Disclaimer: Breath of Fire belongs to Capcom. Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts belong to Square-Enix, but Kingdom Hearts also belongs to Disney. And I don't own scallops – scallops own themselves, as they are actually real shellfish (to those who don't know) and you can eat them as well (they are quite tasty) or any other fish mentioned – all fish own themselves. And I don't own any other of the fish mentioned in this chapter. I don't own Arc Arcanium or Stun Impact.
Now, for updates – as I have a LOT of work to do this year, I'll probably limit to how many chapters I do – it's probably going to be one per month (but I'm afraid the next one won't be until December or so). Yes, I know it will be a long wait for you, but my work is really, really important this year!
Okay, the reason Iraised the age rating, was because type of violence in this chapter. However, the fic is rated 'M' for violence and swearing. I have no reason to put any lemon in (besides, if I did, my dad would stop checking it for me) and as I said before, you can try but you are NEVER going to persuade me to put in any slash.
Sora sat in the garden, watching the sun moving closer and closer touching the ocean, painting the sky with various colours – yellow, bright orange, pink and red….
It was always like this in Wyndia…and in Parela as well. Every evening in Parela, when they had the chance to, Sora and Kairi would come out of their houses and climb up to the hill to watch the sunset. In Wyndia, they would take a trip to the West Tower, which faced the sea. Therefore, the sunset gave him great comfort and made him feel more at home, even though he knew that he would not return home for a long time…
Ryu was sitting a few metres away from him, on a tree stump, swinging his legs two and fro and had not moved from his spot for the past hour.
"Hey, what's up?" Nina said from just behind Sora, making him jump. She then cackled for giving Sora a fright, even though it was not intentional.
"No need to jump on me like that, Nina!" Sora cried angrily.
"Hey, no need to overreact, Sora, it was an accident…" the girl shrugged before sitting down.
Sora was about to answer back, but decided that it was not worth fussing about. He tried to change the subject. "Nice sunset, isn't it?" he said, staring at the sea.
"It reminds me so much of home back in Wyndia," Nina replied in agreement, stretching her no longer damaged wings. "Sitting up in the West Tower, with Kairi and Riku….just to watch the dusk.."
As they continued to gaze at the descending sun, Sora noticed a rather long sandy beach at the bottom of the cliff. Standing on the beach, watching the tide travel in and out was a single lonely figure.
"Who's that I wonder?" he said aloud. Nina did not understand what he meant. Sora then pointed to the figure.
"I think it's Yuna," Nina answered. "She said that she was going for a walk down to the beach. Why don't we join her? We can get there by that pathway." She pointed to a path behind the garden fence.
"Okay, then," Sora smiled. It would not hurt to take a relaxing walk on the beach. "Ryu, do you want to come as well?"
It was a rather steep climb down to the beach, as the rocky path led down the great white cliffs, but it was nothing that Sora, Ryu and Nina could not manage comfortably. Nina had wings, of course, and Sora knew from experience, that many of the staircases in Wyndia were very steep – they were not very well-kept, as the Wyndians did not really need them to travel from floor to floor. Ryu did not seem to have a problem either, even though Sora offered to help guide him down.
Yuna was indeed at the bottom of the beach. She was bending over the now cold sand, picking up seashells. She looked up at Sora, Nina and Ryu once she heard their footsteps.
A shy smile came across her face. "I…didn't expect you guys to come here."
"Well, we saw you down at the beach and wanted to join you!" Nina replied. "I thought that you'd be lonely, so I thought we could keep you company!" Nina was one of those people who hated being on her own, so she did not really understand why some people wanted to spend 'quiet times' alone.
However, Yuna did not mind her solitude being interrupted. She had not made many close friends, apart from her fiancé and Nina's offer to keep her company had rather touched her.
"Oh, that's very kind of you!" Yuna exclaimed gratefully. "I wasn't doing anything interesting anyway, just collecting shells." She was already carrying a huge white shell that she had just picked up.
"…hey….that's a scallop shell," Sora said, recognising the large shell.
"Is it?" Yuna asked, interested. "You mean the one I picked up?"
"Yeah, my father was a fisherman. He went out in the fishing boats every day. He'd bring back lots of sealife – cod, bass, mackerel, mussels, crabs – and even scallops sometimes," Sora replied, rather proud of his knowledge of the ocean.
"I see…so I guess you know a lot about fish, Sora!" Yuna smiled, very intrigued by what the brown-haired boy was saying.
"I'll tell you sometime!" Sora said, grinning.
Although Ryu was not bored to tears of Sora's boasting about his wisdom of the sea or tired in that he wanted to go to bed, something told him that he should return to the cottage. He gazed over to the other side of the beach….
Lights….he could a group of flickering lights hundreds of yards ahead of him.
"Are you all right, Ryu?" Nina asked, seeing his worried face.
Ryu said nothing and pointed to the lights in the distance. They were coming closer and closer. Gradually, he started to hear the sound of footsteps, which began to get louder and louder.
"….is someone there?" Sora wondered aloud, also noticing the lights. He began to hear the faint sounds of marching.
"Let's get out of here!" Ryu whispered, in a rather orderly tone. "It's them!" There was some hint of slight fear in his voice.
Before they could react, however, a burst of flames appeared right in front of them. Nina screamed and fell back in shock – she was nearly hit by the flames.
"Are you all right, Nina?" Yuna was on her knees, checking to see if the princess was hurt.
"..y-yeah…" the princess answered, shaking slightly while being helped up by Sora and Yuna.
Another flash of flames appeared and Ryu had to jump out of the way. Unlike Nina, he did not fall to the ground.
"We have to go back to the cottage!" the boy cried, starting to panic. "If we don't, they'll catch us up!"
Sora looked ahead. The flickering lights were becoming clearer now……they had already taken shape in the form of torches. The faces were also becoming visible….dark purple suits with gold lining…a purple flag with a silver crown…
A third burst of flames appeared. This time, in front of Sora, who jumped sideways to avoid the fire.
"Come on, let's go!" Ryu shouted, about to run for his life. "Why are you staying here? You'll be captured!"
"….Well, I don't think there is any point in running away now, is there?" a familiar and evil voice was heard a few metres away from them.
The blond-haired general slowly stepped forward, his rapier already out.
"….General Bosch!" Nina shouted in shock.
Bosch frowned at the girl's words. "…….you know me already? I certainly haven't met you before, princess. Well, I saw you on the little boat earlier with my binoculars, but…." He cleared his throat before continuing. "It's okay, your Highness, I am not here to hurt you this time…"
Sora gave Bosch a death-glare. "You're here for me and Yuna, right?" he growled.
The general turned to Sora, gave an evil smirk and laughed. "Why, you are a smart one, aren't you?" he cackled. "Well, I suppose that's why you have been trying to avoid us, isn't it?"
Sora gripped his silver Keyblade rather tightly. His dislike for the general was growing every second. Yuna stepped backwards. She had never met Bosch before, but within seconds she could already tell that he was not a man to be trusted.
Ryu did not run. Sora was still there – and the point of running away was in order that the brown-haired youth would not be captured by the Empire, not because Ryu was afraid of the soldiers.
Riku was standing by the window of the cockpit, holding Bosch's binoculars. He could see various shapes on the beach – Bosch and Ursula were at the front, talking to a group of people. One of those people, he could see that it was Sora – he recognised the spiky hair. And that silver stick glinting in the flames – that must have been his Keyblade…it looked vaguely shaped like a key to Riku. He zoomed in with the binoculars to check….yes, it was definitely a key and it was definitely Sora. Well, at least he seems to be okay, the boy thought.
He could see them clearly from far away – Bosch had given him a really good pair of binoculars (which even had night vision). Although Riku could not hear what they were saying, he knew that they were trying to threaten Sora into cooperating with them. He was quite glad that he did not have to be there on the beach. Saves me having to confront him for now, he thought.
The people who were with him – there was somebody small – a child – a child with….red eyes….that was odd. Was this perhaps the kid with red eyes that Bosch had told him about earlier? The dragon? There were also two young women. One of them had short brown hair and was carrying a staff. Perhaps she was the summoner that Bosch had been blabbering on about? The other girl…..she appeared to have large white wings and very long golden hair, which could be clearly seen in the light provided by the torches…..
"Nina?" Riku whispered, in surprise. "She's alive?"
