Part Three #2 – Phantasmagoria

The morning was cold, as it usually was in forests such as the one Praze had just woken up in. He was in his Night Fury form, obviously, and after a few moments he slowly stood and stretched his body as he let out a yawn. He looked around with tired eyes, deciding he'd better get back to River's house to find out what Sym had learned. He didn't fancy sleeping in a stranger's house, which was the main reason why he'd slept out in the forest, but also because sometimes he needed to remind himself that he was, in fact, a Night Fury. He wasn't human; he didn't need to sleep inside a house all the time. His – all – Night Fury bodies were built to live in harsh environments.

Well, I'd better get going now, he thought with another yawn as he changed back into his human form and stretched that body as well. This damn crick still isn't going away, he thought in dismay as he began walking back. Hope I didn't miss too much.

It didn't take him too long to get back and within a few minutes, he was knocking on the door. It opened to Sym, who greeted him as he walked in. "Sleep well?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was nice," he replied. "Did you find out anything useful?" he then asked, noticing Viri and what seemed to be Viri's friend, River.

"Yeah, that was what we were just discussing," Sym told him as she sat back down on the couch. "Anyway, this is River; Hakuryuu's friend." Praze smiled before turning to River, thankful that Sym managed to let him know what to call Viri.

"Yes, that would be me," River told him with a smile. "What's your name, and how do you know Ryu?"

"My name's Praze, and he's my older brother," he told her, and all of a sudden River's smile faded as her body stiffened. She looked for a moment between him, Viri, and Sym, a look of disbelief on her face. "What's wrong?" Praze asked, puzzled by her reaction.

"Are... are you two twins?" she asked, looking between Sym and Praze. They looked at each other for a moment, confusion on both their faces.

"Uh... yeah, how could you tell?" Sym asked but before anyone could say another word, they were stunned by the sound of a glass smashing on the ground. The glass River had been holding had slipped from her grip as she stood there, looking somewhat disconsolate. She then turned to Viri, who had been silent during the whole exchange, before she looked into his eyes and spoke.

"Your name isn't Hakuryuu, is it?" she asked quietly, and he froze. She leant on the bench in front of her as she shook her head, as if unable to come to terms with what was happening. She then laughed as she continued to shake her head. "You're all Night Furies... aren't you?" Praze couldn't believe it. Not that she had figured it out... but because he'd just realised who River really was.

"We could ask you the same thing, couldn't we?" Praze asked and River looked up at him. She let out a sigh, about to respond, but before she could, Viri spoke up.

"That's not right..." he trailed off, clearly distraught. "That's just not fair..." he continued, beginning to tear up as his body grew weak. "You can't have been right here this whole time..."

"You can't blame yourself, Viri, it's not like we could tell who we are like this," River continued as Praze looked over to Sym. She nodded, and the two of them both walked over to the door.

"We'll give you both some space," Praze stated as he opened the door, following Sym out before shutting it behind them, leaving Viri and River alone.

Viri collapsed on the couch, staring emptily at the ground. "I... can't believe it," he muttered, calming himself.

"You know," River began as she walked over to him. "I was going to mention this a while ago, but do you remember the night you came up here many years ago, looking for information?" she asked, and Viri gave a weak laugh.

"Yeah, I was told by everyone in town you wouldn't talk to me even though you'd become the town's scribe..." he trailed off. "Why'd you even do that?"

"That's a story for another time," she told him with a smile. "Anyway, the reason I let you in then was because of your eyes."

"My... eyes?" he asked, confused.

"I never told you and as I just said, I was going to mention it a while ago, but it was because you had the same eyes as my friend that I lost. Well, obviously, you had the same eyes as yourself..." she trailed off with a laugh. "We're both thick."

Viri let out a weak laugh of his own. "Yeah... we are..." he trailed off, suddenly feeling very awkward. All the things he'd told River about certain... things... were coming back to him. "Ennis-"

"Don't call me that, I've decided to ditch that name, just call me River," she told him and he looked up at her, watching as a smile appeared on her face. "Say, Viri, do you remember what you made me promise to you, last time you were here?"

