Breath of Fire II, Katt, Bow, Rand, Sten, Ryu, Nina, Deis, Spar, and other characters as well as the Breath of Fire name are copyrights of Capcom. I do not own any of the characters from those games. Any similarities between my own Characters, and new BoF characters is purely coincidental
e-mail at kkisblpeen@aol.com
http://kirkis-elf.com/
Days Ahead (Breath of Fire 2.5)
By Kirkis
Chapter five - The Omen
"Do you understand kitten? Beat my guys in a fight, and I'll let you guys fight the pirates," Zaul said, cracking his huge knuckles. Four bulky sailors stood behind him. They all looked pretty goony, one was missing his front teeth, another had knife scars all over his face. Katt had made a living off fighting men three times her size, but this was the first time she'd have to take on five all at once.
"I just want you to know, I don't like this at all," Baan said quietly to her.
"I know, but if we don't beat those pirates, I'll never get back to Wyndia," She replied softly, still studying her opponents. "I understand, Zaul," She said to Zaul. "I have to prove my strength and stamina to you, and you'll give us a boat to go take on those pirates," She finished, stepping forward and flipping her staff from her back.
"Very well, you can back out of the fight at any time, just say 'I give up'."
"I won't need to give up," She snapped back. "Lets just get started," She said, spinning her staff in front of her. Zaul nodded, balling up his fists.
"Go!" He yelled. The four guys that had been behind him bolted out. Katt watched intently as they ran around behind her. "They're trying to surround me." She thought. "Two'll get behind me, and two in front. They'll jump me and hold me down while Zaul does the attacking." She thought keeping her eyes fixed on Zaul. She squinted her eyes, watching for the slightest twitch, all the while keeping a sharp ear out for enemies coming from behind.
Zaul stared straight into her. She had to be tough or stupid, most people would be tossing their heads from side to side trying to keep an eye on the men behind them. But this girl's green eyes were fixed on Zaul's. "She's waiting for my signal, she'll know when they're coming from behind. There isn't anything I can do about that. I have to make my move without them, distract her, and let them come in and get her," He thought, keeping a stiff face.
He started forward slowly, then suddenly burst into a charge. His sailors didn't know what to do, Zaul had never made an offensive without immobilizing the opponent first. He drew back a fist as Katt prepared herself for a quick dodge. As his fist flew toward her, she stepped to her left, avoiding his punch. Without hesitation, she flipped her staff over to attack his extended arm. She thrust only with partial power, not wanting to break his arm. Her staff didn't make contact. Before she'd made her attack, he'd caught her staff. He drew back his fist again, and threw a punch toward her face. She ducked, letting go of her staff. His punch flew into nothing, as she kicked him in the crotch, and scrambled to get out from under him. She tumbled away and climbed to her feet.
He looked over his shoulder, and raised the staff, making sure she knew he had her weapon. She only stared at him determined not to lose. But how, he had her weapon, and he was three times as big.
"Sure you don't wanna give up, Kitten?" Zaul asked. She gritted her teeth, and scrunched up her forehead. His snide comment goaded her even more.
"I told you before old man, I'm not giving up," She replied through her teeth. Zaul tossed her staff to one of his thugs, and stepped forward.
"C'mon kitten, gimmie your best shot, right here," He said, pointing at the middle of his forehead. Katt's teeth clenched tighter together. She took in a deep breath, and shot toward him. She watched him intently as she sped toward him. "It can't be as easy as just nailing him in the forehead," She though. About four feet from him, she pounced up into the air, twisting her body to get extra force into her kick. As she spun around to attack, two sets of huge hands nabbed her out of the air.
"I forgot about the other guys!!" She thought, struggling to free herself, but to no avail. The hands that held her were used to holding tightly to the briny anchor ropes. "I'm stuck… I'm gonna lose…" She thought. The two men wrestled her into a standing position in front of Zaul.
"Looks like you lose kitten, just give up and you won't wake up in pain," He said, offering her the option to forfeit and save herself some pain and embarrassment.
"I told you, I'm not giving up…" She said, wriggling in another attempt to escape.
"I see…" Zaul said, turning away from her.
