Episode 2: Junk Town

It was relatively normal day in Junk Town, the whole town bustled with mechanics and part scavengers, working to repair any machines that they could fix or sell parts that were worth something.

Junk Town was run by the Machine Guild, a group of mechanics and engineers that make use of the junk that was mysteriously left here.

Not far from Junk Town, just east of the town was a recently discovered ruin that the Chief decided to send one of their best to check out.

A young Grassrunner mechanic was busy at work trying to get an old worn transporter device to work. Using one of his tools to meld some wires back together since the old wires had to be replaced since the old ones were literally unusable.

He had short auburn hair that only fell half-way at his neck and warm hazel eyes with a few freckles surrounding his nose with thin-framed glasses. He also looked fairly young, only twenty years old. He wore a black shirt with a short-sleeved green mechanic jacket over the black shirt. The ends of the shirt was tucked in his baggy oil-stained pants that looked too big on him, but managed to keep together with a belt around his waist. He also had black finger-less gloves that reached to his wrists with brown hard boots. He wore a brown newsboy hat with a white feather with a blue tip attached to the side of it over his head with his two dog-like ears hanging freely out of the holes that he made in the hat for his ears.

"Okay, that looks good. So that should connect the power back to the control panel above. Now I just need to figure out how to work the darn thing."

As the control panel was brought to life by the mechanic bringing power back online, a crackled computerized voice started to come to life.

"Attention, please stand by for incoming arrival from the Caer Xhan's Orbital station, the 'Sky Fortress'. I repeat, please stand by-"

"Wait, something's coming in?!" It took the mechanic by surprise, worried that it might be a monster that was clever enough to work out how to use the device, he tried to cut the power, but was too late as the incoming arrivals had just materialized.

"Whoa!" Mythra squeaked in surprise as both her and Teepo landed rather harshly to the ground. She kept hold of the small fox-squirrel creature in her arms to keep it safe from the landing.

"That was a bumpy ride, but I can't believe it actually worked!" Teepo commented.

"We...We really did it! Whooohoo! We're finally out of that dingy old station!" Mythra cheered with joy.

"Uhhh...What...just happened?" The Grassrunner mechanic looked so lost.

It was only now that Teepo and Mythra realized that they weren't alone in the room.

"Hey, another person, and he has doggy ears! Now I know we're not on the Sky Fortress anymore."

'Doggy?!' The mechanic felt a little insulted by being called a 'doggy' when he looked mostly human.

It felt weird yet nostalgic for Teepo, he long thought that he would always remain in that glass prison called Eden for the rest of his life, but he here was, finally free and no longer attached to Myria's chain. To think that it took her own daughter to keep Teepo from going mad or suicidal even from being isolated in that fortress. Even though he had been long been away from the world he once knew, he still was more well-suited than Mythra to speak with people.

"I know this will sound very weird to you-but we don't know where we are...Do you know?"

"..." The mechanic simply looked dumb-founded still, but he composed himself enough to answer. "Well, you're in Junk Town or just outside of it and this is called the Urkan region."

"Urkan Region...? That's all across the ocean! I can't believe we traveled so far in just a second!" Mythra realized.

"We lucked out, at least she won't be able to find us so easily."

"Mother has been spending a lot of time inside the station recently, I don't think she'll be chasing after us directly, but she'll think of something I'm sure of it..." Mythra frowned.

"True, we best be careful." Teepo nodded.

"Hey, can someone tell me what's going on here?! Where did you come from and how on earth did you just magically appear using that portal that I've only just finished repairing?" The mechanic cried out in frustration.

"Oh that, well...it's a bit of a long story." Teepo warned.

"Well, I've just finished my job here so we can go to my house to talk if you want some privacy. I'll need to tell the chief first about what happened though, I hope you don't mind."

Mythra and Teepo looked at each other and then back at the stranger before them. "Alright, we'll do that. We need to know more about the area anyway." Mythra agreed.

"Great! I have some questions of my own, but they can wait." The mechanic smiled. "Oh, name's Fritz by the way, nice to meet you. If you follow me, I'll take you to my house, mind your step, the place is a literal junk heap so it's easy to fall over stuff." He then introduced himself before offering to guide them to his home.

Taking his warning to heart, they avoided any random junk parts that had been scattered across the junk pile as they were guided to Junk Town.

Once they arrived at Fritz's home in Junk Town, Fritz told them to wait here while he went to inform the chief, who they assumed was in charge of this place about what happened at the portal room.

While waiting, Mythra and Teepo took this time to really sink in what they had just accomplished.

"We're really outside, this is amazing! I've never seen the sky look so blue!" Mythra beamed with excitement. "Say, Teepo? Are you familiar with the Urkan region?"

Teepo shook his head. "To be honest, I've never been here before myself. I would have never imagined that there was a town literally made out of junk."

"I wonder how so many machines ended up on this side of the world...Mother wanted to prevent people from creating their own machines again to stop them from creating weapons of destruction, right?" Mythra wondered.

"Not to mention, no one on this side should be able to cross the ocean." Teepo didn't really know himself how the ruined machines ended up washed up here.

The creature from before jumped on to the open window next to Mythra which brought her back to something she had been thinking about.

"Hmmm...I wonder what kind of name I should give you? I can't keep calling you little guy."

"I don't know where it came from but if it wasn't for that creature guiding us there, we would have never known about that portal room's existence."

"You're telling me. I've lived in that place all my life and not once had I noticed that sealed off room. You're a lucky charm for us, you know that?" Mythra smiled at the small fox-squirrel.

It have an inquisitive look as it tilt its head at her. "Ooh, I think I got it! I'll call you Zaffie! That means 'Luck' in the old tongue that Caer Xhan's people used to speak."

The small creature now known as Zaffie gave an acknowledged nod as it accepted the new name.

"I still think that guy is oddly intelligent for a small animal-if it is even that." Teepo noted.

"I guess they had to be super smart to survive the station's dangers. There were a lot of monsters in places where Mother cared not to maintain."

"Adapt and survive huh?" Teepo quietly said to himself.

Around then they heard the creaking noise of the door open and thought it was Fritz, but they were met with a new face who looked just as surprised to see them.

It was a girl who looked belong from the same race as Rei, she had silver hair that was tied in a loose ponytail and golden-yellow cat-like eyes. She wore a white skin-sight bodysuit that had short sleeves and the bottom half only ended to her thighs. But she also wore some blue worn shorts over the bodysuit and a torn jean vest with no sleeves at all. Her hands were bandaged up to her wrists but her fingers were still freely visible and brown fur-lined hunter boots.

"What the?! Who are you? Why are you in Fritz's house? Are you robbers?" The tiger girl shouted and glared at them, getting into a fighter's stance with her fists clenched in a martial art pose.

"No! You misunderstand, we're not intruders, we were invited here! Please believe us!" Mythra tried to calm down the angry tiger girl.

"You think I'm going to be convinced that easy?! I wasn't born yesterday ya know." She countered.

"Relax, Xiao. She's telling the truth." Fritz thankfully returned in time before things got out of control.

"Oh, Fritz! Where the heck were you? I've went to hunt for fish for a few hours and I come back to find these folks in your house?"

"Sorry, I had to go talk to the chief about our two new arrivals here. Apparently they came from across the outer sea."

"The Outer Sea?! But that's-how's that possible? No one could last in ocean!" The girl known as Xiao appeared shocked at this.

"That's what I'm hoping these two will clear up with me." Fritz answered Xiao before turning back to Teepo and Mythra. "Sorry about that, let me introduce you to Xiao, she's essentially freeloading at my place and I haven't been able to get her to leave yet."

"Geez, do you have to make it sound so bad? I already told you, I don't plan to leave until I pay back my debt to you. It's a Woren thing." Xiao lightly argued back.

"So you keep telling me..." Fritz simply shook his head. "And what debt? All I did was clear your name after you got falsely accused for stealing parts from Steel Beach."

"See? You could have ignored that but you didn't. There's no way I couldn't try to pay you back for saving my tail back there, I would be spending time in Wyndia's jail if you hadn't shown up."

"As if you couldn't escape from that place by yourself. I know you're perfectly capable of breaking out." Fritz countered.

"You're totally missing the point here." Xiao sighed.

"Um...I don't mean to butt in but...you said you wanted to hear our side of the story?" Mythra managed to intervene their conversation.

"Oh right, sorry! We got carried away." Fritz apologized.

"Then why not talk about this over dinner? I made a killing at that fishing spot today, look at this!" Xiao beamed and showed her success by throwing her fish net in front of everyone.

"That's...a lot of fish." Teepo bluntly stated.

"You must be an amazing angler." Mythra praised.

"Heh heh, nah, never wielded a fishing rod in my life. I used my good ol' Woren instincts to grab the fish myself." Xiao grinned.

'Wait, then Rei could have done this as well? I guess that explains why he's always been good at hunting.' Teepo wondered in his mind.

"I never had fish before, I can't wait to try!" Mythra excitedly cheered.

"Wait, seriously? You never had fish? Girl, you've missed out. Time to remedy that I think." Xiao blinked in surprise, she then took a gentle grab at Mythra's arm and brought her into the small kitchen to show her how to cook fish.

Teepo and Mythra proceeded to tell their story to Xiao and Fritz over the fish dinner that Xiao cooked, Mythra helped out somewhat, mostly just assisting Xiao since she had never cooked anything before coming here.

All the food at the orbital fortress had always been synthesized and pre-made through machines, but there was definitely a difference in taste between them. Mythra found the fish absolutely delicious, it had been better than anything back home.

"So that's what happened...Wow...I've got to say, I hadn't really expected such a story. Are you really serious about you being a Dragon?" Fritz commented after hearing the whole story.

"I could change right now if you want proof." Teepo's eyebrows twitched in annoyance.

"Hey! Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't believe you. You don't strike me as the type to lie, but you have to understand, we're talking about an extinct race here, you're seriously telling us that there's still Dragons around in this age?"

"I know it seems very ludicrous since they were killed off nearly five hundred years ago, but he's telling the truth." Mythra defended Teepo.

"Forgive me for being a skeptic but I'll believe that when I see it. Still, even if you really are a dragon, I have no intentions of exposing your secret. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I doubt anyone would believe me anyways." Fritz stated.

"Your reaction is understandable, but what would we gain from lying?" Teepo questioned.

Fritz shrugged. "I dunno, you tell me. I doubt revealing yourself as a dragon would be a good idea-given people are still afraid of them-thanks to those tales that parents tell their kids so they'd behave."

"No offense Mythra, but your mother sounds like one of those obsessively protective mothers to the point where it's unhealthy. Goddess or no, that's just creepy." Xiao bluntly stated her thoughts.

"Well, you're not wrong." Mythra sighed sadly. "The thing is that I know she's hiding something, and I really think she lied about how the war really began. I want to know the truth-the real truth-I know it's out here somewhere."

"So, let me get this straight: The dragons were never planning to destroy the world and the Goddess essentially lied to her own people so they would be convinced that the genocide of the Brood was justified. This Goddess then proceeded to fabricate the whole thing to demonize them even more if any did survive?" Fritz summarized.

"We don't know. That's why we plan to find out the truth for ourselves, Mythra is not liar, so if she thinks that there's more to the story than what we're being told, then I believe her. I trust her more than the Goddess anyway."

"Thanks, Teepo." Mythea thanked softly.

"Well-like I said-you don't strike me as liars or con-artists, but I got to admit, this is pretty hard to swallow for me. I'm just a mechanic who's good at fixing machines, so I can't really say if there is a real god-or goddess-as you guys pointed out. For all we know-this Goddess could turn out to be some fake impostor pretending to be a divine being." Fritz voiced his thoughts before taking a drink from his tea that Xiao had brewed up earlier. "But hey-like I said-I'm a skeptic so you don't need to take my word."

"If there is such a divine being like that exists, why doesn't she do more to help? And why would such power exist in the first place? And wouldn't she technically be just as much as threat as they were? Why should she be the exception? It makes no sense. There's definitely something not right about that narrative she's telling you. Even I can see that." Xiao voiced her opinion.

"Those are my thoughts too. There's a lot of things that makes no sense. That's why for the longest time, I've always had doubts about her words." Mythra nodded.

"Actually...now that I think about it...I don't think Teepo here is the last dragon alive. Wasn't there that story about a dragon plaguing the Dauna Mines that made its way to Junk Town a few years back?" Xiao recalled.

"As far as I know, that's still an on-going incident. While the story had only reached Junk Town a few years ago, the Dauna Mines incident has been going on for I think...seven years?" Fritz answered.

Teepo became alert at this. "A dragon at Dauna Mines? Are you sure about this?!"

"Well yeah, I'm certain of it. Most have written it off as just an exaggerated miner's tale though, why?" Fritz blinked.

"That must be Ryu!" Teepo clicked.

"That's odd, didn't Mother tell you where he was?" Mythra asked.

"Looking back on it...no she didn't tell me, she only told me that he's alive that he might come to the Sky Fortress, but why would he be in the Dauna Mines?"

"Let's find out." Mythra stated. "We should go there and see the mines for ourselves, besides, if it is Ryu, then this is the perfect for you! You guys can finally be reunited after so long!"

"...How would he react knowing that...I'm the same as him?"

Mythra shook her head. "I think you're worrying over nothing. From the way you built him up, I think he'd be happy to know that you're alive more than anything." Mythra reassured.

"You...might have a problem getting to the Dauna region." Fritz warned.

Both Teepo and Mythra looked confused and waited for the Grassrunner mechanic to explain more.

"Well, it's like this; there's a checkpoint that connects the Rhapala region to the Wyndia region, you need a passport in order to get across that checkpoint and those are only distributed by those who has the Wyndian royal family's approval. Everyone in the Machine Guild gets a passport thanks to the Chief who takes care of all the paperwork needed to get one."

"Of course it couldn't be that easy," Teepo sighed. "I suppose we couldn't just borrow a passport?"

"I'm afraid not. Security at checkpoints had gotten more tighter since seven years ago, after the Princess of Wyndia got kidnapped by a gang of thugs." Fritz shook his head. "Even if you were to borrow someone's passport, they might mistake you guys for stealing the passport instead, so I wouldn't take the risk."

"Then...what can we do to get across?"

"Can't ya just use one of those portal thingies to zoom across?" Xiao suggested.

"Xiao, it's not that simple. First you would need to know the coordinates to the next portal-which might not even be working-and even then the portal we just found outside Junk Town seems to only be used for transferring supplies to and from that orbital station Teepo and Mythra here just told us about."

"Well that's out of the question then." Teepo sighed in defeat.

"Hmm...Unless..." Fritz thought an idea that might work and got up from his seat. "I'm gonna try talking with the Chief about something. This might just work if I can convince him."

Before he left, he turned to Xiao. "I'll leave them to you, Xiao. I'll be back soon." Fritz told the Woren girl before he exited the house.

"So, I guess if you guys do plan on going to Dauna Mine, you're gonna need some weapons, there's a lot of monsters roaming about and I don't think magic will cut it for all of them." Xiao turned to the duo.

"Oh! That's right, we didn't really bring anything to protect ourselves did we?" Mythra jumped in realization of their rash mistake.

"It just means we're going to have to get some weapons from this town. Problem is, we literally have no Zenny on us." Teepo answered.

"Lucky for you, with Fritz being a member of the Machine guild and being a friend of his, you should be able to get those weapons for free."

"Wait, seriously?"

"Indeed! C'mon, I'll show you to the right guy!" Xiao nodded and excitedly got up.

"I feel bad for exploiting Fritz like this, but since we have no Zenny, we don't have much of a choice." Teepo admitted.

Following Xiao to the weapon shop in Junk Town, it turns out Xiao was right about getting the weapons for free by just mentioning Fritz to the weapon's merchant.

"Oh, ya'll friends of Fritz? By all means help yourselves! Fritz is one of our best guild members, smart lad, we were able to repair a lot of machines thanks to him, which helped our town out a lot." The weapon merchant easily agreed when Xiao explained things to them.

"Wow, I never knew he was so well-versed in fixing machines. I bet he could fix up the Sky Fortress." Mythra thoughtfully noted.

"Hmmm...So what kind of weapon do you use, Mythra?" Xiao asked.

"Well...I do remember that when I was younger, I made a bow made out of the wood that was in Eden by following a book how to carve one. I got really good at aiming with a bow too...but when my Mother found out...she took it away and forbid from making any more of them."

"Geez, that's harsh. Well, she's not here to tell you what to do now, so knock yourself out!" Xiao cringed then patted her back with a surprising amount of force that nearly made Mythra fall over.

"How about this then? This looks durable enough to last." Teepo suggested, showing Mythra a bow made out of metal, but the craftsmanship and design of the bow was certainly made it a level above the the rest.

"Thank you, Teepo! It looks great, let me see how it feels." Mythra thanked then proceeded to test the bow out, testing the string and the bow itself, after a few tests, Mythra nodded with a bright smile. "Yeah, this is perfect! Hopefully I still remember how to aim, it had been a long time since then."

"Hmmm, you know what? I think you need a new outfit too-no offense-but your clothes are kind of restricting for the kind of the weapon you're using. C'mon the Armour shop is this way. You just hang out here, Teepo. We'll be back soon~!" Xiao grabbed Mythra's arm again and pulled her away.

"Ah! H-hold on there Xiao!"

"...?" Teepo looked puzzled but shrugged and returned to looking at the various swords that were in stock. He hadn't used a sword since he was a child, but hopefully his memory would be good enough to recall how to use one even now he's an adult.

As the minutes flew by, Teepo finally found a blade that he felt was right for him, giving it a few feign swings to test the blade, he made his choice. "I'll take this one-oh and the bow that my friend just took off with."

"Sure, good thing you got the benefit of a Machine Guild member for a friend eh?" The merchant nodded.

"We didn't really come prepared. Sorry about this, we would have paid if we had the money for it." Teepo apologized.

"Ah don't sweat it, a friend of Fritz is a friend of the Machine Guild. Give my regards to the kid, will ya?"

"Ah...sure." Teepo slowly nodded. 'It was pretty lucky that we met Fritz first.'

"Teepo! Look at what Xiao chose for me!" Mythra's usual bubbly voice made Teepo turn to face her.

She really did have a new wardrobe. She wore a white ranger tunic with a hooded cape attached around the neck that was kept together by a broach in the shape of the teardrop. She wore white tights and brown soft leather ranger boots with mutiple belts wrapped around her waist. She really did look like an adventurer or mercenary now than a daughter of a Goddess.

"Heh heh. Do I have good fashion sense or not?" Xiao grinned, brimming with pride at her work.

"Well, what do you think?" Mythra asked with a hopeful look on her face.

"I..." Teepo was at a loss for words at first, Mythra looked really good in those clothes, it almost seemed as if they were made for her. When he realized that he had been staring rather dumbly, he coughed to compose himself while hiding a faint blush that threatened to show up around his cheeks. "You look pretty good in it. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were just a normal person making a living."

"Heh heh, thanks. That's really what I was going for. I doubt even Mother would recognize me like this! It's the perfect disguise~!" Mythra beamed and turned to Xiao. "I feel bad for you paying for me Xiao but I deeply appreciate it and I love them. Thank you." She bowed respectfully.

"Don't mention it. You really do suit those clothes though, but it helps that they'll also help you move around better when fighting and travelling long distances. Trust me on this, I've been roaming for a really long time."

"You like the new clothes too, right Zaffie?" Mythra asked the small fox-squirrel animal who was resting comfortably on her shoulder who squeaked in approval.

"Hey! I finally found you. I've been looking all over Junk Town!" Fritz arrived, approaching them a brisk pace.

"Is something wrong?" Xiao asked.

"No, not really. The Chief wanted to talk with you two for some reason, so he asked me to bring you guys to him." Fritz shook his head.

"I see. Then we better not make him wait, we should go see him." Mythra nodded.

"By the way...did you change out of those robes? The new look suits you." Fritz noticed.

Mythra nodded with a smile. "Xiao picked them out for me."

"What can I say? I've got style~" Xiao smirked.

Fritz shrugged. "Well, follow me then. The main building for the guild is this way."

They left the weapon and Armour store building to head for the main office of the Machine Guild, where the guild master was waiting.

"So, you two are the ones that Fritz picked up from that ruined building we just uncovered from the junk pile underneath it." The Chief glanced at the two, his arms crossed as he assessed them.

"Ah yes, we're very grateful for Fritz's help." Mythra started.

"Hmmm...I'd like to speak to these two alone, do you mind kids?" The Chief turned to Fritz and Xiao who were standing nearby.

"Huh? Why do you want to talk them privately, Chief?" Fritz asked curiously.

"It's about what you asked me earlier. Trust me on this."

Fritz slowly nodded. "Okaaay. We'll be waiting outside, let's go Xiao."

"Good luck guys, this guy takes a lot of convincing to get his approval." Xiao warned before following Fritz out of the Guild office.

"Is...there a reason why you wanted to speak to us alone?" Teepo asked after it was just them and the guild master left.

"I just wanna make sure of something before I agree to anything. Now let me get a look at you." The Chief stared them squarely in the eyes, apparently trying to search for something.

"Hmmm...you two have honest eyes, you don't look like liars or con-artists to me."

"Funny enough, Fritz said the same thing." Mythra recalled.

"Gyahahaha! He did huh? The kid takes after me it seems. The lad's straightforward and honest as you can find in folks, but he can be a bit too trusting with strangers he barely knows, which is why I wanted to make sure you guys aren't just using him."

"Huh?! No, we wouldn't do that to him, he's been so kind to us!" Mythra sharply shook her head.

"It's alright, lass. I know that now. It doesn't stop me from worrying about him though. I care for the lad like he's my own kid, so I don't take kindly to anyone who takes advantage of him."

"He's like a son to you? Have you known him for a long time?" Teepo wondered.

"Of course, I raised the little scamp ever since I found him abandoned in the junk heap outside of Junk Town."

"He's an orphan?" Teepo was surprised at this.

"Aye...It must have been...what? Fifteen years now? I wasn't even guild master at the time, I was looking for parts in that place, and I found the little tyke-all scratched up and covered in dirt-it looked to me as if someone left him there on purpose."

"But why? How could they be so cold as to leave a child there to die?" Mythra shook her head in disbelief.

"I think it had to do with the fact that Fritz is a half-blooded Grassrunner, I'm sure you've already noticed the dog-like ears and how he appears more human than most Grassrunners, right? Some folks don't look kindly on hybrids like that."

"That's still no excuse." Teepo shook his head as well.

"Aye, but that's how the world is, sadly. Anyways, I found him and raised him as part of the guild, I don't know if it was because of our influence or anything but Fritz is incredibly smart when it comes to repairing machines-I'd like to think I was part of that reason-but I think he always had that natural talent inside him."

"I think that you were an instrumental part in his upbringing. You were probably more of a parent than his real parents ever were." Mythra reassured.

"Well, apparently he came in here requesting that I'd grant him some leave from the guild so he could help you guys. You wanted to get pass the checkpoint right?" The Chief got to the point.

"Huh? Wait, that was his plan?" Teepo looked puzzled. "How would that help?"

"If you were travelling with a member of the Machine Guild, the guards at the checkpoint wouldn't second guess it, we come to and back from those checkpoints all the time. Not sure why Fritz was determined to help you but he seems to like you guys, that's why I wanted to make sure you guys were genuine."

"I can't blame you for suspecting us. We were the ones who showed up out of nowhere. I wonder though, what would have happened if that portal hadn't been fixed while we were being teleported?" Teepo replied.

"The question I have is why there was a portal device in such a remote area?" Mythra questioned.

"Ya guess is as good as ours, lass. We only uncovered that ruin after a junk pile fell down, we had no idea it was there in the first place." The Chief shrugged.

It was then that Fritz and Xiao rushed back into the office with horrified looks on their face.

"Chief! We're in trouble! There's a giant machine active in the exact same area where that ruin was! It's huge and heading this way!" Fritz reported.

"What?! Did that device bring over something dangerous? I thought you said that thing was only for transferring supplies, not war machines!"

"I grossly underestimated that portal's capabilities." Fritz admitted.

Mythra and Teepo looked worried, they had an idea why it was here.

"Oh no...She must have sent it after us!"

"She already knows that we've escaped. Coward, she can't even come over herself like she did to steal me away all those years ago." Teepo gritted his teeth.

"Teepo, we can't leave this place, we've got to help the people of Junk Town. They stand no chance against fully operational war machine like that." Mythra told him.

Teepo shook his head. "I wasn't even going to suggest it. There's no point trying to run from it, it'll just chase us down no matter where we go. We'll have to take it down here."

"C'mon, brain think, what's the best way to shut down a machine..." Mythra tried to think of solution.

"Hey, it's made of metal like all the other junk here right? So can't we just drag it to the ocean and drown it?" Xiao suggested.

"...That's...that's it! Xiao, you're a genius!" Mythra praised.

"I am?" Xiao blinked.

"That's definitely a surefire way to shut down a machine. They're made of metal and the heavier the metal, the more it'll sink, the further it sinks, the more pressure will build up. Eventually the metal will be torn apart by the pressure of the ocean, either that or it's systems shut down first as soon its internal wiring makes contacts with water. Water conducts electricity after all." Fritz agreed with the idea.

"You said it was in the junk pile right now, how are ya going to lure it to steel beach? It's blocked off by mountains." The Chief raised a good point.

"Damn it, that's right. The cave's too small given the size of that monstrosity for it to pass through. What about the port?"

"And endanger the crew working at the port? Not to mention Junk Town would be at risk." The Chief shook his head.

"Of course, damn it all, I didn't think of that. There's got to be another way to lure it to the water." Fritz cursed.

Teepo had an idea form his head, but it was risky. "I have an idea, but let's go to the Junk Pile first to assess the danger." Teepo spoke with urgency.

"...Alright. Chief, if our plan fails, evacuate everyone in Junk Town to the port and get them on that ship if you can, this could get really messy."

"But the crew said that the ship's still out of order! And you should be escaping too, this isn't your fight, it probably came here to chase after these two." Chief argued.

"Then at least get them far away from town, if that thing reaches here, nothing will survive. And actually-for your information-I've been practicing in my free time how to defend myself, we'll be fine Chief." Fritz argued back.

"...Gah, I guess I can't stop ya. Ya stubborn as a mule when you want to be. Alright, I'll get everyone away from the town for now, but if you can, lure it away from Junk Town."

"Got it, let's go." Fritz nodded and lead everyone to the Junk Pile where the giant machine was prowling.

They weren't kidding when they said it was huge. It was as big as a full-sized orc and crab-like in appearance, as Teepo and Mythra feared, it was mechanized chrysm war machine, it looked like a prototype since it looked so new, had the Goddess seriously sent this thing off the line just to hunt them down?

"Was it true what you said to the Chief? That you've been you've been practicing how to fight in your free time?" Xiao asked curiously.

"Yeah, it's true. I've been training for four years at least now, using something I fixed up." Fritz nodded, showing what looked like twin guns that looked worn but had been upgraded recently, probably by Fritz himself. "I found these in the junk pile one day and I fixed up back into working order. It's a ranged weapon that I can shoot from afar like a bow, but it uses a lock and barrel system using small metal balls as ammo. When given enough pressure and force, it can pierce even metal surfaces. So I was practicing using the junk in the area to perfect the model and target practice.

"...You really are smart aren't you?" Teepo blinked in surprise.

"Well..." Fritz's expression grew grim. "To be honest, I just thought they looked cool so I decided to fix them back to working order, didn't realize at the time just how dangerous this weapon could be, if it can pierce metal, then it'll have no problem killing a person in a heartbeat. I don't think anyone should have that kind of power, not even me."

"Well it's a good thing you're the only one with those things then. Since you're too nice of a person to use them for bad intentions." Xiao patted his back.

"Xiao's got a point." Mythra nodded. "Besides, I think I should know better than anyone that there are weapons greater than those guns that are even more terrifying."

"Yeah, that giant tin-can over there is one of them." Xiao puffed her cheeks at the machine lurking the junk pile, seeming to be scanning for something or someone.

"So what's this plan of yours, Teepo? We need to lure it to the ocean somehow to shut it down."

"There's a reason why I didn't want to explain it back in the guild office, I plan to change into a dragon and drag the blasted thing there myself."

"What?!"

"Think about it, I can change into a form bigger than the machine, I can easily pick it up and fly it over the mountains to where this Steel Beach is and drop it into the sea." Teepo reasoned.

"But Teepo! That machine's got automatic weapons, you'll be right in its line of fire!" Mythra warned.

"It's risky I know but there's no other way of getting it to the beach." Teepo countered.

