Breath of Fire 1. The Awakening, Part 1

Chapter 1

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own Breath of Fire 4!**

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_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_ [Voice from the past]_

_'Telepathic Voice'_

"Dialogue"

**Emphasis**

**_Dangerous Tone/Magic Name_**

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**_The Awakening, part 1_**

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"What the hell!" A man with Tiger ears and tail cursed as he turned the Sandflier to another direction as fast as he could, "If something that big hit us, we are done for!".

The man was panicking, not that she blame him, because even in her wildest dream, she would never thought that she would be running away from a Dragon. "Cray! The Sand Dragon is catching up with us!" She yelled in panic, it's normal for someone to get panicked in their situation, because just like what Cray said- no, yelled earlier, they would done for good if they got hit by something as big as the Sand Dragon.

Just a second after she said that, they really got hit by the Sand Dragon. Of course, she screamed out loud in fear, on top of her lungs even.

The world was spinning for her . . . wrong, they were the one who were spinning so fast, the impact of being hit by the Sand Dragon was enough to make their Sandflier spinning around like a wheel in a fast pace. Fortunately for them, they stopped spinning and landed near the edge of the desert and not in the middle, it would be really troublesome for them if they landed in the middle of the desert, they would lost without ever get out of the desert.

"Ouch." She yelped when she felt hurt at her back, where her Wings were on.

"Are you okay, Nina?" Cray asked as he tried to get the Sandflier on, but to no avail, everything was covered by sands that the engine couldn't come to life anymore.

"I'm alright, my Wings are just a bit sore, that's all." Nina answered with a smile, she then looked at their Sandflier, "Is it broke?" She asked in worry.

Cray sighed, "Yeah, and we don't have the parts to repair it." He answered while scratching the back of his neck.

Nina looked down to her feet, "I wonder why the Sand Dragon attacked us?" She mumbled softly, "Dragons normally don't go around attacking people".

"You're right. Dragons are like Gods, I never heard of a Dragon attacking people, not to mention that there are so many of them throughout the whole world." Cray said as he looked at the direction the Sand Dragon disappeared earlier, he then looked at their Sandflier and sighed again, "Anyway, there's no way we could get across the desert with this now." He said as he pointed at the beaten up Sandflier with his right thumb.

Nina's face fell, "Just when I thought we finally have a lead on Elina's whereabouts . . ." She mumbled sadly.

Cray walked over to Nina and pat her head, "We will find her, don't worry." He said to cheer her up.

They were on their way to Synesta since they heard that that's where Elina, Nina's Older Sister, last to be seen at. They need a Sandflier to get through the desert since Synesta was on the other side of the desert, but now that their Sandflier was in that condition, they were facing a new problem.

"Could we go and get the parts needed to repair it?" Nina asked curiously.

Cray grimaced as he thought about their new problem, "We could, Nina." He answered slowly.

Nina caught the note that there's more to that statement, something troublesome, "But?" She asked so Cray would hurry up and tell her the bad news.

"But if we leave our Sandflier here to but the necessary parts, we would return without a Sandflier to work on." Cray finished his previous statement.

Nina's eyes widened as she realized the problem, "Right." She said as she looked at the broken Sandflier, "Finder Keepers".

Cray crossed his arms as he looked at their Sandflier in thought. If they didn't have a Sandflier, it would be a long journey to get to Synesta, and if they need to travel even more after they get to Synesta, it would be faster if they go using a Sandflier, even more so if they need to get across a desert like now. But if the both of them go to buy the parts, it would risk for their Sandflier to get stolen. They only solution to their problem was if one of them stay and the other go, but he couldn't let Nina to stay by herself, he also couldn't make Nina go to buy the parts by herself either.

Nina was thinking in similar way it seems, because she looked up with determined expression on her face. "I know. Cray, I will go buy the parts by myself." She said decisively with a nod to herself.

Cray looked at Nina and shook his head, "No, it's to dangerous for you to go by yourself." He argued.

"But Cray." Nina argued back, "We need the Sandflier to get to Elina, if we stop here because we don't want to part ways for a short time when it's needed, then there's no way we would ever find her".

Cray grimaced because the logic in Nina's argument was true, if they stopped their searching here, they would never find Elina because other people had just give up on her. They couldn't do it, Elina was so dear to them that they refused to give up hope, they vowed that they wouldn't give up no matter what so that they could go back to Wyndia together with Elina.

He looked up to look at Nina only to find her wearing her stubborn face, meaning she would never stop arguing back until she got her way into doing anything she want. _I want to curse at that face but Nina's expression is just adorable to be cursed at_, He thought with a sweat drop.

Cray sighed as he finally came to decision, "Alright, you win." He said defeat, causing Nina to beam happily at him, "There's a town called **Sarai** at the South of here, you might get the parts there".

Nina looked at the South direction and nodded, "Alright, Cray." She said cheerfully and waved at him, "I'm going now!".

"Wait, Nina!" Cray called out to her to make her stopped on her track.

"Yes?" Nina asked in confusion.

"Bring this with you." Cray said as he handed a Sword to Nina.

"The King's Sword?" Nina asked as she recognized the Sword as an important Sword for the Alliance.

"Yes." Cray confirmed with a nod of his head, "You don't know when you might need it, and I hope you wouldn't need to use it, but it better to go prepared than nothing at all".

Nina looked up at Cray and nodded her head with a smile, "Okay." She said as she tied the Sword to her waist, so that it wouldn't get in her way when she had to move or fight using her Staff. "I'm going!" She repeated as she walked a few steps to the South already.

"Be careful." Cray answered as he nodded to her and waved his hand, _I really hope that nothing will happen to her_, he thought as he looked at Nina's retreating back.

XXXXX

On her way to the South, Nina came across a huge hole in the land in ahead of her. She thought that she heard something, so she placed a hand behind her heard and cocked her head to hear better.

"Anyone! Anybody! Please help me!"

Nina gasped when she heard it and run forward to help whoever it was who need her help, she arrived at the edge of the hole and saw a man, maybe a merchant seeing that there's a cart left behind in the hole. She came to help the man, but it seems she came to late because the man's bird ride had reached the top of the hole and succeed in coming up from the hole before going on his way to the South.

Nina looked at the back of the man before looking at the hole, "Wow, this hole is so big." She commented as he looked into the bowl shaped hole and down to the ground below her, "I wonder if that man earlier lose his footing and fell down-" She yelped when she herself fell into the hole, "Ouch, -like this." She finished as she stood up and brushed away the sand from her clothes.

Nina sighed when she noticed that she was the one getting trapped in the hole now, but it's not like she couldn't get out easily with her Wings, so she decided to look around, maybe she she would be lucky and found something useful for her. And when she reached the center . . . well, near the center of the huge hole, she heard it.

A hiss of something was what caught Nina's attention, and when she looked around, something that was invisible earlier began to gradually grow visible. _A Dragon?!_ Nina thought with a gasp, she took a step back from the Dark Purple Dragon with Red markings in case it decide to attack her like the Sand Dragon earlier.

Fortunately, the Dragon didn't attack her and just roared when it's growing a pair of Wings then took off, but Nina had to closed her eyes since the force of the Dragon took off was enough to make the sand flying around in the air.

Nina opened her eyes again to look at the flying Dragon but couldn't find anything, "What was that, I wonder?" She mumbled to herself before looking down when she heard a moan, she saw a figure of a man on the ground ahead of them, "Um, are you alright?" She asked as she walked forward, but she yelped and turned around quickly when the man stood up.

The man was naked!

"Um, would you mind searching around for some clothes, I'm sure there's some around here." Nina said in embarrassment, she never felt so embarrassed in her whole life.

After a few minutes passed, the man told her that it's okay to turn around. Nina turned and saw that the man had fully clothed, much to her relief, "What are you doing here?" She asked then.

"I . . . don't know." The man answered uncertainly.

"You don't know?" Nina asked in surprise, "Where are you from then?".

"I don't know." The man said again.

Nina blinked before she looked at the sky, "Could it be that you got amnesia because you got hit by the Dragon earlier?" She asked herself before turning to the man, "Is there anything that you remember? Your name maybe?".

"Ryu." The man answered, "I remember that my name is Ryu, but only that".

Nina hummed, "Well, since you got amnesia, why don't you go with me to the town?" She suggested with a smile, "It's better than staying here, right? Let's go together to the town and see if there's someone who know you in there".

Ryu nodded to Nina, "Yeah." He agreed.

Nina grinned at Ryu before looking around, "Well, first we need to get out of here." She said as she picked up some rope that was lying around, she flew to a large rock that was at the top of the hole and tied the rope to it. After she secured the knot so that it wouldn't gave away, she threw the other end to Ryu for the man to climb up.

"That was a really huge hole, right?" Nina commented when Ryu climbed up to her side, "Let's go, Ryu." Ryu nodded in answer and they started walking before Nina remembered something, "Oh, I almost forgot." She said as she untied the King's Sword from her waist, she offered the sword to Ryu, "You need it to protect yourself, it's dangerous here in the desert, even more so if you go unarmed".

"Thank you." Ryu said as he strapped it on his back.

Nina nodded and they continued walking, as she walk, she told Ryu that she and Cray were searching for her Sister, and the reason why she parted ways with Cray to get into the town called Sarai. When she finished her tale, it's already dark and it's dangerous to continue forward.

"Let's take a break." Nina suggested as she pointed at a cave that was nearby, "It's late and we need rest if we want to continue tomorrow".

Ryu nodded in agreement and they began to work together to make a fire, it's cold in the night and the fire would help them to ward off the animals.

Nina noticed that Ryu didn't talk too much, but she figured that it's because he didn't know what to talk about, she was sure that as time goes by, Ryu would become more talkative than now.

XXXXX

Far away in the distance, a pillar of light could be seen. The pillar of light came from the tomb of the First Emperor of Fou Empire, and as soon as the light died down, a dog like Creature came out from the entrance followed by a figure of a man. The man has Silver hair, which glowing beautifully under the light of Full Moon, a pair of Green eyes, and a pair of Reddish Purple colored Dragon horns could be seen from behind his ears shot up to the sides of his head.

The man looked up at the moon, "So . . . The time hath come . . ." He said to his companion.

"Yes, m'lord. Majesty . . ." The blue colored dog like Creature said in agreement, "T'would appear that something is amiss. Where art the Courtiers? The Priests? Why is there not a single voice raised in greeting at thy return?".

" 'Tis of no import. They are mortals. Were We to attempt to understand their mind, We should spend an eternity. There be more pressing matters to attend to." The First Emperor answered calmly as he closed his eyes, "Canst you not sense it? This presence . . . 'Tis far . . . and still slumbering . . . but 'tis what We have sought to these many ages." He opened his eyes again and looked at the blue creature beside him. "Won-qu!" He called out in commanding voice, "Guard Our place of rest".

"As you wish, Sire." Won-qu answered dutifully, the Creature went to stand in front of the entrance and turned to look at it's Master, "Majesty, where art thou going?".

"We shall go to Our Capital, as was planned." The First Emperor answered before he walked down the stairs, "We shall meet at the appointed place when the time hath come".

As the First Emperor walked a few distance away from his tomb, he was a bit surprised when he came across a pair of guards. One of them turned around, and upon noticed his presence, the guard pointed his weapon at the First Emperor's direction, "Who goes there!?" He demanded, his question causing the other guard to stand up and turned around as well.

The First Emperor walked to them, "What . . . What be ye doing in this place?" He asked in a bit of confusion.

The first guard moved his spear in threatening manner, "Huh? Who're you!?" He demanded again.

The second guard, being the calmer between the two, decided to answer the First Emperor's question. "They say a Dragon or something's supposed to appear tonight . . ." He explained, "So we were told to watch this area".

The First Emperor walked so he was not hidden by the shade of the trees again, " . . . A Dragon?" He asked slowly, though he know right away that it was himself that they were talking about.

"That's right." The second guard confirmed, "And not just any Dragon either! They say it's the legendary Dragon of Doom, which will bring ruin to the Empire!".

The First Emperor blinked his eyes slowly in bored manner, "And . . . What be thy design for this Dragon?" He asked to get some information, it might explain the reason why no one was around when he woke up.

"We will destroy it, of course!" The first guard answered while bragging, "Nothing can withstand the might of the Imperial Army!".

The First Emperor chuckled then, "Thou believest thou can do such a thing?" He asked calmly in retorhical manner, "You art but mere mortals".

The First Emperor raised a hand and a small orb of light appeared, floating on top of his palm before touching his palm and shot up to the sky. A disturbance appeared in the air, from inside the swirling air, a White colored Dragon with Red markings on it's body appeared before floating down to stay beside the First Emperor, albeit still floating and not standing on the ground like the First Emperor himself.

"Thou dost not ken the power of that which you would destroy. This be a Dragon." The First Emperor said calmly but with a serious face, "A Dragon 'tis force of nature unto itself. Thou mayest as well seek to fight a Volcano or the very Earth itself! Dragons doth give birth to thy kind, grant thee life, and verily taketh it away. They are to thee as thou art an insect, in thy terms . . .".

The Dragon roared as it's Wings grow, causing the guards to get a shock and fear for their lifes.

"They art Gods." The First Emperor continued his words, " . . . Wouldst thou fight a God?".

As soon as he finished the question, the Dragon's mouth opened and many light being pulled in front of the Dragon's open mouth, the Dragon then shot a beam of light to the guards, killing them and make the land surrounding the guards burned down until what could be seen was only a black colored rock.

" 'Tis as I thought . . ." The First Emperor said as he closed his eyes after the Dragon flew away to the sky, "It is not the nature of mortals to change their ways . . ." He opened his eyes again and left the place.

Even though the First Emperor was a Dragon himself, who could be called a God Emperor . . . One thing he never thought would happen was a small boy, looking about 12 or 13 years old with long Golden hair that shining beautifully just like that of the First Emperor's hair itself and a pair of Sea Blue eyes, saw what happened and followed after the First Emperor.

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To be continued . . .

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Froim : This is the first time I write BoF Story, and English is not my first language, so if I make a mistake in the Old Language the Dragons are using, I apologize.

Fou-Lu : Who is that boy?

Froim : I wouldn't spoil the surprise ^ ^

Nina : Review Please ^ ^


	2. The Awakening, Part 2

Chapter 2

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own Breath of Fire 4!**

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_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_ [Voice from the past]_

_'Telepathic Voice'_

"Dialogue"

**Emphasis**

**_Dangerous Tone/Magic Name_**

* * *

**_The Awakening, part 2_**

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The First Emperor walked leisurely through the forest where his tomb lay, he was never the type to rushing and running around like kids, that's why he chose to walk instead of running. Thanks to that personality though, he was able to notice the soft footsteps that was following him, since when, he didn't know.

" . . . . . . . . . "

The First Emperor finally stopped walking, the footsteps behind him halted as well, he turned then, to see who was following him. None, no one was behind him, but he know better than believe so as well. "Thou canst come out." He said to whoever or whatever was following him around, "We couldst hear thy footsteps".

His eyes widened when he saw who was following him around, _A . . . boy?_ He asked himself in surprise, he thought that it was some animals or another foolish Imperial Army.

The boy has a long Golden colored hair, which tied in a high ponytail using a Black ribbon, and a pair of Blue eyes like the color of Deep Ocean, just like the color of a Water Drop shape pendant hanging around his neck. He was wearing a Black yukata-like* clothes with Deep Blue borderline, the sleeves were short, and a pair of Black short pants with Deep Blue borderline as well, a pair of Black fingerless gloves covered his hands and a Deep Blue belt tied around his waist, his attire was completed by a Black and Blue boots which reached just below his knees along with a Golden colored cloak hiding most of his upper clothes.

**(*AN : Not that Fou-Lu actually know what a Yukata is, because it's not being made in the game. But remember Mami's clothes in the Manga? It's like that, except it's short sleeves and the lower part isn't rolled up like how Mami wore it in the Manga)**

What caught his attention the most was the Dagger that was slipped into his belt, normal kid wouldn't go and carrying a weapon like that, and it had an engraving of a Dragon that was Golden in color at the hilt of the Dagger. That, and a pair of Bluish Violet colored Dragon horns on top of the boy's head, coming up from behind his ears just like the God Emperor himself. Mortals might never mind about the boy's horns, but since the First Emperor was a Dragon and has the same pair of Dragon horns, he know right away that the boy was a Dragon as well . . . maybe.

"Art thou . . .a Dragon?" The First Emperor asked slowly, still not sure if the child was a Dragon or not given the fact that he couldn't feel any Dragon aura from the boy.

