Disclaimer: Nintendo owns all Pokemon characters
A/N: Despite having owe chapters for Roles Reversal and La Soleil et La Lune, I actually have to time to write a whole new fanfic XD Just to let people know that, no I'm not dead yet. Sorry to my SPPF community for being MIA so long. Contains spoilers for the latest Pokemon Ranger 3 game as I used some people and references to Tracks of Light. I'm retaining my habit of using Japanese names here but fret not, for this time I actually remembered to type out each and every Japanese name coupled with the NA names for better understanding at the end :D Anyway, the starting might not make much sense yet (because it was written when I'm still in the depths of my writer's block and didn't really want to redo the whole thing again) but it gets better.
Unedited and unbeta-ed.
Haruka knocked the elaborate wooden door. "Hikari, the guests are here," she called out. No answer. She knocked the door again. "Hikari?" Still no answer.
She pushed open the door and looked in. A girl with long blue hair gazed out of the window, lost in thought. Her blue eyes reflected the confusion in her mind.
"Hikari?" Haruka asked. The girl obviously did not hear her. Haruka sighed. It had been over a week already. "Hikari!!"
The girl with blue hair jumped and turned around in shock. "Yes Haruka?" she quickly replied.
Haruka's face wore a frown instead. "Hikari, you're thinking of him aren't you?" Haruka asked. Hikari's eyes ventured to the floor. The brown-haired girl sighed. Taking a seat beside Hikari, she patted the other soothingly on her back. "Your mother won't be happy with that," she said as Hikari's head drooped a little. "I know how you're feeling. He's… not for you."
Anger flared within Hikari. "You're the same as my mother," she said angrily, blue fire blazing in her eyes. "You all think just because he's not some aristocrat nor a middle-class guy or even local so I can't have anything to do with him."
"Hika--," Haruka started but Hikari had already pointed to the door. Sighing inwardly, she bowed down. "Yes, Princess." She left the room and closed the door behind her and walked down the hall. She had to find the only other servant here whom the Princess trusts as well.
Bright orange caught her eyes when she walked into the garden."Kasumi!!" Haruka called out. An older girl jerked her head back towards the voice. The owner of the orange hair put down a water hose and turned off the water supply. The plants can be watered later. The princess is priority.
"Haruka," she greeted. Looking down at the younger girl's troubled face, it was pretty much that issue again. "The Princess again, right?" Haruka nodded. Kasumi felt a major headache coming. "I'm SO going to kill whoever brought her out of the castle. Who was it again?"
Flashback
Blue eyes defiantly stared back at black. "I said I want to go," Hikari said slowly.
The boy ran a hand through his spiky brown hair. "And I said, no I'm under orders NOT to bring you out," Shigeru replied just as slowly. He knew that it would anger her. "Hikari, will it kill you to be compliant for once? I don't know how many wraths I've risked by smuggling you out for the past few times."
Sapphire sparkled back at him. "But they don't know, do they?" she asked playfully. When Shigeru still dead refused to agree to her request, she fell to her last resort. "Ookido Shigeru."
Shigeru winced. When she used that tone and people's full name, he really had no choice but to comply. "I said no," he answered before the princess could say anything. Although it was funny to see her fume. "It's a delivery and pick up round all the way to the borders of the kingdom. And that's where the slums are."
He knew she would not give up easily, and if the sudden jerk in the cart was any given indication, it was that Hikari had climbed in regardless of the warnings and refusals. Sighing inwardly to himself, he wondered how the princess would take care of the kingdom when her turn arrives if she insisted on being wilful. The cart rolled away and out of the castle gates, the princess safely concealed beneath the large cover that covered the cart.
He stopped once they were safely down and away from sight from the castle gate. He flipped the cloth cover up and was face-to-face with a happy Hikari."I'm not taking responsibility for you, Princess," he said. "You're going to have to look after yourself while I'm gone."
The princess huffed. "For your information, I was going to accompany you with your errand," she answered. "There's been complains about the slums lately so I'm going to do a little personal investigation."
Well. That was new. "Suit yourself," Shigeru remarked. He stopped the cart just outside the slums and looked at the list of items given to him. "This way."
As Hikari followed Shigeru, she noticed how upbeat the streets were. Despite being horribly poor and living in pathetic conditions, the people here were living to the fullest and being happy. Shigeru's job was to mainly collect products for the castle, usually tools or to order something.
"Why don't you go to the city square's industrial area to commission anything?" she asked him when they left a blacksmith's shop.
"Because giving business to the poorer districts would help improve their lives," Shigeru answered. He stopped and pointed to a pottery shop across the street. "Now that shop happens to make the little pots and vases that you sometimes see along the windows. Before I started coming here, the walls were made of wooden boards. Now with the castle's business, the owner can buy bricks and cement to build a proper house." They walked a little further. "That is a glassware shop. They made the little glass crystals the castle technicians use to screw into the chandeliers in the halls. As well as display casings, or whatever you can think of. They used to collect discarded glass bottles and melt them down to molten form outdoors and shape the glass under terrible working conditions. Now they have a proper factory outside the housing area to do that and converted the old factory into a proper shop."
