Wow, I can't believe I actually finished the second chapter of this... First of all, I have to give major thanks to Prince of Tennis' Shaman - if it wasn't for An, I probably would've scrapped this idea a long time ago. On that note, I think it's a good time to reply to the only review of the first chapter.

Prince of Tennis' Shaman: ... Thank you! Thank you so much for reviewing! I was about to give up on this story, and then I saw your review and I thought I was going to cry in joy... Anyway... Thank you - I'm glad I got that part down. :) Ah, really? I've never given much thought to my favorite composer... But I love both Chopin and Beethoven's music. :D Again, thank you so much for reviewing. You're a lifesaver, An! XD

YYWT: Thanks. I'll try to update soon - a lot of my other stories are horribly late right now, so I'm scrambling to update those. But I will update this ASAP. And thank you so much for reviewing. :)

Okay, review reply/ies done. There isn't really much else to mention... I'm thinking more seriously about the Shu x Claves thing, since it would go with some of the things that I dreamt. At least, what I can remember of my dream. *insert sweatdrop here* Also, there are light spoilers for Blue Dragon Beyond... I've slightly altered the storyline of A Strange Occurance, so that there wouldn't be so many spoilers. Still, a few may pop up. If it's anything that big, I'll give a warning first. Also, because this takes place in Blue Dragon Beyond's storyline, that means Bouquet will be here. :) She won't show up this chapter... But probably soon. Well, I think that's everything I need to mention. On with the story! :D

After they had been traveling for about a minute, Claves decided to speak up. "Um... excuse me..."

"What's wrong?"

"Well, I was wondering about that... dragon."

"Oh, that!" he laughed. "I figured you would ask me about that. Jiro will tell you all about it when we reach the village."

"Who's Jiro?" Another strange name.

"He's my best friend. He's really smart, so he'd be better off explaining it to you."

"I see..."

"There's the village now!"

In the distance, Claves could see a large stone sticking out of the ground. As they continued their approach, rocky walls could be seen, a barricade from the outside world.

Shu steered the motorbike through a path in the hills. It opened up into a sandy village, houses situated on the hills, bridges going over chasms in the center. There were a good amount of trees for a desert, so there must be a large quantity of water nearby. Up on the highest hill, a windmill steadily creaked.

A girl was running towards them. Her red hair was tied in braids on each side of her head. "Shu, you're back!"

"Hey, Sahlia." he greeted her, turning off the motorbike; it hit the ground with a light thud.

"We've been wai- oh. Who's this?" She finally noticed Claves.

"Her name's Claves. She was being attacked by a scorpion when I found her," he hopped off the bike. "She's hurt, so I need to find Kluke. Can you watch her for a minute?"

"Of course!" she moved to stand next to the bike.

"Be back in a sec!" he yelled as he ran off.

"So, where are you from?" the girl - Sahlia - asked once he was gone.

"I was born in Forte, even though I've been living near Hanon for almost a year." Even though these people didn't seem to be anywhere near Forte or Hanon Hills, Claves thought it was best not to mention that she was part of Andantino.

Sahlia quirked an eyebrow. "Why are you talking about music?... I just wanted to know where you were from. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. I shouldn't pry, anyway." she shook her head.

"Hm?" Claves looked at the girl quizzically. What had brought that on?

She seemed to be alive, so she must have gotten into another country somehow, maybe even another continent. That would explain why everyone and every place had a strange name, and why everyone looked at her like she'd grown a second head whenever she mentioned her name or one of the places she was accustomed to.

She looked up when she heard a braying; Shu was with another girl, leading some kind of... creature. It looked like a large breed of ram.

"Sorry it took so long. Koppa was being disagreeable." he yanked on the rope to make his point, glaring at the beast. The girl next to him giggled.

"What... is that?" Claves pointed at it, even more horrified than when Shu had driven up to her on the motorbike.

"It's a donkey. What else would it be?" There was that second-head look again.

"I've never seen a donkey like that!"

The new girl seemed like she was contemplating something. "... Could she be talking about the Ancient donkeys?" she turned her gaze on Claves. "Me and my other friend will have some questions for you after I treat you. For now, I would appreciate it if you would mount the donkey," she patted the creature's side with her hand. "It's a better form of transportation for someone with your injuries."

"What if she gets hurt trying to climb on?" Sahlia asked.

"It's more risky to try and climb the hills to my house. Some of the treatments that I have can only be done there, otherwise I'd bring some supplies out here."

Shu raised his hand. "I can bring her on my motorbike!"

The girl glared at him sideways. "Knowing you, you'd probably rupture something."

