Breath of Fire 1. Chapter One: Awakenings

Thunder crashed and lightning split the sky. The blue haired young man found himself in the middle of where, he couldn't distinguish. All he knew was he was soaked, tired, and being pursued. Suddenly trees behind him started to snap, and break, and he turned to watch them, then fled in terror. Branches whipped past him, hitting him with backward recoils as he pushed farther and farther from whatever he was trying to escape. Thorns slashed at him, cutting and bruising him, yet he didn't care. All he knew was he had to get away. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a cliff rose up from out of the blue. Stopping, the young man just prevented himself from running off the precipice that threatened to dash him on thousands of jagged rocks below. Suddenly, A roar split the sky, and the young man turned to face whatever was chasing him, fear livid and alive in his eyes. A crack of thunder and flash of lightning revealed the menace as it burst through the trees. A Dragon, well over 30 feet stood there, teeth bared, talons flashing menacingly. Slowly it advanced, and the young man backed away, yelping almost,  
  
"W…what do you want! get…away from..!!!"  
  
He never got to finish the sentence; he had run out of room and time. Slowly he began his downward plummet off the cliff, he barely had time to scream. Everything went black.  
  
Ryu sat up with a start, sweat beading on his forehead. The dream again, the forest…cliff…everything as it had been a few nights before. He shivered as he remembered the most horrifying part of all…the Dragon…the giant Dragon. Hopping out of bed, he stretched with a yawn. The sun was just rising, and Ryu soon forgot the fears and dreads from last night as soon as its pure, clean light bathed him in its warm glow from his window. Smiling to himself Ryu got dressed and washed up for breakfast. With an invigorated "Wahoo!" Ryu hopped onto the banister leading down the stairs and surfed his way down. Landing with a nice front flip, Ryu walked into the kitchen, where his Grandmother was cooking a cake for his sixteenth birthday.  
  
"Hey that looks good gramma!" Ryu said as he leaned over to try and get a taste.  
  
"Hey! Watch it young fella!" his grandma retorted as she gave him a firm whack! On the hand with the wooden spoon.  
  
Ryu grinned as he pulled his hand away and replied, "Sorry gramma Lida, I guess I got a bit carried away…"  
  
Lida chuckled. Ryu in his age still hadn't lost the usual rambunctious ness of his early youth as a small kid full of energy and questions. Time had flown, and despite the sleepy village where they lived, Kyria, seemed oblivious to it, it still showed its effects on the people. Lida stopped her trip down memory lane just in time to stop Ryu again from trying to sneak another taste. Sighing she replied,  
  
"Alright you, take some fruit from the basket and be off for awhile I need to finish this!"  
  
Nodding Ryu replied,  
  
"Sure, I'll see ya later!"  
  
And with that, he was gone even before Lida could get the words, "and try to stay out of trouble this time…" out of her mouth.  
  
Ryu dashed out of the house and into the streets. Despite today being a weekday, things still were oddly quiet, the markets not as usually busy. The Manillo traders stood there idly chatting to themselves, and if a potential customer came by they eagerly scrambled for that persons business...and money. The village was home to quite a few clans, however, humans were the most dominant. Ryu knew that the lowest clan population was the Worens and the Angels, as both had cities of their own. Wyndia was located quite a few hundred miles from his sleepy hamlet, but he had been there, shopping with Lida once or twice when he was younger. Worent, however, he had never been to. He had heard stories from the Manillo's that despite their fierce demeanors, the Worens were actually a rather nice race, and they only fought in self-defense. They were, however, hot under the color, so to speak, and could be angered easily. There was one race that Ryu heard very little of…and only in stories and myths the villagers passed down. The Brood. Supposedly they had been a race of people possessing the power of Dragons. The ability to command, and even change into these magnificent beasts at will was something he had heard they could accomplish, and he wondered how they could remain sane or not let so much power corrupt them. Shuddering, he remembered his dream, of the Dragon...tall, mighty...dangerous. Sighing, he was about to go into the row of shops to pick up something he might like, when suddenly he heard familiar female voice behind him say,  
  
"Hello Ryu…"  
  
Turning around confirmed his suspicions, and he replied,  
  
"H…hi Kira…"  
  
  
  
That was all he could get out before both were locked in a passionate embrace that was followed up by a fierce kiss.  
  
Kira…what could Ryu say about her? She was a raven-haired beauty, she was smart, could out-bargain even the stingy Manillo, and she...she was his everything. The two had met about three years ago. She had moved into the neighborhood, and was looking for someone to show her around. She literally had "bumped" into Ryu. He was immediately smitten with her, and it could show. From that day on, he had been quite tame around her, and everyone noticed. Even his friends Kray and Faren teased him constantly about it. But it didn't matter to Ryu, she, when she was around, was all that mattered...  
  
Ryu pulled out of the kiss nearly breathless, he still hadn't gotten used to the way she kissed, but still he enjoyed it. Smiling Kira replied,  
  
"So how's my blue haired bimbo been?" She ruffled his blue hair affectionately.  
  
Ryu grinned his usual grin and replied,  
  
"The usual…lonely, suffering, in agony when not with you."  
  
Kira giggled, replying,  
  
"Ryu, you big tease…"  
  
Ryu rolled his eyes in his usual affectionate matter, and stuck his tongue out at her.  
  
"Nyah, well, of course…where would you be without me?"  
  
Kira giggled flirtatiously leaning into his arms once more replying,  
  
"The same as you, lost, lonely…in agony…" and with that she kissed him again.  
  
Reluctantly Ryu broke the kiss, still grinning, saying,  
  
"Hey you coming to the party this afternoon...I saw gramma baking what looks like a really good cake…"  
  
"Course Ryu," Kira replied with a wink,  
  
"I wouldn't miss your birthday if the world was ending around me."  
  
Chuckling Ryu replied,  
  
"Aw well, if it was the end of the world, I couldn't think of a better place to be than around you, even if it wasn't my birthday."  
  
Kira smiled and fluffed his blue hair once again, then fell alongside him. They soon reached the shop row, just a short walk away from where they had met.  
  
"So why you here? Thought you had chores to do?" Ryu asked.  
  
Kira shrugged, "Eh, I decided to get away for awhile...slipped out, my parents still are sleeping." She giggled, then frowned a bit, "Speaking of sleeping, I heard rumors that you were having trouble sleeping…"  
  
Ryu stopped dead in his tracks. Who would know? It was not possible...others knew of his dreams? But how could that be? They were just that, HIS dreams, nobody else's.  
  
"Ryu?" Kira's worried voice and look broke him from his trance.  
  
"W-w-who told you that?!" he snapped, and Kira looked startled, even afraid of his sudden, almost violent retort. Then, suddenly, Ryu realized what he had done. Regaining his color, he immediately apologized to her.  
  
"Sorry Kira…I guess I haven't been…myself lately…lack of sleep I guess."  
  
Kira nodded, a bit meekly he could tell, and soon had her head snuggled up even closer than before against his shoulder. Sighing, Ryu stroked her black hair quietly, and the two lovers continued their walk, quiet for some time.  
  
Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end. After an hour of walking, and usual closeness Ryu bid goodbye to Kira, who had to go back home to do some more chores that she had forgot about in her time with him. Sighing Ryu felt the empty void that only she could fill return, and with that he decided to go see his friends. After a few minutes of walking, Ryu reached Kray and Faren's house. Krays family had died when he was little so Faren's family had adopted the young Woren into their home. He was an armful, but still fun to be around. Knocking on the side of the open door, Ryu peeked his head in saying, "Hello, anyone home?" Faren's mother Loren soon answered the door, and smiled as soon as she saw Ryu's familiar face.  
  
"Come in Ryu, the boys are in the den wrestling," she said with her usual gusto, "Careful though! You know that Kray and his strength!"  
  
Ryu nodded, and smiled a bit to himself when he remembered what Kray did last time they wrestled. Kray had been winning, like always, when Ryu had jumped him from behind. Kray taken totally by surprise had immediately gone on the alert, his Woren fur immediately sticking up on end. This in turn, made him look incredibly funny and both Ryu and Faren had cracked up at their puffball friend. Suddenly he heard a yelp and went down the hall quickly to see what was up. What he saw was almost as funny as Kray puffed up. Kray had pinned Faren under his weight. Sitting on Faren's back he was also tickling Faren's nose with his tail in a slow and very torturous tickle torture. Ryu burst into laughter. Faren howled as Kray continued to tickle,  
  
"Not funny Ahaha! Ryu! Help! Hehehe! Hahaha!"  
  
Soon after, Faren yielded, the tickling becoming too much. Chuckling Ryu walked up to Kray and replied,  
  
"Well, that's a new one, frankly if that had been me, I'd a bitten it off."  
  
Kray chuckled a bit breathlessly and said with his usual lopsided grin,  
  
"You bite, you die."  
  
Ryu laughed replying, "Oh yeah!? C'mon!"  
  
And with that he lunged at his friend. Soon Ryu and Kray were laughing and rolling around, each frantically trying to wrestle the other into submission. It wasn't long before the inevitable happened. Kray, being the strongest quickly wrestled Ryu into a lock, and down Ryu went, hitting the floor with a resounding THUD! Faren, who had been watching, cracked up again, as Ryu had landed face first.  
  
` After the boys had gathered their breath, and regained their composure they immediately went into the kitchen, the match having worked up their appetites. Loren, ever ready, had prepared quite a heart meal for them and they ate well. While they were eating, Kray, ever mischievous brought out the inevitable question.  
  
"Hey Ryu, talked to Kiiirraaa todaaayyy?" and with that he burst into laughter.  
  
Faren followed up his friends tease by making kissy faces and taunting,  
  
"Ryu and Kiraaaaaaaaaa sitting in a tree!"  
  
Ryu sighed, mumbling,  
  
"Yeah well, I don't see you two with girlfriends..."  
  
Kray and Faren immediately stopped teasing him, but both were still grinning ear to ear.  
  
Loren walked in chuckling, saying,  
  
"Boys, be nice to Ryu, I think its sweet that he's got someone to love…plus it helps keep him out of trouble…" and with that she shot an glance at Faren who flushed deep red and sunk lower into his chair.  
  
It was Ryu's turn to laugh, and soon all three of the friends were chuckling and telling jokes they had heard recently. Most were pretty lewd, but that was normal. Soon the sun started sinking into the horizon and Ryu bid his friends a goodbye. Kray and Faren saw him off, telling him,  
  
"We'll see you later tonight at your birthday party Ryu!" and of course Kray threw in the usual sling about Kira being there.  
  
Ryu rolled his eyes and waved goodbye to his friends. Walking along quietly, Ryu pondered what had been bothering him since earlier that morning.  
  
Muttering to himself Ryu said,  
  
"How does Kira know what's going through my head...she said someone told her, but no-one can read minds here...it just doesn't make any sense!"  
  
He got home shortly after, still fuming and puzzling over the strangeness and awkwardness of it. His grandma was waiting patiently at the front door. When she saw Ryu she said,  
  
"Ah, Ryu, there you are! Been wondering where you were, come on, help me with the room."  
  
Ryu nodded and followed his grandmother into the room she had been preparing for his birthday. Looking around Ryu was dazzled to see how neat his grandmother had made everything. Ryu grinned and looked at his grandma.  
  
"Gramma, this…this is great! How'd you manage to get all this ready in just one day!?"  
  
Grinning his grandmother replied,  
  
"Oh the usual elbow grease, a little cleaner here, a bit of mopping and sweeping there, you know, the usual deal."  
  
Ryu nodded, still amazed that his grandma could still clean like there was no tomorrow. Ryu was brought back from admiration as Lida's voice said behind him,  
  
"Oh Ryu, I need you to run an errand for me...in the hills are some sweet berries that I'm running in low supply of, can you go pick some for me?"  
  
Nodding Ryu replied,  
  
"Sure Gramma, I'll be back in a few!" With that he picked up the nearby basket and headed out.  
  
Walking alone into the setting sun gave Ryu time to reflect on many things that had happened in his life. However, before he even got a chance to really reflect or ponder anything that crossed his mind a gruff voice spoke to him.  
  
"Hey kid…which way to Kyria?" Looking up, Ryu came face to face with a horde of Imperial soldiers. Ryu's mind raced as he muttered,  
  
"Imperials…what are Imperials doing here?!"  
  
The Imperial looked down at Ryu, narrowing his eyes saying again,  
  
"Hey squirt I asked you a question! Now are you going to answer or do I have to make you tell me!"  
  
Chuckles rose up through the ranks of soldiers alongside the man, but he silenced them with a wave of his hand. Ryu's eyes darted quickly, surveying their numbers, too many to take, he didn't stand a chance, not without help. Sighing he gave in,  
  
"Kyria's just south of here...it would help if you followed the road..." He answered a bit snidely.  
  
The mounted Imperial smirked and replied, "Good whelp…thanks for the instructions little man…"  
  
With that he chuckled one of the most sinister chuckles Ryu had ever heard and waved his men onward. Watching them go Ryu felt his spine shiver, he didn't like Imperials, nobody did, they were cold, cruel, and ruthless, and supposedly very, VERY ambitious. Sighing Ryu puzzled why the Imperials wanted Kyria, it was just a small town, owing its allegiance to nobody. Soon, he got to the berry bushes. Quietly he started picking berries, but something was nagging him, something in the back of his head telling him to go back home, that everything was not well. Looking up from where he was picking berries, Ryu looked toward Kyria. Everything wasn't all right, in fact, something was wrong, smoke was curling into the sky, and it wasn't from the village chimneys. Dropping the basket, Ryu shouted, "Grandma!" and dashed back toward town.  
  
The town was in blazes. Fire poured from windows and roared down the street as it quickly devoured straw roof from shops, and anything else that would burn. The acrid smell of smoke choked Ryu as he came closer and it stung his eyes. Looking around Ryu forced himself into the blaze yelling,  
  
"Gramma where are you! Gramma!"  
  
Coughing, Ryu pushed himself further into the fire, however since he was not made to whether effects of fire, Ryu soon felt himself growing weak in the knees and dizzy in the head. However, Ryu stubbornly pushed on, refusing to give up. Soon he reached what had been his house. Flames roared all around him yet he went in. The heat was intense, it licked at him hungrily, eager to devour more than just wood and normal flammable material. Yelling at the top of his lungs Ryu screamed,  
  
"Gramma! WHERE ARE YOU!"  
  
There was no answer. Only the crackling of flames greeted him. Suddenly something creaked above him, and Ryu hightailed it out of the house. Seconds later with a terrific roar of crumbling material the entire building collapsed as fire devoured the very supports that had held it up. Ryu coughed some more and fell to a knee.  
  
"I'm going to die here," he thought. Then suddenly, something else in his mind clicked telling him,  
  
"NO! You cannot die now! This is NOT your destiny!"  
  
Coughing Ryu couldn't tell one thing from another, but he pulled all his strength together and ran for the exit, the fire chasing after him greedily, eager to devour more and more. Just seconds after Ryu passed through the gate, it too fell apart, blocking all chances for escape for those still trapped inside, if there were any still alive. Ryu watched weakly as the only home he had ever known was slowly consumed by the ravages of the fire. Suddenly, Ryu heard a cackling behind him. It was the same Imperial Commander he had met only a few minutes before. Ryu tried to get to his feet, but escaping the flames had sapped most of his strength, and so he slumped down again, tired and exhausted. The Commander came up to Ryu, the same smirk on his face that he had when he had first asked for directions.  
  
"So," he started, "it looks like blue boy survived…I should've killed you after getting directions from you…luckily I can correct that mistake now."  
  
With a sinister smile he unsheathed his sword and started advancing on the weakened youth. Ryu, now fighting back tears as memories came flooding back of all his friends cried out,  
  
"Why you bastard! WHY! We never did anything to you!"  
  
The Imperial stopped for a second, the sinister smile not leaving his lips as he replied,  
  
"We were ordered to find Dragons, by any means possible, burning this trash heap of a town leaves nobody to spread rumors of what we're up to...but that doesn't matter anymore…now that you're going to die anyways!"  
  
Ryu clenched at the sand, everyone he had known, loved and cherished was gone and it was all the Imperials fault their entire fault!!! Realizing the commander was raising his sword; ready to kill him was the final straw. Ryu screamed, but it was the most unearthly scream he had ever heard coming out of his own lips. It sounded like a monster in agony, more terrible than a mortal wound. Suddenly blinding, white-hot pain took over, and everything went black, the commander's sword never even had time to fall.  
  
Ryu's transformation began immediately. The ground shook as immense power pulsed from Ryu's body, and began to rumble as a huge ball of flame covered Ryu. In a matter of seconds the shaking was over, but the worst was still to come. Out of the fire came an un-earthly roar, and followed by the roar an immense Dragon burst from the flames. Its scales were of the purest white, talons as sharp as the sharpest blade, and power as immense as a God. The Commander stood looking at the Dragon, murmured the words,  
  
"The boy...he's a Dragon?! Not possible!"  
  
They were the last things he ever said. With another roar the Dragon went berserk. With a swoop of its talons, the commander was quickly torn asunder, his body ripped to shreds. The other Imperials, hearing all the commotion came to see what was the matter, and when they saw the Dragon realized their fates were to die as well. The Imperials puny and significant lives were snuffed out as the Dragon let loose with a slew of magic abilities untapped by mortal man. Superior Simoon and Mjollnier spells slashed away at the men and they died slow and painfully, their bodies vaporized to nothingness by the magical onslaught. The Dragon roared again its appetite not yet satiated by the destruction it had caused. It needed more blood; it needed to kill again! With another unearthly howl it turned its attention on a nearby group of travelers camped out for the night. They too died quickly, the Dragon tearing through their camp like a hot knife through butter. Within seconds everyone around had been incinerated by the massive outflow of energy caused by a Dragons Breath attack, and if not then, by the gigantic explosion that followed. The Dragon, energy running low, returned to the ruins of Kyria. Settling down, it laid its head down on the charred ruins of what had been Kira's house. Something that seemed to glisten like a jewel fell from the Dragons eye, and it let out one more mournful cry before its eyes slid shut, its breathing slowing to nearly nothing, and as the sun rose over the horizon, the Dragon slept. 


	2. Chapter Two: The Princess

Wyndia, capital of the Angel Clan Kingdom, was boring. Nina found it so dull, everyday the same routine, the same things. Sometimes it was a dispute between local farmers or other times, other tribes. Her father, King Wyndia IX, was always too busy, but not like it mattered, Nina found him so DULL anyways. He was always talking about matters of state or something that she just didn't care about. Then, as always the topic of her eventual succession to the throne would come up, and she'd be in for another hour or so lecture by either her mother or the Chief Minister. Sighing Nina listened to a disgruntled farmer rattle on how another had let his cows graze in his yard.  
  
"Why can't anything fun ever happen…" she grumbled to herself, "I mean...come on there's got to be other things happening out there besides petty farming or tribal disputes…like with the Imperials or something."  
  
Indeed, there was, over the past five years the Imperialists had become very antsy. More and more activity had happened over in their quadrant after supposedly an entire division of their soldiers had been mysteriously wiped out. Their ambassadors to Wyndia suddenly grew quiet and withdrawn, and Nina had hardly seen them around, so naturally she had grown curious about their going-on's. She knew that it wasn't just some small thing; she knew it was big, so big in fact that even the usual blabber-mouthed guards assigned to protect the ambassadors had withdrawn. Nina found herself suddenly nodding off, the dull drone of the farmer draining her of conscious thought. Yawning she said to her dad, "Daddy, I'm going to go take a nap, ok?"  
  
