Okay, sorry it took a while. I've been concentrating basically on Chrono
Truths, which hasn't gotten any reviews yet. If things continue that way, I
won't update, even though I already have several other chapters written!
But I've gotten kinda bored and moped around the house some, playing
Nintendo (yes, the VERY old one), which is weird for me.
Disclaimer: The usual drill. I don't own anything. There you have it.
Three: Old Friends and Foes
Kid stopped at the end of the ladder. It was then that she realized she had made a mistake. "Oh. . ."
"What?" Serge turned. "Aha. . ." he murmured, noticing the Dodo guarding the remaining egg in her nest. "Hey, d'you see that egg?"
Kid looked swiftly at him. Serge ducked around the sleeping Dodo, heading for the egg. His eyes on the bird, he swiped the egg from its nest, returning to Kid quickly. But the Dodo was awake now. "SQWAAA!" it cried, leaping at Serge. He jumped away just in time, gaining only a scratch on the arm.
"S-Serge. . ." Kid began. "Maybe you should return the egg."
"C'mon." Serge pushed her up the ladder in front of him, dodging the fierce swipes from the Dodo.
They reached higher ground again, just as the ladder, which was actually the tailbone of the dragon's skeleton adorning the area, shook violently due to the frantic attempts of the Dodo. Kid stopped, searching for the rope ladder. Noticing a blue flower near it, she carefully picked it for safe-keeping. Turning to the ladder, she nodded. "This one this time. Hopefully we won't be met with some other life-threatening situation."
But Kid had to eat her words almost instantly. Serge put out an arm to stop her as they began toward the north exit of Fossil Valley.
"What's wrong?" she asked, seeing his bored but bitter look.
"Look familiar?" he returned, pointing in the direction of two oh-so- familiar dragoons.
"Them again. . . ?" Kid sighed. "Maybe we can slip by them."
Serge allowed himself a bitter laugh. "Wanna bet? These two're dense, but they're not completely stupid, mate." He sighed. "Let's get closer. They might leave."
The two edged toward the dragoons. Peppor was arguing with his brother about returning to the prosperous Viper Manor. "H-hey, do you remember what that girl was shakin', anyway?" he asked when they came to a standstill.
"Why-"
Both Kid and Serge jumped as the Dodo, on higher ground beside them, squawked loudly. Solt noticed them, as his back was to the exit, and pointed to Kid. "Just something justly like that, Peppor." he told his brother triumphantly.
"'They're dense, but they're not that stupid.'" Kid repeated in an undertone, glaring at Serge. "We could've just slipped by! They're too limited up here!" she told him, pointing to her temple in a position where the dragoons couldn't see.
"So I made a mistake. It's not like we're gonna bloody die." Serge shrugged, also speaking in a low tone.
"Hey! That's her!" Peppor exclaimed, pointing to Kid.
"Spoke too soon, didn't we?" Serge asked Kid.
"Shut up and fight." Kid replied harshly, taking out her dagger.
Serge gave her a surprised look as he brandished his swallow. 'I think I'm rubbin' off on her.'
Peppor's ax collided with the sea swallow as he rushed at Serge. He stole a glance at Serge's Element Grid before jumping away. "Black Element!" he called to Solt.
"Yes, Peppor, I made sure to bring one." Solt told him, beginning to jaw on mercilessly about how he hadn't forgotten.
"JUST SHUT THE HELL UP AND USE IT!" Peppor bellowed, his face reddening.
"Y-yes Peppor." Solt threw an ebony box into the air. "TurnBlack!"
"What?! I thought that was a-!" Peppor began, but the familiar strands of magic were rising up around Solt as he cast the Element.
Serge looked down at his Element Grid. Looking up again, he began to laugh. "Ya changed me innate! What a crisis!" he called to Solt.
"You fool! That Element made him more susceptible to white Elements! I hope you brought some of them with you, or you're stupider than I thought!" Peppor exploded.
"I didn't bring any, I fear." Solt told him fearfully.
"Why do I even try. . . ?" Peppor murmured. "Just attack 'em then!"
Solt was quick to oblige, attacking Serge once more as Peppor went for Kid. She was soon on the ground, blocking the ax with her dagger. Deciding to see what useful materials the dragoons had on them, she kicked Solt in the navel twice, somersaulting him off her. She scrambled to her feet, pulling out a red Element. "Pilfer!" she cried.
"Wha-?" Peppor turned, releasing his hold on a barely conscious Serge's throat. Kid had already made her move, swiping a Tablet from the dragoon. Frowning, but not permanently mourning for the loss, Peppor turned back to the boy, but he had disappeared. He gasped as he felt the sting of a gash along his side. Clutching the crimson streak, he turned to see Serge, crouched somewhat from his performance. He straightened, setting one end of the swallow into the dirt as he faced Peppor. The Tech known as Dash&Slash had worked nicely.
