Chapter Prequel 2-Ryonai Ladd

Ryonai was born the third child in a large family of six children. His family was the second largest in all of Talking Island, the first largest being a family of twelve that was so poor that they had to live in a housing section on the second floor of the church. The Ladd family themselves were not rich, and his two older siblings were sent to work the day they turned twelve to help feed the rest of the family. This future was eminent for Ryonai until Sir Cedric happened across the youth mimicking the students of his school one night on the beach. Impressed with how quickly he'd picked up the swordplay footwork, he gave him a quick drill and instantly deduced that the Ladd boy was a genius. Not wanting his potential to go to waste, he quickly spoke with his parents and offered to sponsor the boy in his school.

Ryonai was five when the Kerr family came to live in Talking Island Village. The family consisted of a mother who was very heavy with child, a nervous-looking father, and a mousy-haired girl wearing spectacles that magnified her eyes three times larger than they really were. He laughed aloud at them the day his father introduced him to their new neighbors, earning looks of bewilderment from all. So happy was he to have found something to make him laugh every day, he made sure he visited them as much as possible. It was quite befuddling to the Kerr parents as this strange boy from the house next door would randomly show up in a window or their doorway, and fall to his bottom, laughing as hard as he could.

Until he was ten, Ryonai played with the bespecled Kerr girl, whose name was Sharmin, and her then baby sister Komugi. Boys began to become aware of girls by ten, and how they were different from themselves, and began to tease Ryonai for always being seen with the two Kerr girls. He was often teased for having a crush on Sharmin; something which, one day, he discovered was true. Embarrassed that his classmates were right, Ryonai began to tease Sharmin horribly, to save face and prove that they were wrong. He secretly felt bad for turning against the two girls, and the first day he made Sharmin cry, he raced home to his mother and wept into her lap in grief.

The nickname "Fish-Eyes" and "Fish-Face" emerged from Ryonai's teasing, making fun of how Sharmin's eyes were enlarged by the glasses lens. Angry that Sharmin would cry from his teasing, Komugi would run to her rescue. Even though he taunted Komugi as well, claiming he wasn't scared of her as she ran after him with her little fists raised, in actuality he was quite afraid of her. She was quite the spitfire, even at her young age, and once even tore a chunk out of his arm with her teeth as she latched onto him like an angry cat for making Sharmin cry.

He began Cedric's school at thirteen, and was automatically placed in the older student's class within the first few months due to his excellence with the sword and in his book studies. While in this class he discovered he was the outcast, all of his classmates were boys from rich or noble families from the mainland or larger houses in the Village. They were cruel towards Ryonai after discovering he was from a large, poor family, and snubbed him during the socializing hours. He had never known before, but studying under Sir Cedric himself was a great honor, usually reserved only for those of the noble and rich. Ryonai was frequently paired with a fifteen year old youth that Cedric had also sponsored, a boy by the name of Leon DiValmont.

Leon was Ryonai's only rival at the top of the class in terms of smarts. While Ryonai would boast loudly to his classmates, to rub their snob noses in the fact that he had done better, Leon would quietly sit and read, or gaze out the window, never once telling of his scores. This annoyed Ryonai, but somehow formed a half-friendship with the quiet boy anyway.

Ryonai was arguably the best looking boy in his peer group on Talking Island with his rich chestnut brown hair that trailed over the right side of his face in a similar fashion to a Dark Elf, and his large, square shaped hazel eyes and subtly square jaw and chin. Girls from the age of ten to even eighteen would show him attention, trying to get him to smile in their direction. Ryonai still harbored feelings for Sharmin, who, in his opinion, grew prettier after an unfortunate accident with a misfired ice spell and a lump of coal. He could not stop himself from teasing her even then, even though his teasing insult had turned into more of a disguised endearment. Sadly, the day he realized Sharmin had a fierce crush on Leon was the day he realized he'd shot down his chances at ever being anything more than the bully who caused her emotional grief.

Sharmin began to follow his class when they were having field studies, something which alarmed Ryonai. She was naïve, never once realizing how dangerous it was out in the forests without some sort of weapon to protect her. Keltir, Wolves Goblins and even common Orc Grunts were harmless and would never seek her out to harm her, but she foolishly followed them into the fields that Werewolves and giant spiders were known to hunt. Ryonai would stay nearby her as she watched Leon on risk of being scolded by Cedric, to make sure no harm came to her.

One day, not long after realizing Sharmin's feelings for Leon, Ryonai took a break from his strength training to stand by her as she sat beneath a tree. While they were speaking, a Werewolf snuck up on them, and began to breathe down Sharmin's neck. Thinking it was Ryonai teasing her again, Sharmin whacked the beast with a clod of earth, igniting the creatures' short temper. Knowing that the creature would chase her if she ran, Ryonai distracted the beast by hitting it, giving Sharmin a chance to escape.

