The wind howled in her ears dangerously, trying to throw her off of her task and into the treacherous depths below. This would not deter her, though: nothing would. Crossing the bridge that would lead her to the destination, the wind shook the offending architecture wildly, and she clung to it for dear life. Steeling her eyes with determination, she set forward step by step. Nothing would stop her from completing her knightly duties!
It was a lot warmer near the castle, and the brave knight removed her helmet to wipe the sweat off her forehead. As soon as she put it back on though, it made no difference, so she would have to brave the heated temperatures too. Of course she would, though: anything to save the princess. As she approached the castle gates, her eyes were drawn upwards, and her jaw dropped at the sight. It was the princess, and she was up in the tallest spire of the castle, waving her hand out of the window. Fear shone clearly in her eyes, even from such a distance apart. "Help me, brave knight!" she cried.
At that moment, a loud roar emanated from the castle. Putting herself in an appropriate fighting stance, the knight waited with bated breath. Still, she jumped when the doors burst open and a huge, snarling dragon came slithering out, roaring and spitting out fire. Admittedly, a tremor of fear ran down her spine, but there was no time for fear. There was only time for action!
Lunging forward, sword at the ready, the knight stabbed hard into the dragon's underbelly. A loud, pained cry came from its mighty maw, and the knight had to quickly lunge out of the way as its giant tail slammed down right where she had been standing. The beast breathed its fiery breath at her, but she skillfully dodged it. Once again she ran forward, and once again she landed a piercing blow. This time, however, she could not dodge in time, and with a heavy thud its tail connected with her abdomen, sending her flying back onto the rickety bridge.
Sneering, the dragon crept closer, every step it took shaking the earth beneath them. Quickly getting back on her feet, the knight took several careful steps back. The dragon wouldn't dare move onto the bridge: it wasn't strong enough to support them both.
"Your quest ends here, knight," the dragon spoke smoothly, grinning its toothy grin. She was not scared of its silken words, however.
"Never! I will not rest until the princess is safe."
"Then you will die where you stand!" The dragon leaned its head back, preparing to unleash a deadly fury of flames. As the intense heat left its maw, the knight quickly dived forward, down on her stomach and just avoiding the blast. She could feel the heat singing her back, but she held in all the pain she felt. An opening had presented itself to her.
With a powerful thrust, she threw her sword right into the belly of the beast, rewarded with a cry of total agony. The dragon was properly distracted, allowing her to jump up and slam her sword down to the hilt. Its eyes widened in pain, then fear, and then finally they began to close. One final thud reached her ears as it fell to the ground, defeated. Panting heavily, the knight yanked her sword from its stomach and looked up towards the spire.
As fast as she could, the knight ran into the tower, running up staircase after spiraling staircase, until she was able to kick the door to the princess's forced chambers down. "Oh fair knight, you have saved me!" the princess cried, running into the knight's arms. Removing her helmet, the knight smiled and took the princess's hand.
"T'was nothing, my lady, but we must make haste. This place still is not safe for you." Down the stairs they went, hastening to make their escape. The entrance - and now their exit - was in sight, but suddenly a much unpleasant sight appeared, blocking the door. With a roar laced with pure anger, the dragon was standing in their way. Its narrowed eyes glared at them, making the princess hide behind the knight in fear.
This wasn't possible. She had killed the dragon, and she had seen the deed down with her own eyes, with her own hands! Slowly a futile rage built inside her, and despite the hopeless situation they had been thrown into, she screamed out at the dragon, the last defiant stand of a brave knight.
"Honokaaaaaaa!" Umi stamped her foot angrily, storming forward until she stood toe to toe with an equally-disgruntled Honoka. "You can't do that! I killed you!"
"Nuh uh!" Honoka shouted with equal vigor. "It's just a scale wound!"
"Nuh uh! I stabbed you in the heart! Ugh, you always do this, Honoka!" Umi pouted and crossed her arms, glaring at Honoka, who was doing the same. No matter how many different scenarios they played out, Honoka always had to find a way to make it about herself.
"It's not fair! Umi-chan always gets to be the hero and save the princess! I want to save Kotori-chan!" Honoka was just as obstinate as Umi, upset that her friend was always the one that got to be the hero. She was always saving the princess and being showered with praise while she had to just lay there, dead and alone. It wasn't fair. "Why can't the dragon eat the knight for once?"
"Because that's not how it works! The knight always has to slay the ferocious dragon and save the princess!"
