.
Breath of Fire III: Of Gods and Dragons
Chapter Twelve: Port Town Troubles
Written by Estrelita Farr
.
Unlike the Wyndia and McNeil regions where most areas were filled with greenery, the Rhapala region was filled mostly with beige stone and sand. There were occasional trees and grassy areas, the roars of the sea constantly rushing through the air, but not entirely enough to Ryu's liking.
Just five minutes after stepping off the rope bridge from Wyndia, all of a sudden Ryu stopped, a strange look forming on his face as he turned.
"Ryu?" Nina called, concerned. "What's wrong?"
"Something's… calling me…" he muttered, beginning to walk towards the northeast.
"Wait, Ryu, where are you going?" Momo asked, but there was no reply from him.
"Don't worry," the princess stated as the group followed the boy. "I've seen him like this once before, and that's when he found the power of the Force Dragon."
There were no more conversations as the group travelled, with a dazed-looking Ryu in the lead. It was not long before a lonely cabin came into view at the northern edge of the land, with a wooden staircase leading down to the small beach, but Ryu was not interested in the abandoned dusty cabin… no, he went straight to the back of the cabin and took the staircase down to the beach.
The sandy beach was small, barely enough to run around, surrounded by high stony cliffs. There was nothing out of ordinary to the others, but Ryu knew exactly where to look. His hand felt about the cliff at the end of the beach, and the moment he felt the familiar smooth surface of a small chrysm crystal, there was a burst of white light, and a strong gust of wind that was nearly strong enough to throw everyone off their feet.
Rage rose from within Ryu.
A deep hatred for something he could not identify.
Emotions that he was trying hard to avoid.
Emotions that beckoned him to fall into darkness with them.
No… I won't.
He tried to shut out the emotions, in fear of going berserk once more… but, among the sea of negative emotions, he found a glimpse of remorse… a faint light. Curious, he touched it.
A burst of new emotions.
A feeling of uselessness, of being unable to fulfil his duty.
A feeling of remorse, for failing those important to him.
A warrior, with nothing left to fight for.
Suddenly, Ryu understood the emotions he experienced.
Frustrated… you're frustrated, aren't you…?
Pain in his heart.
I, too, was feeling what you did before… I, too, was overtaken by rage and hatred. But this feeling… it won't do anything but destroy you and all you want to protect.
Defiance.
Is this truly what you want? Is this truly what you want to do…?
Uncertainty.
But there's no need for these feelings anymore.
Ryu pulled out the chrysm crystal, holding it close to his heart.
I'll free you, so you don't have to suffer like this anymore.
There was a sudden rush of determination, which surprised him, and words entered his mind.
"Thank you, my lord," a harsh voice, tinged with a fraction of gentleness, spoke. "Never have I met someone who understood me like he understands himself… I can sense that you have much more to fulfil." A soft growl. "Please allow me to fight alongside you, my lord, to fulfil my task as a warrior!"
He smiled. Gladly.
The light continued to engulf him, as hot energy shot out from the chrysm crystal and surged through his veins. He doubled over with a cry, the energy growing and growing inside him, then he screamed as it exploded out of him in a great burst, as if a valve had exploded.
Once the light dimmed, Ryu had turned into another Dragon, this time bigger and more ferocious-looking. The Trygon was rather similar to the Force Dragon in form, except that the former was bigger, had gleaming golden scales instead of green, horns pointing out from the sides of his mouth and spikes along the lower end of his tail, in addition to the pair of dark horns on his head.
He felt anger. Hatred. A tendency towards violence.
He shivered; the owner of this Dragon form still had some lingering feelings towards his death…
"Wow, Ryu…" Nina said in awe, approaching him.
Momo gasped loudly, then grinned excitedly. "Oh boy! A new Dragon form!"
"Pukyu!" Peco replied, bouncing excitedly as well, though he was probably just copying Momo.
Garr merely looked from the top of the staircase, watching with the mildest amount of interest.
Glowing, Ryu reverted back to his human form, shivering as he remembering the anger and hatred that he felt just from being in the Trygon form... he would have to refrain from using it too much, just in case he would end up killing, and he did not want to resort to that…
"Ryu?" the princess called from behind him.
