On to Baskar

After meeting with King Vanderbuilt, Sasha brought her friends into her room. She had been quite amazed when they'd turned down the reward for finding her, on the principal that she was their friend. So now, she wanted to hire them to help her out on the most important mission of her life.

"As you know," Sasha began, "The demons came to steal the Teardrop from Neo-Adlehyde. It is quite similar to the incident of two thousand two hundred years ago, when my ancestors fought against an invading force of demons. If these creatures are indeed returning to Filgaia, I have an obligation to stop them, as heir to Adlehyde. So, I would like to hire the three of you to help me out, to track down these demons and stop them." She was once again wearing the Teardrop, wanting to keep it close to her in case of emergency. As well as the Schturdark Medium that Jacob lent her once more.

"Count me in! I'm going all around Filgaia, looking for the funds to support my sick mother anyway, so I might as well travel with one of my friends, instead of just going at it by myself. And tracking demons intrigues me, they have connections to the days gone by, and the legends of the Fast Draw, that dated back to the Kingdom of Arctica," stated Lyle, looking ready to fight against the whole army.

Jacob whispered, "I don't know how effective I would be, but I'll lend you my strength as well. I'm sure you can use even the least bit of power to augment what you already have. That is, if you want a failure like me to come along with you." He looked away from Sasha, a tear in his eyes.

Sierra was looking out the window. 'That demon, he was afraid of me for some reason. Why could he be afraid of a human like me? There's got to be some logical explanation. Maybe, if I go on this little trip of Sasha's, I might be able to find out why. That's it, I've got to go as well, even if that means I've got to deal with all these people for a little while longer. I mean, how long can it take, a few months?'

"Ummmmmm. . .Sierra?" asked Sasha, "Is something the matter? I would be honored if you would lend your gun to my cause. You're one of the most powerful fighters I've ever met, and I'm sure with you on the team we'd succeed much quicker than if you weren't by our side."

"I'll go with you guys, if it makes you happy. But remember, this must be an official job. I know we're friends and all, but if you want me to sign myself up to a lengthy campaign like this, then you'd better be willing to pay me in full for my services. So, how about it?" inquired Sierra.

Sasha told her, "I'll pay a thousand Gella up front for bodyguard services, as well as letting you stay at the castle for free if ever we're in town. After this mission is done, you'll get another 4,000 Gella, plus a bonus for other things that you might have to do during its course. Since I don't know what exactly we're up against, then I won't be able to provide you with any more information than that."

Sierra agreed, and they went to talk to the king about it. He was overjoyed to see his daughter was going to have her friends as her bodyguards on the journey, but the fact that she'd be fighting demons upset him. After a little bit of reassuring, though, he lent them a ship to head back towards Baskar Colony. Jacob was sure his brother would be able to help them out.

* * *

Sasha looked across the room, at Sierra. She was sitting on her bunk, dejected, and shining her ARM. The young woman was puzzled, what was depressing a girl of that age like that. "Kyoku, what happened to Sierra in the past to cause her to become this way? She's awfully young to shy away from other humans like this. Doesn't her family and friends love her?"

"She doesn't have any," Kyoku whispered, so only the princess and the two men could hear, "When she was just a baby, she was given to a caravan leader by her birth parents. Unless her mom was dead and her father was with the caravan, since no women were involved in it. Anyway, monsters killed everyone on board, except Sierra and myself. A man found her, and wanted to raise her, but then he abandoned her at this saloon, so he could go off and be a Silver Wolf. She wasn't loved by the woman who ran the saloon either, all that witch thought of Sierra was another mouth to feed and that she better get to work. Anyway, when she found out that the man who left her there wasn't her real father, she went out on a journey, so she could find out who she really was. But in two years, no leads have ever presented themselves. We don't know where her foster father is, either. Maybe he was killed by monsters, it would certainly serve him right for what he did to poor Sierra."

"That's sad, I wish there was something I could do for her," Lyle replied. He looked at the gunner, who was still immersed in shining her ARMs. It was almost as if she wanted to hide from the world, she didn't deserve to be around other humans. He deduced that it must have been a side effect from being abandoned all those times, and never having a person to show her love. Certainly, it wasn't natural for someone to be this antisocial at such a young age.

Unbeknownst to them, Sierra had heard the whole conversation. She thought, 'I guess it is funny. I'm just an unlovable little wretch, no one ever has cared about me. Why do they all insist that they're my friends? I would like to be friends, but I bet they'll just leave me when I'm of no more use to them. Just like my parents, my foster father, and everyone else I've known.'

* * *

That night, aboard the ship, she began to toss and turn in her sleep. Again, Sierra was dreaming, this time she was in a forest. The sound of dogs could be heard all around, as if a hunt was going on. And the prey was apparently Sierra. For the second they saw her, she was knocked down by two great hunting dogs, both powerful Dobermans.

A man came up behind them. "You don't deserve to live, you're just a demon in disguise. Now, you're going to die for all the crimes you've committed." He picked up his ARM, and fired at Sierra. But there was no blood, it was almost as if he hadn't shot a human being at all.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words…

Poor Sierra, she's got more angst than the entire WA3 cast combined. At least Jet wasn't constantly tormented by dreams of pain. He only had a few flashbacks, and Leehalt's harsh words.