UltimateLife
A young man leaned against a tree that stood alone on a struck out ledge that was only a few feet above a small lake below.
The silent wind blew his silver-tainted blue hair, which just hung below his shoulders, across his face.
His eyes were closed, listening to the water drops that dripped from the tree, hitting the lake water below.
He stood there motionless, until the moment when the wind stopped blowing and the drops of water couldn't be heard.
He opened his eyes immediately, raising his head and looked straight out at the mountain top in the distance, where he could see a fading light, pillaring up into the night sky.
"Hm..." he barely left out of his mouth, as he continued to stare at the sky.
"Found one."
Since the beginning of our existence, the planet of Panagaea was ruled mainly by humans, which lived on its five continents.
Lyncia, a continent that is rich in green fields, clear waters, and everything else that Mother Nature offered.
Solken, a prosperous land that is filled with many unique landscapes and is surrounded by the other four continents.
Tailena, which is ruled by the Kingdoms of Seiron and Nagrea.
Ohila, a small land where the sun shines brightest and warmest on its jungles and towns.
And Ralkan, a mountainous, barren and wild land with very few towns.
However, as time moved on, we humans begun to realize that there were
other races in this world that hid and lived away, barely venturing out into
the human world.
Meiads, a race made of mermaids and mermen, which could survive on
land as well as in the ocean. Very rare it was to see one as they could
disguise themselves as humans quite easily, allowing them to walk
around without anyone ever realizing who they really were.
Pegais, beings that lived peacefully in solitude, in there Kingdom of
Lunjina, which existed in Solken but was hidden from Humans. They
looked identical to a human, but they possessed amazing power which to
humans, seemed surreal. Although these were the only races that humans
saw, or came into contact with, rumors of another race came to our
knowledge. A race that, was to be believed, existed up in the stars. A race,
which was simply known as, Lunars. Though humans could only believe
they existed, it was in fact the knowledge of this race, which brought about
a terrible tragedy for Pegais, which we humans caused...
The black clouds gathered quickly as the starry sky begun to fade away behind them, leaving almost complete darkness.
A boy stared out across the cliff, his brown hair ruffling in the wind and his blue bandana signaling its direction.
"Looks like rain" the boy said with a sigh.
He took a long deep breath of the mountain air before he headed back to the cave where he planned to
sleep for the night. Before going inside, he
turned back around facing the cliff and gazed up once more at the clouds,
with his blue eyes. A strong wind blew to the east across the boy's face.
"It'll be a good day tomorrow" he thought to himself as the rain began to pour down. "Better get some rest."
The next morning, the sun rose over the hills into the red, clear sky.
The young man woke up to sunlight, flickering into the cave.
He rubbed his eyes before getting up and walking out of the cave.
He looked over the land that was straight in front of his eyes. After taking
in the fresh air he began to make his way down the mountain. Finally
making his way to the bottom, he crosses sight of an apple tree. His eyes
widen at the sight of it.
"At last! Food!" he said to himself joyfully. He picked an apple off of it
and sat down underneath the tree.
The boy sat under in the shade of tree in peace completely unaware of the nature around him.
The soft grass underneath him, the scatter of trees behind him leading into a forest, and the waterfall that fell from the
mountain splashing down on the spring below.
He was completely lost in thought as he took bite by bite from the apple.
Suddenly though, a noise could be heard from the trees behind him.
Hearing it, he got up and turned around to see a wolf looking straight at him.
The boy stood still as he kept eye contact with the wolf.
The moment he dropped the apple from his hand the wolf ran and jumped straight at him.
The boy jumped out of the way though and ran straight
for the tree and grabbed another apple before running off.
The wolf chased after him into the forest.
The boy ran as fast as he could through the trees but the wolf continued to gain on him.
He turned and threw the apple at the wolf and hit it in the
head but it did not stop the wolf for a second.
The boy stood still, in fright now, as wolf jumped once again at him.
Without realizing it a few seconds after it happened, the boy saw the
wolf, pushed away by a young man with a sword.
The wolf fell into the tree but quickly got up and stood guarding its position against the swordsman.
The boy stared at the young man.
He wore a brown and green headband with a leaf design pattern through it,
that wrapped around his fair, medium length hair, he wore a brown top
which had a symbol of a tiger on the back and it covered his upper arms
and torso completely, he had dark brown gloves on which the boy could
notice since they were slightly longer then your usual pair, he wore a
green pants which had a slight visible tiger pattern on it. It was tucked in
though to his brown boots, which travelers would use as there footwear.
The boy also notice a bracelet, made of emerald on the man's left arm,
and it also had a symbol of a tiger on it.
The young man stood there looking straight at the wolf with his blue eyes, before pointing his sword
straight at it.
The wolf stood and howled looking at the sword before eventually running away through the trees.
There was a long silence as the young man continued to hold out his sword until the wolf was completely out of sight.
He left out a sigh before lowering his sword.
"You ok?" he said putting his sword away.
"Yeah. . ." the boy said quietly, "Thanks...for helping me."
"Heh... Helping you?!, If I didn't save your life you be that wolf's breakfast."
"?!?"
"I'm just joking. No problem, it's not like I was just going to stand and watch you being eaten now."
"Hmph".
"Anyway what are you doing all by yourself out here?"
". . ."
"Well, are you going to say something?"
". . . I'm. . ."
Before the boy could say another word though, his stomach started growling like mad.
The young man just looked at him and laughed.
"Hungry, eh? Well I suppose I have to feed you before I get another word out of ya."
The boy just stood there half smiling with his hand on his stomach.
"What's your name?" The young man asked him, taking in his appearance.
Brown hair, blue bandana, brown fingerless gloves, blue sleeveless top that was
tucked into a white pants, which was then tucked into a pair of brown boots,
but it was the boy's blue eyes that caught his attention.
They were in a way, different to others he's seen.
"Huh?? Oh! Its Eiji." The boy replied.
"Eiji. I"m Justin. Nice to meet ya. Anyway come on, I've got a steak that would
feed a family at home. . . I suppose I can share some of it with ya."
The two started to make there way through the woods back to Justin's house...
"So... you"re looking for the Lunar Crystals." Justin said as he watched Eiji stuff his face with his food.
"Yep! (munch) I"m trying to (munch) find somebody (munch) who could tell me (munch) where they are."
"And that's all you knew. You don't know anything else, you don't even know where you are or anything like that."
"I told you I can't remember anything I woke up about five days ago and the only thing I remember
is my name and that I have to find the Lunar Crystals."
Justin left out a long quiet laugh. "The Lunar Crystals don't exist anymore. Everybody knows
that they were destroyed during the Half Moon War along with the Pegais nine years ago."
"Huh?" Eiji stopped eating "But I was told to search and find them and don't let nobody use there power."
"Ok so you were told to find them."
"Yeah"
"And who told you this?"
". . .I don't know."
"You don't know." Justin replied which Eiji nodded at."Well someone must have told you."
"I don't know. Before I woke up a voice in my head told me to search for them."
"OH Great!! Voices in the head! Now that explains Eeevvveeerrrything!"
"I'm serious!!"
Justin continued to laugh before noticing half his steak gone.
"Hey!! That's mine!"
"Oh sorry!! You mouth looked busy laughing so I just didn't want this to go to waste." Eiji put the whole steak in his month and started to chew loudly.
"Well it seems you forgot your manners as well" Justin said with a grin on his face.
Eiji wiped his face and let out a huge burp.
"Well thanks for the food."
Eiji finished his steak and immediately got up and headed for the door.
"Hey where you going??" Justin asked.
"Well since you think I"m crazy, I"m going to look for someone who can actually help me."
"You think you"re going to actually find somebody out in this big field? The way you handled the wolf you probably be dead by nightfall."
Eiji turned and looked at him.
"Hey look I'm sorry" Justin said. "Listen I"m heading to a place called Blama today;
it's a town north of here. There's somebody I know there who might be able to help you."
"Really..." Eiji replied.
"Yep. Can't say for certain if he'll know anything but there's no one else around
this area who would know about them better then him if he does know anything."
Eiji opened the door immediately.
"Well then come on! Let's go!"
"Calm down a sec will ya!" Justin replied.
"We"ll be leaving today alright but we won't reach Blama until tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? But where're we sleep when night comes?"
"Don't worry there's a small inn along the path we'll be taken. We can rest there."
Justin got up and walked over to a small box of weapons he had in the corner.
"Here take this."
Justin threw over a wooden sword to Eiji.
"Huh??"
"I've got to prepare some stuff first before we head off. You can go outside and practice
with that for awhile. You never know what we could come across on our trip."
Eiji looked at the wooden sword and smiled, "Ok, I'll leave you do the hard work so."
Eiji went outside and stood at the edge of the cliff looking across at the huge green field before.
He looked at the wooden sword in his hand before he started to swing it around.
Inside, Justin started to pack everything, getting ready to travel. As he put away everything into his backpack
and went over to his swords in the corner of the room, a shine on the table caught his eye's attention.
He looked to see the light reflecting off a silver chain on the table that was attached to a blue pendant.
He picked up the pendant and looked at it closer, noticing a symbol of the sun engraved into the pendent.
Taking the pendant in hand, and grabbing a sword, he walked to the door to check on Eiji.
His eyes widen though when he saw him.
Eiji was swinging the wooden sword around effortlessly, like it was a familiar thing to him.
"So...I take it you must have learned how to use a sword when you were younger."
"Must have...Otherwise I"m just a quick learner."
With that Eiji threw the sword up into the air and caught it as it fell without looking at it.
"A very quick learner more likely" Justin replied.
"Here, you left this on the table."
He threw the pendant over to Eiji who caught it.
"Do you know anything about this pendent?" Justin asked, "It's pretty
unusual to me, but then I don't know a whole lot about jewelry."
"...No, don't know anything about it. It was just on my neck when I woke up." Eiji put
it around his neck as he replied.
"And take this too!"
Justin threw over a blade to Eiji.
"It looks like you can handle a sword now, not that you needed to of course."
Justin smirked and headed back inside.
"Why! Because your sssoooo good with one?" Eiji shouted into him as he unsheathed the blade to take a look at it.
It was a plain simple sword with a black and brown handle. It was probably never even used in any real situation.
"I've had a fair bit of practice over the years!" Justin replied.
He came back out with two backpacks and his own sword.
"Here you go!" He drops a brown backpack on the grass.
"It's got all you need for the trip, including your very own sleeping bag with poka-dots!" He said with a smile.
"Oh thank you..." Eiji said with a look on his face.
He picked it up and put it on his back while putting his sword on the side of his waist.
Justin walked over to the edge of the cliff and pointed straight ahead at the fields below.
"Blama lies to the north of here, beyond the horizon." He said to Eiji.
"It'll take us about four hours to get to the inn, which would make it four thirty by
the time we arrive if we left now. From the inn then it will be another four hours to get to Blama."
"Sure if it only takes that amount of time, we could always just head to Blama now, today.
There's no need to wait till tomorrow to get there."
Justin turned to Eiji.
"We're staying at the inn, end of story. It's the place we'll get our next meal.
I"m not risking travelling through those fields in one day with you, without
getting something to eat. If trouble arises, you mightn't have the energy to fight, and then you"ll just be a liability to me if that happens."
"Hmph...fine" Eiji mumbled.
"Come on then, let's head off!" Justin said back and the two left
the house and begun to walk down the small mountain path ahead of them, to the fields below...
Travelling to the inn, Eiji looked around at everything.
The hilly green fields dotted with small patches of flowers, wild and beautiful, and
scattered with a few trees with fruit on some.
A river flowed along and through the fields, and flowed into a few
small lakes along its way that sparkled as the sun hit down on them from the cloudless blue sky above.
"Nice place isn't it?" Justin asked Eiji.
"Yeah...It looks so calm."
"Yeah, it is alright, but during the nights it can get a bit dangerous if you wonder
around too much. Wolves live in this area, they only come out at night though, but on rare occasions you can find
one during the day, like the one that attacked you this morning."
"Ah, I see, suppose it makes for easy hunting during the night, when the rest of the animals sleep."
"That's the idea alright." Justin said with a smile.
After around four hours, they stop at the top of a hill. Justin pointed and the two looked down the hill to
see an average size house with a small pond next to it.
"Here we are, felt a bit longer to get here, I wonder why?" Justin said with a smirk.
"Very funny..." Eiji replied.
The two walked to the inn and opened the door.
"Why hello Justin!" a voice said the moment the two entered.
To the left was a reception desk and behind it was a man who was nicely dressed in a grey suit.
"Hey Hamal." Justin said to him.
"Spending the night? I"ll prepare the usual then." Hamal told Justin.
"Eh, might want to make it with two beds, he's with me." Justin said pointing back at Eiji.
Hamal looked at Eiji.
"Oh, I'm sorry; I didn't know he was with you. Here's a key so to your room then.
Will you be having dinner here this evening?"
"Yeah, we will be."
"Ok then, I"ll call you when dinner is ready, just have to wait on Anata as you know" Hamal said with a smile.
"Haha, I see, no problem then, we"ll be up in our room. Thanks Hamal."
Justin headed up the stairs, with Eiji following right behind him, and opened the door at the end
of the corridor to a small room, with two beds and a bedside desk, with a lamp on it, between the two. There was also a small window that you could see the pond from.
"I call bed by the window!" Eiji said as he ran for it but was pulled back by Justin who grabbed Eiji's backpack.
"I was first in the room, I call which bed first, and I called that one in my head when I walked in" Justin said.
"Calling it in your head doesn't officially call it; I said it out loud so I should get it!"
"It's only a bed so calm down." Justin said as he pulled Eiji right back out of the room.
"Yeah...it's only a bed like you said, so why do you want it so?" Eiji said gripping onto each side of the room's entrance.
"Because, it's next to the window, ok?" Justin replied while sitting his backpack on top of the bed.
"Heh, fine then, overgrown baby..." Eiji said as he put his backpack on his bed, before walking out the door again.
"Hey where are you going?" Justin asked him, sticking his head out the door.
"Bathroom?"
Justin pointed, "Second door on your left when you turn right."
As Eiji was in the bathroom washing his hands and face with the cold refreshing water, he heard the innkeeper talking to
someone downstairs.
Coming out of the bathroom and leaning over the banister, Eiji sees a red-haired woman holding
a basket with foods and other items in it. She wore a soft red dress that was white down the middle.
"Hello Anata, how are you?" Justin said while placing his hand on Eiji's back startling him.
"Oh, hello Justin, staying tonight with us?" Anata replied before shifting her attention over to Eiji.
"And who's this nice-looking young man you got there?" she said with a smile.
"Ah, I knew he catch your attention immediately." Justin said with a flirting tone,
"This is Eiji, I"m bringing him to Blama, just to show him around the town."
"Now isn't that sweet of you. If you want I can bring ye there tomorrow afternoon as I have to go back
there again tomorrow for more groceries. That way you can have
a long good sleep tonight."
"That would really help a million, thanks! I haven't had a good seep in awhile." Justin said with a smile.
"Well in this case, we might as well prepare a good dinner then and we can catch up." Hamal said as he
took the basket from his wife and the two walked to the kitchen.
It wasn't too long until dinner was prepared and the four sat down to a lovely presented and delicious meal.
Eiji listened as Justin and the others talked about what they have been doing since
they last sat down like this to talk. If he hadn't heard that Hamal and Anata were only married for five years,
then he would have believed that Justin would have been there son, from the way they talked and laughed
at each other's jokes.
After a long night, Eiji and Justin returned to there room for the night.
"Ahhhhhh..." Justin said as he stretched his arms out and falling flat on his back on the bed, "I haven't had a meal that good in awhile now!"
"I would stay here for life for that food just after that." Eiji said laughing while he also lied on his bed.
"I know, but you have to stay away from the temptation you know." Justin said with a smirk
before turning off the lamp and the room was in total darkness.
"You really know them well don't you?" Eiji asked Justin as the two laid face up, looking
at the ceiling, catching view of the dust from where the moonlight shone into the room.
"I've always gotten on well with them ever since I first met them. When I was returning from Blama as well late one day, I saw the two
being attacked by a group of wolves. I ran straight over to them and defended them, at the cost of the wolves' life though."
"A group of wolves?!" Eiji said in awe, "You must be a good swordsman so then, unless you're just bragging of course."