The boy blinked at the First Emperor, "Dost We correct to assume that thou is the First Emperor of the Empire, Fou-Lu?" He asked with a curious expression.

"Thou is correct." Fou-Lu answered with a calm expression, "However, We hast no knowledge of thee. Art thou with the ones who seek to kill Us?".

The boy smiled and bowed, "T'would appear We must ask of thy forgiveness." He said before placing his right palm to his chest, "Mine name is Haku. We hast no intention to kill thee, We simply wert curious about thee and wish to know more about thee".

"For one of thy age, thy way of speaking is that of old times." Fou-Lu commented with a small smile, "Thou is a Dragon, correct?".

"T'would be correct." Haku answered with a smile, "In truth, We couldst speak like old times as well as modern times. 'Tis seems to Us that thou art more at ease when We dost talk this way, so We decided to dost so".

Fou-Lu shook his head, "Thou shouldst not speak that way for Us only, speak in the way in which thou is at ease." He said before turning around, "However, t'would be dangerous for thee if thou follow Us. We advise that thou go on thy own way, farewell, Brother".

_He does not remember_, Haku thought as he watched Fou-Lu walked away with sad but confused eyes, _Just as the Prophecy said, but why? Could it be that being asleep for 6 centuries long had somehow damaged his memories? Or it's because of the failed summoning?_ He shook his head and decided to followed after the First Emperor again, but being more quiet and careful this time.

XXXXX

Fou-Lu stopped the second time on his way through the forest, this time was because of someone stood on his way. This time, it was an old man with a nearly bald head and short body. "Pardon my presumtion, but I believe you are the God Emperor Fou-Lu . . . Yes?" The old man asked, "I have been expecting you . . . ever since I saw the pillar of light from your tomb, and the flames rising from the forest where I stationed my guards".

Fou-Lu closed his eyes, "Thou sayest thou wert waiting for Us?" He asked calmly, "You knowest of Us and what We are then?".

"Yes, Your Majesty." The man said with a bow, "You are the First Emperor, Fou-Lu, who found our great Fou Empire".

Fou-Lu opened his eyes and sent an attack towards the man, making the man to jump backwards in order to avoid being hit by the attack. "And knowing this, thou wouldst greet Us with malice in thine heart and thine blade in hand?" He demanded.

"I'm afraid . . . times have changed, Your Majesty . . ." The man said calmly, he then moved his hand to summon one of his minion, "Kahm!" A big Red colored monster with ugly face then appeared behind the old man.

Once again, Fou-Lu summoned Astral, the White Dragon he summoned to kill the guards in the forest earlier, when the man's monster shot fire through it's mouth at Fou-Lu's direction. Astral then shot a beam of Bluish White light at the monster while the man moved out of the way so that he wouldn't get shot as well, the attack causing the monster upper half to be destroyed, and so killed it in an instant.

Fou-Lu took a few steps toward the man, but his chest suddenly filled in pain that caused him to lose his footing and for Astral to disappeared, he panted silently and trying to regain his breath.

"You appear tired, Your Majesty." The man commented from his spot, "It's to be expected I suppose. You have just awoken from a long, long sleep, and you are not exactly . . . complete, are you?" As soon as the man said that, many more guards appeared and surrounded Fou-Lu while pointing their weapons at him.

Fou-Lu stood straight and looked at them before looking at the man, "T'would appear thou hast no intention to fulfill thine duty, as thou are called upon to do by Our promise." He stated the obvious.

"Alas, it is as you say, My Lord." The man answered with a small bow, "For now, we would have you sleep once more".

"I wouldst call thee foolish. . ." Fou-Lu said with a calm smile while he closed his eyes, "But thou art mortals, thou cannot go against thy nature, no more than a fish could walketh upon the firmament." After he said that, he opened his eyes and jumped backwards to a short cliff behind him, "Still . . . Thou wilt find that Our promise art not easily broken." He looked at the old man's eyes, "Return then to thine Master and tell him Our words!" He walked away from them after that.

"Try to buy time, are you, Majesty?" The old man asked out loud even though the God Emperor had gone far from him, as he said that, many more guards came with each of them carrying a bow and fire arrows, he turned to the men behind him and ordered, "Set fire to the trees. We must stop him before he recovers his full strength!".

The guards began shooting their fire arrows at the trees.

XXXXX

Fou-Lu lost his footing again due to the the exhaustion he felt for using to much energy so soon after he woke up, just then, a fire covered arrow stabbed the nearby tree and light it up with fire, which then crawled to the other nearby trees.

"They wouldst use fire against Us?" Fou-Lu asked himself as he looked at the fire and stood up from his kneeling position, "Indeed, planned well, have they".

He ignored the fire and began walking through the burning forest, again with him preferring to walk rather than running, maybe because he was The First Emperor in the past. He managed to get passed the burning forest and get into a bridge, but he was once again being blocked his way by two Imperial guards and the old man from earlier.

"As I recall . . . Your Majesty has a strong affinity to water . . . Yes?" The old man asked calmly.

Fou-Lu looked behind him to see that there were guards behind him as well, it's seemed that he got trapped. The old man walked to the edge of the bridge, still on the ground and not entered the bridge though, causing Fou-Lu to pay more attention to the man's movement.

"And with your power not fully returned . . ." The old man continued, "It is unlikely that you will be able to survive battle with my creations in this raging fire".

A noble warrior knew when to admit defeat, and with his current condition, Fou-Lu had to admit that the old man was right and he was at a losing battle at the moment. He closed his eyes with a small smile, with them being mortals, it's impressive that they could get him into this position, with his power at full strength or not. " . . . We . . . wouldst know thy name, oh cunning one . . ." He said in the end, feeling the need to know the name of the man who managed to defeat him, albeit temporarily.

The old man bowed, "Yohm, the General of Imperial Army, at your service." He said as he stood straight again and moved his hand to use the power of one of his monsters.

"General." One of guards called out suddenly, causing the General to halt and, along with Fou-Lu, sweat dropped at the sudden interruption in the middle of a serious conversation, at the climax too.

"What is it?" Yohm asked, he would definitely feeling annoyed if it's turned out to be something trivial, as he looked at the guard who called him out earlier, he was the one that was stationed at the other end of the bridge, behind the God Emperor. He was a bit surprised when he saw there's a boy there, being grabbed by the said guard.

"We found this boy watching us, General." The guard reported to the General, even though the General might had guessed about it already.

_A boy?!_ Fou-Lu's eyes widened in shock as he turned around sharply to see who the guard meant by a boy, he gasped silently when he saw Haku stood there with his mouth thinned and his arm crossed, and the boy was being grabbed by the guard who talked to Yohm earlier.

"What in the world is that boy doing here?!" Yohm demanded, it' seemed that he had lost his calmness due to his shock. The guard opened his mouth to answer but Yohm snapped, "Forget it, don't answer it." He then looked at the boy, "Why are you watching us, boy?".

_Boy, couldst it be that Yohm hath yet to realize that the boy is a Dragon as well?_ Fou-Lu thought as he looked calmly at the boy, _I wonder . . . Couldst the cause be of the fact that the boy hast not feel like a Dragon? Or 'tis because of the bandana that is hiding the boy's horns from their sight? No, the boy's slitted eyes wert enow to give it away_.

Haku stayed quiet and just looked at the General, "Answer me, boy." Yohm ordered as he waited for the boy to answer, still the boy stayed quiet about it, "It can't be helped, the boy had seen us and will bring a bad name if he open his mouth to the people, as much as I hate to kill children." He looked at the guard holding the boy, "Push him to the bridge, might as well we make him fall along with the Emperor".

Fou-Lu watched as the guard pushed the boy to the bridge, and then the boy walked calmly to his side. "Art thou alright?" He asked quietly, so that Yohm wouldn't hear him.

"We wouldst be alright." Haku answered calmly, "Still, We art angry at Our own self a tiny bit for Our mistake, We wert too focused on thee that We failed to realize one of the mortals approached Us".

Fou-Lu chuckled, "Foolishness." He said in normal volume, "We hath given thou Our warning that t'would be dangerous to follow Us." He gave a side way glance at the boy, who only smiled in answer to his comment, "Curiosity kills the cats, as the mortals sayest".

"T'would be right . . . in other case, We wouldst agree, but not now." Haku answered before looking at Yohm in the eyes, "You asked me why I was watching you, yes?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's right." Yohm said as he make a motion with his hands, ready to make his attack.

"The promise that being made in the past between the Empire with the First Emperor, it was to let the God Emperor to ascend the throne once again, when the time had come for him to awaken from his deep slumber." Haku said calmly as he looked at Yohm straight in the eyes, "And now that he had awoken, why would you go against your own words? Are you too greedy to let go of your position? Or you are just too foolish to think that you can kill a God?" He smiled at the General, "Say that to your Master, the one who give you the order to kill the First Emperor. You can do a simple thing like that, right?".

Yohm looked at the boy in thought, wondering how could such a young child knew about the Promise of the past. _It's seems that there's more than meets the eye with this boy_, he thought as he bowed his head, "Very well." He said to the boy, "I will let him know what you had just said, but I'm afraid that you would never hear the answer." He then attacked them both with the hand of his monster, not the one that got destroyed by Fou-Lu, of course.

Fou-Lu and Haku gave a short yell of pain when they were hit and fell down the bridge, because the bridge was destoyed by the impact of the attack, they fell down to the river that was flowing harshly below.

"I don't want to take any chance, find their bodies." Yohm ordered before he turned and walked away from the destroyed bridge, all the time still wondering who was the boy that was with Fou-Lu earlier.

XXXXX

"Ouch." Haku hissed as he rub his sore back, falling off from that kind of height would surely killed a mortal, thankfully he was not a mortal. He looked down to his clothes and sighed in relief, he might be fine after getting a hit from a weak monster's hand like that, he didn't get any injury, but his clothes was a different matter altogether. Fortunately for him, the fire from the previous attack was not so bad that his clothes getting burned, so his clothes were intact, the water from the river also helped him with putting away the fire from his clothes.

Different from Fou-Lu, he was not incomplete, and he was not had just woken up from a really long sleep either, so he was fine with that kind of weak attack. But the incomplete Dragon himself was in a really bad shape, he confirmed it when he turned to his side and saw the said Dragon in a few distance from him, with a bad enough burn on his body.

Haku sighed as he looked up, they might not directly below the place where the bridge was earlier, but it would be bad if Fou-Lu stayed here. If Yohm was a General not for nothing, he would surely ordered the guards to search for their bodies. He looked at Fou-Lu again and stood up, _His destiny is to meet up with his Other Half in the Capital, that's mean he wouldn't get killed here, and definitely not now._ He thought as he looked up at the night sky, or pretending to since he couldn't really see the sky from that far below the cliff. He sighed and looked at the unconscious God Emperor again, _I will just let the fate to go on it's course for now_, he decided and walking away from the place.

He stopped a second to look back at Fou-Lu's unconscious form and nodded to himself, _I will go and see how the Other one doing then, maybe he is in need of a helping hand_.

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To be continued . . .

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Froim : Surprise! The boy is another Dragon!

Ryu : Who is he?

Fou-Lu : She won't tell you.

Haku : Of course, or it would spoil the surprise.

Froim : Review Please XDDD


	3. Sarai and Sandflier Issues

Chapter 3

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own Breath of Fire 4!**

* * *

_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_ [Voice from the past]_

_'Telepathic Voice'_

"Dialogue"

**Emphasis**

**_Dangerous Tone/Magic Name_**

* * *

**_Sarai and Sandflier Issues_**

* * *

"Ryu! Look!" Nina called out excitedly as she pointed at a town in the distance, "That must be Sarai!".

Ryu looked ahead and saw the said town, "So, is the part that you are searching for would be there?" He asked the Wyndian girl.

"Possibly, Cray said that there might be some in Sarai." Nina answered as they made their way to the town.

There's so many people in the town, buying and selling activities could be seen in many places. "So, this is Sarai." Nina started as she turned to look at Ryu while Ryu looking at the town in wonder, "Has any memories come back to you? Something in here looked familiar maybe?".

Ryu shook his head, "No." He answered.

Nina smiled, "Well, it's alright, you will remember one day." She said before looking around, "Well, I need to find out where I could buy the things I need, will you be alright by yourself?" She asked Ryu with concerned expression.

"I may couldn't remember anything, but I can protect myself just fine." Ryu answered with a smile, "It's you that I'm worried about, Nina".

Nina grinned, "Don't worry, I'm pretty good in using Wind Magic to protect myself if needed." She assured him then waved, "Then, we will meet here again later, I'm off!".

Ryu waved at her and looked around, the town was not that big and there's no way be would get lost, beside rather than staying there and doing nothing, he thought that it would be better to go around and ask the people if they know where to buy the Sandflier parts that Nina was searching for.

In the end, Ryu bought some **Healing Herb**s from a merchant as he asked for the merchant where he could get a Sandflier parts, the merchant said that he didn't know, but he offered the information that if he want to know something useful or interesting, he should go for the Bar. And so, he headed for the Bar to see if there's anyone in there who know the information he need.

"Eh? Really? A treasure?" Upon entering the Bar, Ryu was greeted by a cheerful question. He looked to the direction he heard the question and saw that it was a frog-man talking to a boy. The boy was around 12 or 13 years old with a long Golden hair tied in high ponytail using a Black Ribbon, a Black bandana covered his forehead.

"That's right." The frog-man answered, "Wanna but it? Only 158 Zenny".

The boy was looking thoughtful for a moment before he nodded, "Sure, why not?" He agreed as he opened his bag and pulled out a few coins and handed it to the man, "What is it called again?".

"Here, boy." The frog-man said as he handed something round shape to the boy, "It's called **Lead Ball**, it's a rare item, you know?".

"Is that why you call this ball a treasure?" The boy asked as he looked at the ball in his hand before putting it inside his bag and secured the bag to make sure nothing would come out easily.

"That's right!" The frog-man said with a laugh, "But I'm in need of money, so I sell it. I'm off then." The frog-man then left the Bar.

Ryu watched the frog-man left before looking at the boy, there's something about the boy that make him thought that the boy was not a normal boy, _But what?_ He blinked when the boy suddenly turned to him, "Hello there." The boy said as he waved his hand, "Are you searching for some information or you came here simply want to eat and drink?".

Ryu walked down the stairs and approached the boy, "Searching for information." He said before kneeling on one knee so he was at the same height as the boy, "Hello, I'm Ryu, do you happen to know where I can buy Sandflier parts?".

"Sandflier parts?" The boy asked with a cocked head, "Well, I don't know." He then pointed at a bald man who was eating some meat, "But maybe he know, from what I heard, he often come here and just sitting around while drinking or eating, maybe he know where to get information about Sandflier since he had listening to other people talking so much." He then winked at Ryu, "That is if you can make him talk, you might need to buy some food or drink for him in order to make him talk".

Ryuu stood up and looked at the man, "I see." He commented before looking at the boy, "Thank you, um . . ." He looked at the boy and sending a message though his eyes, saying that he didn't know the boy's name.

"Haku." The boy answered with a wide smile, "My name is Haku, and you're welcome".

Ryu nodded and walked to the said man earlier, "What you want to talk to me?" The man asked as he munched his meat, Ryu nodded, "Hm, where's your manner, Young Man, if you want to talk to someone you had to get them something." Ryu ended up buying the man a couple sausages and beers for the man to talk, but at least he get some useful information.

"So, what did he say?" Ryu turned to see Haku standing behind him with a curious expression on his face, "Did you get the information you need?".

Ryu smiled at the boy, "Well, the man didn't have the information that I need, but he know someone who know." He explained, "He said that I could get the information from the Information Broker in front of the Inn, now I only need to know where the Inn is".

Haku's eyes lit up, "Well, I can show you the way to the Inn, I'm planning to check out today anyway." He offered with a smile.

Ryu looked at the boy with blinking eyes, the boy spoke like he was an adult, making him wondering if the boy was not a boy at all but a grown up man with short body, but the boy's young face said otherwise. "Well, I don't want to take any tour again." He then smiled at the boy, "So, thank you for your offer, I would like it if you could show me the way, after I found my friend though".

Haku nodded, "Let's get out of here first, I don't really like the smell of alcohol in here." He said with a grin and skipped out of the Bar, with Ryu following him after shaking his head in wonder.

Ryu came out from the Bar to see Nina talking to some monkey-man, "Nina." He called out to her.

