Chapter 2

Ciria couldn't see anything; there was nothing but darkness. She wasn't sure what she was going to do, but she didn't want to move, couldn't move. She couldn't feel anything, like her nerves had been disabled. The young girl then came to a reasonable thought. She was probably just dead. She didn't bother, she hadn't felt pain, hadn't died slow and painfully, but fast and painless. Something in the back of her mind suddenly trickled, and then she could hear again.

She heard the sea crashing onto the shore with its small waves, the seagulls flying overhead, and the wind rustling through the trees. Pretty soon, she could feel again. She felt water hit her skin, the wind blowing over her body, making her shiver lightly. With a quiet groan, she opened her eyes, but still had trouble seeing things. After some time, her eyesight returned to her.

Ciria finally sat up, and looked around. She was alone; Opassa Beach was deserted beside herself. Silently, she rose, and looked around.

'That's odd,' she thought, looking down at the sand. 'There are no other footsteps besides my own body-print.'

"Body-print??" she mumbled aloud. "That's just plain old silly!!"

With that, she whirled around, and headed toward Arni.

Arni was deserted when she arrived, and everything was ruined. The village still reeked of fish, only less horrible than before. Stalls were tossed about, like people had been in a hurry, and the footsteps on the ground indicated that there had been panic amongst the people before they had gone somewhere else. A mysterious wind picked up and brewed through the wrecked houses which were empty by the sound of it. Not a soul seemed to breathe in the small town, safe for Ciria herself.

"Hello?" Ciria called out. "Is anybody there?"

No answer.

"Elvor? Lorelei? Leon?" she tried again.

Still no answer.

She faced the facts. Something was horribly wrong here, and that wasn't all she realized. It was the only thing she feared most. She was alone.

"Come on guys!! This isn't funny anymore!! It never was!!" she shouted, her voice almost breaking, as well as her spirit when nobody answered.

Things were starting to look bleak, and she began to shake her head in denial, but it didn't lift her spirit. With a rather loud sniffle, she grasped the small rose hanging around her neck.

"When… whenever ya need me… pla… place the rose under yer clothes and I… I'll be there fer ya…"

"Tric!! Don't leave me!! You can't do this to me!!"

"So… tired… g'bye… Ci…… ri…… a……"

"……!!! Tric!! No!!! Don't!! Not yet!! Please! Open your eyes just… just once more…! Please Tric!! I… I beg of you!"

One tear rolled down her young cheek as she sniffled again, then placed the rose under her clothes. She knew he had only meant it to cheer her up a little, for all those years, but she needed some piece of comfort in this chilling wilderness. She had never felt more alone.

The second the rose touched her bare flesh, she shivered as the cold material connected with her chest. The wind suddenly changed angle, and Ciria knew from experience that something was wrong. Immediately, she reached into her dress, and her hand grasped the cool hilt of her katana. She'd hidden it safely so that people couldn't snatch it from her. Her eyes began to dart about, searching for any kind of movement.

He had heard them before she had and had gone out to see what it was. That's when he saw her. She had been close to crying, he could tell by just looking at her back, and then, when the winds had begun to shift, she seemed to stop and began to look around, one hand going into her dress. He figured that that was where she kept her weapon.

He could not be seen in the darkness of the shadows, like a demon panther waiting to jump out and kill his unaware pray. Slowly, he moved through the shadows on all fours, staying hidden from sight, sneaking closer, waiting for them to show themselves. He sniffed at the air, and could smell the scent of his pray, making him smirk in cold amusement and his eyes sparkle dangerously in anticipation like a pair of ice-cold gems.

'This'll be fun,' he thought with a silent chuckle.

Ciria staid focused, and she finally heard a twig snap behind her and she whirled around, pulling out her razor-sharp katana. It didn't scare the people standing there though.

They all wore the same armor, but they all had different looks. The armor was dark blue spandex and with a golden colored chest-plate, and bright white capes. The material seemed to cling to their bodies, like it was made for them. The footwear existed out of some loose green boots, with some red gloves on their hands to finish it off.

One of them was short and fat, and had a slight green complexion, like he was going to hurl any second. He had beady black eyes, he was balding, and he had strangely pointed ears. He seemed to hover a little above the ground as if he couldn't move otherwise. He had an axe strapped around his waist.

