Zamza sighed as he recalled his first stop to this then relatively tiny fishing town. That seemed so very long ago. Back then he thought his task was simple, to do the world a favor and rid it of one of the most vicious killers that walked it's fertile soil(not to mention get a little retribution in the process). And Zamza believed he could have easily done it too, especially with the help of that oversized griffon. But with three little words, Slade would change Zamza's endeavor of destruction into a mission of hope.

Since that fateful meeting underneath those moist, green leaves, and azure sky, Zamza's little world had been blown wide open. It was like curtains that had forever been pulled together being suddenly yanked apart, exposing Zamza to things he never could have imagined; powerful harpies, mythological ninja, Sindar ruins, oversized cockroach's. There was a lot more going on in this world than most people knew, more than most people should know.

Zamza's eyes surveyed the lot of anonymous faces that encompassed him. Slade had run off with Benny the minute they entered the town; to go to the item shop and resupply, Zamza assumed. He walked leisurely through the town, in no big rush to get anywhere particular, and passively listened to the conversations being held. To his right, a child, no older than 9 or 10, was telling his friend that his cat was going to have kittens soon. Up ahead, a mother scolded her two young kids on the dangers of running through the port town unsupervised. Another man, apparently a fisherman (not that there were a lot of other things to be in Coronet), was speaking with an acquaintance, discussing the possible whereabouts of a third person, a man by the name of Tai Ho, who seemed to be missing. A few more men had formed a small discussion group, to talk about the torching of two Jowston village's, Toto and Ryube. A distant thought pounced in the depths of Zamza's mind, 'Toto, I've been there, haven't I?' Zamza paid the thought no head, and continued to walk.

As his gaze continued to examine the crowd of people, he found a familiar face. Zamza stopped dead in his tracks; completely thunderstruck. Celia looked radiant. Zamza watched her between the passerby's, as she walked, hand in hand, with an attractive young man. She looked so beautiful. She smiled at something her beau said, and it was like the perfect sunrise, something so natural yet so inexplicably magnificent. As Zamza looked at her, cold chills ran through his body. It felt like right before it was about to snow, and the electricity that coursed through the air was so thick you could almost hear it.

Zamza smiled. he was glad to see she was doing well. He pulled his eyes away from her remarkable beauty, and continued on his cumbersome journey. He didn't want to bother her, after all, it had been him who left her here, not the other way around.

The aroma of fresh fish permeated throughout the entire town, and it smelled exquisite, but after two months of basically living off of dried meat, Zamza figured even liver would smell good right about now. His stomach growled it's request the luscious nutriment, but Zamza denied it this desire; but only for now.

Zamza stepped his way through the people, and made his way to the item shop to go and fetch Slade. When he entered, the shop was empty save for the clerk. Zamza scoured the room with his eyes once again, just to make sure he didn't miss Slade, but the shop, just as on his first glance, was barren of customers.

Zamza walked up to the clerk, and said, "Excuse me, there was a man in here, I believe..." Zamza wasn't sure how to phrase the next part, but he went ahead anyway. "He's a little disfigured" he finished his original sentence, holding his open hand towards his face.

"Ah...the nut." the clerk responded.

Zamza smiled. "That'd be him. Do you have any idea where he went?"

"Nah, he left a few minutes ago, saying that his friend Benny needed to eat." the registrar replied.

"Alright, thanks." Zamza answered back, turning around and leaving the store. He made his way over to the pub, letting the smell of fresh seafood guide him. He made his way in, and wasn't surprised to see that almost every table was occupied. His eyes scanned his surroundings, and he found that none of these men was Slade.

"Where the hell did he go?" Zamza asked himself.

He opened and slammed the door of the pub with a vicious contempt for the shadow he was chasing. The rune on his right hand glowed an intense red-orange color, seeming to know all to well the feeling Zamza was engulfed with. None of the inhabitants that plagued the sidewalks around him seemed to notice the occurrence.

Once again Zamza moved out into the street. 'Maybe he went to the blacksmith?' Zamza queried himself, more hopeful than believing. As it turns out, the excursion from the tavern to the blacksmith's shop was a short one, primarily because after walking five feet or so, he saw Slade reentering Coronet from the entrance, out of the corner of his eye.

Zamza performed a hasty about-face, and made for the entrance. Slade seemed to be telling Benny something, but because of the distance between them, Zamza wasn't quite sure what it was. He hurried his pace, and was standing in front of Slade just seconds later.

"Where the hell have you been?" Zamza questioned.

"I was trying to get Benny to eat something, I keep telling him he's gotten awfully skinny lately, but he's being stubborn and won't listen. And just look how pale he's getting!" Slade replied, pointing at the white skull.

"You do realize it's just a skull, don't you?" Zamza asked, not really sure if he wanted an answer to the question.

