SF#1-Hey, I'm Shadowy Figure #1, and this is my first time posting something on here, so tell me what you think! You all know the drill ,I don't own Katt, Nina, Kay, Rand or anybody else from Breath of Fire2. I do, however, own Zach, so don't steal him from me! That's enough of that, now, on with the story!
Katt treaded silently through the woods, her staff in hand. A Woren clanswoman, she was half tiger, and a very skilled fighter. She had heard that there had been shouts coming from this area the day before, so she had come to investigate. She suddenly came to a small clearing and nearly threw up at what she saw. It was like a slaughterhouse here. As she stepped into the clearing the smell of rotting flesh nearly knocked her down. Holding her breath, she knelt down and examined a nearby body. It wore the insignia of the Dark Phalanx, an infamous mercenary group. "What could have done this?" she muttered, noticing a body whose chest appeared to have exploded. She picked her way carefully through the carnage, making her way towards a huge tree in the middle of the field. Under it, she found a young man of about 25; amazingly, he was still living. "Must be Wyndian." she muttered, noticing his wings. Strange thing though; he had no feathers; Where they should have been, there was only scales and a bat-like film between the bones of his wings. She moved closer, and as she did so, she tripped over something. When she stood up, she realized that she was bleeding badly. She looked down, expecting to find a sword. Then she saw his feet.
He woke some time later. The first thing he saw was a white ceiling. He looked around and noticed several things at once; first, he saw that the only exit was guarded by two strong looking young men; second, he saw a black-winged Wyndian girl about his age asleep in a chair by the window. As soon as he tried to get up, she woke and rushed over to him. "Here, take this," she said handing him a glass of some foul-looking liquid." No, really," he said," I'm alright." "Take it!" she said, giving him a look that clearly said " Do it, or else!" He took it and downed it in one gulp." Can I go now?" She laughed, a clear, happy sound " You must be joking. You've only just woken up! You shouldn't even be alive." Her face grew serious " You know, it might not be safe for you to go out anyway." " Why not?" he asked. "Most of the town thinks you're some kind of demon. And it wouldn't help that you're not even dressed yet." She threw him some clothes, which he quickly put on. " By the way, what's your name?" " Nina". "Nina, huh? Well Nina, I owe you one. And Zachary de'Armone never forgets to repay a debt. Where are my things?" he asked. " O-over there." she said, surprised by the sudden change in the topic " Thanks." He strapped on the swords, and made his way to the door. " Wait!" she said. " We sent for a doctor a few minutes ago. At least let her check you over…." He whirled around. " What!" he said, the fear shining in his eyes. " I said I just sent for a doctor." He was breathing faster now. " I have to get out of here!" Then, they both heard it. Several voices were approaching the door. His eyes settled on the window. Nina instantly understood. " Wait!" she said " We're five stories up. Do you want to die?" He started running. " Hey, stop!" one of the guards yelled. He jumped.
For a moment, it was as if time had stopped. Then, everything started moving again. He crashed through the window, and utter chaos ensued. There was the crash of breaking glass, screams from people walking below, and shouts from the people outside the door. Nina raced to the window and got there in time to see people scatter to the left and right to get out of Zach's way. At the last possible second, he flipped his wings, slowing his descent to the ground, and hit the ground running, his clawed feet throwing up the earth as he sped off. The men nearby had mustered their courage, and now nearly two dozen of them were blocking his escape route. He sped straight towards the first group, leaping over them, whirling in midair, and kicking the nearest man into the rest of them sending them into a sprawling heap. He landed on his wings and flipped himself back upright, speeding off again. Now he had left everyone behind. Suddenly, out of nowhere, what appeared to be a rolling mountain of muscle knocked him off his feet. It was Rand, the biggest and strongest person any of them had ever seen. Zach flipped backwards and landed on his feet. " Easy now, buddy." Rand said." Just come on back to the ward and let Kay check you out." Zach watched him warily. Rand eyes flickered. Zach jumped up and Rand hurtled underneath him. He lashed out with a claw trying to knock Rand out. He connected, and Rand instantly reached around and, grabbing Zach by the leg, tried to throw him away from him. Zach grabbed Rand's arm, swung back around, and kicked him square in the chest and slammed him to the ground. By this time, Nina, Katt, and the others had caught up and were trying to pull him off Rand. He delivered a quick flurry of punches left, right and center, dislodging himself from the grasp of his attackers. " Stop!" Nina yelled worriedly," just let him go!" "SHADOWWALK!" Zach yelled and instantly disappeared. People stood up and looked around confusedly.
