Okay, so a new story, and a big one this time. I'm excited to get into this one but I have a... few things I want to address first. These are important disclaimers so you should read them.
1. First of all, apart from the very first part of this, the entire story will be told from a present tense, first person point of view. At least that is the aim. This is my first time trying something like this (especially with the present tense part.) so I welcome your thoughts on how it goes my first time around.
2. This is the warning for viewers that might get upset about it, as they have in one of my other stories, but there may or may not be blood, gore and disturbing imagery depending on the situation. This is a low-fantasy, medieval AU story, so while I won't be pushing for any grim dark, do know that I've warned you for the potential for thigs to get upsetting.
3... Honestly this is the one I think people will be annoyed with the most. Now, I usually make it a rule that unless it's already totally obvious or the central focus of the story for the main part, I don't advertise pairings. For this one, I will though, just because people may not like it, or at least that's the response I think I'll get from looking into it.
It's Pollination.
I'll likely have lost people just from that already, but that's fine. This warning is here to warn you so that if you truly despise the ship, or think it's wrong in some way, fair play. I entirely understand if you decide to not read this story and strike my name from your memory, just let it be known I gave you that out instead of dropping it on you like it has been to me. (When you can prepare for it, it's not as bad in my opinion. it's when you're not that things take this weird turn becasue it makes no sense.) Honestly, most pollinations stories are written purely for sex and... eh, to each their own, but I like not to be surprised with those sorts of things. Usually there aren't very many good pollination stories. the only one I can think of off the top of my head is 'Linked in Life and Love' it's a good one with an actual plot that first started like, before Volume 3 even aired I think?
Anyway, this is just a heads up for that. It'll be slow burn like all my stories are, but if it's not for you, you can drop out of this ride at any time. For those who still want to read on, I hope you enjoy.
God help us all.
...
There was a storm this night.
A storm, unlike that of any in living memory, unlike that of any other every recorded.
The sky was black.
The moon was hidden.
The stars had vanished
And the heavens wept.
And through it all, a woman in a white cloak ran for her life.
She was bleeding badly from a wound to her chest, one that leaked ruby red liquid and stained the ground.
And stain it did, even by the rains behest, as the gods themselves did their best to hide away any evidence of her retreat her blood marked her path.
A path for her pursuers to follow.
The woman in white stumbled as the ground crumbled beneath her foot. The path before her twisted and turned, as she climbed the treacherous, rocky mountain path before her.
She grunted, straining against her weary body.
A feeble cry could be heard from her arms.
"It's okay." She whispered soothingly. "Don't cry Ruby. You'll be alright I promise."
The infant, one not even old enough to have experienced its first winter gave a murmur of a cry, before quieting down once again.
Suddenly, hoofbeats could be heard in the distance, getting closer.
The woman held the child tight against her chest.
And ran.
Again her body protested as she pushed herself;f forward. She tripped, she stumbled and she fell,. But no matter what she kept her child close, she held her up, protected her from the cuts and the bruises she was experiencing herself.
And she pushed on.
She climbed higher.
She climbed higher.
She could hear them closer now, the sound of the horses, their grunts, their breaths bearing down on her neck.
She climbed high, faster.
She heard the sound of men, shouting, someone had spotted her blood through the rain.
She grit her teeth, crying out as she climbed as high as she could, as fast as she could.
The trail had widened out, flattened out into a road, but it was a cruel twist. Both sides of the path rose up into walls.
Into a valley. There was nowhere to hide for such a long stretch. There was no way she would be able to reach the other side before they caught up to her.
She looked down as Ruby gurgled in her arms.
She grit her teeth.
The shouting had amplified in volume. They could see her now.
She kept moving forward.
She pushed, and pushed, and pushed her body past its limits, past its breaking point and ran.
Her legs ached, her lungs burned and her vision blurred.
And then she screamed as cold steel sliced into her back.
She fell, but before she could hit the ground, she twisted so that she landed on her back, on the new wound instead of on her child, how she held closer now than ever before.
She could see the sword which had struck her, painted with her blood. It was attached to an armoured rider, his face masked behind his helm. He looked down at her from his horseback, and she knew he was grinning.
'The blood that coats his blade is to rich for the likes of him' she thought bitterly.
Not that it mattered, she realised. Her blood, no matter how extraordinary, would bleed all the same.
More hoofbeats approached, and suddenly the woman found herself bypassed and encircled by a group of armoured knights.
Summer Rose, Queen of Sanus, was surrounded by traitors.