Nina turned to look at Ryu and smiled, "Oh, hi Ryu." She greeted, "Listen, he said that he know where we can get the parts!" She said excitedly as she gestured to the monkey-man.

Ryu shook his head, it's a good thing that he found Nina right in front of the Bar, but it's not a good thing that Nina believed to other people so easily, even more so when she believe the words of the monkey-man. Even Ryu, who didn't remember anything about himself, know that the monkey-man had a glint in his eyes that saying that he only want their money.

"I don't think we could trust him." Ryu decided to say, looking at Nina with a calm face without showing his dislike towards the monkey-man.

"Eh? Why?" Nina asked in surprise.

"Because Ryu had got the information you need." Haku answered for him.

Nina looked at the boy in surprise before looking at Ryu, "Really?" She asked, Ryu just nodded in answer, she turned back to the monkey-man and apologize to him for his trouble. She looked at Ryu again, "Who is the boy?" She asked in confusion.

"His name is Haku." Ryu answered before looking at the boy, "Haku, this is Nina, the friend that I talked you about".

Haku nodded, "Should we go then?" He asked with a cute face.

"Where to?" Nina asked in confusion to Ryu.

"I got the information that there's this Information Broker in front of the Inn who knows where we could get the Sandflier parts, Haku will show us the way to the Inn." Ryu explained to her as they started walking.

"Oh." Nina nodded her head before looking at Haku, "Thank you for your trouble, Haku." She said with a grateful smile.

Haku looked at Nina and nodded, "It's alright, I'm planning to check out today anyway." He said with a grin, "Why are you searching for Sandflier parts?" He asked curiously.

Nina smiled at the curious boy, "Well, I and a friend of mine were on our way to Synesta with our Sandflier." She started slowly, she had the tendency to speak so fast when she was excited, so she often need to remind herself to talk slowly, "During our travel, the Sand Dragon appeared and somehow we got hit, our Sandflier couldn't work anymore, there's some parts that had gotten some sand on them after all. So, I came here to buy the part needed for my friend to repair our Sandflier".

_Ah, Sa Ryong (Sand Dragon) had made his move it seems._ Haku thought as looked at the Wyndian girl, "Why do you want to go to Synesta?" He asked again, curious about the one who had been chosen by Sa Ryong.

Nina smiled sadly at that, "We are searching for my Sister." She answered with soft voice, "You see, my Sister had disappeared, and we heard that she was last to be seen in Synesta, so we want to go there to get more clue about her whereabouts".

Haku looked at Nina in sympathy, "I'm sorry to hear that, I hope you will find your Sister soon." He said with genuine concern in his voice.

Nina's face brightened and she nodded, "Thank you." She said happily, "What about you? Why are you here by yourself?".

Haku grinned, "I like to travel, so I go to many places." He then looked at the two of them, "Well, since I'm planning to leave this town anyway, do you mind if I go with you? Maybe I could help you in your journey to find your Sister".

Nina chuckled and nodded, "I would like to have more friends, so I would like it if you want to go with us." She said cheerfully.

Haku grinned before looking ahead and pointing to a man standing in front of a building with 'Inn' written on it, "That must be the Information Broker." He told them then waved, "Well, I will check out and get the rest of my stuffs first, you two can go and ask the man for information".

Nina and Ryu nodded, they watched as the boy entered the Inn before looking at each other, "Let's go then." Nina suggested and Ryu nodded in answer.

"Um, Hello." Nina greeted the man.

"Yes?" The man asked with a raised eyebrow, "Do you need something?".

"Um, we are wondering if you know where we can get Sandflier parts?" Nina asked with hopeful smile.

The man grasped his chin with his hand, "Hm, yes, I know." The man answered before looking at them, "Well, we are talking about business, yes? So if you want information, you have to offer some money that is equal with the information, no?" He smiled at them, "How much are you willing to pay for the information?".

Nina and Ryu looked at each other before Nina looked at the man, "Um, 100 Zenny?" Nina suggested.

The Information Broker hummed, "Not a bad amount, but still not enough." He answered and raised an eyebrow at them.

Nina sighed, "Okay, how about 125 Zenny?" She tried again.

The man grinned, "That's enough." He agreed, and fully turned to them, "Alright, if you want to get Sandflier parts, you need to get to the Black Market." He told them, "But to get into the Black Market, you will need the Password. I don't know the password, but I saw that there's a traveling merchant who had just come out of the Market and gone to the desert, he would be willing to tell you".

"Where do you think we can find him then?" Haku's voice joined their conversation.

Nina and Ryu jumped because they didn't see him coming, "Oh, Haku, you scared us." Nina said with a sigh of relief.

"Sorry." Haku apologize with a smile before looking at the man, "So, where is he?".

"I believe that he is still nearby, so try looking at the **Highway**." The man answered.

Nina nodded, "Thank you." She said before turning to Ryu and Haku, "Well, let's get going, the sooner we go, the higher the chance we could meet him".

Ryu and Haku nodded, so they left the town with Nina was leading the way, when they were on their way, they met two round shape monsters, "What are they?" Haku asked as he pointed at the blue monsters.

"They are called Eye Goo, a common monster around the desert." Nina answered as she pointed at the two small monsters, "Since they are weak, people don't really mind them so much, they can be avoided easily after all. But some times these monsters will take the initiative to attack us, if that the case then we had to kill them." She clasped her hands together and began to chant, her Staff glowed and floating while swirling around her, "**_Sever!_**" She yelled as she throw her right hand upwards, her Staff flying to the sky. A small whirlwind appeared and attacked one of the Eye Goos, then Nina's Staff returned to her hand.

"Yuck." Haku commented as he saw what happened to the monster, "They just turned to a puddle of goo when they died? Is that why people called it Eye Goo?".

Nina laughed with a sweat drop, "Yes, that's the reason, because they literally are goo monsters with eyes on them, that's why their name is Eye Goo." She said with a nod as she looked at the goo that was starting to get absorbed by the desert sand.

While Nina explained it to Haku, Ryu marched forward and cut the other Eye Goo and killed it. "There, we can continue." He said to them.

Nina and Haku nodded before they continued their way, careful not to step on the mess of goo. They met with the man the Informant talked about and got the password, they then headed back to Sarai and went to the Bar again, since the Black Market was behind the tavern of the Bar.

Ryu went to the Bartender and whispered the password, they were let in by the man. Inside, they found a fat man with a bull-man, the bull-man acting as a bodyguard to the fat man. Nina then told them that she need a Sandflier parts.

"Hmm, I see." The fat man said to show that he had listened, "But we got a bit of problem here".

"What is it?" Nina asked in confusion.

"It's like this, young girl." The man started, "Sandflier was originally designed as war machine, if the Empire found out we were selling them, the next time a war broke, they would go after us." Nina nodded to show that they understand, "I don't want this place to end up under a Hex like Synesta and Chamba, so no, Thank you".

Nina gasped, "Does that mean you don't have any Sandflier parts?!" She asked in near panic, if they couldn't get the parts, Cray wouldn't be able to repair their Sandflier, and they would need it if they want to go to Synesta.

The man hummed in thought, "Not exactly." He shook his head, "There's a place called **Sandflier Valley** near here, as the name, they have many junk, old, and broken Sandflier. If you could get some material of the parts you need from there, we could make it for you. How about it?".

"You got yourself a deal then." Haku said with a grin, he turned to Nina and Ryu, "Let's go, it's better than nothing, right?".

Nina and Ryu nodded, "Right." Nina said before she looked at the man again, "We will come back soon, thank you for your help".

With that, they headed out to the direction given to them by the bull-man, they managed to get to the place where they could get the parts they need without meeting any monsters, or so they thought.

"Nina! Watch out!" Haku yelled as he threw his Dagger to something at Nina's feet.

Nina yelped in surprise and looked down to her feet, only for her to take a step back, "S- Scorpion." She said in shaky voice, she didn't see it coming.

"Different than those Eye Goos from earlier, I know that there's many Scorpions hiding in the desert sand." Haku said as he walked and pulled out his Dagger from the dead scorpion, "So I know where I need to watch my step so I wouldn't get stung by Scorpions." He washed his Dagger with some clean water he brought with him and slipped it into it's sheath.

Nina nodded, "Thank you, Haku." She said with a grateful smile.

Ryu looked at the boy, "Where we need to watch out for Scorpions?" He asked as he looked around.

"Sand dunes." Haku answered as he pointed to the spot where the Scorpion came out earlier, "Since there's more sand than the other areas around sand dunes, they could use the sands to cover themselves and wait for their prey to come".

Ryu nodded, "Alright, we will be cautious when we are around sand dunes then." He said decisively.

Nina nodded in agreement, "Right, I don't want to get stung." She said with a shudder.

"My, my, I didn't think I would get this many visitors." A voice said from inside the building they were told about, where the guard of the Valley stayed in case someone would need his help.

"Um, excuse me, but we are here to find some Sandflier materials." Nina told the elderly man as they entered the building after the man invited them.

"Oh, right." The man said with a nod as he showed them the place where they could get the parts, "As you know, there's many of them here, but they are buried in sand, so you need a shovel to dig them, or if you have a dog, the dog could help you find them." He gestured for the dog beside him, "What do you think, you want to borrow the shovel only or with the dog as well?".

They looked at each other and then nodded at the man, the answer was obvious after all, "We will borrow both the shovel and the dog." Nina said to the man.

The old man grinned, "That would be 50 Zenny then." He told them cheekily.

Nina pulled out the money from the bag attached to her waist and handed them to the man, she then looked at Ryu, "Ryu, you wouldn't mind to do the digging, right?" She asked with a grin, "I'm a girl and Haku is only a boy".

Ryu nodded, "No problem." He said as he accepted the shovel from the old man, then he and the dog get to the digging site. The dog walked around the site and barked every time it smelt something under the sand, Ryu remembered every spot the dog barked at and, as soon as the dog returned to it's master, he started his digging.

He was surprised when he dug the spots that the dog barked at, not only he found the **Ship Parts** at one spot, he found a **Sage's Staff** at the other spot, and in another spot, he found a Healing Herb. How a Sage's Staff and a Healing Herb got into the Alley was beyond him, but he took them with him nonetheless, Nina could use the Staff and the Healing Herb would definitely useful in the future.

"Did you found it, Ryu?" Nina asked when he get back into the building.

"Yes, and something else." Ryu said as he showed her the Staff, "It's stronger than your **Baton**, right?" he asked.

Nina blinked, "How in the world a Sage's Staff could get into a Valley for junk Sandflier parts?" She asked in confusion, but accepted the Staff anyway.

"Don't ask me." Ryu said with a sweat drop, "I was surprised myself when I found it".

Haku chuckled, "Maybe the Sandflier was carrying it inside before the Sandflier ended up in here." He said at the hilarious situation.

Nina and Ryu shrugged, "Anyway, now that we found the parts, we better get back to Sarai." Nina suggested, Ryu and Haku nodded in agreement.

They hurried to Sarai so they could return to the place where Nina's friend was waiting sooner, on the way though, Haku thought of something, "Nina, why don't we sell your Baton?" He asked as he pointed at the merchant who sell weapon, "Rather than carrying two Staffs, isn't it better to sell it and get money from it?".

Nina looked at her Baton and nodded, "You are right." She agreed.

And so, they stopped at the weaponry merchant first to sell Nina's Baton before heading for the Bar. When they arrived at the Bar though, they got a surprise when all of a sudden a man was flying from one side of the bar to the other.

Nina gasped, Ryu frozen in shock, while Haku narrowed his eyes as he tried to understand what happened, be it just a simple street fight or an ambush.

"D- Damn." The man who got thrown cursed as he rub his sore jaw, Nina recognized him as the man who were in the hole where she found Ryu, "What the hell do you think you are doing?!" He demanded.

"It's not a difficult thing, is it?" They looked to the side where the man get thrown from, they saw another man there, but he was wearing a uniform of Imperial Army, even more so, the uniform of a Captain in the Empire. "You said you saw it, the Monster." He said as he approached the fallen man, "I would like you to tell me about it in detail".

"I don't know anything!" The man yelled in anger, "Even if I know, I wouldn't tell the likes of you!".

"Oh my." The Imperial Captain commented with bot eyebrows raised, "I'm afraid I can't let that kind of attitude go, you are still asking for pain it seems".

"Wha-?!" Nina bristled and ran down the stairs while yelling, "What are you doing?!".

"Nina?!" Ryu and Haku gasped in shock.

Nina knelt down beside the man, "Why . . . why are you doing this?" She asked the Captain, "I thought the war was supposed to be over!".

"Why?" The Captain asked with a closed eyes to appear cool, "Because I don't like people who hide things. Besides . . ." The man opened his eyes to look at Nina, "The war is not **over**, there's been a **cease-fire** called, that's all." He began walking to her and the man from earlier, "Do you understand the difference, missy . . ." The man's eyes widened when he really get a good look at Nina, "Wait . . . you are a Wyndian . . ." The man chuckled then, "Well, well. If it isn't the Little Princess!".

Nina looked at the man with a frown of confusion and annoyance, "We were sent out to find a Dragon, but we found a little bird instead!" The Captain continued his monologue, "Grab her, men. There's no reason we shouldn't take her as well!" He ordered his men.

"W- wait!" Nina interrupted as she stood up, "Do you know something about my Sister?!".

The Captain didn't answer her question, instead, he pulled out some paper with a symbol on it, "By the power granted me, I command thee! Warrior Spirit, thou art summoned!" He yelled as he throw the paper, a strong wind suddenly swirled in the Bar, and a monster clad in armor appeared, "Joh . . . I want you to capture that girl, be careful not to hurt her . . . too much." He smirked nastily.

"It's big but fast!" Nina gasped the monster moved it's weapon to attack her.

"Nina!" Ryu exclaimed before he jumped in front of Nina and cut off the monster's arm that was carrying it's weapon.

Nina sighed in relief and began to prepare for Magic attack, "**_Sever!_**" She sent her wind attack to the monster.

Joh's other arms, the one that was carrying another hammer-like weapon, cut off by the attack.

"Alright." Haku said calmly as he already prepared to attack from the beginning. He was holding his Dagger in his right hand, outwards and in front of him, while his left index finger and middle finger touching the edge of his Dagger's knife*. The Dragon on the Dagger's hilt glowing a blue light, "**_Frost!_**" He yelled as he swing his right hand upwards with the end of his Dagger pointing toward the ceilings. Many Diamond shaped Ice cubes appeared in the air and shot at the monster, the attack destroying the monster and reduced it into a pile of steels on the floor.

**(*AN : The move is similar with Ryu when he use his Special Move in the Game)**

"Nina! Are you hurt?!" Ryu asked as he stand in front of Nina and get into a fighting stance.

"No, I'm alright, Thank you." Nina said with a smile, "If not for you, I wouldn't get the time to chant the spell." Her smile widened, "You are so brave and strong, you can cut off the monster's arm in one strike!".

"Indeed, you certainly are stronger than you look." The Captain said as he reached for his sword and walked to the two, "I will be your opponent now".

But before he even get the chance to fully pulled out his sword, Ryu already moved and cut off the Captain's sword, the force of his attack was enough to make a cut on the man's face as well. The man screamed in pain, "H- How dare you!" He screamed in rage while covering his wound with his hands.

"Nina! Ryu!" Haku called out as he waved for them to come over, "Come on! We get out of here!".

Ryu grabbed Nina's hand and they run to the stairs.

"C- Captain Rasso! Are you alright?!" One of the Captain's men asked as Nina and Ryu get through them.

"What are you doing?!" Rasso snapped at his men, "After them!".

"Yes, Sir!" The men exclaimed and began running to the stairs while Ryu, Nina, and Haku ran out from the Bar.

"YOU LITTLE! HOW DARE YOU WOUND MY BEAUTIFUL FACE!"

The scream of rage was loud enough that Haku, Ryu and Nina heard it. Haku laughed as they run, "Beautiful?" he asked himself, "He must be kidding me, an ugly face like that he called beautiful?" Ryu and Nina laughed with him, but they had to keep it quiet or they would be found.

"But really, I'm surprised you can use Water Magic, Haku." Nina whispered. They were in hiding at the moment, so they had to keep quiet.

Haku grinned sheepishly, "I'm quite good in using Water Magic, along with a few Fire, Earth, and Wind Magic." He admitted while looking around, "But really, now it would be hard for us to get out".

"Hey!"

A voice whispered harshly to them, Nina was the first one to noticed that it was directed to them and turned around. "Ah, it's the man from earlier." She said to get her two friend's attentions.