Captain Ursula walked forward. Her gun was in her hand. Unlike Bosch, she did not have a sadistic grin on her face to give the impression that she was enjoying herself – because of course, she was not. All Ursula wanted was to get her mission done, so that she could go home to her family. The sooner the Keyblade Warrior and the summoner agreed to come with her, the sooner she could complete her task.
Ursula slowly drew out her gun and aimed it at the group. "Now," she said rather plainly. "We don't want to cause any trouble here. We don't want to hurt anyone. All we are here for is the Keyblade Warrior and the summoner's co-operation. If you agree to hand them over to us, then there should be as little bloodshed as possible."
"Ursula, you are spoiling my moment!" Bosch retorted, rather annoyed that a lowly captain had stepped in. "But…(turning to the group)…yes, she is right. If the both of you, the Keyblade Warrior and the summoner, value the lives of your friends, then I suggest that you come with us."
Sora stood there, uncertain what to do. He could not count how many soldiers there were…it was too dark to see. An attempt to fight their way through was impossible and escape would be difficult, if they did not know the number of soldiers.
"Sora, Yuna…..don't!" Ryu warned them, trying desperately to think of a way to get out without having to resort to, well……extreme methods.
Bosch turned his eye to the small boy. They seemed to have cleaned him up a little – they gave him some proper clothes – not left him in those rags that he wore back in Treno. The long and messy blue hair was tied back, although it still looked untidy. However, it was still easy to recognise the child by those familiar, angry-looking red eyes.
"Why, it is so good to see you again, Kainashiryu," he smirked. "…you look a little…different from before. Not as pathetic and weak as you really are."
Ryu ignored this insult – he had been called pathetic and weak many times – enough for him not to be affected.
"I suppose you don't want to go back to Treno," the general continued.
"You're not gonna lock him up again!" Sora shouted, memories of finding Ryu in that dungeon still fresh in his mind.
"Calm down, Keyblade Warrior," the general replied, relaxed. He turned to Ryu. "As it happens…we don't really…need you anymore…..so I'll make a deal." Bosch meant it. He could find other ways to complete his quest than to use that boy. However, he wanted to make sure that Kainashiryu would not interfere in Suveria's great mission.
However, Ryu stood his ground. He knew what the Empire was up to and there was no way that he was going to let them have their way. "Never," he snarled. "You can't surrender to them, Yuna, Sora. You mustn't-"
"What would it matter to you, dragon?" Bosch interrupted, annoyed that Ryu was trying to defy him. "I'm giving you a chance to go free. We have no use for you anymore."
Dragon? Nina caught that word. Was there a dragon about? She heard from Sora that he had seen the dragon on another beach on the island – carrying her in his claws.
"Excuse me, but you said 'dragon'…" she then said. "What do you mean? Is there a dragon around here?"
Bosch looked at the princess and, realising that she did not know, gave out a mocking laugh. "Hahahaha! I did not know that you guys could be so oblivious!" he cried. "You found the dragon in Treno and released him! You took him under your wing and he has been travelling with you for the past few days, yet you didn't know that he was actually a dragon? You thought that he was human? How ironic!"
Ryu lowered his head.
Sora began to understand what Bosch was saying. "…Y-you don't mean…." He started to blurt out, not knowing how to come to terms with what Bosch discovered.
"You don't mean that Ryu is a…."
"A dragon? Yes," Bosch answered, still smirking. "I know that it's hard to believe, considering how little he is."
Ryu continued to stare at his feet. There was no hiding his secret now.
Nina and Yuna were equally shocked and both found it very hard to believe. "Ryu? A dragon?" Yuna cried out. "That can't be true! He's just a child!"
"Oh, he's a child alright," the general said. "But not a human – you could say that he is a baby dragon."
Sora turned to Ryu, whose eyes were still fixed on the ground. Despite the guilty look on the boy's face, Sora refused to believe what the general told him. It was impossible.
"Oh, why the long face, little dragon?" Bosch looked at Ryu with an evil grin. "I told you…..you can go free….we won't bother anymore….as long as you let the summoner and the Keyblade Warrior come with us and as long as you do not dare to ruin our plans…"
Ryu was not going to give in. "Don't you realise what will happen if you use Sora and Yuna to-"
He did not finish his sentence, as Bosch, not wanting the boy to ruin his plans, quickly walked up to Ryu and punched the boy in the chest.