The Werewolf Hunter was much stronger than Ryonai was then, and although the youth fought valiantly, he was no match for the beasts' claws. The creature grabbed Ryonai around his jaw and slammed him against the tree Sharmin had been resting beneath. Defiant despite the pain in his head and face, Ryonai glared at the creature and shoved his sword into its eye. The blade sliced diagonally across it's snout before the tip pierced the organ, and the creature howled and covered its face with its clawed paw-hands. Ryonai fell hard onto the ground, landing on a tree root on his tailbone. He winced and rolled onto his side as he tried to push himself to his feet quickly. The Werewolf recovered quicker than he despite being more severely injured, and with a swipe of his claws, opened up Ryonai's abdomen. Shocked at the deep wounds, he fell to his knees, and lifted a hand to the wound. The boy not being the Werewolf's initial target, it turned away from him and dashed off into the woods after Sharmin.

His eyes widened in numbed horror as he felt something that shouldn't squeeze out of the wounds and lay exposed upon the grass. He could hear his classmates shout as the Werewolf pounced them on his way into the woods after Sharmin. Taking short, gasping breaths, Ryonai shivered violently, afraid of what was to come.

I don't want to die! He shouted in his head, wishing it would come out of his mouth and alert someone to his condition. One student fled to the Village as the Were dashed into the woods, and within moments, he could hear shouts as Villagers raced to the field.

"Hang in there son, don't fade on us." He heard Cedrics voice say. There was a loud groan from a classmate and then the sound of retching. "Get out of my class if you're going to do that! You'll see much worse once you graduate!" Cedric snapped at the retcher. "Bishop Mallus! Over here, hurry!" Ryonai was pushed onto his back, and he realized in fear that he could no longer focus on anything around him. Everything was one large blur that was growing increasingly white. "Shilen won't have you yet boy; you've got a great future ahead of you. Now hold still, this is going to feel disturbing and hurt a slight more than your initial wounds." A choked noise came from Ryonai's throat as he felt Cedric carefully lift up whatever had come out of his wounds and begin to slowly push them back into their proper place. "Bishop Mallus, heal what I've already re-inserted, and for the love of god put that bite wood in his mouth or he's going to break his teeth with as hard as he's clenching his jaw!" Cedric snapped. A piece of lumber was forced into Ryonai's mouth, and he automatically bit down as hard as he could.

"Leon's back with the bitch that made the Were berserk." A student's voice came. Ryonai wanted to speak on Sharmin's behalf, and tell them that she didn't know, but his voice would still not come out as anything more than a groan. What happened to me? He thought, not understanding reality anymore.

"Cedric!" Bishop Mallus suddenly said in alarm, and Ryonai screamed around the bite wood as he felt his skin tearing open again, the Bishop not healing his wounds fast enough to keep everything in place. A new, grief stricken voice sounded over the field, and Ryonai vaguely recognized it to be that of his mothers.

"Put him to sleep, NOW!" Cedric shouted. There was a murmur of a spell and suddenly everything Ryonai was somehow staying conscious through faded to black.

He slowly regained consciousness an unknown amount of time later, the darkened ceiling of his house swimming into view. He blinked heavy eyelids and turned his head to gaze towards the door, recognizing himself to be in the room he usually shared with his two older siblings. One had already left for the mainland, and he could hear the other's even breathing as they slept in the bed across from him.

"Six million adena? We don't have that kind of money!" he could hear his father say in exasperation. "This isn't fair, you ask us to pay you for saving his life?"

"Shh, dear…" his mother said, trying to urge him to keep his voice down.

"This is the way the world works Mr. Ladd, I'm sorry." Bishop Mallus said in a snooty voice. "I had to spend that much to buy mental strength recovery potions to do my duties in the church after healing your son. I was quite exhausted." The Bishop's voice began to fade as he moved across the house, most likely towards the door, and Ryonai strained his ears to hear it.

"Grayson, we'll pay for Ryonai's medical expenses." The voice that Ryonai plainly recognized as Sharmin and Komugi's father came next. He sounded sullen and tired, much different from the happy-go-lucky tone he always had before.

"I don't need your pity money, Zephan! I don't want anything to do with your family after your born in disgrace adopted whelp nearly got a child of my flesh and blood killed!" his father shouted. Ryonai raised his head quickly, then winced, still tender from his wounds. Adopted?

"Daddy's been arguing with Mr. Kerr for hours." His older sister whispered from her bed. "He's just shouting out all of their secrets for everyone to hear because he's so mad about what happened to you."

"What would they have rather I had done, let the Werewolf kill her?" Ryonai whispered back angrily. "I knew I had at least a fighting chance, she would've died in an instant!" In the darkness he could make out movement as his sister shrugged.

"It's just one of those things that you can't win at, I guess. If Sharmin had died, it would probably be daddy over at their house begging for forgiveness instead of Mr. Kerr over here trying to help us." She said logically. Ryonai clenched his jaw. Penelope was the strange type that would always state the obvious in blunt words that left one feeling stung.

"Why is he insulting Sharmin like that, anyway?" Ryonai asked, changing the subject for fear that he'd snap at his sister.