He spun around, immediately realising that his companions were watching him. He grinned embarrassedly as he answered, "Oh, sorry, I lost track of things for a moment."
"It's okay, don't worry." She smiled. "How's the new form?"
"Um, it's okay, I guess." It wouldn't do to tell her about it…
She beamed. "I hope that it'll help you better!"
He returned the smile. "I hope so too." He began to move towards the staircase. "Let's keep on going to Rhapala, okay?"
"Hm…" Garr held his chin in one hand, thinking deeply as the two children climbed the staircase. "This building seems abandoned. Although the sun sets not for a time, it would be wise to make this our camp. Rhapala is but a three day journey from here, after all."
"Three days?" Nina echoed. "That sounds like a long time…"
Momo grinned. "Well, if you could get Ryu to fly us to Rhapala, we'll be there in no time at all!"
The boy stared at her. "I don't think I can carry all of us at once…"
"Oh, you can if Momo puts some strong machines on you!" the princess remarked slyly.
"Aw, do I really have to?"
"I fear he can carry not my weight," Garr stated with a twinkle in his eyes. "A little trouble, perhaps."
The older girl elbowed him. "Are you sure it's only a little trouble?"
Ryu grinned, feeling cheeky all of a sudden. "It'll cost you double, Garr."
Everyone laughed.
.
-o-o-o-o-o-
.
It took three days for them to arrive at the port town of Rhapala, which was situated a short distance away from large mountain next to the sea. The moment they passed the gates, Ryu felt the same feelings of peacefulness and rhythm here as he did in Wyndia, but filled with even more activity. Garr had explained that this port town was the home of the Porter's Guild, hence nearly everyone living here was either a sailor in the guild or a fisherman.
"We would sooner reach Angel Tower by boat," Garr stated. "I will inquire about the ship. Mayhap you would like to explore the town?"
"Oh, yes!" Momo cried. "There are so many machines here I'd like to see!"
"Pukyu!" came Peco's answer, but it sounded neither like yes nor no.
"I'll come with you, Momo!" Nina turned towards the boy. "Coming, Ryu?"
Ryu was a little taken aback by this sudden question. "Um, okay."
"Very well. Let us meet outside the inn later, are we agreed?" When they nodded, the winged man strode off.
"All right, let's go to the wharf! I'll bet there are a lot of steam engine ships there!" Momo grinned. "Oh boy! I can't wait!"
The two children would rather explore other areas, but since they did not know where to go first, they just sighed and allowed the red-haired girl to lead the way.
However, a few minutes later, Nina asked, "Hey, what happened here?"
There was a good reason for her question. Despite the fact that the wharf was still bustling with activity, there was a definite gloom in the air as the sailors went about their work miserably, and there was not a single ship to be seen anywhere nearby.
"That's funny, what happened to all the ships?" Momo asked no one in particular.
Ryu shook his head. "No idea, maybe we could ask around and–" All of a sudden he stopped. "Hey, what's up over there?"
The girls turned towards the direction he pointed at, and saw that there was a lot of noise coming from the far end of the wharf, where several people gathered.
There was a huge man, who was almost as tall as Garr and just as muscular. He wore a striped red shirt, blue knee-length shorts and black shoes, complete with a crew cut and a beard, and he had an extremely egoistic grin on his face as he flexed his biceps.
Behind him was an exasperated-looking girl in her early twenties, who had on a white tank top that exposed her stomach, rather short blue shorts, tall brown boots and a violet bandanna around her thick, straight golden hair.
A skinny black-haired man in a black vest over a long-sleeved shirt and long brown pants was standing in front of the muscular man, trying to reason with him while attempting to avoid getting his thick spectacles from being stolen by a small half-monkey man in a red shirt and white shorts, who seemed to want to cause as much trouble for him as possible.
"It doesn't look very good…" Nina observed.
"It sure ain't!" a voice beside them agreed, belonging to an old sailor puffing a pipe. "Ol' Zig's at it again today!"
"Zig?" Ryu said.
