Author: First of all, I want to extend my thanks to the reviewers of my
story
Gleenthefrog: Thanks for your advice. Noticed that this does follow the script a bit too much and will change that.
Darth: hmm.I dun knoe. Maybe if u read on more, then u will knoe soon.(
Haytham: Glad u liked it. Hope the subsequent chappies will earn more of ur praise
Silver kitsune: thx 4 ur support n I plan on updating this more often so I hope u will enjoy other chappies!
Okay, enough of the thanks. On with the story!
Breath of Fire 2: Chapter 2-From innocent thieves to a kitty Katt
"Okay, We're back. So where's Mina?"
Ryu grinned. "Patience, man. Sometimes when you want a girl, you gotta wait for her. By the way, I noticed the way Silvia stared at you just now."
Bow attempted to hide his nervousness at the statement with a laugh, but failed miserably. "Yeah, I know. Sometimes I wish I could change this weakness of mine for pretty girls. Even my nose can't sniff out all the mischief some girls can come up with."
"you'll get it right in time, dude. Just relax. Oh, here she comes. Let's enter the Elder's room before her, then you can show yourself to be a true hero, Bow!"
Bow nodded, his cheery mood returning and both of the rangers entered the room silently.
"Did you find her?" Mina asked, making her entry known, the anxiety and worry present in her sweet voice.
"Don't worry Mina! Here she is!" Bow said proudly as he took out Suzy and placed her gently on the table of the Elder.
"Oink, oink oink!" There was no mistaking the joy in Suzy's cries.
"Suzy!" Mina cried out with the same amount of joy. She hugged her pet tightly, smiling as tears of relief poured down her cheeks. "Wow, she's so clean! Did both of you give her a bath?"
Ryu floundered at the question before Bow managed to stammer, " Well, it's something close to that."
"Thank you both very much! The bath was very nice of you!" Bow blushed as Mina thanked them both. "It was a good thing you managed to come back in time."
Ryu's small smile faded as he took on a puzzled look. Bow must have did the same as Mina explained. " In time? What for?"
"Mina is going back to Windia, Bow." The Elder, who had been forgotten for quite a while spoke up.
Mina then walked up to the confused Bow with a smile. "I thank you again from the bottom of my heart. Do come and visit us soon in Windia!" She giggled girlishly and waved to the rangers as her two winged companions or guards accompanied her out the door. Leaving a sad, then outraged Bow.
"This isn't fair, man! I thought I could at least be friends with her." The forlorn look on his face was enough to move the Elder, as he moved up to Bow to console him.
"There, there. You could find someone else, can't you? Here's your pay, by the way. All 500 coins of it!" Bow sighed and took the money, thanked the Elder silently and walked dejectedly out through the door of the room.
"Hey Bow." Ryu started, only to be cut off by a defeated grin of Bow's
"It's okay, dude. I don't think Mina's gonna fall for someone like me in the first place. At least we were successful on our first job."
Ryu had rarely seen his cheerful friend down in the dumps and when he did, he didn't like it. It affected people (with Ryu as an exception sometimes) close to Bow and made the day seem gloomy. He had never tried consoling people, but Ryu decided to give it a go.
"Hey buddy, we gonna go back home, man. Buy some good food and grog and celebrate our debut success! Forget about all that angst crap and have a good time, like you always do! Anyway, there's still Silvia, right?"
Ryu watched in satisfaction as Bow's face lit up at the mention of a party and another girl. "Yeah, you're right again, Ryu. Let's go back and celebrate!!!"
Ryu grinned. It was good to have the old Bow back again.
* * * *
The sound of a knocking door woke up the Grass Runner and he opened his bleary eyes to look at the magic sundial they had just bought. It was one in the morning.
"Geez, who could it be at this unearthly hour?" He opened the door to reveal a man wearing a sky-blue silk tunic with silk leggings and shoulder length hair, silvering around the sides.
"What do you want now, man?" Bow asked irritably as he looked at the man. He seemed troubled and was a bit nervous.
"I have need of your services, Bow." The man said, his youthful voice surprising Bow, who had jolted awake at the mention of work.
".Please do come in, Mr.?"
"Aramier. Kilgore Aramier . I need you to.take something of mine back from Trout's house! He had stolen it and I can't let him get away with such a crime!"
"Hmm.Okay. I believe you. I will get the treasure back for you. When am I going to pull off this.job?"
"Would now be too much of a hassle for you?" Kilgore asked hopefully
"Shouldn't be a problem. Please go back to your house and await my good news!"
"Thank you very much, kind sir."
"Enough of that, man. Two grateful people are too much for me to handle. By the way, I'm Bow Doggie, but just Bow would be fine."
"I'll await your news then, Bow." The man left, seeming more relieved and happy.
"Bow put on his regular clothing and strapped his crossbow to his back and walked towards the door, pausing at the Ryu's bed, who was sleeping like the dead. He knew that asking Ryu along would avail to nothing as Ryu couldn't steal even if his life depended on it. Anyway, Ryu's brand of justice would stop Bow from completing this job, which was not something he wanted.