His face heated as he turned his gaze the floor in front of him. He really didn't need reminding. "Uh... y-yeah..." he trailed off, his heart rate quickening as he heard her walk over to him and stop in front of him. "W-Well, that was before I knew-" Viri cut himself off as River sat down on his lap and placed her hands on his shoulders, promptly leaning forward and pressing her lips to his in one swift movement.

Praze let out a breath of disbelief as they walked along the path that led to the town. "Well. That happened."

"How long did Viri say he'd known her for?" Sym asked, blankly staring ahead.

"Longer than a decade..." Praze trailed off with a sigh. "I just can't understand how they didn't recognise each other."

"Well, they recognised each other now, so let's just leave it at that," Sym told him flatly as she turned from him. He could tell she was scowling at nothing in particular, obviously perturbed by something.

"What's up?" he asked, only to receive silence. He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, where's Hannah?" he then asked, watching as Sym let out a sigh.

"She was upstairs, fast asleep last I checked," she answered before quietly murmuring, "she's still getting over the ordeal she went through at the decree base. I told you this already... but she was a huge impact on me after you left, so it really pains for me to see her like this."

"Yeah, it sucks... I'd somewhat gotten used to her hyperbolic self," Praze told her and she raised a brow. "It was a little annoying at first but eventually the banter was and is rather enjoyable. I can see how you and Hannah make good friends." Sym smiled as she breathed in the crisp morning air, finding herself happy for some reason.

"I think you and her could make great friends, also," she told him before she thought of something. "Can I ask you something a bit more... personal?" she then asked, causing him to eye her.

"This should be good," he murmured. "What?"

"Well... I was just wondering – and I know at least as much that you'd have thought a little about this already – but..." she trailed off as Praze turned to her. He knew what he was asking and he didn't like it.

"Do I think she could potentially be more than a friend?" Praze finished for her and she nodded. "You know... and don't ever tell her that I said this, but she is quite enjoyable to be around," he continued as the began walking again. "Well, when she tames her seemingly endless supply of energy. Honestly, I can't begin to understand where she gets it all from."

"So you think there's a possibility?" she asked and Praze could only roll his eyes.

"Seriously, first Toothless and now you," he murmured, shaking his head. "Why such insinuations all of a sudden?"

"I'll take that as a yes, then," she continued with a smirk.

"Of course you would," he muttered with a sigh. "Anyway, let's get to what's important. What did you find out?" Sym had been contemplating on continuing teasing him but his reminder of the night previous caused all of that to disappear, leaving her with a strong feeling of angst as she realised that she had lost her scale. They continued walking silently as Sym tried to think of what to say, but before she could, Praze turned to her and spoke again. "What happened?"

She turned to him and just stared at him solemnly, unable to find the words before she eventually quietly spoke, "I lost my scale." His eyes widened for a moment, suddenly feeling a deeply foreign feeling of sympathy.

"How?" he asked after a moment and she let out a deep sigh.

"I... found out some information regarding the decree and was quite... thrilled, so to speak... that I allowed myself to be jumped by two men," she told him. "I barely escaped getting my throat slit after one of them jumped out from behind a tree. He pinned me down, got his hands on my scale before I kicked him off and just before I was about to get it back, the other one – a huge man – caught me in a bear grip. I... I would have had to use reconstruction to escape had another man from the bar not knocked him out. But by the time I had recovered my breath, the man who had my scale had disappeared without a trace."

Praze stood there silently for a moment, having stopped with her. He didn't know what to say. If Sym didn't get her scale back, she wouldn't have the ability to change back into a Night Fury. "How are you going to get it back? Did you find anything out? I assume you tried to find some kind of leads after that happened, right?" he asked and she nodded, taking another breath.

