Chapter 8: Reality and Fights

Sayako Nightbringer

It didn't take all that long for us all to get to town, even though I was still trying to calm the fire in my lungs from running so much. I gripped my knees, bent over and gasping for breath. There was a hand on my back for a brief moment as a gesture of support before it was gone. Finally able to stand properly, I looked up at the town where people were running either past us towards the coliseum or around away from the rampaging monsters. Vaguely I knew Stahn had walked towards someone telling people to go to the coliseum, but my legs had locked up in fear.

One man was running towards me, yelling at me to get out of the way. I only managed one half-step before he shoved me aside, my body crashing to the ground heavily. He glared at me, his eyes wild with fear. "I said move you brat!" he snapped. A large beast stepped up behind him, snarling loud enough that he turned towards it.

I wanted to scream at him to run, fight the thing off, something. Instead my body stayed locked up, paralyzed as I leaned on my elbows, watching this beast advance on us both. The man shook visibly, laughing shrilly. "I'm not about to die here!" he screamed at the thing, almost as if that would change his fate. He took off to my left, my gaze following him and my heart racing with the scream stuck in my body for him to go faster, to get away safely.

The beast saw this as a game and took off after him, only needing two long bounds before the large bloodstained maw had the man by the neck, yanking him back onto the ground and tearing into his flesh. Blood gushed everywhere, almost going in slow-motion as my mind tried to comprehend what was going on. I sat up slowly, my hands going up to my hair and gripping it tightly.

It was then that I screamed, my eyes shut and every ounce of fear escaping me through my vocal chords. I barely felt the rush of heat from flames scorching the beast, or the rumble from the ground as other powers tore through the other rampaging monsters, too caught up in my own overwhelming hysteria.

Hands gripped my arms and tugged me to my feet, shaking me. I opened my own wild eyes, staring into Stahn's own as he tried to talk to me. For a moment it was all garbled, but then he clamped his hand over my mouth, shutting me up.

"Erica! Calm down! You're okay, it's gone!" He spoke sharply, the calm in his voice reaching through my system and finally breaking whatever hold the fear had on me. Someone was petting my hair, causing me to glance to my left where I saw Mary. The others along with a new woman were also watching with varied levels of concern.

My eyes searched until they caught Leon's violet ones. He looked concerned, but I couldn't tell why. All I wanted as some sort of confirmation that what I had seen was just a nightmare. That the man really hadn't died. I knew it was impossible, but anything to get that image of all the blood and the tearing skin...

He walked over to me, holding my gaze. "Put it out of your mind. Now is not the time to be weak." He spoke harshly. I knew he was right, but my body flinched anyway. The last thing I wanted was to remind everyone how helpless and new to this I was, and I had just done so. Being seen as weak was something I fought with every fiber of my being. I hated to be seen as the weak one, yet for some reason I always ended up feeling that way. Leon sighed, his gaze and tone softening. "It gets easier with time, but keep close until you can keep the reactions for a safer time."

I stared at him, nearly gawking. So THAT was why he refused to fully train me? Because he knew I was unprepared mentally? Self defense to buy everyone time to get to me wasn't because he didn't think I could, but because I couldn't yet handle killing. I felt relieved somewhat, the gruesome scene finally fading from the forefront of my mind. It still lingered behind my vision, but I had a much stronger grasp of myself and was able to step away from Stahn's grip.

"I will. Thank you Leon." I replied, earning a nod from him in return. He turned towards the other woman with us, speaking to her for a moment too quietly for me to hear over the other screaming townspeople. She ran ahead of us to the coliseum while everyone took care of the monsters that followed her.

I could barely watch, my stomach flip-flopping at the blood-shed we caused on our way to the coliseum. Stahn stayed near me, his flames burning the beasts to a crisp and sparing me the sight of more blood. Only ash remained of the creatures that came my way. Some small part of me felt sorry for the creatures, but the bigger part – the part of me that's been there for years – told me to save my sentiments for later. I was best at bottling things away that I didn't like, and I had to drag up those old skills now.

