Smoke and Mirrors

Prologue - Part 2

Winhill is a sleepy little village nestled in between some mountains on the southern continent of Galbadia. Some would say that it was as xenophobic as the secret city of Esthar due to its seclusion from the outside world. People here lived a relaxed life, and the few who knew how to use weapons rarely ever had to use them except for the odd monster that found its way into the village. This made the village perfect for the little boy.

It had been approximately a year since he woke up beside that lake. He had lived as best he knew how. He lived off the charity of those few generous people that were still left in this world. And for those that were not as generous? He would often sneak into homes when those that lived there were away; stealing what food he needed to live. For shelter at night he would find suitable spots in the wilderness to set up a makeshift camp. He wouldn't think to do so now, but later in life he would thank that old man that took him on those camping trips in his home village and taught him a little bit about survival. When he was lucky he would hide in the odd chocobo stable and in the haylofts of the barns he could find and sleep. Restful sleep didn't come often too him though; as memories of that tragic night would sometimes plague him in his sleep. Never the less, he pressed on, always moving as far away as he could from where he woke up that fateful day.

During his travels he noticed several odd changes in him. Most noticeably was an inexplicable increase in speed and stamina. Which saved his life more than he would care to count when monsters gave chase or when people caught him stealing. He found that he could see well enough even on moonless nights to travel un-inhibited. Ears would detect the faintest of sounds, giving him early warnings against nearby monsters. He had chalked all of this up to having to live on the road, and thus having to adapt to stay alive. But he couldn't help but feel that it was much more than that. It was something almost un-natural.

Whenever he pondered this the memory of the blood red eyes and fangs he saw in the lake's surface would come up. And he would dismiss everything immediately with a shudder.

He had finally reached the coast and stowed away on a ship, crossing the ocean that separated the southern coast of Galbadia and the small islands that were scattered on the northwestern edge of the Centra continent. It was by this means that he found himself in Winhill now. The open roadside shops provided many opportunities to steal what food and supplies he needed. He had been doing this for a few days now without the merchants noticing a thing.

It was on this day that he found himself hiding in the shadows of a few shipment crates ready to steal what food he could when the coast was clear. He was about ready to make his move when he heard footsteps coming down the cobblestone road accompanied by voices. He ducked back into the shadows just in time not to be seen by whoever they were. He listened in on the conversation the strangers were having. Soon curiosity had him peeking around the edge of the crate to see who they were.

One was a tall man. Long brown hair flowed down over his blue cloak. Under the cloak was a white shirt, with white pants and black boots completing his wardrobe. The shorter one was a young girl. Similarly long blonde hair with a green dress that ended around mid thigh. White stockings started from her knees and went down to green shoes that matched her dress. His curiosity urged him along even more, and he found himself creeping around to the crate that was nearest too them to listen in on the conversation.

"So, what will it be tonight?" the man asked the young girl.

The girl looked around at the shop's selection for a few moments. "Well, we had chicken twice already this week…' She looked around a few more moments, unable to decide.

The man looked at the selection, trying to help out. "Well, looks like they have a new shipment of broccoli in. Something vegetarian tonight?"

The girl made a disgusted face, sticking her tongue out. "Eww. You know I hate broccoli."

Not eating something because you didn't like its taste. The boy could remember a time that he had such luxury.

A grin slowly grew on the man's face. "Well, we could always go to the restaurant and bring home a pizza."

The girl narrowed her eyes and looked to the man. "Oh no you don't. You know what Annet said. You need to cut back on the greasy foods. They're not healthy. And besides, lately it seems you're outgrowing your belt." The girl poked the man in the stomach to emphasize her point.

The man looked at her with mock offense. "Hey! I'll have you know I'm in the best shape I've ever been in. Have you forgotten who kills the most monsters in this town? I need all of those greasy and unhealthy foods to keep my energy up."

"Yeah, sure you do." the girl said while rolling her eyes, turning her attention back to the selection before her.

