Wheels of Fate, BoF II novelization.
Summary: Novelization of Breath of Fire II: Shimei no Ko (The Destined Child). Some events altered. Strong language will be in play.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters; they belong to Capcom, as the game does. I own nothing, hear ye, lawyers. But that doesn't gets you the permission to publish this as a book without the proper written and legally signed consent of whoever holds the copyright.
This one is still pending a rewrite.
Chapter 07: Ryu got a girlfriend? No way!
"Hey Ryu!" Bosch said, having heard his friend haling him from the outside, after hearing quite a ruckus caused by one of the people that came with him. "Who are these people?"
"Bosch! I bring friends. Here, he is Randall Marks."
"Just Rand, man." Rand extended his hand to Bosch.
"Pleased to meetcha, big guy!"
"Same here." Rand grinned.
Katt was behind Ryu, remaining unseen while trying to keep her cool. Usually her people, the Worens had a innate distrust for Grass-Runners. She sighed. 'I can't be this way, must give the pooch a chance. After all he is the lifelong buddy of the man who saved me...'
"Hey Katt... Where are you now?" Rand asked.
"Here," she said while stepping forth. Into light, so that she could be seen. Bosch glanced at her for a moment, looked at Ryu for a brief instant then sighed.
'Man... I leave him alone and he comes with a cat-woman... hope she ain't too much trouble. Worens can be quite... temperamental to say it nicely. Whatever, she's quite the sight, albeit not having that much to offer where it counts for most of people.' Bosch now put a puppy-style smile.
"Well, I'm Bosch Doggy. Nice to meet you missy." He extended a hand.
"Katt-Lin Chuang. Just call me Katt." she shook it. Then she put a puppy-eyes look. "Can I call you dog-boy? Pretty-please, with sugar on top?"
Bosch sighed... but then grinned. "Only if I can call you kitty-katt!"
Ryu sighed. 'Oh no... No more bickering.' And his stomach growled... loud enough for all to hear and interrupt any possible argument. Ryu now smiled. "Well, just be civil between yourselves, ok? I'm starving... again!"
The other three laughed. Some things never changed.
"Man, Had I known you'd come back today I'd have gotten some more food, we only have stew made so it'll have to do." Bosch sighed. 'And he came back with another bottomless pit... albeit one with a pretty... tail. Yes, that's it. Pretty tail.'
They entered the house to have a late night snack, with Niro introduced as the owner. He had worked in his youth several times building hoses, but was no expert. Between both of them the first floor was usable. At least the ceiling wasn't going to cave in. Also, it was clean enough for using it as an all-purpose room. While they ate conversation arose again.
"So I get it was a no-go." Bosch sighed.
"Yeah man, in short, at first I thought Katt here was or knew about our winged-thief."
"I'm sorry, just had not seen her in my life, ever." Katt said. "And I'm no thief... If I were I'd be quite better than a certain someone." she poked Ryu and giggled.
Ryu blushed, and Bosch caught notice and looked at him in a way only both knew. 'Ryu, I'm expecting you to tell me ASAP.'
Ryu glared at him, and Bosch sighed. It seemed like he wouldn't know, ever.
Bosch then spoke. "No problem missy. We need then to think about the next trail."
"Hey!" Niro spoke between eating stew. "Wasn't there in NewHaven some rumor about a woman with wings there? Or so said a ranger that came the other day.... John! That was his name."
"Yeah! Right ol'man." Bosch smiled. "Well, It seems that's the only trail we've got."
"Well guys... ahem, ladies and gentlemen." Ryu smiled looking at Katt, who grinned. "Let's call it a night and see tomorrow what we do. We hitched one hell of a ride, for sure."
"Bah! You arrived quicker, don't complain." Rand feigned indignation, but smiled shortly thereafter. "You just need more practice. And Bosch, I'll tell you tomorrow what they speak about."
Then they went to sleep, each one in a bedroll, Niro in his makeshift bed; the floor was a bit hard, but as tired as the adventurers were, it didn't matter one bit.
------
Next day, everyone was recovered. Ryu and Rand were early risers. Ryu ate what he had left of apple pie for a morning snack; it was still good after all those days. Ryu went to pray at the statue of the Dragon God.