"AAAAAAHHH!" Solt ran by, pursued by flaming spheres. Another pelted him as Kid followed close behind, holding a small box marked Fireball.
"Retreat!" Peppor cried. He began to limp toward the forest, though Solt soon passed him, still being tailed by the two remaining spheres.
"Bloody babies." Serge muttered, wiping a rag quickly over the twin blades.
"I almost can't believe we're stronger than them." Kid murmured, sheathing her dagger. "They're fully-fledged dragoons, and we're just kids running willy-nilly."
Serge laughed. "Them? Dragoons? I wouldn't bet on it, mate. I think those two're rejects, kept in by rich dads 'r somethin'." He re-strapped the swallow to his back. "Nah, the others're stronger. I know from past experience."
Kid stole a glance at him, noticing pain on his face. She didn't ask.
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"I'm sorry but we're all out of bellflowers." The woman explained to the knight at the entrance to Termina. "There's a ruckus down in Fossil Valley, something about the dragoons finding a ghost down there."
"I assure you, the dragoons are only doing their best to protect El Nido." the knight in question, Glenn, replied.
"Oh, that's okay, I can get my flowers from other places too." the flower vendor replied, shrugging. "So what happened to Karsh?"
"I heard he went ghost-hunting down near Arni." Glenn told her.
"Ghosts! Oh my! Porre might invade, and now this! I do wonder if we're safe here!" the flower vendor bustled, setting a colt's foot carefully into its pot of ice.
Glenn nodded to her. "I must return to Lady Riddel. Madame." He strode up the steps to the rest of Termina.
"Ain't Karsh that bastard we met at the cape?" Serge asked, turning to Kid. "Ghost-huntin'. . .that's you, mate!"
"Yeah." Kid frowned. "But I still don't understand what he wants with me!" she exclaimed in frustration.
Serge exhaled deeply. "Ah, well, we'll see what else we can find on this Karsh fella."
"Hey!"
Kid turned as Leena ran up to them, followed closely by Adam and Arni's famous two-tailed dog, Poshul. "?"
"I was just going to Termina myself, but you left so early we couldn't catch up with you." Leena explained.
"Early? What time?" Kid asked. This was news to her.
"Almost six." Leena told her.
Kid jabbed Serge in the rib. "Slavedriver!"
"Leena just thought you might want some company, er. . ." Adam trailed off, sending her a cocked glance.
"Kid. It's Kid." Kid told him.
"Kid. Okay." Leena bit her lip. "I'll go with that. You don't insist that you're THE Kid, right?"
Kid shook her head. "I just like the name."
"See, she went kinda cuckoo for a while." Serge rotated his index finger around his right ear. Kid gave him a non-too-gentle shove.
Leena laughed merrily, trying to catch Serge's eye. Kid noticed.
"Serge, um, why don't we head into the bar?" she asked.
"We'll go stock up on Elements." Leena told them. "I also have something to give to a friend there."
Serge stopped, holding the door open for Kid to charmingly mimic a chauffeur. Kid laughed at this as he followed her into the room. He was NOT the type. She did notice a group of what looked to be bad characters at one small table in a corner. She could feel their eyes on her, and almost regretted that she exposed so much of herself.
The two found a small table near the bartender after ordering, where they rested a while, Serge explaining some things, but not all, from his past. This was interrupted as Kid heard a voice behind her.
"Hey, what sugar've we got here?"
She spun to see one of the bad characters, thuggish and covered head to foot in brawn. Threatened, she whipped her dagger out, but the man caught her hand, approaching her. As he put out a hand toward her, a younger hand latched firmly onto his wrist.
Serge twisted it. "Hold," he began calmly, twisting he man's wrist further, "the," he twisted it even further as a cry escaped the man, "sugar." He released the thug as his wrist cracked, throwing him back aways. The thug sat up, shaking his good fist at Serge. Kid thought he was yelling something about revenge, but she couldn't tell from all the profanity, which I could never come close to relating.
"Maybe it's time to leave." Kid murmured, standing. Serge agreed, setting his drink back on the counter. "But who were those guys?" she asked him, once outside.
"Old acquaintances." Serge explained simply. "They have an eye for girls, if ya know what I mean."
"I know alright." Kid muttered, her index finger tracing the handle of her dagger. She looked up to see the statue of General Viper, where an old man was scrubbing it.
"Ya know, that old guy was scrubbin' that statue when we got here, and he still ain't done. But the thing looks bloody clean already!" Serge shook his head.
