Yes – I got this uploaded! :D And, wow, only three days after my last update. Hm… Maybe I am getting back into my rhythm after all. ;) Anyway, before we get to the story, first I'll talk about it a little. This is sort of, but not entirely, an alternate storyline, similar to Blue Dragon Beyond – the difference is that this takes place almost directly after getting the mechat, while Beyond takes place after the group has had it for a little while. This was inspired by an old Blue Dragon trailer I saw a few weeks back (as far as I know, it's the oldest trailer for Blue Dragon that there is). Another thing that inspired it was a plot twist I had recently thought up for Blue Dragon Beyond, but there was no room for it; the plot twist in itself was too short to be a stand-alone story, and had no proper beginning anyway, so it seemed like a good opportunity to combine it with the inspiration I got from the trailer (along with a few theories of my own concerning this time period in the game). On a side (but related) note, Braving the Storm will have a heavy focus on the friendship between Shu, Jiro and Kluke, and also (on a smaller level) the romantic triangle that's often seen between the trio. There will be some Marumaro x Zola as well (as much as you'd normally find in the game, anyway, and perhaps a little more). In one last relating note, I looked over the plot a little more (which, thankfully, unlike most of my other stories, is clearly outlined in my head), and contrary to what I said on my profile, I don't think it's going to be as long as Troubles on White Day. Still… If I suddenly get ideas while I'm writing it, that could certainly change. ;) Also, if everyone wants to see one, I'm willing to write a sequel to Braving the Storm after it's been completed. Well… That's pretty much all that I have to mention. There won't be normal title chapters like in my other stories – to see the chapter names, once the other chapters have been uploaded, look for them in the dropdown menu – so after the disclaimer, read on! ;D
Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Dragon. And… And… Ugh, I'm burned out on ideas to make this thing interesting. XP
He watched them on the screen, flying around in their mechat, resisting the urge to throw something at the monitor and shatter it into pieces.
The picture zoomed in; he could them out better now. In particular, that girl he had recently taken prisoner. Not that one would ever be able to tell - not with how happy she looked right then.
He smacked the monitor's surface with his hand, not hard enough to break, but enough to make the thing tremble (just like his plans for the simple-minded inhabitants of this world). In the spaces between his fingers was the upper half of her body, the girl laughing at something the boy next to her had said.
To be so happy... He had her spirit broken - she should not still be this way! Such a thing Nene essentially considered a personal insult to himself...
And no one - no one - insulted him and got away with it.
"What did you say you saw?" Jiro asked, trying to keep the incredulity out of his voice and failing miserably.
The Sheep Tribe girl repeated it for him. "A big, round thing just flew over the camp, about an hour ago, right after the most recent earthquake-"
She was cut off by several simultaneous shrieks of joy.
"Shu, can you keep it down for a second?" Jiro shouted over his shoulder just as his best friend ran past with Marumaro, several Sheep Tribe children either being chased by or following after them.
Shu and Marumaro were both gregarious by nature - a little more for Marumaro; having six little brothers and sisters tended to do that to you - so they had rapidly become favorites of the camp's youngest tribe members (ages ranging from about three to seven). Jiro didn't really mind them playing - after all, it brought back some nice memories of Shu and himself when they'd been much younger - but he at least wanted to find out more about this strange thing that had been seen passing overhead, and that would be a little easier if every five seconds a Sheep Tribe child wasn't crying out in glee.
Jiro's request had for the most part been ignored - though this was more likely because they hadn't heard him and not something intentional - but he turned back to the Sheep Tribe girl and said, "Sorry about that. Please, go ahead."
She nodded. "Right after the earthquake, it just came out of nowhere and flew over the camp. I've never seen anything like it before."
Jiro's eyebrows furrowed a little more. "And did you happen to see what it looked?"
The young girl scratched the back of her head. "Well... It was moving kind of fast... The only thing that I could really make out was that it was gray. It seemed kind of metallic, too, since the sunlight seemed to be reflecting off of it."
Jiro placed a hand under his chin. "I wonder..." He finished the rest of it in his head. Could it be Nene?
A short distance away, Kluke sat on top of one of the large crates, absentmindedly petting the monkey that had earlier taken a Banana and given them some Forbidden Crystals in exchange (she had no idea why, but the small animal seemed to be particularly fond of her). "Seeing Shu running around like that... It's almost like being home again."
Zola, leaning against the rock wall, tilted her head towards the younger girl. "There were Sheep Tribe members in Talta?"
Kluke shook her head. "No... But Shu used to play a lot with two younger kids, Coluti and Shifa, the same way he's playing right now..." She sounded miles away.
"Kluke..." Zola started.
She shook her head. "No, it's fine. Listen to me, getting caught up in the past," she smiled at Zola, "when I should be celebrating a certain someone's return."
Zola chuckled. "I think earlier Marumaro celebrated enough for all of us."
Kluke's smile warmed. "It's great to have you back, Zola. We knew that you'd be okay, but we really did miss you."
Zola nodded. "I missed being with all of you, too."
Kluke had little time to be stunned about how Zola had just opened up.
"Kluke, Zola," Jiro said as he approached them. "There's something I need to tell you."
He explained to Kluke and Zola about everything that the Sheep Tribe girl had told him, and also included his own theories concerning the strange flying object.
"Jiro..." Kluke's hands were clasped over her chest. "Do you really think it's Nene?"
He nodded grimly. "I'm hoping that it isn't, but that's just being optimistic at best." His expression softened. "In any case, we should head the way that it was going. The flashing dot closest to the Lal Mountains Camp isn't too far from where the flying object seemed to be headed, so we would've needed to go in that direction anyway."
"Alright," Zola pushed off of the rock wall. "I'll go get Shu and Marumaro. Jiro, Kluke, stock up on supplies and get ready to head out."
They both nodded, speaking simultaneously. "Okay."
Once Zola had gone, Jiro helped Kluke down from the crate. "Thanks." She said after she'd landed.
"You're we-" was as far as Jiro got before being cut off by another exuberant scream.
Kluke sighed, ruefully shaking her head. "Guess we better get ready to go, then."
"Right," Jiro nodded, following her to the Item Shop, pushing out of his mind the sudden inexplicable feeling that this wouldn't end well.
Shu leaned absentmindedly against the machine gun - there weren't any enemies in sight, but he wanted to be close to the weapon for when they were.
He had to admit that it was nice to take a break from piloting. He had more experience at using the mechat than Zola - man, he thought, even if it was true, thinking that he had more experience than Zola at anything felt so weird! - but the one thing she had that he didn't was a good deal of patience and extreme control over her emotions, thus meaning that she would be better equipped to handle Marumaro's habit of incessantly chatting with whoever flew the ship.
Marumaro hadn't been there the first time they'd had a mechat, but he had when they'd chased after Nene's mechat, and in the hour they'd spent flying around after reuniting with Zola (this had been prior to the return to the Lal Mountains Camp). The total amount of time he'd spent on the ships hadn't been terribly long, but it was long enough. Long enough to discover this habit of his. Long enough to have something occur (indirectly related to Marumaro's habit) which Jiro - shuddering in horror whenever it was mentioned - referred to as the "Wetlands Incident".
Shu sighed, leaning back a little, his thoughts shifting to the object that had flown over the Sheep Tribe Camp. He felt immensely curious about what it could be, and equally anxious to find out more about it. He only wished that they could search a little faster - he felt so bored.
Fortunately for Shu - or, perhaps, unfortunately, as he would find out - his wish was about to be granted. "Guys, look!" Kluke yelled, pointing off the side of the mechat.
In the direction Kluke indicated, there seemed to be a small body of water on the top of the mountain - though Shu and Marumaro hadn't made the distinction, and Kluke and Zola were a little slow doing so, Jiro instantly recognized it as a Caldera lake - and in the center of that was some kind of yellow structure. That hadn't been what caught their attention, though.
What did catch their attention was the large, gray ball that rested on the mountain peak next to it.
The ball, which as they came closer, started to unfold, revealing Mecha Robo hands and feet, and the green metal that had been obscured while it had been curled up.
"Is that...? !" Kluke started.
Jiro finished her sentence for her. "The Jumbo Mecha Robo!"
The robot stood at full height now, and considering that it stood on top of a very tall mountain, looked quite formidable.
They weren't given to the opportunity to dwell on it.
Shu saw it coming first. "Zola, look out! !"
From the center of the Mecha Robo's body, where it usually fired ammunition, this time it had fired a missile, one which was heading straight for the mechat.
Grunting with effort, Zola threw the controls in the opposite direction, hoping that she'd moved fast enough to get them away, even though she knew in her head that she hadn't.
The missile landed a direct hit to the mechat's side, rocking everything with the force of it. The ship started heading down before the smoke even had a chance to drift up.
Simultaneous with the missile's connection, Shu had been thrown backwards. He heard Kluke screaming his name before his head smacked against the railing, conscious only of the sound of it banging into the metal, and then there was nothing but darkness.
And the Prologue is done! :D Short compared to what I've been writing recently, but more normal sized taking into account my other first chapters/prologues (which were either around this size or shorter). Also, that's probably one of the better cliffhangers I've done for a while… It was just too tempting; I couldn't help but leave it there. ;) Anyway… I'm very pleased with how this chapter turned out; I've already addressed a few key things to the story, even if some of them may not be as clear right now. Also, though I haven't started working on it yet, I have a clear idea of what will happen in chapter one and where it should end up leaving off (something that usually doesn't happen to me). So… Please review if you're able to; I'd like to know what you thought of it. :) I'm still aiming to update this after 10 hits, though what really decides the next update is the poll on my profile (the results will be cleared after this is uploaded, so remember to please vote again!). I hope you enjoyed it, and hopefully I'll see you soon! :D