"RYU!" Sora and Yuna shouted. Nina ran towards Ryu to help him, but the violent general pushed her out of the way before he grabbed the boy by the throat and held him up in the air.
"I said…we would leave you alone if you did not interfere!" he snarled, tightening his grip on the boy.
"Let-him-go!" Sora was standing right next to Bosch, his Keyblade aimed at the man's head. "Or you'll have me to deal with!"
"I will let him go if you agree to our bargain. It's not that difficult," was the general's answer, eyes still fixed on Ryu, who was gasping for breath.
Sora lowered his head, still not moving his Keyblade away from the general's neck.
"Would you…..leave really leave him alone if I went with you? And my friends as well?" He felt that this was a bad idea, but what else could he do? Sora was not really thinking properly – he did not really want to surrender to the Empire, but the image of Bosch's hand around the poor child's neck was clear in his mind, even though he was not looking at them. And killing Bosch would not help him out of the situation – not with the large army that he brought with him.
"….I said 'don't', Sora," Ryu managed to manage to blurt out while still struggling to breathe.
The moment that Bosch heard Ryu's words, he hastily pulled his rapier out of his sheath and impaled it through the boy's neck.
He could not breathe. Not when that - sharp blade was blocking his passageway. His vision was disappearing.
"RYU!" He could hear Sora and Nina scream as Nina ran over to him.
Although his vision was blurry, he could just see Yuna's face turn pale with shock in the torch light. Ryu could taste the blood that was flowing out of his mouth. He closed his eyes, wishing the pain to go away….
But Ryu was not going to die and he knew it.
Slowly but gradually, the unbearable pain of the blade in his throat disappeared and a feeling of warmth started to flow through his body. His heart was pounding. He started to breathe more heavily and more quickly.
Ryu could feel his body….changing. Something started to….grow out of his back.
He gave out a cry (not one of pain, however). However, his voice sounded different – it was no longer that of a child's, but of a beast….
--
"R-Ryu…" Nina trembled. "…B-Bosch, you…"
The evil general ignored her – his eyes concentrated on the injured boy, and nothing else, a sadistic grin spread across his face. Yuna said nothing – her face just turned pale and her hands started to shake.
Sora dropped his Keyblade, just realising what the blond general had done – and he had let it happen..
"Y-you scumbag!" he shouted nervously. "You bloodthirsty scumb-"
He stopped. Something had caught his eye….Ryu?
The boy had closed his eyes and suddenly started to glow. The glow became such a bright light that Sora, Nina and Yuna had to cover their eyes to stop themselves from being blinded.
Then Sora heard a roar that he recognised and he opened his eyes. What he saw with a rapier through its neck was not the blue-haired child. In his place was a familiar creature, with long white hair and horns sticking out of its back. The torso of a human but the legs of a red lizard.
Nina and Yuna gaped in shock at the dragon. The dragon opened its eyes and turned to Bosch. Within seconds, it pulled the rapier out of its throat – and with both hands, snapped it in half. Bosch stood there, his face completely white.
"…Ryu…is that you?" Sora said slowly to the dragon. The scarlet eyes which would always stare at you….both Ryu and the dragon had the exact same eyes. Why didn't I think of this before? Sora thought.
After disposing of the now broken and useless sword, Ryu the dragon turned to Bosch and moved his hands. Bosch was about to move out of the dragon's way, but he did not act quickly enough – as Ryu suddenly let out a column of energy right at the general. Bosch screamed as he was pushed back, knocking into a couple of guards.
Ryu turned his head to Sora. From what the brown-haired boy could tell, the dragon did not want to attack him. Sora then drew out his Keyblade and turned to Nina and Yuna.
"Well, come on, guys! Let's help him!" he cried. Yuna moved her hands to create her magical glyph traps, while Nina prepared a few spells.
"Why are you standing there, fools? GET THEM!" Bosch yelled with whatever strength he had left. He tried to get up, but found that he was too badly hurt.