"Well I think that's stupid!" They both turned away from each other with a loud 'hmpf!' Kotori watched the two of them with a nervous smile. Lately this was happening a lot more as Honoka became discontent with her role in their playtime. She didn't want either of her friends to be unhappy, though secretly she enjoyed being the object of their attentions. It was flattering.
"You know what? I think you're stupid!" Kotori gasped as Umi turned around to glare at Honoka, who was shocked at the outburst. It didn't take long for her to get angry too, however.
"Oh yeah? Well... you're a jerk!"
"You don't play fair!"
"You're a bird hog!"
"Well maybe we don't want to play with you anymore!"
"Fine!" The words stung, and in her anger Honoka shoved Umi, who lost her footing and, flailing her arms in a desperate attempt to regain her balance, fell off the wooden playground to the ground below. The wind was knocked out of her the moment she hit the earth, and both Honoka and Kotori stared down at her in shock. "U-Umi-chan, a-are you okay?"
She couldn't answer at first, feeling paralyzed on the ground. Eventually though, the breath came back to her, and she was able to stand up shakily. "Y-You're mean, Honoka!" she shouted, whirling around and storming off. "I'm going home!"
"Umi-chan, wait!" Not even Kotori's call could bring her back, and they could only watch as she disappeared from view. "Umi-chan..." She glanced at Honoka, who returned her gaze guiltily. "That wasn't very nice, Honoka-chan."
"I-I didn't mean to!" Well, she kind of did. It just wasn't fair, though. Why was Kotori taking Umi's side? Why was she always looked at as the problem child? Nobody defended her when Umi said Yukiho was already more mature than she was. "I just wanted to be the hero," she muttered quietly, leaving the playground with tears in her eyes.
Kotori sat on the couch, sighing quietly to herself. It had been three days and still Honoka and Umi refused to talk to each other. Both of them wanted her to hang out with them, but at the same time they wouldn't go near each other. It was confusing her: she didn't want to choose between her two friends.
"Kotori? What's wrong?" She looked up to find her mom walking into the room, a frown on her face. "Did something happen?"
"Y-Yeah. Honoka-chan and Umi-chan are mad at each other and won't talk anymore. I don't know what to do." Her mom sat next to her on the couch, placing a hand on her shoulder sympathetically.
"What happened between them?"
"Umi-chan is mad at Honoka-chan for messing things up when we play, and Honoka-chan is mad that she doesn't get to be the good guy, and now they won't talk to each other and I don't know what to do-"
"Slow down, dear." Kotori quickly clammed up as her mom laughed softly. She probably would have babbled on about it for a good while. "So they both want to be the hero, then?"
"Mhm."
"And they won't talk to each other?"
"Y-Yeah..."
"Hmm... I think I have an idea." Mrs. Minami grinned as she stood back up. "Why don't you invite your friends over for dinner tonight?"
"Okay, but I don't understand how that will help." Her mom leaned in and whispered something to her, which put a big smile on Kotori's face. "Oh, I see! I'll call them right away!" Jumping to her feet, Kotori ran as fast as she could to the phone, calling both Honoka and Umi in turn to invite them to dinner. Of course, she didn't tell either of them that the other was coming as well. After that was done, she eagerly went back to her mom in order to plan their course of action.
When Umi made it to Kotori's house, she was surprised to see Honoka there as well. "Wh-What are you doing here?" she huffed, watching as Honoka narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.
"I'm here to have dinner with Kotori-chan! What are you doing here?" Honoka still bad for pushing Umi, but she didn't want to back down, so she just stood there and glared at Umi.
"No, I'm here to have dinner with Kotori!" Likewise, Umi felt bad for calling Honoka stupid, but she too wasn't about to give up. A true knight never admitted defeat. That ended up meaning they stood there awkwardly switching between glaring at each other and looking anywhere else, until finally Umi had to glance back. "Didn't you knock on the door already?"
"Of course I did!" Raising an eyebrow in disbelief, Umi went and knocked for herself, ignoring Honoka's hiss of annoyance. Still nobody answered.
"Huh, that's weird... Kotori told me to come over at this time. I wonder what's going on- H-Hey, Honoka, wait!" Honoka froze, hand over the doorknob. "What are you doing?!"
"I'm testing the door to see if it's unlocked."
"Th-That's an invasion of privacy!"
"Fine, then wait here while I go eat Minami-san's delicious cooking." Sticking her tongue out, Honoka twisted the knob. To both of their surprise, it actually opened, revealing an empty hallway. "U-Uh, Kotori-chan?" Honoka called, but no one answered. Tentatively she took a step inside, before being pulled back by Umi.