Ryu and Haku turned around and saw the man as well, the man gesturing for them to come to him so they did. "Thanks for your help back there." He said as soon as they get to him, "Those guys are going around asking everyone about the Dragon, and now that strange monster is attacking all the carts coming in." He then looked around and started walking again, motioning for them to follow him carefully. "Imperial soldiers control all the entrances to town, so, I will show you to the back entrance for you to escape".

"Ah, but we still need to get the parts we need to be made." Nina said as she bit her lower lip in nervousness.

"Parts? What parts?" The man asked in confusion.

"The Sandflier parts, her Sandflier broke and she need the parts to repair it." Haku explained, "But it would be impossible now".

"Eh? Why?" Nina asked in shock.

"The man who managing the Black Market clearly said that he take the cautious way because he didn't want for this town to get under Hex." Haku explained to her, "With all those soldier in here now, even with us bringing the material to him, he would refuse to work because of the soldiers. And considering we got those Imperial Army after us, our only option now is to get out of this town and head for your friend in the Great Desert".

"Aren't you too smart for your age?" The man mumbled in surprise as he stared at Haku, he the shook his head and looked at them, "Anyway, you want to go through the Great Desert?" He asked, in which receiving a nod from Nina as an answer, "No good, those soldiers had controlled everywhere to the East." He said out loud as he thought of a possible way to get to the Great Desert without going to the East.

"Eh?! Does this mean we couldn't go to the Great Desert?" Nina asked in worry, "My friend is waiting for me in there".

"There's a way." The man said as he pulled a map from his bag and unrolled it, he showed it to them and pointed to a spot, "Need to take a detour, but not too much. You can go to the Great Desert through a town called **Chamba**, in the North".

"Really?" Nina asked in relief, "Thank you very much, Mister".

"It's nothing, but you need to hurry." He reminded them as he opened the curtain to the back entrance, "The sooner you get out from here and escaped to Chamba, the safer you would be".

Nina nodded again and looked at her friends, "Let's go." She said and walked out to the desert, she looked back at the man and waved her hand, "Thank you again, Mister".

"Be careful on your way." The man answered with a wave of his hand as well and get back into the town.

They looked at each other than nodded before take a run through the desert, the far the distance they had with the town, the better.

* * *

To be continued . . .

* * *

Froim : Review Please! ^ ^


	4. Chamba, Hex, and Ershin

Chapter 4

* * *

**Disclaimer : I Don't own Breath of Fire 4!**

* * *

_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_ [Voice from the past]_

_'Telepathic Voice'_

"Dialogue"

**Emphasis**

**_Dangerous Tone/Magic Name_**

* * *

**_Chamba, Hex, and Ershin_**

* * *

"Is this Chamba?" Haku asked as he looked around, "The town is smaller than I thought".

"I guess?" Nina answered, but become more as a question than an answer, "I also thought that the town would be bigger than this".

Ryu was looking around as well, "It's strange." He mumbled, "No one's around".

"Hmm, wait a minute." Nina said before she unfurled her Wings and flew up to get a better sight of the town, she saw an elderly man and a young man on top of a building up ahead of them. Nodding to herself, she flew down to the ground and relayed what she saw to her friends, "Why don't we go there and ask them what happened to this town?".

"Agreed." Ryu and Haku said at the same time, making them looked at each other in surprise before nodding to Nina, "Let's go".

Nina nodded back and led the way since she was the one who know the way to the said elder man and young man, the two aforementioned looked up when they heard them coming. "Hm, I never seen your faces before." The elder man commented while the young man decided to watch only, "What's bring you here?".

"Um, is this really Chamba?" Nina asked hesitantly.

". . ." The elder man stared at them blankly before finally opened his mouth, "What kind of question is that? Of course this is Chamba!".

"Eh? But I thought Chamba would be bigger than this." Haku asked in surprise as he looked at the small town.

"Of course." The man agreed, "This is only a part of the town, most of the rest is still covered in Hex and couldn't be used".

"Hex?" Nina and Ryu asked with full attention while Haku with his eyes narrowed.

_I remember reading that Synesta and Chamba were indeed get attacked by Hex during the war, but it's already a long time. Surely the Purifiers had finished their job to cleanse the two damaged towns by now?_ Haku asked himself as he looked towards the closed part of the town, he looked back towards the elder man when he began talking.

"Certainly, you have heard about the Hexes being cast during the war, right?" The elder man asked, Nina nodded in answer, "The Empire casted the Hex using a weapon called Carronade, and this town is one of the towns get attacked by Hex." He shook his head, "Ordinary folks like you can't go somewhere that had been Hexed, it's too dangerous. If you want to go to Chamba for something, you will have to wait until the Hex is gone and . . . hm? Looks like everyone's come back".

They looked toward the closed part of the town to see the gate opened and many people wearing strange armors coming in, one of them turned to the rest, "Alright, everyone! That's it for today!" The man, it's a man voice so they thought it's a man, said to the rest, "We've got another early start tomorrow, so make sure you get some sleep! Alright, now get outta here!".

Nina, Ryu and Haku looked at the old man again for explanation, though, Haku already make a guess on who they were, "Those folks that just come back are a group of Purifiers, they go from town to town, purifying them of Hexes." The old man explained to them.

"That's mean . . . if we want to know more about Hex, we should ask them, right?" Nina asked in thought, the old man nodded, "Alright, thank you for your help." She bowed a bit and they left to talk with the Purifiers.

"Boss~ We are hungry~" One of the worker with small feature said to the Boss, who by now had removed his armor.

"Food~" Another worker with small feature, the same height with the previous one, said to the Boss.

The Boss, a man with Orange hair and Reddish Brown dog tail, laughed with sweat drop at them, "Yes, yes." He answered, "Just wait a minute".

"Excuse me." Nina interrupted them.

The boss turned to them and smiled, "Oh, hello there." He said in friendly way, "Don't get many visitor here, what can we do for you?".

"Can we talk with the Leader of this group?" Nina asked with a sheepish smile.

"Why, yes." The man nodded, "I'm the Leader of this bunch, my name's Tahb." He said to them, "Now, what can I do for you?".

Nina nodded, "We need to get through Chamba." She started, "Is there any way we can do that before the Hex disappears?".

Tahb crossed his arms, "Nope, I'm afraid not." He answered with a shake of his head, "There's a lot of negative energy bound up in that mist . . . you need a special armor just to go inside".

Nina bit her lower lip again, the situation was really complicate now.

"How long is it until the Hex disappears?" Ryu asked the man.

"I figure it'll at least another year before we can rid of the Hex completely and get Chamba back to normal." Tahb answered in thought.

"A year?!" Nina and Ryu gasped in shock.

"Tahb." Haku called out, the man looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "We couldn't wait that long, can't we just borrow some armor or something?".

Tahb blinked at Haku, "You are talking like an adult for someone your age, boy." He commented.

"You don't know how many times people told me that." Haku said with a grin.

"Well . . . If you absolutely have to get through now . . ." Tahb drawled, "We can't let you borrow our armor since we need them to work, so . . . let's see . . . if you can find someone to guide you, I would let you go in".

"Guide?" Nina asked with wide eyes.

Immediately, protests and complains raised from the statement. "Boss, it's no good!" One of them said in panic, "There's no way anyone would take two amateurs through Hex!".

Tahb smiled grimly, "That was I thought." He told the three visitors as the others began walking away to eat or do something else they want to do, that and they didn't want to get involved, "It's just too dangerous to take unprotected, inexperienced people inside!".

"But . . . we have no other choice." Nina argued, "We can't use any other roads!".

"I don't know why you can't, but I can guess why." Tahb answered with a nod, "I mean, why else anyone would come here? Still . . .".

Suddenly, something tried to open the door. Tahb jumped and Ryu pulled Nina behind him while Haku only stared at the door with blinking eyes, _Why in the world did I felt a dim Endless aura?_ He asked himself curiously.

The gate opened and an armored figure could be seen looking around before focusing on Tahb, "I have returned, Boss." A voice said through the armor, it's unclear whether it's female or male, but from the way the person talked and acted, they can guess that it's female.

Ryu and Nina relaxed then they looked at Tahb when he also sighed in relief, "It's you, Ershin!" Tahb exclaimed, still in shock, "Don't do that! You scared the wits out of me!".

Ershin walked forward to Tahb, "If you were surprised by that, you will be more surprised in a moment." She said casually.

Nina and Ryu looked confused while Tahb and Haku sweat dropped, "Uh . . . yeah, whatever." Tahb then looked at the three, "Um, this is Ershin. She work with us, but . . . ah to be honest, she's a little odd".

"Incorrect!" Ershin argued as she stepped forward again, "Ershin is not odd." She then looked at Nina, Ryu and Haku, "Ershin is saying that she will guide these three".

" . . ." Tahb stared at Ershin before he snapped, "What?! Are you out of your mind?! What are you going to do if something happens?!".

"It will be fine." Ershin assured him.

"But-"

"Ershin said it will be fine, so it will be fine."

"No, um"

"Ershin said it will be fine, so it will be fine."

". . ."

"Ershin said it will be fine, so it will be fine." Every time she said that, she stepped closer to Tahb, and by the time she said it the third time, she already right in front of Tahb's face.

"Ok, ok, I get it!" Tahb yelled as he stepped back, "If you are going to be like that, then do what you want!".

Their face brightened and they looked at Ershin, "Thank you so much! You don't know how much this help us!" Nina said to Ershin.

"No." Ershin said, "Let us thank Ershin. Thank you, Ershin".

" . . . ?" The three laughed nervously with a sweat drop.

Tahb sighed, "If you are that set on going, it can't be helped." He said in defeat but then raised a finger to them, "Listen here, you three." He said that to Nina, Ryu and Haku, "Unless you want to die, don't you touch the black mist in there! It's the Hex's poisonous mist!".

XXXXX

"Uwaa." Nina said as she gripped her Staff tighter, "It's so dark in here, we really need to be careful".

"You are right." Haku agreed as he looked around, "The negative is energy really suffocating me".

"I agree." Ryu said before he and Haku the stopped suddenly and looked behind when they heard a strange noise.

"Ryu? Haku?" Nina asked in confusion, "Is something wrong?".

"What . . . was that strange noise?" Ryu asked with a frown.

"It's the Hex." Haku said to them, his eyes narrowed at the Black mist below the bridge they were on.

"It's because the Hex is a mass of hatred and bitterness." Ershin explained without looking back at them, "Strange noises are not unusual, rather natural." She looked at the Black mist as well, "A grudge normally not enough to kill, it's scattered. But Hex, since it's a great mass of hatred and negative feeling, it could kill." She finally looked back at them, "Ershin says that as long as it's only noises, we have nothing to fear. Come, let us continue".

They nodded and continued to walk, as they walked though, Nina looked sad. "Nina?" Ryu asked in concern as he looked at her.

"It's horrible, this Hex." Nina said sadly.

"Ufufufu." Ershin laughed, "The one who made the Hexes are humans, so . . . it serves you right. Says Ershin".

"Humans?" Ryu asked seriously, "Humans made Hexes?".

"That's right." Haku was the one who answered him, "And the source of Hexes is also humans." His face turned into a scowl, "Haven't you heard stories about the Empire using the Carronade, the Hex cannon?".

"I have heard about them." Nina said with a sad expression on her face, "But to think it could creat this horrible place . . .".

The noises then become louder, then the land shook. "Wha- what was that?! Just now . . ." Nina asked in panic and shock.

They looked behind and saw something like a fin come out of the Hex, "It's the Hex evil intent given form as a monster." Ershin explained as she began to chuckle, "Ershin says it's extreme dangerous. Ufufufu".

"If- if it's something dangerous then you shouldn't be laughing!" Ryu exclaimed with a pale face, "We should be running!".

"You are correct." Ershin agreed, "I should not have laugh at that juncture".

"Just hurry up and run!" Haku snapped as he pushed Nina and Ryu forward, "It's coming here!".

"It would be best if we were to flee." Ershin agreed as she led the way.

"It's chasing us!" Nina warned as they run.

"We must hurry and cross the bridge." Ershin told them, and they make a run for it.

Ryu looked behind as they run, "Hurry, the thing is destroying the bridge!" He yelled the warning.

The crossed the brigde and Nina stopped to catch her breath, "We, we are safe . . ." She said breathlessly.

Haku looked at the side and thinned his lips, "Or not." He said shortly as he heard the noises again, he pulled out his Dagger just in time for the monster appeared floating above the Hex mist.

"Uwah!" Nina stood up and took a few steps back, Ryu pulled out his sword and get to battle stance.

"It's seems that we need to fight." Ershin said as she raised pulled Ryu back, "But it's dangerous to touch the raw fish of Hex, so a Melee Fighter like you have to stand back".

Ryu thinned his lips, he felt like he was useless, but he nodded and stand back.

"**_Risky Shot!_**" Ershin exclaimed as she shot one arm towards the fish-like monster, much to the shock of the others to see her arm flying like that, but the impact was enough to make the monster thrown backwards a bit.

"Alright." Nina said as her Staff started circling her, "**_Sever!_**".

The small whirlwind caught the fish-like monster and prevented it from marching to them.

"Let's finish it off." Haku said as he pointed his Dagger upwards, "**_Frost!_** Combine, **_Jolt!_**".

The Diamond shaped Ice cubes destroyed by Nina's whirlwind, creating an electricity and shocking the fish-like monster, and thus the monster got immobilized then fall back to the Black mist of Hex.

Nina stared at the spot where the fish disappeared with a sad face, "For human to made something like that monster, it's so sad." She mumbled.

"Yeah." Ryu agreed as he looked at the Hex.

"In times of war . . ." Haku drawled, "People could act so selfish that they would use something powerful that enough to destroyed the lands, they never stop to think that by doing that, they would get hurt as well".

"It's sad but it's the truth." Ershin said, "Just like what the boy said, humans are so selfish and stupid. Says Ershin".

Haku and Ryu sheathed back their weapons, "Well then, let us continue." Ershin then nodded towards the ladder behind them, "Head up the ladder, and we will get outside the town".

Ershin was the first to climbed, followed by Nina, Haku and Ryu. "Ershin." Nina called to their guide, "Thank you so much for helping us. Without you, we would never be able to do it".

"If you wish to thank someone, you should thank Ershin. Thank you, Ershin." Ershin said, making them to sweat dropped again.

"Um . . . yes, well . . . I'm afraid we don't have anything to give you right now, but . . ." Nina confessed with apologetic smile.

Ershin shook her head, "Nothing or material nature is required." She said, "Ershin says she wishes to accompany that man." He looked at Ryu.

"Eh?!" Ryu stared at Ershin in shock.

"But is that alright?" Nina asked in worry, "I mean, leaving without telling anyone, they are waiting for you".

"Ershin said it will be fine, so it will be fine." Ershin said as she looked at Nina.

"Um, okay then." Nina said as she looked at the others, "Let's get back to Cray, the sooner the better. If I know him, he would be very worried by now".

They nodded and left for the place where Nina's friend was waiting.

* * *

To be continued . . .

* * *

Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	5. Intertwined With The Dragon's

Chapter 5

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own Breath of Fire 4!**

* * *

_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_ [Voice from the past]_

_'Telepathic Voice'_

"Dialogue"

**Emphasis**

**_Dangerous Tone/Magic Name_**

* * *

**_Intertwined With The Dragon's_**

* * *

Cray was laying beside the tent be built while waiting for Nina, he was bored out of his mind since there's nothing to do. He sighed, _I hope Nina would be alright_, he thought as he looked at the clouds up above in the sky.

"Cray~!"

Cray jumped and stood up when he heard Nina's voice, he looked ahead and saw Nina was running to him. "Nina!" He said happily, glad that the girl he had thought as his own Sister had come back.

"Cray!" Nina called out again as she hugged him.

"Nina." Cray said as he rubbed Nina's back to calm her down, "I'm so glad you are back, safe and sound. I was beginning to worry that something had happened".

Nina nodded as she wiped her tears, "I'm sorry, Cray." She apologized, "In the end, I couldn't get the parts that we need." She then looked at the rest of her friends who had just arrived at their place, "And if it's not for them, I might not be able to get back at all".

Cray looked at them and nodded, "Why don't we sit down and you can tell me what exactly had happened?" He suggested as he gestured for them to sit.

The sun just about to set by the time Nina finished telling him what had happened, "I see . . ." He commented, he then bowed his head to Ryu, Haku and Ershin, "You have my thanks for helping Nina." He said to them.

