SWORD OF MANA

SWORD OF MANA:Wounds

The hero is named Thorn

The Heroine is named Rose

"We would like a room for the night." Bogard said. The inn keeper behind the front desk looked up from his paperwork and smiled.

"How many people will be staying?" The man asked.

"One adult and two children." The innkeeper opened a cabinet and brought out two keys. He handed the keys to Bogard.

"We have two rooms evadible. One room with a single bed, and the other has two beds. Thank you for staying with us." The innkeeper handed Bogard the two keys. Bogard turned around, planning to find Rose where he had left her and give her one of the keys, but as he turned, he saw that Rose was already in front of him.

"Here. You can take the large single bed. Thorn and I will take the room with the double beds." As he said this, Bogard offered Rose one of the two keys that he held in his hand. Rose did not take the key.

"Um….Sir Bogard? I was wondering if…I could share a room with Thorn?" Her usually beautiful voice was edged with nervousness and worry. Bogard stared at the girl in front of him. Seeing that Bogard was not giving up the second key yet, Rose tried to explain.

"Thorn took a nasty hit from the Light Cyclops today, and it was my fault. I would like to be close so that I can treat the wound better. Also…I feel a bit safer when he's around." Rose finished this last part with a blush. Bogard recalled what had happened today.

They had all traveled to Wendel. Rose had heard Thorn's tale of Gaia Rock, and was particularly interested when he mentioned that he found a small blue sphere near the exit of the cave. Thorn had dropped it to the ground when realm soldiers showed up. Rose believed that the blue sphere was a water geode, and had begged Thorn and Bogard to take her to find it. Neither Thorn nor Bogard had the willpower to say no to her.

They traveled through Gaia Rock, and searched for an hour around the exit until Thorn had gave a victorious yell and held the geode above his head. Rose had squealed in pure delight and had hugged him until Bogard had asked that they head back to wendel. On the way back to the town, Rose was constantly keeping her attention on the geode, trying to communicate with the trapped spirit inside. Because her attention was so focused on the blue rock in her hands, she failed to notice the large creature heading to her. Thorn had seen the creature and pushed Rose out of the way, but he failed to get himself out of the way as well. The creature had roared (Bogard didn't see how, the thing had no mouth) and had shot a beam of white light at Thorn. The beam had hit Thorn in the side, and he collapsed onto the ground, the armor on his side melted away to reveal a large gash. Blood was seeping from the wound.

Bogard had gotten a good look at the creature. It looked to be made of entirely white metal. It was entirely humanoid, and across its metal head was a great red eye. Bogard's observation of the monster was interrupted by a scream of fury. Rose was on her feet, staff in hand, and stood protectively in front of Thorn's still form on the ground. Letting loose another scream, she had charged at the creature. Bogard had stopped his observations of the creature and rushed forward, intent on helping Rose destroy the creature.

When the battle was done, Rose wasted no time. She immediately rushed to thorn's side. Because of the light nature of the attack, the wound was not being healed by Wisp's magic. Rose tried her best with cleaning the wound with undine magic. Sometime during this, Thorn awoke. Rose and Bogard had helped Thorn up, and supported him all the way back to Wendel. When they got there, the late hour and Thorn's condition had prompted Bogard into renting a few rooms from the local inn. Rose had put up no argument.

Right now, Thorn was sitting on a couch, one hand on his wounded side, almost asleep. His eyes were mostly closed, and his head was bowed. He looked like he wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer. Bogard looked at Rose again. She had a little worry in her eyes, but her posture revealed how nervous she was. Bogard knew the reason that she was nervous. He could read her like a book, she never was very good at hiding her emotions. She looked so hopeful that Bogard couldn't say no to her now. He sighed.

"Alright. Just be careful with his side. It looks like it hurts." A smile blossomed on Rose's face, and she hugged Bogard.

"Thank you." She said. She took the key to the double-bed room and walked back to thorn. Bogard watched her go and shook his head. She was growing up so fast. Bogard turned and began walking upstairs to find the room that he would sleep in tonight.

"Hey, Thorn. How are you feeling?" Even in his sleepy state, thorn could recognize that voice anywhere. He smiled tiredly.

"Tired. You okay? Did the Cyclops get you at all?" He asked. Rose smiled kindly at him. That was so Thorn, always making sure that she was alright.

"I'm fine, but I can't say the same about you. Come on. We got a room." Very carefully, Rose wove her hands around Thorn's torso and helped him up. Thorn groaned ass pain shot through his side. Rose looked at him worriedly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." Thorn was too tired to talk, so he just gave a grunt instead. Rose put his arm over her shoulder, and wrapped her other arm around his waist. Slowly, she helped him climb the stairs to the rooms.

Traveling down the hallway, Thorn could no longer find the energy needed to keep his head up. He groaned, and his head rolled to the side and rested against the side of Rose's head. Rose became aware of the closeness in their faces. She smiled. They continued down the hallway until they stopped at a door at the end. Rose made sure that most of thorn's weight leaned on her before she removed her hand from his arm and slid the key into the locking device. When the door opened, she stepped into the room with Thorn, closing the door behind them with her foot. It was very dark in the room, so Rose summoned Wisp to light the room. The room was small, the only furniture was the two beds and a small table with two chairs. Rose led Thorn to one of the two beds and set him down on it.

She stepped back and looked at him. He looked asleep, his breathing was even. Rose took a breath to steady herself and took Thorn's hand away from his side. The burn was still looking bad, but at least it wasn't bleeding anymore. Rose called Wisp over to her, and began using his healing magic. Since it had been an hour or two since Thorn had received the wound, the harmful light magic that the Cyclops used had left his body. This allowed Rose to heal his wound. Rose healed most of the wound, but his shirt was blocking the view she needed to heal the rest. She blushed as she looked at Thorn's face.

"Thorn" She whispered. "Are you awake?" A low groan told her that he was, but just barely. Rose felt her blush deepen as she thought of what she was going to ask him next.

"Thorn, your shirt is blocking the view I need to heal the rest of your wound. Can you help me remove it?" Thorn opened one tired eye to look at her. Slowly, he sat up with a groan. His side was mostly healed, but it was still sore. He reached down and grasped the edge of his shirt and pulled it up. Rose felt her blush deepen even further as she stared at the six pack of muscled abs and collection of scars that came with being a gladiator slave for ten years. She swallowed and tried to concentrate on the wound. It only took a few minutes.

"OK, I'm done." She said. The moment she finished that sentence, Thorn pulled his shirt back down(much to Rose's disappointment) and collapsed back onto the bed. Rose looked at him and smiled. He looked so innocent when he was sleeping. She lifted her hand and stroked the side of his face.

"Hey, Thorn. One question before you fall asleep." Thorn groaned, in annoyance this time, but was too tired to protest, so waited for his friend to ask the question.

"Why did you get in the way of that monster? You wouldn't be hurt now if you didn't."

"Because….I promised my parents I would protect you. So long as you're safe, I don't care what happens to me."

"That's stupid. I'm not worth this."

"Don't… sell yourself short. You're worth….more…than you know." Seconds later, Rose heard a snore escape from his lips. She sighed, but the warm smile never left her lips. She suddenly realized how tired she was. She thought of going to the second bed, but a thought occurred to her. She smiled as she crawled onto the bed that Thorn occupied. She layed down and snuggled up next to him. She dismissed Wisp and the room was plunged into darkness.

Rose brought one of her hands up to Thorn's face and cupped his cheek. She brought her face up to his and tenderly kissed his jaw.

"I love you thorn." She said to the sleeping boy. His only answer was a snore. Rose fell asleep like that, one hand cupping Thorn's face, her own face just under his chin, and a warm smile on her lips that stayed with her for the rest of the night.

&

Thank you readers! One of my fery first pieces. I personally don't think that there is enough Sword of mana fanfictions. Review please! Tell me what you think!

Prince of assassins