Author's note: Hello everyone! I've been reading quite a few stories on here, and can't help but notice the small amount of Iris fics. I'd like to thank Vee851, xXEmeleeXx and The Genius Mage Divine Wolfe for inspiring me to do this story with their fantastic writing. I hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Rune Factory Frontier, any of the characters mentioned, or any other Rune Factory game or any other works involving it.
Raguna took a moment to catch his breath. He'd made this same trek countless times, yet it still managed to tire him out each journey. He approached the door to the tower, and turned, taking in the view. The sun was setting, and it bathed the sky in a fiery orange glow. Yes, the view from Whale Island was magnificent at this time. He smiled to himself, his breathing stable once more, sheathed his blade and opened the door to the tower.
As soon as Raguna had opened the door the smell of flowers assaulted him. Almost a dozen different types were placed in pots around the room... I wonder how many of these were gifts from me? He turned to the stairs, making his way up them cautiously. He rarely came this early, and last time he had, he'd happened to stumble upon the two Irises changing from their night gowns to their every day attire. Needless to say, it didn't end well for him. As he neared the last step, still grimacing from the painful memory, he cautiously peered into the room. He couldn't see either of them, and the light sound of snoring, which Raguna recognised to be Blanche, told him they were still asleep. He crept back down the stairs, smiling, deciding to wait until they awoke.
Noire had woken up earlier than usual; she'd been dreaming that she was exploring Whale Island with Raguna. She'd been shocked awake when her dream self had been smashed by a monster, throwing her off the floating isle and into the dizzying drop to the lands below, and she had been unable to get back to sleep since. She looked at the thick, purple curtains draped over the windows, and saw the powerful glow of the setting sun shining through the small cracks. She yawned slightly. I'd love to explore the island with him one day... If I can just work up the nerve to ask him. She turned onto her side, looking at her other half, sleeping on her back as usual. She smiled to herself, listening to Blanche snore softly, and mused how, despite once being one, over their time apart, they might've well have been different people. She sighed slightly, rolling onto her back, and stared at the ceiling... I wonder if Raguna thinks of us as different people... She jumped slightly. Was that the door opening? She turned onto her stomach and looked towards the stairs, clutching the pillow.
"Raguna never comes to visit this early" she whispered quietly to herself.
"Not after last time, when he..." She begun to blush at the memory, almost instantly snapping back to attention, she fixed her miss-matched eyes on the stairs. She could hear the sound of very soft foot steps against stone, slowly climbing up the stairs.
"This is ridiculous," she thought to herself "I know how to defend myself... The monster shouldn't be that powerful, I should be able to fight it, I have to protect Blanche... should I wake her up, should I let her sleep so she doesn't throw herself in harm's way? I just have to-"a mop of familiar dark brown hair could be seen poking up from the stair well, followed by the barest glimpse of piercing blue eyes. A wave of relief washed over her, a small smile playing on her face. She opened her mouth to greet him, but before she could, he disappeared back down the stairs. She frowned, confused for a second, then laughed softly to herself when she realised just why he was being so cautious. She lifted the blanket from her and made her way off the bed, crawling carefully over Blanche, careful to not wake her up as she did. She let out a small gasp as her bare feet hit the cold stone floor, and edged quickly on tip toes to her slippers. She straightened her night gown out, it was short sleeved, made of dark silk with white trim and reached to her knees, Blanche's was identical, just with an inverted colour scheme. She run her fingers through her hair as she ran down the stairs, hoping to catch Raguna before the Sun's still powerful glare could hit her through the door. Raguna had clearly crept back down the stairs at the same slow pace; just knowing how much he cared caused Noire to smile happily to herself. Raguna had opened the door by the time she got down stairs, and was just about to step out as she called softly to him.
"Raguna..."
Raguna turned towards the voice, and let out a small gasp of surprise as he saw Noire, standing on the first step, hands in front of her and folded together, pushing down on her gown, she smiled at him, blushing slightly. The site caused Raguna himself to turn red. He caught himself, and nodded at her.
"Good evening, Iris... Don't you usually wait till the sun fully goes down to get up?" He asked, tilting his head at her.
Noire shrugged softly, and looked at the floor, letting out a soft sound of agreement. Raguna closed the door, and took a step towards her. "Iris, are you okay?" She nodded once, still looking down. Raguna reached into his pack and brought out a bottle of tomato juice, and held it up for her.
"Here, I brought you this," Noire gently took the bottle gently.
"Thank you so much..." She said looking up at him momentarily to take the bottles, one for her, the other for Blanche.
They stood in awkward silence for a while, before Raguna turned to the door.
"Right, I'll let you get changed then, I'll be back soon." Raguna opened the door, and took a step out. Noire looked at him, hesitated a moment, and spoke up.
"Raguna, wait!" She cried hurriedly. Raguna turned to look at her, confused.
"What's the matter?" He asked, looking genuinely concerned.
"Can you..." She said began, gripping the tomato juice bottles tightly for some form of support. She swallowed hard, and began again "Can you... Take me with you around Whale Island!"
Well, that is it for now folks, the first chapter, I really hope you'll enjoy it; I always get nervous when people read my work... Anyway, I'll update soon!