A/N: Wow!! Yes!!! Reviews and good ones too! Constructive criticism is what I want and need. Hope you readers can drop your reviews whenever you read the story. Sometimes its all an author needs to keep writing. Tell me what I need or what you want. No prob. Anyway, on to some of the comments, I am using my poetic license to change some of the story. I'm not too particular as to which SC this was...its just SC. My history may be a little off but the British had colonies in South East Asia, and I know some were from other countries but it's a small detail. I know putting lots of things from different times together but you seriously can't have all SC characters in one timeline,(Siegfried was from the post-crusades, Raphael was from pre-Napoleonic era, Rock was when the British had colonies, etc) Anyway, enough with the explanations, on with the story. BTW, I thought of a beta reader, but I might skip o that until more people suggest it. (Beta reader is a person who reads a story before it is posted, something like an editor...I think.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Calibur and all characters are copyrights of NAMCO except for a particular boy who starred in various Nintendo games.

A crowded city can be a daunting place for a stranger. All sorts of people walk the streets, some rich, others poor. People walk along in their own world, each with their own purposes. Some are hurrying to work, others are casually going to eat lunch, and still others have their own business to attend to. Each are scurrying by, ignoring others, yet doomed to live with them. People have a tendency to blend in or stick out in a crowd. A particular individual sticks out in this particular crowd in this particular city.

As he walks by, people tend to look over their shoulder as if to make sure their eyes did not deceive them. This boy was quite the conspicuous one in the crowd. In such a modern age, people rarely walk around with a sword and shield hanging from their back. Even less wear heavy clothing in a climate so wanting of rain or clouds or a cool sea breeze. To say he is strange from his green clothing and weapons was one thing; it is a whole different subject to say that he was strange by glancing at his face.

His eyes, his deep blue eyes, betrayed his otherwise childish appearance. Though his body was small and his face was young, one can tell from his eyes that this person has seen and done more than anyone could do in a lifetime. His ears, slightly covered by his hat, pointed out in an unnatural way, a way that people normally see only in fairy tales. Were here he taller man, people would have taken notice, but because of his small stature most people do not. Despite his size, however, he walks on with a purpose, head held high.

"Come one, come all!!! Last tickets for the Queen's Affinity!!! Reasonable prices, right here, right now!!! Come and deal me!!!" yelled a salesman in a small booth off to the side of a café.

The boy ear's twitched upon hearing the calls of the salesman. He hurriedly put his hand in his pocket. After searching through what seemed to be a horribly filled pocket, he finally got out a small piece of paper. He looked at the flier, seeming to have a hard time looking at. It seemed that he was reading it, one letter at a time. After a few more times of scanning, the boy hastily made his way for the screaming merchant.

The boy surveyed the merchant when he reached him. He was a chubby fellow, more than a few times the boy's own waist. His dark purple jacket was kept around his waist by a sturdy leather belt. A green fedora, with a feather on top, was upon his balding head, for it seemed that he wore a wig as well as a hat. The boy laughed at this silly man's sense of fashion.

"You'll never get a better deal in your life! World-class ship for a small time price!! Its...hey what are you doing?" said the merchant as the boy ran up to him, tugging at his shirt and showing him the flier. "Ah, kiddo! Ya want a ticket for the ship, eh? How much you got?"

The boy put down his bag that he carried along with his sword and shield. He rummaged through his bag, which was just as disorganized as his pockets, and found a small purse. He tossed it to the merchant, who was waiting impatiently for what this boy could pay him with.

"Let's see here? Is this all you've got?" questioned the merchant with a frown.

Unaware of the merchant's displeasure, the boy nodded quickly. He stuck out his hand, expecting the merchant to give him a ticket.

"Are you nuts, boy? These are just chump change and toy jewels. No way can you trick me with such junk!! Now get out of here, I've got customers to attend to!" yelled the merchant, throwing the purse and its contents at the boy's face.

The boy, though startled, hurriedly gathered his coins and jewels and tried to give it again to the merchant.

"I already told you!! You ain't gonna get nuthin' from me with what you've got. Try again in a couple of years when you got a job and made some money. Now get outta here!" yelled the annoyed merchant, who started to push the boy out into the crowd. "Get your Queen's Affinity tickets right here!! Last chance, it's leaving today."

The boy insisted on buying the ticket, alternately showing the merchant his coin purse and the flier. Each time he walked up to the stall, he was pushed out again on the street. The more the boy insisted, the more the merchant got angry. It didn't take much for the merchant to snap.

