alone time in the moonlight, am I interrupting you?"

I shook my head quickly. I was still feeling new to this group, and wasn't sure if Katt and Ryu had something between them, she was certainly jealous when he ran off with Sana. She stumbled over and sat between the two of us, nearly falling into the water, but I caught her arm to steady her.

"Whoa, Nina, you're pretty grabby when I'm drunk" she teased. "So, why are you two out here alone? You two are too antisocial, and I'm here to stop it, Ryu, stop being such a stick in the mud, and Nina, you need to have more fun..." She might have had more to say, but had fallen asleep then. Ryu just got up and lifted her easily.

"Ryu...we do all have secrets" I said to him as he started carrying her inside "but, I think...I hope that we can start overcoming them, I really feel like this group can trust each other."

He stopped. "I do too, Nina, we'll talk more soon."

With that, he carried Katt inside and I sat for a few minutes before following.

* * *

><p>We set out to return the following day, Princess Petape agreed that because of our help, we could escort the thief they caught back with us, and we were always welcome back here. The guards were sick of her here anyways, she was a mess, not having slept for days now and complaining about the bugs, insulting the people. It turned out she was caught trying to break into the storehouse in search of treasure, but was caught when she was running from a large Jaggerworm, and fell into a pit of roaches and couldn't get out. The guards caught her and threw her in jail, all the while they said she was complaining about what kind of stupid clan would keep bugs in a place for treasure.<p>

"Thank GOD, I'm out of there, I don't care if you take me to Trout" she said tiredly "I can't stand being surrounded by these bugs a day longer. And the food...DISGUSTING! How can you freaks eat roaches and flies and not puke? I swear I'm never coming back to this damn place again, EVER!"

She turned to us. "I can't believe I was caught by these dummies, don't you dare tell anyone Patty the Phantom Thief was caught by frog people, or my rep will be ruined. I was expecting an easy job, since they are airheads here, but I just can't stand bugs. No way Trout's jail will be this gross."

Ryu took a pair of manacles and latched one end to her wrist, and the other to his own. "Oh, so this is how a Ranger gets a date eh, you'd better not try and get fresh with me though, I don't date goody two shoes."

He didn't say anything as the six of us began the long trek to return her to Hometown, but I could already tell it would be interesting, she was quite opposite to Ryu, sarcastic, flirty and in a minute already seemed to annoy him a bit. Prince Jean and Princess Petape led us to the exit and told us a boat would be arriving to the docks in the east shortly to return us to the eastern continent, and bade us farewell.

* * *

><p>Author's notes<p>

Finally, this chapter took a while because I always found the Simafort part of the game to be one of the longest parts, and I wanted to try and make it seem more interesting. Kuwadora taking the form of Jean as a shape shifter I think adds a bit of interest to it, because the people agree when he is obviously not similar to Jean in looks, and I wanted to try and make a reason why they would just fall in line. This was the first boss that I had a little difficulty with, and I wanted to make the fight more interesting than just "he transforms, and they kill it without taking a hit." I figure a demon will have powers far greater than a normal monster would and want to give each a purpose and style. It's also the first time that Ryu had transformed in front of anyone since he was united with Sana, and will open up questions within the group and teach him a little about the dragon clan during their trip. I want to make Patty a bit livelier and have the ability all sisters have to bother their brother. The next chapter is going to be more character building, and character interaction which I feel up till now has been kind of lacking.

Oh yeah, Jean is staying in Simafort for now, he will probably have a better role later on, I think his character will be better suited in a different role, but he will be back later on for any Jean fans.


	13. Chapter 13 Revelations

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Chapter Twelve: Revelations

* * *

><p><span>Simafort Lake – Nina's Perspective<span>

"I can you know."

"Don't!"

"It's easy, just a little flick of the wrist and it's done."

"You promised not to."

"I had my fingers crossed."

"Are you six years old?"

"SHUT UP! I'm trying to hold down my breakfast." Katt snapped.

We had only left Simafort minutes ago, and Patty who was chained to Ryu it seemed was already getting under his skin. She was twirling a lock pick between her fingers and telling him how easy she could get free and ditch him.

"You shut up, fur ball, why should I let you take me all the way back to that greedy jerk when I could just pick this little lock and leave you eating my dust? Thieves aren't known for their honesty, you know."

"We could have left you in that cell" Rand told her. "You seemed a lot more grateful when we first agreed to take you out of there, I believe you said you'd happily go back to Trout if we just got you away from the bugs, we could always go back, young lady."

"Ugh...I hate bugs...Fine, grandpa, I'll go back to Trout's with you jerks, but don't expect me to be a long term resident, that town is dullsville."

She turned her attention back to Ryu, and I almost felt sorry for him, he had quickly become her focus for her attention, and she was good at getting on his nerves. "So, you stuck up Ranger, chased me across the whole continent, and an ocean, you must be pretty hard up for a date eh. All this for your 'buddy'" she said, making quote signs with her fingers with the word buddy. "You got two floozies here, guess they must have turned you down, or maybe that's not your thing, eh?"

"HEY!" both Katt and I snapped at her. She was dressed in a skin tight suit and she was calling us floozies? "Shut up, you look like the tramp, not us." I snapped at her.

"Ooh, I offended your groupies I see. Guess if you want to keep the peace, you might have to let me go, it's a long trek back to dullsville, and you could lose them by the time we're there, Ranger boy."

"That's not going to work" Ryu said calmly "someone's freedom is riding on your return, and I promised to clear his name. Can we try and make this civil, Patty?"

She just glared at him, but finally broke eye contact after a moment. "Fine, I guess I'll tone it down, a little. It is better than being trapped in that cell, but, so I guess I can't complain too much."

She sat quietly for the remainder of the trip with her head in her hands, sighing occasionally until we reached land again. As usual, Katt was the first off the boat, and seemed much better suited to deal with our new companion without the ground beneath her moving.

"Now, you damn winged tramp, what was that about being a floozy?" Katt said.

I felt myself shoved in Katt's direction, and Patty just laughed. "I think she's talking to you, winged tramp." I felt my face go red, and Katt swung her staff at Patty, but she ducked and it hit Ryu in the back of the skull as he was getting off the boat.

"ENOUGH!" Ryu snapped at her angrily. It was the first time I saw him snap, and Patty stepped back a little. Rubbing the stop Katt hit, he was calm a moment later. "Look, just behave a little, you may not like the situation, but if you hadn't let Bow take the blame for you stealing from Trout, I wouldn't have had to chase you down."

It was weird, as he scolded her, they looked very alike, and I began to wonder if she was perhaps a member of the same clan. She had the leathery wings, was stronger than a normal girl, she pushed me forward effortlessly, and had blue hair, just like Ryu did, which was rare. It was probably just a coincidence, after all, it wasn't as rare as that, Mina had blue hair, Sied did as well.

She hadn't made a good impression on us so far, already pissing off Katt, making Ryu snap, making Rand snap, and was quite rude to me, but she was silent as she followed Ryu along towards the docks to the east.

Katt fell into step beside me. "I don't like her" she whispered to me. "Can you believe what a bitch she was to us earlier, where does that little tramp get off insulting how we're dressed, I mean, look at her!"

"I HEAR YOU BACK THERE!" she shouted back at us. "There's nothing wrong with how I'm dressed, at least I'm covered up, you Worens are always wearing as little as possible."

"I guess she heard you" I told Katt who was scowling at her now.

"Yeah, I GUESS SO!" she said loudly.

* * *

><p><span>New Haven – Bow's Perspective<span>

Bow could hardly believe how quickly the town was growing, nearly a dozen homes had already been constructed, and that was on top of the three for each of the carpenters and their families. Someone was funding the building of the town because new supplies kept arriving every other day and the carpenters were quite busy.

The home he planned for him and Ryu to live in had been altered and was now a much bigger home for the old woman and Sana, and her sister who showed up recently, Sesso. Bow had tried to help out the carpenters, but found he was getting in the way more than helping, he was just hoping he could get away from here soon so he didn't feel like he was just a burden. Several times he explored the big house that had become his new home, Nina and Katt locked their rooms, not that he was planning on snooping, but he found a third room up there locked, and when he asked about it, the carpenters just told him that it was reserved for someone. Though that was unusual, he let it go, and spent the days either watching the town get built or playing cards with Niro.

He missed being a Ranger; even the more boring jobs were looking more tempting now that he had nothing to do. Days passed by as he practiced with his crossbow, had taken up jogging with little else to do, and explore the area around the town. Ryu had left nearly two weeks ago now, and Bow was just counting the days till he could get away from here and go on an adventure again.

After the second week, things had started calming down a bit, the home for the shamans was finished, and the carpenters had begun to relax in their work. Their homes were interesting, and he was invited to see the inside, one carpenter's wife was an excellent cook and had an enormous kitchen crafted for herself; another had set up a large tavern in his home, though it was empty now, it was clear that he expected it to grow busy when the town became more populated; the third had set up a casino in his large home, it was actually proving more entertaining and Bow was introduced to a game called tokens where the objective was to land two tokens on opposite sides of a chest and if you succeeded, you were entitled to what was inside. There was little to win so far as it had just been constructed, but Bow had found something to help pass the time quicker, and spend most of his time there while waiting.

* * *

><p><span>Village of Gate<span>

John walked from the church confused. He had been sent here with a small group of his fellow rangers because something had drained the life from the land around here according to the Elder, but when they got here, the villagers told them nothing was wrong. Everyone seemed as though they were clueless that anything had changed, but walking through the village it was obvious that this was recent; the trees all looked dead, but it wasn't normal. If one or two died, it wouldn't be suspicious, but having the entire forest area around the village dead suddenly seemed very unusual.

The head priest seemed to think that everything around here was normal, but something about his eyes made John think he was lying. Vory, Bud, Walter and Powell joined him in asking the villagers about the strange occurrences, but each one had the same reply – "what strange occurrence?" Not one of them seemed to think anything out of the ordinary was happening to their home. They all gave the impression that all was as it should be, but the head priest the only one who gave any of them a strange feeling.

It seemed that they all believed that the Rangers were sent here for no reason, and after a couple days, the townspeople seemed almost cold towards them as though they would be happier to see the five of them leave here quickly, yet they were determined to discover just why the plant life around here suddenly appeared dead. A dragon slept at the back mountain, it was something that the villagers kept clear of, but rather than finding this to be the source, they found that the area around where it slept was still full of life. John thought if it had been the cause of the problem here, that the life around it would be dead as well, but the sleeping dragon kept the surrounding area alive.

A full week had passed since they reached Gate, and each one of them was stumped. John finally decided that they needed to bring someone who could communicate with plant life in order to get to the bottom of this, and they departed to return to Hometown and have the elder tell them what to do next. It was early when they departed, yet Gate seemed darker than normal. John lead the way to the mountains that formed a path west of the small village, but as they entered the caverns, even with lanterns or torches, the light source seemed far dimmer then it should have been. The caverns wound around, seeming far more complex with the lack of light than before, but it also felt like they were going in circles.

"John, something here isn't right" Vory said after a little while "we should be out of here by now."

He just nodded, moving faster now, eager to get out of the dark caves. The sound of something scraping against the stone could be heard behind them, but when the five of them turned to look, the light didn't reach beyond a few inches from where Walter stood.

"What's going on here?" said Walter sounding panicked. "The light should be granting us much more sight than this. Something about this mission is very wrong, John."

Powell, the third in line threw his lantern where they heard the sound, and it lit up the face of a demon for only a second before it went out. Something shot from the darkness and grabbed him, pulling Powell from his companions in the blink of an eye.

"What the hell was that?" Vory said loudly as they backed up drawing their weapons, Walter attempting to cast a wall of fire where they saw the demon's face. The spell burned brightly for a few seconds, but provided no additional light.

"**Curious Rangers, those who seek to protect the weak**" its voice echoed through the tunnel. "**I shall show you fear...I shall show you how powerless you normal humans are.**"

The radius of light shrunk around them more and more until the four Rangers were left in total darkness. They scrambled to move away from the demon, but the sounds of their screams alerted each one of them that one of their comrades fell, until John was the last one left.

"**I shall let you see what you face, so that you know, Ranger**" the demons voice echoed around him. "**You shall carry the tale back that this area is sealed from your meddling kind.**" With its words, the darkness vanished, the cave lit up as though they were outside, yet it only extended to the edges of the chamber the demon and the Rangers were in; the tunnels to and from this chamber were black as night.

John, leader of the Rangers beheld a demon larger than anything he ever encountered before; a shell that looked as though his sword would have no effect on it, covered the demons body, and massive claws, it walked on 6 powerful legs that were similar to an insects, but as thick as his own body, and three eyes glared down at him, the middle resting above the other two and much larger.

"**Now, Ranger, I think I'll make you scream"** the light filling the cavern went out again, and John heard the demon close in on him.

John felt like he was being torn apart, pain filled him, he heard the screams of his fellow Rangers echo through the darkness, and it felt like they were being tortured for hours, but deep in the cavern, there was no way to tell how much time was passing. Finally it stopped, and the demon spoke again.

"**Remember, when you and your friends here return, don't forget to tell the tale of what awaits any others foolish enough to come here. I'll be watching you, to make sure you obey, John**" the demon said threateningly.

* * *

><p><span>The Captain's Voyager – Katt's Perspective<span>

The boat that arrived was the same one that we rode over, it arrived by about midday, the captain recognizing us, and Patty from his previous journey over here. Getting on another boat for three days wasn't something I was looking forward to, but there was no other way we could get back across the sea. The captain happily greeted us when the ship pulled up to the dock, and noticed the jerk, Patty with us.

"Hello again, Miss Patty, looks like this bunch caught up with you after all. I guess they were pretty determined to bring you back, eh?" The captain said cheerfully to her.

She just smiled at him. "Yeah, I guess I underestimated those toads in Simafort, they weren't as airheaded as they looked, but, live and learn. Looks like the Ranger boy here gets to turn me in for a nice little reward. I agreed to go peacefully, since they got me out of that bug infested prison, what is it with those frogs and their gross eating habits?"

The captain just laughed. "Ha ha, yes, that's one place I would never go for the cuisine, weirdest clan I ever met. They are good cooks when bugs aren't involved, but you won't see that unless you get them out of that place. Anyways, welcome aboard to you all."

Rand went up first, shaking the captain's hand; he was followed by Sten, then Ryu and Patty. Once those two were on, Patty stretched her arms out, having undone the manacle holding her to Ryu herself, and earning a disapproving look from him. Nina went on next, and waited for me, though I walked onto the ship much slower, not eager to get back on another ship.

