Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Winds of Fate ❯ Scars of Time ( Chapter 1 )

A FF8 fanfic by Brenton Braswell

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the series of the Final Fantasy series. They all belong to Squaresoft and are being used without permission. All original characters, Lisa Hawkwind, Daniel Kunteais and others are copyrighted by the author and are not to be used by anybody without my permission. If somebody has a problem with that, all I could say is, tough luck.

Before anybody thinks this is a sequel to "Blades of Destiny", I'll say it is not. Even though I've used Lisa and Dan before, I decided to use them one last time.

I'd like to dedicate this fic to Ginger Ninja, Lady Aliena, Destiny, and Sasha Janre. You should check out their fics, their very good and well worth the time.

Also, I'd like to give a special thanks to Sasha for really helping me out, and letting me use her as a character in my fic. You rock Sasha!

I'd also like to thank Flowers and Hugs, DK, Apple Pie, and Lehteb for helping me out with the year. I'll use A.C., which means After Centra.

Character direct thoughts are in parentheses

Chapter 1: Scars of Time

(One year earlier. Date: July 11, 4017 A.C. Time: 1952 hours. Place: Tomb of the Unknown King)

A lone figure stood there in confusion at how he gotten to the place he was now. The figure was a mostly covered in silver armor, he had brown hair and eyes and was muscular. Still holding his sword in a ready position, the man was battered and beaten with blood running down the side of his head. It was a light wound, but one that he could ignore at the moment.

(Where in Hyne is this place? What happened to the battle that I was in?) The man silently questioned. Not being able to endure the pain of his body any longer, the man dropped his broadsword and dropped down on his hands and his knees panting for breath. (Damn. I'm so tired and weary from the battle. I've expended most of my energy fighting I can hardly stand; much less defend myself to my fullest extent. These injuries aren't making matters any better either. Damn that bastard, Alexander Hawkwind!) He thought while looking down at the ground.

He then pushed himself backwards to sit on his rear end. (What is this place that I've come to?) He then looked at the front of the opening and the front of it. (It looks like some kind of temple. I could be wrong, but I wonder why have I been brought here? The last thing I remember was fighting Hawkwind in a battle, and both of us were really injured. The battle was real intense and neither of us was getting the advantage. For every blow I gave him, he gave me a similar injury. Suddenly, the whole planet and everything around me starts going weird. After a few minutes, whatever happened stopped and I end up in this place.) He contemplated. He looked down at his armor and saw that it was battered and had many slashes and blood on it. He knew most of the blood was his, but some of it belonged to his hated rival, Alexander Hawkwind.

After a few minutes of looking at the evening sky and resting, he finally felt he had enough rest and cast a curaga spell on himself. It did little to heal his wounds, but it was enough to give him enough energy to get up and sheathe his broadsword. (I need somewhere I can rest. I need a place where no one would disturb my sleep and interrupt the healing process. With injuries as bad as this, I wonder how long I'll have to sleep this time. Once I've come back to full strength, I'll find out where I am and how to get back to my castle and army. I'll also find out if my army annihilated my enemies.)

The man then walked in toward the entrance of the Tomb of the Unknown King. He entered and immediately noticed the moss growing on the walls. The man in the bloodied and battered silver armor walked down a little stairway and stopped as he came upon a three-way intersection. He looked down and his eyes came upon an interesting weapon. (I wonder what this is. Its design is not any that I've ever seen before. It looks like a sword, but the handle is of unfamiliar design. Why would anybody leave a weapon such as this here?)

His question was answered when he heard a roar of a monster. He jumped back and unsheathed his broadsword holding it out in front of him in a battle stance. An Armadodo, a creature that had a green shell that covered its back and its face, its chest and front was purple, short stubby legs, long arms with deadly looking claws and ferocious looking face with sharp teeth. It spotted the man as it came down the middle corridor.

