Tales of Link I: The Beginning

Savior and Stonecasting

The ruins open up to a large, round room that had such a strong, ominous feel to it, I am almost too afraid to go in.
"Sara," Kaze says softly, pointing to the center of the room. "Who is that?"
I follow Kaze's finger to a tall, lone man standing next to what seemed like a giant seed. His dark black hair and strong build is one I recognize too well.
"Brother!" I yell, dashing forward.
"You're related?" Kaze asks, softly.
It's was true Caesar and I don't look much like siblings. He is very tall for his age, unlike me, who only goes up to his chest. His hair is jet black while mine's a pale pink. His once kind, blue eyes, the only feature that is similar between us, is tinted over with a crimson red.
"Sara." Caesar growls, kindness gone. "Why are you here?"
"Brother, please stop this!" I plead. "I don't want to fight you!"
Caesar ignores my protests and draws one of the many blades strapped to his body.
"The seed is going to hatch. Don't interfere!"
Kaze places a hand on my shoulder. "If I can get to that seed, I will be able to purify it. It might save your brother too."
"Do you really think so?" I whisper back with a shaky voice.
"Hai. Trust me, Sara."
I nod, drawing my blade and leveling it at my brother. "Do what you must."
Caesar and I circle each other, waiting for one of us to make the first move. I lunge, moving faster than most swordsmen and slashing at my brother's arm. Caesar parries the strike, making a wide attack of his own, making me backpedal. My strikes bounces off Caesar's large blade like it were nothing. Out of the corner of my eye, Kaze is kneeling in front of the ruinator, one hand on the are seed and the other clutching the stone at his neck. Lippy is floating around his head, hopefully helping Kaze in some way. Caesar follows my line of sight and smirks.
"Try as you might, you will never stop me!"
Without another word, he kicks off the ground, running toward Kaze with his blade drawn.
"Great Savior, look out!" Lippy yells.
Kaze peels his eyes from the seed and gets into a different stance. He clasps the Hero Stone in both hands like he's about to pray.
"Oh, Heros of the world hear my call! I summon thee of past, present, and future. You from, Tales of Vesperia! Come forth, Dark Lion, Yuri!"
As Caesar's blade swings down on Kaze, its parried instead of hitting its intended target. A man dressed in all black and long black hair had suddenly appears out of the shimmering air. The man who could only be known as Dark Lion Yuri. He is renowned for his time in the military where he never followed orders, but is a hero all the same.
"So that's the power of the Hero Stone." I gasp.
Caesar is now locked in a dance with the copy of Yuri. To my surprise, the copy is just as amazing as the stories say and he was even giving Caesar minor wounds that I could not. I can only watch as Yuri moves at lightning speed, and leaves a large gash on my brother's arm.
To call the power of a hero such as Yuri... that was really something. I shake my head, realizing that the stonecasting probably had a limit and rush in to keep Caesar's attention. He cuts right through the already fading hero, and turns right as my sword nicks his cheek.
"That was a cheap trick!" My brother yells in frustration, realizing that the Yuri he had been fighting was only a copy.
A warm light flowed from the seed, and Kaze gave me a thumbs up before collapsing on the spot.
"Kaze!" I cries as fight with my brother leaves my head. I skitter to a halt in front of him.
"This is not over!" Caesar growls, clutching his wounded arm. "Next time, Little Savior! Next time, I'll make you regret you are even here!"
"Brother, wait!" I yell as Caesar sprouted wings and flies away. I grit my teeth in frustration, before turning my attention back to Kaze.
"Lippy, is he okay?" I ask.
Lippy nods. "He just used up too much of his energy summoning Yuri and then purifying the seed directly after."
I sigh in relief. "Thank goodness."
"It would be wise to move outside, Lady Sara." Lippy suggests. "We may get attacked by monsters in here."
I nod, slinging Kaze's arm over my shoulder. I'm taken aback by how light the boy is. Lippy guides me out of the ruins, and a safe distance away to where I could set up camp for the night. It is hard to believe it's near evening, as I only stepped foot in the ruins in the early afternoon. Time flies.
Lippy gathers firewood and starts dinner while I, once again, place Kaze gently on my bed roll. He lets out a soft groan and cracks open his eyes.
"Well, hello!" I say. "You're up."
"Gomen." He mumbles as I help him sit up. "All I seem to do is cause trouble for you."
I shake my head. "Quite the opposite actually! You were truly amazing back in the ruins!"
Kaze looks up at me, his beautiful eyes dancing around as he studies my face. "Really?"
I nod. "I mean it's not like just anyone can summon Dark Lion Yuri just like that and purify a ruinator at the same time!"
The Great Savior smiles at me. "I'm not sure what I was doing, to tell the truth. It just... came to me like muscle memory. I don't even remember learning all this Stonecaster stuff."
"So I'm guessing you don't remember anything yet." I say quietly.
Kaze gives a small grunt in reply.
"What are you going to do now?" I ask, trying to change the topic.
Kaze fidgets. "I don't know who exactly I am supposed to be, and I don't know where to go. So, I was thinking that I'll join you to purify the ruinators... so...."
Kaze trails off, turning a light shade of pink.
"Ooh! How wonderful! Even if you have no memory, you still are joining us! How noble!" Lippy gushes like a girl who just met her favorite hero.
Kaze turns an even darker shade of red. "I just don't have anything to do! A-and.... I'm worried about Sara's brother...."
I jump in surprise. Kaze is truly a gentleman, putting my needs before his own. I pat his arm and smiled.
"Thank you, Kaze." I say. "And in return, I'll help you look for your memories."
Kaze's eyes go wide before giving me a big smile. "Arrigato, Sara."
I smile back. "It's late. And you should probably get some rest after the day you went through."
Kaze nods graciously, and slowly crawls onto the bedroll like he is afraid it will attack him. After he seems convinced it's safe, he curls up in a tight ball and shifts comfortably.
"Good night, Kaze." I say softly.
"Oyasumi, Sara."