"Well, insulting words aside, she is adopted." Penelope said, sitting up. "You didn't know that? Mommy and Daddy told Larkin and I the first day Mr. and Mrs. Kerr came over." Her eyes sparkled in the dark. Another thing that annoyed him about Penelope was that she was a horrible gossip. "You know how it's all taboo and stuff for a Priest and Priestess to have sex? Well Sharmin's the daughter of a pair that broke their vows. She was sent away with the Kerr's the night she was born. Apparently her birth father came looking for her recently but Mr. Kerr sent him away after a fight!" she giggled in glee at the drama of the situation.

"Why would he fight him, that's not right." Ryonai said, frowning. It was highly unlike Mr. Kerr to raise his hand to spank his daughters when they were naughty, let alone fight a man just trying to find his daughter.

"Ew, you really didn't hear then. Her father is a Necromancer now, isn't that disgusting?" she shuddered. "There's no way anyone would let their kid, adopted or no, go with someone like that." She lay back down with that, and rolled over to return to sleep.

Ryonai was unable to sleep for a long time after that, his mind in turmoil over all that he'd heard. He couldn't help but feel a great pity for Sharmin, but he was unsure of how to voice it.

He returned to school within a few days, advised to take it easy until the tenderness in his stomach went away. He was kept a close eye on at school, and discovered the first day that he attempted to speak to Sharmin that there was some sort of unspoken law that no one could associate with her after the Werewolf attack. Even Cedric himself was against anyone speaking to her.

Finding that no one seemed against speaking to Komugi, Ryonai began to speak with her on the condition of her sister and family. Komugi had recently developed a crush on Ryonai; his senses were keen enough to pick that up from the start, so it made it easy for him to speak with her. He found that, although still fond of Sharmin, he was growing to like the girl he'd watched grow up from baby to the ten year old girl she was now. Along with her attentions came a girl named Koyori, whom seemed insistent to have everything that Komugi had, and Ryonai found he rather enjoyed being fought over by two girls. He'd reward Koyori's efforts with an occasional flirt, just to keep her coming back for more and giving him more entertainment when she argued with Komugi.

Sharmin surprised Ryonai one early morning, as she appeared on the beach as Cedric was leading them to an early morning field training session. In one hand she held a dagger, and on her face she wore a look of determination he'd never seen before. She demanded that Cedric allow her into his school so she could prove herself not useless and to end the scorn against her family. Ryonai was surprised that Sharmin was keen enough to pick up that the cause of the scorn against her family was not the townsfolk themselves, but the townsfolk with children in the sword school trying to gain favor with Cedric by supporting his anger.

Amused that a proven weak girl in a skirt would ask to be in his school, Cedric pitted her up in a spar against Leon, knowing very well that the girl had a crush on him. Finding the whole display pitiful and embarrassing, Ryonai tried to put an end to it, but was silenced by Cedric. Sharmin surprised them all by actually cutting Leon, something that Ryonai himself even had a hard time doing. Somehow this burst of strength and determination impressed Cedric, and after the spar was over (Leon won of course), changed his entire opinion of Sharmin and decided to sponsor her into his school as well.

Around the time Sharmin began her classes at the school, illness struck Ryonai's family after his older brother returned home from Gludin. He'd been working with a mercenary group on the outskirts of the Abandoned Camp, and had brought home the strange virus that the Ol Mahum were known to carry. The entire family grew ill, and Ryonai's two younger siblings fell victim to it. His mother was never completely well afterwards, grief not allowing her body to heal completely. Within a year she gave birth to a set of triplets, replacing the missing number in his house and adding a new one. The birth weakened her further, however, and Ryonai would have to make frequent trips home to help care for his new baby siblings, a set of three girls. Komugi would accompany him frequently, always enjoying taking care of the babies with him.

A few months after the death of his youngest siblings, a boy named Gatz whom was introduced to him as the son of the governor of Talking Island came to attend Cedric's school from the mainland. He was an awkward boy that Ryonai couldn't help but be drawn to. He reminded him of a male version of Sharmin in a way, and some subconscious part of Ryonai sought to make up for all of the pain he'd caused Sharmin by befriending this boy. Gatz seemed to have some dark secret in his past that was alluded to a few times in their conversations, but never truly spoken of, and clung to Ryonai's offer at friendship from the start.

One end-of-semester trip in Ryonai's final year at Cedric's school, Ryonai was paired with Leon once again and sent out to the Elven Ruins to kill Salamanders and Undines that were said to live in one of the back rooms off of the ancient library there. They spoke little on the day-long journey out to the ruins, most of the talking done by Ryonai himself. Leon seemed to have no interests that Ryonai could relate to, leaving them with nothing to ignite conversation. Trying to get the boy to show some other emotion other than the stoic face he always wore, Ryonai bluntly said "Sharmin likes you, you know."

Leon stopped walking and looked at Ryonai in shock. In turn, Ryonai looked back at Leon in a matching expression, surprised that he actually got him to show some sort of emotion for once.

"I had wondered that, yeah." Leon said, walking again. Now it was Ryonai's turn for surprise to melt into shock.

"Wait, you knew?" he exclaimed, picking up the pace to catch up to him. Leon shrugged lightly and glanced into the trees above his head.

"She's not very discreet…" Leon said evasively, as if suddenly regretting his previous answer. Ryonai opened his mouth for a moment and then shut it again, and then frowned with his eyebrows raised, realizing Leon was right.

"Well then…why don't you respond to her?" Ryonai pressed.

"She's not for me." Leon said quickly, not looking at him.

"Wait, what?" Ryonai responded, lifting an eyebrow. "How can you know that without actually, you know, talking with her?" He frowned in mild disgust at how quickly Leon had seemingly made his decision. "I even have to go out on a few dates with a girl before I know if she's not for me; it's a little odd for you to decide so quickly."

"My heart is married to the church." Leon said in an almost angry tone. "My intention in this life is to be a Paladin and serve under Einhasad's will."

"Dude, you're gay." Ryonai muttered, finding Leon's devotion to a goddess they couldn't even see, disturbing. Ryonai himself never thought much of devoting his life to any deity. He'd been raised to worship Einhasad like the rest of them, but never felt strong enough to his religion to work under her holy name.

"I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand me." Leon mumbled, walking ahead of him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryonai snapped, stopping and glaring at Leon's blonde head as it grew smaller with distance. "Hey, DeSmellmont, I'm talking to you!"

"And that's exactly why I won't tell you." Leon's voice wafted back to him. Growling under his breath, Ryonai followed after him, eager to get the task done and back to the village. Talking to the real Leon, and not the wall he put up, was proving to be taxing on his nerves and patience. "I'm not saying I'm not fond of her…" Leon added after a stretch of silence, "…she is quite likeable. But she needs someone who will help her grow into herself, not someone to protect her all the time, as I have a habit of doing to those weaker than me. I need to grow too, not be focused on protecting a girl all the time. I don't want to hurt her though…so I'd appreciate it if you didn't speak of this to anyone." Ryonai glanced at him but said nothing. Some part of him could agree with this, Sharmin had a habit of making those she touched fond of her. He decided that he could still respect Leon as a human after all.

It was late night by the time they reached he entrance to the Elven Ruins. Elevated fire torches that were constantly kept alive by doses of fuel from a woman who lived alone in a farmhouse near the Ruins flickered around the entrance, lighting their way inside. They stepped around fallen pillars almost blocking the stairway within from entry, and slowly made their way deeper inside.

The Ruins smelled of stale water and Ratman musk. Somewhere in one of the rooms nearby they could hear the raspy breathing of one of the skeletons of the slaughtered said to haunt the ruins. They stepped carefully down the hallway covered in slimy moss, bloodstains and skeletons of those who died lining the hallway.

"This place gives me the creeps." Ryonai said in a low voice. It echoed on the walls despite his best attempt at keeping it quiet, making it seem like he spoke much louder than he really did. Leon raised a hand to his lips and shooshed him gently, focusing on a cylindrical room ahead of them. As they passed through it as quiet as they could to not wake two Orcs sleeping back to back on the floor, they faintly heard a male voice talking from somewhere down the adjacent hall to the cylinder room.

"Is someone down here?" Leon asked aloud, frowning.

"Either that or a ghost." Ryonai responded, his mouth a thin line.

"No, no, no. You wouldn't try to raid a fortress with one party, you'd rally the whole lot of you and rampage the thing!" the voice said, growing clearer as Ryonai and Leon walked down the hallway towards the library. A growling voice that was hard to distinguish speaking a clear language responded to the man's words, and he laughed. "Yes, I suppose it would take your tribe, the Orcs and skeletons to take down the village, but not while there are so many swordies around, that's just silly!" the man exclaimed. His voice slurred slightly, making it sound as if he were intoxicated.

As the pair entered the library they found a man with slicked back brown hair sitting on the floor of the ruins, books of multiple shapes, sizes and subjects littering the floor around him. Next to him sat a large tankard of beer, and sitting across from him was a Werewolf. Ryonai drew a sword instinctively upon seeing it, and the Werewolf jumped to his feet with a snarl.

"Woah woah. Woah now." The man on the floor said, stumbling to his feet. He wobbled this way and that, his drunkenness apparent now. He snorted and grinned as he swayed, amused by his inability to stand up straight. "No fighting here now, I have a mean drunken style of fighting, and I can't distinguish friend from foe." The Werewolf backed away from Ryonai in an instant with a whine like a scolded pet, and sat back down across from the man. "Gubboy." He slurred, patting it heavily on top of its wiry-furred head. "I enjoy having a pet, it keeps me entertained." He said to Leon and Ryonai, as if explaining the Werewolf to them. He jerked backwards slightly, his eyebrows rose, as if seeing them there for the first time. "Oh! Company! Have a seat, would you like some beer?" he offered. "On second thought no, this is my beer, you can't have any." He said in a childish tone, hugging the tankard to his chest. Ryonai and Leon glanced at each other warily, and inched into the room.

