Note: Sorry it took so long to get to the next chapter! I'm trying to follow
the events of the game as best I can without actually playing the game itself.
Thanks to anyone and everyone who reviews! They're much appreciated.
Someone brought up the fact that Bunyan could've told Rei about Ryu surviving.
You're exactly right, but in the game, Rei didn't know Ryu was alive. My guess
is that Rei avoided Bunyan, probably figuring Bunyan would say something like
"I told you this would happen," and then put Rei to work chopping
wood.
The Weretiger's Path
Chapter Three: Ogre Road
Rei's journey to McNeil was stalled almost as soon as it had begun. He'd been hurrying down Ogre Road, carelessly not paying attention, when he heard voices ahead. He'd nearly run smack into a couple of travelers, which in itself wasn't too dangerous, except that one of the people he'd almost run into was much, much larger than himself.
Rei dove into the brush and trees alongside the road, wanting to at least get a better look at the travelers. If he was going to get into anything, he should first know what he was getting into.
The travelers didn't seem to have noticed Rei, which was a compliment to his skills. He'd practiced long and hard at being moving fast, being silent, and, most importantly, not being seen or noticed.
The large traveler looked to be a warrior in every sense of the word. Built like a brick wall with massive wings and a gargoyle head, he carried a spear that looked like it could do considerable damaged when handled the right way.
The other traveler was smaller, Rei could tell that much, but he couldn't figure out much else, because the smaller one was on the other side of the larger one, and hard to see with a big gargoyle in the way.
Rei wondered if he could fight them. So far, he'd been completely incapable of telling how much stronger he'd gotten, if any, because he hadn't been in a fight that challenged him.
This looked like a good opportunity to see just how strong he'd gotten.
Rei gulped as he mentally prepared to let his full power loose. He had only minimal control over himself as a weretiger, and could only think the most basic of thoughts.
As he let the weretiger in him loose, he felt his mind get hazy, take on more primal characteristics. He wanted to fight. He wanted blood.
The weretiger leapt out of the bushes, ready to fight anything and everything that breathed. He growled at the travelers that stood before him, challenging them, and they had no choice but to accept.
The weretiger noticed the other traveler- a human, or something like it- was vaguely familiar, but hadn't the sense or the will to place the face.
He struck as the travelers drew their weapons, but only managed a glancing blow on one of them. It didn't matter which he attacked, so long as he connected the hit. The travelers fought back, using their numbers to their advantage. The gargoyle's immense strength wasn't surprising, but the weretiger hadn't anticipated the amount of power coming from the smaller one.
Blood was being spilled, but it was the weretiger's, not the travelers'. The weretiger was losing.
The part of the weretiger's mind that still contained intelligence remembered that he had unfinished business to take care of. He couldn't die here, not today. His purpose was vengeance.
Rei could control himself enough to will himself to leave the travelers. As quickly as the battle had begun, it was over, the weretiger disappearing into the woods and brush in a flash, leaving the travelers to their own devices.
