Copyright: Take what you will from this, but I own nothing...sadly...

"Wonder what we'll have to eat?"

"Can you focus!"

"But I'm hungry!"

"There will be a feast later!" Brundild chatised the staff wielder, "For now, fight to survive!"

"Enemies of my country!" Leixia was knocked down by a kick to her shoulder as Xiba lashed his staff towards her opponent. The warrior blocked the attack with his sword and ducked under Brundild's lance.

"This guy's fast! What's your name?"

"Kwon Hyuk Wan!" The warrior declared while striking a pose where he stood on one leg with the other propped on the opposite knee while his arms were crossed over his chest, "Green Dragon of the Seong Dojang!"

"What?" Xiba asked confused, "Could you say that again? That was a lot of confusing words."

"Silence!" Kwon shouted in outrage, "You stand before a rising legend! The one who will succeed where my master Yun-seong failed!"

"Yun-seong?" Leixia had heard that name before in one of her mother's stories, "Whoever you are, you're pretty cocky! There's three of us after all!"

"It doesn't matter how many you got! Just bring it on!"

"If that is what you wish child!" Brundild agreed as he attacked with his lance, but watched as the weapon was brought into the ground by Kwon's foot.

"How's THIS?" Kwon launched up and delivered a series of kicks to Brundild's face and finished off with a series of slashes that quickly incapacitated the veteran warrior as he prepared to deliver the final blow.

"Brundild!" Leixia shouted as she stepped in front of Brundild to deflect the lethal finisher and Xiba swung his staff into the side of Kwon's head. Seeing the incoming attack, Kwon headbutted Xiba's attack and flipped over staggered staff before balancing on his sword as Xiba balanced on his staff and failed to hide his impression.

"Do not worry about me..." The injured warrior assured the young fighters from the east, "Focus on the enemy!"

"You want me to hold back a bit?"

"Nah! I like going all out." Xiba said in reply, "You know where I can find some food?"

"Xiba..."

"Gimme a break!" Kwon shouted as he engaged both in combat, "I'm not ready to lose to fools like you!"

"Too bad for you I suppose!" Leixia boasted when Xiba parried Kwon's strike and left him vulnerable to Leixia's attack, "Justice will prevail!"

"I've heard that one before." A blond newcomer mused when he blocked Lexia's attack with his rapier, "Sorry to interrupt, but you look familiar young miss."

"Raphael?"

"And you're Yunseong's apprentice?"

"Whose Unsung?"

"Xiba! Pronounce his name right!"

"It doesn't matter!" Kwon shouted as he kicked away Leixia and turned to Xiba while standing on one leg again, "Anyone who gets in my way will perish!"

"Then what about that pebble?"

"What about it?"

"You're standing on one leg because of it right?" Xiba asked while pointing to a pebble under Kwon's raised foot, "And how can you kill something that isn't really alive anyway?"

"Heh, this should be fun! You're gonna regret that!"

"Leave them to their duel and let us dance." Raphael stated to Leixia as Xiba and Kwon continued their ballet, "You can dance, no?"

"Of course I can!" Leixia parried the Westerner's thrust and spun around in an attempt to slash the man's chest and was blocked effortlessly, "What did you mean about me being familiar?"

"Because I met a young woman very similar to yourself many years ago." The westerner said as he deflected another one of Lexia's attacks with minimal effort, "Was she your mother? And where is your father?"

"My father is Yan Wujan, General of the Ming Empire!" Leixia said with pride as her blade danced with the man's rapier though the man didn't seem to be straining himself in the slightest, "What's wrong? Caught you off guard?"

"That wasn't the name that I expected to hear." The man admitted in disappointment, "Pity...I was hoping to settle something with that damned monk...oh well..."

"Well..." Tira purred as she heard Patroklos' sword clash against Mitsurugi's katana while Faust and Requiem were bashed against one another, "I guess the men are going at it with their big swords..."

"You meant what you said...didn't you?" Pyrrha asked tearfully, "Everything you told me was a lie..."

"No it wasn't..." Tira said as she approached the pathetic child, "I told you that you had a brother, I told you that he would reject you and I wasn't lying about the people who've died because of you!"

"But they were trying to kill me!" Pyrrha shouted on the verge of tears, "I thought that-"

"Because you weren't the aggressor, it was alright?" Tira asked, enjoying the sight of this sad little girl, "You stupid little girl! There's a reason that they were trying to kill you! Because you're nothing more than a freak...a wishy-washy little girl who can't grow up and face the facts! Hell! The only reason that I wanted you to have Soul Edge was because I didn't think anyone else was more worthy of it!"

"So you had Patroklos-"

"I. Did. Nothing!" Tira kicked the girl in her stomach and laughed as she kneeled over, "Just look at how he bathes in malice...look at how the energies of the Soul Embrace surround and fill him! I should've switched the two of you out as soon as I saw your weak little backbone-"

"I won't let you hurt my brother!" Pyrrha said as she reached for her sword but seized up in pain as a light aura appeared over her right arm, "Why can't I..."