"Hello again, little Woren, I had a feeling we'd be seeing you again, though not so soon." Already I felt uneasy with the ship moving slightly because of the waves, and the captain seemed to notice right away.

"Still not liking the waves, are you?" I just nodded to him, and he pulled something out of his pouch that looked like a green bracelet. "I figured that you might need something to help you survive the trip this time around, this bracelet helps some of my passengers deal with the motion of the sea, wear it for this trip, and you might not even notice the waves." He handed the bracelet to me, and I immediately put it on, and felt fine once again.

"Wow, thanks Captain," I told him feeling normal even though we were on a boat "I really appreciate this!"

"Think nothing of it, consider it thanks for what you guys did in Captaina, my sister lives there, and I'm grateful that because of you guys she ended up safe. Enjoy your trip."

A moment later the ship was off again and within a few hours the horizon became just ocean. Whatever magic was in the bracelet the captain gave me, it worked, I didn't feel even slightly uneasy as the ship cut through the waves and rocked around, meaning this trip would actually be a good one. The thief went below deck a few minutes after we set off, and was sleeping now in the cabin where Nina and I stayed last time, there were plenty of beds, but I still wasn't pleased about sharing a room with her, she had some nerve talking to Nina and me the way she did.

Nina was off by herself reading a large book, I assumed had to do with magic, when I passed by her, it showed a drawing of someone summoning a wolf made of ice. Watching all the reading I've seen her do so far in this journey was starting to put a damper on my desire to learn magic, it looked like it was a lot of reading, which was something I had little patience for, it was dull.

Sten was doing something far more interesting, and a few others had gathered to help him, or watch, and I joined those watching. He was able to cast magic like Nina, but his was different, he put spells into small devices to use later. A large table with dozens of tiny spheres was in front of him, and he would summon a pulsing ball of energy, and then contain it inside one of them. They were about the size of a marble, but could still do some damage as he showed when we fought against the demons in Captaina and Simafort. It was interesting, and I asked if he could teach me to do something like that...unfortunately it ended with me setting the table on fire, and Nina ran over to put out the fire quickly. So much for learning from the damn monkey, he sucked as a teacher, and Nina's way seemed like it would take a while.

Rand was the one I should have known the longest, but he was a very quiet individual, more used to watching others than being part of the action. He was below the deck just relaxing with some of the crew in a game of cards, but seemed to be losing, as I could tell by the smaller pile of coins in front of him, but the next hand changed that when two of them bid large piles Zenny, and he won...I'm not sure how, he had low cards, a bunch of twos and threes, and the others had higher numbers, but I was never one for those stupid card games. He was smiling now, and the confident expression on the crew changed to grouchy looks. I left after he gave me a knowing wink, and I think he was doing what they called bluffing or something.

Up on the main deck again, I found Ryu. He was like Nina, standing alone, but he was sharpening his sword, not that it looked as though it needed it, I think that was just his way of passing the time. It actually gave me an idea since the others were doing stuff I found boring.

"Why did you fight with that stupid axe in our match, Ryu?" I asked him when I got close. "You're a swordsman; I think we should have a rematch, this time with you not using some stupid axe you don't know how to use." I expected him to decline, he was so serious – I noticed it from when I first met him, but he surprised me.

"Sure Katt, it's been a while since I had a sparring match, where and when?"

I hadn't even thought about that, just thinking of challenging him a moment ago, and expecting him to say no so I would keep being bored here and just aggravate him, but now I had something to look forward to. "I'll find us somewhere Ryu, no backing out now!"

He nodded with a slight smile on his face now as I walked away. _Where to have a match here on this ship?_ I thought. I figured I would ask Nina first, though I wasn't sure why, just that she was usually good with ideas. "Hey Nina, guess what?"

"You wanted to learn magic while we're here?" she replied looking up at me.

I thought that briefly, but seeing the huge book that Nina was reading kind of put me off that idea. "Umm, maybe later, no, Ryu agreed to a sparring match, I need to find somewhere on this ship we can have it, do you have any ideas?"

She looked at me for a moment. "Wouldn't the captain know better Katt? Besides, what about your seasickness?"

"Oh, that, well, the captain gave me this" I said showing her the bracelet. "It stops seasickness I guess because I don't feel sick anymore. I guess I should ask him first if he's okay with us fighting on his ship, come on, let's go."

I pulled her to her feet before she could protest, leaving the giant book behind. It shut after she was a few feet away, and vanished in a puff of smoke. "Cool" I said to her, "is that a spell to keep you from losing things?"

Nina just nodded, and a moment later we were in front of the captain. "Hi, um..." it just occurred to me that I didn't even know his name, I had just been referring to him as captain, and here I was about to ask him a favour.

Luckily Nina whispered to me "Grissom."

"Captain Grissom, Ryu and I want to have a sparring match, is there anywhere on the ship that we can arrange that?"

"I take it you're finding this voyage much more easy, eh Kitten." He replied cheerfully. Few people got away with calling me that, but he seemed to do it in an endearing way. "We have a little spot set up on the ship that could suit your little activity, as long as you're not going to be casting anything, last thing I need is my ship catching fire again."

I felt my cheeks go a little hot, I didn't think he saw that, but none the less I agreed, magic wasn't my thing, I was more of a physical fighter. "No, no more magic for me right now." I said quickly.

He chuckled at that. "Alright, give my boys an hour and we'll have something set up for you all. Personally I wouldn't mind seeing the skills of the heroes of Captaina. Send that big guy Rand up here would ya, Kitten."

* * *

><p>An hour later, word spread about the ship that they'd have some entertainment. A large ring had been set up in the middle of the ship with boxes moved into place to make a square area for me to spar against Ryu. It reminded me of one of the standard arenas from Corsair, a simple area for two fighters to duel, and many of the crew and even Sten, Rand and Nina were seated on the upper deck or atop the crates to watch. Nina waved to me as I entered which I found comforting, usually the people watching me were nameless faces, this was the first time I ever had familiar faces in the crowd and oddly I felt a bit nervous. Even Patty was here, though she looked like she was far from cheering for my victory.<p>

Ryu entered, looking much more at ease than last time. That stupid axe he used last time made him slow and easier to hit, but with his sword he fell into a much more agile battle stance. The sheath was clamped over his weapon, this was a friendly match so that made sense, but I almost felt guilty for not doing something about the claw at the end of my own weapon, but it was too late to worry about that now.

"Don't think I'll take it easy on you just cause it's a sparring match, Ryu" I told him.

He just nodded to me and spun his sword in front of him, and instead of feeling serious, I got the feeling that this could be fun. In Corsair it was always about winning, losers were booed; winners just moved on to a tougher opponent and risked serious injury. Here was a match that I could test my skill, it looked like Ryu was much more agile this time, and after seeing him in action before, it was clear we were close in skill so I might even find a chance to improve a bit.

"No turning into a dragon either, if you start to lose," I said "I mean, when..."

"Don't try and hurt me too much, Katt" he said sarcastically. "I think I'm still scarred from the Corsair match, but I'll try my best."

I jumped at him, swinging at where he stood, but a second later he was gone from there, a few feet to my right. He swung the sword at me, which I blocked. It went back and forth for several minutes, we were both fast, but Ryu preferred to attack high, something that I noticed quickly, and I switched my tactics to using low swings to his midsection or legs to throw him off, but that soon proved unable to land. He was skilled with his sword, as quick as I was and I found myself defending as much as attacking. Usually I just stuck to being the aggressor and ended my fights quickly, but he was someone able to keep up with me for a change.

After about fifteen minutes, we were covered in sweat. I saw Nina leaning forward, while Patty had wandered away again. Ryu had slowed a bit, but I think I was as well; we were both short on breath, but unwilling to give the other ground. Every time I would get a small advantage, Ryu changed his stance a bit and was able to turn that around so that I would only get a hit or two on him in a row, and he was about as successful, my legs hurt a bit, but I think I bruised his chest and face a bit. He seemed to be enjoying a challenge, and I had to admit I was too, it was different not being able to break through an opponent's defences by now and landing a few hits that would end the fight.

"What's wrong Katt, not as overconfident as you were before we started?" he panted.

"Shut up, Ryu. You're better than I expected." I wanted to win this, never having a draw before. I started attacking wildly, stronger swings and soon I had Ryu backing up, purely on the defensive. This was how I was used to fighting, he was still blocking most of my hits, and I knew I was leaving myself open more like this, but he was too busy to take advantage of any weaknesses I had. At least, that's what I thought, he wasn't attacking back, finally, I drove my staff hard at him, but missed, and it got caught in one of the crates around us, and before I could free it, he had moved behind me, knocking my feet out from under me and the next thing I knew, I was looking up at him, weapon less. The match was over when one of us disarmed the other, and I can't believe that he had come out the winner.

Ryu didn't have that confident smirk I usually would expect if someone managed to beat me, he just helped me up, and patted me on the back, whispering that it had been a good match, and I think I said it back to him, but was feeling a little out of it; I couldn't believe that I had lost, over a hundred matches at the coliseum, and not one loss, but he had managed to beat me. I wasn't sure what to feel losing a fight, but Nina was there a moment later handing me my staff after struggling for a moment to get it out where it had gotten stuck.

"That was impressive, Katt, I really thought you had him at the end there." She said, though her words seemed far away, all I could think was that my undefeated streak had ended. A few others offered words of comfort, and I just nodded eventually deciding to head off to bed when the sun began to set. Inside, Patty had gone back to sleep, which was good, last thing I wanted to hear was her bugging me about losing, and I crawled under the covers and fell asleep before I knew it.

* * *

><p>The following day, I woke up, still a little sore, but with a different view on the fight from yesterday. All this time fighting in the coliseum, I came across opponents that were strong or fast but were unskilled when it came to combat. Having more than they did and being strong and fast, myself meant that I would always win against them, but having found someone that was able to compete with me after all these years meant that I possibly had more to learn. I got up before Nina and Patty and decided to go find Ryu to train rather than fight, if he was able to defeat me when I was going all out, there must be something he has learned that could make me a better fighter, and personally, magic was something that could take a long, long time to study.<p>

Ryu seemed to have a similar plan; he was already up going through some sword training of his own. A group of half a dozen wooden dummies had been set up around him and he danced from one to the other striking several points on each before moving on to the next one. I watched him for a moment before I decided to make my presence known.

"Good morning, Ryu" I said stepping up to the first of the dummies, "guess I wasn't the only one who was planning on getting in some training today. What are you doing?"

"Hello, Katt. I was just working on some target training, hitting the head, chest, midsection, and then legs for each one separately, see how each is coloured differently," he said, and I noticed that each dummy was coloured four different colours, one for each section. "Nina set this up last night after you went to bed, the objective is to wait for one color to flash then hit each of the corresponding colours as fast as possible; it was a training exercise at the Ranger's Guild to work on balance, speed and precision. Would you care to try, Katt?"

It was something that was different, but I was adapting quickly, I was quite agile as a fighter, and able to dance circles around my opponent, but rapidly switching targets and only striking the specific parts was something that took me a little while to get used to. As the morning passed into afternoon, I had alternated turns with Ryu and we competed to see how long each of us could go without missing a target. It turned training from a chore into almost a fun game, and I was looking forward to whatever he had planned out next, but needed a break after almost six hours, and had to clean up a bit, covered in sweat.

Passing Patty on the way to my room, she gave a slightly disapproving look and made a point to cover her nose as I passed, but I didn't care at that point.

* * *

><p><span>The Captain's Voyager – Patty's Perspective.<span>

I was relieved when the Woren finally left for a bit, since waking up, I found her almost desperate hanging off the blue haired Ranger kind of annoying, like some attention seeking school girl. I found the Ranger to be the too serious type, and that was easy to push to aggravation, but when he snapped at me on the way here, I almost felt a little guilty. I was sure I may have been a little more moody from the lack of sleep in that damn cell, and possibly made my situation a bit unpleasant for myself, but I wasn't planning on living with these people forever, after getting a bit of sleep, I would be a bit more prepared to deal with my escort to Hometown.

The Woren was the easiest to deal with, I knew one already and found them short tempered, quick to violence and easy to taunt, Katt here was no exception, and she seemed to be almost protective of the ranger and the winged girl. Nina was hard to figure out, she was quiet, didn't want to reveal much about herself, but it was easy to see she was a skilled magic user, off studying some spells, and trying to teach the cat a few spells herself although that didn't go too well. The Highlander seemed to have a knack for alchemy and some magic; he carried a small armoury of weapons for most situations, and seemed almost secretive as well. The big guy, Rand was the most open, he didn't seem to have any secrets at all, telling me he was from Farma and left to pursue a more interesting life style. He was a skilled repairman and powerful fighter, which was obvious from looking at him.

The Ranger was the one who brought them all together in his search for me, according to Rand, and they all followed him after seeing his great heroic actions, he fought against several demons already in order to save the Woren, the Windian and the prince of Simafort, almost like their own knight in shining armour. As interesting as all that was, they didn't seem to be able to tell me where he came from before Hometown, and that was something I was more interested in finding out. The crew gathered together to watch him fight against the Woren, and after watching them pitted against each other in a sparring match, my interest in his past took the back burner. They were both very skilled fighters, Katt having the ferocity I had come to associate with her race, Ryu the Ranger having certain calmness about him. I was almost glad at that point that I had not pushed Katt too far into irritation, I had always been fast, but if she decided to turn her anger on me, I probably would have walked away with quite a few bruises.

I just paced the ship as the day wore on, watching the group as they moved about with their activities to pass the time. Apart from the Windian, they had resorted to training in fighting styles, taking turns in partners. The only one coming close to beating Ryu was the Woren, but her temper constantly blew it for her as the fight wore on. I was actually warming up to my captors a bit, but the following day we arrived in Captaina and after a few preparations, we were on a smaller ship that took us across, not to Hometown as I expected, but a little further south to where another town I had never heard of was.

"Ryu, you're back!" said a voice from the biggest building, and there was the amateur I knocked over on my way out of the mansion from Hometown, a slightly chunky Grassrunner with floppy ears, he looked like an oversized puppy. "Wow, you caught her, I was starting to think I would be stuck here by myself forever, I knew I shouldn't have doubted you buddy." He walked up to the Ranger and caught him in a bear hug.