Kid shrugged. "We can ask him."
She continued up the steps to the foot of the statue. The old man polishing it was talking to himself as he did so, but then turned to see the two of them. "You know, I was invited to see Viper Manor a while back. They have guards that can kill a monster with one blow! But it was a palace, heaven on earth, you might say." he told them with the memories guiding him the whole way. "But while important people like myself might be invited to the manor, the most you kids would get would be a cold reception from the gate guards! Hohohohoho!"
Serge shrugged off the laughter, turning to Kid. "From what Gramps's been tellin' us, the manor's a bloody big place, and that makes it easy ta break into."
Kid knew where this was going. "What do you mean?"
"Karsh's one of the Dragoon Devas, who're stationed at the manor." Serge explained. "We can break in ta get face ta face with this Viper bloke, and find out just what he wants with ya." He cocked his eyebrow. "Whadd'ya say, mate?"
"This is getting crazy. . ." Kid murmured. "But I need to find out what the hell's going on. I'll come."
"Beauty, mate! Now from what I hear, there're three ways to enter the manor." Serge told her.
"Hear from who?"
"Experts who've done it before."
"I should've guessed."
"Anyway, you can enter through Shadow Forest, which ain't bad, but some of the plants there're a nuisance. Then there's the bluffs, and we'll need a boat for that, if ya wanna go through a lotta hell with the critters there. And then, ya can just bust right through the gates and walk in like ya own it." Serge ticked them off. "Which, we might not wanna do, cause I hear they strengthened their security since a friend of mine bust a big one during the general's tea."
"The bluffs sound okay." Kid nodded. "What're the good points to that one, d'you know?"
"Relaxin' boat ride, and we'll be strong enough ta face even L-er, even Viper himself from the battles." Serge told her.
"Hey, what's going on over there?" Kid pointed to a tank where a demi- human was arguing with the vendor from on top of the tank.
As the two rushed off to see what was wrong, a fortune-teller turned lilac eyes on Kid. "Must be Mistress Fate alone." she murmured. "Fate indeed!" she chuckled to herself.
A/N: I STILL don't know what I should call Lynx. He has to bee a girl for this to work. I mean, Kid in Lynx's body, and Lynx being a guy, I'm sorry, but that is NOT RIGHT! So R&R to tell me what you think I should call her.
I KNOW I changed some stuff, okay? I KNOW. I just couldn't remember all the dialogue, even though I've played the game like ten times.
Disclaimer: The usual drill. I don't own anything. There you have it.
Three: Old Friends and Foes
Kid stopped at the end of the ladder. It was then that she realized she had made a mistake. "Oh. . ."
"What?" Serge turned. "Aha. . ." he murmured, noticing the Dodo guarding the remaining egg in her nest. "Hey, d'you see that egg?"
Kid looked swiftly at him. Serge ducked around the sleeping Dodo, heading for the egg. His eyes on the bird, he swiped the egg from its nest, returning to Kid quickly. But the Dodo was awake now. "SQWAAA!" it cried, leaping at Serge. He jumped away just in time, gaining only a scratch on the arm.
"S-Serge. . ." Kid began. "Maybe you should return the egg."
"C'mon." Serge pushed her up the ladder in front of him, dodging the fierce swipes from the Dodo.
They reached higher ground again, just as the ladder, which was actually the tailbone of the dragon's skeleton adorning the area, shook violently due to the frantic attempts of the Dodo. Kid stopped, searching for the rope ladder. Noticing a blue flower near it, she carefully picked it for safe-keeping. Turning to the ladder, she nodded. "This one this time. Hopefully we won't be met with some other life-threatening situation."
But Kid had to eat her words almost instantly. Serge put out an arm to stop her as they began toward the north exit of Fossil Valley.
"What's wrong?" she asked, seeing his bored but bitter look.
"Look familiar?" he returned, pointing in the direction of two oh-so- familiar dragoons.
"Them again. . . ?" Kid sighed. "Maybe we can slip by them."
Serge allowed himself a bitter laugh. "Wanna bet? These two're dense, but they're not completely stupid, mate." He sighed. "Let's get closer. They might leave."
The two edged toward the dragoons. Peppor was arguing with his brother about returning to the prosperous Viper Manor. "H-hey, do you remember what that girl was shakin', anyway?" he asked when they came to a standstill.
"Why-"
Both Kid and Serge jumped as the Dodo, on higher ground beside them, squawked loudly. Solt noticed them, as his back was to the exit, and pointed to Kid. "Just something justly like that, Peppor." he told his brother triumphantly.
