You all know the drill; I don't own anyone from Breath of Fire. I do, however, own Luke and Zach, so-
Luke:" Hey! You don't own me! Who do you think you are? Hey, Zach, who is this guy?"
Right...ummm, like I was saying:Enjoy!
Nina had been right, Zach had to admit, at least to some extent: although he heard none of the usual insults and such that he usually encountered, he did notice that most people were going to great lengths to avoid him. Zach was amused to see a perfectly nice-looking old lady swerve into a weapons store called HEKKELLER'S, whose sign proudly stated that its weapons would " kill demons dead", only to realize that she didn't really need a new broadsword once he had passed. Zach pointed this out to Nina, and was rewarded with a laugh. Even those brave enough to walk by him tensed up as they passed him, but Zach wasn't worried. He figured that he should enjoy himself while he could. These things never lasted.
When Nina went to get Zach from his room in the infirmary on the day of his release, she was shocked at the change in him. He had cut his hair, and was wearing creamy white pants with a blue vest, which had been cut to allow for his wings to stick out. Nina also noticed that his claws, which had been a dull brown before, had been cleaned and clipped, producing a deep, purplish-blue color, and had a bright, burnished look to them. The wicked talons, which had before been caked with dirt and grime, had been carefully cleaned, and each one was now a three-inch long, wicked hook. The wings also appeared to have been cleaned very carefully, and their color was the same as the claws. Nina just stared. She could hardly believe the transformation he had undergone. Zach, noticing her staring, said uncomfortably, "It's the shirt, right? I knew I shouldn't have…" "No, it's not that." Nina said quickly." Oh, good." Zach said, relieved. Then, Nina led him downstairs to begin his "grand tour" of the town.
Nina was upset. For the last several hours, she had led Zach through the town of Dragnier, showing and telling him everything there was to know about the city. And through it, all not a single soul had spoken to Zach. Everyone they passed avoided eye contact with them, and the few people that Nina waved at would quickly avert their eyes, hurrying on about their business. At first, Nina had been afraid that Zach would feel hurt, but this worry soon gave way to relief when he jokingly pointed out the lengths some people would go to in order to avoid him.
They continued down the street, with Nina explaining everything to him as they walked." And over there is where the library is going to be," she said, pointing to a half-laid foundation and several piles of massive stones," and someday we might even have a magic school…"
"Just a sec," Zach said, interrupting her. He rushed over to help a young man who was struggling with an especially large rock, helping him to place on the others that had been set for the foundation. " Thanks buddy." The man said wiping his face on a dirty handkerchief. "I'm all done here. Say, you ought to come help out sometime. We could always use the extra hand. I mean, Rand can't do everything, right?" He examined Zach for a second, then continued, "Hey you're the new guy, right? I'm gonna go wash up, but afterwards I'm free. You wanna go grab some grub at the main hall?"
" Actually," Nina spoke up from the pile of stones from which she had watched the exchange," I was getting ready to show him the joining room."
" O.K.," said the man, "maybe later then. By the way, the name's Luke." He offered his hand, and Zach shook it warmly" Zachary De'Armone", he replied, smiling." See you later then," Luke said, walking off.
" Well Zach, let's get going," Nina said brightly, inwardly happy that Zach seemed to have made at least one new friend. " O.K." Zach said, wiping the dirt from his hands.
" This, " Nina said grandly," is the Joining Room." Here, our town's resident shamans experiment with joining their powers with different people. Sometimes, the results are rather surprising…"
As if on schedule, a door at the back of the large room swung open, and out came Rand, arguing with a pretty red-headed woman. Slightly behind them, an equally stunning girl with dark blue hair also emerged.
" I'm not gonna try it again!" he said rather hotly. " If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times: it HURTS!"
"Now Rand," the girl said soothingly," you HAVE to try it again. After all, it's just like Granny says: familiarity between souls is the key to…" She trailed off, noticing Zach." Well, hel-lo." She said, looking Zach up and down " And where have you been hiding?" she said, walking over to Zach with one hand resting lightly on her hip. When Zach did not answer, she merely continued on. " Well in any case, now that you are here, why don't you come over to my place and…"
Nina felt her face grow hot" That slut Sana!" she thought angrily. "What does she think she's…" Zach, who quickly turned his back on Sana, spreading his wings slightly to exclude her from the conversation, interrupted Nina's thoughts. " Actually, Nina and I were just getting ready to head over to get something to eat. Isn't that right Nina?" he asked, jolting Nina out of her thoughts." Wha- oh yes." she said uncertainly.
