A Marauder's Tale

[XxKiraYamatoxX]

Disclaimer: MapleStory belongs to Wizet. I make absolutely no profit from this story whatsoever. However, I do own the concept of this story and some of the characters.

Rating: Wait till I get the story really going.

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Prologue

The silhouette of a tall figure appeared on the horizon beyond the gates of the mountain city known as Perion. As the figure moved closer, it was seen to be wearing a long cloak. The only Dragon Knight manning the guard tower scrutinized the newcomer closely with a pair of binoculars even as it approached. Long brown hair was blowing around behind the figure's head, buffeted by the rough mountain winds. At the range the binoculars were focused to, it was obvious that the newcomer was a female. Part of a bow's shaft was visible poking out of the gap between her cloak and her clothes. The hilt of a ruby crusted dagger was hanging from the side of her hips in it's sheath.

The woman stumbled as she walked, and the Dragon Knight could see a trail of blood on the rocks as she walked past. He quickly climbed down the guard tower's ladder and ran towards the woman, praying that whatever injury she had wasn't too serious. Chivalry was one of the traits he possessed, and he couldn't leave an injured woman like that. The woman only managed to get within a few metres of the city gates before collapsing. "Hey! We need a Priest over here!" The Dragon Knight yelled as he dashed towards the unmoving body. A quick check of her body revealed a rather large gash on her left leg, which was what had been bleeding. Placing two fingers on the radial artery inside her wrist showed that she was breathing fine. The Dragon Knight heaved a sigh of relief and put the unconscious woman on his back, carrying her into the city of Perion.

The nearest clinic was two minutes away from the city entrance, and the Dragon Knight quickly carried the woman there, earning himself a few stares from the locals. "They'd better not be thinking I'm carrying her off for something perverted." The Dragon Knight groaned as he burst in the door of the clinic. The nurse manning the reception counter seemed a little surprised. "Mr. Vega, don't tell me you have a new girlfriend." She forced down a chuckle. "Aw c'mon! I just found her outside the gate, and she was injured too." The Dragon Knight moaned, setting the woman down on a nearby sofa carefully even as a few nurses ran out to attend to her injuries.

Ralstan Vega. A 30 year old Dragon Knight and one of Dances With Balrogs's best students. Well-built, tall and muscular, he graduated from the Spearman's Academy at the age of 15, the youngest graduate ever while achieving the Dragon Knight 3rd job at 20 years old.

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Chapter 1: The Marauder

A few hours after Ralstan found her, the strange woman finally awoke on the sofa. The moment she got up, she quickly lifted her bow out of her quiver and nocked an arrow to it, turning around and checking her surroundings. When she noticed that everyone in the building was staring at her, she returned the bow to her quiver along with the arrow, looking rather embarrassed. When she tried to get up, she accidentally used her wounded leg and collapsed again, clutching the bandaged wound. "Oh, you're finally awake." Ralstan walked in the door and chuckled. "Erm...... Where am I?" The woman asked, looking around. "You're in one of Perion's clinics." The Dragon Knight crouched down to her eye level. She shrank back, looking slightly scared. Then, her eyes flashed. "Perion?"

Ralstan's eyes fell on the golden shaft of the bow the woman was carrying. "Is that...?" He gasped. "Dragon Shinebow. I need to get going." The woman sighed and tried to get up again. This time, she wobbled slightly, and fell over again. Right into Ralstan's arms. "Careful there. You're still recovering." He said, setting her back on the sofa. "There's something important I need to do." She tried getting up again and fell onto the ground face-down. "Ouch." She grunted, then pushed herself off the ground with her arms. Ralstan decided to get a closer look at the woman he had saved.

She was roughly around 28 years old, quite tall, and the Dragon Shinebow on her back showed that she was at least a Bow Mistress. Even Ralstan himself wasn't at his 4th job yet, but this woman was so young! She was wearing a light brown coloured sleeveless shirt and a long brown skirt with a parting down the side.

"What's your name?" Ralstan asked, helping the woman up. She hesitated for a few seconds. "Reika Seraphina." She answered, then limped to the door, trying to open it. "I'm Ralstan. Ralsten Vega. Where do you need to go?" Ralstan asked Reika. "Demons......" She fiddled with the door, finally opening it. The Dragon Knight felt like he had been hit in the head with a concrete brick. "DEMONS!?" He shrieked. Reika turned around and said, "Yes. They're coming."

*From here on in, the entire story will be from Reika's PoV. Of course, I might throw in a few third-person scenes.*

Ralstan hurried off to sound the alarm even as I limped towards the city gates in the opposite direction, biting down the pain in my wounded left leg. Earlier on, one of those rhinoceros-like bastards had knocked me over a cliff. By sheer luck, I had managed to hang onto a twig, but the demon's horn had opened up the current injury in my left leg. If I knew Perion like I though I did, those demons would trample all over the remains if the defenders weren't mobilized in time. Ralstan did look powerful, but there were flying demons too, and Warriors specialized in close-range attacks only. I found Ralstan's watchtower and climbed up slowly, stopping every now and then to rest my injured leg. I smiled as the warning bell started to ring and Warriors began trooping out of their houses, clad in full battle armour. I finally managed to climb up into the tower, and picked up a pair of binoculars lying on a table, scanning the horizon. "Hey, you there! You're not Ralstan! Get down here now!" Someone yelled. "Uhoh." I thought. Not because the guy had spotted me. A cloud of dust was visible quite far away, with one massive horned demon that looked like a rhinoceros in front of it.

Not wasting any time, I picked up my bow, nocking an arrow to the string and aiming it at the dust cloud far away. "Get down here now! Who are you!?" The Warrior from earlier was climbing up the ladder. I tensed my grip on the arrow, waiting for the right moment. When they finally got within range, I launched the arrow. Right as the Warrior got up the ladder and laid a hand on my left shoulder to turn me around, which agitated the wound on my left leg, which, in turn, messed up my arrow's trajectory. I collapsed to the ground, clutching my left leg in pain. "Who're you?" The Warrior asked, surprised. Obviously he hadn't expected me to be a female. "Doesn't matter for now......" I moaned, pointing at the horizon. "If you want me to believe there's something...... Oh Lord." He picked up the binoculars and gasped. "Moron. Why else would the alarm be sounded?" I groaned, exasperated by the guy's incompetence.

The alarm was really sounding now as Warriors dashed to their stations to intercept the incoming demons. Actually, more like they were trying to intercept the demons. My earlier shot had missed the leader because of the incompetent Warrior's jostling and my left leg was hurting more than ever. Ralstan came back to man his post only to find the idiot sitting with me in the watch tower's resting bench. "Ben, did you do something to her?" He asked. The moron turned around. "I just put an arm on her shoulder and she collapsed! I'm innocent!" He pleaded. "Moron." I repeated, trying to stand. "Which shoulder?" Ralstan raised an eyebrow coldly. "Left. Why?" Ben stared at him quizzically. "Her left leg's injured." Ralstan sighed. Instantly, the moron Warrior's face dropped. "Sorry about that, this guy's one of my best friends from school. Benjamin Juang." The young Dragon Knight apologized. I nodded as I managed to get up. Walking to the tower's side, I spotted the herd of demons closing in. "Damn, I can't shoot like this." I swore, looking at my injured leg. Then, I noticed the locks on the side of the railing. Quickly picking the locks with a hairclip, I let the railing down and lay prone on the floor, nocking an arrow to my Dragon Shinebow's bowstring. "Most Archers can't even shoot like that!" Ralstan stared at me. I simply ignored him and focused on aiming. Shooting while laying prone like this lowered my accuracy slightly, but it was fine. After all, who could miss a shot on a two-metre wide piece of demon skin? Maybe a beginner.

