First of all, I do not own Breath of Fire, however, the characters, expect of some Characters from the previous game belong to me.

This story came into my mind nearly half a year ago, however, I was not really sure, if I would be able to write well. I decided to try it and I hope, that you will forgive me, if I did not do well, it is after all the first Fan Fiction I have ever written on my own.

It is also the first time, that I write an English story and also my English might be worse it could also be much better.

This story takes place between the second and the third game, but because I never played the third game, the content of this story might perhaps be contradictory with the events in the third game.

This story is also based on the "bad" ending of the second game.

Despite the names, this is no Breath of Fire/ X 1999 Crossover, although X 1999 greatly inspired me.

Now I hope you are going to enjoy reading this story. Please review! Breath of Fire, another Story Prologue

It was the first month of the new year and the winter storms still kept the country in their icy coldness. The plains north of Mt. Fubi were covered in a thick layer of snow, which matched the colour of the cloudy sky. At this time, the snow covered roads were empty, all travellers had taken shelter in the towns and villages.

Only two figures were moving in the endless white plain, both wearing traveller cloaks hardly protecting them from the freezing storm.

They both obvious for anyone who would have seen them were children, the younger and smaller one perhaps still not more than six years old, while the older one was a juvenile perhaps fourteen years old.

He wore a grim expression on his face, while he prevented the younger one from falling face off into the snow.

He supported his weight with his arm and stroke over his icy hair with his hand wrapped in a woollen glove.

"We will soon be there, little brother." He smiled at the younger one warmly.

However, he seemed even to exhausted to talk he just looked up to his older brother, who was now looking at the horizon.

The vast plain stretched out into every direction.

Only the mountains in the south loomed over this endless fields of snow.

The wind was now blowing heavily and the snow hardly allowed them to see further than twenty meters.

"Damn", the older one said to himself," if it keeps that way, we won't be arriving till tomorrow and we haven't had any food for days. My pole is broken and there is no shelter in this empty plane. My magic is to weakened to summon a fire, even if we had wood and a safe place to rest. We will have no choice but to go on, Ryu just can't stay another day without food and I doubt that I will be able to do it much longer. We have to risk it even though we might get lost."

He nearly had to carry his younger sibling as they went on.

The wind was blowing even harder now and it was getting colder and colder, even though the two brothers hardly noticed that anymore.

He watched the horizon for any sign, but because of the heavy snowfall, he still wasn't able to see very far.

He was really exhausted and Ryu was even worse.

The young boy was shivering and moaning slightly.

A terrible presumption hit the older one, as he looked into Ryu's face.

Hoping not to be right, he pulled of the glove and laid his hand on his little brother's forehead.

He felt intense heat, as he touched his skin with the bare hand.

"This is turning even worse", he thought." His temperature is really high. He most have got a really bad cold and now he is even in a fever."

He had slung his arm around Ryu's chest and covered him with his mantle . He had to keep his body warm also he now felt the wind blow against his woollen shirt.

"Fuma, my head feels so hot", the boy's voice was hardly more than a whisper.

He looked into his big brother's face with his emerald eyes wide open.

"Don't worry, little bro, you mustn't give up now, we will soon be there."

He hardly believed his own words though.

They had been walking for hours and it was already dark now.

The snow and the darkening sky had merged to an all surrounding greyness.

Fuma walked on with his little brother on his side, staring at the hardly identifiable horizon looking for the sight of the castle, housing the high academy of the magic arts.

The cold wind was draining the last warmth out of his body, but he ignored it. Ryu needed the cloak more, than he did at the moment. Silently and now both shivering they went on.

The two of them had been travelling through the wilderness for months now, always avoiding settlements and travelling routs.

Fuma had been fishing to get them food and they had rested in caves or in the woods to hide themselves.

Their Followers seemed to have lost their tracks, but they would certainly search for them and ask the inhabitants of every settlement, if they had seen two boys with blue hair and cross shaped marks on their foreheads travelling through the country on their own.

The older boy determinedly looked at the horizon and then at his little brother.

"They won' t get him as long as I am alive, neither will I ever allow them to use me", he thought fiercely," And what ever it may take, I won't let him carry the burden placed on either one of us."

The two brothers silently walked through the snow slightly shimmering in the darkness of the winter night.

A small shade hushed through the misty sky unseen by the two boys.

It looked like a batwinged snake with one big red glowing eye instead of a head.

It's iris widened as it gazed at the two siblings.