Bow crept silently down the hallway of their apartment and shut the door, which closed with a soft click.
Ryu stirred and woke up. It was three in the morning, and when he woke up at this kind of time with a bad feeling, it meant that something was wrong to him. He peeked into Bow's room after he got up and dressed.
It was empty.
"Probably off for a stroll." Ryu shrugged and decided to join his friend. He strapped his sword to his back and was about the open the door when it swung into him.
"Oww! Hey, watch it!" Ryu cried out as he looked at his 'assailant'. It was a guard he had seen at Trout's house! What was he doing here?
"Have you seen Bow?" Ryu shook his head. "you don't know, right? Your FRIEND has burglarized my master's house! You better report to ME when you see him, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah. I got it. How about I even HELP you search for him?" Ryu replied, mimicking the way the guard exaggerated his words. He was extremely irked by the guard's attitude and wanted to bash in his face but decided against it.
"Do what you need to." Were the guard's words as he disappeared from the doorframe.
Bow? Steal? When he had a decent job? Something felt wrong here, and Ryu did not intend to let it remain a mystery to him. He rushed down and went straight towards Trout's house.
A blur of wings and pink crashed into him and mumbled an apology before zooming off. The shape seemed vaguely female and Ryu had glanced at that girl(judging from the youthfulness of her voice) and saw that she had blue hair and emerald eyes, just like.his?
He felt a strange sense of familiarity with the girl and felt foolish immediately. He hadn't even seen how she looks like and what she does. He hadn't even met her before!
Or had he?
Ryu shook his head and went to Trout's house to investigate. He saw that the fences had been expertly cut and any tracks in the grass were cleverly covered. The bolt that broke the lock immediately told him all he needed to know. Confused, Ryu decided that finding Bow for the truth was the most important element here.
Ryu began to think. Bow couldn't be outside due to the sheer number of guards guarding any possible exits, official or unofficial. He had no friends, except for himself, so the only place he would hide in is.
"Our apartment." Ryu muttered as he found Kilgore and assured him that it was not his fault all this happened. He ran up their apartment and opened the door, looking at a frantic-looking Grass Runner trying to hide under his bed. Bow.
"Sorry, Ryu. Looks like this one big mess I've got us into."
"Nuh-uh, pal. There's no way you are the one. I'm your ten year long friend, man. I know about you." Ryu interrupted him, earning him a grateful look from Bow.
"Thanks buddy. Anyway, let me explain." and Bow went on to tell Ryu that he had broken in, but only to get the treasure back. Instead, a girl with wings had got there first and stolen everything. He was then discovered by guards during escaping and barely avoided being caught.
"Hmm.No one else is gonna believe you, Bow, so I think you need a place to hide for a while first, somewhere like the Ruins." Ryu said thoughtfully. Before Bow could reply, there was a loud banging on the door. "The guards! Hide somewhere safe first, man. I'll occupy them."
Bow had just jumped into the empty dustbin when the guard opened the door without invitation. "Have you seen the thief, Bow?" the guard asked Ryu suspiciously. Ryu shook his head and seemed to wait for a reply. The guard looked and searched about, causing Ryu to hold his breath. Few minutes passed and the guard came out, empty-handed. Ryu breathed a mental sigh of relief and assured the guard he would inform the authorities when he found Bow.
"That was close." Ryu said to the dustbin and started to carry it. "Damned, you're heavy, man!" I'm gonna sneak out, alright? So you just stay still for a while." A rapping from within the container signaled Bow's approval and Ryu set out for the Ruins.
* * * *
"So you see, Bow has to stay here, Niro." Ryu explained as they reached the Ruins while Bow took a bath in a nearby spring.
"That's fine by me. He was wrongfully accused and you need to find the girl with wings to prove his innocence. If fact, I am the grateful one here actually."
"Hmm?" Ryu questioned. He was answered by dust falling on top of him as the roof crumbled, showing the stars in the night(or morning) sky.
"Bow could help me with repairs to this place and make it a decent home. Then you can ask around for suspicious characters in Coursair or Hometown. You oughta get some answers and you better do a good job, Bow, or I'm gonna snitch on you!" The old man said with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Oh man! Guess I have no choice but to help out." Bow replied in mock helplessness. "Please help me, Ryu. I'm counting on you to clear my name!"
"No prob, man! Nothing's gonna stop me from doing so! Till I return with good news, sit tight and help out, Bow!" Ryu replied as he rushed back to Hometown.
"Hmm.Where to start?" Ryu pondered as he received news about a winged girl in the Magic School and a strange girl in Coursair. "The girl's gonna escape, so she probably has to be in Coursair!" Ryu muttered and he stocked up on supplies and set off for Coursair, passing by a man crying over 'Memeko', his self-professed girlfriend who had 'broken up' with him, to which Ryu thought was kinda dumb.