"Good Day, Lord Ladon."
~Long time no see Ryu. I must commend you, for you defeated a really powerful foe.~
"It was mere chance I think..." Ryu said, remembering that Argus had risen up again after being almost crippled.
~Details... I also thank you for allowing that particular statue to be restored. Although most people say St. Eva this, St. Eva that...~
"I wouldn't have thought that you'd complain about that." Ryu smirked at the statue.
~Maybe old age is really getting to me.~ The statue sighed
"Whatever. I don't know what happened with my new eyes that can see in the dark, or what overcame me when fighting Katt."
~That... is something that you'll find at due time.~
"You're not being any help... whatever; I guess I could ask about a lead for helping my pal."
~The same one who gets you in trouble without even being there?~ Ryu swore that he heard the statue snickering and seeing a grin on it; he remembered his first panty-thieving attempt.
'And Bosch said it would be easy. I think I'll never do it again.' Ryu thought, sighed and then blushed.
"Yeah, the same. Even with that, he's been with me for ten years; I can't leave him alone here, as a wanted man forever in hiding."
~How noble of you Ryu. Well, as the old coot Niro said... there is a woman with wings in the Magic School of NewHaven, but I can't know for the life of me if she's the one you're looking for.~
"Better than nothing. I'll go chasing wild gooses again." Ryu grinned. "Thanks, m'lord." And walked away from the statue.
Rand saw his exchange with amusement. 'Maybe the kitten's weapon loosed some of his marbles.'
"Hey Ryu!" he smiled. "Didn't think you were the religious type."
"Well, me neither." Ryu grinned. "But this old fellow listens if you want to address him. Be careful though... sometime he talks back, and makes fun out of you. But it helps to drop a word to him once in a while."
"I'll keep it in mind for later." Rand said, rolling his eyes. "Now let's see if Bosch and Katt are up."
'Who knows. My clan prays to Namanda, and she gives always good harvests if we were faithful, gave the metal offerings, and worked hard.'
Katt came outside and greeted them. "Hey guys!"
"Hiya Katt, slept well?" Ryu asked.
Katt grinned. "Yeah, but now it's breakfast time. I'm starving! I'll get it ready with what we have here. Dog-boy is cleaning himself up. And what were you doing outside Ryu?"
"Came to give a few words to the Dragon God."
"Seriously? And how is he?"
"Well, he listens a lot, also gives some pieces of advice or useful insight, but is prone to make fun of you. Well, in my case it has helped quite a lot; it also brings back memories... nice ones."
Katt just looked at him, as if unbelieving. "He speaks? No offense intended, but gods have never spoken... well, not when I was.... In my homeland..." She sighed. "I'll just go in and have breakfast ready, ok guys?"
"Just go Katt, don't worry." Ryu smiled, as she went to set something for breakfast. 'Some past she isn't ready to share. Maybe in a future; I know it too well.' He sighed.
"The lady has certainly a lot of issues with herself." Rand spoke, only for Ryu to hear.
"Everyone has; in time we will know, when she is ready to say it, for now, just let's go to breakfast."
Both men entered the shack, and after eating, all five were now talking.
"About the repairs, I don't think that they would advance quickly even having more hands; I still will need to procure more food you know." Bosch sighed. With a woran and his blue-haired friend... food shortages would be in order.
"Hey! I can also hunt as well." Katt jumped back to have more space and swung her staff so quickly that it could be heard how it cut the air. "No boar,deer or grizzly are a match for my staff".
"Hey Bosch." Ryu was with an enlightened expression. "Do you remember that fellow Azusa living at Mt. Futabi?"
Bosch seemed deep in thought but then smiled. "You're right! He had quite a bit of food stored."
"Well, how about inviting him to stay here?" Ryu asked. "Thus, while we work he can provide us with food."
"Brilliant!" Niro was smiling now. "The more people working, the sooner we can get real beds from NewHaven."
"But we need to get that bat-winged thief here." Katt was again killing imaginary monsters with deadly accuracy.
"We will have to split." Ryu said, matter-of-factly.
