Disclaimer: Don't own Summon Night: Swordcraft Story or any of its pretty little characters. The characters that are mine, however, belong to me. So there. Also—don't own the song lyrics at the beginning. They are from the song "Dirty Little Secret" by the All-American Rejects.

NybCR: Hello again! This is the second chapter for my very special story. Yayfulness! And guess who Pratty's friend is...? Well, okay, it's a little late for that guessing game since the answer is in this chapter, but oh well!

To Jenvaati: Dude, you deserve a cookie just for coming up with such an awesome explanation. (gives cookie) And thank you very much for your review! It made me feel all special inside.

And, just in case anyone's confused... the title of this story has changed! It used to be called "Trip", but I changed it on the grounds that that title didn't have anything to do with the story. At all. Seriously.

Chapter Two
The City of Swords

"When we live such fragile eyes, it's the best way we survive."

-

Pratty led Rasho down the broad steel walkway to a great metal courtyard in the middle of Wystern. It was more crowded than Rasho remembered, although to be fair, he didn't explore the city that often as Shintetsu's Guardian Best.

The people, young and old, bustled past, talking and laughing with friends and bartering with merchants, who displayed their wares on make-shift stands and called out to passers-by to come look at their selection. Children ran past without a care in the world, shrieking and playing. Occasionally someone would cast curious looks towards the flame-haired demon walking side-by-side with the silver-haired apprentice. Pratty didn't seem to notice the attention they attracted, but Rasho basked in it. She ignored his preening, instead filling him in on the tournament.

"The tournament going on now is to determine the new Craftlord—someone to take the place of my dad," she said. "There are sixty-four people in the tournament; thirty from the Gold Guild, sixteen from the Silver Guild, and eighteen who don't belong to either since they're from out-of-town."

"So, what—the winner of the tournament is going to become the next Craftlord of Iron?" Rasho said. "Is that how it's going to go?"

"Yeah," she said. "There's also the Labyrinth. You remember that?"

"Labyrinth? The one underneath the Central Tower?"

"That's right. For the duration of the tournament, it's going to be open to all the competitors, so that we can train against the Stray Summons down there and gather materials for our weapons. We're only allowed to fight with weapons that we've forged, after all."

"Of course," Rasho scoffed. "You'd be a disgrace as a Craftlord otherwise."

Pratty shrugged. "I suppose so. Anyway, I think that's about all there is to know about the tournament so far."

"Huh." Rasho crossed his arms. "There was a tournament, here, once before. What was it, three years ago? It was for the title of Craftlord of Sapphire."

Pratty looked thoughtful. "I think I remember that," she said. "A lot of people were coming to Wystern to see it. Everyone was really excited about it."

So excited that they forgot about the earthquakes, I'll bet, Rasho thought, his mouth thinning into a hard line. Those Craftlords just don't know when to quit, do they? Doing the same thing over and over, like it'll change anything...

Pratty looked up at him. "Is everything all right, Rasho?"

"It's nothing."

She looked like she might press for a real answer, but then stopped as she realized where they were. "Oh—we're here."

"Here" was a large, ornate stone fountain smack-dab in the center of the courtyard—a small oasis of organic beauty in a place of uniform geometry. The water that cascaded from the fish-shaped spouts was clear: certainly not ocean water. Amidst the fish were three stone mermaids, long hair covering their bare breasts and each facing a different direction. The mermaid facing Rasho and Pratty had a kind expression on her sculpted face, her eyes gentle in their marble stillness. One hand was set serenely on her fish-tail lap, while the other lay on the flat, smooth rock next to her, as though inviting someone to sit down. Even the battle-hardened demon had to admit it was a work of art.

Pratty, however, simply glanced around the fountain's bulk, oblivious to its grandeur. "Well," she said, "it looks like my friend isn't here yet. Do you mind waiting or—"

"You're not leaving already, are you, Pratty?"

Pratty turned around, a smile spreading across her face. "Kenon!" she exclaimed, walking over to a black-haired boy wearing a decorative headband. A small, spherical mechanoid hovered beside him, its orange optics looking at its surroundings, seemingly excited to be in the City of Swords. Pratty stared at it for a second before holding out her hand. "You must be Kenon's Guardian Beast. Pleased to meet you!"