"Whew! Finally reached Coursair." Ryu exclaimed as he wandered about the streets of the place. A bit crowded, he observed. There was no way he was going to find the suspect here. He decided to go to the pub and talk to people regarding talks of a strange girl in the Coliseum.
"Strange girl in Coliseum? Maybe the big guy over there can help you." The bartender said as he eyed Ryu disapprovingly, probably because he looked rather young to be having a drink here. Ryu nodded and gulped down his drink in one gulp, surprising the bartender.
"I'm seventeen, bub. I can drink what I want." Ryu said, smirking at the stunned face of the bartender before tapping the big Shell clan sitting at the far end of the pub.
(A/N: In my story, people at age of 17 are allowed to consume alcoholic drinks.)
"Yeah?" The man turned, all seven foot six of his build towering over Ryu. He was wearing a purple toga and had grayish skin. He had fists bigger than maces and looked menacing enough to scare off the fiercest warriors.
"Could you arrange for me to be in the fights? I need to see the girl in the Coliseum."
"The only girl, eh? Sure you can beat 'er, kid? She's the champ!"
"We'll see about that." Ryu grinned devilishly, his confidence glowing like an aura of command around him. The Tear flashed Yellow. That was good.
"Feisty, ain'tcha?" Another voice cut in. Ryu turned and was met by a large man nearly as tall and bulky as the Shell clan man. He held an axe that easily dwarfed Ryu and had a long beard down to his chest.
"This is Baba, kid. He just took the last place of participation of the current competition."
"So if I take it from him, I enter, right?" Ryu continued to grin as the man called Baba tightened his grip on the axe. "That should be easy."
That set the apparently bad-tempered Baba off. He roared and charged at Ryu, swinging his axe, wanting to wipe off that stupid smirk off his face. Instead of dodging, Ryu drew out his sword and parried the wild blow. The move surprised Baba, but what really shocked him was that the blow had numbed his fingers. He looked at the spot where Ryu stood and saw nothing. Suddenly, he felt an exploding pain at the back of his neck and darkness engulfed his senses.
"I never would have guessed he was going to be a contender, friend." Ryu said to the Shell clan man, who gaped at Ryu. He regained his composure almost immediately.
"That was.quite the eye-opener. Hmm.Maybe I could get you in, but maybe your name isn't."
"Ryu Bateson."
"Right, right. Your name's gonna be Baba, since he registered his name already."
"It's fine with me, for the time being, even though Baba's a lousy name. What's yours?"
"Rand Marks. Nice to meet you, Ryu."
"Likewise." Ryu shook his hand firmly as the Tear glowed greenish yellow.
* * * *
"It seems Baba is doing well, Marks." Angus Dalan, the owner of the Coliseum spoke as the Armadillo man(I will call him that, cuz 'shell clan man' is so weird!) stood before him.
"Yes sir, though people still bet on the champ to win."
"...I see. You may leave." Angus said mysteriously, making Rand feel uneasy all of a sudden. Then again, he had always felt uneasy around this person.
"Yes sir." As he left, six men entered the room.
"Ah, my good minions. Is everything ready?"
"Yes master."
"Good. Then let's put it in motion. Call Baba here."
Ryu entered the room soon after and greeted Angus. "You wanted to see me, sir?"
"Yes, Baba. I have a preposition for you. I assume you are after the championship?"
"No, sir. I just want to see the girl. I need to ask her about something that is very serious. It could mean my friends' freedom." Ryu said carefully. There was something not right about this man. The tear had never reacted so violently before and now, it glowed from red to dark crimson to black.
Black. The epitome of evil.
"What a shame. You are pretty good, Baba. But I don't think you might win. You see, my.friends will fire poison needles into the arena as the result comes out. We will aim at the former champ to give you a winning chance. Then, you can become the champ-"
"I'll think about it, Angus." Ryu replied guardedly as he swiftly retreated out of the room. Angus grinned evilly as he was out of sight. "I said we will aim at her, I never said we will shoot at her or you, dear Baba."
"What? Poison needles? You are nuts, Ry-Baba!" Rand exclaimed. It was then Ryu held up a unconscious minion of Angus's and a bag of poison needles in front of him did Rand shut up. "Okay, so you were right. Gotta give this antidote to the champ.I'm no good with this, Baba. Why don't you go? Ya know, you are kinda cute-lookin' for girls to look at."
"Geez, Rand. Anyone else would have said that you are just scared of her." Ryu said, flushing from the last statement. He had never really considered himself to be a attractive young man in the eyes of girls, let alone consider any girls to be really his type or attractive. "Alright, alright. I'll do it." He muttered, swiping the antidote from Rand's hand. He walked over to the champ's room and hesitated.
"Ah, what the heck. I'll just going to be leaving this with her, right? Shouldn't be so hard a task. Wonder why Rand is so scared of her." Ryu knocked, only to be answered by silence. He opened the door and stepped inside.
The room was cozy, unexpected from a fighter who had, it seemed, lived here and fight all her life, according to rumours. Despite that, there were no pictures hanging on the wall and such. Ryu felt his eyes wander all over the room.
"Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here in my room?" The feminine voice shouted, bringing Ryu's eyes to bear upon her. The female seemed to be a Woren. She wore a blue bra top, which did not cover up her well-endowed chest very well, complemented with blue boots that showed her clawed toes and blue gloves. She had collar length fiery orange hair and some of it covered her angry green eyes. Her pretty oval-shaped face was set in a fierce scowl as she looked back fiercely at Ryu.
'Wow, she looks good.' Was all Ryu could think of, until the girl stomped up to him, her face bare inches from his. Ryu flushed and looked away.
"I asked you a question, buster! What do you think you are doing here?" The girl scowled menacingly as she raised her staff threateningly.
Suddenly Ryu found out that he had a speech problem. "Erm.ah.well.you see.I was.erm.room service!" He silently punched himself soon afterwards.
"Room service with swords on their backs? Do you take me for an IDIOT! GET OUT!" The Woren swung her staff and Ryu barely dodged it. He still found himself crashing out of her room from one of her flying kicks to his right cheek.
"Owww." Ryu laid on the floor, dazed for perhaps the first time in his life due to an attack from a female. Nevertheless, he still felt admiration for the Woren girl's strength and folly for his own stupidity.
Still, "What a kick." Ryu grinned despite himself, rubbing his bruised cheek.
"So you met the champ, Katt Chuan." Rand's voice floated down to him. Ryu stood up, still dazed, but grinning.
"So that's why you were afraid, big man!"
"Yeah, well, you never seen what she did to things bigger than me."
"Katt Chuan, huh? Interesting. It's gonna be fun fighting her."
* * * *
"Ladeez and Gentlemen! Welcome to the Finals of the Grand Sword championship! The winner of this competition will walk away with a fabulous prize of 1000 gold coins and fame! On my left, we have the grand champion, Katt Chuan!"
"Katt! Katt! Katt!" The excited crowd chanted her name as she made her way onto the arena-seven logs acting as bridges over water. Katt waved to the crowd as she stood impatiently at one end of the center log. Ryu took a deep breath and stepped out as the announcer called for his appearance.
As told by Rand, he was greeted by boos and jeers. He took it in stride as he walked purposefully towards his end of the center log.
"You suck, Baba!"
"Go home and cry to your Mommy, Baba!"
"Your Mother is stupid to give you such a name!"
That wiped off the grin plastered on his face. He glared intensely into the eyes of the person who had said that. He immediately shrank back. Satisfied, Ryu walked up and tried one last time to convince Katt Chuan that she was in danger.
"Miss Chuan, listen to me carefully. You are in grave danger. Angus Dalan is planning to shoot you with a poisoned needle or two, so you gotta let me give you this antidote-"
"What?? A poison needle? Don't make me laugh. Is being despicable necessary for you when you fight?" The Woren girl taunted him. Ryu sighed and took up a fighting stance as the bell sounded, signaling the start of the final match.
Katt rushed straight at Ryu, who did not even have time to draw his sword. He leapt back and drew it, momentarily shocked by the speed of her attack. He got up slowly, holding his sword double-handed for the first time in a long time. Time to get serious.
He charged at Katt this time, doing a speedy forward thrust. As expected, Katt dodged it easily and returned a overhead swing of her staff to hit Ryu, who spun the blade and parried the blow, much to the surprise of the Woren. Ryu pushed back her staff and feinted a left slash, to which Katt reacted. Ryu grinned and jumped up to produce a double-handed cleave attack from the air. Katt simply dodged the devastating blow and the next horizontal slash soon after.
"What's the matter, bub? Can't hit me?" Katt taunted. Ryu kept his cool, deciding that one wrong move could mean the end of the competition and possibly, his life. They leapt atop each log and battled for a while before finally landing on the centermost log again. Ryu purposely stumbled as both of them charged for a final attack.
Katt took advantage of the mistake and immediately swung her staff full force at Ryu's face. He dodged, taking a bad blow to his cheek but that did not stop his maneuver from unfolding.
He dodged the vicious stab of the claw-staff by doing a fancy spin towards the left, so that he is side by side with Katt. Ryu smirked at Katt. "Game over, little kitty." He planted an elbow at Katt's right arm and swiftly swung the flat side of his sword at the back of her neck. Her wide, surprised eyes gradually closed as she fell, unconscious. Ryu stopped her fall and laid her down gently on the wide log. The crowd was silent, but Angus was not.
"Act now!!" The poison needles flew forth and Ryu immediately grabbed Katt, hugging her close to him as he shielded her with his back. He felt three small pricks on the skin of his back and his vision swam. Gritting his teeth, he used the last bit of his strength to kick the locked door apart and stumbled in.
Then, he was embraced by complete darkness and he knew no more.
Attention all readers, this is the author speaking. Plz r&r. I repeat, plz r&r. thank you 4 ur cooperation.
Gleenthefrog: Thanks for your advice. Noticed that this does follow the script a bit too much and will change that.
Darth: hmm.I dun knoe. Maybe if u read on more, then u will knoe soon.(
Haytham: Glad u liked it. Hope the subsequent chappies will earn more of ur praise
Silver kitsune: thx 4 ur support n I plan on updating this more often so I hope u will enjoy other chappies!
Okay, enough of the thanks. On with the story!
Breath of Fire 2: Chapter 2-From innocent thieves to a kitty Katt
"Okay, We're back. So where's Mina?"
Ryu grinned. "Patience, man. Sometimes when you want a girl, you gotta wait for her. By the way, I noticed the way Silvia stared at you just now."
Bow attempted to hide his nervousness at the statement with a laugh, but failed miserably. "Yeah, I know. Sometimes I wish I could change this weakness of mine for pretty girls. Even my nose can't sniff out all the mischief some girls can come up with."
"you'll get it right in time, dude. Just relax. Oh, here she comes. Let's enter the Elder's room before her, then you can show yourself to be a true hero, Bow!"
Bow nodded, his cheery mood returning and both of the rangers entered the room silently.
"Did you find her?" Mina asked, making her entry known, the anxiety and worry present in her sweet voice.
"Don't worry Mina! Here she is!" Bow said proudly as he took out Suzy and placed her gently on the table of the Elder.
"Oink, oink oink!" There was no mistaking the joy in Suzy's cries.
"Suzy!" Mina cried out with the same amount of joy. She hugged her pet tightly, smiling as tears of relief poured down her cheeks. "Wow, she's so clean! Did both of you give her a bath?"
Ryu floundered at the question before Bow managed to stammer, " Well, it's something close to that."
"Thank you both very much! The bath was very nice of you!" Bow blushed as Mina thanked them both. "It was a good thing you managed to come back in time."
Ryu's small smile faded as he took on a puzzled look. Bow must have did the same as Mina explained. " In time? What for?"
"Mina is going back to Windia, Bow." The Elder, who had been forgotten for quite a while spoke up.
Mina then walked up to the confused Bow with a smile. "I thank you again from the bottom of my heart. Do come and visit us soon in Windia!" She giggled girlishly and waved to the rangers as her two winged companions or guards accompanied her out the door. Leaving a sad, then outraged Bow.
"This isn't fair, man! I thought I could at least be friends with her." The forlorn look on his face was enough to move the Elder, as he moved up to Bow to console him.
"There, there. You could find someone else, can't you? Here's your pay, by the way. All 500 coins of it!" Bow sighed and took the money, thanked the Elder silently and walked dejectedly out through the door of the room.
"Hey Bow." Ryu started, only to be cut off by a defeated grin of Bow's
"It's okay, dude. I don't think Mina's gonna fall for someone like me in the first place. At least we were successful on our first job."
Ryu had rarely seen his cheerful friend down in the dumps and when he did, he didn't like it. It affected people (with Ryu as an exception sometimes) close to Bow and made the day seem gloomy. He had never tried consoling people, but Ryu decided to give it a go.
"Hey buddy, we gonna go back home, man. Buy some good food and grog and celebrate our debut success! Forget about all that angst crap and have a good time, like you always do! Anyway, there's still Silvia, right?"
Ryu watched in satisfaction as Bow's face lit up at the mention of a party and another girl. "Yeah, you're right again, Ryu. Let's go back and celebrate!!!"
Ryu grinned. It was good to have the old Bow back again.
* * * *
The sound of a knocking door woke up the Grass Runner and he opened his bleary eyes to look at the magic sundial they had just bought. It was one in the morning.
"Geez, who could it be at this unearthly hour?" He opened the door to reveal a man wearing a sky-blue silk tunic with silk leggings and shoulder length hair, silvering around the sides.
"What do you want now, man?" Bow asked irritably as he looked at the man. He seemed troubled and was a bit nervous.
"I have need of your services, Bow." The man said, his youthful voice surprising Bow, who had jolted awake at the mention of work.
".Please do come in, Mr.?"
"Aramier. Kilgore Aramier . I need you to.take something of mine back from Trout's house! He had stolen it and I can't let him get away with such a crime!"
"Hmm.Okay. I believe you. I will get the treasure back for you. When am I going to pull off this.job?"
"Would now be too much of a hassle for you?" Kilgore asked hopefully
"Shouldn't be a problem. Please go back to your house and await my good news!"
"Thank you very much, kind sir."
"Enough of that, man. Two grateful people are too much for me to handle. By the way, I'm Bow Doggie, but just Bow would be fine."
"I'll await your news then, Bow." The man left, seeming more relieved and happy.
"Bow put on his regular clothing and strapped his crossbow to his back and walked towards the door, pausing at the Ryu's bed, who was sleeping like the dead. He knew that asking Ryu along would avail to nothing as Ryu couldn't steal even if his life depended on it. Anyway, Ryu's brand of justice would stop Bow from completing this job, which was not something he wanted.
