A Way to Remember

"In order to create some kind of rebellion," Kain started. "We need first to find some kind of ally. That ally needs only have a small amount of power, and influence. I think that in the underground we can find both power and influence. You see, from these two things and also some propaganda and genuine leadership. We may hopefully be able to raise an army of the oppressed."

Phantine looked at him quizzically. "I had no idea that you were any kind of a leader, you always seemed kind of, lone wolfish, in what I had read was correct."

Kain looked at her, laughed and said, "You should have learned by now not to trust everything that you've read in books." Kain looked around for a moment, the three of them were in a sparse forest, about halfway between Mist and Baron. The trees themselves looked different from before, back in the time where he had come from. They looked almost sickly, this "poll loo shun" that Phantine and Dekan had been talking about must have been what was doing it. From what they had told him it sounded like a cancer that humans had created on the Earth, though he wasn't even sure if that was true.

Kain looked behind him to see Dekan practicing the forms that Kain had begun to teach him. The first step Kain had taken towards making Dekan into Dragoon was cutting down that damned 7-foot spear the boy had. It looked more like a lance than a spear, Kain thought. Now Dekan was using a nice piece of wood about four or five feet long. Once you put an end on it, it would be about the right length of a quarterstaff. That was how Kain taught himself the spear, with the knowledge that he already had of the quarterstaff. Kain still remembered that saying from his mother, "Even the greatest swordsman in the world was once bested by a farmer with a quarter staff."

"I was they called the leader of the Barionian Dragoons at one point you know. I had to learn a little bit of leadership, tactics, and strategy in order to command them well. Little good that did though, a group of Fabul's martial artists ambushed us and killed nearly everyone in my party. That's actually where I met Cecil you know." Kain told Phantine.

Phantine started reaching through her gear. "Hold on, hold on, just let me find a pen and some paper!"

At that moment Kain realized what he was doing and promptly stood up to and walked over to where Dekan was practicing the forms. He noticed then that when Dekan tried to defend a sideswipe that he left himself wide open from the other side. "Dekan, stop for a second." Dekan stooped, Kain saw him perspiring greatly. It was then that he first realized that Dekan had been practicing sense they set up the fire about an hour after dusk; that was three hours ago. "Do that block again." Dekan did as Kain asked him and as he finished that blocking form Kain suddenly said, "Stop!" Dekan froze. "Look at this Dekan, if I was attacking you right now, even with a sword I could come back in about a second onto your other side. You need to have the bottom of the staff more towards your right, exactly like that. Good, good, maybe there will be another Dragoon after all. Now come, sleep. A warrior is useless without the proper amount of sleep." Dekan simply nodded moved over towards the fire, and laid down. Within ten seconds he was asleep. Within another twenty seconds Phantine was over to where he was and was resting up against his side, she soon fell asleep as well; Dekan instinctively put his arm around her. Kain looked at those two and sighed.

A part within him laughed and said, "Three hours at night, one in the morning and a half during lunch. That's pathetic I did at least three times that when I was first training." Kain stopped the voice by telling it, "Yes, but we doing some hard-pressed traveling. Back when I was training I had all the free time in the world. This boy does not." The first voice muttered and backed out of his mind. Kain looked up and then back to his two companions, and sighed again.

Kain felt the wind rush beneath his feet as he jumped straight onto the tallest tree nearest him. He looked out at the hilly terrain, covered with patches of trees. And he couldn't stop saying to himself. "This all used to be mountains," he said in awe. "What happened to the mountains that first raised me up with the wind? Where did they go?"

* * *

When the three of them got out of the Mountains they arrived on a trail of sorts that lay towards the great capital of Baron. Dekan and Phantine explained to Kain that now the city was the center of the Alliance, there the Alliance knew what everyone else was doing at all times of day apparently. Kain did not believe it so though, because in every town, village, and castle there are areas of darkness where people can go who do not wish to be seen. And soldiers can be bribed to look other ways, no matter how zealous the group of them may be, one or two is always willing to bend for that extra coin.

Along the winding trail to Baron, villages sparsely populated the area. Phantine and Dekan had little or no coin with them though, so they were unable to spend the nights within the inns of these villages. Most of the time they would receive shelter in a farmer's barn house, or in a small clearing away from the road. Dekan kept up his training; he was getting surprisingly good in such a small amount of time. One day though Phantine looked at the two training with their staffs, and scoffed at them saying. "You know, now a days most soldiers don't fight with shields or swords or even spears. No they fight with these." She pulled out her two pistols from their holsters. "And no amount of training with a spear or quarter staff can allow you to dodge what comes out of these." She told them confidently.

