Note: To avoid confusion, whenever "McNeil" is used, it's in reference to the person and not the village. :)

The Weretiger's Path
Chapter One: Picking up the Trail

Years later…

He always wondered why he never bothered rebuilding the house. Well, actually there were a number of reasons why he hadn't; rebuilding was just one of those things that crossed his mind every so often.

One of the reasons was that he wasn't around very often. He spent day in and day out working on getting stronger, so that when the time came, he would be able to face Balio and Sunder and everyone else and win.

The main reason, though, was that he had Teepo to help him the first time. They'd had a hard time with it, but they also had fun, laughing and joking with each other. Rebuilding alone just wasn't worth it.

Whatever the case, that was all behind him now. His training was over, and he was ready to go. Though, since he was his own trainer, he supposed the official end of his training was an arbitrary one. How was he supposed to know whether or not he was really ready?

Well, if he died in the process, then he'd be dead, and there wouldn't be much he could do about it.

Under the cover of darkness, turning his back on the charred ruins, he set off down the path through the Cedar Woods.


Rei always took special care to avoid town. He'd largely forgiven the townspeople and accepted them as the fickle, weak-minded people they were, but he couldn't help resenting them for it.

They were small fries, anyways. And what kind of person goes after women and children? He was a monster, not aOh. Huh. Well, he wasn't that kind of monster.

He made his way to McNeil Manor and hopped the fence. Breaking in nowadays was a lot easier, though the security had been stepped up. All one had to do, though, was avoid being seen and making noise.

He jumped onto the roof and went to the section above the McNeil's rooms, then sat down. He'd done this every day for a month, trying to get information without really having to do anything. He could go after McNeil now, but that would alert the rest of the syndicate to his presence, and he might not get the information he needed.

The voices were faint, but if he breathed quietly enough, he could hear the them clear enough.

"Mikba's a patient man, but you're pushing it," one voice said. Rei'd heard the voice before. He appeared (Sounded, that is. Rei hadn't actually seen him.) to be McNeil's contact with the rest of the syndicate.

"I need more time," McNeil said, just short of pleading. "That nosy princess from Wyndia's been investigating me, and I can't operate at normal levels without her catching wind. There's nothing I can do until I convince her there's nothing going on."

"Are you saying one little princess nosing around has resulted in a 95 drop in shipments to Syn City? Pathetic!"

"But it isn't just the princess! She's got a whole team with her!"

"You'd better throw her off and get those shipments back up soon, or she just might catch you, if you get my drift."

Rei leaned closer to the edge of the roof, trying to hear better. He leaned a little too far, started to tip over, but caught himself in time. What a mistake that would have been! He could have blown the whole thing!

He listened some more, but heard nothing. The gangster had probably left after the final threat.

Syn City. Could that be the syndicate's headquarters? It was one of their bases, at least. And Mikba. Mikba was ranked higher than McNeil, at least.

He sat on McNeil's roof for a while longer, thinking his options over.

He still didn't have enough information. He didn't know who Mikba was, what was going on in Syn City, or what Balio and Sunder were up to. But he knew where he could find out more.

Rei ran along the rooftop, jumped down, dodged the guards, and was well on his way to Syn City by sunrise.