Chapter 5
"The Ruby's Gift"
Written by Ryu


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  Ryu found himself in a place that seemed to have been twisted by Chaos itself.
The ground that he stood on was an island floating in a sea of nothing, save for 
a few other small islands close by. In the distance, he could see midnight black
stormclouds above and below him with flashes of lightning traveling between the 
two. It was a violent and strangely beautiful scene, when one thought deep enough 
about it. Ryu found his solitude short-lived as three spheres of multi-colored 
light zoomed down from above and transformed into the three deities that Ryu knew
all too well: Bahamut, Tiamat, and Lady Gigas. Before Ryu could ask them what this 
place was, Gigas' soft, motherly voice entered his mind...

~...Ryu...the time is near...~  

"What do you mean, 'the time is near'? And why do Bahamut and Tiamat seem...
transparent?"  

~I cannot tell you more than what I know, and my time is short, so please hear me 
out.~ Ryu was a little confused by that, but nodded his consent just the same.
~First of all Ryu, I must congratulate you over your recent mastery of the Dragoon
armor. We are all very proud of your success. But now you have a new task ahead of
you. One that only you can complete.~
"Just what is this task?" Lady Gigas had only one thing to say to this. 
~...The Gifts of the Virtues...need a vessel...~ 
 
 Before Ryu could ask more, a stray lightning bolt hit the platform Ryu was on 
and.... he woke up.
********

 As Ryu walked down the corridor leading to the Training Room and his new student,
his thoughts kept coming back to the dream that he had had the night before. 
'A vessel? What vessel besides myself can hold the power of the Gigas Virtues and 
not go crazy from it?' Ryu decided to table these thoughts for later as he entered
the Training Room. Ken, of course, was already there. "So you finally decided to 
show up, 'sensei'?" Ken knew he had to treat his last tutor with respect, but old
habits die hard and Ryu could tell that Ken had to put a little effort into 
calling him sensei and not something else. Ryu decided to cut the kid some slack.
"Since this is the last leg of your basic training, I think we can skip the 
'sensei' bit. However, before we start, I'd like to see how far you've progressed
since you came here. I need a workout anyway." Ken got a familiar look in his eye 
as he got the drift of this. He had been yearning for a chance to go one-on-one
against another Dragyn now that he had completed his endurance training, so an
opportunity like this was just to good to pass up! But rather than answer Ryu's 
challenge verbally, he responded the way most Dragyns do when they recieve a 
challenge: they fight. 
   After Ken let his fist speak for him, both Dragyns took to the air and melded into a
flurry of punches, kicks, and wing swipes. Ryu managed to grab Ken with his tail 
and toss him away, but the young Wyvern was not about to let him get a moment's 
rest, and countered with a couple of swipes from his wing blades. After a minute or more 
of this, they each backed off to get a breather and to figure out their next move. 
"You know Ken, I'm impressed that you've managed to keep me on my toes this whole
time. If this were a fight against a Vie'Duel, I *might* be worried..." "Well, 
since it's *me* that you're up against, who wouldn't be worried?" After hearing
this, Ryu could only grin. "Is that so? I'll have you know I've been holding back 
my full power. I haven't used the power of the Gigas Virtues yet since I wanted 
this to be a fair fight. If I had, you'd probably be in the Doc's Medical Bed 
right now!" Ken was surprised, he didn't think that the stories of Ryu having
the most powerful artifact of the Dragyn Race were actually true. He had heard
several legends about it's power, but never that it really existed! "Well, *if*
that's true, then you wouldn't mind showing me part of it." Ryu was just about to 
say no when the last words of Lady Gigas came to mind...