"Ah, it's nothing." Ryu said sheepishly.

Haku nodded at Cray, "I simply want to go with her for a change, traveling around by myself get a bit boring sometimes." He said calmly with a smile.

Ershin, on the other hand, didn't say anything about the expression of gratitude that Cray showed them and commented, "Ershin is saying that it appear as if your Sandflier was damaged by a **Dragon**".

"That's right, but . . . how do you know that?!" Cray asked in shock.

"I didn't tell you about it yet." Nina commented as she looked at Ershin, "I only told Ryu and Haku about it".

"It would appear that Ershin can sense such things." Ershin answered, causing Nina and Cray to looked at each other, then she yawned, "Ershin is very sleepy".

Cray nodded, "I'm sorry . . . you must be tired after your journey." He apologized, "As you can see, I can't offer much in the matter of style, but you are welcome to spend the night here".

The rest had gone to sleep, but Haku was still wide awake. He was looking at the broken Sandflier, _Indeed_, he thought to himself as he sensed a dim aura of an Endless, _The aura might be dim, but I'm certain that it was, indeed, Sa Ryong who hit this Sandflier, however . . ._ he looked at the sleeping form of Ershin, _Those who can feel the aura of an Endless are the fellow Endless and people who had a strong connection with the Endless only, so . . . who is this Ershin actually?_

_Hm?_ He looked at Ryu when he felt a strong power emanating from the sleeping boy, the center of the power was one of Ryu's eyes, _He used the power of his Dragon's Eye subconsciously?_ He closed his eyes and concentrating to see what kind of vision that Ryu saw in his dream.

_They got out of the water and looked around, "This is it!" Cray realized with a start, "It's the place they are holding Elina!"._

_"Yes . . . It's like what Ryu's dream showed us." Nina said with a nod, she looked at Ryu and smiled, "Right?"._

_"Don't get your hope ups to much." Cray said as he looked at the door, "We still need to find her. Let's go!"._

_As they walked they come across a room, the door to the room was starting to opened, "Somebody's coming!" Cray whispered harshly as they retreated back into the hallway they were in._

_"What then the status of the sacrifice?" A man wearing a purple clothes and hat asked._

_The person beside him turned to him, "It's continue to . . . grow, Lord Yuna." He reported._

_Yuna nodded, "Excellent, I am greatly pleased." He said._

_"Blast it! They will see us . . ." Cray hissed, he then noticed the curtain beside him, he nodded to himself, "Right, if we walked behind this curtain slowly enough, we should be able to get to the other side without being seen . . ."._

Nina gasped awake, and as she sat up, Cray, who was sleeping near her, also sat up. "What was that . . . just now?" He groaned as he rubbed his temple.

"Cray . . ." Nina said in shaky voice, "I . . . just had a dream".

"Dream?!" Cray asked in surprise.

"Yes, you were in it, and so was Ryu." Nina answered with a nod.

Cray narrowed his eyes, "Don't tell me, a dream where we went to rescue Elina?" He asked suspiciously.

Nina gasped, "You had the same dream?!" She asked in shock.

"It's Ryu's dream." Haku said with a yawn.

Nina and Cray jumped then turned to look at him, the boy was rubbing his eyes. "What do you mean it was Ryu's dream?" Nina asked as she fully turned to him.

"The **Dragon's Eye** looked into the future." Ershin explained to them, "The future that might become true. Says Ershin".

"You mean . . ." Cray drawled, "If we go together with Ryu, he can take us to the place we saw in the dream? He can take us to Elina?!" He asked seriously.

"Apparently so." Ershin answered.

Haku looked at Ershin, _She knows about Dragon's Eye, it's not something that most of humans know. And to realise that Ryu got a Dragon's Eye, she had to be one of the Endless as well . . . But why is it that her aura is so weak?_ _Could she is the one supposed to be The Sealed Goddess? _He shook his head and got up, "We better get ready if we don't want to stay here all day." He said just as Ryu woke up.

Cray and Nina nodded, "Call it an omen . . . call it a vision . . . call it whatever you want to, I want to believe that it's real." Cray said as he packing his stuff.

Nina nodded as she stood up, "Up until now, we haven't much to go on . . ." She then looked at Ryu, who was standing near the broken Sandflier, "But now I feel somehow closer to my Sister . . . like we are finally on the right track . . ." She then grinned at the confused Ryu, "And it's all thanks to Ryu, isn't it?".

Ryu scratched the back of his head, "I don't understand, but I don't think I'm that much of a help." He said sheepishly.

"Ershin says that she will go where Ryu does." Ershin said as she stood up from her sitting position.

"Well then, let's get moving." Cray said as he stood up with his bag, "We can't use the Sandflier, so we had to go on foot. We will follow the coastline and head North".

XXXXX

"Ah, there's a dam." Haku said as he looked at the dam.

"But it's so quiet around here." Cray said as he looked around, "Where's everybody? I heard there's a lot of people working here".

"You mean you don't know?" A female voice rang from behind them, they turned to see a woman wearing a uniform, "You are not from around here, are you?".

"What do you mean?" Cray asked her.

Just then, the Earth shook when a loud thud could be heard, along with a loud cry of something. Haku blinked, "That cry is . . . Ni Ryong (Mud Dragon)?" He asked in confusion.

"Ah, so you know." The girl commented with a smile, "You see, normally the Mud Dragon would be swimming near the bottom, but lately he had been acting a bit crazy." She explained, "Not many people stay here anymore, they all run off in fear the dam might give away. I'm the Head Engineer here, so there's no way I would abandon my duty".

"Um, Miss." Nina called her, "We need to get across to the other side, do you think we could open the gate?".

The girl nodded, "Sure!" She answered cheerfully, "But I need help, you see, the thing hadn't been used that often anymore, so it got stiff".

"Alright." Cray said with a nod and looked at the rest, "Come on, we have to help if we want to get across to the other side".

They followed the Head Engineer to the Engine Room and opened the gate, in doing so, Cray helped out with the machine a bit so it wouldn't be stiff anymore. "Good." The Head Engineer said as she wiped her sweats, "Now that the gate is open, you can cross to the other side".

"Thank you very much." Nina said with a sweet smile to her.

"That's my line." The girl smiled back at Nina, "You helped us with the repairs, thanks. You really saved us." She looked at them all and motioned with her hand for them to move, "Now, let's cross to the other side before the Dragon acting up again".

"Right." Cray nodded and they stepped out of the Engine Room, but then some loud 'Clank' noises could be heard.

"The alarm?!" The Head Engineer gasped before she started running, "Hurry!" the get out of the building to see people running around.

"The Dragon!" The person by the huge bell yelled as he continued to hit the bell, "It's attacked! Everyone! Evacuate!".

"Hurry! To the other bank!" The girl yelled as she led the way to the other bank.

They got to the lift in time for a huge wave of mud come crashing the dam and destroyed everything, "Everything had been swallowed by the mud." Cray said as they looked at the once dam, but now a sea of mud.

"Are you alright?" Nina asked the Head Engineer in worry.

The girl had collapsed to the ground once they got to the top of the cliff, the adrenaline rush had gone it seemed. "Yeah, but the dam sure isn't." She answered as she looked at the rest of the workers at the other side of the dam, "Looks like everyone got out safely too." She laughed breathlessly, "It's looked like we got a lot of work ahead of us".

"Are you going to rebuild the dam?" Haku asked as he looked at the flowing mud.

"It would be hard, but we had to." The girl answered as she stood up, "If not then we wouldn't have a job to do".

" . . . We need to get going." Cray said after they got their breath under control.

Nina and Ryu nodded, "Thank you again, Miss." Nina said to the girl who had been a great help to them in opening the gate.

The girl nodded and waved, "Good bye." She said as they began walking away.

They walked along the cliff until the sun had set, they stopped a bit to watch the sunset since the sight was too beautiful to be ignored.

"It's beautiful." Nina said as she watch the sun set, the reflection made by the sea of mud make it even more beautiful.

Cray nodded, "There's a village called **Kyria** at the East of here." He informed them, "We should be able to get to Synesta from there".

Ershin looked at the sunset and jumped, Ryu saw it and looked at the direction of the sunset as well before he also jumped in surprise. Haku turned around and saw what caused them to jumped a bit, "Ah." He commented in surprise, causing Cray and Nina to turned around as well.

The Mud Dragon had come out from the sea of mud before approaching them, "Isn't that . . .?" Nina started, but didn't continue her question.

The Dragon made a move with it's body, "Isn't that the Dragon that destroyed the dam . . .?" Cray asked to no one in particular as they looked at the Dragon.

Again the Dragon made a movement with it's body, as if wanting to tell them something. "It's the Mud Dragon, Ni Ryong." Haku told them as he looked at the Dragon calmly.

A sound of a music instrument then rang near them, making them looked up on top of a pillar nearby to see an old fog-lady playing her music instrument. "Never seen a Dragon come this close to the shore before." She commented and playing her instrument again, "Looks like your path have become intertwined with the Dragon's".

"Do you know a lot about the Dragon, Ma'am?" Nina asked in confusion.

Before the old lady could answer, Cray asked another question, "Is this the same Dragon that destroyed the dam?".

The old lady played her instrument, again. "Dragons don't attack people, dear . . . This one just want to tell you something" She explained to them.

They looked at the Dragon and he made another movement with it's body yet again, "Really?" Nina asked as she looked back at the old lady, "I wonder what he want to say . . .".

The old lady picked at her instrument, "Dragons are beyond understanding of mortals like us . . ." she played the instrument, again, "What we know of them comes to us in songs from ancient times." She looked at them, "Do you want to hear one of my songs? It won't cost you much . . .".

"A song of the Dragons . . ." Cray murmured before looking at the rest, "What do you say?".

"I want to hear it." Nina said as Ryu nodded his head.

"Ma'am!" Haku called out to her, "Is 100 Zenny enough for you to sing the song?" He asked as he showed the coin, when the old lady nodded, he throw it to the old lady and they were all surprised when the lady caught the coin with her tongue.

"Heh, heh. Thank you, kindly." The old lady said, "Alright, here's the song for you".

_~Unfading ones_

_Guide and change the world_

_Those who hear their voice_

_Surrender yourself . . . ~_

They saw the Dragon made the movement from before yet again and disappeared, much to their surprise.

"So, in the end . . ." Cray looked at the old lady with SWT expression, "What does that mean? I didn't get it at all".

The old lady picked at her instrument again, "It's mean, dear, that when the Dragons move, the world follows." She explained, "Everything the Dragons do changes the world in some way . . . and you all have been caught up in that change . . .".

Cray shook his head and sighed, "I'm sorry, Lady, but we are kind of in a hurry." He said to the old lady, "We don't have time to sit here and talk about Dragons or whatever".

"Thank you for singing to us, Ma'am!" Nina said with a big smile before they all left for Kyria.

The old lady picked at her instrument again when they all walked away, "Heh . . . your path is more than just tangled up with the Dragon's . . ." She looked at Ryu from her peripheral vision, "**You've got one walking around with you . . .**".

* * *

To be continued . . .

* * *

Haku : Froim doesn't know what to say, so Review Please :)


	6. Eccentric Village of Kyria, The Passagew

Chapter 6

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own Breath of Fire 4!**

* * *

_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_ [Voice from the past]_

_'Telepathic Voice'_

"Dialogue"

**Emphasis**

**_Dangerous Tone/Magic Name_**

* * *

**_Eccentric Village of Kyria, The Passageway to Synesta_**

* * *

"Gods, we finally made it to Kyria!" Nina said as she pat her legs, walking around so much had made her legs sore and tired.

"Are you okay, Nina?" Cray asked her as he looked at her in concern.

Nina nodded as she unfurled her Wings, "Yes, just a bit tired." She assured him, "What should we do now?".

"Well . . ." Cray drawled in thought as the rest looked at him, "First we need to talk with the Mayor, we need to get his permission if we want to use the passageway to Synesta".

"Then, we will do that." Haku said as he looking around, "But we need to be careful here." He said with a big grin, "There's so many trap laying around in this village!".

Cray, Nina and Ryu looked around and sweat dropped, "You are right." Ryu said in agreement before looking at the boy, "But why are you grinning like that?".

Ershin chuckled, "It's amusing to find a village like this." She said, Haku nodded at that, "I wonder if any of the villagers ever get caught in their own trap? Ufufufu." She chuckled again.

Cray sighed, "Let's get going then." He said in command.

They walked around and asked the villagers where they could find the Mayor, they show him his house, but when they entered the house, a large bar fell from the ceiling and blocked their way.

"What?" Cray, Nina, and Ryu stared at the bars while Haku only blinked at the situation they got themselves into, Ershin . . . well, she was wearing an armor, so no one could tell her expression.

"If you want to enter the Mayor's house . . ." One of the villagers said to them with a smile, "You need to find another way." They looked at the villager who said that to them, it's young man with short hair and a cloth tied to his forehead.

"Another?" Cray asked with a raised eyebrow as they walked out of the house.

The young man nodded, "Yup." He confirmed, "The Mayor is outside of the village at the moment, doing what, only he knows." He explained before he opened the door to the Mayor's house and pointing to the ladder at the corner of the small house, "You see the ladder over there? You need to enter the house through that." He then pointed to a Parrot inside, "Then, you need to ask the Parrot over there to know where the Mayor is".

"How we get to the ladder?" Nina asked him.

The young man shrugged, "It's for me to know and for you to find out." He said and walked away.

"What a half help we got." Cray complained.

Ershin chuckled, "At least you get some help. Says Ershin." She said.

During their short conversation, Haku had silently left and followed after the young man, he saw that the young man walked to stand near the tree behind the Mayor's house, and he also saw that the young man had been carefully avoiding a spot beside the tree which covered by a dry leaves. He grinned and walked back to the others.

"Huh? Where's Haku?" Ryu asked as he looked around.

The others looked around as well before spotting the said boy walking from the side of the Mayor's house, "There you are." Nina said with a sigh, "You disappeared so suddenly".

"I apologize." Haku said with a grin, "But follow me, I think I have found out the way to the ladder".

"Really?" Cray asked in surprise, when the boy nodded, he looked at the rest and the others looked at him before he turned back to look at the boy, "Show us then." He said with a nod.

Haku nodded back and turned around and led them to the back of the Mayor's house, "Watch." He told the rest before jumping to the spot that was covered by dry and brown leaves.

Nina, Cray, and Ryu gasped in shock when the boy disappeared to the ground, it turned out that there's a hole in that spot. Ershin and the young man from earlier chuckled, "That boy is a clever one." The young man told them, "Go on, it's the way to get to the ladder." He said with a shake of his head.

The three sweat dropped before jumping down as well followed by Ershin, when they landed at the bottom, they saw that there's a big underground room with a ladder attached to the wall of the room.

"How do you know that this hole is the way?" Nina asked Haku as the boy already began walking to the ladder.

"I saw the young man from earlier avoiding the spot, and only that spot that was covered by dry leaves, that's mean there's something underneath, and I know that that something is a hole since I had made something similar to this in the past." Haku explained as he climbed up the stairs, "I have my own experiences with traps, so I could easily noticed if there's a trap around or not".

"Well, let's talk to the Parrot then." Cray said as all of them had climbed up the ladder and into the Mayor's house.

"Who is gonna talk with it?" Ryu asked curiously.

"I will try." Cray said and walked up to the bird.

The bird appeared to be asleep, so he touched it, but when he did so, the bird unfurled it's Wings and talked, "Drop-in's bonza! How's about a flutter?" They all, except for Ershin since she was chuckling, sweat dropped, "Can't do it, mate, time's a-wasting!" It continued as if it talked to itself as two different Parrots, "Got him, yes!"

"What?"

"No good, mate, but you sure put in the big ones!"

"We really have no time for this . . ." Cray sighed.

"Now I'm chuffed. You gonna play with me?" The Parrot asked in answer.

"No." Cray said with a groan this time.

"Hold on a minute." The Parrot interrupted, "Are we in or aren't we, then?" It asked, "What's this, then? You are pulling a flyer?".

"No." Nina whined, she got frustrated by the Parrot's game.

"Bewdy, newk!" The Parrot kwak-ed, "Up there with Cazaly, that one—you're really got ticker!".

"Not really." Haku answered with a chuckle, playing along with with the bird.

"Good on ya, mate. It's been bonza." The Parrot kwak-ed again, "What can I do you?".

"Finally." Cray sighed, "Where's the Mayor?" He asked to the point.

