Author's Note: More canon changes to the plot, if only to give it more verisimilitude. This section's made up almost entirely of little vignettes. It seems appropriate, considering that this section of the game was more of an interlude than a real plot point. My intent this chapter is to milk this interlude for all its worth, developing character relationships between Ryu and his friends. Unfortunately, Rand gets kind of shafted in this one. Nina will appear in the next chapter. I'll strive to update weekly, thus giving enough time to write and revise each chapter until I'm satisfied with it.

Chapter Three: Interlude

Ryu, Rand, and Katt burst into Angus' office. More precisely, Katt broke the door down while the other two meekly followed her more forceful lead.

"Angus, you rat, you tried to kill me!" Katt growled.

"Yes, and if you'd only complied nicely, you wouldn't have inconvenienced me," said the slimy man. "But you had to ruin a good show, didn't you, cat-girl? And you, Baba…you had to play hero, didn't you? I have a nice setup here. Violence for entertainment, a bloodshed for the twisted masses. Few ever realize that we are merely playing to the tune of our baser instincts, our true instincts. And what happens when they do? They denounce it as sin. Preposterous! We are violent people! We love hurting each other!"

"What's he babbling about?" Katt asked Ryu. But the ranger did not answer. He was focusing on Angus. Was it just him, or did Angus' skin move? Ryu's hand drifted to his sword hilt.

Angus continued, "Inflicting pain…that's what it's all about. Even God wants that. My God wants it. So why not turn this whole messy business into a show?" Suddenly, the thin human named Angus burst open in a gory spiral, flesh flailing across the room. Ryu, Rand, and Katt were stunned by what they saw: a two-headed giant, all muscle and dark fur, all malice and hatred. It grabbed two clubs from a nearby weapon rack and slammed them on the ground in challenge.

"You won't leave here alive!" both of Angus' heads growled.

"What the hell is that thing?" Katt cried, ducking under a swinging club.

Rand batted down Angus's other club with his bare hands. "Who cares? Kill it before it kills you!"

Ryu slid under the monster's outstretched arm, giving him an open target—his belly. Ryu brought his sword across, only to find that the creature's leathery hide was thick enough to withstand the cut of steel. He was sent sailing across the room as Angus slapped him in the flank with a club. Ryu grunted, feeling a table collapse beneath him.

Katt jumped high into the air and slammed her staff into one of Angus' heads, but the other head snapped forward, trying to bite her; she had to abort her attack, else she would lose her hand to those snapping jaws.

"We can't even get near him!" Rand grunted, shattering one of the clubs with a thick-fisted punch. "That's one down."

Ryu knew they were in dire straits. Angus was strong, with a tough hide, making it next to impossible to wound him. But every enemy has a weakness, he thought. He looked around…and saw the ceiling. Every enemy has a weakness—even if you have to make it yourself. Ryu stood, ignoring the burning feeling in his ribs, and shouted, "Rand, the ceiling! The ceiling!"

The Shell understood immediately. While Katt kept Angus busy, he went to the wall and started breaking it down with his fists. The office rumbled and the ceiling cracked. Suddenly, the whole of it collapsed on top of the monstrous beast, burying it under stone and plaster.

"Kill it! Now!" Ryu shouted, clambering over the rubble and hacking away at the helpless creature's heads, with Rand and Katt helping. When the beast was finally dead, the three fighters sat amidst the ruin, panting and exhausted.

"Whatever that thing was," Rand murmured tiredly, "I hope never to meet one again."

After the strange events of the day, Katt could think of only one way to deal with the accumulated shocks: get sodden, pissed-ass drunk. So, they headed to the pub. "Is this really wise?" Rand asked warily when they got there.

"Of course not!" the feisty Woren exclaimed gaily, taking a seat at an empty table. "But, see, that's whole point of it. So come on! The drinks are all on Ryu anyway."

"Me?" the ranger said. "Why?"

"Because you have the dirt money from Angus," Katt replied.

"Actually, Rand spent all of that on an antidote you didn't drink," Ryu said.

Katt's head dropped despairingly. "Oh. So you're broke too, huh?"

"I'm afraid we all are," said Rand. "The money I won from your fight with Baba went to buy the antidotes as well. We've only got a few coins to our name."

"From riches to rags," Katt grumbled. That was not the only thing that grumbled. Her stomach roared, making her blush. "Oops."

Ryu silently took out some dried fruit from his backpack and tossed it to her.

Katt looked at the rations curiously. "What's this?"

"Food," Ryu answered.

"You're kidding. I'm a cat. I'm a carnivore, remember?"

Rand guffawed. "No, you're just a picky eater."

Before Katt could snarl off a tart reply, Ryu cut in, "If it's meat you want, we can hunt something up. I was planning on heading out of town anyway."

"So soon after you've arrived?" Katt asked, nibbling at the fruit despite her earlier complaints.

"I only stopped here because I thought someone I was looking for would be here," Ryu explained. "A blue-haired girl with bat wings. She got a friend of mine in trouble. I was hoping to catch her. But there doesn't seem to be any sign of her."

"A girl with wings, huh?" Katt murmured, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Sorry, can't help you there."

Ryu sighed. "Didn't think you could. It's not like you can forget a girl with bat wings."

"So, where will you go now?" Rand asked.

"I don't know. I'll probably head north. Maybe pass through Windia and Capitan to the west. I understand that Capitan has a small, but brisk, black market. Maybe the thief will show up there."

The Shell raised a skeptical eyebrow. "That's a long shot, Ryu."

The ranger sighed. "I know. But I don't have a single lead." Ryu looked up suddenly. "By the way, now that we've thoroughly trashed the Coliseum, having dropped a chunk of ceiling into it, where will you and Katt go?"

Rand leaned on his arms and sighed as well. "Now that you mention it, Katt and I are now effectively homeless."

"If you need a roof over your heads," Ryu said, "then I think I can help you. A friend of mine's living to the west of here. You can stay with him. He'll probably want the company."

"That's very thoughtful of you, Ryu," said Rand. Katt purred her agreement.

The ranger shrugged. "Don't mention it. After all, I was the one who told you how to wreck your home." Ryu smiled. "Ironically enough, the last time I was there, my friend's hideout was about to collapse in on itself, too."

"So, let me get this straight," said Bow as he and Ryu rested in the branches of a tree overlooking the ruins. "You traveled all the way to Corsair, became a gladiator to earn some cash, and ended up fighting a possessed arena manager. And you got to travel back here with a cute cat-girl? My good buddy, there might be some hope for you yet!"

"Figures you'd focus on Katt," Ryu said dryly. He sat one branch below Bow, whittling away at a piece of wood with a stout knife. "She's a good fighter," he said absently.

"She's cute," Bow added.

Ryu ignored him. "Anyway, I haven't found the thief yet." He shaped the wood a bit more, notching it at one end. "And I'm not even sure where to go from here. We came back because Katt and Rand needed a place to stay."

"Well, the company's appreciated," Bow said idly. "And with someone as big as Rand around, Niro and I will be able to fix up the house. Make it livable. Turns out Niro did some carpentry in his day, so he knows what he's doing. He's full of stories, that weird old man is."

"Glad to know you hit it off," Ryu said, taking off another layer of wood.

"So…no idea where the thief went?" Bow said.

"Nope." There was the sound of knife on wood.

"You're not giving up, are you?" the Grass Runner asked softly.

"Nope." Wood chips flew.

Bow smiled, even though Ryu could not see it. "That's good to hear. Wake me up when you've caught her, okay, buddy?"

"Yup." The knife kept on whittling.

Bow was helping Ryu pack his backpack. "You really think that you'll find anything back in Hometown?"

"Not really," admitted Ryu, "but I'll post a bounty out on her. The Ranger's Guild will probably put someone on the job. That ought to make finding her easier."

"That's a good idea," said Bow. "Wish I thought of it."

Ryu smiled. "Just sit tight, Bow. You'll be off the hook in no time."

"You sure you want to go traveling with the Woren?" Bow asked suddenly.

"What's wrong with Katt?"

"Well, she's nice to look at, but she isn't the sharpest knife in the box, if you know what I mean. And she looks pretty hotheaded. Big difference from Rand; he's got more brains on his shoulders than most people I know. His head's screwed on right, so the saying goes."

Ryu shrugged. "Well, since Rand's offered to help you and Niro fix the place up, it's only right that Katt helps you out the best way she knows how—by being an adventurer."

"Matching the case to the talent," noted Bow. "You're turning into Elder Madison."

Ryu grinned. "Soon, I'll be getting bald and crotchety, too." He slung his bag over his shoulder and clasped his friend's wrist. "I'll be back soon, Bow."

"You better," the Grass Runnersaid with a wide smile. "I'm getting bored back here."

"This looks like a good spot to make camp," Ryu said, setting down his bag and unfurling a bedroll. The moon was shining like a silver coin, basking the grasslands in its soft radiance. Hometown was less than a day's walk away.

