:A/N: Thank you, Captain Spam and MadHat886, for being my only reviewers thus far. There will be character development, a little in this chapter, but mostly in the next and final chapter. This is a long chapter. I also took some creative liberties with the Flame Champion; he was never really defined as a character in the game. Thank you for your time.
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"The Flame Champion? How? You're supposed to be dead!" Kamiri exclaimed.
He looked at her with sorrowful brown eyes. "I am."
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Part Two: A Fifty-Year Mistake…And Thirty True Runes.
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"You know that a long time ago, fifty years to be precise, a war raged between Grasslands and Holy Harmonia, right? And that war ended with a mysterious explosion, right?" Hikaru and Kamiri nodded while Katsumi just stared blankly. "Well, there's a bit more to the story than that…"
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"So you mean we were summoned here to fight in this war?" Hikaru asked thoughtfully.
"And you made some miscalculation that sent us to fifty years after it ended." Kamiri finished with a bored look on her face. The Flame Champion nodded solemnly.
"I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you." He avoided their gazes by staring at the ground.
"I've got a question!" Katsumi thrust her hand into the air as if the damp cave were a classroom. The Fame Champion lifted his head to look at her. "Um, everyone calls you 'the flame champion'. What's your real name?" She asked him, putting her hand down. Surprise washed over his face before reddening with embarrassment.
"Ah! I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself! My name is Haku." He bowed deeply to the three girls.
"Flame Champion—no, Haku, How is it that you are standing here in front of us like this?" Kamiri asked the question that was on both her and Hikaru's minds. Haku stood upright again and pointed his index finger at Katsumi.
"Serra. The shaman rune," He sighed. Katsumi looked at her right hand with curiosity. "It has the power to summon restless spirits into a physical form. I'm basically alive now, but not quite. The Serra Rune, along with the other two new true runes, can send you home."
"New true runes?" Hikaru and Kamiri exclaimed in unison. Haku held his hands up in defense.
"It was a safety precaution. There is one for each of you." Haku pointed at Kamiri. "Yours is Torrent, the spirit rune, and yours," he pointed to Hikaru, "Is Faren, the time rune."
Hikaru's face lit up. "Cool! So you can give them to us now so we can leave, right?" Haku laughed nervously.
"Well, you see," he scratched the back of his head nervously. "They kind of got scattered when you were summoned." Hikaru's face fell. "And I don't have a clue as to where they are."
"Man, you really screwed up, didn't you?" Katsumi chimed, fidgeting with the rune in her hand. Haku let out a sigh.
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to find the runes before you can go home." Kamiri stepped forward and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. A look of fear flashed across his face.
"You got us into this mess, and you're gonna help us out of it! You got that?" Kamiri was fuming
"But, I-" All Hikaru and Katsumi could do was watch as the helpless Flame Champion was getting scolded by their support character.
"But nothing! Come on!" Kamiri stomped back down the damp tunnel to the elevator, dragging Haku behind her. Katsumi and Hikaru looked at each other and shrugged, then followed the other two down the passage.
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When they emerged from the dungeons, it was dark and crickets were chirping. Katsumi was completely confused.
"Were we really down there that long?" She asked. Haku nodded (he had been released from Kamiri's wrath when they reached the elevator).
Hikaru walked quietly to the stairs and saw something move. She drew her sword and shield and moved into a fighting stance. "Who's there?"
The 'thing' jumped in surprise and put up his hands defensively. "I-I'm sorry!" Hikaru put away her weapons and signaled to the others.
"It's just Thomas." She calmed down and the other three came up behind her.
"I couldn't sleep. Did you find your room?" Thomas asked. Kamiri shook her head.
"Actually, could you show us there? We got a bit lost."
Thomas nodded. "Of course," Then, noticing Haku, He added "I thought there were only three of you." Haku opened his mouth and was about to say something when Kamiri cut him off.
"He's our traveling companion. He showed up a little after we did." Kamiri shrugged; it wasn't a total lie. Thomas nodded and motioned for them to follow him up the stairs.
He walked down the hall and stopped in front of a heavy oak door. He turned to the four and sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't know there was another in your group," He paused. "This room only has three beds, and all the other rooms were filled in your absence."
"We'll make do. We won't be here too long." Haku said before Kamiri could stop him. She frowned as she followed the three into the room.