"'They're dense, but they're not that stupid.'" Kid repeated in an undertone, glaring at Serge. "We could've just slipped by! They're too limited up here!" she told him, pointing to her temple in a position where the dragoons couldn't see.
"So I made a mistake. It's not like we're gonna bloody die." Serge shrugged, also speaking in a low tone.
"Hey! That's her!" Peppor exclaimed, pointing to Kid.
"Spoke too soon, didn't we?" Serge asked Kid.
"Shut up and fight." Kid replied harshly, taking out her dagger.
Serge gave her a surprised look as he brandished his swallow. 'I think I'm rubbin' off on her.'
Peppor's ax collided with the sea swallow as he rushed at Serge. He stole a glance at Serge's Element Grid before jumping away. "Black Element!" he called to Solt.
"Yes, Peppor, I made sure to bring one." Solt told him, beginning to jaw on mercilessly about how he hadn't forgotten.
"JUST SHUT THE HELL UP AND USE IT!" Peppor bellowed, his face reddening.
"Y-yes Peppor." Solt threw an ebony box into the air. "TurnBlack!"
"What?! I thought that was a-!" Peppor began, but the familiar strands of magic were rising up around Solt as he cast the Element.
Serge looked down at his Element Grid. Looking up again, he began to laugh. "Ya changed me innate! What a crisis!" he called to Solt.
"You fool! That Element made him more susceptible to white Elements! I hope you brought some of them with you, or you're stupider than I thought!" Peppor exploded.
"I didn't bring any, I fear." Solt told him fearfully.
"Why do I even try. . . ?" Peppor murmured. "Just attack 'em then!"
Solt was quick to oblige, attacking Serge once more as Peppor went for Kid. She was soon on the ground, blocking the ax with her dagger. Deciding to see what useful materials the dragoons had on them, she kicked Solt in the navel twice, somersaulting him off her. She scrambled to her feet, pulling out a red Element. "Pilfer!" she cried.
"Wha-?" Peppor turned, releasing his hold on a barely conscious Serge's throat. Kid had already made her move, swiping a Tablet from the dragoon. Frowning, but not permanently mourning for the loss, Peppor turned back to the boy, but he had disappeared. He gasped as he felt the sting of a gash along his side. Clutching the crimson streak, he turned to see Serge, crouched somewhat from his performance. He straightened, setting one end of the swallow into the dirt as he faced Peppor. The Tech known as Dash&Slash had worked nicely.
"AAAAAAHHH!" Solt ran by, pursued by flaming spheres. Another pelted him as Kid followed close behind, holding a small box marked Fireball.
"Retreat!" Peppor cried. He began to limp toward the forest, though Solt soon passed him, still being tailed by the two remaining spheres.
"Bloody babies." Serge muttered, wiping a rag quickly over the twin blades.
"I almost can't believe we're stronger than them." Kid murmured, sheathing her dagger. "They're fully-fledged dragoons, and we're just kids running willy-nilly."
Serge laughed. "Them? Dragoons? I wouldn't bet on it, mate. I think those two're rejects, kept in by rich dads 'r somethin'." He re-strapped the swallow to his back. "Nah, the others're stronger. I know from past experience."
Kid stole a glance at him, noticing pain on his face. She didn't ask.
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"I'm sorry but we're all out of bellflowers." The woman explained to the knight at the entrance to Termina. "There's a ruckus down in Fossil Valley, something about the dragoons finding a ghost down there."
"I assure you, the dragoons are only doing their best to protect El Nido." the knight in question, Glenn, replied.
"Oh, that's okay, I can get my flowers from other places too." the flower vendor replied, shrugging. "So what happened to Karsh?"
"I heard he went ghost-hunting down near Arni." Glenn told her.
"Ghosts! Oh my! Porre might invade, and now this! I do wonder if we're safe here!" the flower vendor bustled, setting a colt's foot carefully into its pot of ice.
Glenn nodded to her. "I must return to Lady Riddel. Madame." He strode up the steps to the rest of Termina.
"Ain't Karsh that bastard we met at the cape?" Serge asked, turning to Kid. "Ghost-huntin'. . .that's you, mate!"
"Yeah." Kid frowned. "But I still don't understand what he wants with me!" she exclaimed in frustration.
Serge exhaled deeply. "Ah, well, we'll see what else we can find on this Karsh fella."
"Hey!"
Kid turned as Leena ran up to them, followed closely by Adam and Arni's famous two-tailed dog, Poshul. "?"
"I was just going to Termina myself, but you left so early we couldn't catch up with you." Leena explained.
"Early? What time?" Kid asked. This was news to her.
"Almost six." Leena told her.
Kid jabbed Serge in the rib. "Slavedriver!"