"The man who saved me, who told me his name was Karma, was at the Tabibito after I had run around trying to find the other man with my scale," she answered as they continued walking again. "Fortunately, it would seem there's a very high chance that we can get my scale back. Apparently, Kyoraan has a lot of murders and robberies around about this time because of a tournament that is held here; the Sword's Song."

"A tournament?" he asked and she nodded.

"The organisers pay a hefty amount for any exotic items for prizes to pull in participants and thus get more money," she replied. "According to Karma, there's a good chance my scale will be one of the prizes."

"You told him about your scale?" he asked but she shook her head.

"No, but judging by what he said I can practically guarantee it'll be there."

"I see... how long do you think until they'll post information about it?" Praze asked and she shrugged.

"Karma thought they would in about a week..." Sym then trailed off as the two of them turned towards a ruckus that was emanating from the town square in front of them. There was a large crowd in front of the town's noticeboard, causing the two to share a glance. "But it may just be out already..."

"Let's check it out," he said and she gave a nod before they both walked over to the crowd. It was clear that there was quite the atmosphere, and many mutterings were heard... none were a sign for the two as they entered the crowd.

"My gods! No wonder they released the details early, look at the prizes!" "I don't care if I'm reckless; if I can get my hands on any of those prizes I'll be set for life! And entry's only ten silver coins!" "Ten silver!? I could last on that for a month!"

Praze didn't have a good feeling about any of it. If the organisers released details early with such fantastical prizes, there was a decent chance they were trying to pull in people from all around. If Sym's scale really was one of the prizes, necessitating their participation, there was a chance they could come up against opponents too tough to handle. He ground his teeth in vexation as he pushed through the crowd before finally making to the centre of the commotion, right before the noticeboard. He looked up, finding himself both relieved and uncharacteristically dispirited. He closed his eyes as he let out a sigh.

Sym's scale was the first place prize.

"What are you so downcast for, if anything I'm relieved I don't have to search for it," Sym muttered from behind him.

"You do realise how tough it might be to get it back?" he asked, turning to her. She continued to stare at him blankly before her eyes narrowed and she smiled.

"Come all they want, they still won't be able to beat us," she responded before turning and walking away through the crowd. She was lucky Praze couldn't see her face as she pushed her way through the crowd, otherwise, he might have been seriously worried about her. Her smile began to change ever so slightly to a grin, her blood-red eyes showing what could only be described as sadistic intent.

I'll kill them all.

A/N

This should satisfy people for a while, I suppose. It may be short, but after having read it, I'm sure you'll realise it was a bit of a quality-over-quantity deal here.

I hope you enjoyed.

QuiteARandomFan: I'm glad you did! I hope you enjoyed this one, too. And yeah, Viri's a loner- wait, I can't say that anymore. Damn. You can kinda guess what Praze is gonna ask him, yeah? (*cough* how long? *cough*). I'm glad you're taking a liking to Karma, I'm rather interested in bringing him to light as well. He's very... black. (I'm terribly sorry for that horrendous and despicable pun; it barely made sense as it is). We shall see about Claire... And yeah, they're really only intriguing because I can provide such insight into their personality. I could probably make Hannah and Viri more interesting characters if I had the same sort of personality as them. I'm really looking forward to delving deeper into Sym's character, though. And yeah it's not easy having to wait months for a chapter, people can certainly forget things. But yeah, they can't return from their human forms unless they have their scale. Think of it as a hard drive containing a save file for your character. Anyway, again, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. I honestly can't wait to hear your thoughts on this one, so make it good ;)

Thanks again.

mathmonkey167: It's been a while alright. I hope I can make the tournament somewhat interesting, and I'm also hoping to reduce the times between chapters, even if it means sacrificing how much I put into them. But as I mentioned; quality over quantity. The amount of things I put into this chapter rival a few of my 8k chapters with a quarter of the length, simply because I was more diligent and efficient in my writing. And seriously, what is with you and Karma? I must be doing a good job keeping him more of a mystery.

And thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm sure we'll talk more in depth about this one also. Cheers!