"Then, I would like to help with repairing the house. It seems like a nice challenge." Rand said.
"I have some tools, not the best, but we may do something with these." Niro stated.
"Well, I'll leave you some money then, should you need some supplies from NewHaven." Ryu took out 3000 zenny and handed them over to Bosch.
"Man, this is a lot of dough... How did you get it?"
"Simple... demon-hunting." Ryu now seemed grim. Between him, Katt and Rand told their adventures at Colossea, meeting Rand, then fighting and winning without him being certain of how he held against Bunyan, then fighting Katt in the Arena, and finally the match against Argus and what happened..
"Quite an odyssey if you ask me." Bosch smiled. "Well, I hope you find the thief quickly so I can go around."
"Only if you finished repairing, harharhar!" Niro smirked, making Bosch sigh.
"Well, then Rand stays here. Thank you for helping out with this, man." Ryu said.
"No problem, glad that my big self can be of some use. And what will you do Katt?"
"Repairs?" Katt said while swinging her staff around in rather dangerous moves. "Those are piece of cake!"
Bosch asked Ryu to come over to him, and whispered in his ears. "Man, I'll not let her do any tinkering here. Niro, Rand and me will do more than enough, but if I let her do a thing... maybe the house would have to be rebuilt from scratch. She seems pretty good for fighting... but for other things... she's got minced tuna between her ears."
Katt felt her ears twitch and came over to the two that were whispering, she hadn't heard a thing, but felt they were talking about her.
"Hey doggy-boy, what are you two buddies talking about?" She asked with an award winning smile, intentionally showing some cleavage to Bosch while putting her chest over Ryu's shoulder, making him blush beet red. This last part she did not do it intentionally, just wanted to lean somewhere, and Ryu happened to fit the bill, but when she realized what she had done she just giggled.
'Oh... I'm so going to tease Ryu later!'
Ryu was too lost for answering properly, and Bosch was at a loss, trying to avoid staring, meeting really little success. Somehow, he recovered; maybe a certain deity had given him a poke.
"Er... er... ah! That's it! Listen missy." Now he seemed relieved. "Rand, Ol' Niro an' me can take care of repairs. You go with Ryu and help him find that crook that put me into this bind. You know, without someone watching his backside, some monster could decide that he wants blue-hair for a toothbrush." and finally smiled.
'Me? Alone with the blue-haired hunk?' Katt pondered for a while, and smiled. Ryu still was in his reverie. "Ok. You just stay here doggy-boy! We'll kick her ass back here to get you free." She winked at Bosch. "Come on Ryu, let's go!"
Then she took Ryu and dragged him effortlessly outside of the house, while he was blushing even harder.
Bosch looked at Rand and sighed. "Somehow, I think my pal got the best part of this deal."
"I can't help but agree." Rand smiled. "Now, let's get to work."
----
Katt and Ryu now had gone past Mt. Futabi, and were on their way to NewHaven. They decided to slow the pace for a while, to enjoy a walk.
"Hey Ryu!" Katt smirked at him.
"What now, Katt?" Ryu sighed. She seemed in a rather talkative mood.
"How did my breasts feel upon your shoulder?" She now was ginning impishly.
Ryu just blushed and seemed at a loss.
"Better than just holding the bra?" she asked, grinning devilishly.
Again, Ryu was beet red, so embarrassed that he had no words to say. 'Damn... Well, I deserve this. Hope she doesn't go ballistic on me again..'
Now she wondered something and giggled. "Don't tell me... Was that the first time you ever touched a bra?" she teased him, smirking.
"Yeah! So what!?" Ryu snapped.
"Oh! And don't tell me that you had never ever fiddled through you mother's underwear?" she asked with genuine innocent curiosity in her eyes.
For a moment, Katt felt startled; she felt a serious change in mood from Ryu. He had looked at her in a way that reminded her as his behavior in the battle-arena. She felt shivers, and swore that she saw the white flames in his eyes for a brief instant. Then Ryu's eyes went back to his usual gentle green... but now he had an unfathomable sadness in his eyes, and somehow he had touched her heart. The Dragon Tear flared with a turquoise glow.
"Listen Ryu.. I'm sorry... I did not intend to insult you... please?"