The room was empty save for the three beds, a cupboard, and a window facing the lake, but it was homey nonetheless. Haku looked around a bit before walking over to the cupboard against the wall and taking out a heavy blanket. He selected a spot on the floor and sat down."I'll sleep on the floor," he paused. "After all, it was my fault that you are stuck here."
Kamiri nodded in agreement before selecting the bed closest to the window and shooed a calico cat off its heavy, crème-colored covers. There was an odd feeling that she couldn't shake off, as if something bad was going to happen. The others seemed a bit more concerned with sleep than strange feelings, as Katsumi and Hikaru chose their beds and sat down upon them.
Katsumi got up and walked over to the cupboard, scrounging around for something. Apparently she found what she was looking for, as she turned around and looked at Haku.
"Um, Haku? Could you wait outside for a moment?" She asked, smiling.
"Of course." Haku nodded his head and, using his staff for leverage, stood. The instant he left the room, Katsumi let out a relieved sigh.
"Finally! I'm not spending another second in this dress, let alone sleep in it!" She turned around and produced three white satin nightgowns. "That Thomas guy must be loaded to be able to afford this stuff!"
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Haku stood outside diligently, thinking to himself. 'They're right, it is my fault that they're stuck here. It's the least I can do to accompany them.'
"You can come back in now!" came the muffled voice of Katsumi from behind the door. Haku was just a bit curious as to why he had been sent outside in the first place, but the instant he set foot into the room again, he knew. The girls' clothing was thrown sloppily into the corner in a large pile and snowy satin nightgowns had taken their place on the three girls' bodies. Haku blushed lightly and averted his gaze.
"Honestly, I prefer black, but beggars can't be choosers." Kamiri said with a grin.
Hikaru turned her head to look at Haku, "Would you like us to leave the room while you change into something a bit more fit for sleeping?"
He shook his head and held up his hands defensively. "Truthfully, I have no need for such earthly luxuries such as rest or comfort,"
"The whole 'being dead' thing, right?" Katsumi added. He nodded.
"Although, I do miss them. I've forgotten what a good meal tastes like too."
"So, what? Are you going to just stand guard all night?" Kamiri asked.
"I can sleep, I just have no need for it. But, I think I will tonight," He smiled innocently. "It's been so long, I've forgotten what it feels like!" He laughed.
"I wanna go to bed!" Katsumi wailed, blissfully unaware of the glare of disapprovement coming from their scarlet-haired strategist.
"Well, I guess we'll see each other in the morning, then." Hikaru stated simply and tucked herself into her own bed. The other two girls mimicked the action similarly, each getting into her own bed, and off to sleep.
Haku scanned the scene in front of him with a forced smile, found his spot on the floor, and, placing his staff next to him, drifted off.
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He awoke to the sound of clinking metal, not unlike armor. He shifted his brown eyes upward and saw the source of the sound. Hikaru was fastening the orange metal skirt to the bottom of her breastplate. He pushed himself up and looked around, seeing the other two adding the last touches to their outfits as well.
"Oh! You're awake! About time." Katsumi said, tying the indigo sash around her waist.
"We should leave soon. This is the home base of the 108 stars, so you never know when they'll be here. We should probably avoid Budehuc as much as possible from now on." Kamiri added, pulling on a slipper.
Hikaru nodded. "The closest town is Iksay, but considering the state it's in, I don't think it wise to go there now."
"Our best bet would be to go through Yaza Plains to Brass Castle. Great Hollow is closer, but with Haku, we'd draw too much attention there." Kamiri stated.
"To Brass Castle, then." Haku said, getting to his feet with the aid of his staff.
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The four walked at a fairly slow pace down the stairs in front of the mansion. Haku led the way into the courtyard.
"Hikaru, what are you doing?" Katsumi asked, noticing the swordswoman digging through a small pouch.
"Thomas was kind enough to let us stay for the night. The least we can do is pay him."
"But where did you get that money?"
Hikaru grinned widely. "I took it from those dead Karayan fighters back at Iksay." Katsumi gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
"You WHAT?"
She shrugged. "Well, it's not like they were going to use it anyway."
They were suddenly stopped when they slammed into Haku's back.
"Hey! What's the big-" Kamiri started, but then noticed the look on his face. He was staring straight ahead, directly at a group of heavily armored men crowded around the landlord, Thomas.
The color drained from her face. "The Zexen Knights. The story's advancing faster than I thought," She turned her head to face the other two girls. "We need to find a way around those knights without being noticed."