Justin laughed at him at that comment but he quickly went quiet after the next thing that Eiji asked him.
"So, did you learn how to use a sword from you dad?" Eiji asked him.
Justin paused for a moment, "No..."
"Your mother then? She must have been pretty tough if she did."
There was an even longer pause after what Eiji said now.
"Go to sleep, we need a good rest for tomorrow" Justin said before turning on his side, with his back facing Eiji.
"I was just asking."
"Go to sleep." Justin asked him once again but with more of a serious tone this time.
Eiji looked at him in silent before eventually closing his eyes and quickly falling asleep.
The next morning, Eiji woke up just before he heard the sound of Anata's voice shouting up at them.
"Rise and shine you pair of lazy bums! I"m heading off to Blama now; it's two in the afternoon!"
"Shit!" Justin said as he sat up in the bed and looked over at Eiji, "Come on we got to move!"
The two jumped out of bed, got ready and headed down the stairs outside where Anata was sitting on the front of a carriage
holding onto the leashes of two horses and Hamal was standing next to them patting them.
"I hope ye had a nice stay guys." He asked them.
"Sure did! Thanks for everything Hamal" Justin replied.
"Come on you two." Anata said to them once again with a smile.
The moment the two got on the back of the carriage, it headed off in the direction of Blama.
"Thanks Hamal! Hope to see you again!" Eiji shouted back as he waved to Hamal who watched them off.
While Justin sat talking to Anata, Eiji lied down in the back of the carriage staring up at the sun,
which tried to shine through the clouds, while waiting till they finally make Blama, to see the storyteller...
After a short two hour journey, Eiji could start to hear a crowd of voices as the carriage came to a stop in the town of Blama.
Justin looked behind him at Eiji, "Well we're here now. This is Blama."
Eiji sat up and looked around him, taking in the town.
It's old style cobble and wooden houses, big and small, one or two with a hay type roof to them. The roads were paved with different shades
of small brown and white rocks that had street lights spaced out among them. The only thing that stood out was the people,
who dressed modern enough compared to the old, yet happy and peaceful image of the town.
"Well what do you think?" Anata asked Eiji as she looked around herself, "This is mine and Hamal's hometown.
I visited it at least one every two days as I miss it living out in the fields."
"It's nice...really nice." Eiji responded to her.
"So, we"re ye two off to then?" Anata asked.
"We're off to give Kalim a visit" Justin told her.
"That old goof? You know you're going to give him a heart attack someday." Anata said with a laugh.
"Don't worry about him, he be happy to see me this time as we want him to tell us one or two stories."
"Are you that desperate to get more sleep?" Anata said, that both made her and Justin laugh, "Well I"ll leave ye boys now, time
to go shopping, take care now you two" she said as she walked away waving.
"Take care Anata and thanks a million" The two said waving at her as well.
"Ok then, better go straight to Kalim then" Justin said to Eiji.
"Yeah, lead the way so" Eiji replied and he followed Justin through the town
They passed the busy people and streets until they stopped in front of a house, like all the others, but painted blue and the wooden stills
a rainbow colour that made it stand out from all the others.
"By any chance" Eiji said as he looked at the house, "is Kalim abit, crazy?"
"I wonder what gave that away" Justin said sarcastically, "Just leave me do the talking now, unless
he asks you something I don't know of course."
"Yeah, ok."
Justin knocked on the door before slowly opening it and taking a step inside.
"Hello, Kalim?" Justin shouted in.
They waited to hear a response but there was none.
"I wonder if he's home?" Justin said as the two walked in slowly into the house.
There was books everywhere, shelve after shelve of them along the walls, bookcases, taller then your average person,
half filled with them and also scattered almost everywhere on the ground.
"It's like a library in here" Eiji said as they stepped over the mess of books on the ground, picking some of them up
and looking at them before throwing them back down.
"You can see why I think he be able to help then. I"d be surprised if he couldn't." Justin replied before shouting out again for the old man.
"Kalim!"
They soon heard footsteps coming down the wooden stairs of the visible second floor above them.
An old man stood there looking down at the two.
He was dressed in a long brown coat with a brown shirt underneath it, a darker colored pants and a brown flat cap on his head, which hid
his grey hair from the front but from the sides and back it was clearly visible.
In one hand he held a small book and used the other to hold onto the banister which supported him as he begun to walk down the stairs again.
"Justin...cough, wha...you...cough, want." Kalim barely squeezed out of his mouth.
"You ok?" Justin asked as he watched Kalim carefully as he made it to the bottom.
Kalim didn't say a word but instead made his way over to a table with a pot that was being boiled from the flame that burned
up brightly from underneath it.
"Is he ok?" Eiji asked Justin, who kept his eye on Kalim while looking around the room.
Kalim stirred what was inside the pot with a wooden spoon before coughing once again and pointed to his left.
Eiji looked at where he pointed to find a book, opened, on the table.
He walked over to it and picked it up; reading the page it was opened on.
"Hey Justin, look at this."
Justin read through the page.
"Remedy for a silencing voice...Slalim seed, Lycris flower..."Justin muttered to himself just loud enough for the others to hear him.
"You're losing your voice Kalim? It would have to happen now wouldn't it, at a time when I want to listen to one of your stories...sigh."
Kalim looked over at him coughing and then looked at the book pointing at one of the ingredients.
"Lycris flower?" Justin asked him.
Kalim nodded and then walked over to another book on the ground and picked it up. He quickly flicked through the pages until he found what he wanted,
then gave the book to Justin.
Justin read the page, "Lycris flower. A rare flower of midnight color that only appears to grow only
in areas where water flows through but no sunlight reaches, like caves."
Justin looked at Kalim, "Why you show me this?"
Kalim coughed fiercely before telling Justin.
"Rain...slider...cave." Kalim got out of his fading voice.
Justin knew without asking what Kalim wanted him to do.
"Don't worry Kalim, we'll go get it and bring it back ok."
Kalim nodded as he went back to his pot and stirred it.
"Wait a second. Go get what now?" Eiji asked confused.
"Just come with me ok, we've got to go somewhere" Justin told him as he grabbed him and brought him out of the house.
Outside Justin looked up at the clock tower as it strikes six o' clock in the evening.
"Sorry but looks like we have to set off somewhere now." Justin said to Eiji as he continued to stare up at the sky
which was now beginning to taint a slight orange.
"Find this Lycris Flower isn't it..." Eiji asked him.
"Yeah", Justin's view now returning back down. "It's in a cave to the west
of Blama called Rainslidder Cave. It's not too far from here but we better hurry."
"Ok..." Eiji said as he wondered why they had to hurry.
The two quickly headed out west from the town to the cave.
The sky slowly turned a warming orange as the sun begun to fall down beyond the mountains
in the distance. They finally made there way and now stood a short distance from the cave.
"Looks ok." Justin quietly said to himself.
"Hey!" Eiji said, catching up to where Justin stood. "Why did we have to rush our way here?"
"Rainslidder cave is known as a place where wolves rest during the day
before they go out hunting at night. But it is said that when the wolves are out at
night that the place becomes inhabited by monsters of some sort."
"Monsters?"
"Well you know, creatures that aren't...normal let's say, fairytale stuff ha!
But I've never seen any weird creatures in my life so I think it's just some
rumor someone passed to people for a joke."
Eiji looked down the hill at the cave. "So why are we here during the day? Shouldn't we have waited till nightfall then?"
"Well, if we travelled during nightfall then the wolves would have been out in all. Which, would
have been bad for us since they have better vision at night then us. So what
we do is, wait here and hide until nightfall, when they leave the cave and then get in there and get the flower."
Justin surveyed the area and pointed at a tree with thick branches.
"We climb up that and hide till they come out, ok?"
Eiji looked at him and sighed "Fair enough."
The stars slowly started to sprinkle the sky as the two sat in wait up on the branches of
the tree, hidden from view. Eiji glazed up at them as he rested his back against the trunk
of the tree, letting Justin keep an eye on the cave below.
It was shortly after the crescent moon was visible in the sky that Eiji was elbowed
by Justin, who pointed at the cave.
Wolves slowly walked out of it, glazing up at the moon, before they
headed off in separate directions, looking for food.
Once there was none in sight and all was quiet, apart from the crickets' chirping, the two jumped down from
the tree and quickly headed to the entrance of the cave.
"Looks pretty dark doesn't it." Eiji said, stepping into the almost pitch black cave.
Justin looked at him before opening a small pocket in his backpack and taking out a flashlight, "Your bottom right pocket."
Justin slowly walked in, shining the flashlight forward, as Eiji open that certain pocket
to find his own flashlight.
The crickets' chirping faded away as the ventured they're way in, leaving them in total silence.
The two stayed close walking though the dark and rocky hallway which continued to get narrower as they moved on.
"Ouch!" Justin let out.
"What!?" Eiji said a shocked voice.
"You stepped on my foot idiot!"
"Oh." Eiji pasued, "I thought something hit you or attacked you or something."
"Just watch where you"re going!"
Justin turned back around and shined the light forward to find a way out at the end of the tunnel.
As they continued to walk forward, Justin stopped once again.
"Do you hear that?" he asked.
Eiji listened, until he noticed a sound.
"It sounds like... a currant from a river or something."
They slowly moved forward again until they came out of the tunnel. Eiji continued
to walk further forward while looking up above him.
"Hey! Watch you step!!" Justin shouted at him.
Looking back at Justin, Eiji's body stopped suddenly when he felt that half of his foot
was hanging off the edge of the path.
"What the?", Eiji pointed his flashlight down to find the source of the noise. He was standing at the
edge of a cliff and far below him was a river flowing fast and strong that came into
the cave through a small hole to there right and disappeared through another at the opposite end.
"A pretty big fall down isn't it?" Justin said, looking down as well. "And wouldn't
you guess that we have to jump over it to continue on."
"What?" Eiji responded at what Justin said.
Justin shone his flashlight over to the other side to find the path continuing at the other side of the gap.
"Lucky the other side is a few feet below us though, isn't it?" Justin said with a laugh stepping back a few feet.
"Shouldn't we check to see if there's a safer way across?" Eiji told him. But Justin
ignored him as he ran and jumped the gap, making it down to the other side.
He immediately scanned around with his flashlight before shining it at Eiji.
"Come on!" he shouted back up to him. "You'll make it, don't worry!"
Eiji looked down at him, swallowing, before taking a few steps back. He took a deep breathe and ran to the edge and jumped across.
He landed just a few centimeters from the edge and quickly jumped forward in case anything happened.
"See told you!" Justin said patting Eiji's back. "Well let's continue will we? There's another
tunnel straight over there." Justin pointed the light to show another tunnel leading further inside the cave.
The two made there way through the tunnel and it wasn't long before they begun to see a tiny hint of light further on.
They finally made it out of the other end of the tunnel to a big circular room. In the middle of the room
was a tiny ray of light, and as the two followed it up to the roof, they saw that there
was a tiny hole above where the moonlight shone in, which dimly lit up the room. Holes were made in
the walls, big and small, and seemed to be all connected to each other.
"Looks like a dead end" Eiji said looking about.
As they walked around the room, Eiji glazed at the beam of moonlight and right through
it saw something that was green, underneath a tiny stuck out rock.
He walked over and crouched down to find a small flower. It had a green stem and two small, but bright green
leafs sticking off it. Its petals were black, like midnight, but looked as though they were glittering
and had a tiny yellow bud inside of it.
"Justin! I found it!" Eiji said calling him over.
Eiji pulled it from its roots and held it up as Justin walked over.
"That's the Lycris flower alright. Good job!" he said as he took it from Eiji and placed it gently in an empty pocket
in his backpack.
"It is strange though that a flower can grow without no sunlight hitting, I never heard
of a flower that's like that." Justin continued on saying.
"I know, I never heard of anything like it either."
"Well that's because you forget just about everything at the moment you know that." Justin said with a small
laugh but he was suddenly interrupted when he heard a noise behind him.
He quickly turned and pointed the flashlight to see a few small pebbles falling to the ground.
He moved his flashlight up to see where the rocks came from and saw a shadow of something inside one of the tunnels.
Eiji followed Justin's flashlight to also see the figure in one of the holes in the room.
"Don't move..."Justin said as he stood still with only his eye focusing on the figure, trying to make it out.
Bright yellow eyes however, suddenly appeared from the tunnel and a hissing noise was quietly heard.
"Was that...a snake?" Eiji asked as the two stood side by side now.
"Get ready to run Eiji." Justin told him quickly as he heard another hissing sound but now it was even louder.
Eiji nodded and with that Justin moved quickly to his side.
The movement made the figure jump out from the darkness, out into the dimly lit room, and straight at Justin.
It was a huge snake, at least twenty-feet long; its skin was a dark red making it almost blend in with the cave.
Justin barely jumped out of its way as the snake rammed straight into the wall behind.
"RUN!!" Justin shouted at Eiji and the two ran for the tunnel out.
The snake though swung its tail wildly and smacked Justin straight back into the wall.
"Justin!" Eiji shouted, who now got his sword out.
The tail swung wildly at Eiji, but he quickly rolled under it as it hit the other side of the cave.
He ran over to Justin and helped him up as the snake finally got its head away from the wall
and stared directly at the two of them.
"Bastard!" Eiji shouted as he ran at the snake head on and jumped at it, stabbing the snake directly in the eye.
The snake roared out and moved around violently as Eiji held onto the sword, trying to take it back out. He finally
put his feet on the side of the snake's head and pushed himself off, taking the sword with him.
Landing on the ground, Eiji turned for the tunnel and ran for it.
"Come on Justin!" he roared at Justin standing ahead of him.
The two ran straight back through the tunnel.
"What the hell you think you were doing!?" Justin said, panting as he ran as fast as his legs would go.
"I was trying to buy us some time, that's all!"
The two heard cries behind them and the sound of the snake's body hitting off the cave walls. It followed
them through the tunnel, and it was gaining on them.
They soon came out the other end, into the passageway with the river.
Eiji stopped, taking a breather, but Justin didn't notice him and continued to run.
He ran straight for the edge and jumped directly across to the wall.
He grabbed on, and started to climb up.
"You...expect me to do that!?" Eiji shouted at him.
Once Justin climbed to the top, he turned around noticing Eiji still at the other side.
"What are you doing!" he answered back. "The snake will be here any second."
The moment Justin said that though, the top of the tunnel behind Eiji was smashed and the snake made his way into the passageway.
Eiji turned around and looked straight at the snake, who stared at Eiji with its right eye, the only one he could see through.
"Damn!" Eiji muttered out as the snake launched itself at him.
Eiji rolled out of its way, but couldn't avoid its tail as it smacked him, making him drop
his sword and sending him straight into the wall to his left.
Justin stared at the situation Eiji was in, trying to think of what to do.
Dazed for a second, Eiji soon got back up on his feet. He notice his sword on the ground between him and the snake.
The snake stared at Eiji, hissing, which almost sounded like a evil laughter to him.
Eiji stood there, focusing on both his sword and the snake, before quickly making a dash for his sword.
The snake swung its tail at Eiji, but he slid straight under it. He grabbed his sword
off the ground and continued to run towards the snake but didn't realize that the
snake brought his tail up into the air above Eiji.
The snake smashed right down with it, into the ground, blowing Eiji away along the
ground and over the edge, where the river ran below.
"Eiji!!" Justin shouted, only to see that he was hanging onto the edge by one hand.
Eiji stared up at the snake from where he was, to see it looking at him once again. Its eye was now sparkling, as it
prepared to launch its mouth directly at Eiji. But just before it did, it
was hit by small rocks in the head.
"Hey you big slimy freak! Look up here!" Justin said, throwing stones and taunting the snake.
It worked and the snake diverted its attention to Justin.
Eiji quietly pulled himself up from the edge just to see the snake launching its head, across the gap, straight up at Justin.
The snake opened its mouth wide, trying to feed on Justin.
But Justin hopped backwards avoiding the attack. Taking out his sword, and before the snake could
close its mouth, Justin placed his sword inside and stabbed straight down on the bottom half of the snake's mouth.
The sword stabbed straight through, coming out the other end of the snake's mouth, and stabbing straight into the ground, trapping the snake's head.
Reacting quickly, Eiji pierced his sword straight into the belly of the
snake and pulling the sword all the way down to the snake's tail.
The snake roared out violently and in pain as its whole body stopped moving, and it stopped breathing.