Ryu breathed deeply "Don't worry Katt... it's just... hard to talk about. I know you did not mean harm, ok?" Then he did the last thing she had expected... He embraced her, tightly, while softly ruffling her red hair, making her purr.
"Please, I want to ask you to forgive me... It really was my first time looking through a woman's personal stuff." Katt somehow knew that Ryu was as red as a tomato, and was apologizing in a heartfelt way.
"Well, I give in. Just don't do it again ever, to any other girl; or you'll have to answer to half of the world... The female half!." She answered, grinning.
"Don't worry; I think that the lesson sank in. Had a harsh instructor, you know." Ryu smiled at her.
Katt looked between amused and upset, but decided to let it go, so she sighed and changed the subject. "And I want to ask you another thing."
He released her from the embrace, while holding one of her hands and looking at her eyes. She seemed... at a loss, startled.
"I'm listening, Katt." he said, as gently as possible.
"I'm..." she doubted, and lowered her sight. "I'm sorry for being an idiot on the Arena. And thank you for saving my life back there." The Dragon Tear glowed deep blue.
"Don't worry about it Katt. I must say that I would have had a hard time believing it myself."
"Thank you..."
"But seriously... It was not nice to feel like a pincushion." Ryu laughed. "And those antidotes... they tasted worse than a crappie-fish!"
Katt laughed openly. Those fishes could be prepared using a recipe that only Woran people knew how to do properly; most parts of her homeland were filled with those kind of fishes, so she knew how to make something that did not taste bad, was edible, and filled a woran's stomach. But it seemed that in these parts of Asparia they didn't know how to do it.
'I guess he isn't so bad... well, Maybe I'll talk with him about my past in a future. Hope I get to know more about him; He's an interesting and seemingly reliable guy, after all.'
"Thanks for the laughs blue-boy." Katt smiled. "Now let's hurry to NewHaven."
"Yeah, let's make a run for it." Ryu said, with a happy face.
-----
About a couple hours later they were entering NewHaven. Herbert, one of the guards who knew Ryu since long ago was on duty there.
"Hey Ryu!" he said. "How are you doing? Almost a week I haven't seen you around. Things have calmed down quite a lot here, but Master Trout has been getting grumpier... as if that were possible."
"It was a false lead, regretfully; no success. But I have heard a rumor that there is a winged lady in town?"
"A winged lady..." he seemed in thought for some instants. "Ah! It must be that lady from the Magic Academy."
"What do you know about her?" Ryu asked, expectant.
"Not much. She almost always goes here and there using a cloak, but in my free time I have seen her practicing using her wings in some rare chances. A really nice sight, if you ask me. But she... a thief? I doubt it... unless she were to steal your heart!" Now Herbert was with a dreamy gaze.
"Hey man!" Katt told him, with a bit annoyance in her voice, while passing her hand in front of Herbert's eyes. "Ryu's asking you about something important, not if she's some bimbo."
"Let him be Katt. It seems he won't be paying attention to you or anyone else for a while." Ryu winked at her. She looked at him and sighed.
'Men can be so hopeless sometimes.'
"Well, before we go to query the lady, I think checking my Room would be wise. It has been..." Ryu paused for a moment. "Six days since I was here; I hope there are no giant roaches there already."
Katt laughed. "Oh, come on. How dirty could have you and Bosch been?"
"Sometimes we were out for weeks while on missions." Ryu spoke, as if amused. "I recall a time when we had to... battle against something icky lurking in the icebox."
"That's nasty. Well I know one thing for sure." She paused and then whispered in his ear. "That you are quite a dirty one, panty-thief." after that, she giggled madly, while Ryu was blushing again.
When he recovered, he cleared his throat and spoke again. "Whatever Katt. Just let's go to the room on the boarding house where I live."
'By Ladon.. what did I do to deserve this?' Ryu sighed. "It's in the second floor of that two stories house." He pointed to one of the houses
"Just let's go Ryu." Katt smiled. 'Oh my! I''m going straight to Ryu's room. I'm so going to tease him there.'