"Zaul wait!!" She yelled. Zaul turned suddenly landing his huge fist just below her ribcage. The pain was overwhelming, She'd felt death before, but it was nothing like this. The deep down, intense, nauseating pain that only comes from getting hit in the gut, but this one was much worse than any she'd ever felt. She felt as if her stomach was being pushed up her throat. In reaction, she gritted her teeth together trying to keep it down. It seemed to last for hours, soon she feared his fist would go completely through her small torso.
"ZAUL!!" Baan yelled again, stepping forward, only to be held back by a sailor. Katt could no longer take the thrust behind his massive punch, she felt her guts pushing their way up her throat. She clamped her jaws together as her mouth filled with blood. Finally forced to open her mouth, she coughed it out. She fell limp against the massive forearm pushing it's way into her belly. Absently, she felt his fist pull away from her. She slumped down, dangling from the arms of the sailors.
"Ok, let her go," Zaul ordered. The two sailors let go of her arms, watching to make sure she didn't possibly have anything left to counter. She dropped to her knees, then fell forward. "I can't lose… can't fall…" She though, trying to will her arms to catch her weight before it hit the ground before her. She watched as the ground drew closer to her. "I'm gonna… lose?" She thought again. "…NO!" She thought, as her arms almost involuntarily moved out in front of her. She stopped less than a foot from the ground. Astonished, Zaul knelt down by her.
"You'd be better off just collapsing, you've got some broken ribs. I know a doctor, just lie down and I'll get him," He said somewhat kindly this time. She didn't even acknowledge his request, instead steadying herself with her hands, as she forced her feet underneath her. "Come on now Katt, you're already hurt bad enough, I don't enjoy beating on pretty young girls," He added, smiling. Somehow, she managed to pull herself to her feet.
"Save…it, this fight is…oh… isn't over," She managed in a raspy voice. Slowly she stumbled back away from Zaul a little. "I'm not… done… oh… yet…" She stuttered. Zaul watched as she walked slowly about eight feet away from him, and then turn. "C'mon, lets go, Or did you want to… oh… give up?" She said, trying not to let the pain show through in her voice. Zaul lowered his brow, and raised his fists. One eye squinted from the residual pain left in her gut, she raised one fist, the other clutched uncontrollably at her belly.
"Katt, don't do this, It's over! You need to see a doctor," Baan yelled to her from his restricted position. She paid him no mind, but kept her stare on Zaul. The huge seaman lunged forward, charging at her and drawing back a fist. Katt's squinted eye popped open, and she took a small step back. Zaul threw his fist straight down at her head, not holding anything back. She stepped one step to her right, letting his fist fly by her. As he stumbled forward, She made her strike, landing a solid punch square on his nose, smashing it into her huge face.
"I told you I wasn't done yet," She said, almost smirking. An extra large hand shot up and clamped down on her arm.
"Neither am I" He said, pulling her fist aside.
"What?" She was in shock, "My strongest punch, and he brushed it off like it was nothing," She thought. He quickly brought his knee up into her already tendered gut. The pain seared through her insides, as her vision started to fail. "I don't want to lose…" She thought as she lost consciousness.
"Ryu, … Ryu, … prepare yourself… Destined one."
"What? Who are you?"
"Prepare yourself, Destined one, for it is moving again."
"What, what's moving?"
"WAKE UP!"
Ryu's eyes shot open, staring into the darkness. He sat up and panned his gaze around the pitch-black room.
"What was that? What is moving?" He said aloud. He sat in the bed for a moment listening to the soft sounds of the ocean and pondering the meaning of his dream. "Was it an omen?" He thought. Gradually he noticed that the ship seemed to be rocking more so than it had been before. "The ocean is getting louder too. Could it be a squall?" He crawled out of bed and slid the door open, making sure to stay quiet so as not to wake his companions.
It was hard for him to keep his balance as he made his way down the hallway toward the port side of the ship. A full moon was high in the sky and it's light glimmered on the waves. He stood there for a moment watching the small sparkles of light dance across the surface of the ocean. The rocking of the boat was still heavy, but the ocean looked too calm.
