-The Legend of Dragoon-
--Twin Hope in a Faithless World--
By Ryu Hyuga (Paul Lucas)

-Chapter 2-
-My Kitty Eared Surprise-

It was a small hustle and bustle day in Nijero. People were chattering while they shopped at random stalls, people kept on shouting about the quality and cheap prices of whatever wares and rarities were selling. But, the market place of this tiny city is not where we are interested in. Right over the far side of the city, was a stable, yet no horses were being kept there. Instead, small, pig shaped Dragons, about as big as a full grown cow, grey skin with random black hairs coming from they're scales were asleep, eating and some doing things people would rather not see. In the stables, was something very different from all those other things. A young boy was sleeping happily in the hay inside, a contented look on his face as he slept, snoring ever so slightly as he dreamt of different things: Food, money, food, women, food... and food. Something though, was very, very wrong with this scene... according to most people. The boy wore simple rags, scuffed up jeans and wore a set of dirty, fingerless cloth gloves. His skin was a slight tan in colour, and his muscles were slightly bigger than that of a normal kid his size, looking to be only about roughly fourteen. His hair was a sort blue, which came down to his lower legs in a long fashion, which would by most be classified as a 'women's style' of hair do. But this, was not what was wrong. On his head, was a pair of feline ears, pointing downwards flatly, covered in green fur, with black stripes running down them. His eyes were a soft green, slit like cats, with a feline's tail coming from just underneath his back with the same colour markings as his cat ears. His claws were sharp, and quite long, as he snoozed.
"Ryu!! Get your sorry arse into gear and get working!" A fat, sweaty man was standing in the doorway, obviously pretty pissed off from the redness in his face.
"Reeeoowww!!" The boy, obviously Ryu jumped half way out of his skin. Sharp canines now visible as he landed, gripping his chest, "Whaddaya' trying to do to me? Gimme' a bloomin' heart attack?!" He huffed, shaking some of his messy hair out of his face.
"Maybe ya shouldn't 'ave been sleeping, and working like a good little slave!" The man snickered, "Or maybe ya need a lil' motivation, eh?"
As he began to calm, he whimpered softly in the back of his throat, "... Fine..." Ryu pouted slightly, beginning to regain control of his breathing, his tail flicked around, walking past some of the Dragon-like pig horses, getting snorted at slightly as they knew it was time to eat. "What did I do to end up in all this mess, meow? All I wanted was a job but noooo..." He grumbled to himself, picking up one of the buckets full of what must have been dead mice from the side, causing him to scowl. "I hate this, I hate it all to bloody Hell." He began to head back, chucking a small mouse to each one as he walked by. Each Dragon-horse grabbed one in its mouth, ripping it to shreds with its sharp canines. "Stupid, ugly, fat, hairy things. Why in Hell do I have to get lumbered in this? One day, I will get away from here, I'll show everyone, I'll show them all..." He muttered under his breath.
There were two voices talking outside, one quiet high, yet seductive. The other was gruff, dominating and obviously strong. The strong one was speaking first, "You said you'd have those Half-breeds ready by today! How are we supposed to reach Lord Dauragon without our steeds to take us there?! There will be blood to pay if you wish to test our patience!" There was ruffling, and a yelp from the owner. He was obviously being held by the collar by the other man.
"Pl-Please! They will be ready soon! Of course we would not do anything to insult your Lordship!" The owner tried to reason quickly, struggling slightly.
"Calm yourself Balthezar. Were still being paid, right? Just put him down, and we'll stay here for awhile. When he has the Half-breeds, we will come back. Isn't that right, Keiichi?" The women purred, her voice trailing sweetly like running syrup.
"Grr... Yes, my lady..." Balthezar grunted, throwing Keiichi into the wall.
"Agh! Oww..." Keiichi moaned, slowly getting to his feet. "Ye-Yes, I shall get right onto it!" He bowed, saying his respects and heading inside. Closing the door to the stables, trying to catch his breath. "They're gonna' hang me for sure, next time..." He gulped, looking around. "Ryu! Where the Hell are you?!"