I couldn't use Hurricane while lying prone, so I made do with an Inferno arrow. I gritted my teeth as the flames from the arrow started burning the skin on my hands, but I needed a few seconds to aim. "Come on......" I almost broke the string from pulling it too far back. "Go!" I shouted as the arrow flew from my bow towards the stampeding herd of demons. There was a roar in the distance and Ralstan picked up the binoculars, zooming in to the demon herd. "Wow......" He gaped. I snatched the binoculars from him and looked through them in the exact same direction. "Yes." I smiled. The leader of the herd was lying on the ground sideways, his corpse being eaten away by the flames from my Inferno arrow. The rest of the demons had stopped dead in their tracks and were staring in my direction. Suddenly, I spotted a wave of new demons that I hadn't seen before approaching from behind the first wave. These ones resembled eight-legged tall towers with orbs on the tips of the towers. "Those bastards." I groaned, quickly loading ten more arrows and firing them towards the distance. The binoculars showed direct hits on the orbs of all of those things, but one had managed to launch a ball of black magic from it's orb towards the tower before I hit it.

"RUN!" I shrieked, crawling towards the side of the tower. Ralstan looked towards the demons and saw the ball of black magic, now closer. "Sh*t." I heard him curse as he picked me up and jumped off the tower, followed by the incompetent moron, Benjamin, from earlier. Just in the nick of time too! When the magical projectile connected with the watchtower, it burst into black flames. I doused the fire by sending a burst of water magic at it before it could spread, but one of my sniping positions had been incinerated. The walls weren't safe, if any of those tower demons were still around, I'd be dead in a matter of seconds. Only now, I noticed that Ralstan had his right hand over my butt, he hadn't noticed it, being too occupied getting both of us to safety. My face turned red. "Pervert." I slapped him. He turned towards me in surprise, then noticed his hand's awkward position and turned a bright shade of red. "Uhhh......" He stammered. I moaned and let myself down, pushing his hand off and limping towards a nearby bench to rest. He followed, practically spluttering and trying to find the right words he could use to express his apology. I couldn't resist laughing in my mind, he looked so funny!

"I...uhh... didn't mean to......" Ralstan spluttered with his words. Now, I let out a low chuckle. He stopped. "Huh?" He looked at me curiously as I started laughing. "You...... you looked so funny!" I bent over, clutching my sides. "Aw c'mon!" He sighed. Then, I covered my mouth. "What..." I was surprised. This was the first time I had laughed in my entire life. Smile, maybe a few times, but never laugh. This man...... Who was he? Now that I thought about it, he looked awfully familiar. There was only one person in the world who had managed to make me smile, and that was my long-dead brother, or... could it be? I felt a tear trickle down my cheek and wiped it away quickly, but Ralstan spotted it. "What's wrong?" He asked. "N..nothing. It's just that...... That was the first time I had ever laughed in my whole life." I blurted out, then stopped myself and removed the small shield on my right hand, showing Ralstan my birthmark. It took the form of a pentacle with a circle around it. "Does this look familiar?" I asked. He stared at it intently for a few moments. "I think I've seen it somewhere before...... But I can't put my finger on it..." He said thoughtfully. I sighed and unbuttoned the top part of my shirt, exposing my bosom. Ralstan's face immediately turned red again. I reached inside it, drawing out a single lone photograph; my most valuable possession, which explained why it was in a spot like that.

The photograph was of me and my brother, almost 25 years ago. That time, I was only 3 years old, and my brother was 5. I scrutinized the boy in the photo closely. His hair was short and brown, the same colour as mine, but our eyes had different irises. Mine was blue, while his was purple. Then, I stared at Ralstan's face. "What?" He eyed me. His eyes had purple irises while his hair was black with several streaks of brown. He suddenly noticed my photo. "Hey...... that's......" He gasped. My eyes lit up. Was this simply coincidence, or was he my......

I flashed back 23 years into the past, when I was still a little child. Back then, the demons had just started appearing from places around the world. One of those places was right over our house. That was right when I had gotten separated from my brother. Both of us were running around the house, panicking as demons continually trampled parts of the house. My mother had picked me up and made a run for it, shouting to my father to run too. He had just picked up my brother when a massive foot trampled the entire house in one go, completely destroying it. My mother and I had survived by a hair's breadth, the foot had almost hit us. Unfortunately, my father was still upstairs with my brother, and he was thought to have been trampled. My mother instantly sank into tears while I simply stared at the foot and vowed to avenge my supposedly dead brother silently in my mind. 10 years after that day, I had graduated from the Ranger's Academy as Reika Seraphina, Seraphina being my mother's surname. My early graduation had come from extremely hard work as a result of my vow for revenge. By then, my mother had passed away from internal injuries inflicted by the rubble back when the house was demolished. 3 years after graduating as a Ranger, I became a Bow Master and started travelling around the world, slaying demons wherever I could. Of course, I didn't know how to seal their portals, and had to make do with killing the demons first. That was how I ended up here, and throughout those 10 years I had been travelling, I had become known as the Marauder by those I had saved. It wasn't publicized throughout the world though, as I was mostly saving the lesser known towns.

"Erm, you there?" Ralstan's voice popped me out of my daydream. "Yes?" I asked. "Who's the person in the photo?" He answered with another question. "My brother...... He's dead..." I sighed, hiding my true feelings. "I'm sorry to hear that...... I'm kind of like you actually." He said. My ears perked up. "My sister passed away when I was 7 years old. Come to think of it, she looks almost like you." He scratched his temple. "How old are you?" I asked hopefully. "30." He replied. "How did your sister die?" I pressed on. "Trampled by a demon. My house was a double-storey house, and my mother and sister were downstairs trying to get away. My father was with me, and we bailed out of a window just in time to escape a bigfoot. My mother didn't get away in time and she......" Ralstan trailed off. "Ralstan......" I stared at him. There was no doubt about it. "Your father......" I had to know what happened to him. "He absorbed the fall impact to protect me and also passed away on the spot..." His eyes were watering. "Oh......" I was silent. Both our parents were dead. "I wanted to take revenge on the demons for killing the rest of my family. That's why I became a Dragon Knight." Ralstan said. "You said your sister died in that incident right?" I smiled. "Huh?" He stared at my smile.

"She didn't. And she's sitting right in front of you."

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Chapter 2: Reunited

I fainted right after I said those 10 words, as I was too exhausted. The injuries inflicted by the demons was sapping my energy faster than I could rest it back up. Even the bandages weren't helping. Stupid demonic curses. The one that had injured me had most probably inflicted this curse on me. The last thought that came into my mind was, "I finally found you...... Bro..."

*Ralstan's PoV, no other choice*

After Reika fainted, I was still hanging there, surprised by what had just happened. "She's my sister......" I thought, then quickly bent down to pick her up. She was moaning in her sleep. "Demon...... urse...... leader......scale..." Her skin colour was changing! "What the hell......" I gasped. The area around her leg wound was slowly turning black! "Urse... Curse... Sh*t." I swore and turned around, taking my spear from the latch on the back of my armour and running outside after leaving Reika in the clinic. "If she really is my little sis, I have to save her." I swore. Benjamin followed anxiously. "Ral, where are you going?" He asked. "To save my sister." I gritted my teeth. She had mentioned the words leader and scale, so she probably wanted me to get a scale from the herd's leader. This wouldn't be easy. Although it was dead, the demons looked like they had a vendetta against Reika, and would be gathering around the leader's corpse to seal off all access to it. At least until the curse had disposed of her. Time was running out.

Only now I remembered the mark on Reika's left arm. A pentacle with a circle around it. Exactly the same as the one on my back. I had only spotted it recently when I looked in a mirror, and that was why I had forgotten about it. "Go! Landspeeder!" I shouted, placing my spear on the ground and hopping on the shaft. This was one of my personal techniques. By utilizing a special spear, I could focus my mana into it, and use the spear's channeling abilities to force the mana out of holes in it, and I had multiple holes on the shaft's stub for better propulsion. I had enough experience with the technique to maintain balance while riding, so staying on it wasn't a problem. A few days ago, I had managed to create a mana pack with help from a Priest, so that riding the spear wouldn't weaken my magical abilities. It was currently affixed to the area between the shaft and the pike.