King Wyndia nodded saying, "Sure Nina, whatever you want."  
  
Nina fumed as she stormed out, "He didn't even turn to look at me! What an airhead!"  
  
As she walked down the hallway from the throne room to her own room, her mind slipped to other, less royal type thoughts, "Hmm wonder what's new on the clothes market in town." she pondered as she walked into her room, "I'm going to go find out!"  
  
With a girlish giggle, she smiled to herself. This would be her chance to get away for a while, do some shopping on her own, and not be babied by anyone following her!  
  
Flapping her wings a bit she looked down outside her window.  
  
"Too far for these little wings...darn!" she complained.  
  
Looking around, Nina looked for something that would help her escape the castle undetected. Her eye happened to catch a parasol in the corner of her room, "What luck!" she thought to herself eagerly, "I can float down this way!"  
  
Muttering some words Nina cast a Float spell on the parasol and climbed up into her window. Silently Nina hoped the parasol wouldn't give out and jumped.  
  
Everything went beautifully. In a matter of minutes Nina touched down gracefully in a small back alley near the Weapons shop. Squealing at her success, Nina was overjoyed to be out of the castle and away from the stuffy royalty treatments. Walking out of the alley, Nina surveyed her surroundings; it was a big change to the insides of a castle. Houses were everywhere; many with the telltale Wyndian windmill on them. These windmills used the constant windy weather in and around Wyndian to power bathrooms and bring water to the occupants of the house. Nina happily mingled in with the crowd, avoiding detection as best she could. The crowded busy streets were a nice change to the stuffy castle atmosphere. Immediately her eyes fell on the most darling clothes store she had ever seen. Squealing with joy Nina walked, skipped almost, over to it. She immediately went to 'work', zipping among the many types of dresses and bonnets, admiring how simple yet elegant they were. They were a big change from the flamboyant dresses the royal family had, but Nina didn't care, all she cared about at the moment was the clothes and nothing else, not royalty, not the privileges or duties, just the clothes. Sighing happily to herself she soon was lost in her own world as she shopped. After quite some time of looking, pondering, and trying on many types of different dresses Nina settled upon a nice little red one. Its edges were trimmed in white, but it was quite darling. It fit her wings quite well, and it was snug. It was, however, also a bit revealing, but that didn't bother Nina. Paying the needed Zenny for it, she changed out of her stuffy royalty garb and slipped into the much more comfortable and supple dress. After leaving the store Nina admired more of the city. She hadn't come here much and when she had she had been under the guards watchful eyes. Now, however, she was free, able to roam around unhindered and free. It felt wonderful to her, and way past time, she may be twenty-one, but her parents still treated her as if she was a baby. There was one thing Nina missed as she continued her walk down the many streets of Wyndia, however, and it was the silent cloaked figure that was slowly following behind her, waiting and watching.  
  
Nina skipped merrily onwards, unaware that she was being followed. It wasn't long before the figure made its move. Quickly and quietly it approached her from behind, then accosted her quietly, with a snake like voice. "Princessss Ninaaa I sssupposse?"  
  
Nina turned and was about to reply when suddenly a Sleep spell hit her smack in the face. With a small groan, she slumped to the ground. Quickly before anyone could notice something was wrong the hooded creature got a hold of the unconscious princess and dragged her into a nearby alleyway. Imperial soldiers were waiting. The creature uncloaked itself to reveal a man or what looked like a man. He was in fact half snake, half human, but what he was made no difference, he still was sinister and dangerous. Nodding to the princess he spoke to the leader of the soldiers.  
  
"Ssir I have done as ordered, I got the Wynnndian princesssss for youu."  
  
The troop commander acknowledged the snake-mans deeds, saying, "Excellent work my friend, you have earned this."  
  
With that he threw the snake-man a sack of Zenny. Greedily the snake-man opened the sack and counted the money, then he looked up, fire in his eyes.  
  
"You haave cheated me! Give me what isss rightfully oweeed!"  
  
Nodding to one of his comrades, the commander chuckled, "That's the thing when dealing with the Devil…you never quite get what you want!"  
  
The snake mans hand went up, the words for a devastating Frost spell on his lips. What he failed to see was one of the soldiers unsheathe his sword. It was a fatal mistake. Suddenly with a sickening squish of steel cutting through scaled flesh, the snake mans head was severed cleanly from his body.  
  
Laughing the commander replied, "Oh he got what was 'rightfully owed' alright, the slime."  
  
Then with a nod he and his men mounted their horses. The unconscious princess was tied up and slung across the back of one of them. With a frightening whoop the small band of soldiers galloped out of the alley and into the street, scattering frightened people in all directions. The commander was laughing all the way; enjoying the panic he and his men were creating.  
  
Then with a wave he yelled, "Onto Kyria! Onto destiny!" And with those orders the band galloped from the city of Wyndia, and onto the path that would take them to a little known town that was destroyed five seemingly long years ago.  
  
Nina awoke from the influence of the sleep spell groggily. As she did she nearly panicked, she was staring down at the ground, bouncing up and down, and to make matters worse, all tied up! Kicking and screaming she soon alerted the Imperials to the fact that she was awake. The sun soon set and the Imperials made camp for the night. Nina sat sulkily by the fire, upset and a bit shaken by all the jostling she had gotten earlier as the horse had galloped on its course. She had been untied, but was watched closely by a big scary looking Imperial. Sighing, she looked around. This time, there at the moment, seemed like no possible avenue to escape, so she quietly sat there, plotting her escape when and if the time came that she could get away. Eventually an even bigger man than the one who was watching her came up to her and sat on the other side of the fire grinning.  
  
"Well birdie, seems like you finally woke up." He said.  
  
Nina grimaced, she didn't like being called birdie, and in fact it was downright embarrassing and humiliating. "Shove it!" she snapped, "When my father finds out that you've kidnapped me he'll, he'll.."  
  
"He'll what?" smirked the Imperial, "declare war on the Imperial Empire? Heh I highly doubt it. Doing so would mean Wyndia's utter destruction! A very bad political move indeed…"  
  
Nina grimaced again she hated to admit it but, he was right, Wyndia was in no condition to withstand a force as powerful as the Imperial Empire, it wouldn't stand a chance in a war Wyndians just weren't the war type!  
  
Sighing she replied, "Look, I've done nothing to you why do you need me…if its money you want I'm sure my dad could arrange something…" Silently Nina prayed that was all they wanted, and not anything else.  
  
Smirking the Imperial chuckled, "Its not money we're after, its D-R-A-G-O-N- S my little birdie, and you're going to help us catch one!"  
  
Nina gasped. Dragons? Impossible! They had died out years ago, hunted to extinction.  
  
She was about to say so, but the Imperial smirked and replied, "Oh yes, I know what you're going to say birdie, but there happens to be one quite alive where we're going…and like I said before, you're going to help us capture it!"  
  
Nina frowned, "And what if I refuse?" she said boldly.  
  
The Imperial grinned a crooked grin, showing all his teeth. "Then I let Bruno here," he said with a nod to the big brute watching over her, "have his way with you...and probably the rest of the men as well once he's through."  
  
Nina froze gasping, "You wouldn't!"  
  
The Imperial just grinned a grin that said he wasn't lying. Wincing Nina realized she was trapped. There was nothing she could do. Quietly she wished she had never left the castle and laid her head down in her lap to cry quietly.  
  
The next few days of riding were uneventful. Nina had followed quietly and behaved for the trip, making no escape attempts for fear of upsetting her captors commander. They soon arrived at their destination, and Nina beheld a spectacle that took her breath away. Lying in the middle of an enormous crater was a gigantic Dragon. She estimated that it stood nearly thirty feet high and weighed well over a few tons. She was flabbergasted. Here, all the legends had said they had been hunted to extinction, and yet she was staring at one! Nina could barely contain even the slightest bit of excitement at seeing the Dragon. The Imperial Commander quickly went to work ordering his men to get the equipment out to capture the Dragon. Nina frowned. What would the Imperials want with a Dragon? It didn't seem right! However, a quick shove from behind by Bruno reminded her whose company she was in and she grudgingly went up to the commander.  
  
"Ok, we're here, what do want me to do?" she replied as dryly as she could muster the courage to.  
  
"Alright birdie, its simple enough for you, since you're highly schooled in magic, we want you to WAKE HIM UP."  
  
Nina did a double take. "You want me to what!?!" she almost yelled, "wake him up! You must be crazy!"  
  
"True," replied the commander, "crazy, but not stupid, that's why you're going to do it!"  
  
With those words he gave a nod to Nina's 'escort', and Bruno shoved Nina roughly into the pit. Nina stumbled and fell head over heels at the roughness of the push. Before she knew what was happening she was sprawled at the bottom of the pit, bruised, bleeding, and a battered from rolling down the steep slope. Getting up, Nina resisted the sudden urge to start crying, and slowly headed toward the Dragons head. As she walked forward she stopped for a brief time to lightly run her hand over the magnificent pure white scales. Just touching them gave Nina goose bumps as she could feel the magical aura of God-like power and energy the Dragon emanated pulse through her. Nina was stunned.  
  
"So much power," she thought to herself, "it's as if, as if it were a being made of pure energy."  
  
Continuing her trip toward the head of the Dragon, she was careful not to step on its wings, their membranes glistening like gold silk as she passed by them. As she neared the Dragons head, she slowed. She could see some of the razor sharp teeth protruding from the creature's top jaw, and they scared her. Its fork like tongue also flicked in an out as the creature breathed slowly in its sleep. Cautiously Nina approached the Dragons head.  
  
"Such beauty and power," she thought, "like a lightning bolt…but something's not right…what would cause a Dragon to sleep so long like this? Wouldn't someone have noticed it by now?"  
  
However, thoughts of Bruno clouded over any questions she might have had and carefully she placed her hand on the Dragons snout. Muttering some words, Nina began the incantation of Rising.  
  
It all happened before Nina even had time to blink. Within seconds of finishing the incantation the Dragons reptilian eyes shot open. Nina shrieked and stepped back as the Dragon lifted its giant head, eager to see who disturbed its slumber. Letting loose with a roar, the Dragon used its eyes to trace along the line of the crater, until its eyes fell onto Nina. Its head swooped down so it could look at Nina closely. Nina tried not to scream, seeing the fire of a berserk rage in its eyes, she knew if she did, she would be dead in seconds. Suddenly something happened. The fire died in the Dragons eyes and as it did the Dragon let one last roar into the sky go. Then a bright white light engulfed the Dragon and its massive form began to shrink. Soon, nothing was left of the Dragon except a naked blue- haired man unconscious at Nina's feet. Nina's fears soon left her as she stared at the young man sleeping peacefully. Despite the fact that he was naked, he was rather cute! Nina blushed fiercely, almost forgetting of the Imperials above. Suddenly they came, and Nina had other things to worry about. They quickly swarmed over the young man, binding him, as if they were scared, terrified even, of him.  
  
Nina grimaced, yelling, "Stop it! You'll hurt him!"  
  
They didn't listen. Within minutes the blue haired young man was bound almost head to toe.  
  
Nina quickly ran up to him and covered him protectively saying, "Leave him alone! He did nothing to you!"  
  
Suddenly Nina heard a voice that made her blood run cold, it was the commanders. "Oh he did plenty, but its not your concern anymore...you'll be dead in a few seconds anyways! Bruno!"  
  
With that Bruno came forward, brandishing a giant axe. Nina stood between Bruno and the blue-haired young man and awaited his attack. The odds were totally against her, and being surrounded by Imperial soldiers didn't help at all. They all crowded around eager to see the little birdie be brutally massacred by a physically superior opponent. The Imperials forgot one thing however, Nina's ability to use incredibly powerful attack magic. As Bruno advanced, Nina readied her first volley of spells. Suddenly, with a battle yell, the giant Bruno attacked. Nina calmly took aim and fired. "Fire wind!" was the first thing that came to her lips. Suddenly there was a huge rush of wind and a gigantic pillar of flame wrapped into it, encircling Bruno. Bruno, unaccustomed to being encircled by flames yelped and quickly fell back, burnt, but not yet down. Roaring out of the pains of his burns, Bruno attacked again, this time faster and angrier. Nina could tell that if she didn't hit dead on this time, she would be the one dying. With the agility of graceful wings, Nina quickly readied another spell, the attack words forming on her lips, "Freeze break!" Instantly, out of nowhere razor sharp shards of ice formed and flew at Bruno. The brute didn't stand a chance. The shards quickly did their worst, slicing cleanly through his armor. Bruno howled in pain as a leg was cleanly severed from his body, and skin split open in the most painful of matter, spilling his blood onto the ground.  
  
Bruno stunned, and very badly cut up, growled at Nina as he clutched his leg whose blood was staining the ground, "You bitch! You're going to paaaay!"  
  
With that he picked up his axe, ready to throw it. Nina never gave him the chance; with another flick of her wrist a giant spear shaped stone appeared and shot toward Bruno, aimed directly at his forehead. The spell hit its target dead on, taking out Bruno's helmet, and spilling brain mass and blood onto the ground. Bruno, stone sticking out of his forehead, fell to the ground with a heavy thud, and stayed silent, silenced forever.  
  
Nina grimaced as she stepped over Bruno's body. She hated making such a mess, and he had almost spilled blood on her skirt! Huffing she quickly made her way over to where Ryu was being kept all tied up and went to work undoing his bonds. What she seemed to forget about was that she was completely surrounded by other Imperials who weren't too happy about seeing one of their fellow comrades felled in battle by what they saw as a mere girl. Before she knew it, she was completely surrounded by those very same Imperials.  
  
"Err, hi guys…um what's new?" she said, looking around nervously.  
  
The Imperials only grimaced, and others chuckled menacingly. Nina closed her eyes, wondering which one would be the first to strike the killing blow. The blow never came in. Before she knew it there was a whoosh of wind and something blurred right by her face. Two nearby Imperials raised their swords only to be cleanly decapitated by the blur. Others looked around in panic and confusion, wondering what it was that was killing off their companions so quickly. Again the blur came in. Suddenly, with the skncht of knives being unsheathed, two more Imperial soldiers fell, bleeding from lethal knife wounds to the chest. Nina looked around, trying to focus on what was killing off her attackers, but even she could not pinpoint the quickly moving object. More and more Imperial soldiers fell, various wounds to their bodies. Some got their throats cut; others didn't even have a head after the blur passed by. Nina could see the Imperial Commander up above grimace as he watched his soldiers fall. Finally he turned his horse around, after shooting one last nasty look at Nina, and spurred his horse into a gallop. Nina breathed a sigh of relief as the commander left, watching the dust cloud his horse left slowly fade into the distance. Turning however, she was amazed to see all of the Imperial soldiers that had been threatening her dead or dying from mortal wounds. The ground was stained red with blood, and it pooled into puddles around the dead and dying. Nina almost felt sick, and turned away from the ghastly sight. It was more carnage than she cold handle, even if she had brutally killed Bruno before. After a few minutes, Nina's curiosity overwhelmed her and she turned back to see what had saved her and the blue haired boy. As she looked over the field of bodies, she saw some cat like creature advance slowly toward the still bound blue haired boy. Panicking Nina yelped, "No!" and quickly dashed over to protect him. The creature looked at her closely, and then narrowed its eyes at her. Nina got a good look at the creature. It was about six feet or more, and well muscled, its body toned to almost perfection. Its face however, was what Nina found scariest. Its cat like eyes followed her every movement, and the creature's teeth were something that Nina wouldn't like to be on the end of.  
  
Snarling at her the creature spoke, "Move it girl."  
  
Nina stammered in reply, "N…No way I'm not…going to let you hurt him!"  
  
The creature looked at her in the most peculiar of fashions then barked a harsh laugh, replying, "Listen, if I wanted to hurt him I would've allowed the Imperials to toast you, then take him and do whatever the hell they wanted with him. Now PLEASE, step aside."  
  
Nina nodded quietly, realizing what the creature said was true, and stepped off to the side. The creature quickly went to work. Unsheathing some wicked looking knives from their sheaths at his side; he undid the ropes binding up the blue haired boy. Once the ropes were free the creature studied the chains that reinforced the ropes around the blue haired ones arms and legs, preventing him from squirming free. Sheathing the knives the cat creature grasped the chains and started to pull. Slowly the chains began to give way, and Nina watched in amazement as they soon split into pieces.  
  
"That had been top quality Imperial steel!" she thought to herself.  
  
As she watched the creature free the blue haired one, she couldn't help but marvel at its strength and agility, and she found herself staring again. Shaking her head, she regained her composure and wrinkled her nose.  
  
"Idiot!" she thought to herself, "Stop thinking about boys right now and concentrate!"  
  
Suddenly the creature spoke up, "You don't get out much do you?"  
  
Nina stammered a reply, "Yeah…U…Um, my parents are kind of overprotective."  
  
Chuckling the creature replied, "It seems that way, my name is Kray, this one here is called Ryu."  
  
And with that Kray nodded to the still unconscious blue haired one. Nina took in both the names. Kray and Ryu was it, both interesting names, but she found herself peering again at the blue haired boy named Ryu. He was extremely cute. Kray noticed she was staring at Ryu again.  
  
Laughing he said, "What's your name? I can introduce ya to Ryu once he wakes up."  
  
Nina flushed, she knew he had found her staring at Ryu, and stammered out, "M…My names Nina…"  
  
Smiling Kray nodded, and replied, "well Nina, help me wake him up…he's been out for a long time." Nodding Nina got up from where she had sat down, and walked over to where Kray was hunched over Ryu.  
  
It didn't take long to get Ryu awake. With some water from Kray's water bottle and Nina's spell casting Ryu's eyes soon snapped open.  
  
Groaning, Ryu replied, "Mmph… Where am I?" Then as soon as he saw Kray's face he quickly shot up into a sitting position.  
  
Kray grinned at Ryu and said, "Hey old buddy miss me?"  
  
Ryu sputtered, "Kray… How! When! I thought you, everyone…died? What's going on this?! Must be another hallucination…" With that Ryu flopped his head back down, right into Nina's lap. Nina flushed, and Ryu again snapped up, looking at Nina. Peering at Nina, Ryu frowned.  
  
"Do I know you?" he said.  
  
Nina replied, "Err no you don't...I was err, dragged along for the ride so to speak."  
  
Kray chuckled again, and turned to face Ryu. "You've been out of sync for at least five years Ryu…After the Imperials attacked the city, all hell broke loose, Loren helped me escape…But…"  
  
"But what?" Ryu replied, looking at Kray.  
  
Kray exhaled slowly and said, "She and Faren both died in the fire…I couldn't save them…"  
  
Ryu's face went white, and his voice croaked, "N…No! Please tell me you're lying!" Kray grimaced, and shook his head. Ryu's face was so pained, Nina wished suddenly that she could hold him and tell him it was going to be all right, but her dignity held her back, and she just watched and listened silently.  
  
Ryu snarled, "Damn Imperial scum! They'll pay for this!!!" Kray winced, and Ryu saw it.  
  
"What else is there to say Kray..." Ryu replied, pain visible in his voice.  
  