Suddenly, Ryu felt a strange sensation shooting through his head. An instant later there was a huge crash from the aft area of the ship, the shock from the crash nearly knocking him over the railing. "What the hell was that?" He thought, scanning the water below for clues. Finally giving up on finding anything from where he currently was, he ran back toward the stern of the boat to get a better look. From the rear he could tell one of the ship's rudders had been torn off, and had left a great hole in the hull. Under the glimmering waves he could see a large dark form. "What is that?"
***"Don't stab her anymore, you'll ruin the fur."
"She'll still be worth almost fifty thousand."
"Not if you keep putting holes in the fur, hang her up."
"...Mamma…"***
Katt awoke with a start, nearly jumping out of the bed. The pain was the only thing that held her back, it shot through her guts like lightning. She winced in pain for a few moments before opening her eyes and looking about the room. It was a big room, five windows, wood construction and two doors, one was partway open. The walls were lined with gas lamps, pouring their yellowish light throughout the room. She pulled the covers off her legs and slowly made herself stand, despite the pain. She walked across the room to the open door, and looked into the next room. Baan sat with Zaul drinking, laughing and playing cards. The young girl from the guild was also sitting with them, she wasn't drinking.
"Denny made the lad climb up to the top of the mast and back ten times before he'd let 'em take any of our boats," Zaul said, heaving a hearty belly laugh. Katt pulled the door open, and tentatively stepped into the room.
"Oi chief, the Sheila's awake now," The young lady said, tapping Zaul on the shoulder. Katt, who continued on into the room, walking slowly to hide any residual pain.
"Zaul, I want-" She started.
"I'm glad to see you're up and around," Zaul Interrupted, standing up. "You've only been sleeping for three hours, that's not bad considering your injuries," He finished.
"I want a rematch, I think I have the right to ask…"
"Whoa there, kitten, there isn't going to be a rematch. You lost, that's the end of it," He said.
"Ya ougtta be thankin yer lucky stars ya can still move. Most folks go fight'n the chief, don't move much for a few weeks after," The girl said smiling.
"He got lucky that's all, I want…" Katt started again.
"Kylie's right, besides Katt, if you fought him again you'd get torn up more and then you wouldn't be able to take on all those pirates," Baan said with a grin.
"If I don't beat him, Baan, I won't be taking on those pirates anyway, so I want a rematch!" Katt said angrily, wincing slightly from the pain of yelling.
"Listen Sheila, ya ain't gotta fight 'em again, ya got busted up once a'ready."
"I know I got beat up, but I can't just stay here, I have to get back to Wyndia," Katt said again. She stared at Zaul in determination.
"So kitten, we'll go clean out those pirates and then you can go to Wyndia," Zaul said, resting his big hands on her small shoulders.
"You found someone to fight the pirates?" Katt asked. "No fair, I wanted to beat up those pirates," She thought.
"Sure did love, A lil' Woren girl an' a big handsome bloke, course the Chief and yours truly'll be joining ya," Kylie added, flicking her long dirty-blonde hair off her shoulder. Katt's eyes widened as she suddenly realized what they had been talking about.
"But I lost… I thought…" She stuttered.
"You lost, but you took a beating that could've killed some people, and here only three hours later, your awake, standing, even arguing for a rematch," Zaul explained. "For now, please rest," He finished, pulling out a chair for her.
"I don't need to rest anymore, I'll be fine," Katt argued, taking the chair anyway. "So, all we have to do is go out in a boat and wait for the pirates to attack right?" She asked, crossing her hands in front of her belly.
"Actually, we know where their hideout is, so finding them won't be a problem," Zaul answered back, resuming the card game. "Raise you by fifty," He added, tossing fifty Manillo zenny into the pot. Katt glanced up at Zaul's face in confusion.
"If you know where their hideout was, why didn't you clean them out before?" She asked, turning her attention back to the poker game. Katt had some bad experiences with poker in her youth. She'd ended up fighting at the coliseum in corsair after her first game of poker. She'd vowed never to play again.
"Too expensive for me," Kylie sighed, dropping her cards.
"I'm still in, I have to see what you have," Baan said, tossing fifty more of his Manillo Zenny into the pot.
"The pirates made their base in a cave on the coral reefs that grow by the opening to the bay. None of the pirates want to go out there, the reef is said to be haunted," Zaul said, putting his cards down on the table. "Read 'em and weep!" He said, as he laid down a straight flush.
