As she got closer to the top, noises of battle began to drift down to her. A horribly solid *THUMP* of a body hitting stone, scuffles of movement. Oulan ran harder, seeing light from the doorway at the top of the stairs.

Words drifted down to her.
"You think you can take me, maggot!?"
The reply was too faint to hear, but more scuffles and thuds followed.
A deep voice rang out.

"Now, my dear Sierra," the bodyguard heard it say as she dashed up to the final landing, "You shall be my bride at last," it finished.

Oulan grabbed the doorframe and whipped around the corner to see a pale- faced, silver-haired young woman, who had been crying recently if the redness of her eyes was anything to go by, cornered by a large man dressed like a vampire from the old plays about dark monsters.

As he reached out, almost caressingly, to the girl, she shied away as if his touch was poison.

And Oulan's temper *Exploded.*

"I don't *think* so, you bloodsucking bastard!" she howled, charging as she did, and ending both yell and charge with a single cry.

"ANGRY DRAGON!!"

The Angry Dragon Rune worked by drawing upon Oulan's anger, and did two things for her: first, it boosted her speed and strength for a short time, and second, it cloaked her striking limb - be it fist, foot, knee, or elbow - in an aura of both fire and raw power. Her barehand fighting might not be up to Long-Chan-Chan or Wakaba's level, but powered by the Rune she could devastate almost any foe in short order. Her blows were simply too fast to evade, and the added strength combined with the magic meant those blows were nearly impossible to withstand. Very few people or creatures could take the punishment Oulan could dish out over the ten seconds the Rune remained active.

So her shock was understandable when her black-clad target simply melted away from each blow, like a breeze or a ghost, moving back as she advanced, and even remaining unharmed by her final blow - the appropriately named Rising Dragon Punch [Yes, that translates as Sho- Ryu-Ken], an uppercut that sent her (and usually, her opponent too) nearly fifteen feet in the air.

As she touched down, the man turned back to her, composing his features from surprise back to an expression of urbane greeting. "I beg your pardon, I don't believe we've been introduced," came that same deep voice, from a face that was suddenly familiar to Oulan from stories she'd been told the first time she'd been in Toran.

"Neclord!" she gasped, realizing that **it's not just one of his minions, it's actually _him!!_**

"How?" Oulan asked the grinning vampire. "Lord Viktor *killed* you with the Star Dragon Sword during the Gate Rune War!!"

"Rumours of my demise were greatly exaggerated, my dear," Neclord stated calmly.

"They were a lot more than rumours! I got the story from Lady Clio herself - Viktor cut off your head! Not even one of the Vampire Tribe could survive that!" Oulan protested, taking a defensive stance and fishing in her belt pouch with one hand. She also noted the position of the young woman, who was currently pushing herself to her feet in the corner. **I'll only get one chance at this..**

"My dear, the powers of the Moon Rune allow me to create new bodies for myself if an old one is destroyed - the 'Doppleganger Secret,' if you will," the wrinkled vampire announced grandly. "But I'm being rude. Come in, sit down, have a drink with me..." he instructed, bowing to his new visitor.

"You mean give you a drink from *me,* don't you? No way!" Oulan stated flatly, finally finding the items she'd been looking for in her pouch. She pulled them out as Neclord began to advance on her.

"Come, my dear, it's not as if you could escape.." Neclord said smugly, but Oulan cut him off.

"Actually, I can - and *these* will help me do it," she answered, holding up the two items. Neclord halted midstep, looked at what she was holding - and laughed loudly.

"Spell scrolls?!" he guffawed. "My dear, if you *have* spoken with Clio, you should know that during our first meeting she blasted me directly with the Dancing Flames spell. It had *no* affect," he gloated.

"Yeah, too bad I'm not aiming at you," Oulan replied, and used the first scroll. "FIRE WALL!"

The floor between Neclord and Oulan erupted in fire. He laughed again and stepped forward, but Oulan called out to him. "I wouldn't do that, you arrogant ass," she warned.

"And why not?" he demanded. Oulan was only too happy to explain.

"Simple. I've studied the defence you use - it triggers when you're attacked," she said. "But I don't think that covers doing something like sticking your body into a fire, does it?"

Neclord, who had taken another step, stopped again.

The young woman chuckled. "I think she's got you, Renny," she coughed out, spitting to clear her mouth of blood.

**'Renny?!?'** Oulan thought.

Neclord growled. "I can still kill you both with magic!"