Kray bit his lower lip and replied, "Your grandmother and Kira...I don't know what happened to them...of those that survived, none said they saw them escape."  
  
Ryu seemed to break down.  
  
Shaking he choked out, "None?!? Damn it are you sure!?! Tell me you're sure!" With that he grabbed Kray's neck and shook him.  
  
"TELL ME!" he screamed.  
  
Kray suddenly pushed Ryu down, and Ryu hit the ground hard.  
  
Kray grimaced and snapped, "Ryu…get yourself back together! You're not acting sane!" Ryu just lay on the ground, sobbing quietly to himself. Kray looked at Nina and sighed.  
  
"Sorry you had to see this…he's been through a lot."  
  
Nina nodded quietly, then turned to watch Ryu cry some more. Something inside her felt very sorry for him, so sorry that it just wanted to hug him and cradle him like a little baby, to look after him and to tell him that it loved him, but she shook it off. She could not get involved; this was not for her, she was a PRINCESS, and he, a Dragon. How could she go home and say to her mom and dad, "I've started falling in love with a Dragon…" She just couldn't!  
  
Shaking her head and sighing she got up and said to Kray, "I'll be behind you if you need me…" With that she got up and walked over to the other side of the crater, and sat down to wait for the coming of night. 


	3. Chapter Three: Rebellion

The group of three hit the trail the next morning, headed back in the direction of Wyndia. Nina sighed, she would be in so much trouble when she got back home, her father would probably ground her into the next millennium. As they walked, Nina couldn't help but watch Ryu. He had calmed down during the night, and finally realized he couldn't do anything about the past, yet Nina couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She realized what pain and loss he had had once Kray had told her their story. The crater had been their hometown, but Imperials acting on orders had burned it down. As she had listened to Kray's story, Nina grew to understand the Imperials a bit more. They were even cruder and crueler than that small band of soldiers had been to her, and she shivered at the thought of her time spent in their captivity. Still, everything had turned out all right and she had made some new friends, both whom were much more polite than the Imperials had been.  
  
Giggling to herself she wondered, "Perhaps daddy will let me keep them! I mean they did save my life and everything...Hehe this is interesting to say the least!"  
  
Suddenly she heard Ryu snap behind her, "What's so funny?"  
  
Nina stopped for a second; realizing she had started to giggle out loud and both Kray and Ryu had both stopped to ponder between themselves what she found amusing.  
  
Nina flushed, a bit embarrassed that she had almost started talking to herself out loud, and replied to the two young men who had stopped to listen, "Err…um...nothing? Nothing at all, my mistake!"  
  
She then put on the sweetest smile she could muster and giggled another girlish giggle.  
  
Ryu sighed, thinking to himself as Nina smiled the sweetest smile she could muster, "What a DITZ! I wonder how the hell she even managed to survive capture by those Imperials…and now we're stuck with her until we can get her back where she belongs."  
  
Grumbling a bit Ryu turned, only to see that Kray was actually smiling at Nina.  
  
Ryu grimaced saying to Kray, "What's so amusing?"  
  
Kray chuckled, replying, "She's cute and I think she likes you Ryu."  
  
Sighing Ryu shook his head, replying, "My heart died the day Kira did...those damn Imperial assholes are going to pay for what they did, I swear it!"  
  
Kray frowned a bit; Ryu had changed, he wasn't the smiling sixteen year old he remembered from so long ago, but then again, having your home destroyed and the love of your life possibly killed or worse can do that to a man. Kray couldn't help but feel sorry for his friend, but then that creeping sensation of his own guilt about not being able to save Faren came back. He remembered it very vividly as if it had only happened a day or so ago…  
  
**Flames shot through the village; the heat was so intense, choking him, his heightened Woren sense of smell making it even harder to get a gasp of clean air. Suddenly he had heard a voice. It was Faren.  
  
"Kray where are you? Come on answer me!"  
  
Kray had responded through coughing fits, "I'm over here! In the corner of the kitchen!"  
  
Faren had made it through the fires over to where his friend was huddled, coughing and wheezing from smoke inhalation.  
  
"Here, rest on my shoulder I'm getting you out of here…" he had said.  
  
Kray had nodded, and leaned on his friend for support as they fought their way out of the burning mass that had been their house. They had made it as far as the southern gate when it happened. With a roar a nearby building collapsed, its foundation destroyed by the fire. Faren had noticed it was coming down almost right on top of them and had pushed Kray away. Kray watched as the burning rubble crashed down on Faren, and he still remembered the scream that had escaped his own lips.  
  
"FAREN! NOOOOOO!!!!"  
  
Getting up he had desperately started to claw at the rubble trying to free his friend, when suddenly he heard him…he had heard Faren.  
  
"Run Kray…don't look back," he had said.  
  
Kray had protested but the voice almost screamed in his ears, "NOW! Live to avenge me!"  
  
Kray, choking back tears, complied and had stumbled out of the gate, passing out from exhaustion and pain from the small singes and burns on his coat. However, before he had slipped into darkness, he saw one thing that had terrified him even more than the fire. He had heard the roar and then the massive flames of...a Dragon…then blackness enveloped him. **  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kray snapped out of his trance almost immediately as the memories plunged into the darkness of his mind. Shaking his head, he felt the guilt of being unable to save his friends and his family...how everything he had known and loved was gone again. It had always been like that, ever since his parents had died and Faren's mother had adopted him. Now, he was alone again, sure he had found Ryu, but that was small solace for the countless lives that had been lost that night. Just like Ryu, he to thirsted for revenge, but his revenge was not like Ryu's, his revenge was more a blood lust. He felt like he had to spill every Imperials blood, make them pay the ultimate price, even if he damned himself for doing so. Grimacing, he fought back the darkness that enveloped his soul as he thought about the joys he had felt as he had mercilessly slaughtered those Imperials who had attacked Nina. "True," he thought, he needed more blood, but now wasn't the time or the place to get all moody, especially with Ryu the way he was. Last thing he wanted was Nina thinking he too was nuts. The three companions walked along quietly for a while, each enveloped in their own thoughts.  
  
The one who thoughts were most jumbled was Ryu's and as he walked he wondered to himself, "What am I...where do I come from?"  
  
Sighing he looked up, quite unnerved by the silence of his two other companions. Nodding to himself he decided to at least start a conversation with one of them, even if it was with that ditz Nina. Sighing he walked up alongside Nina who had been seemed to be...skipping.  
  
Ryu chuckled a small bit, and said to her, "At least one of us seems to be in a good mood."  
  
Nina seemed to jump a bit, seemingly startled by his sudden talkativeness.  
  
She shrugged, and looked over at Ryu saying, "Yeah well, its not everyday I meet a couple of people like you two…just excited that's all."  
  
Ryu sighed, "yeah sure…but you shouldn't get involved with us…me and my friend are not exactly out here on a mission of good will…"  
  
Nina sighed a bit, then nodded saying, "Yeah I noticed that by how your friend mercilessly took out those Imperials, but I've never been big on them as well. Too greedy and ambitious, even their ambassadors seem…evil."  
  
Ryu raised an eyebrow in sudden surprise.  
  
"Did you just say…ambassadors?" he asked.  
  
Nina flushed, knowing she had slipped out something damning to whom she really was as only people of royalty associated with ambassadors.  
  
"Er, no…um perhaps…" she replied, but as she met Ryu's piercing gaze, she sighed and nodded saying, "Yes, I said ambassadors…"  
  
  
  
Ryu grimaced, replying, "You're Princess Nina of Wyndia aren't you?"  
  
Nina nodded sullenly.  
  
Ryu sighed, murmuring; "Shit…we're in deep trouble now…"  
  
Kray who had heard Ryu mutter that walked up to his friend and said, "What's the matter?"  
  
Ryu nodded to Nina who was now looking down, drawing circles in the sand with her foot bashfully.  
  
Kray chuckled and turning back to his friend said, "You didn't say something embarrassing to her did you?"  
  
Ryu rolled his eyes, replying, "Far from it, in fact it's worse than that, we're carrying royalty here, she's Princess of Wyndia."  
  
Kray's jaw dropped and he pointed at her, "S…s she's PRINCESS Nina???"  
  
Nina grinned a bit, nervous, embarrassed and utterly at loss for words. Kray stood there quietly rubbing his chin.  
  
"Hmm…" he pondered out loud, "How WILL we have to explain this…"  
  
Ryu shrugged a bit, rather at a loss as well saying, "I don't know, I mean, I've never been in this situation before…"  
  
Kray nodded knowingly, and then sighed heavily, "well she is safer with us, if we let her go, she might be captured by the Imperials again, you never know how useful a magic user might be to those scum…"  
  
Before Ryu could reply Nina jumped up cheerfully.  
  
"Fine then it's settled I go with you guys back to Wyndia!"  
  
Ryu stammered a bit, "B…But…I'm not sure…" Nina grinned and winked at him.  
  
"What's wrong Dragon boy?" she asked, "not used to having a cute, intelligent, beautiful, not to mention sexy bird following you around for a day or so?"  
  
Ryu balked a bit at what she said, it had sounded almost exactly like how Kira had teased him back then.  
  
Wincing uncomfortably, Ryu relented, "alright, we take her back home…I mean what could go wrong?"  
  
He had no clue how wrong things were about to get.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The journey back to Wyndia took only a day or so from their position from where they had stopped to camp. As they entered the main gates of the city, Ryu gaped. In five years the city had become a lot busier and bigger, to him it was absolutely amazing!  
  
As they walked through the streets toward the palace Nina leaned on his shoulder, smiled and said, "looks like you like it…"  
  
Ryu nodded a bit dumbly ignoring where she was, "yeah well, I only came here once in awhile when I was little…my grandma brought me here…"  
  
Nina nodded a bit, "we had to expand a bit, many other Wyndian colonies were getting raided by the Empire during the five years you were asleep as a Dragon…" she said quietly.  
  
"My dad has only tolerated such behavior because he knows we are no match for the Empire's superior militaristic advantage…"  
  
Ryu shook his head quietly, the Empire was starting to make everyone's life miserable, and everything seemed glum. It was so emotionally draining on him to realize the Empire was more than just a big bully; it was a huge power front, seemingly bent on world destruction!  
  
Growling through his teeth he replied, "We have to put an end to this! The Empire's gone too far…they all deserve to die!"  
  
Nina and Kray just stood their looking at Ryu, as he had just shouted his words out loud. Not only that, but passerby's were all staring, gawking and whispering at the boy who had just openly challenged the Empire. Ryu realized what was going on and shrank back into his shirt muttering a soft; "sorry…"  
  
Nina coughed and cleared her throat as everyone went to going back to their work around them, "Yes…well, unfortunately the Empire is ALL military, doing anything like that would be very unacceptable as it would provoke more and more attacks on outlying colonies than we have ever seen before. My father would be in a lot of hot water if that happened…that's why our arms are tied."  
  
Ryu sighed- it just didn't seem fair. The odds were so stacked up against them that it looked very impossible that he would ever get the revenge he so yearned for. He wanted to make the Imperials pay with as much blood as was necessary to avenge himself and his town! Soon Kray, Nina and Ryu were in front of the gates to the Wyndian Royal Palace and Ryu forgot all current concerns about the Empire, in fact he was more concerned about the Kings reaction to their presence. Nervously Nina opened the door and walked in, the other two trotting in behind her. As Nina walked in the King immediately looked up, his face evidently showing surprise and happiness mixed together.  
  
"Um…hi dad, I'm home…" Nina said quietly.  
  
King Wyndia immediately ran from his throne and embraced her, letting out a small choke saying, "Oh Nina…when I got the notice you'd been kidnapped I grew so worried…"  
  
"It's O.K. dad," said Nina, "I was in good hands…"  
  
And with that Ryu and Kray stepped forward. Immediately King Wyndia looked up, seeing Ryu and Kray.  
  
Looking them over his gaze became dark and dangerous, then with a terrific holler he yelled, "GUARDS! Seize them!"  
  
On cue the guards came rushing forward, quickly surrounding and restraining Ryu and Kray.  
  
Nina was horrified and yelled, "Father! What are you doing!?"  
  
King Wyndia didn't reply, instead he thundered to five more guards, "take Princess Nina to her chambers, NOW!"  
  
Struggling against the guards grip as she was led upstairs Nina cried out, "Ryu!!!"  
  
Ryu hearing her plea tugged, pulled and twisted, but was unable to break free from the guard's iron hold on himself and Kray. Suddenly something heavy hit Ryu and Kray in the back of their heads. Everything went black.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A few hours later Ryu woke up with a terrific headache. Groggily he looked around. What he saw brought him to consciousness very quickly. He and Kray were confined in a small cell, with a window that let in a very small amount of light. The bars on the cell were thick enough to withstand any amount of brute force and were obviously magical, as Ryu could see them pulse with magical energy. Ryu groaned and leaned against the wall, not only to nurse his headache, but also to ponder what their next move was. Looking over at Kray he noticed his friend was still out.  
  
"They must have hit him harder…" he muttered.  
  
He knew it took a lot of force to take out an almost fully matured Woren, and whatever they had been hit with was definitely not light. Ryu made a mental note to repay the favor to the guard once he got out. Taking the time, since he at the moment had nothing better to do, he quietly listened to the sound of water drip from the ceiling. Suddenly he heard a groan from behind him and realized Kray was coming to.  
  
Ryu hurried over to his friend and said, "here lean on me, you've taken a VERY nasty knock to the head…"  
  
Kray muttered something inaudible as he leaned against Ryu and Ryu nodded a bit, "don't worry buddy we'll get out of here…"  
  
Examining the bars again, Ryu sighed. Spells would be useless, not to mention they probably had an anti-magic barrier around their cell.  
  
"Mages aren't exactly the dumbest people around," he muttered, "but then, sometimes I wish they were…"  
  
Sighing, he said to Kray, who was finally more aware of their surroundings and predicament, "any ideas?"  
  
Kray sighed, got up from Ryu and rubbed the back of his neck which, like his pride was very sore right now, saying, "not a damn clue…looks we won't get out of this one very easily old buddy…"  
  
Ryu swore. More time passed, and as the light started to fade from the window, Ryu's heart began to sink. It seemed they would be here for a very long time. Suddenly they heard commotion coming from the entrance to the dungeon. Yells and shouts of "Stop her! She's getting away!" reached their ears. Ryu's head immediately jerked up and as it did, the heavy iron door that stood between the dungeon and the castle was blasted of its hinges. It landed with a resounding thud a few feet away, and as it did a familiar face poked out around the corner. Ryu's face lit up, it was Nina!  
  
Nina ran in quickly, smiled at Ryu and winked saying, "hi there yourself cutie!"  
  
Ryu gawked. Had he heard her say that?! Nina giggled before turning to see Wyndian guards sprinting towards her, sighing she snapped her fingers, simply saying "Stop!" and immediately the guards froze.  
  
Nina turned and grinned again at Ryu, "Persistent yes, I have to admit…took me forever to finally get away from them, magical wards all over this palace…"  
  
Ryu nodded a bit, "Then how'd you"  
  
Nina cut in saying, "Simple, breached the anti-magic field once I got the door down…" She smiled continuing, "anyways, looks like I'm doing the rescuing now…"  
  
With that she pointed to the loc and muttered, "Open." With a click and a rusty squeak the lock obeyed opening the cell door and granting Ryu and Kray their freedom.  
  
Brushing himself off Ryu looked at the guards, "How long will they stay frozen for?" he asked.  
  
Nina giggled again, "probably for a couple of hours, not bad for an amateur hunh?"  
  
Kray smiled, "Very impressive, now I suggest we get our weapons and get the hell out of here, no offense Nina, but your dad has lousy guest rooms and I'd rather not be invited to stay again!"  
  
Nina smiled a bit and nodded pointing down the hall she had come from.  
  
"This way to your weapons!"  
  
Running down the hall they met with very little resistance, the guards knocked unconscious by a very angry Kray and Ryu's fists. Soon they came to the storage room. Breaking in they quickly retrieved Kray's knives and Ryu's katana that he had picked up earlier.  
  
Quickly sheathing the katana behind his back Ryu said, "Right let's get going before anyone else comes to claim us…"  
  
Nina and Kray nodded back and they quickly sprinted into the main chamber. As they mad a beeline for the main door a voice boomed,  
  
"HALT!"  
  
The group turned to see who it was. Standing there was King Wyndia!  
  
Growling he spoke, "Just where do you three think you're going young lady!"  
  
His voice shook with rage, but Nina firmly stepped forward her face equally distorted by livid rage, "How dare you speak to me like that! I am your only daughter, you should love me, let me make my own choices! Or have your duties made you forget anything about family!"  
  
Quickly she turned on her heel, waved her hand and busted down the main door snapping, "Kray, Ryu, we're leaving! After the 'hospitality' my father has shown you, there's no further need to stay!"  
  
Suddenly King Wyndian was before them again in a flash of light, his face still enraged, "I will not allow you! You cannot leave!"  
  
Snapping his fingers scores upon scores of guards appeared. Ryu and Kray immediately drew their weapons as the guards advanced.  
  
Nina looked her father squarely in the eye and said, "Goodbye father…" as she did so, she immediately pulled out a winged object and muttered, "Teleport…"  
  
Suddenly the item disappeared and with a bright white flash Ryu, Nina and Kray were gone… 


	4. Chapter Four: Trouble

All Ryu knew at first was they were surrounded. Suddenly he saw Nina pull out some sort of feathered item, mutter some words and then the rush began. He felt his body seemingly disintegrate, being pulled by some unknown force to some unknown destination. All his senses except hearing were unavailable, and all he could sense was wind whipping around him. He almost panicked, except he heard a voice say to him, "relax, everything will be ok…" and then, the rush stopped, and he found he was himself again, his body whole, his senses restored. Looking around he saw Kray and Nina next to him, brushing them selves off. The only thing that had changed was their surroundings, and blinking a bit he rubbed his eyes. They were no longer in Wyndia! In fact they were in a rather large, tropical oasis!  
  
Ryu blinked again and stammered, "W…what happened?"  
  
Nina giggled a bit, her face no longer contorted in rage as it had been earlier, and said, "A teleportation item called a Roc's Feather, limited range, but it did the job by getting us away from current EVENTS in Wyndia."  
  
Ryu blinked replying, "talking about what happened in Wyndia, what exactly DID happen?"  
  
Nina blinked, and then sighed, "I'm not exactly sure, I've never seen my dad act like he did today, it was really strange, not to mention very creepy…it was as if he wasn't himself…"  
  
She frowned a bit, "I mean daddy was never the type to blow up first then ask questions later. He was always more analytical and never jumped the gun, what happened in the palace a couple of hours ago was totally out of character even for him…"  
  
Ryu nodded a bit, "Well from what I take it so far he's the exact opposite of what you say… but something tells me if we want answers we're going have to go into the Empire to find out…"  
  
Nina frowned and looked at Ryu, "The Empire? I guess we really don't have any choice…"  
  
Ryu nodded, "Indeed, plus we all have debts to pay to the scum…" as he said this he narrowed his eyes and Nina could see the fury and pain in them that collided and controlled the being that was Ryu. She visibly shivered, and wondered if he was really that cold on the inside as he was on the outside.  
  