It was then that I felt ready to draw the sword at my hip, knowing Stahn couldn't always keep an eye on me. I had to fight back instead of running like a scared child. My heart was pounding as my sword scraped against the scabbard as I drew it out, my arms shaking. The scratchy sound caught the attention of a large wolf, identical to the one that had scared me earlier. I bit my lip, thinking back to Leon's training, however brief it had been.

The wolf didn't give me much time to think, charging at me – the weak link in the party – with claws outstretched and fangs bared. I took a step back then jumped out of the way, yelping. I can't do this I can't do this...! I thought frantically, taking all of my effort into staying out of the wolf's way. It caught on to me quickly, digging its claws into the ground and turning swiftly and snapping at me. I nearly screamed as I saw the wolf's open maw in front of me, doing the only thing I could think of: holding my sword up with the blade braced against my arm guards.

I must have moved just in time, the blade cutting into the wolf's mouth as its momentum caused the blade to dig into the tender skin. The beast backed off, howling in pain for a few brief moments, giving me time to get to my feet. After it licked the bleeding cuts, it turned and snarled dangerously at me. I glanced at the others, panicking when I noticed that other monsters had their attention off me. Another snarl brought my attention back to the wolf just in time to see it lunge at me. As a reflex I stepped back, tripping over an upraised cobblestone and falling backwards, watching the wolf's larger form appear over mine. I brought my sword up, shutting my eyes and fearing for the worst.

The sound of pierced flesh was my only warning as a large body fell on mine, the hilt of my sword digging into my chest as I hadn't been able to put the chest guard on yet. Something warm seeped onto my hands and my clothes, my eyes working themselves open only to scream at what I saw.

On top of me was the large wolf, dead and bleeding all over me. I struggled, managing to roll it off me and scramble a few inches away from it. My eyes never left the open dead eyes of the beast, watching the blood pool on the ground beneath it and soaking into my pants. A slight stinging from my arms made me look down, seeing where the claws had caught me before I had run the wolf through. I shook, my stomach turning uneasily the longer I stared. Shakily, I got to my feet, pulling my sword free with another sickening sound.

By this time Stahn had made his way over to me, looking me over with a worried expression. "Are you alright? I heard you scr- Whoa." He said, staring down at the wolf then back at me. "You killed it?" He asked softly, searching my face. I shook more, nodding weakly since I didn't trust my voice. Stahn nodded and walked over to me, grabbing my arm. "Come on, we gotta catch up to Ilene."

I nodded, following him as we ran after the rest of our party. Stahn kept Dymlos out, incinerating anything that came my way because of the blood that was drying on my clothes. In this way, it didn't take us long to get to the coliseum, which I was thankful for up until I saw what we had to deal with. It was huge, some sort of beast that I couldn't describe, as I'd never seen it before. I trembled, raising my sword a little. Stahn shook his head, grabbing my sword carefully and lowering it. "You get to Ilene and the other townspeople, we'll handle this. You've seen enough today." I didn't argue, my flipping stomach agreeing with him before I could say anything. He was right, I HAD seen enough for now, the images of the man and the wolf causing my legs to shake in fear. I turned and ran over to Ilene as the others drew the monster away, kneeling down.

"Are you all okay?" I asked. Ilene looked at me wearily and nodded, looking a little battered herself, but not much.

"Yes, we're all fine. Your friends got to us in time." She took this moment to look me over. "You're absolutely COVERED in blood! What happened?" she asked, sitting me down and wrapping the cuts on my arms from the wolf. I looked down, the memory coming back too easily for my liking. She noticed the uneasy look on my face, shaking her head. "Alright then, I won't ask. But do tell me, since when has young Leon known you?" she asked softly, watching me gently. A blush crossed my face, not sure how much I could really say.

"W-well..."

"Get out of the way!" I suddenly heard someone shout behind me. The call made me turn to see what was wrong, only to see the large beast coming towards me, leaving a lot of blood behind. My eyes widened as I scrambled to my feet, holding up my sword.

