The skies were a dark mixture of blue and grey over the mighty towers of Castle Tycoon. Sleeping on the highest balcony of the highest tower was the royal Wind Drake, Hiyru. It was a magnificent beast. Its pale silver skin shimmered in the sunlight which filtered through the small breaks in the clouds. It was roughly sixteen foot from nose to tail and its wings stretched out to ten feet when fully extended. For all its beauty and magnificence, it was the last of a dying breed. Its food source, Dragon grass was a rarity these days and supplies of it were running low. As the wind gently rolled across the parapet, the creature's chest rose and fall in a gentle manner. It was like almost any other day in Tycoon really. The king, his royal highness Alexander Highwind Tycoon ascended the stairs and stood atop the tower next to the sleeping beast. His face was a picture of calmness. His long brown hair trailed down to the mid-point of his back from the backside of his dragoon-like helmet crown which he wore. The visor covered his green eyes, but his thick brown beard and moustache was visible. The hairs swayed slightly in the wind but something did not seem right.

"The wind..."

King Alexander looked towards Hiyru who must have noticed the slight disturbance. The great beast opened its eyes and raised its neck slowly. As it woke up from its slumber, the yellow eyes of the beast scanned the horizon, looking for a reason as to why the wind had started to slow down.

"You can feel it too, can't you Hiyru?"

The great beast reared up onto its hind-legs. It stretched its wings out and let out a powerful roar. The people of Tycoon and the surrounding villages had become accustomed to hearing this noise daily, so it no longer startled them, but the sound of the great beast carried across the empty plains for miles around. Walking towards the beast, King Alexander placed his hand against its silver skin and closed his eyes. He patted it before he opened his eyes and removed his hand from it. The beast cocked its head and looked behind it to the staircase, coming up it was the nineteen year old daughter of Alexander - Princess Lenna Charlotte Tycoon. Behind her was the young teenage squire of the king, Albert. In his hand he gripped the king's mighty spear.

"Father!"

The pink haired princess's blue eyes pleaded along with her voice as she stood behind the king.

"Do you really have to go?"

Lenna wasn't a needy child, she was a grown woman now and the heir to the throne of Tycoon and had been since her older sister Sarisa had died years earlier. After they had lost her mother a few years after that, the king and his daughter had always been close. Today he was meant to stay in the castle and conduct the court with her, but the sudden change in the behaviour of the wind troubled him. As the guardian of the wind crystal, it was his duty to ensure it didn't fall into the wrong hands and any problems with it had to be investigated straight away. Tycoon's power came from the wind crystal, without it, the nation was powerless.

"Lenna. You have to protect the castle. You mustn't follow me!"

Alexander replied in a stern voice. He loved his daughter and he knew she was worried about him, but she had to realise sometimes, that he was the king and his duty to the people of Tycoon did take priority over her in extreme situations, much like the one they faced now.

"But..."

Lenna's pleas fell on deaf ears. The young squire Albert ran forwards, almost tripping over. He handed the king his spear and his item pouch which contained various potions and remedies. The King held the spear in his hand tightly and turned to his daughter and lifted his visor. His green eyes met her blue eyes. The two stood in silence for a moment before he finally spoke.

"Something about the wind bothers me... I must go check the crystal of the wind shrine"

Lenna nodded in agreement

"Yes father, I can feel it too. But must you go alone? It could be dangerous. The wind does vary from time to time, but never like this..."

Alexander turned to face Hiyru once more as his daughter tried to plead with him again. He turned back to face her as she finished talking and smiled at her.

"Don't worry my child. I will be ok"

The King looked at his squire who had pulled off the massive iron and gold hardness which was required to ride the Wind Drake. The pair of them hoisted it into place and strapped it in before they attached the reigns to the harness around Hiyru's mouth. The beast looked at Lenna and nodded its head. She ran towards it and placed her hand on its golden brown underbelly and kissed its flesh. She moved to her father who was ready to climb into the saddle and she held his hand tightly.

"Please be safe Father"

Alexander nodded to his daughter as she backed away. He hoisted himself up onto the beast and dug his heels in. The Drake let out a roar and spread its majestic wings again. Its strong muscular body powered its great wings and as it beat them rhythmically, it rose from the floor and upwards. The king dug his heels in again and pulled on the reigns, jostling the creature to go forwards. As it moved through the air, he turned it around, performing a "fly-by" of the parapet and headed north in the direction of the wind shrine.

Lenna turned round and with her father's squire at her side, descended down the tower back into the castle. As she went down, the wind slowed even more, it was barely noticeable.

=...=...=

Out in the inland sea which stretched between Tycoon and the wind shrine a ship was sailing. The wind which pushed its sails was weakening and the men in the rigging and the crow's nest tried frantically to adjust the sails so they could try to gain as much momentum from the weakened wind as possible. The men on the deck below hurried about, pulling at deck level ropes, re-adjusting what they could. They had known a wind to die out at the least expected moment, but there was still usually a very slight breeze which would nudge them along to their destination. This time though, it was different.