She had to test the water eventually so, leaning up close to him she said, "Well, I'm going with you no matter what you say…" and with that linked her arm through the young Broodling's.  
  
Ryu gave a start, a look of helplessness on his face; nobody had gotten this close to him since Kira.  
  
Then his expression changed to that vacant, far away, and forlorn face and he pushed Nina away, completely ignoring the act of affection muttering, "I guess we don't have a choice…right Kray?"  
  
Kray nodded a folded his arms, "Indeed, seems that you're pretty much one of us for right now…an outcast…" Nina sighed, the Woren was right; as long as he father acted strangely she was no longer welcome in Wyndia, especially after her act of open defiance. Scanning the horizon Nina smiled a bit, hiding her sorrow at Ryu's rejection and ignoring the ache in her heart.  
  
Ryu looked at her quizzically, snapping, "what's so funny! I swear you grin at the most inopportune of times!"  
  
Nina ignored the snap saying while smiling impishly, "Well, the good news is father hasn't sent any troops after us yet…"  
  
Kray raised an eyebrow, noticing the smile on Nina's face and said, smirking, "and the bad news? There's ALWAYS bad news with good news…"  
  
Nina took a breath and said, "the bad news is Ryu's in a bad mood and needs cheering up!"  
  
Before Ryu could blink Nina had her arms around his neck and had placed a kiss on his cheek. Ryu looked her squarely in the eyes, confusion again washing over his features, then anger.  
  
"W…what the! I don't have time for your foolish games girl!"  
  
With that he gave Nina a vicious shove that sent the Wyndian princess sprawling, and stalked off.  
  
Nina had landed hard on her butt, a look of utter shook and disbelief on her features.  
  
Kray seeing all this muttered, "Another of Nina's advances shot down…oh Ryu, why can't you let Kira go."  
  
With that he quietly walked over to Nina, extending his hand to her. Nina took it and as Kray pulled her up, and as he did so he could see the look of hurt in her eyes, and even the beginning of some tears.  
  
Quietly he said to her, "wait here I'll be right back…"  
  
She nodded and choked, "Ok…"  
  
Padding off the Woren found Ryu a short walk later throwing stones into the oasis' water pool.  
  
Looking up as he heard the Woren approach he growled, "what do YOU want?"  
  
Kray frowned replying, "you treated Nina pretty badly back there, and you should go apologize."  
  
Ryu looked him squarely in the eyes, his own dangerously narrowed, "and who's going to make me? YOU? Hah! Don't make me laugh!"  
  
Kray growled, "Do it Ryu, and don't make me have to hurt you…"  
  
Ryu simply smirked, his eyes glittering dangerously.  
  
"Bring it…"  
  
Kray brought it all right, in the form of a swift roundhouse, unfortunately for him Ryu saw it coming from a mile away and ducked where the punch was supposed to connect. Kray was too slow to recover and quickly received an uppercut to the gut from Ryu. Gasping Kray felt as if his bones would break from the force of the punch, but ignoring the blow and the urge to double over Kray brought his fists down on top of Ryu's back. This the young Broodling could not avoid in time. With a dull thud, Kray's blow connected and Ryu crumpled to a knee, but like Kray he quickly recovered, swinging a sweep at the Woren's legs. Kray jumped in time to avoid it, but this gave Ryu time to get up and slide over to where Kray landed. Kray landed all right, but not where he intended for as he did come down from the jump a roundhouse to the head from Ryu sent him sprawling. The force of the blow was incredible and Kray had to fight off unconsciousness. Succeeding, he turned; wiping a trickle of blood from his mouth, then sprang again at Ryu, grabbing him in a full lock and dragging him to the ground. Ryu struggled, but this was an area Kray knew well and he quickly restrained the struggling Ryu.  
  
"Look," he hissed into his friend's ear, "you're getting out of control! You really hurt Nina a couple of minutes ago, you shouldn't be so violent, or more people will get hurt!"  
  
Ryu at this point had stopped thrashing enough to listen to his friend.  
  
Sighing Kray continued, "we're helping the Imperials by fighting amongst ourselves, do YOU really want that?!"  
  
Ryu shook his head murmuring, "no…"  
  
Kray nodded and stood, then grinned a bit; "glad to see you got that through your thick skull. Now, go apologize to Nina, you've hurt her feelings while moping over Kira…"  
  
Ryu was about to say something as he got up, but Kray put up a hand saying, "I don't want to hear it, go apologize to Nina, please, she cares for you and wants only the best for us all AND you, don't hurt her like you just did, she's really more sensitive than you think…"  
  
Ryu nodded, "I know, I'm sorry, I've just had a lot of things on my mind lately…"  
  
Kray nodded, "we all have, now GO."  
  
Obeying Kray Ryu started to head back toward where Nina was.  
  
As he walked along he thought, "Kira…I didn't want it to end the way it did…what should I do…" his thoughts were immediately interrupted by a scream.  
  
It was Nina's. 


	5. Chapter Five: Josef

As he heard Nina's scream, Ryu's mind immediately switched from brooding to full alert and he took off in a full run to where the scream had come from. Branches whipped through his face as he ran, but he paid them no heed. He had to get to Nina and quickly! Finally after what seemed like forever, he burst through the dense foliage. What he beheld looked very grim indeed. Two gigantic scorpions had cornered Nina and they were preoccupying themselves by snapping their claws at her and lashing out with their stingers. Nina had erected a barrier to ward off the blows, but Ryu could tell spell fatigue was setting in, and the barrier was beginning to weaken. Unsheathing his katana he yelled, "Nina get out of their now!" Nina's head turned to see who had addressed her and when she saw it was Ryu, relief flooded her face. Unfortunately in that split second her concentration broke and a scorpion's stinger lashed out. Nina let out a small gasp as pain shot through her shoulder as the stinger penetrated it and she immediately crumpled, the venom already at work. Ryu paled and cried, "Nina!!!" Then the fury came, his eyes glazing over. With a snarl he leapt forward his katana lancing out in a deadly arc. With that one swipe one scorpion's tail was cut cleanly off, its green blood squirting out onto the sand. The other scorpion, caught off guard turned and tried to snap at Ryu, but Ryu was faster. With inhuman agility he nimbly avoided the attack and turned his blade lancing in a sideward arc. The blade struck home again, this time slicing the second scorpion's claw off. More green blood hit the sand and the scorpion squealed in pain and anger.  
  
It was at about this time Kray broke through the foliage, his pace a tad slower than Ryu's. Seeing the scorpions and Ryu, the knives at his side were out of their holsters before one could blink but then Ryu intervened yelling, while he blocked slashes and lunges from both scorpions, "Get Nina! She's been stung!" Kray nodded replying, "Gotcha!" and with that he sprinted over to Nina's unconscious form. Frowning he checked her out. Her breathing was shallow and she was sweating profusely. Kray could tell that she was to need help if she was going to live. Looking through his things he checked to see if he had any antidotes left. He swore. They were out, and he had forgotten to restock in Wyndia! As best he could he bandaged Nina's shoulder then yelled to Ryu, "Hey bro we got to get her out of here! She needs aid, and we're fresh out of antidotes!" It was Ryu's turn to swear.  
  
The scorpions were getting more aggressive and had put Ryu on the defensive. Despite missing a stinger and a claw both were still dangerous and the fact that hew as worried over Nina hindered his fighting abilities. Jumping backwards Ryu ducked an oncoming stinger, and then his eyes went wide as he spotted an open spot. With an impressive flip he agilely got over the stinger as it retreated, and then leaped into the air. As he came down with downward attack from his katana he yelled, "YAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The katana came down right on top of the scorpion's head. With a sickening CRUNCH the blade passed through the head and into the ground below. Green blood flowed freely and got all over Ryu. "Ugh," he moaned, "just what I need, scorpion blood." With that he pulled his blade free. The scorpion gave one last death squeal then was still. Seeing its companion fall, the second scorpion launched a counter attack, attacking with both pincers and trying to bite Ryu. Ryu dodged all three then flipped his katana into the air. His eyes blazed and went reptilian as he yelled, "Nova Strike!" With that the sky darkened and his body became almost a blur as he leapt up and grabbed his katana. As his hands touched the blade, lightning streaked from the sky hit the blade. The blade absorbed it and flash bright white. The scorpion didn't even have time to react. With three swift slashes of his katana Ryu appeared on the other side of the scorpion. And as he opened his eyes the scorpion literally seemed to explode in a shower of green blood, guts, gore, and energy. As Ryu stood from his kneeling position, all Kray could do was say, "whoah.."  
  
The battle had been won. Ryu sighed as he wiped himself off, trying his best to get out the blood and guts on his clothes. Looking over at Kray he looked at Nina and said, "How is she?" Kray shook his head, "not good, she needs medical attention, I managed to stabilize her bleeding, but the scorpion's poison will kill her unless she gets antidote." Ryu sighed, worry crossing his face, then said, "how far until the next town?" Kray replied, "about a coupe hours away, I took the liberty to check out the map while you went back to Nina. Its called Farhain, a small trading village where travelers can stop to rest up and get supplies, this desert can be very treacherous to those who are not prepared." Ryu nodded, "then I guess that's where we got to go.." Kray stopped him before he said anything else, "one problem bud, the place was occupied by Imperials a month or so back, and knowing us, they'll probably be on the lookout." Ryu swore again, things were going from bad to worse. Then he sighed saying, "we need to get help for Nina, so we have to go, despite our hate for the scum." Kray nodded, "agreed, we'll need a disguise." Ryu said, "The cloaks we have are designed specifically for desert use right?" Kray nodded and Ryu grinned, "perfect, how do you fancy yourself as a desert nomad?"  
  
A few hours' later three figures could be seen approaching Farhain. They were heavily robed and the cloaks hid their faces. As they approached the guards at the gates stopped them saying, "Halt! State your name and business!" In a croaky voice the taller one said, "We are travelers traveling from Wyndia to Capitol, we have come to replenish our gear for the long journey ahead." The second guard looked them over and then saw one was being carried. "Oye what's wrong wit 'im?" he asked gruffly. The tall one answered again. "Heatstroke, he needs a rest before we can carry on." Both guards looked at each other, then the first sighed and called up, "Open the gates!" Instantly the gates creaked open and the second one said to the three-cloaked figures, "Awright ya may pass, long live the Imperial Empire!" The taller one nodded and croaked, "aye, many thanks.." then he and his companions walked through the heavy gates shutting behind them. "Funny thing that," said the first soldier to his companion, "the shorter one seemed rather quiet." "Ach," replied the second guard, "es probably just as loony as the rest of them folk who travel this way, what with this 'eat and all." His companion nodded saying, "I guess so, and still something bugs me about those two."  
  
Looking around as the gate closed behind them the cloaked figures quickly disappeared into an alley right near the gate. The shorter cloaked one then said in a hushed voice, "we need to find a healer Kray." The taller one nodded and replied in an equally hushed voice, "yes, and quick, I don't know how much longer Nina can hold out in these conditions." Suddenly an old man emerged from the shadows. "Excuse me gentlemen, is their something I can help you with?" Ryu gave a start and replied, "did you hear what we said old man?" The old man smiled and his eyes twinkled as he said "perhaps I did perhaps I didn't, but now is not the time for discussion, come I have a house not far from here, come and I will help you with your needs." With that he motioned for Ryu and Kray to follow him, an enigmatic smile playing on his lips. After a minutes walk, Kray, Ryu and an unconscious Nina were inside a small house. It was nicely decorated: flower pots arranged over the fire hearth, which had a roaring fire going. A carved table with gargoyle heads at the feet, huge bookcases taking up most of the wall space, and a nice kitchen from which the strangest of smells emanated from. It was warm and cozy, not too hot, and not too cold. It was definitely what Ryu considered a nice home and it took him back to the days of warmth and comfort with his grandmother. The old man calling, "Yeven I'm home and we've got guests!" broke his nostalgia. An old lady poked her head out from the kitchen saying, "Who is it Josef?" Josef as the man was apparently called, called back, "We have a Wyndian, Woren, and..a Dragon.." Ryu started when Josef called out his race. "H, how did you know?" he stammered. Josef's eyes twinkled again as he replied, "all in good time m'boy, all in good time." Ryu nodded a bit uncertainly then said, "we have a sick person with us, could you by any chance help us out?" The old man smiled, "Of course! Always willing to help those in need, not to mention on the run from the Imperials!" Ryu blinked again, how did this old man know so much about them? It seemed everything they said he already knew about! Kray brought forth Nina and propped her up in a chair. Nina moaned a bit and shifted her small form, pale and weak. Ryu winced. Seeing her like this made something inside him sad and angry with himself for not getting to her in time. Josef put on some glasses and peered at the wound as he un- bandaged it. "Ah, desert scorpion, sting." He muttered, then he checked the wound, "good, no infection, you did a very good job with this young man, if infection had set in chances are she would be much harder to treat." Kray grinned saying, thanks; I have some small healing training, but not enough to curse the poison.." Josef nodded, "very dangerous stuff desert scorpion venom, you're lucky you got her to me!" then he turned and said to the woman, "Yeven go get me the bottle of antidote salve from the cupboard will you?" The woman nodded, put down her duster and went back into the kitchen. She emerged seconds later carrying a bottle with a green liquid in it. Handing it to Josef she said, "here you go!" then she turned to Ryu and Kray saying, "now dears let Josef work on your friend while we have some tea, OK?" Ryu nodded, and he and Kray let themselves be led back into the kitchen.  
  
Time ticked by as Ryu anxiously watched the clock. Minutes seemed to take hours and every minute that ticked off the clock was agonizing. Yeven noticed his anxiety and smiled saying, "relax child, Josef is one of the best healers I know, he'll fix up your lady friend right proper!" and with that she smiled. Kray grinned and sipped some tea saying in a teasing tone, "yeah Ryu your 'lady friend'" Ryu shot him a glance that promised bloody murder and Kray just smirked, but then shut up. After a few more minutes Josef came through into the kitchen smiling. "She's responding well to the antidote, she'll be fine!" Ryu heaved a sigh of relief and said anxiously, "Can I go see her?" Josef nodded saying, "yes, but don't be long, she needs her rest!" Ryu nodded and went back into the next room. Looking over at the couch Ryu saw her, stretched out, bundled under some blankets sleeping peacefully. Walking over he kneeled down and brushed a strand of blonde hair from her eyes. She sighed a bit, smiled, and slowly opened her eyes. Seeing Ryu she smiled again, "Hey you." She said quietly. Ryu smiled back, hearing her voice felt good again, and somewhere deep inside him, something tugged at his heartstrings. Brushing it aside he said quietly, "I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough..And I'm sorry, for everything, if I hadn't run off you'd.." Nina shook her head and placed a finger over his lips effectively silencing him. Ryu started back a bit, but then stopped, something had him rooted to the spot. He couldn't back away, it wasn't right. Nina smiled a bit then said quietly, "Its alright Ryu, I forgive you for all that..I know what you're going through is hard, I shouldn't have done what I did." Ryu shook his head, "no, it is my fault.." Nina shook her head, "please don't blame yourself, you have so many more things on your mind, please don't let anything else drag you down!" Ryu shook his head saying, "I'm sorry Nina I can't do that..look, I'll talk to you later, right now you need your sleep, plus Josef said he would like to talk to us all once you're strong enough, so rest now." With that he bent over and kissed her on the forehead, got up and walked back into the kitchen. Nina smiled and touched a hand to her forehead, then snuggled back under the covers a slept again.  
  
Nina was up and about the next day, chipper as ever. They were in the kitchen eating breakfast when Josef came in from his Study carrying a giant book. Smiling at them all he said, "Good to see you are all up, so now I guess I can start explaining things." Ryu pushed his plate forward, indicating he was done and nodded as he wiped his mouth. "Yes, you do Josef, my friends and I thank you for your hospitality but we would like to know HOW you know so much about us, and me." Josef smiled and put the book down on the table. For a short man he seemed to have no trouble easing the book onto the table and opening what looked like an extremely heavy cover. "To be frank," Josef began, "I have been expecting your arrival for some time now." Ryu gawked replying "What?! How?" Josef smiled his enigmatic smile again saying, "simple my boy! You've heard of divining right?" Ryu shook his head, Nina interjected, "Isn't that the ability to foretell the future using Magic?" Josef smiled again, "correct my young Wyndian! I indeed am a magic user. A while ago I was dabbling in some arcane magic and spells when I accidentally spilled a bowl of water! In the puddle that formed suddenly I saw flames and fire, and heard a Dragons roar. Then the image shifted I saw tall grass, and cat's eyes, then a cat's growl! Then finally I saw the clear blue sky, and heard a bird chirping then taking flight!" Josef continued, "I consulted my library of books and from it I deciphered the vision. It told me that a Dragon, Woren and Wyndian would one day be coming. Everyday I scryed those who came and went with no luck, there was no match. When I saw you three enter the gate yesterday afternoon, I scryed your magic auras expecting to find nothing. They matched what I had seen! So I made my way to you and here you three are!" Nina nodded a bit and said, "I see, its obvious your abilities are far beyond those of a normal mages power, just who EXACTLY are you?" Josef smiled and bowed, "Josef Carlyle Tuvar at your service!" Nina's eyes went wide. "I've heard of you! You're one of the Ten Sages! I read about you while in Magic Study." Josef grinned again saying, "Correct my young Princess Nina, wait let me guess, what am I doing here right?" Nina nodded. "Well," Josef said, "as you all know the Empire has been rising to power very quickly," the group nodded and Josef continued, "Well as a direct consequence of this we Sages have fallen under intense pressure to help the Empire fulfill its goals," shaking his head he sighed, "unfortunately because we refuse the Empire has declared us outlaws. They've burned our studies, our books, and tried to rob us of everything we hold dear," Josef paused then went on, "however because they still see us as valuable they dare not try and take our lives, seeing it more fit to torment us wherever we go, and force us into hiding, like rats." Ryu frowned, "like what happened to the Dragons?" Josef shook his head, "No young broodling, not like the Dragons, the Dragons were hunted to extinction because of their power.." so saying he looked Ryu directly in the eyes. "Tell me young Ryu have you ever BECOME the Dragon? Felt the pain and the suffering and then the surge? The great surge of tremendous power a Dragon wields? Have you? Have you ever felt that you could conquer worlds, destroy entire civilizations with a mere whim?" Ryu blinked a bit, then looked away murmuring, "yes.." Josef leaned back in his chair and nodded, "that's why they were hunted. People feared the Dragons and what they could accomplish. They WERE the superior species. Not Humans, not Worens, Wyndians, or Grassrunners, only the Dragons wielded such power and control that they were the ultimate being. It was said 'he who could controls a Dragon could control the world' this saying had much truth in it. So people feared them, and when people fear things.." Josef shook his head, "they can turn into barbarians, and that's exactly what happened. Great armies were raised; men united along with the other clans of the planet and they declared war on the Dragons. Despite their awesome powers, Dragons were no match for the united-whole of the other clans. They fell, and the planet ran red with their blood. Instead of living in peace with mankind they nearly destroyed it. Many lives were lost, and because of the war, many Dragons were slain, the rest forced to live where they could, constantly on the run. The proud Dragon clan was no more.." Josef shook his head, "it was a sad day when the Dragons fell indeed."  
  