Without wasting another second, Eiji pulled his sword out, jumped onto the snake and using
its body as a bridge, ran straight up it to the snake's head at the other side of the gap, and jumped down off it.
"Looks like you got the idea." Justin said with a smirk as Eiji landed right next to him.
"Took you long enough to think of it!" Eiji said back to him, his face half white from what happened. "And by the way...Does
this look like a fairytale thing to you!" he said pointing at the snake.
"Stop complaining will ya?"
Justin pulled the sword out of the ground and the snake's mouth. The moment he pulled
it out of the mouth, the snake, with no life left in it and with the weight of its body, fell into the river below.
"Let's get out of here quick, we don't want the wolves to be back before we get out." Justin said.
The two put there swords away and made there way back through the tunnel to the
entrance of the cave. Outside, they scanned around but couldn't find any wolves. The sky was darker
now then what it was when they entered the cave.
"The coast is clear." Justin told Eiji. "Let's hurry back to the town. Be on your toes though ok?"
Eiji nodded and the two rushed back across the fields to Blama.
The streets were different at night than day in Blama. The bustling market stalls, the children
screaming, running through the streets and the birds flying from rooftop to rooftop, were all gone. Lights
from houses went on and off, the town bars were blaring with music and the voices of people.
Out on the streets, few people walked slowly through the streets, couples both
young and old walked with each other and some sat on the benches around the town.
Eiji and Justin walked fast up the street leading to Kalim's house.
Once there, Justin knocked on the door.
"Kalim, you awake?" he said in a loud voice.
There was no answer. Eiji looked in through the window and saw that the lights were turned off.
"He couldn't be in bed could he?" he asked Justin.
"He won't be for long if he is" Justin responded and banged on the door again but this time louder.
"Kalim!!" he shouted out "Wake up you old fool! We have the Lycris flower!"
There was still no answer, and at this point Justin was getting annoyed.
"Kalim! Answer the fucking door before I break it down and shove this flower down your mouth!"
"He's an old man Justin, give him a second and don't be so violent with him." Eiji said putting his hands on his hips.
"I gave him enough seconds. Now it's time to break this thing down." He said, walking away from the door.
"Justin, you'll give him a heart attack." Eiji said shaking his head.
Justin charged at the door and rammed into it but didn't budge it and instead fell flat on the pavement.
Eiji looked down at him without moving, "Well done..." he said while folding his arms.
Justin sat up and stared at the door, then the house. "I need a rock, a big one."
"Hey! What's all this noise down there?" A voice shouted behind them.
Eiji stared up at the upstairs window from the house across the way of Kalim's, to find a woman leaning
out of it, looking down at them.
"Is that you Justin?" she answered down.
Justin, still sitting on the ground, turned his head up to the woman and waved, "Yeah, it's me."
"What are you trying to do?!" she shouted down, "Kalim isn't home at the moment."
"Not home?" Justin said, standing up and dusting himself down.
"Where did he go?" Eiji said as he continued to stare up.
"He went...where did he go again..."
The woman tried to think of where when she noticed a man walking up the street.
"Hey, John!"
The man looked up at the window.
"Where did Kalim go again?" she asked him.
Justin and Eiji stared at the two as they talked to each other.
"He went to Blala Forest. I think he went to find a Slalim seed for that remedy he's making."
"What?!" Justin replied, "He went off to the woods at this time of the night, by himself?"
The man nodded at him, "He left over an hour ago now."
Hearing the man, Justin looked up at the clock tower, "Its nine o"clock now. He shouldn't be out
this late! The wolves will be around!"
"Come on!" Justin said hitting Eiji on the shoulder and ran off up the street.
"Ok." Eiji turned to the two neighbors, "Thanks for the help." He said as he ran off, catching up to Justin.
"Where are we going Justin" he asked as the two ran through the streets.
"We're off to Blala Forest, just follow me ok? We"ll be there soon."
Eiji followed Justin out of the town at the north end and continued heading
in the same direction on the pathway through the field.
After a short few minutes the two stopped, staring at a forest.
"This is it. Blala Forest." Justin said catching his breath.
After he caught it, he walked straight along the path into the forest.
The trees were thick, and the wood of them was different shades of brown. Some stretched up
so high that no view of light could creep in; making those areas pitch black almost at night.
An owl hooted as they walked at a fast tempo through the forest.
"Kalim." Justin called out, but heard no response.
"That's not such a great idea...For the fact that his voice is almost gone that we won't
hear him calling back. So all you"re doing is drawing attention." Eiji told Justin.
"Yeah...you"re right, we just better search so."
The two searched around the forest, splitting up but staying close enough to each other to know where the other was.
As he checked around, Eiji found some nuts on the ground next to one of the trees.
He kneel down to check them and saw that there was one different then the others, it was a
purplish color instead of the regular brownish red acorns you'd get, but however, it was crushed into pieces.
"This must be a Slalim seed." Eiji said to himself.
Getting up, Eiji walked pass the tree and looked into the lit up area to the right.
"No..." Eiji said to himself, now shocked and white faced.
Kalim was lying on the ground, his body faced down with his left arm stretched out in front of him, and
a small pool of blood coming from underneath him.
"Kalim!!" Eiji shouted as he ran over to him, kneeling down next to him and turning him over.
He had a grave wound in his chest; it was very close to his heart.
"Eiji!" Justin said as he came running, hearing Eiji's shout, before eventually finding them.
Justin looked down at Kalim whose eyes were only half open now.
"What the hell happened?!" Justin asked, his voice growing louder and also shaking.
"Jus...tin" Kalim left out before groaning from the pain.
"Stop talking, Kalim." Eiji said as he applied pressure to Kalim's wound with his hand.
"You better not die you old fool! You have to tell us about the Lunar crystals!" Justin said
to him kneeling down at the other side of him.
Kalim's eyes opened out fully at what Justin just said. "Lu...nar..."
"Who did this to you?" Justin asked.
Kalim started to cough blood, unable to answer.
"Damn! Justin, go get some help, quickly!" Eiji told him.
"There's no way I'm leaving you..." was all that Justin could say before Eiji roared back at him.
"Get some help now!! God damn it!"
Justin looked at him before nodding and getting up.
"Hang on Kalim." Justin said as he ran back through the woods, to Blama.
Eiji watched him go off, disappearing into the darkness.
"Man...silver..."
Eiji stared back at Kalim as he heard him talk.
"Silver...blue...hair."
"A man? With sliver blue hair attacked you? Is that it?" Eiji asked him, applying
more pressure onto the old man's wound.
Kalim tried to nod his head, "Oubal...village...crystals...Qu...im"
"What..?" Eiji said, his blue eyes showing confusion.
Kalim slowly raised his arm up into the air, looking straight at the sky, he pointed at it.
Eiji followed his arm, and looked up, through the trees and their branches, into
the sky, at the crescent moon and stars above.
"Stars...crystals..." Kalim left out.
Eiji continued to look up, until, out of the edge of his eye, saw Kalim's hand falling, hitting of the ground.
"Kalim...?" Eiji said, returning his glaze back to him.
Kalim's eyes were now closed.
"Kalim."
Eiji started to shake him to get him to open his eyes.
"Kalim!!" Eiji shouted once more.
Eiji removed his hand from Kalim's wound, checking the palm of his glove to find the old man's blood over it.
Eiji now knew, as he looked at his face, that Kalim's was dead.
Silence now flowed through the forest, not even the wind could be heard as it brushed through the trees.
He continued to look at Kalim before bowing his head down and
closing his eyes, as he waited for help to come.
The dark cloudy sky, that blocks the morning sun's shine, tells without words the way
the people of Blama feel at Kalim's passing away.
The townspeople, including Eiji, Justin, Hamal and Anata, all stand around, in the cemetery
on the outskirts of the town, as Kalim is being buried.
Whispers could be heard through the crowd as his coffin was put down into the ground.
"He'll be missed no matter what."
"He was like our elder."
"My daughter loved listening to his stories."
Anata begun to cry as the earth began to cover up his coffin. Hamal held her
as he looked down in sadness and closed his eyes. Eiji notice the expressions of sadness on the
townspeople's faces around. But Justin's expression stood out most.
He just kept staring at the earth, now fully covering the hole up, with not a hint of sadness in his face or eyes,
but instead, of anger, almost wanting to scream out.
The townspeople began to walk away slowly one by one.
Eiji, Justin, Hamal and Anata stayed staring at the grave stone.
Justin walked over to the stone and placed the Lycris flower down next to it that they got from the cave.
After a good few mintues, the townspeople were all gone, and when Eiji notice this, he told the others what Kalim told him.
"What!!?" Justin said, Eiji never seeing him so serious, "He was murdered!?"
"Yeah...seems to be." Eiji replied, looking away from the others.
"Seems to be?! He saw a fucking man and after that he was dead. That means he was murdered you idiot!"
"Justin clam down" Hamal asked him, but Justin turned around to him.
"How can I clam down? How could some one kill a person like him! He was defenseless!"
Justin walked passed the stone before turning back around again to them.
"And what's even worse is that stupid old fool went out to the forest at night! That's like looking for your dead at his age!
How the hell can ye be all so calm about it? I don't get ye at all!"
Anata suddenly became annoyed at him and walked up to him, slapping him across the face.
"Calm down Justin!! You don't think we're feeling the same as you?"
Justin looked at her, as he touched his cheek which was red now.
"...Sorry..." he said, lowering his head.
Eiji walked over to a tree and placed his hand on it, staring at the river on front of him.
Justin looked over at him.
"What are you going to do now." he asked him.
Eiji continued to stare at the river, watching the fish swim pass him.
"I'm heading to Oubal village."
"What?" Hamal said to him. "But that's on the continent of Lyncia."
"It doesn't matter where it is, I have to get there and talk to someone."
Justin stared at him as Eiji continued to watch the fish.
"Well, I better get moving then." Eiji said turning around.
He started to walk in the direction of the town.
"Thanks for everything Justin, I appreciate it!" He said as he passed Justin.
There was silence as Eiji walked away from them.
"Hey!" Justin suddenly let out.
Eiji stopped turning around to him.
"Where do you think your going?" Justin asked him.
"Didn't you hear me, I said Oubal village."
"And where is that?"
"Lyncia."
"Ok then." Justin said to him, putting his hand under his chin and his
other arm around himself while closing his eyes, "And tell me. Where is Lyncia?"
Eiji looked at him, forgetting that he didn't know where the continent of Lyncia is.
"I'll find it, just have to ask right?" Eiji said laughing.
Justin opened his eyes, "Eh...yeah..."
He let out a long sigh, "Guess I have to show you now, don't I?"
Eiji stared at him opened eyed.
"Besides, I want to find out what this person has to say about them anyway, feel I should
do it for the sake of Kalim as well."
Justin walked over to Eiji and stuck out his hand, "Well...what do you say then?"
Eiji looked at Justin, before smirking and grabbing his hand.
"Let's go then!" Eiji said, with a face determined to go all the way.
Anata whispered, smilingly, into Hamal's ear, as they both watched the two.
"I wonder how long they're going to be able to stick up with each other."
Hamal gave a quiet laugh, "They both stuck up with each other this long already. They
both seemed to be made for each other don't they?"
Eiji and Justin both looked over at them as they heard them whispering.
"Hey! What are ye whispering about?!" The two asked them.
Anata and Hamal both laughed at each other.
"Told you." Hamal said still laughing...
The clouds began to slightly break away from each other, leaving cracks to let
the sunshine scamper through. Eiji and Justin stood at the northern exit of Blama along with Hamal and Anata.
"Ye have everything now don't ye dears?" Anata asked them.
Eiji and Justin were both kneeling down checking their backpacks making sure they had everything.
After checking, Justin patted his backpack, "Yep, we sure do."
The two put them on there backs and stood up.
"You should be able to make it to Sand Bay town in time for the boat to cross." Hamal said to them.
"Yeah, we'll get one anyway before night falls, and once we do that we"ll be fine." Justin replied.
"When ye reach Lague, make sure to stop by at Raner's, and give our hellos
to him as well ok?" Hamal told him.
"Don't worry I will." Justin said with a smile.
Eiji looked at Anata who had a few tears in her eyes.
"Are...you ok, Anata?" he asked.
Anata sniffed before running over to the two and hugging Justin.
"Be careful of yourselves you hear?" she said, trying to hold back
tears by sniffing, "Don't get into any trouble now ye hear?"
Justin patted her on the back as he hugged her.
"Don't worry Anata, we"ll be ok. We"ll be back after all this is done ok?"
Anata quickly ran over to Eiji and hugged him then.
"I'm going to miss you, you bag of sugar." She said to Eiji.
"Make sure he's safe Justin ok, and don't let him scar his lovely face now
you hear?" she said to Justin, still hugging Eiji.
Justin looked silly at her before turning to Hamal, "And I thought I was getting special attention."
Hamal laughed, "Well it looks like she's moved on from you."
"I'll be ok, don't worry Anata" Eiji said patting her.
She finally moved away from them.
"Well it's time to head off" Justin said, "Ready?" he said to Eiji.
"Of course" Eiji smiled.
The two began to walk of and waved back at both Hamal and Anata.
"Take care now the two of ye!" They shouted back at them.
"And ye too darlings!" Anata said waving.
"Good luck!" Hamal shouted to them.
Eiji and Justin turned away and looked straight ahead of them.
"I'm going to miss them." Eiji told Justin.
"I know...but don't worry; we'll be back when it's all over." Justin replied to him.
The two walked off down the pathway, disappearing from Hamal's, Anata's and the town's view.
They eventually made there way, back to the entrance of Blala forest, and stopped, staring at the forest.
"We have to walk through this to get to Sand Bay town." Justin told Eiji.
"Is it far?"
"Not really, it'll take us only an hour or two at most."
The two walked into the forest and followed the pathway through it.
It was a lot different during the day.
The trees stretched out far above them, sunlight flickering through the trees' branches.
The sound of squirrels, birds and other forest animals could be heard, unaware that there
combining sounds were forming a melody. Loose leaves started to fall from the soft wind.
"Wouldn't guess it's the same forest we were in last night..." Eiji told Justin.
"I know, you'd think it had a split personality. Dark and silent at night, bright
and soothing at day." Justin replied back.
Along the pathway, they looked to there left to see a stain of blood on the ground, the place they
found Kalim on the ground.
The two bowed there heads and walked on.
"So have you ever being to Lyncia?" Eiji asked Justin.
"Yeah" Justin looked up at the beams of sunlight. "I've been on a few trips
there to Lague. Sometimes by myself, sometimes with Hamal and Anata."
"Oh yeah!" Justin said as he remembered something. "I guess you have no knowledge
of places or anything, do you...?" he asked Eiji.
"No..." Eiji replied, turning his head to look at two squirrels playing with each.
"Well then...There are five continents, they are all split from each other, so think of them as really huge islands."
The two climbed over a big trunk of a tree to continue along the path.
"At the moment, we are on the eastern edge of the continent, Solken. To the east
of us, is Lyncia. To the west is Tailena. There's Ohila in the north-west. And finally Ralkan
in the north...north-east direction. And all these continents form up to make our world, Pangaea.
"Pangaea..." Eiji repeated from hearing it from Justin.
"Yep. Spark any memories?"
Eiji thought for a second before answering, "Nope..."
"Ah well, be surprised if it did" Justin said with a laugh.
The two went deeper into the forest and eventually came to an opening from the trees, stopping and staring.
There was a river in front of them that came from a small waterfall to there left, only
a few feet high. The river continued to there right, down through the trees of the
forest, that was on each side, some sticking out and there braches hiding the river from the sky.
Across the way was the rest of the forest, but it looked bumpier and rockier.
"How we get across?" Eiji asked, staring around him.
Justin looked to his right and pointed, "By walking on that." He said in a sarcastic tone.
A short distance to there right was a bridge.
"Oh...Why couldn't I see that?" Eiji laughed.
The two headed across it and continued along the path of the forest, which begun to elevate upwards.
They soon had to start climbing over rocks and tree trunks to make there way up.
"Isn't there an easy way up?" Eiji said to Justin who was up ahead.
"There is, but I"m just too lazy to walk over there."
"So you rather go the hard way then" Eiji sighed.
"It's a lot quicker this way."
At the top, the ground was once again level and they were back on the pathway.