Stood on the front of the ship stood the captain, a handsome man with long purple hair which rippled in the wind. He looked out across the watery expanse in front of them and felt the breeze flickering through his hair slowing down. Sensing something wrong, he gracefully jumped up onto the bowsprit which extended from the front of the ship and carefully balanced on the edge. Holding his head up, he looked at the clouds which suddenly started to come to a standstill. Feeling the wind dying out to a complete standstill he spat on the tip of his finger and held it up in the air. Usually if there was any wind, the fluid would move in its direction, but there was nothing. Wiping the fluid on his thigh, he stood there and the reality of what just happened had dawned on him.

"The wind... Stopped..."

=...=...=

Hurtling through space, a meteorite had just crossed the boundary of the thermosphere which stood 320 kilometres above the surface of the planet. As it hurtled towards the ground at a frightening pace, a man inside it was running round frantically. He was an older gentleman, around sixty years of age and he stood at five foot six. His grey and auburn hair was slicked back and his facial hair was rough around the edges but it was fully grown into a full beard and moustache combination. Standing in front of a strange panel which seemed to contain a vortex of energy spiralling round in it, he cursed to himself in frustration. He was in a race against time and time was winning. Feeling his meteorite speed up as it descended through the mesosphere and into the stratosphere, the lack of resistance made him shiver.

"The wind stopped! I've got to hurry"

=...=...=

Lenna heard a commotion from the courtyard. She was still descending the tower towards the throne room, but as she glanced out through the window in the tower she noticed one of the flags hanging from the towers suddenly stopped rippling. Pushing past the young squire, she ran up the stairs. Her small frame, standing just over five foot three inches tall allowed her to be agile. She ascended the spiralling staircase with ease, thankful no one else was on it or coming down at her. As she reached the top, she rushed out onto the parapet and stood at the edge. She felt nothing. There was no faint breeze anymore, there was just a stillness in the air. Her mind raced as her pulse increased. She clenched her fists and took a deep breath and tried to compose herself.

"The wind...! Has something happened to father?"

=...=...=

"I'm not too late, I can still make it"

King Alexander Highwind Tycoon ran through the shrine. Using his shoulder, he barged through the door which held the stairway to the final location of the building - the crystal chamber. He leapt up the stairs, taking them two at a time before he came before the grand double doors which blocked his path. Taking a deep breath, he placed both hands against them and forced them open. In the middle of the room, the wind crystal glowed with a pale green light as it slowly rotated. It was hard to believe that something which looked so fragile held so much power and controlled the air which they breathed and relied upon for transport and for farming amongst other things. As he stood before it, he noticed its rotations gradually coming to a stop. As the crystal came to a stop, its light faded, plunging the room into darkness.

"What!"

The Crystal started to creak as cracks formed along it. The king rushed forwards but it was too late, there was nothing he could do. The cracks appeared quicker and they spread even faster until the crystal stopped completely and exploded into thousands of fragments. The king dropped to his knees, throwing his spear aside and slamming his fists into the floor as the shards of the magical artefact rained down all around him.

"I was too late..."

=...=...=

In the woods on the edge of the great plains of Tycoon a man sat by a campfire. Even though it was daytime, the thick woods limited the visibility and the wild Lobos which roamed the woods were always awake. Using the fire as a primitive form of defence against the wild creatures, the man looked around. His chocobo, a large yellow bird which was better on the ground compared to in the air, was resting in the middle of the clearing. Its eyes were closed and its legs were tucked in underneath its body. It was resting after a long day of riding, much like its owner. The man idly wiped down his sword with a cloth, buffing it up and clearing off some of the grime from cutting his way through the undergrowth. As he rhythmically rubbed the blade clean, he watched the fire. its hypnotic dancing flames combined with the rustling of the leaves was lulling him into a relaxed state. He could feel himself drifting off but a sudden change in the environment snapped him to his senses. There was a thunderous rumbling noise in the distance which was followed by a violent tremor. The swordsman jumped to his feet, brandishing his sword for all the good it would do whilst his chocobo jumped up onto its feet and let out a shrill cry.

"Boko... Let's go!"

The giant bird nodded and bent down enough for the swordsman to jump up onto its back. Holding onto its neck, he dug his heels in and the bird wheeled round. It flicked its heels backwards, covering the small fire in dirt, extinguishing its flames and then headed straight towards the sound of the explosion-like noise in the distance.

=...=...=

A/N: Here we go. This is going to be a novelization of the very under-appreciated Final Fantasy V. It will be based on the play through of the game and will be mostly canon, with a few changes here and there (side quests, levelling up the jobs, dialogue etc). There will be spoilers, so if you haven't played the game, I will post spoiler warnings in each chapter. For those interested, the prologue's events are a direct mirror to the opening of the game.

I hope you take the time to read and review. Feedback is greatly appreciated and welcomed, as are any follows or favourites.