For some reason, rather than just feeling indifferent, I was annoyed. I knew I wouldn't be with this group long, but was starting to get used to them, despite being unwelcomed by the girls, and feeling the monkey leering at me when he thought I wasn't looking. "You're trading me in for this MUTT? I'm insulted; a flea bitten dog that can't even pull off a simple job like not clumsily awakening the guards in a mansion is what you're turning me into Trout for, Ryu?" I said before I could stop myself, my voice full of venom. My face hurt an instant later when Katt stepped forward and punched me, knocking me to the ground, and placing her foot on my chest.

"I'd shut up if I were you, if you don't want another one" she hissed at me.

"Katt!" the Ranger said, surprised by the sudden change at what should have been a happy occasion for their cheerful little group, and I suddenly wanted to be away from them all, though we fell into an easy companionship after the first day, it suddenly became clear to me that I was not part of their little group, they were a bunch of goody two-shoes, and that wasn't me. She no longer stood over me, Ryu knelt beside me, his hand glowing white, but I shoved him back.

"I'm fine, I don't need your stupid sympathy, tomorrow we're going our separate ways, so don't waste your pitiful healing on me, Ranger" I snapped at him as I turned and walked off towards the big mansion where they lived.

The innkeeper directed me to a room on the top floor, and I quickly washed up before anyone else got here. The punch caused a small cut at the side of my temple, but the embarrassment hurt more, I should have known not to get too comfortable around these people, and it was just a reminder of that, but I noticed that I had been crying, though I didn't feel it. I heard the sounds of footsteps coming and shut off the water before rushing to the nearest room, wanting to hide from whoever it was, so they couldn't see me in my pitiful state. It was the Woren and her friend, she was angry, and the other was trying to calm her down, but at the same time pushing the fact that she shouldn't have snapped like that.

_Great_ I thought, _now they're taking pity on me._

After a moment, the sounds of two doors closing told me that they had gone to their rooms, and I was left to think alone in the silence. Morning would come soon, but it was a while before my thoughts cleared enough to go to sleep, and when I did, it was restless, the feeling of loneliness kept filling me, and I was almost jealous that this group seemed tightly knitted while I was all alone travelling from place to place without a place to call home.

* * *

><p>Author's Note<p>

I know this chapter took a long time to come out, I wrote out a few drafts with different things happening, but never was satisfied by the end and ended up restarting it over and over. I wanted to give the characters some sort of interaction, after all, they were all stuck on a ship together for three days. I started making Patty annoying, but figured she couldn't harrass poor Ryu the whole time, and figured that was just more of a tough outer shell she showed. She never really interacted with anyone in the game, even her own group doesn't say anything about her except that she left again, and wanted to give her kind of a loner feel, someone who observes but doesn't get to interact more, and when you see someone who has what you have been missing, you kind of feel jealous.

Katt, as the "protector" of the group of course is going to have it out with her, but she'll be an important part of the story over time and can't have Katt beat on the poor girl too much.

Anyways, sorry for the delay, I just had trouble getting this chapter to where I wanted it, more will come a lot quicker now.


	14. Chapter 14 Den of Thieves

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Chapter Thirteen: Den of Thieves

* * *

><p>New Haven – Katt's Perspective<p>

It was pouring down rain this morning when I woke up; out the window, it looked like somebody was just dumping buckets of water, so it was no disappointment when Bow announced that we wouldn't be heading to Hometown until it dried up a bit. The sound of thunder clapping is what woke me up, and a moment later my room burst with brightness from a bolt of lightning, and I was wide awake. Thankfully it was morning when that happened, a bit earlier than I usually got up, but too late to drift off to sleep again.

I wasn't the only one awake, in the bathroom, I smiled a bit to myself when I saw Patty there, dabbing some kind of salve on her eye where I hit her the previous day. It was something that I saw a lot in the coliseum, a healing balm; it helped revitalize minor injuries, and moments later the dark blue bruise vanished. She glanced over in my direction, and then away; so, the silent treatment, that was fine with me, I didn't like her much, so having her not talk to me would be perfectly fine with me.

A moment later she had vanished, and I had this enormous bathroom all too myself. It was a relaxing half hour later that I joined everyone down in the common area for breakfast, and Bow announced that we weren't going anywhere today, and we could enjoy a peaceful day here. I assumed that he would want to get himself cleared, and was looking forward to us being rid of that annoying thief, Patty, but he seemed to be alright with us just spending the day here, and it didn't seem so bad, they did a great job building us a new place to live.

It was a testament to how big the room was that even with everyone here, it wasn't crowded. The six of us, the thief, and even the two shamans and their grandmother were all here, and there was still room at the table. Breakfast smelled good, and when I sat down between Nina and the red headed shaman, Sana, there was a fair share of food made.

"You and the carpenters did a great job on this house for us, Bow. I'm surprised that they appreciated what we did for them in Captaina to put this much into the town; it must have cost a fortune. It's grown a lot in just a couple weeks" Nina said.

"It wasn't all them, someone has been shipping building materials over here since you guys left. Have you noticed the room up on your floor that is locked?" Bow asked her.

We both tried to go in last night, but it wouldn't budge, and there was no handle. Somehow a room had been built here without Bow's participation, and by somebody else, and an S was emblazoned on the door; neither of us had any idea what it stood for. "I was curious about that, Bow" Nina started. "How is that room getting built if no one can even go in? It seemed to be sealed by magic, and I heard voices from there this morning, but didn't notice anyone coming up since last night."

"Wish I could tell you, Nina, not even the carpenters have any idea what's behind that door, and how it's getting built, but there are sounds of people working there. I tried knocking, no one answered, there was no lock to pick, and I don't know who sealed the door, but it's some powerful magic preventing us from going in, way out of my league."

Their conversation gave me something to think about. This place was home, and somehow, some mysterious magician forced their way onto Nina and my floor; perhaps I was being selfish, but I didn't really want to share with someone that I didn't know, but if it was sealed with magic, that was Nina's territory, she could figure out what was there soon.

"I'll look into it today, Bow" she said after a moment, and then turned back to her breakfast. She had fallen deep into thought, as she often did, and would provide little conversation while she was thinking things over. Bow turned his attention to Ryu, saying he was in no rush to get back to Hometown right now, having everyone here had made the town a lot livelier; Ryu however said that Patty wasn't going to be docile for long; she would probably get sick of waiting here and try to escape soon. _Good luck with that, little thief_ I thought, _I would make sure she didn't get far till we cleared Bow's name._

Patty was down at the end of the table beside Rand, and sitting across from Ryu. She was talking to the big guy about something, I couldn't hear, but she seemed to have taken a liking to him since we caught her. I was trying to hear what they were saying, but their voices were too low, and a second later, the red haired shaman elbowed me in the side, hard.

"Hey, kitten" she said when I turned and glared angrily at her. "I heard you're quite the fighter from our little winged friend over there," she said nodding at Patty. "I've been looking for a sparring partner since Shinny left us. How about we kill some time after breakfast and I show you some martial arts?"

I pretended to think about it for a moment, but was eager to show her a thing or two. She was another one that made a bad first impression with me, I guess I was over being mad at Ryu for wandering off with her, but she was another one like Patty that seemed cocky, but unlike the thief, she was willing to get into a fight so I could put her in her place. Nina looked over, and smirked, she had come to know I enjoyed a good fight, and the shaman bugged us both by taking Ryu away with her shameless flirting.

Soon breakfast was over, and it was still pouring out. Sana, who had spent a lot more time here than any of us, led me down to the basement where a dojo had been made, and I glanced around in appreciation.

"After they finished building our house, I was able to talk some of the boys into a few additions to this place. I like fighting, and Bow mentioned that you used to be a big hit in Corsair, so I figured we could get some use out of a place to hone our skills. My sister had them work on a library and something else; I kinda lost interest when she started babbling about books. Men are pretty easy to wrap around your finger, if you know what you're doing...little free advice for you there, kiddo."

She started off doing something nice, and then switched to an unwanted criticism. I was looking forward to hurting her a bit, just because I didn't flaunt my body to get what I wanted like she did. She began stretching and doing some warm ups, and I did the same. A moment later, Sten and Bow came down to join us, I wasn't expecting company, but it would be good for the two of them to watch her lose some of her over confidence. However, as I watched her for a moment, I could tell she was quite agile, and knew her techniques. We both put on heavily padded gloves so we wouldn't hurt each other, and I picked up my staff, walking onto the mats, but she stopped me.

"No, we're not using weapons, little kitten" she mocked. "I'm just here to test your hand to hand skills, no staff." Fighting without my staff wasn't something I was used to, I always used a weapon, and having to put it off the side threw me off a bit. It wasn't that I wasn't trained, I was just used to having it with me, oh well, and I would still teach her a lesson.

"Sure you're ready?" she asked, and I just nodded. She was quick, throwing a series of jabs at me before attempting to trip me, but it was an obvious starter, get me on the defensive and change attack point. I leaped over it easily and grabbed onto her shoulders, flipping over and driving both my feet into her shoulders, she tumbled forward, but quickly rolled to her feet.

"Nice move, and here I thought you were going to fight like a girly girl" she said, and I felt myself getting angry again. "I may have to actually try with you, kitten."

I jumped at her, but she dodged and swept my feet out from under me before I fully landed, and I was face first on the mat. Spinning my legs around to hit her if she was near, I was on my feet again and aimed a few roundhouses at her, but a second later found myself on my back again. Punching the mat in frustration, I hurried to get up again and tried to tackle her, thinking if we were both on the ground, I would take her out easily. It seemed sound, but she was practically dancing around avoiding me, laughing in a mocking tone.

Once...Twice more, she knocked me off my feet, and then stopped. "I think we should probably stop for a bit, you're getting all angry there, Katt" she said to me when I flipped up, and I felt my face all red, and my tail swinging wildly. "That temper is something you should work on, it's just a friendly match, but I noticed it's easy to get you worked up, so we should call it for now."

I wanted to snap at her, but having lost to Ryu in a match, and now the cocky shaman who I wanted to teach a lesson, bested me, somewhat. After a moment of thinking about it, I figured she might be right, I really wanted to attack her, let her leave a bit bruised, but allowed myself to calm down for a few moments. "All right, but no more calling me kitten, or kiddo, I hate that, and you're not that much older than I am…though you look it" I said, suddenly thinking of a way to get under her skin.

She just smiled at that. "Nice try, but I'm not as easy to enrage as you Worens. Anyways, I'll be down here quite a bit, so try and practice too if you don't want to eat the mat as much next time."

* * *

><p>New Haven – Bow's Perspective<p>

I had wanted to clear my name ever since that unfortunate night at Trout's, hoping that when Ryu caught the girl who stole from him, and brought her back, I wouldn't have to worry about hiding anymore. After meeting her, I was beginning to realize that my freedom meant that hers would be gone. She seemed to not worry about what was coming, almost as if it were something of little consequence. Getting to spend time around her, she wasn't what I expected, Patty seemed like a loner type, and had that confidence of someone who could do her job well, better alone that working with others. At the same time though, she wasn't coming across as the type of person who would consider others less important. She was angry when they first arrived, but today seemed far more welcoming at breakfast.

My mind kept wandering as I stood off to the side while Sten, Katt and Sana were practicing new combat techniques with each other. It reminded me of the few times I observed Ryu practicing with a few fellow Rangers. They each wrapped their hands in thick pads so they wouldn't actually injure one another while practicing. Each of the three had a different style; Katt took a more direct approach hitting the more obvious points against her opponent, face, chest or midsection, but she dodged easily and almost danced around whoever she was fighting against. Sten was nimble, and was holding back by the looks of it, he would strike at joints like the knee or ankle, places that may cripple if he was putting his full force into it, and it made me think he would be a deadly person to let close in a fight. Sana was good at defending and countering, she would block until an opening presented itself, and then strike out to knock whoever she was against off their feet. This seemed like the kind of activity Ryu would be interested in, and I was beginning to wonder where he was.

For a while when the three of them were training, I was keeping my own abilities honed. Targets moved about on the far wall quickly making it difficult to hit for an amateur, but I had spent some time here already and found it was greatly improving my ability to hit them in the center even having the second to adjust before they were in a new location. After about an hour I decided it was time to leave here for now, there were things to prepare for when we did go back to Hometown, even if it was going to be a short trip there and back.

The storm finally let up before the evening, which meant we would have time to get to Hometown without worrying about night catching up to us. Rand and Sten decided to just wait here for our return. They claimed it was to just relax here, but I was betting that the two shaman girls had something to do with them wanting to stay in New Haven, and couldn't blame them.

Katt was in a cheerful mood now that she let off some of her steam while practicing with Sana and Sten for a while. Nina seemed deep in thought, as usual, and was quiet, as usual. I was wondering why they were joining us, but after we set out, I was glad they did.

An outpost was set up not far from Mount Fubi, running from the lake across to the base of the mountain, and manning it were about twenty mercenaries that, as we approached, looked at the wanted poster of me, and smiled greedily.

* * *

><p>New Haven – Ryu's Perspective<p>

The heavy storm died down to a light shower by late afternoon, and soon five of us were ready to make the trip to Hometown. In the month since we left him here, Bow seemed to be keeping himself busy training – probably out of boredom, but he had improved a lot in a short time. Katt decided to come to keep an eye on Patty. They were quite different, much as like and Nina, but they got off to a bad start. Nina wanted to return to Hometown just to let her former mentor know she was alright, but, like Bow, I didn't think she considered that place her home any longer.

The trip back to Hometown was leaving me with an uneasy feeling. We arrived back to New Haven by ship so did not cross the plains from Mount Fubi to Hometown, and therefore did not encounter Trout's guards on the way, but they were plentiful now. A large outpost had been set up with the wanted poster of Bow's picture and a reward for his capture. They didn't want to allow us to pass with him, insisting we hand over the fugitive to their custody, and when we refused, they became violent. Trout's guards didn't seem that intelligent before, but now seemed to be driven by a fierce greed. I was carrying the Dragon's Tear now, and around their presence, the jewel in the middle was a dark orange, nearly red. Though I didn't fully understand everything about it, a darker color like this usually meant that the person would have dark intentions – though it would be easy to tell after a moment interacting with them.

"Hand over the thief, Bow, unless you plan on opposing Lord Trout's orders to capture him." He demanded.

"Hate to tell you this, chump" Katt said to him "but, you've been searching for the wrong thief all this time, Patty here is the one who robbed Trout's place, and we're going to see him now to clear things up, so move it."

Rather than moving out of the way, a few more approached to block our way with their weapons drawn. "That reward will be ours; I suggest you do as we told you if you don't want you and your little friends to get hurt, fur ball."