Fuma stumbled and collapsed right into the white see of cold. The snow surrounded him and he felt the weight of  his brother's body, whom he had been carrying, since Ryu had lost consciousness.

He tried to stand up, but he couldn't. All his muscles felt numb and his brothers body pressed him down.

The boy barely succeeded to halfway lift his torso up.

He somehow managed to keep in that position, even though he felt the weight of both their bodies draining him down, but more and more, Fuma felt his consciousness slowly starting to drift away.

It was so easy just to give up now, to lay down into the snow and wait, until it would cover them both.

All around him had been dark, but he now could see, how the pale snow slowly begun to glow.

Fuma could vaguely see something dark and tall, standing out from the pale, grey snow, reflecting the dim light of the overcast moon.

"The academy, Ryu. We are nearly there, but I do no longer have enough strength. I am sorry, little brother", he said in a choked whisper.

The now clearly visible gate was just some meters away from them, just a little more and he would have been able to knock on the great wooden door.

Fuma felt his arms giving way to the weight of Ryu's and his body, as he fell back into the snow.

His vision started to fade as everything went dark. Fuma lost his consciousness, falling into a sleep, which he with his last thoughts knew he would never awake from.

The guttering light of the candles illuminated the face of the old man, whose clear grey eyes reflected the small flames. With his wrinkled skin an his long neck, he almost locked like a old and wise turtle, carefully mustering the yellowed folio in front of him. Only his long grey hair and beard didn't quite fit into that impression.

He was dressed in a grey and white robe an he wore a thin silver circlet around his forehead.

Suddenly, a surprised voice sounded from the door to the old library: "Master Helvin, you are still up?"

The old wizard slowly and without any surprise turned around to the doorway looking at the newcomer:

"So are you, Sorata", he said with his calm but strong voice, smiling at the young forest-clan's man," What is still keeping you awake?"

Sorata, who was dressed in some kind of cross between a wizard's robe and a warrior's uniform, nervously scratched the fur on the back of his head as he was about to answer: "I, I…". But as he just started to speak he caught a glimpse of the book, the old wizard was reading. The lupine boy let out a surprised gasp and his eyes widened in astonishment. "Master, you too? You also have seen it?"

Master Helvin slowly nodded and looked into Sorata's eyes. His voice was much more serious as he answered to the question of the young knight of the arcane arts: "Yes, I also have seen the change in the stars. The twin zodiac is starting to reform, heralding the raise of another destined one to fight for the fate of this world. Yes, Sorata, I also have seen the signs and I decided to consult the copy of the liber gentis draconum as well. In this days only a few people still know of the legend of the destined ones and I have to admit, that the fact, that you know of this book surprises me a bit."

The old man closed the folio still smiling and folded his hands together still looking at the younger one . "But I am being rude, please sit down.", he said gesturing ad a  chair on the other side of the desk. Sorata followed the invitation still a bit taken aback, but also curious.

"Now", the old wizard started, "as you searched for this book, you already seem to know of the meaning of the signs. The past will repeat, the ancient battle will be fought once more and it's result will decide over the fate of this world. However, even I cannot interpretate the prophecies of Hiryu no Meiyama without vagueness, many of them are ambiguous and others do not yet seem to make any sense to me at all. It says in the prophecy, that "when everything except of grief is late and pain overcome hope, death and despair unite in one, and the one burdened to live will fade to make the destroyer of reason perish". However I cannot figure out, what the meaning of this could be." He run his fingers trough his beard lost in his own thoughts. "And their deepest wishes can only be full filled by the most painful losses", he murmured before he turned his attention back to Sorata, who was even more taken aback now. However, the forest clan's man seemed to have overcome his surprise, as he now still a bit shyly asked: "When?" Master Helvin slightly shook his head as he answered: "I cannot tell you for sure, Sorata. The ancients' knowledge of the arts of astronomy has been lost over the centuries and little do we know of the ways of the sky. Perhaps the day, when the stars will have reached their final position will not arrive as long as we live, perhaps the destined one will be born in a decade already. It is difficult to foretell the course of the stars and it is not even sure, weather the rise of the twin zodiac will mark the awakening of the destined one or the battle of live and death, the fight for the future of this world." He cleared his throat and slowly arose from his chair taking up his staff, which was leaning against a bookshelf. "Gladly though, there is a hind in the liber gentis draconum, which perhaps will help me to find out. I will have little walk, Sorata, I have to see the current position of the stars to find out, whether my theory based on this hind is right." "I will come with you, master", Sorata said  quickly and also stood up to follow his master, who smiled in agreement. Master Helvin blew out the candles making the old library turn completely dark.