They entered the house and went to the second floor, not noticing the landlady's amused expression, who decided not to interrupt the young man taking upstairs the female woran. 'My! I already thought the blue-haired boy wasn't interested in girls... maybe he likes furry ones.'
Ryu sighed. 'Man, why me? Bosch is going to pay later.' Then he used his key and realized the door was opened. 'That's weird; I left it locked when I pulled Bosch's butt from here in that smelly trashcan.' and saw that the room was quite clean and tidy. And that someone was using the bathroom; the door was opening.
"Ryu, you lied. It's quite a clean room." Katt smiled impishly. "Enough for not considering you manly enough." then she burst out laughing when seeing Ryu's baffled expression, looking at her at a loss of words, without being able to utter any kind of witty remark.
'Hey! I'm not... I'm just shy, ok?' Ryu was thinking without being able to react yet.
When the door of the bathroom opened, Sylvia came out refreshed and saw the scene. Giggling, she went to hug Ryu, and since he wasn't paying attention, almost dropped him to the floor.
"Hey Ryu!" Sylvia said, happiness in her voice. "How fares the best listener in the face of this land?"
'Why is she so familiar with Ryu?' Katt felt her fur bristling. 'Calm down Katt. Why are you getting this way? Ryu's just a friend. Granted, he saved your tail... but he's only a friend...'
"Oh my!" Sylvia now was grinning widely looking at Katt. "What a rare find! A female woran, and a very cute one as well. My Ryu! I was almost thinking you were gay! Is she your girlfriend? Can you introduce me to her?" she asked, smiling but with some impish glitter in her eyes.
This last question, made both Ryu and Katt exchange a glance, blush and lower their heads. This made Sylvia giggle even more. After both recovered from embarrassment, Sylvia decided not to tease them anymore, for a while.
"Well Sylvia, this is Katt-Lin Chuang, ruling champion of the Colossea Battle-Arena. Katt, she is Sylvia, a fellow ranger and receptionist in the guild."
"Pleased to meet you, miss Chuang. I've heard a lot about the tournaments at the Arena." Sylvia smiled.
"Just Katt, and I'm not the champion anymore, since I got beat by a certain rather ferocious and savage blue haired warrior." Katt now smiled, ruffling Ryu's hair, while remembering the brutal hit she received from him. 'Well, It did not seem like an intentional punch since he says he doesn't remember; also I was out to kill him there... not to mention turning him into a soprano singer.'
"Oh my! Ryu hitting a woman?" Sylvia mocked being horrified without much success, but it succeeded to startle Ryu.
"It's not like that." Ryu sighed. Then he told her the whole story about Colossea. "So you see; well, now I'll ask you to please give my debriefing to the chief about the mission until now, and the demon we found and vanquished; I just came to deal with cleaning my room, and found that you already did; thanks a lot for that."
"No problem, Sylvia smiled. Ranger guild maid-service is professional. Will also tell him about the ugly-guy you battled." Sylvia saluted, then smiled.
"Well, I've got a new lead that I must follow, and it starts in the Magic School. And also... would you please stop teasing me?"
"Ok, calm down Ryu." Sylvia sighed; sometimes Ryu could be grumpier than the chief, and that was something hard to achieve. Then she asked. "How's my favorite puppy-eyed doggy-boy? Haven't heard from him in a while save for John who was there about five days ago and said that he was doing fine."
"Well, Bosch has been working for a change, could you believe that?" Ryu smirked.
"Oh my! Will tell the chief as soon as I'm able to. We thought John had been joking." then Sylvia started laughing.
"Why that? I saw doggy-boy working hard." Katt asked intrigued.
"Simple. Bosch relishes manual labor. Maybe that's why he's so big-boned" Ryu grinned.
"Well If I recall correctly, you fled from it as well." Katt grinned, while Sylvia was about to burst laughing.
"Ehm... someone actually dragged me out of there, if I recall correctly." Ryu glared at Katt... and realized what he did spill out. Now both him and Katt were blushing.
"Oh my!" Sylvia exclaimed. "Well then, I know when I'm just being a bother. The chief hired me to clean your room once in a while, thus I was doing some of the work so you didn't have to fight the icky-monster of the last time. Now that it's a clean room, so you lovebirds try not to make too much of a mess, ok?" Then she winked. "And don't wake those lazy party animals with your... partying."