She let out a strangled gasp, as she forced herself to stand, legs wobbling from the strain.
The one that had struck her laughed. "Look at that, the little bitch is scared of us."
A few of the others laughed with him.
One did not. "Silence." He ordered.
His voice cut through the rain, and the wind, and the storm.
And silence them it did.
The man in command, urged his horse forward, before after a moment of deliberation, he dismounted, striding towards her.
She felt his gaze through his helm, meeting it with a glare of her own. He reached up and took it off suddenly, revealing a middle-aged man, with a beard just on the precipice of greying. He did not flinch as the rain-drenched him.
"Your majesty." He said, voice solemn.
"Ser Tristian." She replied, doing her best just to stay on her feet.
"I am saddened that it has come to this," he told her. "I am saddened that it must be me."
"Don't," she growled. "Do not presume the right to act remorseful for your treachery, for what you have conspired to do."
"All the same, I am." He said. "I am a knight, my duty is to you… but I am also human, and my desires outweigh that duty. For choosing myself over you, I am sorry, and I am sorry that I was able to catch you… I had hoped to lose your trail."
"And yet you did not, and here we are."
"Yes… here we are." Thunder boomed overhead and the child wailed. Summer held her closer.
"My daughter, would you at least do me of the mercy of sparing my daughter."
At this plea, a truth crestfallen look passed over the man's face. "I cannot… the orders were that none of the Rose bloodline are to survive this night."
Summer felt a weight crash down on her shoulders, and she suddenly felt so very, very tired.
"And so that is what you will achieve Ser Tristian. I'm sure you will be greatly rewarded, though I'm sure you understand if I give you no congratulations."
"…I do."
"Well then." She swallowed. "Best get it over with."
He nodded soberly, one hand reached to his waist and freeing his sword with a hiss.
He raised it high, intent on delivering a quick killing blow to both mother and child, perhaps the only mercy he could give them.
Summer didn't look away. She stared resolutely into his eyes. Ready to greet the gods.
And then there was a cry as an arrow whizzed past.
And embedded itself into the knight's skull.
The other knights cried out in shock, but their voices were quickly drowned out by the thunderous battle cry from people who appeared seemingly from nowhere. They lept down off the valley's sides, crashing into the heavily armoured men and dragging them to the ground.
More and more and more with crude weapons and armour that were far outmatched. It did not matter, for they had the element of surprise, the numbers of at least ten to one, and-
"Magic!" one of the traitorous knight that had pierced her cried. "They have-" he was silenced as a spear of stone pierced his throat and pinned him to the wall.
And just like that, it was over.
The newcomers let out a victorious cry, raising their weapons into the airt as they did so.
"Your Majesty!" came a voice, as Summer lost her footing. Large, powerful arms caught her before she could fall, as her hold on Ruby relaxed just a little as she met familiar blue eyes. "Tai." She breathed in relief.
"Your Majesty." He gasped. "You're hurt, what happened!?"
"A Coup d'état," she breathed, for her lungs had suddenly reminded her of their damage. "Beacon is in Chaos, no doubt-" a cough, wet and bloody. Others cried out in shock around her. "No doubt the Vale will follow soon."
There was shock, disbelief in the man's eyes. "But that- that doesn't- how could they betray you?!"
"I do not know." She murmured, eyes growing heavy. "And… I… do not think it matters… not any more."
"Your majesty I-"
"Tai." She whispered. "You are… one of my closest friends… I can't- I can't offer you anything but, my daughter, please, Ruby. I beg you to-"
"There's no need to talk like that your majesty." He assured her. "We can get you back to the healers and-"
"Please Tai." She pleaded, her voice filled with desperation. "Promise me."
"I… I promise. I'll protect her, as if she were my own."
At that, a small smile spread across the Queen's face. "Good." She murmured. "That's good."
Her eyes, drifted shut.
"Your Majesty? Your majesty! All of you, come, we need to get her to a healer!"
In the end, it was too late to save the Queen. She had been fatally wounded for some time, even disregarding the amount of blood she had lost.
Those of the tribe that found her saw it as a miracle that she even managed to survive as long as she had, but it was a bitter one.
The Queen of Vale died that night, in the rain, in the cold.
And Taiyang, her old friend, was left with the last vestige of her legacy.
A little girl, with bright, silver eyes.
A girl named Ruby Rose.
…
…
I open my eyes blearily as the dream fades away and leaves me to face reality.
And by reality, I mean the shadow of a person standing over me.