The Parrot unfurled it's Wings again, "He's in the woods out back west. You want a chat, that's the ticket." It told them.

"Ah, so all that was a test to see if we qualified to meet the Mayor." Nina concluded with a clap of her hands.

Cray shook his head and sighed, "Let's go to the woods then." He grumbled, a bit annoyed that he got played by a bird.

They asked the young man from before where the woods was and headed that way immediately, when they got there a man stood in the middle of the way to the woods. "You can't come in." The man said right away as soon as he saw them.

"But we need to get in." Cray argued.

"I said you can't come in . . ." The man repeated.

"We are looking for the Mayor." Haku told him before Cray get annoyed again.

"Huh? You are looking for the Mayor?" The man asked in surprise, they nodded, "Ummm . . . there's a small problem".

"What?" Nina asked in confusion.

"I mean, the Mayor of Kyria is in here . . . But he's, um, well, lost." The man said with a thinned lips.

"Eh?!" Nina gasped in surprise.

"How come?" Cray asked with a frown, "A Mayor get lost in the woods around his own village?".

"Some really fierce animals moved into this forest a while back . . ." The man told them, "Me and the Mayor figured that we need to get rid of 'em . . . That's why we came here . . . But we only know how to make traps, see? We are not too good at hunting . . . I'm afraid we haven't much luck so far . . . I think we laid too many traps . . . kind of got hoist on our own petard, know what I mean?" He sighed and shook his head, "I don't know what to do anymore . . .".

They all sweat dropped at that, "Um . . . So, do you have any idea what's happened to the Mayor?" Nina asked him.

The man sighed, "Well . . . he's either got stuck in his own traps, or he ran into that monster . . ." He said in resigned tone.

"Can we go in looking for him then?" Cray asked, more demanding than asking though.

"If you want to go in looking for him, I won't stop you . . ." The man said as he reached into his pocket, "Here, take this with you".

Nina accepted what the man gave them and saw that it's an apple, "An Apple?" She asked in confusion.

"Try putting that Apple on a **stump** in the woods." The man suggested, "You should be able to lure the monster out with it".

Nina and Cray looked at each other, "So, if we find the monster and follow it . . ." Cray started and raised an eyebrow at the man.

". . . You should be able to find the Mayor . . ." The man finished for them, "I hope." He added as an after thought.

Cray nodded, "Alright." He said decisively.

The man stepped aside to let them in, "But . . . be careful, will ya?" The man asked with a half smile, "There are a lot of traps in the woods".

"Don't worry." Haku told him, "I'm pretty good in recognizing a trap, kind of often making them myself in the past".

"That's good for you then." The man said with a nod and they walked pass him.

"You often make traps?" Nina asked curiously as they walked into the forest, she looked at Haku as she asked the question.

"Yeah, when I camped in a forest, I would make some traps to catch the animals." Haku explained as he looked around for a stump, he saw one and walked to it, "Since I often saw what a trap looks like, I can easily noticed one, like this." He pointed at a specific spot beside him that was covered by some thin branches with the leaves still on them, "There's a hole below, don't step on it." He warned them as he continued his walk.

The others avoided the spot Haku pointed at and walked to where the boy had stopped walking, "Is this the stump?" Nina asked as she looked at the base of a tree that had been cut off.

"Possibly." Haku answered, he then looked around, "But there's too many traps in here, if we had to follow an animal or something, we would get caught in a trap in the middle of our chase".

Cray growled, "Those useless traps are getting on my nerves." He grumbled in annoyance as he crossed his arms, "If this going on, we would never found the Mayor".

"No way." Nina covered her mouth in worry before looking at Haku, "Is there anything we can do?" She asked in hope.

Haku hummed in thought, "Well . . . I'm good at recognizing a trap, so I could easily avoiding them even when I'm in a hurry." He drawled before nodding to himself and looked at them, "Here's the plan, we will place the Apple on the stump and then hide while waiting for that monster to took our bait." He explained to them the plan that he thought would succeed, "When the animal come out, I will follow after it, you all better wait here until I return after I know where that monster run off to, that way, you all can follow my lead and be sure to avoid the traps".

Cray nodded, "That's a well thought plan." He said then looked at them, "We will do it then".

The rest nodded and Nina placed the Apple that man gave her earlier on the stump, they then hid in a place where they could see the stump in secret. After some time, an animal walked into the stump and sniffed the apple before eating it, when it ate though, Haku run out of their hiding place and run after it, the animal saw him coming and run away.

Haku focused on the animal in front of him and saw where it was heading to, all the while watching out for traps, a good thing his reflexes were better than normal humans and mortals, since if not, he would have fallen into some traps already. After a long chase, he saw where it was disappeared into and stopped running since it was not a place where a human being could get into, but after looking around for a bit, he noticed a path that he could take and nodded to himself before running back to where the others were waiting.

"Hey!" Haku greeted them when he saw that they had come out from their hiding place, "Come on, I know where we should go".

They nodded and followed Haku's lead to the place he had been earlier, they then get to the path the boy mentioned and saw a man with the top half of his head being bald while the lower half being filled with white hairs.

"Um, excuse me, but are you the Mayor . . ." Nina started, but the old man jumped and shushed them before focusing on the front again.

They looked at each other in confusion before they saw the animal Haku chased after earlier appeared at the top of the short cliff and approached them, then the land below the animal gave a small explosion, not enough to actually harm the animal, but enough to make the animal run off in fright.

The Mayor laughed, "It work! My trap worked!" He cheered.

Cray crossed his arms while Haku, Ryu and Ershin shook their heads, Nina frowned as she was pitying the poor animal. The Mayor then looked at them, "You saw it, didn't you?!" He asked excitedly, "That stupid animal just walk right into it! Do I know how to make traps or what! Haha!" They all shook their heads now, "Hahaha! That's what you get! You dumb furball! How'd you get so stupid anyway? Run in the family?".

_This man is crazy!_ Was what running in their heads when they heard the Mayor ranted about his small victory, but they then froze when a big red animal with a pair of big tusks, with one of the tusks had broke in clean cut, just falling down from the sky.

"Ulp . . . . . . . . . that would be the family . . . eh?" The Mayor asked with a gulp.

"Gah! We need to kill it before it hurt the Mayor!" Cray exclaimed as he run forward and hit the monster with his club, making it staggered backwards by the impact.

"You are right." Ryu agreed as he running forward to get in between the Mayor and the monster then cut the monster's other tusk off of it's place when the monster charged at Cray.

"**_Sever!_**" Nina joined in, but she was not a Melee type, so she attacked from her original spot.

The small whirlwind attacked the monster, it shook it's head when the whirlwind disappeared, as if to clear it's head.

"**_Wild Shot!_**" Ershin shot her arms at the monsters, making it staggered backwards even more.

"Let's finish it off." Haku said when he saw the monster had weakened by the previous attacks, "Level 2 Water Magic! **_Ice Blast!_**" He shot his right arm upwards.

Many big Ice spikes shot up the monster and impaled it, the monster then destroyed into many small particles then disappeared.

"Well, I must say, I'm in your debt." The old man said to them, making them turned to look at him, "Thank you! Oh, and by the way . . ." He looked at each of them, "Who are you?".

"Um . . . You are the Mayor of Kyria, right?" Nina asked hesitantly.

"Yes . . . Yes, I am." The Mayor answered, "You want to see me then? Well then, let's go back to the village and we'll talk." He suggested.

They agreed and walked back to the village together, they went into the Mayor's house and removed the bar trap. "I bet you've never seen a village like this before!" The Mayor exclaimed with a laugh when the finished removing the trap.

"Um . . . no . . ." Nina admitted with a sweat drop.

They all had scattered around the small house, Cray stood near the door with his arms crossed, Ershin was playing around with the Parrot, Haku was standing near Ershin and watching the interaction between Ershin and the Parrot with interest, while Ryu and Nina stood not too far from each other across from the fat Mayor.

"Well, there's a good reason for all the traps." The Mayor said as he nodded his head twice.

"You mean because of the passageway to Synesta?" Nina guessed.

The Mayor's eyes widened, "Oh! You knew about it already?!" He asked in surprise, Nina nodded in answer, "That's right! There's a passageway to Synesta from here. A lot of people had been using it to fled from Synesta during the war." He explained to them, "The war might be over, but we still need to protect it in case anyone ever need to use it again".

Cray nodded as he uncrossed his arms and walked to them, "And that's the reason why we came here." He told the Mayor, "We need to use it to get to Synesta".

The Mayor hummed, "Hm, you don't look like the Imperial types, so why not?" He asked in answer, "I will open the passageway tomorrow morning, why don't you rest at the Inn until then?" He suggested.

XXXXX

Far away up in the mountain, Fou-Lu woke up from his long sleep, he sat up and looked around. He noticed that he was in some building made from woods, and he also noticed that his wound had been treated.

"Ah, you're awake." A heavy man voice caused him to look up, a man with big body was standing at the doorway carrying some lumbers, he entered the house and putting a few of the lumbers into the fireplace before sitting beside the bed Fou-Lu was on.

"This place is . . ." Fou-Lu drawled as he looked at the house again.

"My home in Zinga Mountains." The man answered, "The name is Bunyan by the way".

Fou-Lu remembered about the young Dragon that was with him before the Empire's General whose name's Yohm attacked them, he didn't feel any Endless aura from the boy when they met the first time and the second time, so he couldn't help but worried that the boy might died by the attack they got the last time.

"Something troubling you?" Bunyan asked when he noticed the worried expression.

_Worried? Yes, of course_. He might thought of mortals as foolish creature, and he might didn't think much about the other Endless in the world and what happened to them. But, even though he didn't know why, he was sure had taken a great interest in the young Dragon he had met that time and was worried about what might happened to him.

Sure, there's no need for him to worry about the fellow Endless for their power were enough to protect themselves against mortals, but the young Dragon, he didn't feel any Endless aura, so he might didn't have a strong power to protect himself.

"Th . . . were you the one who found and treat me?" Fou-Lu asked, he was nearly talking in the way of old times, but he decided to use that of modern time to not raise any suspicion, not to mention he had given the man his name it's a bit dangerous to speak in old times way.

"Yes." Bunyan answered in a bit of confusion, curious as to why Fou-Lu asked that.

"Did you found a boy as well when you found me?" Fou-Lu asked as he glanced at Bunyan sideways.

Bunyan blinked, "How's the boy looks like?" He asked, "Just to be sure, since I have meet many boys, so I don't get mixed up".

". . . He was about 12 or 13 years old boy, having a long hair with the color of Gold . . . and a pair of eyes with the color of Deep Ocean. If I remember correctly, he should be tying his hair in high ponytail and wearing a bandana." Fou-Lu described the boy he met with the best of his ability.

"Ah! That boy!" Bunyan laughed as he recognized the description he was given.

Fou-Lu, surprised that the man had laughed so sudden, widened his eyes at the man. "Have you met him?" He asked after he regained his composure.

Bunyan nodded, "Yes." He said as he remembered the incident.

_Bunyan was climbing down the mountain he was living on, to get some woods for him to chop, when he got a big surprise due to something suddenly landed right in front of him. "Wha-?!" He gasped as he took a few step back._

_"Oh my, I'm sorry, didn't see you here." That something turned out to be a boy with Golden hair and a pair of Deep Blue eyes that were glowing eerily in the light of the moon, his body and clothes were a bit dirty, but he seemed to be alright and not underfed, so he was clearly not an orphan child who lived at the street in town._

_"Where did you . . . ?" Bunyan blinked at the boy and looked up to see where the boy had come down from, he was shocked that the only possible place where the boy might be fallen from was a high cliff. He gasped and quickly put down his woods to check over the boy, "Boy, you fell from that cliff?!" He asked in worry._

_The boy blinked at him and shook his head, "No, I jumped from there to get here faster, I'm too lazy to find a stairway or something." He said casually like it was not a big deal at all._

_Bunyan froze, "You jumped?" He gaped at the boy, who only nodded and shrugged in answer, "Impossible, a boy like you could do such a thing? Even I was not able to do that kind of thing when I was younger, even more so now that I'm old"._

_The boy shrugged again, "I have a great reflex, so it's easy for me." He answered before looking at Bunyan curiously, "What are you doing here in the mountain? Are you a hermit or something?"._

_"Well, something like that." Bunyan answered as he get over his shock and picked up his woods, "What are you doing here, boy?"._

_The boy bit his lower lip before he nodded to himself, "I need help." He said suddenly, "A friend of mine got injured and unconscious down at the river at the other side of the mountain, could you help him?"._

_Bunyan's eyes widened again, "Where is he?" He asked seriously._

_The boy then showed the way, Bunyan was surprised yet again when he saw how bad the man's injuries were, he need to be treated as soon as possible. "Help me carry some of these woods, boy." He said as he handed a few to the boy and put the rest at the ground before he picked up the man and threw him over his shoulder, then he picked up his woods again. "Follow me." He told the boy and head for his house's direction._

_Bunyan carried the man to his cottage and onto the bed before he put the woods outside with the rest, the boy also put the woods he carried with him with the rest. "My name is Bunyan, who are you, boy?" He asked curiously to the boy._

_"Haku." The boy answered distractedly as he brushed the dirt off of his clothes._

_"Why don't you take a bath in the house?" Bunyan offered, "I will have some food prepared by the time you finished"._

_The boy grinned at that and nodded, so he showed the way to the bathroom and prepared some food for dinner while waiting for the boy to come out._

_"I'm sorry for the trouble." Haku said when he came out of the bathroom, then he walked to the seat prepared by the table where the food had been prepared._

_"It's no trouble at all, I'm glad to help." Bunyan answered with a smile._

_Haku finished his food and stood up, "Thank you, but I have to go." He said with a bow._

_"In this late of the night?" Bunyan frowned, "It's dangerous for a child like you"._

_"I can use some Magic to protect myself, don't worry." Haku answered and picked up his bag, he only noticed the bag now that the boy had removed his cloak, before he wore he cloak once again, "I have to go now if I want to arrive at South Desert before Dawn"._

_Bunyan's eyes widened, "You are going to the other side?" He asked in shock, "But it would be impossible to get there in a . . ." He looked at the sky outside before looking back at the boy, "A few minutes! Even with the help of the __**Causeway**__!"._

_"Not for me." Haku answered with a cheeky grin, "I have a friend helping me with my travel"._

_"Even so . . ." Bunyan argued but the boy shook his head._

_"My friend is a Dragon." Haku said, causing Bunyan to gasp in shock, "I don't want anyone to know that I have a Dragon as a friend, you understand, right?"._

_Bunyan was still in shock, but he nodded for he understand the reason, "You don't want for that friend of yours being used, either by the Empire or the Alliance." He guessed._

_Haku nodded, "Right." He confirmed, "I don't want to be the cause for a new war to happen, so I can trust you to keep quiet about it, no?"._

_Bunya smiled dryly, "I don't want to be another war as well, so I won't tell anyone." He nodded in agreement, "I give you my word on that, no one will hear a word about it from me"._

_"Good." Haku said happily and walked out of the house with Bunyan following to see him off, "I would like to return your favor for keeping this information a secret, so if you ever need something, just call my name and said that you need my help, I will come right away"._

_"Who is this friend of yours? Dragon is like God, yes?" Bunyan asked curiously, "A flying Dragon, could it be the Wind Dragon from Wyndia?"._

_Haku shook his head as he raised a hand, a small orb of light appeared and touched his palm before shooting up to the sky, there's a disturbance in the air before a Deep Blue Dragon with Golden markings* appeared. "P'ung Ryong never stray afar from his own place at the sky above Wyndian Region." He told the hermit, "This is Stream"._

**_(*AN : The Dragon is like that of Ryu's Aura and Fou-Lu's Astral, but with the body being Deep Blue and the markings around it's body being Golden, the Wings are Turquoise in color)_**

_"You summoned it . . . are you a Dragon? A God?" Bunyan asked in shock, he got too many shock around the boy it seemed._

_"Ah, you could say that." Haku said nonchalantly, "But no words, yes?"._

_"Alright." Bunyan nodded with a nod, "Mind if I ask who summoned you?"._

_Haku looked at Bunyan calmly, "It's not something that you would understand, and it's safer for you to remain innocent regarding this matter." He explained with a smile, "Oh, my friend knows that I'm a Dragon, so it's alright if you tell him about me. I'm off then, Bunyan"._

_Bunyan bowed to him, "I hope you are safe on your way, Haku." He said with a smile._

_Haku grinned, "No need to bow for I wouldn't consider myself a God, simply a Dragon." He said as he jumped to the Dragon's shoulder, "See you! I will visit you again if I have some free time!"._

_With that, the Dragon and the Dragon Boy flew off to the East in high speed before gradually become invisible to the eyes._

"So, you see, he was the one who led me to you about a week ago, you were sleeping the entire time." Bunyan said after he finished telling the injured man the story, "That was the first time I saw a Dragon that close".