The sailor pointed towards the noisy group of people. "Ya see that big guy there? That's Zig, and he thinks he's at the top of the world because he's the strongest sailor here. Always chasing Shadis." He gestured at the girl with violet bandanna. "That's the Guildmaster's daughter."
Nina shook her head. "But… she doesn't look very happy."
"She ain't, I tell ya, that Zig's the biggest oaf in the Guild!"
"And who's that little man?" Momo asked, pointing to the small half-monkey man, who was now clapping as he cheered.
"Aye, that's Iggy, always following Zig like a dog. And that–" With his pipe, the sailor gestured to the skinny man that Zig was harassing. "–is Beyd, the Guild's bookkeeper. He's been friends with Shadis since they were kids."
"I see, so in summary…" The princess thought for a moment. "Zig's chasing Shadis, but she doesn't like him, and he's always bullying Beyd with Iggy's help? That's not very nice…"
"Ah, well." The sailor shrugged. "What with the ship's down and the lighthouse being out and all, this ain't my biggest concern." He turned. "Well, I'd better head back to work. So long, kids."
Puffing on the pipe, the sailor then left, and Ryu, Nina and Momo focused on the strange group.
"Zig, Iggy, please," Beyd said, shaking his head. "Can't you leave Shadis alone? No one's decided on anything yet…"
"What? Leave her alone?" Zig laughed. "Ya gotta be kidding! She needs someone who can get things done, like me!"
"Yeah!" Iggy piped up. "Besides, Sinkar already given Zig his approval to marry her!"
"That may be true…" The bookkeeper straightened himself. "But as the person in charge of the Guild's finances…"
"You? Hah!" The burly sailor, just to show his strength, roughly pushed Beyd to the ground. "Don't you worry, Beyd! Between Shadis and me, the Porter's Guild'll be in good hands!" He grinned, turning around to face the girl. "Ain't that right, Shadis?"
Shadis frowned, her arms crossed. "Hmph! Don't get ahead of yourself, Zig!"
Instead of feeling angry, Zig went off in a loud guffaw, as though she had uttered a good joke. "Hahahaha! Don't be shy, Shadis! We'll make a great team, you and me!" Seeing how the girl refused to even look at him, he turned towards Beyd. "Well, see ya, Beyd!"
As Zig and his trusty half-monkey sidekick went off, laughing loudly, Ryu and Nina went over to Beyd's side, helping him up.
"Are you okay?" Nina asked.
"I'm all right, thank you." The skinny man stood up, looking rather embarrassed. "I'm sorry about that…" He dusted his clothes and wiped his spectacles clean before putting them back on his nose. "I'm Beyd, the bookkeeper for the Porter's Guild. How can I help you?"
"We came to ask about the ship," Momo answered, with Honey climbing up her robe to get to her shoulder.
"The ship? Well, if you want to know about the ship…" He gestured towards the girl with the violet bandanna. "You'll need to talk to Miss Shadis here."
Shadis still had her arms crossed and a frown on her face, and she replied in a frustrated voice, "People keep asking me about the ship, but the ship's not coming back! Understand?" She shook her head, waving a hand angrily. "Oh, it gives me such a headache!"
"Shadis…" He sighed and stood in front of her. "Look, Shadis, just because you're not feeling good doesn't mean that you can act like that in customers…" He spoke softly and with understanding, and it was clear that he cared about her very much.
She stomped her foot once and glared at him. "Not feeling good? And whose fault do you think that is?! It's you, you doofus!" She put her hands on her hip. "You probably don't care if I get married to someone like Zig anyway, do you?! Hmph!"
Without giving him as much as a second to explain, she ran off, fuming.
Once again, Beyd sighed and turned apologetically towards the two children and Momo. "I'm so sorry, she's a little upset right now…"
Nina shook her head. "It's okay, we understand."
He nodded. "Anyway, as she said, the ship's not back yet, so we can't sell you a ride right now. On behalf of the Porter's Guild, I apologise for the inconvenience."
"No, it's okay," Ryu said. "Thank you anyway."
They decided to leave the bookkeeper alone then, so they walked towards the direction of the town, with Peco bouncing behind them.
"So, what do we do now?" Momo questioned.
