OOC: You know, it's really odd...I can't seem to write about BoF2 very well right now...Writer's Block is manifesting itself in a very bad way...So please don't think much if this chapter's quality is bad...Hey, at least I'm writing something again...Would y'all rather have me write longer chapters and take more time, or shorter chapters that are more frequent?

"D-Death?" Bleu stuttered, stopping in her tracks. She received a grunt from Ryu as a response, and assumed that was a "yes". "Ryu...You-You can't possibly..." her sentence went unfinished as she stared at the back of Ryu's head as he walked farther and farther away. "Ryu, the Woren!" Bleu finally managed to shout. "Talk to them and at least get your things sorted before you go!"

That made Ryu stop. He slowly turned around, the look on his face unreadable, and walked towards the hut where the Worens resided at a brisk pace. Relieved that she had gotten to Ryu before he had done something idiotic, like throw himself off a cliff just to meet Death, she followed him wordlessly.

Ryu kicked the door open, walking into the house. Or, to be more accurate, he kicked a hole through it. Splinters went flying, and Ryu cursed as he kicked outwards a second time, making the door slide off his boot. He was eyed by all the Worens as if he were drunk and violent, but none approached him. Finally, a tall, bulky one came up to Ryu. "Do you have business with us?" asked the tall and furry man.

Ryu replied, "Yes. Can you please get out?" Ryu was barely able to contain his impatience. He didn't want to be wasting his time trying to convince a group of Worens to leave.

The supposed leader said, "You must jest, Destined Child."

Ryu growled, "No, not jesting. What, am I supposed to know something?"

The leader's eyes widened. "Come with me. I will explain," he said, holding out a hand to signal that Ryu should follow him, as he took a step through the door. Ryu hesitated for just a moment, then shrugged at walked through the doorway after the Woren. "I am Lyon," said the Woren, after a while, as they took a walk around the village of Township. "I am sorry for my impertinence earlier. I assumed that Katt would have told you all about it before she...Perished."

Ryu stopped him at this. "What do you mean?" he queried. "How exactly did...She...die?" It even hurt to say her name...

Lyon took a while before talking again. "She...Well...We don't really know who. However, there were visible wounds all over her body and the edge of her staff was tinged with blood. We'd guess that she wouldn't maul herself and then bleed to death, so something...Or someone...Attacked her. Judging from her wounds no wild animal could have done it. No Woren or man could have done it, either. The clues say that magic did not cause her death. And one can guess that she probably got a hit in against her assassin before dying...I wonder...Do any of your dragon friends roam free?" Lyon asked, ending his thoughts.

Ryu gave him a ferocious glare. If looks could kill, that one would maim, torture, bind, choke, and cause, in general, great pain to the one on the receiving end. "No," Ryu said shortly.

"Anyway," said Lyon, continuing as if he hadn't noticed that he had just offended Ryu (and perhaps he had not), "The Worens are on bad terms with the Simafortians at the moment...Something about one of our fishermen fishing in their area. The nerve of them, accusing us of that! Those slimy, green, idiotic - Ah...But I'm straying off-topic. Back to the subject, there was a small battle against us Worens and those Simafortians. We all fought bravely, and beat them back. Don't listen to anything that they might tell you. But, would you believe it, they poisoned our commander! Now the Worens are mostly divided, half saying to replace our great general, who has seen us through many battles, and the other saying that we should keep him at his current position and that he will eventually recover on his own. I've seen him in person, and I know that he won't be able to get better on his own. If you noticed, there was a surprisingly large amount of Worens that volunteered to bring your friend's body to you...We all just want to get away from all the conflict, and perhaps we can seek out an antidote while we're out."

Ryu mulled this over as they completed their lap around the town and arrived back at the pub, the sun's last rays piercing through the clouds and coloring the town orange. When Bleu asked what Lyon had talked to him about, Ryu simply repeated Lyon's words, without adding any comment of his own. After watching Ryu for any reaction, Bleu elbowed Ryu lightly in the ribs. "Aren't you supposed to be a hero?" she asked. "Come on, let's help them."