Ryu had been quiet the entire time, "so that's how it happened." He murmured quietly. Josef nodded, "yes, and now do you know WHY the empire is interested in you Ryu?" Kray replied, "He who controls a Dragon can control the world." Josef nodded, "yes, Ryu, they want you because they want the world, and if they succeed things could get very grim." Ryu eyes narrowed dangerously and his slammed his fists onto the table, making everything shake violently. "I WILL not allow that to happen, I will not stop until the Empire is destroyed permanently!" Josef nodded, "You do have the power Ryu, inside you, buried, living like a human has made your powers go into hibernation, they only just re-awakened so they are still very rusty, as it stands now, you can only transformed when extremely enraged, and that's VERY bad." Josef shook his head, "if that were to happen you wouldn't be able to tell friend from foe, you'd be berserk, and very dangerous." Ryu's hand lanced forward and he grabbed Josef by the collar shaking the poor man violently. "Then show me how to transform old man!" Josef squeaked, "This is no way to act! Doing this only makes it harder for your Dragon to be controlled! The more anger, hate, and sorrow you hold in your heart the more you slip away!" With that he gave Ryu a rap on the knuckles. Ryu yelped and dropped him. Nina frowned saying, "he's right Ryu, you're dragging yourself under, and if you become to far gone then you might just loose grasp of your humanity! Ryu growled, "pah humanity! What has humanity done to me except invite death and suffering into my life?!" Kray grimaced and said, "How can you say that Ryu! Remember back home? Lida, Faren, Kira, and all the others of our village THEY were human! Don't say they've done nothing for you! They did more for you than you can ever realize!" Ryu hesitated, and then looked down. "You're right Kray, I'm sorry..I didn't mean to forget. I just got so angry I couldn't help it, it all just came.." "Tumbling out," finished Josef, "yes I know that's how you'll feel, but you must remember Ryu you are never alone, hold your friends dear, they will never abandon you.." Ryu nodded and then Josef smiled as he closed the book saying, "well then, I actually have a favor to ask you all, I know you're on the run from the Imperials, I've seen the wanted posters all over here because the Empire occupies this town. However, anti-Empire sentiment is VERY high here, if you three would be kind enough to help us, please, up-root the Imperial seat of power here, if you do that then the Imperials will loose precious ground in their bid for ultimate power, and their reach toward the east will be greatly slowed." Ryu looked at Nina, and Nina looked at Kray, then all three nodded. "We'll do it!" said Ryu. "Excellent!" squeaked Josef. "The Inn is where they are stationed as makeshift barracks! May the Gods watch over you!"  
  
It only took the trio a couple of seconds to reach the Inn. It stood their looming and imposing. Not because of its size, but more because of the immense amount of Imperials around the inn. As they approached the steps, the chatting Imperials stopped and turned their heads to look at them. On muttered to his friend, "aren't those the ones wanted for Murder?" His friend took a look at the group then back to his friend saying, "You mean the blue haired boy, blonde haired Wyndian and brown haired Woren?" The other guard nodded saying, "yup that's the description!" then he turned and yelled, "men to arms! Intruders to GACK!" A dagger thrown directly into his neck silenced him, pinning him to the wood and allowing blood to spurt onto the wood behind and around him. With a roar the other Imperial soldiers attacked. Kray disappeared in a streak of light was seen between the Imperials seconds later. His knives bit hard, deep and straight. Imperials fell left and right around him grievous injuries. A couple of Imperials got their necks caught in the path of the daggers and all of them had their heads cleanly severed from their body, blood spurting from the wound as their lifeless bodies collapsed. Ryu was faring rather well as well. His katana and movements were a dance of death for all his opponents. As on imperial attacked him high he ducked under it and brought the katana upwards, slicing the man right up the middle. He died even as his internal organs spilled onto the floor. Another Imperial advanced his sword lashing at Ryu's exposed side. Ryu blocked it easily with an overhead parry then with a huge swing cleaved though the mans blade and right through the unfortunate soldier as well. He collapsed into two pieces on the floor. The numbers of Imperials kept piling up as ryu and Kray continued there bloody assault forward, the ground-becoming slick with the blood of fallen Imperials. Nina kept the two protected as best she could with protection spells, she being too weak at the time to use attack magic's. One Imperial who faced Ryu said, "d..damn..you, you're going to pay!" WIth that he raised his sword. Ryu brought his katana forward and grinned maliciously saying, "bring it on little man.." The Imperial then dropped his sword and Ryu could have sworn the Imperial wet himself. Shrugging he paid it no heed. A quick cleave to the shoulders brought a quick end to the man his head went spinning off and hitting the wall, blood spraying as it did so. Ryu laughed coldly. Finally they reached the main Commanders room. Kray knocked. A voice from within said, "go away, I'm busy!" Kray then growled, "Well we're going to make time for you!" and with a mighty smash with his body felled the door. As the three walked in the Imperial commander stood their, sword in hand grimacing. He looked them over and said with a malicious chuckle. "Oh the murders have come to surrender have they?" Ryu smirked, saying, "Guess again asshole, we're giving you a one way ticket on the ride to hell, along with your men!" with that he took the head he had been hiding from behind his back and brought it forth. The Commander studied them then smiled evilly saying, "bring it on little man!" Kray said to Ryu, "let me take him!" Ryu shook his head, "No this ones mine.." Kray sighed, "alright.." With that the Commander and Ryu lunged at each other.  
  
Sparks collided as blade met blade. The Commander grunted as he quickly spun around aiming low. Ryu's blade was there to meet it and he parried neatly, countering with an upward slash. The Commander sidestepped, the blade missing him completely, and Ryu swore at his misfortune. The Commander noticing an opening brought forth a low kick and connected with Ryu's side. Ryu stumbled backwards, exposing himself to the next attack. His opponent smirked and lunged, blade intent on driving through him. This was not to be at the last moment Ryu executed a back flip and as he landed came forward with another upward slash. The Imperial was too slow and too committed to the lunge and a leg went flying. The Commander collapsed howling in pain as blood flowed from the wound. Ryu mercilessly continued the mutilation. Spinning around his katana blade arced forward and chopped off the mans sword arm. Another howl came from the wounded Imperial. Ryu then stood facing the man, katana at his side, watching the blood flow freely. Smirking he said, "you humans are so frail and weak, it's pathetic!" Then he turned as if to go, but with a sudden motion turned around and threw his katana straight into the Imperials chest. The man screamed, thrashed a bit, then lurched upward and was still. Kray and Nina watched aghast. Had Ryu just done what they had seen him do? Kray frowned and folded his arms as Ryu retrieved his blade and wiped off the blood. Ryu seemed different, and things didn't look good for his friend. Shaking his head he murmured, "Ryu, please, don't end up like so many others who give in to hate." Nina said nothing just stood their, shocked and silent, horrified by Ryu's display of sudden brutality. As Ryu walked by them he looked at them saying, "C'mon we got ta go meet Josef tell him the city is no longer ruled by Imperial scum.."  
  
Josef took the news in strides. He expressed his utmost thanks to the group, but privately in a meeting with Kray and Nina lone expressed concern over Ryu's well being. "Sounds to me" he had said, "That Ryu's falling deeper into his own private hell..he must get out before the force he controls turns on him, and turns him into a monster!" Nina had sighed nodding, "we understand Josef, but he seems to shut us out at times, even I can't get to him.." Josef smiled saying to Nina, "keep trying child, remember patience is a virtue, the boy harbors much pain inside, if what you say is true, you must not give up on him, remember, like I said, you are his friends." Turning to Kray he had said, "Keep him close, you two are like a fish and a shark, one cannot live without the other, for one must sustain the other and if the one did not sustain the other, then the one would die.." Then he had turned to Nina. "Remember to hold him close, he may not realize it now, but you two are seemingly destined for each other..love him as much you can, only that way can he forgive the ghosts of the past and let them go.."  
  
The following morning, they packed up their gear and prepared to head out. Josef as well as many other villagers met them at the gate eastward. Josef smiled, "farewell my friends.." he said smiling, "our paths will perhaps meet again some day soon, but until then remember you are a group, you are friends, and as long as this remains true, you will be a force to be reckoned with!" Ryu nodded and smiled, "thank you for everything Josef..perhaps we will see you again, soon.." Josef smiled again, "yes, perhaps we will..good luck on your journey, may the Gods watch over you, protect you, and guide you..until another day farewell!" with that they set out, headed toward the east and The Great Forest. 


	6. Chapter Six: Forest Fun

Ryu and company slowly trudged eastward; living off the supplies they had been given by the kindly old sage, Josef. After a few days, desert started to give way to grass, and grass gave way to grass with flowers and tall, immense trees. Nina was starting to get excited, both Ryu and Kray could tell by the way she was constantly looking around admiring the view. It wasn't long afterward that they reached the mouth of what started the Great Forest, a deep forest full of animals, plants…and monsters. Nina gaped when she saw all the trees and looked up exclaiming, "wow! These are tall!" Ryu chuckled and shook his head, laughing, "What's the matter Nina? Never seen a tree before?" Nina looked at Ryu with annoyance and said, "No it's not that at all! You see most of the trees in Wyndia are only imported from other lands, and because we're such a major city of the westward part of the world, they don't grow to massive proportions like this!" Then she sighed and looked down, "and…dad never really took me anywhere anyways, so I didn't get out much…I had to watch the world from afar, in that stuffy castle!" Kray frowned, "Sorry to hear that Nina…" Nina smiled again and looked back up the sadness vanishing from her face, "that doesn't matter anymore though! What matters is we're here and one step closer to our goal!" Kray grinned and nodded, "right, that's all that matters for now, we'll deal with problems as they come one step at a time, right Ryu?" Ryu nodded then said, "hey there's a spring nearby, I'm going to refill our water before the trip through, we used a lot just in getting out of that God-forsaken desert!" Kray nodded, "ok, but don't be long, the longer we delay the more the chances that the Imperials will deploy after us some of their elite squads, I mean, we've taken out the equivalent of like two Squadrons already…" Ryu grinned and took the water from both Nina and Kray saying, "well, let them try, the more they throw at us the less Imperials there are in the world, which is a VERY good thing if you ask me." With that he left, Kray shaking his head and muttering to Nina, "Overconfident, seen it before, this could get very tricky very fast." Nina only nodded.  
  
Unbeknownst to the travelers, a hooded figure watched them from the trees and as Ryu made his way toward the spring, the figure quickly darted to another tree to get out of his line of sight. It watched quietly as Ryu filled the water holders, arms folded. Suddenly Ryu's head jerked up and the figure, startled, started to slip in its effort to get away. There was a snap as the figure fell. Ryu hearing the commotion immediately ran toward where the sound had come from. When he got there, he looked around, hand on his katana's hilt. Nobody was there. Frowning a bit, he looked around again, and then relaxed his grip. "Must've been a wild bird or something," he muttered, "seemed that way…" turning he went back to where the water containers lay, picked them up and went to rejoin his friends. As he left the figure remerged from the shadows of the tree on the branch that had been right atop where Ryu had stood. Noticing its hood had fallen of the figure pulled it back over its head again, concealing the black hair that had been revealed momentarily. Jumping down from the branch the figure started walking away from the tree, and then vanished in a flash of black light.  
  
Ryu returned with the water and Kray nodded saying, "Good, I guess this means we can head into the forest right?" Ryu nodded a bit, but said nothing. Kray cocked his head and asked, "What's the matter bro?" Ryu sighed and shook his head, "For a minute I felt like we were being followed, then the next moment, the feeling just…left." Kray smiled replying, "you're probably just a tad bit nervous or something, it happens, especially when you're on the run." Ryu shrugged, "well I guess it doesn't matter anymore, what matters right now is that we get into the forest, if we ARE being followed we'll have an easier time loosing our pursuers, if any." Kray nodded then yelled over to Nina who was off picking flowers, "hey Nina, c'mon we're going!" Nina looked up from the flowers, smiled and said, "alright, coming!" With that she enthusiastically scampered over to the two and grinned. "My first trek through the forest! This is going TO be fun!" Then she looked at Ryu and smiled, saying, "here, I got this for you!" With that she handed him a small, delicate daisy flower. Ryu looked at it thoughtfully, and then a small smile crept to his lips. Looking at Nina his smile broadened and he replied, "thank you Nina…" Nina smiled back saying, "you're welcome! Now c'mon!" Before Ryu knew what was happening she had grabbed him by the collar and was dragging him toward the forest entrance. Kray folded his arms, smiled with a chuckle and followed behind the two.  
  
The forest was quiet as they walked into it, and although the occasional bird chirped, not very many other sounds came forth. Ryu frowned a bit, and looked around uneasily. He hated the silence as it made him edgy. Kray gave him a supporting shove and said, "c'mon Ryu, we have got to do this, otherwise we'll never make it through!" Ryu grimaced a bit, but relaxed and nodded, "alright, its just it seem too quiet for my likes, you never know what could happen in this place, be on your guard…" Nina and Kray nodded and they started forth, Ryu leading, Nina in the middle and Kray guarding the rear, his Woren senses allowing him to detect if the party was threatened in the back. They walked on tirelessly, passing by great trees that seemed to go up endlessly into another world, dead tress, lying fallen, broken and twisted, and young saprolings, a new life waiting to begin among the dense forest. As the sounds of twittering and cawing, shuffling and grunting came to their ears; the three travelers began to relax as they allowed for the forest to become like a temporary home. Even Ryu, who seemed the most high-strung seemed to calm down.  
  
The group pressed onward, suddenly Nina's eyes went wide and she went, "Shhhhhhh!" Kray and Ryu looked at her quizzically as she stood there listening. Then she grinned saying, "you hear what I hear?" Kray's ears began twitching and he suddenly realized what she heard and nodded, "yes, I hear it too!" Ryu blinked at the two as if they had gone mad, then asked inquisitively, with a tad bit of annoyance in his voice, "what? what is it?" Nina walked up to him and held his mouth shut and looked him in the eyes. "Listen to the world around you…" she said quietly, "push away all your thoughts and fears, just for a moment, and listen…please…" Ryu nodded and just listened his other senses seemingly shutting down and going into a forced "hibernation." He heard birds chirp clearly, and then the more distant sound of trees rustling in the light breeze, and then after that even quieter there was a roar, a roar of a waterfall. Suddenly his mind seemed to travel up and away from his body and soar quickly through the trees to the site and he watched as the water cascaded down into the pond below, and as the pond below trickled off into a small river. He watched as birds fed in the water and as droplets sparkled off into a rainbow. He gasped; it was absolutely brilliant and stunning sight. Suddenly he heard a voice behind him, "beautiful isn't it?" Ryu blinked and turned. It was Nina. Cocking his head to the side he looked at her inquisitively, "how, how did you get here?" he stammered. Nina smiled, "we're in each others thoughts, projected images of our physical forms…" Ryu stammered, "B…But how?" Nina smiled, "This is happening because you opened your mind to the world around you Ryu, for once you are taking the entire world in, not just your own thoughts, desires and wants." Ryu turned to watch the waterfall some more, then said, "I guess, in my desire to obtain my revenge I have, closed my mind to others…shutting them off…yet it feels natural to me, like something I was meant to do…" Nina shook her head and looped her arm through Ryu's, looking him in the eye again. "Ryu, is that what you want? To be a husk of your true self, only showing bitterness and hatred to others when there is so much more of you?" Ryu's jaw twitched and he unlinked his arm and walked over to look at some ferns, then said, "I'm not sure what I want Nina…not anymore…" he paused then continued, "after what happened five years ago, I'm still hurting inside…I feel trapped and alone, its cold Nina…so cold…this existence of mine. I don't want you getting involved, please, don't get involved!" Calmly Nina walked up to him and drew him into a hug murmuring, "Its OK, Ryu, we're here for you, Kray and I. You see, we're already involved, we saw the way you killed that man back in Farhain, and we saw the look of pain and hurt within you as you hacked away at him, we only want to help, please, stop pushing us away…stop pushing ME away…" Suddenly Nina felt a cold droplet hit her shoulder, then another followed, and another. She looked up and saw he was crying. Hugging him tighter she replied, "don't worry Ryu, you can cry…here nobody can see you cry…" and he did, as he buried his head into her hair, Ryu, Dragon loner, cried.  
  
They made camp that evening in a small clearing in the center of the forest. Nina and Ryu had spoken little since what had happened on their mind-trip, and Kray who had been totally perplexed when she and Ryu had seemingly zoned out, decided it was best not to ask any questions on the matter. Now all three were around the fire eating quietly. Kray finally decided to break the silence and said, after finishing his meal. "After we exit the woods, we can make a stop at Arundel, it's a town mostly populated by Humans, so don't get annoyed if they look at us funny, I hear they've not had much contact with the outside world." Ryu nodded, and replied, "I, I guess that would be fine, and seeing as though they communicate little I don't think the Empire's really bothered with them…" Kray nodded, "My thoughts exactly, we can replenish our supplies there and get out with little trouble, though we must be prepared to fight IF they do maintain contact with Imperials, not all towns are as anti-Imperialistic as Farhain was." It was then that Nina stood and stretched her small frame saying, "I'm going to go get some sleep boys ok? Good night!" and with that she gave each of them a kiss on the head, ignoring the fact that Ryu frowned a bit and quickly went into the tent. Kray chuckled and Ryu looked at him inquisitively asking, "what? What is it?" Kray shook his head, "its nothing, honestly!" Ryu frowned then looked at his friend squarely in the eye, "you were always a rotten liar, tell me what is it? Or do I have to beat you to a pulp again?" Kray laughed and said, "Fine, fine you win! I was thinking about how much Nina reminded me of Kira, so cheerful, calm, collected, not to mention crazy over you…" Ryu's jaw twitched, then he heaved a sigh saying, "yeah well she's not Kira…" then he looked down and away, "Kray…I miss her so much…" Kray nodded and patted his friend on the back saying, "I understand how much Kira meant to you Ryu…hey, perhaps she DID survive the fire! Perhaps she's out there somewhere, looking for you, searching…" Ryu shook his head, "I looked, I called her name, I got no answer except the roar of those flames…" with that he turned to look at the fire. As he stared into the depths of the orange white flame his features changed to that of rage and grief and he suddenly snapped, "Kray she's DEAD OK?! D-E-A-D! I don't want to hear about her ever again! Just please! Leave me alone now!" With that he got up quickly and retreated to the tent where Nina was sleeping peacefully, got into his bag and lay there quietly, staring at the side of the tent. Kray sighed and shook his head murmuring, "Sorry Ryu, I didn't mean to offend you…" with that he got up, extinguished the fire and got comfortable on the log to watch over his friends.  
  
Later that night, Ryu awoke to some strange sounds. Looking over at Nina he noticed she was still sleeping peacefully, so he crawled out of his bag quietly as not to disturb her. As he walked outside, carefully avoiding a sleeping Kray, something came over him. The sound, it was singing! Shaking his head, he started trailing off toward the direction of the song, his thoughts starting to fog over and become cloudy. A few minutes later Nina woke up. She had been having trouble sleeping and had hoped that something in their packs would help her sleep better. When she looked over at Ryu's bag, however, it was empty. Frowning she went out of the tent. Kray was still asleep. Nina gently nudged Kray and he awoke with a start, his knives out in a flash, "Hunh? Wha? Who goes there!" He croaked. Nina replied quietly, "Its just me Kray, have you seen Ryu at all?" Kray blinked, a look of surprise on his face, "what, he's not sleeping in the tent?" Nina shook her head, "no, and what's weirder, he left his weapon! He never goes out without it!" Kray nodded and got up saying, "alrighty then looks like we better go search for him, and it's a bad idea for him to be out at night unarmed." Nina nodded a worried look on her face. Kray smiled, "don't worry we'll find him! C'mon!" With that the two dashed off to find their lost comrade.  
  
