He was being shaken, pulled out of his imaginary utopia by some unknown force.  When he opened his eyes he was staring into the face of the girl he had saved several nights before.

"Zamza, wake up.  Zamza!" the girl whispered frantically.

"Huh?  What's the matter?  What's wrong?"  Zamza inquired, disappointed to be brought to reality so soon.

"Nothing, it's just that, well, you're keeping me up.  You keep shouting someone's name.  It sounded like Slade, I think, but I'm not sure.  You were getting pretty loud, so I figured I'd better wake you up before you wake everyone else up" the girl answered.

"Oh, sorry.  Go back to bed, I'll stay up for a while so you can try and get some sleep" Zamza replied, looking at the girl standing next to his bed.  Her name was Celia, and her father had been killed by the bandits, something the three men had neglected to tell Zamza when explaining the girl's
situation.  She stuck by Zamza's side at all times now, despite Zamza's recommendation that she start a new life  now that she was free.  He was going to have to leave her sometime though, he damn sure couldn't take her to Greenhill with him.

The bruises on her face were healing nicely, and now she looked more like Arya than Zamza could have ever possibly imagined.  She was sixteen, she had told him, and was living with her father in Radaat before the bandits had completely wrecked her life.  Zamza had asked her to go back on more than one occasion, taking all his money as a gift, but she had refused each time, saying that he had saved her life, and she wasn't going to leave him until she could somehow return the favor.  Just like Arya, Zamza had thought, her will was stronger than iron.

And so here they were, only a low burning fire keeping a dim light in the room of the Coronet inn.  Celia walked back to her bed and crawled under the blankets.  Zamza kept a close watch as she lied down and closed her eyes, attempting to get some sleep.  As quietly as he could, Zamza got up, and went over to the table to pour himself a glass of wine.  He sat down in a chair and watched Celia as she tried to sleep.

'She's good luck' Zamza thought, 'I haven't had one bad dream since I rescued her'.  She was also giving him memories of Arya, ones that he had forgotten so long ago.

'She must be so ashamed' Zamza pondered gloomily, 'both her and Master Forge.'

He watched Celia roll around under the sheets, trying to make it into the make-believe world of sleep.  'I've been missing for a long time' Zamza thought, 'but I got your message, Arya, and I believe I have found myself once again.'  He had been mad at the world for a long time, and that wasn't right, there was only one man to blame, and he was going to kill him in Greenhill.

His glass was empty, the only thing in it was the reflection of his own face.  Zamza sighed, he should have brought the bottle over with him.  He got to his feet silently, so as not to wake Celia, and traveled back over to the table to pour himself a glass of wine.  He reached for the bottle, picked it up, and began to transfer the wine from the bottle to his glass, when Celia spoke up.

"Zamza, who's Arya?" she asked.

Zamza snapped straight, letting the bottle and glass drop together, and listened to the deafening shatter in the controlled silence, as they hit the ground in unison.  Zamza's body went numb as he heard those words come out of Celia's mouth.  It was the first time he had heard that name spoken by someone other than himself in ten years.  To say it took him by surprise was a gross understatement.

"W-Where did you here that name?" Zamza questioned, turning back to see Celia sitting up in bed, obviously not able to get to sleep.

"It was something you said in your sleep.  I didn't say anything wrong did I?" Celia responded, her eyes showing a kind of confused concern for Zamza.

"No, it's just that, I haven't heard that name in so long, it scared me a little." Zamza replied, his heart rate getting back to normal.  He retrieved a towel, and began to clean up the wine that had spilled on the floor.  When he finished cleaning up the wine he began to pick up the broken glass which was scattered all across the surface of the floor.

"Well...you never answered my question.  Who is she?"  Celia pushed on.

Zamza sighed.  "That's a long story." he replied, picking up the last of the big chunks of glass he could see.

"I'm not doing anything right now, how about you?" she questioned, not letting the topic rest.

Zamza smiled as he walked back to his bed.  She wasn't going to let him get off with this and he knew it.  Just like Arya wouldn't have.  There was no use, this was not a battle he was going to win.  'And who knows, maybe I'll feel better after I tell someone' he thought.

"All right, but are you sure you want to hear this?  It's kind of sad" Zamza warned.

"Yeah, I can handle it.  Plus, when you were talking about her in your sleep you sounded like you really cared for her, so I was just curious as to who she is" Celia replied, slightly exuberant that he had agreed to tell her.

"Was." Zamza corrected, "Who she was."  He watched her demeanor change from the perky person she usually was to a much sadder, more melancholy persona.  'She's going to be crying by time this over' Zamza thought.

"I met Slade around two years after I was kicked out of my village.  I met him in a place called Lenankamp in what was then the Scarlet Moon Empire." Zamza began.  "He was the same age as me, 17, and had been on his own since he 12, making his living as a thief.  We became quick friends, he taught me how to steal and we travelled the world together, taking whatever we wanted.   And then one day, we robbed the wrong person.  We were caught, but instead of turning us into the Highland authorities the man took us aside and asked each of us what it was in life that we wanted.  When neither of us answered, the man just started laughing.  And then he grabbed me, looking dead into my eyes.  When he released me, he did the same to Slade.  When he was finished with Slade, he just stood there.  It was the longest couple of seconds of my life.  When he spoke he said that he would take each one of us in, teaching us how to fight and how to be gentlemen.  He also laughed and said that we would make good punching bags for his daughter.  And that was how Slade and I met Master Forge and his daughter Arya...

