Hello there readers! Before this adventure begins, I'd just like to say some things. This fanfic is essentially a retelling of Grandia 2 in its entirety with my OCs tossed in the mix. There will be some slight changes to the events of the game, naturally, but the overall story is the same. The first chapter, however, takes place about 3 months before the start of the game, and it was really to introduce my OC. On top of that, the first few chapters were written quite sime time ago, so the style of writing changes slightly later on, and I apologize if this stands out to anyone. I also apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes I may have missed while correcting. Though I have checked the chapters I have written so far several times, I wouldn't be surprised if some slipped through the cracks. That's...all I have to say for now. Enjoy!
I
Reluctant Partners
With the sun high, and not a cloud in the sky, it was like nothing could go wrong that day. There was hardly anyone who did not have a good life. These were prosperous times. But it had not always been like that.
Many, many years ago, all had been bathed in the Holy Light of Granas, the God of Light. Marvels had been made, and everyone lived wonderful lives. No one thought those times would end. But soon, there were some who sought to resist Granas. They found power in Valmar, the God of Darkness, the Devil. With the number of Valmar's followers growing, war broke out. Destruction began to cover the land, suffocating everything. That was what people called the Battle of Good and Evil.
But on the seventh day of the battle, it all ended.
Granas took up his mighty blade, and pierced the infinite darkness of Valmar. The Divine Sword, the Granasaber, fell to the earth, and carved several ugly scars into the land, so named the Granacliffs. They separated the lands, making nearly everyone isolated until they found means to cross them. Wounded, Granas fell to the earth for rest, and ever since that day Valmar was defeated, a new moon hung in the sky, Valmar's Moon. There were even some times in the day when its red glow could faintly be seen in the blue sky. It was one of those days.
There were many who still strongly believed in Granas, waiting for the day when he would wake from his rest. They constantly prayed for any of their troubles to be taken away, and to live a blessed life. A young Geohound, Ryudo, was not one of those people. He was a bounty hunter, and one with great skills with a blade. He hated Church, he hated religion, he hated anything that had to deal with that stuff. He was a young man who got things done by his own hands, not by "muttering uselessly to the sky", as he put it.
Drumming his fingers over the hilt of his blade, he made his way for Ackrynn, a small village far to the west of the Granacliffs. His bird, Skye, was perched on his shoulder. He had met Skye two years ago, when he had been fifteen, and was now the only one he could possibly trust and talk to fairly openly. Ryudo was a very cynical and pessimistic person, and would do any job for a price, regardless of moral judgment.
And the occupation he took, being a Geohound, it was not one people looked highly upon.
Over the past three years, he had not seen anyone else who did the same line of work as he did. True, there had been some people who would help others out, but none of them were Geohounds like him.
Kids ran through the streets, playing with their friends. A small group of women appeared to be talking up a storm as they walked past him, not even noticing him. Spotting the building that looked like it was the inn, he quickly headed over for it. People looked up when they heard the new person who entered for a second before they went back to whatever they had been doing. Ryudo walked up to the front desk.
"Hey, can you tell me where the Village Chief's place is?" he asked, leaning casually on the counter. The innkeeper looked up at him.
"And why would you need to know that?" he asked back.
Ryudo sighed slowly. Why did everyone he met want to know about stuff that did not concern them? That was something that always puzzled him. "Because he wants to hire me for something that I don't know yet," he explained, clearly annoyed, and saying each word slowly. Honestly. Why else would I care about something like that if it wasn't for a job? And why the hell should he care anyway? Ryudo asked himself.
The man's look suddenly became one of disgust. "Oh, so you're the Geohound." He spat the word "Geohound"like saying it was poison itself. The room suddenly went silent and every head turned to look at Ryudo. He let out a drawn-out sigh, running his hand through his dark-brown hair. Nearly everywhere he went, he got that sort of greeting. A Geohound. A scumbag. An irritable vagabond. A ruthless boar. That was what Geohounds were seen as. "Go out and head left. His is the big house next to the Church," he instructed the young man.
Wanting to get out of the Geohound's presence as soon as possible, the innkeeper went into the back room behind the counter. The young man scoffed and rolled his eyes in thanks before he exited. What was it about being a Geohound that made people treat then like scum? Sure, they might kill people to get their pay, they could kill people without a second thought if their job required of it.
But they got the job done, no matter what.
I guess people can't stand that we kill to pay for our next meal, he thought sourly to himself as he walked outside and headed left. Sometimes, he just was not able to understand why they were all so aghast to that thought. If they were thrown into a situation where it was either kill or be killed, what would they do then? A Geohound was just thrown into that sort of situation a lot more often.
"I can't stand men like him," commented Skye, turning his head around to look back at the inn. Skye was in his mid-forties, and was the only being that was able to keep Ryudo in check.
"Don't get your feathers all ruffled up 'cause of him. At least he wasn't as bad as some of the other people we've had to talk to."
The bird clicked his beak in irritation. "True. But you think there would at least be some more people out there that didn't hate us," he pointed out.
The tall Geohound sighed inwardly. "Well, until we meet a large enough amount that don't hate us, we can still say that everyone hates us," he said nonchalantly, scratching his chin.
"One of the great mysteries of the universe?" Even though no one could see it, Ryudo could tell Skye had risen his eyebrows at that question...or would have if he had eyebrows.
He barked out a quick laugh. "Yeah! Along with women, the other great mystery is why most people don't like Geohounds." The short joke between friends ended when they knocked on the Village Chief's house. He did not have to wait long before the door was opened by a maid with black hair.
"Good afternoon, sir." She gave a small curtsy. Ryudo had to suppress a groan. He hated when people would make it seem like he was better than they were. If at all, he was "worse", as most people put it. He was a Geohound, the "scum of the planet". "May I help you?" she asked, folding her hands in front of her.