Bow crept silently down the hallway of their apartment and shut the door, which closed with a soft click.
Ryu stirred and woke up. It was three in the morning, and when he woke up at this kind of time with a bad feeling, it meant that something was wrong to him. He peeked into Bow's room after he got up and dressed.
It was empty.
"Probably off for a stroll." Ryu shrugged and decided to join his friend. He strapped his sword to his back and was about the open the door when it swung into him.
"Oww! Hey, watch it!" Ryu cried out as he looked at his 'assailant'. It was a guard he had seen at Trout's house! What was he doing here?
"Have you seen Bow?" Ryu shook his head. "you don't know, right? Your FRIEND has burglarized my master's house! You better report to ME when you see him, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah. I got it. How about I even HELP you search for him?" Ryu replied, mimicking the way the guard exaggerated his words. He was extremely irked by the guard's attitude and wanted to bash in his face but decided against it.
"Do what you need to." Were the guard's words as he disappeared from the doorframe.
Bow? Steal? When he had a decent job? Something felt wrong here, and Ryu did not intend to let it remain a mystery to him. He rushed down and went straight towards Trout's house.
A blur of wings and pink crashed into him and mumbled an apology before zooming off. The shape seemed vaguely female and Ryu had glanced at that girl(judging from the youthfulness of her voice) and saw that she had blue hair and emerald eyes, just like.his?
He felt a strange sense of familiarity with the girl and felt foolish immediately. He hadn't even seen how she looks like and what she does. He hadn't even met her before!
Or had he?
Ryu shook his head and went to Trout's house to investigate. He saw that the fences had been expertly cut and any tracks in the grass were cleverly covered. The bolt that broke the lock immediately told him all he needed to know. Confused, Ryu decided that finding Bow for the truth was the most important element here.
Ryu began to think. Bow couldn't be outside due to the sheer number of guards guarding any possible exits, official or unofficial. He had no friends, except for himself, so the only place he would hide in is.
"Our apartment." Ryu muttered as he found Kilgore and assured him that it was not his fault all this happened. He ran up their apartment and opened the door, looking at a frantic-looking Grass Runner trying to hide under his bed. Bow.
"Sorry, Ryu. Looks like this one big mess I've got us into."
"Nuh-uh, pal. There's no way you are the one. I'm your ten year long friend, man. I know about you." Ryu interrupted him, earning him a grateful look from Bow.
"Thanks buddy. Anyway, let me explain." and Bow went on to tell Ryu that he had broken in, but only to get the treasure back. Instead, a girl with wings had got there first and stolen everything. He was then discovered by guards during escaping and barely avoided being caught.
"Hmm.No one else is gonna believe you, Bow, so I think you need a place to hide for a while first, somewhere like the Ruins." Ryu said thoughtfully. Before Bow could reply, there was a loud banging on the door. "The guards! Hide somewhere safe first, man. I'll occupy them."
Bow had just jumped into the empty dustbin when the guard opened the door without invitation. "Have you seen the thief, Bow?" the guard asked Ryu suspiciously. Ryu shook his head and seemed to wait for a reply. The guard looked and searched about, causing Ryu to hold his breath. Few minutes passed and the guard came out, empty-handed. Ryu breathed a mental sigh of relief and assured the guard he would inform the authorities when he found Bow.
"That was close." Ryu said to the dustbin and started to carry it. "Damned, you're heavy, man!" I'm gonna sneak out, alright? So you just stay still for a while." A rapping from within the container signaled Bow's approval and Ryu set out for the Ruins.
* * * *
"So you see, Bow has to stay here, Niro." Ryu explained as they reached the Ruins while Bow took a bath in a nearby spring.
"That's fine by me. He was wrongfully accused and you need to find the girl with wings to prove his innocence. If fact, I am the grateful one here actually."
"Hmm?" Ryu questioned. He was answered by dust falling on top of him as the roof crumbled, showing the stars in the night(or morning) sky.
"Bow could help me with repairs to this place and make it a decent home. Then you can ask around for suspicious characters in Coursair or Hometown. You oughta get some answers and you better do a good job, Bow, or I'm gonna snitch on you!" The old man said with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Oh man! Guess I have no choice but to help out." Bow replied in mock helplessness. "Please help me, Ryu. I'm counting on you to clear my name!"
"No prob, man! Nothing's gonna stop me from doing so! Till I return with good news, sit tight and help out, Bow!" Ryu replied as he rushed back to Hometown.
"Hmm.Where to start?" Ryu pondered as he received news about a winged girl in the Magic School and a strange girl in Coursair. "The girl's gonna escape, so she probably has to be in Coursair!" Ryu muttered and he stocked up on supplies and set off for Coursair, passing by a man crying over 'Memeko', his self-professed girlfriend who had 'broken up' with him, to which Ryu thought was kinda dumb.