I sped off towards the demon herd, leaving Benjamin behind in a cloud of dust. "HEEEY!!" He yelled, picking up his pace. I waved back at him as I pushed the mana harder. If dragons could fly this fast, I would be amazed. Now, a few seconds after I left Perion, I could see the demons. All of them resembled rhinoceros, and were gathering around their fallen leader's corpse just as I had expected. I wouldn't last long against all of them without a Priest, so I decided to make this a hit-and-run operation. I jumped off the spear, picking it back up and holding it horizontally with both hands. "If you think I'll let you get away with my sister's life, you thought wrong!" I shouted, power blazing up behind me and taking the shape of a horned dragon's head. The demons turned towards me. "Behold, the power of the DRAGONS!" I yelled as the dragon's head behind me opened it's mouth and unleashed a powerful roar, flinging all the nearby demons further away. With that, I ran over to the leader's corpse and cut off a piece of skin with my spear carefully even as the minions started getting up. Some had fallen upside-down when my Dragon Roar and blown them away, and were shaking their legs in the air rather comically. With the piece of skin safely in my hand, I activated the spear's Landspeeder mode and accelerated off back towards the city with the damned demons following behind.

On my way back, I passed Benjamin, who also began running back towards the city. "That was fast!" He shouted as I blew past him. "You don't wanna look behind you!" I yelled over the sound of the wind. At that, he turned around. "HOLY SH*T!!!" He swore and picked up the pace, running as if..... a herd of demons was chasing him, which was actually happening. I noticed Warriors forming ranks in front of the city, and I practically flew over the barrier and skidded to a halt inside the city. "The demons are coming!" I yelled to the defenders and ran off towards the clinic. Almost immediately, the line of Dragon Knights shifted to the front. Dragon Roar was an extremely powerful attack if it was used simultaneously by multiple Dragon Knights. When I got inside, I found Reika where I had left her, on the sofa. She was being examined by a Priest. "This is an extremely dangerous curse...... Where did you get that?" He gaped at the piece of demon skin in my fist. "Do I need to say more? Just cure her!" I said, sneaking a look at Reika. Her entire body's skin was gray coloured and slowly darkening, making her look almost like a phantom. "It'll only take a few seconds." The Priest plucked a single scale from the piece of skin and rubbed it over the wound on Reika's leg.

The scale started emitting a pale green light as the wound began healing itself. Reika's skin colour slowly turned back to normal and her breathing slowed down to a steady pace. "There. She's fine now." The Priest said and got up to leave. "Thanks." I smiled at him. "No problem, we need to help each other, no?" He chuckled and walked out of the door. I heard an explosion coming from the direction of the city gates and rushed out to join the fight, leaving Reika in a nurse's care.

A massive dragon's head had risen out of the ground behind the Dragon Knights as they used the Dragon Roar attack in unison. When the dragon's mouth opened, the demons were blown several metres away by the force of the attack, and some had even disintegrated. I rushed to the front lines, pointing my spear at a nearby demon and stabbing it multiple times using the power of dragons. The mana I used for the attack blew out behind me in the shape of dragon's wings, increasing my power. The demon disintegrated after a few stabs and I moved on to the next one. Now, the Dragon Knights were charging with their spears pointed forwards and the Crusaders and Knights moving beside, cutting apart any demon that attempted to circle around. "The Bulldozer Formation......" I stared at the arrangement of the other Warriors in awe. This formation had been a suggestion of mine several years back, and I smiled, seeing it in use. However, I got too distracted watching the others and a demon knocked me off my feet. "Argh!" I gritted my teeth, preparing for the big foot that was going to trample me......

*Back to Reika. >.>*

I got up right after my brother dashed out of the clinic and flexed my hand. "I'm alive?" I thought, then noticed a piece of discarded demon skin lying in the trash. "Oh." I stared at it. Ralstan had found a cure for me. Suddenly, I heard the sound of fighting coming from outside the city gates. Warriors were howling battle chants while the invading demons roared at their loudest. Even the nurse was cowering in a corner. I quickly ran out of the door and looked around for something I could use to climb up onto the city wall. There was a ladder hanging down from the wall nearby, and I climbed up it swiftly, glad that the wound on my left leg had healed. From up here, I had a pretty nice view of the entire demon herd. And, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ralstan just about to get trampled. "Oh no you don't." I breathed, drawing my bow swiftly and nocking an arrow to the string.

The arrow flew towards the demon that was standing over Ralstan even as he raised his arms to try and protect himself. "Please be on time......" I pleaded, watching the arrow. The whole world seemed to be passing through time in slow motion. Right on time, the arrow hit the demon's side and triggered miniature explosives hidden in the shaft. The demon was blown aside before it could trample Ralstan. I saluted him smartly as he stared at his saviour. "You owe me one." I smiled and turned towards the other defenders. They were moving around in a smart box-like formation with Dragon Knights at the front rows, picking any demon that got in their way to pieces. The Crusaders and Knights were at the flanks, dealing with the demons that tried to attack the Dragon Knights from behind. However, the formation would soon prove to be useless. I could see a few flying figures in the skies. "They're finally bringing in the aerials." I muttered, concentrating mana into my fingers. They took the shape of arrows and I nocked one to my bowstring.

The arrow flew out and struck one of the flying demons right in the head. It fell to the ground, but it was too far away for me to see what it looked like. Now, some of the defenders had taken notice of me standing on the edge of the wall. Ralstan soon joined me on the wall. "Thanks for saving me, bro." I smiled and sent another demon to a rocky demise. "You're welcome." He smiled back, watching as I dispatched another one. The flying demons had begun to really take notice of me now and were picking up their pace. Ralstan tapped my shoulder and I turned around, eyeing him. "You know, don't wear a skirt when you're standing on the edge of a wall." He sighed, pointing at the defenders below us. Some of them were red-faced, and their fighting was becoming lousier. Then, I looked at my skirt. The wind was blowing it in such a way that the people underneath had a view of my underside...... I quickly took a few steps back, blushing. I resumed my shooting once the flying demons started screeching.

A few minutes later, the defenders on the ground had run out of demons to beat up and were retreating back into the city with minor injuries. Of course, since I was probably the only Archer here, I was still dealing with the flying ones together with Ralstan. They had gotten close enough to take swipes at us now, and I had to resort to using my close-combat dagger. Unfortunately, they were flying around us far enough to stay out of my reach, and Ralstan was having little success trying to take them out. We were too close to each other for him to use the Dragon Roar skill, so I quickly sheathed my dagger and took my bow out. Instantly, the demons were all over me. "Argh!" I groaned, trying to fend off the little bastards. Ralstan took the chance and impaled 8 of them with his spear in one thrust, swinging it aside to send them flying off. "And now, we're even." He winked at me. After this, the remaining ones were a lot more cautious. I managed to shoot down 3 more and the rest all flew away. "At least these ones aren't carrying curses." I dusted myself down and noticed that portions of my clothes had been clawed or bitten to shreds. My cloak, fortunately was untouched, but my skirt had been cut short. Short enough that it exposed the full length of my legs. My shirt had also had the portion covering my belly and part of the top clawed off. "I feel like one of those girls that dance in pubs." I groaned and swung my cloak so that it covered my entire body. "Reika, why don't you stay at my house? You are my sister after all." Ralstan asked. I nodded. "Not like I have anywhere to stay, I usually sleep in caves or on tree branches." I smiled. His jaw dropped.

Ralstan's house was a small one on the edge of Perion. It was small, but it sure was luxurious compared to what I had been sleeping on since I started travelling. "Wow......" I stared at the sofa lying in a corner. "You can have my bed, I'll sleep on the sofa." Ralstan showed me his bedroom. It had white wallpapers and a door leading to a toilet/bathroom in a corner. A bookshelf was nailed to the wall in a corner, filled to the brim with books about Warrior's weapons or skill books along with a wardrobe next to it, containing most of his clothes. "Erm, I can't. I'll have the sofa." I insisted. "Hey, I can't let a woman sleep on the sofa!" Ralstan protested. "I'm not an ordinary woman, you know." I winked at him and walked towards the living room, taking off my cloak on the way and folding it neatly, placing it on a table nearby. "Sleep like that and you'll catch a cold." Ralstan remarked. "Good point." I eyed my ripped clothes. My brother disappeared into his bedroom and came out with a long-sleeved shirt and long pants. "I don't have any female clothing, so you'll have to make do with this for now." He said. I nodded and walked into the bathroom branching off the living room to change. The moment I tried to take my shirt off, it ripped in half right down my crotch line. "Too old." I mumbled, slipping on Ralstan's shirt. It was almost just my size, but the pants were too baggy. Just like my shirt, the skirt ripped in half when I slipped it off.