"No!" I groan. "Five more minutes."
The person above chuckles lightly. "No can do pipsqueak, we're going today."
Another groan escapes me, but I know not to protest. She might take it as a chance to mess with me in some way. I drop my hands under me and push up. My hair falls into my eyes and as I sit up I run a hand over my face.
"Can you leave for a minute Yang?" I ask, not unkindly I don't think, but certainly with a little bit of irritation, if only because of my tiredness.
My sister takes it in stride, laughing again and sends me a mock salute. "Of course your majesty, I'll be outside."
With that she turned and left, stepping through the flaps of the tent and leaving me alone.
I let out a sigh. I'm tired, but I know I won't be able to get back to sleep, I never can after waking up from a dream. At least it was already morning. It wouldn't have been fun to wait out the night.
Losing a few hours sleep isn't great, and it would have been even worse today of all days.
It doesn't matter, I'm awake now and if I take too long Yang might come back to drag me out, so I get up and throw on my clothes. I sigh. Not much in terms of variety, I ruined the rest of my clothes last week during the hike here, so all I'm left with are some grey pants and tunic. I at least have a cloak, the only thing that sticks out.
Red is my colour anyway, it matches my hair.
I move over to the tub of water in the corner of the tent and splash my face with it. It's cold, and wakes me up a little more while also giving me a chance to look at my reflection.
I'm not a complete mess at least, so I shrug and leave my tent.
As she said, Yang was waiting outside for me with her arms crossed across her chest and scanning over the area.
The rest of the clearing was filled with tents just like my own people coming out of them with crates or bags or whatever else they could use to carry their belongings. When my sister notices me, she grins. I catch up as she begins to walk away, falling into step beside her.
"We need to feed the mules this morning," she tells me as we walk. "Dad says it'll be a longer journey than usual this time so they need to have the energy for it."
I nod.
"So where are we going?" I ask. For the sake of curiously. We'd been s the tribe had been staying in the mountain range for the last week, but it had only been a temporary stop. We travelled a lot being a nomadic tribe, but even the mountains weren't the ideal spot.
Yang hummed. "The blue grotto I think, you know that one we visited out three years back?"
"Oh yeah, it's the one with the big lake right?" I smiled. I'd liked that place last time we'd stayed. It had been cut off from the main roads sure but it had been a quiet place where I'd gotten many a good night sleep.
At the though, I yawned.
Yang caught it and nudged my shoulder gently. "You were dreaming again then?"
I grunt, have in confirmation and have in surprise. "How did you know?"
"Come on Rubes," she snickers. "It's not hard when every time you so you wake up with massive bedhead." For emphasis she puts a hand on my head and frizzes up my hair. A whine escapes me and she laughs.
Well… she's not wrong.
"Nice to know you think my suffering funny."
"Ah come one Ruby." She says, still laughing. "Don't get mad."
I stick out my tongue in response. It's childish, but it gets the best response out of Yang in the form of a mock gasp. She stops laughing at least, and a moment later swings her arm over my shoulder.
"I'm sorry. Was it the same dream again?"
"It's always the same dream Yang." I mumbled.
The blonde shrugs. "Well who knows, last night could have been different for all I knew. You let me know when you get a new one, yeah?
"That never happens."
"Aw come on don't sound so glum. It can't be that bad."
"Yeah well when you constantly dream of your mother dying let me know."
Yang's mouth clicks shut and I wince. I shouldn't have said that. It had been a stupid thing to say.
"I'm sorry/I'm sorry?"
We both say at the same time.
We both wince this time. Really, I shouldn't have said it. Yang was just trying to help. At least I knew what my mother looked like if only through dreams. Yang had never even met hers, or if she had, she couldn't remember her face. Dad told her about Raven plenty of times, but descriptions were never good enough for her. Not that Ruby expected them to be
We walk past the rest of the tents in silence, a little awkwardly at first but by the time we get into the open and down the rocky path leading to where the mules were tied up it was thankfully gone.
It was something always relieving with Yang. She didn't let stupid things like my mouth get her down. She knew I wasn't the best with social interactions even with her, so she brushed it off whenever I said something terrible.
Doesn't make me feel any less guilty, but it makes it easier when she starts talking again. Yang's good with animals, I already know this, but watching her whisper soothing words into the animal's ears as she strokes its head getting it to settle is always like an art form in its own way.
While she does that, I get to work hitching the wagons up to them. I do the same with the next one over, and the next one, and the next one.
Mules weren't mounts, but they were great for moving the tribe's belongings when we have too much to carry for ourselves.
I connect the last one up and shoot Yang a thumbs up. She returns it, and moves to pick up a bucket of feed.
Again, she whispers words to the mules, somehow convincing them, to eat one at a time instead of pushing against each other.
I wasn't any good at that. Last time I tried one of them had bit my hair.
Yang had found that incredibly funny and joked that he must have thought my red hair was some kind of food.
I pout at the memory. Sure my hair is bright but that doesn't mean the thing should mistake it for something he can eat!
"You girls almost done?" a voice asks and we turn.
Yang grins as she finishes up with the last of the food. "Hey dad. Yeah we're almost done just gimme a minute."
He does, and when she finishes she tosses the bucket away, smacking her hands together. "There we go, all done!"
Dad rolls his eyes at her. "Great job Yang amazing work." he promptly ignores the response Yang sends his way to look at me.
"So are you ready to get moving?"
I nod. "All ready. I had all my stuff ready the night before and packed away."
Yang rolled her eyes. "Little Rubes being a little miss overachiever again."
I send her a blithering look. "You're only saying that because I did yours as well because you were too lazy."
Yang flushed at the accusation, mainly because it was in front of Taiyang. "I—what?! No way, that's not true."
Dad chuckles. "Really now, Yang being lazy? Never would have thought it."
"I know right!" Yang agrees proudly." Ruby's just being crazy. I'm too fantastic to be lazy."
Dad fixes her with a deadpan stare. "That was sarcastic Yang."
"I don't withdraw my statement."
He shakes his head and sends me a look that says 'what can you do?'
I totally agree. It's Yang after all.
"Anyway." He said after a moment. "We'll be moving out soon. You should close up your tent and-" He freezes suddenly, looking past us, off into the distance. I blink and turn to follow his gaze. Yang does the same, and I can see a plume of smoke down the mountain path. It's still far enough off that I can't get a good look, but I can see people, about three or four, at the bottom at the mountain. We're near the top, so all I can see really is how shiny they are.
Armour.
There aren't many people who can afford armour.
"Are those… knights?" I ask.
Dad frowns. "Yang, get your sister back to your tent, get a weapon, stay there and don't come out until I come and get you."
Yang glances down at the cloud of smoke, or is it dust? It's getting bigger faster than expected, meaning they're on horseback. "Are they here for Ruby?"
"Yang!"
"R-right." My sister stutters, moving to grasp my shoulder. "Come on Rubes, let's go." I don't protest, quickening my pace as she leads me to her tent. Other tribesmen hear the news quickly, and a few of them are running for weapons. It might not be an attack, but nomadic tribes aren't exactly liked by people within civilization.
And if they're here for me…
The flaps flutter closes behind us as Yang makes her way over to a wooden trunk with a symbol of a heart on the lid. It opens with a click and reveals a pair of red leather vambraces. They fit over her forearms, and over her hands like fingerless gloves. I know from watching her use them that they also happen to be knuckle dusters. She checks them once, twice, before reaching over hand handing me a knife.
I stare down at it as it falls into my hands. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
She sends me a look. "Uh, use it to defend yourself?"
"You know I can't fight!" I hiss. "If I use this I'm more likely to stab myself. Besides they have armour, this isn't going to do much."
My sister makes to say something, but stops when she can hear horses let out a splutter. They're close by. She puts a finger to her lips and moves past me, peaking out of the tent. I feel myself sweating and after a second move to join her.
From here, I can see them and instinctually I hold my breath.
I count them, five in total, a small band, donned head-to-toe in steel plate and swords on their hips. The one at the front dismounts, and my father walks up to him warily. The other tribesmen and women have them surrounded, but they didn't seem worried.
I don't know if that's a good sign or not, but I'll take it as a blessing that they're not attacking yet.
Dad and the knight share words with each other, ones I can't hear from when I'm hiding, but after a minute, dad steps aside and gestures to the biggest tent in the tribe. It's where the Elders are.
"That's a good sign right?" Yang whispers. I'm not as confident as her in that, but I don't disagree. It feels like it should be, but all the same there's a prickling at the back of my neck, and unease.
Yang moves away from the flap and I follow, sitting down on her bedroll as she goes through the last of her things that we,- sorry, I – had packed away.
She lets out a noise when she finds what she's looking for. It was an orange scarf. She tightens it around her neck, shaping it into a balaclava.
It's her lucky scarf.
