Louie The Rune Soldier Fan Fiction / Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Rune Soldier Rayne ❯ Chance meetings ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2- Chance meetings

 

Disclaimer: Rune Soldier Louie and Final Fantasy have nothing in common with either each other or me, so let's leave it at that. Okay?

 

< >: Thoughts

 

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“There it is, Rayne! Ohfun, the city where the Magic Guild's centered.” A young boy said as he spoke to his companion.

 

“I see. It's just as you said it would be, so what's your plan when you and your folks get inside John?” Rayne Leonhart asked his companion who was a young boy with a normal tunic and pants, pale in comparison to his garb, which was a light shirt, black leather jacket with a fur trimmed collar plus hood, on it's back was the symbol of Griever, A pair of black leather pants, strap-on boots and his black leather gloves. Near him was his travel pack and his sheathed Gunblade.

 

“My folks and I are going to sell our produce into the market and then we'll buy some needed supplies.” The boy and grinned whimsically to the young Leonhart. The boy was one of the coolest guys the younger peasant lad had ever met. He recalled the time Rayne had shown up as if it was only yesterday.

 

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“NO! You can't be serious!”

 

A young man said in fear as he and his family were being threatened by a band of thugs. They were coming from the fields a few hours away from their humble village when they were waylaid by the band of thieves on the way home. The men eyed his young wife and their supplies.

 

“You bet we're serious, either you give us all your money…and some time with your wife…or we'll kill you all instead and take the stuff anyway!” The leader said with a leer to the young woman.

 

“No way am I ever going to do that!” The man shouted as he was armed with his pitch-fork and stepped forward. He had never fought in any wars before and the men were armed with swords, spears, wore leather armor and apparently were experienced in warfare.

 

“Hah! What are you going to do?” The leader said with a grin and then cut the pitch-fork into a useless pole with his sword. He then punched the man on the face knocking him back towards his wife and son.

 

The boy ran up and with a small stone tossed it at the leader. The man's grin vanished as the stone struck his cheek. He then gave a deep growl as he and his cronies glared at the boy. “Why you little…”

 

“You leave us alone you rotten coward!”

 

“You've got guts…” The leader said and with the flat of his sword slammed the weapon on the boy's shoulder, injuring the boy and sending him sprawling to the side of the road. The husband and wife watched in horror as they were surrounded by the other thugs, who kept them from saving their boy…nothing…not even their lives mattered if their only son was killed.

 

“NO! LEAVE MY SON JOHN ALONE!”

 

“PLEASE DON'T! IN MYLEE'S NAME! I BEG YOU! DON'T KILL MY SON!”

 

“…now let's see what they look like spilled on this road and out of your stomach!” The leader said without any pity as he raised his sword to cut apart the young boy.

 

John closed his eyes and waited in the end.

 

The end never came, however there was a sound of metal hitting something else…and John knew it wasn't his flesh.

 

He opened his eyes and spotted a tall boy in front of him, dressed in strange clothes holding something that was wrapped in some sort of sheath. And the object was blocking the sword in the hands of the bandit leader.

 

“What the hell?!” The leader said as he and his men looked at the new arrival, the new boy had just appeared out of nowhere.

 

Rayne glared at the older man. he had grown up under his father's tutelage for a long time, and knew courage better than anybody else. Plus his training and discipline made him very capable in the face of danger. As he wandered this place…he had been in a very situations like this one.

 

“You and your men have got a lot of courage to be robbing an ordinary family. What? You all can't find anything decent to do with your time?” Rayne said in a mocking tone as he looked the men over. They had some decent training, and COULD be good men in a fight, but they were nothing but thugs, and considering that they wanted to kill a boy no younger than he was made Rayne see them as lowly cowards.

 

The older man glared at Rayne and pulled back his sword. “You're the one with a lot of courage, interfering in something's no concern of yours kid!” His fellows then converged on Rayne, intent on dealing with his strangely dress boy quickly.

 

Rayne merely looked and answered back. “Now I'm making it my business, I'll make this very simple. You guys can walk away, breathing if I might add, and never trouble this place again…or you all can stay and I'll do some very unpleasant to you, one at a time.”

 

The bandits laughed and then sneered at Rayne, their leader hefting his sword.

 

“Hah, like what can you do?”

 

Rayne aimed the bundle at the leader and smirked. “You're so tough, why don't you find out. Or are you too chicken?”

 

The expression of humor vanished from the bandit leader's face as he charged. “I'll gut you alive for that!”

 

Rayne merely dodged the attacks almost in a lazy fashion, but in reality he was studying his enemy's sword style.

 

<Basic sword-play skills, plus some variations. Strong power blows, but somewhat weak in defensive movements. He must be a former military man who got tired and went rogue. Well, I guess I might as well make him reconsider leaving the army.>

 

The bandit leader was getting more and more angry, as the boy dodged every attack he threw at him. He had to admit this much, this kid was well versed in combat, but there was no way in either heaven of hell was he going to lose to this kid. He saw his chance as the boy seemed to stop moving, he got ready to swing his sword and shear the boy into two.

 

“HAH! I've got you now!”

 

Rayne watched and with a quick motion grabbed the bundle.

 

CLANG!

 

“What the?!” The bandit leader and his cronies looked in shock along with the family they had been harassing.

 

The boy blocked the sword with a strange blade that shimmered blue, was transparent like glass, and was filled with strange hard to see engravings. The handle was silver colored, and had a beast-like visage near the hilt.

 

Rayne merely looked at the man he was fighting against. “You and your posse should have left three minutes ago. Now you're going to get a REAL thrashing!”

 

Rayne knocked the sword aside, gripped his Lionheart Gunblade with both hands and charged right in.