"What's this?" Tira asked in mild interest, "There's a shard of Soul Calibur embedded in that wound of yours! We can't leave any loose ends now can we?"

"Leave my sister alone!"

"You're still alive?" Tira asked in shock as he recognized this newcomer, "Well...you're too late to save your big sis!"

"Hell are you talking about, bird whore?" The newcomer asked while flipping over Tira's ring blade and noticing the samurai locked in combat with Patroklos, "You beat the Hero King already Mitsurugi?"

"He ran away." The samurai answered while sheathing his sword and slashing out at the same time that the younger warrior did, "Glad to see that you're not dead! Keep it that way!"

"It can't be...Cassandra?"

"The one and only Siegfried!" Cassandra shouted in reply as she flipped off of Tira's failed parry and threw her shield into the woman's face, "I'm done with you...after what you did to Sophitia and Pyrrha..."

"She knows my name?" Pyrrha asked in confusion as Cassandra caught her shield and confidently awaited Tira's counter attack, "She looks like...mother..."

"What happened to your hair?"

"It changed," Tira said catching the stealth insult of the newcomer, "Things always change when time flies, huh?"

"Shut up!" Cassandra shouted as she ran forward and smacked her shield into Tira's face, "You're mine!"

"Gah!"

"What's the matter pup?" Mitsurugi asked as he kicked down the grunting Patroklos, "It's too late to beg now-" The samurai blew in confusion when a pair of fiery wings burst out of the young man's back.

"That doesn't look good..."

"It isn't!" Siegfried shouted as a burst of power began to radiate from Patroklos' glowing form "Get down!"

"Soul Edge..." The Dread Pirate asked as he absently stabbed Nirvana into the neck of a staggered foe and kept his glance focused on the battle that he felt was taking place in Dumas' stronghold, "Has Soul Calibur overtaken you or have you consumed Soul Calibur?"

"Hey!" Another soldier fell as his attacker dodged past the falling corpse, "I'm looking for someone, wanna help me out?"

"Why should I?" Cervantes asked as he noted the man whose strangely crafted sword was bathed in blood, "Whom do you serve vagabond?"

"Mugen is the name pal," The man of Japanese descent and abrasive mannerisms stated, "And I ain't anyone's dog. You got that?"

"I don't care what your name is!" Cervantes suddenly vanished and appeared above and behind the boy. Using his long stored power, the pirate dove down for the boy who dodged to the side as Cervantes landed and turned while brandishing his swords, "I have no need for weak souls!"

"And I don't give a rat's ass about what you want!" The vagabond declared, "Where's Heishiro Mitsurugi?"

"What makes you believe that I would know that vagabond?"

"Guess you're useless to me." Recognizing the boy's stance with his sword, Cervantes realized that Mugen had a gun hidden within the unbalanced blade. One that fired a round through his chest and greatly annoyed him, "You're still alive?"

"That's all? I'm disappointed." Cervantes laughed at this meager attempt to kill him, "Next time, aim for my eye runt. Now all will speak of the day that Captain Cervantes bested you!"

"In your dreams, old man!" Mugen shouted in defiance when suddenly the area shook with a great force, "The hell?"

"It appears that the the embrace is different this time." Cervantes said as an armored winged creature bearing the energies of both blades flew over the battle with a strange girl in it's arms, "And so passes the holder of tomorrow's destiny."

"Isn't that what he was after?" Mugen asked as the winged creature flew out towards the southern horizon, "Screw you! I'm going after that thing! Mitsurugi won't be too far behind!"

"What the hell?" ZWEI asked when he and Hilde arrived to the ruins of the stronghold. They saw a flash of power burst from the fortress, collapsing it as a furious creature flew out with a pair of fiery wings and passed over the waning battle.

"Siegfried!" Hilde ran into the ruins with ZWEI following behind while the wolf growled and started chasing after the winged creature. Once inside, the pair were relieved to see that their worst fear had not been realized.

"I'm alright..." Siegfried said to the worried Hilde, "Mitsurugi?"

"I'll live..." The samurai said, brushing off the cut that ran across his shoulder, "I've had worse than this."

"We were too late..."

"Not quite yet..." ZWEI brandished his sword when saw a frightened Pyrrha lie on her knees like some innocent fawn. After the close call that he'd just had, ZWEI wasn't falling for that again, "Time for a little payback..."

"Not if I've got anything to say about that!" ZWEI was startled to see another blond woman step in front of Pyrrha holding a sword and shield, "You're not taking another step towards my sister!"

"Sister?" ZWEI couldn't believe what he was hearing, how many kids did Sophitia have? "And who the hell are you?"

