Ray was standing a few yards away from his house when the group of windians approached him. He didn't look up; he was too busy studying to long sword that was lying delicately in his hands.

"Kind of makes me feel like a real dragon warrior now." Ray sheathed the blade carefully, letting it hang comfortably at his side. Lucy glanced at him curiously. Ray chuckled. "Something about having a weapon at your side..."

"Yea, if you really want to deal with that flimsy piece of steel." Janet examined her revolver carefully. "This thing's been a dependable part of the family for a while." She stroked the gun lightly.

Lucy couldn't help but grin at her friend. "That looks so unlike you..."

"What? The whole gun thing?"

"Yea... you look really um... dangerous." Jason examined Janet. She just rolled her eyes at him.

"Just shut up Jason..." She muttered under her breath.

"What?" Jason looked at her questioningly. "I what did I say wrong?" Jason had a crossbow slung across his back, along with a quiver of arrows. He kept shrugging his shoulders every few seconds, trying to get used to having the weight there. He shook his head in dismay and muttered. "I swear, I just open my mouth for one second and already I've done something wrong."

"Just forget it." Lucy's voice distracted the two windians. She turned and nodded to Ray. "Where was it you wanted to head to first?"

"A place just west of here." Ray said, and stepped up to take the lead of the group. "There's a small town we need to visit. I know someone there who could probably tell us where to start looking."

"I don't believe I'm following a dragon," Janet muttered quietly to herself. Ray immediately turned to face her.

"Look, Miss Windia..." he kept his voice at a low and casual tone, but the annoyance flaring up in his eyes spoke differently to Janet. "No one asked you to come. In fact, I do believe you were the one who decided to come with us. Now, you can stay here if you'd like, or, you can come with us on this quest to Landon only knows where. That's up to you. However, one thing that is required if you choose to stay with this group, is that you should probably make some sort of effort to get along with your traveling partners. Even if one of them does happen to be a dragon." Ray looked at the sour windian for a moment longer, then turned and proceeded to lead the group again.

Jason glanced over at Janet and chuckled. "Should I ask him if that requirement goes for me too?"

"Shut up." Janet growled and began walking hurriedly to catch up with Lucy.

"And there it is again... open mouth, do something wrong." Jason shrugged in defeat as he began to follow the group.

* * *

The party had been walking through Windia's surrounding woods for a few hours in an awkward silence. The unusual group made for an interesting lack of conversation, and much of the time was spent with each individual trying to get reality to settle down into their minds. Everyone seemed to have their own struggle when trying to come to grips with reality. For Ray, his mind was still in a whirl about the sudden events that he had been swept up in. Lucy's mind was preoccupied with her past that had been slowly creeping its way into her future. Janet was thinking about what she had left behind in Windia, her family, her friends... some friend, Janet thought sourly as Justin's face popped into her mind. Just because of Ray... Jason was still trying to come to grips with the fact that he was following a dragon around. Brandon must have been the only one in the group whose mind wasn't trained on himself. His main concern was the safety of Lucy, whom he'd been assigned to protect. Where ever this journey was going to take them, it was his duty to see that she made it back alive.

Finally, as the woods began to thin out a bit, they approached a small village and the thoughtful silence was gratefully broken as Lucy spoke up.

"I didn't know there was a village here."

Ray nodded. "Most people don't. It's a nomadic village, never stays here for long before the residence pack up and head off to someplace better. But, ever year or so they come back here for a spell."

"If it's nomadic, how did you know it would be here now?" Lucy glanced over at Ray curiously. The dragon just shrugged.

"I didn't. It was a nice coincidence though." He chuckled. As the small group approached the village, one if its residence, a woman who had been working outside glanced up and happened to see the party. Walking up to great them, she was dressed in a gypsy garb and carried a large grin on her face.

"Well, weary travelers!" Her melodious voice rang sweetly in the group's ears. "Have you come to stay?"

Ray shook his head at her. "No Malire, not this time. Have you seen Jim Bendrel around anywhere?"

"Jim? Who are you that you might know of Jim?" The gypsy woman stepped up to Ray, studying him closely. "My Landon's sake!" Her eyes went wide in startled recognition. "Ray? Is that you? Boy! He sends you off a child and here you are a man!"