"So you wish to challenge my power do you?" Asked the man to the monster. He knew there was no sense in talking to the thing; he just liked taunting his opponent into doing something foolish. He got the response when it rolled up into a ball and hurtled itself toward him. It was fast, but the man was faster and quickly stepped out of the way of its form. After going past him for a few feet, it unrolled and turned around.

The armored man then rushed forward with his sword at the side in a ready striking position. Once close enough, he mightily slashed the monster in the midsection and knocking it back a few feet. Green blood oozed from the wound and the monster was stuck on it back trying to roll up on its feet. He casually walked over to the struggling monster and shook his head. He then did a diagonal slash with his sword to the monsters neck. He smirked as blood flew and watched as the monster choked on it own blood.

After a few seconds, it was dead and its form was unmoving on the ground. (Hardly a challenge, but that's what it gets for trying to best a more superior opponent.) He silently thought while sheathing his sword. He turned back to the intersection and wondered which way to go. He made a decision and went toward the middle corridor. After a few moments of walking, he came upon another intersection. He went forward again.

After a little bit of walking, he came upon a small building surrounded by water on all sides of it. He also noticed the bridge was down and decided to go in. Once he was in, he came upon a room with some kind of writing on the walls and in the far middle of the room he saw an open casket. Walking over to it he noticed the dust and cobwebs in it. (A little crude, but after a little magic, it should be a suitable resting place.) He cast an aero spell and swept all of cobwebs and dust out of it. He then cast a fire spell to kill any little organisms that was living underneath the dust and ash. Pointing his hand at the casket, it glowed a light blue as he cast magic. After it was done, the inside of the casket was lined with a bed like cushion shaped for the casket and pillow. The magic also made tiny air holes on the top of the lid in case the casket was airtight.

Being satisfied of his handiwork, he lay down in the casket and moved the lid over the top of it. Once it was on, he cast some magic and the casket glowed a pale green for a few seconds before returning to its original color. (That should keep any unwanted guests from opening the casket. Now, to go to sleep.) He then fell into a deep slumber, one that would last a long time.

(Present Day. Date: July 11, 4018. Time: 20:30 hours, Place: Deling City Slums)

If you thought a place like Deling City wouldn't have slums, you would have thought wrong. Nearly all the cities in the world had some kind of slum. It was a dark and starless night. You couldn't see any stars out because of the streetlights.

Everyone seemed to go about their business but two people. They were a young man and a young woman standing on a street corner under a light post. The young man leaned against the wall of the rundown building they were by and the young woman sat on a bench not too far away. The young man's name was Daniel Kunteais and he wore blue jeans, a black t-shirt covered by a brown jacket with the front opened and black shoes. He had black hair, black eyes, was 6 foot tall, and looked muscular. He wore a sheathed katana strapped around his torso and to his back. The young woman was Lisa Hawkwind, she was 5'6" feet, had blonde hair that was cut short to her shoulders and had blue eyes. She wore a tight red blouse much to her dismay, a real short black leather skirt, and black shoes. On a belt around her waist she also had a sheathed katana. For Dan, this wouldn't look like a strange sight being armed, but for Lisa it did. It didn't matter what people thought when they looked at them. Both of them were SeeDs, specially trained mercenaries assigned to carry out and accomplish any mission given to them. They both hailed from Balamb Garden.

Currently, they are about to finish up an assignment. They've been ordered to assist the Galbaldian military in eliminating an anti-government group. For the past few weeks, the group has been making demands about changing the political system to a democracy instead of a dictatorship that they were currently under by another man like Vinzer Deling. Usually, this was something to be ignored until they started to attack and kill some soldiers. All of the attacks took place when the soldiers are alone. The attacks happened all over the city, it was hard to pinpoint their base. At first, the military thought their base would be among the middle class residents, but they were wrong. They also checked the slums and also came up with nothing. The group had a good way of clearing out their base and moving somewhere else.

When things got desperate, the government of the city called up Balamb Garden. They immediately requested the four SeeDs that saved the world over a year ago. Headmaster Cid replied saying their faces were to well known at the moment because of all the media and attention they've gotten. He then assigned Dan and Lisa, the next best choices in assisting with this operation. They were both Level 25 SeeDs and have been SeeDs for over four years. They had high ranks based on the many missions they've accomplished instead of taking tests. There was a little protest, but the government agreed.

Since then, it's been a week and they were just finishing up this mission. Over the past week, Both SeeDs had to go undercover at clubs and uncover information. This brought little result. Lisa then came up with an idea about disguising themselves as Galbaldian soldiers. It worked when they were attacked in the slums. Being skillful and experienced, they survived the attack, killed about five of the members and managed to capture two before a retreat was called. The day after the two members were captured, a very intense interrogation was carried out by the military to uncover the information of the group's current base. After a lot of pain, the two members submitted and told them. They were then promptly hauled off to the desert prison.

Now both were waiting outside of the building the group shacked up in. It was a good thing the group didn't know about the attack that was about to be launched against them. That would give the two SeeDs and the military a chance for a sneak attack. Dan looked down at his watch and said, "Only five minutes left." He then looked up at Lisa. "You know you should wear that more often."

Lisa then glared daggers at Dan. "As soon as this is over, the more relieved I'll be. I really don't like wearing this tight red blouse. It's a good thing I decided to wear a bra. If I didn't, people would be able to get a good look at my bosom."

"That's a problem?" Asked Dan with a slight smirk.

"Of course it is!" Lisa exclaimed. "I'm not an exhibitionist like some of the airheads that wear clothes like this. You're lucky we have a mission to complete or else I would have gave you a black eye you joker."

Dan knew to shut up after that. If it was one thing he knew about Lisa, it was that she would do what she says. "Okay, I'll stop joking around," said Dan holding up his hands. The rest of the time was spent in silence.

Once the five minutes was up, the radio on Dan's belt came to life. "Mr. Kunteais and Ms. Hawkwind you may carry out the mission now," said a voice from the handheld radio.

Dan took it off from his belt and said into it, "Alright, give Lisa and myself a minute to get into position."

"Will do," said the voice.

Dan then shut off the radio and put it back on his belt. Pushing off the wall, he stood his full height and helped Lisa off the bench. Both then walked to a door not too far from them. "I got this," said Lisa while pulling out a lock pick set out of a pouch she had on her belt. After about 10 seconds, she heard a soft click and gently pushed the door open. They saw the building was an old run down warehouse with many stacks of crates.

Both silently went inside and saw a man in black clothing armed with a machine gun. His back was turned to them so Dan silently crept up behind them. When he was close enough, he grabbed the man by his neck in a sleeper hold position and covered his mouth. He then applied pressure to his neck cutting off the man's air supply to his brain. After about thirty seconds, the man had gone limp in Dan's arms and was unconscious. Dan then laid him down and followed Lisa to some big stacks of boxes. Both then climbed them as quietly as they could. They already knew their minute was up, but the military outside gave them a couple more seconds. Once they were at the top, they noticed they weren't that high up and a jump wouldn't hurt as long as they didn't land on their feet the wrong way.

Dan then pressed a button on the radio. That button would send a signal of a flashing light to the radio outside. That was the signal that they were in place. They looked down to see some men and women in plain clothes armed with machine guns, metal poles and swords. They saw some of them playing a game of cards. (These don't look like terrorists. But what they did was unforgivable, attacking soldiers so they could get a point across.)

Lisa also saw all of the people in the immediate area. (Okay, which one is the leader and which one is second in command?) Without warning, Dan, and herself along with all of the people heard lots of running just outside the entrance. (Well, so much for the surprise attacks from the front entrance. Some of those troops must be real green. At least they didn't notice Dan or me up here yet.)

"Hey do you hear that?" said one of the men playing cards.

"Yeah, send somebody to go check it out," said a woman also playing the card game.

They sent about three or four people to check out the noise by the door out front. Dan and Lisa looked on as the four people cautiously crept toward the door. Both Dan and Lisa slowly unsheathed their Katana swords; Dan's from off his back and Lisa's from off of her belt. They did it slowly so not to make any noise and give away their position. Once both had their weapons out, they waited.