 

*************

 

End of Flashback…

 

John was totally at awe with Rayne as he moved through the ranks of the bandits like he was a blur. His strange sword tore through them and turned their weapons into nothing but useless junk. The first two men had been armed with maces, but Rayne dodged every attack, cut their maces into useless handles, and he then slammed a kick into their stomachs, making the men bend over in pain. The others were armed with a mix of spears and swords, and those too were ruined by Rayne's strange blade, as the boy introduced several powerful punches and kicks into them to send them to the ground.

 

Rayne then faced the leader who was sweating profusely as he saw his entire party decimated by the strange boy in front of him. He then turned tail and ran away as Rayne pointed his weapon at him. When the fighting was over, Rayne walked over to John with a smile and offered his hand.

 

“You've got courage buddy, but you have to be a bit more careful, okay?”

 

Later, the constables were able to round up the thugs and sent them to prison. Rayne stayed with John's family who were more than willing to give their young savior a place to stay. He also helped out in their harvesting and planting, despite them assuring that they could handle things themselves.

 

In his spare time, he taught John some of his fighting moves, namely with only his fists and feet, while including the fighting styles of the staff. John's parents were at first reluctant for their son to learn how to fight. But Rayne reassured them that he was going to teach John only what he needed to help protect himself, their home, and them as well. John was willing to train, and it didn't take long for the young man to grasp the basics of the unarmed combat skills Rayne was teaching him, and the staff fighting skills.

 

Rayne had an impact on the surrounding village as well. Whenever John's family would arrive with Rayne in tow, the females would immediately crowd around to meet them, namely the two boys. John was a cute guy and his life in the country have him a fine form, Rayne excluded an aura of mystery and coupled with his very handsome looks, made many girls all giddy whenever they saw him.

 

They were also ready to take Rayne with them to the city of Ohfun for the delivery of their crops. John's mother and father hoped that Rayne would be all right on his own.

 

*************

 

Rayne however had a reason for requesting his travel to Ohfun. Knowing that the orb that his grand-mother told him about that housed a portion of the Sorceress Adel's powers would be sensed by those with magical aptitude, meant that it may be found in places were magical artifacts were gathered and studied. The last thing he wanted was someone attempting to use the orb for magical research, as despite it being only a fragment, the corruptive nature of his dimension's magical energies, plus the fragment of Adel's soul would be inviting disaster to those the evil Sorceress could corrupt into acting as her patsy.

 

He had been able to travel on occasion to his dimension to see his parents and relatives, while gathering supplies and whatever things he needed to survive in this world he was in. But he couldn't stay long at home as the orb had to be located quickly, and disposed of before it could siphon magic from this world and give rise to a new Sorceress with Adel's power and motives.

 

However, in order for the orb to do just that, it had to be hidden and allowed to absorb residual magic in it's current state. This gave Rayne enough time to find it and seal it, his blood would react to it as his Sorceress blood would allow him to sense the spiritual imprint of a Sorceress's powers. For now he would have to bid his time.

 

Another reason is that since the city of Ohfun was the hub of trade in this section of the lands, he could gain whatever information he could on possible areas where magical artifacts could be found. Plus, the Magic Academy in the area could allow him to learn more about this world's history so he could better locate possible areas where the orb might have manifested itself.

 

Rayne tabled those thoughts aside as he helped John and his family unload the cart of their crops and take them to the market square.

 

*************

 

Ila sighed and prayed that she'd find her father and Master Carwess soon, she chided herself for getting lost only a month and a half after entering the Magic Guild. She had gone into the market square to go to the section where magical supplies were being sold. Since magical components were sometimes cheap, but mostly very expensive, the arcane section was only reserved for those who were training as either priests, priestesses, sorcerers, sorceresses, and the like. Thus, the only time warriors who had low to no magical aptitude would enter the arcane square was to sell what magical components and artifacts they had for weapons that were enchanted.

 

She was happy to be able to study in the Academy and meet new people. But like any school she had to contend with a load of problems, namely some bullies and also the increasing work-load. She hoped that she would have someone to talk to. She had made some friends in the Academy, but not that many.

 

*************

 

“Are you sure you want to stay here Rayne?” John's father asked Rayne as he and his folks looked at the young man who became a close family friend. “You might not be able to find your way here.”

 

“No, it's all right, I plan to enter the Magic Academy here in Ohfun.”

 

“Enter the Magic Academy Guild?” John's mother asked in surprise. “That would be a great boon to your skills, but you still need several things. One of the most important is an application with the consent of your parents. You never told us about your family you know.”

 

“Sorry, I…can only say that it's something I still have to do.”

 

“I wish we could do more for you Rayne. But I don't know anybody in the village or anywhere near here that can sponsor you for the entrance exams to the Guild. But even if I did, the exams are very tough and only this with great magical skill can be in it.” John's father said with a sad tone. This boy had done a great deal of things for his family and he was not happy in the fact he couldn't do more for him.

 

“It's all right, I'll find some way to take care of it.”

 

The family then shook hands with their guest and friend as they packed up and prepared to leave Ohfun to head back to their village.

 

Rayne bade them farewell and took up his goods, supplies and tools. His friendship with John and his folks allowed him to know some of the places in this new world that he didn't have time to visit on his own. Now all he had to do was find a place that dealt in magic apart from the Magic Guild Academy. If he could find the orb early, it might spare him the trouble.

 

**************

 

Later…

 

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To be continued…

 

I again apologize for the lack of changes, and hope that these will be enough for today. I have to dedicate some time to my projects and other duties. As of now, I will do my best to update this story as much as I can.

 

I hope you readers can wait and wish me luck!