Cassandra and Lizardman had been travelling together for hours, and from Cassandra's point of view they seemed to be getting nowhere. By this point, Cassandra had become exhausted, and Lizardman was carrying her on his back.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" Cassandra asked, with a hint of fear in her voice.

"Yes. Trust me. I have friends who can help us"

"Friends?"

"I am not the only person to have been cursed with this fate. Other unfortunate souls have succumbed to this torture as well. They look up to me. In some ways I am their leader. At first, we grouped together out of necessity, rather than choice – without companionship we would have lost all hope long ago. But soon that reluctance blossomed into true friendship. To this day, they're the only reason I keep going."

"But what if they don't accept me? I'm not like you, after all."

"Cassandra, your plight is as unfortunate as any of ours. Only someone with no compassion would not sympathise with what your family has done to you."

"Please don't mention my family". Cassandra jumped off of Lizardman's back and made eye contact with him. "I don't want to think about them, anymore. I know that they will never take me back. I want to forget about them and start a new life."

"Do you think about them often?"

"Almost every waking moment". Cassandra began to cry again, and Lizardman held her in his warm embrace. "I'm sorry", she said. "I'm stronger than this, I know I am. I just have to move on… I just –"

"Tears are no sign of weakness, my dear child. You have already proven yourself to be a brave and honourable woman by risking your life to destroy Soul Edge. No one could question your resolve"

Cassandra looked up at him, and tried her best to smile. "We are not far from my comrades' caves", Lizardman assured her. "Another couple of miles, and you shall have somewhere safe to shelter once again"

Indeed, within the space of an hour they had arrived at the caves. Cassandra gingerly stepped inside, and was amazed at what she saw. Six other lizardmen were situated inside the cave, burning fires to keep warm, and cooking what appeared to be a gazelle. All six of these creatures looked at Cassandra, and then they lunged forward at her.

"Stop!" Lizardman ordered the other six. "This is no intruder. She is a lost soul, just like us"

The lizardmen all looked at each other.

"She has healed me, and restored my humanity. Perhaps she can restore yours as well"

The lizardmen stepped towards her, but this time they did not want to attack. They looked at her pleadingly – all they wanted was to become human once again. Cassandra carefully placed her hand upon one of the lizardmen's chests, but nothing happened. There was no white smoke, or screaming, or any sensation of falling.

"I'm sorry", Cassandra said. "But I don't think I can help you"

The six lizardmen wandered back to their previous positions, disappointed. Lizardman turned to her. "But why would your touch cure me", Lizardman asked, "but not them? Their souls were enclosed within Soul Edge as well"

"Perhaps there's a special connection between us, something that means that I've been destined to help you all my life". They smiled at each other.

The gazelle was now fully cooked, and the lizardmen offered some to Cassandra. At first she was reluctant, but eventually she decided to eat some. It tasted much better than she expected it to, so she ate some more. Once she had had her fill, she realised that she had not yet expressed gratitude for their offer of shelter.

"Thank you for taking me in", she said. "I don't know how I can repay you"

"My dear girl, I'm the one repaying you", Lizardman said. "Society has rejected us. We all have to help each other"

"Well, in that case, there's something else I'd really like"

"What would that be?"

"Could you possibly forge me some weapons?" Cassandra asked. "I had to relinquish my sword and shield when I was banished from Athens, and I've been defenceless ever since. If I plan to live like this, I need something to protect myself with"

"My comrades here are excellent blacksmiths", Lizardman said, and he turned to the smallest one. "Would you be able to forge this girl some new weapons tomorrow morning?"

He nodded, and set to work finding metal for its construction. Cassandra turned to Lizardman.

"Hold on. If these creatures aren't human, how can they understand you?"

"You underestimate just how close we have become. We have reached a point where our communication does not even need words for us to understand each other"

"Wow. I hope I can become a part of your comradeship someday"

"I'm sure you will, my love. But it's been a tiring day. We should probably get some sleep."

And so the other lizardmen (excluding the short one, who was still collecting metal) huddled together in the middle of the room. Cassandra had a look of confusion on her face, which Lizardman was quick to dispel.