"Sorry to disturb your party mister uh…." Ryonai began, stepping over one of the many books on the ground.

"Vlad, and I'd like to not think of myself as a Mister." The man said. He squinted as his eyes tried to focus on Leon. "Hey, I know you." He said, pointing weakly. "You're that one kid…the one with the holier-than-thou attitude…"

"I don't believe I've met you before." Leon said without emotion as Ryonai snorted in laughter.

"Yeah you did, on that path with the spider and Werewolf, with that little squealing girl. She makes a fun noise, that one." He giggled. He turned to the Werewolf at his feet and held a hand out to Ryonai. "Oh that's right, I remember now. Fifi, apologize to the boy." Vlad commanded to the Werewolf. The Werewolf whined again, as if upset over Vlad's request. "Now now, don't be like that. You know you feel bad over what happened." He scolded. Focusing on the Werewolf fully for the first time, Ryonai yelped and tripped backwards over the book he'd just stepped over, falling onto his rear. The Werewolf was covered in stitches, as if it had been sewn precariously back together by an inexperienced person. The eye that Ryonai had wounded on the Werewolf that had attacked him was wrinkled and sunken shut, as if it had decayed, and its snout had a large gaping chunk sliced out of it.

"You're a necromancer!" Leon exclaimed, drawing his sword. Vlad raised his eyebrows in surprise before letting out a hearty laugh.

"Not nearly!" he exclaimed. "But close. I call myself a scholar, but I couldn't stand flinging that magic stuff about. I like poking things and making them gush, see…" he said. As if demonstrating, he drew one of the dual swords sheathed on his back and stabbed the resurrected Werewolf through the chest. It howled and acrid smelling blood poured out of its chest. "Fifi here is the product of months of Giant Technology study, amazing specimen, isn't he? Pity he's still decaying though…can't seem to stop that." Vlad shook his head sadly as if this was the saddest thing on earth. "Someone told me that there were some books detailing how the Giants resurrected the dead without the hassle of decay somewhere in these Ruins, but I can't seem to find them." Vlad sniffled loudly, the beer causing emotional hyperactivity. "I've been looking for so long too…I can't stand being in here another second…"

"I thought all important books were taken to Einhovant's." Ryonai said innocently, pushing himself to his feet. He knew he should be creeped out by this man, but instead he was finding him interesting. Nobody else had the balls to study Giants technology and openly admit to it.

"Ryonai!" Leon hissed angrily, waving his hand as if Ryonai shouldn't have spoken.

"Einhovant's? That magic school?" Vlad stated curiously. "Interesting…very interesting. I'll have to take a look…"

"And then I'll have to report you." Leon said curtly. Vlad lifted his head swiftly to look at Leon in surprise. "Those books are forbidden for a reason, I won't be party to allowing you to get at them."

"Over-achieve much?" Vlad stated flatly, raising his eyebrows in an unamused manner. "Honestly, do you get aroused by kissing so much government ass? If you do, please explain that to me, as I've always been curious to the thought patterns of a kiss-ass…"

"Ryonai, let's go." Leon said, turning away from Vlad.

"But the Salamanders…" Ryonai protested. In actuality, he wanted to talk with this strange Gladiator more, find out all of the weird things he knew.

"We'll tell Cedric that we can't finish it because there's a dangerous individual living in the Ruins now. Let's go." With that he produced a scroll from his pack and opened it, a light flaring to life and engulfing both boys. Ryonai's protest was lost as they disappeared from the ruins and re-appeared back in the center of Talking Island Village.

A few days later Ryonai was roused from sleep to discover that someone had attacked and killed the headmaster from Einhovant's. Sharmin had been the unfortunate person to discover him, and was attacked in the process. Leon was there to save her from death, and drove the man off before he could do much more harm. Guilt gnawed at Ryonai and he pushed the previous meeting he'd had with the strange man to the back of his head, locking it away to be forgotten lest he spend the rest of his life in guilt over not warning someone of the attack and saving Sharmin from physical harm.

Several months later Cedric counseled him and several other high-ranking students in the class to find out what their course of life would be. He advised both Leon and Ryonai to be Knights, something which Leon eagerly jumped at but took Ryonai a bit of coaxing to be enthusiastic about. Being a knight, hand-picked by Cedric, meant you were a candidate for a high ranking position in the Army of Aden. Leon was elated at this honor, but Ryonai couldn't help but think there was something more he wanted from life. He wanted to be a leader, not a follower, and command his own army under his own name, not be commanded under a flag of someone he could possibly hate. He wasn't sure what this meant to him yet, but he sure as heck wasn't going to submit to a life of military servitude.