"Is the Village Chief in? I got a message saying he needed me for a job."
"Ah yes. You must be the Geohound." Even though she did not say it with the same malice as the innkeeper had—probably because she had to always be polite, he figured—there was a look in her brown eyes that gave away her dislike for Geohounds. It was just one more person to add to his list of people who did not like Geohounds. She stepped to the side, allowing him entrance. "Please, come in."
After Ryudo walked in, the maid closed the door behind him. Not wanting to get any closer than she had to, she held out her arm to indicate what appeared to be a living room. "Please wait over there. The Village Chief will be with you shortly." She gave a curt bow before she scuttled off. Fiddling with his dark-blue sleeve, he walked over to the designated room and sat down in one of the armchairs.
He ended up picking at the cloth on the arm while waiting. Skye hopped down onto the opposite one. Footsteps coming down stairs indicated that someone had come back. Rising, he saw the Village Chief dismiss the maid as he walked over to anther armchair, signaling that the Geohound could be seated once again.
"Thank you for coming so quickly."
Ryudo leaned his chin against his hand. "Hey, the faster I get one job, the faster I get to the next." The Village Chief gave a small sniff of disapproval at his answer. "Anyway, name's Ryudo and this here's Skye," he introduced the two of them as usual, indicating to Skye with his thumb.
"You may call me Kosuke. Now, I'm afraid we will have to wait a bit longer before we can get down to business." The Village Chief became a little edgy, worried about what Ryudo's reaction would be.
He blinked a few times. That was a something he had not heard before. Most of the time, the people who hired him got straight down to business, mainly to get him out of there sooner. That was another thing that puzzled him: if they were always to reluctant to work with a Geohound, why did they hire one in the first place? He never pushed that subject though, whatever the reason, it meant more gold for him. "And what would be the reason for the delay?"
Kosuke got even more edgy. "Well...on top of you, I have also hired another Geohound." Ryudo's eyebrows immediately rose, and even Skye looked up as soon as Kosuke said that. People normally hated to hire one Geohound, but to hire two? That man had to be pretty desperate, he figured. And for Ryudo to actually be working with another Geohound, it was a first. He did not work that well with others...besides Skye.
"What, don't think I can handle the job?"
"Well...we have been having some troubles with a group of bandits, lately. They've been ransacking our village, and harassing our people. They are a large group, and I'm sure they'd prove to be difficult to one person alone. So, I thought it would be best to hire two of you," explained Kosuke.
Ryudo sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "Well, if that's gonna be part of the contract, then I guess I'm okay with it," he muttered. He could have sworn Kosuke let out a sigh of relief. He eyed the Village Chief skeptically with his deep-blue orbs. Kosuke was not telling the whole truth, Ryudo was sure of it. He was about to press the matter further when there was a quick knock at the door.
"Aika, would you please get that?" he called out to his maid.
"Of course, sir," came her response from the other room.
Ryudo stared at Kosuke oddly. There he was, sitting not too far away from the door, and yet he called for his maid to get it? Sometimes—rather, most of the time—he could hardly understand other people at all. They waited while the maid quickly went to the door.
She opened it and curtsied to the person who was at it. Sitting at the place he was, Ryudo could not see who it was. The conversation between the maid and the person was not audible from where Ryudo sat. Soon, the maid stepped to the side and held out her arm to the living room, much like she had done to Ryudo. The person walked in, and the brunet immediately was able to tell he was the Geohound they were waiting for.
Ryudo studied the man. He wore black boots, like Ryudo's, they too had had buckles on them, just not as many. He had a broadsword strapped to his waist, around the same as Ryudo's sword. He wore black pants and a dark-blue tunic that was tucked loosely into a black belt. That blue top was over a long-sleeved black shirt, and at the end of his arms he wore bracers and gloves. When Ryudo looked at his face, most of it was covered by a black mask that his everything from his nose down. He also wore a headband, and the black cloak he wore was attached to that, hiding even more of his face in its shadows. The only distinguishing features that could be seen was the man's dark-blue hair—which made Ryudo recall something that he did not want to remember—and his sharp, amethyst eyes.
Ryudo could not help but stare at those eyes. They held a sorrow in them, a pain, a pain similar to what Ryudo felt. The man stared back at him with a cold, emotionless stare. Ryudo felt surprisingly apprehensive. There, standing just at the edge of the room, was another Geohound.
Someone else like Ryudo.
Something gave a soft chirp, but not that of a bird's. Peering around the black material that hid the sides of the man's face was a little golden head. A lizard-like head. The man walked forward and gave a curt bow of his head to the Village Chief.
"You can call me Satoshi, and this is Hisashi." He titled his head to indicate the golden dragon that was no larger than Skye. Kosuke nodded approvingly and gestured to an empty couch.
"I am Kosuke. These two are Ryudo and Skye," he introduced them. Ryudo waved his hand once in greeting. "And I thank you for coming so soon. I must say that I'm a little surprised that you both showed up on the same day," he chuckled softly. Satoshi grunted slightly in his response. As he walked past them, he stared at Ryudo again with his pain-filled gaze. The brunet was greatly intimidated by that gaze. Even though Satoshi appeared to be the same age he was, he seemed to hold a wisdom well beyond the reach of his years; out of the reach for any human for that matter. He looked away when he sat at the edge of the couch that was closest to the two of them.
"As I'm sure you've noticed, you will not be taking this job alone."
Satoshi glanced over at Ryudo. Sighing, he sunk lower into the couch. "I don't normally work with other people, but is this one of the conditions for getting paid?" he asked as he looked back at Kosuke. Ryudo felt a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. The Geohound Satoshi was one that seemed to get down to business right away, and Ryudo liked that.