I came out looking quite weird in Ralstan's clothes. When I showed him my own ripped clothes, he gasped. "How long have you been wearing those?" He asked. I thought for a few seconds. "1 whole year." I said. His jaw dropped. "You need new clothes." He sighed. I blushed and nodded. "But maybe tomorrow. I'm gonna hit the sack......" I laid down on the sofa and fell asleep instantly.

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Chapter 3: The Calm Before The Storm

When I woke up the next morning, I found myself sleeping with my face in the sofa's comfortable armrest and my hips bunched up high in the air. Ralstan was sleeping beside me on a chair. I felt myself blush as I straightened myself. The only reason I didn't want to sleep on Ralstan's bed was because I was scared I might toss and turn around and mess it up. When I slept on something comfortable, I would toss and turn in my sleep, but that wasn't the case if I slept on something hard like a tree branch. Also the reason why I never shared beds with anyone. When Ralstan and I had shared beds when we were kids, I had unknowingly kicked him off the bed a lot of times. Once, Ralstan hadn't woken up when I kicked him off, and the very first thing that happened the next morning, I had gotten off the bed and stepped on him, with my right foot stepping on his mouth and waking him up, yelling. I chuckled lightly as I remembered that one. It had remained my clearest memory when I was travelling.

I got up myself and peeked out of the window. It was raining, which was rather unusual in Perion's usually hot climate. Hardly any people were out at this time of the day, which Ralstan's wall clock showed was 6 am. I was used to waking up early, and sometimes I had even gotten insomniac, staying awake for the whole night, usually resulting in me getting panda eyes the next morning. Ralstan was stirring as I slowly walked over to his sofa and sat down. "Morning." I smiled at him. "Morning......" He moaned sleepily and got up, rubbing his eyes.

AN: Yay for jokes. Heheh.

Breakfast consisted of hot cocoa and a few pieces of buttered bread. Ralstan's salary was modest, as he was a teacher for a nearby Warrior school. He left for work later, showing me his wardrobe and asking me to wear whatever I liked. I nodded and picked a cotton shirt and pants as he gave me some money for new clothes. His clothes fit me almost perfectly, as we were almost the same height and size. I lounged around his house for an hour or so, checking everything out. His bookshelf contained only one or two storybooks lying on the top, and both were rather dusty. I dusted one and read the barely discernible title. "Legacy Of The Ancients......" I mumbled, setting it back on the shelf and getting up.

AN: Reference to my first two fanfics. Nice way to put 'em in, eh? XD

I put on my cloak and opened the door, walking out. I wasn't used to Perion's streets, so I simply walked around trying to find the market alone. Ever since the demon attack 23 years ago, my personality had changed from bright and cheerful to cold and heartless. Of course, it only changed because I thought Ralstan was dead. Even now, I didn't socialize well, and rarely spoke. Eventually, I found a tailor's shop and walked in with my hands in my pockets, proceeding to examine the clothes. However, a commotion from the direction of the counter drew my attention and I sneaked a peek at the source. There were about 4 men grouped around the counter. Each and every one of them was armed with daggers or guns and appeared to be threatening the short guy manning the counter. The poor guy was cowering in a corner, looking really scared. "Give us the money now!" The tallest and most muscular of the group aimed his gun at the tailor. "Bu...but... I don't have it!" He protested. "Just hand it over now!" Another muscleman yelled. "None of my business......" I thought, setting my eyes on a long brown coat with tails. Something was nagging at my heart though, and I turned to look at the bandits.

I walked slowly towards the rear of the bandits and pretended to look at a long green skirt that would suit me perfectly. One of the shorter bandits noticed me and started smiling. "Hey boss, why don't we take her as payment?" He remarked, trying to grope me. I reached behind me and grabbed his hand, pressing my thumb deep into his wrist painfully. He screamed, and that got the other's attention. I let the guy go, his right hand was already useless. I had broken the bastard's wrist. "What the......" The leader gasped. "Leo, you okay?" One of the group kneeled down to check the guy whose wrist I had just broken. "Argh....... My hand......" The shorty grabbed his useless hand with his other hand. "Boss, let's get her!" The muscleman lunged for my neck. I bent down, kicking my right foot at the ground behind me and sending it flying into the guy's face. Another swing of my legs caught the other guy that had tried to help the one that I had injured off guard, sweeping him off the ground. That done, I jumped over the leader's head, clamping his neck between both my legs and hitchhiking on the back of the suffocating bastard. "Get out." I said coldly, pressing my legs tighter. "Okay..... okay...!" The leader yelled, completely missing his opportunity to fall on me. What an idiot. I let myself down, dusting myself down. "We'll get you for this!" The group ran out of the shop, cursing and making faces at me. I thought the leader looked slightly familiar......

The tailor was so happy to get the gang off him that he told me to take anything I wanted from his shop. I nodded and picked up the long coat I had set my eyes on earlier along with the long green skirt and a brown sleeveless shirt, leaving with everything in a plastic bag. "Hey wait, aren't you......" He called after me. I turned back. "One of my cousins lives in a nearby village. He sent a letter to me saying his village was saved from a bunch of demons by a long brown-haired woman wearing a cloak and using a bow. Are you... the Marauder?" He asked. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." I replied, leaving with a swish of my cloak. I only managed to get myself lost again, and several hours later, I sat down on a bench, tired. It was almost evening and the sun was setting. I was sitting on a fence near what looked like an abandoned building, with a school nearby. Suddenly, something was poked into my back, and I whirled around just in time to see the face of the previous gang's leader's face before collapsing from the effects of the serum that I had been injected with.

......

"Reika, wake up." Someone said in a wheezy voice. I rubbed my eyes and got up, looking around. I was in what looked like an abandoned house, and Ralstan was standing beside me. I was lying on the ground with my head in his arms. "Where.... am I...?" I mumbled. "I was just walking out of the school when I saw those clowns dragging you off. You looked like you had gotten drunk, so I followed behind. When they tried to cut your clothes off, I jumped in and knocked them unconscious." Ralstan explained, helping me up. I spotted the unconscious bodies of the gang lying on the ground. However, the second person to catch my attention that minute was none other than the leader. "Hey...... Isn't that..." I stared at him. "Rothen. Cery Rothen. Remember him now?" My brother walked over to the body of the guy and kicked him over. "Stop faking it." He muttered. "The kid that was always trying to steal our stuff when we were little?" I asked. He nodded as Cery opened his eyes and crawled backwards into a wall. "Long time no see, Rothen. I've been meaning to kick your ass for a very long time......" Ralstan cracked his knuckles, smiling devilishly. "Hey...... Vega...... Please don't......" Cery gave Ralstan the puppy eyes treatment. He didn't buy it. Cery had stolen a lot of our stuff in the past, including my favourite teddy bear, which he had almost thrown into the river if it hadn't been for Ralstan.

Ralstan took his spear from the latch behind his back, pointing it at Cery. "No one steals our stuff or tries to rape my sister and gets away with it!" Ralstan yelled, thrusting his spear at Cery's chest. He cowered in fear, but I knew Ralstan wouldn't kill him. His spear curved off aside, sticking into the wall under his armpit. "He's not worth our time. Let's go, Reika." He withdrew his spear, latching it back onto his back and grabbing my hand. I followed behind him even as Cery got up, regarding me with his most venomous look. "Look at this then." I picked up a rock and threw it at him. It missed because he chose that moment to dash forwards and wrap an arm around my neck. I barely had enough time to draw breath. "Reika!" Ralstan turned around and took his spear out again. "Get out of here and I won't kill her. Come any closer and I'll kill her!" Cery yelled. He was insane! "Ral...stan..." I moaned, reaching a hand out. He kept his spear out. "Don't...... bother...... ab...out... me..." I squeaked, grabbing Cery's hand with mine. I didn't have the strength to try and pull it off, but there WAS something I could do. Namely, this. I opened my mouth and bit his arm. He yelled and let me go. "-because I can get myself free!" I continued, regaining my composure and sending a kick flying into the bastard's face.

