'Reis. It is time,' Yuna said, checking the clock that hung on the wall of the Luca Stadium, 'We must leave for Djose, or we won't make it to the inn on the highest hill on the Highroad,'

'It is that time already?' Reis mumbled, glancing up at the clock for a moment, as she tucked her shining blade beneath the folds of her robes, 'Wait…I've forgotten something. I'll be back in a moment,'

Sprinting agilely up the staircase leading up to the Luca Stadium's seats, she spotted the vast soul crystal that she had created during the previous battle; pulsating a dim blue light, it had turned black; the same glittering, sparkling black that she had seen from the rare black dragons of Ivalice. Heaving the vast stone under her arm, she walked back towards the waiting group, who shrugged their shoulders as Reis arrived, panting, placing the crystal on the ground.

'This…is very heavy…' Yuna said, tapping the side of the stone with her staff, 'Are you sure you want to carry this, Reis?'

'Yes, I'm sure. Hold on, can you give me a second? I'll make our travels a tiny bit easier,' Reis panted, both hands on her knees, 'By the power of the spirits, grant me invisibility!'

Pulling off her robes and folding them into a neat pile, she stacked it on top of the large crystal. Her limbs lengthened and her golden hair receded back into her scalp as she transformed into a dragon; her smooth skin turned into rough, hard silver scales. Reappearing in their midst, she bent her legs to a crouching position, allowing Yuna and the others to climb onto her back, with all their belongings.

It's not that bad, like this…if I were carrying vast loads. But who is this red-robed man that has joined Yuna? Is he another guardian?

'Where are we traveling to?' Reis growled.

'Mi'ihen Highroad. It's just up ahead, past that fountain and down the path there,'

'Are all our belongings secured?'

'No, I don't think so…Have we got some rope?'

'Here,' Reis hissed, spitting out some magical energy from her mouth, a thin thread of light, which she tossed to Yuna, 'That should serve as rope,'

Ouch, can they be a little gentler with the ropes? They're constricting me. Especially the ones passing in front of my hind legs, they're biting into my scales.

'Hold on tight,' she roared, spreading her wings with unnecessary force and nearly knocking Tidus from her back, 'Let's go,'

Beating her wings furiously, Reis took off fast into the sky; Luca's large buildings grew smaller as she soared higher into the sky. The cold air was refreshing—at least to her, until she noticed that the others grew restless; only Kimahri seemed to be unmoving, still sitting still behind Yuna on her neck. She could just picture him staring curiously at the others, wondering why they were shivering.

'I guess we're a little too high. I'll go down. Is that the Highroad?' Reis growled, pointing her long, sharp-fanged snout downwards, towards a broad dirt road below; it was a brown path traced on a plain of green, dotted every now and then with a mysterious ruin of some foregone civilisation.

'That would be good, Reis, yes, I am cold,' Yuna shouted over the whistling of the wind; she shivered violently on Reis' neck, clutching at her scales rather tightly.

I guess it's not good for humans to be so far up here…

Flying low over the grassy countryside, Reis was fairly amused to see a number of chocobo riders fall off their mounts; staring and pointing at her.

It's not something you'd see, is it? A world, used to seeing hostile fiends, seeing a dragon that they think is a fiend carrying a summoner and her guardians. No, definitely not common.

'We'll be at the middle inn before sundown. This is good,' Yuna said, stroking Reis' neck scales, 'Thank you, Reis,'

'You're welcome, Yuna,'

A fiend is down below…I think I'll just end its life…now! Ah…I think I've overdone myself with a fire breath. The creature is burnt to death, smouldering and smoking. Lulu is cursing on my back; I just wish that I can smash her brains out. She rides on me, and yet she complains. Ungrateful wretch…

The ground was beginning to slant upwards, a slope that provided no challenge to a flying dragon. There were statues of foregone heroes erected on either side of this stretch, eternally vigilant, their weapons held ready to strike at any moment. The clear blue sky overhead was staining orange, slowly but surely, as the sun dipped lower into the horizon. Sea spray from the shore on one side of Reis dampened her leathery wings, weighing her down and forcing her to land hard on the ground. Tidus' incoherent cursing could be heard loud and clear; he had fallen off as she touched down. Picking him up with the tip of her jaws, she placed him carefully on her back, before dashing off towards the inn on the hill, her tail swinging from side to side with each bounding step she took.