"Wh-What are you doing?! That's trespassing!"
"Don't be such a narc, Umi-chan!" Shrugging her off, Honoka stepped fully inside, and after another moment of hesitation, Umi followed, closing the door behind them. Inside it was eerily quiet, and when they checked the kitchen, there was nobody there. "K-Kotori-chan?"
"Wh-Where do you think she is?" As if hearing Umi's question, a scared, high-pitched voice sounded from deeper inside the house.
"H-Help me!" The sound made both Honoka and Umi jump, turning to each other in fright.
"W-Was that Kotori?" Umi whispered.
"Y-Yeah, i-it had to be." They looked towards where the sound had come from, then back at each other. "Wh-What do we do?" Suddenly, they weren't looking at each other as enemies anymore, but as friends whose fellow friend was in danger. At that moment, Umi didn't want to be angry at Honoka: she wanted them to be friends again.
"We have to save her." Umi offered her hand to Honoka, a trembling smile on her face. "That's what heroes do, right?" Honoka's eyes widened, then she broke out into a big smile, taking Umi's hand.
"Y-Yeah! Let's go save her!" Together, the brave knight and the fierce dragon raced out of the kitchen and deeper into the stronghold, searching for their captured princess. Another cry reached their ears, and they hurried into the master bedroom. The door burst open, and they were confronted by a terrible witch! The witch cackled maniacally, having tied the fair maiden to the bed.
"Hahaha, you're too late! I have captured your princess, and I will use her to regain my youth!"
"Not if we can help it, witch!" The knight reached for her sword, but... "Oh no," she whispered in alarm. "I don't have my sword!"
"I'll distract her! You go save the princess!" Before the knight could stop her, the dragon had swooped in after the witch, breathing out her hot fire while dodging terrible curses flung right at her. Refusing to waste anymore time, the knight quickly ran to the bed, untying the princess and scooping her up into her arms.
"I've got you, princess!" She prepared to get the princess to safety, but the fair maiden looked over her shoulder and screamed instead.
"L-Look out!" The knight whipped around to find the witch hovering in front of them, grinning evilly as she prepared to curse them into oblivion. At the last moment, however, the mighty dragon appeared between the two parties, unleashing a stream of fire with a loud roar. The ensuing clash of powerful attacks caused a massive explosions, sending both the witch and the dragon crashing to the ground. The knight threw herself on the princess to protect her from the blast.
Slowly the knight raised her head, looking at the utter carnage that had come about within the stronghold. "U-Uh, fair knight?" She looked down, realizing that she was still laying on top of the princess. A blush coated her cheeks as she quickly jumped off of her, mumbling an apology as she peered over the bed. On the ground lay the dragon, unmoving.
"Honoka!" Leaping from the bed, the knight ran to the dragon, slowly placing a hand on its cheek. Shuddering, the dragon coughed out a pitiful flare, glancing at the knight and chuckling softly.
"Glad I could... make it in time," it coughed out, making no move to try and get up. Perhaps it couldn't: the damage to its body looked rather extensive. "Is the... princess okay?"
"Yes, she's fine," the knight whispered, looking over all of the dragon's injuries. "Are you?"
"I'll be fine," it laughed, though its wavering voice betrayed just how much pain it was in. "You'll keep... protecting the princess, won't you?"
"We. We will protect the princess. You were... You were a real hero," she whispered, and the two of them smiled at each other.
"That's all I ever wanted." Those were the final words that slipped from the dragon's tongue, as its eyes closed and its heart stopped beating. The knight's eyes widened in alarm, shaking the dragon's massive shoulder.
"H-Honoka?! No, you can't die! Don't die!" But there were no more words to say. A tear slipped down the brave knight's cheek, shed over the loss of her friend. Laying her head on its shoulder, she whispered, "I'll never forget your sacrifice."
The room was dead quiet, until a praising clap broke the silent reverie. "That was amazing, Umi-chan, Honoka-chan!" Umi looked up to find Kotori next to them, smiling brightly. Honoka lifted up her head, and neither of them could resist Kotori's smile: they both ended up smiling as well.
"Well, I'm going to start dinner before my hip gives out." Laughing, Mrs. Minami left the room and headed for the kitchen, leaving the three girls to pick themselves up and follow along. Squeezing in between Honoka and Umi, Kotori grabbed their hands and held them with a smile, happy that the two of them were able to make up. The two former squabblers looked at each other in turn, then laughed together, smiling happily. It was good to be friends again.