The tiny robot beeped delightedly and gave her a thumbs-up. Pratty laughed and patted its head.

The boy—Kenon—grinned. "Cool, huh? And you'll probably be seeing a lot of him, too, for the next week. A lot of apprentices are going to have their Guardian Beasts stay with them for the duration of the tournament since it'd be so much trouble going back and forth from our world to theirs so often, between forging weapons and fighting in the labyrinth and then the matches…."

"So was he summoned here just now?" Pratty asked. "What's his name?"

Zantek, the robot beeped happily.

"Zantek," Kenon answered. "At least, that's what the Summoner told me. Dunno how he knew that, though, since all Zantak seems to be able to do is beep. Sometimes I think I can understand him a little, but it's mostly guesswork."

Rasho raised an eyebrow at that. Funny; he could understand that beeping little toy perfectly. Not that it really mattered.

Zantek turned to Kenon and beeped, Well, partner, it's not like I have any other interface.

"Ah—" Kenon hesitated, at a loss since he had no idea what the robot was saying, but he took a shot, anyway. "Yeah—um. This is Pratty, my friend."

Zantek beeped again (an exasperated You are only human, I suppose, so it can't be helped) and floated off. Kenon sighed and turned back to Pratty. "Well, even if I can't understand him, he's still a pretty cool Guardian Beast, right?"

Pratty smiled. "Sure! Mechanoids are way cool."

Rasho pouted a little at that. So what was he, chopped liver? Not that he really cared. He was a demon, after all.

"Yeah, that's true," he replied. That was when his eye finally caught Rasho. He nudged Pratty and pointed. "So, Pratty, is that—"

"Oh, I almost forgot!" She tugged Kenon forward, closer to where Rasho stood in front of the fountain. "Rasho, this is my friend Kenon. Kenon, this is Rasho—my Guardian Beast."

Rasho scrutinized him, a slight frown on his face. This kid really ticked him off, probably because of the way his mouth only ever went half-way: half-smiling and half-smirking. As far as Rasho was concerned, if you wanted to say something, then you said it, and if you felt something one way, you ought to feel it all the way! And frankly, this kid's cocky attitude as he tucked his hair behind his headband reminded him of another teenage boy—a four-eyed, pony-tailed smartass who constantly got on his nerves. Cocky little rug rat. Kenon, she said? More like Headband Boy.

Kenon, on the other hand, looked back, unperturbed by the glaring demon, and half-smiled. "A pleasure."

Little punk. He'd show him.

Rasho glanced side-long at his young Master. "You honestly make friends with such weaklings? What on earth is so appealing? All you need is a glance at that puny excuse of a Guardian Beast to see that—ow!"

Rasho looked down, putting his hand over his recently-punched arm. Judging by how fiercely Pratty was glaring at him, he should have immediately apologized to her for bad-mouthing her friend, but all he could really think of at that moment is that she had one hell of a punch for such a scrawny little kid.

"Rasho, that's my friend you're talking to," she stated firmly. "If you've got a problem with him, you've got a problem with me."

Rasho toyed with the idea of saying that, yeah, they were both pretty scrawny and what did she intend to do about it? But considering that even though she was a girl, she was still Shintetsu's daughter, and he really shouldn't aggravate her anymore than he already had. And he owed it to Shintetsu to, at the very least, not make enemies with his eldest child. Of course, that didn't mean he was going to apologize.

Tch. Hell no.

He gave Kenon another once-over and looked away, arms crossed. "Whatever."

Pratty sighed and turned back to her friend. "Sorry about that, Kenon. Anyway, how's it going? Psyched about the tournament?"

Rasho scowled at the easy dismissal, but stood by and listened to the conversation. Who knew? Maybe they'd actually say something interesting. Not likely, though, since they were only rug rats.

"Heh—so-so," Headband Boy said, sitting down on the lip of the fountain. "Looking around during the Opening Ceremony, seems like a lot of people in both of the Guilds are in the tournament—plus some who've come here from other cities."

Pratty sat down next to him. "Is Nereis in the tournament, too? I didn't see her at the Opening Ceremony."