THE PAST

"No, No, No!" Master Forge yelled at a much younger Zamza.  Slade, Arya, and Vandle laughing at him from the wall behind him.  "You must get higher on those sweeps, Zamza, or you'll never knock anyone down.  Here, let me show you how it's done."  In the blink of an eye, Zamza was on his back as Master Forge had taken his feet out from under him.  When Zamza opened his eyes, he
saw Master Forge looking down on him from above.  "On your feet, Zamza" Master Forge commanded.  Zamza scurried to his feet and stood before Master Forge.  "Now you try it." he instructed.

"On who?" Zamza asked, regretting the question as soon as he asked it.  Why couldn't he get these damn foot sweeps down?

Master Forge smiled.  "He's standing right in front of you Zamza" he said placing a hand on Zamza's shoulder.  "Do not be afraid."

Zamza focused.  'Alright, here we go' he thought.  Almost as fast as Master Forge had done to him, Zamza had placed Master Forge on his back on the ground.  The peanut gallery in the back went silent almost at once.

Zamza was shocked, he couldn't believe what he had just done.  Master Forge had participated in many of their training exercises and no one had ever knocked him down.  Sure, they had tried a few times by ganging up on their mentor, but after a few failed attempts they figured it was a futile mission.  In exercises like this Master Forge usually just dodged it and hit them back, so as to teach of them another lesson.  No one had ever gotten the best of Master Forge, until this moment.

"That's what I wanted to see" Master Forge praised, hopping back up on to his feet.  He gave Zamza a pat on the shoulder, with a smile upon his face, and left the students to themselves.

"Holy crap" Zamza said, to no one in particular.  "I can't believe I just did that."

"Man, Zamza, that was incredible!" Arya said, approaching from behind.  "I have never seen you move so quick.  How did you do that?"

"Yeah, that was really something" Vandle chimed in, beginning to clap his hands.  Slade looked on undaunted, as Arya joined Vandle and they began clapping their hands together in praise of Zamza.  He had never felt so proud.

They sat alone, talking little, listening to the sound of the howling wind, and the singing of the animals, still contemplating the events of the day.  Slade and Arya had gone to bed a while ago, so he and Vandle sat, well into the night, as was their tradition after a training exercise.

"You know, that really was something you pulled off today, Zamza" Vandle stated, trying to start a conversation.

"I guess, but I kind of think Master Forge let me do that to him" Zamza replied to his friend.

"No way.  You should have seen how fast you were, it was almost as fast as Master Forge!  All of us know that you're his best student, but I don't think any of us thought you were that quick already." Vandle said excitedly.

Zamza smiled at his friend.  "If I'm his best student, what are you?" Zamza contended.

"Oh, well, um, I'm just a kid trying to learn something from him."  Vandle replied, taking his gaze away from Zamza and placing it upon the ground.

Zamza looked at him with pity.  Vandle was Master Forge's fourth and last student.  He had come to Master Forge shortly after Zamza and Slade a year ago, hoping to get away from his house and parents as often as he could.

'He's in an awkward situation' Zamza told himself.  Vandle was a couple of years younger than the other three students, at the age of 16.  He had no friends other than Zamza, Slade and Arya often keeping their distance from him, and his home life was abominable, his family showing him no compassion and often neglecting him altogether.  Their opinion was that Vandle was a failure, and therefore not their son.

Zamza always felt that Vandle's life could be summed up by something Vandle himself had told him one day.  He said to Zamza that he loved Master Forge like he was his own father, and that he would do anything for him, the problem was that Vandle believed Master Forge felt he was just another student and didn't reciprocate the feelings.  That was the summary of Vandle's life, Zamza believed, he constantly gave, and gave, and gave, but nobody ever gave back.

"Well, I guess I better be heading home" Vandle said, getting up from the ground, "It's getting pretty late and we have an early training exercise tomorrow"

"Yeah, I guess you're right" Zamza replied, following his friend's example in getting up off the ground.

"That was great today, Zamza.  You should be really proud.  Congratulations"   Vandle remarked, as he began to walk towards his house.

'There it was again' Zamza thought, 'give, give, give.'

"Hey, you keep it up too, Vandle!  You did great today!"  Zamza shouted. Vandle turned, and gave him the most appreciative smile Zamza had ever seen.   He then turned back around, and began to jog away, leaving Zamza in his solitude in front of Master Forge's house.

Establishing that there was nothing else to do that night, Zamza turned and walked into Master Forge's  house, deciding to go to bed.  It would be a good sleep, a peaceful sleep, and most of all, it would be a proud sleep.

THE PRESENT

Zamza coughed, his mouth was parched and he needed a drink badly.  If only he hadn't dropped that damn bottle!

"Come on" he started, "We'll finish the story in the bar, I need something to drink" Zamza finished, getting up and heading towards the door.

"Okay" Celia quickly agreed, dying to hear the rest of Zamza's story.

They walked out the door silently, and walked down to the bar.  Zamza asked the man still sitting there if he could get them a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses.  The man handed the bottle and glasses to Zamza, who then proceeded to follow Celia to a table.

They sat down.  Zamza poured a glass of wine for each of them, and handed one over to her.  He sighed, it was time to continue the story.

"After a couple more months of training, Master Forge decided to give us each weapons, each person getting the weapon that Master Forge  believed would best suit their abilities.  Vandle and I didn't make this out to be such a big deal, but Arya insisted that she had never heard of her father
giving students weapons after only a year and a half of training.  She said that this meant that our class was better than any other class he had ever taught, and that we should be extremely flattered" Zamza began once again.  "So, for a while everyone's emotions ran really high, except for Slade, who had become extremely distant to everyone.   To make matters worse, me and Arya had become a lot  closer, and Vandle and I became better friends, leaving me really happy where I was at, unlike Slade...

THE PAST

"Come on, let's get out of here.  We don't need these people anymore." Slade pleaded with Zamza.

"No way, I'm not leaving now!  I'm happy here.  How could you think of leaving now."  Zamza replied quickly, challenging his friend.

"What's keeping you here?  What is so damn important that you can't leave with me for?"  Slade shot back.

Zamza couldn't reply.  He knew the answer, it was Arya, but he couldn't tell Slade that.  She and Zamza had taken special precautions so no one would find out about their private excursions at night, although sometimes he was positive that Master Forge knew.

After Zamza didn't answer, a look of revelation came over Slade's face.  "Oh, I see.  It's Arya isn't it?  Well, why is she so damn important?  We've known each other a lot longer than you've known her!"  Slade continued to protest.

"I can't leave her because I love her, Slade!" Zamza shouted without thinking.  "And even if I wasn't in love with her I still wouldn't leave now, I'm happy here, we're a family, plus we get our weapons in a week from Master Forge!  Why is it that you want to leave in such a hurry?"

"Because, we don't belong here, Zamza.  We're better than this.  If you want a weapon I'll steal you one, let's just go!"

"It's not the same and you know it, Slade.  Don't you want to be able to say that you earned your weapon?"

At that point, an unheard voice entered the conversation.

"Hey guys, what's going on?"  Arya asked, walking through the door.

"Nothing, I was just leaving" Slade replied coldly.  He shoved past Zamza, and walked out of the room, never even throwing Arya a glance.

"What's his problem?  Arya questioned, walking up to Zamza and giving him a gentle hug.

"I have no idea.  He's been like this for a while.  I just don't know what to do about him."  Zamza replied, looking down at the beautiful woman in his arms.

"Don't worry about him.  He's just in a bad mood, he'll get over it"  Arya said, giving him a fleeting smile.

Zamza answered her smile with a smile of his own, and gently reached down and kissed her on the lips.  'I love her so much, and, I guess now is as good as time as any to ask' Zamza thought.

"Arya, can I ask you a question?" Zamza asked hesitantly.

"Yes, of course you can" Arya replied, looking into Zamza's eyes.

'Oh god' Zamza thought, 'I hope she says yes'.

"The moment's finally here"  Vandle said to Zamza excitedly, as they came back to Master Forge's house.  "We're finally going to get our weapons.  I can't stop shaking I'm so excited."

Zamza laughed.  "Just relax, it's not that big of a deal.  Knowing Master Forge he'll make us train the minute we get them."  Zamza lied.  This was a big deal, he knew, but he also knew Master Forge wouldn't appreciate it if Vandle came in that over-anxious.

After a couple of minutes they were back at the front door of Master Forge's house.  Arya sat out front, obviously waiting for them.  Slade, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"Did you find him?"  Zamza asked.

"Yeah, I told him we were supposed to be here, but he just gave me some weird look and nodded, so I guess he'll be here in a little bit."  Arya replied.

Just then, out of nowhere, Slade teleported down in front of Master Forge's house.  Without so much as a look or word to any of them, Slade entered the house.

"What the hell?"  Vandle asked confused, "I thought he didn't know how to use that thing yet?"

"No, I believe this is the only place he can teleport to, but I'm not sure about that anymore either, he's been spending most of his time by himself." Zamza informed him.

"Yeah, no kidding, I don't think he's said a word to any of us in like the last six months.  What's up with that?"  Vandle questioned.

"Yeah, I know, I'm really starting to worry about him."  Arya said concerned.

"I think he's pissed at me or something."  Zamza stated calmly.

"Why would he be mad at you?  You guys are like brothers."  Arya asked inquisitively.

"I have no idea.  Come on let's go, Master Forge is waiting."  Zamza replied, leading them into the house.  He lead them past the stairs (which led to the bedrooms upstairs) and towards the back where the training room was located, and where they were to receive their weapons in just a few
minutes.

When they entered, Zamza saw Master Forge standing in front of four cases on the left side wall.  His eyes were closed and Zamza wasn't sure if he noticed them come in or not.  Slade stood at the opposite wall, silent and emotionless, a blank stare fixed upon the three students coming through the
doorway.  For some reason, it gave Zamza the creeps.

"Get in line students!" Master Forge shouted, surprising everyone.  Zamza, Arya, and Vandle quickly took their designated spots in the line, and waited for Slade to join them.  It took a few seconds, but Slade finally joined them and the line was complete.

"Well students, the time has finally come.  You have trained with your barefists and feet long enough.  The time has come for each of you to receive your weapons.  However, by no stretch of the imagination does this mean you are done training.  No, no, no, no, no.  You're training is just
now beginning.  With these weapons you will shed more tears and blood than you ever believed humanly possible.  I will push you to your breaking point and then beyond that.  So, with my having said that, do you still wish to continue your training with me after this moment?"  Master Forge asked.

"Yes, Master Forge" Zamza, Arya, and Vandle said in unison.  Slade, unlike his classmates, never moved a muscle.

"Good" Master Forge replied, "then it is time."  He moved all the way to the right end of the line and looked Vandle in the face.  "Vandle, you are quick, evasive, and can outlast almost anyone in a duel.  It is my great pleasure that I present this to you."  Master Forge proudly stated.  He
turned around and picked up the box behind him, and presented it to Vandle.  Inside were two really large, metal, wristguards and  a pair of gloves.

"Master Forge, what in the world is this?"  Vandle asked confused.  Master Forge smiled, and shaking his head, took out the four items within the case and instructed Vandle to drop the box.  Vandle did like he was told and waited for Master Forge's next command.

"Give me your hands young one" Master Forge told him, still smiling and shaking his head.  Vandle stuck out his hands, and Master Forge put the pair of gloves, which had their palms cut out, on Vandle's hands.  He then put the wristguards, which were a lot bigger than Zamza thought they should've been, on over top the wristend of the gloves.  Master Forge then whispered something to Vandle, which Zamza figured he and the other students weren't meant to hear.  He backed away from Vandle and instructed him to give something a try.  Seconds later two razor sharp scimitars shot out from Vandle's wristguards.  After he was done marvelling at how they stayed connected to the wristguards and how sharp they were, Vandle performed another trick and the scimitars shot back into the wristguards.  He then gave a nod of appreciation to Master Forge and smiled.

Master Forge then moved up the line to his daughter Arya.  "Arya, my daughter, you are durable, flexible, and skillful, however, unlike you're three comrades, you're best attack is not with your hands but with your legs.  And so, it is my great pleasure that I present this to you."   Having learned from Vandle, Master Forge instructed Arya to open the case and then put it on the ground when he pulled out her new weapon.  Inside the box was a pair of steel legguards for Arya.  She put them on right away and gave a huge smile towards her father.

"Slade" Master Forge said, when reaching his place in the line.  "Slade, you are aggressive, strong, and use your surrounding area's wisely.  It's my great pleasure that I present you this gift."

Slade opened the box lethargically, unlike his two predecessors.  Inside were two metal gloves that covered the back of Slade's hands and came together at the fingers and the wrist, leaving his palm open for people to see his blinking rune.  On the four knuckles of the of the metal gloves, were little bumps [or hills], which contained holes pointing out in the direction of his fingers.  After Master Forge whispered to Slade how they worked, one sharp, pencil thick blade came out of each knuckle.  He retracted the blades as fast as he had extracted them, and gave Master Forge
a slight nod.

'Here he comes' Zamza thought to himself excitedly, 'I can't wait to hear what he says about me'.

Master Forge approached, and looked dead into Zamza's eyes.  "Zamza, you may have the most potential of any student I have ever taught.  You have fantastic intelligence and willpower, and your creativity in battle is like no other student I have ever had.  However, potential is only potential, it
doesn't mean squat if you don't live up to it.  You are very raw, and overestimate yourself entirely too much.  Despite this, I am still willing to take the chance on you.  So it is with great happiness that I pass this on to you Zamza, my weapon Tekkan."

Zamza heard a loud gasp in the line, and he assumed it was            Arya.  'Holy crap, he gave me his weapon!  I really must be his best student ever!' he thought.

"I got that in the Kingdom of Harmonia.  It was crafted by my good friend Mace, and some Harmonian magicians.  Meet me here in a couple of hours and I will show you how to use it."  Master Forge whispered to him.

"Okay, if there is nothing else, you all get the hell out of here.  Training, later on tonight." Master Forge said to his four students.

Zamza looked over to Arya, who merely nodded, and decided he should speak up.  "Master Forge, um, Arya and myself have something to announce"  Zamza proclaimed, his heart racing a thousand beats a second.

"What is it?"  Master Forge asked, impatiently.

Zamza walked over to Arya and put his arm around her.  "Well, um, Arya and I are going to get married"  he declared.

"That's right" Arya confirmed, eager to see everyone's reaction.

To the surprise of Zamza and Arya, Master Forge began to laugh hysterically.   "Well it's about time Zamza!  I was beginning to think I was going to have to propose for you, and that would have been funny considering she's my daughter and all, ha, ha, ha."

Zamza looked at Arya, dumbfounded.  "You mean you knew?"  Zamza questioned, trying not to look like a complete ass.

"Of course I knew.  I know about everything that goes on under this roof, ha, ha, ha.  Don't tell me, you guys actually thought that you were fooling me?"  Master Forge said, busting into another fit of hysterical laughter.  Arya looked at Zamza sheepishly and gave him a  hug and kiss.

As Master Forge and Vandle congratulated the newly wed's to be, nobody saw Slade back away from the group.  Nobody saw the tears rolling down Slade's cheeks as he realized that he had just lost his only family.  Nobody saw the blood leave Slade's face as realized that he wasn't good enough for them anymore.  Nobody saw the anger in Slade's face as he witnessed the four of
them laughing and hugging.  And nobody saw the last of Slade's soul die in his body as he turned and ran for the front door.

THE PRESENT

"I really believe that's what broke him" Zamza said, staring across the table at Celia.

"What, when you and Arya announced that you were going to get married?"  Celia asked.

"Yeah" Zamza replied, "all Slade ever wanted to do was travel, just me and him, no one else.  I let him down, and I think that's what broke him.  Could you go ask the bartender for a pitcher of water, Celia."