"It is. I have already explained to Ryudo that I believe this will be something that neither of you would be able to do on your own."
Satoshi scoffed softly. "Don't think our skills are good enough on our own?" Ryudo nearly chuckled. That had been the same thought that had passed through Ryudo's mind when Kosuke told him that.
"I mean no disrespect..."
"Well, I'm afraid to say that it is an insult to our skill. Hiring two Geohounds is like hiring two tailors to work on the same shirt for you. It just doesn't happen." Satoshi began to stand to leave. He glance over at Ryudo again. "Since you got here first, you may have this job." He was liking this Satoshi person even more.
"Wait!" called out Kosuke as Satoshi began to leave. "Please. It is a large group of bandits. I doubt even one Geohound can handle them; they are very ruthless. If it's gold you're worried about, I'm paying you both as if we had only wanted to hire one of you." That got Satoshi's attention.
He turned around to look at them, a hand on his hip. "Bandits, huh? I admit, a large group can be difficult...if they coordinate to work together." He scratched to the side of his eye, looking over at Ryudo. "You okay with this? Don't mind being forced to work with another Geohound?"
Ryudo shook his head. "Well, I do prefer to work alone, but I'll put up with it if I have to."
The blue-haired man closed his eyes as he sighed, dropping his hand back down to his side. "Your enthusiasm is overwhelming," he muttered sarcastically. Opening his eyes, he switched looks between Ryudo and Kosuke. "Well, I guess I'll help," he sighed as he went back to sit down.
"So, what's the contract going to be?" asked Ryudo after Satoshi got seated.
Kosuke began to explain to them what had been going on. In the past, a group of bandits attacked their village fairly often. Satoshi put in a quick comment on how the village seemed like it had not been touched in a while. Kosuke explained to him that it had been a while since the bandits' last attack, so they had been able to rebuild. There had been reports from villagers that the bandits were being spotted again.
"What I need is for you to stop the bandits from attacking our village again."
Ryudo scratched his cheek. "You mean kill them?"
Kosuke nearly flinched when Ryudo said that. "...I wouldn't say it like that."
"But that is what you want us to do, right?" he checked again.
Kosuke sighed in defeat, nodding his head numbly. "For the safety of our village, they must not return!"=" he told them firmly. Ryudo and Satoshi sighed. Once again, they were being hired to do the dirty work.
"Okay, so we kill the bandits off, and then we'll get paid?" summarized Satoshi.
"Yes. You will also be given a free room at the inn for when you need rest. Once it is all done, we will calculate what your pay shall be."
Satoshi nodded his head slightly in approval. That was a fairly good deal. Getting paid at the end of the work was normal for them, though there was the odd person who paid upfront. "I guess I'm okay with that," he muttered as he rubbed his neck. "On one condition." Ryudo and Kosuke looked at him. "What's the other reason you want us to do this?" he asked, resting his chin on his hand.
So, he noticed it, too, thought Ryudo. As Kosuke explained what had been going on, and what he wanted them to do, he had seemed rather edgy, like he was hiding something.
Kosuke coughed nervously. "Uh...well..." he fumbled to find words.
"We don't have eternity, you know," remarked Ryudo after Kosuke did not explain right away.
Clearing his throat, Kosuke was finally able to say what he needed to. "Well...my daughter was kidnapped by the bandits not long before I sent out for you two," he told them. Both of the Geohounds eyebrows rose. So that had been what was troubling him: his daughter.
"So did you not want us to rescue her...? Or was it something else?" questioned Satoshi.
"Ah, well...I just thought...since you were going to hunt down the bandits anyway, I thought her being rescued would be a bonus."
"Will we get a bonus in pay?" asked Ryudo, smirking. They both figured the reason he had not asked them of it in the first place was so that he would not have to pay them more gold.
Kosuke sighed. He had been pushed into a corner, well, more he had done it by himself by not explaining everything in the first place. "Well, if you are able to bring her back safely, I suppose I can see to it that you get a bonus." Ryudo's smirk widened as the two Geohounds rose up.
He held out his hand to the Village Chief. "Destroy the bandits and rescue your daughter. Just leave it to us." Kosuke took his hand loosely, shaking it quickly so he would not have to hold it any longer than necessary. He shook Satoshi's hand just as quickly to seal the deal with them. "Any tips on where the bandits are?" asked Ryudo.
"They've been spotted to the south of Ackrynn. I suggest you start there." The Geohounds nodded in agreement. Not really wanting to spend any longer with the Village Chief than needed, especially since he did not seem to overly enjoy their company, the two of them left the house without any troubles.
With the door closed behind them, Ryudo crossed his arms and looked at Satoshi, finally able to get a good look at him. He was only slightly shorter than the brunet, and he held himself much like Ryudo did. He wondered how good his skills with the blade were. He hoped they were good since he was forced to work with him. Many questions plagued the young Geohound about Satoshi. What did he used to do? Where was his place of origin? Where had he been able to get a little dragon as his companion? And most of all, what made his eyes give off that pained looked; the same pain that Ryudo had felt for three long years.
But as much as he wanted to know, he did not ask.
Ryudo was someone who wanted to forget his own past, the past that probably gave him that same pained look. If he was not about to tell anyone else, then why should they tell him? It was not his business, so he pushed that matter to the back of his mind.
"So, Ryudo, was it?" asked Satoshi, titling his head to look at him. Ryudo gave a quick nod. "Ready to go kick those bandits' butts?" he asked, the corners of his eyes barely crinkling as he smirked beneath his mask.
Ryudo let out a quick laugh. "You bet."