As they continued on, Eiji's stomach started to growl.
"Hungry?" Justin asked.
"Yeah, I haven't had a proper meal since the inn."
"That's true...I"m starting to get a bit hungry as well now come to think of it."
Eiji looked around, hoping he could be as lucky as to spot some food just sitting around, waiting from someone to eat it.
"Don't worry; we"ll get something when we hit the town." Justin told him.
They soon came to a cliff edge which stopped them once again. But there was a bridge
to lead over it to the other side of the forest. As they crossed, they looked down at the valley underneath them.
Small tiny trees were jutting out of the cliff walls, a river flowed through it, which
was a good few feet down from them.
Seagulls flew down low underneath the bridge, following the river eastwards.
"We're near the east coast now; you can just barely see the ocean to your right
now if you look." Justin said.
They made there way across the long bridge on followed the path once again. The trees were fewer
on this side, but some still blocked the sunlight well enough. Coming to the edge of a cliff
in the forest, they looked down, passed the big stones and tree trunks to see the path continuing below. To
there left was the easy way down but however...
"Let's take another short cut, will we?" Justin said with a smile and jumped down
the edge, making his way down through the boulders and tree trunks carefully.
Eiji laughed as he watched Justin from above, slipping every now and again on his way down.
Eiji then jumped down and started hopping his way down the cliff, jumping off the rocks
and tree trunks, soon passing Justin and making it to the bottom before him.
Justin looked at him as he stood half ways between the top and bottom.
"Come on will ya?" Eiji said to him with a smile, "I'm hungry."
"Hmph" Justin let out as he scaled down, making his way to the end.
"Show off" he said to Eiji as he walked off.
Time felt like it was moving past quickly but it was only gone an hour since they entered the forest.
"We're almost there now." Justin said to Eiji.
Eiji nodded and followed at the side of Justin.
There was silence for a minute before Eiji broke it.
"Seventeen."
Justin looked at him, "What?"
"Seventeen" Eiji repeated, "That's my age..."
"How did you remember that?"
"I don't know...it just came to me, but I know I'm that old..."
Justin looked at him as they continued to walk.
"So your seventeen then...Well I would have been shocked if you remembered and said
you were like a hundred or something." Justin said letting out a laugh.
"Well I guess that makes me the older one then" he continued, "I'm eighteen."
Justin smirked at Eiji, but didn't pay attention of what was on front of
him and hit his head off something and fell straight back on the ground.
"What out for that branch there." Eiji said as he continued to walk on ahead.
Justin got up, scratching his head, "Could have told me"
"I could have, but I thought it would have been fun to not tell, it also got
that smirk off your face as well." Eiji said smiling on the inside, but not showing it on his face.
They passed the last tree of the forest to come out into a big open field.
"Finally" Eiji said looking around. The clouds were now few and far between as the sun
shined down brightly on the countryside.
The wind blew a westward direction, causing the waves of the ocean to crash off of the cliff edge
that was near to where the two stood. To there left was a plain hilly land that fields and fields of tall green
grass blew wildly in and beyond it was a faint image of a mountain range.
Seagulls flew high and above the pathway that led down on the sandy coast and further
ahead of it a town could be seen with a harbor starching out into the city, and to the left of the town
another small forest could be seen.
"Ahh..." Eiji said as his hair and bandana blew wildly, stretching his hands up into the air.
"The breeze feels good doesn't it" Justin asked him, his brownish blond hair blowing lightly as well.
"Is that Sand Bay town?" Eiji asked as he dropped his hands.
"Yeah...told ya it wouldn't be long"
Eiji's stomach growled as he looked at the town from the distance.
"Well what are we waiting for? Food here we come!!" Eiji said and began to run down the pathway.
"Hey wait up!" Justin shouted ahead of him and ran after Eiji as the two ran towards the sea-faring town...
Eiji glazed about the town, taking it in through his blue eyes that showed a delight that he hasn�t felt
since he woke, almost seven and a half days ago.
The buildings were a mix of pure white, shades of brown and a pale yellow color. The seagulls
flew round up in the sky, some sitting on the flat roofs of buildings, others on the streets eating
scraps of bread that were thrown on the ground. Stall markets selling fish, accessories, souvenirs and some
selling weapons of all different kinds filled the roads.
Crowds of people, wearing light clothing, some also wearing sandals, who just came and who
are leaving on the boat, gathered around them, filling the streets. Benches were
scattered about with people sitting on some, taking in the sun and relaxing. And at the centre of the town, a distance
away from where the two travelers stood, Eiji could see a fountain, shooting water out from
the top and splashing down onto the top level of water that was overfilling with water that dropped
down to the other two layers of water below.
�A lot different from Blama, isn�t it?� Justin said to Eiji as he saw his face look about in awe and excitement.
�Sure is!� It�s packed with people!�
�Yeah, Sand Bay town is our link between us and Lyncia. Of course, there are other harbours along
the east coast, but none are as big as this.�
�Yeah yeah, you can give me a history lesson once we find some food ok?� Eiji said, waving
his hand and walking ahead through the crowd.
Justin sighed, �I know now you can�t rely on him to save you if he was hungry� He said to himself
and followed Eiji through the crowd.
Eiji walked fast up the street and stopped in the middle.
He begun to look around and also started to sniff.
�What are you doing?� Justin said to him looking at him weirdly.
�Use your eyes and nose to find the best food!� Eiji told him.
�Now I�m just embarrassed to even be standing next to you, let alone know you.� Justin said scratching the back of his head.
Eiji looked down a small street to his right.
�This way!� he pointed.
The two turned right and headed down steps of the small street passing people who were
watering small plants that sat in line next to there houses, and also lines of clothes that hung
above them as they were put out to dry.
At the bottom of the street, Eiji ran out to the edge of the road and looked down at the piers with the rows of boats
floating next to them on the water, some with people standing on them fishing.
�Which way now genius?� Justin said staring out at the fishermen.
�I don�t know. I was only taking a guess.� Eiji told him, before he received a slap across the back of the head.
�Idiot� Justin called him, turning to his left to find a big stall selling food on it.
�See where my guess got us now.� Eiji said slapping Justin across the head now.
The two walked up to it, and were greeted by the seller.
�Welcome!� the man said to them, �Would like something to eat?�
They looked at what was to offer, there was a huge selection of fish to choose from, ranging from cod to swordfish and even octopus.
�Hmmm�� Eiji smelled the fish that the owner was grilling at that moment, �It smells good!�
After staring at the selection for a few minutes, the two finally decided
�Can we have to two mixed fish kebabs, please?!� They both said.
The two took there boots off and placed them next to there backpacks as they sat
down on one of the pier�s edges, eating their food.
�So�� Eiji said as he ate his food, �What time does the next ship leave, do you know?�
�Well I don�t know for certain� Justin took another bite before continuing, �But they�ll be one around
two o�clock no doubt, and it�s only eleven thirty now.�
�Time to relax then� Eiji stared out at the ocean, seeing fish just skimmering underneath the ocean line.
�Justin�� Eiji said continuing to stare out.
�What?� Justin replied stuffing his mouth with a big chunk of fish.
�That man�that killed Kalim.� He paused before continuing, �I�ve met him before.�
Justin�s fast paced munching quickly slowed down which showed Eiji that he was listening intently.
�Where did you meet him?� he asked.
�When I first woke up��
�Uh��
Lying on the ground, Eiji opened his eyes and took in his first image, the stars and
a full moon, that could be seen through a hole that stretched the clouds open.
�Lunar crystals��
He got up slowly and looked around him.
The ground was rugged and rocky, one or two trees were the only sign of greenness around him.
�Where the heck am I?�
He felt his head throbbing as he placed his hand on it.
�What happened?�
Keeping his hand on his head, he slowly brought the other down to his chest and felt something that was hanging around his neck.
He lifted it up to his view, �A pendant? Is this mine?�
Letting it go, Eiji walked to his right to stand at a cliff.
�Woah!� he said as he looked down, �I�m pretty high up aren�t I�
He could barely see the greenness of the grass down below him.
�How did I get up here?�
As he looked down though, he suddenly got a weird feeling in his body, a feeling that someone was close.
He looked around behind him and saw nothing, but the feeling didn�t go away.
�Who�s there?!� he shouted, which he soon realized was a bad idea as three pairs of yellow eyes started
to stare at him from the night�s darkness.
Out of the shadows, three wolves came out slowly, slightly growling.
�Eh�� was all that could Eiji could get out of his mouth as he froze up.
The wolves ran towards him, but before they got within a few feet of him, a man, came flying out
of the darkness and cut one, cleanly in half, with one swing of his blade. He quickly position himself in front
of Eiji and glazed relax fully at the wolves who growled even more now.
The wolves went for him and by the time Eiji could blink they were both on the ground, dead.
The man stood there, cleaning the blood off his blade.
Eiji took in his appearance as the man looked around.
His eyes were a dark blue, making it almost impossible to tell his expressions with them. His hair was a pale blue,
but tinted silver and showed clearly, that hung down just below his shoulders. He wore a jacket, black denim, which
stopped above his waist and was short sleeved. Underneath it he had on a dark bluish-purple sleeveless top which
tucked into his black pants, almost of denim fabric but wasn�t. His brown belt had a buckle that was of a silver phoenix.
He wore black boots as well, that his pants were tucked inside of. He had short black knuckle gloves, which
had a red outline on them, and in his right hand, held his blade...
The handle was of orangey red, which had two designed wings coming out of it, almost rain-bowed color, like a phoenix�s wings.
And attached to the top of handle, was a long, plain, white steeled sword, with the faintest red tinge in it.
The man saw Eiji look at his blade and he put it away.
�Thanks�� Eiji said to the man.
�You best stay around here awhile.� The man said to him ignoring his thanks, �It�ll be safer as the wolves
have been hungry for food the last few days and fresh meat is scarce this time of year.�
The man turned away and when he did, Eiji notice something in his other hand, but couldn�t tell what it was�
�Hey, wait.� Eiji said to the man but, he ignored and disappeared into the darkness, leaving Eiji alone�
�So that�s what happened to you when you awoke�� Justin said as he finished his kebab.
�Yep.� Eiji replied.
�And you think that guy is the one that killed Kalim.�
�Yep� Eiji replied with once more, before finishing his kebab.
�Well then, at least we should be able to pick him out if you if you see him.� Justin said standing up, putting
his boots on him and his backpack on his back. �Well I think its time we get the tickets now.�
�Probably should alright.� Eiji now stood up and put his boots and backpack on him as well.
�Why don�t you take a tour around the town, since you like it so much of course� Justin told him, �I�ll go get
the tickets, just meet me back here by one forty-five, got it?�
�Ok then! Sure! See ya later!� Eiji said as he waved and the two headed off in different directions.
Eiji walked along the crowd, sometimes pushing his way through, to check the streets of the port town.
He checked each of the stall markets which held some funny and interesting items.
�I doubt I be lucky to find a Lunar crystal on sale here� He thought to himself.
He walked away from the stalls and head through the back streets of the town.
He soon found himself walking up steps, up to an area that overviewed the whole town. Trees were
placed around the area, obviously by man due to the fences around each, and a small pond was stuck into the wall
where water came out, from a hole in the wall, into it.
Eiji, placed his bag down, and leaned over the wall and looked out at the view, feeling the sea breeze on his face.
He soon realized another market stall a bit to his left.
He caught his bag with his hand and brought it with him as he checked what was on offer.
The stall was filled with souvenirs that he hadn�t seen in any of the other stalls.
�Is there anything that interests you here boy?� The owner asked him.
�Hmm�You really have some unusual stuff here. I haven�t seen stuff like this in any of the other stalls or shops.� Eiji told him.
�Most of the other shops sell stuff that either come from Solken or Lyncia.� The man told
him, �But this stuff here comes from Ohila.�
�Ah I see�� Eiji said, glazing at some of the accessories.
As Eiji was browsing, a figure was watching him from afar.
�I must say boy� the owner told Eiji, �I have seen many strange gems, necklaces
and things like that. However, I have never seen anything like that pendant you have there.�
Eiji looked up at the man, and then looked down at his pendant, holding it up.
The figure that was watching Eiji from afar saw the pendant when Eiji held it up, and when it did it started to walk towards him.
�Where did you find that boy� The owner asked Eiji, both unaware of the figure coming towards them.
�I just�� Eiji paused, thinking of what to say, �Found it on the ground one day in Blala forest.�
�I see�� the man said, �Well hold onto it boy, something as strange as that is bound to give you fortunes one day.�
Eiji gave a fake laugh, �Well I guess it could, you never kno��
Before he could finish, Eiji felt the presence of someone walking past behind him.
The figure walked by him and as he passed Eiji, he grabbed the strap of his backpack and took it with him.
Eiji notice it and quickly turned, seeing a cloaked man who had a hood over his head, with his backpack.
�Hey!� Eiji shouted at him and the figure started to run, �Get back here!�
Eiji ran after the figure, with the shop owner watching them go.
The man ran down the steps, jumping the last half of them, and jumped over the wall on front of him, onto the rooftop below.
Eiji followed him onto it and quickly ran after him, from rooftop to rooftop.
The man finally jumped to one roof, and coming to the other side of it, saw there were no houses ahead
of him, only a street full of people below, and to his left a building that was taller than the one he was on.
He turned around to see Eiji jumping across to the roof he was on.
�No where left to run now eh?� Eiji said with a smirk as he walked up to him.
The man stood, looking at him, before dropping the backpack on the ground and running at Eiji, attacking him.
Eiji was shocked at the speed of the man, but was able to dodge the two punches the man sent at him.
The man tried to punch him again but missed as Eiji back flipped away from him and kicking him in the chin as he did it.
He fell backwards and Eiji took this chance to attack, jumping at the man trying to punch him.
The man though caught Eiji�s arm and twisted it, making Eiji fall onto his knees.
He looked down at Eiji, before letting his arm go and roundhouse kicked Eiji into the face, sending
back along the ground to the right.
The man quickly took the backpack again and turned behind him, and jumped down to the back alley below.
�Damn!� Eiji, wiped the small drop of blood from his mouth and got up as fast as he could, running
over to the edge and looking down to see a woman out on a small balcony below him, who was staring at the man landing
onto the ground below and running down the alley.
Eiji jumped down to the balcony�s railings, causing the woman to scream, and jumped down
to the ground below and continued chasing the man.
The man came to the end of the alley, and out to another set of piers that had boats at there sides.
He started to jump across the boats and piers, pushing the fishermen who stood in his way.
Eiji chased him onto them and jumped across, trying to keep his balance as the boats shook underneath him
from the water. The man finally made it across and down another side street, with Eiji following behind him.
There was a pile of wooden planks ahead of them on the street, blocking there path, but the
man easily climbed up over them and continuing down the street, turning a corner down another back alley.
The man ran half ways down it and stopped.
He opened up Eiji�s backpack and started to look through it.
After checking everything in it he dropped it on the ground.
�He doesn�t have one�� the man said to himself.
�There you are!�
The man turned, seeing Eiji at the start of the street, looking down, who started to run towards him.
The man looked above to see a balcony.
He jumped to the wall at the other side and jumped of it onto the balcony above and then
jumped to the roof across the way from him, disappearing from sight.
Eiji ran to his backpack and checked it making sure everything is there.
�Looks like he took nothing� he said to himself.
He looked up above, where the man climbed up.
�Who the heck was that�?�
Eiji was panting so took some time catching his breath before continuing down the alleyway.
Eiji kept his head down as he thought to himself.
�Was he after something? Maybe he got the wrong person?�
He held his pendant again, �It couldn�t have been this, could it?�
He let go of it and gave a small laugh as he turned the corner out onto the downhill street.
�Nah, he would have seen it on me and would have come after me if it was tha��
Eiji stopped talking as he bumped into a person, he didn�t notice, and the two fell on the ground.
�Ouch!...No!�
Eiji looked up, as he heard a voice and something dropping on the ground, to see a blond haired girl, sitting
on the ground on front of him, but she was looking back down the hill she came up.
Eiji looked down the hill to see a ring rolling down the it.
�Come back here!� the girl said as she got back up and ran down the hill after it.
�Not again�� Eiji said with a groan as he got up and ran down after the girl, to help get the ring.
The ring started to roll down the hill faster.
At the end of the street was a river that flowed out into the ocean, and the ring was heading straight for it.
