Hey people! I'm back! I'm so thrilled to see that there are people reading this at all. Many thanks to To live is to be Evil, Artificer Urza and Kamislash for reviewing. Also, thanks for pointing out certain flaws in the structure of my fic. I promise that I'll try my best to keep the advice in mind.
Note to Artificer Urza: I said in the first chapter that I was doing this under protest only because I was afraid of failing miserably if I ever did a fic. Actually, I enjoy writing very much and had wanted to do a fic for a very long time, but I didn't have enough confidence in my own abilities. It's a character flaw of mine having to do with an inferiority complex. Anyway thanks for your advice. I appreciate it.
Summary: The story of the 8 warriors who originally sealed the goddess Tyr with the goddess keys. What else is there to say?
Disclaimer: I don't own BoF. It belongs to Capcom. I only own the plot and my own characters.
Legend:
+++~Change in scene~+++
^^PoV^^
The Dragon Warrior Chapter One: Young and Innocent---800 years after Ladon left---
His Imperial Majesty, King Rayne Drynatch, the 49th King of the Dragon clan, descendant of Talvar the Lionhearted, was busy attending to state affairs with his childhood friend and advisor, Zaine Karnos, when a little blue-haired boy (1) rushed into the Imperial study without knocking. "What is the meaning of this?!" Advisor Karnos demanded of the diminutive six-year-old who had just barged in. The little boy ignored him and turned instead to the king, saying "Uncle Rayne! You have to come immediately! Kain and Karl are busy dunking Riana in and out of the pond!" King Rayne stared incredulously at his nephew, who at present looked extremely flustered and a little worse for wear, since he had a couple of bruises on his right arm and his clothes were a little dusty and torn in certain places. Advisor Karnos, on the other hand, ignored the boy's announcement and instead informed the boy in an icy tone, "I believe that the proper mode of address when speaking to the King would be 'Your Majesty', regardless of who you are. Might I remind you that disrespect to the King is a criminal offence? I suggest that you had better watch your language, little boy, or else…" King Rayne put up a hand to silence his advisor and said, "That'll be enough, Zaine. Don't be so hard on the boy. He's still a child after all. And what did you mean when you said that Kain and Karl were 'dunking Riana in and out of the pond', Ryu?" (2) Ryu took a deep breath and replied, but not before casting an apprehensive glance at the sternly disapproving expression on Advisor Karnos' pallid face, "Well, it's like this Uncle—I mean Your Majesty. Riana and I were out in the palace grounds, and when we met Kain and Karl near the pond, Riana got into an argument with them over them dunking a bucket of cold water over her head this morning when she was still in bed. The argument just got louder and louder until Kain decided to shut her up by shoving her into the pond. That's when the problem started, since they decided that jerking Riana's head in and out of the water was fun. I tried to stop them, but they were a lot bigger than me, and there were two of them, and I ended up being knocked off my feet. So I decided to come here for help." Ryu said all this very fast, and King Rayne just managed to get the gist of it. He immediately came to his feet and started towards the door. Advisor Karnos hurried after his king and protested, "But Your Majesty, this is a minor matter. We still have many important matters at hand to attend to. Surely this can wait?" Rayne shot back at his old friend, "I only have one daughter, Zaine, and I don't want her to drown at her own brothers' hands. Those two don't know when to stop. Besides, I need a breath of fresh air. It was getting stuffy in that room."
+++~ Somewhere in the palace grounds ~+++
"Let me *glug glug* up! *cough* *gasp* HELP!" spluttered Her Royal Highness, Princess Riana, who was presently at the mercy of her older twin brothers. Her plea, however, fell on deaf ears, and was instead greeted by raucous laughter from the surrounding crowd who had somehow gathered out of apparently nowhere to witness her utter humiliation. Of course, she was in no condition to notice how the crowd had gathered in the first place, since she was busy trying to keep from being drowned by her brothers, whom she was sure were the Devil incarnates. The laughter from the crowd served to re-ignite her fury and indignation, however, and she responded by throwing vile imprecations, which she was not supposed to even know about, but which she had routinely overheard being used with a certain vehemence, at her brothers, who were enormously impressed by their six-year-old little sister's command of the more 'colorful' side of language. It was to this scene that King Rayne, flanked by Ryu and Advisor Karnos, walked in upon.
^^ King Rayne's PoV ^^
Wild thoughts were running through my mind. What were my children doing? I hope Riana is safe. Her brothers have a tendency to overdo things sometimes. I can't imagine having to pass my crown to either one of those itinerant pranksters. They'll probably plunge the whole kingdom into disaster. Whatever did I do to deserve this? Ah, there's the pond Ryu was talking about…what in the world?! Is, is that Riana? How in the name of Ladon did she learn those swearwords? I hope she doesn't really understand what those words actually mean…ouch…now that was a pretty nasty insult…I hope she doesn't really mean it. But then again, she has had plenty of provocation…I had better do something about this though, before it gets out of hand…
^^ Normal PoV ^^
King Rayne winced as Princess Riana shrieked out all sorts of curses in between being jerked in and out of the water. Even Advisor Karnos' usually impassive face was slightly pained and a look of mild horror and shock flickered in his ruby red eyes. Only Ryu did not seem to show any overt reaction at the sheer vehemence in Riana's swearing. He was already used to her little quirks, being her playmate and her closest companion. Rayne cleared his throat and stepped forward. A number of the crowd who were busy being entertained by the sight of the princess being tormented by her brothers paled slightly at the sudden appearance of the King, and immediately opened a path for him to walk through. "That will be enough!" King Rayne boomed in his most commanding tone. Everyone looked up. Surprise, then dread, registered in the faces of Kain and Karl, as they took in the six-and-a-half foot frame of their father towering over their crouched forms. Instinctively, or probably not, they both gave their little sister's head one last shove into the crystal clear depths of the pond before scrambling hastily to their feet. "Why hello, Father, lovely weather isn't it?" Kain said in his most cheery tone, hoping to lighten the tense atmosphere in the area. Karl said nothing, but then again, he never was one to waste words.
However, there was probably nothing Kain could do, no matter how eloquent he was. "Lovely weather, huh? How is it that I didn't notice it?" A sarcastic voice penetrated the silence. It belonged to Riana, who was being helped out of the pond by Ryu. There was murder in her eyes as she glared at her brothers. Kain opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by his father. "You will meet me in my study after the midday meal. I expect to see all three of you there. Ryu, please come along as well. And Riana, please go get cleaned up. You'll catch a cold like that. And no more of this nonsense, or else…" King Rayne left the threat hanging, knowing that the active imaginations of his three children would conjure up worse punishments than whatever he could devise. He then swept off majestically back towards the castle with Advisor Karnos at his side, leaving a silent audience in his wake.
Footnotes (decided to try this out on Kamislash's suggestion)
(1): Hmm…someone with blue hair…any clues who it might be…?J
(2): Yea, that's the first Ryu, and yes he's the guy who going to seal Tyr.
Why do you think all the later Heroes in the BoF games are called Ryu? Try and guess. Well, another one done! I'm beginning to really enjoy this. Oh, before I forget, many thanks to Mei Cera a.k.a. Gensui Meia. She helped me come up with some of the names in the story. Arigato Cera-chan! Well people, R+R!