The crackling of fire could be heard. Rightly so, as the cabin in the middle of woods had been deliberately put on fire. What had been done for it to be deserved was not something that the creature looking at it, feeling momentarily shell shocked, understood. The creature in question was a small, about the size of a dog, dark purple bipedal creature with scales, horns, and claws. After gazing at the fire for a few minutes, unable to look away as his home slowly burned away, the creature got itself together and realized it probably should get away from the fire, the quicker the better. As it started moving away, it fell down into the small stream separating the cabin from the rest of the forest. That was when a sudden reality struck in the mind of the creature.
"Huh? What's happened to me!?"
The creature took a quick look around.
"My body! It's…!"
A small cry was let out.
The creature started running, desperate to try and get some distance between the fire and itself. This continued on for what felt like a few hours for the creature in question, however accurate that may have been, but eventually exhaustion kicked in, and the creature slowed to a halt. Unable to keep running, and frantically catching it's breath, the creature looked back, and not seeing any signs of fire, decided it was good enough, and laid down on the ground. A few moments later it was firmly asleep.
Consciousness slowly made it's way back to the young creature, now having shifted into what looked to be a young boy, maybe 9 or so years old, his most distinguishing physical feature being his long purple hair, other than that he looked like a regular young boy you would see out on the street. Well, except for the fact that he was currently naked. He felt embarrassed for a second or so, before again remembering the weight of the situation.
"Rei, Ryu…." He stared down at the ground. Some small sobs were let out, and then he started crying. He cried for a while, he didn't know for how long. This came to a halt when he noticed a curr in the distance, the wolflike beast thankfully seeming like it hadn't noticed him.
"A curr, here!? Wait, where am I?" He took his first proper look around since he woke up, noting that he was still inside the forest, however, the base of a mountain was a short walk away.
"Did I really run almost all the way to Mount Glaus? What even happened anyway, all I remember after falling into the stream is running, but I can't remember any thoughts at all. Eh, I'll see later. Or not, I don't have a clue about anything right now" He went over his thoughts by himself, as he made sure to get far enough away that the curr couldn't see him, not being in the shape for fighting at the moment.
"Maybe Rei or Ryu are still alive. Well, Rei is tough at least, Ryu really ain't. They probably are somewhere around our home if so. I should go there" His mind made up, he quickly made sure he was going in the right direction, and then went off. He soon remembered that there was a decent distance between the hut and Mt. Glaus, and realized that he wouldn't get back to the hut before nightfall.
"Let's call it a day I guess, not like it will matter if I get there tomorrow instead" He climbed up into a large tree for safety, finding a relatively comfortable spot. Then his thoughts went back to the burning of his home. He quietly cursed the horsemen for their deeds, but had managed to convince himself that at least Rei would be alive, and with that thought fell asleep, peacefully as he could.
He woke up a few hours later, almost falling out from his spot up in the tree when he woke up. He made his way down the tree, and feeling hungry went foraging for food. Food had been more plentiful, both in Cedar Woods and down at Mcneil village, after spring had came and him having killed the nue chimera alongside Ryu and Rei. He found some untouched berry shrubs, that weren't quite ripe yet, but still edible which he ate.
He got his bearings, and once again started walking towards the hut. He arrived at around noon. The house was a horrible sight, being a pale black color from the burnt wood with ash scattered about. Trembling, he went up the path, and stepped inside. The main room was still mostly intact, but the fire had swallowed most things inside it, and filled the stairs upwards and the basement entrance with rubble, although it wasn't like there was much left of either of those. Concluding that there was nothing else left inside, he went outside, and called out for Rei and Ryu.
"REI, RYU!" He waited for a few minutes, but there was no response.
"REI, RYU!" He called out again, but yet again there was no answer.
"RYU, REI!" He called out once more, but all that there was in response was silence, and a sense of rising dread in his mind, as the very real possibility of Ryu or Rei being dead once again made it's way into his mind.
"Maybe they are still alive, I haven't seen any corpses." He shuddered at the thought of finding Rei or Ryu's corpse. "Why aren't they responding in that case? Maybe they left, but if so, where? I should maybe check down at the village, someone maybe has seen something. Should probably do one more check of the area before I leave though, and maybe I should stay the night here to be honest, if Rei or Ryu are still somewhere around here they would probably seek shelter for the night here. Although I don't like the thought of sleeping in the ruins of our home, it's creepy, but if I have to live by myself now, I need to be tough in any case" He thought, making up his plans for the rest of the day, and the foreseeable future with that.