Slade seemed truly hurt by the remark, as he rushed to cover the ears of the "medallion" that hung around his neck. "I can't believe your incredulity." Slade scoffed. "And to think Benny actually liked you! And all you can do is slight him, how unbelievable! That remark shan't be forgiven!"

"Yeah, okay, whatever. We need to go down to the docks and see when the next boat leaves for Kuskus. Wait, are we going to Kuskus or Lakewest?" Zamza questioned, his patience obviously reaching it's limit.

"erm, yeah, um...Kuskus" came Slade's fragmented reply.

Zamza nodded, more in relief of eventually getting an answer than in any sort of approval of the words that had been spoken. "Okay then. We need to go down to the port and see when the next boat is departing."

Slade grunted in reply. They moved from the entrance, and began their trek towards the ships. The two received assorted stares from some of the citizens, whom couldn't help but notice the rabbit's skull that dangled from Slade's neck. The two ignored the glimpse's of curiosity, although Zamza couldn't help but put a little distance between him and the madman.

People passed by them like air during the expedition; unseen and oblivious. Zamza watched the birds that flew overhead, and the ants that crawled beneath him. It could all seem so surreal at times.

Before Zamza knew it, they had reached the docks, where only one boat currently resided. Slade moved to the end of the pier, while Zamza went to talk to the captain of the dormant vessel. Zamza recognized the 6'1", 220 pound frame, and the shaggy beard as the man who commandeered the boat which took him to Kuskus the last time.

"Excuse me" Zamza shouted to get the captain's attention. "Is this boat going to Kuskus?"

The captain, a little surprised by Zamza's sudden intrusion, let out a small gasp. "Kuskus?" he replied, catching his breath, "nah, this boat be going to Lakewest. The last boat departed for Kuskus around an 'our ago, there won't be another one till t'marrow."

"Shit!" Zamza exclaimed. "Alright." He turned his back to the captain, and began to walk towards Slade.

"Looks like we're staying here for the night" Zamza remarked, upon reaching the debased individual. "We need to go see if the inn has any rooms left." With that, Zamza started to move back up towards the main part of the city.

"Okay" Slade answered. "But Benny wanted me to tell you something. He, uh, says that he gets a little seasick."

"Oh good gods!" Zamza cried out vehemently, letting out a frustrated sigh. "Let's just...let's just go to the inn." he finally managed to stammer out, scampering towards the inn once again.

The bar was still loaded with the same patrons Zamza had seen on his first visit to the bar. That is, except for the two recognizable additions who sat at a table eating their dinners quietly.

"So where exactly are we going, anyway?" Zamza asked, as the two made their way up the stairs to the inn.

"Radat. Vandle lives in a small cottage just outside the city."

"Oh, okay." Zamza said after a couple of seconds. Each of them remained silent until they reached the innkeeper. "We need two rooms, please." He said, throwing the money on the counter.

"Ooh, you're lucky, we've only got a few left" the actuary answered, scooping the money up. "Alright, this looks good."

"Thanks." Zamza said, and began to walk towards his room, when he and Slade ran into two people, one of whom Zamza knew pretty well.

"So where exactly are we going, anyway?" the man's head bolted back when he heard this, almost as if he'd been slapped. Just like some sighted men could never forget a face, some blind men never forgot a voice, and Morgan knew that voice.

"Radat. Vandle lives in a small cottage just outside the city." Morgan continued to listen as the two, yes, it was most definitely two, people moved up the stairs. His head came up, and had he been able to see, he would've looked at the bald headed man sitting with him.

"Did you see the two men that just entered, Fukien?" Morgan asked.

"Yes, one was dressed incredibly flashy (Morgan smiled at this, it sounded just like Zamza), and the second, well, there are times when it is good to be blind, my friend." Fukien responded.

Morgan got up from his seat. "One of them is a friend I have not seen in quite some time, I'm going to go say hello."

"Then I shall go with you" Fukien said, following his friend's lead and getting up from his chair. The two wove their way through the drunken diners, and followed the path their two predecessors took just seconds before.

"We need two rooms please" Morgan heard Zamza say when he and Fukien reached the apex of the stairway. More talking as they began to maneuver their way down the corridor.

"M-Morgan?" Zamza stuttered out as he turned around. Wasting no time for a reply, he embraced his visually impaired comrade in a fierce hug.

"What are you doing here?" Zamza inquired enthusiastically.

"My friend Fukien came to get me, my presence is requested at the temple." Morgan answered. "I heard your voice when you came in...so I decided to say hello."

"Oh, great, it's been a long time." Zamza spoke, watching as the man he took as the aforementioned Fukien whispered something into the blind man's ear. Behind Zamza, Slade was having a heated (but contained to a whisper, thank the 27 true runes) conversation with Benny.

"I apologize, my friend" Morgan said, turning from Fukien back to Zamza, "but it appears I will have to cut our interlude short I'm afraid. My companion has just informed me that we have some things to take care of." He embraced Zamza in a hug, then turned back towards Fukien. "Shall we take our leave?" Fukien nodded. Morgan waved to Zamza, and like an idiot, Zamza waved back, forgetting for that one second that Morgan couldn't see it.