"Oh. Mother agreed to it?" she asked.
"She said it was a fantastic idea," Shigeru replied. "After they have earned enough to move out of the slums district and are making profits in the city area, we'll still patronize them until we sourced another shop here selling the same items then we'll start helping that shop instead. Get it now, Hikari?"
Hikari frowned and hit his head lightly. "Out here, I'm Akatsuki. Got it?" she ordered.
They went to another shop, a swordsmith's one this time. "Hey Shigeru," the owner greeted cheerily. He was somewhere in his early 20s, with messy purple hair swept back into a ponytail at the back of his head, standing much taller than her. The smile he had on was infectious. Hikari could feel that despite the harsh living conditions, he had made the best of it.
"Reiji," Shigeru greeted in return. "About that sword whose blade broke off?"
The owner thought for a while before going behind a makeshift counter to pull out a long box from beneath. "Too much carbon in the steel, Shinji overlooked," he simply stated. "The steel became too brittle so it broke when too much force impacted it."
Hikari bent over to have a look. The same sword that Satoshi had broken in a duel with another knight from the nearby kingdom was fixed and gleaming. As if it had never been broken at all.
"So who's your new friend Shigeru?" Reiji asked in amusement.
Shigeru glanced at Hikari. "Some girl who works in the palace and insisted on coming along. She's new so I don't think it would be a bad idea to bring her out for a while. Her name's Hi—Uh, Akatsuki. I'll be outside to move the cart."
Reiji extended a hand towards her. "Nice to meet you, Akatsuki," he said.
Hikari smiled and shook it. "Akatsuki Kurogawa," she replied. "You must be the talented swordsmith brothers who makes the swords of the junior knights."
Reiji nodded in affirmation. "I'm Reiji Tobari. I'm usually in charge of designing the swords and polishing them. Shinji here," he gestured towards a younger boy at work watching the furnace, "is the one who makes sure that the molten steel and carbon are of the right amounts. But and then again, being younger means you tend to overlook things and make mistakes."
The smaller boy turned and shot ice daggers at his brother with his eyes. But he kept quiet and turned his gaze back to the furnace. The younger brother was a little taller than Hikari was, with slim build. He wore a light green shirt smudged with steel oil and dirt. His hair, although not as long as Reiji's reached near his shoulders was left untied. His eyes gave off a determined glint but bored at the same time. He said nothing and returned to watching the furnace.
Somehow, he fascinated the Princess. It was not the typical amusement when she heard another of Takeshi's failed attempts of settled life. "Where did you come from?" Hikari asked Reiji. "You don't speak like locals. I can't place your accent."
Reiji chuckled. "You're sharp Akatsuki. We're not local. We migrated from Oblivia to Shinou Kingdom."
"Oblivia huh…" Hikari repeated, her sapphire eyes shining. "How is it like?"
"Humid, boring and full of people with charity hearts," the younger brother answered. "It's suffocating to have every other person on the street come up to you and ask 'Hi, treating your relatives and pets right?' and proceed to lecture you about an entire handbook of guidelines."
Reiji turned to his brother. "That's how they were brought up and that's how we were trained to think," he corrected. "But yeah, Oblivia Kingdom's a little too happy and idealistic for us."
That made Hikari laugh. "So we're realistic in Shinou?" she asked.
Shigeru returned just then. "Ok Q&A session's over," he announced. "We have to go back now, Akatsuki. You can talk to them another time. See you Reiji."
Hikari bowed gracefully and left after Shigeru. Shinji left his position and went nearer to the counter. "Who was that?" he asked.
"Akatsuki? Shigeru said she was a servant in the palace," Reiji answered. "Think she might be dropping by again?"
Shinji grunted in reply and returned to melting scrap metal.
Shigeru reminded himself never to bring the Princess out again. Especially not when something catches her attention. She talked on and on.
"Real Oblivia natives Shigeru," she said, her eyes sparkling. "I've never been to the Paradise Kingdom before and what I heard best was third hand accounts from servants in the palace whose parents were from there. Do you think the Paradise Kingdom is as tropical as they claim? Well, Reiji says their culture is to treat all living things with respect which is partially why most of the people there are vegetarians. Professor Nanakamado mentioned that once when he went to Oblivia to meeting the Head of Science Park but still, it's got to be awesome. Professor also said they had to be mindful of their actions and so the streets are always kept clean. It's always been somewhat of a surprise when they announced that the next heir to the throne is their only daughter. Kind of like me I suppose but Princess Panema had both parents. Oh, and our Top Knight Tetsuya actually lost to their Top Knight once. I think their Top Knight was called… Natsuya? And guess what? He said that the Paradise Kingdom lives up to its name to have near zero percent low-class citizens and—"
"Princess!!" Shigeru cut her flow of words abruptly. "Yes I know your fascination with Oblivia Kingdom but I'm not the type of person you're looking for to hear you prattle on. When you get back to the castle you can summon Haruka or Kasumi or even Head Librarian Hanako to talk about it."
