Once upon a time, there was a princess named Galaco.
Galaco, like most princesses, had spent most of her childhood trapped in a tower. Some from the richer and more important countries had their princesses sent to the most luxurious of towers, spanning nearly the entire area of a small town and even complete with its own servants. Galaco, being a relative nobody, had a teeny tower half the size of her quarters in the castle, with a giant gaping window that offered her absolutely no privacy at all. It did come with a dragon that she loathed.
The dragon in question was one of the most annoying dragons she'd ever met, as it seemed to have never heard of peace and quiet. She already had a short attention span, but the near constant stream of noises coming from the blasted fire lizard made it impossible for Galaco to concentrate on any—
It snorted, disrupting her train of thought again. She cursed it under her breath. There was another loud, irritating snort, but it sounded more like a snore.
Was the dragon asleep?
Galaco peeked outside, and grinned when she saw that it was.
"Yes!" she crowed. "Finally!"
You see, Galaco was a very impatient girl, and certain (after four years of no rescue) that she'd been forgotten, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
She'd managed to acquire a stash of Rapunzel's Extra-Strength Climbing RopeTM from a nameless goods dealer that seemed a bit shady and who'd also tried to tempt her with some strange-looking plants. She'd declined. It had required the sale of her favorite crown and her mother's engagement ring. The queen wouldn't notice.
The dragon slumbered on. She hoped it would stay that way.
A burst of flames from its gaping, drooling maw made her hope desperately that Rapunzel's Extra-Strength Climbing RopeTM was fireproof, or at least resistant enough to get her down on the ground safely. A pillowcase filled with her most important belongings was over her shoulder and ready to go.
Galaco lowered the rope over the edge, stiffening when it came a hair too close to the unconscious beast. It missed, she exhaled, and continued with the arduous task. Her arms were getting sore from both the weight of the rope and the fact that they had been extended for so long.
Finally, the rope had hit ground, and she tied the remainder to the convenient hair-hook on the windowside (as it was common for princesses to grow their hair out in case their rescuer came underprepared). She tugged on it a few times to make sure it was secure, attached the pillowcase to a harness she'd made, and climbed over the edge.
Galaco was amazed that the unholy shrieks she made on the descent hadn't woken the dragon. Her hands burned, and she rooted through the sack for the ointment she'd forgotten to bring.
"Rats," she grumbled.
The rope promptly disintegrated. Galaco eyed it with disdain, unimpressed with the shoddy workmanship. She was glad she'd decided to pass over the regular-strength rope.
A somewhat confused snort told her that the dragon was waking up. She edged away. It's eyes scanned over her blearily with glazed eyes, and she picked up the pace of her awkward backwards shuffle.
It was about to lay down and go back to sleep, but her relief turned to terror as it came upon a sudden realization.
She ran.
–§–
Galaco thanked whatever gods were out there for the conveniently-placed forest. The dragon was not so fortunate as to avoid crashing head-first into a particularly robust tree.
She made her escape as it thrashed wildly, engulfing its surroundings in flame and terrifying the local wildlife. It was quite a spectacle. She felt a twinge of pity for the poor thing, and then she remembered that it was what she hated most about the tower.
Galaco ran on.
It had been about ten minutes by now, and the princess was feeling quite tired. She'd never had to exercise before, being stuck in a tower and all, so she sat down and rested.
The tree trunk she'd been resting on moved, and she tumbled forward with a shriek. It came right out of the ground to reveal a battered-looking suit of armor, with twigs and leaves stick in the cracks. The knight removed the costume and straightened his helmet.
"Hello there," he said, and although the voice was muffled by the helmet, Galaco found it rather effeminate.
"Hello back," she replied, and then remembered she was lying on the ground and picked herself up. "What're you doing here?"
The knight hesitated, seeming unsure of what to say. "I could ask you the same thing, miss." He clanked over to the faux-tree and folded it up.
Galaco froze halfway between getting up and laying down. If word got out to her parents... no, she would have to make something up. "Uh, I'm a traveller. From Irven. Who're you?"
"I'm Mike. Mike the knight, from Bestonia. They have great roast beef."
She nodded slowly. "Mike. That's an... interesting name. Very unique," she added, in an effort to make him feel better.
He shrugged, jostling the too-large chestplate. "My mother was a bit eccentric. Anyway, I left my horse up ahead, so if you want a lift to the next town..."
Galaco considered her choices. She could hear the dragon still roaring in the background, and if she stayed here it would eventually find her. However, she'd just met Mike and didn't know if he was trustworthy or not.
He seemed awfully nice for someone who'd just had a stranger sit on his lap.
She didn't have time to make a proper decision before a column of fire swept into view.
–§–
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Miki.
Miki, like most girls, had spent most of her childhood being taught how to be a proper lady. However, most proper ladies did not sneak out in armor "borrowed" from their brother.
She'd visited a great many places (for someone who'd never seen much outside the estate, anyway), but her parents would come looking for her soon. Not knowing what consequences faced her at home, she decided to take her chances outside the country.