Meanwhile, Ryu drew closer to the singings source, his mind clouding over even more with each step he took. He felt weightless and free, as if all cares had been lifted from his shoulders. He reveled in the sensations his mind was being bombarded with and ignored the branches that whipped and stung at him as he walked. All that mattered was that voice and its user. Suddenly he was there, a in a beautiful water garden. Flowers adorned the small clearing and a small, clean, and enchanting stream flowed through it. As he walked into the small garden a voice addressed him. "Brave Ryu, come to me my love come to me and forget your journey. Cast aside your earthly fears and love me so tenderly like you always did…" Turning Ryu looked at the person who spoke, and as he looked he saw what he had wanted most. Kira. The young woman opened her arms and Ryu literally flung himself into them. Smiling Kira stroked his hair lovingly and whispered as the vines that made up the entrance closed, "You are mine, my young Brood, mine…forever…" with that the vines closed, and Ryu did not see the small, but evil smirk in the corner of her mouth.  
  
As these events transpired, Kray and Nina were hot on the trail of the young Brood. Kray had been using his Woren sense of smell and sight to help them. Nina was very worried and it showed on her face as she said, "I hope he's alright, I would never forgive myself if something happened to him…" Kray folded his arms and sighed, "relax, he'll be ok, the kids resourceful, if he gets into a jam, he'll probably be able to get out of it." Nina nodded, "I hope you're right." Kray started to look around again, then frowned, "something's up with these vines, they're growing in irregular patterns…" Nina looked over to where Kray was looking and looked harder. Kray was right they were too distorted looking. Looking at Kray she said, "Stay back, I'm going to blast it." Kray nodded and stepped away as Nina began muttering. The air suddenly seemed to heat up as Nina muttered, "Fire Blaze!" Instantly fire seemed to leap from her hands and collide with the vines. They burned instantly, vaporized by the intense heat. Immediately after the vines were burned away a archway appeared before them and Nina nodded, "right, I guess we go in then…" Kray nodded and followed after her as they entered the archway. Sure enough as they cleared some more foliage away from them and came into the clearing, there was Ryu, lying on a bed of flowers. Nina started toward him crying, "Ryu!" but then Kray grabbed her arm. Nina looked at him incredulously asking, "what? What's the matter?" Kray sniffed the air and looked at her again, "something's not right, we're not the only ones here…" Nina turned to look again. He was right. As Ryu began to stir, a woman materialized beside him. She was about five foot four, slender and had pale green skin, however she was human, that could be told by her form. Smiling rather wickedly at both Kray and Nina the woman hissed, "Welcome to my domain, I knew you two would be coming after your Dragon friend here…" Nina immediately lost her cool and yelled, "What have you done to him!" The green skinned woman hissed back, "Nothing much, just drained a good portion of his energy away, I was just about to finish him off when you annoying brats showed up, early…I DO hate punctual people, no matter, I guess that means even more food for me!" Immediately Kray's knives and Nina's staff were taken out, and Nina narrowed her eyes at the sorceress, "Not on my watch you won't!" Immediately she brought he staff forward in a sideways arc then raised it above her head yelling, "Lightning!" right away lightning split the sky and crashed down through the canopy. The sorceress was faster, however, and dodged out of the way. "Vine slash!" she hissed. Vines shot from every angle at Nina. Ducking and weaving Nina dodged most of them, but the last one got her. Nina screamed as a vine slashed her shoulder, leaving a deep, bleeding gash. Ignoring the pain in her shoulder Nina sneered, "you bitch!" then countered with a water spell. There was a rumbling and suddenly the stream seemed to turn into a raging tornado of water. In it came, crashing down on the sorceress. The sorceress shrieked as the water tossed her about. As the spell subsided the sorceress was spit out and slammed into some of the vines. Snarling she turned on Nina. "You're going to pay little birdie!" With a flick of her wrist shards of earth separated from the ground and shot at Nina. This time Nina was ready. Holding out her hands she muttered, "Barrier" A bubble formed around her and as the earth shards hit it they disintegrated, splintering off into harmless shards. As the spell dissipated and the barrier dropped Nina came roaring out, a look of extreme fury all over her face, "nobody calls me BIRDIE! Volcanic Fire!" as she raised her wand the ground began to rumble under the sorceress. The sorceress looked at Nina, wide eyed, screaming, "No!" As she fumbled at a protection scroll the ground began to crack even more. Suddenly without warning a huge jet of flame roared to life under the sorceress. The sorceress screamed in pain as the fire engulfed her and instantly vaporized her. Kray blinked and lowered his knives as he watched muttering, "damn, remind me to never make her angry…" After watching for a second or two Nina waved her hand and the fire died. Grinning triumphantly she said, "Well, that takes care of that…" Kray nodded and chuckled, "yes it does, but after we get back, be sure to wash up…" Nina blinked at him, then conjured a mirror and made a face. "Oh my god, you're right…" she moaned, "I'm a mess!" And she was. Her normally straight blonde hair was tussled all around her dirt-smudged face. Her dress was torn in numerous places and her other shoulder still bled freely. Sighing she winced, it only dawned to her now how much it hurt. Looking back at the flowerbed she spotted Ryu again and breathed a sigh of relief, he seemed unhurt. Walking over to him, she nudged him gently saying softly, "hey sleepyhead, time to wake up…" groaning, Ryu's eyes opened and upon seeing Nina croaked, "Kira? Where…are you? Kira…come…back…" With that his eyes closed again as he fell back into a rather deep sleep. Kray picked up his friend saying, "It's natural for this to happen when ones been drained of energy, c'mon lets get him back to camp and get that shoulder of yours fixed up." Nina nodded and as they left the clearing, the sun began to rise behind them. It would be the beginning of another long day soon… 


	7. Chapter Seven: Lakeside Love

Disclaimer: This chapter has some nudity in it, NO LEMON though, so relax, I don't write that stuff, and whether I do an aside later with the insinuation I make in this chapter is entirely up to me. (If I do, it won't be any time soon)  
  
  
  
When the trio got back to camp Nina went immediately into the tent and gathered together some wash items. After she had bundled them together she came back out, looked at Ryu and Kray and said, "I'm going to the lake to wash up…" Kray nodded a bit, then said as he looked her over, "your shoulder's still bleeding…" Nina looked at the cut and sighed, "so it is…doesn't hurt too much though." Kray chuckled and shook his head, "Wash it well, I'll tend to it when you get back, it shouldn't go undressed." Nina nodded, "alright, I won't be gone long…" it was then that Ryu spoke up, "Nina," he hesitated a bit, "I don't think you should go alone, things might happen and we wouldn't know…" Nina grinned and said, "why Ryu, is that a CONCERN of yours? Since when did you start caring about little old me?" Ryu flushed crimson, replying, "Well…uh…I…" Nina interrupted with a laugh then smiled, "alright, you can come along, just no peeking OK?" Ryu nodded dumbly and Kray laughed, "Looks like you've got your hands full Ryu, well good luck, I hope you come back WITHOUT a slap mark on your face." Then he nudged Ryu saying, "Go get her tiger!" to him under his breath. Ryu frowned about to retaliate with a remark of his own, but Kray had retreated into the tent still chuckling.  
  
The walk to the lake was a rather quiet one. Occasionally Nina would stop to admire some sort of flower or to listen to a bird sing, but other than the small comments she made about them she said relatively little. Ryu was also silent as he walked along; a brooding young man who seemed lost, and troubled, and as he continued to walk his thoughts went back to what had happened that evening. He had seen Kira again, felt her skin against his own and the caress of her lips. But yet, it HADN'T been her, and the feelings that seeing just her image brought back were again dominating his thoughts and mind. A strangling type of loneliness seemed to envelope him, and as much as he tried to get away from it, he could not. Kira had been everything to him, and when he had lost her, he seemed to loose a part of himself, a part that was most vital, the part that allowed himself to love. He winced as his mind played over her last message to him before he had gone back home so many years ago and it pained him each time it was repeated. She had told him that she loved him and would see him again; she never got the chance. The Imperials had burned and destroyed the village, and with it all traces of the one he had loved. She was dead, never to come back, and the Imperials were to blame. Suddenly a dark voice in his head seemed to say, "Yes that's right, blame the Imperials, it was all their damn fault!" it taunted at him, "You were too slow to save her, but you can redeem yourself, kill them, kill them all!" Ryu gripped at his head as rational kicked in. Why was he thinking like that? Now was not the time! For now he was safe with friends he could trust, they were his only anchors of reality now. "They'll die, just like everyone else you've known and you'll be alone again Ryu, ALONE" the other voice seemed to taunt back. Again the smaller voice of rational said, "They are dependable, trust them…they love you, they will not leave you alone…" the gruff voice countered, "HAW! Yeah right! LOVE?! Give me a break!" The quieter voice tried to counter, "but…" it was about to continue when Ryu suddenly screamed out loud, "shut up, shut up NOW! Go away!!!!" Suddenly the voices were gone and he snapped back into reality. He could hear the echo of his sentence bounce around the trees and fade into existence. Birds had stopped chirping, and suddenly it seemed as everything had stopped. Looking around, Ryu listened to the silence, then he looked over at Nina, she was looking at him, concern all over her pretty face. Suddenly something somewhere deep inside spoke up again to his mind as he stared at her, "she's gorgeous…why didn't you see it before?" Nina seemed to speak "Ryu?" he ignored her, and continued to stare at her, "Her eyes, hair, personality, beautiful…Ryu…you know I'm right…you should love her…" Ryu seemed to wince at the word then mumbled, "I can't…" again the distant voice answered as Nina asked again, "Ryu???" "She loves you, like you deep down inside, you've seen her advances, yet you reject them…why?" He shook his head, "I don't know…" he mumbled again. Suddenly Nina was shaking him. The voice started to trail off, "think about it Ryu…you two seem…destined…for each other." And then as mysteriously as it had come, it was gone.  
  
Ryu came round fully to Nina shaking him, her features even more concerned than before he had screamed out. Nervously she looked at him then said, "you seemed to be talking to yourself, are you Ok Ryu? Did that witch do anything to you while you were with her!?" Ryu shook his head, partly to clear up the fog and partly to get his bearings staright again. "No, everything's Ok, Nina…in fact I should be asking if your Ok…" with that he pointed to her shoulder wound. It had begun to bleed again. Sighing she looked at it then said, "alright, I'll take your word for it…come on let's get to the lake, I need to bathe badly…" Ryu breathed a sigh of relief at effectively changing the subject of discussion then followed his friend down the last of the oath and into the clearing that led to the lake.  
  
The sun shone brightly overhead and beat down on the lake. It was a clear day and the reflection off the water made it sparkle magnificently. When Nina saw this she went wide eyed and squealed, "Oh its all too perfect!" The clearing itself was a sight to behold. Flowers bloomed everywhere and the trees, being able to feed off the water that seeped from the lake looked extremely healthy, their tall branches reaching high into the sky. Even Ryu, who usually didn't take much time to appreciate the scenery, was in awe. He had never seen anything so beautiful. It was like a dream come true. Nina quickly ran down to the waters edge as Ryu trailed behind her quietly. Taking off her traveling boots she waded in to her ankles the creamy white of her skin almost glistening as little droplets of water splashed about her and clung to her legs. She sighed a heavenly sigh and said as she waded back out, "Nice and cool, just the way I like it…" Ryu nodded, "Water out here is usually much nicer than in the populated areas…" Nina nodded, "I'll say, Wyndian water always seemed a bit…flat to me." Ryu raised an eyebrow, "oh?" Nina nodded, "yup, not as clean or refreshing, then she smirked and put her hands on her hips and stretched her wings, "now if you don't mind, please turn around while I get undressed." Ryu blinked then blushed furiously, "uh…shouldn't you go behind a tree or something I mean this is out in the open and…uh…" Nina shook her head, "honestly Ryu we're out in the middle of nowhere, now turn around and look the other way! I won't be long!" Hesitantly, he obeyed, his face still beet red. He could clearly distinguish the sound of the unzipping of her clothing, and this made him go even redder. Suddenly with a fwump! Nina's clothes hit him on the back of the head and stayed there. He blushed even more as the sound of a splash followed. Trying not to show his burning red features, he turned his head sideways a bit then asked nervously, "um…uh…can I turn around now?" As he did so he could hear Nina laugh, "Ok Ryu, go ahead, I'm under the water now." He turned, and sure enough, there was Nina bobbing in the water not far from the shore, her wings tucked neatly behind her. Smiling at him she said, "There that wasn't so bad now was it?" Ryu was silent, and all he could do was blush.  
  
Nina seemed to be enjoying herself out in the lake and as Ryu watched her bathe, something again started to tickle his mind. It was the voice again, "hello? You there?" it said quietly. He nodded, "yeah, I'm here…" It giggled, "Ok, just making sure I hadn't lost you…" Ryu shook his head, "no, I was just woken up last time…" The voice seemed to radiate warmth and ryu seemed to tell it was smiling. It then spoke again, "you know, you can't run forever…eventually you're going to cave…" "Look," he replied quietly, "so I run…big deal, its what everyone does when the situation of love presents itself…natural defense, nothing more…" The voice seemed to sigh then said, "you're such a hard head you know that?" Ryu smirked, "and proud of it…" The voice tutted, "you know, its people like you that eventually get swallowed by their own grief…consumed by the very thing that keeps themselves isolated and alone…" Ryu shook his head again, "its better that way, nobody gets hurt…they're protected that way." The voice laughed bitterly, "and what of Nina? Would you hurt her just to protect her?" Ryu balked, "I never said…" the voice cut him off, "ah but you did, you don't realize that Nina fears you wasting away, she wants to protect you to LOVE you…yet you run…you're not protecting her, you're just causing further injury…" Ryu's jaw twitched, but he said nothing, the voice continued, "look at her…she's sweet, beautiful, bold…everything that Kira was…" Ryu looked out over the water, Nina was there, happily splashing around, and having a genuine good time. Yet, as he sat at the bank watching, he started to notice a sort of gracefulness that she had, even while bathing. Her body seemed to glide along, propelled by an unseen force that seemed to make her seem that much more magical, and to Ryu, even more beautiful. Had he been overlooking such things? Why was he so cold? His jaw twitched again, and the voice spoke again, "think it over Ryu, you'll find what you're missing…soon…real soon…" and with that it was gone again. Ryu only sat there quietly, watching Nina, and then suddenly something in his eyes changed. Instead of Nina there in the water, Kira was there, but something was different, this time she looked like Nina, and not like her old self, and above that it was stepping out of the water, coming toward him. "Ryu…" the image said quietly, "You'll never forget me, not really because I'm inside you, always…you have a heart, just like me, Kray, or…Nina. It continued, "If you forget about it, you're forgetting about the most important part of yourself…you will be truly alone, and your memories of me will fade into empty dreams, with no answers, please Ryu learn to love again…for love so deep only comes once in a blue moon, and if you deny it, you will loose your heart…you will be an empty shell, doomed to waste away, never to love again…" Then the image of Kira seemed to dissolve and there was Nina, staring him in the eyes, her blue into his green. "Ryu?" she asked quietly. He looked at her. She was still undressed and quite naked, but he did not cringe or look away, only just stared into her eyes, his green into her blues. He opened his mouth and spoke, "am…am I hurting you Nina?" Nina looked at him quietly and whispered, "Not in the physical sense Ryu, yet…" Ryu did not break his gaze, "yet what?" he asked, "yet," she continued, "yet…I am dying inside, you seem so cold…so distant…why can't you see that…that, I…I…" she was stammering with the words, but Ryu finished it for her, "That I love you…"  
  
Nina's heart was pounding in her chest as she heard the words. Had he said what she had thought he said? A hand fluttered to her bare chest, as if she was futilely trying to stop the rapid beats of her heart. She had ached and longed for some time for him to say those three words, and now, here he was, saying them. She tried to reply, but the words were caught in her throat. Suddenly, she found herself leaning forward, and then his warm lips met hers. Emotions came crashing in over the dam he had been building within her, and it crumbled, and as they kissed, she put her whole mind, body and soul into it. The kiss started to gain intensity, and Nina's mind was racing. This was really happening! What she had longed and ached for, for so long was finally happening, he loved her and she loved him. She had done the unthinkable; she had broken through Ryu's emotional barriers and buried herself into his heart. As their lips parted and she rested her head onto his chest she said quietly, "Ryu, would…would you like to swim with me?" A finger under her chin lifted her head and eyes to meet his and as she stared into the green pools she already knew his answer. Another fierce kiss touched her lips, and as he dropped his katana from his back, she pulled him into the water.  
  
The sun burned brightly overhead, bearing a silent witness as it shone upon the lake…  
  
  
  
  
  
Note: Whew Ok sorry this chapter's so short but I decided I needed to get it off my chest, been stewing over it for a while now on how I was going to handle it. Sorry for the inappropriate insinuation, but hey, I thought the time was ripe ^_^ Don't worry the next chapter won't be steamy LEMON; I leave the imagination to all you etcchi people out there! Oh and Ryu/Nina lovers, please don't hate me! 


	8. Chapter Eight: The Day After

The sun was again high in the sky the next morning when Ryu's eyes fluttered open groggily. Immediately his mind went to the events of yesterday afternoon. Had he actually DONE what his body was telling him he did? He shook his head. No it wasn't possible, after all things just didn't seem to fall into place, it was, after all, just too good to be true. He yawned and moved to stretch, because for some reason he ached all over, even in places he didn't know could ache. As he moved he suddenly felt something against him. Something warm, soft, and very close. Something was also tickling his neck, lightly, but sensuously. His head turned, and his eyes went wide.  
  
He and Nina were lying close together. She was still asleep, snuggled up close her breathing warm and tickling his neck. She also had a very big smile on her face. The thing that made Ryu panic, however, was she was still naked, and when he looked, so was he! His mind raced to the events of the following day. Had they? His memories confirmed everything. They had! He groaned audibly as he flopped onto his back, cursing himself. It was then as if on cue, Nina began to stir. Slowly her eyes opened, and she moved the upper part of her body over him and come to rest on his chest, her breasts lying lightly on his bare chest. The feeling made Ryu's mind race.  
  
"Hi Ryu." she said dreamily.  
  
Ryu's hand came up to stroke her hair a bit, and he replied before his mind could stop him, "Hi angel.did.did we do what I think we did?"  
  
Nina blushed heavily, her eyes gazing into his and she nodded. "I.I believe we did." she said quietly.  
  
Ryu sighed a bit and flopped his head back down on the soft sand. So they had. He had finally given in and made love to Nina, sealing their relationship. He had been fighting for so long, only now to find his barriers destroyed and his heart unfrozen. He was again free to love.  
  
As Ryu looked at Nina, there on his chest, he could see she was beaming and she radiated a sort of energy that she hadn't had before. He knew she was basking in the afterglow of their actions, and as he stared at her some more, he realized she looked even more beautiful than before.  
  