"Our lizard anatomy means that we are cold-blooded. We have to huddle together for warmth during these cold nights"

He joined the other lizardmen, and soon enough the short lizardman came back with scraps of metal, which he set aside on one of the cave's walls, and he joined them in their sleep. Eventually, Cassandra lay down next to Lizardman, her front pressed against his back, and, stroking his scaly skin, she soon fell asleep as well.

When she woke up the next morning, she found that all of the lizardmen bar one had disappeared. The one that was still in the cave walked up to her and handed her a newly forged axe and shield. It was rather crude, and of considerably lower quality than her previous weapons, which had been forged from holy metal, but she realised that this was better than having no weapons at all, and it was clear that the lizardmen took pride in these weapons.

"Thank you". She went outside to try and find the other lizardmen. Eventually, she found them in a nearby field gathering vegetables. One of them had also managed to kill a few passing rabbits. Suddenly, Lizardman looked up. "Ah, there you are, Cassandra", he said. "Do you like your new weapons?"

"Er…" She was careful not to be too honest. "They're OK, I guess, but… I'm not really used to use an axe as a weapon. I've always used swords…"

"Well, why don't we train each other?" Lizardman suggested. "We can teach you our fighting techniques, and you can teach us yours. You're clearly a capable warrior if you were able to defeat Soul Edge – we could learn a lot from you."

Cassandra blushed slightly. Lizardman pointed to the pile of vegetables they had collected – it consisted of aubergines, courgettes, potatoes and cabbages. "Here", he said. "Could you carry some of these vegetables back to the caves? After we've had breakfast we can work on our self-defense"

Cassandra took as many of the vegetables as she could manage. None of them looked particularly appetising, but it had been many months since Cassandra had eaten a proper meal – since she had been expelled from Athens, she had survived on whatever she could find, and the prospect of a hot meal made her happier. Soon after she had returned to the cave, the other lizardmen came along and brought back the remaining vegetables. One of them was carrying several rabbits, and one had even caught a fish from a nearby stream. The fish, rabbits and cabbages were cooked, whilst the rest was stored away for later. Cassandra found that she was ravenous, and in less than a minute she had finished her portion of the food. The other lizardmen stared in astonishment.

"How long has it been since you had a proper meal?" Lizardman asked.

"A long time. I don't tend to think about it too much…"

Soon, the rest of them had finished their meals, and they all went out to do some training.

"So…" Cassandra said. "Am I teaching you my techniques first, or are you teaching me yours?"

"You have a far nobler disposition and greater emotional strength than we do", Lizardman said. "You should teach us your techniques first"

The rest of the lizardmen nodded in agreement.

"Well, OK. My techniques aren't really suited for axes, but I'll give it a try…" She swung her axe lightly through the air. "The way I see it, once your opponent leaves you an opportunity to attack, you have to take that opportunity and keep attacking. Don't stop, don't give them a chance to strike back. Like this." At which point Cassandra let out a smooth-flowing series of strikes, swipes and stabs. The other lizardmen were astonished and mesmerised.

"Here's what we'll do". Cassandra stood in front of a nearby oak tree. "I'll showcase my techniques on this tree, and once I'm finished, you'll all give it a go, OK?"

The lizardmen nodded. She let out a series of strikes against the tree, just as she had before, culminating by jumping into the air and spinning, continuing to strike the tree whilst doing so. Once she had finished, the tree looked as though a family of angry tigers had clawed at it – there were deep cuts up and down its bark. Cassandra turned to the lizardmen. "Now it's your turn"

Immediately, they all tried to copy her, but to Cassandra's dismay they were unable to do so. Three fell over trying to emulate Cassandra's dizzying attack speed, and when one of them jumped clumsily into the air, he ended up landing straight on top of the other two lizardmen. Despite their desperate circumstances, Cassandra found herself giggling slightly. Lizardman approached her.

"Perhaps teaching you our techniques would be a better starting point", Lizardman said. "At this rate, we'll all kill ourselves before we can even think about defending ourselves from outside threats". Cassandra and Lizardman looked at each other, and suddenly burst out laughing. The other lizardmen, who were still on the ground and trying frantically to get up, looked up at these two, and began to laugh with them. As she laughed, Cassandra felt herself grow happier– it was as though she had known these creatures all her life. In that instant, she realised that they were her new family.

"Alright", Cassandra said finally. "That's enough practicing of my techniques for now."

She turned to the other lizardmen.

"Come on, guys. Show me the ropes!"