"Good thing there's a stream here," Katt commented. "My fur's all matted."

"If you need to bathe, I'll go hunt up some dinner," Ryu offered, already stringing a bow.

When he left, Katt proceeded to strip. The water was cool, but not chillingly so. It was perfect to wash away the grime of the day's travel. Katt found herself reflecting on her new companion's behavior. She did not travel with others often, but when she did, she knew that her face and physique often earned the attention of the amorous. It was a reaction she expected, but Ryu was not playing by those rules. It was not so much that he was uninterested…just that he had a degree of self-control that was simply mind-boggling.

To put it simply, Katt had never met anyone who could be as stony as Ryu Bateson.

Still, it was nice to have someone like that around. It's why I hang around Rand, after all, she thought. Rand and Ryu both act real mature. I guess I just want someone like that around so I don't have to worry about being mature myself. So I can be me.

It did not hurt that Ryu was nice to look at, either. Wonder where that blue hair came from, though.

Katt finished her bath and threw on her clothes just in time to see Ryu return to camp, a deer across his shoulders, already gutted. "Those cuts are pretty precise," she noted expertly. "You must spend a lot of time outdoors."

Ryu nodded silently, setting the door down and drawing a long knife. He went about carving the meat methodically, with quick strokes born of experience. Katt was impressed with his handiwork. A while later, they sat before a fire of roast venison. Katt chewed on the meat with relish, her ears twitching merrily. "It's a bit tough," she commented. "You're a better hunter than cook."

Ryu just ate quietly.

Stony indeed, Katt thought. "You know, it's less weird if you actually said something once in a while."

The ranger just continued to eat in silence. The Woren sighed in defeat. She made a face as she worked over a piece of venison. "Puts up a fight," she murmured, gnawing hard. "You really should work on your culinary skills. Next time, I'll do the cooking, all right?"

"Be my guest."

Katt affected surprise. "By the stars, the stone speaks!" When Ryu arched an eyebrow at her, she laughed. "Come on, loosen up, Ryu. You're as closed up as a clam. Why? I'm not that bad for company, am I?"

"You're as talkative as Bow," Ryu said after a while.

"The two of you are real close," she observed. "Have you known each other long?"

"All our lives," he answered. "He showed me how to be a thief. I was never very good at it, but we've been stealing things until we became rangers."

"So from thief to mercenary. From mercenary to gladiator and back to mercenary," Katt summarized, resting her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. "Tell me more."

"Why do you want to know?" Ryu asked.

Katt shrugged her small shoulders. Her tail swept back and forth like an upside-down pendulum. "Just because I'm bored and I'm getting kind of tired of coming up with all of the conversation. So, what do you do for fun?"

Ryu looked at her guardedly and said simply, "Learn."

Her nose crinkled in confusion. "Like, as in reading a lot of books?" she stuck out her tongue. "That sounds kind of boring."

"I read books and look for people who can teach me new things."

"Like what?"

"Like a sword technique. Or a new unarmed style. Or how to disable a certain kind of trap. Or how to sneak up on an edgy deer. You can learn lots of things, if you take the time to do so. Not everything has to be learned from books."

"So I guess you must know a lot."

Ryu shrugged noncommittally. Then he said, "It's getting late. I'm going to sleep." He settled down on his bedroll.

Katt sighed. "Not much of a conversationalist, are you?" She kicked some dirt over the fire and dropped onto her own blankets.

But she was a restless sleeper, usually tossing and turning until she exhausted herself to slumber. She ended up staring up into the night sky, looking at the constellations above. "Hey, Ryu."

"Hmm?"

"Do you know any stories about the stars? Like how they were made or something? I mean, you said you read a lot of books. Maybe you learned something about them."

There was silence for a long moment, long enough for Katt to think that the ranger had fallen asleep. But then he said, "There's a constellation called Orion. Do you see it? Those three stars, the middle one being the largest and brightest. Those stars are supposed to be the belt of Orion, a great hunter. But he got turned into an animal and was killed by his lover, the goddess of the hunt. In her sadness, she had turned into a constellation, so she could always see him at night. It's a pretty tragic story."

"Sounds real sad," Katt said with a yawn. "Hey, Ryu? You know everything, don't you?"

The ranger mumbled back, "No, I just pay attention."

When Katt did not respond, Ryu turned to look at her. She was snoring softly. "Ah well," he muttered. "That just means I don't have to hear her prattle on anymore. Good night, kitty Katt."