They walked together through the empty corridors made of grey stone, which were lit by torches of everlasting fire. The guttering light softly illuminated the old and precious tapestries, showing scenarios of ancient wars, deeds of the heroes of the past, the histories of the clans and even the legendary flying cities, which once loomed in the sky. Sorata was all churned up inside, on the one hand he had so many questions, he wanted to ask the old wizard, but on the other hand, he was afraid of the answers he might get. So the young forest clan's man silently walked by his masters side. As they went into the great entry hall with it's many staircases , the old wizard turned to the gate leading to the outer ring of the fortress. Sorata followed him, although he was slightly surprised, that they did not go to the tower of astronomy. The old wizard opened both wings of the great door, revealing the completely snow covered yard. The snow crunched under their steps, as they went over the path to the main gate and the frozen fountain in the middle of the stone made path reflected the silvery light of the full moon, which now was clearly visible. Sorata felt excitement rushing up inside of him, the full moon always had a irresistible attraction for the forestclan, it was their time of hunting. He tried to ignore the eager expectation and followed his master, who was standing in front of the main gate. Master Helvin placed his hands on the two wings of the enchanted gate and a soft blue glow spread over the old oaken structure. The old wizard stepped back, as the huge wings of the portal opened as if moved by magic, as they actually were. Sorata with his sensitive nose could smell the sea from the distant, as the two of them walked outside.

The sky had completely cleared by now and the stars shun brightly. Sorata looked at his master, whose gaze wandered over the night sky. The old wizard slowly stepped forward still staring at the stars. His companion suddenly let out a gasp and pointed at the snow, which was not as untouched as it should have been, there were footprints leading to the academy but ending not far from the point, where they stood. "Master Helvin, there is someone lying in the snow!", Sorata said in surprise. Master Helvin lowered his gaze and looked at the point, where the footprints ended. "Be quick, Sorata, perhaps it is not to late yet",  he hastened to the depression in the snow closely followed by Sorata. He knelt down and pulled away the thick but partly worn out cloak, that had moved over his owner like a winding sheet. Two boys lay beneath it, the obviously younger one with his arms slung around the older one's back. They both had blue hair and as the old wizard noticed when he turned them around, emerald green eyes. They had to be brothers, he thought. Their lips were almost blue with cold and their skin was pale, nearly as white as the snow. He carefully felt for their pulses, as if he was worried to hurt them. At first he thought, that it was to late for them, but then he felt a slow and weak throb. It was not to late yet. He placed his old and wrinkled hands on the two boys breasts allowing the magic energies to flow through their bodies. He felt something fury striving his hand and realised, that Sorata too used his magic to stabilise them. After a short while, he stopped and put his hands away, followed by the young forestclan'sman. The ice covering the two boys' hair had almost melted away and their pulses were a bit stronger and faster than before. However, Helvin was still worried, the younger one's temperature was higher than it should have been. He brushed his hair aside, again looking to the sky. The temperature was indeed very high, the boy was in a fever. He stopped the attempt to find the stars, he had been searching for and looked into the boys face again. Now that his hair no longer fell over his forehead, he could see a mark, perhaps a scar. It was formed like cross, but the upper and the lower arms were slightly curved back and the middle part as well as the ends of the right and the left arms were much thicker than the rest. His face widened in shock as he quickly reached for the other boys forehead and brushed his hair aside revealing an almost identical scar. Sorata, who had noticed the change in his master's expression came to his side: "Master, is something wrong?" The old man turned around as if he just had noticed Sorata. He seemed to have calmed a bit, but his face still showed his astonishment, or was it fear? "I will tell you later, we have to carry them back to the caste at once. We must not waste time! Sorata, I was wrong, the day will come sooner, much sooner, than I ever thought possible", he said, his voice almost agitated. Without effort he lifted the younger boy's emaciated body, wile Sorata took the older one.

Suddenly, just as the old wizard had taken the younger boy over his shoulder, he turned around quickly taking up his staff, which he had placed on the ground and firing a ball of glowing flames into the sky. They could here a hissing sound and an soft explosion and a small charred creature fell from the sky. It had a serpentine body, large bat like wings and one now dull big red eye instead of a head. Sorata looked at the dead creature in astonishment: "A beholder!?" His master nodded: "Yes, it seems, we are not the only ones who have red the signs. Now quickly carry the boy inside!" Sorata looked at the creatures body, which now seemed to fade away and then followed his master back to the castle.