The girl started to pick up speed as the hill got more vertical on the way down, and Eiji wasn�t too far behind her.
The people stayed clear of her, as she looked like she wasn�t going to stop for anything.
The ring started to get very near to the river and within a few seconds it would be falling to the bottom of it.
The girl suddenly took out a dagger from around the back of her waist.
She eyed the ring and, jumping up into the air, throw the dagger.
The dagger stuck into the road, a few feet before the river, and the ring rolled down and hit it, stopping it.
The girl dropped to the ground and rolled as she did.
�Yes!� she said as she looked down, to she her plan worked.
She ran down to the dagger and picked it up along with the ring.
�Nearly lost you didn�t I?�
Eiji came to the end of the hill and stopped right next to the girl, panting like mad.
�Woah!� he said, bending over catching his breath, �That was a pretty good shot.�
�Of course it was!� she said to him, �And by the way��
Eiji got a slap across the back of his head as he was still looking down at the ground.
�I wouldn�t have had to make it if you didn�t bump into me!� she shouted at him.
Eiji scratched his head and looked up at the girl.
She had golden blond hair, which dropped to her shoulders. Her fridge was short but she had a curl
that hung down the front, on the left side of her face, which slightly covered her left eye, both which
were a grey but with the clear sky, looked like they were a steel blue. She wore a plain white sleeveless top, which
barely reached down to her white, three-quarters pants. Her boots were a light brown on the sides and a
white on both the back and front. She also wore a purple sash, which tied around her waist and letting
one length of it drop down to the end of her three-quarters. She had a white bracelet on each of her wrists and on her upper
left arm, she had a gold bracelet which had a bird design on it.
�I�m sorry!� He said to her, now a bit annoyed, �You should have seen me anyway on front of you when you were walking!�
�I was too busy looking at this ring here!� she said holding it out as she put her dagger away, behind her back, under her sash.
It was a plain silver ring with the word �Janoul� inscribed on the inside.
�Well its half your fault so, if there�s a blame.� Eiji told her, �You weren�t paying attention on front of you either!�
�And why weren�t you watching where you were going?� she replied to him quickly.
�I had my head down, I was thinking!�
�You shouldn�t have your head down while walking; and besides, you should have still
notice me even if you were still looking at the ground�
�Why� Is it because you spend so much time on the ground, maybe looking up at men? Or girls, whatever
you prefer.� Eiji said smirking and with a raised eyebrow.
�Excuse me!!?� the girl said slightly shocked but now really annoyed.
�At least I could do that �stuff� if I wanted to!! You on the other hand I doubt could! I bet you don�t even
function properly!!� She said taking a step towards Eiji.
One or two people started to stare at the two arguing.
�And how would you fucking know if I did or not now?!� Eiji shouted at her, taking a step forward.
�Oh I can tell by just looking at you! I bet your all talk, no action!�
�I bet you�ll be sorry if you don�t shut your big mouth! Just use it for what you�re probably good at!�
�You just want a piece of �this� now don�t yeah?! Well there�s no way in hell you�d keep up with me, let alone satisfy!�
�A piece of you?! It be a nightmare for me if that ever happened.� Eiji said eyeing her, �I could do
a lot better than you� He said with a smile.
Eiji could see her eyes fluming right now, but his attention was soon taken to the
clock above one of the shops down the street, when he notice the time on it.
�Damn!� It�s quarter to two! I better get back.� He said.
He started to run back up the hill.
�Hey! Where are you going!?� The girl shouted at him, watching him run away, �You running
away scared now?� she said with a smirk.
�No� he said as he continued to run up the road, slightly turning his head to the side, �I�m running because
there�s a smell coming off you, pe-uw!�
�What!?� she said, now pissed off
�Get back here!� she shouted at Eiji, but he ignored her and ran up the street, out of sight.
�Oh the nerve�!� she said, stomping the ground, and then turned to look up at the clock, Eiji was looking at.
Eiji made it back to the pier for just two clock, but Justin was already there waiting for him.
Justin whistled as he looked at Eiji, who was panting heavily, �You sure look beat. Have a crowd
of people chasing after you now?� he said laughing
�Ha�I think I done enough running for today, let�s just leave it at that.� Eiji said panting but laughing, thinking it was
best to not tell anything about what happened.
�Ok. Well anyway I have the tickets here.�
Justin held up two tickets to Eiji�s face.
�The ship leaves at two thirty, so we better head off now.� Justin told Eiji.
�Ok! Let�s go then.� Eiji said smiling and the two headed off to the harbour where the ship awaited them�
Eiji and Justin both made there way down to the port. There was a huge crowd down there but Eiji ignored
them as he saw the ship.
It has a huge boat, filled with passengers already. It was mostly painted white but the bottom half of the
hull was painted blue. It had two towers on it, one near the back and one at the front near the bow.
On the side of the bow of the hull, the words �White Dolphin� were painted on in red.
�Lovely ship isn�t it?� Justin said to Eiji, continuing to stare up at it, �It�s the ship I usually always
seem to be on when ever I travel across. It�s a reliable one.�
�Ship will be leaving in ten minutes, everyone please get aboard!� a ship attendant shouted out
which made the people rush for the way up to the boat.
Eiji and Justin got over and, showing there two tickets, got on the ship.
Once on, they looked out over the side of the ship down at the people.
�I wonder will a certain man get on the ship as well�� Justin said to Eiji, �Can you see him down
there? If he is��
Eiji knew who he was talking about, the man he told Justin about, but that wasn�t the only
person Eiji was thinking of looking out for as he stared down.
�So�he had nothing then.�
�Unfortunately no�
The hooded man, that stole Eiji�s backpack, leaned against the wall, hidden from view of the people
on the ship and behind him was another person, which no one could see as they were hidden in the darkness
like a shadow.
�Are they after getting on the ship?� the voice, which was feminine, said to the hooded man.
�Yes� he replied.
�Then they�re in his hands for awhile now.�
�I don�t understand why we�re to keep an eye on them for the time being.� The man said to
the woman, �I think that boy was just plain lucky to have found one of them�
�Maybe�� the woman said, �But a light never came from one of the crystals before like that.�
�But how do we know that it came from the crystal? He wasn�t right next to it at the time it happened.�
�Are you thinking it came from the boy?� the woman asked and started laughing at the idea of it.
�Teh�I don�t care where it came from to be honest, once we get one we get
one. That�s all that matters.� The man told her.
�True�Well then, I suppose we should take the next ship across then.�
�Yeah, four hours time now. Pain in the ass waiting for it.�
The woman laughed and started to walk away.
�Where are you going?� the man asked her.
The woman stopped, half her face was now out in the sunlight.
She had black hair, which fell down her back, disappeared into the darkness.
She turned her face slightly, so the man could see her dark green eye.
�Off to have some fun� she said with a smile, slightly devious.
The path up to the boat was starting to be taken away from the ship now as everyone was on board now.
�No sign of him?� Justin said returning to Eiji�s side, who continued to stare down; still
searching even though no on else could get on now.
�Nope��
�Oh well, probably better he wasn�t going to get on the ship. Don�t want to put the other passengers in
a state of panic when I started beating that guy around the place.�
Eiji laughed at the comment and turned around, still leaning on the side with his back.
The ship slowly started to move once the ship�s horn let out a loud noise.
�Justin!! Justin!!�
Eiji turned his head and stared down at the pier below him to see five girls looking up, calling
out for Justin, who notice as well.
�Thank you Justin so much!� they shouted, �We love you!!!�
Eiji looked down confused.
�No problem ladies! Anytime!� Justin said with a big smile, waving with one hand
and brushed his hair with the other.
�Oh come on!!� Eiji said to him as he saw that, �Now you just look pathetic!�
�Don�t be jealous because you didn�t get a sending off like that.�
�Hmph! And what did you do to deserve a sending off like that?� Eiji asked him
�Well�let�s just say I got something back for them that was stolen and I rescued a cat while you were
walking the town.�
�I see�� Eiji paused, �So the cat stole.�
�Yeah� Justin quickly replied.
�Hehe, cat burglar.�
�So true!�
Seagulls hovered in the sky as one or two followed the ship across the ocean.
All around was blue, the clear bright blue sky that, with the sun shining down on the water, that was
also blue because of the sky, making it sparkle.
Eiji stood by the bow of the ship, overlooking the sea from the side.
Glazing down at the to the right, Eiji saw dolphins jumping in and out of the water; he
watched them peacefully until his eyes opened widely.
As the dolphins were jumping, Eiji could have swore he saw what looked like a man, with a fin, jumping
along with them.
�Wooo! I needed to let that out, there�s going to be some smell in the bathroom for the
next person.� Justin said walking up to Eiji, �Hey there, don�t fall in now!� he said hitting the
back of Eiji, startling him.
Eiji looked at him still with his eyes opened wide before looking back down to see the
dolphins disappeared.
�Something wrong?� Justin asked.
�No�just dolphins that�s all.� Eiji said to him.
�Ah, lucky you�re seeing them. Well then, I�m going to take a trip around this ship, you coming with me?�
�Yeah sure!�
The two scouted the outside of the ship along with its corridors, passing other passengers, some
who smiled and said hello to them.
They soon found a buffet on the ship, much to there delight.
The two split up and ran from table to table, checking the food and trying it all.
�Pretty good food for a ship�� Justin said to Eiji as they both ate an apple, walking away from the buffet.
�Well I couldn�t tell that for obvious reasons, but I�ll know when I�m on a ship the
next time.� Eiji replied, munching away.
They soon turned to head up a stairs back up to the deck.
�Which should be soon enough, of course. I don�t think it�ll take us a week till we�re back
on one.� Justin said.
�And how would you know that now?�
�It�s a feeling; I�m not bad at guessing the future.�
�Really now�� Eiji said laughing.
As the two reached the top of the stairs they stopped as they heard two voices talking around the corner.
�We�re not changing course, you hear!� A voice said out.
�But captain, what about those stories of that monster? You�ll be putting the passengers
in danger!� another man said to the captain.
�I won�t be because those stories aren�t real. When are you going to stop listening to stuff like that.�
�Captain��
Eiji and Justin heard the two walk away, as they hid behind the corner.
�Putting the passengers in danger?� Eiji said to Justin, who was standing, leaning over
Eiji, who was crouching.
�He�s not a very good captain if he does that now.� Justin said.
�I wonder�is there really a monster��
�Haven�t a clue.� Justin said while eating away on his apple, which made Eiji realize that he didn�t
care if there was or not.
Eiji sighed, �Well I�m heading outside for some fresh air and to relax.�
�Right behind ya.� Justin replied and the two headed down the corridor.
The moment they got outside, a young boy bumped right into Eiji.
�Ah! Sorry mister!� the boy said looking up at Eiji, smiling.
�Don�t worry�� Eiji said but the boy didn�t hear him as they all heard children shouting
that over towered Eiji�s voice.
�There he is!!�
�Uh-oh!� the boy said laughing, �Got to run!�
The boy ran past Eiji and Justin down the corridor and was half ways down when the other
children, all older looking, ran past them as well and down the corridor after him.
�Ha�troublemaker�� Justin said with a smile.
�You can tell�� Eiji said still looking down the corridor.
�Of course. When you were one yourself you can tell with others.�
�You were a troublemaker?� Eiji said laughing; �Now why doesn�t that surprise me.�
Justin gave a small laugh and started to walk, Eiji following him �I was a good one alright! Always
getting into trouble and fights of course��
�Fights?� Eiji said as he looked around at the people.
�So I suppose a lot of bandages on you when you were a child. No wonder you turned out
so ugly then.� Eiji said with a big smile across his face.
�Still better looking then you no doubt.� Justin replied back quickly, as he looked at
a group of girls coming towards them.
�But I didn�t get beaten up. I was able to keep my own in a fight with anyone my age or older, even
if they were stronger and all, just once there was a stick or something around I could use to swing.�
�I guessed that�s how you learned how to use a sword then isn�t it?� Eiji asked, waiting for
a reply. But Justin however was distracted as the girls passed them, as he looked at them while
they stared back and smiled.
�Not a hope in hell Justin� Eiji said snapping his fingers on front of Justin�s eyes, �Now, continue��
�Heh. Well it was from those fights that our town�s swords master saw that I was��gifted� in using
a sword and so he thought me the town�s style.� Justin now replied.
�Town�s style?� Eiji asked hearing those words.
�Yeah. It wasn�t all that different from normally swinging a sword of course, it all looked the same
to me though, but there were still one or two things unique about it.�
�So I suppose the tiger was the symbol of it then� Eiji asked him, eyeing his clothes.
They both walked over to the left side of the boat and leaned over looking out at the sea.
�Yeah�it was� Justin told him.
�Does your bracelet have something to do with your style as well or where you were trained?� Eiji
then asked him.
Justin stared down at his bracelet, touching it with his hand.
The moment he did Eiji notice that Justin�s face went expressionless.
�Yeah�� was all that Justin got out of his mouth.
The two went silent for awhile but the moment Justin opened his mouth again to say something, a huge
noise could be heard from the distance.
�What the?� Eiji said as the two now stared out at the sea, looking at the direction of where the noise came from.
�What was that?� Justin said, staring out now trying to spot anything.
They soon heard it again, but this time it was louder, making them realize that it was getting closer.
The other people on the ship stopped what they were doing and looked around as well.
The sound came again and this time it was really loud.
�Justin�� Eiji said, now stepping back from the edge.
�I know�� he replied now stepping back as well, �It�s underneath us now.�
As they slowly stepped back, a huge splash could be heard and seen, and out from the ocean came
a tentacle, huge in width and length and coloured, red and white.
The crowd that saw screamed and started to run as more tentacles came up from the sea next to the other.
Finally a huge shadow glazed over the boat.
�Eh�Justin�� Eiji said, glazing up surprised.
�I know�!� Justin replied taking out his sword.
The shadow came from an enormous octopus, its body was a dark reddish colour but the underside
of its tentacles was a pale white.
Its black eyes stared down, eyeing Eiji and Justin, who were the only ones still around it.
�Damn it! Nice food, nice girls�the one time I think I�ll get a good boat trip and this
happens!� Justin said.
The octopus let out a huge sound once again and clashed its tentacle down on the
ship, trying to hit Justin.
Justin jumped out of the way in time but was still on the ground when another rose above the ship and
started to come down again at him.
He rolled out of the way just in time to avoid it and, getting up quickly, stabbed the tentacle.
It didn�t seem to affect the octopus however and just raised its tentacle and started to swing it around.
Meanwhile, Eiji was busy dodging another of the octopus� tentacles as it madly swung around.
It soon caught Eiji though and sent him flying across the ground through one of
the corridors on the ship.
�Hey!� Justin shouted as he tried to see if Eiji was ok but couldn�t check as the tentacles came, trying
to hit him.
�Damn�� Eiji said kneeling on the ground. He soon got up and ran out of the corridor to see one
the tentacles crashing into the tower he just came out from.
He quickly jumped and rolled forward out of the way of the falling rubble and ran over to Justin, jumping
over one of the tentacles.
Justin stood as one of the tentacles came towards him and when it did, ram his sword into one of its
suction cups. The tentacle kept moving Justin, who continued to push forward, back but Eiji soon rammed
his sword into another of the cups and stopped the tentacle from moving.
�How did you know it stopped?� Eiji asked him he kept his sword in the cup.
�I didn�t! I just guessed as it looks like you could reach the insides through theses.� He replied to him.
The octopus let out a screech and raised another of its tentacles above the two of them.
They both pulled there swords out, now covered in blue blood, and jumped back as the other
tentacle came down, missing them.
�Any ideas?� Eiji asked Justin, who sung his sword to wipe the blood off it.
�I�m thinking�!� he told him as he glazed up at the octopus� head which now hovered over
them, blocking the sun, and stared down at them.
The two however were unaware of the tentacle behind them.
�Behind ye!!� a voice shouted out to them.
They turned around just in time to stabbed there swords into the tentacle�s suction cups, stopping
the tentacle in its place.
They both looked up, while still pushing against the tentacle, to see someone jumping from
the tower�s second floor and landing on the tentacle.
�Yo�You!!??� Eiji let out in shock.
It was the blond haired girl he bumped into back in Sand Bay town.
�What are the chances we�d be on the same boat now eh?� she said, before noticing the
other tentacle that they stab starting to move again.
