Chapter Six: The Beginning of a Journey

Sai woke up one hour before sunrise like he always did, and stretched out on the floor. He got up, scratched his head, and put on his boots and gloves, but ignored his cape. He went downstairs to get some breakfast, hoping that the restaurant would be open this early in the morning.

About half an hour later, he came back to the room, carrying tons of food. "This should hold me until lunch." He walked over to the bed, then gasped in shock to see Rill there, entangled in his cape, sleeping soundly. Sai was about to wake him up, then thought, 'No; he is a nice kid... a weird kid, but nice.' So Sai merely smirked, took the cape and put it over Rill like a blanket, and shook his head. Then he sat at the small table and got to eating.

The delicious scents of what Sai had brought into the room wafted to the sensitive nose of Rill. Purring in an automatic reaction to the delight, a violet eye drifted open, then the other, until both blinked sleepily at the morning.

That toothy grin reappeared as Rill caught sight of Sai seated at the table, busily eating away. Rill drew himself up on all fours, yawning and stretching loudly, acting much like an overgrown feline.

The tip of his tail flicking idly, Rill smiled at Sai. "Morning, Sweeting."

Sai was about to put a some eggs into his mouth when he heard Rill waking up. Sai raised one eyebrow. "Sweeting? You are a strange one."

Sai stood up. "Would you like to have breafast with me? But just one thing -- how did you get in here and how did you know this was my room? Wait, never mind. Tell me when I've finished washing my cape."

Sai took his cape and went and got a tub out. He cast the spell AQUA CREATION, and water appeared in the tub. Sai got out some soap and started washing. As he worked, he thought about everything that had happened to him the day before.

After Sai was done, he hung the cape up, took the remaining water and dumped it on himself. Completely soaked, with a smile on his face, he lay down on the floor. He closed his eyes and started to think about his life.

Rill, who was not one to pass up a free meal when it presented itself, left Sai to tend to his own cleanliness, and daintily picked, nibbled, and devoured much of the bounty that lay there. When he had had his fill, he quickly pocketed several objects of food and other items from the table.

Then, in a whispering chant, he repeated the name Sai many times over, slipping into the room with Sai stretched placidly on the floor. Doing his best to suppress the oncoming purr within his throat, Rill crouched next to Sai. And smiling, he brushed his fingers lightly and mockingly upon Sai's face. A brush to either of his cheeks and then down along the bridge of his nose.

Sai opened his eyes to find Rill above him. Sai got up. "Did you eat?" He walked out and looked at the table, now almost completely bare of food. "I guess so."

Sai put on his cape, now clean but a little damp, and strapped on his sword. He ate what food Rill had left. "I have to go now, Rill," Sai said as he walked out the door. He then shivered. "Man, this Rill is weird."

He walked downstairs and paid for his room. He then walked outside and jumped onto the roof once more, where he sat and looked at the morning sky. Sai started to think about the training he had gone through -- then he balled his fists and YELLED at the top of his lungs.

Sarino had awoken hours before dawn. He'd decided to come back inside to his room when the night started getting chilly, leaving his perch in the tree, and had had a good long sleep in his soft bed.

Ever since he'd woken up, he had been playing the flute, notes he knew by heart and didn't have to concentrate on. The young elf didn't usually eat breakfast and wasn't planning to do so, and he just continued playing to his heart's content.

Filia got up in the morning. A goofy morning smile played on her lips, giving her face a silly expression. She took a brush and began to comb through her long blond hair.

After she was finished, she continued her morning routine. She went downstairs, ready for a nice meal, until she noticed Sarino was missing. "Hmm... that's odd. He really should eat a good meal." She decided to go back up to his room and check on him.

She knocked loudly on the door, but there was no reply. "Sarino-san?" called Filia, and then remembered. DUH! HE'S DEAF! She felt incredibly stupid. Should she try and look inside? Then she heard the sound of his music, and couldn't resist. His door creaked open....

Sarino had felt a slight vibration of the floorboards, a sign someone was coming inside, and turned to face the door. He saw Filia and nodded a good morning to her, finishing the song without missing a note.

"Good morning, Filia," he said brightly. "How are you today?"

Filia blushed with embarrasment as she was 'caught' sneaking into Sarino's room. And she was definitely caught off guard when he asked how she was. "Oh... genki desu," she whispered, walking fully into the room.

"Genki desu ka?" she asked softly, inching her way closer. "Gomen nasai, I heard the melody... Plus, aren't you hungry?" She had not even waited for his reply, but still hoped he would answer.

Sarino looked closely at everything Filia had said. "Genki," he smiled back at her, his face seeming childishly innocent and happy. "Oh, why not get something to eat." He carefully tucked the flute inside a hidden pocket of his cloak. "I am a little hungry anyway."

Filia smiled happily at his decision. "Well then, shall we go?" She giggled, opening the door to leave the room. Turning, she stood in the doorway to wait for him. "Would you like me to order us some tea?" she inquired, before heading down the stairs.

"Of course, why not?" he smiled back, looking bright and happy. In reality, his heart was sad. Filia looked like she'd have a beautiful voice. And he could not hear it. "Tea would be nice," he nodded to her. "Any kind you think is good."

Kitsune awoke to the sun shining in his eyes. "I always hate waking up early, but I suppose everyone else is up. Well, I should do my morning routine, I suppose." With that, he got up from where he was lying by a tree trunk, and arranged the mess of books that were littered around him. He then proceeded to backflip into a handstand, and then did one hundred pushups.

After that, he stretched for about half an hour, and walked into the inn for breakfast. He ate quickly, then went back outside to gather all his stuff together.

He opened one of the books from his collection. He began to wonder, "Hmmmm... I really do need a horse to take all my gear with me. I'm tired of carrying all of this on my back. Maybe I should steal a cart, also. The others might need to stow their gear too. Now, where can I find one.... Hmmmmm...." He put the book back in his bag and wandered off.

If any one word could be said to describe the forest on this clear afternoon, it would be Serenity.

Patches of golden sunlight dappled the forest floor; they shifted fluidly as the leaves above were moved gently by the lightest of winds. A pair of tiny blue birds flitted leisurely among the trees; even they were silent, as if they didn't want to disturb the stillness. Not far away, a small young deer was grazing peacefully, its soft muzzle brushing past sprigs of greenery before delicately nipping them off.

A faraway sound made the deer lift its head quizzically. Something was crashing its way in this direction. The deer froze, then bounded off, obviously not wanting to meet whatever was causing such a ruckus.

The source of the disturbance soon thundered through the formerly serene patch of forest, stomping through the underbrush. Human it was, though barely recognizable as such. Wild-eyed, it muttered to itself the whole way. The pair of birds fluttered away promptly.

When the strange human had passed through, the small, easily-startled creatures of the forest slowly returned to their homes. The birds flew back to their favourite branch; even the small deer nervously returned to the patch of greenery it had been browsing. But the serene peacefulness that had ruled supreme only minutes ago was lost.

And in the distance, the human was still crashing onwards, muttering all the way.

Sai jumped down from the roof and went into the inn. He sat at a table, then took out his sword and drove it deep into the ground. He rested his head on it. He growled, then muttered, "Why do I have a fear of girls?" Sai then yelled out, "IT IS NOT RIGHT!"

Filia ordered a nice green tea, bringing the pot back up to Sarino's room. "Do you prefer anything in your tea, Sarino-san?" she asked kindly, pouring the tea. She made her tea in the way she preferred. "What do you supose we will be doing today on our adventure?" she asked, trying to start conversation.

"Oh, however you're having the tea is fine with me," Sarino replied, noticing the tone of her voice. He prayed silently she was not babying him. "What will we be doing?" he repeated, looking thoughtful. "I do not know. We'll do whatever fate throws at us; at least, that's what elves believe. You take what is given and do not complain."

Filia nodded in agreement, pouring his tea. She took her seat, and folded her arms over the table with a sigh. "Well...," said the gold dragon, taking ideas off the top of her head. "Aside from finding Princess Gracia, I'd like to find Lina-san... I'm sure Gourry and the others are with her also. It'd be nice to see them again." She was talking more to herself than to anyone else.

Rill sighed dejectedly. Sai had left him to entertain himself. And that was just plain boring. Apparently, whatever the precious Sai was doing, he was making a lot of noise in doing it.

Deciding to see what there was to this inn, Rill exited the room, and began to traverse down the hallway. He halted abruptly outside one particular door in the hall. He approached it and sniffed. What luck! He thought, ears perking upward, and tail swinging rapidly. Such interesting smells beyond this barrier. Without ceremony, or even a polite knock, Rill burst into the room, and dropping to all fours, bounded toward a certain golden haired pretty.

Without giving the two occupants time to react fully, Rill picked a lock from Filia's yellowed tresses, smelt and revelled in the softness with his fingers.

Filia watched a strange purple-skinned creature bound playfully towards her, and freaked. Who the heck was this?! she thought, getting away rapidly. "Nani..?" she asked in great surprise. "Who are you?"

"Hm?" Rill muttered inaudibly, finding the lovely gold silk quite fascinating. He did not let go of her hair as she attempted to pull away, and yanked on it, drawing her back.

He rubbed the hair against his cheek, purring softly. "I am called Rill by acquaintances; as you are such, you shall be permitted to do so as well."

Sarino had seen this little exchange and didn't like what he was seeing. He read the thing's lips easily and frowned.

"Rill... what are you doing?" he said shortly, pushing back the hood of his cloak to see better, exposing the tapered elven ears and an attractive, youthful face. "Don't hurt her," he commanded.

"Hurt her? Why, I have no intention of doing so," Rill replied gently, if not gruffly. He continued handling the hair, gazing at it fondly, not looking up to the other person in the room who was addressing him.

Reluctantly, Rill did choose to release the locks and look disdainfully at the additional character. His expression of contempt quickly vanished as he spied the lovely face and elfish features. "Amazing!" he squeaked, springing away from Filia and to Sarino abruptly. In an instant, Rill had his hands lightly exploring Sarino's long ears enthusiastically.

Filia looked couriously at Rill. He was acting like a... child. "What are you doing?" she whispered in his direction, quite surprised by his actions. She didn't dare go near, for fear he might grab her hair again. Why hadn't she grabbed her mace? Ah well... there's always next time.

Sarino flinched when Rill came over and examined his ears, twitching them slightly and lowering them. "What are you doing?" he asked innocently, giggling as it tickled suddenly.

"I have never met an elf before," Rill replied to both, tone low and almost sultry as he wrapped an arm around Sarino's shoulders. "How very pretty you are." His hooded violet glanced to Filia and he smiled impishly, "Both of you."

Purring, he nestled close to Sarino. "I shall add both of you to my collection," he hissed softly into Sarino's long ear, then kissed its lobe.

Filia's eye twitched as she watched Rill's behavior. It was absurd to say the least... But to say we were added to his collection?! This time, she DID bring out her thorny mace. "Care to rephrase that, or pretend that it never came from your mouth?" she said, almost too calmly, patting the mace.

Kitsune wandered through town looking for some dumb smuck he could take a cart and a couple of horses from. Then he spied a cart, laden with a shipment for a tavern, lumbering down the road. 'Hmmm..... That cart should be big enough for five people and their gear. And those horses look to be in good health as well. Now let's see... there are three men on the cart. Not a problem, but I have to be fast. Now, where can I suprise them from. There. That tree looks perfect."

Kitsune quickly climbed up the tree and crouched low to avoid being seen. He hastily recited his battle plan in his mind.

Sai walked out of the inn. He then walked to where the forest began, climbed a tree and tested the strength of one branch. "Hum," Sai said to himself, "this is good."

Sai climbed down and took off his cape and boots. He climbed back up, sat on the branch, and tied his ankles to the branch with leather straps. He then lay down, hanging about fifteen feet from the ground, and started to do vertical situps.

A soft pair of hands covered Sai's eyes from behind. They pulled gently, resisting Sai's attempt to do situps. "Hey, cutie," a sultry voice whispered into his ear. "Now that you're all tied up and can't go anywhere, why don't you tell me 'bout your 'girl' problems?" She blew gently into his ear. "After all, a brave man like yourself would protect poor lil' ol' me if I help you, wouldn't you?"

Sai screamed so loud that basically the whole town heard him. He sat up on the branch, trying to free himself. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! W... W... W... WHAT IS THIS? I DIDN'T SEE YOU! WHO ARE YOU? HELP! WHAT A TIME TO LEAVE MY SWORD BEHIND!!" Sai sat up and moved as far away from the girl as possible, trying to free himself.

"L-leave your sword?!" The girl stepped back in horror, and Sai saw her for the first time. She was a little on the short side, with her maroon hair tied in two braided pig-tails that swayed gently in response to her movements. She was wearing a low-cut, blue halter top with a knee-length, gauzy skirt of a similar color. "H-how could you!" she wailed, burying her face in her hands. She trembled for a few seconds as Sai tried to recover. "Fine then," she said in a low voice. She looked up, eyes slightly reddened from her tears. "Since you are a boor who would strike down a helpless, defenseless lady, obviously it was a 'mistaken missive' and whatever happens to you is your own fault." She turned and walked away, with a blatant air of injured diginity.

Before Sai could react, a group of guardsmen came running around the corner. "Where did she go?" their leader shouted, looking around. He spotted Sai, still trembling on the branch. "There she is! Get her!" They charged the tree, one of them flinging a net to bring him down.

Across the square, Briar Rose sat calmly on a step and counted the money Sai had been carrying. "Geez. So little of it. He must be big on charity." A grin lit across her face. "I know! I bet he has friends! Let's see what happens now!" She chuckled and with a gesture, an elderly lady was now napping in the sunshine of the early morning.

Sai yelled, "LEVITATION!" and, with the net still on him, floated in the air. He took off the net and looked at the guards. "Now I am mad!" He yelled "FIRE BALL!" and shot it just in front of the guardsmen. They flew back and ran off hastily. "Grrrrr!" Sai said. "Now that's better. That's how I like to start a morning!"

He floated down, checked himself and noticed that his money was gone. Sai looked around. "That little girl stole my money.... No matter; I can always get more." He put on his cape, sword and boots. "At least that girl is gone. Maybe she will stay away... good riddance to bad rubbish."

Sai walked deeper into the forest, climbed up another branch, and looked towards the town. He sat down on the branch and sighed. He started to think about the girl and smiled. "I am sure she is a nice kid, but all she needed was money. Of couse it would have been better for her to ask -- but I am happy to help anyone in need; after all I am sure she needed the money more than I did." Sai closed his eyes and started to meditate on the branch to calm himself down.

As Sai was engrossed in his meditation, he did not notice the cracking of branches overhead. ANOTHER girl fell from the trees above and crashed down on top of him. The girl slowly got to her feet and grumbled, "That's the last time I sleep in trees."

She then looked around and then noticed she was standing atop Sai. "Oh!" she said, startled. "Forgive me. Please? My name's Ninoa. How do you do? I just love the forests, don't you?" Ninoa placed a hand over her mouth. "Oops, sorry. I tend to babble. Say, what was your name? What do you do?" The girl was eager for answers.

Sai held his head in pain. "Ow! What the...." He looked at the girl who'd fallen on him. Instantly, his face turned beet red.

Using his abnormal speed and reflexes, Sai jumped to the branch in front of him, then jumped again to the branch above him. Perched there, he looked down at the girl.

Sai was having a hard time breathing as he spoke. "M... M... M... My name is S... S... S... Sai, and what were you doing on my head?"

The man sometimes known as Rufus the Unkempt had been walking steadily for days. His hair was full of twigs and the occasional leaf; it was hard to find a patch on his tattered brown robes not covered in burrs. But these were just minor annoyances, especially to one with his force of conviction. The gods had finally spoken to him! He still remembered the frightful clarity of their voices, urging him to move on. And when they spoke, he obeyed; it was as simple as that.

Abruptly he noticed that he was getting hungry. He cast about and noticed a small squirrel staring at him from a high branch. It was gnawing away at a nut of some kind.

"I truly hear them," he told the unassuming little forest creature, quite seriously. "They tell me what to do. They give me instructions, and I'm the only one they have ever spoken to." It cocked its tiny head, as if in disbelief. He frowned. "They don't speak to you too, do they?"

In response, the squirrel chattered noisily for a moment, then threw the nut at him before scampering off.

Shaking his head at the loss of such a promising audience, Rufus made his way forward, hoping to find some berries or a stream full of fish. If all else failed, those funny-coloured mushrooms looked fairly appetizing....

On further reflection, eating the funny little yellow-spotted mushrooms had been rather a bad idea. When the man known to some as Rufus had finished hearing colours and flying through rivers that floated in the sky, he quite sensibly went for the bright red berries instead.

After having discovered two woodland foods that weren't nearly as appetizing as they appeared to be, Rufus stuck thenceforth with eating leaves. True, they weren't especially filling, and a few varieties made his mouth itch something fierce, but they were on the whole relatively safe and non-hallucinogenic. More neurotoxins and the like were the last thing that Rufus needed, anyway, being quite able and willing to produce his own hallucinations on demand.

Besides, a few more handfuls of those berries might have rendered him permanently unable to carry out the will of the Gods, and he wouldn't have enjoyed that one bit.

Lina sighed as she walked into the shabby inn. It was the only place they could stay! Her self-proclaimed guardian, Gourry, followed. Looking around, she sighed again. There had recently been no action like the old stuff for Lina... a bandit here and there, true, but all in all, everything had been very quiet. She didn't like quiet. "I should be happy, but I'm not!" she complained.

Briar yawned. "Boooooriiiiing," she muttered. Perhaps that idiot didn't have any friends, or this was such a common occurance that they didn't take notice. She was sure she'd seen him enter town with some companions. Now where were they....

Before she could finish that thought, two people on the other side of the square caught her attention, a young redhead and a tall blond man. "Well, well, well." A smirk appeared on her face. "Now things can get interesting." She wove a quick charm and a young flower girl inconspiciously followed them to the inn.

She sat down on a barrel outside and studied the town. "Let's see... The town funds are kept over there, so that means... The temple lockbox is that way, so I should..." A few more moments of scheming, and the flower girl entered the inn, pausing and sweatdropping at the sight of the brawl going on for breakfast. "Guess I'll have to compensate for that too," she murmered to herself as she sat down at an empty table. After trading a few flowers to the innkeeper to freshen up the place a bit in exchange for breakfast, she kicked back and smiled vapidly. Under the table, hidden by her dress, her fingers wiggled.

From outside, a deep male voice suddenly yelled, "FIREBALL!" and the front of the inn exploded inward. "Now, you fools! Bring me all of your valuables, or suffer the wrath of Ooki Mountainbreaker!" He began to cackle loudly. As the dust began to clear, the people in the common room got their first look at the man. He was a massive bear of a man wearing a white turban and matching pantaloons. His heavily muscled chest and abdomen was criss-crossed by countless scars. His features were somewhat Arabic, and he had a large wax-curled mustache. In his hand, he held a massive scimitar, which was glowing red.

The flower girl peeked fearfully from behind the ruins of her table, looking for all the world like she wanted her knight-in-shining-armor to come save her.

Filia felt the entire tavern shake. Something was up. "Wha- what was that!" It sounded like Lina... but it couldn't be! She took her mace, holding it protectively. "I'm going to see what that was," she said, quietly stalking out of Sarino's room to find the disturbance.

Rill had appeared to be completely nonchalant in having the girl with lovely gold hair pull out a mace and threaten him. His grin had simply grown broader. As an explosion from below stormed, he remained completely composed, smiling as he had before. Nothing fazed him, and once Filia had departed to investigate, Rill none too discreetly wrapped arms and tail around Sarino. "That was awful nice of her, leaving us alone and all."

Sarino's eyes widened when he read Rill's lips and was suddenly being hugged by the strange creature. "Wha... what collection?" he inquired, his voice frightened, yet innocent at the same time. "And why was it nice for her to leave us alone...?" He was innocent about a lot of things, and he wished he understood the world better.

Due to his extreme closeness, Sarino could feel the vibrations of Rill's gentle purring. Rill giggled lightly as he hugged the elf. "You are so sweet." Rill sniffed at Sarino's hair with relish.

Then for a moment he seemed to consider something deeply, ears sagging in concentration. "My collection. There was a word that I heard of once, something in which to refer to it as, something more specific." And suddenly his ears perked up tall, his face alight with elation. "A harem! That's it! That's what my collection is." Again Rill giggled as he cuddled against Sarino.

"And already I have many who I have deemed worthy to be in my harem. Those who are interesting. I am so lucky to have found the likes of you, of the golden dragon-girl, and of Sai."

Cupping Sarino's face gently with his hands, Rill drew the elfin youth to face him. "We are alone, and such joy can occur. Now be bound to me." Glowing with an eerie purple aura, Rill suddenly swept in and kissed Sarino.

Sarino's eyes widened when Rill did this, his elven senses telling him something wasn't right here. He tried to pull away at first, but a dizzy feeling swept over him and he found himself quite unable to do so. His eyes drooped half-closed as his clouded thoughts spun crazily. What's... happening to me...? he thought absently. I... don't understand it... one bit....

Through the savouring kiss, Rill passed his spell unto Sarino, binding the pretty elf to him with magic. Slowly and hesitantly, Rill departed from the tender touch, smiling to Sarino. Behind him, his tail swayed rapidly. The strange glow surrounding his form faded.

"Now you are officially mine," he stated with a cheerful aloofness. "I have imparted a small piece of myself to you. From this day onward, you are bound to me by contract." Rill then rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, "I myself am not really sure what it means. Only that wherever you go, I shall be several steps in following."

Rill abruptly switched from cheer to a rather cute pout, his long ears falling low. "I missed binding Sai earlier, but I'll be more careful next time. In fact," and the ears perked up, "I'll go do that right now! Come on, I can get the golden dragon-girl too!" Laughing excitedly, he jumped up, and pulled Sarino's arm.

Lina felt a shaking as she and Gourry were eating breakfast. She looked at him; he looked confused. Which was normal... for Gourry. "What the hell was that?" she asked him; he only shook his head. She looked around, and saw fireballs flying.

"What is it?" asked Gourry, still very confused.

"Well.... Someone likes fireballs," Lina replied before grabbing Gourry and ray-winging it to the scene of the crime.

"Balus Wall!" Lina yelled, shielding both herself and Gourry. I mean, she had to have learned SOMETHING from Amelia... "Are you done yet?" she asked the strange man, grinning, before attacking. "Flare Arrow!" She let it fly, as Gourry pulled out his sword, knowing it wouldn't be much help without the Sword of Light but... he got ready to attack anyway.

Filia was now surrounded by smoke. "How did this... where...?" she asked herself, quite confused. "Ano...." Then she saw two others emerging from the smoky debris. She heard mummbles, and whining. And two very familar voices... Then, they stepped through, to Filia's great surprise. "Lina-san! Gourry-san!" she called happily. "Did you cause this...?" Well, it seemed like they would have....

"Ehh...?! Filia?" asked Lina, surprised. "I... I can't believe it's you! Where's Val-chan? How's life? Is Xellos still bugging you?" Then it clicked. "Hey! Whaddaya mean I caused this? Me and Gourry just came by to see what was up!"

Gourry nodded. "Yeah, we heard an explosion, and Lina dragged me outside." He sweatdropped, thanking Kami-sama he was on the ground. The nice, hard ground....

"Anyway, what is this, why are you here, and are you gonna buy me dinner?"

Filia laughed nervously as she heard Lina's remark. Why did it ALWAYS have to be food?! And, oh, wait... That dirty Rill was probably doing something terrible to Sarino-san while she was out here. That creature must be a filthy mazoku!

Sai looked at the town and saw smoke rising into the air. "Oh no; something seems to have happened." Momentarily getting over his fear, he looked at the girl and said, "Sorry, we are going to have to continue this some other time."

Sai summoned the extra speed he had been blessed with, and jumped from tree to tree. When he reached the town, he started jumping from rooftop to rooftop. He finally reached the source of the smoke, and saw a huge bear of a man standing in front of the inn. "Who are you?" Sai asked loudly. "And what do you want?"

"I don't give my names to losers like you," the man said. "BOMB DI WIND!" The spell caught Sai dead on. Despite a valiant attempt to block it, the spell was so sudden that it ended up flinging him skyward and away.

Ooki then turned to the others. "You have no time for a meal, for I shall destroy all of you!" he roared. "Unless," he said, out of the side of his mouth in a slick, used-car salesman voice, while leaning over to the group, "you're willing to give 200 gold to the 'Poor Ooki' sympathy fund."

He straightened. "So what's it going to be, worms?" Seeing the reaction (a dazed, confused look on Gourry's face, fury on Lina's) he made a decision. "So be it. You get what you deserve!" He pointed his glowing sword at them. "VAL FLARE!"

Sai was blown back into the forest where he caught a branch. "Ow! That hurt."

Sai smirked. "Hum." He raced back to the inn, and looked at the big man. "Okay, fine!" Sai took out his sword and stabbed the man's leg with it. He yelled "DIGGER BOLT!" The electricity went throught the sword and into the huge man, affecting him inside and out.

When the spell was finished, Sai took out his sword and jumped about ten feet away. He put his sword back into its sheath and went into a fighting stance.

As Sai glanced up at his foe, the big man exploded! All that remained was a greasy cloud of smoke. Sai smirked. "That was easy," he said.

From behind him, a deep growl came. "Missed me, little monkey." Sai spun around to block, but fast as he was, the other man was faster. The hilt of the massive sword collided with the base of Sai's neck, and oblivion claimed him. His body was flung like a broken doll through a nearby wall.

The man turned back to face the others.

Ninoa quickly followed the tracks made by Sai. When she found him, he had already been firmly thrown through a wall. "What the?!" Ninoa exclaimed. "What's going on?"

She then eyed a large man who was focusing his attention elsewhere. Ninoa was curious about the situation, but she knew the man was up to no good. "And who are you?" she asked the odd man who simply spit at her in reply.

She readied herself for battle by reaching behind her back for something. What she pulled out was a stuffed tiger. The large opponent and the onlookers face faulted as Ninoa called it her ultimate weapon.

Filia saw Sai being blown backward after his attempted attack, and then the arrival of another stranger, a young girl. With a stuffed tiger? "Oh! Gomen ne!" she called. Why wasn't she paying attention!?

She looked up to the hulk of a man. "Ano... Please, you shouldn't do such careless acts. Someone may get hurt...," she whispered, slowly looking into his eyes. Of course, I'm not talking about myself...

The big man paused for a brief second as he appeared to consider it. "Of course. You're absolutely right. How incredibly careless of me." He shouldered his sword and started to turn away. With his free hand, he waved. "I didn't realise the the first and second most powerful sorceresses in the world were eating breakfast in the same place." He scratched the back of his neck, nervously. "I'll go beat down a different inn." He began to stride off, and with a flick of his fingers, "Ja ne!"

"N-nani?!" Filia cried out, VERY surprised. What the heck?! "Oi! YOU! I nev- oh... nevermind... I'm not the violent one of this group." With that, she glanced at Lina. Slowly she placed the mace back in its rightful spot. "Well... Guess that's that."

Lina cringed as she heard the words 'First and second most powerful sorceresses.' Could he mean.... No, couldn't be... could it? "Gourry!" Lina cried, jumping behind him. The ONLY thing she feared... well, almost, was her sister Luna Inverse. "Filia! Why didn't you tell me she was here?!" she cried.

"Ano...," Gourry said quietly, a bit confused. "Who are you scared of?" he asked.

Lina thwacked Gourry in the head. "My evil sister, you baka!"

As all of this was going on, a masked figure dressed in gray was sipping hot chocolate and watching the proceedings. Finally, Lina Inverse and the masked figure would meet -- but first, he needed some more marshmallows. Hunting Lina Inverse was not as easy as it looked, especially if she was using more subtle spells. It was sheer luck that she'd wandered into the same inn that he was staying in. Soon his real assignment could begin. What was even better was the inn was still intact. Not that he was worried about his safety; he knew enough to cast protection spells. Truly, life was bliss.

Kitsune jumped down onto the cart between the two riders. He hit one of them with the end of his staff, sending him flying off and onto the sidewalk.

The second and third riders looked at him and started to draw their swords. Kitsune shifted his weight and slammed one guard with the other end of his staff. The man fell backwards, only his feet holding him above hitting the road.

The third one swung his sword at Kitsune, but he blocked with his staff. He flipped over the top of the guy's head and landed behind him with his staff at his throat, holding him there until he fell unconscious. By that time the second guard had got up and attempted to tackle Kitsune. He grabbed the guard and fell backwards, rolling and throwing the guard off the end of the cart.