"Haunted?" Katt asked.
"Yeah love, On foggy nights it's hard to see that bloody reef, so sometimes ships crash into it, it's a real shame. The reef is s'posed to be haunted by the spirits of the sailors who died in all those shipwrecks. Them pirates got nerves of solid steel, they ain't afraid of no ghosts. Most of the blokes in the guild are a different story though," Kylie said, resting her chin on her hand.
"I have a few good sailors who are willing to sail out there, but none of them are willing to leave the boat," Zaul said, shuffling the cards. "But now we'll be able to complete the operation, that is, unless you have a problem with ghosts?" He asked, glancing at Katt.
"Me? No, I'm not afraid of Ghosts," Katt quickly answered.
"Great, then we'll leave first thing in the morning, you should get some more rest kitten, You'll need it,"
Ryu and Bow ran along the starboard side of the now listing vessel, with Ruki lagging a few yards behind them. She tugged feverishly at her tight pink gloves as she ran. By now almost everyone had been awakened and were abandoning ship. Another thunderous crash rocked the boat, Bow grabbed the railing tightly to keep from being thrown overboard.
"Damn buddy, this thing isn't playing around!" Bow yelled ahead. Ryu paused to look over his shoulder. "What do you think is doing this?" Bow asked. Ryu pointed quickly and shouted.
"Ruki!" Bow looked over his shoulder to where his friend was pointing. Ruki hung helplessly by the outside of the rail, her grip slowly failing. Ryu ran ahead, leaving Bow to help her.
"I've got to stop this thing, whatever it is. It's tearing the ship apart," He thought, reaching the bow of the ship again.
"Hold on Ruki, I'm pulling you up," Bow said, tugging at her arm. "Only a total klutz could get herself in this predicament." He chuckled.
"Shut up! This isn't funny, you jerks got me up to early so I'm still groggy. Besides, with this ship rocking as much as it is-" Her ranting was cut short by another crash. The whole ship shook, the mizzenmast gave out, crashing into the sea, and breaking the railing loose. One by one the rail posts popped off like a loose thread on a shirt.
"Bow, pull me up!" She screamed, watching as the crumbling railing zipped toward her.
"I'm trying…" He started. "How much do you weigh anyway?" he asked, continuing to pull. Bow knew he was in as much danger as she was, he was bracing himself on one of the rail posts.
"Hurry up you wuss!" She screamed louder. He jerked her arm hard in response, but the railing was collapsing too quickly for it to make any difference. It cascaded past them, leaving bow and his damsel in distress to slide off the starboard side of the deck.
Ryu stepped up onto the top bar of the rail and drew in a deep breath. "It won't come out of the water, so I can't fight it on the boat," He thought, reassuring himself. He raised his arms above his head, crossed his palms, and dove off the rail.
The water was cold, reflective of a long cold winter, but this was an unusual cold. It was an empty cold, Ryu couldn't think of a better term to describe it. "Empty, it reminds me of something else, I can't quite put my finger on it…" He thought, as he rose back to the surface of the water. Breaking the surface, he quickly gasped for air, and shook wet hair out of his face.
"Where are you?!" He yelled, looking around in the turbulent water. The ship was starting to sink, surrounding it were at least thirty lifeboats.
"Here Mack!" someone yelled, tossing a donut life preserver toward him. He grabbed it, looking it over. "This is the last thing I want to put on, what a restriction," He thought, letting it go. "In the last attack, whatever it was kept attacking until the boat was sunk. After that, no one saw it again," He thought, scanning the water for any sign of the monster. "So it only attacks the vessels, not the people. It doesn't take the cargo, so it can't be pirates," He continued his thoughts. "If it'll only attack big things, then I'll have to give it another big thing to play with," Ryu concluded. He breathed deeply a few times, then drew in a very deep breath and ducked back under the waves.
"Help me you idiot! I can't swim, let me get on your back!" Ruki yelled, flailing her arms wildly in attempts to crawl on top of Bow.
"Get off, if you can move your arms like that you can swim," He said, fighting her off.
