Nue Chimera

Okay, here's the disc. What kind of run do I want this time? Mage Ryu was pretty fun, but I'd like to try that method of making Nina more useable. Besides, Ryu's a swordsman, so I ought to use the masters to boost up his physical stats. Then, train him from level 1 under Bunyan, then possibly switch him over to Fahl to not lose as much AP. That could work.

But to make Nina useful, I'll need to pick up Meditation and Magic Ball from Mygas. I can just throw Teepo under him; he doesn't matter and can be a skill doll. That means running from everything in the first part, having Rei solo the first boss, and Teepo solos the second dungeon. That shouldn't be an issue.

I'll figure out what to do with the other characters later. This is enough to start the game on.

The two boys were asleep still. Leaning against the rough wall of this abandoned cabin, Rei took a small white snowdrop out of his pocket. It was already edged with brown and crumpled. Maybe he should toss it before Ryu noticed it was wilted. He was an odd boy, but sweet all the same. Last evening, he had given this flower to him with a spark of wonder in his eyes, like it was one of the prettiest things he'd seen and he wanted to share it with his new caretaker. Rei ran a claw along the edge of the weakening stem, thinking that he really didn't want Ryu involved with this task.

Teepo was another matter. Rei would rather he not be involved either, but at least Teepo had no fear of fighting. Instead, the violet haired boy had lots of bravado and no shame in picking fights. He was an ace at magic too, so he could be useful. But Ryu? Ryu didn't want to hurt anybody. Rei hadn't heard a word out of him yet, but Ryu clearly wanted to help out. When faced with a battle, though, he quivered and cried at the thought of attacking even when the monster attacked first. Even with the second-hand armor they'd managed to grab for him, he still got scared. Ryu should not be here.

Neither of them should be here, because then he wouldn't have to hold back.

The only food he had to give them when they woke up were some old crackers he'd found in the cupboard here that were decent enough to eat. They had managed to catch some fish in the mountain river last night, thankfully. Since the past fall and this winter had been so cold and dry, there wasn't a lot to eat. Rei had been hard pressed to support Teepo this year and Ryu was yet another mouth to feed. Still, he wasn't heartless enough to leave another abandoned child out in the cold wilds alone. It was a little odd that no one in town recognized Ryu; that sky blue hair was distinctive. But it might be someone keeping silent out of shame.

"So the old fart wants us to kill the Nue, huh?" Teepo asked after finishing off his meager breakfast. "That's no problem, where is it?"

"Teepo, it's strong enough that no one else in town has managed to fight it off," Rei said, hoping he'd pick up on the gravity of the situation. Meanwhile, Ryu was poking around the cabin curiously, seeing if a book left behind was readable. What could he send those two off to do to keep them out of harm's way? Maybe asking them to fish again? Ryu at least enjoyed that.

"Well they're just a bunch of wimpy cowards," he insisted.

"We might need something to lure it out," Rei said. That should be a good lead-in to asking them to fish while he investigated the cave that was the Nue's den.

Unfortunately, the Nue had other ideas and roared outside of the cabin. "Is that it?" Teepo asked, going over to the door. Ryu had froze where he was.

His striped tail twitching, Rei hurried over to grab the doorknob first. "That's right, it's close by. I guess we have no choice." He took out the old ballock knife he used and opened the door slowly. Once he was sure the Nue wasn't right out there, he threw it open and braced himself for an attack.

It was a terrifying creature to face, larger than any of them with a lion's mane, a gorilla's body, and snakes for tails. At the same time, it was pitiful looking with its ribs showing through its dark skin. Maybe this Nue was more aggressive out of hunger. Hoping he could take it down (or at least severely injure it) before the two boys got invoiced, Rei rushed for it and slashed across its chest.

With that deep cut, blood remained on his knife. The scent of it stirred up something primal in his mind. He wasn't human even if he looked similar to them. Within his blood was the spirit of a tiger, a beast he could turn himself into. It would be satisfying to turn and become far more powerful than he was in this civilized form. He could shred this sorry monster to a bloody pulp then. In his mind, he could hear the tiger growling.

A blast of fire then struck the Nue, causing it to roar in pain. That was definitely Teepo. And, that was why Rei had to hold back. If he became the tiger, he couldn't think. He couldn't recognize anyone except as something to attack. The two boys wouldn't be able to do a thing to stop him. As much as a part of himself wanted to use all that power, his better judgment held sway. Rei attacked again, this time causing the Nue to whimper and run off.