:::
They had been walking around to the area south of Ackrynn for a few hours, scanning for any signs that might lead them to the bandits' base. Even though Ryudo was relatively good in tracking—he needed to be for some jobs he was hired for—he paled in comparison to Satoshi's skills. The blue-haired man squatted down to study some tracks that Ryudo had not even noticed.
"These are old, but there have been more of them, fresher ones scattered throughout them, so it's safe to assume we're nearing their base," he informed Ryudo, brushing his hands together as he stood back up.
The brunet nodded approvingly. "Think we'll be able to handle this in one day?" he asked, coming up to Satoshi's side. The other Geohound took a small step to the side, not liking being that close to someone else. He liked his space.
"Depends on how many there are, and whether or not they seem organized.," he sighed as he brushed his bangs to the side. "If they seem pathetically weak—which they very well could be—perhaps we could take them on right now. But if they are the opposite of that, then I strongly suggest that we wait for the right moment to strike."
"Yikes. Do you always make everything so technical?" asked Ryudo, raising an eyebrow at his temporary partner in business.
Satoshi sighed, flicking some dirt off his pants. "Most of the time I think all that stuff to myself. But since I have to work with you this time, I thought it would be better to hear what I had planned," he muttered nonchalantly.
Ryudo gave a quiet "Ahh." The little gold dragon, Hisashi, peered around the back of Satoshi's head to look at Ryudo.
"Don't worry about him. Trust me, he can be a lot ruder if he wanted to be."
Ryudo's jaw nearly dropped. "You can talk?" It had been the first time Hisashi had spoken since Ryudo had seen him.
"Don't act like it's anything new, Ryudo," came Skye from his shoulder. The bird looked over to the little dragon. "You two are also fairly lucky as well. Ryudo seems to be quite the gentleman on this job. Normally he's not very pleasant. Sometimes I even wonder how I'm able to put up with him."
"Watch it, Skye. Shouldn't you be slamming your head into a window, or something, by now?" Ryudo glared at his friend.
Skye clicked his beak in annoyance at the comment and rolled his eyes. "See what I mean?" Ryudo glanced back over at Satoshi when he began to chuckle, along with Hisashi. He had a surprisingly soft chuckle.
He groaned, "Don't tell me you're taking his side."
Satoshi immediately stopped chuckling and glanced over at Ryudo. Shaking his head slowly, he continued on his way through the few trees and hills in hopes of finding the bandits that afternoon. Ryudo stared after him for a moment before catching back up.
"So, Satoshi, how old are you?" asked Skye, still sitting on Ryudo's shoulder.
"I'm seventeen," he grunted a reply.
"Interesting. Ryudo here is the same age."
"Hey, I don't need you blurting out my life story!" interjected Ryudo.
Skye stared calmly at the human. "I wasn't. I was merely informing Satoshi of your age. And I was going to leave it at that." He clicked his beak when he finished.
Satoshi sighed. "Are you two always fighting?"
"No, not always. But, now that you mention it, we do seem to disagree a fair bit," answered Ryudo, frowning in thought.
"Huh. I never would have guessed," Satoshi remarked sarcastically, moving to the side a bit more in case Ryudo wanted to attack him or something. They remained in silence as Satoshi followed the tracks, getting closer to the bandits' base. Ryudo may have liked Satoshi a bit—oespecially since he seemed a fair bit like himself—but he still did not trust him.
And he would not be surprised if Satoshi did not trust him back.
That was the life of a Geohound. To work alone. Both of them just so happened to have small companions that kept them company.
Their shadows were getting longer and the sun was beginning to set. Suddenly, Satoshi held his hand out to stop Ryudo.
"What is it?" he whispered. Satoshi glanced at him and motioned for him to follow. Walking ahead slowly, they began to hear noises of more people. Lots of people. More like lots of men. Satoshi crouched down behind an old fallen log that was beginning to rot, Ryudo crouching just to his side. They peered over the log and the few bugs that were crawling over it and saw what they had been looking for.
There before them was the camp of bandits.
They began to study the group of men they were hired to defeat. They seemed rather brutish. A large group made up of large, tough-looking men. Most had scraggly beards, and bathing did not seem to be high on their list. Most wore dark pants and shirts, with armor at some essential places, more than what Ryudo and Satoshi wore, but less than a knight. Basic tents were set up near the cliff face, ones that could probably fit four our five each. Both of them knew that it would be a difficult fight to win.
"I counted fifty-two. How about you?" whispered Satoshi.
"Fifty-five. But who knows if they have sentries or not." He rubbed his head in thought. "Hey, Skye. Mind looking around for us? See if you can find any sentries on the look-out."
"Right away." The exotic bird flew off without another word, gliding silently through the air. Hisashi hopped off of Satoshi's shoulder and onto the ground, eventually climbing up onto the log and looking over as well.
"Think you guys can handle them?" asked the small dragon.
Satoshi pushed his mask down slightly so he could scratch his cheek. "Maybe, if we play our cards right," he muttered, fixing his mask to make sure it was comfortable again. The bandits appeared to have some order, or else they would not have been in such a large group. Some of the men attended the horses, while others began preparing a meal for the group of men. Both of them pondered over what the best course of action would be.
"How about a sneak-attack when they're asleep?" asked Ryudo. Satoshi's eyebrows rose, surprised that he had not thought of that in the first place.
"You know, that's not a bad plan. Wait for them to sleep, take out the sentries, find Kosuke's daughter, then finish them all off in one night," he ran over the plan with approval. "It might actually work," he muttered.
"Hey, worked for me in the past. What do you normally do in situation like this?" asked Ryudo, not relaxing for a second in case they were found out.