Is that a sign that she thinks we need some luck? Should I be worried?
There's a bit of commotion from outside, but it doesn't seem too hostile, if anything, it sounds like people are getting more comfortable around the newcomer knights. Another good sign I think.
I look down the knife Yang gave to me. I probably don't need this anymore right? If it's safe outside?
I should probably still keep it on me I think, just in case, so I tuck it into my waistband where I can use it if need be.
"I guess we can say they're not looking for you." Yang hums, sitting down across from me and leaning back. "There'd be a lot more violence if they were, right?"
At that, I let my shoulders slump. "Yeah, I guess so. Still not how I want to spend my time though."
My sister raises an eyebrow, "What? You don't like spending time in my tent? Is my room not good enough for your royal highness?"
"Yang!" I hiss. "Keep it down!"
She waves her hand dismissively. "Relax will you, it not like we're in any troub-"
"Excuse me, is there any supplies around here for us to use? You wouldn't mind if we borrow some do you-"
Suddenly an armoured hand moves the flap to the side and an armoured head pokes through. He freezes when he sees us.
Yang freezes when she sees him.
I freeze when I see him, and when I feel his eyes lock on to me.
He stares at me.
He recognises my eyes.
My face.
Oh gods, oh gods oh gods oh gods they found me! They found me and they're going to kill-
He nods his head.
"Your majesty."
And then leaves.
Just like that.
I stare.
Yang stares.
We both stare, at where the knight had just been.
Another voice calls out. "Did you find any supplies?"
"No, the tent was empty. I think they might be moving soon."
"Ah."
What was that?!
What had just happened?!
I turn to Yang in disbelief, looking for some kind of aid.
She just stares back at me, in shock and a little pale.
He'd seen me. He'd recognised me. He's called me 'your majesty'
And then he acted like it was nothing!
I sit there, completely still, waiting for the other shoe to drop and for the knight to come crashing back, sword in hand.
Nothing. Nothing happens. For a minute, then two, then three, then four and five.
Ten minutes, twenty minutes.
Not until half an hour later does Yang's tent flap move, and this time it's dad.
If he notices our still pale faces he doesn't comment on them.
"The knights are gone." He says. "They just asked for some extras supplies on their way back to Vale. We're fine."
"R-right." Yang swallows. "We're fine… yeah, we are."
He sends her a look but shakes his head. "Come on, fold down the tent and let's go, the tribe is already moving."
I don't need to be told twice.
…
..
It's a good few hours until I feel safe enough to breathe properly, and by the time I do we're on the open road.
The tribe is more relaxed now, and a good thing too, a group of three hundred or so people being tense isn't great for travel. I'm sitting on a wagon, holding the reins of one of the mules as he carries crates full of our belongings.
They don't really need the reins, but they're there just in case.
Yang's walking beside the animal, leading it casually as she talks and laughs with her friends.
I don't join in.
It's not for any real reason. it's just that they're not really my friends. Sure they act nice to me, mostly because they are, well nice, but I always feel as if they're only friends with me because they're friends with Yang. That sort of mutual acquaintance type of friendship.
I don't mind, I've never been good with people anyway, so it's easier like this, but it just means I stay quiet while she spends time talking with them.
It gives me time at least.
Time to think.
I can't get that knight out of my head.
Everything that should have gone wrong, hadn't.
Dad had told me that my mother had been the Queen of the Vale before she died, and that he'd raised me as his own to protect me from what the people in Vale might do to me if they found out I was alive.
It was likely they believed I was dead, what, being a baby when it happened, but dad was that kind of overly cautious that seemed paranoid until it was the exact time you needed to be.
Even if they weren't looking for me, dad told me I was almost an exact copy of my mother.
Hair as red as my name and the silver eyes of the rose lineage was easily recognisable to anyone who remembered the Queens' face.
Clearly that was the case, considering it had taken less than a second for the knight to call me what was technically still my title, even though it'd never even been to Vale before.
But that was the thing.
He should have tried to bring me back.
Or kill me.
I mean, the kingdom wasn't technically ruled by anyone at right now, all it had was a regent council that… wasn't exactly doing the best of jobs from what dad told me.
Either they'd send someone to kill me so that people could keep their power, or they'd bring me back to try to consolidate their own, which in that case would lead to my death via assassination anyway.
So the fact that that knight had done neither…. Was confusing for me.
And a little bit worrying.
Yang was fine though. Ever since we started moving she'd been completely okay, as if it had never happened.
She was carefree.
"That's because she doesn't understand the consequences. She doesn't know the risks. She doesn't care."
I scowl at the empty space in front of me, pushing down that dark voice in my head. It was just a stray thought. Not even a true one. It was one of those ones you had that you didn't even believe yourself but was mainly there to think bad things about everyone around you.
Of course Yang cared, that was ridiculous.
… and now I'm arguing with a voice in my head, great job Ruby!
It didn't even matter now. It was behind me. We were moving onto the next place and if the knights came back they'd find an empty clearing.
I could forget about it, pretend it never happened. It had just been a fluke incident, one I'd be more careful about in the future.
I told myself that.
But I wasn't even sure if I believed it.
Again, that didn't matter. It didn't matter if I believed something, only that it would happen whether I believed or not.
I shake my head. My thoughts are going round in circles now. I need to find something to take my mind off it. Having nothing else to do, I look up.
It's too early for the stars to be out. In fact it's barely past noon, but something about the great canvas of blue has always been calming to me. I'm not entirely sure why, maybe it's some silly, childish thing from back when I was younger
That doesn't matter.
The reasons don't matter, just the results, right?
Ugh… now I'm asking myself questions. I'm not sure why, who's going to answer them but me?
Maybe I didn't get enough sleep, maybe the encounter with the knight still has me frazzled. A few people look my way as they pass and mutter to themselves, the younger ones.
Well, only some of them are as young as me, most a few years older.
Some of them do that, mutter things about me behind my back, or, well, to my face.
The adults don't. The tribe… whatever it was, it had been loyal to my mother for some reason or another. The adults understood that, but kids my age were… well they had about as much real experience with my mother as I did.
Which was to say, nothing but the words of others.
To them, I was probably still an outsider.
I shouldn't have been; I'd lived here all my life, lived with them.
But that didn't matter to them.
I was fine with it really. After all, Yang's friends didn't care about that, so it was fine. I didn't need everyone to like me. That would just be ridiculous.
So I let them mutter and stare as I gaze up at the sky. Besides, I could just be looking far too deep into it.
They could just be annoyed that they had to walk while I got a free ride.
"Oi, Rubes."
"W-wha-?" I blinked, taken out of my daze as someone snapped their fingers in front of me. I look down, Yang's looking back at me with a curious expression on her face.
"You alright?" she asks. "You kind of dozed off for a second there."
I blink. "I did?"
"Yeah, you were starin' up there for a good hour or something. You keep doing that and you'll get a crick in your neck."
"Sorry." I feel myself shrugging. "I'll try to remember for next time."
My sister rolls her eyes. "I'd like it better if you stopped doing it. Seriously, do you know how creepy it is seeing you stare off like that?"
I raise an eyebrow. "That coming from the girl who practices the occult?"
"Hey!" she laughs, reaching up the wagon and plonking herself down beside me. The mules pulling us let out a little grunt. "Don't go calling it that city word. That makes it sound like what we do is dirty."
Yang doesn't actually sound offended, so I just shrug again. I don't foresee in my infinite wisdom that this would make her laugh more, reach over and ruffle my hair.
I can't help the whine that escapes me.
"Yang!"
That just makes it worse. "Aw! You're so cute when you're flustered."
"I'm not flustered!"
"Uh-huh, sure you're not."
The scowl I give her probably doesn't help my case because her laughter just gets louder, drawing other people's attention to us. I try to shush her, but yelp in surprise when she throws an arm over my shoulder and leans against me.
"So what are you going to do first when we get to the Blue Grotto?" she asks suddenly. "I'm thinking of taking a dip in the lake, cool off."
I'm still trying to maintain my scowl, so I huff and cross my arms. "Just don't go skinny dipping this time." I grumble. "Last time you go everybody's attention."
"You say that like it's a bad thing." She chuckles.
I push her off me a little, or try to, but Yang's heavy enough that she doesn't even budge.
I refuse to call her solid. It would only go to her head if I let that slip. Yang takes every compliment thrown her way as serious as the last, and she got a lot of… complements.
"It is a bad thing when I got guys coming up to me asking me to 'introduce' them to you." I make sure to put the word 'introduce' in air quotes as I say it.
"Aw~" Yang coos at me, snuggling closer. "Is somebody jealous of all the attention I get?"
"More like irritated." I mutter. "Why can't they just talk to you themselves? Why do they all go through me first?"
"But that's the point Rubes!" she grins. "You weed out the ones I wouldn't waste my time on."