Hikari pouted. "You're no fun Shigeru."
Indeed the Princess kept her silence until they reached the castle where Hikari promptly ran up to the library to visit Hanako to ask more about the neighbouring country. In fact, the Princess was so enthusiastic about learning more that Hanako decided to introduce the recently arrived diplomat to Hikari. The girl had lived in Oblivia most of her life and was recently sent to Shinou for diplomatic talks. Hikari had bombarded the young diplomat with questions the moment they made acquaintance. Minami, the diplomat was visibly surprised and answered her questions politely and asked if the Princess would like to visit Oblivia someday. Hikari had immediately asked the Queen for permission. Queen Ayako agreed and allowed Hikari to go Oblivia only if the diplomat were to send word ahead and for a few servants to accompany her.
"And you won't believe how polite the people there were," Hikari told Reiji after her trip. "Everywhere I go it's always 'Good day to you'."
Reiji stifled a laugh. "That's what they always do. Did you happen to come across a pink-haired girl called Sumomo? She works in the Science Park, under Physics department."
Hikari nodded. "Yes I know Sumomo. She's in the castle research team on some project to do with force and breaking stuff. Still, Minami won't let me get a good look…"
Shinji nearly dropped the hammers he was holding and Reiji barely managed to keep the glowing steel he was holding onto from falling to the floor. "You mean, Minami as in Head of Diplomatics Minami??" Shinji demanded.
"Yep," Hikari replied.
The brothers exchanged looks. "Why is Lady Minami with you, Akatsuki?" Reiji finally asked. "You're just a servant, right? And what's more you're addressing Lady Minami by just her name."
"The Princess went on a trip to Oblivia, and I was sent there too," Hikari explained as if it were obvious. "What's with the 'Lady' title though? I didn't hear anyone call her that. Always 'Minami, could you come here for a while?' or 'Your presence is requested, Minami'."
The brothers looked at each other. Shinji broke the silence. "You tell her."
Reiji picked up the heated sword and put it somewhere where he could continue tempering later. "Uh… Akatsuki, Lady Minami is not only the Head of Diplomatics, she happens to be Princess Panema's favourite subordinate. Being a favourite companion to the Princess alone is going to heighten your social status, as you already know. And also it's rumoured that the she's engaged to the Top Knight of Oblivia. Now that's going to raise her up ridiculously high in the kingdom, and so Princess Panema gave her the title of 'Lady'."
Hikari gawked. "That… That's something big she's done for Oblivia," she commented. "Minami's really young and she already represents a kingdom?"
"That's what you get for being raised in the castle since young," Shinji replied quietly. "Already born to an influential family, she's been taught politics as a child. Similarly that's the reason why the Top Knight of Oblivia is barely twenty-five. Sir Natsuya has been taught the code of knights ever since he was a kid."
"Don't mind Shinji, he's just depressed about his lack of karma," Reiji informed Hikari cheerfully.
Shigeru chose that moment to appear. "Oi Akatsuki, time to go," he announced.
"So soon?" Hikari groaned. "Well, ok…"
Only after the door closed did Shinji eye the closed door. "That girl, there's something up with her," he commented.
Reiji continued sharpening the edges of a finished sword. "I know. Akatsuki isn't a normal person in the castle," he confirmed.
Shinji's mind ran in circles as he fixed his gaze at the door. "Akatsuki… Huh…"
A/N:
The ever-forgotten-but-remembered-this-time Name Legend and Explanation:
Hikari – Dawn. Her other name which she insisted Shigeru use outside, 'Akatsuki', literally means 'dawn' in Japanese.
Haruka – May
Kasumi – Misty
Ookido Shigeru – Gary Oak
Reiji and Shinji – Reggie and Paul. 'Tobari' refers to the city that came from in the anime, Tobari (Veilstone) City.
Satoshi – Ash
Oblivia – The new region which Pokemon Ranger 3 is based on. From the first few islands it kinda looks like a semi tropical paradise to me, therefore the name Paradise Kingdom.
Shinou – Sinnoh
Professor Nanakamado – Professor Rowan
Panema – the daughter of the Area Ranger in Pokemon Ranger 3
Tetsuya – Tyson, the Hoenn League champion. Top Knight is a rank assigned to the best knight in the entire kingdom.
Natsuya – The male playable character in Pokemon Ranger 3. That's because like most Pokemon games, the main character stops the evil organization and they're barely even teenagers!!
Hanako – Delia, Ash's mother
Minami – The female playable character in Pokemon Ranger 3. And fine, I admit to having some obsession with ObliviaShipping at the moment...
It's getting too long, like way too long. The draft I have in mind, isn't going to do this justice with the whole story compressed into some 6000 words. I get fed up reading a chapter more than 9000 words long and I won't begrudge anyone with the same. So I'm going to have to split this pretty oneshot up into a few pieces.
Basically, the story is somewhat based off a Vocaloid song called 'Floating Love Shining Moon' or 'Glamorous Moon'. The original song is sung by Kagamine Len and Megurine Luka.