"I think we should tell Garr about the ship…" Ryu stated. "Let's go and find him in town."
The girls nodded and they continued walking, but just as they reached the entrance of the wharf, Shadis was there, waiting for them.
"Shadis?" Nina called.
The Guildmaster's daughter shook her head, seemingly calmer now. "I'm sorry about what happened earlier. I was just a little frustrated, with so many happening at once…" She sighed a little. "I'm sorry, but I really can't tell you anything about the ship now, since we haven't heard of it since it left port."
Ryu felt disappointed. "I see…"
"But, there's one thing I can suggest. If you're really in a hurry, you can ask my father, Guildmaster Sinkar, and see if he'll let you use the road around Mt. Zublo. He should be in the pub below the inn."
The princess nodded. "We'll do that, thank you very much."
With a farewell wave, Shadis went back into wharf again, and the group left towards the town. The moment they took a few steps, however, they met Garr, who happened to be heading to the wharf.
"Oh, here you are," Garr stated. "I was looking for you."
"And we were looking for you," Momo told him.
"Garr," Nina called. "The ship's not coming back yet, the Guildmaster's daughter told us."
"The sailors sang the same song." Garr shook his head. "Our luck is ill, that this should happen whilst we are in a hurry."
"But we can ask the Guildmaster about letting us go around the volcano," the boy said. "He's in the pub below the inn."
"A plausible idea." He nodded. "Let us go."
Unluckily for them, however, meeting with Sinkar did not yield a good result either.
"Sorry, I'm afraid you can't use the road either," the Guildmaster had said. "You see, that volcano called Mt. Zublo just erupted a little while ago and now the road's blocked off by the lava. If you want to go east, you'll have to wait for the ship."
Ryu sighed the moment he was outside the inn. "I guess we'll just have to wait here until the ship comes… but we don't even know when it'll be back."
"We have done aught and all we could." The Dragon-like man gazed upward upon the sky, which was now beginning to turn a great orange colour. "The day grows late. We should prepare for the night."
.
-o-o-o-o-o-
.
After their meal of rabbit stew, they sat around the campfire, resting and pondering over what to do next. Peco and Honey, however, were running (the onion was bouncing, or rather) around the others, playing chase.
"No ship and a blocked road…" The azure-haired boy sighed. "I guess we're really stuck here for a while…"
"Hm…" Momo thought deeply. "Maybe if we fixed the lighthouse, the boat will come back." Her eyes shone. "I hope they'll let me in! I'd love to see the machinery they use in the lighthouse!"
Garr shook his head. "Your knowledge on machines may be unrivalled, but no doubt none save members of the guild are permitted in the lighthouse."
Realisation washed over her face. "Oh yeah…"
Once more they lapsed into silence, watching Honey catch up with Peco and jump onto his head. Nina, who had been silent ever since they set camp, suddenly spoke up.
"Say…" she started, gazing at her companions. "Do you think that Shadis likes Beyd?"
"Huh?" Ryu said, thinking that he heard wrongly.
"And Beyd's in love with Shadis, right?" She thought for a moment. "But he's too shy to tell her…"
"Well…" Momo scratched her head uncertainly. "Maybe they do like each other… but what does that have to do with anything?"
"I just feel that it's rather unfair to Shadis if Beyd doesn't do anything, and it's not like we're getting anywhere for a while, right?" Nina beamed. "I know! I'll go talk to him and tell him what he needs to tell her!"
The rest of the group were rather dumbfounded, and said nothing in reply. All that was heard was the crackling of the campfire and Peco's triumphant cry of "Pukkiiii!" as he threw Honey onto the ground.
.
-o-o-o-o-o-
.
The next morning, Garr declared that he was going to train outside the port town and decided to bring Peco along to see if he could teach the onion how to fight. Ryu thought he was trying to escape the mushy scenes that didn't fit his image… but he didn't dare voice it out.
Nina, of course, was going to go and meet Beyd, the boy wanted to go with her to make sure that she stayed safe, and Momo wanted to meet Shadis to see if she would let her fix the lighthouse.
So it was settled – Ryu, Nina and Momo would go into town and meet the other two at their previous camp site by sundown.