Oulan gave him a wave and a cheery grin as she nodded 'no.' "Sorry! Can't hit what you can't see - PROTECTING MIST!!" she cried as she used the second scroll. As the mist came into being in her half of the room, Oulan turned away from Neclord, ignoring his frustrated roar, and ran over to the pale-haired young woman. Grabbing her and slinging her bodily over one shoulder, Oulan ran down the stairs as if half the hosts of Hell were after her, ignoring the woman's lusty cursing and squirming as she took the steps three at a time.

Oulan didn't stop running until she reached the door leading back to the courtyard.

She had good reason to stop here, though - the yard was occupied by nearly a dozen zombies, who had formed a wall to bar her way.

"Damn." Oulan commented. "Look," she said to the young woman, who had struggled the whole way down the stairs, "I'm going to have to put you down to fight off this lot. I know you may want revenge on him, but trust me- we can't *hurt* him without the Star Dragon Sword! Right now we have to get out of here and worry about later, later!"

"Very well," the woman replied, "but try not to get in the way too much. And I'm not saving you if you get in trouble."

Oulan stared at the 'victim' for a moment before grinning. "You don't take any guff from anyone, do you? I like your attitude, miss..."

"Sierra. Sierra Miuret."

"Oulan. Just Oulan."

* * * * *

Two hours later, the two women were well outside of North Window, having reduced the zombies to tattered rags of flesh well before Neclord could make an appearance. Oulan, who had been running just ahead of her companion, stumbled as Sierra almost fell against her.

"Hey! What's the matter!?" Oulan asked, frantically checking the pale girl for wounds or the dark blotches that marked internal bleeding.

"Not enough blood.. the Dreaming.." Sierra murmured in reply.

"Enough blood..?" Oulan asked, perplexed. Sierra looked wearily up at her, like someone who was expecting disgust, and opened her mouth wide.

Wide enough for Oulan to see the fangs.

"You're one of the Vampire Tribe too!" she gasped.

"Mistress of the Coven.. till Renny stole the Moon Rune from us.. Now we need blood, or we slip into the Dreaming.." Sierra answered. Oulan took stock of her options, which weren't many, and of her feelings about this woman, which were harder to categorize.

**Well, I trust her,** Oulan thought. **Besides, the few stories of the Vampire Tribe I've heard in my travels make the Dreaming seem like a living death. I wouldn't leave anyone to something like that.**

"Lady Sierra," she asked a moment later, "How much blood do you need?"

"..a pint or two.. will keep me awake.." the vampiress murmured back.

Oulan shrugged to herself. **Well, I used Mega Medicine to heal my wounds as we were running, and Lord knows I've lost more blood than that during battles,** she thought. Before she could have second thoughts, she took off her left bracer. "Here," she told Sierra, offering her wrist and the vein therein. "Just.. be careful, if you can.."

Sierra looked at the arm for a moment, then took it in her hands almost tenderly.. and bit.

Oulan tensed, then relaxed with a sigh. **It doesn't really *hurt* at all,** she thought. **More like a tingling through my whole body.**

Suddenly, images were flashing past her - along with Sierra's words. {{We're bonding!}} the vampiress thought, astonished. Then, more quietly, {{I must be half in the Dreaming already if I allowed *that* to happen.}}

{{Why? Is there something dangerous about this?}} Oulan asked, but before Sierra could reply, the images washed over them like a tide...

Oulan saw a young girl, first dancing, then rejected and crying, in the halls of an old castle.. then the same girl, looking wiser but no older, leading a Vampire Tribe in the mountains.. and finally, losing her Rune to a young man's betrayal and leaving to hunt him.

Sierra saw a young girl, first asking to train as a Knight, then training to gain their acceptance... then, older, losing her father and denied her due.. and, finally, leaving to make her own way in the world.

A minute passed, then another, and Sierra pulled her head back, now fully alert once more. "Thank you, Oulan," she said, her voice a bit warmer than it had been, "and no, the Bond isn't.. dangerous. But even if I got the Moon Rune back and gave you a piece of Eternity, you'd still grow old and die eventually. I got *very* tired of having Bond- partners die on me, so I stopped making Bonds at all," she sighed. "Now, tell me about this Viktor and the Star Dragon Sword.. we have a betrayer to kill, after all."

"Not a problem," Oulan replied. "I'll stand with you until he's done for, at least. After that..." she gave the vampiress a speculative look. "Who knows?" After a brief pause, she began. "Well, during the Gate Rune War..."

Well into the evening, the two women - the two new friends - sat planning and trading stories.

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"Oulan" and "Suikoden 2" are (C) Konami This chapter was posted on November 14, 1999