"Leena just thought you might want some company, er. . ." Adam trailed off, sending her a cocked glance.
"Kid. It's Kid." Kid told him.
"Kid. Okay." Leena bit her lip. "I'll go with that. You don't insist that you're THE Kid, right?"
Kid shook her head. "I just like the name."
"See, she went kinda cuckoo for a while." Serge rotated his index finger around his right ear. Kid gave him a non-too-gentle shove.
Leena laughed merrily, trying to catch Serge's eye. Kid noticed.
"Serge, um, why don't we head into the bar?" she asked.
"We'll go stock up on Elements." Leena told them. "I also have something to give to a friend there."
Serge stopped, holding the door open for Kid to charmingly mimic a chauffeur. Kid laughed at this as he followed her into the room. He was NOT the type. She did notice a group of what looked to be bad characters at one small table in a corner. She could feel their eyes on her, and almost regretted that she exposed so much of herself.
The two found a small table near the bartender after ordering, where they rested a while, Serge explaining some things, but not all, from his past. This was interrupted as Kid heard a voice behind her.
"Hey, what sugar've we got here?"
She spun to see one of the bad characters, thuggish and covered head to foot in brawn. Threatened, she whipped her dagger out, but the man caught her hand, approaching her. As he put out a hand toward her, a younger hand latched firmly onto his wrist.
Serge twisted it. "Hold," he began calmly, twisting he man's wrist further, "the," he twisted it even further as a cry escaped the man, "sugar." He released the thug as his wrist cracked, throwing him back aways. The thug sat up, shaking his good fist at Serge. Kid thought he was yelling something about revenge, but she couldn't tell from all the profanity, which I could never come close to relating.
"Maybe it's time to leave." Kid murmured, standing. Serge agreed, setting his drink back on the counter. "But who were those guys?" she asked him, once outside.
"Old acquaintances." Serge explained simply. "They have an eye for girls, if ya know what I mean."
"I know alright." Kid muttered, her index finger tracing the handle of her dagger. She looked up to see the statue of General Viper, where an old man was scrubbing it.
"Ya know, that old guy was scrubbin' that statue when we got here, and he still ain't done. But the thing looks bloody clean already!" Serge shook his head.
Kid shrugged. "We can ask him."
She continued up the steps to the foot of the statue. The old man polishing it was talking to himself as he did so, but then turned to see the two of them. "You know, I was invited to see Viper Manor a while back. They have guards that can kill a monster with one blow! But it was a palace, heaven on earth, you might say." he told them with the memories guiding him the whole way. "But while important people like myself might be invited to the manor, the most you kids would get would be a cold reception from the gate guards! Hohohohoho!"
Serge shrugged off the laughter, turning to Kid. "From what Gramps's been tellin' us, the manor's a bloody big place, and that makes it easy ta break into."
Kid knew where this was going. "What do you mean?"
"Karsh's one of the Dragoon Devas, who're stationed at the manor." Serge explained. "We can break in ta get face ta face with this Viper bloke, and find out just what he wants with ya." He cocked his eyebrow. "Whadd'ya say, mate?"
"This is getting crazy. . ." Kid murmured. "But I need to find out what the hell's going on. I'll come."
"Beauty, mate! Now from what I hear, there're three ways to enter the manor." Serge told her.
"Hear from who?"
"Experts who've done it before."
"I should've guessed."
"Anyway, you can enter through Shadow Forest, which ain't bad, but some of the plants there're a nuisance. Then there's the bluffs, and we'll need a boat for that, if ya wanna go through a lotta hell with the critters there. And then, ya can just bust right through the gates and walk in like ya own it." Serge ticked them off. "Which, we might not wanna do, cause I hear they strengthened their security since a friend of mine bust a big one during the general's tea."
"The bluffs sound okay." Kid nodded. "What're the good points to that one, d'you know?"
"Relaxin' boat ride, and we'll be strong enough ta face even L-er, even Viper himself from the battles." Serge told her.
"Hey, what's going on over there?" Kid pointed to a tank where a demi- human was arguing with the vendor from on top of the tank.
As the two rushed off to see what was wrong, a fortune-teller turned lilac eyes on Kid. "Must be Mistress Fate alone." she murmured. "Fate indeed!" she chuckled to herself.
A/N: I STILL don't know what I should call Lynx. He has to bee a girl for this to work. I mean, Kid in Lynx's body, and Lynx being a guy, I'm sorry, but that is NOT RIGHT! So R&R to tell me what you think I should call her.
I KNOW I changed some stuff, okay? I KNOW. I just couldn't remember all the dialogue, even though I've played the game like ten times.