"By sending them my way?!"
"Pft! If a guy tries to use you to get to me then he's not worth my time. "
"Well then what about the ones that do?" I ask. "You blow them off just as much."
There's a pause, before Yang lets out a chortle. "Careful little sister," She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively. "I could mistake your meaning there."
I blink, trying to figure out what she means by that.
It comes a second later and my face burns. Yang laughs at my misfortune.
I scowl at her and shove a hand into her face and she falls back with a yelp. She recovers quickly though. "You know what I meant!"
"Yeah, yeah." She relents after her laughter dies down. "Well you're just the first test sis. They still have to impress me afterwards."
"And nobody has?"
"Not for too long. Some of the guys in the tribe get a little bit of the way, but they either reveal that they're just drooling over me, or just become flat out boring after a while."
I shake my head. "Glad that you have the options to turn so many people down because you get bored."
"You're sounding jealous again. You upset nobody looks your way?"
"With you as a sister that's pretty much a given." There is no heat in my words. I can't be mad at Yang for being the way she is. She draws people to her just by being there. The fact that I'm overshadowed by that isn't something I can hate.
Yang knows that, she knows I don't blame her for it, that's the only reason she jokes about it.
She flashes me a smile. "Don't be so down. I'm sure you'll find someone who likes you eventually. You're pretty, and cute."
"Cute, how wonderful." I hear myself drawling. "Cute like a child, or a pet. Wonderful."
"I mean if you're into the pet play…"
"Yang!"
To my misfortune, my cry makes Yang laugh again.
If there's anything Yang's good at, it's finding my suffering hilarious.
I'm glad, because if or those few minutes, she takes my mind off what happened earlier that day.
I don't ask her if that was the plan.
…
…
"Thank the gods." Yang yawns beside me. "We're here."
"It was only a few days travel." I yawn back just to be contrary. It's late, and the night sky shines above us now. I'm tired, but I don't feel like that's a bad thing.
Yang waves me off. "Let me complain." She says. "I'll be too busy relaxing tomorrow for it."
"Oh wow." My response comes. "You're schedule is so full!"
The sarcasm is thick, and makes her laugh.
"Alright I get it. Still, take a look at it! Looks better than I remember."
I can't help but nod in agreement. The tribe was filtering in all around us through the mountain paths, a small road, surrounded on both sides by tall rocky terrain. The trail is hidden from anyone who doesn't know the way, and stretches on for a good few narrow miles.
It opens up though eventually, into what I can only describe as a massive crater.
And I do mean massive, big enough to house an entire lake in it, complete with flowered meadows and trees encircling the edges.
Honestly, it looks something out of a fairy tale.
The lakes surface sparkles in a fluorescent blue glow from the starlight above, as if to prove that point further.
It was a beautiful place.
"Come on." I say, flicking the reins a little and pushing the mules on. "Let's get ourselves a spot."
Yang grunts in agreement, her eyes already drooping shut.
It doesn't take that long. We take the same spot we'd taken last time, under a yew tree closer to the water. Unpacking our stuff doesn't take long, and when it's done I hand the wagon over to someone else so they can store the rest.
Around us, other tents are being set up just as quickly, and bar a few men and women getting ready to patrol the night, most are getting ready to sleep.
My sister is among them.
"M'kay Ruby." She scratches her face. "I'm gonna' get some shut-eye. Night?"
"Yeah," I nod. "I just have one last thing to do before I go to bed. Night."
"…yeah. Night."
She doesn't say anything else as she crawls in and leaves me out in the open.
I appreciate it. A joke probably wouldn't have been in good taste.
I might as well get it over with. I take off north of the lake, near what can probably be considered the back of the Grotto.
There's a little hill there – though I'm not sure if it's natural or manmade, I never was – with flowers sprouting up all across its back.
There are no trees here. It's as if they parted to let the moonlight cast itself down on it.
Onto the little gravestone.
I stop just a few feet from it, unsure what exactly I should say. It's always like this. I don't really rehearse any lines, I think I would feel weird about it if I did.
I sit down on the grass, still quiet as I do so.
I just listen to the breeze, and the nightlife starting to wake up.
"…hey mom." I manage at last. "It's uh… me, Ruby." I feel like clarifying. Dad told me she was the one who named me that, but I can't be sure he's telling the truth. That's a kindness right? Letting a child without a mother hold onto a name as the last thing they gave them?
