"What the hell?..."

   Mani looked up towards the darkening sky in the distance as lighting flashed and the wind began to pick up.

   <It was clear not TWO minutes ago...>

   There was suddenly another particulary loud boom of thunder, and an instant later, Mani found himself caught in the beginnings of a nasty little downpour. Quickly weighing his options ("Ocean to the left, that cliff still some distance away, forest to the right..."), he decided to high-tail it to the forest.

   Not that it was much better. The trees, if anything, only filtered the falling rain, so it was no longer a question of IF he would get wet, but WHEN. Grumbling and swearing to himself, he began to push his way through, heading towards who-knows-where.

   His mind began to wander. There was something strange about this storm, something abnormal, something... unnatural. He could sense some type of energy from it, something magical, something freakishly powerful. Cursed world, he thought. Or, more specificly, cursed world with its cursed weather and its cursed prickish inhabitants... if he EVER ran into Maxis again...    

He suddenly stopped after seeing a figure some distance ahead of him. It was a young man of about 17, standing under one of the larger trees of the forest. Not that it was helping very much, the man was almost as soaked as Mani was. He was wearing a pair of black trousers, a two colored shirt (red on one side, checkerboard pattern on the other), and what appeared to be a jester's cap. Before Mani could decide if the man was some type of looney, he looked up and waved him over.

   "Why are you standing out in the rain?," the man shouted.

   <Because you might be some type of psycho...>

   He looked harmless enough (Mani was sure that he could beat him down if he attacked), so he joined the man under the tree.    

   "Nice outfit," Mani remarked.

   "Thanks," the man responded, not noticing the sarcasm in Mani's voice. "Heading to Harliquen for the festival?"

   "Uh... yeah."

   "Ah, so am I!," the man answered. He then extended his hand. "My name's Eric."

   "Mani."

   "So, Mani, where're ya from?"

   Mani thought for a second, trying to decide on the best way to word it. "Um, that's a long story...," he decided to go with.

   "Ah, a wanderer like me, eh?," Eric responded, elbowing Mani in the ribs. "I'm just heading here to check out the festival and stuff. Where are you staying?"

   Mani shrugged.

   "Well come with me then," Eric suggested. "You seem like a decent person, I'm sure I can work something out." All of a sudden, the rain stopped. The sun then came out full force, as if apologizing for the sudden downpour that just took place. It was a sudden, but welcome, change.

   <This place is weird...>

   Mani came to his conclusion shortly after stepping inside of the town of Harliquen. He couldn't tell if it was because of the festival or local custom, but it looked like everyone in town was dressed like a jester or something to that effect. And what about the name of this inn, "The Flying Woodchuck"? What up with that?

   "Hey Mani!"

   Eric came from the front desk with two keys in his hand, handing one to Mani.

   "How'd you get me a room?," Mani wondered. Eric shrugged.

   "The owner's my cousin. He owes me some favors."

   Mani decided not to question his good fortune and followed as Eric led him to his room. Going down one of the hallways, there was suddenly a loud blare of trumpet music coming from outside.

   "Ah, the festival's begun!," Eric observed.

   The music obviously was loud enough to wake anyone that may still be snoozing, and it did. One of the room doors suddenly opened up, and out stormed a young, red haired girl. With little more than a sheet draped around her, she stomped down the hallway towards the innkeeper.

   "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!!," she shrieked.

   Mani snickered as he turned to his door (he had seen stranger things...), but stopped as he noticed Eric staring down the corridor at the girl (who was currently shouting at the innkeeper).

   "Did you see that?!," he finally asked.

   "You mean the scantly-clad tanned young lady with the short red hair?," Mani teased. "Nah..."

   "She was... she was BEAUTIFUL!" Eric was dumbfounded, moreso than usual.

   "I'm sure she'll be at the festival," Mani remarked as he stepped inside of his room. "But in the meantime, I'm getting some sleep."

   Eric turned back around, finally able to tear his gaze away from the girl. "So what time do you want to check out the festival?," he wondered.

   "I'm a night person," Mani answered. "Wake me up at nightfall." With that he closed his door, and moments later, drifted off to sleep.

   The streets of Harliquen were packed with those checking ot the festival. Street vendors had sent up tables to peddle their wares, there was music coming from every which way, and Mani had counted more jester outfits than he would like to have. It was a lot like Mardi Gras', except without people pissing where ever they pleased.

   "So what's the occasion?," Mani asked, glancing over towards a man juggling some apples, a knife, and a red ball.

   Eric shrugged. "Damned if I know, but hey, I'm having fun!"

   <Can't argue with that!>

   "By the way," Eric added. "Why are you still carrying your sword?"

Mani glanced down at the black katana hanging on his side. "Principle of Shadow Ninjitsu," he explained. "Never travel without a weapon during a time of hostility."

   "Egad, but we're at a FESTIVAL!"

   "Call me paranoid."

   At that moment, a large, drunken man bumped into Mani. He had a large gut, a light unshaven beard and smelled like he had been drinking rubbing alchohol. "Why don't you watch where you're going, pal?," he managed to slur out after some supreme effort. There were three more guys behind him, obviously drinking buddies, for they were nearly as wasted as he was.

   "C'mon Bobo! Hit 'im!" one chanted from the back.

   "Excuse me," Mani said as he tried to continue. The one known to him as Bobo put up his hand and stopped him. Mani slowly looked down at the hand of his soon-to-be enemy. "I'd normally give someone to the count of five to move," he began. "...but since I don't think you can count that high, you've got until I get to two."

   By this time, the crowd surrounding them had began to back up, forming a suitable ring for a brawl. Bobo swung at Mani, who easily slapped his hand down and kicked him in the shin. Before any of the other drunks could react, Mani leapt back, pulled out his sword...

   ... and tossed it to Eric. "Hold this please" he requested. Eric nodded and backed up. Another drunk ran at him, but Mani quickly sidestepped and stuck out his leg. The drunk tripped, landing on Bobo. Out of the corner of his eye, Mani saw that one of the spectators was the girl from the inn. Cartwheeling past drunk #3, he made his way over to where she was standing.

   "Hi there," he greeted, dodging several punches.

   "Aren't you a little too busy to be flirting right now?," the girl casually asked. Mani grinned.

   "Nah, this isn't for me," he answered. Drunk #4 came charging, and was put down with a kick to the face. Mani pointed over towards Eric. "See my friend over there?" The girl looked around, then nodded.

   "The dink holding your sword?," she asked.

   Drunk #3 grabbed Mani from behind and began to drag him to the center of the makeshift ring. "He thinks you're cute," he said before breaking free and elbowing the drunk in the stomach. He glanced over and saw that he was near Eric.

   "What are you doing?!," he wondered.

   "Putting in a good word for you," Mani answered.

   "Can you find out her name?" Mani nodded, then suddenly flipped over Bobo (who was back on his feet), landing over near the girl once more.

   "So what's your name?," he asked.

   "Corina. What's his?"

   "Eric." He turned around and realized that all four drunks were standing now. "Excuse me..."

Mani turned around and faced the drunken squad. "Now," he said, "we finish this." He held up his hand and as if on cue, Eric tossed him the katana. Mani slowly withdrew the gleaming black blade, waving it a few times before him.

   With a shout, he suddenly began swinging the blade all around, slicing the air with wide arcs. He stopped, pointed at Bobo, and declared "YOU ARE NEXT!"

   "Run!!," Bobo shouted as he and his friends took off running, stumbling madly through the crowd. Mani bowed as the crowd applauded and Eric approached.

   "Her name's Corina," Mani informed him.

   Shorly after the fight Eric began looking for Corina but it seemed as if she left when the crowd dispersed.

   "She's probably back at the inn," Mani suggested. The two decided to head on back, as it had been quite an eventful night. As the two came upon "The Flying Woodchuck", Mani suddenly held out his arm and stopped Eric.

   "What is it?," Eric wondered.

   Mani pointed through the cracked door. There was a group of about five individuals, but he could only make out one. It was a large man clad in black armor, and who appeared to be holding up the innkeeper by his shirt, asking him something about a girl.

   "Back door," Mani whispered, heading towards the rear of the building.