He could feel the rain pelting his motionless body, he could feel the pain searing through his upper-body. His eyes slowly flickered open and looked at the clouds above him, throwing more rain down with no chance of stopping. He had failed. He had been unable to defeat Beatrix, and unable to protect his home from being invaded by those powerful golems. Yet he was still alive, and Frato did not want to throw away his chance of survival.
Frato tried to sit up, but the pain in his chest was still intense enough to keep him grounded. There was no visible damage; there was no blood or bruise, just the sheer pain of Beatrix's attack. This worried Frato, he had not heard or known of an attack of this kind, and he was unsure about how he should treat it, or whether he even could treat it.
White energy began charging up in Frato's hands as he prepared a Dragon Knight ability to try and ease his pain. A green and white wind rushed over Frato as he unleashed the power of Rei's Wind onto himself to try and fix the damage done by Beatrix's assault. He could the ability taking effect as the pain inside his chest and his shoulders ease away slowly.
After a short while, Frato found he was able to get back onto his feet. He took a look around. He was still in the same street, but Beatrix had clearly gone. How long had he been out? Just what was that attack that had taken him down? What was that strange light that gave him so much power?
Frato's mind was filled with questions, and he didn't know how to begin finding the answers. As his mind was cast back to the battle with Beatrix, a thought struck him.
"Father!" Frato realised and began leaping across the rooftops to where Lion-heart had been rescuing the civilians.
When he reached his destination, Frato could see various dead Burmecians and mages, yet he could not see his father. Lion-heart was strong, and Frato seriously doubted his father would be taken down by a group of lowly mages. Yet he had asked for Frato's help, and Frato had to be certain. He leapt across to the next rooftop and took another look around.
From this rooftop, something did catch his eye. A flash of realisation filled Frato's face and his eyes widened. He leapt down from the rooftops onto the street. On the cobblestone street laid a Burmecian, who had a swollen leg and that a small pool of blood around his neck. Frato stared in disbelief at the dead body of Sir Lion-heart Fratley.
"No..." Frato stuttered as he looked aghast at his father's body. "Father..."
He couldn't believe it. The black mages had gotten him. They had slain the man who had taken Frato into his home and brought him up. The man who had taught Frato how to fight. He had died whilst clinging on the hope that Frato would arrive and help him fend off their attackers and take him to safety.
Frato's ears fell flat and a few glistening tears fell from the half-breed's face onto the dead body of his adoptive father. "I'm sorry father..." Frato managed to say between silent sobs as he placed his hand onto the cold shoulder of Lion-heart.
After a few minutes, Frato managed to compose himself and stood up. He thought hard about what to do next. He noted that it was getting dark and decided to check if his home was still in a good enough condition to sleep in.
When Frato reached his house he found it had been completely wrecked. Like many of the nearby buildings the door had been blasted off and various walls had collapsed. Frato knew it would not be safe to spend the night in his house and he would have to find shelter elsewhere.
Frato pondered about what to do next. There wasn't any sign of any surviving citizens or black mages. They all seemed to have abandoned the rainy city. All the Burmecians had fled to either Cleyra or Lindblum. Frato began to think about doing the same thing. However, there was the problem that it would take much more than one evening to reach either destination, and Frato would be easy prey for monsters if he tried to sleep on the plains.
Frato had no idea of what to do. He decided to wander further into the city to seek out shelter in another building, but something caught his attention. His ears picked up the faint roar of an Ironite near the outskirts of the city. This disturbed Frato as it meant that the gate had not been shut since the mages blasted it open, and now monsters were making their way into the city.
Now sleeping in the city did not seem like such a good idea. Yet the roar of the dragon sparked up another idea in Frato's mind. Frato had an idea of where he could possibly sleep.
Frato rummaged through his house and got together anything he thought that might be useful out in the plains outside Burmecia. He stuffed into a small bag that he had managed to find and immediately began making his way to the western gate of the city. He was not going to follow some of the Burmecian refugees to Cleyra; he was going out into the mountains on the west side of the city to meet an old friend.
During his practical exam at the Dragon Academy, Frato had to slay an Ironite in a cave in the western mountains to prove he was strong enough to become a Dragon Knight. After he had killed his Ironite, Frato ended up getting lost and going too far into the cave. He met a powerful Red Dragon whilst in the cave which he found he was able to communicate with in a way which he could not quite figure out. Frato managed to become friends with the dragon, which he decided to call "Redwind".
As he made his way out of Burmecia and towards the cave where he had proven himself, he hoped that Redwind would still remember him, and not think that he would make an ideal snack. Frato managed to make his way towards the entrance of the cave, and he lit a small candle from his bag and placed it inside a small glass case before proceeding into the cave.
Frato carefully made his way through the cave, advancing slowly and keeping alert for any signs of nearby monsters. Occasionally he called out the name "Redwind", but got no reply. He racked his brain to try and remember the way he had come before, and he tried his best to follow the route he had taken.
After slaying a few weak monsters and venturing deep into the cave, Frato finally began to hear signs of the red dragon's presence. He could hear a massive beast snoring somewhere in the distance. He shone the candle onto the source of the noise and saw Redwind snoring peacefully in front of him.
Frato tried to wake up the dragon by nudging him, but Redwind didn't even feel Frato's attempts at rousing him from his sleep. Frato then tried hitting the dragon with the blunt end of his lance, and still got no response. Finally, Frato decided to walk up to the dragon's ears and call into them.
"Redwind..." Frato called into the dragon's ears. "Redwind! Wake up, it's me!"
Redwind gave a grunt and lifted his head to look for the creature that was brave enough, or stupid enough to wake him from his slumber. The dragon's eyes focused onto Frato and the dragon gave a low growl.
"Hey there, sleepy-head." Frato greeted the grouchy dragon. "It's me, Frato."
"Oh...it's you." The dragon grunted. "You wake me for a reason?"
Frato could never quite figure out how he was able to communicate with the dragon. It was if they were speaking directly into each other's minds, rather than talking normally.
"Can I live in this cave with you?" Frato asked. "It's just that there has been a war in Burmecia, and my house got destroyed by these black mages. Monsters have started infiltrating the city and isn't safe to stay in the city."
"Okay." Redwind replied. "You'll be safe here; all the monsters in this cave are too scared to come near me, because they know I am the strongest thing in this cave."
"Thanks Redwind." Frato replied. "I really appreciate it."
Redwind merely grunted in response. "Can I go back to sleep now?" The dragon asked, looking rather grumpy and tired.
"Sure." Frato answered.
The dragon then proceeded to lie back down and drift slowly back to sleep. Frato decided to follow suit and pulled out a sheet from his small travel bag and placed it onto the stone floor before laying down on it. He put out the candle in his small torch and slowly fell asleep.
Disclaimer: Look, if I owned Final Fantasy 9 and its characters, Freya would have played a more important role in the game and Burmecians would not have brought down to near extinction. Since that isn't the case, you can assume I don't own the rights to the game, can't you?
Author's Notes: At long last, this story gets a well-needed update. I'm going to focus on this story for a while as well. All reviews are welcome.
Dazz Cambo: I'm glad you enjoyed the fight scene. Why are you asking about Frato? I'm writing about him now! Also, he will appear in a future chapter of the Sentinel as well, so don't fret.
Breeze of Summoners: I'm glad you liked the fight scene as well. I'm looking forward to reading some of your fight scenes in your story. I suppose you're right about Frato's attack being able to break Beatrix's spine. I might need to fix that, plus the whole comma thing. That's all I really need the beta-reader for really. I hope you enjoy this chapter!