He barely finished speaking when her staff swung around and sent him flying about ten feet away from where he stood. The other guards took action, and surrounded her, but she was nimble, and dodged several of them easily, and I quickly evened the odds taking a few of the mercenaries' focus. Nina cast a few spells that burned their weapons, or sent them flying hard against the wall of the outpost, and Bow stayed near her, fighting off any that got close, and disarming a few with his crossbow, but was careful not to injure them much. Patty just avoided the fight, easily moving out of the way if one focused on her. Katt was fierce in battle, her staff connecting hard against their head or striking their exposed chests with enough force to send them flying through the air. Twenty to four, unskilled, inexperienced and slow, soon all of them were knocked unconscious.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side, Katt" Bow said to her with a chuckle.

"I hate being called fur ball, and these jerks had it coming anyway" she replied smiling.

As we got closer to Hometown, I found that Patty's eyes ventured to the Dragon's Tear a few times, but she would look away when I caught her glaring at it. Katt was keeping an eye on her too, probably looking for another reason to hit her again, she took enjoyment from it the previous time, I could tell, and seemed full of energy after fighting.

Finally we arrived back at Hometown, but it felt different from the last time I was here, no longer a welcoming city. At the main entrance was the same guard who allowed me to leave with Bow before, but he looked shocked that we returned. He was accompanied by two others in the same uniform that Trout's guards wore, but they weren't the only ones, a great number of guards in the same uniform now occupied the town, on streets, at the entrances, in front of the stores, the magic academy; in short, Hometown no longer felt like a friendly place, and more like an untrusting community. The two with us escorted us to Trout's mansion, and I could feel the townspeople looking at Bow with anger, hatred and disapproval, he was a criminal to them now, responsible for the changes to their once beloved home.

Trout was a larger man, slightly heavy, but dressed in fancy clothing that was probably custom made for him. He wore several gold chains and bracelets and rings, and a gold embroidered red smoking that matched the rest of his outfit. A greedy smile crossed his face when he saw that he had Bow now in his custody.

"So, this is the thief who broke in last month and got past all my security, I must admit, I am impressed that you demonstrated such skill, you look like the last person I would expect to be able to steal from me, not exactly a thief's build, my portly Ranger." He was saying as he circled around Bow, looking over him.

"Actually, that's why we're here; Bow isn't the one who robbed you. You've been chasing after the wrong person" I told him, though as I said it, I felt the Dragon's Tear grow cold again, and didn't really like the idea of turning anyone over to him, but at this point there was little choice. "It seems Patty here was the one who took from your treasure room, Bow was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. We were able to bring her and your lost possessions back. Don't worry; the Rangers will make sure she is dealt with lawfully."

His eyes turned to her, and he began circling her as he was Bow a moment ago. "Well, this is more like what I was expecting, limber, agile; she looks like the type that would be able to get past my defences, and she'll do nicely. Guards, escort these fools out and take her to the cellar."

"I don't think I feel comfortable with her being left here" I started, the look in his eyes was leaving me uneasy "It's the job of the Rangers here to deal with those who break the law here, if you don't like it, you can take it up with Elder Mason."

Just then, I noticed that we were joined by far more of Trout's guards, ten more joining us in the main lobby here. "Foolish Ranger, do you really think I would leave such a skilled thief in your hands? Just be grateful that I don't lock you and your flea bitten friend up along with her. Now, I suggest that you follow my guards out of my home before I change my mind."

"Wait, you can't just leave me here, Trout collects thieves and makes them steal for him, Ryu, he has a dungeon where he keeps them locked up" Patty said suddenly.

One of the guards stepped forward and slapped her across the face. "Shut up thief, you will not spread your filthy lies here."

Katt looked ready to hit him, and I was feeling the same way, my hand on my sword.

"I assure you, I do not have a dungeon full of thieves stealing for me, I suggest that since your work here is finished, you depart before I decide to have you locked up for disturbing my home."

I would have words with the Elder about this, but for now, we were lead to the door by an escort of armed guardsmen. It wasn't far from his mansion that they turned and went back, leaving us in the darkening street.

* * *

><p>"I don't like this, buddy" Bow said once we were away from the guards. "Since when is Trout the one who locks people up, and where did all those guards come from?"<p>

"Bow? What are you doing here, they're looking for you" whispered a voice behind us. It was Kilgore, the man who originally hired Bow to break into Trout's home.

"Kilgore, it's alright, I haven't been caught. Ryu here and his friends caught the real thief, but there's a problem."

He just nodded, "follow me; it's not really safe talking about this in the open anymore."

Kilgore led us to his home where he locked the door behind us and we followed to his dining room. "I'm glad you're back safely, but there's something funny going on in Hometown since you left here a month ago. First, tell me what happened at Trout's, if you don't mind."

Bow recanted the story from having to fight past the mercenaries at the outpost wanting the reward for his capture to having Trout's guards now at the entrance to Hometown and then continued on to meeting with him at his mansion and having to leave Patty there.

"It's not surprising, the majority of guards now are under Trout's control, he's hired many of them to work for him instead of for the town now, and many more have been appearing since you escaped. They outnumber the Rangers now, and when someone crosses Trout, he decides what happens to them. I was hoping that you would have found proof that Trout stole from me, but when you were caught, I was more worried about you getting away safely than anything else."

"So, he actually could have had us locked up for opposing him?" Nina asked

"It actually brings me to my next point, I believe what Patty said to him was correct, that Trout has many thieves working for him, and was hoping that I could ask you a favour."

"What is it?" Bow asked.

"I want you to break into Trout's mansion and see if you can find where he has the thieves locked up. I know I have no right to ask this of you, especially after causing you, and Ryu so much trouble, but I just feel that if we don't find out what Trout is up to, something bad is going to happen here."

"Oddly, I have the same feeling. When we were there, he just gave me the creeps; there is something not right about him. I'll head back in tonight, before he has any more time to cover his tracks."

"So, you agree to do this, Bow?" he asked, nervously.

"Of course, I never back down from saving a damsel in distress. If I get caught this time though, I'll be in real trouble, so I better be careful." He walked over to where I was sitting. "I caused real trouble here by trying to break into Trout's place, buddy; it's up to me to go clean it up. I'll make sure that I get Patty out of there; she probably would've gotten out too without being caught. I promise that I won't do anything stupid this time to alert the guards."

"I'm coming with you this time Bow" I told him to his surprise. "There is something about Trout that I don't trust, and you might need someone to watch your back."

He offered thanks for my support, and we began planning out how we would break in that night. Kilgore somehow got a set of blueprints for Trout's home, however large parts were left unfinished according to the layout, and he suspected others were hired to finish those sections. A few lock picking devices, ropes, smoke pellets that Bow made and other thieving tools were loaded into a backpack for him, and soon Katt and Nina wished us good luck as we departed.

* * *

><p>Trout's Mansion – Bow's Perspective<p>

I stayed in the shadows as Ryu crept closer to the guard, and with a solid blow against the back of his helmet, the guard was knocked unconscious. He could move stealthy when he wanted to, but he rarely felt the need to hide his presence, this time he thought it necessary and I found myself glad to have him along, instead of Katt or Nina who I wasn't sure could do this task as quietly, and I also wouldn't want to get them involved and cause trouble for them.

As he dragged the guard out of the way, I proceeded to work on our entrance.

"There, got it, buddy" I whispered to him. Last time I went through the front door, this time was no different, and Trout had done nothing to change the security. I wondered how Patty made it inside, the door was still locked, when I entered and she probably went through a window or some other less accessible way. A small click and the door opened a tiny bit granting us access inside.

It was as deserted as before, and with only a little light coming in from outside, I took a moment to adjust, but Ryu took the lead, he seemed to have good vision even in this kind of darkness. We were both soundlessly moving through the main floor; Kilgore had several hunches where a dungeon could have been created if Patty was right about him, and the first was on the west side of the mansion off the study.

It was occurring to me that for all the guards Trout had escort us out; there was suddenly not a sign of any of them aside from the one by the door.

_It was almost too easy getting through here, but then again, the last time was too, so don't get cocky_. Stone steps led down, but when we got there, it was just an empty cellar, not a thing was stored down here. It was highly suspicious so we spend a few minutes examining the walls, trying to find some reason for coming down here, but soon was forced to make our way upstairs again.

"Someone is coming" Ryu said and I heard footsteps a second later.

Hiding in the shadows, Ryu and I waited hoping whoever it was wouldn't be checking around here too much, we were hidden by the pillar here, but if someone looked around, we wouldn't be too hard to find. A second later, a wall at the far end of the study opened and out of a passage stepped Trout. I watched him careful not to give away our presence, and saw him close the passage by adjusting a nearby lamp before he left the way we came in. Ryu glanced over at me and I knew we found a secret Trout would prefer we hadn't found.

"That doesn't seem suspicious at all, does it buddy?" I whispered to him. "Shall we go check out what he's hiding?"

I counted to thirty in my head before I signalled for us to come out, and went over to where I saw Trout open the passage from. Pulling on the lamp, part of the wall opened granting us access to a long stairway down. Here it was better lit, though not by much, small torches at least provided some light, but their light made the shadows seem darker.

Down at least four flights of stone steps we went, and the sounds of our footsteps made small echoing sounds even though we were being as quiet as possible. What we found was not what either of us expected. Nearly a dozen cells occupied this dungeon and each one was the home for one or two occupants. Each one of them had a shady look, but was wearing a strange looking collar. As we passed, they were calling out for help to us.

"Help me, I just came here selling Whale Cakes and he took all my money and locked me up" one of them said.

"I helped Trout recover a stolen treasure from the thief in the next cell, but instead of paying me, he locked me and the thief up" said a tough looking man in the second cell.

At the end of the hallway was a set of keys; and next to it was where Patty was being kept, unlike the others; she was chained to the wall, a manacle binding each hand tightly so she couldn't reach the other to escape. Her face was slightly red from where the guard slapped her, and she looked tired. She gave us a knowing look as we approached and Ryu helped her down, "I told you Trout kept us locked down in a dungeon" she said, but at that point the other captives started yelling; Trout had returned here.

There was no place to hide, the door was wide open announcing our presence, and a moment later he was at the base of the stairs.

"Trout, if I get out of here, I'm going to murder you" one of them shouted at him.

"You've already taken everything I have, just let me go, I promise I won't tell anybody!" the Whale Cake salesman said to him.

"TROUT!" one of them yelled at him. "LET ME OUT OF HERE YOU BASTARD, I SWEAR YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME!"

A moment later he was blocking our exit out of here. It wasn't like we couldn't run past him, but he had seen just who we were, there would be no denying we were here. "Well, lookie here at what we have crawling around in my dungeon, the wrong thief returns to my home, whatever could we mistake him for doing here this time around?"

"It looks like Patty was right about you, Trout, you've been locking people up and forcing them to steal for you, and the Rangers don't take kindly to kidnappers and slavery."

At this, Trout just began chuckling, and the dungeon felt like it was getting darker. "Well, if the straight shooting Rangers think I've done something wrong, however I will get out of this situation."

Ryu put his hand over where he kept the strange neckpiece and put his other hand on the hilt of his sword. "You fool...do you really think I would be worried about what your pathetic guild would do at this point? I own this town. The number of people who work for me far outweigh the few measly Rangers for your little guild of do-gooders. However, I did not get this far by just letting the truth about my dealings get exposed, you are not leaving here, alive."

He backed up further, and the shadows down here seemed to expand to give him a more sinister appearance, though it looked like he was growing taller. His eyes became red, and soon he was so immersed by darkness, two glowing pupils were all we could see. "I was quite impressed by you, Pako, or whatever your name is, you were able to break into my safe almost effortlessly, and only got caught cause of this portly klutz. Perhaps if you are obedient, I shall let one of them go free, what do you say?"

I looked over at her and saw her furiously shaking her head. "It's PATTY, and I don't work for people like you. I find it laughable that you think these two would just let you kill them, you're going to be the one locked up soon, you diluted nut."

"I hardly think that situation will be the outcome, Patty. After I kill them off, I'll have to teach you some respect." He laughed.

The lights dimmed even more, and became almost an indigo color. We couldn't see him, but in the darkness, it sounded like skin tearing. The next thing I knew, he stepped forward not looking anything like the man who we saw only moments ago, he was much taller, though he no longer stood on legs but was supported by nearly half a dozen orange tentacles. His skin had become scaly, his head much larger and almost serpent like, and his hands were sharp looking claws and had multiplied to six. Sharp looking teeth formed an evil grin and spikes ran across his back, ending in a long, thick tail.

"Great, not another one" I heard Ryu say beside me, and Patty was looking far less confident than I had gotten used to.

"Yes, you may have taken out my associate, Ranger, but he relied on his guards too much, I have no need for those fools to protect me, I shall kill you as he was supposed to and be rewarded for handing your corpse over to the god who blessed us with power."

Ryu had his sword out and I shot three bolts from my crossbow at where stood. Two hit the mark as he backed up into the darkness, but then we lost sight of him. Patty had armed herself with a pair of daggers, but was standing near where Ryu was for protection. The other captives were yelling to be let out, but we had our own problems at the moment.

"Buddy, do you see him around? It's like he vanished..." I began when he slashed out beside my head and a tentacle fell to the floor next to me. The sound of a monster growling angry came from around us, but it was becoming harder to see down here, the torches providing a small sphere of light, but between them was a veil of shadows, and anywhere in there Trout in his demon form could be hiding.

The three of us were clustered together, and twice more he tried to snag us with one of his appendages only to have it cut deeply, but he was careful not to lose another one. We needed to weed him out somehow, he was able to blend into the darkness and become almost invisible, yet he had not resorted to dosing the torches to give himself more of an advantage. I heard the sounds of scales sliding against stone to our right, and fired. The demon screeched in pain as the bolt hit its mark and exploded providing a quick flash of light, and Ryu jumped on the opportunity to strike the demon. I saw his weapon plunge into the demon's left side before the light faded again, and the two of them vanished in blackness. Standing close to me, Patty had her two daggers drawn, but seemed less confident when facing a demon than she normally presented herself. Like me she was looking closely at where Ryu disappeared from, and we heard the sounds of fighting for a few seconds before it would jump to another spot we couldn't see.

"I can't see what's happening in there" she said to me.

After a few moments, Ryu was knocked back into the light, landing breathlessly several meters from us, his sword had a thick, blackish liquid coving it. "Bow, where ever you got those arrows from, hit him again next chance you get" he said eagerly.