"Wait ZWEI!" Siegfried commanded, "Both of you stay your weapons! The time for violence has passed."

"Unfortunately...The runt got away...if I weren't an old man then he'd have been dead when I first got here."

"Stop making excuses Mitsurugi!" Cassandra teasingly yelled and walked over to Pyrrha with a gentle expression on her face, "Come on Sophitia...let's go home-"

"Miss...do I know you?" Pyrrha spoke up, shocking the woman, "I'm sorry if I did something wrong..."

"You're not..." This was Sophitia's sister, Cassandra. ZWEI was starting to understand just what was happening now, "Pyrrha? Is that you?"

"How do you know my name?"

"I knew you when you were...a little girl..." Cassandra slowly answered, apparently still coming to terms with meeting her niece for the first time in 17 years, "Where's your mother?"

"She's gone...I don't have a mother..."

"How old are you?"

"I don't know..." Pyrrha answered as she shivered, "Was my mother...your sister?"

"Yes..." Cassandra replied and then stood up to address the former princess of Wolfkrone, "Alright Hilde! Start talking! What the hell's going on here?"

"Cassandra..." Hilde looked to Siegfried as if pleading for help, Sieg closed his eyes and gravely nodded, "I don't know what to say..."

"We'll start with the truth." Siegfried said as he stepped closer to Cassandra, "Cassandra...what was the last thing that you remembered before coming here?"

"All I remember was the Castle..." Cassandra remembered, "Everything started to get warped by the energies of the swords and...then I was in a weird place without a sky...I just started running and I saw Tira about to attack Sophi...I mean Pyrrha and just jumped forward to stop her."

"So you finally made it out." Hilde said happily, "It's been seventeen years, but I'm glad that you found a way out of the Astral Chaos."

"Astral Chaos? Was that where I was?" Cassandra asked as the truth dawned on her, "Did you say...seventeen years?"

"There will be more time to explain everything." Siegfried assured her, "Right now, we need to gather the band and retreat back to the hideout. What is the status of our forces?"

"After...whatever just happened, the enemy troops are scattering." Hilde responded, "Those who haven't ran away are falling to our blades, Siegfried."

"What about her?" ZWEI asked motioning to Pyrrha, "How do we know that Soul Edge doesn't have a hold on her-"

"Soul Edge no longer exists..." Siegfried corrected, "And our adversaries have made it clear that Pyrrha is no asset of theirs-"

"Hilde!" Cassandra shouted, practically derailing the conversation in doing so, "Do you have a jacket?"

"Yes." Hilde said, reaching into her pack and handing Cassandra a red coat of decent craftsmanship, "Here you are."

"Thanks." Cassandra took the coat and bent down to the frightened Pyrrha, "Put this on, Pyrrha."

"Thank you...Cassandra..." Pyrrha said as she put on the jacket and Cassandra helped button it up to restore the girl's sadly ignored modesty, "I'm really sorry...about everything that I did..."

"Forgive me..." ZWEI figured that he'd regret this one way or another, but he wasn't in the mood to sugar-coat anyone's feelings, "But that stab wound you gave me is still pretty sore."

"Shut the hell up-"

"He's right!" Cassandra turned back to a weeping Pyrrha, "I'm sorry! But I don't deserve your kindness!"

"What are you talking about?" Cassandra asked as Pyrrha suddenly darted out of the ruins of the stronghold, "Pyrrha! Come back!"

"Cassandra!" Siegfried was about to run after Cassandra but was stopped by the outreached hand of another warrior, "Mitsurugi?"

"I want to see how sappy and stupid this gets." Mitsurugi admitted, "Plus, neither of them have seen real family for a good while, am I wrong?"

"No..." Siegfried in reply to the samurai, "We'll regroup outside, give them time to sort out their feelings."

"You sure that's a wish idea?"

"Wiser than your lack of disgression, ZWEI." Hilde said rebuking the unconvinced ZWEI, "We'll discuss this later, right now we need to regroup and prepare."

Author's Notes:

Sorry, but the next few chapters will mostly feature the following:

"SOUL SAVIOR! Badass warriors from across the world gathering together! Discussing their feelings! Asking questions about those feelings and...analyzing them!"

This is based on a fighting game so raised eyebrows will be understandable, but some of these people have a lot to talk and think about.

As for ZWEI acting like a jerk to Pyrrha...remember that he's talking to the girl who stabbed him through the back while he was tired from defeating Nightmare himself and then tossed him over a cliff to what most likely would have been his doom in the game...so his reaction to Pyrrha will be understandably standoffish and bitter if not outright hostile.

For why Cassandra is back...I'm not really sure how she ended up in the Astral Chaos myself so why should her emergence from it make anymore sense? Cervantes apparently got out without of an explanation, why not Cassandra? Granted, there will be one given, it's just not a priority with me.

Remember Night Terror from SCIII? I'M BRINGING HIM BACK BABY!