�Do ye two know each other?� Justin asked taking his sword out and cleaning the blood off it.
�Yeah! He�s a clumsy jackass!� she said.
�And she�s a bitch�� Eiji quickly said following her comment.
�Ah I see�Fill me in later ok? Let�s take care of this thing first!� Justin told them.
�Behind ye again�� the girl said as the first tentacle they stabbed started to move again.
The two both ran for it to stab it again but a tentacle came smashing down from the sky. Eiji dodged
it but it sent Justin back along the ground towards the girl.
Eiji stabbed a cup in the tentacle once again, but it slowly tried to move still.
Seeing this, the girl took out two daggers, from underneath the back of her sash, and charged at the
tentacle stabbing it in another cup which stopped it from moving and made the octopus screech out again.
�You know this isn�t going to stop it!!� she said to Eiji, as she took out her daggers.
�You have any ideas then? Because I�d love to hear if you do!!� he told her.
�Attack its hearts!�
�Hearts?� Eiji said looking puzzled.
�An octopus has three hearts located in the back of its head�the mantle!!� she told him stabbing
all the other suction cups. �That will kill it!�
Eiji stared at her, �And how am I suppose to get to its head!?�
�How the heck should I know!� she said and turned around to see Justin getting up and the
tentacle behind him starting to move.
She ran over to it and Justin followed her, stabbing its cups, making the octopus screech.
A tentacle came flying down towards Eiji but he jumped forwards out of the way. He stumbled as he landed
as the deck was now wrecked where the octopus was attacking. The octopus was destroying the ship
slowly, breaking the towers and also created a hole in the deck.
Eiji looked down it to see the buffet and the people below, terrified as they could now see
the octopus above. The children were shaking and couldn�t take their eyes of the octopus�, which
were now scanning them all below.
�Got to do something�!� Eiji said angrily to himself.
�Do you believe me now!?� A voice said above Eiji as he looked down at the crowd.
He turned round behind him and looked up at the tower to see the captain and the man he and Justin
over heard well ago.
�What are we going to do sir?� the man said to the captain.
�How should I know? We have no offensive weapons on broad!� he replied.
The captain�s voice though caught the octopus� attention and it raised one of its tentacles.
�Sir�� The man said as he saw the tentacle rise.
The captain, notice it and the octopus� eyes
staring at them.
�Run!� he shouted as the two ran for cover as the tentacle smashed into the ship�s tower.
Eiji avoided the rubble and stared up at the tower to see the tentacle still there hanging off it.
�That�s it�!� Eiji said to himself and turned to the girl and Justin.
�Hey!!� he shouted across to them and they turned around to face him. �Throw your daggers
at that tentacles� cups, quickly!!�
The girl looked up and, without asking why, throws her daggers at the cups, hitting two.
The tentacle stopped moving as the octopus let out another screech.
�Justin!� he now called, �Give me your sword!�
�Why do you want it!?� Justin replied.
�Just give it now there�s no time!� he shouted at him.
Justin threw his sword to Eiji and when
he caught it, ran into the corridor of that tower.
Without there weapons, all the girl and Justin could do was avoid the tentacles as they tried to smash down
on them.
Eiji ran up the stairs of the corridor and came out above and looked to his left to
see the tentacle still hanging off the tower.
Without thinking, he ran straight towards it, jumped on it and ran across the tentacle, high above the deck.
While crossing it, he grabbed the girl's daggers and threw them back down to her
�What the hell is he doing!?� Justin shouted out as he saw him running across the tentacle.
�Attacking the hearts�� the girl replied to him, putting away her daggers.
Coming to the end of it, Eiji jumped up onto the octopus� head.
He ran to the center of the head and stuck Justin�s sword straight into it.
He then started to run, pulling the sword with him, and slid down the back of the head.
The sword helped him to not slip of as he slid down the back.
The octopus sounded as it was screaming out as Eiji dragged the sword that was stuck in its head.
He finally came to the back of the head, where the hearts would be and, holding onto the sword
stuck in the head, he took his own blade and started to stab repeatedly into the back of the head.
The octopus moved around in pain but Eiji was able to hold on and continue stabbing.
The octopus left out inky fluid at this moment and hit Justin and the girl with it, temporary
blinding them.
Eiji stabbed and stabbed until eventually blood started to fly out as he pulled his sword out.
The octopus at this moment roared out louder then ever.
�Got them!� he said to himself.
He stabbed a few more times to make sure.
Once he was finished, Eiji used the two swords as climbing axes and quickly ascended his
way back up to the top of the head.
Wiping the ink from their faces, the two on the deck saw that the octopus was barely moving now and
that the tentacles were slipping back towards it.
The moment he could get a grip on the head with his feet, Eiji pulled the two swords out and started to run across the head towards the ship.
The octopus started to fall back into the ocean now.
Eiji just managed to jump off the octopus as it fell back in, falling to the bottom of the ocean.
But he didn�t realize how high up he was from the deck when he was on its head and flew straight
through the hole in the deck, crashing onto one of the tables in the buffet room where the crowd was.
There was silence everywhere as the crowd soon started to crowd around him, looking down.
�Uhhh�� Eiji said as he lay lying on the ground between each side of the broken table.
He moved his eyes around, seeing the crowd around him.
Exhausted, his body was unable to move for
him even though he tried to get up.
�Eiji!�
�Hey!�
He stared up, through the hole to see Justin and the girl staring down at him.
�I�m�o�k�� was all he could say as his eyes slowly closed and fell unconscious�
Eiji opened his eyes as he started to hear people talking.
He glazed up at a metallic ceiling above him, a rusty silver.
Staring around, he soon notices four people standing around each other talking.
One of them then turned and notices Eiji awake.
�Hey�you�re awake� one of them said to him and walk over to him.
It was the blond haired girl; her face was bright as she smiled down, something Eiji never saw
from her in the short time he knew her.
�Took you long enough to wake up� Justin said as he walked up to Eiji�s side too, with a smirk across
his face, �Your snoring was starting to annoy me.�
�Where�� Eiji said, as he sat up on the bed he was on and putting his hand on his head, before
realizing what happened, �Is everyone ok? Is the octopus�?�
�Yes�� another voice said; it was the captain�s. �Everyone is safe thanks to you.�
�We are still on course for Lague Town� the ship attendant, the one who told the captain
about the rumor, said to Eiji.
�Really?� Eiji replied in happily surprised way.
�Sure look for yourself, why don�t you?� the captain said as he pointed to the room�s exit.
Eiji moved to the side of the bed and sat, before getting up and walking outside.
He was up on the second floor of the tower near the bow of the ship.
He glazed out across the ocean to see Lague, not so far off in the distance.
�He�s awake!!�
Eiji looked down to where he heard the voice come, to find the people on aboard down below, some, looking
out at Lugae, others talking among themselves.
They all turned there attention to Eiji and started to cheer for him.
Justin and the girl soon stood by his side as they looked down below.
Eiji was stunned by the people, but felt a happiness grow inside him.
�Your crazy stunt saved them� Justin said smirking.
�We love you Eiji!! Wooo!!!� the four girls that Justin took interest in before the incident, screamed up.
Eiji waved down at them and smiled, as he saw the smirk go from Justin�s face, �And made me popular too��
�Yeah�� the girl replied, �Until they find out you don�t function properly��
�Hey!� Eiji let out as the two others started to laugh and head back inside to where the captain
and his attendant were.
�We�ll be arriving shortly now!� The captain shouted out to him.
Eiji nodded and turned back around to glaze once more at the town ahead of them�on the continent of Lyncia�
The ship began to dock into the port of Lague town.
There was more of a colder breeze around then there was for the past few days, back in Solken.
The people in the harbor, waiting to board another ship, started to stare at the one that was docking.
It was damaged, mainly around the center. The towers were in pieces and there were one or two holes
that you could see straight down through the deck. It looked like it was a war ship returning from battle.
Eiji, Justin and the blond hair girl got up to the front of the line to get off the ship. The moment
the pathway was connected to it, the three of them walked down and got away from the crowd
as quickly as they could.
They stood behind one of the stalls out of sight from the crowd from the ship.
�Phew� Eiji let out, �Thanks for coming away so quick. I just didn�t want to be around the crowd, no doubt
the story is going to get out and I didn�t want to be there.�
�No worries, I don�t want you to get as popular as me anyway� Justin said with a laugh.
Eiji stared around the port. It was a port that was made by man, not natural, as the stony ground
they stood on was floating above the water which was shallow enough underneath them, which
meant the piers had to be long to stretch out to where the ships stopped. Looking ahead of him, he
could see a hill, a short distance from where they were, that lead up to the town of Lague.
�By the way�� Justin said as he looked at the girl who helped them, �What are you doing following us?�
The girl looked around at the stalls before realizing he was talking to her and turned to face him.
�Oh�I just thought I should follow as I didn�t want to be stuck back there while ye sneaked off.� She replied.
�So you didn�t want to be caught up in it either� Eiji smiled.
�Nope...� she said in agreement with him, �So�where are ye going?�
�Us?� Justin responded.
He and Eiji looked at each other, before Eiji nodded.
�Were off to Oubal village.� Eiji told her.
�Really?� she said, �Well I don�t mind going there either so I�ll tag along with ye
then!� she said clapping her hands together.
�What?!� Justin replied, �You can�t just invite yourself. Sure aren�t you on your way somewhere anyway?�
�I�m actually not�I�m only travelling around to see the world.� She told him, �And it would be
nice to have company travelling about.�
�Great then!� Eiji said, �The more the merrier!�
Justin turned around to Eiji, looking shocked, �Your joking!�
�Sure why not?� Eiji told him, �It�ll be more company for us and besides�It be nice to have
a girl journey with us, I would get bored talking to you all the time sure!� Eiji said laughing.
�Oh that�s nice�� Justin said looking away.
�By the way�� Eiji said as he walked up to the girl, �We never introduced ourselves. I�m Eiji and this
is Justin.� He said pointing at him.
�Well then hello!� she said with a smile, �I�m Mina!�
�Finally a name�� Justin said, still looking away.
�Ignore him, you know that anyway�� Eiji told her, �But it�s nice to meet you Mina. Well then
will we head of to the town?�
�Might as well. It�s not doing us any good standing around here.� Justin said to them as he started to walk off in the direction of the town.
The two stared at him as he did.
�Is he�� Mina asked Eiji.
�Don�t worry, he�ll be fine later, just probably wanted to be part of the glory back there.� He told
her laughing.
�Ah�� she replied to him and the two followed behind him as they headed for the town.
They made there way up the hill, passing people, some walking while others were carrying stuff like wood
or tools down to the port, until they eventually reached the top and into the town.
It was more modern looking than either Blama or Sand Bay. The buildings were stronger build
and some looked like they were made by steel, which was rusting on some of them, making them and the place
a bit run-downed but it added to the town in a nice sense, which was surprising. The town seemed
to be made of straight roads only, with one street actually as the main and then streets turning
off it down to other places. They were narrower but that didn�t stop from crowds of people
walking down them. Different shades of red, black and brown were all the city seemed to be made up of
and they were dusty looking as well, not bright and saturated. The sun didn�t help make the buildings
look brighter either as it was now hidden behind the clouds as it was getting late into the afternoon.
�Are all towns and cities completely different from each other?� Eiji asked Justin as the three
stared around at it.
�No�� he responded in a dumb voice, �It�s only the third place you�ve seen so don�t
be surprised they�re all different.�
�Well I guess its all inland from here�� Mina said looking back out at the sea, �I�m going
to miss the sea breeze.�
Justin looked at her, ��ok then� well we should head off to meet my friend Raner, he just
lives down here�� he said pointing down the main street, ��just pass the crowd.�
He begun to head off and the other two followed behind him, walking through the crowd trying
to keep up with each other.
�So who�s this Raner person anyway?� Mina asked Eiji, trying to keep up with him.
�I have no idea�� Eiji told her and then turned to Justin, �Who is Raner, Justin.�
�He�s a chef in this town. Whenever I came here either by myself or with Hamal and Anata, we would
always stay in his restaurant since it�s his home as well.� He told them.
�Really? All that for ye?� Eiji asked.
�Yeah�� Justin laughed, �He�s Hamal�s best friend.�
�Restaurant?� Mina asked, �Food!�
�I know! I�m soooo hungry!� Eiji responded.
�Great�� Justin said rolling his eyes and pushing through the crowd, �We have another
one who responds to food��
Slowly making there way down the street, they finally stop outside a dark red coloured building. Wooden
chairs and tables were outside it, some people sat at them eating and talking away to each other, and
they were surrounded by a small wooden fence wall. Above these tables and chairs was a fabric canopy
coloured navy blue. There was a menu standing outside the fence wall on a stand.
�Well this is it. This is Raner�s�� Justin told the others but realized that they
were over looking at the menu and he left out a sigh.
�It has a lot of fish dinners doesn�t it?� Mina said.
�Sure does�� Eiji replied, �And look at there special today�octopus��
��Funny�� Mina said glazing to her side.
�Come on guys� Justin told as we walked through the entrance of the fence wall and into
the restaurant, �Ye can look at the menu inside ok.�
The two followed him inside the restaurant.
Inside, the restaurant looked so different then what you would have imagined it would be by the outside.
The chairs were all made of a pine wood, with a red velvet cushion on the seat and the back.
The tables were a darker wood but still looked bright with the vase of red, blue and yellow flowers
on each. The floor was a green marble that shined and looked so clean that they could almost see
their reflection in it. They then looked up to see a visible second floor above them. The tables and
chairs were the exact same but the floor had a green carpet all along it. The walls were the same colour as
the ones outside and had paintings of scenery and people hanging on them. People were sitting down
in almost all of the seats, eating away and talking, not even noticing the three that
came in the open-door entrance.
�It�s so lovely in here�� Mina said looking about mostly up at the second floor.
�And ye live here when ye come to visit?� Eiji asked Justin.
�Yeah�nice eh?� he said with a smiling and then turned looking around.
�No wonder ye visited a lot� Eiji said with a laugh.
�True�� Justin replied still looking around before spotting a brown haired man, dressed in a casual
orange t-shirt and brown jeans, up on the second floor talking to a couple.
�Raner!� he shouted up to him and the other two behind him stared up.
The man turned and looked down, his face soon lit up, �Justin!�
He came quickly down stairs and hugged Justin.
�It�s so good to see you again mate!� he said, �How�ve ya been?�
�I�ve been well.� Justin replied, �Just a bit hungry now. Can the three of us get a bite to eat here?�
Raner looked behind Justin to see Eiji and Mina standing, who both smiled and waved at him.
�Of course ye can! There�s a free table upstairs, go on up and I�ll bring ye all something to eat!�
�Great!� the two behind Justin said.
Raner laughed as he walked up to the two and stuck out his hand.
�I�m Raner, guys! How are ye?�
Eiji shock his hand, �I�m Eiji.�
�I�m Mina. It�s nice to meet you.�
�Nice to meet ye two!� he replied back.
�We�ll head on up there so.� Justin told Raner and the three headed on up stairs while Raner went
out into the kitchen.
The three sat down at a table in the corner that had a window view of the port out
past the buildings in front of them.
A few minutes later Raner came out with three dishes in his hands.
The three all contained a mix of fish cut up and all put on top of spaghetti with a marinated sauce over it.
�Dig in guys! Hope ye like it!� Raner said to them as he put the plates in from of them.
The three all took a big whiff of the smell coming from it before eating away at it.
�So good�� Eiji said with a stuffed mouth.
�Delicious!� Mina said, but was more polite to swallow her food in her mouth first before speaking.
�You�ve out done yourself again Raner!� Justin said as he drank back.
�Thanks guys, glad ye�re enjoying it!� he replied to there comments.
�Oh yeah!� Justin said as he finished drinking, �Hamal wanted me to say hello for him.�
�Ah good, so how is he and Anata?�
�They�re good, I say they be visiting soon enough so ye can have a good chat with them.�
�Nice�it�s been a few months alright.� Raner said drinking away. �So what brings you here
with your new friends? Showing them around?�
�Well not really�� Justin said as he looked over at Eiji, who stared back at him as he ate, �We�re
actually on our way to Oubal Village.�
Raner swallowed his drink wrong, as he heard what Justin said, and coughed out, beating
his chest, �Oubal!?�
�Yeah� Justin replied to him.