He smiled a bit and said a bit hesitantly and quietly, "Last night was.magic."  
  
Nina smiled back and brought herself forward, her chest rubbing up against his a bit, causing Ryu to shiver and smile, then said, "I know Ryu, you have no idea how happy I feel."  
  
Ryu smiled again and said, "I think I have some ideas."  
  
Nina grinned a bit mischievously and said, "oh really?" Ryu nodded, "of course!" "Then show me." she said seductively.  
  
Ryu chuckled and replied, "don't you mean tell you?"  
  
Nina shook her head and brought all of her body over Ryu, her eyes glinting again with that mischievous, not to mention sexy glint, "no, I mean SHOW me."  
  
Ryu groaned as her leg rubbed slightly against his thigh. He got the message and slowly brought his lips to hers, and they were again locked in a passionate kiss.  
  
They made love again, for a second time during those early afternoon hours on the beach, and time again seemed to slip by them until the sun was again sinking into the distance. Ryu yawned and sat up, still groggy from earlier. Suddenly the time dawned on him.  
  
Shaking Nina hastily he said, "Nina c'mon we better get back to camp, Kray's going to be wondering where we are!"  
  
Nina murmured sleepily, still wrapped in the towel, "mm.so soon?"  
  
Ryu nodded hurriedly, "yeah, c'mon lets get back to camp."  
  
They both got dressed behind their own respective boulders at the side of the lake, and despite Nina's many attempts to peek at Ryu as he was changing, all failed as he slipped behind the rock before she got any good looks in.  
  
"Nuts!" she muttered.  
  
It took them no more than half an hour to return to camp. As they broke into the clearing Kray looked up at them from the fish he was cooking.  
  
"So, where you two been? It's been nearly a day and a half already." he said with a chuckle and a wink.  
  
A sweat drop trickled down the back of Ryu's head and he laughed nervously and blushed a bit, "Um we.err just were, um talking.yeah for awhile. and time kind of slipped away from us, so we had to spend the night at the lake."  
  
Kray smiled and nodded, "mmhmm, suuuuuuure you two were."  
  
He grinned a knowing grin and gave Ryu a wink.  
  
Nina saw it and flushed an even deeper shade of red whispering to Ryu, "you think he knows?"  
  
Ryu winced, "I'm afraid to ask, look you go get some rest before dinner ok? You look tired."  
  
Nina nodded a bit, then smiled a devilish grin and elbowed Ryu in the ribs, "your fault mister."  
  
Ryu grinned back, "I know, but its one thing I gladly accept the blame for."  
  
Nina laughed a bit then retreated to her tent while Ryu went and took his seat next to Kray at the fires edge.  
  
Kray was the first to speak, "so did you and Nina, you know."  
  
"Know what?" asked Ryu smiled a bit as he stared into the fire.  
  
Kray cleared his throat, "did you and Nina um.go bump in the night?"  
  
Ryu smirked at his friend's lousy attempts at metaphors then said chuckling, "please Kray we're all adults here, out with it man!"  
  
It was Kray's turn to blush as he stammered the question out as fast as he could, "f.fine! DidyouandNina," there was a slight pause as Kray tried to hide how red his fur was turning around his face, "sleepwitheachother?"  
  
Ryu's laugh shook the clearing.  
  
After Ryu had finally stopped laughing, Kray raised an eyebrow and said, "I take it by your reply, that it's a yes, no?"  
  
Ryu chuckled a bit and nodded, suddenly blushing seemingly from head to toe. It was Kray's turn to laugh as he slugged Ryu on the shoulder.  
  
"Ryu, I'm surprised, after all that, you've finally found a soft spot within."  
  
Ryu was still blushing as he replied, "yeah well, those eyes have a way of getting to you."  
  
Kray grinned some more, "she does have a way of growing on you doesn't she?"  
  
Ryu nodded, "yeah.she's like, almost everything Kira was, I just can't believe my grief clouded over my judgment until now, and perhaps what happened was just that, guilt covered over grief, I'm not so sure anymore."  
  
Kray smiled and patted his friend over the back, "don't worry, you'll figure it all out eventually, just give love its time, you'll see its one of the most wonderful feelings ever."  
  
Then Kray sniffed the air.  
  
"Well, smells like the salmons done, you might want to wake Nina from her cat-nap, just no naughty stuff before dinner." Kray grinned and winked.  
  
Ryu blushed again and gave Kray a playful swat, "HEY, we're not that bad you know! We can control our hormones!"  
  
Kray laughed, "You'll see, Ryu, you'll see."  
  
With that he turned and went back to tending the fish, chuckling as he did so, as a blushing Ryu went to go wake Nina up.  
  
Dinner went by pretty quick. Silence was not an issue as while they ate they talked and laughed about things from their childhood. Despite many of their repressed emotions lay in that area, they tactfully skipped over anything that would be hurtful. Especially any mention of Kira and her history with Ryu, as both Kray and Nina knew that part of Ryu's heart still ached. Finally the meal was done. Ryu stretched out and shut his eyes and dozed off.  
  
Nina smiled as she watched him nap, "he's so angelic when he sleeps." she sighed dreamily.  
  
Kray chuckled, "Well you'd know first hand now wouldn't you?"  
  
Nina flushed crimson, her wings drooping a bit.  
  
"Did you.ask him.about what WE did?"  
  
Kray laughed.  
  
"Sure did!" he replied with a grin, "he sang like a bird after I confronted him with the truth!"  
  
Nina was still crimson as she asked, "how.how did you KNOW? It was like when we got back, you already KNEW, how is that possible?!"  
  
Kray smiled and replied, "There's something you should know about Worens Nina, not only do we have a keen sense of hearing and sight, we also have well developed noses and can smell certain things very easily."  
  
Nina blinked, looking a bit dumb, "What? How's that mean you.wait, you mean?" She pointed to Kray's nose, "That smelled us?"  
  
Kray grinned, "yup! Actually I smelled the scent of you two on each other so I knew immediately when you two came forward you had been with each other in a closer.capacity."  
  
Nina tried not to act like the blushing schoolgirl, but failed miserably and blushed an even deeper shade of crimson.  
  
"Honestly Kray?" she asked.  
  
Kray nodded, "yup! Clear as I can smell new rain on a spring day!"  
  
Nina blinked, then murmured, "amazing, such wonderful creatures out there exist, and I never knew."  
  
Kray puffed up with pride a bit, "of course! We Worens cherish many things, so we learn to be more in tune with them, so we can understand them better. The world is a big place, we wish only to learn more about it, in fact I've read in Worent there exists a big meditation chamber so Worens can close their external senses down and learn to sense life from within."  
  
Nina nodded and replied with awe, "amazing.have you ever been there to see it by yourself?"  
  
Kray shook his head sadly, "alas no, my.parents died.when I was very young, I spent my years as a cub growing up under the foster care of Humans, alongside Ryu and." he hesitated and choked a bit, trying not to say the name, "and.him.he saved my life.when the Imperials attacked, at the cost of his own.god damn it, why the hell did he have to do such a selfless act, god damn him WHY!"  
  
At that Kray collapsed, nearly sobbing.  
  
Nina startled, knelt, and said softly "Kray.its alright, he let you live at the cost of his own life, he wanted this. He probably knew you stood a better chance outside of the village than he did, he knew you have the power the avenge him and everyone that died."  
  
Kray pulled in a ragged breath, "I know.damn the fucker, why." then he stood, his eyes narrowing, the tear streaked fur looking like war paint. "They'll pay.they will all pay." he growled as he unsheathed the knives at his side. "I will spill their blood when I get the chance.then they'll know what fear is."  
  
As Kray finished this sentence Ryu woke up.  
  
Ryu yawned and looked at Kray and immediately he was up, next to Nina, with his enraged friend.  
  
"Kray, calm down man," he said softly, "as you said earlier, we'll get through this.all of us, together."  
  
Kray flinched a bit as his friend's hand touched his shoulder.  
  
Ryu continued talking calmly despite the subject manner, "We won't do anything good if we're dead Kray, c'mon.lets get you to your tent.you need rest, you've probably been up way too late for the past night or so."  
  
Kray nodded and looked at Ryu, his face finally showing his weariness.  
  
"You're right Ryu," he said, "I just need.rest.that's all."  
  
And with that he retired to his tent, brushing past Ryu and dropping his knives. Ryu wrapped a protective arm around Nina. She was shivering.  
  
"I've never seen him loose it like that," she said quietly as she curled he slender arms around his midsection, hugging him tightly to her. I mean he's always been so calm and collected.it was really scary Ryu."  
  
Ryu sighed, "Faren, Faren's family, and I were the only family he ever knew. He lost Faren and his parents, and he almost lost me, he's scared Nina.very scared. I recognized that look on his face the minute I saw it. His eyes, they were contorted, warped, their usual keenness was gone, instead there was only a dull, glazed over, blank stare."  
  
Nina shivered again, changing the subject, "Ryu, lets go to bed, its getting cold."  
  
Ryu nodded, "Ok." And with that he kissed her softly on the lips as they retired for the night, back into the tent they both shared. 


	9. Chapter Nine: Forest Ambush

The group of travelers broke camp the next morning after they ate breakfast consisting of fish, spring water and some eggs from a bird's nest they had found right outside of camp. Kray again took the lead, making sure to put Nina in the middle so that Ryu, who followed behind, could look after her and act as a watchdog for their rear. They had all agreed before they had departed that it would be best for Kray to lead because of his acute senses. He seemed to have gathered his thoughts and looked better than he had the night before.  
  
"So how long do you think it'll take for us to get out of here and back on the road to Capitol, Kray?" Nina asked as they trudged onwards.  
  
"Well, if we stay on what we mapped out, I'd say at least a days time, we should get out of here right as night falls, which is a rather good think, don't want monsters to interfere."  
  
"Let them interfere," Ryu replied with a grin, "we can take them right Kray?" he asked in a confident and somewhat cocky voice.  
  
"True." Kray replied with a nod, "but we need to preserve our strength as much as possible, after we get out of this forest, villages will most likely be a lot less friendly, not to mention the Wyndian guard will be combing the countryside looking for us."  
  
"Sorry about daddy's behavior again." murmured Nina  
  
"Don't blame yourself." Said Kray turning and folding his arms to look at Nina seriously, "you didn't know he would act the way he did." He then turned and continued walking onwards.  
  
Nina didn't answer and closed her eyes and looked down, before opening them again, looking up and walking onward. In the meantime, Ryu remained silent, but looking up at the trees as if something as bugging him.  
  
Diligently the trudged onwards, pushing through the brush and walking onward despite their weariness. Minutes seemed to stretch for them, as time seemed to slow down to a crawl. All the time however, Ryu seemed to continue to glance upwards at intervals.  
  
By halfway through their trip as the sun sat in the sky directly above them indicating noontime, all three were sweating rather profusely. Nina was making faces and even Kray seemed uncomfortable. Ryu, however, was un- phased. Kray sighed and put his backpack down and called a break. Ryu took the time to look up at the trees again and then walk over to him.  
  
"Did you hear that?" he whispered to Kray.  
  
Kray nodded and kept his eyes locked on Ryu's, "yes, I've been hearing things this entire trip through the forest, movement in the trees I believe."  
  
"Monsters?" asked Ryu quietly.  
  
"No." Kray replied shaking his head, "they sound distinctly humanoid, hard to tell though, they're very soft."  
  
Nina plodded up to them and wiped some sweat from her brow, then looked at them.  
  
Wanting in on their hushed conversation she asked curiosity in her voice, "hey, Ryu, whatcha talking about?"  
  
Ryu looked at her then put a finger to his lips murmuring, "hush Nina, just back away slowly and go sit down on that rock over there, Kray and I will be done talking in a minute."  
  
Nina nodded and backed away, going to go sit on the rock Ryu had pointed to.  
  
Kray's hands slowly went and unsheathed his knives from their sheaths at his side, while Ryu's hand trailed up to his katana and slowly slid it out of its scabbard. Both made eye contact with each other and nodded before turning around and facing back to back with each other.  
  
Nina, still sitting on the rock, blinked and whispered, "Kray? Ryu?" her face showed a mixture of concern and curiosity.  
  
Ryu just put a finger to his lips again as his eyes darted around the canopy, as if he was searching for something, or someone. Nina could see that Kray was doing the same thing, his ears alert and twitching, as if searching for the sounds the invisible people's footsteps.  
  
Suddenly from above there came a yell of "Aiyiyiyiyi!" Kray, Ryu and Nina immediately looked up to see two scantily clad women drop from the canopy above. Unfortunately for both male warriors, it happened so fast they were unable to react before THUD. The two women landed on top of them, their knives at their throats.  
  
Nina took a few steps back, and began motioning to cast a spell when suddenly Kray yelled, "Nina loom out behind you!" Nina turned, her concentration breaking, just in time to see the edge of a staff come flying at her. She let out a shriek as the staff hit her, knocking her to the forest floor, unconscious.  
  
"Nina!" Ryu called out urgently, "damn it, no!" He growled and snarled at the woman on top of him, "let go of me or so help me I'll make you pay!" his eyes started to turn to Dragon slits as his anger boiled up into almost an unquenchable rage. Suddenly he heard Kray say, "Ryu, no, don't!" Ryu snarled a bit but then closed his eyes and breathed heavily, freeing his heart from the rage that was building up. Like a fire quenched by water, it slowly dissipated, and he calmed down.  
  
Reopening his eyes he glared at the women, muttering, "what do you want with us?"  
  
The woman who had knocked Nina out turned and Ryu got a good look at her. Her skin and body was tanned heavily from exposure to the sun, and was covered in a type of cloth he had never seen before. He also noted that, unlike Nina she was rather muscular, her body finely sculpted by body training and workouts. He looked upward to look over her face. Like her body, it was a perfectly sculpted face, not too rigid, or lumpy, but soft and well defined. Her eyes he could see were brown, as well as her long hair, which had been tied back. He couldn't help but find himself staring.  
  
The woman held onto her staff as she crossed over to where Ryu lay pinned to the ground. Narrowing her eyes, she kneeled and examined Ryu for a second then said harshly, "What are you three doing wandering through our territory, you definitely must be either very powerful, or stupid to do this."  
  
"We were just trying to get out of this forest, we didn't know this was part of your place." He growled back, "we meant no harm to you or your people."  
  
"Hunh! I've heard that before." She scowled, "for all I know you two and that women are Imperial scouts trying to take more of this forest from us!" With that she stood and motioned to the other two women. They bent down and relieved Ryu and Kray of their weapons. "Trespassers will be dealt with according to Amazonia law." With that she crossed over, bent down, and lifted the unconscious Nina over her shoulder. "Now we return to the village and shall get you judged." She then turned her backs to Kray and Nina and began walking. Ryu and Kray were then roughly yanked to their feet and had their hands bound tightly behind them. With that they were jabbed by the back of a spear and told to start walking.  
  
"Captured again are we?" Kray sighed as they walked.  
  
"Yup." Ryu replied, nodding. He furrowed his brow and watched the leader walking in front of them, as if to check to see if Nina was ok.  
  
"She'll be ok Ryu, don't worry." Kray said, watching his friend as the concern he knew was on his face. "If anything she'll just wake up with a nasty bump on her head and a headache."  
  
"If only I was a little faster, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess." Ryu replied, closing his eyes.  
  
"Ryu they caught us by surprise. I mean, I've heard of these women.they're supposedly just myth but.obviously they're not. They say they can move through the forest with amazing speed, and their ability to ensnare others with ambushes it what makes them so deadly." Kray said quietly.  
  
"So why didn't you realize that until just now?!" Ryu snapped.  
  
"Erm, I forgot, Sorry Ryu, those stories were from rather long ago." Kray laughed apologetically.  
  
"Oh brother." Ryu mumbled.  
  
It wasn't long before they came to a rather large, old tree. It seemed to them to stretch very high for they were unable to see anything above the cloud cover that surrounded it. The leader of the group that had ambushed them walked swiftly over to it then took her staff and tapped it against the tree three times, a resounding thud following each strike. For a minute, all was silent save for the sounds of the forest around them. Krays ears suddenly began twitching and he whispered, "yah hear that Ryu?" Ryu strained to listen but he couldn't hear anything at first, then suddenly he heard it. It was a squeaking sound, coming from above them. It was soft at first but then it became slightly louder. Looking up he then saw what was making the sound. It was a rather large trolley made of vines and logs. The squeaking was the sound of the small mechanism that propelled it along its line. Ryu blinked, he couldn't help but wonder how they had come across such a piece of technology here in the midst of the forest, even if it was a device as small as the winch.  
  
As it came to a stop in front of them their guards quickly herded them into it. The guards then followed in and kept their eyes watchfully on them, their spear tips at their throats as the leader walked in. The leader then kneeled and propped Nina against the side of the gondola, then struck the tree another three times. With that the gondola began to rise again, heading for the cloud cover and whatever lay beyond it. 


	10. Chapter Ten: Imprisonment

The trip on the gondola was suprisingly fast as Ryu and Kray ascended above the cloud cover. What they saw as they broke through the fluffy clouds took their breath away. Among the highest reaches of the trees, houses stood, built onto the thick, sturdy tree limbs. The houses were connected by a series of catwalks, which were also made of wood. They were designed so that they crossed and then criss-crossed in every which way. Ryu and Kray said nothing, only looked around in awe, ignoring the fact that two rather burly, yet skimpily clad women had spears pointed at them.

When the gondola finally reached its platform, the woman who the others had adressed as their leader, picked up Nina over her shoulder and then said ina gruff voice, "alright, you two, move it." Kray and Ryu were roughly shoved from the Gondola, and lead from the platform. Ryu tried to protest as he watched himself and Kray being led away form the woman who was walking off with Nina, but a small cough from Kray who shook his head, told him to relax. Ryu listened and let himself and the Woren be led to a rather large looking tree in what appeared to be the center of the village. Out of the corner of his eye he could see one of their guards walk over to the tree, then pull a hidden switch. There was a creaking nose, followed by a rather prominent **THUD.** When he looked at the Tree again he realized that a door had opened up.

Something was brought to his attention as he looked around to see if he could figure out what had happened. Of everyone staring at them, none seemed to be men, in fact as they had been brought up he had observed only more women dressed in various type of skins and garments, but nothing like dresses.

From behind him a command of "Go." snapped him back to his current situation as the guard behind him began shoving him toward the steps roughly.

"Alright, alright already." Ryu murmured, walking toward then down the steps, "Don't need to be so pushy about it..." The guard behind him didn;t reply, only kept walking as they descended downward. After about three or four minutes, Ryu couldn't tell he hadn't been keeping track of time, he and Kray were led into a damp room. Looking around it was obvious it was a series of jail cells around the room. There was very little light, and the torches that flickered around the room seem to be the only source of light.

"Cozy little place." Kray laughed and grinned at the women, trying to downplay the gloomy atmosphere as he was led to a cell. Ryu smirked as he was led over to another cell across from him. it was small, he could tell, but it seemed cozy enough. "At least they have a bed." he joked back to Kray as he was pushed into his cell, the door closing and locking behind him. Looking around, Ryu surveyed the cell. The bed he had thought so fondly of was nothing more then a pile of leaves, the wood of the tree being the matress. Turning he gripped and shook the bars. They were made of wood, but when he tested them they seemed to have the strength of steel. "Magic?" he muttered under his breath as he removed his hands. He could feel the tingly sensation that most magically tempered or enhanced material gave off. He then turned and looked at the bottom of the stairs where they had come down. There was no guard, and the women who had led them down here were now gone.