"Now listen here boy!! I didn't want to hurt you, but know you've asked for it," said the merchant, grabbing the boy by the collar and pulling his hand back, readying for a punch.

The boy instinctively reached for his sword, but, remembering that he had put it down with his bag, he just raised his hand to block the punch of the angered merchant. The boy was able to block the punch with his right hand and broke free from the grip of the merchant with his left. After falling to the floor, the boy struggled to get up and was met with a fist to his gut.

"That'll teach you," the merchant said pushing him into the street, accidentally making him hit a cloaked man behind them.

"I don't think you'll be able to call this customer service," said the man whom the boy backed into, "now would you?"

"Oh! I'm sorry for the trouble mister. You see it's just that that street rat was..." said the merchant in a humble tone.

"Enough with the excuses," sighed the man, helping up the boy from the ground, "Your problems have little concern with me. My concern is whether you will sell me a ticket. How many exactly do you have for sale?"

"Planning to go out with a special someone, eh? You're lucky today; two are left. Feel free to buy both; I'll even give ya a discount?" grinned the merchant.

"Before you do, I have but two questions. First, what is your base price, and second," said the man, looking over his shoulder to the boy rubbing his cheek, "what exactly was your reason for such harsh behavior on that boy?"

"I'll give ya one for 40 pounds, and both for seventy-five. Whadda ya think?"

The man stood there without a word. That unnerved the merchant into asking what was wrong.

"You didn't answer my second question," said the man sternly.

"Well, he was bothering me. He wanted to buy a ticket for what amounted to be about, give or take, 15 pounds," muttered the merchant nervously.

"Hmm...Very well, I shall take both tickets for 60 pounds!" said the man calmly.

"60 pounds! The retail price of one of these tickets are at least that much, I already gave it way to at a good price. It's a steal!" pleaded the merchant.

"It's my final offer! Give me a break!"

"70 pounds!"

"C'mon. Give at least 80!"

"Your previous offer was a generous 75 pounds!" said the man, poking the man's round stomach.

"Well that was the last offer! You changed the offer so I changed mine!" said the merchant impetuously.

"YOU DARE CHEAT A SOREL?!?" roared the man, throwing off his cloak to the side.

The man was already a intimidating with his cloak on, but now that his features were shown, he was even more threatening. His bright blonde hair reflected the sunlight, seemingly giving off an aura. His looked down upon the merchant, for he was well over a foot taller than the man. His blue eyes gazed at the quivering merchant. His features seemed frightening at first, but then his face softened as he stroked his goatee.

"You shall accept my offer 75 pounds," said the man in a soft tone.

"And if I don't?" said the merchant, visibly sweating in the face of this Sorel person.

"You shall accept my 75 pounds," chuckled the man, "or you shall accept this rapier to the throat."

Before the merchant could react, Sorel had already unsheathed his sword sending the tip to the man's throat, just enough to tickle his skin. The crowd around them scattered at the sight of the drawn sword. Some ran for the police, and this sent Sorel the message that he had to work quickly.

"I suppose that this is a generous offer, don't you think?" whispered Sorel.

"You wouldn't dare..." said the merchant, who was the brink of wetting himself.

"I could get this over with and be gone in an instant. You, my friend, are in a most precarious position. I could leave you the 75 pounds and take the tickets or I could just simply take the two tickets," smiled Sorel.

"Alright, alright!! Take the damn tickets!" the merchant said as he took the tickets form his tickets.

"Pleasure doing business with you," said Sorel, as he threw his coin purse to the merchant.

The merchant caught the purse. Looking into it, he laughed, for he saw that the purse had at least 100 pounds in it.

"Stupid fool! You gave me 100 pounds for 2 measly tickets on some rickety ship. Haha!" yelled the merchant at the man.

"I simply wanted to pay you for the damages I have caused you," said Sorel calmly.

"What damages?" questioned the merchant.

Sorel proceeded to tear apart the merchant's stall. He shredded the curtains and sliced the table clean in half. He ruined merchant's clothes by carving SOREL on the front and he cut the belt to reveal the flabby stomach. He gave the merchant a quick kick to the gut and as a final insult, he took the green fedora and tossed it to the strange elfin boy, who had been silently watching the whole time.

"Hmm...that amounts to 30 pounds for your stall, 20 pounds for your clothes, 10 pounds for your doctor's bill, and 25 pounds for your hat. All in all I gave you about 15 pounds. It's almost as if you sold the two tickets to the kid back there. You probably would have had an easier time anyway."

As Sorel turned to walk away, the merchant threw a knife that he had hid in his stall. Sorel noticed it too late and he soon found a knife protruding from his side. He collapsed, grasping his side. The sounds of policemen could be heard form the distance and Sorel chuckled to himself.