"How about jumping the wall?" Haku suggested.
"Sounds like a plan." Hikaru said before running to her right, towards a low part of the wall. The others followed her, crouching low to avoid being seen. Kamiri swore that a certain dark-haired knight stole a glance in their direction.
'I just hope that Percival doesn't pay us any mind…'
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Back on the road, the group was in slightly higher spirits than the previous day. Yaza Plain was much more peaceful going east, and part of the reason was probably due to the fact that they actually knew where they were going, and because they had someone new to talk to. Katsumi kept asking Haku about things that the other two girls thought as common knowledge of the world, but then, Katsumi had never played the game. Haku seemed happy enough to answer her questions, though, so it was okay. Apparently, he was enjoying simply having a conversation with a living being. Another reason, at least to Kamiri, was the fact that no giant blue birds were suddenly jumping on her.
"Oh no!" Hikaru exclaimed from behind the rest of them, causing them to turn around and stare at her. "I forgot to pay Thomas for the room!"
"It's okay. Besides, it's probably for the better, anyway. The less we interfere with the game's flow, the better. We don't know what could happen if we changed anything." Kamiri said good-humoredly.
"ACHOOOO!" A loud 'thud' sounded from behind them.
The color drained from Kamiri's face for the second time that day. "Oh no… not her…" She slowly turned her head to see behind her.
Sitting there, rubbing her head, was a young girl. She wore a white and blue dress and had long, black hair.
"Viki." Hikaru and Kamiri said simultaneously.
The girl, 'Viki', lifted her head to see who was addressing her. "Yes, that's me." Her bright green eyes scanned the four before asking: "Have we met before?"
"Sort of…" Hikaru said hesitantly. Viki got to her feet quickly and hopped up and down.
"Ooh! Ooh! Where are you going? I can teleport you there!" She said, raising her staff above her head.
"East." Said Haku, unsure with his words. Viki's eyes lit up.
"East? East? I can take you east!"
"Can you? See, we want to go to somewhere called 'Brass Castle.'" Katsumi said happily, the others rapidly shaking their heads 'no'.
"Brass Castle, is it? I'll take you there!" She said happily. "SHAZZAM!"
Before anyone could object, they found themselves in a pile, on top of a mound of burnt ruins. The four (minus Viki) untangled themselves from each other and stood up, coughing and dusting themselves off.
"Oh! Now you've gone and done it! You just had to let the incompetent teleportress go and send us off to some remote-" Hikaru began scolding Katsumi, when she noticed Haku. He was staring at the wreckage around him, eyes wide. It was his turn to have the color drained from his face.
Katsumi had a concerned look in her eyes. "Haku? Are you all right?"
"This is… Where are we?" He asked, struggling with his words.
"Karaya. One of the six clans of Grasslands. I'd completely forgotten about it." Kamiri said to herself, realization setting in. "The original Fire Bringer was from Grasslands. Haku…"
He closed his eyes. "Did… did any of them make it?"
Hikaru nodded. "Most of them. The survivors are in the Great Hollow, so they'll be fine."
Haku let out a deep breath. "What about Wyatt Lightfellow?"
"Jimba? He's with the Karayans. He's fine." Kamiri said, trying to lighten Haku's mood. Haku laughed a little at this.
"Wyatt… You never could keep him down. Him or Geddoe." Haku let out another sigh, and turning to face the girls, plastered a smile on his face. "Well, let's get moving then. We'll never find the runes just standing around."
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Katsumi asked quietly. He nodded at this.
"Since we were heading east in the first place, we may as well go to Le Buque. We can stock up on supplies there and start searching in Mt. Senai for the runes." Haku said, facing east.
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"You know, I was wondering about these 'true runes' you guys made," Kamiri started as they walked along the dirt path eastward.
"Hmm?" Haku nodded.
"I mean, how is that possible? The 27 Runes of Truth were created when the 'Sword' and 'Shield' destroyed each other, right? So it's impossible to just make another one, let alone three, unless you re-created another battle of that same magnitude."
Haku laughed lightly. "Well, you see, we only call them 'true runes,' but they're nothing that glamorous. They won't grant you immortality or anything."
"Then how?" Hikaru asked, curious as well. Haku looked thoughtful for a minute, then turned back to the three.