Striding over the crest of the hill, she found a large inn to her right; chocobos strolled freely on the field behind, pecking at the ground every few moments. Crouching on the ground again, Reis allowed the others to dismount; she felt a particularly painful stabbing sensation on her right wing as Lulu climbed off; she had a nasty feeling that Lulu had deliberately stepped hard on her wing as she dismounted.

Dislodging all of their luggage onto the grass as carefully as it was possible, she vanished into thin air, extracting her clothes from the piles of belongings. Slipping on her gown, she reappeared in front of them.

'Reis, thank you for the ride,' Yuna said, bowing to her and praying in the fashion that these people did, 'Your shoulder…it's bleeding…'

'Oh…really?' Reis muttered, putting her hand on her right shoulder, feeling the patch of wet and warm cloth there, 'Oh…right…'

Damn Lulu…was it necessary that she had to step on my wing that hard?

'Healing breeze, blow in energy! Cure!' she chanted, tapping the wound with her finger. Gritting her teeth as the skin closed together again, painfully, Reis rubbed the dried and sealed wound, checking if it had healed properly.

'Who was sitting next to my right wing?' she asked, nearly growling as she bit back her anger. She knew it was Lulu.

'I was sitting next to your wing,' Lulu said, 'Why do you ask?'

'I felt a stabbing sensation as someone climbed off my back. I assumed that was you; nobody else has a sharp, stiletto-heeled shoe,'

'Why do you accuse me of doing so?'

'Does anybody else here hate me? Did anybody except you have doubts about me? Has anybody heard you say cruel comments about me?' Reis mocked, 'Enough of this. I will pay for the inn for tonight,'

Reis walked into the inn, suppressing her anger and hatred of the black mage as she rented four first-class rooms for a night with twenty thousand gil; the owner bowed to her as she left, his porters following her out and lugging their luggage into their respective rooms. Tossing them each three thousand, the porters whistled and sang about the goodness of the lady.

'Good Yevon…Reis, how much money did you spend?' Yuna asked her, staring at the lavish decorations in her room, 'This…this is the first time I've been in the first-rate room of the Traveler's Inn!'

'Well…money doesn't matter to me anymore. I've made several million gil during my youth; spending fifty-three thousand is nothing to me,'

'Thank you so much, Reis. I didn't think we could even rent a normal room in here, seeing as Wakka didn't get the prize money from the tournament as we expected,'

Guilt gripped at Reis' stomach. She could have made them win that time. She could've stayed in the game and defeated their opponents, and won them whatever prize they deserved.

'Well…I'll see what I can do about dinner,' Reis said, trying to get away from a most uncomfortable situation.

It's my fault that they failed to win that tournament. I could've easily made them win. Why, why did I decide to leave, to allow Wakka in? Anyone else could've left…

'Excuse me,' Reis asked the innkeeper, 'Are there any wild chocobos that nobody owns out there?'

'Why, yes. The ones in the field behind this inn without the saddles are for our clients to hunt. There's thousands of them on this plain.

'Thank you,'

Walking out into the crimson twilight, Reis grasped the grass at her feet; squeezing out their sap, she dabbed it at her face.

That should be enough to cover my face…

Crouching low, she crept in the tall grass of the field, her nose close to the ground. Sniffing the air for clues of any chocobos, she found one pecking the ground some distance away. Creeping forward, slowly, licking her lips, she held out one hand--

'Break space and time! Stop!' she muttered under her breath, sighing in relief that the chocobo had become stock-still; only its eyes were moving. Approaching silently, she stroked the chocobo's neck…before grasping it hard, twisting it all the way around in a fraction of a second. A sickening crack later, the chocobo was on the ground, its neck twisted the wrong way and its tongue lolling out the side of its beak, its spine having been broken.

Dragging the dead chocobo back towards the inn, she had noticed that there was a fire burning behind it; a cooking fire, a spit having been placed over the top. A pair of hunters were roasting chunks of chocobo meat over it, but gaped at Reis' prey. They were amazed to see a female huntress; and more so of the bloodless kill.

Concentrating heat energy in her hand, she began to pluck the feathers in the way she had learned to as a dragon. Heat; an intense heat source will burn away the feathers without a trace, as long as it was held close enough and yet not close enough to burn the meat.

