Yep, I've got another Ryu and Katt fic. Yep, it's another one of the numerous post-game fics. Therefore you can expect some spoilers. Not much else to say beyond that…
Victory
~~~~~~~~~~
"Congratulations, Ryu!" Sten cheered, slapping him on the back.
Bow grabbed his hand, shaking it wildly, "I knew you could do it, old buddy!"
Spar, in a rare display of excitement, congratulated the young dragon enthusiastically. Rand and Jean both offered their respects to the destined child. Even Nina and Bleu were both letting out rounds of laughter as they crowded around him.
"Good job, Ryu…" Katt whispered, staying near the door of the tavern.
As the others kept up their cheering, even calling for several tankards of beer, she turned and made her way out into the cool night air.
~~~
The canopy of stars made her feel small, as she laid on the rooftop staring at the night sky. The air seemed fresher, as if nature had already started to repair the damage that the demon had done to it. It was the best night sky she'd seen in over a year. Only the caroling, taking place inside the tavern a little ways down the street, broke the serenity.
It's finally over…
Strangely, the thought of a peaceful life didn't bore her anymore. She had had more than enough fighting to last her the rest of her life. Besides, she could always use her skills as a dancer.
"Yeah, me as a dancer!" she laughed.
Perhaps she would have to fight again… after all, there still were plenty of demons that had escaped from Infinity when the gates opened. She didn't dwell on the subject long, for a more important one had been prominent in her mind for quite a while. Where would she go now? Township was always open to her, and she figured Ryu would stay there to guard against any attempts demon-kind made to escape. Still, she had never quite grown attached to the town. She liked her room, and being with her friends, but that was the only reason she stayed there. There had never been any extended period of time that she spent in the town, and spending the rest of her life here was definitely a depressing thought. It was almost an unspoken agreement that most of the group would split up and return to their homes. Nina would go to Windia, or attempt to find a cure for Mina's condition in the magic school at Hometown. Rand had obligations to his mother's home and land. Jean would be bound to return to Simafort, or perhaps Nimufu… That last thought brought a chuckle as she imagined him being turned back into a giant frog. But then, Sten would be running off again. He had already made it abundantly clear that he planned to return to Highfort, although he never gave an accurate idea of what he would do beforehand. As for Bow, with his name cleared, chances were good that he'd return to Hometown. He had also never held much liking for Township, despite all the work he put into rebuilding it. The others… Spar and Bleu… they would probably return from whence they came. Maybe someday Spar would become a great tree, just like Gandaroof. So that just left the question of where she would go.
The more I think about it, the harder the choices get!
She thought with a little growl.She really had no home that she could remember. Not that the fact bothered her much, but it was just the simple truth. Colosia had too many bad memories for her, even though that could be considered her first home. Maybe Capitan would be a nice change. Or what about… Gate?
Suddenly, her thoughts turned elsewhere, and she began to feel a little angry with herself. Her friends were all carousing in the tavern, celebrating the victory they had just achieved, and here she was muttering about what she was going to do next.
"We just killed God." The statement sounded weird to her.
I wonder if that's blasphemy
, she laughed.Standing up, she bent down to pick up her staff. Before her hand could grab it, she hesitated and then just left it. It no longer had a place in the new world.
~~~
Ryu looked around the room, searching for his Woren friend. People he didn't know clapped him on the back as he passed by them, and he offered a word of thanks to the compliments they showered him with. Nina popped up and asked him for a dance, a fairly strange request considering there was no music, but he agreed to it anyway. The Windian woman emanated an aura of strength, which shocked him compared to what she had previously given off. It appeared that the death of Evans had given her confidence in her abilities. The dance wore down and he exchanged some words before moving on again. Suddenly all eyes turned to the door and he looked himself. Katt was standing there, blushing deeply at the sudden attention. They crashed on her like a wave, slapping her on the back and dragging her this way or that to talk to her. Eventually she managed to extricate herself from the mob and stumbled away dazed. Luckily, it appeared that a drunken Bow had drawn away the crowd's attention. The Grassrunner was singing very loudly and very off key as he waved around a mug of ale.
As Katt started to make her way over to a chair, he started over too. On a whim he grabbed her in a headlock and delivered a noogie, much like she did to him on a constant basis.
"Gak! Hey! What's the big idea!?"
He let out a short laugh in answer. She just glowered at him, before stomping on his foot.
Well, I guess she doesn't believe in turnabout being fairplay.
Letting out another laugh, he watched her hop around, holding her injured foot. For some reason she failed to remember his boots were plated.
"It's not funny!" she whimpered, massaging the bottom of her foot.
He ruffled her hair playfully, "Of course it's not! What was I thinking?"
She pulled back, looking like she was going to kick him in the shin. Of course, she remembered that his legs were also covered in steel plate.
"Don't you ever take those things off? You must smell under there."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah… Why don't you ever put any on?"
She gasped as if he had said the most insulting thing in the world.
"What did I say?" he asked with a frown.
She pointed a finger in his face, "In Woren culture the females don't wear pants unless their legs aren't attractive. It's a sign of there fitness, so only old women and girls with dumpy legs wear them!" She pulled back with an expression of mock horror on her face, "You don't think my legs are dumpy, do you Ryu?"
She started to show off one shapely leg.
Ryu started to blush profusely, "Stop that!"
Katt enjoyed the game, so she started to model for him, unwittingly drawing a small crowd of onlookers. Some of the men threw Ryu a thumbs up sign, driving him into darker shades of red.
"Come on… you're making a scene…" he muttered under his breath.
To the disappointment of the crowd, she did stop to throw him a victorious grin. She certainly didn't seem to be bothered by doing that in front of crowds. Maybe she'd become a dancer someday, she did have the body for it after all. If she wanted, he'd build her a place to dance right in Township. A waitress came by, handing them both a mug of beer, which Katt sniffed curiously.
"What is this stuff?" she muttered, more to herself than anyone in particular.
Ryu took a gulp of his, "Beer. Try it, you may like it."
She took a tentative sip, "It's ok, I guess. I've had better stuff though."
"I'm surprised you've never drank before."
She shrugged, "I never had the money to spend on it before." she chugged down the whole mug.
Ryu raised an eyebrow in surprise, but Katt's eyes were wide open.
She gasped, "Wow! That felt weird."
"Do you want another one?" he asked, motioning for a waitress to come by.
"Um, I guess so."
"Just try not to down it all at once, ok?" He would have great fun testing her alcohol tolerance tonight.
~~~
Apparently Katt wasn't that good at holding her liquor. After her fourth beer she was completely gone. Ryu had been forced to leave the party early when the young Woren had passed out in his arms, since he felt obligated to bring her home. Still, he was disappointed that she could only drink four beers. She definitely wasn't built for drinking.
"Maybe I'll win our sparring match tomorrow." He chuckled.
The sleeping Woren started to come to as he opened the door to her room.
"Where'm I?" she asked, a drunken slur mixed with that of sleep.
I wonder if she'll have a headache tomorrow morning.
He felt a little guilty about that. He definitely didn't want his friend to be puking or hurting the next morning.
"You're in bed." he answered, putting her down on the mattress.
She laid there trying to figure out what was happening as he pulled the sheets up to her chin.
"Ryu? Izzat you?"
"Yeah, it's me."
"Why'm I so tired?"
"Well, that tends to be a side effect of too much alcohol."
She gave him a puzzled look, "I din't drink alchol."
"Go to sleep, Katt." He said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"I liked that…" she muttered.
"Eh?" He blinked.
She struggled to a sitting position, "I liked that… you wanna do it again?"
She was definitely out of it, but Ryu couldn't resist, this time giving her a kiss full on the mouth. Katt's eyes widened as he did it, unsure of what she was supposed to do. He broke it after a little while and she just sat there staring.
"K, g'night, Ryu." she said, before moving under the sheets again.
He smiled to himself despite in the dark, "Night, Katt."
~~~~~~~~~~
How did everyone like that one? It's only the first part, because I have a direction for this one that I'd like to follow. Any comments on this would be great!