Meanwhile the boy had grown bored with their banter, and used the distraction to sneak off to the side of the main display. A bucket of apples was sitting on the floor to the side, not yet put up in the main display by the merchant, and he was busy pocketing as many as he could. He had just grabbed his last one when the pile of apple that rose above the rim of the bucket became unstable, sending apples rolling in all directions on the ground. He didn't stick around to see if anyone noticed, and took off toward the woods in a run.

The girl looked over quickly to her left, startled by the sudden avalanche of apples, and noticed a figure running towards the woods. She also noticed the apple dropping from his hand and her eyes grew wide with realization.

"Thief!" the girl cried out, and took off into a run after the boy.

The man stood there for a few seconds, confused by all of the commotion. Finally realizing what was happening he took off after the girl and the apple thief. "He..hey! Wait up!" he shouted, trying to keep up.

The boy was ducking under and bounding over any obstacle that was in his way with grace and ease. This wasn't the first time he was caught red handed. He had eluded many in his escapades. Women had chased him wielding the brooms they were using to clean with when they caught him. Men had chased him with more conventional weapons though, pitchforks and so forth. Some even had guns and took shots at him, but he was always too far out of sight for them to get a decent aim. There was something fundamentally different about this chase, and he realized this as he took a look over his shoulder. This girl was keeping up with him.

The girl in question was ducking under and bounding over any obstacle in her way with just as much grace and ease as the boy showed. Eyes narrowed in determination she picked up her pace and started gaining on the boy, that was until a noise off to her right distracted her long enough to not see the tree root she tripped and fell over. She twisted her ankle as she fell, and when she tried to get up it proved itself useless by the pain shooting up through her leg. She would've punched something, yelled, or done anything else she could think to do out of frustration if it weren't for the sight before her. The owner of the noise that distracted her made its appearance before her. A caterchipiller had found its supper for the night.

The boy took one more look over his shoulder and found the girl was no longer chasing him. Slowing to a stop he leaned against a tree to catch his breath while taking out one of the apples he had stolen from the merchant. He had eaten almost three quarters of the apple when he heard the scream. He looked up quickly, back down the path he had been running down. Standing still for a few seconds he slowed his breathing so he could hear better. He heard the scream again.

"Help!"

He recognized the voice. It was that girl at the merchant that was chasing him. Was she that far back? He didn't know when she lost his trail. All he knew was that she was gaining on him, so he ran that much harder. "Should I go and help her?" he asked himself. He took a few moments to think. He might get caught if he helped her. He'd get turned over to whatever authorities they had. What would happen to him then? And the man she was with, he was chasing them too, wasn't he? Surely he'd help her out with whatever was wrong. His mental debate continued until he heard her scream again.

"Help!"

His eyes immediately looked up and narrowed. The decision was made. And as the almost eaten apple fell from his hand to the ground he ran down the path the way he came.

The caterchipiller was closing in on it prey, and the girl was backing up as far as she could, mentally cursing her luck. "I just had to leave my daggers at home today, didn't I?" she mentally scolded herself. "Even with a twisted ankle, if I still had my daggers I could rip the thing a new a.." She didn't have time to finish the thought as the giant worm reared back, showing its full set of pointy and sharp teeth and drooling out of the corner of its mouth. It seemed to take its time, savoring the moment. Finally it started to close in, and the girl closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable until…

Thunk

The caterchipiller hissed and lost its balance, rolling over. The girl's eyes shot open in time to see a rock rolling across the ground and the caterchipiller writhing back and forth trying to right itself. Out of the right corner of her eye she saw a figure leaping into the air, wielding something over his head. "That boy!" she thought. 'It's the same boy that stole the apples! And…is that a stick in his hands?"