He looked at her through lidded eyes. "I'm so glad that you have confidence in my driving."

"Excuse me..." Sahlia tried to interrupt.

"Oh, don't worry, Shu. I'm confident that you can drive. Drive straight into a wall."

"Kluke!" he yelled at her indignantly.

"Don't mind them," Sahlia said to Claves. "They do this often. They're still close friends, though."

"Really..."

While Shu and Kluke continued to bicker, Sahlia managed to convince Claves to get on the donkey. After that, she tried to get the two friends to stop fighting. It took a little while, but they eventually stopped, and the small group headed for Kluke's house.

Jiro looked up from his book when he heard banging on the door to his room. His eyes became lidded as he heard Shu start yelling his name.

When it seemed like the noise wasn't going to stop, Jiro set down the book with an irritated sigh, and crossed his room over to the door.

As he opened it, Shu tumbled out, nearly falling over. He righted himself, then started yelling, "Jiro, come with me!"

"Wait, slow down. Come with you where?"

"To Kluke's house! I found this girl in the desert; she was being attacked by a scorpion! I brought her here, and Kluke took her to her house so she could take of her! But the girl keeps saying strange things, and I thought that you could figure it out!"

Jiro leaned forward a bit, a little interested. "Does she speak another language?"

"No."

The interest deflated. "Oh."

"So you're going to come, right?"

"I don't know..."

Shu stood akimbo. "Look, it was Kluke that wanted you to come. Since you don't seem to want to listen to me."

"Really?" his eyebrows arched.

"Yeah. Oh, I forgot! The girl knew about the Ancient donkeys."

Before Shu knew it, Jiro had grabbed his hand and rushed out of the room.

"So, what's it like in this Forte?" Sahlia asked as Kluke bandaged Claves' arm above the wrist.

Claves shrugged slightly. "It's like most big cities. It can be a little homey, if you know where to go."

"Huh?" Sahlia tilted her head in confusion.

Someone knocked on the door. Kluke didn't look up as she said, "Come in."

A boy that Claves didn't recognize came into the room dragging Shu. "Hi, guys."

Shu came over to stand next to her. "Jiro, this is the girl I was talking about. Her name is Claves."

"Nice to meet you." Jiro extended his hand.

Claves smiled a little, taking his hand and nodding. "It's a pleasure. I presume that you're the best friend Jiro that Shu mentioned?"

"That would be me," he nodded. "Shu mentioned to me that you know something about Ancient creatures."

"Ancient creatures?" Did she get sent into the future? "I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really? Interesting..."

"She knows what a donkey is, but she didn't realize that Koppa was one." Kluke offered. "She said she'd never seen a donkey that looked like that."

"Now, that's very interesting... What do donkeys look like where you come from?"

"They're brown... a little thin..."

Jiro nodded. "Ancient donkeys... Let me ask you this - do you know how you got here?"

She shook her head. "I don't have any clue. I had been..." she swallowed, wondering what was the best way she could phrase what she was about to say. Deciding on something, she continued by saying, "I was fatally injured by someone who attacked me - they stabbed me, right here," she pointed to the spot. "I ended up lying on the ground, sure that I was going to die. I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore... Then I surprised myself by waking up, in the spot that Shu found me. But the place he found me was a different place than the one I passed out in."

"Hm..." Jiro closed his eyes in concentration. "I have a few theories, but I'll need more time to think it through before I'll be able to figure out if one of them are true."

Claves sighed. "Alright. Is there anything I can do that could help you figure it out?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't think so..."

"Maybe you just forgot how you got here." Shu offered.

Jiro smiled. "That's a good idea, Shu."

"How surprising." Kluke joked.

"Well, I'm not seeing you come up with any bright ideas!" Shu snapped at her.

Seeing the imminent fight between them, Sahlia sat down next to Claves and started talking to her. "Do you think Shu's theory is right?"

"I don't know. I can't remember anything happening in between. Still, that doesn't mean that something didn't happen."

Jiro took a step towards her. "I think that the best thing for you to do is try and relax. That will help your injury, and if Shu's right, that should also help you remember."

Shu grinned at her. "That means you can stay here for a while!"

"I guess so..." She looked towards the window - not much could be seen out of it, save for the sky. I guess I'm stuck here for a little while... But, really thinking about it, I guess that's not such a bad thing. I think... She smiled. I think I'll like it here.

Chapter 2 finally finished! Man, I still can't believe it's done... It was hard to finish it, but I think I did pretty good. I don't really know how good it was... So if you could, please review and let me know what you think. :) I'd appreciate it. Other than that, there's nothing else to really mention. I'll try to update after 10 hits - see you soon! :D