~...the Gifts of the Virtues...need a vessel...~ 

Now that he thought about it, he had been having bits and pieces of that same
dream ever since Ken had arrived. It was hard for him to believe, but *could* the
two of them be connected somehow? Thinking that it couldn't hurt, Ryu summoned
up the three gemstones in his posession. With a shout of "Hey Ken! Think fast!"
he then flung one of them at Ken like a fastball after the young Wyvern had landed 
back on the ground. Ryu hadn't even looked at which one of the gems he'd thrown 
at Ken since he figured that this wouldn't work anyway. He was wrong. As soon as Ken
caught it he stopped to take a good look at it. It was the Power Ruby. And it's usual
crimson glow was starting to get unusually brighter...  Suddenly, the ruby jerked itself
free from Ken's grasp and hovered in front of him, it's glow now rivaling that of a red star.
Ken then heard a voice that echoed in his mind.

~You are strong in body and heart; conquer my trials and become the Vessel of Power!~

Before Ken could say anything, the Ruby knocked Ryu out with a crimson beam of light that 
drained him of his energy. The gem's glow became unbearably bright for a few moments 
then dimmed away, revealing a tall, muscular Dragyn warrior in dark red body armor. 
(Author's Note: He looks like Goku from Dragon Ball Z with a Dark Dragyn's wings and tail.)
The warrior then spoke to Ken in the same voice that he heard before; ~Now you must 
defeat me if you are to become my new vessel. If you lose, you will die. ~
       Ken went into his battle stance and steeled himself for what would most likely be the 
fight of his life. "Bring it on, Big Red!"  
The shadow warrior did just that, charging towards Ken and lashing out with a fierce 
offensive of relentless blows that quickly put Ken on the defensive. Since he had 
already fought with Ryu before all this Ken was hard-pressed to do anything to stop
this guy; and it was clear that he was playing for keeps. Thinking fast, Ken took to the
air to get some distance between him and 'Ruby'. Once in the air, he took Dracos' 
advice to heart and began attacking the shadow warrior with diving attacks and a few 
Soul Grenades while trying his best to dodge the warrior's energy blasts. Ruby was 
strong, but because he was the anti-type to Wisdom, intellegence didn't rake high on 
his ability scale, choosing instead to focus on power moves and energy blasts. 
BIG Mistake. After about 10 minutes of this pattern of attacks, Ruby was finally starting 
to run out of power. Ken saw his chance and literally dove for it, slamming both his wing 
blades through the jeweled centerpiece of Ruby's body armor. Ruby managed to hit 
him with an energy blast that knocked Ken away, but by then the damage had already 
been done. Unable to hold his form for much longer, Ruby spoke his final words 
before he disappeared:
~The battle...is...yours...my essence is yours to command... my...avatar...~
With that, Ruby vanished and an exausted Ken Skybolt joined Ryu in an unconcious 
heap on the floor of the Training Room.

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After the incident with Ken, Ryu had had to rethink his strategy concerning the young 
Dragyn's training schedule, as well as come to terms with the fact that he now owed 
the kid big time. Thanks to the Ruby, Ken's energy reserves now rivaled his own, 
and through many a session Ryu was kept on his toes during the matches that he 
and Ken fought. Ryu knew that it was only a matter of time before Ken was as good 
a fighter as he was. Regardless, these thoughts and more swirled about Ryu's mind 
as he made his way towards the Training Room for what would be his last session 
with Ken. However there was one question on Ryu's mind that had been with him 
ever since Ken had become the Vessel of Power:

'Who does the Wisdom Sapphire belong to?'

"Still in a rut, Ryu?" quipped a familiar voice. Instead of looking up, Ryu simply 
replied,"Hey Grey..." and continued down the hall. Somewhat surprised at Ryu's 
bland response, Grey started walking alongside him towards the Training Room. 
"Ken still won't let you live it down...?" Ryu shook his head. "No, it's not that.... I've 
just got a lot on my mind, that's all." 
"Well, don't let it get you down. I'll be around if you need me." With that, Grey turned 
off towards another corridor, leaving Ryu with his thoughts. Firming his resolve for 
the future and his student, Ryu headed towards the Training Room unaware that 
the answer to his mystery was much closer than he expected.

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End Chapter 5