"Yeah, no problem" she answered getting up from her seat and heading over to the bartender.

'Oh, thank goodness' Zamza thought.  He had just finished his second bottle of wine (not to mention how much he had out of the one that broke), and it was really starting to make him a little fuzzy in the head.

She returned with the water, much to Zamza's delight, and poured him a glass.  She sat the pitcher down, as well as herself, and gave Zamza a look that said:  'okay, finish the story'.

'Here we go' Zamza thought.

"Alright, after that everything just started to go downhill.  A couple of days later, Slade was accused of almost murdering someone with his claws.   Rumours around the town said that he was stealing stuff once again.  None of us could believe it.  We refused to believe it.  Master Forge kept the
authorities away from it all, until Slade got too out of control.  In one hour he murdered four townspeople because they were either in his way, or because they said something to him.  Master Forge was outraged, and took charge of the search party that went to go find Slade.  Vandle, Arya, and I also joined the search party, coming to the conclusion that maybe Slade wasn't completely healthy.  I guess Slade took this as a personal insult, because, what he did next would change my life forever.

THE PAST

He knew they would be having tea soon, they always had tea around this time in the afternoon.  He knew that Zamza and Vandle had the lead of the search party at this time so they would be all alone here.  He'd stolen the drug some time ago and it was perfect for this operation.  It would put them to sleep before they knew what hit them.

He crept his way up the stairs, careful not to make a sound, and traveled over to the kitchen.  He knew Master Forge always had his tea while reading a book, and Arya had hers before going out to run.

'Sorry, no run for you today' he thought to himself.  It made him chuckle.  They all thought they were too good for him now.  They had even turned Zamza against him, and he just couldn't let them get away with that...could he?  Of course, he wasn't going to let Zamza get away either, because once you've been changed you can't change back...right?  'well, we'll see who's too good today, won't we!' he thought.

He reached the kitchen, and indeed, the tea was there.  He crept up to it, nice and slow, never making a sound.  When he arrived at it, he reached into his belt and pulled out the drug.  It would put them both to sleep and then he could do what he needed to be done. He poured the drug into the kettle quickly, so he could get to his hiding spot.

A sound.

He took off to the other side of the kitchen, and exited through the door that was there.  It lead to the back yard area, which was nothing but grass for miles, he knew.

He watched through the window as she grabbed two glasses, and poured her and her father a glass of tea each.  When she left, he came back inside, he knew it was risky, sure, but he just had to see.  He waited a couple of minutes before he went into the hallway.  When he did, he walked straight to Arya's room.  Sleeping like a baby.  He continued down the hall to Master Forge's room.  When he peered inside, Master Forge was fast asleep.

'Perfect' he thought, removing the rope that was had been looped around his chest.  He tied Arya up quickly, and went back to Master Forge's room, unsheathing the sword he had stolen from a Highland soldier a few days ago.

He reached the room, where Master Forge still slept silently.  'This is going to be so much fun' he thought.  He walked silently, until he came to where he was right above Master Forge.  He raised the sword, his eyes filled with nothing but insanity, and brought it down on Master Forge's neck.

A fire.  Vandle spotted it first as they came home from the search party.  They took off in the direction of Master Forge's in a flash, hoping that it wasn't his house on fire.

Their worst fears were realized upon reaching the house they had used as their training grounds for most of the last two years.  It was indeed Master Forge's house burning into oblivion.

"You take the front, I'll take the back" Vandle screamed.

"Alright" Zamza replied.  Splitting up was a good idea.  So far it looked like only the upstairs was on fire, but Zamza had seen fire before and he knew how fast it could spread.  He and Vandle parted company as he darted into the front door.  There he almost couldn't believe what he saw.

There, standing over a tied up Arya was Slade.  He had a big bag next to him, and his claws were already drawn.  'Hurry up Vandle' Zamza thought.

"How are you doing today Zamza?" Slade asked.  "Now my day has been really exciting, can you guess what I've been up to?"  He asked again, a wild laugh following his taunting questions.

Zamza's head was spinning, and it wasn't from the smoke either.  His mind was filled with a million questions which led to a million paths, but his emotions were a different story.  They led him down one path, and that was to kill this son of a bitch any way he could.

"What the hell are you doing Slade?"  Zamza asked, hoping Arya was still alive.  Then he saw the movement behind Slade.  Vandle, scimitars out.  He gave a brief look to him that said 'hold on' as he asked Slade another question.  "Where's Master Forge, Slade?"

"Hmmm.  Now you know, I know I've got him around here somewhere."  Slade replied mockingly.  "let me see here, where did I put him?"  Slade continued to taunt.  "Oh wait, I know where I put him."  He said with a wicked smile on his face.  He reached inside the bag he had positioned next to him, and pulled out Master Forge's head.

"Oh, God!" Zamza screamed, nearly tossing his lunch.  Unfortunately, Vandle did, revealing his position behind Slade.   "What the hell!  Slade, don't do this.  Come on, we can still work this out, just please don't kill her!" Zamza pleaded, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Slade ignored his pleas and turned toward Vandle.  "Well, what's wrong little boy?  Didn't you want to see the Great Master Forge!" Slade said sarcastically.  "You both make me sick".

"I'm going to kill you Slade"  Vandle promised, behind a thin wall of smoke.

Slade smiled.  "You know what little boy, you may just do that, but you'll have to find my first.  Now, if you don't mind, I have an important engagement to keep in the City-States." With that, Slade picked the tied up Arya off the ground.  "If you want her, Zamza, here she is" he taunted, and
then without warning, thrust his two sets of claws through her back and let them exit out through her chest.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"  Zamza shouted.  Without thinking he charged at Slade.  But he was to late, as soon as he was within striking distance, Slade told him it was time to go outside.  He then blinked out before Zamza could make contact.

"Vandle, check to see if he's outside!" Zamza screamed at his friend.  While Vandle ran to see if Slade teleported out front, Zamza ran back to Arya.  He picked her up into his arms and carried her outside, just as the whole building collapsed.

"Oh, please Arya don't die!" Zamza screamed at Arya.  She was still alive, but, both he and Vandle knew that she wouldn't make it.  She had eight fairly large wounds that went straight through her body, compliments of Slade's claws.  Hell, it was probably a miracle that she had survived this
long, but he just couldn't give her up.

"Z-z-zam-mz-za, I-I l-l-lov-v" was all Arya could muster out before she took her last breath.

THE PRESENT

He was right, she was crying.  Damn!  'I knew I shouldn't have told you this story' Zamza thought.

"Do you still want to hear the rest of it?"  Zamza questioned

"Y-yes, I still do"  Celia answered, wiping her tears away with a towel she had obtained from bartender seconds earlier.

"Fair enough" Zamza replied.  "The next day Vandle and myself buried Master Forge and Arya.  Vandle told me that Slade had, in fact, teleported to the spot directly in front of the house, he had seen him running away from it when he made it outside.  I told Vandle I was going to find him, but Vandle told me that he was going too.  I quickly agreed, after all, 2 is better than 1, and we began to track him.  We knew he was going to the City State's and we knew that meant he had to go through Tenzan Pass, a mountainous region a little west of the town of Kyaro in Highland.  When we got there, the townsfolk told us that there had been a man like Slade there just a few hours ago.  Wasting no time we headed for the Tenzan Pass, where sure enough, we ran into him.  He forced us up the mountains to a cliff, where he would have a better chance fighting against the two of us...

THE PAST

"Give it up Slade" Zamza shouted, as everyone had finished running.  They were at a narrow cliff, and there was no escape for Slade, he was going to have to fight his way out of this one.

"Ho, ho, ho." Slade chuckled.  "I do not think so.  You are going to have to kill me my friend."  He finished, releasing his claws.

"Then so be it."  Vandle said, mimicking his former friend and releasing his weapon.

Zamza watched with caution.  He didn't like the idea that they were going to fight on this cliff.  It was too dangerous for himself and Vandle, a wrong step, or a blind attack against each other by accident was too great a possibility.  Slade had done a good job with this location.

"What's the matter, Zamza?  Still too heartbroken over Arya to fight me?" Slade mocked.

That was it.  Without worrying about his surroundings anymore, Zamza lit up Tekkan and charged head first at Slade.  Vandle followed, poised to make this a quick battle.

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" Slade roared insanely, as his two attackers approached.

Zamza arrived first, since he had left first, and let his fists start flying as he reached Slade.  His first two flaming swings missed, as Slade ducked and dodged, and were countered by a vicious swipe that barely grazed Zamza's leg.  The pain from the cuts was ferocious, and it made Zamza fall back a few steps, opening the door for Vandle.

Vandle used his best abilities beautifully, as he quickly, and gracefully, attacked Slade with his scimitars.  He took four fast swipes at Slade's midsection, the last one opening a horrible gash on Slade's forearm.  Slade held his ground, however, and began a counterstrike as soon as Vandle had
finished his onslaught.  He cut and swiped to no avail though, as he was no match for Vandle's evasiveness.

When he finished his counter, Slade was surprised to see a ready-to-go Zamza coming up from behind, the dodging Vandle.

The punches came fast and furious, however, all of them were wild.  Zamza's anger had gotten the best of him, and both Slade and Vandle could see that.  He through three fast punches, but Slade dodged them all, barely backing up a step.

"Come on, can't you hit me?" Slade shouted, trying to goad Zamza's anger.  "Come on, I kill Master Forge and Arya and you can't even hit me?  The little boy is doing better than you!"

Zamza's anger flew through the roof as he tried to shut Slade up.  He threw punches quicker and faster than he had ever done before, unfortunately they were wild, telegraphed, and caused him to unbalance himself on the narrow cliff, and he was the only one who didn't predict what was going to happen next.

Zamza through a punch to Slade's face but he connected with nothing but air.   The punch, fast and furious, caused Zamza to lose his balance, placing him in an extremely vulnerable position.  Slade, taking every full advantage he could get his hands on, grabbed Zamza's arm, stuck out his leg, and sent Zamza, tripping over Slade's leg, toppling over the edge of the cliff.

"ZAMZA!!" Vandle shouted, as he saw what was happening.  He saw Slade grab Zamza's arm, stick out his leg, and send him over the edge of the cliff, all in slow motion, yet he was powerless to stop it.  It was just him against Slade now.

"Come on, boy!!!  It's your turn now" Slade shouted, a crazed look in his eyes.

Vandle wasted no time.  He charged quickly, and took swift, smooth strikes at Slade once he got there.  Slade dodged them all, and took two brief swings himself, trying a minor counterattack.

Vandle continued to push on, remembering everything Master Forge had taught him.  He kept his mind clear, focusing only on Slade and nothing else.  His scimitars flew in the air at a speed which was unprecedented even for himself.  He was not tiring, and he knew eventually, he would wear this
madman, who he had once called a friend, down to the ground.

