Star Ocean: The Second Story, Into The Vast Darkness

Chapter 5: The Road to Cross

A cool morning breeze was stirring the air, blowing Claude's hair into his eyes. The young man pulled his bandana further up so that he could see unimpaired. "Claude!" shrieked Rena, who was following close behind him. "What's wrong with your ears?" Oops. The earthling noticed that people on this planet had ears similar to his, but pointy at the top. "Umm..." Claude started, "People from Earth don't have pointy ears." The girl moved closer to him and raised her hand towards his face. "Claude, can I touch them?"

The pair had been walking for about two hours. They had already passed Salva and were on their way to Cross Castle, located in the capital city of the continent of Cross. There the two were to collect as much information about the Sorcery Globe as possible and to get permission to take a ship to the continent of El, where the Globe had fallen. The young man stopped to examine his surroundings.

The lush, green grass was still covered with dew, making it shiny and gorgeous. The pair was walking on a long dirt road that went straight for as far as Claude could see. In the distance was a mountain even taller than the ones that circle Arlia and Salva. Unlike those, however, the mountain was not very wide, but extremely tall. The sky was cloudy, but the sun still shone rather bright. It would soon warm up, which Claude was very glad for, because Rena looked to be freezing.

The young man took off his jacket and offered it to the cold girl, revealing the leather armor that he was wearing over his black shirt. "I can't take that," argued the sweet girl, "'Cause then you will be cold." Claude laughed and replied, "Don't worry about it, I was burning up in that thing." Which was a lie, of course. Though the armor was rather warm, his arms were now bare. But to Claude, a few hours of cold was worth seeing Rena's cheerful smile once again. The girl took the coat and thanked the young man with a hug.

So far this trip was going rather well. Claude and Rena conversed about things they like to do in their free time. When the earthling mentioned that he enjoyed reading, the girl jumped with excitement. "I love reading to people!" she squealed with joy. "I read to the little kids and the old people and anyone who feels like listening. Hey! Would you like it if I read you a story, Claude?" Though he had meant that he enjoyed reading novels and magazines, the young man could not resist. "I would love to hear a story, Rena."

The cute girl pulled a small, red book from one of the pockets in her robe and began to read. "Once upon a time there was a magical bunny named Willy. Willy lived in a forest with a bunch of other bunnies. Since Willy was magical, he could turn things into carrots. Because he was different, the other bunnies wouldn't play with him. One day a big, mean wolf came into the forest trying to catch the bunnies, so Willy turned the wolf into carrots and all the other bunnies loved him. The end!" Rena returned the book to her pocket and Claude could not help laughing.

He had not heard a story like that since he was about five years old. The sweet girl smiled and said, "I knew you would like that story." Rena is so cute. Never before had Claude met a girl so cute and sweet and innocent. Sure, he had talked to a few of the women that served on the Calnus with him, but most were rude, swore and ignored the commodore's son. The young man was really starting to take a liking to this planet.

Rena stepped in front of Claude and stopped, "Okies, I will lead now. But first, are you hungry?" The earthling put his hand on his stomach. Now that she had mentioned it, he had not eaten that morning. The sweet girl sat down on the ground with her legs crossed and drew from her cloak a loaf of bread, wrapped in cloth, and one of the jars of jam that Claude had picked up in Salva. The young man sat down next to her and the two of them ate.

"Wow," began Claude as the two started once more on their journey, "That bread was great. We will have to thank your mom the next time we are in Arlia." Rena smiled happily. "That was really good jam, too. Thank you so much for buying it, Claude." The young man smiled back. The earthling then spied something odd in the distance. It was a large, shadowy figure coming out of one of the nearby forests. Hmm...

-

Rena was having a really good time with Claude. The weather started to warm up, so she gave him back his jacket, thanking him one last time. This day was going very well, but there was a weird shadowy figure approaching the pair. "Oh, no, it's a Lizard-Man..." uttered the girl out loud. The young man looked confused. The girl explained that Lizard-Men worked together with bandits and robbed travelers. It looked like they were headed for a fight.

The Lizard-Man stopped in front of Rena and Claude with his axe drawn. It was roughly eight feet tall, with orange, scaly skin and a long tail. It's large mouth was filled with huge, sharp teeth that were covered in what looked like blood. The monster donned a breastplate and a round helmet that was flat on top, but provided no protection to the face and it's big, clawed feet moved closer and closer.

Claude drew his sword and stepped in front of Rena, protecting her. "We don't want to fight." Stated the young man. The monster did not halt. Not wanting to be struck first, Claude ran forward and slashed down with his sword, only to be blocked by the Lizard-Man's great axe. Again and again the boy struck, but it was no use, his opponents defense was impenetrable. Starting to become angry and frustrated the boy stepped back. "Die already!" Now shaking with fury, Claude hit his enemy again and again, but all he was accomplishing was making himself tired.

Rena was terribly worried about Claude. At this rate, he was not going to win. Donning her brass knuckles, the young girl circled around the two locked in combat. As hard as she could, the normally sweet and peaceful girl slammed her fist into the Lizard-Man's neck, just under the cover of his helmet, and heard a snap. The monster fell over backward, dead. "Holy crap!" Claude exclaimed. Rena put her head down with shame. "Well, he deserved it. I had to kill him or he was gonna hurt you..." The young man raised her head up gently with his hand. "No, I meant, 'Wow! You are really strong!'" The cute girl smiled and thanked him.

Once again the pair continued on their journey to Cross. The rest of the journey was rather uneventful. By the time they reached the great capital city it was already nighttime. The normally crowded town was completely empty, most people either asleep in bed or inside of their houses talking. Rena decided to bring Claude to the inn where her aunt Rachel worked. As the two stepped into the dimly lit inn, they were greeted by a tall woman with long, auburn hair. "Rena!" the woman exclaimed, nearly knocking the girl over with a huge hug.

"You have gotten so big since the last time I saw you! Say... is this your boyfriend?" Rena and Claude both started to blush. "No," started the embarrassed girl, "Claude and I are investigating the Sorcery Globe together, we came to see the king of Cross." The older woman winked and smiled at Rena. "Okay, well it just so happens that we have our best room open tonight. Perfect for you and your 'friend', ha." The woman walked them down the hall to a room and they walked in. "Goodnight." Said the lady as she returned to her desk.

Claude shook his head. "Okay, I will sleep on the floor." Rena was confused. "How come? I won't take all the covers, I promise." Rachel had put them in the newlywed suite, which had one big bed. "Umm... that's not it Rena." Claude replied, blushing. The sweet girl didn't understand. "Earth people are weird... Claude, just sleep on the bed. It looks comfy, doesn't it?" Reluctantly the young man climbed into bed and Rena got in beside him. She turned out the light and said goodnight to Claude.

"Rena?" said the young man a few moments later. "Yes, Claude?" the girl replied.

"I had a lot of fun traveling with you today."

"I had a lot of fun, too."

"Goodnight, Rena."

"Goodnight, Claude."