Rift: Those left behind

Moonlit Brawl
Sitting deep in a forest under a starry sky, a single building lit up its surroundings from the inside. The building appeared ragged, hasty patch jobs and quick repairs lined the walls, and trash littered the ground outside. Things where much different inside however, as the bandits that called the building home where celebrating their resent sacking of a nearby town they had been harassing for months. "Hell of a move boss." One of them called to a man sitting on a couch on the hideout’s far side. "With Galow sick, that town’s easy pickings for us."

"Told you lot before." He quipped back at them. "Thinking your some hero or something’s only goin' to get you an early grave. With him out of the picture, we got ourselves a nice little goldmine with this town." He raised a large glass into the air, with several of the others following suet. "So what do you think boys? Your boss deliver or what?"

"You said it!" One yelled. "Hell yes!" Screamed another, before they all erupted into a frenzy of celebrations. The chef simply slumped back on the couch and took a long drink, letting the praise from his underlings flow over him.

Standing guard outside was a single half-drunk man, having wandered outside from the building and was now to impaired to find his way again. He could barely hear a thing from the noise radiating from inside the hideout, and was caught completely unaware when someone grabbed him by the back of his shirt and slammed him into the outside wall. His head slowly dragged down the wall until hitting the ground, while the festivity’s inside continued without skipping a beat.

The assailant grinned to himself, before pushing the saloon doors open and entering the building themselves. Many where still too caught up in their celebrations to make note of their new guest, though the bartender wasn’t as distracted. "I'll take one of whatever they got." The bartender assumed the man to be around twenty years old, maybe younger, with short brown hair and stubble veiling his chin. Dark shades concealed his eyes, despite the fact that it was already into the early hours of the morning. Placing a large stein of beer in front of him, the bartender watched as he drank almost half of it in a single go, before noticing that some of the bandits had taken note of the new arrival.

He ignored them as they grouped around him, despite many of the others still partying. "I don’t know your face." Said the man sitting at the bar next to the new arrival, before pausing to take a drink. "You got business 'round here or something?"

"Naw, just thought I'd stop by." He said simply, taking a sip from his half-finished drink. "Name’s Rift."

"That's nice, because I don’t remember asking for a name." More and more people began to notice that their companions had stopped celebrating, coming to realise that they had a guest. "We ain’t looking for new blood. So if that’s what you're after, beet it."

"I’m not looking to join up with you pricks." Several of the people around him grew tense, and magic began to build in the air. "Just to see if you'd piss off on your own." One of the bandits stepped out of the circle, thinking he'd throw Rift out himself. Just as he put a hand on Rifts shoulder however, Rift spun around and smashed the upper half of his beer stein across his face, then grabbed the back of the bandit’s neck with his other hand and slammed him into the bar top. The remaining bandits where caught by surprise as Rift turned back and grinned at them, revealing a row of pointed, almost animalistic, teeth. "Guess not."

The flesh of the man at the bar turned a sickly white color, and his arms extended to reach the ground. He continued to grow until he stood almost 8 feet tall, somewhat making him resemble an ape with scales instead of fur and a huge toothy maw. "Should have left when you had the chance asshole." By now, everyone had become aware of the intruder and where preparing for a fight, though the one they had called boss simply watched from his couch.

Rift only grinned at the threat. "Yeah, same to you."

"Yeah, kick his ass Brag." One of the bandit's called. The man named Brag roared, and then charged at Rift on all four limbs. Rift ducked under his massive arm and shoved the jagged end of what was left of his glass into Brag’s back just as he passed. A superficial wound at worst, thanks to his now increased size, but it stung none the less. Enough so to cause him to crash into the opposite wall with the momentum of his charge.

Before Rift had a chance to follow up, he sidestepped a sword just before it imbedded itself in bar's counter. In one fluid motion, Rift grabbed the swords hilt, swung his fist across its owner's jaw and knocked him away with a strong elbow slam to the nose with the same arm.

Two more jumped at Rift as the first fell away. He was about to counter when he saw something out of the corner of his eye, dropping to the ground just as a table flew at him and took the pair of them out. He attempted to look up just as a large white hand closed around his torso and swept him off the ground. Rift was slammed into one of the wooden beams in the ceiling by Brag, who still had the broken beer glass jutting out of his shoulder. Thinking quickly, Rift took hold of the worn ceiling fan hanging next to him and ripped it from its perch. It crashed over the Brag’s head, causing him to flinch away, and Rift landed on his shoulders when he loosened his grip. Jumping from his high perch, Rift slammed his fists together and called. "Iron Make – Impact!" A pair of large metal gauntlets formed over Rifts hands while he fell through the air, bashing them down on the Brag's leathery head before landing on his feet.

The impact shot his head through a table and into the floor, sending splinters shooting in all directions. Brag groaned, and several of the bandits backed away when Rift shook off his metal gloves and glared at them. "Come on, who’s next? I’m dying to know who want’s their ass kicked."

Many of the bandits where hesitant, with good reason, to try their luck after witnessing what had happened. Their boss however chose now to stand up, having seen everything and knowing exactly who they were dealing with. "Iron-Make huh? Figures." The crowd parted to allow him though. "You’re Galow's student aren't you? Your full name's Rift Grimm."

Rift grinned again. "Bingo. Give the man a prize." He reached around the bar, grabbed a bottle from the counter, and tossed it to the leader. "Here, have a drink. It's on me."

"Don't get cocky asshole." The boss said, swatting the bottle away in mid-air. "I own this place, and your little town. Everything in it belongs to me." Several of the bandits in the crowd seemed to be getting rowdy, apparently looking for a fight. "You think you can walk in here, alone, and chase us off? Well news flash, I been doing this for longer than you been alive punk. It’ll take more than one asshole with a little magic to scare me away."

Ignoring his speech, Rift instead focused on the broken glass and splattered booze on the floor. "Now, that’s just a waste."

A vein popped in the bosses' forehead. "Get this prick out of my hideout." The bandits instantly scrambled for their weapons. Swords, pistols, knives, broken bottles, whatever could be used seemed to suffice. Closing in on him, Rift only grinned, cracking his knuckles in the palm of his hand. There was a sharp sound of wood splintering behind him, and Rift turned just in time to see Brag had recovered and ripped the bar top from the floor. He tossed it at him like a weighed no more than cardboard box, forcing Rift to fall to the floor to avoid getting hit again. While the large hunk of wood nocked people in all directions.

Brag's massive hand close over Rift’s torso again, and he was thrown through one of the windows a second later. Rift rolled back to his feet in the darkness, while Brag crashed through the well after him. Crafting a sword in each hand with his magic, Rift ducked under his initial swipe and cut across the beast’s stomach with the tip of his swords. They were only shallow cuts, not even enough to slow Brag down as he skidded to a halt and turned for another charge.

Rift was more prepared to intercept him this time, and flipped both swords around to wield them backhand. Using Brags own momentum against him, Rift grabbed his arm when he attempted another punch and swung onto the beast mans' back. Using the same motion, Rift drove one of his sword blades through Brag's shoulder, causing him to roar in pain. Rift attempted to do the same with his other sword when Brag began bucking like a wild horse, making Rift miss his mark and the sword sliding along the side of his neck. Again, the sword's blade could only inflict superficial wounds against Brag's leathery skin, and Rift lost hold of it when the back of Brag’s head bucked backwards into his face.

Brag reached over his wounded shoulder to take hold of a stunned Rift, slamming him to the ground within the same second. Rift gasped for air as he lay on the ground, slightly winded from the combined impact and head trauma, while Brag raised his fists high into the air in an attempt to end things then and there.

Moving as fast as he could, Rift slammed his palms down to the ground. "Iron Make: Grand Shot!" A pair of sword blades shot from the ground next to him, stabbing through the monster's stomach. As the beast roared in pain, Rift jumped to his feet and slammed his hands together. "Iron Make: Heavy Hammer!" A massive metal hammer sprung from his hands, which continued to grow until it made contact with the side of Brag's head.

Brag caught himself on one arm, stunned from the initial blow. Spinning with the momentum, Rift swung his hammer upwards and into the beasts' chin to send him sailing through the air before coming crashing down to the ground, completely out-cold. The hammer broke in two with the second impact, the head sailing through the wall of the hideout, though Rift had already discarded it by then. Seeing the bandits begin to scatter, Rift put his hands together again. "Iron Make: Patriot Guns!" A mass of gun barrels formed over his hands, and he took aim at the hideout. "Kiss your ass's goodbye!" He screamed, before the noise of gunfire drown out all other sounds.

Bullet's tore through the hideouts' walls, ripping whoever was still inside to shreds. Dust soon obstructed whatever remained of the bandits base, and Rift stopped shooting soon after. With a flick of his hands, the gun barrels fell away and Rift squinted in an attempt to see through the dust. There was a flash from within the debris, followed by an explosion at his feet. Rift was thrown back several meters, landing hard on the ground.

Rolling over slowly, Rift looked up to see the bandit's chef standing amongst the wreckage of his now former hideout, a large shield in one hand and a magic bazooka in the other. Despite many of the others lying on the ground clutching various injuries, the boss looked to have escaped harm just fine, thanks to the shield Rift figured. "Damn punk, you really done it now." He kicked through part of a broken chair on his way out the door, or what remained of it. "Looks like we should have wasted you and your teacher the first time we rolled into town."

"You say that like you could do it at any time." Rift shot back. "Yet here we are, and you can't even get rid of one of us." He jumped back to his feet again while the bandit leader growled at him. "Come on, quit your yacking and let’s have us an ending to this."

The leader grinned, repositioning his bazooka on his shoulder. "Hope you won’t regret this asshole, because one of us isn’t going to leave this place under their own power." He cracked his neck and positioned the shield as a stand with his bazooka resting on top. "Go on, make a move."

Rift grinned, and had just enough time to connect his fist to his palm when the bandit leader fired. A cannonball of magic soared at Rift, who sidestepped it by mere inches. "Iron Make: Grand Shot!" A long blade shot from his closed fist, which ricocheted off the leader’s large shield before shattering.

The bandit chef brushed was left of the attack aside with his shield, laughing maniacally as he opened fire again. "Come-on, is that all you got?" Explosions lit up the area as Rift ducked and rolled through cannon fire, all the while thinking of a way to get close. A chance appeared when Rift caught a glimpse of his opponent though the fire and shot out a barrage of small metal darts with a wave of his arm. The bandit stopped shooting and held up his shield for protection again. "That won’t do jack dumbass. This shield's built to take cannon fire." He boasted as the darts simply bounced away.

Rift used this brief period of no shooting to get in closer, but changed tactics when the banded chef peered around his shield. He dropped to his knees mid run, sliding a few feet, and then planted his fists on the ground. "Bet your head ain't!" The ground around him cracked as the bandit took aim once again. A thick chain shot out of the ground at his feet, connecting with his forehead as he pulled the trigger. The bandit lurched with the impact, sending the shot rocketing high into the night sky.

This bought Rift all the time he needed, as he was already up close by the time the banded had opened his eyes. "Iron Make: Impact!" Another gantlet formed over Rift’s fist, which he shoved into the bandit chefs stomach. He grunted and stumbled back a few steps, before Rift lunged at him again. This time he was able to defend himself with the shield, despite Rift repeatedly punching it again and again with his iron covered fist.

Suddenly, the shield shot forwards, slamming into Rift’s entire body just as he drew back for another punch. He skidded back against one of the remaining tables and retrieved a fallen knife belonging to one of the other bandits as the chef reared back and swung his shield down on him. Rift sidestepped to the inside, allowing the chef to shatter the table behind him, then stabbed him in the forearm with his newfound knife.

The chef roared in anger, dropping the shield he was so proud of, and retaliated by swinging the end of his bazooka up into Rifts chin. Rift sailed backwards through the air, bounced off another table, then flipped down on the ground. "Dammit! You damn mages will be the death of me." The chef growled as he pulled the knife out of his arm and threw it away. Still recovering, Rift didn't hear anything for the ringing in his ears, but saw a bottle left miraculously untouched by his building shredding gunfire resting below him. Just as the tone in his ears subsided, Rift felt the bandits bazooka barrel pushed against the back of his head. "Any last words, punk?"

Thinking for a moment, Rift took hold the bottle by the neck and grinned. "Yeah, have a drink." In one motion, Rift pushed the end of the bazooka barrel upwards with one arm, and used the other to smash the bottle across the chefs face. Another cannon shot lit up the night sky as glass, booze, and blood splattered across the floor of the hideout. The chef screamed in pain and grasped his face with his free hand, when Rift delivered a hard jab to his stomach with his still armored fist.

He grunted again as Rift followed up with an uppercut to his jaw, and again when a straight punch to the face that sent him sailing backwards into a pile of barstools. His bazooka fell from his hand as he attempted to look up at Rift, just in time to see his fist connect with his face one last time. The chef slumped back as Rift shook the gantlet off his arm, taking his first breath in what felt like forever.

Looking around, most of the bandits where ether out cold or dead, though Rift heard someone mumbling to themselves behind a pile of wreckage, apparently thinking they were out of earshot. "Dammit, why'd he have to show up now?" Rift was curious, and crept closer to investigate. "A few days, and we'd all be free of that damn metal mage and his student."

Rift ripped away the wreckage the bandit was using as a hiding place, causing him to scramble to get away from him. "What are you talking about?" The bandit backed into a corner as Rift towered over him. "What do you mean by 'free of that metal mage'?"

The banded was hesitant for a moment, however having exhausted all his options, decided to talk. "They said they’d give us Galow if we left them alone." He whimpered.

"Who said?" Rift demanded, quickly losing patience with everyone from this bandit group. "Quit Crying and spit it out already."

"The mayor of your town." He cried. "When the boss cornered him in our last raid, he made a deal with us. Galow’s life for peace in the village." Rift stomped on his face in anger, knocking him out cold instantly.

Taking a moment to calm himself, Rift thought on what he had just heard. There was no way, the mayor wouldn't consider trading the life of his master for the word of a bandit, would he? The man who had watched over the town for as long as Rift had known him was that unimportant to these people? These questions flooded Rifts mind, before deciding to head back to the village to investigate for himself. Just before leaving however, he stopped to pick up the chefs magic bazooka, a trophy for the fight he had won that night.

Harsh Deals
The nearby town was deathly quiet that morning, with most of the inhabitant's being kept up late at night by the various explosions echoing from the forest. Many assumed it was simply the bandit's celebrating, though they had never gotten quite so rowdy in the past. At least, not that anyone could remember. The mayor stood out on his porch for most of the morning, expecting to see the bandit's leader walking into town at any moment. He waited in his near baron town for most of the morning, footsteps echoed down the street. The mayor jumped to his feet, thinking another raid was upon them, only to see Rift casually walking down the road toward his house with a large magic cannon slung over his shoulder.

The mayor walked out to meet him, somewhat apprehensive of the large weapon he was carrying. "Mr. Grimm, where have you been?" Upon getting closer, he noticed that Rift seemed to have been in a fight recently, noting a few small wounds and his cloths covered in dirt. "What have you been doing?"

"Had a chat with that little gang up the road." The mayor's jaw dropped, though Rift ignored him and continued. "Weird how much you can learn when you just ask the right guy."

"You didn't..." The Mayor seemed unable to formulate a thought. "You didn't start something did you?" Rift didn’t answer, but this didn’t do much to improve the Mayor's mood. "Dammit, you mages just can't help but stir up trouble, can you?"

"Us mages." Rift repeated. "Yeah, that was something that came up too. Something about me and Master Galow." The Mayor seemed to grow tense. "Something about you handing the old man over to get them so that they'll leave you alone."

The Mayor was silent for a while, as several of the townsfolk came out of hiding and began gathering around them. "That’s ridiculous." The mayor spat. "You would believe the word of some common bandit over that of the mayor?"

Rift shrugged. "I don't know. Would that mayor try to sell us out to save his own sorry hide?" The Mayor sighed. "Because the guy I asked didn’t have much to lose by lying me. Damn near pissed his pants when I asked him about it too." Several of the citizens gasped, while the Mayor stared at him with distain. "Yeah, it wasn’t a friendly meeting. I ripped through their little hideout like it was nothing."

"Rift!" They heard a voice from down the street, and they all turned to see a middle aged man in a long cloak and a walking stick approaching. "Where have you been?" He began choking into his hand, while the crowd parted to allow him to pass.

"Hey their old man." Rift called, turning away from the others. "Well, I went into the woods and took care of our little bandit problem." He glanced back at the Mayor, who was trying his best to avoid eye contact with anyone. "Learned some pretty interesting stuff in the process too."

"I told you not to go picking a fight with them on your own. Why is it you never..." He stopped after catching a whiff of alcohol, and found it to be coming from Rift with another sniff. "Have you been drinking?"

"What?" Rift sniffed his sleeve. "No, I just got some booze on me in the fight."

"None the less, what were you thinking?" Galow continued. "You could have died. You could have kicked off a war between this town and those bandits. Had that ever crossed your mind?"

"At some point it did." Rift answered sarcastically, starting to lose patience with his masters questioning. "But I’m more interested to know why one of them told me the mayor here could have you if they left the town alone."

Galow was taken aback, thinking his student was making things up to avoid getting scolded. That is, until he saw the mayor's pale face out of the corner of his eye. He changed his focus to the mayor, who was doing all he could to avoid making eye contact. "Is that true?"

"What choice did I have?" The mayor spat. "You’re sick Galow, That's probably why they showed up in the first place. You're dying, and I had a band of bandits breathing down my neck." He began to back away from the two mages, not knowing how they would react. "They'd have attacked us if you went off to fight them, which you can't do. And your student doesn't have the skills to take them all on by himself."

"Want to bet on that?" Rift challenged. "I wiped out the lot of 'em, every single one. Any who could walk away after what I did are probably half way across the ocean by now. Besides, they only had one mage in the bunch. Regular solders could have taken care of everyone else."

"Regardless, I had to make a call." The mayor ignored Rift and kept his focus on Galow. "Believe me I didn’t want it to come to this. But let’s face it Galow; you’re not long for this world. Not after you fell ill."

"That's nonsense, I'm-." Galow was abruptly cut off by a coughing fit. It didn't last long, but it pretty much voided any argument he was about to make.

The mayor turned to face the townspeople, who by now had filled the street. "You see? That's why I made this deal. A dyeing man can't protect us as well as a gang can, even if their outlaws." He turned back and pointed at Rift. "And because it this man’s arrogance, we could have had those ruffians come down on us for revenge." Some of the townsfolk began to jeer with the mayor, calling for some form of retribution. "Your student can't stay here Galow, not if he's going to do something stupid like this again."

"I'll deal with Rift." Galow assured, wiping a small amount of blood off on his pant leg. "No need to do anything drastic."

"Drastic is nearly bringing a gang down on us." The Mayor argued. "What if he loses next time? What will we do when only a dying man is left to defend us?" Galow didn't respond, and the crowd was undoubtedly on the side of the mayor by now. "Your student's got to go Galow, I won't allow this sort of... Warmongering to occur in my town."

"Warmongering?" Rift repeated in disbelief. "Liston good you old prick. If I didn't fight them, you'd be stuck in your basement with your-."

A roar echoed throughout the street, cutting Rift off mid-sentence. Everyone turned to see a pail ape like creature standing at the edge of town. Rift recognised it as the mage from the hideout, Brag, or something like that. "So there you are metal mage!" He growled, pawing at the ground with his knuckles.

The townspeople scattered, running in every direction as Brag charged. Rift readied the bazooka to intercept him, but Galow's hand pushing down the top of the barrel stopped him. He stepped in front of his student, dropped his walking stick, and placed his closed fist in the palm of his other hand. "Iron Make: Piston." He held out his fist, and a cylinder of metal extended towards the charging Brag.

The man beast hopped sideways out of the way, but the attack pillar suddenly turned upwards, shooting high into the sky, before turning again and heading back down at Brag from behind. The beast man raised his arms to crush Galow, only for the column to smash into the back of his head. Brag was caught completely unaware as his head was crushed deep into the ground, stopping dead inches from Galow's feet completely unconscious.

Galow studied the fallen beast before him as it slowly reverted back to a human, before the long columns of his attack split into numerous disks and fell thought the street. "To sick to help huh?" He quipped at the townspeople. "Shows what you know." He laughed to himself, before grabbing his walking stick and walking away. "Come on Rift, we're done here."

"This isn't over Galow." The Mayor shouted, remerging from his hiding place. "Your student isn't welcome here any longer, and we will not let you simply ignore us."

Galow didn't even turn around to respond. "Then you've got absolutely nothing to worry about. You want the mages to leave? Then we'll be on our way." Rift seemed surprised by his master's actions, but followed after him after a moment.

"What?" The mayor asked in surprise. "No, Galow, we need you." He stepped up next to the now fallen Brag. "What we don't need is your student running off and picking fights with every gang we encounter. If there had been a dozen of them just now, we could be in serious trouble." Brag shuffled in his unconscious state, causing the mayor to jump away in fear. "If you leave, we won't stand a chance against them!"

"Maybe take that into consideration the next time you try to sell out the ones keeping you safe." Galow muttered only just loud enough to be heard. "But I go where my student goes; and since he's not welcome here, I guess I'm not ether."

"You can't do this Galow!" The mayor cried, while the townsfolk gathered again, all calling for the master mage to stay. "We need protection from what's out there."

"You want protection? Here." Galow took the bazooka off of Rifts shoulder and tossed it at the mayor's feet. "Wave that around a bit and nobody's going to mess with you ever again." The mayor sank to his knees. Nobody in the town had the knowledge to use a weapon like that, and Galow knew it. The cries and pleads of the townsfolk continued until long after the town was out of sight, but Galow continued down the path before him with his student in tow.

Nether said a thing for a while, and the only thing that broke the silence was Galow's occasional coughing and the knock of his walking stick on the ground. Just when Rift was about to speak, thinking he was forgiven, Galow got a word in first. "We're going to have a conversation later. And you aren't going to like it."

"Aw come on old man. They were just going to sit there and get pushed around." Rift said defensively, kicking the stones at his feet. "They complained because we didn't do something about it. So I did something about it, and it turns out that's not what they wanted after all."

"I'm not mad about that Rift. I'm mad beca-." Galow was stopped mid-sentence by an abrupt coughing fit, causing him to stop dead in the road. Rift moved to support him, taking his arm over his shoulders.

The coughing continued, and Rift dragged Galow to a nearby rock to allow him to rest. Blood ran through Galow's fingers when he covered his mouth, And Rift looked upon him with concern. "It's getting worse isn't it? Just like the mayor said."

Galow smiled weakly, still unable to catch his breath. "He ain't a doctor Rift. That old man probably knows less about medicine than he does about politics." This apparently did very little to relieve Rift of his concern, but Galow stood up and wiped his blood off on the rock. "Come on, let's get moving. I don't want that moron catching up to us."

Galow attempted to walk away, but Rift grabbed his shoulder to stop him. "Galow!" Galow's ear’s perked up at Rift’s shout. "Your lungs are getting worse, aren't they?"

Galow didn't turn around; he didn't even lose his smile as he answered. "Yeah, they're getting worse."

Rift was in shock, from everything he'd seen Galow do, he appeared invincible. Now he'd claimed to be dying, just like it was nothing. "We should get to a hospital. They might be able to do something for you."

"I've already gone to a hospital." Galow said, continuing down the street. "Got told to get my affairs in order and not adopt any pets." He laughed to himself as Rift caught up to him. "I never was much of a cat person, so I got myself a student instead."

"Got yourself..." Rift repeated, thinking back on the 8 years he had spent with his teacher. "It's been that long?" He continued to think as Galow walked away, before running to catch up with him again. "You could try again, couldn't you? There's got to be something they can do, right?"

Galow grinned down at his student. "Sorry Rift. They can’t make a cure for whatever's kicking around my lungs. Despite what the fairy tales might say, magic can only get you so far in life. Rest is up to you."

"So, what? You're just going to lie down and die?" Rift asked in disbelief.

"I'd prefer to call it, go out on a high note." Rift didn’t seem very happy with his answer, but couldn't think of anything else to suggest. "Don't pout boy, I've lived a good life. I had my adventures, met good people. I won some, I lost some..." He thought for a moment, before patting Rift on the back. "And I got myself a student who can take on an entire bandit group on his own and walk away almost unharmed. I'd say I done pretty good."

"A student who gets you kicked out of your home you mean?" Rift added.

"That too." He said in a joking tone. "But don't feel bad. I'd grown sick of that town and their holier-than-thou mayor a long time ago. It’s time for this old man to settle down and enjoy whatever life he’s got left." He laughed to himself as he continued down the road, Rift following slightly behind him.

They both fell silent again; though Galow's coughing fits had seemed to have subsided for the time being. Galow would glance over his shoulder at Rift every once and a while, who was still feeling down about the whole situation. After doing this a few times, he quickly twirled his walking stick between his fingers and jabbed Rift in the gut. He stumbled back a bit, gasping for air and looking at his teacher surprised. "Buck up boy. I told you I'm not mad at ya'. And nothing in the world will make me better, so quit fretting about it and put a smile on that face."

Rift was stunned again. Partly from having the wind knocked out of him, but partly because he thought Galow was angry before. "Y-you're not?"

"Not about starting that fight I ain’t." Galow spun his stick between his fingers again, resting it on his shoulder soon after. "I’m pissed right off that you didn't let me in on your little plan, but that's another story." He grinned down at his student, helping him to his feet before spinning his walking stick down again and continuing along their path.

Rift followed his master a while, feeling marginally better than before. After about an hour of walking, which included the occasional stop to deal with one of Galow's coughing fits; a small town came into view over the hill. "So what’s your plan then?" Rift asked, squinting to see it in the distance.

"The ocean." Galow said shortly. "I’ve always wanted to live somewhere tropical. Maybe take a boat out to one of the island countries, a nice vacation spot. Spend the rest of my days piss drunk and happy as can be." He rubbed his chin while he thought for a moment. "Or maybe I’ll join up with a mage guild. Give myself one more shot at fame before kicking the bucket." He chuckled to himself, which developed into a small choke. Before Rift could say anything about it, Galow slapped him on the shoulder and asked. "How about you? Skilled kid like you could find work real easy in a mage guild, or just about anywhere for that matter."

"The ocean sounds cool." Rift admitted. Both he and Galow smiled to each other, before setting off towards the town in search of a new home.

Saying Goodbye
Despite having a plan in mind, a year and a half passed since that day. Work for independent mages wasn't easy to come by, even for ones as skilled as them. But they had finally done it; they had enough money to travel overseas. More importantly, they had found a destination as well, the Island country of Bantia. It seemed like a bittersweet victory however, as Galow’s illness had taken a drastic turn for the worse in that short time.

Standing near the back of a ship traveling to their new home, Galow smelling the scent of seawater carried on the wind, which seemed to soothe his now constantly burning lungs. "You know, that part still doesn’t make sense to me." Galow looked to the side to see Rift leaning on the ship's side rail with his arms crossed. "How can the someone like you be taken out by some little bug? You're like, the strongest person I know."

"Humans can be fragile things sometimes Rift." Galow paused to spit a wad of blood into the water below. "No matter how strong someone is, we all have to die eventually."

"Yeah, I know." He said in a somewhat somber tone. "It just doesn't sit right with me. That's all."

Galow laughed. "Consider this your last lesson then. Stuff's not always going to make sense to ya'. But you'll waste a lot of time thinking about the stuff you can't control." He watched Rift, chuckling for a moment, which again turned into a cough. "You follow me? Or did I lose you somewhere?"

"Oh, I'm sure it'll come to me eventually." Rift said sarcastically. "Your cryptic rambling always seems to have some meaning behind it. Even if they make my head hurt for a week trying to figure out what it is."

Rift began to laugh when he felt a sharp jab in his ribs from Galow's walking stick. "You're the strongest smart-ass I ever trained." They both laughed, and Galow spun his walking stick, resting it over his shoulder. "You make hell of a legacy Rift. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Rift smiled at his teacher's praise as the ship's loudspeaker sounded off, signalling that they were nearing their destination.

The time they spent in Bantia seemed to be the light of their lives, but Galow unfortunately passed away only two weeks after they arrived. Rift came back one day to find his body slumped on the couch of the room they were renting, apparently having quietly slipped away in his sleep.

Rift shed no tears for his fallen master; he'd known this was coming for a little over a year now. Somehow it softened the blow, but Rift still opted for a private burial, rather than reporting a death and having to deal with the authorities. They weren't known to the people of this country, and it seemed like too much of a hassle to organise something for a person nobody knew.

He picked a small plot on a cliff overlooking the ocean, using his magic to bore a grave in the rock. A few minutes later, Rift sat crossed legged in front of Galow's final resting place and watched the sun set on the water. He'd used his master's metal walking stick as a grave marker, being the only position Galow seemed to cherish. He remembered learning somewhere that people usually said something on occasions like this, so Rift thought for a moment, trying to think of something appropriate to say.

"You were like a father to me old man." Rift thought out loud. "Don’t know why you took in a punk like me, but you did." He waited for the typical sarcastic response that his master normally gave, but a moment of silence reminded him that things were going to be different now. Thinking about what his master would say made him laugh out loud. "Well, thanks for everything old man. I'll make you proud." He pushed of his knees and rose to his feet, taking one last look at the grave before walking back to town.

Rift stayed in the room they had rented for the next few days, thinking on everything Galow had taught him and of what he was going to do next. He began searching for another place to work once the rent on the room was up. However he found that he had absolutely no motivation now that he was on his own. He'd always reacted to situations, depending on Galow to make the big decisions and only acting on his own out of necessity. Now that he had to fend for himself, he found that he was stuck not knowing what he wanted to do.

He walked along a street one midday, lost in his thoughts, when a pair of kids ran out from around a corner ahead of him. "Come on Leo." The first said, a young girl with purple hair, dragging a boy slightly older then herself along behind her. "Isa's already at the guild. Hurry up."

The pair of them took off a moment later, though it gave Rift an idea. "A guild huh?" He thought back to his talks with Galow about what they'd do after leaving their town, about how he'd planned to join a mage guild before dying. He'd thought about doing it himself after his master's passing, but didn't know there was one so close by. "Doesn't sound like a bad idea."

Rift followed in the direction the kids had run off in, wondering what this guild they mentioned would be like. A few wrong turns though the city, he realised that having not yet mapped its layout was a mistake, but received directions from a few of the townsfolk to set him right. He found himself walking down a path leading out of the town, a forest on one side and an open plain with the ocean in the distance on the other.

A structure came into view around the curve of the forest, a three story building encompassed by a large fence and surrounded by trees. He could see the frame of another structure being built next to the first when he arrived at the gate, and he spotted a number of people working away on it. None of them where mages, judging from the fact that they weren't used magic, but the feel of the place told Rift that this was in fact a mage guild. A sign above the gate gave Rift a name. "Blazing Soul." He read aloud. "Cool name."

He pushed through the gate to find the courtyard mostly empty, except for a small handful of workers taking a break on the far side of the complex. He made his way to the first building, taking the sights as the workers continued away, and walked through the front doors to see the inside.

Despite looking three stories tall from the outside, the building only had a ground floor, boasting a complex network of rafters on the roof. Wooden tables and chairs were stacked against one of the guilds walls, and scaffolding stood along the back and sides of the guild. A handful of barstools stood next to the doorway, so rift took the opportunity to have a seat. He was alone from what he could tell, and continued to study the innards of the guild until he heard the door shut and a small voice beside him.

"Hello." Rift looked around to find the source of the voice, finding the little girl with the purple hair he had seen in town smiling up at him. "You don’t look familiar. Are you new here?" She asked innocently. Rift laughed a bit, and she girl backed away. "I-I'm sorry, that was rude."

"Naw, it's cool, I get that quite a bit actually." The girl laughed, and Rift hopped up from his seat. "But yeah, I'm new around here. You guys have a guild master handy?"

She seemed confused by what he was asking, but the door opened again and woman with long white hair and bags under her eyes walked in, followed by the boy from the town. "Hey Isa, look." The little girl took the woman's hand and pointed at Rift. "Someone's here."

"I see that Shelly." Isa smiled at her, before moving both Shelly and the other boy behind herself. "I’m sorry sir, but we're closed right now. We can't take any jobs at the moment."

"That's alright. I actually wanted to know if you guys were open to the idea of new members." Rift asked as Leo stepped in front of Shelly, trying to protect her from the stranger.

"Oh, you're a mage." Isa seemed surprised; it wasn’t often that you came across an independent mage in the small country of Bantia. She seemed to relax a little and crossed her arms to think. "Well, we're not taking much work because of the renovations, but I don't think the guild master would turn anybody away." She perked up when an idea came to mind, smiling as she knelt down next to the boy behind her, "Hey Leo, do you mind going to get your dad for me?"

Leo eyed Rift for a minute, apparently unsettled with the idea of leaving him alone with Shelly and Isa. He turned from the man who was a stranger to him over to Shelly, who had ran from behind Isa to one of the tables in the guildhall and was now too busy drawing something in a sketchbook to notice what was going on. With a sigh he said. "Yeah, sure Isa." He took one look back at Rift before heading out the door.

Isa walked over to the table Shelly was sitting at, keeping her eye on their guest the whole time. Rift sat farther away from the girls, apparently aware that he was making Isa anxious, while Shelly continued to scribble away at her drawing. After a few minutes, the door opened again and Leo re-entered the building with a muscular man behind him. He looked between the girls and Rift, then focused on Isa. "What's up Isa? Leo said you wanted to talk about something."

"Someone wanted to join the guild master Davin." She said quietly, gesturing over at Rift. "We're still closed though, so I didn't know what to tell him."

"I trust you Isa. You could have made a call by yourself." Isa blushed a little, hiding her eyes under the rim of her cap, while Davin looked across the hall at Rift. "So... What’s your name?" He asked after studying him a bit. "Where are you from?"

"Rift." He said simply, remembering the long journey that brought him here. "My names Rift Grimm. I came from Fiore with the guy who taught me magic." Davin looked around the guild, believing he had failed to notice someone. "No, he ain't here now. He..." Rift paused for a second, looking past Davin at Shelly and Leo, who had both sat at the table to watch Shelly draw. "He passed on a couple days ago."

"Oh..." Both Davin and Isa said in unison, though Isa said it far too quietly to be heard by anyone. "What happened?" Davin asked, sounding legitimately concerned. "If you don’t mind me asking."

"It wasn't anything violent. He just got sick a real long time ago, something medicine couldn't help with." Rift stopped for a moment to think, though Davin and Isa both seemed relieved that he wouldn't bring any trouble with him. "We got here a few weeks ago, but his lungs had been growing weaker over time. Eventually they just gave out on him." He stopped for a moment, rubbing the back of his head with a grin, revealing his pointed teeth to the others. "Feels kind of weird to think about really. He was the strongest old man I ever known, and was taken out by some little bug."

A somewhat somber mood fell over everyone who was listening. None knew what to say until Shelly, who apparently hadn't been paying much attention, blurted out. "So you're a mage?" Rift nodded dumbly, caught between thoughts, while Shelly took an immediate interest in their guest. "What magic can you use?"

Rift was surprised by her abruptness, and answered a little slowly. "Uh, Iron Maker Magic." She looked at him with admiration, something that he wasn’t really used to. "The old man I was talking about taught it to me a while ago."

"Cool." Shelly picked up her pencil to start drawing, but looked back at Rift again before she could start. "So... What does it do?"

"I uh... Can make stuff out of Iron." Saying it aloud somehow made it seem rather simplistic, something that Rift found somewhat annoying. "I can make stuff out of metal when I'm in a fight. Swords and guns, stuff like that." That explanation didn’t sound right to him ether, but Rift gave up trying to explain it any further.

"Really?" Shelly jumped up and stood on her chair, leaning on the table at the same time. "Show me show me show me!" She barked excitedly. Davin laughed, encouraging Rift to go ahead with a nod.

Rift pushed off the wall and put his fist in the palm of his hand, but stopped to think after a second. His typical assortment of spells, swords, guns, fists, and chains, didn’t really seem like something he could show off to a child. He stood for a moment, having trouble thinking of something to use to show off. This felt weird to him; he never hesitated when he was in a fight, but that he was on the spotlight it became somewhat harder to act.

"Iron Make..." He started, thinking doing something was better than just standing there. At the last moment, he caught a glimpse of Shelly’s drawing and decided what he was going to make. "Statue." He slammed his hands to the ground, and liquid metal jumped up in front of them and began to take a shape. It twisted and coiled, eventually taking the shape of a cone on the floor. The top split in half and formed into wings, revealing a small dragon statue left on the inside. Leo and Shelly stared in amassment, while the adults looked impressed. It was quite detailed for such a small work, the skill of the user clearly showing through.

Shelly grabbed her sketchbook and jumped from her chair, holding it out in front of herself and admiring the small metal statue at the same time, before spinning around and holding her drawing up to Davin. "Dad dad, look. It's just like my drawing."

"Yes I see." Davin said impressed. "You've certainly got some skills young man. Your teacher must have been quite the powerful mage." Rift smiled a little, watching as Shelly tried to drag the statue away, despite it being roughly the same size as her. "So you said you wanted to join up with our guild?" Rift nodded, and Davin turned to look at Isa. "So what do you think?"

She didn't say anything, but smiled and nodded slightly. "Well, guess that's settled then." Davin said with a laugh, picking up Shelly in his massive arms when she gave up trying to move the statue. "Welcome to Blazing Soul young man." He extended an arm to him as a final welcome.

Rift grinned again, thinking back to what his master had said about joining a guild, and that last piece of advice he had given him on their boat ride here. Something about it made more sense now, though it still hurt to think about. Getting to his feet, Rift put his hand in Davin's much larger one, confirming his membership with a shake. "Thanks for having me."

END