Rose had never seen anything quite like the Xingese village in which she and her unknown companion found themselves. The buildings were constructed a lot different from the ones she knew in Reole. In addition to their unique clothes, most people even wore their hair differently.

"If you're going to insist on keeping an eye on me for the foreseeable future, can we at least get me some new clothes?"

"Maybe later, if you behave."

"Who are you, my father? Besides we're just looking around as it is."

"Not true, I know exactly where to look."

"And where's that?"

"O'Hara's record shows that he's a heavy drinker. He has spent the last several years of his life deprived of his favorite drink. To my knowledge there is only one place in this village that sells that particular concoction. If he isn't there right now then maybe someone will be able to tell us if they've seen him."

"I'm not old enough to drink."

"You won't have to. Besides, where we're going they don't ask you if you're old enough."

"How do you know all this?"

"My work takes me places."

As Rose and her escort made their way, the Xingese citizens they passed by looked less and less friendly. Some of them were giving her looks.

"Don't worry, if they want you they'll have to get through me, and I eat punks like these for breakfast."

When they came to the bar they found that it had been burned to the ground.

"These burns aren't even a day old; I think it's safe to assume that we're on the right track."

"But what do we do now?"

"I'd like to know why O'Hara would burn down the only local place that serves his favorite drink; unfortunately investigating a fire is a real pain in the neck. Any evidence the fire didn't destroy was probably trampled by the fire brigade."

Rose and her captor spent the next hour looking for anyone who had witnessed what had occurred at the bar. It took a couple tries, but they finally got lucky when some punk made a go at Rose.

"That is no way to treat a lady, especially my daughter."

The Masked Alchemist had the pervert disarmed and on the ground in one swift motion.

"If you can tell us what occurred this evening at the Blue Moon bar, I might just consider letting you go without breaking any bones."

"Some foreigner pissed off the wrong people, a fight broke out, and then the foreigner transformed into some kind of monster."

"Transformed?"

"Yeah into some kind of freaky reptile thing that could breathe fire. He tore those guys limbs from limb and burned the place down."

"Where did he go?"

"I didn't stick around long enough to find out. I got the hell out of there as fast as I could."

"Is this what the foreigner looked like?" asked the Masked Alchemist showing him O'Hara's wanted poster.

"Yeah, that's definitely him."

"Thank you for your cooperation."

"What are you, a cop or something?"

"Do I look like a cop?"

"Do you honestly believe what he said?" asked Rose after the thug had run of.

"A big part of my job is being able to tell when someone is lying. He wasn't."

"But how is that possible?"

"There's nothing in O'Hara's file that said anything about being able to transform into any kind of monster. Also he was just a common run of the mill criminal. I think I'm beginning to understand what King Bradley meant when he said this was a special case… I'll be sure to ask him about it when I collect my bounty."

"What's the next step?"

"A monster is sure to stick out like a sore thumb, let alone one that happens to be a convicted criminal on the run. If he hasn't left the village already then he won't be sticking around very long."

He took out a map of the area and looked at it.

"This is where the Blue Moon is… or was. These areas received significant amounts of damage during his escape. He could have fled in this direction, but if he had then the nearest village isn't for over fifteen miles."

He stared at the map for about five minutes before he made up his mind.

"There."

After they had left the town, he changed back into his usual attire, but advised Rose to maintain her own disguise until everything blew over.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?"

"I've taken all factors into consideration, and have established O'Hara's most probable course of action. I'm ninety-five percent sure we're on the right course."

"Only ninety-five?"

"There's always margin forever. Tracking people isn't the same thing as tracking animals. You can't always anticipate the human mind."

"So basically, you're saying you need to take into account that some people are stupid and won't always do the smart thing?"

"Exactly."

After about fifteen minutes of driving, Rose could no longer stand the silence.

"How much longer am I going to be held against my will?"

"Until you decide that life is worth living."

"I haven't tried to kill myself again yet, haven't I?"

"Only because I'm here. I can tell that you're getting better, but you're not quite there yet."

"Why does this guy care about me so much? We don't even know each other."

Rose could only think of one reason.

"Is this all because you saw me naked?"

"You're a very attractive woman, but that has nothing to do it. Besides, whose fault is it that I saw you in a state of undress?"

"I guess I've got to give you that one."

The continued driving for awhile even after the sun had set. That's when they hit what they thought was a pothole. When they got out of the car they found that what they had been driving through were actually huge footprints.

"These are fresh. Whatever made them is close."

(To be continued)