Dekan acknowledged this as fact abruptly but answered her nonetheless. "I learn the way of the Dragoon not because I wish to fight large groups of soldiers with it. No, I fight with this so that I may become a duelist." Phantine looked at him skeptically.

Kain faced Phantine pulled his helm down so that it appeared as a mask over his face and told her. "Try me, with those." He pointed his spear towards her guns.

Phantine looked at him skeptically and practically yelled at him. "What are you, nuts? I've already explained and showed you just what these can do."

Kain just nodded and told her yet again. "Try me. I'll show you what True Dragoon can do."

Phantine fed up with the whole situation (Kain came to the conclusion that it must have been that time of the month) shot one of her pistols straight at Kain's shoulder knowing that at the very least that would only come to a flesh wound. But, the bullet just bounced off of this armor. Phantine and Dekan looked at him aghast. "This armor can and did stop more than one behemoth's claw from going through me. It can stop a tiny bullet. Now again, shoot me."

This time Phantine did so without the smallest point of hesitation. Straight towards his chest the bullet flew. Suddenly seemingly as Phantine pulled the trigger Kain's spear spun forming what almost seemed to be a circular wall in front of him. The bullet was deflected, Kain stopped his spear and as it stopped he noticed a small scar the bullet had made on the metal shaft. He shook his head at what had happened and said. "Well, hmmm, not the best idea I guess. Oh well, I guess it'll help me to remember not to do that much more. Now again."

Again the bullet came out of Phantine's pistol this time though as the bullet came out Kain leaped into the air completely dodging the bullet. He landed and looked at the shocked looks from the two teenagers. It was then that he realized he had never shown them his ability to command the winds. Kain lifted his helm off of his face and said to them. "Don't ask how I did that, to be honest I am not sure I know myself. Just know that only the winds can teach you that. I'm not even sure that is something that any other Dragoon could do. So don't expect to learn that, Dekan."

The two flabbergasted teens only eyed him then after about a minute Phantine asked him. "Why, how, when, tell me everything! How did you learn to do something like that?" Kain took that time to leap through the air onto the tallest tree he could find. There he used the wind to carry his message to the teens. "Rest now, for we have much traveling yet to do."

* * *

They three entered through the huge gates and into the city of Baron. It was at least twenty times larger then the last time Kain was within the city. He and the two teenagers had decided first to obtain some false identification, then find out everything they could about the Alliance here in Baron, and finally to succor transportation to Algor. (From what Kain understood that was still the only route to the underdark.) However, the problem was that they still had no money and, like all things, things like this cost money to do.

"I know you won't like this Kain but, we could rob someone." Kain looked back at Dekan, icy death in his dark brown almost black eyes. "Yeah, never mind that. But, what about the Duelist society?" Phantine scoffed at him again.

With that Kain stopped in the ally where they had been walking through. Looked back at the two teenagers and asked. "What's this, duelist's society, you've spoken of."

"It's basically gladiatorial combat, Kain. Only, it's not slaves fighting gladiators. Most of the time it's two highly trained combatants, dueling for honor while people watching them place bets on who wins." Phantine explained to Kain.

"How much are they paid?" Kain said bluntly.

"It depends on how much is wagered on the bet, from what I remember it's somewhere around 15-25% of what the owner makes, but that's only if you win."

"Then we're going to one of these societies right now." Phantine opened her mouth to disagree. "You've seen me. You know what I can do and thus you shouldn't worry about me making a show of myself I'll use only enough power to beat whomever it is that I am facing. That way I don't draw too much suspicion"

"All right. It's your life Kain." The three of them continued walking through the slums of Baron trying to find a society location.