"No, please, I'll drown, I can't swim, you have to let me on your back!" She said, giving one final all out effort to make Bow her raft. He pushed her to the side, letting her got face first into the water. She thrashed helplessly in the water, managing to come up for air a few times.
"You look ridiculous," He said, easily staying afloat. She didn't respond but continued thrashing. "If you'd just kick a little," He said, again no response. She thrashed about, her head bobbing above and below the water. It stayed below more than above. She burst up out of the water again for a second or two for air, gasping and screaming 'help'. Bow almost laughed when she went back under sucking in a mouthful on water.
"She'll have to quit fooling around and come back up for more air," He thought. Her thrashing continued for only a few more seconds before she stopped altogether. The violent rocking of the waves began to pull her deeper. For a split second, Bow watched her sink, finally thrusting his head underneath the rolling waves. He swam down to her calm sinking body, grabbed her by her hair, and headed back to the surface. Once back on the surface of the water he wrapped his arms around her torso.
"Wake up Ruki!" He yelled, shaking her. No response. He shook her harder and yelled again. Still no response. "She's sucked in too much water. Dammit, I thought she was just panicking," He thought. "If she's not breathing, I need to get that water out of her lungs and revive her," He thought, looking around for the nearest lifeboat.
"Oi!!! Throw us a life preserver!" Bow yelled, slowly swimming toward a lifeboat, with Ruki in tow. One of the men on the dingy stood up holding a donut life preserver.
"If I throw it to you, are you gonna use it, or throw it aside and drown like that other fella," He yelled back.
"Someone refused a life preserver, what a dope," He thought, continuing to swim for the lifeboat. "Yeah old man, we'll use it," Bow yelled back at him. Bow waited patiently as the man tied a rope to the small linen covered rubber donut, and tossed it out toward him. It landed with a small splash a few feet from Bow.
"Thanks!" Bow yelled, as he slowly swam toward it. The huge clipper was almost totally capsized, anyone who was still onboard was likely to go under with it, as well as most of the people in the water. Bow carefully pushed Ruki up onto the donut, and started ferrying her to the lifeboat. "Where's Ryu?" He thought, realizing he hadn't seen his friend for at least ten minutes.
"You can't bring her on, grassrunner!" A younger man in the lifeboat commanded. Bow looked up at him, he was standing and pointing at Ruki.
"Why?" He asked, looking at her then up at the young man.
"Cause she's dead, or dying, We barely have enough space for the living-"
"I'm gonna heal her, as soon as I can get the water-" Bow interrupted.
"No, she ain't getting' in this boat, and if you want her to than you-" The young man ordered.
"If you don't let us in this boat, I'll kick holes in the bottom of the damn thing! Then we'll see who's got room for you," Bow growled, showing his teeth.
"Let them in the boat, Green," The older man who threw them the life preserver said. The young man gritted his teeth at the older one, but after a few moments of angry scowling he complied. Three men reached down to take Ruki into the boat.
"Be careful with her, she's very delicate." Bow said, before realizing what he'd said. Once they had Ruki safely in the boat, the three men reached down to help Bow into the boat.
"What in the hell is that?" One of the men said, pointing out to a greenish glow coming out of the water.
"I don't know, maybe that's what attacked us?" A woman said. The glow slowly grew larger and brighter.
"It's surfacing," Bow added as a huge tentacle broke the surface of the water, followed by a second one.
"A giant squid!" The older man yelled, pointing out as the rest of the giant sea creature surfaced. The creature let out a shriek, slamming its long tentacles into a nearby lifeboat. Two of the men in the boat picked up the small oars and started to paddle the boat away from the squid.
"Help me get the water out of her lungs," Bow said to Green. The young man hesitated for a moment before reaching down to help roll her over on her belly. Bow worked quickly, keeping a close eye on the rampaging squid.
"Even if you get the water out of her lungs, she's still not breathing," Green said, still angry about having to take her into the boat. Bow ignored his comment, continuing to rhythmically push his hands up her back. The squid's movements above the water weren't as fast as they were beneath, but it still moved faster than the men could paddle the lifeboats.
"Help me roll her over," Bow ordered, lifting her shoulders.
"Hell with her, we have to get out of here before that squid gets over here!" Green answered, looking for another oar. Bow ignored the young man and rolled her over as best he could.