Finished with studying the bandits, Satoshi turned around to rest his back against the log, sitting far enough down that they would not see his head. Ryudo did the same thing, and Hisashi plopped down between them. "Well, normally I don't have to take them all down. "But for something like this, I would normally pick them off one by one to create confusion; Hisashi comes in handy there. While they're panicking, I take down the leader quite easily, then the rest drop like flies."
Ryudo nodded in approval. "Interesting. Sometimes I have Skye create a distraction, and I go in and do whatever needs to be done." Even Satoshi nodded in approval. Finished whispering, they waited with for Skye to return in silence, both of them straining their senses in case any of the bandits tried to sneak up on them.
They waited. And waited. Finally, after many minutes of listening to the going-ons of the camp behind them—and with the odd glance to see what was happening—Skye finally swooped back down and landed in between them.
"I counted ten sentries in a ring around their camp. We're actually already past their patrolling area, so you should be safe here," he informed them before cleaning one of his wings.
Ryudo tapped a finger to his mouth. "Ten sentries? So that's over sixty bandits in all. Pretty large group for all the way out here," he thought aloud, whispering again. "So what do you say to waiting for them to sleep, kill five sentries each, then meet back here before we go into the camp?"
Satoshi nodded once, peering over the log again. "That should work. Then we'll try to kill them silently." He winced slightly at a bad thought. "If they wake up, that would prove to be a problem."
"Well, let's hope they either drink a whole lot of alcohol, or they eat lots of Kuko Berries to get the same effect," muttered Ryudo after glancing at the camp again.
"They're bandits, I wouldn't be surprised if they did that every night," he remarked dryly. Satoshi shrugged slightly and Ryudo chuckled slightly at his comment. They began to wait in silence once again.
:::
Night was falling, and they could hear a large fire crackling behind them at the center of the camp. They got a fraction of the warm light from where they sat. Ryudo stretched out his legs and arms, being careful not to be too loud or to raise his arms up. Satoshi had pulled out his blade a while ago, and had been making little designs in the log behind them. Ryudo removed the pack from his back and got out some food.
Skye cocked his head at Ryudo who looked down at him. "Aren't you meant to be picking for worms, or something?" The bird ruffled up his feathers slightly at the comment, but did not respond. "Well, don't think you're gonna get some of my meal," he whispered. Hisashi was not there at the moment, he had left to go find his own meal. Satoshi had said something about it probably being a rodent or some small animal.
Ryudo grimaced thinking about having to eat something like that before he looked over to Satoshi. He was leaning his head against the log, eyes closed, and with his sword in hand, ready for any surprises. "You going to eat?" asked Ryudo before taking a bite from a roll of bread. Satoshi slowly opened his amethyst eyes and turned his head to look at Ryudo. After a few seconds of just staring at him, he shook his head in decline. "Why not?" he asked after swallowing.
The blue-haired Geohound shrugged. "Not hungry at the moment."
Ryudo smirked slightly after tearing off another bite. "Oh, you just don't want me to see what you look like behind that mask," he commented like he was correct. Satoshi sighed and look away while Ryudo continued to look at him. "Why do you wear that thing, anyway? Do you have scars? Or some hideous deformity?"
"Careful, Ryudo," warned Skye. He was the only one who was barely able to get Ryudo out of trouble.
"I don't want people to know who I really am. At least that way I always have something to fall back to if I want some peace and quiet," he answered with a shrug.
Ryudo swallowed his last bite of the roll. "What about your name? I mean, you gave your name easily before we took this job," he pointed out.
Satoshi looked back at Ryudo as he raised his right eyebrow. "Now when did I ever say it was my real name?"
"But back at the—"
Satoshi shook his head, tsking softly. "All I said was he could call me Satoshi. I never said it was my name."
Ryudo felt like he had missed the most obvious thing in the world. After finishing his quick meal, he looked over the log and saw most of the men were almost done their own meals. Hopefully, in just a little bit longer, they would finish and go to sleep.
That was when they would strike.
:::
Crouching behind the log, Ryudo looked over the camp. Most of the men had went back inside the tents, but a few had gotten so drunk while dinner that they had passed out on the ground. Satoshi shook his head in disbelief.
"Maybe this will be easier than we thought," muttered Ryudo as he studied the many tents.
"Perhaps." Throwing a stone far away from them—which resulted in an unnatural thunk as it hit a tree—Satoshi waited to see if any of them awoke. They waited, and when no one rose, they stood up. "I'll take the five on the right, you take the five on the left. We'll meet back here when done," instructed Satoshi. Nodding, they both went their separate ways.
Both of them found their five sentries to be extremely easy. A little too easy for their tastes. They did like a challenge every now and then, and the sentries were not giving them a challenge. With ten of the bandits down, they returned to where they had been waiting at roughly the same time. Satoshi was wiping his blade on a dirty rag, most likely dirty from all the blood that had been on it before.
Ryudo twirled his blade around successfully. "Now the fun begins," he said softly with a devilish grin, looking out to the bandits' camp. Smoothly, Satoshi placed his blade in its scabbard, not having to look while doing it since it was now like second nature. "So, split up and search the tents to find his daughter?" he guessed.
Satoshi flicked his wrist and looked to Ryudo. "No," he said sternly.
Ryudo looked back at him in shock. "What?"
"I'm not letting you out of my sight, having to do that for the sentries was bad enough. I have no idea what you would do on your own."
Ryudo gave a wry chuckle and smirked. "What's the matter? Don't trust me?" he asked jokingly, although he was positive that was the right reason. By the look on Satoshi's face, he had not found it to be a joke.