It was quiet for a moment before one of the torches lighting the dungeon was knocked from the wall and crushed out. They didn't provide a great deal of light, and only seven remained lit down here, but losing one meant that the demon, Trout had more of an advantage. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him reaching from above to knock out the one closest to Patty and me, and fired, pinning his appendage to the wall and causing him to scream in pain. Reaching into my trench coat I pulled out a handful of small spheres that Sten lent to me before we left and threw them upwards where Trout's tentacle ran to, and they exploded. Pinned to the wall, and suddenly blinded, Trout fell from where he had been perched upon the ceiling, and landed next to us. I was knocked back, struck by his tail, but at the same time felt my crossbow pried from my hands. He tore his tentacle from the wall and grabbed Patty with a pair of his arms, and used the crossbow to try and move me away from the light source.

Ryu had recovered and leaped again at the demon, his sword slashing through both arms holding Patty and catching her before she touched the ground. She quickly got behind him and he deflected a couple of bolts from my bow before the demon moved back into the darkness.

I was glad I came prepared; I pulled a pair of smaller crossbows from my jacket and aimed where he last was, but Patty swung behind me slicing off another of Trout's tentacles, and Ryu stabbed his sword into the thick appendage before he could escape, but was pulled off again into the darkness. Seconds passed as the sounds of fighting echoed through the dungeon before Ryu's weapon landed at our feet, but suddenly a loud roar shook through the stone cellar.

The effect that Trout had on the light suddenly vanished and the torches filled the hallway with yellow light. Once again we saw the demon clearly, but now he was fighting against a powerful looking red dragon. I was surprised to see we were suddenly joined here by a dragon, quickly putting together that it was Ryu and attempting to help by firing a few bolts that cut through the demon's scaly hide easily, although it didn't look like Ryu needed a lot of help, he was far stronger physically than the demon, ripping into it with powerful, sharp talons and breathing a wave of fire that engulfed Trout's upper body; at the close range there was nowhere for him to escape to.

The sound of the demon screeching was terrible, the walls shook with the volume of it, and continued for a few seconds after Ryu stepped away, returning to his human form. I reloaded my crossbow after tossing his weapon back to him, and stood ready to fire in case he attacked again.

I shouldn't have worried, Trout in his demon form was struggling to stand but was badly burned and a several deep gashes ran across his chest, and one across his face that looked like it came from a sword, and they were burned open from the dragon's breath. A few of the crossbow bolt still stuck out from him as well, and he was missing several of the extra limbs he grew when he changed into a demon form.

"Ugh…" he muttered as he was trying to get up. "All I wanted was to be richer than everyone, dammit, now it's all over…"

Before us, Trout vanished in a flash of light. Taking a few seconds to grasp what we had just accomplished, I then walked over to where the keys to all the other captives cells were kept, and began freeing everyone that the demon. Only a few of them were actually thieves, one was a travelling salesman from the western continent that Trout captured and robbed, another was a bounty hunter he hired, and just locked up instead of paying. Of the eight he had locked up down here, five of them were just unfortunate people who Trout robbed or refused to pay, and kept them imprisoned to stay quiet.

* * *

><p>Back at Kilgore's mansion, it was nearly dawn by the time we were deemed free to go. A great number of the guards had disappeared mysteriously, only piles of ash remaining that Nina identified as magic residue, and a few others seemed to be under some kind of control that faded when the demon was defeated.<p>

The Rangers had been growing worried that Trout was amassing a small army, but as far as they could tell he was doing nothing illegal, but upon us discovering the people locked up in his hidden dungeon, they now had proof that he was up to no good. Discovering there was a demon in their own home town was unnerving, but with him gone, they were grateful to us. The wanted posters for my capture seemed to vanish suddenly and I had gone from wanted fugitive to respected Ranger again, though only a few knew the reason why.

Kilgore had a great breakfast prepared for us, and we were joined by the travelling salesman we found locked beneath Trout's mansion who turned out to be his nephew. Patty, unlike the others who we rescued actually stayed around, despite Katt's reluctance to her continued presence, but neither spoke a word to the other.

The sun cast a warm glow over Hometown by the time we left. Walking from Kilgore's mansion, the streets were full of happier looking people than the previous day, and I was feeling much better not having them look at me like I was a criminal any longer. We had not walked very far before I saw Sylvia standing before us.

"Ryu, Bow, I need you two to come with me" she said with urgency.

* * *

><p>Author's note:<p>

Another one down and the story progresses. I wanted to start describing New Haven more, but figured that is best saved for later when more people arrive, but it will be getting a new guest soon that I'm looking forward to introducing. I also think that it should have more than just a few rooms for them to sleep in, and of course made the girls floor much fancier than the guys, because that's how it always seems to turn out.

The Shamans will have more depth hopefully by the end because I want them to serve a purpose in this story and others, Sana likes fighting, and though she seemed like a seductress when she first met them, she is really more of the tomboy of their family. Sesso will be the bookworm, Spoo is going to be the girly one, but also a bit mischievous, and the others…well, you'll have to find out when I decide what they will be doing.

Anyways, I do also plan on making the demons more interesting than they were in the game. I figured that Kuwadora had the ability to change form, and when Jean left, he stepped into that role, but he can't match the skin tone, and will retain the dark shade of his original form, that of a chameleon clansman (which wasn't really in the game, but it will be an offshoot of the lizard type clansmen you encounter throughout). The fight there could have been better, but I wanted to move on, and it kind of lacked a bit.

Trout who uses thieves to help him get rich is a greedy man. He has a lot of money, but constantly wants more and makes a deal with a mysterious man to help him take over Hometown with magical golems, much like the ones that Kuwadora used, but he was too scared of being caught that he wanted to deal with the intruders to his home by himself even though they were magical constructs, he still has that non-trusting side to him. I also thought that he, looking kind of snake like should be a sneaky attacker, and in a dungeon, it just made sense to use that to his advantage. He is quick enough to steal Bow's weapon, but is pretty weak when it comes to combat, and against a dragon, he really has no chance

Well, thanks for reading up till now, this chapter took longer than others mainly because of outside distractions and another story that I've been working on, but won't really focus on that till this one is finished. Reviews and ideas for helping to improve the story are always welcome.

Chris


	15. Chapter 15 A New Mission

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Chapter Fourteen: A New Mission

* * *

><p>Hometown Ranger's Guild – Bow's Perspective<p>

We had just left Kilgore's mansion where he treated us to a delicious breakfast as gratitude for rescuing his nephew and defeating Trout who had been corrupted by a demon. I could get used to this kind of treatment, being seen as a hero was awesome, and now that I was welcome back here, I would be able to go on more quests like this with Ryu and be treated like a hero more often. Katt and Nina left a few moments before us, wanting to go to the Magic Academy where Nina lived and trained, something about making sure the people there knew she was okay.

The Phantom Thief remained with us, though I wasn't sure why, but she didn't leave once we set her free from Trout. We were going to stop by our old place to grab a few things, and I wanted to do it early to avoid the landlord, we had been gone a month and she was probably dying to nail us for not paying our rent. We were not far from Kilgore's mansion when I saw Sylvia approaching; it had been a while since I laid eyes on her, and she was looking good as always, even with that serious expression on her face.

"Ryu, Bow, I need you two to come with me" Sylvia said to us.

"What's wrong, Sylvia? This isn't the welcome home I was expecting; I thought you'd be a bit more cheerful to see me." I replied.

Back at work, after a month in hiding, the Ranger's Guild was how I remembered it in the morning, all those times Ryu got me up early to come in. The smell of fresh brewed coffee, the few receptionists in getting some paper work done and the Elder's office just off of the main lobby area, Sylvia directed us inside.

Returning to the Ranger's Guild did not present us with the homecoming I was expecting. The Elder was at his desk looking like he just heard the world was ending, and his other visitors didn't disprove that at all. John, leader of the Ranger's elite team travelling Aspiria fighting demons and dealing with the jobs others would not dare without an army behind them was there, but he and his other four companions were far from the impressive team they usually were. They looked like hell, covered in wounds, some of which were still bleeding, tattered clothing, broken weapons and terrified looks on their faces.

"You know we're not cowards, Elder" John was saying as we entered "but, in all the time I've been a Ranger, I have never encountered a demon like that. It was a full-fledged demon, stronger than any we came across before. We didn't stand a chance; he just toyed with us and just left us to run away after, as though we didn't matter."

Powell stepped up to the desk. "That place has something seriously wrong there elder, it's like the people don't even realize what's going on around them."

"This is no longer a job for us Rangers" Walter said angrily as he placed his broken weapons on the elder's desk. "We couldn't even dent that demon's hide, the few times we managed to strike at it, and I think it only let us to show us how powerless we were. I for one am not going back there, Elder."

"I hate to say it" Vory said sadly "but, we have no choice but to leave that village to that monster, it's just not a job us Rangers can handle. I don't care how anyone words it, died bravely in combat…it's still dead, and I'm not ready to punch out yet."

"What are you guys talking about?" I demanded. This wasn't like them at all, though I don't think I had ever seen John and his team looking so defeated, it was a shock to hear them talking about just leaving innocents to suffer at the hands of a monster.

"Bow, Ryu, I didn't see you guys come in. Elder, we need to see the healer; could you explain it to them?" John requested as the five of them walked out of the office. John stopped and looked at us. "Don't you guys even think of taking this job, it is suicide."

The door shut behind them, and the Elder was hunched over his desk staring at the broken weapons left by Walter. He was looking worn, the news that his best Ranger group had failed and come back looking like hell must have taken it out of him.

"Elder, what happened?" Ryu asked him.

He sighed. "Ryu, Bow, it's looking grim. We had someone come in a few weeks ago with an unusual job for us. According to him, the village was in a panic, the whole area around them died, apparently drained of life. A whole forest, once vibrant green turned lifeless overnight. John and his team went to investigate and were to report back a week ago, but were delayed. They encountered a demon as you heard on the way back, and for a week it tortured them, tormented them and terrorized them. Our most experienced Rangers stood no chance against this creature. They awoke one morning in the plains between Windia and Captaina wounded and headed back here."

"Between Windia and Captaina…Elder, was the town they were investigating by any chance, Gate?" I asked, though I think I already knew the answer.

"Yes" he said looking at me critically. "How did you know that?"

"The monster they faced, did it have three eyes and powerful claws, and a long tail that ends in two very sharp spikes?"

"Bow Plainsrunner, tell me that you did not have previous knowledge of that monster being there. It could have killed John and his team, they were lucky it did not."

"I swear I didn't know it had returned. Elder, that demon at Gate, that's the same one that Ryu and I encountered when we were children, it was the day we met. Elder, I know John said that this is suicide, but allow us to go investigate there."

"What? Absolutely not, John and his team is far more experienced then you two, and they returned in such a state. I cannot just throw more targets in its way, I'll have to contact the king and let him figure out what to do here."

It was foolish, I knew. This was the same demon that we met as children, it took Ryu and left me for dead, but that was years ago. I wanted to get revenge on it and for some reason felt that it was our responsibility. Ryu was looking oddly pale and distracted since the Elder mentioned Gate, I can't remember him ever shying away from a job, but something was wrong.

"Elder, we're not as inexperienced as you think. We have faced demons before, and though we may not have been around as long as John and his team, I really think you should allow us to do this one."

He was still unsure about giving us this job, and after seeing how defeated John was, I was having my doubts, but they had only fought against monsters, Ryu and I had defeated a demon and I felt like it was our destiny to fight this one, we escaped alive when we were kids somehow, and now it was back, it was a sign.

"Elder…please" I asked him.

He gave a long sigh. "Bow, even if I wanted to give you this job, and I truly do not after what happened there, Gate is no longer accessible. The pass leading there has been sealed by some kind of force. When John awoke, he found the cave through was shut by a wall of dark energy that he could not move past. I'll be sending word to Windia for some assistance with this problem, as it has become too big for just the Rangers, however, I do have a task for you two."

"Excellent, we're up for any job that's too big for John and his crew, Elder" I told him, but was met by a stern glare.

"Bow, that job was no light matter, and I do hope you choose to see just how serious this is. While we cannot get through to Gate yet, we still need to find out just why the area around there died suddenly. I don't know if you two had a chance to check out the carnival that was here recently, but assisting the leader of it is one of the Nature Clan, known there as the Grass man."

"You're sending us to a carnival, Elder? Come on, didn't you hear what we just accomplished this morning? Surely we're ready for something bigger than a delivery."

"It's not a delivery, Bow, and would you stop interrupting, you asked for a job, and I'm giving you a very important one. The Grass Man there, he has the ability to communicate with plant life, grass, and even trees. I hope you understand the task now, I want you to go enlist his help in discovering just what happened there in Gate, why the whole forest around there died over night." He looked up seriously, "I do hope that you'll take this job seriously Bow, because while John and his crew are recovering, I am very short on Rangers I can send out into the field, and I need answers as to what happened to that town."

I knew I was being a little selfish, and probably conceded thinking we could do a job that left John's team so beaten, so easily, but after seeing just how Ryu handled that demon Trout, and hearing how they defeated several others along the way, I guess I may have been underestimating the situation, but I also felt now that we were grown up, we could take out the demon that attacked Ryu and I as kids.

"No worries, Elder, Ryu and I can handle this job. We'll go find the Grass Man and get him to tell us how that demon drained the life around Gate, then figure out a way to take him down. Your two newest heroes are on the case, Elder" I told him.

"Just don't do anything reckless, you two, I don't know how long it will be before John's team will be ready for action, and the last thing I need is more of my Rangers out of commission. I expect you to be careful, and don't underestimate what you're up against. Just remember this, he practically toyed with the last Rangers who challenged him, and they only escaped because he let them."

Just then, Sylvia entered, looking excited about something. "Elder, a report just came in from the local guards. That man who accused Bow of robbing him and put out a warrant for his capture, it's just been announced that he's a demon. A bunch of people were locked up in a chamber under his mansion and he had a few million Zenny worth of stolen goods stashed at his place."

"What?" He looked over at us. "I'm afraid that this takes precedent over your mission now, you two. I need you take care of this. I can't believe it, a demon right under our noses…"

"Elder Mason, it's already been taken care of. The people locked up reported seeing him transform into a demon and two heroes defeated him earlier this morning."

"It was already taken care of?"

Here it was, now everyone would know it was us that took out a demon residing in our own home. "Hey Sylvia, did you happen to hear who these heroes were?" I asked her.

She smiled at me. "Of course. Elder, the two heroes who defeated the demon and rescued several missing people were none other than Bow and Ryu here. You guys are wonderful."

The look on the Elder's face almost made me laugh; his mouth was opened in surprise. "Well, I'll be…when did you two become heroes and start slaying demons? I guess perhaps I underestimated you, maybe John's team aren't the only ones I can send off for big jobs. Still, Bow, I expect you two to be careful out there, this is not going to be an easy one, report back when you can."