"Then we'll act as decoys, no matter how advanced that hunk of junk is, it can't keep its attention on all of us." Xiao clicked.

"That could work, we might be able to distract it by giving it too many targets to keep an eye on, and we if we keep moving around, it can't get a solid aim, that should give Teepo time to take it by surprise." Fritz agreed.

"Teepo, are you sure about this? I don't want you to get hurt." Mythra grabbed Teepo's arm.

"I'll be fine, Mythra. Trust me, if I can handle your Mother's torture, I can bear any injury that giant scrap heap gives out. Dragon skin is surprisingly hard to pierce as I learned from my harsh near-death experience." Teepo reassured.

"...Alright, I trust you. Even so, please be careful." Mythra eventually agreed but still had concern in her eyes.

"Alright, ready?" Fritz asked, preparing to charge in to get the machine's attention.

"Zaffie, you better hide inside my cloak for now." Mythra turned to the fox squirrel, it nodded in understanding and hid securely within the hood of the cloak.

"Let's go!" Fritz signaled as they set their plan into motion. Mythra, Fritz and Xiao jumped out of hiding and charged in.

The war machine detecting the movement turned to face them. While the three were distracting the machine, Teepo started to focus his energy to transform into a dragon. He had to act fast though, if one of those lasers hit Mythra, Frtiz or Xiao, it would be instant death for them, and they could only dodge the machine's attacks for so long.

Fritz and Mythra were firing bullets and arrows at the giant machine to distract and also moved around constantly to stop it from getting a lock-on on them.

Xiao using her abilities as a member of the Woren race to jump high enough to land on the machine's head, she then used her sharp claws to slice through the metal like butter, causing the exposed wiring to crackle a bit, becoming aware of the woren's presence above it, it slowly raised its claw-like arm in attempt to smash Xiao.

Xiao was quick to react though and back-flipped off the machine's head just before the claw arm slammed down, causing a large dent into the metal of the machine and even stunning it a little.

"Whew, that was way too close." Xiao sighed in relief, clutching her racing heart. "Still, not a very bright tin-can are ya?"

Mythra aimed an arrow at one of the eyes of the machine and fired it, as she expected, the arrow bounced off but it turned its attention away from the Woren girl to Mythra instead.

"Mythra, watch out!" Fritz warned her, but Mythra found that she had very little space to move around in. Just as the machine was locking its sight on her, a pillar of purple light illuminated the sky, followed by a loud roar and the powerful flapping of wings, the force from the gusts of wind created by the wings caused some random pieces of trash from the dunes of junk to fall off.

There before them was a large powerful-looking purple dragon, it didn't waste time to fly towards the machine and slammed right into it, causing it to fall very harshly to the ground, it even had some of its legs snapped off from the impact. Teepo pinned the machine to the ground to stop it from recovering from the impact.

"Is that really Teepo?!" Xiao jumped up in surprise, quickly going to Mythra's side to check if she was alright.

Mythra nodded with a smile. "That's him alright."

While the machine flailed and tried to use one of its claw weapons against Teepo, he was one step ahead, using his powerful dragon jaws, he bit into the claw arm and with one strong pull, he wore it cleanly off, live wires continued to spark a little even though it was disconnected from the main body. He then threw the amputated claw arm into the junk pile and copied the same method with the remaining claw arm. Soon enough, the crab-like death machine was now harmless but it still had the laser which it started to charge.

Using a dragon claw, he swiped the laser, snapping it off completely, now completely helpless, he grabbed hold of the machine and using his wings he levitated himself upwards into the sky, still holding on to the machine with draconian strength, he then flew off in the direction of Steel Beach.

"He's heading for the beach, let's go!" Fritz told the other two and they ran as fast as they could across the Junk Pile area to reach the beach in time.

When they arrived at the beach, they noticed oddly that Teepo hadn't arrived yet with the war machine that they had been fighting.

"Where is he? I could have sworn he'd be here before us." Xiao wondered.

Fritz clicked as to why. "Ah damn it, I forgot! There's still guild members working on the beach for salvaging parts! Teepo must have saw that and couldn't drop the machine yet. If we drop it into the ocean now, it'll cause a tidal wave, anyone caught in it won't stand a chance."

"Well then let's move those folk out then!" Xiao easily countered.

"How do we convince them?" Mythra asked.

"Leave it to me." Fritz offered. "I'm a member of the Machine Guild so they'll listen to me...I hope."

"You hope?!" Xiao shouted.

"Let's just go and evacute them already!" Fritz argued back.

Wasting no time, they ran into the main part of the beach.

"Everyone, there's an emergency, you need to leave the beach right now!" Fritz warned the working salvagers, enginners and mechanics of the Machine Guild.

"Eh? What's wrong Fritz? What emergency?" One of them looked puzzled and shrugged.

"I don't have time to explain, but we need to move now! There's-!"

Just then, they heard a loud roar from above them. They looked up to find Teepo who was still holding on to the crab-like war machine, but to the guild members...

"It's-It's...A DRAAAGOOON!" From that cry of fear, everyone literally dropped what they were doing and ran towards to exit of Steel Beach for safety.

"Oh NOW you all run." Fritz sighed loudly, but it seemed to have gotten the attention of all the guild members and helped any stragglers to the exit.

Meanwhile above the beach, Teepo was still holding to the machine, but his grip was starting to slip.

"Well at least it got their attention, looks like the coast is clear." Teepo shook his head in annoyance, it was a little hurtful and insulting that they were more afraid of the dragon than of the killer machine that would have decimated Junk Town. But he couldn't really hate them for it, they had been essentially lied to for hundreds of years after all, if the roles had been reversed, he'd be no different.

Brushing that aside for the time being, he flew back over and further out into the ocean until he was sure the water was deep enough to drown the machine. "Well, have a nice swim, tin-can." He lightly joked before releasing his hold on the machine, allowing gravity to work its magic as it fell towards the ocean.

When it made impact with the water, it created a loud splash and a huge tidal wave that roared its way towards the beach.

The tidal wave was merciless, it consumed cranes, the dropped tools that were left behind by the panicking guild members and even the dunes of salvaged junk was sucked into the waves, thankfully it never went further than halfway so everyone who was hiding in the cave was safe.

The crab machine flailed even though it had no arms after Teepo literally ripping them off earlier, the salt water from the ocean seeped into the internal wiring and clockwork of the machine thanks to the claw marks Xiao made earlier, it fizzled and crackled with electricity as the circuits got fried.

The advanced killing machine soon stopped moving and sank into the ocean's waves. Teepo flew over the mountains and transformed back to his human form as soon as he landed safely to the ground.

He was soon greeted by Mythra and the others he must have heard the noise from outside the cave pass.

"You did it! You totally trashed that machine like it was nothing!" Xiao cheered.

"You guys helped too, you know." Teepo reminded.

"Yeah, but you tore its arms with just your dragon jaws, I mean that's savage! Very effective, but savage." Xiao teased.

"Well, you proved this skeptic wrong at least-not that you were lying to begin with-but if I had any doubts about you being a Dragon before, they're long gone now." Fritz admitted.

"At least the people of Junk Town are safe from Mother's machine. Why would she send such a vicious thing if its only goal was to capture us?" Mythra wondered.

"A good question. More importantly, where did she get a machine that advanced from? A lot of the machines we saw back at the Station was nothing like that." Teepo wondered.

"I don't know who this goddess is, but I already don't like her." Xiao crossed her arms.

"How's everyone that was working on the beach?" Teepo asked Fritz.

"I think they're a little spooked by seeing a dragon out of nowhere but thankfully no one got injured. Can't say the equipment fared that well though, a lot of it got swallowed up by that tidal wave." Fritz reported.

"Yeah...sorry about that." Teepo apologized.

Fritz shook his head. "Aw don't even worry about it. Junk like that can be replaced but people's lives can never be replaced like that. You did the right thing, they may not realize it but they owe their lives to you."

"We should go report back to the old man and let him know that the machine's been taken care of." Xiao reminded Fritz.

Fritz nodded. "Right, let's go."

Once returning to Junk Town, Fritz reported what happened to the Chief, Mythra, Teepo and Xiao were also inside the guild office as well.

"I see. We'll get some our guild members to salvage the equipment, we might even be able to make use of the parts from that bloody machine if we can drag it back up."

"You sure that you want to do that, sir? What if it comes back to life?" Mythra asked.

"Don't you worry, lass. No machine can survive a dunk into the ocean, we'll make sure to pick the thing clean too, so there's no way that it can reactivate."

"So, Chief, about that favor I was asking you for earlier..." Fritz started.

The Chief sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, if there was ever a time you deserved a break, this would be that time. You pulled the impossible with managing to take down a machine built for warfare that huge, I'll allow your leave."

"Really?!" Fritz brightly beamed.

"You're free to come back anytime when you're ready to work again but until then you're free to explore the world as you see fit. I'm trusting you kids to take care of him, got it?" The Chief turned to Teepo and Mythra.

"We were intending to do that anyway." Teepo simply answered.

"Rest assured, Chief. We'll bring Fritz back in one piece!" Mythra cheered.

"Be warned, kid. There's gonna be a ton of work waiting for ya when you get back, got it?" He then turned back to Fritz.

Fritz shrugged. "So same as usual, got it. Thank you da-I mean-Chief! I'll go pack some things before we head for the checkpoint. Meet me back at the house when you're ready." Fritz told the others before leaving the guild office to prepare some things for the journey.

"I wonder why Fritz didn't call you 'Dad'. He was going to say it." Mythra asked when Fritz had left the room.

"Ah, he's probably thinking of my position as the leader of the Machine Guild. Some people might start thinking it's favoritism since I raised the boy. So he usually calls me Chief out of respect."

"I see..." Mythra frowned.

"Ah don't worry, sometimes actions speak louder than words. Those two have a solid relationship even if Fritz doesn't call the Chief 'father'." Xiao reassured.

"Huh...Actions speak louder than words..." Mythra seemed curious at the saying.

"Oh by the way, I'll give ya this. Fritz will already have the passport you guys need to get pass the checkpoint, but it doesn't hurt to have some funds. Think of this as a reward for helping us save Junk Town from that crazy machine." The Chief came over and handed two thousand Zenny to Teepo.

"We couldn't take this. It was our fault that machine targeted this town to begin with. We don't deserve a reward." Teepo shook his head.

"Bah, stop it. Maybe it's true that thing was after ya, but who can say if that thing would have stopped even after it caught you two? For all we know, it could have decided to destroy Junk Town just for the heck of it. Besides, you two could have ran off but you choose to stay and deal with the thing head-on. That's bravery if I've ever seen it." The Chief was insistent though.

Teepo sighed. "You're not taking no for an answer are you?"

"Gyahaha! Nope. Guess that's something you figured out from Fritz eh? We're both stubborn to a fault. Take the money, I'm sure it'll serve you well on your journey, whatever it is you guys are seeking."

"Thank you, Chief. We'll use it wisely." Mythra thanked as she bowed respectfully.

"Now then, I believe the kid told ya to meet him at the house." Chief reminded.

"Right, right. C'mon, let's go find Fritz."

With that the trio left the office of the guild master to return to Fritz's house.

It turned out they didn't need to go very far since Fritz was already outside his home waiting for them with a burlap sack with a string slung over his shoulder.

"Didn't take you very long to prepare huh?" Teepo smirked.

Fritz shrugged. "I didn't really have much to bring. Although I did decide to bring some of my equipment with me in case we find anything that needs to be repaired on the way. Other than that, some food supplies and a world map that's everything I brought."

"The map is handy." Teepo raised his eyebrows.

"I thought so too." Fritz smirked in response. "It only has the lands on this continent though, so if we do plan to go beyond the inner and middle sea, we'll be going blind." Fritz warned.

"Can't say I'm surprised, I don't think anyone on this side knows about the other continent. No offense." Mythra noted before quickly apologizing.

"None taken." Fritz and Xiao said in union.

"So, you guys are seeking the truth right? Do you even know where to start looking?" Xiao asked.

"First we're going find Teepo's brothers Rei and Ryu, then we'll worry about where to start looking for answers about what really happened over five hundred years ago." Mythra told them.

"You're really going to look into that rumor? But that rumor started so long ago, how do you know if the dragon is still there after all these years?"

"Trust me, I'll know him when I see him. I never knew why but Ryu and I have a connection, I even found out his name first before I even asked him for it. I know it sounds weird, but it's the truth." Teepo reassured.

"You're right, that is weird." Xiao bluntly stated.

"Well, if we want to get to the Dauna region, we've got a long journey. We better make a head-start while there's still daylight," Fritz brought out the map that he had stored away for situations like this. "See? This is where the Dauna region over here."

"Whoa! That's like halfway across the map!" Mythra blinked in surprise. "I didn't know this side of the world was so big!"

"You think so? Some people would consider this continent too small." Xiao smiled.

"So where does the north checkpoint in the Dauna region lead to?" Teepo pointed to where it showed there was another checkpoint far north in the same region.

"Oh, that leads to North Dauna, it used to be a pretty big forest area but it got downsized in half when the thugs from Syn City decided to expand their operations there."

"Syn City?" Mythra tilted her head.

"It's a scummy place, certainly not a place for a wide-eyed innocent like yourself." Xiao answered.

"Xiao's familiar with the Dauna Region since her family lived in North Dauna."

"Lived...?" Teepo was hesitant to ask.

"...They were killed, along with the rest of my clan members. I was eight when it happened." Xiao answered sadly.

"I'm sorry...I can understand how that feels to be torn from your family at an young age." Teepo apologised and looked away.

Xiao gave a reassuring pat. "Don't worry, you didn't know. I have thought about getting revenge, but...in the end it wouldn't have accomplished anything other than satisfy my blood lust. My family and clan will never come back, the best I can do is honor them by staying alive."

"That's very mature of you, I don't think I or even Rei could let go that easily." Teepo complimented.

"It's not easy." Xiao shook her head. "I will say this though, I hope that their syndicate burns in flames some day soon."

"It's not like all the forest is gone. There's still some pockets of resistance that are holding off the syndicate that rules Syn City from taking their forest. Think it was the Forest tribe."

"Oh yeah, the wolf folk." Xiao nodded.

"Have you thought about one day going back to rebuild your clan?" Mythra asked.

"Hm..." Xiao crossed her arms. "Yeah, but like I said-I owe a debt to Fritz-so before I even think about rebuilding my tribal home, I gotta repay him back." Xiao grinned.

"And I told you that there's no debt to be paid, all I did was prove that you weren't stealing parts from Steel Beach." Fritz sighed loudly.

"Fritz, you just don't get Woren customs." Xiao grumbled.

"So, how do we get to Rhapala?" Mythra decided to change the topic and pointed to the mark on the map where it said Rhapala Town.

"Well, usually we'd have a boat that would take travelers from the Urkan Region to the port town of Rhapala on the other side. Unfortunately...we're having ship problems so the ship is out of order...AGAIN." Fritz gritted his teeth.

"I take it this isn't the first time." Teepo sweat dropped.

"Unfortunately, it seems the ship decides to break down every two to three years so we're constantly replacing old parts with new ones to keep it going. I swear the blasted boat is cursed."

"So we'll have to go the long way around pass Mount Zublo. The Checkpoint shouldn't be that far away after we pass the mountain." Xiao answered.

"Right! So let's go then, to Mount Zublo!" Mythra punched the air.

As they were making their way to the exit of Junk Town, they saw the Chief waiting just before the exit.

"Yo, just came to see you all off. I don't know where your journey will lead you, but don't be a stranger if you ever need help from Junk Town or our guild, we owe you for saving us from that war machine that would have destroyed this place if you hadn't intervened."

"Chief, there's actually something I want to ask, what about the ruin that we found? Do you think it can be salvaged from the mess that machine made?"

"Nah, looks like that ruin is beyond help now. It was probably for the best if that transporter was offline for good. We don't want any more of those things popping in." The Chief shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Fritz, you worked hard on getting that transporter fixed." Mythra apologized.

Fritz shrugged. "Chief's right, maybe it was for the best if it was destroyed, if your mother is capable of sending advanced machines like that through the transporter, it would have been more dangerous to keep it online." Fritz shook his head.

"Keep yourselves safe out there. Monsters still roam the land and they won't think twice about attacking you."

"We will, Chief. Keep the town running til I come back, someone's got to repair the machines while I'm away." Fritz teased.

"Hah! Who do ya think ya talkin' to? Still, be careful out there kids. Don't throw your lives away carelessly."

With that, they bade farewell to the Chief of the Machine Guild before they took their first steps outside of Junk Town. What they hadn't realized then though, was that this was only the beginning.

Alright! That's chapter 2 done! I hope that you all enjoy this new installment of the story.

Please let me know what you think of the story so far and thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited or alerted this fan fic. It's good to know that people are enjoying it, even from the shadows. =3

Even if the support is small, it's very much apprecaited. I've been wanting to do a Breath of Fire 3 fan fic for a long time, even before fan fiction net was a thing, so it makes me happy to finally be able to do so.

Like I said, I'm also doing a Kingdom Hearts series so chapter updates might be random but I'll do my best to make sure not take too long, although I can't promise anything. XD

So until next chapter, happy reading folks! Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!