"Heh...all this time of living and surviving ending in me jailed for a ticket home. How sad..." said Sorel.

Suddenly, someone was tugging at his clothing behind him. It was the boy. He was tugging at Sorel signaling him to run to what seemed to be an alley. Before Sorel could say anything, he found himself being lifted and carried by the strange boy. Sorel then found the will to fight and together they ran towards the alley and into the back streets of the city. As soon as they were out of sight of the police, the boy set Sorel down and began to look through his belongings.

"Kid, I'd thank you back there, but I could've handled it on my own," said Sorel as he struggled to get up.

The boy stopped Sorel from getting up and firmly sat him back down. A few moments later he took herbs, ground them and applied them to Sorel. He tended to the stab wound and then said a few words. A blue light emanated from his hands and Sorel could feel a surge of energy flow through him. Sorel struggled to get up and even though he still felt pain, he could easily move and fight if need be.

"Wow. You do wonders, eh kiddo?" said Sorrel , patting the boy on his head.

The boy smiled sheepishly as Sorel turned around to leave. Sorel then felt the boy grab his hand. He turned around and saw the boy showing him the flier. Sorel laughed as he figured out what the boy wanted.

"Well, I guess I do owe you one. I'll give it to you but only after you show me the jewels that merchant said were toys," said Sorel.

The boy got out his bag of coins and tossed it to Sorel. Sorel examined the contents, eyes wide with shock.

"That merchant was more stupid than I thought. This stuff is the real deal. I'd say you stole it but you're too much of a kid to do something like that. I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't get you hands a little dirty in a fight to get these. You could've easily muscled the merchant into giving you those tickets but you took the path of the shy boy. Unfortunately, I'm not as subtle or patient so you would have to excuse my methods. I'll give you the ticket in exchange for this shiny green gem you got. Deal?" said Sorel with a genuine smile.

The boy nodded quickly and grabbed the jewel. He put his hands over it and the gem shown like his hands did before. After that , he exchanged the gem for the ticket. Sorel pocketed the gem and at the same time he felt something hard and cold. He felt it. I'll be home soon, thought Sorel.

"You probably did some hocus-pocus on that gem just like you did with your hands. I'd keep I with me all the time, don't worry. Since we're going the same way, why not go together? A long ship ride could go a lot faster with some company. What was your name by the way? I'm sorry I must be so rude. I am Raphael Sorel, the Raphael Sorel," grinned Raphael.

The boy dropped down onto the floor and started to scribble on the floor with a stick he found near by.

"Runes? I was never into that Viking stuff, though I did read some when I was a child. Hmm...let's see, what does it say? UNK? LINY? LNK? Ahh...never mind. We don't need to be on a first name basis anyway. We can decide on names later. We'd better pick up our pace a bit or else we'll miss the boat," said Sorel as he walked off, the boy following close behind. "That hat looks good on you..." he continued to comment.

The two made their way to the waterfront and soon they found the pier where the Queen's Affinity was docked. The pier was filled with strange black clothed guards, quite unlike the usual private guard that usually patrolled the docks. Many of them had oriental features and each of them was thoroughly checking through the luggage of passengers, much to their dismay. Sorel had chosen it was the right time to try to board the boat as inconspicuously as possible. However, for someone with the reputation of Raphael Sorel and the appearance of the boy that tagged along with him, they were bound to attract some unwanted attention.

"SOUND THE ALARM!! RAPHAEL SOREL HAS BEEN SPOTTED!" cried one of the Asian guardsman in a heavy accent.

All the black clothed guards gathered around the two, unsheathing their swords and spouting out insults in their own native tongues. Raphael had proceeded to draw his rapier and likewise the boy took out his sword and shield.

"We don't want to kill them," whispered Raphael to the boy, "just stun them."

A pair of guards attacked and Raphael proceeded to parry both their attacks and trip them at the same time. Behind him, the boy was in a sparring mode with two other guards. Fighting one side by side was tiring and he ended up just blocking each sword strike with his shield and followed up with a blow to the head from his hilt. Raphael and the boy were fighting back to back, careful not to injure their would be attackers. Raphael was successful in disarming three guards by throwing their weapons in the river while the boy took a less complicated approach by simply striking his attacker's head with his shield. As skilled as the two were, the Chinese Royal Guard was no easy opponent, especially when their two seniors officers step onto the field.

"It seems Lady Valentine could not keep her word. We have not even left shore and some bandit is trying to take over the ship," said the male leader to his counterpart.