"Normal runes can be created from alchemy and the help of another rune. The more powerful the helper rune, the more powerful the new rune will be, you understand? Well, only a few people can perform this sort of alchemy, and they are called 'rune sages'. I believe you're familiar with them?" Haku asked, noting the runes on Hikaru's and Katsumi's bodies. Hikaru and Kamiri nodded. "Well, we--Geddoe, Wyatt, and I-- had these special runes commissioned by a particularly talented rune sage by the name of Jeane. These three were extremely powerful—much more than normal runes—because we used our own true runes as helper runes. Jeane is a truly wonderful woman, for her, it's business first, ask questions never."
Hikaru rolled her eyes. "Weren't you married when you were alive? Show some respect!"
Haku laughed. "Sorry. Anyway, that's how your runes were created. They're special, much more powerful than normal runes, but nowhere near as powerful as a real true rune."
Kamiri place a finger to her lips. "I guess that makes sense."
As they continued onward, the scenery changed drastically. The lush fields of the Grasslands had given way to a rocky brown path that twisted up through jagged mountains.
"I hate hiking!" Katsumi wailed, pouting slightly. The other three laughed at her to her dismay.
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The hike was mostly uneventful. They did, however, run across a bunch of killer butterflies that were easily disposed of with Haku's fire magic. One thing that Hikaru had noticed was that Haku didn't have the True Fire Rune in his right hand, but in its place was a Rage rune, which was only one step above a normal fire rune. She pointed this out to the others, but Haku explained to her that it would be impossible for both him and his successor to have the same rune at the same time. She seemed satisfied with this answer and the subject never came up again.
The only interesting thing that actually happened on this desolate path was an encounter with a group of dragon knights.
"Oh, cool! A dragon!" Katsumi exclaimed at the sight of a white dragon not much taller than herself. The dragon cocked its large head at her, then turned around and walked around a curve in the rock face and out of sight. Katsumi followed it gleefully.
"Shouldn't we stop her?" Haku asked, concerned.
Hikaru shook her head. "It's alright. That dragon belongs to Futch, so we don't need to worry about Katsumi."
The three (Haku, Hikaru and Kamiri) rounded the bend to see Katsumi talking to a man with brown hair and appeared to be in his mid-twenties (although, truthfully, he was somewhere in his thirties), and a girl about Katsumi's age with blonde hair and an orange headband. The white dragon from before was standing next to the man, who was stroking its thick neck. He saw the two girls plus Haku come from the same direction as Katsumi, and greeted them.
"Hello! Is this girl a companion of yours?" He asked good-naturedly.
Haku nodded. "Her name's Katsumi. She's our friend."
"She likes dragons, and has never seen a real one before." Hikaru explained.
"You're Futch, right?" Kamiri asked. A look of confusion crossed his face.
"Have we met before?" He asked innocently. Kamiri shook her head.
"No, but your reputation as a Dragon Knight precedes you." He nodded, satisfied. "It was nice meeting you, but we really must be going." Kamiri added, tugging lightly at Katsumi's sleeve.
"Aw, do we have to go?" Katsumi pouted.
"Yes, Katsumi." Hikaru said, continuing down the path towards Le Buque.
Kamiri and Haku followed her, and after one more look at the white dragon, Katsumi did the same.
"What a strange group…" Said the girl standing next to Futch. Bright, the dragon, let out a 'kuee' in agreement.
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"Hikaru, jump to your left, hurry!" Kamiri shouted from on top of a large boulder. Hikaru did as she was instructed, and dodged out of the way of a red, dragon-like head as it sunk its jaws into the ground where Hikaru had been standing only seconds ago.
Apparently, when the group had come to a crossroads, they had stumbled into the territory of the 'Twin-headed snake,' as the locals called it, though it resembled a snake in very few aspects, aside from the red and blue heads protruding from either side of its lizard-like body. Either way, the monster didn't like the fact that four humans had trespassed onto its territory, and blindly attacked.
"This is more difficult than I thought." Kamiri whispered under her breath. "Katsumi, the horsemen won't work in this battle, the enemy's too strong. You'll have to use a stronger spell."
Katsumi cast a fearful look at Kamiri, before jumping out of the way of the blue head. "I don't know any other spells!"
"Leave this one to me," Haku said, holding his hand in front of him. Scarlet balls of light surrounded him. "Final Flame!" The ground erupted as a fiery dragon plowed through the monster, literally dripping fire. The monster let out a roar as its two serpentine heads flailed around, in obvious pain. It charged at Hikaru, the closest one to it, who quickly jumped out of the way. Unfortunately, the beast kept running blindly forward until it collided with the boulder Kamiri was perched atop. The force of the impact caused Kamiri to fall off the boulder, and, having once again gathered its wits, the monster found a new target. It roared at Kamiri, who was frozen by fear on the ground.