"You're not taking the job that John just came back from, are you Bow?" she asked me, suddenly worried.

"Hey, Sylvia, it's no problem, we're heroes now, just leave that demon to us, no need to worry yourself about us. Ryu and I can take on anything, we'll be all right."

Hearing that she was worried about me made me feel even more confident about taking the job, she called me and Ryu heroes, and when we came back from taking out this demon, it would impress her even more. I knew that she was starting to fall for my charms, and now I was the rebel who busted into Trout's mansion a month ago, and the hero who took him out. She walked over and gave me a kiss on the cheek and I felt myself turning red despite how famous we were becoming.

"I know you guys can, you're doing wonderful things now, Bow. Good luck, I look forward to you two getting back soon."

Ryu had been quiet, but hadn't objected at all, so I figured he was looking forward to the soon to come fame we would have showered on us. I knew that we would be heading out soon enough, so I figured it was time to make my move.

"We're not leaving yet, Sylvia, how about we go get breakfast and I'll tell you all about how I defeated Trout…oh, and Ryu helped. He sure is looking forward to working with me again; the dynamic duo is back together."

I heard Ryu just groan behind me, Sylvia agreed smiling and the Elder did not find it amusing. "Back in my day, people had work ethics, now you want to go for a break after you just got here. Oh, I suppose I can make an exception this time, since you just got out of a tough situation and helped out the town Bow, but don't think I'll be making this a common thing, now, get out of here you all; I have some work to get done."

* * *

><p>Hometown Magic Academy – Nina's Perspective<p>

After waking up to breakfast at Kilgore's mansion, the five of us joined the wealthy trader at his enormous dining room table. Last night, Ryu and Bow snuck into Trout's mansion to help Patty escape, and find proof of his illicit activities, and they discovered that he, like several others we encountered recently, was corrupted by a demon. Bow was being less than modest about their battle, at least that's what I was thinking when he retold the story to us, it sounded like Ryu and Patty were hiding while he alone battled the demon. Ryu just nodded along with him, not interested in taking the glory of their accomplishment, but Bow seemed to bask in it.

Ryu had kept quiet since they returned, and for some reason, Patty was watching him closely throughout the meal. The sun was beginning to rise when we finally finished eating. After breakfast, we separated, Bow wanted to return to the Ranger's Guild now that Trout would no longer be offering a bounty on his head, and Ryu and Patty would be accompanying him. I had to return to the Magic Academy. It had been a month since the Joker gang kidnapped my sister and used her to get to me, and I wanted to let Master Yogi know that I was alright. Katt offered to join me after Patty insisted on going with Ryu, and after departing from Kilgore's mansion, we went our separate ways.

Hometown had felt different when we first arrived, the presence of many new guards under Trout's command made it feel unsavory, but with them gone, things returned to normal. Even early in the morning people were out in the streets. So many mornings I would be up early and watch from my window, rarely venturing outside. It was funny how in just a month's time my insecurity about the black wings was starting to fade, the Curse of the Black Wings was a Windian concept, and there were few that resided here or anywhere besides the kingdom.

Despite having lived here for years, I barely knew anyone, a few people nodded at me as I passed, undisturbed by the color of my wings. Katt was yawning as we walked towards the Magic Academy; we slept little, awakened halfway through the night by Ryu and Bow's return, and the idea of coming here didn't seem to excite her, I think after the attempt at learning magic on the Captain's Voyager turned her off it a bit.

A few students were sitting out front of the school, and were actually pleased it seemed at my return unharmed.

"You were gone for so long, Nina; we thought something might have happened to you. Where have you been?"

In all the years I had been here, I rarely talked to anyone, always worried that because of my wings, no one wanted me around, and looking back, I was suddenly feeling stupid for all the years I spent thinking that. It wasn't that they stayed away because of my wings, it was me avoiding people, in the short conversation in which Katt was starting to fall asleep, I became aware that I was missing out on building relationships with all the people here out of fear of rejection. Soon I had to bid them farewell for now, because I wanted to let Master Yogi know I was unharmed, and they cheerfully said goodbye.

Upstairs, I soon found Master Yogi where he usually was, in the advanced classroom preparing for the day. I knocked to announce my presence, and he turned and did something I had rarely seen – smile.

"Thank Ladon, you have returned, Miss Windia, and it seems the feisty Woren girl succeeded in helping you, I assume."

Bowing, I replied "Thank you, Master Yogi, yes, she and Ryu were able to rescue both my sister and I from that situation, and we returned my sister safely home. It has been, quite an adventure since then, but I had to stop by here while we were in Hometown to let everyone know I was alright."

"Stop by, I take it that perhaps one of my advanced students has figured out what she wants to do now that she is to be graduating soon?"

It was a path I had been back and forth on for days now, ever since we began the journey to return to Hometown. I had assumed that when we returned, eventually we would drift apart, our adventure having been completed. Ryu was a Ranger, there would always been work for him, and with Bow cleared, would they really have room for us anymore? Sure, there was also New Haven, the town that we could call home, but I couldn't live without purpose, and the more I thought about it, there were few opportunities for a magician that specialized in combat magic that did not lead down a dangerous path. A brief conversation with some fellow school mates and I was thinking perhaps I could return here, but I was still graduating soon, and needed a purpose.

My silence while I was thinking things over must have been an answer that I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do after I finished here. He just nodded, "Well, whatever you decide, I am glad to see you are still alive and well. Now, I would like to hear the details of what happened after you left, I believe you have quite a tale for your old teacher."

I began the story, and at several points Katt jumped in to embellish, and before I knew it, almost an hour had passed. We left him when other students began filling in for his class. Once the door closed, I felt that something was wrong; while it was normal that students were supposed to be in class now, as soon as the door shut behind us, it became eerily quiet.

"_That's two times now, you and your little friends ruined my efforts, Windian_" a voice echoed through the hallway. "_I meant for you to be out of the way in Windia, but normal people are far too unpredictable, I should have taken more of a hand in your capture when I gave your sister to that fool and his thugs, but I thought they could handle a simple task._"

Katt drew her staff as a thick cloud of smoke appeared at the end of the hallway. As it cleared, a tall figure in black robes appeared, his face was completely hidden by the hood, and both hands hidden by the sleeves of his robe.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded Katt as she stepped in front of me.

_"The time has come to step out of the shadows, long have I hidden away, using others to accomplish my plans, and it was working well. Much power have I gained through them, but with you heroes getting in my way, it's time I took matters in my own hands."_

"You, you're the one I saw in Windia" I said, recognizing the voice.

_"I had thought putting you in a situation would force them to see just how much trouble you would be to the group and abandon you there so it would be easier to capture you again, but I did not anticipate them adopting the unwanted Windian."_

"Shut up, we wouldn't have abandoned a friend, we're not heartless demons like you" Katt snapped at him, and once again I was glad to have her around.

_"Yes, the heroes wouldn't leave a helpless girl behind, though if she really were, I wouldn't have bothered with her. Like the Joker gang, I'll give you one chance to come peacefully, I have plans I can use you for, but I cannot have you running about getting in my way."_

"You're stupid if you think Nina would join a creep like you, especially after you just told us you were behind what the Joker gang did. Nina, let's take this jerk down."

I just nodded, but the mysterious wizard must have been anticipating that answer because a ring of fire suddenly surrounded us rising nearly up to the ceiling. We could only barely see him over the flames but I could tell he was casting another spell. Katt backed away from the edge of his spell, but keeping her staff at the ready.

The fire was keeping us both trapped, and being magical; I knew Katt wouldn't be able to help unless she could get close to him. I countered his spell by creating a tornado around him, throwing him off balance and trying to draw him into the fire he created around us, hoping it would force him to remove it. It worked for a few seconds; he was close to the flames and removed a small part of them before my spell failed. I was growing weaker and could see a blood red haze around me, draining my strength, a warlock spell used to weaken opponents.

I was out of breath when it suddenly stopped, and looked up to see Katt had jumped into action, striking several times quickly while his attention was on me. He had been knocked to his knees, and I rose casting several blades made of wind at him. Katt dodged, flipping behind him, but before they could hit this mysterious wizard, he swept his arm in a wide motion and they shot back towards me, changing from the wind element to shadow. I was barely able to put up a protective barrier in time, one slashing across my cheek, but the others bouncing off against the wall.

Katt had taken the opportunity to deal with this wizard and was striking at him again, but she was thrown back when he created a shield of his own, knocking her hard against the wall and she fell to the ground dazed. He turned to face her, wrapping a hand around her neck but I hit him hard with a trio of lightning bolts that tore through the ceiling and struck him directly.

Katt fell back to the ground safely and he was knocked about twenty feet away. The sound of the roof being broken finally alerted everyone just beyond the door, and Master Yogi and about twelve students came rushing out to see what was going on. The spell I cast would normally have enough power to destroy a demon, but he was already back on his feet.

_"I knew there was great power in you. This is your last chance, Nina, come with me"_ he paused and knives made of magical energy suddenly appeared at the throats of everyone who just came out. _"Otherwise I will kill everyone here; surely you do not want thirteen deaths on your hands."_

The students from Master Yogi's class were looking terrified, each several years younger than I was and walking out to have a magically created knife at their throat; and even Master Yogi was looking unsure what to do, they were already pressed so close to the skin, and leaving no chance to utter a counter spell that could save everyone from being killed by this madman.

"STOP!" I yelled at him. "Let them go and I'll…I'll do what you say." I had no choice. Like he said, I couldn't just let him kill them, and I could sense that he was powerful enough that I wouldn't be able to stop his spell before innocent lives were taken. Each of them was looking at me, and I wasn't sure how this would change how they would see me, if I were able to get away from this man after this. Would they blame me as much as him for getting them into this situation, or would they see how I would give up my own freedom just to save them?

The mysterious wizard didn't dismiss his spell, still holding his hand directed at where the group of students were held captive, but the blades were suddenly being pushed back from where they were and I could see him trying to force them back to the student's throats.

_"How are you doing this? I will not be overpowered by a mere child."_ He stated in a strained voice.

The magical blades exploded in a shower of sparks, and a shield of magical energy appeared around Katt, the others, and I, expanding quickly and knocking him away from us.

**"I warned you to stay away from here, Dark Wizard. You'll pay for causing trouble in my home."** A feminine voice said around us.

A beam of light appeared before him, and when it faded, Sied stood looking angrily at the robed man. He summoned a cloud of poisonous gas that surrounded her, but she absorbed it all in a twister of magic and flung it back at him followed by three powerful talons of fire that reached out to engulf him. They were feet away when the air around him distorted and he vanished, the fire striking empty space.

Sied turned towards us and the shield disappeared. "He's gone, is everyone alright?" she asked.

* * *

><p>There were no injuries; the students were shaken, but unharmed. Master Yogi, a powerful mage was grateful for her help as he was in no position to counter the dark wizard's spell without sacrificing any of his student's lives.<p>

Sied's power was incredible, I knew she was skilled, but she dealt with that wizard so easily, not even a breaking a sweat when she effortlessly overcame his spell and drove him away. She told us a little about him, a powerful wizard just known as Ruga who had been around for several hundred years. Sied knew him, preventing him from taking students from the Magic Academy to turn into slaves was something she had done a few times, but he never entered Hometown before, and she was a little concerned that he was growing stronger.

"I see you have been travelling with the blue haired Ranger, Nina. So, have you made a move on him yet?" she asked smirking.

I blushed, I hadn't really confided in Katt that I had a crush on him, worried that she might as well and it could cause a rift between us, but she was smirking as well. "Yeah, Nina, I've noticed you looking at him, and we've been travelling together for a month, you've had plenty of chances, stop being a wuss."

"See, the kitty agrees with me. Aww, look, little Nina is blushing, don't worry, we'll keep your secret, at least from the boys. But, that doesn't mean we won't tease you about it as much as we can. Anyways, now that everyone knows you're safe, I think you'd better be heading back to them, I have a feeling big things are going to happen for you two, so, scoot. We'll see each other soon." Sied began escorting us to the exit, but before she did, she stopped me for a moment.

"I hear you guys have had something to do with that new town just south of here. How's everything looking there? I hope those carpenters are working hard, I'd hate to visit and not have a place to stay."

"It's looking good, Sied. Of course, you're welcome to visit, there's plenty of room there."

"I know" she told me, and I was beginning to think that she knew more than she let on, as always. "Before you go, take this with you, I've been keeping an eye on you, but this should make it easier to keep tabs on you, and with the amount of trouble you have all been getting in lately, it will help me keep updated on your well-being."

She handed me a strange green emerald, it was about the size of my palm, but shimmered in a way emeralds didn't usually. It was nearly weightless, but felt solid, as though it couldn't be broken. It was shaped strangely, not the way I pictured an emerald, a prism or gem, but shaped almost like a scale. "Thank you, Sied, is this like a way to communicate to you if we're in trouble or something?" I asked her.

"Something like that, just hang on to it, Nina. Now, I've got some things to do, Yogi knows you're safe, so visit again, ta-ta, and if you're not getting anywhere with dragon boy next time I see you, you'll have some competition." She winked at me, spun me around and gave me a shove out the door.

Katt was waiting for me, and together we headed over to the Rangers guild. It was almost noon when we got there, and when we got there, Bow was waiting outside.

"Ladies, welcome back...you two missed out on some big events again, Ryu found the sister he lost years ago, and you'll never guess who it is" he said excitedly. "It's Patty, the Phantom thief."

Katt gave a disappointed groan. "Not HER?" she moaned.

* * *

><p>Author's Notes:<p>

This one took a while; I was having some trouble picturing how a magic fight would go, and wanted to introduce a new character to threaten the group. He'll be playing more of a role through the story and be given some backstory as well.

The scene in the Ranger's Guild where John and his team leave the job open was a tough one as well, I needed a reason Bow would want the job, and to give his character some future problems and motivation for hunting down a demon that he saw as a child, and I will be fleshing that out more for a while. Sied, as we all should have some idea who that is will be another character introduced more soon, and I look forward to having such a powerful character in the group, though the sorceress will not be a crutch for them, but more of a guide

Lastly, this chapter ended with a little cliff-hanger, and some unanswered questions like "How did they figure out they were related…it's coming, no worries.