The second of them was tall and muscular, but he was bald as well, safe for a small braid at the back of his neck. The guy had no eyebrows, or a nose for that matter. His lips were larger than of an ordinary human, and the edges were directed down to form a frown, just like his dark black eyes, and he also had pointed ears. His arms were crossed defiantly over his chest. This guy had a sheath on his back that contained a huge sword.

The last of them… was a girl!! The girl was hardly any older than Ciria, and the only difference between her and the guys, was that she also wore a short skirt and her gloves were longer. She had light black hair and piercing blue eyes that threatened to turn black every now and then. She was beautiful, and really slender too. Ciria also noticed that the girl's gloves had iron knuckles. The girl's pointed ears perked from side to side constantly, and she had her cape slung partly across her left shoulder.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" the short fat guy said. "You lost little girl?"

Ciria scowled, but didn't answer. She was wiser than that.

The tall guy chuckled and said: "She looks pretty weak if you ask me. I say we have some 'fun' with her."

Ciria didn't understand what the guy meant, but the way his eyes sparked, she knew it couldn't be good.

The short guy snorted and said: "Maze ©, you really think with everything below your waist, huh?"

"Ah shudap Noola ©!" the man, now known as Maze, said. "You act like you don't!"

A fight would've broken out, if the girl hadn't opened her mouth.

"Hey guys! Just shut up! I have a better idea!" she said, oddly enough with a boy's voice, only with a tinge of modesty to it only found with girls. "Let's take her with us, and use her as bait for a certain band of thieves."

Ciria still stood in a fighting stance, and didn't waver, though she was a little confused.

"Not such a bad idea, Ames ©," Noola said. "SEIZE HER!!!" he shouted, and the other two took a few steps forward, and Ciria got ready to defend, when…

"HOLD YER SEAHORSES!!!" a loud voice shouted, and the trio whirled around toward one of the houses.

Ciria looked too, confusion now written on her face.

On top of the house, stood a boy a few years older than her, with pitch black hair with blood red strakes through it. His hair was long and easily reached his waist, but it waved about in the wind. He was rather solid considering his built, and he wore nothing but tattered or shredded clothes. The right leg of his black pants came a few inches above his knee, while the other came to the middle of his shin, and they seemed ripped by claws. His black shirt was torn apart at the right shoulder, and the left sleeve was torn off.

Over it, he wore a heavy-looking black, leather jacket, and on his hands, he wore dark red gloves with the fingers cut off. The boots he wore were heavy looking and were pitch black. He had his right hand placed defiantly on his hip, while the other hung from his side, holding a large swallow that kept on changing its colors. Around his neck hung a necklace decorated with several teeth of what looked like a giant cat. His highly slanted sapphire blue eyes were scrunched down in a heavy frown, but a smirk was tugging at the side of his mouth, one he couldn't stop. His nose was rather sharp, and he wore a strange earring in his left-ear that was made with a tooth or claw from a large feline. His smirk seemed to widen when he saw their amazed gazes, and his eyes narrowed a fraction of a millimeter.

"Not you again!!!" Ames growled.

The boy bent through his legs, and jumped into the air. He flipped around and landed in a kneeling position in front of Ciria, his back facing the trio. He straightened up, and turned to the trio, who had taken a cautious step back.

"Outta the way!! This doesn't concern you!! Move it!!!" Noola shouted.

"Awe, shut yer trap!!" the strange boy said, crossing his arms over his chest and tapping his foot on the ground. "Ye're the ones who'd betta ge' outta the way!" he said with a Zenean accent.

Ames hissed and shouted: "You either get out of the way or we'll make you!!"

The boy chuckled.

"Like I'd take orders from some rabid bitch," he mumbled, a smirk playing on his lips.

Ames, for some reason, became furious.

"YOU BASTARD!!!!" she screamed. "YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I DO THAT I'M A GUY!!!!!!"

Ciria nearly tumbled over in surprise.

"Say what?!" she exclaimed. "THAT'S a guy?!?!"

The odd boy chuckled lightly, not seeming bothered by anything Ames had said.