Ray's face slowly turned red. "I... wouldn't say that... anyway, have you seen Jim around? I need to talk to him."

Malire chuckled. "He said you'd be coming. Ol' Jim still has what it takes I suppose." The gypsy woman stroked her chin thoughtfully for a second. "Jim should be in his room." She grabbed a hold on Ray's arm and pulled him up to her, motioning to a house at the far side of the village. "Oh Ray, I sure wish you'd stay longer. How's your sister? And Kristeen? How's she been doing?"

"She's been well, they both have." Ray was about to say more when he heard the noise of Janet clearing her throat impatiently. "Look," Ray slowly slid his arm out of Malire's grasp. "I have to go see Jim, I can't stay here long. But it was nice seeing you again Malire." With a quick smile, Ray motioned for the group to follow him and they all headed over to the building the gypsy had pointed out.

"This is where you grew up? With nomads and gypsies?" Janet glanced around the village in disgust.

Ray shrugged, not even turning to the windian as he replied. "They were family." The dragon reached out and knocked lightly on the building's door. Almost instantly he heard a call beckoning from inside.

"Come in." The authority of the gruff voice was almost enough to make the door open itself for the waiting party. Ray led the windians in, and together, they all found themselves inside a large room, various blankets had been strewn across the dirt floor. Over in one of the far corners of the room sat a man, his head resting on his hands, which were folded stiffly over each other. He sat so motionless that after a few moments had passed the group began to wonder if he wasn't just some statue that had been left in the room and the voice had been nothing more then something they all dreamed up. It was at that moment that he chose to look up.

"Ray." The man mused in the same voice that had ordered the small group through the door. "I knew you would sense it too. So then, are these the ones you have chosen?" The man glanced from Ray to the four windians.

"Well, not exactly..." Ray started but was cut off suddenly when the man jumped up.

"Ah! Fine choices! I can feel their fortunes to you already." He circled around Lucy, nodding in approval.

"Hey!" Janet snapped quickly as she watched the man. "What where you, a scavenger in another life or something? What are you doing circling her?"

The man simply looked at Janet and chuckled. "They do seem to be full of a sort of fire, don't they?"

"Jim." Ray did his best to attract the man's attention again. The man turned and nodded at Ray, walking back over to the dragon.

"Right, you have questions you wish to be answered, I know." Jim sat back down in the corner, motioning for the group to do the same. Ray and Lucy sat first, Brandon lowering himself down just beside Lucy. Janet took one look at the dirty ground and refused, crossing her arms and standing behind Lucy defensively. Jason just took to a casual lean against the wall, and all of them waited for Jim to make the next move.

Jim let out a loud sigh. "Times are so different now then they were before. Back then, heroes were trained to be heroes." He nodded, as if confirming to himself his own words. "Now, children, kids whose times are spent in other activities are suddenly called upon to be pulled into a life they had never dreamed up. Do you all even know what you are doing out here?" He glanced to each of the group one at a time, studying them each carefully. Lucy was the first to say anything.

"I am here because I was called upon to be here..."

Jim chuckled. "That's a start." His eyes caught the gaze of the black-haired windian. "Do you know who called you here?"

Lucy paused for a moment, dropping her eyes to the floor. "I know who sent me here..."

Jim nodded. They're just kids, he thought in a rush of disappointment. Just teenagers, not really sure what lays ahead for them. He turned his gaze back to Ray once again.

"You know why you're here, don't you?"

Ray nodded. "I know this is what I've been trained to be ready for..."

Jim nodded approvingly, then stood. "Well then, I suppose it is my job to give you all a good idea on just what it is you are being called to do." He walked around the group again, stopping momentarily to consider each of the individuals. "I'm certain you all have heard about the Destined Cycles."

The room was silent with their response. Jim continued.

"For every cycle that occurs, we have always known that the dragon god Landon has always chosen a group of adventurers, a Ryu and a Nina, as well as specific individuals that are destined to accompany them, and they all partake in the great battle against a rising evil."

"Yea yea, school material. We know this." Janet rolled her eyes and quickly motioned to Ray and Lucy. "There's your Ryu, there's your Nina. Now, what are we supposed to do?"

Jim turned and stared at Janet with examining brown eyes until she felt herself fidget under their relentless look. "It is not quite like that this time, my little windian." Jim began pacing around the room as he went on explaining.