"Kamiri!" Hikaru, Katsumi, and Haku all yelled at once, running to help their friend. The beast reared up on its hind legs, intent on crushing the girl under its great weight. Kamiri just barely managed to crawl away enough to avoid being squished, but the weight of the monster crashing down was too much for the ground to handle, and it collapsed into an underground cave, bringing the beast and Kamiri down with it. Kamiri screamed as she plummeted downward, and the monster let out another roar, the vibrations causing more rock to fall, filling in the entrance to the hole it had created.
"Kamiri!" Hikaru yelled, jumping down to the pile of rocks the blocked the entrance to the cave. She frantically pulled at rocks to try and free the entrance, but they were too heavy. She whirled around and looked at Haku and Katsumi, a desperate expression on her face. "Help me out here!"
Katsumi nodded and pulled at the rocks, like Hikaru had done, but was met with the same results. Haku just stared at the pile, a horrified expression on his face.
"Well, are you going to help? We gotta save her!" Hikaru yelled at him, tears welling up in her eyes. He shook his head.
"I… there's no way she could have survived the fall," He said in a low voice. "Besides, even if she did survive, if you were to loosen the rocks there, they could fall and crush her."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Katsumi asked, hands gripping her staff tightly.
"The cave might open up somewhere else. Let's go to Le Buque and see if anyone knows anything about it." He said, looking off in the direction of said city.
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Her eyes opened slowly, pain shooting through her entire body. She wasn't aware of much to begin with. Wherever she was was pitch black. Slowly, her senses returned to her. She could hear water dripping, and she was laying on something warm, despite the fact that the air around her was bitterly cold with a slight breeze. The air held the acrid smell of death, and she scrunched her nose at the offensive odor. Upon further inspection, she discovered that the place she was in was not completely dark; there was a faint green light towards one end of the room, which appeared to be a cave of some sort. How did she get in a cave? Suddenly, her memories came flooding back to her. They were fighting a monster, the monster attacked her, and they fell into a cave. She sat up and groaned, her body aching with every move.
"I must have fallen a long way…" She whispered, even though it sounded much louder due to the silence. She felt the floor beneath her with her hand, squeaked, then pulled her hand back like she had been bitten. The 'warm ground' was actually the body of the monster her friends had been fighting. The monster was dead from the impact of hitting the ground, and had broken her fall. That explained the stench. She slid off the body of the creature, and looked around. Her eyes had adjusted to the dim light, and she now saw that she had indeed fallen a long way. The place from where she had fallen was a good half-mile above her, and there was no way she was getting back up that way.
"I may as well look for another way out. I can feel wind, so the air must be getting in somehow." She said to herself, rubbing her forearms from the cold. Kamiri noticed that she had been talking to herself quite a bit lately, but she dismissed it as her way of proving that she hadn't gone deaf.
The almost insignificant green glow she had noticed earlier caught her attention now. It was very similar to the light she and Hikaru had seen in the basement of Budehuc castle.
"No way…" She squinted her eyes and ambled over to the source of the light, tripping once on a rock. After swearing at the offending rock, she diverted her attention back to the light. She knelt over it, trying to get a better look, and saw a green stone, half-buried in the dirt. It had a design that resembled an egg with bat wings behind it, and was glowing a soft, seafoam green color.
"Are you… what we've been looking for?" She asked no one in particular. She extended a shaky hand to touch it, remembering how much pain Katsumi had seemed to be in when she had claimed her rune. Kamiri's fingers closed over the rune, and an instant, incredible pain shot through her entire body. She could feel the stone entering her flesh through the palm of her hand, and she screamed from the immense pain. There was no way Katsumi had felt this much pain when she received hers, Kamiri thought. The pain continued even after the rune had melted into her hand, concentrating behind her shoulders, her lower back, her legs and her head. It felt like she was being ripped apart from the inside out.
She could feel her spine extending and her skin and flesh stretching in her lower back, and she heard the sound of her own flesh tear between her shoulders. She was changing, but into what, she didn't know. She felt awkward and off balance, like she was being pulled backward by some invisible force. She fell back, and passed out from the intense pain.