Sparks began to fly as each attack was blocked with Slade's weapon.  Each man moved with a speed, smoothness, and style all his own.  Slade put in his own brief offensive's, but they were just short musical interludes between Vandle's long, orchestrated masterpieces.

They kept it up, neither tiring, neither missing a beat.  If a person had seen it, they may have called this one of the best, and most emotional, and most beautiful duels they had ever seen, as it stood however, it was just another duel between former colleagues, to see who would live, and who would perish.

'OH, SHIT!' Zamza thought, as he clung to the bottom of the jagged edge.  'I should have known better' he continued to think, refusing to look down, for fear that he might actually see how far it was to the bottom.  He could here the, loud splashing of water underneath him, and the loud clangs of metal on metal above him.

'Arya give me strength', he thought, as he began to move his hands up the bottom half of the cliff, which he had just moments ago been on top of.  He stuck his feet in two rivets in the cliff, hoping to give him some leverage, and praying that it would take some of the weight off of his arms.

He moved up the cliff slowly, listening to the rhythmic sounds of metal scraping metal above him.  He had to get up there quick he knew, he knew Vandle was a better fighter than Slade, but he wasn't as smart, and it would only be a matter of time before Vandle made a mistake that Slade would capitalize off of.

He continued to move up.  Halfway there.  Images permeated through his mind.   Master Forge's head, Arya, lying lifeless on the ground, and finally Slade, his black eyes laughing at him crazily.  They continued to rotate in his mind, always stopping for a few seconds, on the demented face of Slade.

His legs gave him an extra boost.  Just a few more steps.  The sounds at the top were louder than ever, drowning out even the rough, and heavy breaths that Zamza was taking.  A bird passed, shooting Zamza a mocking look that said, "Ha, ha, stupid human.  I have wings, I can fly".  Zamza forced the bird out of his head, and took the last few strides to the top.

He could reach his arms and head over the peak of the cliff now.  What he saw amazed him, in fact, for a few seconds, it paralyzed him.  He marvelled at the duel between his classmates.  It was one so intense, yet so lovely, it could not be put into words.  He watched Vandle's flawless technique, as
he deftly moved from position to position.

The sight was indeed quite breathtaking.

There was no break in his motion, Vandle wouldn't allow it.  He continued to move, without hesitation, and without thought, from one front to another.  He had, so far, not allowed Slade any great counterstrike, Slade just wasn't fast enough to do it.

Vandle let his arms rest for awhile, as he let Slade take the offensive.  He dodged all of Slade's attacks perfectly, and when Slade tried to press his luck, Vandle turned on him.  As Slade was about to bring his clawed hand down on Vandle's face, Vandle switched off the defensive.  He brought a quick, strong, swipe across Slade's abdomen, opening a ghastly wound on Slade's stomach.  The attack stunned Slade, knocking him off balance, and leaving him vulnerable in front of Vandle.

Vandle took another quick swat, only this time towards Slade head.  Slade ducked, but tripped in his haste, landing on Vandle and forcing them both to topple to the ground, and away from where Zamza was currently trying to use his arms to propel the rest of his body onto the cliff.

They rolled together, both returning their blades to their proper holding position, so they wouldn't end up killing themselves.  Vandle and Slade began to roll down a small groove, both were stopped unceremoniously when they struck a wall.

Slade's left shoulder struck the wall, sending excruciating shockwaves of pain up and down his body.

Vandle reached the wall about a foot and a half down, and was stopped when the side of his face struck the wall.  He felt the pain charge up his face, from his eyes and ears, all the way down to his jaw.  He got up from the ground, determined to end this little charade.

They stood across from each other, no more than five feet apart, weapons drawn.  They were fatigued, but neither one was willing to give in, this was a matter of life and death.

Vandle struck first, attacking for Slade's head, but missing badly.  Slade struck back, but his shoulder injury was severely limiting the movement of his left arm.  He tried to fight with his right only, but this made him predictable, and Vandle gave him several cuts and gashes on the right side
of his torso to remind him of this.

They each took a defensive stance for a second, trying to catch their second wind, when Vandle realized that something was horribly wrong.  The hit to his head from the wall must have been harder than he had anticipated.  His right eye, the dominate one on his body, was beginning to swell up fast.  His vision was impaired badly now, and pretty soon he would be blind in that eye.  He had to act fast, he had to finish Slade or his own eye would finish him.

Vandle attacked with a new-born intensity, forcing Slade back as he dodged each and everyone of his attacks.  When Vandle finished his combination, Slade gave him a hearty kick to the stomach, knocking the wind out of Vandle, and knocking Vandle back down to the ground, causing him to roll back a few feet after that.

The eye was almost completely swelled over now.  He couldn't see anything out of it anymore.  Vandle got to his feet, refusing to admit the loss.  He was the last one who could take vengeance for Master Forge, Arya, and now Zamza, it was him or Slade would get away free.  He charged, his speed and focus still there, and began another assault upon Slade.  The scimitars flashed and flew, cutting two more wounds into Slade's right thigh and left bicep.  He threw a blind swing with his scimitar at where he thought Slade was but he hit nothing.  Slade, dodging to his right, knew it was time to try for the kill.