" Where'd he go?"
"I don't know."
" He was just here!"
"There he is!" someone shouted. Everyone looked. He had reappeared and was nearly 200 yards away now. As they watched, he leaped into a tree and then jumped, spread his wings and flew fast and close to the ground. No one could believe what they were seeing. Wyndians had lost their ability to fly centuries ago. " I'll handle this." Bleu, the ageless, half-serpent sorceress slithered forward. She started muttering under her breath." Acid Arrow!" A glowing green arrow streaked toward the target." NO!" Nina yelled. The missile hit him in the filmy place between his wing joints. As far away as they were, they could all hear his agonized scream clearly. He hit the ground and slid along on his side for nearly ten feet before coming to stop in a crumpled heap. The doctor Kay was the first person to reach him. Zach instantly recognized that she was the doctor he had been trying to flee. He was unable stand, so great was his pain, but he made a determined effort to crawl away from her, flapping the remaining wing uselessly. At first, everyone but Kay was scared to go near him, until at last Nina said, with an exasperated sigh," Oh honestly! Any fool can see that he's too weak to do anything." She held him steady while Kay administered a painkiller and sedative. Nina looked into his eyes, and saw that he was now weeping openly. " Please, just kill me," he whispered. Then, mercifully, he passed out.
For the moment, however, most of the townspeople were more concerned about Rand. "Really, I'm alright" he insisted. Bleu, meanwhile, was yelling that they should destroy the demon before he woke up and killed them all. Most of the other townspeople agreed, and soon only Kay and Nina were left trying to protect him. It seemed that they would succeed in discouraging the people when suddenly he groaned and rolled over in the dirt. This untimely movement nearly killed him; for the people started trying to get to him with renewed vigor. Surprisingly, it was Rand that saved him. " Everybody SHUT UP!" he shouted with all of the considerable volume he could muster. " Now, we're gonna take him back to the ward, and anyone who has a problem with it can deal with ME!"
Later, when the townspeople had dispersed, and Zach was more securely placed in his room, Nina asked Rand why he had stepped in. "Nina," he said," if he had wanted to kill me, then there would have been nothing anybody could have done to stop him." Nina stared at Rand, not sure she wanted to believe him." He wanted to escape," Rand continued," if he had wanted to, he would have killed us all in no time. He showed restraint and that deserves thanks." Nina still wasn't sure she believed Rand, but then, she didn't know about the carnage in the woods. Rand did, because he had carried Zach back to the town. He hadn't told anybody about this, but the sight gave him nightmares until the end of his days. So, he forgave Nina if she didn't believe him.
Zach was in the ward for nearly two weeks before he spoke again. Every day Nina came to visit him, but he completely ignored her, though she talked to him cheerily, trying to make him respond. Most of the townspeople sighed and shook their heads at this, worried that a princess would spend so much time with an obvious demon. However, they were unable to destroy him, since several of the town leaders refused to just have him killed when he had not caused them any real harm. In fact, the only one who really wanted him to be destroyed was Bleu, though some others were beginning to go along with her. " Good morning," she said cheerily, although it pained her to see him treated this way. Ever since his near escape, he had been bound, drugged, and held still by multiple spells, including a silence spell. Nina knew that he had completely thrown off the silence spell almost immediately, since she had put it on him herself, but since he showed no signs of trying to escape again, she told no one except Spar, a grassman, who was, next to her, Zach's most adamant defender. Nina had been surprised at first by the normally neutral grassman's enthusiasm. When she asked him why, however, Spar merely replied that, knowing what Zach was, he could not let him be destroyed. When Nina pressed him further, he just told her to ask Zach one day. She rambled, on telling Zach all about the events of the previous day, not leaving out a single detail. After some time, she stood up and said, " Now let's have a look at that wing of yours." Zach's wing had been mended by using magic to recreate the melted patch, but it had still had to be stitched back on. He quietly stretched the wing, and it took Nina several seconds before she realized that she hadn't lifted the binding spell. He had moved on his own! "H-how long have you been able to move? She asked." About a week." He replied quietly. Nina was amazed. She had sat here, every day, thinking he couldn't so much as twitch, and he could have killed her at any moment! " But he didn't, " she thought to herself. "He didn't run." An idea began to form in her head. "Stay here," she told him, running out of the room. She was so excited, that in her haste, she left the door ajar. He stared at the open door for a long time. Then, slowly, he got up, walked over to the door, and placed his hand on the handle. He closed the door, turned and went to lie back down.