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When she came to, she became instantly aware that something was different. She was picking up sounds that she couldn't hear before; the shifting of small feet on stone, the flapping of wings, and the barely noticeable, but unmistakable sound of wind. There was still a dull ache in her back, but the pain was a mere fraction of what she had felt before. It felt like there was a fire burning inside her, but it wasn't painful, it was almost reassuring and felt like someone else was with her. She sat up, only to be pulled back down by the same force that had made her fall back before. It felt like there was a weight strapped to her back, connected at the shoulders.
She tried to stand, balancing the weight of whatever it was on her back as she stood. She touched the weight and found it leathery and big. Her eyes widened.
"I have bat wings?" she felt her lower back and found another oddity. "And… a lizard tail!" Strangely, it felt like her clothes had changed as well. What she wore now was much more skintight, and quite a deal more comfortable. As she stood, she noticed that her feet seemed a bit larger, and she could feel the cold stone beneath them. She bent her legs like a dinosaur, so that she was only standing on the balls of her feet, as this seemed to give her a bit more stability. There was also a dull throbbing in her left hand, and she brought her hand in front of her face to look at it, and was surprised by what she saw. On the back of her left hand was a wind rune symbol.
"I guess this means I can fight, now." She nodded approvingly and took another look around her. In another corner was a skeleton, which (by the way its body was broken) appeared to have died from a fall. Not far from it was a pair of iron claws. This intrigued Kamiri, as claws had always held a certain allure to her. She picked them up and tried them on. They fit, much to her delight, and she made a few sample slices in the air to test them out. They were heavy, but at least it was a weapon.
"Now, to find a way out of here…" She turned her head to the source of the wind, and saw a tunnel. She followed it in hopes that it would lead her out.
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Kamiri wasn't sure how long it had been since she was separated from her companions. Heck, she wasn't even sure how long she had been walking through this god-forsaken cave. It could have been minutes, hours, or even days. All she knew was that she was getting hungry and tired. She had run into a few monsters along the way, but they were weak, and easily disposed of with the help of her wind rune and claws.
"I've forgotten what the sun looks like…" she said to herself, glancing up at the ceiling. "Where's that wind coming from, anyway?" As if to answer her question, she suddenly saw light at the end of the tunnel. "Well, it's about damn time!"
She ran towards the light as fast as her legs could carry her, only tripping over a rock once. The tunnel opened to a lush forest.
Kamiri took a deep breath of fresh air and exhaled. The outside air was delicious. Birds were twittering in the trees and insects were buzzing on the ground.
She took this time to get a better look at herself. Her scarlet robes had been replaced with a black and green ninja-esque body suit that allowed for maximum mobility. The weight on her back was indeed a large set of wings, and they were dragon-like in appearance, only slightly darker than her normal skin tone. But, judging by their size and her own weight and strength, she doubted she could actually use them to fly. Her feet had been reshapen into lizard-like claws, and she had to keep them bent to stay balanced. Trailing behind her was a long, dragon-like tail the same color as her wings, complete with a fin on the end. She put her hands up to the sides of her head, and felt that her ears had reshapen and were slightly longer and pointed. This explained why her hearing had been enhanced. Her formerly crimson hair was now a forest green color, complimenting her eyes.
Kamiri walked forward a few steps and fell back on the forest floor and landed eagle spread. It felt good to be out in the open again.
A strange laughing snapped her out of her thoughts. It sounded like…it couldn't be…
"Yuh huh huh…"
It was…
Kamiri sighed and called out to the forest.
"I'll have no Winghorder mischief here today, thank you."
There was a brief silence before the voice responded.
"Ah, so this one is keen to the terrors of the forest…heh…"
Kamiri stood up and stretched her arms.
"Terrors? Really now, scaring little children with ghost stories isn't what I would call 'terrifying'."
She could hear a growl coming from the treetops, and she grinned. 3…2…1…
The upside-down face of a pale Winghorder suddenly blocked her vision, grinning like a madman.
"Landis. I suppose that means I'm in Kaput Forest?"
"You've heard of me?" A look of confusion flashed across his face for a split second before being replaced with his insane grin.
Kamiri nodded. "Sort of. But now that I know where I am, I'll be on my way." She saw the path and began to follow it, hoping to meet up with her friends. Behind her, she heard rustling, indicating that she was being followed. "Leave me alone, okay? I have to find my friends." She called back to him. She began walking again, and was once again met with the sounds of shuffling feet. This time, she whirled around, claws flashing. She knew he wasn't stupid enough to get hit with an attack like that, but she didn't use her full strength anyway.