"It's smashing the lifeboats one by one, I guess we're just waiting our turn. The older man said, noticing the strange white glow coming from over his shoulder. He turned around slowly, focusing on the Grassrunner and his companion. One hand was on the girl's chest, he held two fingers straight up before him mouth. He kept his eyes closed, and mouthed words silently.
"What's he doing, Tennison?" Green asked, glancing over at Bow.
"Chanting…"Tennison replied softly. The two watched in awe as the white glow grew from the hand resting on the girl's chest. It burned so bright they were forced to shield their eyes. A moment later she started coughing and flailing, in an attempt to sit up.
'She's…alright?!" green said, astonished. He'd never seen real magic at work before.
"She's a little weak, but she'll be okay," Bow said, supporting her back as she coughed up salt water mixed with bile.
"I'll be…okay!?" Ruki said, between coughs. "No thanks to you, what a…hero, letting me half-drown…like that!" She continued, coughing every few words. Bow frowned at her scolding.
"Hey, I revived you!" He said in his defense. Ruki turned around as far as she could, about halfway, and poked her finger into his chest.
"You were the one…who wouldn't help me before." She said accusingly. Bow opened his mouth to retort, before he realized it was pointless. He thought for a moment to find some words to put in his open mouth.
"Never mind, if that thing attacks this boat, hold on to this," Bow said, shoving a donut life preserver into Ruki's chest.
"Fine, and this time I won't be stupid enough to swim around you, you stupid flea-bitten grassrunner!" She said as loudly as possible. Bow turned away from her, folding his arms over his chest and peering out into the glowing green water. Suddenly the Giant squid stopped its attacks and the sea grew calmer. After a few tense moments, it quietly submerged.
"What was that all about, it just stopped attacking?" Ruki asked.
"Who knows girl, the only thing I know is it's gone now, so we're better off without it," Green said. The whole air surrounding the sinking ship seemed to lighten, now that the squid was gone.
"Well, we'd better start to group up the remaining lifebo-" Tennison started, interrupted by a huge splash. The giant squid raised up out of the sea again.
"No, It's back!" Green yelled, ducking down and covering his head. Ruki's eyes widened as she looked closely just beneath the waves.
"No, it's not attacking, it's trying to escape," She said, calmly. Tennison looked over at her in confusion.
"Escape from what?" he asked.
"That," Bow said, pointing out toward the squid. The entire body of the squid had been raised up out of the water, held up by its attacker, the sea dragon. The dragon shook the squid violently in its jaws, then slammed it into the sea. As the small lifeboats reeled from the waves the squid sprayed ink everywhere in vain. The sea dragon's jaws clamped down even harder, it's razor sharp teeth tearing deep into the flesh of the squid.
"Bow, is he…" Ruki asked, looking almost innocently at him.
"He's eating it Ruki," Bow replied, bluntly. Ruki bent her face into a grimace of disgust, partly from the idea of eating one's enemy, and partly from the idea of the consistency of squid flesh. The sea dragon lifted the huge squid high above the sea, holding it's neck and head as straight as possible. In a split second the sea dragon loosened its grip, letting the squid fall deeper into its mouth before it clamped down again. Everyone in the lifeboats watched in awe as the sea dragon devoured the squid whole, leaving not even so much as a tentacle. The blue-green dragon slowly panned across the scene of the attack, salty mist spraying from its nostrils with each exhale.
"Is it gonna attack us?" Green sheepishly asked.
"No, he'll probably go back under," Bow replied, putting his hand on Ruki's small shoulder. "You should sit down and relax for a little bit, you've been through a lot," He said smiling before he could help himself. Ruki only smirked and took a seat. Bow sat behind her, and gazed out over the water at his friend in Dragon form. "You're gonna regret that squid tomorrow, squid always gives you a stomach ache," Bow thought, watching the blue-green sea dragon dive back down into the water. "Tennison, row the boat out to where the Dragon went under," Bow started.
"Are you crazy?! That's just tempting the hand of fate!" Green interrupted.
"Don't worry, I'm an expert on Dragons," Bow said, smiling with teeth shown. "Full speed ahead, sailors!" He shouted, pointing out toward the fading green glow.
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