Fou-Lu stared at Bunyan, "And you will not tell this to other people?" He asked.

Bunyan shook his head, "No, I already given my word to him." He said with a smile, "And as I said to him, I don't wish for a war to broke again, and I don't want a cheerful boy like him to be used like some animals by either the Empire or the Alliance, so I won't tell anyone about him being a Dragon. I would never".

Fou-Lu sighed in relieve, he could feel the truth when the man said that, so he could believed his words. "That boy is still young, he was reckless to tell you about himself being a Dragon. It's a good thing that you are not like other people." He said, but even though he know that he could trust Bunyan to keep quiet about Haku, the same couldn't be said about his own identity.

"He might be young." Bunyan agreed, "But I could see that there's wisdom beyond his age, or maybe beyond his appearance for Dragon is not a mortal creature, there's no way to tell his real age by appearance only." He looked at Fou-Lu with a reassuring smile, "He would be able to make his decision wisely, I could see it in his eyes, so don't worry about him, he would be alright".

"I guess." Fou-Lu said as he looked at the sky outside the window, he felt some kind of a tug when he heard the name of Stream, _But why?_ He didn't remember ever meet or heard about the boy before that time near his tomb. _Who is that boy actually?_ He stood up and wore his clothes, "I'm in your debt, Bunyan." He said as he walked to the door, "However, I have to go as well".

"Wait! You are still injured!" Just as the hermit finished saying that, Fou-Lu collapsed just outside the door. "Now, what did I just say?"He asked as he helped Fou-Lu to get up and back to the bed, "I had seen people die from burn wounds like yours, just rest until you are healed, there's no need to rush".

Fou-Lu stayed quiet, it couldn't be helped really, even he himself could feel that he was in no condition to move so much. He resigned himself and decided to rest for the time being.

XXXXX

"The Passageway is opened." The Mayor said when they all got out of the Inn, "You can use it now".

Cray nodded, "Thank you, Mr. Mayor." He said and leading the rest to the entrance of the passageway uphills, but when he got to the way leading to up the hills, he fell into the trap hole.

"Ah!" The others gasped in surprise before they turned to the snickering young man from before, he make a peace sign with his fingers and run off.

"That stupid hole digger!" Cray yelled as soon as he got out of the Mayor's house, "He would regret ever making that hole if I got my hand on him!" He then stormed to the way to the uphills after making sure he didn't fell into any trap hole again.

The rest only shook their heads and went after the fuming man.

* * *

To be continued . . .

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Froim : Please Review


	7. The Missing Princess (Part 1)

Chapter 7

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own Breath of Fire 4!**

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_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_ [Voice from the past]_

_'Telepathic Voice'_

"Dialogue"

**Emphasis**

**_Dangerous Tone/Magic Name_**

* * *

**_The Missing Princess, Part 1_**

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The group arrived at Synesta through a well at the other end of the Passageway from Kyria, "Wow, I heard that Synesta was also attacked with Hex during the war." Nina commented when she saw the lively atmosphere in the town, "But it's more livelier than Chamba".

"Maybe because the Purifier worked in here first before Chamba." Haku commented as he looked around as well.

"Well, at least there's no one from Empire around here." Cray commented as he watched the people.

"Where is the orphanage that we need to find?" Nina asked as she looked around, "I don't have a clue." She said sheepishly.

"I don't even know where to begin . . ." Cray admitted with a sweat drop as he looked into the distance.

"You are searching for an orphanage?" Haku asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Yes." Nina answered, "My Sister visited the orphanage here before she went missing, so we come here in hope to find some clue about her".

Haku hummed, "The orphanage is there, you know?" He said as he pointed at the building across them with a big 'House for the Orphan' written above the building.

Nina and Cray sweat dropped, "How could we missed it?" They asked in unison.

They entered the building, inside were filled with many children moving around, an old Nun could be seen standing not too far from the stairs, her eyes were watching over the children. "Excuse me." Cray said to announce their presences.

"My, hello there." The Nun greeted them with a smile, "I'm sorry, I'll be glad to talk to you, but first I have to see the childrens have their meal first." She apologized to them, "Would you mind waiting outside for a bit?".

Cray nodded and they began walking to the door when Haku felt something tugged his cloak, he looked to the side to see a girl with Deep Purple hair, "Hello there, Big Brother." The 6 or 7 years old girl said with a grin.

Haku smiled, "Hello there, little girl." He said to her, "Is there anything I can help you with?".

The girl grinned, "Do you have a treasure? I have a treasure!" She asked cheerfully.

Haku blinked, "Well, now that you mention it." He pulled the Lead Ball he bought in Sarai and showed it to the girl, "I bought this from someone in Sarai, he said it's a treasure called Lead Ball".

The girl squealed, "Do you want to trade your treasure with mine?" She asked with hopeful eyes.

Haku patted the girl's head, "Anything for a sweet girl like you." He said as he handed the Lead Ball to her.

"Yay!" The girl accepted the ball and then pulled out another ball from her pocket, "Here is my treasure! **Bronze Ball!**" She then placed the ball on Haku's hand and run off.

"I'm sorry about that." The Nun said, "She just like to get a new ball to play with, and she always called it her treasure".

"It's alright, Sister." Haku answered and went out of the orphanage to meet up with the others.

"What are you doing in there? Chatting with the kids?" Ryu asked curiously.

"Just a girl wanting to trade my Lead Ball with her treasure." Haku answered with a shrug, "What happened while I'm inside?".

"Nothing." Nina answered with a smile, "We were just chatting with the people here and brought some herbs in case we meet with some monsters during our travel".

Haku nodded in response before a loud yell make them jumped, "Chino! Get back here!" The looked up to see another Nun chasing after a boy from Grassrunner clan, "Everyone is waiting for you so you could eat together!".

"You have to catch me first!" Chino answered as he continued to run.

The Nun then yelped when she fell, they sweat dropped and approached her, "Are you alright?" Nina asked in concern.

"I'm alright, I'm used to it." The Nun answered as she rubbed her forehead, "But I need to catch Chino, or the kids couldn't eat together".

"Alright, we will help you catch him." Cray told her, "We need to talk with you, but the Nun from the orphanage said that she had to see everyone have meal first".

"Thank you." The young Nun said gratefully.

"You won't catch me!" Chino said before he run away.

"Wait!" Cray yelled as he and the others began chasing after the little Grassrunner boy, Nina looked ahead and saw that the boy had gone into a hallway at the edge of the town. "I will fly and get to the other side so we could trap him in the middle." She suggested before she flew up to the sky.

"Alright!" Ryu answered as he and Cray hastened their pace, Ershin and Haku slowed down and go to the other side to helped Nina trapped the small boy.

"Wah!" Chino gasped when Nina suddenly landed in front of him before Ershin and Haku arrived behind Nina a second later. Chino then turned around and began to run, but stopped when he saw that his way had been blocked by two other people, "You got me." He said in defeat.

They returned to the orphanage together with the young Nun and Chino, "Oh, you have come back." The old Nun said with a warm smile, "And you got Chino with you".

"Yes, Sister Lyta." The young Nun answered, she stepped aside to let Cray and the others in, "These people were kind enough to help me caught Chino".

"I see, thank you very much." Lyta said before she clasped her hands, "Alright, everyone! Now that you are all here, we can eat".

The young Nun went and prepared the food for the children, Lyta then turned to them again, "Alright, why don't we go upstairs and talk?" She suggested.

They nodded and went upstairs, " . . . Yes, it's true." Lyta said once Nina finished expaining why they came to the orphanage, "Princess Elina gave all sort of thing to the children and told them stories about Wyndia".

"Yes." Cray nodded in understanding, "However, this is the last town she visited before she went missing, do you know wnything about it?".

"I'm sorry, but I don't know anything about that." The Nun said sadly, "I'm sorry that I couldn't help".

"Oh, but I know what happened." They turned to see Chino standing at the top of the stairs, "I followed her to the gate, so I saw what happened after she left".

Nina walked to Chino and kneeling to get to his height, "Chino, could you tell us what happened?" She asked with worry clearly written on her face.

"Uum, let's see . . ." Chino started as he touched his chin with his index finger, "When I was on top of the gate, I saw the Princess talking to some people." He told them as he tried to remember everything, "I didn't hear what they talked about, but I know that those people were from the Empire".

"Empire?!" Cray and Nina gasped in shock before Cray hit his right hand to his left palm, "So it was the Imperial Military after all?!" Cray yelled in anger.

Haku frowned, "Wait a minute there, Cray." He said as he crossed his arms, "When was it again when Elina disappeared?".

"From the range between a year ago until half a year ago." Nina said as she looked at the frowning boy, "She started visiting the towns of war victims starting about a year ago, then about half a year ago, when she was scheduled to return but didn't, we asked the people and eventually found out that she was last seen here. The time isn't clear, but it's somewhere in between a year until half a year ago".

Haku scowled, "What the meaning of this?" He hissed angrily, forgetting that the others were there, "I never heard of a Wyndian Princess entering the land of Hesperia, let alone anywhere near Imperial Border!" He then start pacing, "How in the world the Princess entering the Imperial Border without Rhun knowing it? Who took the Princess and most importantly, why?" He stopped pacing, "Seems like there's only one way to find out." He then looked at Lyta, "Marlok is still here?" He asked urgently.

"Uh, yes." Lyta answered nervously.

"Good." He said and marched downstairs without another word.

"Wait! Haku?!" Nina called out, "What did you mean by all that?!" But the boy didn't hear her question since he was already out of the orphanage.

"What the . . ." Cray stared at the stairs before he finally digested what the boy had said before.

_[Seems like there's only one way to find out.]_

_[Marlok is still here?]_

Cray turned to looked at Lyta, "Mind to tell me who is this Marlok?" He asked.

"Marlok is a merchant with the largest Sandflier in here." Lyta explained to them with worried expression, "He is the kind of person who will do anything for money, some even say that he make a deal with the Empire".

"What?!" Cray and Nina exclaimed in shock.

"Ah, right!" Chino interrupted, "I also saw Marlok talking with the Princess as well!".

"Chino, is that true?" Nina asked in worry, even more worried now that the possibility that her Sister had been brought to the Empire was high.

"Yes." Chino answered with a nod, "It's looked like they were taking her somewhere".

"Finally, we getting somewhere!" Cray said before looking at the young Nun, "Where's his house?" He asked urgently. If his assumtion was correct, Haku might already heading there, and they need to talk to this Marlok and fast.

"Um . . . It's the large house on the North side of the Plaza, you can't miss it." The Nun answered before Cray turned around.

"Good, let's go!" Cray exclaimed as he walked downstairs.

Nina turned to the two Nuns and bowed, "Thank you for your time." She said and they rushed downstairs and to the Plaza.

"Ah, what to do?" The young Nun asked out loud in worry, "There's a big bodyguard in front of the house".

XXXXX

When they arrived in front of Marlok's house, they saw that Haku was there, standing in front of a man with big body. "Only business partners may speak with Mr. Marlok." They heard the big man said.

"Move." Haku said calmly with a calm face, it's seemed that he had regained his composure, but for those who know him, it's a sign that he was beyond pissed.

The man looked down at him, "If you want to speak with him no matter what, you have to go through- Ghuooo!" He said with a scary face, or suppose to be scary, but for them he just looked ugly. He couldn't even finished his words because Cray suddenly stepped forward and hit him with his big club.

"We beat you." Cray said coldly,"We are going in".

"Thanks, Cray." Haku said before he walked in a fast pace into the house, followed by Cray.

"I'm sorry Mr. Bodyguard!" Nina yelled as she and the others rushing forward as well.

"Where is his room?" Cray asked the boy.

"Upstairs." Haku answered as he led the way to the Manilo's room, he walked upstairs and heading for the last room at the end of the hallway. "Marlok!" He yelled as he threw open the door.

"Ah! If it isn't Haku!" Marlok stood up from his seat and took off his head with a big grin, "What can I do for you this time? Searching for another weapon with a Dragon engraved to it? Or something else with the same high price or more?".

"None of that." Haku said calmly, "What I need is information regarding-".

"I will get to the point here, Manilo." Cray cut him off, "Where did you take Elina?!".

"Elina?" Marlok stared at them blankly.

"Please don't play dumb!" Nina yelled at him, "You kidnapped a Wyndian Princess!".

"Ah . . . The Princess." Marlok nodded as he wore his hat again, "Indeed, I did take zat Princess on my ship, but I did not do anything like kidnap her." He told them with sweat on his face, "I simply transported her".

"What do you mean?" Cray asked seriously.

"Wait, you were the one who brought her to the Empire?" Haku asked as he stepped forward to stand a meter before Marlok, "**_Tell me in detail_**." He said dangerously with his eyes narrowed at Marlok.

Marlok gulped, "Well, there's no much to tell." He started, "But you see, ze fellow from ze Empire asked ze Princess to accompany zem".

"What did you say?!" Cray yelled before he marched forward and grabbed the collar of Marlok's shirt, "Why in hell Elina would go to the enemy's teritory?!".

"I don't know." Marlok answered as he started to sweating more, "I vas only asked to transport her, I don't know anything more".

"And you don't ask them why the brought the Princess with them?" Haku demanded.

"It's my pride as a trader to not question those who pay me." Marlok answered after Cray released him.

"Well, we know one thing." Cray growled as he cracked his knuckles, "Elina is in the Empire, we've got to hurry and cross the sea".

"But this situation is troublesome." Haku said in thought.

"What do you mean?" Nina asked in worry.

"A Wyndian Princess being brought to the Empire without telling the King of Wyndian, it's an illegal act." Haku answered, and upon seeing the confused expression the others wore, he explained further, "If the purpose for the Princess to be brought to the Empire was for a good one, they would take the legal way and have a word with the King of Wyndian first, to get his permission and to let them know that they wouldn't do anything to cause another war." He bit his lower lip, "But they took the Princess in secret, and not even the General in Imperial Army know about this, that means that there's a conspiracy here".

"Wait." Cray interrupted him, "How do you know about it?".

Haku sighed, "I have a connection with a General in Empire, I was with him for a year until about a month ago." He told them and raised a hand to stop them from saying anything first, "But don't get me wrong. The one I was with . . . He is a General who wish for the war to truly over, he was tired of it." He assured them, "So, he secretly gather people who are also tired of the war and want it to end for good. But since he's doing it in secret, the others don't know about it and would still tell him what they planned, then he would act to make the plan fail, so the cease-fire wouldn't end. Not only that, he was also secretly gathering alies among people from the East to join him in his goal of having the Empire and the Alliance to have a peace agreement, so that there wouldn't be another war".

"So, he acted in secret to join the two sides together?" Cray asked just to be sure.

Haku nodded, "Yes, it's better that I don't say any names in case there's eavesdropper here, but these people called themselves The Linker." He said with a grin, "So, rest assure, I'm not an enemy, and I would surely helped you to rescue Princess Elina!".

Cray and Nina sighed in relief, "That's good." Nina said as she relaxed herself, she had been tense when Haku mentioned that he was with a General from Empire before meeting them.

"Oh, and one thing." Haku looked at Marlok and smiled in a scary way, "Marlok, you greedy Manilo, say one word about this and that would be the end of you, understand?".

Marlok gulped and nodded, "Understood." He said in fear.

"Alright." Haku nodded before looking at Cray, "We need to get to Kyoin so we could use the gateway to Causeway, it's the fastest way we could take if we want to get to Hesperia. Since The Linker moved in secret, everything going really slow, they couldn't efford for the Emperor and the rest to find out. They felt that the Emperor was doing something bad in secret".

"But how should we get there?" Nina asked in worry, "We don't have a Sandflier anymore".

"Ah, about that." Marlok interrupted, "I kind of have the Sandflier and connection in there, I could help you get to Kyoin unnoticed by the Imperial guards." He offered as he looked at Haku, "If you work to make the peace come true, then I would get more business partner, no? So I will help you out a bit".

"You wish to join The Linker then?" Haku asked in surprise.

"For my own profit, I hope you don't mind." Marlok answered with a nod.