By the time I was finished with the guy, he was nothing more than a crybaby cowering in a corner with bruises and cuts all over him. Even Ralstan couldn't stop me exacting payback on what he had tried to do to me. Let's just say I knuckled him in the leg, poked his ribs and punched his face until he became a panda. An abused panda, at that. "Let's go. He's just wasting my... ow." I wobbled slightly and collapsed. "Careful there, you're still a bit woozy." Ralstan helped me up, shooting a glare at Cery cowering in a corner. "He's not worth our time." I sighed as Ralstan put me on his back and walked off. To my surprise, his house was only a few minutes away from the area, and he soon had me on the sofa resting. I had remembered to bring the clothes I had received from the tailor, and walked into the bathroom to change into my new clothes with my hands on the walls for support. First, I took off Ralstan's own clothes, admiring my own body as I slipped on the brown shirt. It fit me like a glove, although it was a little too broad across the chest, though that was probably because of me, and the skirt fit snugly. The coat could wait until I was back to travelling again.

I walked out to show Ralstan my new clothes and handed him back his own. "You look nice." He smiled. "Thanks." I returned his smile. "Back then...... You almost seemed like a different person..." He sighed, helping me onto the sofa. I looked at the ground glumly. "Well...... I started changing after that demon attack that separated us. Revenge almost became my only reason for living." I pressed the tips of my index fingers together. "I became a cold and heartless Marauder, seeking revenge for my supposedly dead brother." I added. "But I'm not dead." Ralstan patted me on the back. "Yes, so I'm kind of confused about my real goal in life now......" I stared at the floor. "Just fight the demons. It's all you can do to help the state the world's currently in." He smiled. "I guess so......" I mumbled.

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Chapter 4: The Beginning

The next morning, I woke up with my legs hanging over the edge of the sofa and my head upside down. "Not again......" I moaned, getting up. I was wearing the clothes from the tailor I had saved yesterday, and my skirt had turned inside-out when I shifted my legs, much to my chagrin. I quickly straightened it out just in time, as Ralstan walked downstairs yawning. "Good morning." He mumbled, heading to the kitchen. "Morning." I replied, picking up my long coat, putting it on and buttoning it up. The cloak joined the 2 layers of clothing around me. "Well, Ralstan, I guess I should be going now." I sighed, opening the door. "So fast? You can't go alone!" Ralstan protested from the kitchen, running out with a cup of cocoa in his hands. "I've been travelling alone for the past 10 years." I said in a cold tone, then realized what I had just said and turned around. "Sorry...... I'm just too used to talking to people like that..." I walked back into the house. Ralstan's fist was shaking. "Reika...... Sometimes I feel as if I don't even know you..." He sighed. "A lot of things happened when we were separated..." I explained, then realized I wasn't doing much to help. "I'm sorry......" I blinked a tear away and ran out the door.

I walked out of the city gates, looking back on Perion. "Ralstan......" I slammed my fist into the wall. "Why am I so stupid!? He's my brother......" I moaned, falling to my knees and sobbing gently. Suddenly, a cloud of dust rose up all around me, and I barely had time to draw breath before being swallowed into the ground.

......

When I woke up again, I was in an expansive room with multiple stone statues lining the sides. Not only that, the lone statue in the middle of the room looked like a huge demon with three horns on the head. I gasped. "I'm in deep trouble." I groaned as two of the statues came alive and grabbed my arms, stopping me from moving. Kicking them didn't even scratch their petrified skin. Suddenly, the demon statue in the middle of the room reached out a hand, grabbing my head. I passed out.

*Ralstan's PoV*

I managed to catch up with Reika before the dust cloud rose around her, but I jumped in after a few seconds of hesitation. "I really did it this time......" I moaned, dropping into an expansive room. There was a large demon statue in the middle of the room, and it's hand was on Reika's head. I drew my spear and jumped towards the statue, but Reika suddenly turned around, blocking my attack for the statue with her dagger. "What!?" I gasped. Reika's eyes were black, and so was her hair and bow. Even her dagger's ruby crust was emitting an ominous black glow. All the statues in the room disappeared, leaving both of us to fight alone. Or rather, let me get pummeled. I couldn't hurt my own sister, even if she was being controlled! Her dark side was really showing now. "Reika!" I yelled. She ignored me and drew her bow, launching two quick shots at me. I dived aside in time, but she had anticipated my move and was in front of me with her dagger out. "Graah!" I ducked the swipe and tried to punch her in the stomach. She dodged it by dashing aside in the air and came at me again. "Stop it, Reika! I'm sorry!" I shouted. Again, she ignored me. Whatever magic was controlling her, it was really strong.

Suddenly, I spotted a tear leaking out of her right eye, and her movements slowed dramatically. She still had some control over herself, and I quickly dashed behind her, jabbing a finger at the nerve cluster at the base of her neck. She then passed out, and her weapons and hair reverted to normal. "At least I got here in time......" I breathed, grabbing a piece of paper from my rear pocket and scrawling a symbol on it. "SEAL!" I roared, placing the paper on Reika's head. The entire paper turned black, and I burnt it with a fire spell. A demon howl resonated through the air, and Reika got up. "What did I......" She stared at her open hands. "Don't run off alone like that." I advised, hugging her tightly. She started crying into my chest. "Are you okay now?" I asked. She nodded, still crying. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier..." I quickly apologized. "No...... I should be... the one... apologizing..." Reika cried. "Just promise that you won't show me the side that I just fought. Cold and heartless isn't the personality I want for my sister." I smiled. She nodded violently, and her hair covered my face. "But...... I'm used to..." She mumbled. "You can show your other side to the demons or people we may fight. Just don't give me that attitude." I patted her on the back gently. She finally stopped crying.

I ran to the wall of the cave, poking my spear at spots in the wall. I found a place that sounded hollow and blasted a hole through the wall with a focused Dragon Roar. "We have a way out." I announced. Reika was still weak from being possessed, so I had to carry her again. "Sorry about this..." She moaned. "It's okay. If you start travelling again, I'll be going with you." I smiled. "Really?" She asked. I nodded. "My family's more important than my job." I chuckled, opening the door of my house and setting Reika down on the sofa. She instantly fell asleep. "I swear, I will protect you, even if it means losing my life." I swore, staring at her sleeping form. I had lost her, thrice already. I didn't intend to lose her a fourth time. I took a seat on a separate sofa. No way I wanted to get kicked onto the floor by Reika, I had enough experience of sharing beds with her already.

......

*Reika's PoV*

When I woke up, Ralstan was sleeping on a sofa opposite me, and again, my hips were bunched up in the air. "Why do I keep waking up like this?" I mumbled, getting up. My coat was folded up neatly, lying on a side table, and I walked over to Ralstan and kneeled down. "Bro, if there was one person I'd be willing to die for, It'd be you." I smiled, planting a kiss on his cheek. He stirred slightly, but didn't wake up. I glanced at the kitchen and strolled in, taking a look around. He didn't have much in the way of appliances, and he pretty much only had a toaster, an oven, and a refrigerator along with cabinets lining the walls. I opened one and was immediately appalled. "When did he get addicted to instant food? It's unhealthy." I groaned.

Even though I didn't like instant food, I cooked up two packets of curry noodles for both of us and brought them to the living room in two bowls. "Do I smell curry noodles?" Ralstan's cheerful voice rang through the air. I smiled and set down a bowl in front of him. "Thanks." He grabbed a pair of chopsticks that I had placed on the bowl and started slurping the noodles in. "I've been meaning to discuss something with you." I sat down beside him and started eating my noodles. "What?" Ralstan looked at me with a few strands of noodles dangling from his mouth. I couldn't resist laughing as he quickly sucked them in. "Okay...... I've been doing some research during my travels, and I figured out that the demon realm is supposed to be several dimensions away. The world's dimensions are arranged in the form of a long rope. Think of each section as a separate dimension. We're on one side of the rope, and the Demon Realm is on the opposite end. 100 dimensions, 98 controlled by demons." I sighed. Ralstan nearly exhaled his noodles out of his nose. "WHAT!? 98 dimensions under demon control!?" He gasped. "I got it from the Magician's 4th job master. She's been studying the time-space continuum for several years now." I traced a line in the air.

"We're in the second dimension that's not under demon control, and the dimension behind us...... We're the final wall separating the demons from the last dimension on the chain. The last world's also supposed to be capable of fighting back, but nothing that's not magical can kill demons. They only have conventional weapons like guns, even bombs. They also have giant robots, like the ones in Omega Sector. I know because there's a few places where the dimensional barriers are really weakened, and it's possible to walk out of this dimension into that one or even peek in. In fact, there's one of those wormholes right behind your house." I said. Right at that moment, there was a loud bang from behind the house, accompanied by a flash of bright light. "What the hell......" I got up and ran to the back of the house, flinging the door open. "What happened?" Ralstan followed behind. "We have visitors." I quickly grabbed my Dragon Shinebow and nocked an arrow to the string, pointing it at the 'visitors'.

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Chapter 5: Dimension Jumpers

There were two visitors. One was a young woman with long red hair and the other was a man, rather young too. The woman was wearing a brown coat and pants with a pistol's holster on her side. She was also rather short. The man was taller in comparison to his companion, and was wearing a gentleman's suit. His companion had her gun out and pointed at me. "Who're you?" I asked. The woman stared at me for a few moments, then replied, "I suppose that's my line."

I sighed, lowering my bow. At least she had proper manners, and didn't shoot first. Even if she did, I was capable of either blocking or dodging bullets. "Before you answer my question, where are we?" The woman looked around, surprised. "Judging by the fact that you've just appeared from the dimensional wormhole, you're in another dimension." I reached my hand out to help her up. She blinked. "And I thought aliens didn't exist." She groaned, accepting my hand. "Oh, we're not aliens, I can assure you that." Ralstan piqued. "Okay okay, I get the picture. Anyway, I need to get him somewhere safe. Who knows if they'll come after him......" She quickly carried her companion into the house with Ralstan's help. "Who's they?" I mumbled, taking a peek through the distorted space in front of a nearby tree. "Oh." I mumbled and quickly fell back, picking up my bow again.

Another flash of light later, a couple of surprised people wearing black suits tumbled out of the wormhole. All of them were wearing sunglasses and had pistols out. "Hello there, I wouldn't suppose you're looking for a young woman and a man?" I asked, plastering a fake smile on my face. Although, it was really more of a lemon-sucking grimace. "How did you know?" One of them asked. "Because you're going back where you came from, and you won't find her." I smiled devilishly, sending the bunch of them flying back into the wormhole with a quick kick to their waists. One managed to block my kick though, and I punched him in the groin, feeling my fist crush the soft organ there. He keeled over and I kicked him in. On the other side, I heard someone yell, "SHE'S CRAAAAZZZZYYYY!!!" It sounded like it was getting fainter too. Another quick peek in showed that the wormhole was hanging in the air under a suspension bridge, and the people I had just dispatched were falling into the water underneath. "Oooh, that's gotta hurt." I winced as several loud splashes sounded from below. Come to think of it, how did those two earlier get here? Were they climbing under the bridge or something?

I ran back into the house to check on the two visitors. Ralstan had the unconscious man on his sofa. "I sent your 'buddies' flying into the water by the way." I said, taking a seat on the floor. "Buddies? Oh." The woman smiled. "My name's Yoko Ritona. I'm a private bodyguard for that guy over there. Hired, actually." She indicated the man on the sofa. "Who's he?" I asked. "Xander Bong. A millionaire, at least in the world where we came from. I suggest you stay away from him." Yoko said. "Why?" I stared at the guy's face. Yoko looked around cautiously, then whispered in my ear, "He's a womanizer."

Right after that, Xander woke up. "Eugh!" I took a few steps back. "Where am......I?" He moaned, looking around. When he noticed he was in a place foreign to him, he shrank behind Yoko, hugging her tightly. Unfortunately, his hands were resting on a rather...... "PERVERT!!!" Yoko burst out, clenching her hands into fists and pummeling the living crap out of the guy. I quickly intervened before she could shoot him with a rather large gun she had just produced from behind her back. "Aren't you his bodyguard? You're supposed to be the one protecting him, not the one trying to kill him." I said, biting down my laughing instinct. She blinked. "Oh yeah, nearly lost myself there......" She blushed."

"What's with the big gun anyway?" I asked, eyeing Yoko's gun. "This? Oh, it's a high-powered sniper rifle. Powered by electricity, so it can shoot just about anything that fits in the barrel. I wish I could shoot the guy behind you out of it though." She grunted, staring behind me. I felt a pair of hands on my buttocks. "I change my mind about letting him go." I whirled around, bringing out my bow and aiming an arrow at Xander. "Can I borrow one?" Yoko smiled, taking an arrow from my quiver and opening a latch on her rifle's barrel, sliding the arrow in. "Be my guest." I said. Ralstan was watching all of this with an amused expression on his face.

When we were done with the ex-millionaire, he resembled nothing more than a hamster cowering in a corner with a couple of arrows stuck in the wall around him. "It's been a while since I had that much fun!" Yoko laughed, sinking into a sofa. "Me too." I smiled, then noticed I was actually doing it. "Back in my world, I actually live alone, and bodyguard duties can be very boring at times." She sighed. Ralstan was looking in Xander's direction, and he looked surprised. "Something happening to him!" He gasped. Both of us women turned around, weapons at the ready. "Huh?" I stared at Xander. Or rather, what HAD been him. His body was shrinking, and a small curly tail was poking out of his back. His hands and feet had also shrunk and become hamster-like. Actually, he was really a hamster now. "Weird things happen when you cross dimensions." I stared at the innocent-looking hamster on the ground. It squealed and ran behind Ralstan's TV table. I got on my belly and reached behind it, pulling the little guy out by the tail.

"Come to think of it, I do feel a little stronger." Yoko flexed her fingers. A small red spark shot out of her palm and she recoiled slightly. "Mmm, I guess you have a little magic now." I mumbled, dangling Xander in the air by his little tail as he struggled to get free. I moved him closer to my face to examine him, but suddenly he managed to wriggle free and fell right into the neck of my shirt, which was rather wide. "Oh boy......" I whispered. The little hamster started squirming around right in my cleavage. "You gotta be kidding me." Yoko groaned. I quickly reached a hand into my shirt after turning away from Ralstan to pull it out, but he was rather persistent, managing to dodge my hand repeatedly. "Oh, damn it!" I shouted, flinging off my shirt and grabbing the errant hamster in my cleavage, pulling it out forcefully before putting my shirt back on in front of a red-faced Ralstan.

"Gimme that!" Yoko shouted, snatching Xander from my hand and throwing him into the barrel of her rifle. She aimed the rifle at the ground and fired it. A blue flash erupted from the tip of the barrel as the hamster was flung into the ground with a really loud squeal. After the commotion, I picked up the hamster. "I think he passed out." I muttered. "I'd prefer him dead." Yoko scowled. "Aren't you girls kinda overdoing it?" Ralstan asked timidly. "Nope, he deserved it." I chuckled. "I agree!" Yoko laughed. Suddenly, our minor celebration was interrupted by an earthquake that brought the house's roof tumbling down. "What the......" I grabbed Yoko and dashed out of the house's door together with Ralstan. I was holding Xander in my free hand rather unwillingly. "Why am I saving him anyway?" I mumbled absent-mindedly, rolling to a halt outside the house. "Yoko, are you okay?" I asked. She nodded, then got up herself. She had fallen down when I dragged her out of the house. "At least my rifle's okay." She checked her sniper rifle's scope and barrel. It was scratched slightly, but otherwise fine.

"Anyway, I think we just found the source of the earthquake." I said, pointing at a silhouette in the distance. It was huge! "I'll take a look at it." Yoko looked through her rifle's scope, then promptly dropped it. Ralstan managed to catch it before it fell to the ground though. "What the hell...... is that...?" She gasped. "Lemme see that." I snatched her rifle and looked through the scope at the silhouette. "Oh my......" I whispered.

The newcomer was easily 10 stories tall, and had a body encased in metal armour. It had a long tail snaking down from it's back, and it was totally covered in spikes. It sported four arms, each ending in a triple-pointed horn that looked more than capable of easily breaking through tough armour. I handed Yoko her rifle back and sank to the ground. "I can't shoot a demon that far away......" I moaned. "But I can." Yoko took a bullet from her pocket and slotted it into the barrel of her rifle, aiming it at the approaching demon. "Demon, eh?" She mumbled and pulled the trigger.

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Character Information:

Main Characters:

-Ralstan Vega. A 30 year old Dragon Knight and one of Dances With Balrogs's best students. Well-built, tall and muscular, he graduated from the Spearman's Academy at the age of 15, the youngest graduate ever while achieving the Dragon Knight 3rd job at 20 years old.

-Reika Seraphina. 28 years old, quite tall. Graduated from the Ranger's Academy in Henesys at the age of 15 as a result of her vow to avenge her supposedly dead brother. Became a Bow Master at the young age of 18 and started travelling around the world to slay demons. Known as "The Marauder" to all to towns she had saved during her travels.

Registered Characters:

-Good Characters:

-Bad Characters:

--Cery Rothen. Age 28. He just got his third job. When he was a kid, he stole things from others because he was homeless after his 4th birthday. He even stole things from Reika and Ralstan. When he was 16 years old, he became a bandit and worked for an assassin. He isn't liked by many people and addicted to violence.

[xdgr]

Hehe, so you decided on another MS fic to write? Hopefully, this one will be just as successful as the fics you have written in the past.

[gutterball930]

Hmmmm it's a new proluge not use to this sort from you Kira XD

[Timmias]

Ohhh the child of Artemis is one of the mains awesome go Reika, i wonder how it will go

[XxKiraYamatoxX]

It's not her. This fanfic is a completely new one. I just let the main character have the same name as Artemis's daughter as a tribute to my second fanfic.

Edit: As you may have noticed, my first two fanfics included no surnames for the characters. This one does.

[Slerotin]

Very nice to see new skills and a new direction. (I'm stuck with holiday responsibilities, so it'll take a while for me to be back up and running) If anyone has any doubts of Kira's skills, let's put that at rest that he is the most improved and adaptable writer here. For example: down memory lane, we have a sample of his first piece of work "A Hunter's Story". It was a good start, but it had some rough spots here and there:

Example from "A Hunter's Story"
Ivan rushed up the stairs, his mother yelling behind him, "Make sure you do your homework first!". Ivan replied, "Okay mum!" as he turned on the computer. He flashed back to the last day as he created an account on MapleStory. He couldnt wait to start playing. As the desktop appeared on his computer he clicked on an icon labelled "MapleStory". He waited as the screens rolled and typed in his login ID and password and clicked on "Login". Suddenly he felt as if he was being sucked into his computer screen. He started to yell but apparently no one could hear him. He wondered what was happening as he spiraled into unconsciousness......

Ivan was introduced with little description. He quickly got to his computer and the "flashed back" to the last day....but it doesn't say what memory he flashed back to...There was barely any environmental description to tell us his mood, his feelings, what his room looked like and then in the next moment: he was sucked into his computer screen. (Not only that was he sucked in, it was described that it "felt like he was being sucked into his computer screen")

Now let's fast forward to the present....:D
Compare the quality of his newest piece...

The silhouette of a tall figure appeared on the horizon beyond the gates of the mountain city known as Perion. As the figure moved closer, it was seen to be wearing a long cloak. The only Dragon Knight manning the guard tower scrutinized the newcomer closely with a pair of binoculars even as it approached. Long brown hair was blowing around behind the figure's head, buffeted by the rough mountain winds. At the range the binoculars were focused to, it was obvious that the newcomer was a female. Part of a bow's shaft was visible poking out of the gap between her cloak and her clothes. The hilt of a ruby crusted dagger was hanging from the side of her hips in it's sheath.

Descriptive introduction setting a forbidding mood. Silhouette of a tall figure? Symbolic and foreshadowing. Description of a long cloak and brown hair and even how the wind blew. Description of the bow and a jeweled dagger helps complete the setting, drawing the reader's interest even before the actual story begins! It's great to see your skills improving with every new piece you start. If there was any proof that practice makes perfect, it's Kira-hardest working fanfic author on H.S..

[Timmias]

Ok...... I like reading your fanfics. Theyb ahve improved in detail in range of vocab and allow readers 2 imagine thins easier

keep it up o and guys enjoy the rest of the day

[XxKiraYamatoxX]

Chapter 2: Reunited

I fainted right after I said those 10 words, as I was too exhausted. The injuries inflicted by the demons was sapping my energy faster than I could rest it back up. Even the bandages weren't helping. Stupid demonic curses. The one that had injured me had most probably inflicted this curse on me. The last thought that came into my mind was, "I finally found you...... Bro..."

*Ralstan's PoV, no other choice*

After Reika fainted, I was still hanging there, surprised by what had just happened. "She's my sister......" I thought, then quickly bent down to pick her up. She was moaning in her sleep. "Demon...... urse...... leader......scale..." Her skin colour was changing! "What the hell......" I gasped. The area around her leg wound was slowly turning black! "Urse... Curse... Sh*t." I swore and turned around, taking my spear from the latch on the back of my armour and running outside after leaving Reika in the clinic. "If she really is my little sis, I have to save her." I swore. Benjamin followed anxiously. "Ral, where are you going?" He asked. "To save my sister." I gritted my teeth. She had mentioned the words leader and scale, so she probably wanted me to get a scale from the herd's leader. This wouldn't be easy. Although it was dead, the demons looked like they had a vendetta against Reika, and would be gathering around the leader's corpse to seal off all access to it. At least until the curse had disposed of her. Time was running out.

Only now I remembered the mark on Reika's left arm. A pentacle with a circle around it. Exactly the same as the one on my back. I had only spotted it recently when I looked in a mirror, and that was why I had forgotten about it. "Go! Landspeeder!" I shouted, placing my spear on the ground and hopping on the shaft. This was one of my personal techniques. By utilizing a special spear, I could focus my mana into it, and use the spear's channeling abilities to force the mana out of holes in it, and I had multiple holes on the shaft's stub for better propulsion. I had enough experience with the technique to maintain balance while riding, so staying on it wasn't a problem. A few days ago, I had managed to create a mana pack with help from a Priest, so that riding the spear wouldn't weaken my magical abilities. It was currently affixed to the area between the shaft and the pike.

I sped off towards the demon herd, leaving Benjamin behind in a cloud of dust. "HEEEY!!" He yelled, picking up his pace. I waved back at him as I pushed the mana harder. If dragons could fly this fast, I would be amazed. Now, a few seconds after I left Perion, I could see the demons. All of them resembled rhinoceros, and were gathering around their fallen leader's corpse just as I had expected. I wouldn't last long against all of them without a Priest, so I decided to make this a hit-and-run operation. I jumped off the spear, picking it back up and holding it horizontally with both hands. "If you think I'll let you get away with my sister's life, you thought wrong!" I shouted, power blazing up behind me and taking the shape of a horned dragon's head. The demons turned towards me. "Behold, the power of the DRAGONS!" I yelled as the dragon's head behind me opened it's mouth and unleashed a powerful roar, flinging all the nearby demons further away. With that, I ran over to the leader's corpse and cut off a piece of skin with my spear carefully even as the minions started getting up. Some had fallen upside-down when my Dragon Roar and blown them away, and were shaking their legs in the air rather comically. With the piece of skin safely in my hand, I activated the spear's Landspeeder mode and accelerated off back towards the city with the damned demons following behind.