�Why do ye want to go there?�
Justin looked back over at Eiji. Mina kept noticing this and was becoming a bit curious herself now.
Justin opened his mouth to continue but Eiji spoke out first.
�To learn about the Lunar crystals.� He told Raner.
Mina�s eyes opened wide as she heard this, but she stayed quiet and just listened in as she ate away.
�Lunar crystals!?� Raner said out loud, one or two of the customer�s looking at him as he said it.
�Yep.� Eiji replied to him.
�It�s a long story Raner but I was hoping you could help us by telling us the shortest
route to get there that you know of.� Justin told him.
Raner looked at the two of them and then at Mina who sat there happily eating away.
�Well�� he said to them, �The only way I know of is to go through the Lugae Mountains south
of here. It�ll take ye almost two days at least. And they are cold this time of year, but
thankfully not much heavy snowfall.�
�Two days!?� Eiji said out.
�Yep! You think the two of ye and your friend could make it across those snowy mountains?� Raner
said, looking at Eiji and Justin, before looking at Mina.
�Hey!� she said �What�s that suppose to mean?�
�Ah don�t worry about her, she�s tough.� Eiji replied to Raner.
�Thank you.� She said to Eiji.
�She�s not the nice, sweet type at all, just as tough as stones or something like that.� Eiji continued on.
Mina then kicked him under the table for that comment and, as he put his hands down to rub his leg, she
took some of his food from his plate with her fork.
�Hey!� he said looking at her as she stuffed her mouth.
�See what I have to babysit now?� Justin said and got kicked under the table by Eiji and Mina
for that comment.
Raner laughed �Well seeing the three of ye like this now, I say ye have no problem travelling
through them. Can ye fight?�
�Of course we can!� the two responded to him.
�Good, good.� He replied, �Well then all ye have to do now is prepare for it. It�s going to be a long trip.�
�Yeah, we�ll going to prepare right away after this meal and then head off. We can't really
afford to slack off.� Justin told him.
�Haha, it�s an important enough trip alright!� Raner said to him.
Eiji finished the last of his meal, followed by Mina.
�Ah�That hit the spot now!� Eiji said, with a smile on his face and rubbing his stomach.
�Thanks for the meal Raner.� Justin said as he finished.
�Anytime guys!� Raner said as he took the plates off the table, �So I guess your heading off then.�
�Yeah, unfortunately we have to.� Justin told him as he and the other two got up from there seats, �Hopefully
though we be done our business soon and I can come back for a longer stay.�
�That�ll be nice! We can go fishing again and see who catches the biggest!� Raner said to Justin�s reply.
�Yeah! Sounds good!�
�Thanks for everything Raner!� Eiji said.
�The food was lovely!� Mina told him.
�Well I hope ye come back again some time!� Raner told them as he started to walk down
the stairs, with the three of them following him.
�Hey Justin.� He said, �Make sure you bring me back a souvenir now ok?�
�Don�t worry I will! I�ll make it a big one too!� Justin told him as he waved goodbye
and headed out of the restaurant with Eiji and Mina.
�So�what�s the plan now?� Mina asked as they walked out back onto the busy street.
�Well we�ve got to prepare ourselves. This is no easy trip.� Justin told her.
�No doubt.� Eiji said, �So what do we need to get and do then.�
�Well first of all, we�re going to need a tent for the three of us.� Justin told them, �We�re going
to have to spend the night there at least once. After that we need to buy some stuff to
help us keep warm. I doubt our clothes are going to keep us nice and warm just by themselves.�
�True!� Mina said looking around, �So will we split up then?�
�That�s the best idea alright.� Justin told her, �I�ll go get the tent along with one or
two things I�ll wear. Ye two should buy one or two things that will help keep ye warm as well.�
�Ok, got it then!� Eiji said.
�And Mina�� Justin said facing her, �Make sure you buy a backpack and a sleeping bag along with your stuff ok?�
�Ok!� Mina said out, excited that she was going to go travelling like this, �I�m so looking forward to this.�
�Yeah�it�s going to be real�fun.� Justin mumbled
out. �So let�s meet back here in about an hour got it?�
�Got it!� Eiji and Mina replied to him and the three headed off around the town by
themselves to prepare for the trip.
The clouds were slowly gathering together as the sky now tinted an orange.
An hour had passed and Justin was waiting by the restaurant. He was wearing a dark, tight, long
sleeved top underneath his brown one. He also had a pale green scarf that was just long enough to
go around his neck. His back pack also seemed a bit bulky now as well.
�What�s taking them so long�?� Justin said to himself, tapping his foot impatiently.
Eiji finally showed up. He was wearing a dark green cloak that fell from his neck down
to the back of his calves. He was also wearing a new pair of brown gloves, that weren�t
fingerless and also a bit longer, then his other pair, and also had a furry and thick
waistband around his waist.
�Sorry about the delay. Did Mina come yet?� Eiji said arriving.
�No�� Justin said as he looked at Eiji before opening his backpack, �Here. You�ll need to take some parts
of the tent; I can�t keep them all to myself in this backpack you know.�
�Ah ok� Eiji said as he took some of the stuff and put it in his backpack.
�I�m back!!� they could hear coming ahead of them from the crowd.
It was Mina who was wearing an ice blue cloak, which fell to her calves also, and had a hood on it. She was also wearing black pants, which was tight
to keep the heat in, under her three-quarters and also had a pair of white gloves on her now, which
covered about three quarters of her arms.
�Did you get the two things I told you to get?� Justin asked her straight away as she stood by them.
�Of course!� she told him as she turned around to show her brown backpack hanging off her back over her cloak.
�Good, then you can take these parts of the tent ok?�
�Yep ok.� She said as she took them and put them into the sack.
Justin looked at the two, �Are we all ready then?�
�I am anyway.� Eiji said.
�Same here� Mina told them as she put her back pack on her back again.
�Well then let�s head off then.� Justin told them and he started to walk down the street once again.
As the three started to walk down the street, Eiji and Justin could hear Mina talking constantly to them.
�Do ye think these gloves go with my clothes? And this cloak as well..? I was trying to get something
that I thought would go with them but it was so hard to find anything good, then I found these and I
thought �what the hell� since I�m only going to be wearing them for at most two to three days I bet, then
I remembered that I should get a pants to cover the rest of my legs and that�s when I found
these black tight pants. At first I thought it was like a leather pants that prostitutes or something wear
as they looked really tight, but when I tried them on they really felt comfortable, especially on
my ass, which is kind of weird to say, but I also thought that since they were tight, they would keep
the heat in so I took them as well, I was also thinking of getting something��
�Are you glad you invited her along now?� Justin said to Eiji with a annoyed look on his
face as Mina continued to talk a way, behind them.
�We�ll get use to it�hopefully� Eiji said to him as he looked at Mina from the corner of his eye.
They soon made there way out of the town and headed down a path out into the countryside. The
fields looked very similar to Solken�s but there was something about them that Eiji thought made them
look more beautiful but couldn't tell what it was. They soon came to a fork in the road and stood looking around.
�Ok, Justin, which way to go?� Mina asked.
�To our right� Justin replied, �To the left is another mountain range and a path to
the capital of Lyncia, Lyncea City.�
Eiji looked to his right beyond the horizon he could see one or two mountains.
Dark clouds were slowly gathering over them in the now, red sky.
�Well, we better get a hurry on so then.� Eiji said to the others as he started
to walk down the path towards them.
The other two followed, catching up to him.
�It�s going to be some trip�� Justin told Eiji.
�I know�but we have to do it.� He replied.
�Well since we do�then Oubal here we come!� Mina said to them.
�Oubal here we come�� Eiji repeated in his head as he glazed into the distance, towards the mountains�
The rosy sky begun to disappear behind dark and heavy clouds as the three walked along the hilly
field path, about two miles from the fork in the road.
�Think it will rain soon?� Mina asked as she followed behind the other two looking up.
�I say so, but by the time it does we be mostly up in higher altitudes, so it be more then likely
snow we be getting.� Justin replied, tilting his head back in her direction.
�Snow��
�Yes Mina, snow�big white cold balls that can get you in the eye and really hurt you� Justin replied
now looking ahead.
�I see someone must have gotten a lot of snowballs thrown at him when he
was younger.� Eiji said.
�Well I got them back with yellow coloured ones. If you know want I mean.� Justin said with a
smile that showed he was thinking back.
�Disgusting�� Mina said with a sour look on her face.
The other two laughed as they all continued along the path.
The fields of green though began to fade away as the path now became rockier and more vertical.
Stopping at the foot of the mountain, they looked up at it, staring at the pathway which
now seemed to zigzag its way up.
�Its going to be a hard walk from here on now.� Justin said as he looked up, �All ready?�
The other two nodded and they begun to walk once again.
The travel up the rocky path, zigzagging
left and right to make there way up.
About halfway up, Eiji stopped and looked out back across the fields
they travelled through to get to the mountains.
The sun did was not going to shine down on them anymore today as they were swallowed from the shadows
of the clouds over head. The wind, which the three could hear whistling through the
air now from being so high up, blew through small cracks in the mountain making eerie sounds.
�I�m not use to this weather at all.� Mina said to Eiji as she walked up next to him.
She then stared at him as he continued to look out, �Aren�t you cold at all? You look
like your barely wearing anything.� She asked him, pointing out that he was wearing a
cloak with no hood and not wearing anything under his sleeveless top, exposing his arm from the
shoulder to his elbow, where his gloves then took over to his hand.
�Not really�� Eiji replied to her, staring out, �I�ve kind of gotten use to the
cold over the last number of days.�
He then looked up at the clouds and gave a smile, �But then I could be so numb
from the cold I mightn�t be able to feel it.�
�So you and Justin travelled in cold places besides this then I take it.� Mina asked him.
Eiji turned his head to her, still smiling but didn�t answer.
�Hey!�
The two turned to see Justin looking down at them from above.
�Hurry up will ye? I�m not going to wait for ye, you know.� He told them and
continued to climb up the pathway.
�We should hurry alright.� Eiji told Mina who now was looking at him.
�There�s going to be a thunderstorm soon anyway.� He said to her as he started
to walk on, leaving her there standing.
Mina looked out at the clouds before heading up the mountain path after them.
At the top, the three stood at the entrance to a cave heading straight into the mountain.
They ventured in slowly to the cave. It was lit well enough for the type of weather outside. Stalactites
and stalagmites covered the cave though making it hard to walk through in areas. When Eiji�s arm brushed
against one, he felt a shiver go through him and he realized then, the cave was colder then the outside.
�There�s ice behind these rocky walls� Justin said as he blew on his hands and rubbed them, his breath now visible.
Mina scrapped at the rocks of one of the stalagmites with a dagger to reveal the ice behind it.
She touched it and pushed hard against it with her hand, �It�s solid��
�The cold is just going to get worse soon as well� Eiji added, �We should try to move
quickly and stay active to keep our heat up.�
�Smartest thing I heard come from your mouth.� Justin told him, �Let�s get moving
then, ok? And keep up with each other now.�
All three soon started to increase the pace as they travelled through the cave.
It got darker as they headed in and colder as well. They soon stopped though as they heard
a noise echo through the cave from where they came.
�Thunder�� Eiji said looking back.
�That means that there�ll be some sort of blizzard out the other end when we get out.� Justin
responded to them.
�Great�I�m going to freeze up completely now.� Mina said with a moan.
�Just take it in your stride; more you think about it, more its going
to affect you.� Eiji told her, �Now come on, let�s keep up the speed!�
The three continued on through the cave. They soon began to pick up the pace and started to run
to keep themselves warm. Just before the cave became pitch dark, there was a light visible
ahead of them at the other side. But as they drew closer, they could hear the sound of
thunder and wild winds blowing.
Coming to the exit, the three stopped right outside the cave.
They were at a thin pathway along side the mountainside, and all around them were what looked
like other small mountains, all covered in snow from the blizzard blowing around.
The clouds, the mountains, everything, was of a pure but thick white, making visibility limited.
Mina put the hood of her cloak over her head as she heard the thunder in the sky above.
�Argh�my hair is going to be ruined in this storm.� Mina complained as she spat out
some snow the hit her mouth.
�Yeah well this storm isn�t going to stop because your hair will get messed up.� Justin told her
as he stepped to the pathway edge and looked below to see a valley, the bottom hidden with
the dense clouds of the blizzard.
�Oubal is to the south isn�t it?� Eiji asked Justin.
�Sure is�
�And we�re facing south aren�t we��
Justin looked up from the valley to look at the mountains ahead of him and then looked
to his left, �Yeah�I see what you mean.�
�What?� Mina asked as she now saw Eiji and Justin look to there left and followed
there stare to see what the problem was.
To the left, at the end of the mountain pathway, there was what looked to be a hanging bridge
made of rock, connecting the mountain they were on to the one across the valley. But the bridge was
broken, making the pathway now look like two cliffs, sticking out, trying to reach each other.
�It�s too big to jump across� Eiji said as he folded his arms.
�Is there any other way?� Mina asked as she looked around.
�Probably�� Justin said as he looked down the pathway and pointed down it, �We could carry
on down the mountainside, past the bridge and see if we can make it to the mountain in that
direction. But then that could end up as a long detour.�
�I see�� Mina responded to him, ��and the way the blizzard is, I bet ye think its going to get worse soon��
The two nodded in agreement to her.
�That�s out of the question so�� she said as she leaned against the mountainside now, �Well then, what
should we do?�
Eiji looked around before something caught his attention, ��Jump�
�But there�s no way we make it across you said!� Mina told him.
�We can now.� Eiji said as he pointed just below the stuck out cliff on the other mountain.
The other two stared and saw what he was pointing at.
A few feet under the left side of the cliff
across the way, there was what looked like another cliff edge, sticking out, with a path leading off it
around the mountain. The cliff didn�t stick out far, but it was wide which would make it easier to land on.
�Nice find!� Justin said patting Eiji�s back and the two headed down the pathway.
�Are ye insane?!� Mina said as she caught up to them, �Ye can kill yourselves doing this!�
�Of course we can!� Justin said as he continued to walk down the mountainside, �But we have
a better chance of dying if we take the long detour. We�ll freeze if we don�t find shelter soon.�
�Sure why not rest back in the cave then, use that for shelter!�
�That cave is surrounded by ice, Mina�� Eiji answered her, �we�ll freeze in there too. We have
to search for a cave that isn�t surrounded in ice.�
The three walked out to the edge of the rocky cliff and looked down at the one across from them.
�I�ll go first.� Eiji told Justin as he took a deep breath and lined himself up.
�Ye really can�t be serious, can ye?� Mina asked as she put her hand up to block the snow
from hitting her face.
Eiji soon turned and walked towards her.
�Don�t worry� He said, putting his hand on her shoulder and continued to walk behind her.
Turning around, he stopped for a few seconds before he started to run.
Reaching the edge, he jumped through the air and easily fell onto the other side, almost eight feet
from where he was.
He walked away from the edge and looked up to see Justin smirking at him before he, himself, walked
away from the cliff he was on. Seconds later, Eiji saw him jump through the air and land right next
to him.
The two smiled at each other and looked up at Mina across the way.
�Come on!� Eiji shouted across to her.
Mina shook her head in refusal, �No way! I�m not going to jump across at all!�
�Fine then, it was nice knowing ya!� Justin said up to her as he walked away up the snowy
path at his side.
�H-H-Hey!!� Mina shouted at him, stamping the ground with her foot.
She soon had a staring competition with the other two across the way but eventually gave in.
�Argh�!� she moaned out, �Fine!! I�ll jump! But if I don�t make it, I�ll kill ye!� she said
and started to walk from the edge.
�Did she just say�?� Eiji asked Justin, silently laughing, as they watched her.
�She�ll have a tough time doing that if she doesn�t make it.� Justin told him
Facing the cliff, Mina took a deep breath and ran as fast as she could. Coming to the edge, she jumped
as far as she could up into the air, closing her eyes as well.
She kept her eyes closed, even after she knew she wasn�t falling anymore.
�Next time you jump�keep your eyes open ok?�
Mina opened her eyes to see Eiji kneeling down next to her with a smile.
�Let�s go� he told her and the two stood and followed Justin who watched them from afar.
The three followed the path around the small mountains. The snow was now becoming thick with each
step they took making it hard to walk fast.