Suddenly, the door was kicked in from outside by the Galbaldian soldiers in blue and machine gun fire instantly erupted from inside and out. The soldier that kicked open the door was instantly caught in the hail of bullets by the anti-government group and went down. The people at the table instantly threw down his or her cards and picked up a machine gun.

Dan and Lisa took this as their cue to jump into the fray. Both stood up and Lisa jumped first with her katana over her head prepared to strike. She was coming down quickly right behind a big burly man in all black clothing. Just as she touched the ground, she slashed him in his back.

One of the women saw this and aimed her machine gun at Lisa. She was instantly struck down dead by Dan doing the same maneuver that Lisa did the man.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" Yelled another man in plain clothing across the table coming out of shock. The two men instantly aimed at Lisa and Dan but were too late to pull the trigger when Lisa kicked over the table in front of them. This move knocked them over and made both men drop their machine guns. Dan quickly cast a Fira spell on the fallen men, thus burning them to death. Seeing no enemies in the immediate area they looked around to watch out for a sneak attack.

"We need a little help from your side SeeD Kunteais!" Said the voice from the radio on Dan's belt. "Those bastards inside blocked us off from getting inside, and now they've got us pinned down!"

"I got it!" Lisa yelled while running around some boxes.

Dan picked up the radio from off his belt and said, "Lisa has you covered." He then saw some men and women come from around some boxes about thirty feet from him. "Well, can't talk right now, I've got company." He replaced the radio on his belt and got his sword back in a battle ready position. The first one to him was a man with a big metal pipe. As the man swung the pipe toward Dan, Dan instantly brought his katana up and blocked the overhead blow. Dan then pushed the pipe off the katana and did a horizontal slash to the off balance man. The man when down with a grunt. Then two women and four men with swords tried to surround Dan in the little pocket space by the boxes, but Dan backed up a little so they wouldn't get behind him. He glanced behind himself quickly and saw there was a narrow corridor behind him and no one was there. (I should be okay right here. They won't be able to get behind me unless I go forward.)

One of the women suddenly rushed forward with her sword in an overhead slash position. Dan saw this and narrowed his eyes. From what he saw, she was holding the sword wrong and showed her attack before she was even close to him. Dan sidestepped the clumsy attack and stuck out his foot to trip the woman. After she fell, Dan rushed forward toward one of the men. He did a diagonal slash that was blocked. Dan instantly heard running footsteps behind him. He quickly moved out the way and saw the woman he tripped accidentally thrust her sword into the man when Dan moved out of the way. The man and the woman looked shocked, and Dan took advantage of it and quickly slashed the woman in her back. He let both fall down, and a puddle of blood slowly spread underneath their bodies. Dan moved back a few feet and waited for the others to make a move.

Two men rushed him and Dan instantly went on the defense blocking slashes and thrust from both men. This went on for half a minute until one of the men swung at Dan's neck. Dan instantly ducked and thrust his katana into the man's abdomen. The terrorist's face was in a surprised and pained look. Dan quickly took out the sword as the man slumped to the ground and quickly turned his head to glance at the other man. He saw the attempt overhead sneak attack and quickly moved out the way in his crouched position. Dan the came around with his left leg and swung it around and swept the man to his back. He quickly got up, turned his katana downward with the sharp end pointing down, got over the man and plunged it into his chest. He took it out a few seconds after that and looked at the remaining man and woman.

The woman had her head down and was shaking. She then looked up and screamed, "YOU FUCKING BASTARD! YOU KILLED MY JOHNNY!" She then rushed at Dan quickly.

(Aw shit!) Dan thought as he brought his sword up and blocked the furious onslaught of slashes. Dan would have thought that outburst of emotion from the woman would make her reckless and easy to beat. Fighting an enraged opponent really wasn't what Dan had in mind. Well, Dan was surprised. (She must be skilled in the sword, and the fury must be adding to her strength.) Dan thought as he was constantly blocking and on the defensive. Without warning, Dan's katana sword was instantly knocked from his hands. Being weaponless, he ducked a slash toward his neck. He instantly punched the woman two hard times in the gut and followed through with a spinning roundhouse kick to her head. The woman was instantly flung into some boxes and fell to the floor unconscious.

Dan slowly walked over to his katana and picked it up while keeping his eyes on the last man standing there. He then got into his battle ready stance once more and saw that the other man did too. They looked at each other and sized up each other. (By the way he holds his sword, and the stance he stands in tells me that he's more experienced than the other five I faced. I better keep my senses sharp this time.) Both then rushed each other and clashed swords together. Both fought with much skill, and strength, but both knew there could be only one standing after the fight.

Meanwhile, after sneaking close enough not to be seen by the terrorist, Lisa had climbed some boxes close to their position. (How much ammo do they have?) Lisa mentally asked herself as she looked down at the men and women firing through the doorway. She then brought her right hand to her chest while concentrating on the spell. The green flair of magic was loud and got the attention of some of the people at the door. Some glanced back and saw Lisa. Lisa then thrust her hand at the group by the door. A bright light instantly gathered in the middle of the group. Once it was gathered, it exploded in a green explosion of magic, thus throwing the men and women back from the door. (That Ultima should have done the trick. The Galbaldian soldiers should be able to get in now.) In a few seconds she saw the soldiers rush in and shoot the downed people. She winced a little at the brutality of their tactics, but it had to be done.

She looked around and saw the boxes that she was on didn't look that far from where Dan and she originally jumped down. She wasn't going to jump from box to box so she looked for another option. She saw it when she spotted a chain close to where she was and that it was connected to somewhere above and ahead of her. (I should be able to swing over there.) She the unwrapped the chain and leaned back a little, she the jumped forward while holding the chain and let the chain swing her over to where she wanted to go.

Once she was on top of the stack of boxes, she looked down to see Dan fighting with one of the men in black clothing. It was very impressive to watch, but something moving toward them caught her eye. It was another of the group trying to sneak up on Dan and catch him in the back with a steel pipe he had in his hands. She instantly jumped on the ground in front of the man with her katana unsheathed. The man was instantly startled and slipped on his feet and landed on his back. Lisa put her katana to his neck and said, "I wouldn't move if I were you." The man silently obeyed.

Some Galbaldian soldiers came around some boxes and Lisa nodded. She let them pick up the man from the ground and handcuff him. She then heard a scream from behind her. She turned around and looked. It was the man Dan was fighting screaming one last time before dying.

"Thanks for watching my back Lisa," said Dan. Lisa nodded and smiled.

"I think that's all of them," said a sergeant in a red uniform while walking up to them. "Good thing we had you two SeeDs help on this. I really don't think we could've did this without you." Both just nodded.

Dan and Lisa looked around for a second before coming to the sight of a wide-eyed man in blue jeans and a white shirt and blue jacket. He was by the back entrance Dan and Lisa came in. (I hope he's not going to do what I think he's going to do.) Dan thought. The man then bolted for the back door. (Damn!)

"Come on let's follow him!" Lisa yelled while sheathing her katana and running after him. Dan did the same and quickly followed her.

Once both were out of the door, they looked left and right to see where the man went. They saw him running to the left around a corner. Both instantly followed him through the streets. He ran about two blocks before Dan and Lisa saw him run down an alley. They followed him a couple of more blocks until he ran into a park. He had finally tired out and collapsed to the ground.

(I knew all that jogging would have paid off.) Lisa thought. "You're finally cornered, you should give up now and you won't lose your life," said Lisa. Both SeeDs slowly walked up to the exhausted man and stopped a few feet from him.

"My fight won't ever be over until I die," said the man. "You may turn me in to the pigs but they won't ever break my will. One day, democracy will be a dream come true here. We we're willing to do anything we can to make it happen."

"You make me sick," said Dan. "You would stoop so low as to kill soldiers. You know, there were other methods you could have used to get your message across."

