note: before I begin, there was a mistake in chap 70 of Flight of the Phoenix. The epilogue scene was set several months after the Raulus disappeared.

WARRIORS OF THE WORLD: THE LEGEND REBORN
a ragnarok online fanfic

Chapter 01
The Prophecy

Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the vast sands of Sograt Desert. In the midst of it, rectangular sand buildings rose out of the landscape like silent tombs of the dead. No one walked in the streets, for Morroc, City of the Frontier, was the city of thieves and assassins.

No one dared walk the streets at night. Anyone who did was either very well-prepared or suicidal.

As the thunder rumbled across the vast desert city that was Morroc, shadows fled across the rooftops for a fleeting moment. An old man enjoying the night air on the roof of his house hastily scurried into his house and locked the door. It was time he did, anyway - this was the time before a storm.

A time when anything could happen.

Lightning struck again, an angry white crack splitting the sky into half. The light it emitted lasted briefly, but it was bright enough to illuminate the entire city. Blue-white light lit up the streets; the shadows of the houses stood out against the sandy streets.

The light also illuminated two figures standing on the rooftops, twenty metres apart.

Both had scarves flying out behind them. One of raised his hands; his gloved fingers were gripping katars. His mask covered half his face, and his violently messy fringe covered his eyes, but even through the shadow his hair cast on his face his brown eyes gleamed maliciously.

The other one, wearing a similar uniform, was holding a pair of daggers. As the lightning struck again, the white light illuminated the sharp features of his fox mask. All else that could be seen was of his white hair.

They faced each other, standing on different rooftops, ignoring the thunder and the lightning; silent as death, motionless as statues, watching and waiting.

Then they blurred.

White light flashed in mid-air; their blades met with a crash. The assassins tussled with one another for the few seconds their momentum had a grip over gravity, before alighting on different rooftops. They turned, crouched and then were off again at a high-speed chase across the rooftops of Morroc.

The lightning flashed and the thunder rumbled again; this time the first few raindrops fell as dark spots on the sand.

As if on cue, the assassins landed on the same rooftop and lunged out at each other. Dagger and katar clashed violently; they darted around, lunging and jabbing at each other, wary of each other's moves but still wanting to move in for the final kill.

Then they were off. The rain, now pouring in sheets, was seriously limiting visibility - but it was an advantage and disadvantage to both.

There was silence; all that could be heard was the sound of the rain hitting the sand.

Suddenly the assassins were back. They flashed in and out of the grey sheets of water. Lightning struck occasionally; one moment they were there, the next gone and seeking for the blood of their opponent.

The assassin with the fox mask landed on a roof, apparently to catch his breath. He turned his head from side to side.

A hand came up with a katar. The assassin with the fox mask jerked away just in time before he lost his head.

He whirled around and blocked katar with dagger. They strained against each other, teeth gritted, soft shoes slipping on the liquefied sand. The blades ground against each other--

The second katar flew in. The assassin with the fox mask darted away, but he was one second too late. Blood flew into the air; a strangled cry of pain came from behind the mask. He vanished into the curtain of the rain.

The rain continued to pour as the assassin with the fox mask darted into an alleyway and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. He was clutching his arm; blood dripped out from between his fingers. It was a fairly deep cut and the katar had been sharp.

He made a soft hissing sound between his teeth. His opponent was tough. Not even several months of heavy research had done anything. Of course there was a massive difference between not researching and actually doing it - the proof that he was still alive was the result - but in this case it didn't have much of an impact.

There was a soft scuffle above him. He looked up, his eyes glinting through the slits of his fox mask. It was hard to see through the rain.

He had a sudden premonition; his head jerked round. Too late. His opponent kicked him in the head. The fox mask flew off as his face hit the ground.

The assassin on the ground rolled over, but he got no farther. A katar blade swung down and aimed at his throat. Lightning struck again; the light illuminated his face, but it was enough for the standing assassin to see his opponent's face.

"Hah," he said, looming over his prey. "They send such a young one after me? I can't believe they're so desperate."

He leaned down and placed his foot on the younger assassin's throat. "I'm impressed, though - you've managed to survive this long. High rankers don't last ten minutes with me, but you've held me up for half an hour. So, boy...what makes you think you can take me down?"

The young assassin growled. "Because I've been assigned to it, and because the world is always changing. Sooner or later someone else will take over you."

"Nice answer, kiddo," said the older assassin. "But too bad, really - no one's going to take me over for a long time. Especially not kids like you."

He raised his katars. The young assassin closed his eyes. Assassin or no, he was still apprehensive about death - and he'd decided he didn't want to see it.

It didn't come.

He opened his eyes. His opponent was gone. He got to his feet to find a crumpled mess of body on the ground.

The young assassin went over and felt for the man's pulse. It was still there, but faint - he seemed to have been knocked unconscious by a swift blow to a certain pressure point.

But the young assassin knew that generally assassins didn't study pressure points. He did, because he found them a handy weapon when he had been disarmed. It was just that...