"Right here..." Ryu replied softly, slowly raising his hand so Keiichi knew where he was.
Keiichi growled, "I told you that we needed those Half-breeds for yesterday! Why the fuck didn't you get them ready?!" His face was a bright red. Fear, mixed with anger showing.
"Noo... you said you hoped they were ready for today, besides, they're your ugly things. Don't see why I should do all the work." Ryu commented, the hint of a smirk on his face, his ears perked.
"Don't try me, boy! You want to know the reason?! Because I -own- you! I didn't pay for you for the Hell of it. You want to starve? Keep going the way you're going! Became I'm not going to be hung for it! You hear me!?" Keiichi tried to catch his breath, fuming.
Ryu was just whimpering, covering his ears with his hands. He hated loud sounds, noises and notes, anything, which someone could hear was alot louder, when he heard it.
"Now, if those things aren't ready by tomorrow, I'll slit your throat myself!" Keiichi glared, turning around. His stubby hands, looking like over-cooked potatoes, which could burst just by poking them, grabbed the worn handle, opening the door quickly, and slamming it behind himself as he left.
Ryu just jumped again, slowly opening his eyes, "Ryu-kitty is in trouble... again... meow..." He whimpered to himself, slowly stroking his hair back. His ears began to lower down, lying flat near his fringe, his tail reacting in the same way. Ryu looked over at the snorting Half-breeds, beady eyes scanning as their jaws snapped, trying to get at the dead, rotting mice in the bucket he was holding. "... Fine, fine, I'll feed you ugly... things..." He mumbled, picking another mice corpse from the wooden bucket, chucking it in-between three, all of them locking their tusks in a brutal grab for the mouse. "C'mon, calm down! Calm down! Theres more!" Ryu whimpered, tossing a few more inside quickly to help give them each time to eat. He continued on his daily chores for the most part of the evening, feeding, cleaning, sleeping, and cleaning, then finally, a well-earned nap.

Elsewhere in the city, Kayin was walking through the market place. Having just woken up, it was nighttime, his favourite part of the day. His trousers lagged behind him slightly, as he headed his way through the crowd. "This village air must be getting to me... Why the heck have I been feeling so weird ever since I got into this place?" Kayin questioned himself, shaking his head as he stopped at a food stall. He quickly scanned over it all, an apple finally catching his eye. He picked it up, pulling out some gold from a pouch on his side, flicking it over to the stall owner. "Just this." Kayin mumbled.
"Thank you!" The young girl bowed slightly as she took the money.
"Whatever..." He whispered to himself, continuing to walk as he took a bite out of the green apple he'd just gotten, savouring the taste for awhile. "At least the things fresh, not like that other place..." As he walked down the crowded streets, he passed by the worn down stables, just off the edge of the market. Kayin glanced as he walked by, something drawing his attention to it. "... Aggh!" He yelped out, sharply grabbing the Dragoon Spirit on his chest, "The fuck?! It burnt me?!" Kayin was wide-eyed slightly. As quickly as the pain had come, it had gone. Slowly, stroking the shiny surface of the small, Dragon eye looked gem he looked up to the stables again, eyeing it weirdly. "Hmmm..." He mumbled thoughtfully. He then shook his head, taking a bite from his apple, walking down through the stalls again to find the blacksmiths, a weapon shop, or something else, which managed to pull his interest. At his current point of boredom, he would have even actually considered wondering if there was a whorehouse in the village, and even having considered trying to find one. Shaking the perverse thought from his head, he quickly took two small bites from the apple.