"We killed those soldiers to be heard. All the other ways weren't working," said the man. "That damned dictator like government wasn't going to change unless we started killing those who worked for them."

Lisa narrowed her eyes. "You killed those soldiers just to be heard? Did you ever stop to think about the families and the loved ones of the soldiers?" Lisa paused. "Did you ever think about the lives you were ruining when you killed those soldiers?"

"We did, but it had to be done," replied the men.

"What you did is become murderers and probably orphaned a few children," Lisa continued on.

"You're the real murderers," said the man. "You SeeDs are nothing but a bunch of trained killers! It's too bad we didn't hire you earlier."

Dan and Lisa tensed a little bit at what the man said. "You disgust me," Lisa said with venom in her voice.

Some military vehicles pulled up near the three. Out jumped some soldiers in blue and they immediately ran over to the man and handcuffed him. They then dragged him into one of the vehicles and threw him in.

"Thanks again," said the sergeant going up to Dan and Lisa. "That was the leader of the group." He then shook Dan and Lisa's hands. "Do you need a ride to your hotel?"

"Yeah sure," said Dan. They followed the sergeant to one of the vehicles and hopped in with him.

While going back to the hotel, there was little talk between Dan, Lisa and the troops in the transport. They were tired, needed showers and wanted to catch the first train to Timber and then to Balamb. (Trained killers huh? I wouldn't put it that way, but we're trained mercenaries.) Lisa silently pondered. What the man said before he was put into custody of the military bothered her a little bit. (I've been a SeeD for more than four years, and that's the first time something like what that man said ever bothered me.)

After arriving at the hotel, Dan and Lisa saluted the soldiers before they went into it. "Finally, I can stop wearing these skimpy clothes," said Lisa while going through the door.

"Huh? I thought you liked wearing them?" Dan asked while following her into the lobby.

Lisa stopped and turned around. "Dan, come here please," said Lisa. Dan raised an eyebrow and was a little bit reluctant to get closer to Lisa but he did. She immediately punched Dan hard in the stomach.

Dan was kneeling down, coughing and holding his stomach. "What was that for?" Dan asked in between coughing.

"That was for that all those comments earlier and before about these clothes," said Lisa. She turned on her heel and walked to the elevator and took it up. Lisa knew she had a right to be bitchy tonight. All of the skimpy clothes that she had to wear during the mission made her uncomfortable. Also, it was Dan making little jokes from time to time when she complained about them.

After a minute of coughing Dan finally got up. (Damn, she's strong.) Thought Dan as he walked toward the elevator. (I guess I deserved that.)

"Are you alright?" The woman in the purple dress asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he said while continuing toward the elevator. He then went close to the man at the check-in desk. "Women. No matter what we say to them, we'll never please or understand them." The man just nodded Dan took the elevator up to the floor and went into his room.

After a half hour, Dan and Lisa had finished taking their showers and dressed in their SeeD uniforms. They both came out of their rooms with their duffle bags over their shoulder. They both got into the elevator and it was silent between them. "I'm sorry about hitting earlier," said Lisa with apologetic eyes.

"That's okay, I guess I had that coming," said Dan while smiling. "I can never be mad at my best friend."

"Thanks," Lisa said. She then gave Dan a little peck on the cheek.

(Now that's the Lisa I know.) The rest of the short elevator ride was in silence. Once they were in the lobby once again, they turned in their keys and walked out of the hotel. "Let's catch a bus, I'm still a little bit tired from all of that running," Lisa said. Dan just nodded.

They waited for a minute and took a bus to the Deling City Station. Once they were down the escalator, they walked side by side toward the trains. Suddenly, Lisa felt a feeling. One she couldn't describe. It was like nothing she's ever felt before. She stopped walking for a minute and looked in the direction she felt it come from. Instantly, the feeling was gone, but she still looked in the direction.

Dan noticed Lisa stopped and was looking in a direction. "Lisa? Is there anything wrong?" Dan asked.