"It's been a while, hasn't it? Or, for me it has at least. I'm not sure if it works the same with you in… whatever afterlife you're in. I mean, you might not even be listening to me right now… you could be, I don't know, enjoying yourself in Valhalla."
She could be. It's not like I would know. I'm not even sure which option would make me feel better. If I knew she was listening I might feel awkward.
"A-anyway," I clear my throat. "I've been doing well. Mister Xiao-Long's still been looking after me. I mean… I know he's basically my dad, but uh…" Yeah, calling him that to my mother feels weird. She already had a husband, I already had a father, not that I actually knew who he was. He was… a consort I think, or something like that. Not that it mattered.
"Yang's doing well too. She's really been stepping up as a full member of the tribe. I think she might have other ideas though," I admit. I wasn't sure but… "I think she has plans of travelling alone, off the tribe's routes I mean. I think she wants to explore the world on her own terms… not sure when she might do that though. You know how Yang is. She drops ideas as fast as she gets them in her head."
I pause, trying to think of other things to talk about. I don't create a list in my head, and my life hasn't been all that eventful if I'm honest apart from a few key moments. But…
"There was a knight," I say. "This week, I met a knight from the city. He…. He was with others, recognised me and everything but… he didn't tell the others. I'm not exactly sure what that means but uh… I've been worrying about it, just a little, but nothing's happened since then so…"
I trail off and let out a sigh. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do, you know? I-I mean, I supposed to be like, a princess right? I don't feel like one though, every year it feels more and more like some silly story, something all parents tell their daughters right? That they're little princesses? I mean, I might have started to believe I just hadn't grown out of that fantasy if it wasn't for that knight… and I'm not really sure what that means. What am I supposed to do?"
Of course, I don't receive an answer. I… Hadn't expected one obviously but…
I shake my head. It doesn't matter.
"So… it was nice to talk to you mom… I guess. The tribe's going to be here for a while, so I'll have plenty of chances to come back here… we'll uh… talk more then."
I have nothing more to say, so I give a little nod to the gravestone, hoping my mother knows I at least have my manners if nothing else, and turn away.
And stop as a shiver goes up my spine.
More than that, my stomach drops and I feel a sense of vertigo, I nearly fall over for a moment before I manage to catch myself and-
And then the feeling's gone.
I stare at the space in front of me.
Confused.
What… was that?
Of course, no answer.
I shake my head. I'm just tired. I need to sleep.
The trip to my tent is uneventful, though I'm not sure why I expect anything else. I crawl into my tent, changing into my sleepwear and pulling the bedroll over me.
I can hear Yang over in the other tents, snoring loudly.
I sigh and close my eyes and-
…
…
And wake up somewhere else.
I let out a strangled gasp as every nerve in my body shocks me awake, no, it shoots me to my feet. It must have, because I don't remember getting up. What was…?
Why am I in a cave?
I look around, trying to figure out what's going on.
I… I am in a cave. There are the stone walls and ceiling, the wet dripping and stale air to prove it.
"Yang?" I call out, confused. Where was she? What is this? "Yang is this some kind of bad joke?"
No response. My voice bounces off the walls but… it doesn't sound right. There's an echo, but it's as if there's an echo within that echo. It's disorientating. I shake my head, trying to focus. I was in a cave, with no clue where that cave was. I should probably try to fix that.
Like I noticed before, the air is stale, but even so, there's weak breeze washing over me. I'm facing the mouth of the cave at least, so I walk forward.
I walk, and walk, and walk. It's not exactly wrong, but I have a strange feeling worming in my gut. The cave walls are expanding… I think, the tunnels are opening up and I can see a light.
It's strange though. It's a dull one. Is it the moon? The sun? A torchlight?
And then I'm out. And the world opens up in front of me.
And my blood runs cold.
There's so much. So much wrong with the image in front of me, the landscape, the sky, the sun, the air, and everything else I can understand, but more than that, what I can't comprehend the most is the person in front of me… that person.
Is me.
...
And that's the first chapter. Some setup and an introduction to our characters.
I'll be honest, writing in the first person like this is really fun, some of the most fun I've had writing in a while.
But It's up to you if you think it was any good or not, so whatever you're thoughts let me know how the pilot was for you.
I'm still new to present tense writing, I sometimes slip back to what I usually do so if you catch any of what I missed let me know and I'll fix it.
For the first chapter, I hope you enjoyed, and since we're coming into the holdiays, I hope you have a good one.
Also yes, this was inspired by the Summer Rose Court. I'm allowed to love good stories okay!