Hiding in the false tree-trunk was more of a last-minute decision. There was a person coming up the road whose identity she didn't know, and was unsure if they'd recognize her or not.
Fortunately, it was a princess. Unfortunately, the princess was an attractive one, and she had to remind herself to stop staring every once in a while. The horse clopped along, swatting at gnats with its tail.
The princess coughed. "Would you please," she said, clearly miffed, "stop staring at my hair?"
Miki shook herself. "Sorry, Pri—I mean, Miss Traveller."
The princess shot her an odd look, but said nothing more.
They reached a small village in the late afternoon, and luckily Miki had the foresight to bring a few coins along. There were few pawnshops in a place like this, and people would raise questions if the princess tried to sell any royal jewellry here, especially since she was claiming to be a traveller from 'Irven'. Wherever that was.
Dusk had set when they finally found an inn with room for two with shelter for the horse. The beds were rock-hard, unlike the soft mattresses she was used to at home.
Miki waited until the princess was already asleep before she began removing her armor as discreetly as possible, flinching when one of the pieces came down too hard on the ground. She blew out the candle and tucked herself in.
–§–
Galaco awoke a few minutes after dawn, having lain in wait of the dragon's daily wake-up call until she remembered that she was not in the tower anymore. She stretched and massaged her aching back, silently cursing the straw-filled mattresses.
"No better than sleeping on a haystack," she grumbled.
She glanced over at Mike, who was still sleeping. However, there was something off about him.
He – or maybe she – was quite a bit slimmer than she expected, due to the fact that the armor appeared to be several sizes too large and filled with padding. Perhaps it was borrowed from an older sibling. The hair was braided into a bun to conceal its length, and the visor's slits were just big enough to allow the wearer to see but concealed the face well.
She shrugged, resolving to ask them later. Breakfast was more important now.
Galaco strolled into the market with a few coins her bag, eyeing in particular the round mooncakes she so enjoyed in her childhood. However, she was disappointed when she saw the price (although it was understandable, as imports were always expensive) was out of budget. She would have to come back sometime later.
She found Mike lounging outside the inn, and she immediately confronted them about the (apparent) deception.
"Are you a girl? Also, what's your actual name? 'Mike' is obviously made up."
"Okay, calm down. Yes, and my name is Miki. Don't tell anyone," she added in a whisper," because I don't want to go home just yet. Besides, Galaxy or whatever your name is sounds pretty made up too."
Galaco huffed indignantly. "My name is Galaco, thank you very much. Anyway, let's not stay longer than we have to. I don't want the dragon to come after me, and maybe it'll give up if we keep moving."
Miki nodded.
They set off at noon loaded with supplies, stopping along small assorted settlements to give the poor horse a break and to restock inventory. Two days later, Miki had to set it free when it stopped and refused to walk any further.
She wiped a tear from her eye as it trotted out of view. "I'll miss Buttercup."
Galaco nudged her along. "It'll be fine. Besides, your family probably has tons more."
A far-off roar disturbed what had previously been a serene spring morning. It was a very familiar roar, one that annoyed her to no end.
"Shoot," Galaco said.
A small dot appeared on the horizon, and it steadily grew larger as she pushed Miki to start running.
"How did it manage to find us out here?" Miki panted, furiously stripping herself of the heavy armor.
Galaco didn't reply as she found a small knife and started hacking away at the straps. She looked back frantically every few seconds, almost dropping the knife in surprise.
Miki gave up on the remaining shin guards and pulled Galaco to her feet. The dragon had landed and was prowling towards them with the reptilian equivalent of a smug grin.
Galaco cursed loudly.
The dragon was now nearly on top of them, and Miki decided that running any further would be futile. She dug around in the one remaining sack for anything useful, only coming across the knife Galaco had brought.
The dragon grabbed at Galaco and she scrambled away. Miki darted to the other side while it was focused on the princess, leaving its side unguarded.
She drove the knife between its toes and it screeched in pain. The foot lashed out, catching her in the stomach and sending the knife flying.
Galaco made a desperate grab for it, fumbling as she tried to maintain her balance while still avoiding the potentially deadly claws. Its head snapped at her.
She plunged the knife into its eye and it recoiled and flew off, apparently having decided that the two were no longer worth pursuing.
Miki had landed hard on her side, and Galaco winced at the large bruises blossoming in patches.
She groaned, tenderly putting a hand to her side and withdrawing immediately with a hiss of pain. Galaco wiped at the various fluids staining her dress, grimacing at the blood coating her hand.
"Wow," she said. "That was quite an experience."
"Indeed," Miki said, leaning on her for support. "And I don't suppose you can do something about the burning sensation in my side?"
"What do you want me to do, kiss it better?"
Miki smiled. "I would quite like that, actually."
–§–
END
so instead of writing the next chapter of my other story I decided to give you this thing because I am rarepair trash and galamiki needs more love.
although this would be doing it a disservice.