The girl looked on in awe as the small boy, smaller than her, pounced on the back of the disoriented worm, letting out a battle cry as he beat the beast in the back of the head with his stick. The caterchipiller screeched and jerked around violently, easily throwing the small boy off. The boy landed with ease though, and was back on his feet in the same second. The caterchipiller had finally righted itself and faced to boy that dared interrupt its dinner. It charged for the boy, attempting to crush him with its weight. The boy deftly leapt out of the way though, gabbing the stick into the beat's side as it came by him, causing it to screech again. The boy took the initiative as the caterchipiller tried to recover, jumping on top of the beast's body facing its head. Rearing back the boy took aim and jabbed the stick into the worm's eye, making the beast howl in pain. Jerking around violently the caterchipiller succeeded in knocking the boy off again. The boy was back on his feet again with in-human speed, but the worm was ready with an offensive and spewed sticking tendrils of webbing from its lower abdomen at the boy's feet, locking him in place. The boy looked down in surprise, trying in vain to dislodge his feet.

"Look out!"

The boy looked up in time to see the caterchipiller swing its body around at a high speed, striking him on the right side of his body, ripping his feet from the webbing that held him to the ground and sending him through the air crashing into a nearby tree. The boy lay on the ground, trying to catch the breath that was knocked out of him as the caterchipiller slowly made its way over to him. The beast would have two meals tonight.

The boy tried to raise himself off of the ground, arms shaking with the exertion. With blurry vision he looked up through the stands of hair that now covered his face at the giant worm making its way over to him. He could almost smell the thing's putrid breath. But if one could look into the boy's eyes at the moment they wouldn't see fear, they would see anger, rage, and any other emotion that a young child in this position shouldn't be feeling.

Thump-Thump

A familiar sound filled his ears. He could hear his blood rushing through his ears. And it sounded like his heart had moved from his chest to his head and began beating as loud as it could.

Thump-Thump

Ears sharpened, allowing him to hear everything around him. From the insects under the bark of the tree behind him to the birds in the sky miles above him.

Thump-Thump

Eyesight began to sharpen. Anyone who could see his eyes would swear that it looked like blood was seeping into them. Taking away the natural color of his eyes and replacing them with dark red.

Thump-Thump

He could feel his gums in him mouth stretching. Allowing room for the normal canines in his mouth to grow. And as he opened his mouth, vicious looking fangs shown, accompanied by a low, in-human, guttural growl. All in defiance of the creature that dared try to prey on him.

Thump…WHA-CRACK

Blood red eyes darted to the left fast enough to see something silver and thin fly through the air and imbed itself into the caterchipiler's side. The beast let out a painful howl as the weapon dislodged itself and returned to its master with a simple flick of his wrist. The long, brown haired man from before ran to the side, getting the caterchipiller's attention away from the girl and boy and onto himself. The beast was severely wounded now, but made one last attempt and charged at the new combatant. A loud snap was heard, and the bladed end of the brown haired man's whip found itself lodged into the flesh between the beast's eyes. The caterchipiller fell over, and the man returned his whip with another flick of his wrist, causing a small spray of blood to come out of the beast's head with the action.

The boy looked on at the scene before him. He saw the creature fall to its death as the blood in his veins slowed along with his beating heart. He looked on as his hearing dulled and the giant worm's haggard breathing stopped. He saw the monster's blood begin to pool around its body as his vision became blurry. He saw the man coil his whip as he felt his gums close in around the fangs that were retracting themselves. And finally, he looked over at the girl, who was staring at the monster's corpse. And she looked over at him, just in time to see him collapse to the ground and pass out.

The girl crawled over to the boy and gently rolled him over. Blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth and she could hear a wheeze in his breathing. The man took one last look at the caterchipiller and walked over to the girl as she cradled the young boy's head.

"Are you alright?" he asked her as he crouched down beside her. Looking her over for any obvious injuries and then to the boy who's head rested in her lap.

"Yeah…" she said in between breaths. "Twisted my ankle pretty good. But that's it." She looked down at the boy again, concern written on her face "Its him we should be worried about. He took a pretty hard hit."

The man nodded and looked down at the boy again, a million and one questions filling his head.

"He'll die if we don't do something Richter. We have to help him." She looked up to the man, eyes pleading.

The man, Richter, nodded once more, and as gently as he could lifted the small boy onto his shoulder. After situating him he extended his hand to the girl to help her up.

"Come on Maria, we'll take him back to our place."