Sylvia was leaving through the door and she stopped to add something. "Ah! Before I forget. In the icebox I left some more of that apple-pie you oh-so-like Ryu. Katt, please take good care of this shy boy. He's a good listener though." Finally she left, giggling madly, leaving a truly embarrassed Katt and Ryu in the room.
Katt recovered first and thought. 'Note to self... learn to do apple-pie. What? As if I were already falling for this... perv. Hmph!' then she punched Ryu.
"Ouch, what was that for Katt?"
"Nothing. Let's just have some of that apple-pie."
'Geez... she can be both cute and as fierce as a wildcat. Hope I don't get to see her drunk.' "Well, I think we have some tea somewhere; it's not the expensive tasty variety, just regular one."
They had some tea and made short work of the pie.
Ryu now was smiling. "Well, Bosch's loss. He loves this pie as well."
"And you?" Katt asked, mildly interested.
"It's just that I have a craving for apples and also like fishing."
"Nice! Then we'll get along. I love fish."
"You're a kitty-Katt!" Ryu smirked. "Of course you love eating fishes and seafood."
"Can it, blue-boy." Katt sighed. 'I shouldn't get upset with such lame jokes... but they make my fur bristle.'
"Yeah, whatever. Now that we defeated some monstrous apple-pie, how about we go to the Magic Academy to meet this Winged lady?" Ryu smiled, then he swiftly washed the things used, and dragged Katt before she could answer anything, outside.
'Payback time, kitty-Katt!'
'My! I'll drag him around more frequently.'
----------------------------------------
Noon, Ruined Town.
Rand finished carrying whole downed trees to have wood for repairs and sat to rest next to the statue of the Dragon God. "Man! This is good work; I'll rest a bit, then go to lunch."
~In Colossea you had also quite a bit of it. Resting... yes, you deserve it. It is very noble of you to help young Ryu.~
"Huh?" Rand asked, looking everywhere for the source of the voice.
~Look carefully at what you would not have expected, Son of the Earth.~
Rand finally seemed to realize what Ryu had meant about the Dragon God. Then he looked at the statue, that was smiling fondly at him. "So the young ranger wasn't jesting."
~In this case he definitely doesn't.~
"You're right...."
~Just Lord Ladon, M'Lord or whatever you feel comfortable with.~
"Then, it will be M'Lord. I'm a simple fellow trying to live a simple life..."
~In simplicity resides elegance. Besides, you are wise beyond your years. All your traveling has paid off, not only as experience. You have seen quite a bit of the world and known different people in different circumstances.~
"Yes, and in that I don't have any regrets."
~Very good. Namanda is also proud of you.~
Rand was surprised for a moment. "I'm honored. I hope that my homeland is well; not that I desire to go back. I'm glad of my travels."
~I am not one to judge you in that. You have been following your heart.~
"Thank you very much, M'Lord."
~You're welcome.~
"If you excuse me, I'm taking my leave. It has been a pleasure to have a chat. Just I ask one thing."
~I hear you.~
"Keep Ryu and the Kitty-Katt safe."
~That... it's up to them. Though I wouldn't cross them were I a smart monster.~ The statue grinned after saying this, making Rand laugh heartily.
Rand was going to enter and found Bosch looking fondly at him.
"So you spoke with the ol'lizard?"
"Yeah. He's a handful. You ain't cheatin' nor outwittin' him."
"Sure. Well, how about having lunch now?. That Azusa guy agreed to share his food and will even help us with the rebuilding and will do the hunting; will see if I can learn something useful from him. So we're set for a while even if the ever-hungry-couple comes back."
Rand chuckled. With Ryu and Katt a whole boar barely lasted about three days.... entrails included; Not even rabbits could reproduce that fast to provide enough food, or so he thought.
-------
Afternoon, Near the Magic Academy, NewHaven.
Katt and Ryu were walking towards the entrance of the Academy, when they heard a sudden blast of air and a sound of metal crashing into a sturdy brick wall. They looked towards the source, and saw that the metallic gates of the academy -that were almost always closed; they had to knock before entering- were laying on the cobblestone walkways, tangled and some strands of smoke were emanating from it.