"To the contrary, I had wished some sort of action would occur. I'm gonna enjoy this little hindrance in our plans," replied the girl, removing her blue cloak

"These seem to bit more tougher than the goons we had faced earlier," chuckled Raphael. "I'll take the man. You take the girl. She seems your type."

The boy blushed, but even when blushing he took a ready stance. Raphael stood fast with his rapier pointing from the side of his body, one hand on his waist. The blushing boy raised his shield and readied his sword under it. The man stood stoic as his wide broadsword, held by two hands, reflected the sunlight. The girl twirled her slender sword from hand to hand, keeping the boy from guessing where it was going to come from. After a long silence, a voice rang out. It wasn't any of the fighters though.

"It is about time you have gotten here!" yelled Ivy from her ship. "I was wondering what would make the infamous Raphael Sorel late on such an occasion. 'Punctuality was the gift of kings' was it not?"

The four stood still with shock. Or rather, three stood in shock while the boy still had his guard up. No one had yet told him that they were expected.

"Let me present to you, Lord Raphael Sorel, famed as a noble of France and a delinquent resident of this little island. He will be my head security personnel, only to be overruled by myself and the good girl Xianghua," said Ivy casually.

"You are letting this criminal on to this ship. A criminal your own government has sent here to be kept under control. This is preposterous. This is insane. This is..." complained Tsu Yen, the male leader.

"This is my will and has been agreed upon by your commander Xianghua," commented Ivy.

"My Lady, surely Miss Valentine is lying. You can't let this felon on the ship, knowing what is on board!" pleaded Tsu Yen.

"I had wanted to face this man in battle to see if he was truly the man Lady Ivy had said he was. It seemed he has proven his point facing us without flinching. I trust Lady Ivy will ensure that Mr. Sorel will not cause further problems?" yelled Xianghua to Ivy. "I would just like to clarify who is your young companion?"

"Yes, Mr. Sorel. I did not authorize you to bring a assistant," questioned Ivy.

"He is neither my lackey nor your enemy. He is simply a person who wishes to go home. He will be under my supervision as my personal aide as I am the personal aide of Lady Valentine. He is not familiar with our language and to make him travel with out a familiar face would be cruel. I humbly request that you allow my companion to travel with us for the length of this journey," said Raphael with a hint of sincerity and sarcasm in his voice.

"What is this little boy's name?" asked Tsu Yen roughly.

Raphael struggled with this question for he really did not know the boy's name. He then remembered the scribbles on the floor earlier today. He tried to think of a suitable English word that would vaguely be like his name.

"Link. I am his link to the world as I am a link to your success," replied Raphael proudly.

"You always make everything melodramatic. Very well, let's get the preparations over and done with. The passengers are on board and the cargo is ready. Xianghua and Tsu Yen, please board and make the final checks. Link get on board and I'll show you your quarters," said Ivy, barking out other orders.

As soon as everyone else got on board, Ivy noticed that Raphael was still on the pier.

"C'mon get up here already. You've been sulking for five years. It's about time you've shown your face. And what's with that 'Link' name it's horrible," joked Ivy.

"I would've preferred a French name," said Raphael nonchalantly.

Raphael walked up the gangplank. The gangplank was brought up and the anchor was pulled. The sails were brought down and soon they caught the wind and moved down the docks. Men were working their posts and Link was waiting by the entrance to the quarters.

"It's been too long," whispered Ivy into Raphael's ear.

"It hasn't been long enough," replied Raphael in a cold tone.

This chapter was much longer than expected. This was originally supposed to be 2 separate chapters but I guess I was on a roll. I hope this chapter wasn't too dragging. It seemed like it when I wrote it, but as I read it went a little fast so I don't know how it really is. Please READ & REVIEW. I'd really appreciate comments on this story, I'm really getting confident about this story. Please drop a review to say what it needs or has too much of. Corrections and suggestions are cool too. I added link as a character because he seemed like a guy that could pop-up into our history at any given point in time, so please don't get angry if I added him. Actually I haven't played any Zelda game so I don't know if he uses herbs, heal and empower with his hands, or anything. I'm basically taking him as an original character though he's not mine. For those who wonder when Souledge/blade will come out. Don't worry they will, otherwise it wouldn't be a Soul Calibur Adventure story.

PLEASE GIVE COMMENTS, COMPLAINTS, SUGGESTIONS, AND VIOLENT REACTIONS IN THE REVIEWS THANK YOU!!!!

Thanks to: Sycogerl64, Dr.Wilopolis, Freya Sacksen, YF-21