Xianghua didn't know how quite to react when the small cloaked figure toppled over the pirate with one swift kick.

"Who… are you?" asked Xianghua.

The cloaked figure pulled the hood and revealed the face of a small child with raven black hair and dark eyes. The girl could not have been more than fourteen to fifteen years of age. She wore a loose fitting creamy white shirt with the mid-drift open, as well as white shorts that came down to the ends of her thighs with light green trim. She wore her hair in two braids reaching down almost to her shoulders.

"My name is Talim, but we really don't have the time for introductions at the moment. We still have pirates to fend off," she said in perfect Chinese.

"Well she does have a point," thought Xianghua as she readied her sword. Three more pirates had spotted the two young women, and drew their curved long-swords.

"You'll pay for what you did to our friends, wenches," sneered one pirate as he rushed headlong towards Xianghua and Talim, his sword ready. Before Xianghua could react, Talim leaped gracefully into the air, flipped forward, and planted both of her feet right in the face of the oncoming pirate. He flew backwards and landed with a violent thud, his sword clattered across the deck. The other two pirates looked at their fallen comrade, and apparently losing their will to fight, immediately ran off.

The battle raged on for only a little while longer, as the pirates eventually went running back to their ship, leaving their beaten comrades to fend for themselves. The planks had been raised, and the pirates sailed off with their tail in between their legs. Xianghua took a moment to catch her breath, and tried to help as many injured crew men get back to their feet. She kept an eye on Talim, the evil aura of the shards of Soul Edge seemed to emanate from the young girl. Talim was being as helpful as she could, and assisted many injured crew members.

"She doesn't seem evil, but she most undoubtedly has more shards…" thought Xianghua. When she found a moment, Xianghua immediately walked over to Talim. The young girl was helping a crew man onto his feet, and assisted him with sitting on a crate.

"That's a nasty wound you have there…" said Talim, looking at the long, deep slash along the man's arm. Talim had a rather calming, sweet voice that reminded Xianghua of a waterfall. "I'll apply some bandages and a salve. It'll be awhile before it heals."

Talim procured a few bandages and some plants from within the folds of her cloak. She laid out the bandages and expertly crushed the plants, smearing the paste onto the bandage.

"This is going to burn..." she said applying the bandage to the wound. The crew man winced, but did not make a show of the pain he obviously felt.

"Thank you so much," he said.

"It's nothing."

"That's pretty impressive," said Xianghua, interjecting.

"Well I was trained as a healer in my temple. I really don't have everything I need, but I have to travel light."

The two women stood for a moment in silence, looking at each other.

"Can we speak…" said Xianghua.

"…in private? Yes, we should" said Talim, finishing the sentence.

Both women made their way down into the depths of the ship, and made their way to Xianghua's room. Talim immediately sat herself down on a chair.

"Good, Rajit is not here. He won't hear our conversation," thought Xianghua, relieved.

"You have a shard of Soul Edge, I can sense it," said Talim, wanting to get straight to the point.

"As well as you, I could sense it immediately when the pirate ship attacked."

"Are you collecting the shards?" said Talim with an air of suspicion in her voice.

"Yes, that is my plan. I thought I had destroyed the sword long ago, but all I ended up doing was shattering it into many pieces. I'm just finishing what I started, and that is to destroy the sword."

"I have taken up that quest as well."

Xianghua paused a moment and looked at the young girl.

"But you're still a child. Why would you take on such a dangerous quest?"

"I know it's dangerous, but it's my duty as a wind priestess."

"A wind priestess? Where do you come from? Your Chinese is perfect but you definitely don't look Chinese."

"I'm from a village in the Philippines. I am one of the wind priestesses in my village. Everyone in my village worships the great wind deity, or at least most did before the westerners arrived. The wind carries news from all over the world, and during my training I was able to learn many of the world's languages, including Chinese."

"Wow, a priestess then. You also want to destroy the shards of Soul Edge?"

"Of course. It's evil has spread across the world. I can feel its malice whenever the wind happens to blow by. I'm one of the last priestesses left so I felt it was my duty to take on this quest. I decided to stow away on a ship and find all of the shards."

"You were hidden on the ship that attacked us then. But that's so dangerous, what if you were found out?"

"Thankfully I wasn't. I didn't plan to come out of hiding, but then my shards reacted to yours, and so I had to investigate."

"You're very courageous…" said Xianghua, her voice fading gently. She looked at the young priestess, a mere child. Despite her age though, Xianghua could see a look of determination and resolve.

"You said you had tried to destroy the sword before?" asked Talim expectantly.

"A few years ago, myself and two other traveling companions tracked down the sword in Europe. At first I did not know that the sword itself was pure evil, but I soon found out. When we finally found it, we faced its owner, the azure knight Nightmare, in combat. I lost two of my friends in that battle, at least as far as I know…" said Xianghua, tears welling up slightly in her eyes as she thought back.

"I'm sorry," said Talim bowing her head, her voice lowered.

"No it's alright. I still hold onto the hope that they are still out there somewhere. Those two aren't the kind to die so easily."

"If you tried to destroy it once, how do we know that it really can be done…," said Talim.

"I'm sure there's a way, although I have not figured it out yet. At the very least I…" said Xianghua, who stopped talking as soon as Rajit appeared in the room. The monk was very surprised to see Talim sitting in the room.

"Well there have sadly been some casualties mistress, but I'm thankful we were able to fight off the pirates. I have assisted as much as I could. Oh, my, it seems we have a guest," said Rajit bowing low.

"This is Talim, she was held captive on the pirate ship but managed to escape in the confusion," said Xianghua, motioning towards Talim, shooting the young girl a quick glance. A little confused, Talim decided it was best to go along with it.

"Pleased to meet you," she said, standing up and making a short bow.

"I am Rajit. I am guiding Xianghua to the other side of the Indian continent."

The three began to converse about various topics. Talim was always very polite and respectful, and Rajit found her to very knowledgeable about world religions and points of interest.

Night had fallen, the stars hung in the sky radiating a haunting glow on the Indian Ocean. Most of the crew were asleep beneath the deck. Talim could not sleep that night, her mind was too troubled. She stood at the edge of the deck, overlooking the ocean. The full moon was very large that night, and the ocean was very calm. Talim began to think to herself, fading away into memory.

Gathering her clothes and belongings into a sack, Talim looked at the objects in her room in the wind temple. The quilts her mother had sewn were hung on the walls. They were of various bright colors and intricate patterns, and Talim always appreciated how reminders of her mother were so close by. A knock came from the door.

"Come in."

A young girl, no older than Talim, appeared through the door wearing a long white gown. Her midnight black hair was very long, flowing down to her knees.

"Sarwal, it's you," said Talim with an air of surprise in her voice.

"Yes, I heard you were leaving? Why not wait for everyone to at least send you off?"

"I don't want to see everyone's tears. Besides, I'll definitely come back. I have to."

"You know…you don't have to…you know…you could simply stay with us…"

"No I can Sarwal. The world is in danger, I'm sure you can feel it too. I can't sit here idly by while evil spreads across the lands. No one is safe. I have to do this. I wish there was another way."

"But when you're gone…I'm only in training…" said Sarwal twiddling her fingers, her head hanging low.

"You'll make a wonderful priestess. Besides the villagers will need someone while I'm gone, since it will most likely be for awhile, so in any case…"

Talim could not finish her sentence as Sarwal began to cry and collapsed in Talim's arms. Both young women simply stood there, both realizing their own fates.

"I'll return as soon as possible Sarwal, to you and the other villagers. It won't be too long. Besides, it seems the wind deity has granted me some help…"

Elsewhere in Germany, A gray cloaked figure rode into Ostrheinsburg castle on a dark horse. The once proud stronghold of Ostrheinsburg was now a tattered, broken shell of it's former glory. The fabulous stone towers were now merely rubble. The great gates leading into the inner halls of the castle were broken in, the shards of wood scattered along the ground. The strange figure dismounted from his horse, and carried a rather thick leather tome in his left hand. Walking in a rather stately manner, the sound of his feet hitting the stone cobbled walkway leading into the interior of the castle rang throughout the cold air.

"It seems this is the place," said the figure, his voice raspy and deep.

Walking past the gate and into the courtyard, the figure stopped near the entrance and surveyed the area.

"This is the spot alright. This time…this time my creation will not fail."

The figure opened his book and flipped through several pages. Procuring a piece of chalk from the inner folds of his robe, he bent down and traced two concentric circles, writing small runes along the edge. When this was done, he next procured a small vial filled with some unidentifiable rust red liquid. Mumbling strange words under his breath, he opened the vial and began splashing the liquid on the ground. Clasping both of his hands together, the chanting grew louder and louder. Soon, the liquid seemed to boil, filling the ground with a light red haze. The runes on the circle lit up as if on fire.

"Manu vas to rat men sufrus den ni at tem vot as sufrus" chanted the figure, waving his hand over the circle. The mist coalesced, crackling with red lightning and swirled high into the air. Loud wailing pierced through the air. A spirit seemed to be rising from the circle. It looked like a misty red humanoid mass of energy, releasing an unholy wail. The mist congealed into blood, then muscle and skin formed over the mass of blood. In a flash of blinding light, the creature was whole.

"Welcome back Astaroth" said the hooded figure.