On my way back, I passed Benjamin, who also began running back towards the city. "That was fast!" He shouted as I blew past him. "You don't wanna look behind you!" I yelled over the sound of the wind. At that, he turned around. "HOLY SH*T!!!" He swore and picked up the pace, running as if..... a herd of demons was chasing him, which was actually happening. I noticed Warriors forming ranks in front of the city, and I practically flew over the barrier and skidded to a halt inside the city. "The demons are coming!" I yelled to the defenders and ran off towards the clinic. Almost immediately, the line of Dragon Knights shifted to the front. Dragon Roar was an extremely powerful attack if it was used simultaneously by multiple Dragon Knights. When I got inside, I found Reika where I had left her, on the sofa. She was being examined by a Priest. "This is an extremely dangerous curse...... Where did you get that?" He gaped at the piece of demon skin in my fist. "Do I need to say more? Just cure her!" I said, sneaking a look at Reika. Her entire body's skin was gray coloured and slowly darkening, making her look almost like a phantom. "It'll only take a few seconds." The Priest plucked a single scale from the piece of skin and rubbed it over the wound on Reika's leg.

The scale started emitting a pale green light as the wound began healing itself. Reika's skin colour slowly turned back to normal and her breathing slowed down to a steady pace. "There. She's fine now." The Priest said and got up to leave. "Thanks." I smiled at him. "No problem, we need to help each other, no?" He chuckled and walked out of the door. I heard an explosion coming from the direction of the city gates and rushed out to join the fight, leaving Reika in a nurse's care.

A massive dragon's head had risen out of the ground behind the Dragon Knights as they used the Dragon Roar attack in unison. When the dragon's mouth opened, the demons were blown several metres away by the force of the attack, and some had even disintegrated. I rushed to the front lines, pointing my spear at a nearby demon and stabbing it multiple times using the power of dragons. The mana I used for the attack blew out behind me in the shape of dragon's wings, increasing my power. The demon disintegrated after a few stabs and I moved on to the next one. Now, the Dragon Knights were charging with their spears pointed forwards and the Crusaders and Knights moving beside, cutting apart any demon that attempted to circle around. "The Bulldozer Formation......" I stared at the arrangement of the other Warriors in awe. This formation had been a suggestion of mine several years back, and I smiled, seeing it in use. However, I got too distracted watching the others and a demon knocked me off my feet. "Argh!" I gritted my teeth, preparing for the big foot that was going to trample me......

*Back to Reika. >.>*

I got up right after my brother dashed out of the clinic and flexed my hand. "I'm alive?" I thought, then noticed a piece of discarded demon skin lying in the trash. "Oh." I stared at it. Ralstan had found a cure for me. Suddenly, I heard the sound of fighting coming from outside the city gates. Warriors were howling battle chants while the invading demons roared at their loudest. Even the nurse was cowering in a corner. I quickly ran out of the door and looked around for something I could use to climb up onto the city wall. There was a ladder hanging down from the wall nearby, and I climbed up it swiftly, glad that the wound on my left leg had healed. From up here, I had a pretty nice view of the entire demon herd. And, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ralstan just about to get trampled. "Oh no you don't." I breathed, drawing my bow swiftly and nocking an arrow to the string.

The arrow flew towards the demon that was standing over Ralstan even as he raised his arms to try and protect himself. "Please be on time......" I pleaded, watching the arrow. The whole world seemed to be passing through time in slow motion. Right on time, the arrow hit the demon's side and triggered miniature explosives hidden in the shaft. The demon was blown aside before it could trample Ralstan. I saluted him smartly as he stared at his saviour. "You owe me one." I smiled and turned towards the other defenders. They were moving around in a smart box-like formation with Dragon Knights at the front rows, picking any demon that got in their way to pieces. The Crusaders and Knights were at the flanks, dealing with the demons that tried to attack the Dragon Knights from behind. However, the formation would soon prove to be useless. I could see a few flying figures in the skies. "They're finally bringing in the aerials." I muttered, concentrating mana into my fingers. They took the shape of arrows and I nocked one to my bowstring.

The arrow flew out and struck one of the flying demons right in the head. It fell to the ground, but it was too far away for me to see what it looked like. Now, some of the defenders had taken notice of me standing on the edge of the wall. Ralstan soon joined me on the wall. "Thanks for saving me, bro." I smiled and sent another demon to a rocky demise. "You're welcome." He smiled back, watching as I dispatched another one. The flying demons had begun to really take notice of me now and were picking up their pace. Ralstan tapped my shoulder and I turned around, eyeing him. "You know, don't wear a skirt when you're standing on the edge of a wall." He sighed, pointing at the defenders below us. Some of them were red-faced, and their fighting was becoming lousier. Then, I looked at my skirt. The wind was blowing it in such a way that the people underneath had a view of my underside...... I quickly took a few steps back, blushing. I resumed my shooting once the flying demons started screeching.

A few minutes later, the defenders on the ground had run out of demons to beat up and were retreating back into the city with minor injuries. Of course, since I was probably the only Archer here, I was still dealing with the flying ones together with Ralstan. They had gotten close enough to take swipes at us now, and I had to resort to using my close-combat dagger. Unfortunately, they were flying around us far enough to stay out of my reach, and Ralstan was having little success trying to take them out. We were too close to each other for him to use the Dragon Roar skill, so I quickly sheathed my dagger and took my bow out. Instantly, the demons were all over me. "Argh!" I groaned, trying to fend off the little bastards. Ralstan took the chance and impaled 8 of them with his spear in one thrust, swinging it aside to send them flying off. "And now, we're even." He winked at me. After this, the remaining ones were a lot more cautious. I managed to shoot down 3 more and the rest all flew away. "At least these ones aren't carrying curses." I dusted myself down and noticed that portions of my clothes had been clawed or bitten to shreds. My cloak, fortunately was untouched, but my skirt had been cut short. Short enough that it exposed the full length of my legs. My shirt had also had the portion covering my belly and part of the top clawed off. "I feel like one of those girls that dance in pubs." I groaned and swung my cloak so that it covered my entire body. "Reika, why don't you stay at my house? You are my sister after all." Ralstan asked. I nodded. "Not like I have anywhere to stay, I usually sleep in caves or on tree branches." I smiled. His jaw dropped.

Ralstan's house was a small one on the edge of Perion. It was small, but it sure was luxurious compared to what I had been sleeping on since I started travelling. "Wow......" I stared at the sofa lying in a corner. "You can have my bed, I'll sleep on the sofa." Ralstan showed me his bedroom. It had white wallpapers and a door leading to a toilet/bathroom in a corner. A bookshelf was nailed to the wall in a corner, filled to the brim with books about Warrior's weapons or skill books along with a wardrobe next to it, containing most of his clothes. "Erm, I can't. I'll have the sofa." I insisted. "Hey, I can't let a woman sleep on the sofa!" Ralstan protested. "I'm not an ordinary woman, you know." I winked at him and walked towards the living room, taking off my cloak on the way and folding it neatly, placing it on a table nearby. "Sleep like that and you'll catch a cold." Ralstan remarked. "Good point." I eyed my ripped clothes. My brother disappeared into his bedroom and came out with a long-sleeved shirt and long pants. "I don't have any female clothing, so you'll have to make do with this for now." He said. I nodded and walked into the bathroom branching off the living room to change. The moment I tried to take my shirt off, it ripped in half right down my crotch line. "Too old." I mumbled, slipping on Ralstan's shirt. It was almost just my size, but the pants were too baggy. Just like my shirt, the skirt ripped in half when I slipped it off.

I came out looking quite weird in Ralstan's clothes. When I showed him my own ripped clothes, he gasped. "How long have you been wearing those?" He asked. I thought for a few seconds. "1 whole year." I said. His jaw dropped. "You need new clothes." He sighed. I blushed and nodded. "But maybe tomorrow. I'm gonna hit the sack......" I laid down on the sofa and fell asleep instantly.

[Timmias]

Kira how can you have so many ideas and improve in such little time it is just amazing and thanks for more..

[XxKiraYamatoxX]

Chapter done, enjoy!