"Dammit get out of the way!" Rutee shouted at me. I shook my head, my stance firm. There was no way that I was going to leave Ilene and the others just to save my own hide. I ignored the looks from the others, holding my ground. The beast's claw came up, but before it could come down at me a spike of earth shot out of the ground and impaled the beast's weak underbelly. It roared in pain as the sickening sound of tearing flesh sounded across the coliseum, deep red blood splattering to the ground not too far from me, causing my stomach to turn uncomfortably again at the coppery smell.

Leon walked over to me, grabbing me by the front of my shirt, looking furious. "Why didn't you move?" he snapped at me angrily, making me flinch as far away as his grip on my shirt would allow.

"I-I... I-I couldn't leave Ilene and the others there to stay in its path..." I whimpered, not taking his anger well. He shook his head, his violet eyes bright with his anger. All I could catch were nervous glimpses at his eyes, unable to stare at him long enough to try to figure out why he was mad.

"We couldn't attack while it was running at you and the others! You're covered in wolf blood, it was after YOU!" he hissed. I flinched again, shutting my eyes tightly while I felt someone pry Leon away from me. One of the women pulled me close, petting my head while I shook, taking all of my strength to try and not break down. I hated being yelled at, especially people I wanted to think of as friends, but any anger in general usually made me cry when I couldn't defend myself.

Once again I felt like I'd disappointed the group, and that was frustrating me more than anything. I felt the person holding me speak, breaking through my thoughts.

"You know, he's just worried about you." I heard Mary say, telling me who was holding me. A grimace crossed my face, followed closely by my disbelief in her statement.

"That didn't sound like what worry sounds like..." I grumble out harsher than I meant to.

"Hey now, you know him. That kid can't get anything across properly with that stuffy attitude of his." She said soothingly. "Come on, we should follow the others."

"Follow them where?" I asked, looking away childishly. She smiled at me and took my head. "To the port. We gotta catch up with Greybum.." Mary explained, tugging me along as we ran after the others. I whined softly, not really liking the idea of getting on another boat. My complaints were ignored by the orange haired woman as we walked onto the boat after the others. Seeing Leon's back, I shut up instantly, suddenly finding my boots really interesting.

"Wait!"

We all turned to see the fighter from the coliseum run up to Stahn. The blond gasped, his eyes wide. "Kongman? What are you doing here?"

The bald fighter grinned, looking proud. "I'm here to come with you of course!" Stahn stared at him for a moment, before the man's grin became infectious and he started grinning as well. Kongman continued. "You must protect people whenever you can. Ilene tried hard; I must as well."

Stahn nodded, holding his hand out. "Got it; let's fight together!" Kongman nodded and grasped the blond's hand firmly, smiling. I looked away, walking towards the other side of the ship.

We had a new party member, and we once again were on a boat to who-knows-where, but now I was further losing what little I knew of this place. I didn't know the fighter from anything other than pictures, which meant I knew less than I thought I had. My heart thudded from the adrenaline that had been rushing through me for the past few hours, and from the fear that still gripped me. Leon was mad at me, and I had no idea how I was going to repair things. I knew that I still wanted to fight, but part of me was worried for the fragile friendship I'd been building with the dark teen. In my heart I knew that I'd just have to either confront him about it or wait for him to come to me, and somehow I had a feeling that the latter wouldn't be happening any time soon, which meant my only option was the former.

"This is going to be a long boat trip..." I whispered to the wind as the boat set sail, closing my eyes and trying to enjoy the late evening breeze.

Sayako: Oh geez this took a long time! I'm so sorry about my long absence for any of you willing to put up with the long wait... I got severe writers block since I REALLY don't have any clue as to what any of the monsters or fights are like. So I'm getting the feeling that a lot of this may not be up to par with those of you that know the game, but I'm going to do my best with what little information I have. Please wish me luck! -bows-