Chris


	16. Chapter 16a Her Story

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Interlude: Her Story

* * *

><p><strong>Patty's Perspective<strong>

_It was a peaceful day, growing up here was full of those, as far as I could remember. The quiet, small village of Gate, it was a friendly community where everyone knew each other, and treated each other like family. I look fondly on those times; they were short lived for me though._

_I remembered little about my family, I was young and it was long ago. My mother, she sat there happily with dad, we were having a picnic. She had beautiful wings, not like a Windian, they were bat like, similar to mine, but made her all the more beautiful. I remember dad saying I looked so much like her, my blue hair was tangled and in pigtails, looking at it, I didn't think I did, I believe now it was just something parents said. I wish I did, I did not know her well, but she was warm, caring, and made me feel safe when she lifted me up and wrapped her wings around us._

_Dad was strong, I knew people in Gate respected him; he was there to keep everyone in town safe. Tall, muscular, but also kind, he was caring, never yelled even though I was a bit of a troublesome kid._

_Ryu, that was my brother, and we were close. Only a year apart, we were the only children in town, but we had fun. Hide and seek, we played that a lot, and he had a knack for finding me quickly, no matter where I went, and was always quick to catch me when I ran. We were kids, so we were full of energy, and often my dad would be worn out long before I was, so he stuck Ryu on me._

_The meadow, which was our favorite place, full of tall grass to hide in, trees to climb, and twigs that we could use to practice sword fighting with, Ryu liked that, but I was always afraid to get hurt and would just swing wildly. So many days ended in laughter with him and me…_

I woke up.

It took a few moments to remember where I was, and then it came back to me. New Haven, the town the Ranger was hiding out in while Ryu sought me out to clear his name. I hadn't dreamt of them for a while now, fifteen years since I lost my family and it was still painful.

It was on the way back to Hometown that I began to question it. The dream had left me feeling down; on top of that, the Woren (who I was refusing to talk to) had made me feel like an unwanted presence. I was not planning on sticking around long after we got back to the city, after Ryu got his friend cleared, I was going to get myself free and head back across the ocean to see how things there were progressing. That was the plan anyways, until we reached an outpost where a few bounty hunters had set up a blockade. Like a typical mob, they planned on taking what they wanted; in this case it was their bounty, the Ranger, Bow. It was at that moment that I started making the connection.

Ryu was holding something in his hand, directed at the leader of their group, a small treasure, and when I saw it, my breath paused. It was identical to what Mom wore a jewel that changed color, shaped like a teardrop and surrounded by a dragon carved out of silver. Often when she held me as a child, and I rested my head, it lay against my cheek, a deep blue color glowing softly from the teardrop jewel. What Ryu held, it was the same as what Mom had, it was red right now, but Mom told me that it changed because of people's emotions, how many of that unique brooch could there be?

The Woren caught me staring, I think, she probably assumed I was planning on stealing it; she would be quick to turn against me. She wanted to turn me over to the old man quickly so the Ranger wouldn't be in trouble anymore, not that he was entirely blameless, he was just the dumb one that got caught, but my thoughts quickly turned away from the current situation.

The Dragon's Tear; that was what she called it. Sure, there could have been more than one, it was unlikely, but it was possible. Yet, it started getting me thinking. It wasn't a lot to go on, Mom disappeared over fifteen years ago, it could have wound up in someone else's hands after so long, but what were the odds that the Dragon's Tear would be found by a Ryu, with blue hair. Blue hair wasn't exactly common; the only people I met so far that had natural blue hair were my Mom, my brother and I. He could have died it, some people do that, but he didn't seem like one of those types.

I was suddenly feeling nervous. A simple revelation and I wanted to question him, I needed to know where he got the Dragon's Tear, and I needed to know if he was from Gate. I needed to know if standing not ten feet away, the Ranger, Ryu was MY Ryu.

Things did not prove to be as convenient for me as I wanted when we got to Hometown.

* * *

><p>Trout, a wealthy man, the one I stole from was one of the worst kinds of rich people. It wasn't enough for their type to be better off than everyone else; his type always wanted more. More money, more power, treasures others could not have, and he didn't mind using others to get it, then tossing them aside.<p>

Stepping back here, it was like a slap in the face as to what my actions brought to a peaceful town. Posters of Bow hung around, offering a paltry reward for his capture and the return of Trout's treasures, and it seemed like many guards around here wore the uniform of his guards, and it felt like he was in charge of the whole city. One of the Hometown guards and a few of Trout's men ended up escorting us to his mansion, but it seemed like the guard didn't really have any say, he was dismissed once we got there, and we were surrounded by about a dozen of Trout's hired goons.

I was unsure how Trout got so rich, when I made his place my mark for this trip, as usual I try and study up so I know what I'm putting my foot into. I wasn't the only thief in the area, and I remembered hearing a rumor, stolen goods were what Trout specialized in, he had a bunch of thieves working for him so that he could be rich and in turn would keep them from getting caught. It didn't sound right; he didn't seem like the type that would protect those working for him.

I was only half paying attention to what they were all saying, but it suddenly came up what was going to be done to the 'real thief', and Trout was adamant about handling it himself, against the plans of both Rangers.

They were escorted out despite my words, and once they were gone, I found myself alone with him, the guards now seeming still as statues. The way they stared straight ahead, without blinking was quickly becoming creepy, but they were forgotten when Trout grabbed my arm and began dragging me through his mansion.

"Come on, my new pretty little thief, I have a new home for you." He said, looking at me menacingly.

I wanted to break free, but he was a lot stronger than he looked and though they guards remained motionless, I suspected they would jump at attention if he were attacked.

A secret passage was opened when he pulled on a candle holder and the wall opened to reveal a long set of stone steps. Within a few minutes he had me locked up down in his personal prison. I was not the only one, nearly a dozen others were down here, some yelled as we passed, angry at being locked up and not paid. I was escorted to the last cell, and both of my arms were chained.

Down here, in the dark, he looked less human. A wicked grin on his face as the door shut and I was left in darkness. He hadn't bothered taking my daggers or tools, almost like it didn't matter. Unfortunately, I was having trouble proving him wrong. Picking locks was something I could do in my sleep, as long as I could reach them, but my hands were bound tightly against the wall, far from each other which made it an impossible task.

I tried yanking at the chains to get some space to move, but it was hopeless, and after an hour I was angry, tired and my wrists hurt. Sleep soon overcame me.

* * *

><p><em>"If you sleep here, you might have a dream about mom too!" I told my brother before I ran back to catch up with dad. He smiled back, and that was the last I remember of him. He saved me from being attacked and eaten by a monster, and that was the last time I saw my older brother.<em>

_I knew my dad couldn't be mad at me for long, especially when I would make trips to see the dragon. He didn't like me going alone, but always seemed understanding when he found me here. Mom was gone, that's what he told us, but he never seemed to avoid it when we wanted to talk about her, and would always tell us a story about her if I asked. She was respected by her clan, and quite a few interesting stories could be told of her adventures before she married dad, and I looked forward to them before bed._

_Dad seemed to be walking slowly; I reached the houses when he was just coming out of the forest. He watched me and smiled. That was his last smile to me._

_The mayor was out, standing by his cart. It looked packed as if he was going to head out on a trip. Nearby, the two gossip gals my dad called them, were standing looking at something by the cart. The guard was there too, and the farm man, and his wife. It was strange that they all were out together, swaying slightly, staring at something, I wanted to see what it was._

_I was trying to peek through them, to see what it was they were all looking at. The mayor moved aside, and for the second day I was facing a monster. This one was much bigger than the other one though; his mouth hung open, revealing rows of jagged, sharp teeth; his neck was surrounded by what looked like giant flower petals, but they each had a bulb on them; his arms were flexible like vines, and it looked like a fly trap was on the end of each. Where his legs were supposed to be was a swarm of vines holding him up. The villagers were all staring at him with a dazed look, but I started backing away from this nightmarish plant monster._

_"YUA, GET AWAY FROM THERE!" I heard my father yell, and turned to see him running over, his hands glowing with magic._

_Blue bolts of magic flew at the demon, striking it head on and forcing it back, leaving burn marks on the creature's skin, but he was still standing close the mayor and others. He turned towards me again, his face serious._

_"Yua, I need you to run, go back to your brother, I'll be back for you two once I take care of this."_

_That was the last time I saw my father, I heard the sound of thunder cracking and saw lights. The tall grass acted like a wall so I couldn't see anything. I wanted to run back, to see him, but I suddenly heard the grass parting, he was coming back._

_The blades parted, but instead of the kindly face of my father, it was the monster. I was shocked, if this monster was coming after me, what happened to Dad? He wouldn't let it scare me, something happened to him. I started backing away, but this monster wasn't about to allow that._

_I was hoisted off my feet, lifted high in the air, and was looking upside down at its hideous face, its mouth opened revealing again rows of sharp teeth. I screamed as I was drawn closer to the monster._

_"Oh, don't worry, little girl. I am not going to eat you, no; we have other plans for you. You're one of their kind, yes; we do have plans for you."_

_I was struggling to get away, but he was holding me up by my legs, wrapped by one of the many vines that supported him._

_"**DON'T TOUCH HER, YOU MONSTER!"** A voice screamed out from all around us._

_I was only a few feet away from him when a blue light enveloped me. The grip around my legs was released immediately and the monster fell back as though hurt by something. I was expecting to fall to the ground, but found myself high above him now. Something was moving behind me, I tried turning to look at them, but couldn't see what it was till I looked over my shoulder and saw a pair of wings flapping to keep me afloat._

_Wings, much like my mother had, I reached to touch one when I noticed that wasn't all that changed. My hands weren't human; they were covered in scales and clawed. "There's no time, Yua, GO!" a voice cried desperately in my mind. Before I knew what was happening, I was flying far above my home and the ground passed in a blur. I had no idea how long I flew, I blacked out shortly after seeing Gate fade in the distance, and when I awoke, I was in a place I never heard of, alone and scared, laying before a stone well._

_I had returned to normal, my reflection in the well showed me that, though not completely…_

* * *

><p>I woke up to the sound of someone opening the dungeon door. It was the second time in as many days that a flashback plagued my dreams, and the pain of having my family taken was filling me with sorrow. That feeling was lessened when I saw who was behind the door, Ryu had not decided to leave me to my prison here, he and the other Ranger decided to break in here, and get me out. My wrists still hurt as he helped me down, but I was grateful that even someone who he knew as just a thief was important enough to him to rescue.<p>

It wouldn't be so easy to just walk out, however as was proven when I heard someone else coming down the steps, and saw our way out blocked by Trout. _Can't he break into a place without getting himself caught?_ I thought about him.

If he was worried about being caught in some illicit activities by two Rangers who resided in the town, it didn't show, in fact, rather than trying to make up excuses, Trout was trying to proposition me to be one of his thieves right in front of them. I was shocked at his gall, but annoyed that he couldn't even get my name right. Regardless, I didn't work for people like him and let him know, but my refusal didn't seem to matter to him, and things got worse from that point.

I hadn't seen a demon since I was a child, but when the dungeon darkened; I suddenly got the feeling that Trout had darkness in him, and he descended into the shadows and became something not human. Ryu and the other Ranger may have been used to dealing with their kind, but I was not, and found myself almost hiding behind Bow as he fought the demon from afar, Ryu actually attacking it head on. It immediately made me think of how years ago he put himself in the monster's way to protect me, but this time he was far stronger, confident enough to face it head on.

The demon was proving to be no match for Ryu, but its constant hiding in the shadows was proving dangerous, and a few times it reached out for Bow or me instead of facing Ryu's sword. I was worried when he got impatient and chased the demon into the darkness, but the sound of a dragon's roar echoed through the dungeon, and the demon was pulled into the light to battle against a fierce red dragon that I could only assume was Ryu.

I watched in surprise as the dragon reverted to the human form of Ryu, my mother's stories of being able to transform into a dragon coming back to me. It was another obvious hint that my long lost brother was now standing in front of me. In fifteen years, I had not come across another member of the rare Dragon clan, and again I thought back to how it could not be a coincidence. I wanted to question him alone, the desire to be away from this place a distant thought now. I waited as Ryu and his friend freed the other prisoners down here, hoping that we would have a chance to talk afterwards, but soon found us in the company of his other two friends in Kilgore's mansion as they celebrated removing a demon from the town.

It was nearly morning, and I was feeling like I didn't want to be here. I was still getting glares of dislike from the Woren; the Windian was polite to me, but I still felt like the outcast here. They were getting ready to leave when my luck was beginning to change for the better. Nina said she wanted to stop by the Magic Academy and I was happy to hear the Woren was going with her. Bow and Ryu left too, and I trailed behind them, but then they were met by a woman from the guild who needed to see them right away for some emergency. _Would this never end? Surely he isn't needed this much, he's got to get some alone time for Ladon's sake._

They were called into the office where a few others were waiting, looking like they had just been through a serious fight. The door closed before me, but I stood there listening, hoping no one would tell me to get lost. They were talking about some town they just returned from, a place where they encountered some demon that must have been the one that was responsible for the beating they seem to have taken. A few moments passed before I heard someone approaching the door, and out walked five beaten up young men. They ignored me as they passed, and I continued to listen which was easier with the door opened.

"Between Windia and Captaina…Elder, was the town they were investigating by any chance, Gate?" I heard Bow ask, and was shocked to hear it was, demons had taken over my old home, and I was worried that they may be harming the sleeping dragon there, the last thing that seemed to make me believe Gate could still be my home. As I stood there, it seemed that I was not the only one who had ties there; the demon that tormented the Rangers was the same one that Bow and Ryu had apparently met fifteen years ago when they met in Gate.

Gate…fifteen years ago when they met, they encountered a demon. It did not sound like the one I had to run away from. I was overcome with curiosity to know what happened that day.

The Ranger who told them to come to the guild passed me suddenly to enter the office looking excited about something. "Elder, a report just came in from the local guards. That man who accused Bow of robbing him and put out a warrant for his capture, it's just been announced that he's a demon. A bunch of people were locked up in a chamber under his mansion and he had a few million Zenny worth of stolen goods stashed at his place."

A few million Zenny, for a moment I was wondering how I missed that, it could have really helped, but then it seemed like the old man was trying to give them the task of taking care of it, only to learn they already took care of it. The Elder seemed impressed with the two of them, and I was getting annoyed how long this was going on, when finally Bow asked the girl to go to breakfast with him, and once they left, I found myself face to face with Ryu, with no one around to interfere.

* * *

><p><em>Why the hell was I so nervous, I should be excited, or happy, but my hands were suddenly sweaty, my mouth felt dry.<em>

Ryu was coming out of the office towards me, looking deep in thought. _Just tell him, he's from Gate, he has mom's Dragon's Tear, it's Ryu, your brother._

He was about to walk past me. "RYU, umm, wait a second, I need to talk to you" I said quickly.