Meanwhile, back at the main building, Nina was arguing vehemently with Bleu on Zach's behalf. "But Bleu, he could have escaped whenever he wanted to, but he didn't! That means that-" "It means that he is not only a demon, he's a stupid demon." Bleu argued. "Besides, did you see the way he attacked Rand? He barely escaped with his life." Several of the other townspeople started talking all at once, but the general gist was that they agreed with her. Something had to be done about the demon! "That's ain't true," Rand said." He DID attack me, but I already told Nina, if wanted to kill me, he would have."
"Nonsense!" Bleu merely shrugged off Rand's statement, and continued on, saying " We should just kill him now, and be done with it!" Spar, who had until this time kept his silence, interrupted, asking," Why don't we just let him go? We can simply tell him that if he returns, he will be killed, and we can leave it at that." Bleu was nearly livid with rage. " What are you thinking? Of course he'll come back! But when he does, we might not be ready! And what then? We'll all be dead, that's what!"
" Enough." With this one word, Chris, the Dragon clansman, and protector of the town, silenced the whole room. "This is what we shall do: we will give him his freedom: he may leave, or he may stay. He will be treated from this day forth just like any other person coming to Dragnier: until he does something that calls for otherwise, every person in this town will treat him with courtesy. All in favor raise your hands." When everyone had voted, the count stood: 59 for the release and humane treatment of the prisoner, and 17 called for his death; 6 of the townspeople, rather wisely, chose not to take sides: that way, whatever happened, they could not be blamed.
" You're all insane!" Bleu screamed, magefire crackling through the air around her. Several of the townspeople nearest to her stepped back a few paces nervously. They had never seen Bleu lose control like this. " I will go along with you fools, but the first time he sets so much as one unholy toe out of line, I will kill him." With these dramatic words, she exited the room and returned to her lab, fuming over "those fools and their altruistic sense of honor".
"Then it's agreed." Chris stood up." Nina, will you please go upstairs and release him from the spells?"
" That's not necessary, " Nina said. " As I told you before, he's already managed to throw off the various bindings that we placed on him."
"Well, In that case, go and tell him what has transpired here, and explain his options to him."
"Alright." Nina ran up the stairs, hurrying to tell Zach the good news.
Even though he was now free, it was some time before Kay would allow him to leave his room, saying that his wing had not fully healed yet. Nina, in the meantime, was surprised at how much Zach's demeanor had changed. Where he had never spoken before, he was now constantly asking her questions, about herself, the other villagers, and, most especially, about what had happened in the world in general. Not just for the few weeks he had been in the infirmary, but for the last couple of YEARS. To Nina, he acted like a person who had not gotten any news for quite some time. For instance, he commented that he was surprised that there wasn't a Church to St. Eva in Dragnier.
Nina simply could not believe that he had not heard: about how the church had been merely a front for the revival of the demon Death Evan, how Nina had gone with the Dragon clansman Ryu and his friends deep, deep underground and defeated him in the depths of the Infinity Dungeon, and how all the Dragons had returned from the ancient underground city of Dologany upon his defeat. Although he was surprised that Nina had helped in the destruction of this evil creature, he was not surprised to hear about the church's corruptness. " I was a member of the Resistance in Cotland for a while" he said "but then some other stuff came up and prevented my participation." When Nina questioned him about this, he merely changed the subject, or pretended that he had not heard. When Nina mentioned this to Rand, he merely shrugged it off, saying," I'm sure he'll talk when he's ready." Even with the aura of mystery that he kept around himself, Zach was still a great companion. He always had a funny or interesting story to tell, although these stories were always either based on some neutral subject or about fictional characters: after nearly a month, Nina still knew nearly nothing about him, not even the names of his friends or where his home was.
Finally the day had come. Kay entered the room early that morning, and, after a quick check, announced that Zach had healed perfectly. " Come on Zach!" Nina said grabbing his arm, " I'll show you all around the village!" He came along quietly, obviously apprehensive about being surrounded by people that feared him.
"Don't worry Zach," Nina said, "Dragnier is great: no matter where you come from, you're treated the same as everyone else. If anybody doesn't like it, then they're asked to leave."
Zach said nothing, but all of his past experiences with " diverse communities" had been less than pleasant." All except one," he reminded himself," and it's gone now." With that thought, he walked out the door with Nina, and into the sunlight.