"Sheesh Ryu, you're such a klutz," Teepo said behind Rei. "You're not supposed to drop your sword."

On making sure the Nue had run off, Rei turned back to the other two. Ryu had picked his small sword back up and was trying to get it back in place on his belt. His face looked dirty from tripping. "Maybe you two should stick around the cabin," Rei suggested. "Or you can fish in the river again. It might help if it holes up in the caves."

This would be easier if I could just stick Teepo and Ryu in the inactive line rather than having to kill them off in every battle I don't run from. Sure, they only revive after battle with one HP, but it's still a mostly wasted turn. All well, it's the game's rules that I have to have three active party members. And this is a short easy area, nothing to be concerned about.

No matter how reasonable it was for them to stay behind, or how nervous Ryu was about going into the cave, the two boys still insisted on coming with Rei after the Nue. They had followed the trail of blood up to the edge of a river within the mountain. After searching around the cave, Teepo said that they should come back here.

"Okay, this time I really got it!" he said, kneeling at the edge of the water. "There was a cave behind the waterfall in the other room, I saw it. The monster must've jumped in here and went downstream to get inside. We can do the same thing."

"You sure this is a good idea?" Rei asked. "Can you two swim?"

"Of course," Teepo insisted, while Ryu nodded.

There didn't seem to be another way to get into that cave, so the three of them jumped into the cold waters. While the river wasn't icy, it still soaked into Rei's fur. Would they have to take the river back out of here? Possibly, the air here was heavy with the beast's smell: droppings, wet fur, old blood, also a sickly tinge. But this Nue was terrorizing the village, cutting down everyone's food supply even further. It had to be taken care of.

The den was scattered with all kinds of old bones, from cows to humans. The Nue was crouched in front of a passage further in, snarling and waving its tail in warning. "Keep back," Rei warned the other two, then used his own magic to sent a bolt of lightning at the Nue. That might stun it and make it harder to go after the boys as long as they kept his warning in mind.

Still growling, the Nue's mane bristled out with static. It fired lightning bolts back at them, far amplified over the what Rei was capable of. There were two screams behind him as both Ryu and Teepo were struck down. Rei's blood went cold and for a moment, he wasn't sure what to do. Had they been killed? He shouldn't have used that spell and made the Nue respond in kind. He shouldn't have even brought them in here, should have insisted they stay in the cabin.

Snarling himself, Rei ran forward without a care and slashed the Nue in the chest again. His vision seemed red. It was the monster's fault for this! It had struck down his brothers, not him! For that, he really should rip it apart. It clawed at his chest and face ferociously, but he was blind to that pain. He could be blind to everything…

No, he still had to hold back, even if the Nue deserved death. They might not be dead. They might just be unconscious. It was still partly his fault that he couldn't stop them from coming. Just as long as the Nue was certainly killed.

It was dead. Rei stepped back, covered in blood and dirt from that battle. After making sure that it wasn't faking death, he turned back and went to check on the boys. "I hope you're alive," he mumbled, crouching down by Ryu and putting a hand on his cheek.

Ryu's eyes opened up at that, surprised and scared. Once he saw that it was Rei by him, he looked really concerned and reached a small hand up to him. A white glow briefly surrounded them and Rei felt a warm gentle touch ease his pains. The wounds he'd taken now looked a week old rather than a few minutes.

Ruffling the boy's hair, Rei said, "Don't worry about me, take care of yourself and Teepo."

Ryu pushed himself up and shook his head, then went over to heal Teepo first. If Rei had known he had healing magic… well, he still would have preferred Ryu not be involved. Since the Nue had been stealing from the farm, Rei checked around in case it had some food or items they could use. The Nue itself was probably unsafe to eat, though maybe Bunyan knew something to prepare that meat.

There were just bones in this caver. But when Rei pushed the Nue's body aside to check behind it, he found something he hadn't thought of. The Nue had cubs back here, lying in a moldy straw nest. They were dead, though, bony and rotting. Near the entrance, there was a pile of food that was mostly rotten as well. It… no, she had only been doing exactly what he had been doing: trying to protect her family and find food for them in scarce times.

"Does it have anything back here?" Teepo asked, coming into the back cavern with Ryu. They both stared at the nest for a moment while Rei scratched his head. "Boy, it wasn't too bright, was it?" Teepo said, trying to be tough but bits of disgust and pity nearly broke through. "I mean, its cubs were already dead."