Kain walked into a bar and began asking locales there for directions to the nearest duelist society. They barkeep over-heard this and waved Kain to come over. "Well you sure do look like a duelist don't you, even got a spear with you. Odd weapon, most use swords but I'm not one to tell people like you what to do." Kain looked at the barkeep contemptuously knowing that if he didn't do something the barkeep would just keep going. "Oh, are you in a hurry. Sorry, just follow me." With that the barkeep walked to the back of the bar and opened a hidden doorway that opened up to a flight of stairs. "Right down there, though just so you know. People ain't allowed to use armor, so you'll have to take that stuff off." Kain nodded and took off his armor, helm, boots, and gauntlets all of which made to resemble a dragon's features. Without his equipment on, Kain felt naked almost. He set them on the floor by one of the tables looked around and noticed the kind of people within the bar.

"You two, stay here and look after my gear, if there aren't too many formalities all be back in a minute or two." Luckily for Kain neither of them argued. They just sat down at the table eying everyone in the room with equal suspicion. Kain felt almost proud of the two. With that he exited the bar through the staircase, behind him the false wall closed.

When Kain reached the bottom of the stairway he entered into a large room with about 50 people standing around a fenced off circle one man was standing within, striding back and forth within like a caged lion. The barkeep came up behind Kain and told him. "I'm really glad you came now, more people would have started leaving and I would have lost a lot of business. Anyway, all you have to do is enter the circle through that door right there. Then approach QT there and say this, QT I, what was your name Kain? I, Kain, challenge you to a duel. He'll say the same to you. After that you just have to wait until someone gives you the word to begin. Got it?"

Without answering Kain went through the doorway into the caged circle and stood before QT and said "I, Kain, challenge you to a duel do you accept or yield." Kain added something so that the crowd would think him someone a bit more formal.

"I, QT, accept your challenge, Kain." Kain backed off then laughed to himself, and thought, fool.

* * *

Kain walked up the stairs and through to the bar's entrance, with a new scar on his left arm. That man's speed had been enhanced somehow, and Kain new it, he just did not know how. "Oh well" Kain thought to himself. "Just something to remember today by."

As he reached the top of the staircase he could her the bartender behind him screaming. "That was the greatest duel I've ever seen. And also, the way that you two just wouldn't let up. Do you know how much money I made today, just with your duel alone? You have to come back. Please we'll make a fortune together." Kain could feel the man's greed trying to persuade him. But, as Cecil told him once. "It's easier to persuade a block of ice than it is to persuade you my friend."

"No thank you, just give me my share of the profits and I'll be on my way." He had reached the top of the case and opened up the false wall into the bar.

"All right here you are, that's 60 coin for ya."

"Double it."

"What?!?!"

"You owe me at least twice that much. Now don't make me take it from your lifeless corpse."

"All right then, 120 coin." The barkeep through him a small sack with twelve 10-coin pieces. Now you come back here sometime, alight."

"Whatever." Kain replied, and then he looked over at the two teenagers instead of looking suspicious of everyone else like they had been before. Now they just looked at each other. Kain approached the two picked up all his armor and began putting it all back on. At that Phantine and Dekan stood up and looked intently at Kain, hoping that he would tell them of what happened. "I won. What did you expect?"

"Yes but, why do you have that scar on your arm?" Asked Dekan.

Kain brought the two close to him and whispered. "When a crowd views pain and anguish on a person they're more likely to bet on his opponent thus this cut helped us raise more money than if I had just run him through in two seconds."

With the newly earned money Kain first went out with Dekan to help him get some false identification. He sent out Phantine to find out how much it cost to get transportation to Algor, that seemed fairly simple thing to do and not much danger involved in it.

* * *

With fake IDs in hand Dekan and Kain walked through the aero facilities security systems. Kain and Dekan had both been forced to give their spears to security but were promised they would get them back on landing in Algor. Dekan seemed secure that this would happen so Kain wasn't going to worry. He did have to keep adjusting the trench coat he had just bought, so that it would cover him so that no one would look at him strangely for wearing armor. That had already happened with a group of those so-called Paladin's that he had encountered. He wanted so badly to slay all three of them and was forced to restrain his rage as they mocked him for wearing armor. Oh, all of these false Paladins would pay, not just for mocking him, but also for helping to blacken the memory of Cecil.

Kain and Dekan boarded the air cruiser and took their seats'. After waiting for about a half-hour Phantine finally arrived carrying papers. She sat down between Kain and Dekan and whispered to Kain. "I got all the information you needed from the computer network here. I even found a couple of other things which I think you may find interesting." Kain looked through the papers and for the first time in a long while, Kain smiled.

"Those who send reviews shall be karmicly rewarded."

-Kain DeLuman