Ryu shrugged. "Well, it's too late to do anything right now..."

Lyon seemed to have been waiting for Ryu to volunteer to help, for before Ryu finished his sentence, Lyon turned around and protested, "But the cave that should have the antidote is right by your town!" Seeing Ryu's expression, he added hastily, "I just got word from a scout. There's a cave nearby, and a there's a type of fruit that grows and best matures at night, at high altitudes. Supposedly, that'll cure our leader, and we'll be able to leave. Can you help us get it?"

Ryu groaned. He had been looking forward to being able to formulate a plan for what he would do to rescue his friends...And Katt...But now, he would have to help Lyon...Sometimes being the hero was a real pain.

The sun was almost down by the time Ryu approached the mountain where Lyon's fruit, supposedly, grew. It was a new mountain that had seemingly simply risen out of the earth, which made it suspicious, but as there had been no activity near it for a while, no one had given it a second thought. As Ryu climbed, grabbing onto ledges, precariously far above the ground, he wondered if Bleu was having a harder time than him. Looking beneath him, he got his answer. Bleu was hauling herself up easily, her snake lower half providing an oddly large amount of traction and keeping her steady. Disgruntled, Ryu continued to climb, attempting to ignore the pain in his shoulder when a small rock fell down upon it. There was a sudden cawing above, and Ryu looked up, trying to pinpoint the sound amidst the dark sky above, lit only by the crescent moon and a few stars. He soon found it. A group of ravens...They all had a malevolent look in their eyes, and Ryu had an odd premonition that they had been dispatched to attack him. His feeling was soon confirmed as several dive-bombed at Ryu. He swung his sword with one hand, holding on to a ledge that stuck out of the smooth rock with the other. "Geroffame!" yelled Ryu, afraid he would fall. The birds retreated, cowed by the silver blade Ryu was brandishing at them, and flew back into the sky. Ryu was able to take only a few steps upward before the next wave of ravens came down upon him. In this slow manner, it took hours to climb a mountain that was small enough to warrant only one hour or two to climb, Ryu's temper was tested when he noticed that the ravens were only attacking him, and that they were leaving Bleu alone. Eventually, though, the duo reached the top of the mountain, and came upon a small clearing. Ryu's breathing was fast, and he took small breaths, though that was not because of the hard climb up. The altitude, supposedly, was affecting him. But they weren't that high up...Ryu's thoughts flickered to the ravens. "Bleu..." he murmured. "Get rid of the ravens..." Bleu raised her staff and gestured at the ravens. A moment later, a relatively small fireball careened out of the sky and rammed into at least three-fourths of their number. After emitting some very loud, raucous squawks, the ravens left Bleu and Ryu alone. Immediately, the weight that had been crushing down upon his chest, making it hard to breathe, disappeared. "Thanks," he muttered to Bleu.

"You're always welcome, Ryu," she replied. She was in an oddly happy mood, though Ryu suspected it was because she was trying to cheer him up. Well, it was a nice gesture.

The two walked towards the small tree that grew in the center of the clearing, surrounded by many other, even smaller trees. They plucked a few fruit from the largest tree, the one in the center, and turned to leave. "Bleu," Ryu started.

"Don't worry, Ryu. I know where we're going this time, so I can Warp us there,"said the sorceress in answer to his saying her name.

"No...It's not that. Look," said Ryu, pointing at something that was at the edge of the other side of the mountain. Bleu looked, and gasped. It was an arm, trying to pull itself up. Ryu quickly consulted his Dragon's Tear. Even at a distance, it judged the arm as an evil entity. He quickly showed it to Bleu. Bleu nodded, and Warped both of them to Township before the creature on the other side of the arm showed itself...

OOC: Poll: Would you rather see a happy ending, a happy ending with foreshadowing, or a tragic ending?