At the same end of the wharf as the day before, Beyd and Shadis were there, ignoring Zig and Iggy who were showing off and talking at the top of their voices as usual. Taking a deep breath, Nina strode over to the bookkeeper and spoke to him softly.
"Say, Beyd…" she started. "You're in love with Shadis, aren't you?"
The effect was immediate; Beyd jumped a foot into the air, beginning to look flustered. "Wh-wh-wh-what… what are you talking about?!"
Shadis, who was standing not too far away, heard his loud exclamation and turned, puzzled.
That's… really too abrupt… Ryu thought, shaking his head.
"Don't be so embarrassed," the princess continued. "I'm sure Shadis likes you too!"
Once Zig and Iggy caught Shadis' name, they turned as well.
Beyd turned a bright shade of crimson when he saw everyone's eyes on him. "W-wait! Wait just a minute! W-w should just talk about this somewhere else…"
"Huh?" Nina looked puzzled. "Okay…"
A moment later, once they had found a private area on the wharf where they could speak without anyone listening to them, the princess went on with her plan again.
"You like Shadis, don't you, Beyd?" she asked.
"What are you talking about?" The man turned red once again. "Of course I like her, she's my friend, but…"
She nodded. "You need to go and propose to her!"
"WHAT?!" he exclaimed loudly, shaking his head quickly. "P-p-p-p-p-propose?! I c-c-can't do that! She needs someone strong and, and, and… reliable to help her run the Guild!"
"Then you need to get strong!"
"I… I don't know…" Beyd lowered his head sadly. "That's easier said than done. Look at me, I'm a weakling…"
Nina was still enthusiastic. "No problem! We'll help train you!"
"What?!" Ryu, Momo and Beyd all cried simultaneously.
"That's right!" She beamed. "It looks like we won't be going anywhere until the boat comes, so we'll help you get stronger!"
"H-hey, Nina…" Ryu began, but his words were not heard. "Momo, when did we agree to this?"
The older girl simply shrugged, looking confused.
He sighed. Since when Nina's as rash as Momo?
Beyd was silent for a long time, but he finally answered, "No, I don't think it'll work…"
"C'mon!" the princess urged him. "You won't know unless you try!"
For a moment he looked as though he was going to agree, then he suddenly started walking away, stopping only to say, "I'm… going back to work…"
With that, he turned and left.
"Um…" Nina thought hard. "Did I say something wrong?"
Momo shook her head. "Not really, maybe he just needs some time to think."
Ryu nodded. "I think so too."
"I see…" The princess smiled. "Oh well, we'll give him some time to think! We'll just come and find him later!"
"That's not a bad idea, but…" The other girl scratched the back of her head. "But what are we going to do until then?"
"Um…"
They just stared at each other for a while.
"Um, why don't we just explore the place for a while?" the boy suggested. "I mean, that way we might find something to do."
The girls nodded.
They headed back into town, since they had already seen most of the wharf due to them coming to this area often, and explored the roads and stores there. Around various edges of the town, there were a lot of men waiting with their fishing rods at their side, and many cats were lying in wait to steal fishes from the pails.
As Ryu watched them, however, a strange feeling rose from inside him, feeling as though he missed going fishing. He felt puzzled, since he had never went fishing before in his life… or had he? But since they had nothing to do, why not?
"Hey, guys…" he started, facing the other two.
"Hm?" Nina turned. "What is it, Ryu?"
He hesitated for a moment. "Um… well… I saw those people fishing at the side of the wharf…"
"Fishing?" Momo echoed.
"And… I just thought it might be fun, so…"
"That's a good idea!" Nina stated, beaming.
He was surprised at her reaction. "R-really?"
She nodded. "At least we have something to do now!"
Momo grinned. "And my father always said that fishing helps to calm the mind!"
Ryu smiled. "Okay, let's go pick up some fishing gear then!"
It was evident how much Ryu actually knew about fishing when he looked over the fishing gears at the store, for he knew immediately which rods were good and those that were not, as though he had already done this before. Even after they had found a good place near the entrance of the wharf to fish, the girls were surprised to see him knowing exactly how to hook the bait at the end of the line and toss the fishing rod into the water.