It was raining a little less heavily now. He looked up and saw a shadow speeding overhead. Without hesitating he leapt up onto the nearest roof, just in time to see the shadow leaping effortlessly from rooftop to rooftop.

His jaw dropped slightly. The shadow stopped moving and looked back at him. Lightning struck again.

And then the person was gone.

The young assassin got off the rooftop to get his opponent's limp body. As he heaved the body over his shoulder, he looked up into the sky again, where he had seen the person.

Kyo wiped his face of rainwater, picked up his fox mask and sped off.

The daylight was the one that made Kyo get up, eventually. He knew it wasn't allowed for assassins to lie in, but his tutor had given him a sympathetic look just before he had left for bed.

He checked the bandage tied around his upper arm. It seemed to be fine, although the bloodstain on it, though dry, was quite large. Kyo untied it and had a look, and then hastily went to take a shower.

He first went off to the medics to get his arm re-bandaged. Then he went to his tutor's office. He found the man going through documents.

"Well, Kyo, you did a good job," he said, looking up at the young assassin. "how's the wound?"

"Not too bad, really," answered Kyo. "I can move my arm easily, no problems there."

"How did you find him?"

"Tough." Kyo fiddled with his bandage. "Why did you pit me against him, really?"

"Like you said, he's tough. We've lost several good men to him. You're pretty much one of the few who could go up against him. Another thing is that someone specified you as the hunter and paid in about sixty million zeny."

"That's ten times the price on his head!"

"Exactly. But there was a condition, and that condition was you] had to be the hunter."

Kyo looked mystified. "Am I that good?"

"To non-assassins, apparently yes."

Kyo sighed.

"Well, you have the day off," said his tutor. "Actually, you have a whole week to relax. I just want to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"It wasn't really you who took him down, was it?"

Kyo raised an eyebrow. His tutor was gazing at him in a perfectly innocent way, and yet he knew his tutor had noticed.

"You're right, sir," he said at last, dropping his 'I don't know what you're talking about' face. "I didn't. Someone else did."

"Who?"

"None of ours, that's for certain."

"Kyo," said the man, "please don't tell me a mercenary did the job for you."

"No, I doubt it. He was like an assassin, too."

The man sat back in his seat and looked at Kyo. "Like an assassin? Why like an assassin?"

"Well, he was wearing this sort of...assassin-like clothes, but he had armour. Like bones." Kyo scratched his head. "And he had blades on the tips of his shoes...I think."

"You should go and rest," said his tutor slowly.

"Why? I'm perfectly fine!"

"Just go. Seriously."

Kyo huffed. "All right, sir."

He walked out of the office. His tutor shook his head.

"Kids these days," he said.

Kyo was glad he'd got a week off. He had promised Niki-Haru that he would spend a day with her in Prontera. It was hard for him, because for some reason he was now the youngest assassin to be hired almost every week to kill someone.

He had already sent a falcon to the Prontera Chivalry; now he warped to Prontera via Geffen quickly. He wasn't too sure if he was going to make it or not, since he didn't carry a watch and he certainly did not know the time.

The city was crowded at this time of the day. He sprinted through the crowd, looking for Niki-Haru. She had to be around somewhere, and he was going to get such an earful if he didn't find her quickly enough--

"Kyo!" Someone grabbed him by his scarf. The assassin choked and yanked himself out of the person's grip. He pushed up his fox mask and was rewarded by the sight of Niki-Haru.

"You're late!" she said crossly, her hands on her hips.

"I'm sorry, I had to see my tutor this morning," replied Kyo, rearranging his scarf. "It was about the mission I had last night. I managed three hours of sleep, Niki, go easy on me."

The knight sighed. "All right, all right. I heard about it, anyway."

"Heard about what?"

"The news that you caught the Shadow of Morroc."

Kyo had the decency to look embarrassed. "Look here, Niki--"

"That's impressive, you know. I mean, isn't it true that before you all the assassins couldn't defeat him? And then all of a sudden you come along and help out?"

"Niki, if you'd just listen--"

"You're really talented, y'know." Niki-Haru shook her blue head. "Maybe that's why Khan saw so much potential in you back then--"

Kyo grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her so close to him that her nose was an inch from his face. As she stared up at him, he whispered, "I didn't do it."

"What do you mean?"

"Someone else. Look, let's go sit down in the Crown and Axe, 'kay? More people, more noise, less chance of being overheard. Come on."

Despite her protests he led her by the wrist into the tavern where, as he had predicted, was jam-packed to the ceiling and noisier than a gathering of baby wolves and condors. Kyo managed to locate an empty table in the midst of the rabble and offered a chair to Niki-Haru before sitting down himself.

"I don't understand what you're saying, Kyo," she said. "You're telling me that you're giving all the credit to someone else?"

"Shh, hang on a sec." Kyo waved at the bartender. "Two glasses of water, please!"

"Coming right up!" the bartender shouted back.

"Okay, look here," he said to her. "I didn't manage to get him, okay?"

"But you--"

"Listen, I haven't finished. I nearly got killed, but someone stopped him. I don't know who it is," he added, seeing her open her mouth, "but he was pretty good with pressure points, that was all I could tell."