Kray laughed, as he lay down on his bed of leaves, "They probably think these cells will be sufficient to hold us." he had that confident and cocky smirk on his face that said "I could bust out of here with out even breaking a sweat."

He couldn't help but smirk back and laugh at his friend, "You're right...after all they have no idea who they're messing with do they?" he then frowned and then plopped down onto his own pile of leaves, "but even if we did, we'd still have to find Nina..." His smirk died from his face and it was replaced with a worried look of concern, and a tad bit of anguish.

Kray knew what his friend was thinking and immediately changed the subject, "Hey, did you notice how there only seems to be women in this town?" he folded his arms and looked at Ryu intently.

Ryu nodded, "yeah, nefore we were led down here." he replied quietly, "you said these "Amazon" type women were a myth, but, they seem real to me." he couldn't help but laugh a bit, "after all we've got the bumps to prove it." he rubbed his back where he had landed after being knocked to the ground. Kray chuckled and Ryu grinned a bit, then they fell silent for a few minutes. Ryu broke the silence again, "so whats our move, they have Nina, our weapons and provisions..."

Kray looked at Ryu then propped his head on his arm, "all we can do for now is wait, they kept us alive, so that obiously has to mean something. They probably will want to interrogate us, thining we're Imperials is probably the only reason why they _DIDN'T_ kill us." His tail twitched, and Ryu could be heard making a grunt, a way of voicing his displeasure Kray knew all to well. "I know I know," the Woren replied, "but its kept us alive, and its better then you turning into a dragon and massacering the whole lot, don't you agree?" Ryu said nothing, only spread out and laid down on the leaves sprwad out, letting a small sigh escape from his lips. "I'm glad you agree." Kray chuckled and laughed, "don't worry we'll get out of this mess, you'll see."

"Now you're starting to sound like Nina." came Ryu's reply in a half hearted chuckle. Kray laughed then turned over and nestled itno his bed of leaves, soon falling fast asleep. Ryu watched his friend from his own cell then closed his eyes murmuring, "Don't worry Nina...we'll rescue you soon..." Witht hat he closed his eyes and was soon fast asleep.

  
Nina awoke after what seemed like hours of uncoconciousness groggily, her head pounding, her vision bleery and swimming. Holding her head she murmured as her eyes struggled to focus on somethign and make her surroundings a bit more coherent, "where...where am I?"

Suddenly a voice in the room; was it a room? she couldn't quite tell, spoke, "relax, you had a nasty bump on the head, get some rest..." She felt hands push her back down onto something warm and soft and she let out a sigh, closing her eyes again, letting conciousness fade from her again. She dreamed as she slept. She dreamed of a giant Dragon, squaring off another, ones scales a brilliant white, the others the darkest black. They fought ferociously, causing many wounds on each other, until exhausted they both collapsed. She tried running toward them only to have the sky grow black around her and close in on her, as the black dragoin rose fromt eh ground, gripping her in a death grip. She let out a piercing scream, but novbody heard her and she slowly began to suffocate, the darkness overwhelming her.

Nina shot out of bed sweating profusely, and panting. The dream had felt so real. She felt her forehead gently and then looked at her hand, it was damp with sweat. She then took a moment to take in her surroundings. It was a rather arge room, lit by soft torch light. Looking at the bed she was in she could see it was covers made of various animal skins, and a matress and pillows of what felt like some type of feather down. Her eyes wandered across the room some more. It was quaint, allowing enough for what looked like a mirror made of homespun glass, which she found breathtaking beautiful, and furniture of wood, covered in animal skins for comfort. She found herself smiling a bit, as the room gave her a sense of belonging and homeliness.

Suddenly a voice spoke that made her jump, "I'm glad you like my room." Nina followed the sound of the voice over to the door, where a yopung woman stood. Nina could tell it was the same woman that had knocked her with her staff earlier. She stood, tall by Ninas standard, about almost five foot nine or so. She was well toned and muscled, but she still showed signs of femininity about her, and didn;t go too over board on the fact that she obviously worked out a lot. Her hair was a raven black, long and beautiful, and aroud it was some sort of ring, inset with what looked like jems. Nina could have sworn it was a crown. Her eyes were grey as tempred steel, yet soft and warm. However there was one thing that caught Nina unawares, she looked almost her age, if not younger. Nina tried to hide her astonishment as she walked into the room and sat down next to Nina on the bed, "how are you feeling?" she asked, looking Nina over carefully.

"F...Fine...I...I guess..." Nina stammered a bit nervously. She was not used to being looked over or studied, as most of her subjects back in the castle usually averted their gaze or had their heads bowed when they adressed her father.

The woman smiled heartily and stood, "good, I am glad to see that you are feeling better!" she then chuckled, "I am sorry I had to hit you so hard back their, but I had to make it look like we were going to take you captive as well, less those Imperials try and kill you." she walked over to her dresser drawer then pulled out a comb, walked over and sat behind Nina as she began to brush her hair a bit roughly, yet suprisingly gentle for such a warrior woman like herself.

"I..Imperials?" Nina stammered as she blinked, then it dawned on her, she was talking about Ryu and Kray! "But they're not Imperials! Please whoever you are, release them immediately! Its a mistake!" she turned, her eyes pleading and desperate.

The woman stopped her brushing and looked at her, and After a moment of silence she finally spoke, "Surely you jest!" she said, a serious look on her face, "the only people who come through this forest now-a-days ARE those Imperial scum! They kidnap my women then either sell them into slavery or...worse..." her beautiful face darkening. "Any good traveller knows to take the route through Imperial territory and AVOID this forest."

"W...worse?" stammered Nina a bit frightened by her hosts quick and sudden change in demeanor, "and your women...are you their queen?"

"Yes, much worse, and yes I am their queen." she replied proudly, standing to her full height and looking at Nina carefully, "my name is Andraia, Queen of the Azonias!" she looked at Nina proudly, "I was the first adopted of my mother, Thesia, who took me in when i was but a baby after Imperials murdered my parents as they fled through this forest...I was raised among these women, and taught their ways, now, seventeen years later, I now wear the mantle that was my mothers," she took off the crown and looked at it, "after she died trying to save some of my other sisters from Imperial raiders." she closed her eyes and shook her head, "The Imperials took so much from me...and I will punish them, each and every last one, without mercy!" her grey eyes flashed with anger, making Nina jump a little from fright. Then she looked at Nina and smiled gently, "you however winged one, I offer you this, join us, live free of those who would opress you and fght them tooth and nail, I shall make you one of the sisterhood, and togther we can lead us to victory over the Imperial opressors!"

Nina looked at her then sighed, "I..I know what you must be going through, the Imeprials are evil yes, but...I am already on my own journey to fight the Imperials." She closed her eyes, "and those men who you imprisoned are my friends...I cannot stay...why not come with us? To fight the Imperials evil WITh us, I'm sure Kray and Ryu..."

Andraia cut her off and laughed harshly, "team up with those who are so eager to sell us for a few measly shiny coins?!" she rolled back her head and started laughing outloud, as if finding what Nina said funny. Nina did not say anything, just closed her eyes and let her laugh. Adfter a few minutes hse finally stopped and looked at Nina, "Those Imperial men will pay for their crimes." she said firmly, "it is a shame we will have to kill them, especially the...blue haired one, he is a fine warrior." she purred and smiled, "pfull of fire and fight, perhaps he could be persuaded to...mate with one of the others before his throat is slit, after all, Imperials are still imperials no matter how fine a specimen they may be."

Nina looked at Andraia, horrified. She was going to loose Ryu, and she couldn't prevent it. She saw the look of determination in Andraia's eyes, determination that came from years of pain and hurt, and tears began to well up, not just for the fact she was afraid to be alone, but because of the pain that those grey orbs the bore into her own had experienced. She couldn;t take it anymore and suddenly collapsed and started sobbing, "no...please...they...they're not...they're my friends!"

Andraia looked at Nina as she sobbed on the ground, then said quietly, "they have used magic to addle your mind sister, do not fear, they will be dead soon...and the curse shall be lifted." With that she turned and left, leaving Nina alone, and to her own tears, which were now running down her cheeks freely. 


	11. Chapter Eleven: Forgiveness

The birds of the forest woke Nina the next morning, their beautiful songs filtering in through the window of Andraia's quarters. She sat their quietly, her wings tucked behind her back, as memories of her previous conversation with Andraia came back to her. Tears again welled up in her eyes, even though she had seemed to shed all she could the previous night, before she had fallen asleep from all the crying she had done. She had analyzed all the odds, thought of every possiblity, and they all brought her to the same conclusion: Ryu and Kray would die, and she would loose the love of her life, and one of her closest friends. Escape seemed impossible, as the entire treecamp was so heavily guarded that even if she DID manage to get down to Ryu and Krays cells, the guards would be alerted, and they would probably all be killed there on the spot. Even if she used Magic, which these tree-women had a suprising grasp of, there was still a very good chance she would still be caught.

Andraia's voice from the cooking area of the tree-hut brought her out of her brooding. "Sister, come, breakfast is served." Nina looked at her hands, which she had folded onto her lap then slowly, got up, and dried her tears, to make sure that the Azonian woman could not see she had been crying. Slowly she walked over, entered the small archway and took a seat across from Andraia who handed her a bowel with something that looked like a soup. Nina loked at it a bit curiously, which caused Andraia to laugh, "come now, its not going to kill you, it'll make you strong and health, and should add some extra muscle onto that small frame of yours, please, eat heartily!" with that, she took her own bowel which she had put in front of her and began to eat rather quickly...and noisily. Nina watched her eat, then slowly put some of the soup to her lips and tasted it. It seemed to be somewhat salty, yet altohgether alright, so she slowly ate, trying not to spill any.

Once breakfast had been finished, Andraia cleared the bowels and sat down in front of Nina, crossing her legs. Nina looked back at her blankly, unable to bring herself to say anything to the woman who wanted her friends deaths. Finally Andraia spoke, "Come sister, cheer up, you should not mourne for those who have injustly wronged you. Their blood being spilt today will free you, and yopu shall become one of us, not just in name but in bond as well! This should be a jouyous moment for you."

Nina looked at her, then said quietly, "no...you're wrong...I...I don't want them to die! Please, listen, we're not Imperials! In fact, we're hunted BY Imperials!" "Hunted?" Andraia hesitated for a second, then shook her head and laughed, "No, I think not, another trick you are trying to make me free them. if you were being hunted you would be trying to flee from the Imperials, and stay away from their main town, when in fact you were heading FOR it!" She then narrowed her eyes at Nina, "now, speak of this no more! They die...my mind has been made up. You can either join us...or if you truely wish it, die with them." Nina, staring into her eyes, saw it again. the anger, and hatred that flashed in front of her as she spoke those words. She and Ryu were much alike, they both had the same fierce hatred of those that had wronged them, and they would go to great lengths to make them suffer in any way possible. Closing her eyes, she turned, and walked through the arch-way and out of the house, defeated.

  
The day passed rather quickly, and soon, the sun had met the horizon as was beginning to head off to its fiery bed. Its fading light shone across the tre tops in magnificent splendor of red, orange and yellow. However, Ryu and Kray had little time to admire the scenery for they had been brought out from their cells and brought back up and were now kneeling with their hands bound behind their back before the raven haired woman whom had been among those who had attacked them the two days ago. She was now drssed in an ornate set of cloathing, that was deep green, and trailed around her shapely figure like a snake coiling up around a tree. On her head sat the same golden band. However, this time the only weapon she carried was a rather large cerimonial dagger that she now held in her hand, as she glared down at them. Suddenly, Ryu felt a heavy thump across his back and he gritted his teeth as he doubled over again. "Do not look, Imperial scum!" a unknown voice growled. He tried to open his mouth to reply back, but was again met with aqnother heavy **THUMP** across the back, and more pain.

"So, how you holding out?" Kray grinned through the pain as he lay there, head down as well as he recieved the same treatment.

"Ok, I think." Ryu managed to grin back, despite more beatings he was now receiving for talking.

"thats great." Kray laughed a bit dryly as a particularly harsh blow landed across his collarbone.

Ryu managed to turn his head to avoid some more blows, and loked around. The woman, in front of them, obviously these peoples Queen stood silently, a slight smirk on her face as she watched the two men getting beaten. "Good." he smirked slightly, then winced as another heavier blow smashed into his ribs, nearly taking away his breath. "Don't see Nina...where is she?"

"Hell if I know, I'm not exactly in the position to look right now." Kray joked as another blow hit him, harder this time.

"Haven't lost your sense of humour, even in a situation like this." Ryu chuckled as he curled up some more from his keeling position to protect himself as best he could from the next blow that came in. As this was going on, he could feel his anger rising, boiling within him, as with each blow he got angrier and angrier, his eyes sliding into the all too familiar dragon-slits. He was angry for letting them get the best of them, angry for the beating, and especially angry for the fact that he seemed to have lost Nina.

Kray could see his friend, and his anger, and attempted to call out to him, but it seemed to fall upon deaf ears. He knew that if ryu were to transform, especially after all this pent up anger came boiling to the surface again, nobody would be safe. He winced as another blow landed then growled, "Stop it!" He could feel his own anger at the injustices growing and he felt something inside of him snap. Suddenly with a howl, and before anyone could act, his muscles bulged and the ropes binding him snapped and fell to the ground. His hand shot up at blinding speed, caught the one guards spear end and then as he clenched his fist, snapped it into two. He brought himself to his feet, battered and bruised, yet amazingly able to stand, his body larger then before. Growling at the Queen, eyes flashing with anger, he snarled, "let us go! We've done nothing wrong to you!"

Andraia narrowed her eyes as the large were-tiger adressed her. She had never seen anything like this befpre, but whatever had happened to him caused her to shudder and for fear to well up. However, swallowing it, she then snarled back, "you must die for your crimes Imperial scum! My warriors, kill him!"

The Azonian warriors did not budge. They just stood there, eyes wide with fear, as for what Kray had become was truely ferocious looking. His tail had elongated, his muscles more prominent and well defined, and his teeth and claws had grown to long, and wicked looking lengths. His eyes blazed with fury, and it seemed almost unearthly how he moved.

Ryu, who was given a break from his beatings, took the time to look Kray over and as his eyes returned to normal joked, "jee Kray didn't know you had it in you."

The hulking form of kray grinend and turned, giving him a thumbs up. He then walked over and broke Ryu free of his ropes, saying, "I didn't quite know I had it in me as well."

Ryu only smirked and replied half jokinly, yet half serious, "just remind me not to get on your bad side again."

Andraia stood seething as her troops refused to budge. She was dumbfounded, some...THING had caused her own fierce warriors to freeze where they stood, from fear none the less. Scowling she then drew the knife at her hip and snarled, "fine, if I can't rely on my own warriors i'll have to kill them myself!" Snarling she dashed forward directly at the blue haired man, who, while talking with the giant Tiger had his back to her. "DIE Imperial scum!" she growled as she slashed at him.

The blue haired one howveer sememd one step ahead of her and had turned, dodging the slash with suprising ease. He then countered with a quick fist to her gut. Staggered, Andraia dropped back, clutching her stomach, her eyes narrowiung more as she replied, "how DARE you!"

Ryu stepped back and held up his hands, defensively as he replied, "hey lady, you attacked me!"

"And I'll attack you again, scum!" Andraia replied as she lunged at him again. Again he was too fast for her, as he grabbed her by her shoulders, brought a leg into her and flipped her onto the ground. Falling with a heavy **THUD** onto her back, she let out a grunt, but then quickly got to her feet again, her eyes blazing with battle fury as she screamed, "Die damn you!!!"

Ryu groaned slightly as he could feel his injuries from the beating but smirked slightly, despite himself, replying, "I have no intention of dying, at least not yet." With that he went on the offensive, growling as he lept forward. The womans eyes went wide and she tried to defend herself, but he was too fast. His punch connected with the side of her face and she staggered back, then fell to a leg, the knife drpping to the wood floor. Walking over to it, Ryu picked it up and pointed it at her, the smirk still on his face, "it looks like I win."

"Go to hell Imperial scum." Andraia spat at his feet as she stood looking up at him. She knew she had been beaten, and it hurt her, deep inside.

Hearing this Ryu blinked then sighed, replying, "look, if I was an Imperial, I would have killed you by now...I wouldn't have held back." he laughed a bit and then kneeled, taking her hand into his, and placing the knife into it said with a smile on his face as he ade eye contact with her ferocious glare of steel, "we're not your enemies. Please, believe me."

Andraia, hesitated for a moment as his eyes made contact with her own. However as she did so, she found a sense of peace start to come over her. His eyes, seemed so unearthly, yet so human at the same time. She could see the pain, anger, sorrows and joys they had experienced, much like her own. She felt drawn toward him, in a strange sort of way one is drawn to one they believe is a soul mate or kindred spirit. Staring deep into those eyes her own fierce ones softened and she suddenly found herself wrapping her arms around his neck, leaning her head against his chest and crying softly as she murmured "I'm sorry" over and over. Ryu hesitated for a moment, but then hugged her and mumurmed, "it'll be alright."

After a few seconds (it seemed like minutes to her) Andraia coughed and let go of Ryu, blushing a bit before composing herself and standing, saying as formally as she could muster, "Well, outsider...you have bested me in honourable battle, and I am impressed. Since you fought with bravery and honour, I shall spare your life." Closing her eyes she added, "I am apologetic for...the misunderstanding." She then turned and adressed the women present, "from hear on out, these men shall be my guests, treat them with the same respect you would me." She then turned, and motioned for them to follow her. As Ryu and Kray did, a silence fell among the warriors gathered and they watched Ryu and Kray walk off with what can only be described as great awe. Some even pointed at Ryu and giggled, admiring how he walked despite the heavy bruising. Ryu could have sworn one of them said something about making him into a husband, and at this Kray only laughed, and smirked at Ryu who stared blankly at him and said, "what?!?"

As the small group approached Andraias hut, where they were told they would be staying, Ryu smiled and ran forward, an overjoyed look on his face. Out of the hut Nina came racing and both met mid run, embracing heavily, both with great relief the other was safe. Kray could tell Nina had tears in her eyes, and as both again hugged, then kissed, said to Andraia as politely as he could, "Majesty, i think you best give those two a hut of their own tonight..if its not too much to ask."

Andraia turned and looked at Kray said firmly, "call me Andraia I have no need for formal titles, and yes...I agree..." she then turned back to watch Ryu and Nina, folding her arms as her lips tightened.

Kray nodded then replied, "well since it seems introductions are necessary My name's Kray, and thats Ryu and Nina." He then smirked as he saw her lips tighten at the sight of Ryu and Ninas affections saying rather smugly, "something wrong Andraia?"

"None of your buisness." Came the curt reply as the Azonian Queen turned and walked into her hut.

"I think someones jealous." Kray joked to himself as he walked over and joined Nina and Ryu for their happy reuinion of friends. Behind them, the sun had set and for once during the long and eventful day the jungle seemed at peace, content with the way things had turned out.


End file.

Breath of Fire, Adventure, Romance