"Me neither—but I saw her getting briefed along with the rest of us back at the Gold Guild." He sighed and rested his chin on his hands. "I hope I don't have to fight her."

She chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. "Try to look at it this way: sixty-four people in the tournament, and you and Nereis are only two of them. Chances are against you getting matched up in the first round, at least."

"Yeah, and now that you've said it, there's no way I'm not going to be matched up with her." Still, he smiled.

Zantek, apparently back from his aimless wanderings, floated over to Rasho and hovered by his shoulder. Rasho growled and tried to shoo it away, but after it flew off and came back for the second time, he gave up and resumed listening to the kids' conversation.

"Yeah," Pratty was saying, touching her bandaged ear. "Pushed me off the harbor."

"Nice. Gonna do anything about it?"

"Heh, sure—pray I'm matched against him in the tournament so I can teach him a lesson. Not like there's anything else I can do." Pratty stood up and started walking along the stone lip of the fountain. Headband Boy followed suit.

"Do you really think beating Chaves in the tournament will get him off your back?" he asked as they walked.

"Sure. I mean, think about it—"

Rasho didn't catch the rest of what was said; their voices were drowned out by the cascade of water as they disappeared around the fountain.

The thing by his shoulder beeped.

He scowled. "What could you possibly want?"

Those two seem to be good friends, it said.

"Maybe. So what?"

I wonder how long they've known each other.

"Who cares?"

Well, we are their Guardian Beasts now. We should make an effort to get to know them.

"Heh." Rasho crossed his arms. "That's an interesting way of thinking. Most Beasts summoned here would rather remain as unattached to their Masters as possible. Humans have short lives, after all."

Mabye so, but I'd rather know who I'm partners with. You know, their goals and intentions. It's better to know what you're helping them achieve. We're a part of whatever they do; I feel better knowing that I helped do something good.

"Whatever. As far as I'm concerned, all I need to know about my Master is that she's the daughter of Shintetsu—my former Master. The work we started here three years ago isn't finished yet, and I'm here now to see it through to the end."

Zantek gave Rasho a curious look, but Pratty and Kenon came back into sight from around the fountain. Both lapsed into silence as they watched their young Masters.

"Anyway, what's going on with you?" Pratty said. "I heard that your dad's back from his trip to Vance."

"… Yeah." Kenon dropped to the ground and sat down heavily on the lip of the fountain.

Pratty stopped in her tracks and looked at him. "Is he still tweaked?"

He stared at the ground, his expression solemn. Finally, he sighed and said, "I don't know, Pratty. Ever since I joined the Gold Guild, he's been acting so weird. At first, it wasn't so bad; he tried to be encouraging, and I think he was relieved that I was still friends with you, even though the Silver Guild is rivals with the Gold Guild."

"Yeah, I remember that. The first time I saw him after we both joined the guilds, he seemed unusually happy to see me. Not that your dad's not a nice guy—he just usually leaves us to our own, ya know?"

"Yeah. But even though we were in different guilds, he still kept saying stuff like, 'Well, you can always go to the Silver Guild if you ever get tired of the Gold Guild.'"

"Talk about awkward," she said, sitting down next to him.

"Tell me about it. I always had to kind of shrug and look away when he said that. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, but… well, I didn't want to lie by saying I would go to the Silver Guild someday."

"That's tough. And now that we're older, our training's more intense…."

"Which means we don't really have the option of transferring between guilds anymore. At least, not until we're finished training altogether. The training regiment is just too different."

"So does your dad still say that stuff, about you transfering?"

"No. Now, it's like…." Kenon searched for the words. "Like he doesn't want to be around me anymore. I know he wanted me to join the Silver Guild like him, but I didn't think he'd take it so hard. It's like, by joining the Gold Guild, I've betrayed him as a son."

Pratty let out a sigh and turned to her friend. "You know," she began gently, "you're going to have to talk to your dad eventually. A proper talk, I mean—with you actually talking and him actually listening."

"That would be way too awkward."

"Oh, come on! Don't be so emotionally constipated. Just because you're a guy, doesn't mean you can't talk out your problems."

"I think that's exactly what it means."

Pratty rolled her eyes and looked at Rasho, still standing several feet away. "Rasho, would you tell Kenon that guys can talk out their problems just as well as girls?"