He then got up and regained control of the cart, and drove it back to the inn. He saw everybody standing there talking. He put his fingers in his mouth and whistled really loudly. "Hey everybody, I got us some transportation. Put your stuff in the back and let's get moving, 'cause this cart is kinda hot. If you're not ready by the time the mob comes after me, I'm taking off without you," yelled Kitsune at the top of his lungs, so that even Sarino could hear him. With that he hopped down, got his own gear, and tossed it in the back of the cart.

Sai woke up with a pounding headache. He started to get up, but felt a sharp pain in his left side. He took his left hand and gingerly put it where he felt the pain. When he took his hand away, it was smeared with blood.

Sai looked around and saw rubble everywhere. "That must have cracked a couple of my ribs." He took out his sword and used it to help him stand. He cast the spell Raywing and a bubble covered him and rose him about twenty feet in the air.

Sai laid down in the bubble and tore two pieces from his cape. One he folded up and put on the wound; the second he put around his ribcage to keep the bandage on.

Sai heard Kitsune's voice, and slowly floated towards him. Carefully he laid down in the cart, holding his ribs. He moaned in pain when he landed, and kept the bubble protectively around himself. "Hello, Kitsune. Nice day."

The big man sweatdroppped at how fast the group had lowered its guard. With a semi-casual shrug, he tilted his sword back just a little more, and softly said, "Blast Bomb." He vanished in a red globe as searing tongues of flame arced out at all of his foes.

Filia was thrown back by the large man's attack; after all, it was a surprise to her. She rose her head from the rubble she was lying in. "Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut...," she mummbled, getting to her feet.

She looked around to the others. "Minna-san, are you okay?!" she asked worriedly, stumbling toward them.

Lina stood up, a bit dazed, but otherwise fine. " KONOOOO!" she growled angrily. She saw Gourry's terrified face as he hid behind Filia for cover.

"Darkness beyond twilight...," she started, raising her hands, anger filling her voice. It was quite scary. "Crimson beyond blood that flows.... Buried in the flow of time.... In thy great name, I pledge myself to thee. Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed, by the power you and I possess!"

She opened her eyes and smiled at the large man. "Never mess with Lina Inverse," she stated, before finishing. "DRAGONNN SLAAAVE!" she screamed, as it hit him head on.

Well drat. So much for the town treasury, thought Briar as she cancelled her illusions. So much for the town as well. It was true. Everything before Lina was now a grand crater. And the cheap inn had been at the outskirts of the town.

Briar chuckled to herself as she saw Kitsune crawl out from under the wreckage of his former cart. At least this covers my tracks nicely, she thought. She scrunched up her eyes twice and approached Lina.

"Pardon me," she asked timidly, meekly tugging on the hem of Lina's cape. "But d-did I hear that your name was Lina Inverse?" The expression on her face was hopeful.

"Ummm..." Lina started.

Briar decided that this was 'yes.' "Sugoi! MynameisBriarRose and I'vewantedtomeetyoufforsolong 'causeIthinkyou'resocool andIwanttobejustlikeyou andI'vestudiedsoveryveryhardforit!" Her eyes were shining stars of hope and enthusiasm. "Icancastabunchofreally, reallycoolandpowerfulspellstoo! CanIpleasecomewithyou? Please? Please? Pleaseprettyplease?" Her expression was of unbridled joy. "And, I can cook really, really well, too!"

Lina laughed nervously and briefly looked at Gourry, then back to this enthusiastic young girl. "Ano... Well... It seems I should stay on the trail with Filia for awhile. We're a bit bored anyway, ne, Gourry?"

Gourry nodded, putting a hand upon Lina's shoulder.

Lina slightly blushed, but didn't move it. "So... You can cook?" She grinned widely.

Briar bobbled her head enthusiastically. "Uh-huh! I won first place at the local fair! And I have a really neato adventuring costume! And I know a neato trick that you'd just absolutely love! I can make.... Uh-oh." She was staring over Lina's shoulder at the rather P.O.'d group of townsfolk heading their way. Blackened townsfolk with lots of nasty, sharp-looking implements no less. "Uh, Lina-sama, we'd better run!" she said, pulling on Lina's sleeve.

Lina looked back nervously, as did Gourry. She grabbed his arm and ran like hell. "Come on, guys, time to fly!" she screamed to the others. She sweatdropped, laughing nervously to herself. Ano.... This really sucks!