"Just this feeling I had," answered Lisa. "I guess it was nothing." Turning back to the trains, she said, "Come on let's get some tickets and go back to Balamb Garden." Both then bought a ticket to Timber and got on the train. As the train was leaving the station, Lisa still couldn't stop thinking about the feeling she felt earlier. She knew it was something, but didn't want to tell Dan.

(Date: July 11, 4018. Place: Half a mile outside of Deling City. Time: 21:26 hours.)

Kale Akaisura marveled at his handy work in killing the inferior Thrustaevis. His magic and his powers were almost back to normal after resting in that tomb like place. He then looked in the distance to see the lights of a city. He decided to go there first to get information about where his was. The rest of his walk was uneventful. (So I guess I've scared away the monsters with that show of power.) Kale silently pondered.

He remembered after he woke up he saw that it was night. (I wonder how long I've been asleep?) It didn't matter to him. He went to the entrance and washed off the blood on his armor and in his hair. Kale had been walking for close to an hour when he came upon this first vestige of civilization since waking up.

After a few more minutes of walking he saw strange tall building unlike anything he's seen before. As he was walking, he looked down at his armor and looked at the dents and cuts in it. (I guess I'll have to get some new armor or clothes with the money I have.) He then came upon the gates of the city and walked through them. He came upon the strange building with a strange contraption sticking out of an opening. He walked over an examined the blue thing. He looked it up and down and all around it. (So this has wheels. This must be some form of transportation here.)

"Would you like to rent this car sir?" A man in a blue coat, blue hat red pans and black shoes asked Kale.

"Car?" Kale asked.

"Yeah, this thing right here," replied the car rental attendant. "If you do that will be three hundred gil."

"This is very interesting," said Kale. "No, I won't be needing it. Can you tell me, what is this place?"

"Huh? You must be from out of town or something?" The attendant asked.

"You could say that," Kale replied.

"Well, this is Deling city. I would say it's the second greatest city in the world next to Esthar."

(So this place is called Deling city. I've thought I've heard that name before, but I can't quite place it.) Kale then continued into the city without saying anything in response to the attendant. He looked around and saw the trees and the road with some cars and other machines going on the road. As he walked down the sidewalk, people stared at him and got out of the way to let him pass. (I guess it must be the armor and my broadsword that is scaring them. These men, women, and youths all have on clothes I've never seen before. What is this place I've been brought to? Is it another world?)

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard about five or six sets of footsteps behind him. He turned to look back at them and saw about six young men with really strange clothes and hairdos. When he stopped and turned around all six of them stopped and acted like they were doing something else. After a few seconds of observing them, Kale continued to walk. (Must be the low life scum of this place.) As he came upon an opening in between the buildings, he stopped to look in it. Without warning, he was pushed into it quite some feet. After a few feet of being pushed, he turned toward the one pushing and punched the young man in the face. The boy staggered back toward the other five. (So, it's them who got me in here.)

"Give us all of your money and we might not hurt you," said a young man in black jacket, blue shorts, gym shoes, with a red bandanna tied over his head. He also held a small knife in his hand.

"So you must be the common thieves of the place," commented Kale.

"Yeah," said the one with the bandanna. "You must be slow or something. What's with the get up? You going to a costume party or something?"

"If you want my money, you'll have to kill me to get it," Kale replied while unsheathing his broadsword. He saw the reactions of two of the youths. Their eyes widened at the sight of Kale's broadsword. (I guess I get to have a little more fun tonight after all.)

"Tommy, Mike, get dat freak!" The leader yelled. The two leather clad young men slowly advanced on Kale. One had a short steel pipe in his left hand, while the other had a long steel pipe, which he picked up from the alley.

Kale just smirked as the two slowly inched their way over to him. He saw their nervousness and was pleased he still had the effect to intimidate people without that much trouble. Suddenly Mike, the young man with a leather jacket, and blue jeans rushed Kale raising the pipe over his head. Kale then concentrated for a half a second and a fiery aura suddenly engulfed his sword. He then swung in an upward slash to meet with the badly rusted pipe. Once the two connected, the sword cut the pipe like it was butter. Mike then quickly backed off, as did Tommy. He knew none of the six foolish youths had seen something like this happen before. He seen as their eyes widened. "If you don't want that to happen to you, I suggest leave me be, or suffer a painful and agonizing death," bellowed Kale.