Niki-Haru stared at him for so long that Kyo felt uncomfortable. Finally she said, "I see."

"You don't believe me, do you?" he asked her, as the waitress came and served them their drinks.

"I do, I do. It's just...you didn't tell your tutor?

"Are you suggesting that I'm not honest with anyone around here?" asked the assassin hotly.

"No, I just want to know."

"Yes, I did."

Niki-Haru nodded. "Okay."

"May I take your orders?" asked the waitress, who had been waiting patiently for them.

"Yes." Niki-Haru looked up. "Could I have a sandwich, please? Phen fillet."

Kyo sighed. "Roasted peco."

The waitress walked off. Kyo gave Niki-Haru a grumpy look.

"You always order sandwiches here," he said. "You're supposed to keep healthy, Niki. You're a knight."

"Yeah, but as a knight you take a big breakfast," replied Niki-Haru, lifting her glass to take a sip of water. "Every day."

Kyo frowned. "Since when did the Chivalry give their knights big breakfasts?"

"Ten years ago."

The assassin kept quiet on this, but it was too late. Niki-Haru had put her glass down on the table, and was staring disconsolately at the wood.

"I shouldn't have asked that, should I?" he said, a few minutes later.

"I miss him," she said quietly. "I miss all of them."

There was silence between both of them. Kyo found this awkward and very hard to console her. He usually sat very still until she came out from her reverie, but it didn't always work.

It had been ten years since the senior guild members of the Raulus had vanished. The press had been ordered by the government to spread the news that the execution had been successful, but the villagers got to the job faster.

And the news was that the execution had failed, and the captives had gone without a trace.

The press had eventually given in and tried to entertain their audience with speculations on what had actually happened, by asking people for their opinions. Some said that the government had secretly freed them, on the condition that they were never to return to the cities. Others said that they had escaped of their own accord and had sought refuge in the Far Lands. There were many other theories, some so outrageous no one could believe them, but Kyo somehow knew that none of them were right.

And Niki-Haru always got upset whenever there was a mention of them.

Eventually she seemed to break out of it. She looked up at him and said, "Kyo, there's something I want to tell you."

"Huh? What is it?"

"You said someone helped you with the Shadow of Morroc. Just recently...I was assigned to the Orc Village to communicate with the Orc Hero there. However, at first some orcs attacked me without asking me my purpose first."

"How can they send you on such a dangerous mission like that?" asked Kyo, looking alarmed.

"Well, I knew that I wasn't actually ready to fight them, but I tried." Niki-Haru looked down into her glass. "I was really close to losing when this...person leapt in and knocked the orcs out."

"How did he look like?"

"I don't know, he was wearing this long cloak with a hood. All I know is that he was holding some sort of sword I've never seen before, and I think he was heavily armoured. Other than that I have no idea what's going on."

"So did you make your way into the village?" asked Kyo.

"Yep, I did. The orcs didn't come near me, and the Orc Hero himself said that I was pretty impressive to actually have someone like that person come to my aid. I'm not too sure who 'that person' was, but it seems the Orc Hero holds him in high regard." Niki-Haru shrugged.

"Ah." Kyo looked down into his water as well.

They did not talk after that until they had finished their lunch. Then, as Kyo was wiping his mouth on a napkin, Niki-Haru said, "Kyo, have you heard of the prophecy?"

"What prophecy?" asked the assassin, lifting his glass to his lips.

"The prophecy that the government received a few days ago."

"Niki." The assassin patted her on the shoulder. "This kingdom doesn't need prophecies anymore. It's a new age, Niki. Why do we need prophecies for?"

"Because this one is already happening."

Kyo's smile drained from his face. Niki-Haru looked deadly serious.

"What does it say?" he said, lowering his voice.

"It says that our kingdom is about to face a reckoning," said Niki-Haru, in the same low tone. "From who, they don't say. But it says that the laws will be defied and the king's word be defied. There is also the entrance of a new race amongst us."

"What?" Kyo couldn't believe his ears. "What kind of race? Elves?"

"The elves died out a long time ago, Kyo," said Niki-Haru, looking slightly irritated. "No, they say it's a race of what they call 'superhumans'. They don't explain how powerful the race is, though."

"What are they called, then?"

Niki-Haru looked up at him, her blue eyes glimmering strangely. "The Transcendence."

As it is, look towards the poster for your clues on the outcome of this instalment. It's in its usual place in my DA.

Incidentally, for those people asking about whether the members of the Raulus would retain their memories I can answer that question easily.

KEEP READING.

note: Phen fillet is a salutation to Ragnarok Wisdom again. You can find the phrase in there somewhere...

note02: I delayed the release of Warriors of the World: The Legend Reborn because I need to be ahead of the writing process in order to write well. Also, TLR has not been so elaborately planned as FotP was, and it will not be as long (thank god) but it doesn't necessarily mean I don't put effort into it either. Thank you, all of you, for waiting and (for my dA-based readers) putting up with my useless off-topic ramblings xD