"You see, there is more to destiny then just what is well known. Other things play a part in the way destiny and the future works. Empires rise and fall, prophecies are made, everything is taken into account and changes to the will of time as it is told to. Times when the destined cycle would have risen into a new passing have been cut short by things that have managed to sway the way destiny was written to be." He paused and turned back to the group. "This does not happen often, of course."

Janet shook her head. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Jim glanced over at her again. "I suppose what I'm meaning to say, is that destiny does not always work as it is expected to. Ray and Lucy were chosen to play very important roles in this, yes. You might say they are the 'Ryu' and the 'Nina' of this time, but that is not really how it is. The next predicted birth of a Ryu and a Nina is still many centuries away."

"Well then what's going on right now?" Janet growled out in annoyance. "If these two aren't meant for this destiny, why were they chosen?"

"I never said they weren't meant for this, I simply said that it is not the time for the real Ryu and Nina to rise up and fight."

Jason glanced at Jim in confusion. "But, if Ryu and Nina are called to fight a demon, and there is no Ryu and Nina, then does that mean there is no demon?"

Jim laughed. "There's a demon alright! And its awakening is causing a rather large stir around the areas where its life force can be felt."

Janet muttered again. "You don't seem to troubled by this."

"Why should I be?" Jim glanced at her curiously. "I'm not the one who's going to fight that demon, am I?"

Janet shot him an angered glare. Ray glanced over at Jim.

"Who is this demon anyway? And were can we find it?"

Jim considered the dragon thoughtfully. "The demon would not be anyone you have ever heard of before, although it is an old spirit that has reawakened, and she shall surely know you." Jim headed back over to his corner and sat down again. "She has awakened in a place far to the west of here, in a place where once a large city was built until that very evil destroyed it herself before she was defeated there. Now, a huge sea of trees has choked the land there, and the very forests of this world seem to pulsate with the demon's power as she grows in strength."

"So, we have to head west of here..." Lucy started.

"To a land with no lumberjacks?" Jason raised an eyebrow curiously. "A sea of trees? What the hell?"

Jim nodded. "Your destination lies there, but I should warn you, the journey will be nothing like anything you could have dreamed of." Jim stood again, motioning for those who had been sitting to now rise. "You need to leave as soon as possible, but I would request that you stay here for the night."

Ray glanced out the window on the far side of the room. It was still light out, but he could tell that dusk would be falling soon. "We still have a lot of time. I'd like to see how much ground we can clear before we have to stop."

Jim nodded, escorting the party to the door. "Suit yourselves." He opened the door and the group made their way out of the building. Jim reached out and stopped Ray quickly before he left, turning the dragon to face him.

"Look at them, warrior. They are your responsibility now. They are your companions, and you are their chosen leader."

Ray turned to watch the group of windians. Lucy, Janet, Brandon, Jason... for a moment he saw them as he had always seen them. Part of the WINGS gang in Windia, bullies, people who scorned him for what he was, and never forgiving him for a crime he had never committed. He turned back to Jim with confusion in his eyes. The man chuckled.

"I know what they must look like to you, dragon. But time will change things. You are no longer students at a school in a familiar city. You have become something else, adventurers, chosen individuals to carry out a task that will change your life forever." Jim paused and glanced over at the group of windians. The four of them seemed to be talking about something, possibly about what they had just heard in the building. Jim shook his head sadly. "I suppose it's not fair though. Not any one of you are really prepared for what lays ahead in this journey."

Ray turned and gave him a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"I promise you this Ray," Jim started, laying a hand on the dragon's shoulder. "During your quest, you will all face things that will leave you all affected in one way or another. Not a single one of you will come back as you have left, and life for all of you will never be the same. For some," Jim shrugged. "The new life that awaits you when you all return from this destiny may be welcomed, a dream, a reward at the end of this long journey. For others, this will bring nothing but sorrow and pain, a nightmare that must be endured until life has ended." Jim patted Ray lightly on the shoulder, turning him and pushing him towards the small group of windians. "Go, dragon. They are waiting for you."

Ray began to head towards the party that awaited him. From behind him, he could hear Jim's voice calling out one more time.

"They are with you now, dragon. Take care of them, because you still don't know what destiny holds for each of them, nor do you know what it holds for yourself."