" Great," he said with a smile, and together they left. Sana just sat there, stunned.
Meanwhile, Zach and Nina were making their way, along with most of the rest of the town, towards the huge central building. Nina was explaining to Zach how once a week, everyone in the town got together and ate a huge meal together. Somehow, this was supposed to promote togetherness between all the citizens of the town. Secretly, Zach doubted that this was an effective method, but he kept his doubts to himself. Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks. Nina, noticing the horrified look on his face, followed his gaze, but saw nothing amiss. " What is it, Zach?" she asked hesitantly.
" What are they thinking?" He muttered to himself.
"Zach? What is it?" Nina repeated. " Why is that out in the open like this?" he demanded, pointing to an extremely old, extremely worn statue of a dragon on its haunches.
" Oh, that?" Nina said." Its just an old statue of the Traveler's God…"
"Traveler's God?" Zach repeated, his voice disbelieving." Traveler's God?" He just stared at her for a moment, then shook his head, saying to himself," I must fix this immediately," Nina, worried by his strange behavior, withheld further comment, and they entered the hall without delay.
Zach could hardly believe how many people had packed into the dining hall. Every available seat was now occupied by someone, chatting happily with his or her neighbor. What was more, they were not all human; rather, he saw members of nearly every clan he knew of represented by one or more chattering citizens. As soon as he and Nina entered, the nearest group of people stopped talking, nudging one another and throwing glances in his direction, whispering quickly to one another. Slowly, the whispering spread, and few people were left that weren't giving him all of their attention. Nervously, Zach entered, Nina at his side, suddenly aware in the silence of the audible clack of his clawed feet against the hard stone floor. " Zach! Hey, Zach over here!" Across the room, Luke stood up and waved for him to come over. " I saved you a spot!" Quickly, Zach hurried over to where Luke and a couple of other people were seated. Zach quickly noticed that this was the only area that wasn't packed; instead, there was a visible divide between Luke and his companions and the rest of the hall's occupants. " Hey Zach, are you gonna be O.K. here?"
"Sure." Zach said with a quick smile." O.K." Nina walked back to where Katt and several other young ladies were sitting. Zach watched her go. " So Zach, how was the tour?" Luke asked with a grin.
" She's great," Zach said with a smile.
" Yeah," Luke said, nodding in agreement " she's always been real nice to me. Kinda surprising, really. Ya don't usually meet someone that pretty who's not a total snob."
Another man, with an unpleasant smile, picked up where he left off" Yeah, man, how was it? I tell ya, you lucked out, gettin' to spend the whole day with a pretty piece like her…"
Nina was busy talking with Katt and several other girls. " What were you thinking? I mean, you can look at him and see that there's something weird about him..." said one the girls. Several of the other women at her table were nodding vigorously. " I mean, if I were you, I'd be scared to be alone with him. You never know what he might try to do to you."
" You don't understand," Nina was saying." Zach isn't a bad guy. In fact, I think he's pretty nice."
" Tell that to the Dark Phalanx." Katt muttered. " What did you say?" Nina demanded, her eyes flashing angrily. " Nothing!" Katt said innocently.
" Hey everyone, I think our little princess is in love!" One of the girls said, laughing.
"That's no surprise." Now Sana spoke up, her eyes glittering maliciously. " You might even say it's poetic in a way. Just a case of freak loving freak…"
Suddenly, the whole hall erupted in pandemonium. Zach launched himself across the table, yelling in the most colorful language imaginable. He then proceeded to thrash the man, who was yelling at the top of his lungs for help. Zach then picked the man up , and threw him onto the table, scattering even more food left and right. He then jumped right onto the table and continued pounding the man mercilessly. Several people ran to break up the fight, but suddenly an explosion, followed by the crash of dishes, distracted them. They turned, and were shocked to see Nina, with a look of fury upon her face and the remains of a spell glittering at her fingertips. She yelled something unintelligible, and Sana was sent flying again, this time landing in a large pot of soup. She raised her hands again, and was silenced by a Mute spell thrown by Bleu. Two young men then grabbed her by the arms to keep her from throwing herself bodily at Sana. At the same time, Rand and a couple of frogmen managed to get hold of Zach, who began thrashing around wildly, trying to get loose before finally giving up and letting himself be carried away. All in all, the dinner was a total disaster.