From inside the courtyard of the property voices could be heard.
"Yeowch!" and some other yelps of pain could be heard.
"Pardon me, gentlemen." A woman, said, in a tone that was both dripping with sarcasm, mock concern, but also a stern seriousness. "Are any of you hurt?"
"Like hell we're, bitch. We still alive'n' kickin'." said a voice pertaining to a male. Some grunts could be heard as well, as if confirming this one. Other one spoke. "An' that was yer idea o' warnin' shot. Damn ya prissy broad! Ya almost wasted us."
"Not a big loss to humanity, if you ask me." The woman stated rather seriously. "In fact, I think if I hadn't missed on purpose, I'd have done a favor to mankind. Anyways, I'm not interested in you or your business, but you've been so persistent that my options have been quite restricted as of now."
"That makes it! Let's take this wench by force and take her back to the hideout."
"Nina. Be a good girl 'n come with us, or we'll have to get rough, not that we would complain having such a fine couch-companion for a change."
Ryu felt hatred coming from those male voices, his Dragon Tear had turned crimson. He glanced Katt of a brief instant and the next instant their weapons were drawn; they were going to barge in, when a magical energy surge paralyzed them for a brief instant; no one of them had ever felt the power of a true magician before.
Suddenly, gusts of wind could be felt all around the area, and shortly thereafter a couple of thugs, crashed rather violently on the brick wall leaving a sort of human-like looking imprint on it, and then falling face down to the ground. Then a third came, crashing on the floor on his back, bouncing to the wall not so violently as the previous two, but then was lifted several meters on the air and then forced to crash on the floor again, on his back, and definitely not gently.
All three thugs groaned in pain, barely able to move. In a brief glance, Ryu recognized the get-ups of the members of the Joker's Gang. 'So, the jokers are interested in this Wizard. That does not look good.'
Soft footsteps could be heard, as if the woman in question had really a light frame. She appeared in sight, and Ryu for a brief instant seemed at a loss. Hardly had he ever dreamed or seen a girl like this. The first thing that came to his mind, was the majestic pair of dark feathered wings she had; the sunlight dazzled on the feathers, making the wings reflect light as obsidian stone.
She had waist-long blonde hair, with some of it arranged on her head in a way that reminded of a pixie. She was wearing knee-high black boots with golden designs and matching arm-guards. She was clad in an azure battle-gown lined in purple, edged in white with golden embroidery. It had a slit to the hip on the left side that allowed freedom of movement and could be considered quite revealing. The set was completed with purple sleeves inside the gown ended in a ring and some pieces of jewelry and a belt.
She went towards the one who has laying on his back, and glared at him. Then she stepped on one of his hands grinding her boot on it slowly but increasing the pressure steadily, until she got a response from him. He did, and it was a pained one.
"Now that I have your attention, mister... I'll tell you just one more time. I'm not interested in the proposal of that man. Since I do not wish to be forced to take rather harsh measures, I'll give you a helping hand towards the exit of this peaceful town... and beyond." This time, her tone was dead serious. She walked away from him, and extended her hand towards the exit of the city.
Her wings shone for a moment, and both Ryu and Katt felt gusts of wind going towards her, that were gathering in the extended hand.
"Begone!" her voice commanded, power sparkling around her.
Suddenly, a strong burst of wind crackling with electric sparks blew from her hand, taking the thugs with it, being carried away, way beyond the wall that delimited the eastern town gate. The thugs never knew what hit them, as they fell unconscious.
Now that the problem was solved, the lady breathed deeply and made a brief glance towards Ryu, meeting gazes for an instant. Emerald met sapphire.
Both Ryu and Katt had their weapons sheathed now, since she had taken care of the thugs.
'That's a woman not to be messed with... Like Katt, but at the same time, different.' Ryu thought, mildly amused. 'Should I have to deal with her in the future, I'd make sure to stay on her good side, aye. And... Hey! I think I've seen those eyes. The sad ones the night when all of this started thanks to Bosch? Whatever.'
The lady quickly stopped glancing at him and went inside the school. His Dragon Tear was orange.