He paused and turned to face me.

_Even the way he stands, it's the same as when we were kids, the chain of the Dragon's Tear hiding under his shirt_. I sighed. I didn't know how to begin, I would usually just be straight forward, but I was suddenly having doubts, what if I was wrong, and he was just some random guy named Ryu, not the one I was looking for, what if he left for a reason, what if…

_Shut up, you're not wrong, you know it, stupid, _I told myself. He was just staring at me, I hadn't said anything for what felt like a long time. I was feeling stupid now telling him I wanted to talk to him, then not saying anything. Eventually he seemed to think I was done, and started to walk past me again.

I grabbed him by the hand. "If you sleep here, Ryu, you might have a dream about mom too" I blurted out, the last words that I spoke to my brother fifteen years ago. He tensed up, I felt his hand close around mine, and knew for sure I was right.

"Yua?" he whispered to me.

* * *

><p>We sat in his apartment, away from the nosy other members of his group, just the two of us. I sat quietly across from him. The blue haired Ranger, slayer of demons, hero to the people; he was a member of the Dragon clan, a skilled warrior, and as it turned out, the brother I lost over fifteen years ago. The dragon's tear sitting on a table between us that was what initially made me began to realize there might be a connection between us.<p>

No one had called me by my real name since that day; it felt strange. He wanted to know what happened. I thought he was dead, that the demon in Gate got him just like dad. He thought the same of both of us, and there was a lot of confusion of what we thought happened to each other.

I began to tell my story to him, how dad disappeared, the demon chasing me, then escaping and ending up in what I later learned was the port town, Captaina.

* * *

><p><em>It was quiet, nearly evening when I arrived. It had been seven years since I last came here, scared away by the demon that attacked my father, and then came after me moments later. I expected to come back to a ruined town, the townspeople a victim of the demon's wrath, images of destroyed homes, few, if any people remaining and if they did, they would be maimed by the monster.<em>

_I was not expecting what I was seeing; Gate was…exactly as I remembered. People carried on much the same as that day I was here last, the two women standing near the mayor's home chatting with each other, the mayor standing nearby looking over his town, a few others I remembered from when I was a child were here, but, nothing had changed._

_It was not that nothing had changed the way you live in a small village, and nothing really changes compared to a big city like Windia. Literally nothing had changed, the people looked exactly the same, doing the same things they did when I was here years ago, it was as though not a day had passed, let alone seven years._

_They were fairly pleasant, friendly enough, recommending that if I were going to stay here for the night, I go to the church to stay, but there was no recognition in their eyes. I remembered them, but it was like they never seen me before. They never heard of Father Ganer, insisting that the preacher for Gate has always been Father Hulk._

_Father Hulk seemed to be welcoming, but I did not feel comfortable around him. I came here alone to find out what happened to dad, and here this man was living where he did, taking over the role in town he used to have, and I would never feel comfortable with someone who took his place even if he seemed to not know it._

_The dragon was still here, still sleeping at the back mountain, that's where I went as it began growing dark. I last remembered seeing Ryu there, standing in front of the dragon as father and I headed back home, I assumed he was following, little did I know that would be the last time I saw him._

_As a child I felt safe here, and as an eleven year old, oddly I felt the same way. Gate was a place that felt strange, but here calmness came over me. I fell asleep in front of the town's guardian, the cold of night unfelt here and I dreamt of mom again smiling warmly at me._

* * *

><p>Author's Notes<p>

Sorry this one took this long to get out. It went through several rewrites before I felt comfortable putting it out. I was writers blocked a few times, and had some trouble working on the dialogue between Patty and Ryu, and still not 100% satisfied with it, but I decided it was time to move on. Thanks for the patience and hope you've enjoyed reading so far.


	17. Chapter 16b His Story

**Breath of Fire 2: The Destined Child**

Interlude: His Story

* * *

><p><strong>Ryu's Perspective<strong>

Trout's downfall brought a feeling of peace back to Hometown, yet, as we sat at Kilgore's table, Bow retelling the story of his defeat in a way that made it seem like he handled the demon all by himself, I found my thoughts plagued by something else.

"So, I saved the damsel in distress, and took down a demon that was threatening my town, where would you be without me, eh Ryu?" Bow was saying. I just shrugged as he continued to make himself out to be the hero, used to it after a year of working together. "Sure, most Rangers probably would've run when confronted by a demon, but I like to think I'm a bit tougher than most, right, buddy!"

"I can't believe that Trout was a demon, I knew that he was greedy" Kilgore began "but, to think he let that consume him, and it turned him into a demon, it makes me think. I had better be careful, or else something like that could happen to me, too. I've heard of people doing terrible things to get ahead, and if the result is becoming like Trout, it's a terrifying thought."

"I don't think that was what did it," Nina began. "Lots of people have negative emotions in them, greed, or violence, or fear, or doubt, but if that was all it took, the world would be a much darker place."

"Interesting notion, Miss Windia, I know you four have seen a lot more in your travels than I have in my stay here. Finding out that Trout was a demon I will admit has left me a little unnerved, have you encountered any more beings like him while you were away?"

Katt jumped into the conversation. "That's how I met Ryu here. In Corsair, I caught him trying to sneak a peek at me," I rolled my eyes at her, wouldn't she ever let that go? "But, it turned out that he was actually trying to warn me about what the boss there was planning. Augus was trying to have me killed off and make a show of it, said something about some god he worshipped, and he was a demon, too!"

As they talked, I felt as though I was being watched. I noticed Patty the Phantom Thief had been staring at me ever since we rescued her from Trout's prison, but it wasn't her that I was sensing, it was something else, something familiar from long ago.

"Yes, we also discovered that the leader of the Joker gang was a demon as well. That was how I met Ryu; their gang kidnapped Princess Mina, and held her hostage, trying to force me into being their slave…"

"Well, aren't you the hero, buddy. Saving two beautiful women, I guess they both owe you." Bow said suggestively and winked at me. Katt reached over and punched him. "Ouch, I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

"Ryu's not like that. How did he ever met perverts like you and Sten, it's beyond me!"

"_Bet a lot of stuff is beyond you, trying to fix a house by swinging your staff_." I heard him mutter under his breath. Lucky for him, she didn't hear or she probably would have hit him a lot harder next time.

"I would have thought having Trout out of the picture would make me feel better, but hearing about what else is happening out there, it hasn't really put my mind at ease. In fact, I have a feeling we haven't seen the end of this yet."

* * *

><p><em>Those words, how true they felt.<em>

_Augus, a blood thirsty man bent on bringing out the violence and hatred of people. A powerful being of brute force, his demon form transformed him into a two headed werewolf. Cruel and bloodthirsty, he was willing to do whatever it took to corrupt people and bring out the violence people didn't want to admit was in them. Feeding negative emotions to his god, he sold his soul not for money, just for the power to decide what fate would fall upon whoever passed through his coliseum. How Corsair would have changed with him in charge of the coliseum could have only been for the worse. _

_The Joker, a greedy thug who leading a small army of thieves and other criminals, he sought to lead a more powerful army. A massive, hideous demon, like a toad from a nightmare, he was power hungry and infused his followers with the same desires that corrupted him. His plan to force Nina to be his slave would have given him that, and where ever he set his sights on would have been in trouble. _

_Kuwadora the shape shifter, if he would have been allowed to carry out his plans in Simafort, the whole kingdom would have been under his rule. A demonic representation of a lizard, Kuwadora prayed on people's fears of their secrets coming out and used that fear to force them under his control. It was only a short time he was there, but in that time he had already had the people praying to St. Eva though I wasn't sure why, it left a disturbed feeling towards the religion if he was one of their followers. _

_Trout, the most recent demon we encountered had taken Hometown as his personal city in the short time using a Ranger's mistake to his advantage. He was a crafty demon that used the darkness to hide his position and strike out when the opportunity presented itself. A man driven by greed, he wanted everything and used money to pull it into his grasp. Soldiers paid little to follow his orders, people kidnapped and forced to steal for him, and it was unnatural how easily he crippled what the Ranger guild could do to stand against him. _

_I saw each of them while the feeling of being watched intensified._

* * *

><p>"Anyways, before I forget, Tada, Kilgore, I got you your Whisper Hood back. Patty had it, and returned it after I rescued her, she's not so bad, and once you get to know her I guess."<p>

First a shot at Katt, now a shot at Patty, a month apart, and I forgot about the little quirks in my fellow Ranger's personality.

"Thank you, Bow" Kilgore said holding onto the Whisper Hood, a small piece of cloth that started so much trouble. "This thing sure is a troublesome relic, gets you wanted for grand theft, and my nephew locked up. Oh, I wanted to sincerely thank you Rangers for setting him free, he was the one Trout locked up that was simply selling Whale Cakes here a little while ago. Said Trout robbed him and locked him in the cell so he wouldn't tell, I was wondering where he disappeared to for two weeks."

"No problem, Kilgore, that's what we heroes do. Better late than never, as I say." Bow stated. "So, what does that thing supposed to do? Why is it called the Whisper Hood?"

"Glad you asked, Bow. I had it created for my nephew, he runs a tourist attraction near Simafort, and it's supposed to allow the wearer to hear someone from great distances. Very useful to keep track if anyone gets lost down there in the caves, or something like that. It's just a prototype, I wanted to have a couple made for him, but it seems like there won't be time now, he's got to be heading back home very soon, and I wouldn't want his family worrying even more about him."

* * *

><p>The atmosphere in the Elder's office was grim when we entered. Elder Mason stood at his desk looking troubled, but with the scene before him, it was easy to understand why. John led the guild's elite team, taking on missions that most people would turn away from. They looked defeated, their weapons nearly broken, covered in wounds, some of which were still bleeding slightly.<p>

"You know we're not cowards, Elder, but in all the time I've been a Ranger, I have never encountered a demon like that. It was a full-fledged demon, stronger than any we came across before. We didn't stand a chance; he just toyed with us and left us to run away after, as though we didn't matter."

I heard a chuckle as John said this; something found their defeat amusing, and it was something that was familiar.

**"As though they didn't matter, as though they did not stand a chance. How amusing to hear they understand their place, and how terrifying for you, surely you understand their situation, that feeling of helplessness. Tell me, Destined Child, will you prove to be more than they were, or will you cower before me, as you did as a child?"**

I was trying to listen as John and his team explained what happened, but their words were barely registering with me, I was trying to pay attention, but it was like trying to hear someone from a great distance. They left, leaving the two of us alone with the Elder.

"Elder, what happened?" I asked him, though as I said it, I was feeling like I didn't want to know.

He began to explain, but again, as I was trying to listen, it was though I was trying to hear someone who was far away, and suddenly I felt my vision being drawn away.

"…the whole area around them died…turned lifeless overnight…tormented them and terrorized them…Our most experienced Rangers stood no chance against this…"

**"Perhaps you would like to see what happened there, Destined Child, it was after all once a meaningful place to you. See it yourself…Gate."**

I saw the place that used to be home before I met the demon, the nightmare. For so long I didn't want to believe it really existed, but I could never truly deny it. It was a constant presence, something dark, and malicious that I worked to keep at bay, but it was always there.

I was in Gate; it looked as I had remembered. The church that used to be our home, the townspeople wandering the worn paths, carrying about their business as usual, yet, something was wrong. They looked exactly as I remembered, as though when I was taken away from here fifteen years ago, not a day passed for them. They didn't appear to have aged a day; everything looked like it did when I was a child.

**"So peaceful here, but such things are fleeting. Watch, Destined Child, watch what your precious home has suffered."**

I sensed the worst kind of presence, something was here in Gate. I didn't want to watch what it was about to do, but I couldn't turn away. The ground started shaking wildly, the town seemed to darken and I could hear screaming around me. It felt as though the earth was about to open up, but as suddenly as it began, it halted. The townspeople, seconds ago gripped with fear at what was happening, immediately returned to their activities, the earthquake as though it never happened. It wasn't like that for the rest of the inhabitants around Gate however.

The sky darkened further as birds that used to call this place home suddenly fled in terror, fighting each other to get away as quickly as possible. They weren't the only ones, wildlife of all kinds didn't dare to stay here a moment longer, and from the forests, and dozens of creatures of various kinds ran as though demons were on their heels.

The trees and plant life, once vibrant green in moments was no more, drained of its life force, it changed from a healthy green to a dull brown in seconds, looking as though they had been left to die for years, yet it all happened in several blinks of an eye.

Through it all, the villagers carried on, unaware that their home had changed at all. They didn't have any idea something was here, corrupting them, poisoning their home from within.

**"How long do they have, Destined Child? God waits for you. A being of hatred, of death, given form, ready to spread evil throughout the world, and they think you will stop it."**

* * *

><p>The image of Gate and what happened faded, and I found myself back in the Elder's office, Bow pleading to the Elder to allow the two of us to take the job that left John and his team so broken.<p>

**"How foolish, your friend seems so eager to confront me; I look forward to putting him in his place. Will he be the only one, or will you bring me the others as well, the Woren, or perhaps present me with the pleasure of the Windian. Oh, the horrors I will show them, will their screams rouse you to fight, or will you cower before me still as they die."**

_You didn't kill me when you had your chance, things are different now, I'm not a helpless child anymore, you can't scare me anymore, and I won't let you near anyone else._ I thought at the demon.

**"Brave promises, eventually we will see how brave you truly are, Destined Child."**

I saw the watching eye close, its darkness fading, but it was still there.

"Bow, even if I wanted to give you this job, and I truly do not after what happened there, Gate is no longer accessible. The pass leading there has been sealed by some kind of force. When John awoke, he found the cave through was shut by a wall of dark energy that he could not move past. I'll be sending word to Windia for some assistance with this problem, as it has become too big for just the Rangers, however, I do have a task for you two."

"Excellent, we're up for any job that's too big for John and his crew, Elder" Bow told him, but was met by a stern glare.

I felt shaken, Bow was oddly eager to charge into the encounter with this demon, to prove himself a hero. Sylvia draped over his arm, he left with a silly grin on his face, and I found myself standing alone with Patty the Phantom Thief, the Ranger's Guild suddenly deserted.

* * *

><p>Author's Notes:<p>

This one is short, but I wanted to establish the demon as something that will now be a part of the story for Ryu. With this chapter done and out of the way, I can now get back to work on advancing the actual story again, and focusing on the other characters and the adventure once more.

Chris


End file.

Breath of Fire, Adventure, Fantasy