A Pair of Drifters

Two pairs of feet were on their way towards the ruin called "Doomed to Obscurity" one day in early November. One was a woman of about eighteen years old, with honey brown hair and sea blue eyes. Her companion was a man about two years her senior, with silver hair and violet eyes. The woman had on a white shirt, a black belt with a golden star to serve as a clip, a light brown leather skirt with tan fringe on the bottom, a matching jacket, a pair of leather boots, two blue wrist guards held on with a black belt, a pair of black leather gloves, and a red headband. Her hair was done up in a ponytail, falling behind the leather cape that matched her jacket and skirt. The man was dressed in a black shirt and black belt with a golden circle clip, blue jeans, leather boots, a jacket, gloves, and a pair of green wrist guards much like the woman's.

"Jet," the girl stated, "We're here, finally. But I don't think the door is going to open. I'll go up and try to scout around for another entrance." With that, she slid off her cloak, and closed her eyes. A pair of green wings sprouted from her back, and she took to the air. After seeing a second entrance at the top of the building, she went back down for the youth named Jet. He grabbed her cape, and she grabbed him by his midsection. They flew high into the sky, and landed at the top. Jet then used a Boomerang to open the door, it was only some flimsy wood. Inside they went, where the site of a treasure chest waiting for them.

"Hey, Virginia, that must be something valuable. What do you say about filching it? I bet it's the key to these ruins, after all, they had to leave it behind for their descendants. Isn't that how it's been for us in the past five years, always finding the keys first?" asked Jet. The two of them went towards the box to grab its contents. But before they could get there, the floor opened, and they fell into the rooms below.

Luckily, Virginia was able to break their fall with her wings, they had more than just one use. She then went back to grab the Migrant Seal in the chest. But she didn't take Jet with her. It was good fortune for the chasm to have opened, now they were in the actual ruin. This would now be a simple task for them, just go through the rooms inside, find the Crystal Bud, and fly back out when they were all done with here.

But as they got back to the entrance hall, they saw a group of people from Little Rock. Apparently, a youth had come here and they wanted to get him out, due to the dangers. One man walked up to them and asked, "Would you two kind Drifters look for Pike for us? He's going to be heading for Claiborne next week in order to find work. Then, he's going to send some money back to us, as our mines are failing in Little Rock. If he dies, we will have nothing left to live on. Help us. But we only have 200 Gella, mind you."

Virginia stepped forward, being the more sensitive member of the duo. Jet hadn't a sensitive bone in his whole body, unless it concerned her. "Sure we will, we'll do it for free. After all, we're going in here to search for treasure anyway, so we might see him while we search. There's no substitute for human lives."

"Thank you," an old man with green eyes and white hair replied, "We are most grateful. You know, you remind me of my daughter and her daughter. Those poor souls died only about ten years back, and I miss them so much. My poor little heart was broken when I'd found out that my only grandchild was dead, and then my only daughter dying of a broken heart. I can't stand to see anyone die before their time is up."

'I don't get him, they die when their time is up,' thought Jet. He looked at the man, and then at Virginia. His thoughts turned to a locket she had on her neck. It was the only thing of her mother's that she kept, with a picture of her parents and herself as a baby inside of it. Her mother looked much like this man, could this be her grandfather? After all, Virginia's loved ones all thought she was dead, and her mother had passed on after losing her only child and her husband, in the Yggdrasil accident. A sigh escaped his lips.

* * *

After a long and harrowing journey, they found the deepest chamber. There, the boy named Pike was digging at a spot in the rocks. When he took note of them, he told the Drifters, "If you're here to get me to come back, wait just a little longer. I'm here to look for a treasure. You see, I played in here as a kid, in the days before it got all run down. There's some special memories I wish to take with me when I leave."

Virginia gave Jet a small glare. He wasn't really one for these moments, and always complained about their timetable being ruined. Jet always wanted to get the treasures, and get the heck out of there before anything happened. "Hey, Pike, did you ever hear of the Crystal Bud? Is it still in these ruins here?"

"Nope," the boy replied, "A female Drifter came by the other day and took it for herself. You're only about a week too late on this one. The only treasures left here are my memories of my childhood in this little town. I'm really going to miss it here, with all the friendly people I've met since I was a boy. Can you stand guard for me? There's monsters all over this ruin now, after the earthquake caved it in ten years ago."

They did just that. Suddenly, a Tazelworm attacked, and the Drifters got into action. Both fired the ARMs in their possession - - a pair of pistols for Virginia, and a machine gun for Jet - - at the creature. But it was able to go before even Virginia, and regenerated. "I'm going to use my Accelerate to hit it hard before it can heal itself up. You get ready with your Gatling attack, in case I miss this chance," Jet shouted out.

They did just that, and killed the monster. By that time, Pike had found his treasure. It consisted of a few pictures, a baseball, and several other memories of childhood. He then asked, "Can the two of you get me out of here? In case more monsters come back to attack us. I can't fight like the two of you guys."

* * *

By the time they got to the opening door, the one that would lead them back to the entranceway, both Virginia and Jet were annoyed. Many occurrences had come where Virginia could have just flown them to the top, so they wouldn't have to play Toss the Boomerang at Every Switch in the Room. But with the young man there, they were unable to. For this was Virginia's deepest secret, only Jet and High Priestess Hale of Baskar had the knowledge of what she really was, afraid of what others would say about the girl.

Pike smiled. "I'm going to be traveling towards the West Highland Station from here. I was lucky to get a ticket, there's supposed to be an artifact of great value on the train. Most people couldn't be able to get on, I had to pass a rigorous security check just to be granted permission. Could you possibly help me to get as far as the station? There's lots of places you can go from there, that won't be the only train to leave that night. Or you could investigate ruins near the town of Humphrey's Peak, east of the train station."

Virginia saw a smile on Jet's face that could only mean one thing, he wanted to go after what was on the train. It would sure make up for their mess here, and they needed the money to eat. The situation gave the young maiden a shiver down her spine, there was something out there, she just didn't know what.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Word…

And the mush begins. Well, my darn VCR ate my recording tape so I need a new one. Heck, I won't even trust my Slayers Collection inside of it anymore. This is a 45 chapter rewrite of the game that focuses on what would have been different if Jet and Virginia had been friends for a long time. The original idea that got me pumped to write the trilogy.