Rasho crossed his arms. "Don't be ridiculous. Girls talk. Guys fight."

Pratty groaned. "You guys are hopeless."

"Speaking of fighting," Kenon said, shaking off the gloom and looking at Pratty with a glint in his eye. "I ran into Chaves earlier. He said for you to meet him behind the Gold Guild in ten minutes. Of course, that was about fifteen minutes ago—but still. Are you going to accept?"

"Weren't you listening to Rasho? Guys fight. Girls talk. Besides, if Chaves wants to challenge me, he can ask me himself."

"He will. Maybe not today, but sooner or later."

"Hmm." Pratty rest her chin on her hand. "I don't see why we should bother with a fist fight at all, especially if we're matched together in the tournament."

"He probably wanted to make a bet. Like, you would drop out of the tournament if he won."

She snorted. "Man, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of."

"Well, Chaves was never the brightest candle in the cupboard."

"Come on, don't be mean," she said, holding back a grin. "I'm sure Chaves has some redeeming qualities. We've just never seen any of them 'cause he hates us."

"And we're such likable people, too."

Pratty laughed at that and said something in response, but Rasho's attention drifted away from the conversation and turned towards the people and the buildings surrounding them.

Things had changed so much since he had last been to Wystern, and yet so much was the same. There were more buildings and the shops had different signs and names, but they were all still of the same style—stone and metalwork, stocky and sturdy. It was the same time-tested architecture that was able to withstand earthquakes and floods and whatever else until Wystern sank another level and they were drowned out by the ocean.

That was one of the unique things about Wystern: not only was it a city largely populated by Craftknights, but it was built in the middle of the ocean, and every year it sank a little more. According to the history books, Wystern had once been an island, and when it began disappearing beneath the ocean, the people built a "second story" for the city. Today, Wystern consisted of three levels surrounding the Central Tower, the building that reached down to the original island. Most of the inhabitants of Wystern currently lived on the first level of Wystern, while the second grew every day and construction continued on the third level. The City of Swords was constantly under construction, and would be until it stopped sinking—if it ever stopped sinking. Even so, Wystern was very much a reflection of its people: indomitable despite all odds.

The number of people, too, seemed to have doubled or even tripled, although that may have been due to the tournament and the people (both Craftknights and tourists) that such a monumental event attracted rather than any kind of rabbit-like multiplication on the people's part.

Despite the differences, the smells were still the same: the scent of ocean waves—salt and seaweed and brimstone—mingled inextricably with the intoxicating smells of a city marketplace, of fish, warm bread and hickory smoke. It was a combination unique to the City of Swords, and one that hadn't changed since Rasho had last been here. But at the same time, coming back to Wystern reminded him of his former Master, the now-deceased Shintetsu. It was almost as if Rasho was returning to finish the work that they had left behind….

"Hey, Rasho?"

Rasho looked down at Pratty, who had approached him while his thoughts drifted. "Eh? What is it?"

"It's getting late, so we're going somewhere for dinner. You coming?"

Rasho rolled his eyes. "I'm your Guardian Beast, aren't I? It's not like I'm gonna leave a little kid like you alone."

Pratty pouted. "Hey, I'm fourteen, you know. I'll be grown up in a couple years."

"Right." Rasho poked a finger at her forehead. "Not with that pouty face. As long as you act like a kid, you're a kid. Got it?"

Pratty smiled and waved his hand away. "Whatever." She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward where Headband Boy and Zantek (whose presence by his Master confused him—since when had the floating toy left his side?) waited for them. "Let's go, already!"

NybCR: Thank you all for reading my second chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. Or found it mildly amusing, at least.

Anyway... yes, yes, I know that Kenon's Guardian Beast is not actually Zantek... but he's such a spiffy little robot, I couldn't leave him out of my story! Besides, I think he suits Kenon rather well, don't you? Oh, and sorry if Kenon's a bit OOC... I don't believe it matters too much anyway since this whole story is "a bit OOC", but I hope it didn't bother anyone too much. And don't worry, Kutty and Sugar will appear, too... although obviously the only one who was ever Shintetsu's Guardian Beast is Rasho.

If you have any questions, comments, criticism, or flames (for they are tasty), please leave a review!