Ryu however, was beginning to stir. The grunting and groans of random fighting Half-breeds bringing him back from the land of slumber, the only thing in his life he ever could actually look forward to. "For fuck sake... will you stupid things shut up?! I was having a lovely dream!!" Ryu almost yelled, his ears perked, as was his tail. Small hairs on the back of his neck had raised themselves. Some of the Half-breeds just grunted, some actually stopped. Ryu sighed, pushing a few hairs from his face, remembering his dream clearly. He'd had the dream so many times before, and he loved it. He only really remembered one part of it though: The girl in the dream. A stunningly beautiful cat-girl, with long, flowing, pink hair; shining, glazed, yellow, slit eyes. Wearing a long white dress, almost see-through with the fineness and quality of the thread used to create it. Seams decorated in gold, small beads of platinum and ebony put into her hair in small braids. How he longed for someone like that, but it was almost impossible for someone like that to exist, except for in Ryus' imagination. The dreams though, usually changed alot, but the girl never changed. Sometimes desperate, fighting off hordes of monsters to protect this girl who never existed, and sometimes sensual, erotic even, laying beside her in a white covered bed, as she fulfilled almost any of his desires. The thought of those certain dreams raised a bright flush of blood to his face, trying to forget them, so he could avoid blood rushing to another part of his body. Stretching, Ryu let out a long, sighing mew of contentment, proceeding to adjust his rags. He dusted some hair from the holes and where stitchings had come loose. "Man, I'm so hungry..." He whimpered to himself, "I guess I better get dinner... or tea... wonder what the time is?" Ryu questioned to himself, heading to the doors to the stable. He opened them, to be greeted to the cold, nighttime sky. "... Guess it's a midnight snack then..." He shook his head slightly, heading out, closing the door behind himself. He knew he couldn't run, and Keiichi knew that, that was one of the reasons he was allowed out on his own, he knew he either stayed in the village and worked for him, starve in the forests or be eaten by monsters... but nowadays, the latter was more likely. Through the now hardly populated city streets he wandered, heading to one of the food stalls, namely the one Kayin had stopped at earlier.
"Hey Ryu!" The young girl behind the stall yipped happily, she couldn't have been more than eleven years old, dressed in a plain blue dress, short blonde hair down to her shoulders, small, pinky hands rearranging pieces of food.
Ryu smiled slightly, his ears perking slightly, "Hey Megumi..."
"Same as usual, huh?" Megumi yipped. She was quite attached to Ryu, mainly due to his situation and race. She knew how it felt to be a slave, until she was helped, and loved cats, so why would a cat-boy be any different?"
"Yep. Bread an' fish, like always." Ryu smiled slightly as he spoke.
"Whats wrong? Keiichi been pushing you again?" Megumi questioned curiously as she began to pack the fresh fish, and a slightly hard loaf of bread into a piece of paper.
Ryu just shook his head, searching around a small pocket for his gold, "No, I just got a little lazy and we didn't sell those Half-breeds to those Mikado people. You know how they are." He pulled a weird face, talking in a stupid voice, "Ohhh! Look at me! I'm little Lord Dauragon! I'm the best, and so are all my people, so I'll make everyone else suffer because I'm better!" He stopped, unable to help his face from curling into a mixture of laughter and hilarity, bursting into a fit of giggles.
Megumi couldn't help but join in on his little giggling fit. She sighed happily, handing the paper with the fish and bread in over. "Don't let him get to you, okay? When you're older, he can't keep you, so you just need to wait two more years." Megumi nodded.
He sighed happily, "Yeah, thanks... That's if he doesn't strangle me first, or stab me." He growled to himself, taking the food in the paper, putting fifteen gold coins on the stall front for her.
Megumi scowled, "Don't talk like that! He wouldn't hurt you; you're his best worker! Besides, loads of people here like ya, they wouldn't let that happen." Megumi yipped happily again, smiling.
Ryu returned the smile, nodding, "Yeah, thanks alot. I don't know what I'd do without you." He slowly turned, heading around the side and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.
She giggled, a slight blush raising in her cheeks; "You're just saying that! Now, shoo! Off with ya!" Megumi giggled.