"Man, I don't know about you Mick, but I'm outta here!" Mike yelled while taking off.

"Hey, wait for me!" Tommy yelled while running behind him.

Soon the other three joined him. The one called Mick was the only one who stayed behind. "So you seem to have a sliver of courage while your companions don't?" Kale asked.

"Yeah, I never ran away from any challenge in my life," said Mick. "I'll be damned if I run away from some freak like you!"

(Such courage is admirable in one so young.) Kale thought. "Then come forth and show me what you have to offer."

Mick then ran at Kale very fast and wildly like a charging bull. Once he was close enough, Mick stabbed his knife toward Kale's face. Using Mick's momentum against him. Kale quickly moved his head and body to the left a little bit. The knife missed and Kale spun around and struck an elbow in Mick's back. Mick hit the ground face first, and instantly cupped his busted nose. He rolled over onto his back to see Kale standing above him and that he put his sword to his neck. "Please don't kill me!" Mick cried out. "I'll give you my money, I'll do anything you want me too, please don't kill me!"

"Give me one good reason that I shouldn't," said Kale. "If it's good enough, I'll spare your life. It seems you intended on killing me, I don't see why you fear death when you're on the receiving end."

"I would be willing to do anything you say!" Mick cried out hysterically. He wondered why somebody didn't come into the alley with all of the screaming that he's been doing.

Kale raised his sword moved it to the right a little and came down with it. Mick instantly closed his eyes and waited for the pain to come and it never did. He opened his eyes and saw that the armored man moved the sword to the right of his neck. (That should have taken off a few years off of his life.) Kale then moved the sword back to his neck. "Pledge your loyalty to me. If you do this, that means your life will be spared. You will do everything I say without any protest. What say you?"

"I swear man, just don't kill me!" Mick cried out.

Kale then took his sword away from Mick's neck. "Get up." Mick did as instructed. "If you ever do anything that will betray my trust or you try to desert me, know this. I'll kill you without a second thought." Mick looked down frightened and nodded. Kale then sheathed his broadsword. "What is your name?"

"Mick," said the young punk.

"My name is Kale Akaisura, you lord and master," Kale said. "You're going to supply me with clothes and information. Also a place where I can rest tonight, is that understood?'

"Yes sir," Mick quickly said.

"Also, your friends that were with you will also swear their loyalty to me," Kale stated. "If they don't, I'll kill them and not regret a moment of it." Mick just nodded.

"I don't have any spare clothes today sir, but we can go to a clothes store tomorrow if you would like?" Mick said.

"That is good, because I am wary from my walk and dealing with you. After I get some new clothes tomorrow, you'll take me to a place where I can get information," said Kale. "Is that understood?" Mick nodded. "Well, then lead the way to your dwelling." Mick and Kale then walked out of the alley with Mick leading the way to the slums. (This is good. After I get some information on this place, I'll start making plans to conquer this world. What they will be are to be determined after I get the information. I wonder, is my hated rival, Alexander Hawkwind is anywhere near here? If he is, I'll have to kill him first for he is the only one that comes close to matching my power.) Kale just smiled as he walked along and looked at the city. He was real eager to rule the strange looking place, but first he would need information. He then followed Mick through the slums and anticipated any information that would be helpful in his plans.

Author's Notes: So what do you think? I know this chapter might be confusing at first, but wait for chapter two to find out what's going on. I'm going to post chapter 2 in a few days because it needs a little bit of tweaking before it comes out just the way I like it. One quick question, should I include Seifer in this? Should I say that he was accepted back into B-Garden after about six months? Or should I have him come somewhere else in a dramatic fashion? Email me or tell me in your review. Well, don't forget to review before you hit that back button. It would really make my day. Thanks in advance.