Slade slashed at Vandle's exposed arm, making four extremely deep gashes running down Vandle's wrist.  Next, he moved in, getting even closer to Vandle, and shoved his claws through Vandle's chest.

"Ho, ho, boy, you didn't really think you could beat me, did you?" Slade taunted, slowly excavating the four blades from Vandle's chest.  "You should have never came, I had decided to let you live before you showed up here to try and kill me.  Now, look what you made me do."

Tears ran from Vandle's eyes.  He didn't want to die here, where no one would ever find him.  He wanted to live a long life, with a wife and children, the whole deal.  The tears continued to roll down his cheeks, when Slade spoke up again.

"Do you feel it Vandle? Do you feel the life just draining out of you as I speak.  Knowing that you will never see your parents again, or that you will never be able to live a full life?  How does it feel?  I really want to know."

Vandle looked through his one, tear-stained, non-swollen eye, directly at Slade.  What he saw there scared the shit out of him.  There was nothing left in Slade's eyes.  They were just a deep ocean of black, nothingness.  There was no soul there, he was a walking dead man.  It was then that all
the anger, and all the rage directed at Slade, left his body and was replaced by pity.  There was no life left in the person he had once called friend, and he hoped, for Slade's sake, that someone would put him out of his misery soon.  With that, Vandle's thoughts were cut off, as Slade thrust the four blades on his right claw through Vandle's throat.

Zamza had witnessed it.  He had watched, in silent horror, as Slade had ended another life.  Zamza didn't cry, or shout out, in fact, Zamza didn't mutter a word.  He was all cried out.  All that remained in him was fury, and he would take that wrath out on the person who deserved it.

He walked silently towards Slade, who turned to greet him with a confused, and pitiful look on his face.

"You still have one more to go, Slade" Zamza said, analyzing Slade from head to toe.  He had a horrible gash in his stomach, two gashes on the right side of his body, just below the armpit, a deep cut on his right thigh, two more cuts on his left arm, and it looked to Zamza like he had broken his
shoulder.  How in the world did he manage to beat Vandle like that?

"Oh, you have to be kidding me!!" Slade shouted, staring up at the sky.  "I thought I took care of you already!"  He began to walk towards Zamza slowly, and subtly, trying to give the impression that maybe he was done with the fighting.  "I just don't know if I can take this anymore!!"  He screamed.  Then suddenly, without warning, he attacked Zamza running full speed.  He sent sporadic slashes with his claws through the air, none of which hit Zamza.

"This is going to be too easy, Slade" Zamza shouted, letting Tekkan go to work.  He punched Slade several times in the stomach, then, as Slade was on his knees bent over, trying to catch his breath and recuperate from the lashing he had just suffered, Zamza picked him up by the arm and hurled him back towards the cliff.

Slade, nearly unconscious from the amount of blood he had lost during the duel with Vandle, came at Zamza again.  He was too slow he knew, but he couldn't give in.

Zamza again dodged them all, and began to do more work to Slade's chest and face.  Slade fell back, now bleeding from the nose and mouth, waiting for the next set of blows.  Zamza, with nothing but anger in his eyes, unleashed a five hit combination to Slade's face, forcing him to the end of the cliff.

"You'll never get rid of me Zamza!"  Slade croaked through a battered face.  "Even if you kill me now, I'll still live on, and I'll torment you for the rest of you god-forsaken life, mwa ha ha ha ha ha."  Zamza had heard enough.   He raised his right hand, showing Slade his Fire Dragon Rune, and gave him an incredible uppercut that sent Slade flying off of the cliff.  The reprucussion from the rune was heavy, however, and as Slade fell to his apparent death into the river so many miles below, the last sound Zamza heard before he sunk into a heavy coma, was the sound of Slade corpse hitting the river's surface.

THE PRESENT

"I stayed in that coma for two weeks, I was told" Zamza said.  "A man from Kyaro by the name of Genkaku strolled upon me and Vandle a couple of days after the fight.  He carried me all the way back to the Kyaro inn, and he watched over me every day to make sure I was all right.  When I woke up, they told me how long I had been out, and that they had buried my friend in the Kyaro cemetery.  When I was healthy enough, I put flowers on his grave, and left.  I went back to Master Forge's and told Vandle's parents what happened.  They didn't even care that their own flesh and blood was dead.  They told me to leave and closed the door in my face.  Ever since then I've
been wandering the world, going back and forth, waiting for something to happen."  he finished.

Celia was still bawling her eyes out.  He never should have told her this story, but he was glad he did, it felt like a giant weight had been lifted off his shoulders.  He helped her to her feet, and helped her walk back to the room.  He placed her in the bed, telling her to get some sleep.  He wiped the tears from her eyes with a towel, and, after a few minutes, she was sound asleep.

Zamza ran back down to the bar and sat in silence, there would be no sleep for him this night.

She was already sleeping, and Zamza was happy about that.  He had paid the captain of the ship an extra 3000 potch to wait until nightfall to leave for Lakewest.  He looked down at the girl sleeping in the bed and smiled.  She had been a big help, but now it was time to part ways.  He took his satchel
and placed it next to her on the bed, it contained roughly 10,000 potch for her to start her life over.  He left out the door and headed for the docks.

The boat departed as soon as Zamza was onboard.  He thought about the story he had told last night, and thought of all the good it did him.  His resolve to kill Slade was now higher than ever, if only to get revenge for Slade, Arya, and Master Forge.  Plus, the story had made him feel better too, and that was a real bonus.