"I just don't know what to say," Chris said, shaking his head. Nina sat in a chair, staring at the ground and letting one foot swing slowly, looking for all the world like an errant schoolgirl caught out-of-bounds. Zach leaned back against the wall, looking slightly removed from it all. Around the room, the other village elders sat or stood, and most of them wore similar expressions to that of Chris, a mix of anger and disgust. " You, Nina, of all people, should be an example for others in the village. I'd have thought that someone of your background would know how to act civilized." He rounded on Zach. " And you. I'm beginning to think that perhaps we were mistaken in letting you stay. After only one day out of the sickbay, you found it necessary to hospitalize one of our most upstanding citizens.( Zach suppressed a snort of laughter.) " What do the two of you have to say?" Nina just stared at the floor, sensing that this was the safest route. Zach, however did not respond in the same way. He merely smiled, and said," Sorry, Chris. Won't happen again."
" Won't happen again?" Bleu echoed, her voice disbelieving. " You stand there, in clothing we gave you, after assaulting an unarmed man in the middle of the Great Hall, and all you have to say is 'Sorry, won't happen again'? You should be on the floor, begging us not to throw you out!" Zach merely shrugged. " If it happens, it happens."
"WHAT!" shrieked Bleu, her eyes widening with rage.
" Bleu, please." Chris said, trying to restore quiet. " Zach," he said." Because you are new here, we will overlook this incident. However, I must remind both you and Nina that there are better ways to solve conflicts." He sat back in his chair, looking tired. "You may go."
Nina and Zach walked out into the cool night air. Nina took a deep breath. " That was close, wasn't it, Zach?" He did not answer. " Zach?" Nina turned to Zach, but he was gone. " Where are you?" she called out, but she heard no reply, except for the sound of the wind in the trees. Puzzled, she turned about, peering into the darkness, but she saw no sign of Zach. Reluctantly, she turned and headed for her quarters.
Out of a cave on Mt Fubi, many sets of eyes watched the lone figure gazing out over the forest far below , its back turned to them. Glok Bigfang, chief of the goblins of the mountain, signaled for quiet to the sixty-odd goblins assembled behind him. The figure did not seem to have realized its peril. Glok grinned wolfishly, and gave the bloodstained blade of his axe a lick. Suddenly, he gave a blood-curdling shriek, and charged out, his scream being echoed by his followers as they surged after him, waving crude spears. Suddenly, the figure stood, and snapped its fingers. There, in its hands, a pale blue light shone, and the light formed a sword blade. The figure was among them then, slashing left and right. The charge faltered, then became a mass of confusion, as tiny goblins flew left and right, several of them being thrown right off the ledge. Roughly fifty of the goblins still fought, however, determined to bring down the lone warrior. The figure waved its hand, and shouted something incomprehensible. The goblin nearest Glok exploded, showering its neighbors with bloody entrails. Another charged forward, and was promptly sliced in half. Between kicks and slashes, the figure would point, and shout, and a goblin would explode. Soon, the goblins began retreating, most of them down the tunnels from whence they came, some running right off the cliffs in their fear, only to fall several hundred feat before splattering on to the rocks below. Those fleeing down the tunnels fared no better, however. As they ran, shrieking, for their holes, a thunderous roar stopped them in their tracks. Looking back, they had only a few seconds to register the wall of water bearing down on them, before they were swept away. Far below, their lifeless bodies were shot out of the lower caves with the force of cannons. Glok gazed at the blood and gore around him in a state of shock. Suddenly, he saw the monstrous, winged figure before him, raising its glowing blade. Glok threw himself at its feet.
" Nono kill Glok!" He sobbed. " Me begood, alla time! Yousee, Yousee!" He groveled shamelessly, begging for his life. " Yoube master, tell Glok: Go! and Glok go! Hedo whatchyou say, allatime!" He looked up fearfully, in time to see the sword coming down. Then he knew only darkness.
The figure shook its head, as if coming out of a dream, and looked about. Seeing the horror around him, he ran and leapt from the cliff, soaring into the night.
Zach sat perched in a tree, sobbing uncontrollably into his bloodstained hands. He sat there, shaking, and let the dark, windy night comfort him.
Glok woke to a throbbing headache, confused as to why he was out on the cliff face. He felt his head, and winced as his finger touched the bloodied lump on the back of it. It all came back to him as he surveyed the carnage surrounding him. 'A new god had been born,' the superstitious goblin decided,' and he had killed Glok's tribe, then allowed Glok to live.Why?' Glok realized: he had been chosen. Glok had sworn servitude, and his new master had accepted. He knew what he had to do. He would carry the message to his people. And one day, all the goblins of the mountains would know the name of Darkwing, his god, and fear. The darkness swallowed him as he ambled off, muttering under his breath.