"Whew! Finally reached Coursair." Ryu exclaimed as he wandered about the streets of the place. A bit crowded, he observed. There was no way he was going to find the suspect here. He decided to go to the pub and talk to people regarding talks of a strange girl in the Coliseum.
"Strange girl in Coliseum? Maybe the big guy over there can help you." The bartender said as he eyed Ryu disapprovingly, probably because he looked rather young to be having a drink here. Ryu nodded and gulped down his drink in one gulp, surprising the bartender.
"I'm seventeen, bub. I can drink what I want." Ryu said, smirking at the stunned face of the bartender before tapping the big Shell clan sitting at the far end of the pub.
(A/N: In my story, people at age of 17 are allowed to consume alcoholic drinks.)
"Yeah?" The man turned, all seven foot six of his build towering over Ryu. He was wearing a purple toga and had grayish skin. He had fists bigger than maces and looked menacing enough to scare off the fiercest warriors.
"Could you arrange for me to be in the fights? I need to see the girl in the Coliseum."
"The only girl, eh? Sure you can beat 'er, kid? She's the champ!"
"We'll see about that." Ryu grinned devilishly, his confidence glowing like an aura of command around him. The Tear flashed Yellow. That was good.
"Feisty, ain'tcha?" Another voice cut in. Ryu turned and was met by a large man nearly as tall and bulky as the Shell clan man. He held an axe that easily dwarfed Ryu and had a long beard down to his chest.
"This is Baba, kid. He just took the last place of participation of the current competition."
"So if I take it from him, I enter, right?" Ryu continued to grin as the man called Baba tightened his grip on the axe. "That should be easy."
That set the apparently bad-tempered Baba off. He roared and charged at Ryu, swinging his axe, wanting to wipe off that stupid smirk off his face. Instead of dodging, Ryu drew out his sword and parried the wild blow. The move surprised Baba, but what really shocked him was that the blow had numbed his fingers. He looked at the spot where Ryu stood and saw nothing. Suddenly, he felt an exploding pain at the back of his neck and darkness engulfed his senses.
"I never would have guessed he was going to be a contender, friend." Ryu said to the Shell clan man, who gaped at Ryu. He regained his composure almost immediately.
"That was.quite the eye-opener. Hmm.Maybe I could get you in, but maybe your name isn't."
"Ryu Bateson."
"Right, right. Your name's gonna be Baba, since he registered his name already."
"It's fine with me, for the time being, even though Baba's a lousy name. What's yours?"
"Rand Marks. Nice to meet you, Ryu."
"Likewise." Ryu shook his hand firmly as the Tear glowed greenish yellow.
* * * *
"It seems Baba is doing well, Marks." Angus Dalan, the owner of the Coliseum spoke as the Armadillo man(I will call him that, cuz 'shell clan man' is so weird!) stood before him.
"Yes sir, though people still bet on the champ to win."
"...I see. You may leave." Angus said mysteriously, making Rand feel uneasy all of a sudden. Then again, he had always felt uneasy around this person.
"Yes sir." As he left, six men entered the room.
"Ah, my good minions. Is everything ready?"
"Yes master."
"Good. Then let's put it in motion. Call Baba here."
Ryu entered the room soon after and greeted Angus. "You wanted to see me, sir?"
"Yes, Baba. I have a preposition for you. I assume you are after the championship?"
"No, sir. I just want to see the girl. I need to ask her about something that is very serious. It could mean my friends' freedom." Ryu said carefully. There was something not right about this man. The tear had never reacted so violently before and now, it glowed from red to dark crimson to black.
Black. The epitome of evil.
"What a shame. You are pretty good, Baba. But I don't think you might win. You see, my.friends will fire poison needles into the arena as the result comes out. We will aim at the former champ to give you a winning chance. Then, you can become the champ-"
"I'll think about it, Angus." Ryu replied guardedly as he swiftly retreated out of the room. Angus grinned evilly as he was out of sight. "I said we will aim at her, I never said we will shoot at her or you, dear Baba."
"What? Poison needles? You are nuts, Ry-Baba!" Rand exclaimed. It was then Ryu held up a unconscious minion of Angus's and a bag of poison needles in front of him did Rand shut up. "Okay, so you were right. Gotta give this antidote to the champ.I'm no good with this, Baba. Why don't you go? Ya know, you are kinda cute-lookin' for girls to look at."
"Geez, Rand. Anyone else would have said that you are just scared of her." Ryu said, flushing from the last statement. He had never really considered himself to be a attractive young man in the eyes of girls, let alone consider any girls to be really his type or attractive. "Alright, alright. I'll do it." He muttered, swiping the antidote from Rand's hand. He walked over to the champ's room and hesitated.
"Ah, what the heck. I'll just going to be leaving this with her, right? Shouldn't be so hard a task. Wonder why Rand is so scared of her." Ryu knocked, only to be answered by silence. He opened the door and stepped inside.
