Soul Calibur belongs to Namco, but I wish it could be mine. Oh well, I can keep dreaming...

A\N: Yay, it's Chapter 2. A delay because of my Internets, but all is restored. Enjoy...

-End

"Bonding to Hope"
Chapter Two

Confrontation

As he started to move faster, Kristofr became less aware of what was around him, pacing his gate as he continued traversing the winding roads which led to the midlands. Without a clue, he had no idea that he had a follower closing in on his location. That follower was Cassandra, who seemed to never get any closer to her target. She tried desperately to make haste and catch up, but she always ran out of options for speed over stealth, as she always found herself quickly ducking for cover near a tree or another structure. Her time was short, and with little distance left from the midland city, she had to make a decisive act...

Passing an oval-carved water fountain, Kristofr stopped dead in his tracks, taking a quick glance around his surroundings. This act made Cassandra halt with panic, attempting to steady her foot in the open air from touching the ground, in hopes of not making another loud step that she thinks it may have caused him to stop. She then gently lowered her foot, and while walking on the tips of her toes, she maneuvered slowly behind the fountain, ducking her head out of sight as she glanced from the edge of the oval structure to observe what her target was proposing to do next...

Kristofr, scratching his shaved head, looks around once more, gazing at the trees one-by-one, then staring blindly into the egg-shaped fountain, focusing his stare at the structure. He gave his head one more scratch, then he faced himself in the opposite direction. He started to walk again, but this time with great haste. Cassandra watched him move even further away from her, disappointing herself once more. She couldn't help but feel very agitated towards him, clenching her fists once more with a tight and firm grip.

"Dammit! Not again!" she thought to herself, groaning at the burden she had yet to take care of. She then quickly covered her mouth, hushed herself, and continued to advance, pursuing Kristofr once more. She decided that playing this "game" in the stealthy fashion was not going to progress her any further, so with determination in mind, Cassandra quietly drew her weapon, the blessed Digamma Sword and Nemea Shield, and moved in for the encounter...

Once she was in close-quarters range, she raised her sword in front of Kristofr, stopping him with a sudden halt. His neck wrapped skin-tight around the blade, with the chin impinging the horizontal edge of the sword. He gasped faintly, surprised by the weapon suddenly appearing before him. Cassandra then brought the shield around from her right side to the front of Kristofr, obstructing his body from any additional movement. Milliseconds passed, then she spoke:

"Where is she?" she rudely asked, raising her voice against him. It would have seemed that silence had broken where the two had stopped, with no birds chirping, no wind flowing, not even the leaves were floating around.

"Uh, excuse me?" Kristofr quickly but hesitantly replied.

"I said, where is she?" Cassandra had answered back at him, raising her voice to an even louder volume.

"Uh, I have not the slightest idea who "she" is, miss," he said back, struggling to speak normally.

"This is no time for silly games such as that!" she raged, projecting her noisy voice straight into his ears like a loudspeaker.

"Well uh, miss, you are not stating who this person is. If I were to know who-"

"Stop that already!" she interrupted with a loud yell. She was growing more furious as the seconds passed, with Kristofr becoming more nervous.

"Hey! I-I, I-I have no idea who you are talking about!" he replied back in a higher tone of voice, attempting to gain control over the situation he was in. He then tried to remove the weapon from his neck, which was clenching furiously, but it only became tighter as he reacted.

"Liar!" she shouted aloud.

"Hey, stop you damn psychopath!" Kristofr vociferated at her, repelling the blade and shield away from his person. He was breathing heavily, and for good reason. After catching his breath, he faced himself in the opposite direction again to see who he had the dangerous encounter with...

Standing before him was a young and pretty girl, with beautiful hair that was kept in order by a bow-tie, strikingly good posture and figure, and with weapons at the sides. She had fixed her gaze at his eyes, staring him down as if he was the culprit. Still breathing audibly, he crossed his arms and studied the girl. Cassandra let down her weapons and studied her target as well. The two figures at the fountain stared at each other for what had seemed to be an hour, when in reality, it was only seven minutes, exchanging a few facial expressions at that time passed along. Kristofr decided to speak up, uncrossing his arms and positioning his hands at the hips.

"Well then, since that ordeal has been settled, how may I help you, miss?" he spoke, attempting to render his voice in a soothing tone to calm the girl who had just threatened his life with a sharp blade. He walked closer to her, moving ever so slowly, but not getting too close.

"Ulgh, I am in search of someone, and uh, uhuh, I-I thought you were behind her disappearance," she replied, sounding dismayed. Kristofr was already aware of this, ironically.

"May you please state her name?" he asked.

"Sophitia... My sister..."

"Sophitia, is it?" he replied, with the sound of surprise in his remark. Cassandra's head drooped towards the brick walkway.

"Yes... My sister," she answered back, with disappointment contained within her voice. She could not help but feel depressed at the thought of her dear sister's disappearance.

"I see. I find this rather interesting," Kristofr replied.

"Why?" Cassandra curiously asked, raising her head towards Kristofr.

"Well, it would appear that this pamphlet here is addressed to the Alexandra family. I too, am at a loss of her disappearance," he replied back. These words caught the attention of Cassandra, who was now discerned at the man who stood before him...

"May we talk?" she politely asked, putting her weapons away from sight. After those words, the two figures took a seat on the ridge of the fountain, with peace being restored to the area. Not a single break in silence was heard afterward...

End A\N: A nice long chapter for you all. I think it was excellent, as I enjoyed writing this. I shall hope to continue this tale for all, and for myself of course. Until then... ;)