"Yeah? Well I can't see tha," he said icily.

"THAT'S IT!!! YOU'RE DEAD!!!!!!"

Ames shot himself at the odd boy, and he finally uncrossed his arms, and blocked a punch to his face with his swallow, and he kicked him away easily. Ames reached for his pouch, but noticed that it was a lot lighter than before. He checked the contents, and gasped, before turning to look at the boy, who was tossing a small bag of what sounded like coins up in his left hand.

"Hey, ye're a fighter, righ'?" the boy asked Ciria.

Ciria nodded.

"Yes, why?" she asked.

The boy smirked at her after placing the bag in his pouch.

"Why do ya think?"

Ciria blinked, then smirked too, though not as ferociously as the boy did. The duo turned to the weird trio, and raised their weapons in defense simultaneously, as if they were reading each other's thoughts.

"FINE THEN!!!" Noola shouted. "ATTACK!!!!"

With screams of anger, Ames and Maze raced at the other duo, who cried out as well, before running at them too. The strange boy was a strong fighter, for Maze hardly stood a chance. Ames wasn't that hard either. Compared to Ciria, he was extremely slow, so she got a lot of hits in. Noola also joined the battle at one point, but that didn't complicate things.

Within a few minutes, the trio was down on the ground.

"RETREAT!!!" Noola shouted when he got up, and they ran like bats out of hell, with Ames screeching like a frightened girl.

"Yeah! Ya'd betta run!!!" the boy screamed, running a short distance after them and waving his fist. "And next time, I won't just steal jus' yer money!!! Think I'll eva lose ta scum like ye!?!? HAH!!!"

He lowered his fist and nodded, then turned to Ciria, still with a stern expression on his face.

"Ye alrigh' mate?" he asked as Ciria placed her katana away.

"Y-y-yeah, thank you. Who were those guys?" she asked.

The boy looked at her oddly.

"I thought everyone on the isle knew o' them bozo's. Wha? Ya lost yer memory or somethin'?" he asked, and Ciria could hear he was starting to doubt her sanity.

"I…" she started, trying to come up with a good excuse. "I think I have," she finally said.

"Ah, tha explains it," he mumbled. "Got a name fer yerself?"

Ciria gulped a little nervously.

"No, but… I call myself 'Ciria'," she said.

The boy seemed a little shocked, before it was gone.

"Alrigh', then tha's how I'll call ya."

The boy turned to the horizon, and Ciria did too, only to notice the sun going down already.

"It'll be gettin' dark soon," the boy said, looking at her again. "I suggest ya find a house ta shag in fer the night, 'cause ya won't be gettin' anywhere tanight. And we won't want ya ta become Heckran bait now, do we? Heheh."

Ciria nodded.

"But… where do I…"

Before she could finish, the boy grabbed her by her arm, and began to drag her through the village.

She was too shocked to resist, for the boy's touch was so… familiar. Before she could think about it any further, he had stopped and released her arm. They were standing at the chief's hut.

"Ya can sleep here. This place has the best beds."

"Where do you sleep?" Ciria asked.

"In the open," the boy answered, and began climbing the ivy on the side of the hut to the top.

"Hey! I don't know your name yet!!" she shouted.

The boy shouted back down:

"It's Shadow ©!!"

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Lot of confusion I suspect. This story is much like Chrono Cross, only slightly different.

^_^ Some old reviewers from RWTD have returned!! [waves] Hey there!!

Reviews

Bulma Briefs^Yue Lover: [bows] Thank you, thank you.

samicat: I'll try. And, DUH!!! Of course the Dragons are going to appear!!!

Ciria: Elvor retired a few years after Ciria had been born, and he had been too busy in Arni to visit them sooner. Nope, can't tell. Yes, you've met them in RWTD. And who do you think Shadow is? -_^

Casey: Right to the point, huh? Sorry, can't say. It would spoil the entire plot.

Ateens: I'm working as fast as I can!!

Neera: Thanks.

SaiyanGal: The voice will take a while. Tric was Ciria's best friend when she was a kid. Oh, and no, Porre's not attacking again.

Mina: I will.

Elvor: :( Shut up bushhead!!!

Zero: Thanks