The mountain path also became narrow at times that they had to lean against the rocks and
sidestep there way.
As they journeyed, the blizzard began to get worse and was making it almost impossible for them to see at
times, along with the darkening night sky as well. But following the path around, they finally stopped at
a cliff edge and looked down to see a valley below them which had a river completely
frozen over, and down in the valley, they could see a cave.
Carefully making there way down into the valley, they walked across the ice, slipping
constantly, and into the cave.
Once inside, Mina gave a shiver and ran over to a cave wall and started to scrape
at it with one of her daggers.
�It�s not made of ice!!� she told the other two as she threw her hands up in the air.
�Yeah�great�, Justin looked around, �The cave�s small, but a tent can be put up easily alright.�
�Well that settles that then� Eiji said clapping and rubbing his hands together before
looking outside the cave, �Just about time we found one too.�
�Ok then� Justin kneeled down and put his backpack on the ground, �Let�s get this tent up then.�
They all threw their backpacks on the ground and started taking out the parts of the tent. After
a few minutes the tent was finally up.
�There! All done�� Justin said and left out a big yawn, �Just in time because
I�m wrecked. A boat across the ocean, fighting an over grown octopus and walking about twenty miles
with someone who is led with his stomach�� he eyed Eiji, ��it tires your average person.�
�So your only average then, I thought you would never say that about yourself.� Eiji told
him with a smirk on his face as he looked outside the cave.
He glazed up through the blizzard at the night sky, but couldn�t pick out a star in
it as it was too hard to find them.
�Well we all have to bring ourselves back down to earth something, even if it�s only
for a few seconds.� Justin told him as he zipped open the tent and went inside, �I�m heading in now. Ye
better get some rest too as soon as ye can.�
Eiji and Mina looked, before heading inside.
�Feels a lot different to be sleeping on the ground instead of a nice bed.� Mina said
as she lied back in her sleeping bag.
The three were now all in there own sleeping bags inside the tent, the wind only
just a noise now to them. Eiji was in the middle of the two, with Justin, who was lying on his side with his
eyes closed, to his left and Mina, who was looking at the roof of the tent, to his right.
Eiji lied on his back as he and Mina talked to each other.
�Yeah, but it�s a lot better then using a rock as a pillow and having no sleeping bag at the same time.�
�Did you have to do that before?�
�Yeah, around four days ago now.�
�Ahhhh��
There was silence for a few seconds before Mina talked once again.
�What do you think Oubal will be like?�
�I don�t know�I haven�t anything pictured in mind. What do you think?� Eiji asked Mina
but before she could answer, Justin butted in.
�You know the faster you go to sleep the faster ye get to see it, and so will I.�
�Time doesn�t move any faster for you if we fall asleep you know Justin.� Eiji told him.
�Really now�� Justin said in a sarcastic manner his back still to the others, �Well you see, it does, as
to get to sleep you need to be peaceful, and to be peaceful you need to have silence, and to have
silence you need no talking, so if ye shut up, ye can fall to sleep, which then I can finally fall asleep and let the morning come faster
to me. So�Shut up and go to fucking sleep!!�
�Hmph�! Fine then!� Mina said as she turned on her side and closed her eyes, her back against the others.
Eiji just lied on his back still and closed his eyes, trying to drift off, but after a good
few minutes, he opened them and just stared up at the roof of the tent, listening to the sound
of the wind blowing outside and nothing else.
Soon, the sound of Justin quietly snoring could be heard telling him that he was asleep.
Not keeping track of time, Eiji continued to lie there, motionless, letting his mind wonder
as he just didn�t feel like sleeping at the moment.
Well over an hour had passed before he heard Mina turning in her sleep, but looking over, he saw
that she too was lying on her back with her eyes open and looking up at the tent�s roof.
�Can�t sleep, eh?� Eiji said as he looked at her.
Mina turned to him before looking back up, �Not really�You can�t either?�
�Yeah�� Eiji said as he looked up, �Just thinking� about too much.�
�I hate when that happens. Your mind just can�t seem to stop wondering at times
and we just can�t sleep because of it.�
Eiji gave a soft laugh, �True.�
There was a short silence as they listened to the thunder and the wild blowing wilder then before.
�Why do you want to learn about the Lunar crystals.� Mina asked him, still looking up.
Eiji looked over at her before staring back up as well, �So I can find them�and keep them safe.�
�Safe?�
�Yeah�About eight days ago now, I found myself waking up on top of a mountain in Solken. I can�t remember
anything though, nothing about me or my past, just my name, age and tiny things like
that. The only thing that was in my head was to protect the Lunar crystals, and I don�t even know
what they are or why I should even be doing it. But I have nothing else to go on by, so I�m just
going to search for them. It was by chance that I bumped into Justin, if I didn�t I
probably wouldn�t be here�lying down on a sleeping bag, in a tent, in the middle of a cold
mountain range.� Eiji told her before pulling the cover up further on him, covering his mouth with it.
�Yeah, and if I didn�t tag along with ye, I probably be heading in some
random direction, probably Lyncea.� Mina told him.
Eiji�s eyes glazed over at her before he poked his mouth out from
under the cover, �So�why are you travelling about then?�
�It�s a long story.� She told him.
Eiji now looked over at Justin who was still snoring softly, �Do tell. It could be such
a long story that it bore me to sleep with. Now that would be helpful.�
�Oh thanks�� Mina said to him sarcastically before she continued on.
�I was born in a town called Janoul, on the continent of Ohila. It was mostly a fishing town
as it�s located on the south coast. When I was young I use to spend a lot of time at
the harbor pier watching my father and the other fishermen fish, eventually I begun to fish as well. We
use to catch a good amount of fish and we brought them to the restaurant where my mother worked in. She
was a chef and I also learned how to cook from her, and since I had an interest in it
as well, I use to help around the restaurant on the days I wasn�t fishing.�
�Wow�!� Eiji said as he listened, �It sounds like a really nice and peaceful life.�
�It was�� Mina told him, �But although it was nice, there was always something
missing, something that made me feel empty.�
�Empty?�
��I spent all those years in the town, never venturing outside it, to other
continents. For many nights I stared out at the sea, wondering what things were out beyond
its waves. But even though I always imagined what could be out there, it wasn�t until one day, almost
nine months ago, when something happened. One morning, I got up early to go fishing before the rest, but when
I made it to the harbor, I found a man unconscious on the beach. He woke up and saw me. He told
me his name was Jia and that he got caught in a storm out at sea. I brought him into the
town and we took care of him, treating his injuries.�
Mina paused as she brushed her hair to the side of her face before continuing.
�While he was recovering, I use to go out fishing, catching them and then cooking
them for him. He soon begun to like my cooking and always preferred me to
cook for him instead of anyone else.�
�Looks like someone liked you then.� Eiji told her with a smile.
Mina laughed, �Maybe, but I never thought about him like that really. He was twenty and I was
seventeen as well so� But anyway, after about three months he was able to move around. He decided
to stay with us though for another four months as he loved the town and went fishing everyday
with us as well. We all got on really well with him; he was always helpful to everyone. But I knew
he wasn�t going to stay with us forever though. It wasn�t though, until the night
of my eighteenth birthday that he told me he was leaving. I spent the whole night with him staring
out at the sea, talking, while my family and the townspeople were celebrating in the restaurant.�
Mina turned to Eiji and pointed at her gold bracelet on her left arm, the one with the bird, and also
pointed at her daggers.
�He gave me this bracelet and these daggers, the exact ones he trained me with for the four
months he could move around, as a present for my birthday. He told me that he was travelling
the world, searching for a crystal, that when held up to a full moon, shined silver. Although he
saw and experienced many different things while travelling, he never found that crystal, but he
wasn�t going to give up on it. He was the one that ended up telling me that I should go
out and see the world and all the wonderful things it has in it.�
Mina paused before continuing, �He left then the next day, on one of our boats, heading south
to Taliena. The town soon went back to normal after he left, but since his departure, there
was now and even emptier hole inside me. So after a month had gone by, I finally decided on travelling
the world myself. When I told my parents, they weren�t too impressed and were against my decision, not
wanting me to leave. But my heart was set on it no matter what so, the next
morning I got on a boat and headed off by myself, in the same direction as Jia.
I soon arrived on the shores of Tailena in the
harbor town of Roula Bay. I travelled from there across the sea to the south-west of Solken. I travelled
then straight across the continent to the east coast by any means, walking, asking people to travel
with them, riding with them, sometimes hitching one without them knowing. Eventually, I
made my way to Sand Bay town, where I ended up bumping into you, and here I am��
Eiji sat up, opened his bag and took out a bottle of water, taking a drink from
it, while Mina kept him in her sights.
�So that�s why you were travelling the world then.� He said as he finished drinking and
lied back down. �So your looking for this crystal then, aren�t you.�
Mina smiled at him before sitting up, holding her knees with her hands, and stared
through the small hole in the tent�s opening at the snow raging outside, �Yeah, guess
I am�but not to find Jia, I want to find it, to see if tales or legends of certain
things can be actually real.�
�Real�?� Eiji asked her.
��I�ve never been one to be amused by tales of things like ghosts existing or of treasures
or anything like that, that feel out of the ordinary for humans. Sure it�s the same with the Lunar crystals that your searching for. I don�t really
believe that they exist, well, I won�t until I see it for myself that is.�
Eiji sat up now, with his hands on the ground behind him keeping him up.
Mina looked at him as he sat up, �Do you believe they exist?�
�I�do. I believe they exist alright, because for some reason, I feel like I know
they do, I think I�ve actually have seen one.�
The sound of the thunder outside distracted them for a second.
�Ah but I could have been seen
things, or dreaming�one or the other.� Eiji said as he laughed.
�Bet you were seeing things� Mina told him before she lied back down, �Well I think I�m going
to try and get some shut eye now, tired enough from talking.�
Eiji lied down as well and gave a yawn, �Yeah true, well make sure you sleep now.�
�Sure will.�
Silence filled the tent as the two closed there eyes and finally drifted off to sleep.
Beams of sunlight, shone into the cave, catching Eiji�s eyes and waking him up.
Sitting open, Eiji rubbed his eyes and looked around. The tent was opened and staring out, Eiji
could see out to see that the blizzard that went on through the night has now
stopped. Looking to his right, he saw Justin�s bed empty.
�Morning?� Eiji heard behind him as he turned to see Mina waking and sitting up as well.
Eiji nodded, �Sure is.�
�And you know what that means.�
The two looked to the tent�s opening, where the voice came from, to see Justin poking his head in.
�Come on, let�s get this put away and move on, it�s good weather to travel in outside.�
The group packed away the tent with parts going ito each of the backpacks and walked outside
the cave.
They all looked around at the mountains around them, while standing on the frozen river. The
sky was clear, with clouds far and sacre. Looking down the valley which the frozen river
followed, they could see the sun in the sky, shining strongly.
�Let�s follow the valley down ok? We should be able to find a place to get back up above us and
continue on through the mountains.� Justin told them as he started to walk down the valley, staying
close to the side, keeping his hand on the rocky wall of it, �Stay near the edge now so you
don�t slip.�
The three set off once again to make there way to Oubal, with Eiji and Mina following Justin
down the valley. They soon found a steep hill up the valleyside and getting to the top, they
continued the path through and around the mountains. Travelling was a lot easier this time as there was
no blizzard or storms, instead, only a strong but nice brezze blowing through.
After a few hours, the three stopped at a cliff edge to finally see a land of green surrounding
there view ahead. Forests popping out along the land they could see before them, about hundred
feet below in elevation. Very few mountain ranges could be seen, some only really looking like big hills from where they were standing. To there
right, they could see Lyncia�s coast, makng its way south in an almost crescent shaped way. With
there eyes travelling down the coast, the three could see smoke coming from beyond the trees of a forest.
Eiji looked out with his had above his eyes, �Fire?�
�Could be� Justin told him as he looked out as well, �But I�m guessing that that�s Oubal.�
�That�s Oubal?�
�That�s what I�m thinking anyway. Oubal is actually really a normal village place
now, it doesn�t really move with the times if you know what I mean.�
Justin patted Eiji�s back before they continued making there way, now down from the mountainrange.
It wasn�t long till they were walking on normal rocky ground instead of snow. Walking down
the pathway away from the mountain, they soon came to a long and wide bridge that stretched out over a huge
waterfall, that plummeled down into the river below that flowed out to the sea. Stepping onto
the bridge, the three could see almost at the other side of the bridge, two people standing
talking to each other. As they walked nearer they saw that the two noticed them and they
looked at them as they walked forward. They were both dressed unsual for travellers or for anyone that matter.
On the left was a girl, who was wearing a long white scarf around her that also wrapped
around her head, letting only her green eyes, nose and mouth barely visible but her right eye seemed
hidden as a piece of her hair, purple, hung down over it. Her whole outfit, pants, belt, and top were made of
different shades of purple and dark blue, and were accompanied by some yellow stars and
crescent shapes and she wore black boots, tucked into her pants. Her whole body was completely
covered with her clothes. On each side of her waist, she had dagger, but the shape of the holder for them
seemed unusal.
To her right was a boy, and from the fact he was smaller and that his face was boyish, told that
he was younger then her. Apart from his white skin and green eyes, every part of him was of a
shade of brown. His hair, his scarf, which blew somewhat in the wind, his top which
was short sleeved, his belt and his pants and boots, which were also tucked into his pants. Attached
to his belt was a sword that hung down almost tipping the ground.
Seeing there weapons, Eiji clinched his fists tightly and Mina put her hands down by her
daggers, preparing themselves in case the two attacked, since they were blocking the way
across the bridge. Justin spent up and went on front of the both Eiji and Mina and stopped walking, making
them stop as well. All of them started to eye each other as they all stood there but as they did, the
boy and girl�s eyes constantly drifted there look to Eiji. They soon stopped staring though and
stepped to the side, allowing the three to walk pass.
Justin nodded in thanks which made the girl smirk and close he eyes, the boy just continued
to look at them. Eiji followed Mina and Justin passed them and as he passed, he saw out
of the corner of his eye, the girl�s eyes opening, staring at him. He didn�t even take three steps passed
when he heard the girl say something that made his eyes wide.
�So you�re finally awake��
Eiji turned immediately along with the others, as they heard her too, but
his eyes widen more when the two weren�t there.
�What the�?� Justin said out as he scaned around him, �They just vanished?!�
Mina looked at Eiji, who had his back turned to all of them as he continued to stare back down
the way they came across the bridge, �Do you know them?�
Eiji responded after a short while, �No�but they know me it seems.
�Finally awake�� Mina repeated, �What did they mean by that?�
�No idea. Unless, they were there when I woke up on that mountain. It felt like
there was someone there alright.�
�Somebody besides that man?� Justin asked him as he now finished looking down at the river below them.
�Probably.� Eiji looked down the waterfall, �well it�s not doing any good standing
here. Let�s keep moving.�
The three slowly begun to continue walking across the bridge.
While walking, Mina looked confused at them, �How could you feel someone?�
�You never got that feeling of feeling someone�� Justin said before continuing
the sentence, ��in like there presence I mean.�
�No�can�t say I have� she told him, before
smiling, �but I have felt someone before.�
�Really now. Well you know forcing them to be touched doesn�t count really, its
just cruel.� Justin said as he walked faster.
�Hey! What�s that suppose to me?!�
Mina started to chase Justin as he ran away from her. Eiji watched them before he
looked back across the bridge, remembering the eyes of that girl.
Finally making there way across, there feet now welcomed they softer greener terrain
rather then the rocky and snowy one they spent more then a day traveling on. The path
begun to elevate down as the ventured into vibrant, bright green forest.
Small birds of bright blue and yellow colours flew from tree to tree, whisting to the sound
of the ocean that could be seen barely through gaps between the trees in the distance to there right.
Catching view of the shoreline at times, they could see the sun shining brightly down, making the water
glisting and the forest bright. Along with the birds and the seagulls, it almost felt of
a tropical feeling.
They soon found themselves coming out of shadows of the trees, onto a sandy beach that
stretched out far into the ocean. They walked along it taking in the wonderful nature around them. It wasn't
long though till they ventured back up to the grassy lands and into the forest that
continued away from the coast. With the bird�s whistles starting to fade, it wasn�t long
till the smell of smoke started to finally catch there attention�
