Waves crashed against the cliff. I saw the villagers struggle against the currents and being drawn far out into the sea. I grabbed onto my mother's back and hid from the monster that had corner us.

The three-headed dog monster growled and leaped at us.

"Faust Holy!" Father roared out and batted the monster's claws back with an orb of light, but his shoulder sprayed out blood in the process.

"Dear, are you alright?" Mother asked in worry.

"I'm fine... But if we don't take care of this thing, he'll follow the villagers into the sea and-"

"I know, " Mother said firmly.

"I'm sorry, honey."

"I was prepared."

Both of my parents turned to me.

"What?" I asked before Mother rubbed my back.

"Don't forget to smile. Be nice to others." Mother said with a strained smile.

"She's right. When you smile, everyone smiles." Father rubbed my head. "Raphtalia, things will be hard for you. If you aren't careful, you could even die,"

"But still... Even still, Raphtalia, we want you to live. So please, forgive us for our selfishness." My heart pounded as tears filled my eyes.

"No! Mommy! Daddy!" I clenched onto my mother's arms. "Don't leave me!"

"Sor-"

"Rasengan!" A war cry came and the three-headed beast howled out in pain. It turned away from us and snapped. "Shadow Clone Technique!"

"What the-" Father gasped out as tens of men appeared out of puffs of smoke and attacked the monster. "The reinforcements came!"

"How in... Thank goodness." Mother hugged me tightly.

"As the source of your power, I command you! Light! Slay the beast before me! Faust Holy!" Father roared out and launched a ball of light from his hand. The ball hit one of the beast's heads and it turned back at us.

"As if I let you!" The men shouted even as several were shaken off by the beast. It roared out when more men popped into existence and pinned the beast down. "And stay down! Rasengan!" One of the men jumped up and with a blue orb in his hand slammed down on the beast's back. The ground dented in from the impact with a crack.

The beast let out a cry before it collapsed to the ground.

"They beat it?" I asked before the red, broken sky slowly mend itself and turn back to blue.

"Dear!" Father collapsed to his knees and wheezed out. "Let me see your shoulder!"

"I'm... fine... Just got... dizzy all of..." Father groaned as he curled up.

"Let me help you." A young man said as he stood next to Father. He put his hand on Father and stream came off Father's shoulder and other wounds. "Are you all alright?" The young man grinned at Mother and me. "Seems I got here just in the knick of time." The young man scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"He has no ears," I spoke without thought.

"Eh?" The young man looked at me dumbfounded before his eyes drifted up. "Wait a second... Why are you all wearing ears atop your heads?"

"They are our ears!" I fumed with a puffed up tail.

"Tails too?!" The young man recoiled from me. "Just... where did I end up? This is nowhere near the Elemental Nations."

"I guess you haven't seen Demi-humans before," Father said but stayed kneeled down. "Thank you... But the villagers..."

"Already on it." The young man pointed back to the sea. I turned and gasped in awe. Men ran across the water and snatched up the villagers. The men bought them back to the shore. "Just what is going on? One minute I was reading a book while on forced rest... Next, I am in the middle of a war zone."

"I think... this is the prophesied waves of destruction." Father sighed out. "Somehow... We have defeated the first boss of the waves. If the stories are to be taken seriously."

"I might have been prophesied as one of the Children of Prophecy, but I know this ain't any prophecy I know of." The young man said with furrowed brows. "It's almost like the Fourth World War all over again."

"World... War?" Mother asked before she gasped. "That shield..." On the young man's arm was a small shield. It had a green gem in the middle that glowed in the sunlight. "The Shield Hero..."

"You mean this jealous bugger?" The young man looked at the shield. "She refuses to let me use any weapons... Upside, my techniques are still effective... Though seemingly weaker."

"To think we would be saved by one of the Legendary Heroes," Father laughed out before he wheezed again. "It seems... I got hit... harder than I thought."

"Odd. You should be healed." The young man said with a bit of worry. "Let me-SEE!!" He yelped out as his arm was yanked by the shield towards the beast. "Not... right... now, Shield!" He fought against the pull before it won and the gem tapped onto the beast. The corpse completely disappeared into the gem. "Ah, that's neat and all, but it could have...Oh, ramen."

"Hero!" Mother shouted as the young man collapsed onto the ground. "Are you alright?"

"Fine... I think I pulled what Teacher Kakashi often does." The young man laughed out weakly with a weak smile. "Little Sakura was right on I was pushing myself too hard. I am low on chakra."

"Chakra?" I asked before my ears twitched. Men in various armors and holding weapons came up upon the cliff. I hid behind Mother as she swiped the young man up by his arm.

"I thought the beast went this way." One of the men said before another smirked.

"Seemed it was dealt with... But I heard the governor died."

"It's not demi-human terrority anymore."

"Hey, what would happen if-"

"Nothing." Another man stepped forward with his sword drawn. "With the governor dead, demi-humans have no rights just like in the rest of the country. And the price for slaves is ripe for the picking."

"Honey... Run." Father said as he managed to get back on his feet. "Take-"

"No. Raphtalia... Promise to be a good girl," Mother took steps back towards the cliff. "Hero, promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Protect my daughter."

"Nooooo!" Mother grabbed me and thrown both the young man and myself off the cliff. The man managed to grab hold of me in mid-air and we both crashed into the water below. Violent bubbles filled my vision before my head broke the surface. "Mommy! Daddy!" I screamed out as the young man and I were dragged out to the sea by the currents.

Author Note: Howdy. Long time no update. This story is basically the rewrite of The Healer's Daughter as I decided to restart it do things a bit differently than the story turning to a recap of Rising of the Shield Hero as it was starting to turn into. So here is the trial run. If ya don't like this and the next two chapters, I will retry the rewrite. So let me know in the comments. Like? Dislike?