"That is precisely the reason, Ryudo." He placed a hand on his hip. "It's my skills that are for hire, not my trust. And even if it was, you're not the one who hired me," he said coldly. In most cases, Ryudo was used to a rude comment like that to him, and most of the time, he probably deserved it. But for some reason, when Satoshi had said it, it hurt him ever so slightly, when he had expected it not to hurt him at all. There was just something...different about Satoshi.
"Well, well, Ryudo," came Skye's deep voice when he did not say anything in response. "Looks like he can be as rude as you sometimes. Are all Geohounds this rude?"
"Shut it," warned Ryudo as he glanced over the camp once more.
None of the bandits had even stirred while they were away. Extremely pleased that it was turning out rather easy—easy jobs were always a nice break for them—they jumped over the rotting log and walked into the camp without any problems. Satoshi was tempted to whistle as they made their way through the few sleeping bandits. Many of the men were drooling, their breath heavy with alcohol. One burped in his sleep, his breath was so awful that the Geohounds ended up coughing at the stench.
Still coughing lightly, Ryudo pushed back the flaps of the first tent they reached. Only sleeping men were inside. They systematically went through most of the tents until they came to one that appeared to be the one for the leader of the group. Ryudo and Satoshi shared a glance at each other before the brunet pulled back the flap.
Inside was a large, brutish man, clearly the leader of the bandits. His snoring was so loud that the Geohounds wondered how anyone else was able to sleep. Behind the ruthless-looking bandit, was a young girl with flowing golden hair bound to the pole of the tent. Remnants of tears stained her cheeks, and her dress was ripped to a great extent. The two vagabonds stared at her with pity, wondering how badly she had been violated. Stepping lightly as possible, the brunet walked past the bandit, and knelt down next to the girl. He placed a hand over her mouth and she jerked awake.
A muffled yell escaped her and more tears began to flow.
Ryudo tried to hush her up, keeping a firm grip on her mouth. "We're here to get you out of here. So keep quiet!" he hissed at her, trying to stare her down.
The girl whimpered and her eyes darted over to the entrance where Satoshi stood. He brought a finger up to his mask to tell her to be quiet. Still panic-stricken, her attempts at screaming ceased, and she finally calmed down. With a quiet sigh, Ryudo dropped his hand from her mouth.
Pulling forth a dagger of his own, Ryudo sliced through the girl's bindings. Rubbing her red wrists, she stood with a lot of help. With her being pulled along, they both kept quiet as they stepped past the sleeping bandit. For a moment he stirred, and all of them held their breaths as they watched and waited. The two men sighed in relief when they saw it was a false alarm, while the girl let out a hiccup as a few more tears fell free.
Satoshi pulled the flap to the side, allowing the other two to pass through safely.
Suddenly, their hopes of an easy night vanished as the girl stepped on a large branch, sending a loud crack through the night.
Stopping dead in their tracks, the Geohounds groaned. They knew what would happen next. They turned around in time to see the bandit leader rising up, scratching his head, then noticing the girl was at the entrance to his tent. He woke up suddenly, yelling loudly as he grabbed a battle ax. Looking back outside, they could see the rest of the bandits slowly awakening. Even the most drunken of men were beginning to wake. The girl whimpered between the two Geohounds as the leader yelled out a command to capture the three of them.
"Time to run!" commanded Satoshi. Grabbing roughly onto the girl's other hand, he began to rush through the rising bandits.
They were about half way to the rotting log they had been hiding behind when Ryudo let go of the girl and stopped. Drawing his sword out, he turned to face the oncoming men. "Make sure she gets out of here!" he shouted back to Satoshi.
He did not stop when Ryudo did, he just kept on running. Ignoring the girl's sobbings, he pulled her in front of him when he reached the log. He called out for his dragon while the sound of Ryudo fighting filled the air. "Make sure she gets back to the village!" he ordered the little dragon after picking the girl up and placing her on the other side of the log. His trustworthy companion gave an affirmative response before flying in front of the girl.
"Come on! Let's go!" he had to shout at her over the noise of the fight. The girl was frozen in place with fear.
"Start running, you fool!" Satoshi yelled, drawing his sword. The girl whimpered once more before dashing off, Hisashi following to make sure she stayed safe. The blue-haired man continued to keep an eye on them until they could no longer be seen. He turned around to join in the fight against the bandits.
Only he joined a moment too late.
After he spun around, a rough blade pierced his left shoulder. He cried out in pain as the sword went through everything, tearing through the other side. Cringing, he brought his broadsword up with his free hand and chopped off the man's head, barely able to move his sword with one arm. Both of them fell to their knees, but the bandit continued to fall until he was a dead heap on the ground. Gritting his teeth, Satoshi pulled the blade from his shoulder, flinging it as far away as possible. With heavy panting, and his left arm practically useless, he managed to stand.
Bringing his head to look up, he saw half a dozen more bandits racing towards him. Blood oozing from his wound, he gripped his sword with both hands. To use his broadsword effectively, one needed two hands to perform most attacks. The only way he would make it through the night is if he used both hands. But doing that—resulting in more blood loss—might also end up with his death.
But he was not about to give up fighting.
He charged at the oncoming bandits, slicing through the three that were closest like they were tissue paper. Most of the time, his skills in fighting were so superior that he easily took down anyone who opposed him in his job. But with his injured arm, the fight with the bandits was more balanced than previous battles he had been in.
Not too far away from him, Ryudo was taking on a large percentage of the bandits. Even Skye was fighting. The sentries they had fought against earlier had been extremely easy, but fighting a large mass of them at once was proving to be more of a challenge. No matter how many of them he was able to cut down, more kept rising up behind their dead comrades to take their place.
Dashing forward, he performed one of his more simpler attacks. "Take that! Tenseiken Slash!" he yelled out, killing five more men in that one strike.
Ryudo glanced over his shoulder and saw Satoshi taking care one of the bandits at a slower rate than he expected. In that moment he saw the left side of his clothes stained with blood, and he immediately knew why. He was very badly injured. The brunet was actually surprised that Satoshi could keep on fighting like he was with that wound. No longer able to study Satoshi's fighting style, Ryudo quickly went back to fight as many of the bandits as possible.
After a long and tiring battle with the ruthless bandits, only one of them was left standing. The leader of the bandits. Satoshi was able to get to Ryudo's side, his vision already going dark from the loss of blood. He gripped his sword with one hand for the moment, glaring at the brutish leader.
The bandit lord swung his battle ax to intimidate them. Neither of them yielded their ground. "Sure you're able to do this?" whispered Ryudo to Satoshi.
"I'll...be fine," he panted through heavy breaths. "It'll take more...than that to stop me." He gave a weak chuckle. If he had not been wearing his black mask, Ryudo would have seen the painful wince that Satoshi wore.
"You will pay for what you've done," growled the barbarous brute. Yelling at the top of his lungs a battle cry that would have shaken up even a well-seasoned warrior, he charged at them. Before he swung wildly, the two Geohounds jumped opposite ways to dodge the strike.
"Satoshi! Now's our chance!" shouted Ryudo while the bandit lord tried to remove his ax from the ground. Ryudo ran for the bandit lord, performing his Tenseiken Slash once again while Satoshi performed a special move of his own.
"You're much too slow," he taunted. "Double Slash!"
With a bombardment of three strikes at once, the bandit lord fell to the ground, dead. The two Geohounds, breathing heavily, surveyed the camp, making sure that none were left to fight.
Ryudo quickly cleaned off his blade before sheathing it. "Nicely done. We should get paid a good amount for this," he commented as he walked up to his one-time partner.
Satoshi grinned beneath his mask, using his sword to support his weight. "Yeah... One night...we did pretty good." Ryudo and Skye suddenly yelled out his name when he collapsed to the ground, nearly out cold.
"Hey! Snap out of it!" ordered Ryudo, kneeling down to help.
"Damn wound..." he muttered sourly. He turned his head to look at Ryudo, his vision growing even darker. "If I don't make it out of this...feel free to have my share of the gold." He gave a one-sided grin under his mask.
"As much of a tempting offer that might be, you are gonna make it out of this," he said firmly, trying to convince himself as much as Satoshi.
A wry chuckle escaped the blue-haired man. "Concern from a...Geohound like you? That's a first," he muttered before he blacked-out completely.
Muttering a curse under his breath, Ryudo was quick to act. He had to get Satoshi back to the village; it was his only chance of survival.
:::
The darkness of night clung to everything as Ryudo carried Satoshi back to the village. Ryudo was never one to do something dishonorable and so he was not about to leave Satoshi behind. Even though he did not look it—especially since he normally made crude comments about most things—he did have very high standards of justice. It was all because of how he grew up. Though at one point in his past, roughly three years ago, nearly everything he believed, put his faith in, had been shattered beyond repair. His look became cold as he reluctantly remembered those times.
He burst through the doors to the inn, walking as fast as he could while carrying Satoshi to the front desk. The man who was working stared oddly at them, his face paling when he saw all the blood that was on Satoshi's clothes. "What happened...?" he dared to ask.
Ryudo grunted. I don't have time for this! he thought to himself. "Where are our rooms? We're the Geohounds that your chief hired!" he informed the man, rather hastily.
"Uh..." The man blanked for a second. "Room fourteen," he finally answered, holding out their key. snatched it from him with his free hand. Carrying Satoshi along, he carefully climbed the stairs, searching frantically for their room. Nearly forcing the door open in his haste, he quickly brought Satoshi to the bed that was closest to the door. The wounded Geohound did not even stir in the slightest. Taking off his pack, Ryudo rummaged through his belongings until he found some dried herbs and clean bandages. Skye sat at the base of the bed, watching his companion nearly run to Satoshi's left side.
"Damn it..." he cursed when he pulled back the torn sleeve to look at the wound. "It went all the way through." He noticed it that for the first time. Rushing into the bathroom, he brought out a wet washcloth. He tried to clean the wound as best as possible for the moment.
"I'll go look for Hisashi." Without even waiting for Ryudo to respond, he opened the window with his beak, and was on his way.
After placing several leaves of the medicinal herb on Satoshi's cleaned wound, he wrapped the bandages tightly around his shoulder. Sighing, and hardly able to stand on his own two feet from fatigue, he sat down on the edge of the other bed. He waited for Skye to return for as long as he could—which was not that long—before he lay back against his bed and quickly fell asleep, not even bothering to remove his boots.
:::
After an empty sleep, one with no dreams, and it felt as though he did not get any real rest at all, Ryudo slowly awoke. With his eyelids heavy with fatigue, he blinked several times before he was able to focus properly. Sighing, he got out of the bed and dusted off his pants.
"Morning, sleepyhead," muttered Skye. Ryudo glared softly at his friend before he remembered what happened last night.
He quickly went over to Satoshi's side after getting new bandages. The old bandages were very red from the wound, but it appeared to be healing over. Once Ryudo wrapped the new bandages around it, he noticed Hisashi curled up on Satoshi's pillow. The little dragon seemed fast asleep, his tail twitching once and a while.
"You know, he has surprisingly delicate features," commented the bird, flying over to Ryudo's shoulder. He nodded slowly, noticing, finally, that Satoshi's mask had shifted slightly. Now, more of his face was revealed to them. Ryudo also noticed that he was sweating slightly. Placing a hand on his forehead, he could feel how clammy he now was, and that he now had a fever.