"If this doesn't beat all," Rei said, not sure what else to say. "Sheesh."

"At least we can take some of this food back," Teepo said, turning to look away from the dead cubs. "Gross, but we've got nothing else."

"We've got to be careful with what we take," Rei said. He looked down and saw that Ryu was trembling. He went over and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I know, it's bad. But everyone's just trying to get by when there's not enough to go around. It's like with mugging people back on the road, we have to get food somehow."

Once they had what looked decent in a bag, they headed back out and swam down the river again to get outside. The waterfall was safe enough to dive from here, though it was really bad that they had to be doing this during winter. Rei wondered if they should try heading through the back path of the woods to get back home quicker, back to where they could make a fire to warm up with. While there weren't many paths in that area, it would be a shorter route.

They only got as far as the base of the road up Mount Glaus when someone came their way. He was a large burly man with a wild beard and a loner's hard gaze. While Bunyan was their neighbor in the woods, Rei did not want to tangle with him. Teepo frowned at him, then looked away, while Ryu edged closer to Rei and took his hand.

"So, how does it feel to do some real work for a change, hmm?" Bunyan said to them. "When spring comes in a few weeks, the animals will return with less fear and life will get a little easier. You all did a good job, congratulations!" He then tossed a burlap bag at them.

Was he making fun of them? Rei wasn't sure, but he didn't feel like he had done a good job. Not in protecting his adopted brothers, and not in killing off a delusional mother beast. Still, he picked up a bag and found that it was full of rice. They'd not found this when they'd rummaged through Bunyan's cabin yesterday, but it could hopefully get them through these last weeks of winter.

But, Bunyan hiked through this area often, didn't he? "Wait a minute," Rei said. "You knew the Nue was only hunting for food for her cubs, didn't you? And you still had us kill her?!"

He did not look moved by the question. "If you had known she had cubs, would you have let her live?"

That wasn't right. But then, like he'd just said to Ryu, everyone was trying to get by in scarce times. And the Nue had hurt several people back in the village, would have been a threat to them. Rei still didn't feel right about all this. "And why did you let these two come after me? They're just kids."

"Hey, we helped out," Teepo insisted.

"If you kids want to be acting like adults, then you had best be ready to accept responsibility like adults," Bunyun stated. He was going to hear no arguments to the contrary.

All right, then next we need to talk to Mygas, go fishing for a while, grind up Teepo's level for skills… oh wait, it's that time already? Have to save and shut down for now. Even for that short bit, the game's still fun after all these years. I might not be able to play it as much due to my job, but I'm not playing any challenges and can just enjoy it for what it is.

'I'm just a kid too,' Rei thought, although it didn't excuse any of his actions. Not really. He was older than the other two, responsible for their well-being. No one was helping them out, except for Bunyan who was harsh with them any time they approached. Why had they all been deserted like this? He could understand himself in a way. His power would frighten anyone who came across him as a tiger. But the other two, they wouldn't stand a chance on their own.

"Wyndia's a big city with a king and queen, and lots of people," Teepo said, sitting at the table where Ryu was drawing with broken crayons. It was another cold night, but they kept close to the fireplace. "And they're famous for making great bread; I had some once and even though it was a few days old, it was still soft and really good. If we lived around there, we wouldn't have to be bring scraps together for a meal, or going out in this awful cold for fish that might not be there."

"We could probably find work that wouldn't get us in trouble too," Rei added.

"Hopefully not boring work," Teepo said, kicking his legs in the air. "I'd like to be a knight because then people would see me as awesome and strong."

"You might not get that, but might as well try," Rei said. Maybe a soldier. They didn't make knights out of kids who had nothing else.

"Well I'll prove to them that I deserve it," he said, confidant in himself.

Ryu then picked up his picture and dropped out of the chair, coming over to give it to Rei. The lines were simple and the colors spilled beyond their bounds. But it was a recognizable picture of him, Teepo, and Ryu in a spring-like field with a sunny sky. "That's a lot of flowers," Rei said, smiling at it. "We can stick it on the wall to brighten up the place. How's that?"

He smiled brightly at the idea while Teepo pretended he wasn't interested in a 'childish' activity. Rei got up from where he was sitting by the fireplace to look for a pin to stick it on the wooden wall. If he could keep these two safe and happy, Rei felt like he could be proud of himself. But he'd have to do a far better job of protecting them from now on.

Hopefully, he was capable of protecting them from himself too.