Ryu laughed, "Fine, fine, I'm going." He waved to her, as she waved him off. He began to search through the bag, sighing happily. "I'm gonna' eat ya little fishy, I'm gonna' eat ya little fishy, I'm gonna' eat ya little fishy, 'cause I like little fishies!" Ryu giggled again, slitting the side of the bread with his claw, putting the fish in and closing the sandwich. As quickly as he had made it, he'd already took a huge mouthful out of it, chewing contentedly as he made little noises of happiness. "Num, num, num, num!" He swallowed, then yipped again happily, "Ahh... this is what makes it all worthwhile." He went to take another bite of the sandwich, but was stopped as the blacksmith's door opened sharply, smacking him square in the face.
Walking out was Kayin, puzzled, "The heck? Is this door stiff or something?" Kayin slowly tilted his head, looking around the door, "Er... hey, kid, are you okay?"
Ryu little swirls spinning around his head was flat on the floor, "Did anyone... catch the number of that Half-breed...?" He mumbled, shaking his head, "I mean, what do you think?! That hurt, meow!"
Kayin sweatdropped, "Sorry, I-" He slowly went wide-eyed, "What the fuck...?" Kayin stared, noting his ears, and his tail.
"Well, you should be more careful!!" Ryu huffed, dusting himself off before walking by, trying to save most of his sandwich. His hair trailing like a loyal, blue, furry Anaconda.
"Kayin slowly turned, just watching him. What the Hell was he? He had cat ears, a cats tail and who knows what... It obviously wasn't human. Suddenly, he let out another yelp of pain, "Agh!!" It was worse this time, the burn actually hurting fully. Then the strange feeling came to him again as he watched the boy walking off. "That kid..." Kayin muttered to himself, slowly heading down the street. Heading back to the stall at the market, he looked to Megumi, "Hey, that kid, with the ears, he brought something from here, didn't he?"
Megumi blinked, cocking her head, "Huh? Yeah, why?"
"Whats his name? And... What -is- he?" Kayin was quite stumped; he'd seen many things before, but never something like this.
"Him? Thats just Ryu, he's a cat-boy." Megumi yipped, nodding.
"Cat-boy?" Kayin raised a brow, "You mean his parents fucked some stray tabby or something?"
Megumi huffed, "No, stupid! One of his parents was a Neko-demon."
Kayin blinked, "You mean those sex driven, blood loving cat... things?"
Megumi glared, "Just go away! They are just misunderstood!"
Kayin sighed, "Look, tell me where he lives, and I'll go."
"And why would you wanna' know that?" Megumi eyed him up and down.
"Look, thats for me to know, now tell me." Kayin glared.
Megumi huffed again, "Fine. He works down at the stables, he's that bastard Keiichis' slave."
"The stables...?" Kayin went slightly wide-eyed, "Thanks..." He pulled a few gold coins out from his pouch, putting them on the side of the stall, beginning to head down to the stables.

Ryu was happily at his pile of hay, curled up into a small ball for warmth, eating his sandwich remains. "Man, I'm so bored... nothing to do, nothing to do..." After a few seconds, there was a knock at the door. Ryu looked up, blinking, "Um... it's open, Keiichi..."
When one of the doors opened, Keiichi wasn't standing there, it was Kayin. "Erm... hi?"
"Huh? What are you doing here?" Ryu questioned, cocking his head, "You said sorry for the door thing already..."
"No, no it's not that." Kayin slowly replied, walking in. "I want to talk to you for abit."
"I don't think Keiichi would like that..." Ryu replied anxiously.
"He doesn't have to know. What he doesn't know won't hurt him, right?" Kayin grinned.
Ryu laughed slightly, "Fine, fine. Here." He pushed abit of hay towards him. "Sit." He smiled.
Kayin eyed it, raising a brow, "I'll stand..." He shook his head, pushing it back with his foot.
"Oh... okay." Ryu nodded, hugging up to it.
"I was wondering, what would you say to coming with me on a little trip? I was heading through to the next village, and I need someone to accompany me."
"Me?" Ryu blinked, "Why me? You don't even know me."
"It's just a feeling I have. Don't you want to be free of this Keiichi guy? You look pretty happy here." Kayin snickered.
"Now you're just teasing!" Ryu huffed, his tail perking slightly. "I guess..."
"Then, I shall talk to this guy and see what I can do." Kayin nodded, slowly raising to his feet. "I'm sure he'll let you come with me. Just rest up, okay? We'll have a long trip tomorrow." He began to walk to the door, walking out into the bitter cold of night and closed the door behind himself.
Ryu blinked, "...?" He said nothing, curious. Slowly, feeling oddly trusting around the new person he had met, he lowered his head to his hay, trying to get comfortable.
Kayin, walking quietly headed to the main house of the stables, knocking on the door. After quite awhile, the door was opened by the chubby face of Keiichi, glaring, "Whadda' you want at this time of the night?!"
Kayin just looked at him calmly. "It's about that kid in your stables. I'd like to know if he's for sale."
"Pfft. For saying? As if. I paid good money for that sacka' crap!" Keiichi spat.
"I can pay you better, or we could find another way maybe?" Kayin glared abit.
Keiichi smirked, lifting his sword from the side of the door, "Whats that? A challenge?"
"Perhaps." Kayin grinned. With a flick of his wrist, a small dagger slipped from his sleeve. In a blink, he slashed three times, shattering the sword in Keiichi's hand with a slicing metal sound following. Keiichi was gobsmacked.
"Wh-What the?!" Keichii took a step back, looking at the remains of the short sword in his hand.
"Now, how about... hundred gold for the kid? That sound good?" Kayin couldn't help but grin, putting the dagger back.
"Fi-Fine!" Keiichi agreed, taking another step back, "And never show your face at these stables again!" He exclaimed, slamming the door in Kayins' face.
"... Thanks." Kayin laughed to himself, sighing. "Could it be? Could that kid be... a Dragoon?" He thought to himself, then shook his head, "Well, enough thinking for tonight, I need sleep..." Kayin sighed, heading back through the less-crowded streets to the Inn, ready to pack up for the night.

Slowly, morning had came away. The Half-breeds had begun to snort, and huff at the waking hours. Like usual, the snorts and grunts had aroused him from his 'love', looking around, "... Mmgmm... I should have known that guy was only part of my dream..." Ryu whimpered, slowly pushing himself to his feet, shaking his head. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door as it opened. Kayin was standing at the entrance, grinning.
"Heya." Kayin grinned, "You already began to doubt I'd come back for you?"
Ryu yipped, "So you were real!"
Kayin nodded, "Yep. Got you for quite a good price as well, from now on, ya free."
Ryu went wide-eyed, "Re-Rea... Really?!" He looked about ready to burst with excitement. Kayin couldn't help but laughed softly to himself.
"Yes, really, now c'mon. You can't travel in those rags, now can you? We need to get ya some -real- travellers clothes." Kayin motioned for Ryu to follow, heading out of the door.
Ryu, happily followed, blinking, "So... whats your name?"
"Kayin Itami, but to you, it's Sensei Kayin." Kayin grinned, looking back, "And you?"
"Ryu, Ryu Hyuga." Ryu nodded, "Okay, Sensei Kayin!"
Kaying smiled slightly, "Actually, just say Sensei, sounds alot better."
Ryu smiled, nodding again. He knew he could trust him, through some gut feeling he knew he could. Little did Ryu know that his meeting with Kayin would not only show him things he's never seen, teach him things he's never knew, and let him feel things he's never felt before, he and Kayin were destined for better things. The question is, what? Their adventures will change lives, perspectives... and the amount of food Ryu eats!

OOC: I hope you like the second chapter. ^_^ The first two were really only introductions to the main characters, Kayin (My friend Chris's role-playing character) and Ryu (My role-playing character), and yes, Ryu -is- the main character. ^_^ Read and review if you like, chapter three is already in the making, 'The Joining of Two Powers'