The final night of his school life on the island was upon him. He was to accompany the rest of his class and a few of the other classes that excelled past the norm to the Mainland the next day, to take on his tasks to become a Knight. Knowing that he wouldn't get another chance otherwise, Ryonai spent the afternoon flirting and playing with Komugi, enjoying his time with the pretty rosy-haired girl. Koyori watched them jealously from afar, and Ryonai made sure he 'accidentally' grabbed her in various locations more than once for her to see. She walked him back to the Training Hall as dusk fell, and she shyly kissed his cheek before saying goodbye. Taking that as an invitation, Ryonai grinned mischievously and pulled the young girl to the side of the hall with him and gave her the first kiss most girls dream of.

Sharmin, tailed by Gatz, happened upon them minutes later, Sharmin flying into a rage at seeing her ten year old sister with his fourteen year old self. Ryonai winced as Komugi openly revealed Sharmin's crush on Leon, something which Gatz, whom had recently declared he liked Sharmin, never knew about. The night ended rather uneasily after that, Sharmin fleeing to her room to cry, Komugi racing towards her house to probably do the same, and Gatz stalking away from him to sulk.

Leon returned to the Training Hall immediately after the spat, accompanied by a silver-haired Light Elf that Ryonai couldn't help but appreciate. She was rather shapely for a Light Elf, which was surprising as most Elves were thin, willowy things. She scolded him that night as he ate dinner with her and Leon for kissing a girl four years younger than him, and then nearly took his hand off when he gave her an acidic retort in exchange. All previous attraction he had for the woman faded quickly, and Ryonai quickly deemed the Light Elf as terrifying.

The next year sped by quickly. Ryonai left Talking Island the day after the relationship drama and quickly set about his tasks upon setting foot in Gludin. He became a Knight quicker than the other people in the class, partially due to the help that Koyori had given him with her healing spells as she insisted on tagging along behind him, but mostly because of his genius.

Koyori followed after him like a lost puppy, something which ended a few days after his Knighting ceremony. She wanted him to take care of her like they were married, and do nothing in return to earn her keep. She was slow in becoming a Cleric, still struggling with the few easy tasks that she'd been given simply because it required long travel across the continent. He left her in Gludio after a brief spat, and began traveling south on his own.

Gatz had told him once that he'd originated from the Wasteland, so Ryonai aimed his direction of travel towards it. Gatz had been on the boat when they returned to the mainland, saying he needed to return to the Wasteland to visit an ill family member. Now free of Koyori, Ryonai was eager to find a new traveling companion, wishing for someone who wasn't trying to impress him all of the time.

Halfway to the Wasteland he happened across a small farming community nestled in the valley of two mountains. The people in the community seemed to make a living weaving and catching fish, and were quite open and friendly to travelers. He stayed here for a while, helping the poor people there by exterminating monsters that interfered with their trade.

While helping the men pull in a boat heavy with fish, Ryonai spied an Orc speaking with the head weaver woman of the community. The Orc was a woman, and smaller in frame than the other Orcs he'd seen in Gludio and Gludin. Her dark brown hair was tightly braided and pulled back into a ponytail high on her head, and an opaque gray veil covered her face from the bridge of her nose down past her chin. Ryonai was not one to be attracted to Orcs, as, for the most part, he found them physically unappealing, but there was something about this one that intrigued him. Their eyes met briefly as she turned away to retreat back into the collection of houses, but Ryonai did not see her again to speak to her after that.

During a festival held at the end of summer, celebrating a good fishing season Ryonai saw the Orcish woman again. He learned from one of the men he worked with frequently that she had come to the village nearly two years before him, and lived in a house some distance away. She seemed to enjoy seclusion, and only came to bring fabric to the weaver that she'd made for them to sell to traders. After being goaded into trying some of the strong mead made primarily from fish oil, Ryonai suddenly felt brave enough to approach the quiet Orc and speak with her.

He discovered her name was Sprissa, and she was hiding in the village for fear that she'd be put to death for a crime she did not do. She had merely been in the wrong place at the wrong time when the crime was discovered, and had fled in the night with the help of an old friend of hers and a Light Elf named Narlafayn. Ryonai curiously turned the name over in his head and suddenly recalled the Narlafayn that had been with Leon on Talking Island. It was strange how small the world was.

The pair talked until late in the night, taking a stroll along the beach to watch the sun rise. Now away from the eyes of others, Sprissa removed the veil from her face. Ryonai found, much to his surprise that she was very beautiful without it on, looking more like a Dark Elf than an Orc. It was right now that Ryonai realized, for the first time in sixteen years, he was in love.

The first few weeks upon this realization, Ryonai spent it in anguished thought. An Orc? Even if she was gorgeous without the veil on, she was still an Orc! His type was the tiny, pink-haired ones after all! This pensive thought soon gave way to a desire to speak with her, and confess his feelings, relenting to the fact that he felt what he felt, and there was no stopping it.

Sprissa listened with patience to Ryonai's frustration at being previously forced into servitude for the nation, and seemed to understand that feeling. She encouraged him to go out into the world and make himself into a leader, and not think about what future everyone thought had already been decided for him. She smiled and said that he'd already broken the future once by becoming a Knight instead of living a life of work like his siblings, there was no reason for him to not continue to do so. So inspired was he by her speech, Ryonai decided right then and there to create a clan, and set about the tasks to do so.

Late in the spring of the first year since his departure, a Dark Elf assassin came to the community for a bit. He didn't speak much to Ryonai, and spent most of his time wooing women. Ryonai more than once darted in between the Dark Elf, whose name was Deathswalker, as he tried to flirt with Sprissa. Deathswalker did not remain long, and just as summer began, he was gone.

The two were asked together by the leader of the community to venture over to a retired Paladin's house by the name of Aron Tanford to ask him for medicinal supplies. On the way the two were ambushed by a small pack of Ol Mahum. In reaction to the heat of the battle and relief at surviving, they fell into each other's arms and became what Ryonai thought was an awkward couple.

They arrived at Sir Aron's home within a few days after the attack, and saw with shock that they were not the only Orc and Human pair out there. Sir Aron and his girlfriend were very kind and accommodating, and insisted that they remain with them for a few days. During that time, after speaking frequently with Sir Aron, Ryonai decided he'd return after the task they were given was done, and become a Paladin under the older man's tutoring.

During dinner the night before they would return to the village, Sprissa was stricken with a strange, glazed over look, and hastily excused herself from the table. Concerned that she had suddenly become sick, Ryonai attempted to follow, but was stopped by Sir Aron's girlfriend, Emixis. She explained in a few words that those who followed the teachings of Paagrio like she did, were often stricken with visions from the Great Flame. She returned several hours later, looking downhearted and saddened by what she'd seen.

Ryonai found her later, standing on the beach and watching the sky as the sun set into the horizon. She seemed distant, and shied away from his touch when he attempted to comfort her. She explained to him in gentle, wise words that their relationship had to end, that she was not the one meant for him, and he not for her. What they had must become a warm memory, something they recalled with equal fondness. She did not explain why this was, but said their destinies collided as leaders, something that would surely destroy them if they remained together. There was something she had to do, someone she had to find, and Ryonai had to seek out his own destiny while she did it.

Saddened to nearly tears, Ryonai said nothing to her. With a sad smile she promised that, after parting upon their return to the small community, they would surely see each other again in time. She said his next love would be swift in coming, and to not mourn what they had lost.

He wanted to hate her for breaking his heart like she had, but for some reason he found he was unable to. Sprissa harbored wiseness beyond anything he'd ever experienced before, and always knew the correct words to say. Even when breaking someone's heart, she managed to repair it at the same time.

Sprissa's prediction came true, however, and within a few days of becoming a Paladin, he met a pink-haired elf bathing naked in the surf of the beach. A beauty whom he fell in love with at first sight; an Elven Oracle by the name of Shizuka.

He and Shizuka's relationship started quickly, as the Elf seemed to be hungry for some kind of companionship. Any wounds left from Sprissa quickly evaporated, and he eagerly let the relationship deepen as quickly as possible. Shizuka was extremely caring and concerned for Ryonai's well-being, and did nothing to try and overly impress him. She encouraged him with her smiles, and held him when he was feeling discouraged, something he found greatly comforting.

Shizuka accompanied him as he returned to Gludin finally in search of a merchant to sell him new armor. He'd long since outgrown his Brigandine, his muscles and body developing far past what the armor was intended to fit. No more was he a spindly little boy; he was now a well-defined, handsome lad of seventeen. She was the first member of his newly formed clan; Haibane. Shizuka enthusiastically cheered for their next destination, and followed without question. She was a bit on the ditzy side, something which did grate on Ryonai's nerves once in awhile, but he found it so adorable that he instantly forgot any annoyance soon after.

Upon his first arrival in town, Ryonai stumbled across Narlafayn again, this time she was accompanied by a Dark Elf that Shizuka seemed to be familiar with. The Dark Elf unnerved him, and left him feeling awkward, a feeling that he greatly disliked. Not wanting to think on what it might be that was disturbing him, he chalked it up to her breasts being so big that they baffled him, and left it at that.

Vuylay seemed upset by Ryonai's rejection of her, something which he picked up curiously. He couldn't understand why a complete stranger would be upset over him not caring to speak to her, yet he couldn't help but feel guilty about it either. Vuylay disappeared soon after they were done eating a dinner that Shizuka forced him to treat everyone to, leaving Ryonai to speak with Narlafayn.

That night he and Shizuka's intimate moment was interrupted as a hesitant knock on the door jolted them from each other's embrace. Annoyed, Ryonai attempted to ignore it, but Shizuka suddenly burst out with a grin too mischievous to be ignored, and happily opened the door without bothering to put any clothes on. On the other side stood Vuylay, blushing and fidgeting in a shy, awkward manner that Ryonai found cute despite himself.

It was in the next hours until dawn that Ryonai discovered Shizuka and Vuylay shared some sort of unexplained bond. This led to an awkward kind of encounter, one that Shizuka disturbingly approved of with more enthusiasm than a normal girlfriend shouldn't have. Ryonai didn't know what surprised him more: the fact that Vuylay was a Dark Elven virgin, or that her breasts were only as big as they appeared because of a glamour magic. Vuylay slipped away sometime after the sun had come up, and Ryonai couldn't help but feel emptier without her there. This was forgotten as soon as he was fully awake however, and in full realization of everything that had happened. Still, he found himself waiting for her to return to their room the few nights he stayed in Gludin, and eventually she became the second member of Haibane.

He and Shizuka traveled the land after that, mostly doing tasks for people in villages to build up the reputation of Haibane. During that time he happened across Vlad again with a Dark Elf he introduced as his brother Amari. Eager to get the clan to grow he forced them both to join, something which they did hesitantly.

Ryonai traveled far and wide within the next year, finally coming to a temporary stop in Heine. The beauty of the city dazzled his eyes, and filled him with an awe he could never put to words, no matter how hard he tried. He murmured to Shizuka that he wanted to lord over this city, he wanted to rule its gentle serenity and make sure it stayed as peaceful as it was at that moment. In a voice strangely dark for her Shizuka promised him he would have it one day, he just needed a bigger army. On his way out from Heine he met up with three different elves. First was a Dark Elf by the name of Terebel who could not be coerced into joining the clan, but promised to assist him when he needed help, and two Elven sisters by the names of Lavinia and Mune, which joined Haibane with enthusiasm. Lavinia spoke of a third sister, another Elven Oracle by he name of Cesa, and Ryonai gave Lavinia another crest to give to her.

Early summer of the third year since his departure from Talking Island, while traveling back through Gludin on business (and to secretly see Vuylay again), Ryonai learned that in the previous, the monsters of Talking Island had banded together to raid the village. Many people had been killed before a boatload of fighters finally arrived to help stop it, including Ryonai's father, Grayson. Shocked and grief-stricken, Ryonai separated briefly from Shizuka and raced back to the Village as quickly as he could. After comforting his grieving family, Ryonai finally managed to pull the story of his father's death from them.

Sharmin's father Zephan had been injured at the harbor a few days before, and was laid up at home when the attack hit. Knowing that the pair had no one to protect them as both of their daughters were out studying at that time of day, Grayson left the safety of the cellar he packed his family into and raced next door. All old quarrels were forgotten in that moment, as Grayson tried to save the friends he'd long since neglected over a misunderstanding. A pack of Werewolves had converged upon the home however, and there were too many for him to fight off. Grayson died with Sharmin and Komugi's parents. Now there was no one to take care of his ailing mother and still young siblings other than him and his two older siblings. His determination to one day to be lord of Innadril Castle was cemented then, and for weeks the only thing on his mind was how to expand his clan's membership and get his family out of a life of abject poverty.

He returned to the mainland just as winter ended, and caught up on the social standing of other clans, trying to find strong, dependable ones to form alliances with. He contacted Vlad and made plans to meet him in Gludio to discuss possible candidates to form alliances with. Vlad seemed eager to go to war, something which made Ryonai pleased and uneasy at the same time. He reunited with Shizuka not long after arriving on the mainland, and bumped into Narlafayn soon after. All three of them traveled to Gludio together, and Ryonai was reunited with Sharmin not long after arriving.

After a trip to the Wasteland with Vlad (and loosing Sharmin along the way), Ryonai decided it was time to call all of his clan together and perform the ritual that would prove their loyalty to one another and gain them recognition in the Ivory Tower. It was a frightening ritual, three of the clan mates were required to die only to be resurrected again, and then Ryonai had to ingest a deadly poison while those who had died raced off to find the herbs that would make up the antidote. The ones whom had proven their loyalty to him by dying were Vlad, Amari and Mune, respectively.

It is obvious that the ritual was a success, and Haibane became of higher standing in the great listing of clans in the Ivory Tower's records, otherwise Ryonai's story would end here. He and the group that had gathered together journeyed to the Plains of the Lizardmen after that, to camp out in the abandoned village there while Cesa journeyed to the Sea of Spores to make a pilgrimage. What happened after that, we remember, as this story has been told to us before.

After Sharmin was taken, Ryonai was indeed grieved by the events. He refused to focus on it, and continued searching for ways to strengthen his clan. More members joined, including his childhood crush Komugi, a Dark Elf named Valimos, and a Swordsinger whom had just married Cesa by the name of Celleriant. Halfway through the first year after Sharmin's disappearance, Terebel finally relented and joined. Later on after that, he was reunited with Sprissa through a strange series of events in the Frozen Labyrinth. She and her new companion Broud were quickly added to the growing ranks.

Ryonai began to grow impatient, as his goal was within reach. By the time we join him now, two years after Sharmin's disappearance, Haibane has grown considerably, and Ryonai has made contact with a clan which will ally with him to siege Innadril Castle. Currently we join him in Giran, where he is having an important meeting.