"….you heard what the general said!" Captain Ursula said to the guards, uncertain whether this was a good idea. As it happened, she was right to think this once some of the soldiers charged at Ryu, he swiped at them with his claws, knocking them over in a spray of blood and broken pieces of armour.
Several of the soldiers who were not engaged Ryu started to charge at Sora. Some of them were caught by Yuna's fire trap and were rewarded with burns on their feet. However, the ones who did manage to get close to the boy were in for a surprise – Sora retaliated with a slash with his Keyblade, which emitted a white glow which caused a two second golden electrical barrier around the boy, knocking his enemies backwards, and stunning them. Wow…I didn't know I could do that! Sora thought, impressed, moving away from the soldiers. Meanwhile, Ryu was busy using the same method as he did with Bosch when a group of soldiers ran at him – he pushed them back with his energy pillar.
Ursula stood near the rear, with her gun. "I-I think that we should retreat, sir!" she exclaimed to her superior.
"…N-No, Ursula…" the general replied weakly. "I…I…will not….lose to then rose in the air. He motioned his hands very slowly. Within seconds, another cluster of soldiers were caught by his new attack – he unleashed a huge rolling ball of thunder. Those who were unlucky enough to be caught by it were charred to crisp by a large ball of fire.
Sora, meanwhile, was busy defending himself with his Keyblade. He was busy driving soldiers who were trying to lunge at him with their swords (it was unusual for soldiers to bring guns with them unless it was a war). Just then, out of nowhere, he was distracted by yelling from Yuna. She was knocked over by five soldiers – and she did not even have a weapon to defend herself with. Her stick that she found in the woods was still at the cottage.
Sora quickly realised the seriousness of the girl's situation. He called to Nina (who floating in the air to avoid the soldiers), who turned to him. He gestured at Yuna and the princess nodded. Nina cast a Sever spell which sent some soldiers who were blocking Sora's way to Yuna. The young boy then rushed towards the men who were surrounding the girl and charged at them, swiping them with his Keyblade several times, while glowing a strange golden colour. In seconds, the soldiers were knocked over by Sora's slashing attack.
"Sir! We have to retreat, if we want to stay alive!" Ursula pleaded, clearly seeing that this was a battle she was not going to win. "These people….they're not normal!"
"No, Ursula! I can't let this ruin my reputation!" General Bosch yelled. "I am General Bosch.."
His inferior, however, ignored him and shouted, "TROOPS! RETURN TO THE AIRSHIP!"
The survivors, hearing the captain's call, turned for the airship and began to run for their lives. Some of them fell into Yuna's ice or fire traps and were injured to the point that they had to be carried to safety by their comrades (Seeing this, Yuna tried to remove some of her traps in order that she would not hurt any more men than she already had).
Ursula picked up Bosch, despite his protests, and ran for the ship. The soldiers willingly followed her, not wanting more of them to die by the hands of that mysterious flying demon or the boy with the silver key.
"…Sora…we actually beat them?" Nina said in amazement, after the last of the soldiers had disappeared from their sight.
She was not given an answer. Looking at Sora, the princess realised that his attention was drawn to something else. Turning around, she saw the dragon high up in the air. She had never seen a dragon before – not even when one had carried her into the forest (obviously because she was unconscious at the time). Nina knew that she had a lot to say to Ryu.
Ryu looked down at his companions. He's not gonna attack us, is he? Sora wondered, looking up at him.
A long silence followed, and the dragon levitated a few metres higher….and flew towards the cottage.
To be continued...
At last! I wanted to add the dragon part in the last chapter, but unfortunately, it would take up too much of the chapter.
Yeah, I knew that you all knew that Ryu was a dragon – it wasn't supposed to be a surprise, especially as Breath of Fire characters were in this fic and in almost every Breath of Fire game, Ryu is a dragon. So it was meant to be irony.
The funny move that Sora did when glowing a gold colour is based on Arc Arcanium, a special attack that he learns in Kingdom Hearts. Oh, and the blasting move that Sora performed – it's called 'Stun Impact' and it's only available in Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix – yeah, I've got Final Mix, people! And I have FF X-2 International as well. Neener-neener-neener!
Thanks to all reviewers! Hmmm…certain members of SeeD making an appearance? Well, I have a great many ideas on where to put certain characters, but these ideas gradually change, so I'm not making any promises!