"Wow, Ryu, have you actually gone fishing before?" Nina asked, awed.
The boy turned red. "Actually… no, I don't think so. But it's strange how I remember things about fishing when I haven't actually done it…"
"Maybe you did it before but you've forgotten?" Momo suggested.
"If that's true, then you're beginning to remember!" the princess suddenly cried, excited.
"Hey, that's true!" Ryu thought deeply, but then shook his head in disappointment. "…no, I can't remember anything else yet." He smiled. "But if I do, I'll tell you all about it."
She beamed. "That's a promise!"
They sat there, at the edge of the wharf with their feet dangling above the water, listening to the seagulls crying in the sky as they waited for a fish to bite their line. After a few long minutes, however, Nina began to fidget.
"It's taking such a long time…" she said.
"Fishing is mostly about patience and luck," Ryu explained. "Sometimes we can catch a lot in a few minutes, sometimes we sit for hours and catch none at all…"
"Aw, that's a little boring…"
Momo grinned, holding up a book. "That's why I always prepare myself for long travels!"
Nina's eyes lit up. "Hey, that's a good idea!"
She laughed, and handed her the thick book. "Here, want to read this?"
"Okay!" The princess gladly took the hard covered book and read the title. "Chrysm Machine Soldiers and How They Function… um…" Embarrassed, she returned it to the other girl. "Sorry, I don't think I'll be able to understand machines even if I read this."
"Haha, it's okay, many people are like that!" She cheerfully took the book back and propped it against her lap again.
"You really do like machines, don't you, Momo?" Ryu observed and grinned. "Mad about them, I'd think!"
"Not anymore mad than you are about fishing!" she retorted, also grinning.
"Hey!"
Honey, who sat between the two girls, shrugged and shook her head in an exasperated manner.
Nina laughed. "Well, before you two get into a fight, I've been meaning to ask you, Momo…" She gazed at the little robot doll beside her. "How did you first meet Honey?"
"Hm…" The red-haired girl thought for a moment to recall. "Remember how you saw a lot of robots looking for chrysm in my tower?"
"And Honey came looking for chrysm too?" Ryu guessed.
Momo nodded. "Yeah, she was able to get past the traps I've set to block those robots off, and I found her in my lab one day." She patted the robot doll on the head. "Unlike the other chrysm machine soldiers, though, she doesn't seem to have any offensive capabilities…"
Nina smiled. "But I bet she's smart! She understands us, doesn't she?"
"Yeah!" The older girl grinned. "She helped me a lot in my experiments too, and always reminds me when I forget things!"
And Honey nodded, again in an exasperated manner.
The blond-haired girl giggled. "I bet she's really tired of reminding you every time you forget!"
Momo grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, sometimes I think so too, and my father told me that every single day!"
All three of them laughed.
"So, your father loves machines?" Nina questioned, curious.
"Yes, and he's the greatest scientist ever!" Momo beamed. "He's really great; he invented so many things that his name was famous all over Wyndia!" Her voice trailed off and lowered slightly as a faraway look washed over her face. "But he stopped inventing things after my mother died, and just focused on studying chrysm instead. I think he just didn't want to meet with people…"
"Momo…" Ryu muttered, knowing quite well the feeling of losing someone.
Almost instantly, she perked up again. "But it's okay! He's still the greatest scientist to me, and I'm trying to walk the same path as he did!"
"That's great, Momo!" Nina stated, perking up as well.
Suddenly they heard several splashes and immediately turned, only to see Honey holding on tightly to the fishing rod they had forgotten about. She struggled with the pole, pulling here and pulling there while trying to reel the line in, but before long she was dragged headfirst into the water.
"Honey!" Nina and Momo cried simultaneously, standing up.
"I'll get her!" the boy volunteered as he jumped straight into the water, but luckily he did not need to dive far to get Honey. No sooner than fifteen seconds passed, his head appeared above the surface again, one hand holding the fishing rod and the other holding the robot doll, who seemed very sorry for herself.
"Momo, would she rust?" the princess asked in concern as she carried Honey and dried her with the hem of her pink dress.
The red-haired girl shook her head. "Nah, she's completely waterproof."