A loud 'clang' of metal striking metal shattered the silence of the forest. Landis had parried Kamiri's attack with his own scythe, and was grinning psychotically. Kamiri grinned.
"I have a proposition for you," Kamiri began, shifting into a fighting stance. "If I win, you leave me alone. And if you win, you can do whatever the hell you please." Landis seemed pleased with this, and charged at Kamiri, scythe raised.
Once again, the loud 'clang' of metal against metal echoed through the forest, neither gaining the upper hand. Kamiri was already tired from her trek through the cave, so she wasn't completely at full power. She refrained from using the wind rune in her hand out of fear of doing real damage. She began to feel herself slipping. At this rate, she was going to lose. Their battle was cut short, however, when a loud howl erupted beside them. A large violet boar with gold spikes on its back rammed into Landis, knocking him away.
"Shit!" Kamiri cursed and charged at the boar. Cold iron tore through purple flesh, spraying blood in all directions.
The beast howled and turned on Kamiri, intent on spearing her with its tusks. She took a defensive stance, closed her eyes, and braced for impact. Instead, She heard a loud squeal and tearing flesh. She opened her eyes to see the blade of Landis's scythe impaled through the monster's back. Landis wrenched the blade free and the boar gave one last squeal before falling over, dead.
Kamiri wiped her brow and looked at Landis, who was staring at the corpse with wicked glee.
"Well, that certainly was unexpected." She commented. Landis turned his attention back to the dragon girl, gripping his now blood-covered scythe.
"We didn't finish our fight." He said in a low voice, his face still holding a psychotic look. Kamiri glanced at Landis's side where the boar had rammed into him. There was no doubt in her mind that he was going to have quite a nasty bruise there, and she shook her head.
"Look, you don't want to follow me, trust me. A group will be coming through here soon, led by a lady with silver hair. I guarantee that that group will be much more fun to follow than me." She sighed and began walking along the path again. Landis must have liked the idea, because Kamiri could no longer hear him following her.
Fortunately, the cave had opened up near the western side of the forest, and Kamiri soon came to the edge of it. She found herself atop a hill, overlooking Plain Amur. She could see Duck Village in the distance, so she made that her next target.
Seeing as she was atop a hill, Kamiri decided to take the opportunity to test her new wings. She backed up a few steps, then ran at full speed at the edge of the hill. She jumped and spread her wings, hoping to catch a breeze or something to give her lift. Unfortunately, hear earlier hypothesis was correct, and her wings weren't quite large or strong enough to support her own weight, as she hovered for a brief second before her wings collapsed from the strain, sending her plummeting toward the ground. She landed ungracefully on her rump, thankful that she hadn't fallen a long way.
"Okay, so I can't fly. Why give me wings, then?" She then remembered the name of the rune that was designated to her. "Torrent, the spirit rune. What the hell does that mean?" She asked herself as she stood up and dusted herself off. She'd have to ask Haku when she'd found him again.
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Kamiri knew she would get a lot of strange looks in her current state, but this was ridiculous. The ducks stared at her in a mixture of horror and curiosity, probably because she looked like a mix between a winger and a lizard clan member. The wooden boards beneath her feet creaked as she took each step.
"Excuse me," She asked a duck who was just passing by. He jumped when he saw who (or what) was addressing him, complete with a small 'quack.' "Um, have you seen three people come through here? One is a blonde girl wearing a blue dress, another is a girl with purple hair in armor, and the third is a man with brown hair carrying a staff and wearing red and green." The duck shook his head vigorously, and fled.
"How rude…" Kamiri said to herself, looking around. Her enhanced hearing picked up on some familiar voices towards the entrance to town, and she saw the three people she had been looking for. A smile plastered itself onto her face, and she ran to meet them.
:A/N: Whooo! Second chapter's done! Two out of the three runes have been found! Yay! And it only took me a year to write! I'll explain why Kamiri became half-dragon in the next chapter. It'll be interesting to see the Grasslanders' reations to Hikaru looking like an ironhead.Not to mention the fact that Katsumi looks Harmonian. Katsumi WILL learn some more spells later on. I'll take any ideas or constructive criticism you guys have, because I had a major writer's block about halfway through writing this chapter, that's why it took over a year to write.: