Written by Rain
Edited by Cloud
Rating:PG13+ some violence and adult themes
Parings: SxS, FxA, KxH
Summary: AU (obviously) set in the kingdom of Tolan(AU) where dragons are the means of transport, recreation and war. Sakura is the princess of this world with her body guard Syaoran and her two Dragon Elite Captains Fai and Kurogane.
Genre: Fantasy/Action/Adventure/Romance
Based on the picture of Sakura, Syaoran, Fai and Kurogane with their dragon clothing.
Dragon Princess Sakura
Prologue: Dreams Do Come True
"Sakura-Hime, he's ready." Green eyes lit up in excitement and amber coloured hair floated behind a beautiful young woman as she stood from the ornate throne she had been currently presiding upon.
"So soon?" Sakura asked as she followed behind the tall blonde woman whose attire was dirty and ripped in places.
"Oh yes, I think your time spent with him sped up the training." The blonde girl smiled brightly at her princess and bowed her head slightly in respect for her. Sakura's smile brightened at the news and she quickened her slipper encased feet. She had been dreaming of this event ever since she had seen her first dragon rider and had hoped that she too one day may get the chance to ride a dragon.
The only problem was that it was forbidden in Tolan for women of any position to become a dragon rider and no Dragon trainer would train a dragon specifically for their needs. Well, all but one, as was testament to the tall blonde dragon trainer leading her princess to the holding pens.
"Have you told anyone about this Amaya-san?" Sakura-hime asked softly, worry filling her eyes. If anyone found out that Amaya had been training dragons in secret for women she would be punished severely.
"Oh Princess, don't worry. The only ones who do know are yourself, Mei Lin, Hikari and myself." Sakura sighed in relief and they both descended the stairs into the palace courtyard, the sound of rushing water reached their ears and both took the time to breath in the moist air and turn towards the thundering river that surrounded the castle and then plunged down a raging waterfall.
"Quickly Princess." Amaya called, urging the princess past red and blue clad soldiers and careful the keep her eyes open for the ever faithful green shadow. Sakura's thoughts turned to that aforementioned green shadow and his soulful golden eyes and strong, powerful presence that made her want to smile all the more. She knew that he would not agree to her becoming a dragon rider, it would be 'dangerous, unseemly, and against the law.' But she shook her head, at the funny scenarios that popped into her head about ways he would find out. Casually glancing over her shoulder she took a quick peak around to make sure he really gone.
The smell of the dragon pens breezed past her and she took a deep breath, today her dream would come true. A swelling of happiness swirled inside her chest and it felt as if it would burst out of her and that she would cry and laugh all at once. She waited until Amaya had spoken to the blue guards that stood before the dragon pens before following regally behind her.
The ground was swept clear of any debris and the pen smelt of fresh hay and clear water, flowers and grass grew magically behind the black pen doors and dragons of all shapes, sizes, colours and purposes filled the large dome building. The pen became a loud hive of activity as the head trainer strutted through her domain with the princess in tow. Workers stopped and bowed, smiled and said hello to their princess and Sakura waved happily back at them, often calling them by name.
Amaya ushered the princess inside her office door which was surprisingly sound proof. No noise from the pens penetrated the walls and Sakura touched the enchanted wood curiously.
"Fai-sama did it when we were having quite a heated discussion about Chii and a few pen hands barged in thinking there was some sort of problem." Amaya laughed and turned to a door which Sakura hadn't noticed which was right behind a desk filled with papers and photos of the dragons, scribbling were underneath each one and many were tacked up onto the walls. "After you princess." Amaya's eyes twinkled in delight and Sakura laughed merrily as she walked around Amaya and through the secret door.
"Another one of Fai-sans creations?" Sakura asked as her eyes adjusted to the bright light. Amaya came through the door and closed, then locked it behind her.
"Mm…though he did ask a lot of questions about it." Amaya grinned "nosey fellow." Sakura smiled and turned around only to gasp in surprise. Her beautiful emerald green eyes sparked with tears as she took in the site of two other girls, each clad in black, white and pink racing gear which hid their body shapes and beside them were two shining black dragons and one blue white which Sakura knew to be hers. Sakura spun and enveloped Amaya in a tight hug, tears spilling down her cheeks. She sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before throwing herself at the two grinning dragon riders, her soon to be team mates.
"Now, for the naming ceremony. I know that this isn't as grand as the ones normal dragon riders get, but well, we are breaking the law so I figured this would suit our purposes better." Sakura nodded in agreement and Amaya gestured towards the last neatly folded black, white and pink uniform. "Once your dressed princess, we'll begin."
Sakura changed quickly, but stayed in the small bathroom to admire the fine craftsmen ship, no ordinary uniform maker could have done it so well, the clothing though form fitting hid everything that it needed to. The pink and white embellishments on the uniform were beautiful and the symbolic cherry blossoms were stitched onto her left sleeve. Sakura ran her kiddie gloves across it before pulling her goggles over her head to rest on her chest.
Sakura smiled as she came out of the bathroom, Amaya was talking with the other two girls quietly, while three dragon heads butted at her to get her attention. Sakura watched them and she wondered how such a beautiful young women such as Amaya had found she had such a talent with training dragons, and how when no one else could calm a rampaging dragon, all she had to do was get inside the pen and then all was well. Sakura counted herself lucky that she had such a good friend in Amaya and that Amaya would help her to break the law and tradition of Tolan to achieve her dream.
With the three about to be dragon riders sitting astride their chosen steed Amaya stood before them on a platform. An ornately decorated staff held in her hands and ribbons flew about her from her robes which Sakura suspected of having all been stolen from Fai-san.
"I bestow upon the three of thee, a bond that cannot be broken, a sisterhood that will forever be a single unit of teamwork and trust, or support and of love. Your unit will be known as Star Raiders with the princess Sakura as your head. Princess Sakura whose rider alias will be Kero, what say you of the name that will carry you towards victory?"
Sakura frowned slightly as she thought, her mind had been so caught up in the serious and powerful voice that her friend had been using that she hadn't thought of a name for the dragon she sat upon. Sakura ran an absent hand over the pale blue white scales before the name came to her and she looked up with a determined face.
"He shall forever from this day be known as Yue." Amaya grinned and winked at her before turning to the next in line.
"Hikari whose rider alias will be Takeshi, what say you of the name that will carry you towards victory?"
The short stocky girl of their group brushed dirty blonde hair from her face and lifted pale blue eyes towards the robed Amaya and stated with a loud clear voice "He shall forever from this day be known as Wing." Amaya nodded and Sakura thought it an appropriate name. The last member of their group turned fiery red eyes down to the scales of her dragon while Amaya asked her the same question. Then Mei Lin sat straight and proud, knowing this was an important moment in the history of Tolan which she and the three other women with her were making.
"He shall forever from this day be known as Sheng."
"With the power of this staff I bind ye to the words which have been spoken. Go in glory Star Raiders and make Tolan proud." Then in a very un-ceremonial way Amaya pulled a camera from her pocket and took a picture of the three newest dragon riders.
"So, when's your first race?" Amaya asked as she pulled the sleeves of the robe up her arms. She frowned at them as they fell back down and Mei Lin laughed at her.
"Its Friday, will you be coming?" Hikari asked as she stepped down from her dragon and started to unsaddle him. Sakura and Mei Lin followed suit.
"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world, Team Wonder will make me go." Amaya rolled her eyes and Sakura giggled.
"Will you be able to distract Syaoran-kun for me?" Amaya nodded her head.
"Though it will be hard, but hopefully their team wins all their races and they'll be too busy celebrating."
"What do you mean hopefully? They always win." Mei Lin complained. Hikari winked at her
"Well not always, now that they'll be up against the Star Raiders." The four girls started laughing.
"Don't count your gold too soon, you have to make a reputation before you'll be allowed to enter into the higher grades." Amaya pointed out. Sakura clapped her on the back as they led their dragons back to their pens.
"So in about a week then?" she joked, the others joined in laughing until an annoyingly loud beeping interrupted them. Amaya glared down at the offending machine before throwing a silver key at Mei Lin and running off with a hurried apology.
The three newly appointed dragon riders watched her go with stunned looks. Before they went to change into their everyday clothes.
"Do you think it was Fai-san calling for her?" Hikari joked and the other two laughed softly.
"Yes, probably, but its usually about Chii isn't it?" Mei Lin sighed, "If its not Chii then its one of his squads Dragons and if its not that its to yell at her for making the Dragons listen to her more then his troops."
"Oh, did you two hear about what happened last week?" Sakura asked, a cheerful smile in her eyes. Mei Lin and Hikari shook their heads as they folded the uniforms up and stored them in the lockers provided. "Well, someone was using spokes on their boots and she found out. Now the Dragon was registered with the blue troop so she went storming, and I do mean storming up to the training grounds. And as you know, no civilian is allowed to enter the training grounds ever, unless they are of royal lineage. Well anyway, she goes up their screaming something shocking-"
"-how do you know this?" Mei Lin asked.
"I was there, and she was so loud, I'm not sure what she said, but it must have been a command and all the dragons stopped what they were doing and no amount of commands from the riders would budge them, and those that were in the air landed immediately."
"oh no…"
"oh no's right. Fai-san and Kurogane-san were furious, Syaoran-kun thought it was funny and so did I. Then she went right up to them and was poking Fai-san in the chest. I have never seen Fai-san so angry, and he never gets angry, worried yes, a little frustrated yes, but he was yelling at her."
"Yelling?" Hikari asked surprised. "But he never yells, ever."
Sakura shook her head "he was yelling, and then Kurogane-san was yelling at her to go away and tell the dragons to obey their riders but she wouldn't have any of it. And so she went through the ranks of troops trying to find whoever was using spokes and she was speaking to the dragons, it was amazing, and Fai-san kept yelling at her, but she ignored him until the dragons showed her which soldier was using the spokes. And then, Syaoran-kun saw it, I didn't because there were people in the way, but he told me about it later. But she pulled the soldier off of his dragon and dragged him towards Fai-san and then she kept on foot on the soldier while she pulled shoes on with spokes on them and then kicked the soldier repeatedly until Fai-san and Kurogane-san pried her from the man."
Mei Lin and Hikari stood before the hidden door mouths open then Mei Lin pumped her fist in the air and whooped. "that's Amaya for you, she loves those dragons like they were family."
Sakura smiled and nodded her head. "We are lucky that she thinks of us in the same way."
Hikari grinned "now princess, Amaya would do anything for you, I over heard her once saying to Syaoran-sama that you have the same gift if only you had been given the opportunity to use it."
"That's why we're going to win, with Sakura-Hime on our team no one will beat us." Mei Lin yelled enthusiastically as they stepped through the door and into Amaya's office and locked the door behind them. They were about to leave when the door opened.
"I'm telling you Syaoran-sama that she is here, you must have missed her, see, Sakura-hime, your bodyguard was getting worried."
Syaoran stepped around the blonde dragon trainer, his eyes angry as they swept the room before softening as they landed on the happy face of his princess.
"I'm sorry to worry you Syaoran-kun, I was having too much fun looking at the dragons." Syaoran didn't say anything as he ushered his princess away, with a glare sent at the other girls in the room. Amaya rolled her eyes and Mei Lin opened her mouth to say something but was stopped by Hikari.
"Stop, he looked angry enough as it is. I don't see how your going to stop him going into a rampage on Friday while he's trying to find the princess." Hikari said with a sigh. Amaya shrugged and then winked.
"I have my ways." Mei Lin and Hikari stared at her in shock and Amaya glared "not that you idiots, I'll think of something, now get out of my office, I've got things to do and I do believe you'll be missed from you jobs. The key?" Mei Lin handed over the silver key and the two star Raiders left the office leaving a stressed blonde haired dragon trainer to come up with a way to pass this scheme off.
Dragon Elite Captain Fai D. Flowright,
You have been commissioned by his Royal Emperor to be overseer to the training of the dragons after the unusual demonstration given at last weeks Training assembly. Yourself and Dragon Elite Captain Kurogane Sohi will be given a roster in which to centre your troop training around.
This will begin as of immediately.
Signed Yukito, Royal advisor to his Royal Highness and Emperor Eriol of Tolan
Fai sighed and ran a weary hand through his wind swept feathery light blonde hair and closed his eyes as a headache pounded in his temples. He knew something like this would happen after that incident and he was right. Fai did not want to be around when Kurogane received his letter. Fai rested his head in his hand and slowly stirred his tea, he didn't relish the though of Kurogane barging into his quarters and yelling at him about it being his fault they had to baby sit the dragon trainer. Blah, blah blah. Maybe if he made something sweet and forced Kurogane to eat it he would be so angry he'd storm out again. Or…Fai smiled, he could get obscenely drunk and then Kurogane would just leave. Fai frowned at his thoughts, there was no avoiding the confrontation and to some extent it was his fault that one of his troop was using spokes on the dragons and everyone knew how protective Amaya was of her dragons. Fai was pulled from his musings by three sharp knocks on his door.
"Not Kurogane then." He mussed as he stood and smoothed out his robes before opening the door and peering out of it. Before him stood Syaoran, an angry look on his face. Fai smiled and gestured him in. "What's happened now? Is it more suitors for the princess?" Syaoran glared heatedly at Fai but said nothing and took a seat folding his arms over his chest. "Ah, Amaya's stolen the princess again I see. Jealous Syaoran?"
"No!" came the angry retort that Fai had been expecting. "I'm not jealous, it's just that my job is to protect the princess and how can I do that when she orders me to leave while she visits the dragons with Amaya." Fai shook his head
"I'd rather have your job." Fai muttered while handing the missive to Syaoran who scanned it before a smile tugged at his lips.
"Has Kurogane seen this?"
"Not yet, as you can see my door is still standing." They both chuckled and Fai made Syaoran some tea.
"How's Chii coming along?" Syaoran asked taking a sip of his tea and smiling in bliss, Fai really could make anything taste wonderful.
"I don't know, I refuse to even talk to that woman and everyone else won't tell me."
"Does she even know what is wrong with Chii?"
"Yes, and she keeps smiling and saying I should ask Kurogane and I did and he doesn't know. That woman is daft."
"Lets not talk about her." Syaoran muttered angrily and Fai nodded in agreement.
"I'll have to use her dragon for the race."
"FAI!" Syaoran yelled slamming his cup down and spilling some on his clothes. Fai groaned and fell back into his chair, hiding his eyes.
"I can't help it, its like she's building some sort of shanty in my head and keeps yelling to get my attention. No wonder I've got headaches all the time."
"You need to get out more Fai."
"Yes well-"
SLAM, CRASH, BANG!
"YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING LAZY SON OF A B-"
"Kurogane what a pleasant surprise, would you like some tea?"
Kurogane's red eyes were blazing and he was breathing quite heavily "YOU! This is all YOUR FAULT!"
"Yes, yes, take a seat and we can discuss how were going to get out of it." Kurogane snorted but did as Fai suggested and sat carefully on the last remaining seat near the fire.
"Tea?" Fai asked and Kurogane growled fiercely, Fai sat back down quickly and took a sip of his tea to at least try to soothe his aching head.
"This is your fault and you know it, if you were a better captain this never would have happened."
"I have over three hundred mage troops, how can I account for all of their shoes?" Kurogane snorted
"I have more and I know where they are, what their doing, who they're with and what they eat."
Syaoran closed his eyes, anticipating a long and rather heated discussion from the two captains on whose better.
"Stop! This isn't going to solve out dilemma, we'll continue that later." Fai said calmly and Syaoran's eyes snapped open 'that was quicker then usual' he thought scratching his head.
"Fine, how do we get rid of the little pain?" Kurogane asked.
"We can't get rid of her."
"Who said we can't? I know of a guy who can make it look like an accident."
"Kurogane!"
"What?"
Fai rolled his eyes and turned to Syaoran. "Can you get the princess to talk to her father about getting us off?"
Syaoran shrugged "I'll try, but I don't think she will. She likes Amaya too much."
"Damn!" Fai said, tapping a finger to his lips.
"Look, the note didn't say we had to look after her, it-"
"-yes it did." Kurogane glared at Fai for interrupting. Fai sighed and slumped back in his chair rubbing his forehead.
"- it said that we had to oversee the training and to centre our training around it. All we have to do is send troopers to watch and report and only once, say a week, do we have to worry about actually being there."
Fai sat in silence contemplating the suggestion and Syaoran looked slightly surprised.
"Sounds like a loophole, when did you get so smart Kurogane?" Fai asked smiling brightly. Kurogane smirked
"Well I didn't become Captain just for my good looks."
"Really? Hmm, and all this time I thought it was because you sle-"
"-finish that sentence and you'll be seeing stars until your blind." Kurogane growled and Syaoran shrugged and winked at Fai who smothered his laugh by drinking his cold tea.
"Well since that's settled, anyone care for a game of chess?" Fai asked. Syaoran shook his head and stood up
"I should go and retrieve the princess from the Dragon Pens, I'll see you this Friday, make sure you get another dragon to ride." And then he was out the door, a slight smile on his face at seeing the Princess.
Fai looked to Kurogane who glared and left without saying a word. Fai sighed as he glanced at the beautifully crafted glass dragon chess set. The only person who was much of a challenge in chess was Amaya and …
"ARG! Get out of my HEAD!" he snarled.
"Achoo." Amaya rubbed her nose and glanced at the princess.
"Bless you." Sakura said to her as they walked back to the entrance of the dragon pens where Syaoran could be seen tapping his foot impatiently.
"Thank you, have a nice day Princess."
"And you as well, bye." Sakura waved goodbye and walked towards Syaoran smiling happily.
"How was your morning with Fai-san, Syaoran-kun?" She asked as they fell in to step together and walked towards the gardens that jutted out over the waterfall's edge. The view was like being on top of a cloud surrounded by beautiful flowers.
"I love summer." Sakura said as she twirled around, her face towards the sun and she smiled brightly. Syaoran watched her, his heart warm and a small smile tugging at his lips. 'I love you.' He whispered in his mind but would never dare say out loud to his princess.
"Look princess, wild dragons." Syaoran interrupted pointing into the distance where three dark dragons circled lazily in the air. Their backs were void of any colours or riders and their fashion of diving every now and then insinuated that they were playing.
"They're so beautiful, I would love to go and see wild dragons one day Syaoran-kun, do you think it would be possible?" Syaoran shook his head, his golden eyes watching his princess watch the dragons.
"It would be too dangerous." He whispered and Sakura's smile faltered for a moment. Then she smiled again.
"Did you know that I got to hold a baby dragon today? Amaya-san let me hold him, he was so cute and so small. And then I played with the young dragons, Amaya-san has taught them chasey and I was it. It was a lot of fun. You should come with me next time, Amaya-san wouldn't mind."
Syaoran grunted in a noncommittal way and turned his attention back to their surroundings where his sharp eyes caught movement to his left. Syaoran moved quickly to stand at his princesses back, his hands ready to unsheathe his twin knives. The purple and orange uniform of a page boy flashed between the trees and then the face of a young boy, panting and red was before them. Syaoran sighed and stood to the side as the princess turned to receive the news.
"Hello Masayoshi-kun."
"Hello gasp princess gasp." the young body had his hands on his knees as he tried to regain his breath.
"Get on with it." Syaoran snapped, angry that his time with the princess was interrupted.
"Hai Syaoran-sama, his majesty his Royal Emperor has requested your presence as Prince Yotomaru of Casslen has arrived." Masayoshi bowed deeply and then ran off back through the trees. Sakura frowned and turned back to the wild dragons.
"Syaoran-kun, sometimes I wish I could just play all day like those wild dragons." She sighed wistfully and then turned with a smile at Syaoran. "Though everything seems brighter when you're with me." She tilted her head to the side and a slight blush tinted her cheeks. Syaoran smiled gently at her and they both turned back towards the castle. "Syaoran-kun?"
"Yes princess?"
"Will you throw this prince out like you did with the last one?" Sakura asked, her eyes twinkling. Syaoran scowled and crossed his arms.
"That Prince insulted you." Sakura giggled
"He only asked if I could pass the salt." Syaoran frowned and looked away.
"He was insulting your position, he was your guest, you are not his slave." Sakura smiled at Syaoran and hummed the rest of the way back to the castle.
"Ni-san, Whatcha doing?" Kurogane groaned inwardly and turned to face his little sister.
"What do you want Mei Lin?" The red eyed girl smiled cheekily, her hands behind her back.
"Oh, nothing, I was just wondering if maybe, you'd give me and my friend a lift to the race this Friday?"
"No." Kurogane said and turned away from his annoying little sister and continued to polish his sword.
"Please?" Mei Lin whined, putting her face in front of Kurogane to obscure his view of his sword.
"No."
"Come on, your going there anyway, please, oh please, oh please, oh please oh ple-"
"-NO! Now get away from me before I cut out your tongue."
Mei Lin pouted and crossed her arms.
"I'll tell Ka-san." Kurogane stopped polishing his sword and blinked. Mei Lin smiled triumphantly.
"Fine!" Kurogane breathed and pushed his sister away and went back to polishing his sword quite angrily. Mei Lin grinned and pumped the air noiselessly in triumph. "I saw that."
"See you on Friday brother." Mei Lin sang and skipped away. Kurogane threw down the rag he was using and glared after her. He bent down to pick up the rag when his stomach growled and so he sheathed his sword and went off in search of food. The mess hall where the soldiers ate seemed a good enough place to start and then maybe he might just go into the kitchens and demand they make him something…hmm, maybe some pork buns. The mess hall was packed with blue and red soldiers, his soldiers quickly diverted their eyes as he walked in and Kurogane's mood lifted at the fear those men had of him. His mood crashed however when he caught site of the bane of his existence and her merry little band of annoying friends.
Kurogane avoided his sister and walked to the front of the line and ordered his meal. The few protests that left the blue soldiers mouths were quickly shushed by their red comrades and Kurogane soon forgot about his annoying sister and found an empty table to get stuck into his meal. He slapped the hand away that tried to steal his food and looked up with a glare into pale blue eyes that was framed in dirty blonde hair.
"Ah, sorry Kurogane-sama, eh, I thought you were my friend Kenta. Forgive me." She bowed hurriedly, a blush staining her cheeks. Kurogane grunted and went back to consuming his food. He stopped however when he noticed that the girl hadn't moved. He glared at her hoping that would scare her away, however she seemed to take it as an invitation to sit down and did so on the opposite side of the table. Kurogane growled in frustration and ignored her, maybe this tactic would work. It did not.
"So, Kurogane-sama, how is my brother Joshima doing in your second troop? I heard he might be up for a promotion soon." Kurogane stared at her, trying to get a picture of the boy she was talking about. Blonde hair, cocky grin, strong arm.
"He was, until you sat down." Kurogane answered and sipped some water to wash down the food and then he started on the next dish. The girl laughed as if it were a joke, Kurogane never joked.
"He talks about you all the time, about how you're really tough and that you work the red soldiers harder then the blue ones. But I see how you would have to, you know, seeing as Fai-sama's troops can use magic and all. Does it upset you that you can't do magic Kurogane-sama?"
"You upset me." Kurogane muttered between bites of his food. The girl continued talking to him and Kurogane would interject some rude comment every now and then hoping to offend her and get her to leave. However everything he threw at the girl seemed to bounce right off of her. It was like she wasn't even listening to him. And he didn't even know who she was. That's what frustrated him the most. Who was this girl sitting and dribbling on about who knows what and…stealing off his plate? Kurogane slapped her hand away but not before she snagged a spring roll.
"Ouch! That hurt." She said and then laughed while eating HIS food! Kurogane's eyes narrowed and his hand itched to get out his sword, however at that precise moment his sister came over and grabbed the girls arm.
"Hello Ni-san, did you have a nice conversation with Hikari? Well, we've got to go, we'll see you on Friday, bye!" Mei Lin grabbed her friend and pulled her away, laughing and smiling as they talked.
Kurogane's hand clenched and he snapped his chopsticks in two. Kurogane glared down at the weak wood and then at the retreating back of that girl, Hikari. Kurogane smirked. 'Now I know what name to put on the headstone.' Then he turned back to his food and glared fiercely at anyone who tried to approach him again.
Fai sighed, it had started out a bad day and it had progressively gotten worse, and there was another bad thing coming his way.
"What is it Masayoshi-kun.?" Fai asked, his gloved hand sitting on his hip as he surveyed his troops as they trained.
"Fai-sama, his Highness the Emperor requests your presence, Prince Yotomaru of Casslen has arrived."
"I'm a little busy at the moment, surely his Highness understands this." Light blonde hair flew into his face and Fai pushed it back lazily.
"He said it was important, something about the prince smelling wrong?" Masayoshi frowned at the words and scratched his head, however Fai's head lifted up in alarm and he quickly called for his second in command to take over and then he took off running towards the palace. He skipped past trainers and maids and past the dragon pens, his robes fluttered behind him like a flag in the wind. Fai turned the corner and crashed right into someone, sending both of them hurtling to the floor hard.
"Umf! Watch where you're going you moron." Fai slumped to the ground and consequently right onto whomever he had just run over.
"Amaya, what are you doing inside the palace?" Fai asked as he rolled off of her and onto the marble floor of the palace. The blonde dragon trainer sat up and arched her back, rubbing her head at the same time.
"I was looking for the princess, what are you doing running around like a chicken with its head cut off? For goodness sake don't you have more poise then that? You are the elite captain of the blue soldiers." Fai closed his eyes and placed his hands over them, hoping to block out the bad day he was having. Amaya pushed herself off of the ground and then reached down and pulled Fai up and started brushing him off. "I suppose you're here because of that Prince guy?"
Fai looked at her suspiciously but nodded his head and batted her hands away from his clothes.
"Good, he creeped me and Chii out when he put his horses in my pens. Horses? In a dragon pen? What an idiot." Fai raised an amused eyebrow.
"He creeped you out because he put horses with the dragons?" he asked, trying to clarify what she was saying. Amaya nodded and eyed him curiously.
"What have you been doing? You're a mess, here, let me fix that." And she lent over and straightened up his collar and pins on his coat, Fai felt a curious sensation when her hands bushed his neck and his throat seemed to become clogged with something. Coughing to cover up his staring Fai nodded his thanks and walked briskly away. Amaya glared after him and shouted
"What, not even a thank you?" And then she stormed off, unsure why she was so angry but knowing she would take it out on those incompetent fools that she worked with.
Fai shook off his encounter with Amaya and focused on the problem at hand, something had the Emperor spooked and only something magical could do that, so it was Fai's job to find out what exactly it was that was causing the 'funny smell.' Fai pushed open the throne room's glass doors and stepped inside. On the throne sat the Emperor in his midnight blue robes and sparkling gold crown on his dark head. His glasses shone in the mage lights. Beside him stood his son Prince Touya and beside the prince was the Royal Advisor Yukito. Sitting on the other side of the Emperor was the Princess Sakura and beside Sakura stood the ever watchful Syaoran.
Before the thrones stood a tall, brightly bejeweled Prince with an entire entourage of servants, body guards and what looked to be like pleasure slaves. However on listening to the conversation for a little longer understood them to be a gift of dancers to the Emperor and his children. Fai frowned at this blatant show of wealth and knew this would turn the princess right off. However the Emperor looked satisfied, but he usually was when treaties could be talked over and strengthened to avoid any wars.
Fai moved along the back wall, taking in the magical senses of the Prince, but it was hard to grasp anything, it was like trying to hold onto a slippery eel made of smoke. It was also giving him a pounding headache. Fai left the throne room rubbing his head and walked briskly back to his quarters; he needed to look up a few things in his texts. Something definitely wasn't right with that Prince and Fai was going to find out exactly what that was.
Prince Yotomaru glanced back as the Wizard left the throne room, he made a mental note to watch out for that one, nothing would stand in his way of getting what he wanted, or who. The prince smirked and pretended to listen intently to what the Emperor was dribbling on about, however his mind turned to the beautiful dragons he had seen in the pens and the haunty blonde dragon trainer who had been appalled at his horses being housed with the mighty beasts. Soon, he will hold the lives of these people in his hands and he will rule the dragons, by force if necessary.
To be continued….