'Nature's destruction, come in heat. Fire!' she whispered, curling her slender fingers up in a basin shape. A ball of flame erupted from her palm, changing its shape as she moved her fingers. Holding this sphere of intense heat, she moved it over the yellow feathered beast, watching its feathers moult away in a hurry, blackened down and quills littering the grass as the white flesh exposed itself. Extinguishing the flame in her hand, she picked up a branch from the ground; whittling it down to a straight rod in seconds with her silver knife, she stood back from the chocobo's carcass, before lunging forward, impaling the bird on the stick, the other end thrust out the head, brains dangling on the sharpened tip.

Blood dribbled onto Reis' white hands as she hoisted the carcass over the spit; the other hunters simply staring at her, open mouthed. They had never seen a female hunter before; let alone one this strong; impaling a chocobo right through the length of its body with one thrust of a branch. Washing her hands in the bucket of water next to the inn, she had just noticed that the hunters were gaping at her.

'What?' she asked irritably, 'Did I do something wrong?'

'No, no, not at all, it's nothing,' they mumbled, before carrying on with roasting their food over the fire.

I wish people were the same as I am…then maybe I wouldn't attract so much attention.

'Smells good. What is it?' Tidus asked, sidling around the corner, sniffing the air hopefully, 'Uh…is it the…big yellow bird thing?'

'Chocobo. Yes,' Reis replied, turning the spit one more time before brandishing her light sword out, 'It's our dinner,'

'Where'd you get this?' Lulu asked, appearing from the shadows, 'You didn't steal it, did you?'

'Of all the accusations the worst! Lulu! I hunted this, with the innkeeper's permission! You ungrateful…why, why would I steal if I have millions of gil? Why would I steal if I can rent you the best rooms that they have to offer?' Reis shouted, enraged at the unjust accusations, 'I'll tolerate it for now…but watch your tongue. I've had it with your snide comments,'

Summoning several plates out of thin air, she placed them in mid-air, keeping them aloft with the force of her mind. Slicing several well-cooked chunks of chocobo steak, she placed three good-sized pieces on each plate, before handing them out to each of Yuna's guardians, and lastly Yuna herself.

'Have as much as you like. There's one whole chocobo, and that's a lot of meat,'

'Thank you, Reis,'

'You're welcome, Yuna,'

Sitting down on a rock, facing the sunset, Yuna and Reis watched the play of colours before them as they ate; a small pillar of rock out in the sea stood directly in front of them, the waves surging up its vertical face and creating a curtain of spray, the twilight illuminating it in crimson. Stars appeared in the darkening sky, a particularly bright one off to the left of them.

I wonder where men received the idea of zodiac signs. They make pictures from the stars, and yet here I am, staring at them, and I cannot find any meaning to them, nor can I see any images or revelations in them. They're just stars…

Finishing her meal before Yuna did, Reis vanished her plate with an easy wave of her fingers, along with the leftover bones and fat. She never liked eating the fat—at least, after her transformation back into a human. As a dragon it was fine; it kept her warm, but as a human, it weighed her down.

'Yuna…when you're finished, just place the plate near the spit. I'll take care of them later,' Reis said, standing up and walking to the large crystal that she had brought.

Picking it up with one hand, she propped it up against the wall, wondering what to do with it; before noticing that the crystal started to slide down to the side. It was too late to save it; smashing on the floor with a loud crash, Reis was left with a number of large, broken shards of soul.

Examining all the fragments, she pulled one up to the wall; taking out her light blade, she cut small pieces away from it, forming a rounded shape similar to a shield. Holding a ball of intense flame in her hand, Reis melted the surface of it slightly; blending it one way and then the other, making a smooth surface over the top. Holding a finished shield to the light, she stared into the front; it was mirror-like; she could see her face in it…and what she thought were the dead. Corpses and skeletons appeared to walk beside her, stroking her face and attempting to bite her neck. Dropping the shield in a hurry, she picked up the next largest piece.

Placing this on her chest, she found that it was slightly larger than the front of her body; and slightly thicker than her body too. Cutting this into half, she hollowed it out, cutting a mould of her own body, the waste fragments of crystal dropping onto the floor and smashing into countless minuscule pieces. She began to remember her youth…the mornings of warming the furnace, the days of hammering out metal, and the evenings of making sheets and bars of it. In the fiery forges she would work—often early in the morning, before the sunrise; and often late at night, the moon her only source of light. All this in addition to her sacred studies in the libraries of Lionel and the holy teachings of Draclau; this would have made any man mad. Not Reis. She would bear anything—just to assist others; just to help others live. Her family at Warjilis needed the money; and that was enough of a reason for her to work.