Ryu was still a bit dazed; he couldn't decide it because of the sapphire eyes, or the arcane power. He felt a tugging in his arm.
"Hey! Wake up blue-boy!" Katt's voice chided, making him react.
"Huh? What is it Katt?"
"She was amazing! So this is a magic school, right?" She asked, happiness in her eyes.
"Yeah, incredible." Ryu answered, somewhat indifferent to her cheery attitude.
"Can we spend some time learning spells there?" Katt asked, and then put her cute puppy eyes with smile included, with some soft purrs, staring directly into Ryu who felt all his will to say no, cave in truly quickly.
Ryu sighed "Fine. A bit of extra magic could be useful."
Katt walked in first, going merrily and without any care in the world. Ryu followed her, sighing.
'Well, it seems that we've found our winged-lady. But she isn't the one I saw that night all went astray. Another false lead, damn it. Whatever, time for a bit of a magic study, it may come in handy.'
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Afternoon, Outskirts of NewHaven.
The three thugs landed in the grass some hours ago, their clothes were quite scruffier than before, and charred in some parts, as they had some minor burns; they were groaning, but finally got up. Around them were several piles of dust belonging to slain monsters. Near them, was a cloaked guy; but a brief glance at his face told them who he was; all of them gulped at the same time.
"Pain, we're sorry. We failed to fetch her."
"I told you that you would." The man said. "But you weren't listening. You have to be gentle and proper with a lady, but at the same time, always have an ace under your sleeve." he smirked. "And I don't like that nickname; I prefer being called Shadow."
"And how would you get her, when with all the Power we got from the boss we failed?" one of the thugs asked.
"That's only for me to know." he said, calmly. Somehow his tone gave them shivers. "Just go back to the hideout; in any case, your powers should allow you to go running uphill tirelessly. Now scram!" This last part he nearly barked it.
The thugs seemed now more scared of him than anything else; somehow even in their pain, they ran all the way to their den of brigands.
'Poor guys. Power is not the answer to everything; not even paying with their lives will help them realize that in this lifetime. To think that once I called them friends... and they are just now like his puppets.'
Then he took out his worn grey cloak and folded something inside it. 'You don't have any shame, double-dealing weasel. Whatever; you know what your uncle is doing is wrong. And you also know how he has changed since he found that idol at the summit of the mountain.'
He was using a full black garb, with some pieces of armor hidden under the cloth. His head was covered in a black scarf that only left his eyes to see. Those were black, and what could be seen of his face had a bluish hue, some kind of makeup maybe. His weapons were hidden below some kind of dark waist mantle. He also had a headpiece, with mainly dark blue with golden designs.
'Well, to try our luck with this ill-tempered angel. I hope this certain collar and this ring helps her to realize that she has to come with me whether she desires it or not.'
Then, the man took out a collar and a signet ring, and kept them in one hand, and walked towards NewHaven entering the city from the same exit that the thugs had came through. He saw the mess: the thug-looking imprints on the wall, the twisted metallic fence-gate, and the cracked cobblestone. 'Well, they were moronic. Fortunately, the Voice of Reason is stronger than a mere Call to Arms.'
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Tell me Ray. Is it true that a demon had appeared in Colossea?
According to Lady Ornella Collier it was so.
Hmmm… this is a most serious matter. As a Paladin of the Church, you must investigate in our stead. You told me that somehow you felt it earlier, when it manifested, even while you were already several miles away from the city.
Yes High Priest. But when I arrived, the demon had been vanquished already, by a group of adventurers; or that is what she told me. If you excuse me from this magical communication, I must take my leave to rest; I have to continue spreading the teachings of St. Eva, as my mission is to expand our pogrom further.
You are excused, Ray. Go with St. Eva in your heart.
-- o --
End Chapter 07.
Author's Notes:
- Ornella collier, is the acting mayor of Colossea.
This is going to get updated later :D
Special Thanks:
- Ryusui, for his Retranslation.
- Lady 'Kestre Wynde' from fanfiction . net; your proof-reading has helped me to understand about English language and improving the quality of my writing. Thank you very much.
- Reviewers.