"Dammit. Looks like the wound got infected after all," he muttered, pulling his hand away and clenching it into a fist. Moving hastily, he wet a cloth and placed it on Satoshi's forehead. He moaned softly, stirring only slightly.
"What are you going to do now?" asked Skye.
Ryudo paused for a moment. "I'm gonna go finish up our business with Kosuke. At least that way it will be out of the way," he responded with a sigh.
"Good idea. You've done all you can do for Satoshi already. He needs his rest," finished Skye. With one final glance at the wounded Satoshi, Ryudo left their room to head back to Kosuke's house.
:::
A while after Ryudo had left, Satoshi eventually began to stir. With his amethyst eyes fluttering open, he immediately winced when he felt the pain in his shoulder. Instincts kicking in, he grabbed the wound with his hand.
"Ouch...ungh," he groaned, opening his eyes again. Attempting to ignore the pain, he pushed himself up, glancing around the unfamiliar setting. "Amelia..?" he asked, but his voice no longer sounded like a mans. It sounded female. "Ame—" Satoshi breathed in quickly. "Oh...right." Sighing, he brought his hand up and rubbed his face. Suddenly he gasped. He had felt that his mask had slipped completely down. "I'm—" He was cut off by someone coming in the door.
Ryudo immediately froze when he saw Satoshi sitting up, seeing his face for the first time. He took a hesitant step forward, numbly closing the door behind him. "Satoshi...you're..." he whispered before Satoshi closed his eyes and chanted some words. A bright light suddenly radiated from Satoshi, nearly blinding Ryudo and Skye. When they were able to see again, they gasped at what they saw.
The person who sat in Satoshi's place was a young woman.
She no longer wore her cloak so that it hid her face. Her blue hair went down to the bottom of her shoulder blades and was gathered up loosely near the bottom. The bandages on her shoulder were no longer there, and it seemed as though she never had the wound in the first place. She brushed some of her dark-blue bangs to the side with her left hand, smiling in embarrassment to Ryudo. "Told you my name wasn't Satoshi," she chuckled softly. Hisashi hopped up onto her shoulder and the woman scratched his chin.
Still staring at her with surprise, Ryudo would have fallen down if the door had not been behind him. Skye flew from his shoulder and landed on the base of her bed. "So...you were really a woman all this time?" asked Skye, for Ryudo did not seem able to use his mouth for the moment.
She nodded slowly. "Yeah."
Ryudo eventually found his voice. "Why did you pretend to be a man?" he asked, walking over to sit on the side of his bed.
"You're kidding, right? You, of all people, should realize the answer to that." They stared at her, not being able to answer. She sighed after a moment. "It's hard enough to get a job as a Geohound as it is, seeing as people hate us. You honestly think they would hire me if they knew I was a girl?" She raised an eyebrow to him. He grunted softly in response. For some reason he could not explain, he was relieved to find out Satoshi was really a girl.
"So what's your real name? Or don't you still trust me enough to tell me?" he asked while smirking.
Sighing, she swung her legs over the side of the bed. "My name is San. And you'd better not go blabbing it about." She glared softly to show she was serious.
He brought his hands up in defense. "Okay! Okay! I won't tell anybody. Not as though I have anyone, other than Skye, to tell it to." There was silence between them for a while before Ryudo remembered why he had left their room in the first place. "Since I thought you would be out for much longer, I went ahead and got our pay."
He took one of the two pouches he was carrying and tossed it to San. After opening it, San studied what was inside. Pleased, she closed it back up. "Not bad. What I would expect for what we did," she muttered. Stretching, she stood up. "Well, I don't like to overstay my welcome, so I guess I'll be leaving now."
Ryudo laughed softly, thinking at first she was kidding. "What? You serious?" he questioned while standing.
She stared back at him, her face showing that she was not kidding. "Yeah." Before either Ryudo or Skye could respond, she brought her hands together and chanted some slightly different words. The bright light appeared again, and this time when it faded away, Satoshi was standing in front of them.
"Why'd—"
"Can't exactly have me coming up to the room looking like this, then my real self going down without drawing at least some suspicion," he said nonchalantly. The illusion of Satoshi was complete, in looks and in voice. It was almost unsettling for Ryudo.
:::
When they came to the edge of the small village, they stopped. Neither of them got even the smallest thanks in gratitude from the villagers for destroying the bandits. Over their years while working as Geohounds, they had gotten used to it. The only people who ever showed thanks were little kids—if their parents were not around—or the odd person who was nice to any stranger. Exhaling, Ryudo turned to look at the illusion of Satoshi.
"Well, it was fun to work with another Geohound. Maybe we'll bump into each other again someday," he said.
"Who knows. But, whatever may happen, this is a job I won't easily forget," Satoshi smirked beneath the mask. "And now I'll have to work even harder now I know there is another adequate Geohound out there."
"Hey! Who're you calling 'adequate'? You're the one that got injured."
"Hey, lighten up, I was only kidding." He waved a hand to dismiss the matter. "Well, see ya." That wave changed into a quick gesture of farewell. Not even waiting for a response from Ryudo, he turned and left. Hisashi looked back at them, and waved farewell with his tail.
Skye waited until they were far enough away that they could not hear him to speak. "Maybe we'll bump into each other again some day?" he asked the line back while Ryudo headed off in the opposite direction of the other Geohound.
"Hey, it could happen."
"You just want to see San again, don't you?" he asked, cheekily.
Ryudo rolled his eyes. "As if. I just meant that if we ever run into the situation where we have to work with someone else again, I hope it would be her. She's a good partner to work with."
"She was a beautiful looking girl, though. It's a shame she has to pass as a man to work."
Ryudo glanced over his shoulder, barely able to make out the blue-haired Geohound. "Yeah..."