Joining the two halves by melting the pieces together at the seams, she slipped it on over her dress. It was rather tight, but comfortable enough, despite the biting cold that this material creates to the touch. Pulling the armor off her chest, she began to work on her plate skirt and the accompanying plate legs; five rather large pieces of crystal she will need. Counting them, she found that she had nine more shards; and a rather large bolt-like one.

'Thank goodness I have enough…' she sighed, cutting the rest into a pair of plate legs and a plate skirt, as well as her vambraces and pauldrons. The last bolt-like piece she wondered what she could do with it; a large piece was on one end, like a hammer's head, and the rest was thin, like a spear. Surely the crystal would not hold if it were used as a hammer; it had to be a spear…and something else.

The lancers…they're sisters of the dragons, are they not? Or as they claim?

'That's right…' she muttered to herself, 'This has to be a spear. And a helmet. I…I'm destined to be a lancer?'

Better to cut it now than wonder later on the road.

Cutting off the large sphere on the end of the crystal bolt, Reis shaped it to be a helmet; remembering the space for her hair, she cut a slot into the back, and formed a visor from the inside of the sphere. The rest of the bolt she fashioned into a spear; a four-edged spear tip on the end, razor sharp and their point all the more deadly. Tying her hair into a single ponytail, she pushed it through the helmet's back, before placing it on her head.

This isn't as bad as I thought, it's not really that heavy. Maybe I've hollowed it out, and took out most of the weight…

Walking around the back of the inn in her new armor, she found the rest of the guardians sitting by the spit fire, talking among one another.

'Alright, I take it that you've finished your meals,' Reis called out, smiling. Flicking her fingers, she caused each plate to disappear, leaving no trace behind. She burst out laughing as Tidus searched comically for where his plate went; he was intently picking away at a piece of chocobo fat; stretching it and seeing how hard it would become.

'Thanks for the meal,' the red-robed man sitting next to Lulu said, 'I appreciate it,'

'You're welcome,'

'My name is Auron. I am…a guardian of Yuna. And her father as well, when he went on the pilgrimage…'

This man must be an experienced guardian, if he's taken another person for a pilgrimage…

'Um…my name is Reis Dular…I am also a guardian of Yuna, although I'm not quite certain what I'm doing,' she mumbled, feeling foolish. Glancing at the man's face, she noticed the vast amount of scarring on it; a large, deep one on his right cheek, and as she looked down, one of his arms appeared to be somewhat degenerated; it was thin and rather smaller than his other.

He must have avoided death at some stage…

'Nice to meet you, Reis. As you know, the summoner on a pilgrimage must visit each temple and pray to the Fayth within. This…is for preparation for the Final Summoning. Alas, I had better not speak of it. It is…a great sacrifice on the part of the summoner,'

Why? Why is it a great sacrifice? Isn't it an ordinary summoning?

'The Final Summoning…You'll learn later, it's best not to speak of it right now,'

'Alright then…can you tell me about the pilgrimage? What is it like?'

'You're already on it as well. But I can assume that you wish to know the road ahead. Very well then. It is…a harsh road. There are trials and dangers that the summoner must face, the worst of all the Al Bhed. Countless summoners have disappeared at the hands of these villains,'

'But…wasn't there a team called the Al Bhed Psyches at Luca? If they were villains, why would they be allowed to join in?'

'Not all the Al Bhed are evil. The innkeeper is one, and so are most shopkeepers and blacksmiths in Luca. They do not worship Yevon; and thus, they are permitted to use machina to create weapons and such. That is where we accept them,'

'I see…thank you for your explanation…'

'You're welcome,'

Walking back into the inn, Reis found the lobby full of drunk and rowdy visitors; wading through the sea of men, she sighed in relief as she opened the door to her room. Yuna was already inside; she was lying down on the silk sheets of her bed, staring peacefully at the ceiling.

Placing her soul armor carefully on the pile of belongings, Reis collapsed onto her own bed; peace and quiet began to creep into her mind as she began to sleep.

I can never get enough sleep. Tomorrow may be the day I die; and yet I had not enough rest; I could have had too little of this world and its peace. Or tomorrow may be a day of peaceful work; and I won't have enough strength to do it because of lack of sleep. I miss my days of youth; and possibly even my days as a dragon, when my energy was virtually limitless.

A/N

Well, end of another chapter. And the end of my holidays. And the start of my half yearly examinations. Well, not really. Just the start of the term that is the time for my half yearlies. No reviews not happy. Especially with over 1000 hits by this stage.

Planning the 3rd and 4th parts of the series.