"What did you think?" Morgan whispered to his friend as they once again headed down the small hallway.

"The stars have a very difficult and intriguing destiny for that young man" Came Fukien's reply.

"And what about the other one?"

"I don't know, but there was definitely something not right about him. I could feel it, I just don't know what it is"

Morgan nodded. "Well, Radat is on our way..."

"Yes, it is." Fukien agreed, and that was all that needed to be said between the two.

Dragons. Death. Blood. Carnage. More death.

Zamza awoke with a start, soak and wet. Such intense visions, and Zamza could feel the pain each one of them invoked. Anger, pain, despair. They all coursed through his body now, which was strange, considering he should be jubilant. The rune on his right hand emitted a feint red glow. 'Did they...no, couldn't have' Zamza thought to himself.

Zamza looked around, pure darkness everywhere. Zamza lit Tekken and got up from the bed. Sleep was out of the question now. He put on his shoes, and found his way to the door, cutting Tekken's flames out when he entered the hallway's dim light. He slowly moved to the stairs and began to descend them. A drink would be very good right about now.

He caught sight of the clerk, and made his way to the bar. He glanced at the choices that sat behind the counter. Jowstweiser? Good old fashioned wine? "No!" Zamza's mind shrieked at him, "This is a time for celebration, champagne it is". Zamza didn't really care what he got, as long as it would help put him in a dreamless sleep.

"What do you need?" the registrar asked him.

"Give me a bottle of champagne, it's time to celebrate, I'm about to be reunited with an old friend" Zamza explained, grabbing some money out of his pouch and placing it on the counter.

"There you go." the man said, handing Zamza the bottle. Zamza nodded, got up and left the bar.

The night breeze felt good on Zamza's drenched body. It was light, and short lived, but nonetheless it began to cool off Zamza's raging hot skin. Zamza looked down at the bottle he was holding in his hand. He turned his head to the right and popped the cork, which went flying off into the midnight sky, in what direction Zamza didn't see. He let the liquid run down the bottle freely at first, then decided to take a chug. He walked aimlessly down the now deserted Coronet streets, and soon found himself once again at the docks.

With nothing better to do, Zamza took another swig of the champagne, and sat on the pier, watching the reflections dance on water surface; the moon, the stars, himself. 'It's amazing of how much beauty you can find when you aren't really looking', he mused to himself.

His eyes lifted skyward. This was the most beautiful thing of all. So much light and darkness, interwoven with such precision and balance it almost made you want to cry. His pupils began to scan the vast, endless terrain, when he saw the moon, which was currently at it's apogee. It looked so small, he could crush it with two of his fingers. He smiled, and took another drink of his alcohol.

His eyes moved again, jumping back and forth from place to place, never wanting to stay in one area too long, almost like a fish in a grand sea. His eyes moved with a will all their own, and directed his gaze to the north star.

If the other stars, along with the moon and sky represented the beauty, than this single stellar object, embodied the truth of the heavens. It never moved, never faltering or wavering in the slightest, always leading those who were unfortunate enough to get lost back to their home.

Zamza got to his feet. "It looks like it's my turn to listen to you," he said the star, chucking the bottle high over his head. "I just hope you guide me true." Zamza finished up, igniting his rune, and delivering a devastating uppercut to the champagne bottle as it came back down. The bottle shattered, and the glass and crystal liquid streaked out across the sky like the billions of stars overhead.

With that, Zamza made his way back towards the inn, where he eventually got back to sleep. But it wasn't the peaceful slumber he had hoped for, more death and destruction awaited him in the subconcious realm, and when he awoke in the morning, he knew Kage had let him on the right track.

Meanwhile...

The two shadows stood next to the large stone edifice whispering quietly back and forth. One of them belonged there; the other did not. One was evil, disguised as one of the good guys; the other, a good guy ran by bad emotions. They talked in hushed whispers, trying not to be heard.

"How do you know he's going to be here?" the smaller shadow said.

"He's coming. The rune's gotta be calling out to him by now. It's gotta be. And even if it hasn't, he's had to have been given some knowledge of where the rune comes from by someone. This would be the right period for him to get that knowledge, and he and that rune are the only ones who are going to be able to stop us, these idiots here are never going to know what hit him. Our time is almost at hand!" the larger shadow said, trying to control his excitement. He had lived at this wretched place all of his life, all 35 years of it, and could never stand a second of it. Now, it was almost the time to put an end to this place.

"Why me?" the smaller one questioned again, his green eyes twinkling in the twilight.

"Because I know what he did to you; what he did to your family, your entire village. I figured you'd just love to have this opportunity."

"And it's all setup?"

The larger shadow nodded. "They've gotten almost everyone out."