Ryu, who had pulled himself out of the seawater, dripping wet, abruptly started laughing. The girls stared at him as though he was something out of this world, and Nina asked, "Um, what's so funny?"
He could not answer for a while because he was laughing so hard, making them stare even harder at him, but all of a sudden something small big and slimy slid out from under him shirt and armour – it was a large fish, about a foot long, and it was still wriggling.
He took a deep breath in relief, sinking to a sitting position. "Whew, a fish really tickles…"
For a moment, the trio gazed at the fish, and then burst out laughing.
"Gosh, and I was thinking what was wrong with you!" Momo remarked.
"Oh, I'm perfectly sane!" Ryu replied, grinning.
Nina giggled. "Sane, but ticklish!"
And they continued laughing.
.
-o-o-o-o-o-
.
A few hours of fishing and laughter later, the sun rested on the horizon, transforming the sea into a great golden colour with its rays. The seagulls still flew around the wharf, crying loudly, but there were many that had started their way back to their nests, and even some sailors had already started heading indoors.
"Well, it's getting pretty late," Ryu observed as he reeled in the fishing rod. "And I'm pretty hungry, aren't you?"
"I am!" Nina answered.
Momo grinned. "Me too, so let's head back and cook all these fishes!"
Just as they were leaving for the town's exit to meet up with Garr and Peco, however, they heard a familiar guffaw that belonged to Zig, which was loud enough to reach all corners of the wharf. Knowing that something was up again, the trio looked at each other and quickly made their way towards Beyd and Shadis' usual spot.
"Hey! Shadis!" Zig cried as they neared the place. "You can get your wedding dress fitted now! I'll get the lighthouse fixed before you can say 'I do'!"
"Yeah, way to go, Zig!" Iggy cheered. "You'd be the head of the Guild in no time!"
The Guildmaster's daughter looked absolutely disgusted, pushing the huge man back at arm's length. "All right, all right already! Now just leave me alone!"
Beyd could only watch from behind them, with despair shown plainly on his face. He was in a sitting position on the ground, as though he had been roughly pushed down.
"Beyd, what happened?" Ryu asked, as the three of them stepped up to him and helping him up.
The bookkeeper sighed. "Zig said he's going to go and fix the lighthouse… if he does it, there's no doubt that he's the strongest man around, and Sinkar will name him as his successor for sure…"
"T-that means…" Nina shook her head. "Zig will marry Shadis…"
Somehow those words had a great effect on Beyd – instantly, a look of determination formed on his face, even as he watched his childhood friend being harassed by Zig. He turned towards the three of them so suddenly that he made them jump.
"Please, I want you to train me!" he declared. "Make me strong so I can repair the lighthouse before Zig!" He shook his head, his fists clenched very tightly. "I can't just give up! Not without trying!"
"That's the way to go!" Momo cried, with Honey jumping up and down on her shoulder.
"Here, take this." The man gave them a large bag of money. "I hope that one-thousand zenny is enough, please get me some armour and a weapon that are not too heavy."
Ryu took the money and nodded. "Okay, I'll do that."
"When and where should we meet?" the princess asked, seeming happier now that Beyd was going to try to get stronger.
Beyd nodded. "I have to work during the day, so I can only train at night… meet me in the town square tonight, okay?" With a quick glance at Shadis, he continued, "I have to return to work now. I'll meet you tonight." Then he went off.
"Wow, I didn't expect him to accept it so quickly!" Nina remarked as they walked towards the entrance of the town.
"Yeah, me neither," Ryu agreed. "Let's hope that he'll be able to get stronger."
-o-o-o-o-o-
Once they told Garr about what happened, he nodded and said that he would come and watch as well. The three of them felt better about it; since the winged man was rather experienced in battling, he would be able to help them with the training.
After dinner, all five of them packed their things and left for the town square in the middle of Rhapala, where Beyd was already waiting for them.
"Here," Ryu said, handing out a piece of grey armour and a long sword. "It's the lightest we could find…"
"Thank you so much," Beyd thanked him as he reached out to take the equipment.