The room was cozy, unexpected from a fighter who had, it seemed, lived here and fight all her life, according to rumours. Despite that, there were no pictures hanging on the wall and such. Ryu felt his eyes wander all over the room.
"Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here in my room?" The feminine voice shouted, bringing Ryu's eyes to bear upon her. The female seemed to be a Woren. She wore a blue bra top, which did not cover up her well-endowed chest very well, complemented with blue boots that showed her clawed toes and blue gloves. She had collar length fiery orange hair and some of it covered her angry green eyes. Her pretty oval-shaped face was set in a fierce scowl as she looked back fiercely at Ryu.
'Wow, she looks good.' Was all Ryu could think of, until the girl stomped up to him, her face bare inches from his. Ryu flushed and looked away.
"I asked you a question, buster! What do you think you are doing here?" The girl scowled menacingly as she raised her staff threateningly.
Suddenly Ryu found out that he had a speech problem. "Erm.ah.well.you see.I was.erm.room service!" He silently punched himself soon afterwards.
"Room service with swords on their backs? Do you take me for an IDIOT! GET OUT!" The Woren swung her staff and Ryu barely dodged it. He still found himself crashing out of her room from one of her flying kicks to his right cheek.
"Owww." Ryu laid on the floor, dazed for perhaps the first time in his life due to an attack from a female. Nevertheless, he still felt admiration for the Woren girl's strength and folly for his own stupidity.
Still, "What a kick." Ryu grinned despite himself, rubbing his bruised cheek.
"So you met the champ, Katt Chuan." Rand's voice floated down to him. Ryu stood up, still dazed, but grinning.
"So that's why you were afraid, big man!"
"Yeah, well, you never seen what she did to things bigger than me."
"Katt Chuan, huh? Interesting. It's gonna be fun fighting her."
* * * *
"Ladeez and Gentlemen! Welcome to the Finals of the Grand Sword championship! The winner of this competition will walk away with a fabulous prize of 1000 gold coins and fame! On my left, we have the grand champion, Katt Chuan!"
"Katt! Katt! Katt!" The excited crowd chanted her name as she made her way onto the arena-seven logs acting as bridges over water. Katt waved to the crowd as she stood impatiently at one end of the center log. Ryu took a deep breath and stepped out as the announcer called for his appearance.
As told by Rand, he was greeted by boos and jeers. He took it in stride as he walked purposefully towards his end of the center log.
"You suck, Baba!"
"Go home and cry to your Mommy, Baba!"
"Your Mother is stupid to give you such a name!"
That wiped off the grin plastered on his face. He glared intensely into the eyes of the person who had said that. He immediately shrank back. Satisfied, Ryu walked up and tried one last time to convince Katt Chuan that she was in danger.
"Miss Chuan, listen to me carefully. You are in grave danger. Angus Dalan is planning to shoot you with a poisoned needle or two, so you gotta let me give you this antidote-"
"What?? A poison needle? Don't make me laugh. Is being despicable necessary for you when you fight?" The Woren girl taunted him. Ryu sighed and took up a fighting stance as the bell sounded, signaling the start of the final match.
Katt rushed straight at Ryu, who did not even have time to draw his sword. He leapt back and drew it, momentarily shocked by the speed of her attack. He got up slowly, holding his sword double-handed for the first time in a long time. Time to get serious.
He charged at Katt this time, doing a speedy forward thrust. As expected, Katt dodged it easily and returned a overhead swing of her staff to hit Ryu, who spun the blade and parried the blow, much to the surprise of the Woren. Ryu pushed back her staff and feinted a left slash, to which Katt reacted. Ryu grinned and jumped up to produce a double-handed cleave attack from the air. Katt simply dodged the devastating blow and the next horizontal slash soon after.
"What's the matter, bub? Can't hit me?" Katt taunted. Ryu kept his cool, deciding that one wrong move could mean the end of the competition and possibly, his life. They leapt atop each log and battled for a while before finally landing on the centermost log again. Ryu purposely stumbled as both of them charged for a final attack.
Katt took advantage of the mistake and immediately swung her staff full force at Ryu's face. He dodged, taking a bad blow to his cheek but that did not stop his maneuver from unfolding.
He dodged the vicious stab of the claw-staff by doing a fancy spin towards the left, so that he is side by side with Katt. Ryu smirked at Katt. "Game over, little kitty." He planted an elbow at Katt's right arm and swiftly swung the flat side of his sword at the back of her neck. Her wide, surprised eyes gradually closed as she fell, unconscious. Ryu stopped her fall and laid her down gently on the wide log. The crowd was silent, but Angus was not.
"Act now!!" The poison needles flew forth and Ryu immediately grabbed Katt, hugging her close to him as he shielded her with his back. He felt three small pricks on the skin of his back and his vision swam. Gritting his teeth, he used the last bit of his strength to kick the locked door apart and stumbled in.
Then, he was embraced by complete darkness and he knew no more.
Attention all readers, this is the author speaking. Plz r&r. I repeat, plz r&r. thank you 4 ur cooperation.