Haku nodded in understanding, "A merchant like you is needed, so I don't think anyone would mind just because you do it for your own profit, the fact that we have the same goal hasn't change." He said and crossed his arms, "So, what is the catch for this offer?" He got to the point.

Marlok grinned, "Just a bit of manual labor." He said, "I will have you to do some work like buying stuff I need and make my house sparkle".

"For a free ride, and a helping hand in smugling us to Kyoin, it's reasonable." Ershin commented, "We are indeed responsible in him losing his bodyguard. Says Ershin".

"Agreed." Haku said with a nod.

"But what about Nina?" Ryu asked, the first time he opened his mouth since they arrived in Marlok's place, "She is a Princess, right? Not a maid".

Haku looked at Marlok, "There's no need for her to work, right?" He asked with a smile, "There's already so many of us working for you".

Marlok gulped when he saw the smile and nodded, "Sure, the Princess can just stay here and have a cup of tea with me." He said quickly with sweats on his face.

"Good." Haku nodded and looked at the others with a grin, "We have a deal then." He announced.

Marlok told them what they need to do and set to work immediately, then when they finished, Marlok took them on his ship in a VIP room. Cray was having a fit because the VIP room turned out to be a wooden crate, but since they were going into the Empire's territory, they could only bare with it.

XXXXX

"Are you sure you are alright?" Bunyan asked when Fou-Lu walked out of the cottage, "Well, you sure looking better, but your wound is not fully healed yet".

"I have been a lot better." Fou-Lu said before looking at Bunyan, "Thank you for your caring ministration, Bunyan. However the time has come for me to leave this place".

"Fou-Lu . . ." Bunyan called when the First Emperor began walking away, "Since you are in a hurry over something, there's no need to tell me about it. But tell me this, you are on a run from someone, aren't you?" He asked as he stood up from his seat, "Does this mean that there's going to be another war?" Fou-Lu didn't answer, so Bunyan went on. "I did my time . . . I've seen my share of fight. Something tells me that there's a big one brewing".

Fou-Lu turned to him, "Thou . . . wert a soldier?" He asked, figuring that it doesn't matter if he use old language or the modern one since he would leave soon anyway.

Bunyan blinked in surprise at the change of way of talking, "Yeah . . . I was." He admitted, "Maybe it's just because I'm older now, but when I look back on it now, it seems so pointless." He said before shaking his head, "I mean, sure, when the First Emperor started it, the war had a purpose. But now, the war had been going so long that the war itself become the purpose, no one really know what they are fighting for anymore. The war took on a life of it's own".

Fou-Lu turned to the side and chuckled bitterly, "The mortals . . . They understand not . . ." He mumbled quietly. Bunyan raised an eyebrow, Fou-Lu shook his head and looked at Bunyan again, "Forgive me . . . I merely spoken aloud mine thoughts. Farewell".

"Fou-Lu." Bunyan stopped him again before he fully turned around, "About Haku . . .".

Fou-Lu turned to him again, "Yes?" He asked to get the man continued.

Bunyan sighed, "I just couldn't help but think that there's more than meets the eye." He continued slowly, "If you ever meet with him again, please don't act in a rush".

Fou-Lu frowned, "Mind to explain more?" he asked in confusion.

Bunyan sighed again, "I accidentally overheard him talking to himself when he was in the bath." He admitted, "I only caught some pieces of words. What I understand is that they are about the First Emperor, or you, I don't really know since both of your name is Fou-Lu, but I think it's the First Emperor. The others being about a promise of the past and a Prophecy".

_A promise of the past and a Prophecy?_ Fou-Lu thought in confusion, "He was talking about the First Emperor?" He asked for confirmation.

Bunyan nodded, "He said that, I quote, 'Fou-Lu doesn't remember . . . while the Other Half is still slumbering. The Promise of the past will be fulfilled . . . The Prophecy had beginning to become true, so it would be best if I accompany the Other Half' " He looked at the Silver haired man, "The people know that the First Emperor is incomplete, only a half God. So, since he talked about the Other Half, I assumed he was talking about the God Emperor".

Fou-Lu looked at the sky, "I thank thee for telling this." He said and looked at Bunyan again, "However I must hasten on my way, farewell".

Bunyan nodded, "Be careful." He said before Fou-Lu left.

As Fou-Lu walked down the mountain, he couldn't help but thinking about the young Dragon boy, it seemed to him that the boy was not young at all. He was also aware that, just like what Bunyan said earlier, there's more than meets the eye about the fellow Dragon he had come to care even though he only met the boy twice, and for a short time for each meeting.

He looked up when he heard footsteps and was shocked to see Yohm blocking way with many soldiers behind him, "How . . . By what means didst thou find Us?" He asked with a serious face.

Yohm bowed, "Even if Your Majesty is not fully recovered . . . you are still a God, one of the Endless." He said as he stood straight, or as straight as he could be, "Even if you do not avail yourself of your powers, the act of simply speaking of your own name creates a ripple in the world large enough that those sensitive to such things can sense your presence immediately".

Fou-Lu closed his eyes and smiled, "T'would appear . . . that thou wouldst not have Us enter the Capital by any persuasion." He commented calmly.

"Indeed. Time has not blunted My Lord's perception." Yohm said as he make a move to summon another monster under his command, causing the soldiers behind him to took many steps back. "Khafu, I summon thee." He said before a big owl like bird flew down from the sky and shot something like laser beams to Fou-Lu.

Fou-Lu avoided the beams by jumping backwards, but the beam was fast and caught the land in front of him, causing a big explosion. Fou-Lu thrown backwards by the explosion but managed to land without falling, one thing he was not prepared that right after he landed, the claw of the big bird caught him. He growled in anger and used most of his power to transform into his humanoid Dragon form, which was him growing Dark Blue colored Dragon Wings and tail, his Dragon horns grew bigger and longer and darkened into Dark Blue color, the nails of his fingers sharpened into claws with Dragon scales covered the back of his hands from before the knuckles up into his elbows, and his lower half covered with Dark Blue scales from his waist until his knees, Dragon scales also covered his legs from his knees to his feet.

Khafu's claws cut off from it's body by the force of the transformation. Fou-Lu then attacked the bird monster with a beam of light from his right hand, the attack went through the bird's body before it turned into Ice and broke into many pieces.

"To think . . . You had regained this much of your power." Yohm commented in shock.

"While 'tis true that We have recovered, but a portion of Our power . . ." Fou-Lu said after he reverted back into his human form, "Thou should knowest that thee, a mere mortal, poseth no danger to Us. One such as I cannot be vanquished by one such as thee".

"Perhaps." Yohm answered as another big bird landed on top of the cliff above them, "The Creature which Your Majesty just defeated is one of many that I command." Fou-Lu looked at the bird before looking back to Yohm, "Furthermore . . . unless I'm mistaken, I believe that your Other Half is only recently born, yes?" He walked to the back and the soldiers moved forwards to Fou-Lu, "Even if he should be a God by yourself, he would be somewhat . . . easier for us to deal with, would he not?".

Fou-Lu lowered his head and chuckled silently. _T'would be true, for Our Other Half had yet to awaken_, He thought with a smirk, _However, these mortals had yet to discovers that Our Other Half hast been accompanied by another Dragon, according to what Bunyan hath overheard. One that wast not incomplete and hast knowledge on how to control his power, one that wast stronger than Our current level. Still . . ._ He looked up to Yohm with a serious expression on his face, "Verily . . . Though I wouldst admit it, thou speakest truly. My path then is clear . . . We must hasten to the Capital before thou findeth him!" He jumped backwards, as he jumped, he transformed into Astral and flew to the Capital's direction.

"Blast it! Already he has enough power to fly!" Yohm exclaimed in shock, "After him! Don't let him escape!".

The other big bird took off and flew after Fou-Lu, it shot many laser beams as it flew. And even though Fou-Lu managed to dodge most of them, he got directly shot by one of the beam straight at his back, his Wings couldn't move and he fell from the sky. The pain he felt throughout his body make him losing his consciousness, he reverted back into his human form as everything blackened out.

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To be continued . . .

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Froim : Please Review ^ ^


	8. The Missing Princess (Part 2)

Chapter 8

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**Disclaimer : I Don't own Breath of Fire 4!**

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_Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

_ [Voice from the past]_

_'Telepathic Voice'_

"Dialogue"

**Emphasis**

**_Dangerous Tone/Magic Name_**

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**_The Missing Princess, Part 2_**

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Inside the crate, Ryu gasped awake and hit the back of his head, he hissed and rubbed the back of his head to ease the pain. "Finally awake?" Someone said to him, making him turned to his side to see Haku looked at him with a smile, but he looked worried somewhat.

Ryu nodded, "I don't know why, but I got a feeling that something bad had happened." He admitted.

_Because Fou-Lu got injured yet again_. Haku thought to himself, he had felt it as well, but he could tell it better than Ryu for he was not still slumbering like Ryu. He felt Fou-Lu's power increased for a moment before it dimmed again, the only time the power of Dragons could be felt increased was when they used their powers, and Fou-Lu only used his power in fight, meaning Yohm had found him and they had a fight before they got Fou-Lu injured and fell unconscious, again.

"You have a Dragon's Eye with you, Ryu, you might unconsciously witnessing something that was bad had happened out there with it's power in your sleep, but you couldn't remember it during your wake." Haku said softly, since the rest had fallen asleep some time in the ride. It's the best explanation he could give Ryu without exposing his identity though, for it's not the right time for him to tell them what he was, Ryu had to meet with the other Dragons first and know who he was before Haku could expose himself as one of the Endless.

They looked up when they heard some knockings, "We would be arrived soon, wake up ze ozers so you would be prepared to get out as soon as zere is a chance." Marlok's voice told them before they could heard the Manilo's footsteps walking away.

They woke the other up and make sure they kept quiet, they heard Marlok talked with the guards in Kyoin before a shake could be felt throughout the crate as if they were being lifted from the Sandflier and put onto the ground. They wait for a bit longer since they could still heard people moving about and around the crate, after everything grew silent, they got out of the box.

"So, we are in Kyoin." Cray stated the obvious before looking at Haku, "What should we do now?".

Haku pointed at the tall tower ahead of them, "We need to get to the top of that tower, in secret since there's many guards here, then the gate will activated by itself." He explained to them, "But remember, once we cross the gate, we would arrives straight in Empire's teritory".

Cray nodded, "We have come this far, there's no way I would back down now." He said seriously, "I will bring back Elina!".

"That's right." Nina said in agreement.

"Let's go then, I will show you the way." Haku said as he led the group towards the tower.

"Ah, excuse me." Someone called out, making them froze, well except for Haku, who were used to be stopped on his way by random people.

Haku turned to the source and cocked his head, "You called?" He asked curiously.

The one who called them was a Black haired young woman wearing a fine looking clothes and a backpack, "Yes. I was wondering if you want to have some wine?" She asked with a smile as she make a gesture of connecting her right index finger with her left's in a similar fashion like a chain would connected to each other, "My name is Luna, I'm a wine maker. I always give some tester to stranger, so if you like my wine, you can buy it from me".

Haku blinked, he recognized the gesture, "Ah, sure." He said and looked at the others, "A minute." He said and walked to the woman, she smiled again and pulled a paper bag from her backpack and handed it to Haku, who then put them into his bag. "Thank you." He said with a smile.

"You are welcome, have a safe trip." She said with a smile and waved her hand as he returned to his friend.

"Let's go." Haku said and led the way again to the tower and to the lift, so that they didn't need to climb up by stairs.

"Is this the gateway?" Cray asked when they stepped out of the lift.

"Yes." Haku answered as he walked forward.

"Huh? The lift went down?" Nina asked herself when the lift went down by itself, but then she gave a short scream when the thunder striked the air out of the blue.

"What the . . .?!" Cray gasped when the sky darkened.

They watched as the thunders appeared from many direction and continuously striking one particular spot before 4 big red square shaped papers appeared then connected to each other, creating a sort of colorful dimension room.

"It had been activated." Haku announced as he walked forward, "All we have left to do is jumped inside and walked a few distance." Cray and the others nodded before began walking as well.

"That's far enough!" A loud yell stopped them, they turned to see a man wearing an Imperial's Captain uniform.

"You are . . ." Ryu started with wide eyes.

"The one from before." Nina finished with a shocked face.

Haku sighed and crossed his arms, "Rasso." He said in annoyance.

"It's been a while." Captain Rasso said with a crossed arms.

"A Soldier, huh." Cray commented calmly, "It seems that we missed our chance".

"That's right." Rasso said with a smirk, "To think we would meet here . . ." He then looked at Ryu, "I owe you something, boy . . ." He touched the wound on his face, "It's hurt, you know?".

"Good on you." Haku replied calmly, making Rasso to glare at him.

"I will give it back double." He said angrily at them.

"Do you intend on fighting us by yourself?" Cray challenged as he adjusted his fighting gloves better, "Do you think you can defeat us without your army?".

"What are you saying?" Rasso asked cockily as he pulled out a paper, catching Ryu's and Haku's attention right away, they know what the man was planning to do, "I may have come alone, but I won't be your opponent." He smirked evilly, "By the power granted me, I command thee!" He threw the paper and a monster came out, "Ymechaf! Warrior Spirit! Thou art summoned!".

Ymechaf launched an attack right away and they were thrown backwards by the attack, "Woah, what an attack." Haku commented as he stood up from where he landed, fortunately, none of them fell off of the tower when they got thrown by the attack earlier.

"Heh, you see now?" Rasso said from behind Ryu, Ryu's eyes widened before he turned around and attacked Ymechaf right away, but his attack was blocked and the Monster caught him, "I will make you suffer before I kill you".

"S- Stop it!" Nina gasped as she run towards them, "Ryu!" She yelped when Rasso slapped her.

"Ni . . . na." Ryu said difficultly as he was choked by the tight grasp the Monster had on him.

"Oh my, you are still with the Little Princess?" Rasso asked mockingly as he grabbed Nina's left wing.

"Don't touch Nina!" Cray yelled as he swung his bat to the Captain, but he got thrown backwards by the Monster attack again.

"I better bring back a present, the girl is still a Princess anyway." Rasso said as if he didn't heard Cray's shout of anger.

"Let go!" Nina screamed as she tried to get away from the man.

Rasso growled, "These wings are in the way." He pulled out his sword, "I will just dispose of it".

"No! Nina!" Cray gasped in horror.

"Bastard." Haku growled angrily, his hands were balled into fists in his anger, he wanted to attack with his Magic but couldn't do it without harming Ryu and Nina in the way. He couldn't use his Dragon power either, it's not the time for him to be found out as a Dragon.

"**_Wild Shot!_**" Ershin, who seemed to know of Haku's dilemma, yelled as she shot her right arm to the man, only for her rocket punch to be blocked by the Monster and bouched back to her.

Ryu was seeing red, quite literally, when he saw the sword touched Nina's wings. The next thing they know, a big explosion resounded and startled them, they turned to look at Ryu and saw that he had freed from the Monster's grasp, and the Monster had lost it's right hand. Not only that, but Ryu's appearance was not normal either.

_He has awakened!_ Haku thought in surprise as he saw Ryu's current form.

Indeed, Ryu had grown Dark Red colored Dragon Wings and tail, as well as a pair of long Dragon horns, the nails of his fingers sharpened into claws with Dragon scales covered the back of his hands from before the knuckles up into his elbows, and his lower half covered with Dark Red scales from his waist until his knees, Dragon scales also covered his legs from his knees to his feet.

It's a Humanoid Dragon form.

"**_Let go . . . of Nina . . ._**" Ryu said dangerously as he held out his left palm towards Ymechaf, which was standing in front of Rasso but beside the Captain, and shot out a beam of light which causing the ground to be covered by smoke.

Rasso was so shocked, when the smoke cleared to reveal Ryu in his usual form and the land destroyed from Ryu's attack, that he loosened his grasp on Nina's wing as he dropped to the ground, which the Wyndian Princess used to get away from the man.

Ryu panted heavily before staggering to the floor, Nina and Cray rushed towards him while calling his name in concern. "Damn!" Cray cursed as he saw the gate was closing, "Run! The Gate is closing!" He commanded as he run while carrying the still exhausted Ryu, the rest followed him right away.

Rasso was still staring at their backs, even after the gate had disappeared completely, "Ju- just now . . . that power was . . ." He stuttered in shock, "A Dragon . . . ?".

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To be continued . . .

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Froim : Please Review ^ ^


End file.

Breath of Fire, Adventure, Friendship