The moment Ryu released his hold, both armour and sword fell onto the ground immediately, with the bookkeeper struggling to pick them up, and everyone else stared at him.
"W-whoa, I didn't realise that they'll be so heavy…" the bookkeeper muttered.
He struggled with them, trying to pull them up, but then decided to carry just the sword first. He held the hilt tightly, then pulled… and ended up lifting it with too much strength. The weapon completed a full arc over his head and struck the ground behind him, forcing him to fall flat on his back. Peco, who happened to be just behind him, shrieked and jumped when the blade slammed onto the ground right in front of him, missing his head by inches. Within a split second, he was hiding behind Momo in fear.
The group felt exasperated; Ryu slapped his forehead, Nina sighed, Momo groaned and Garr turned away. Even Honey shook her head with one hand covering her eyes.
This would be a really long night.
.
End of Chapter Twelve.
Author's Note:
Okay, I know the Trygon is basically just the golden form of the Force Dragon… but I added it in for fun. o_o
And to those who reviewed in the week prior to this update… sorry for my late review replies, I was overwhelmed with projects and stuff. T_T
Review Replies for Chapter Eleven:
.
To Redemption Warrior:
Haha, glad you like how I made Nina found Honey! I had trouble looking for her the first time too, then I gave up and looked at a walkthrough. It said to hug around the bottom row of barrels; I followed and I got stuck at the corner, and I was like, "What the?!" Turns out Honey is there, so if the game incorporated tripping, I would've tripped over Honey while looking for her. xP
Thanks for the review!
-.-.-.-.-
To MogGuy:
Yay, someone to point out my silly mistakes! :D
To tell you the truth, I never did quite like using Momo in the game… simply because of her inaccuracy. However, I try not to discriminate against her when I write this novelisation (it happens when I write stories O_O), so I decided to use her "weakness" help tide the story, like how she "accidentally" hits the enemy and knocks them out. I was hoping to make her fix the thing eventually… once she finally stops getting sidetracked from all her projects. xP
Hm… a little more detail about non-boss monsters? I could do that. Now that you mention it, I do agree with this. I'll do my best and describe more of them in future!
Yeah… sometimes when I write, I try not to write so long to the point it gets longer than it needs to be; I try to limit myself to a 20-page chapter. But since you mentioned there are parts that I rush through a little, that means it's a bad idea to limit myself so much. I'll try to fix that. o_o
As for Nina's magic… while I agree she has a natural talent for magic, I'm not quite sure what you mean about other parts. Did you mean to say I should use magic for assisting in exploring (i.e. "puzzle solving" in gameplay terms) and not just for smacking monsters with?
Thanks for your review and constructive criticism! Though this story is already pre-written, I'll do my best to read through and fix the chapters as you suggested. :D
-.-.-.-.-
To Airess Byrd:
Thanks! Mine too. :D
-.-.-.-.-
To Nina Windia:
I'm glad to hear that! I just love Ryu and Nina scenes. :D
Me too, I can never believe how they can get away with Nina pretending to be his daughter; maybe the soldiers were just too inept or Garr is just too scary… or both! It's just ridiculous. xP
Thanks for reviewing!
-.-.-.-.-
To Taliatoennien:
Whoa, I can't believe how I missed this! I never did receive notification of the review and somehow I didn't check my review page until now... sorry!
Although it's been a good 4 years since you sent me this wonderful reply, better a late reply rather than none at all, eh? Hope you don't mind my extreme tardiness. xD
First of all, thanks for this wonderful review! It's really great to read it even though it's been many years since I completed this novelisation, and it made my heart all warm and fuzzy. I loved reading what you loved about my novelisation, especially all the random conversations here and there. I hope you did read the novelisation to the end, otherwise it'll be great if you'd let me know why and I'll try to improve it in my future writing. :D
Ah, yes, Suikoden II is my favourite in the series! I love Suikoden I too, but II wins by far. Sadly I didn't start that novelisation project yet; I've been struggling to finish writing my Azure Dreams one-shot novelisation collection, something I'd like to complete but it's not my usual thing to write, and I've been starting a lot of random novelisation side projects to see which would call out my name more. :)
Thanks again for the review, and hope to hear from you soon!