He spent the afternoon taking a walk round the area, also securing some food at the same time. He didn't find any clue of either Rei or Ryu though, and his mood sank a bit. He also went to the spot where he first realized he had transformed into … whatever it was, he didn't know what to call it as all he remembered was desperately running, but he didn't find anything out of the ordinary. The more he thought about the exact event where his home was destroyed, the more confused he got, on one hand he remembered trying to fight the horsemen along with Ryu and Rei, and getting badly beaten, but then there was a gap and he had flashbacks of gazing into the fire before finding out he had transformed, and running away. Something felt off, but he had no idea what. Then he had the thought that maybe he had just been knocked out for a pretty long time, but that didn't feel right either. He eventually concluded it didn't matter anyway, as their home being burnt down was irrefutable fact, and he was going to try and look for Rei and Ryu no matter what.
The evening was spent excavating the basement entrance, and then checking out the basement itself, which had remained mostly intact, although one of the walls had had a minor cave-in. Inside he found some spare clothes and armor, which had survived the fire, which he was grateful for. There was also a small food stash which they had saved up, which he figured he should grab. Other than that there wasn't really anything in the basement, as they had never really had much to put there. On the way out from the basement, he accidentally stumbled into the pile of rubble which he had removed from the basement entrance, which caused the pile to fall and reseal the entrance. Looking outside, the sun hadn't quite gone down yet, but figuring it would best to get an early start tomorrow, and not having anything else to do, he went to sleep. He laid on the floor of the main room, feeling unnerved as he thought about how Mcneil had more or less sent two hitmen after a bunch of kids.
"Maybe we should just have killed him, better him than us. Although knowing the villagers they would have torched our house instead in that case, and I don't think we would have been able to fight off that mob either. Damned if we do, damned if we don't. If we just hadn't listened to that Loki, none of this would have happened."
A horrible thought entered his mind.
"Wait… Since I am the one who thought we should do what Loki asked, does that make me responsible for Ryu and Rei dying?" He laid there silently for a little while, letting the thought sink in.
"No, it is that damned Loki's fault. And killing a bunch of kids for breaking into your house isn't fair, right? Anger rose within him, but subsided quickly, leaving him only with lingering doubt over his actions.
Eventually he fell asleep, feeling both physically and emotionally exhausted. He dreamt of Rei and Ryu, memories coming back to his dreams.
A wagon made it's way along the road. Inconspicuous from the outside, inside the sinister truth was that it was a slave trader wagon, carrying slaves. The person watching the wagon from atop a nearby ridge was fully aware of the content's though, and he was there to stop it. The person in question was a tiger-resembling humanoid, with yellow fur and a tail, wearing a vest and a pair of loose, short pants, a bandana, and a belt from which hung two daggers. While not exactly being a beacon of justice, being a thief, he still had standards, and when he heard about a wagon of slaves passing through the area, he thought he should intercept it. As the wagon got close he crouched, prepared to strike. He leapt at the person sitting at the reins, knocking him out with a swift blow to the liver. He grabbed the reins, and brought the horses to a stop. Then he went into the wagon. He was surprised to see one single boy, sitting tied up in a corner.
"Don't worry, uncle Rei will get you out of here. The man said, while trying to give his most trustworthy smile. The boy responded with a sceptical expression.
"You do want to get out of here, right?" Rei asked, and the boy nodded.
"Well then, hold still for a minute and I'll cut those ropes" Rei said, as he pulled out a knife he had with him. The ropes were quickly cut, and the boy was free.
"Let's get outta here, we'll talk more later" Rei instructed the boy who nodded.
They went outside the wagon, Rei quickly checking that the driver was still knocked out. He also made sure to confirm that the coachman wasn't dead, Rei not wanting to kill someone by accident. He gestured at the boy to follow, and they quickly ran into a nearby forest, and ran until the boy needed to stop and catch his breath. Rei figured that they were far away from the road after the running they did, and decided that they both could do with a longer break. The boy laid down on the ground, panting heavily.
"I will go gather wood for a campfire and find something to eat, you rest. Want something to drink?" Rei asked, and the boy nodded.
"Alright, here you go" Rei said, pulling out a small water canteen.
"I'm off for now, just take it easy, ok?" Rei went into the woods. Finding firewood was easy inside the forest, and he luckily found two rabbits as well, which he hunted down and killed. He returned with his bounty, finding that the boy was now sitting on a rock, seemingly restored.
"Hi I'm back, feeling better?" Rei asked, as he started making a campfire.
"Yes" The boy responded, talking for the first time since Rei had rescued him.
"Good to see you talk. What's your name?"
"Teepo"
"Now then, do you have a home for me to return you to?"
"No, can't remember anything at least."
"Well, what to do then." Rei thought aloud. "I could just bring you to some larger city like Wyndia and leave you at an orphanage or something, I suppose" He continued.
"Isn't Wyndia really far away?" Teepo asked tentatively.
"Not really, we're somewhere between Dauna and Yraall, it would take a maybe a week or two, but I'm kind of a deadbeat and have all time in the world, and you aren't exactly busy either. But judging by your tone, you don't wanna be in an orphanage-"
"Yeah." Teepo quickly cut him off.
"Well, you got any plan?" Rei asked in response.
"Not really. Actually, I would like to go with you, if you would let me" Teepo asked, and considered doing his best puppy dog eyes, but decided it was under his dignity.
"Well, doesn't that beat all!" Rei laughed. "Feel free to tag along I guess, but before that you should know that I'm a thief. As long you don't have a problem with that, we will get along just fine" Rei continued, with a sterner voice and face.
"No problems here"
"Welcome aboard then! I would have felt bad about leaving you at an orphanage anyway, they have a bad reputation to say the least. Food is scarce here sometimes, but better to grow up struggling but also free, than to grow up in a gilded cage, that's the woren way. Now, do you know how to skin a rabbit, or do you want me to show you so we can start cooking these?" Rei spoke, and Teepo smiled, feeling hopeful for the future, something he hadn't in a long time, especially considering how young he was.
"Hey, you are really good at this! You fish before?"
The boy, who looked as if he could be Teepo's biological brother, save for his hair and eye color, which were both blue, unlike Teepo's violet and red, and who the question was aimed at shrugged, not answering the question.
"Hey, Ryu! When people ask a question they want an answer, you know?"
"I have already said that I don't really remember anything that happened before Rei took me in, couldn't answer even if I wanted to, sorry."
"Oh yeah right, my bad." Teepo said while shrugging.
They both sat in silence for a bit, enjoying the peace, eventually Ryu got a bite. He successfully reeled it in, the fish turned out to be a piranha.
"Nice another one. Sure wish the fish would even give my bait a chance"
"Well, you managed to catch a lobster with a fishing rod. Don't think I could do that"
"Maybe so, at least the fish you catch won't fight back after you caught them" Teepo shot an angry look at the lobster he had caught, which had pinched him when he had grabbed it with his hands.
Ryu shrugged in response, and Teepo shrugged back at that. They sat there for about a hour more, with Ryu catching a pair of jellyfish, but with little happening mostly.
"Let's go back now so we make it home before sunset, don't wanna make Rei worry" Teepo stated, looking at the sky.
"Alright. Want to come back tomorrow?" Ryu asked, as he gathered his fishing rod and bait, and stood up.
"If Rei lets us, maybe. Fishing is not really my thing, but you seem to really enjoy it, and I don't think Rei would let you go alone. Would be nice if he had more faith in us" Teepo frowned.
"Really appreciate him looking out for us though" Ryu responded with a neutral expression.
"Yeah, my point still stands though. Should probably just talk it over with him" Teepo continued.
"In whatever case, I'm just happy to be with you and Rei" Ryu said, smiling.
"Same here" A smile was shared between the two, both of them feeling happy as long as they could spend time with their brothers.
Teepo woke up, being confused where he was, until remembering the events of the past two days. He almost burst into tears again, remembering that Rei and Ryu were gone, hitting especially hard after the very vivid dreams he had had during the night. He kept himself together though, telling himself that he had business to do, and quickly started preparing to go down to the village. It wasn't like there was much to prepare however, and he just ate some of the food he had scavenged from the basement, some beef jerky, put on his armor, and then he was off. He stopped after walking for a few minutes, considering whether he should go see Bunyan. From what he knew of Ryu, he would maybe have searched shelter there after their house was burned down, and hey, Rei seemed to kind of trust Bunyan, who had also had the decency to warn them when their house was being attacked. But Teepo still had a mild dislike of Bunyan after he, Rei and Ryu had tried to break into Bunyan's house and failed, and then some following events had happened.
"Killing the nue sure made us popular with the villagers, and that wouldn't have happened if Bunyan hadn't sent us to do that, so I have him to thank for that at least. But the villagers are all a bunch of turncoats anyway, so what did that matter. With my luck, going to see Bunyan alone will result in me being sold off as a slave again, not like there's much that old coot could do to help, even if he wanted to do" He thought to himself, with a nagging feeling that his reasoning didn't hold up somewhere, but he shoved it to the back of his mind, and got going towards the village again. The rest of the journey through the forest was uneventful, and he arrived at the village during the late afternoon. His plans were to try and find any information he could about Rei or Ryu, preferably both, hunt down Loki and punish him, how exactly he was yet undecided on, and also try and steal some gear that would be useful if he were to do a longer journey, which he thought he maybe would end up doing if the village turned out to otherwise be a bust.
Arriving at the village, he decided to hide for a bit and listen to gossip, as he was unsure whether the villagers still were mad at him. He found a spot in a corner between a few houses, which he was unable to see out from, but no one was able to see him either. Most of the gossip was just harmless chatter, with the sentiment towards him being mixed, but some of what he heard enraged him.
"I wonder who the mayor hired to take care of Rei and the others , anyway?" A voice said.
"People really care that little?! Who knows when that bastard Mcneil decides to get rid of you all, when you can't pay his ridiculous taxes that he only uses for his stupid…" Teepo banged his head on the wall in frustration, ending his current train of thought.
"I suppose I wasn't really fair to Rei and the others… I mean, they probably didn't know what were getting into…" Another voice said.
"Gee, you don't say. At least some people aren't completely uncaring." Teepo thought to himself, feeling a bit calmer.
"Did you hear the rumor that they were killed?" A third voice said.
"Well, I'm alive at least. No one seems to have any actual information on Rei or Ryu, or heck even Loki so I could go give him a proper whooping. The villagers are as useless as always. But to be fair to them, why would they have any information? Loki is probably on the other side of Dauna by now or something, and Rei and Ryu are probably…" Teepo stopped his thought, unable to finish it at that moment.
"Well, no use in thinking about that. Let's go look at the manor, maybe there's something there, and right now I feel like killing Mcneil if there is an opportunity. That sissy has probably already tripled the amount pf guards though." Teepo thought to himself, made his way out from his hiding spot, looked around to make sure there was no one to see him, and went up the hill to the manor. He stopped in the woods next to the manor, seeing that there was indeed a lot and a half of guards.
"Well, that's a no go." He frowned. "Mcneil the tightwad is probably not even paying them by this point." He frowned again, and then walked back to the village.
"Hmm, a few hours until sundown." Teepo thought, looking up into the sky. "Let's break some windows, will make stealing whatever useful I can find easier. And hey, it will be fun." A small grin formed on his face. He thought it over a bit before doing it, and ended changed his mind.
"On second thought, maybe better to not make a ruckus. If anyone sees me doing that I will likely get hunted down and sent to Mcneil, and he'll probably kill me or something. I'll just make up a plan for tomorrow, and then go to sleep." He started considering his options, which were either staying around the village, going back the remnants of his home, or going somewhere else entirely. His conclusions were that while nothing good would come from staying in the village, he could probably live on his own in the forest, it wouldn't feel right without Rei and Ryu. Which left going somewhere else. Teepo had wanted "to blow this place and head out to a big city like Wyndia" as his earlier self had brashly put it. He sure wished he still held the same confidence. He thought back wistfully to that day, when he and Rei had Ryu attempt his first mugging, which had failed when the person who they had sent Ryu to mug turned out to be Bunyan. Then they had tried to break into his house to find food, which also failed.
"Heh, Ryu only ever did one mugging and two break-ins, now that I think of it. Well, he always seemed reluctant doing anything illegal." Then a pang of guilt shot through him.
"Ryu really didn't deserve this at all. Neither did I or Rei, but if anyone didn't deserve this it was Ryu, he was always so kind and caring and didn't want to get up to anything bad. What am I doing, mo use in thinking about that." He shook his head. "Now where was I in my planning…"
Teepo went back through his thoughts, and came back to leaving for somewhere else, but where was the question. Eventually he decided on Wyndia.
"Maybe Rei or Ryu went to Wyndia to look for me, I had talked about wanting to go to there someday, so maybe they would have thought that I had left for Wyndia if they were unable to find me around here or at home. Might be a stretch, but I don't have anything better. Wyndia it is. Should be roughly a week on foot I think, I will have to cross Mt. Myrneg. Not having a tent sucks, but it is warm enough that I can sleep outside. I'll go sleep somewhere and get going tomorrow." He found a large, moss-covered rock, under which there was a crevasse, which he settled into. He fell asleep relatively quickly, feeling content given the situation he was in, and he had no dreams either, which he would be grateful for when he woke up the next day.
Author's note: I am using the artbook as reference for some things that are not stated ingame, such as Rei rescuing Teepo from slave traders. Next chapter will be Teepo going to Wyndia, don't really have much of a plan of how things are going to go beyond that tbh. Feedback is deeply appreciated.