Woah…here I am again…. Sorry it's taken so long folks. I've been engaged in several other writing projects and things and it has been an awful long time since I've worked on this at all or seen castle in the sky. So…sorry if anyone goes a bit ooc. Just if you see it point it out with a, "how this character might really act" thing. So….yeah.
Thanks to those super de duper reviewers! (if you don't want to be mentioned please say so)
lilmouse1988
lemony anemone
Twilight1
Wolfofsherwood
EmeraldDragon93
Elvin Magi
Death's haunting lullaby (extra kudos to you for reminding me about this)
hawkflyer667
I do not own the lovely movie of castle in the sky or anything else I may reference to in this chapter. And also responding to many comments this is not meant to be Mulan or Aladdin this is meant to be something similar to those two shows, but mostly just my own thing.
Chapter 2
As dawn broke over the horizon Sheeta crept out of her room, dressed in a warrior's tunic and her hair in a pony tail. She rushed down the hall keeping an eye out for the guards who had conveniently been fast asleep.(as guards often are) She had a few things she needed to take care of before she could pull this off. The first thing she'd taken care of the night before, but this thing she needed to get today.
She reached a door and slowly opened it. It was dimly lit office. Dust swirled in the slowly growing sunlight. She walked to the desk situated near the back of the room and opened the top drawer. It was crammed with grimy old books and documents, but after groping through it Sheeta found what she was looking for, a dusty brown cap. She shook out the dirt that seemed to have soaked itself into it and gazed down at it in reflective silence.
"You always said you would have given this to your son, if you had one…" she muttered with an air of amusement. Now that notion would almost be true. She put the hat on and tucked her hair under it with a heavy sigh. "Thank you….father…" with that she took her leave of the office, and of the castle.
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
She somehow managed to get out of the castle and got to the center of the town where a large covered wagon (that Sheeta found suspiciously similar to a prison cart without the shackles) was set up with young village men getting into it; or rather being shoved into it by the same knight from the day before. Women, children, and older men were watching from a distance in pensive silence.
Sheeta knew what was happening; it happened once every few months. Muska would send a decree all about the land urging young men to become soldiers. They would all gather and the most eligible men would be chosen and sent off for some form of harsh training. Muska would insist, "It's for the safety of the kingdom" But Sheeta knew better then that. He just wanted control, and to do that he needed a bigger army.
Sheeta spotted Pazu near the center of the crowd. He looked distracted as if his mind were somewhere else. He was obviously snapped out of it by the knight grabbing him by the shoulder and shoving him into the cart. Sheeta slid to the front of the crowd trying to figure out how to get in without being seen when a rough voice said, "Hey" It was the knight. Sheeta hid her face.
"You, boy!" The knight grabbed her by the collar sneering down at her. "Well aren't you a cute little weakling, the general will have fun with you." He shoved her into the cart were she landed flat on her face. She could hear people chuckling and sneering around her as the back two doors were shut and the wagon rattled and pulled forward.
Inside it was musky, dim, and smelled like a combination of sweat and dead fish. Seated on benches set up against the walls were several men of all sizes and levels of toughness. "Here." Sheeta looked up and saw Pazu holding a hand out to her. She grabbed it and he helped her up onto the bench besides him. "I don't think I've seen you around town, but you look familiar, what's your name?" He asked. "She- um…rou. Yes it's Shirou." She said quickly in the best masculine voice she could muster. She held her breath waiting for an, "I don't buy it for a second." "I'm Pazu. You know I have a cousin named Shirou." Sheeta let a sigh of relief escape her lips. "Yeah it's a pretty common name I guess." She said.
They were quiet for a moment listening to the bumps and rattling of the wagon. "So why did you join the army?" Pazu asked. Again Sheeta panicked. "Why didn't I think up these things before bed last night?" she scolded herself. She quickly threw together a story about how her father was sick and couldn't serve in the army and how she (or he whatever) joined because she felt it was her duty to join and what not.
"Wow, that sort of reminds me of a story I heard somewhere." Pazu said. "Yeah" she said mentally kicking herself for not coming up with something more original, "So why are you here?" Sheeta hated asking this, a) because she already knew why and b) because it reminded her that it was her fault, but she had to or she'd seem too suspicious.
"Well I stole a hunk of bread out of the castle's kitchen yesterday. The king he….well…took it kind of seriously. He would have had me beheaded if it weren't for Sheet- I mean the Princess." He explained. Sheeta couldn't help but perk up at the mention of her name but shook her head thinking it was stupid to be exited over something like that. What was she? some super girly anime fangirl or somthing? Pazu continued on to no one in particular. "Well it's not like I'll ever see her again. I mean she's a princess, even if she does have more heart and is prettier then any princess I've ever heard of. I'm still just a village boy."
Sheeta could feel the blush creeping over her cheeks as she fought to keep a straight face. No one ever complimented her and meant it at the castle. She was brought to attention by Pazu asking, "Hey Shirou, are you all right? You look a bit…flustered." Sheeta immediately shook her head. "N-no! I'm just…uh… exited to get to the military camp, hehe." Pazu just shrugged and returned his gaze forward.
The ride in the cart lasted all of a few hours, and in that time Sheeta got to learn a bit more about Pazu. He lived in his father's antique shop with his family and they were on hard times ever since Muska began to rule, as were many of the inhabitants of Laputa. (Sheeta made a note of this in her mind.) He'd been working hard to get some income for his family but there just wasn't anyone who could afford to buy antiques. Not to mention that even if people could afford them, they wouldn't want a bunch of tacky knick-knacks lying around their house.
"I stole the bread for them. But it turns out I stole it for nothing." Pazu said with a heavy sigh. "I wouldn't worry about it too much." Shirou stated. Pazu glanced up at him. He had this smug grin on his face and a look in his eyes like a kid who knows where the Christmas stash is. "What?" Shirou shrugged. "I just wouldn't worry about it, is all."
Somewhere in Town….
Pazu's father was walking out of his shop when he spotted a small sack lying on the stoop. He knelt down examined the sack then opened it. Inside was filled with gold coins. "uh…..honey?" A voice came from inside, "What?" "Did you loose a sack filled with gold coins?" His wife came out of the house. "What are you talking about?" she asked. He showed her the sack. She gasped. "oh….my…goodness…." They locked eyes wondering how on earth they were able to be this fortunate.
Back in the cart….
The cart jerked to a stop suddenly and the doors flew open. A guard examined the gaggle of men (and girl) in the cart as if they were meat at the butchers shop then shuffled them all out, shoving some to keep them moving. They were at the base of a wide mountain range that extended in both directions. The scenery was dotted with tents, a few make-shift ply wood buildings, random cattle, and in the middle of the camp stood a well made stone cabin underneath a high watch tower that over looked the camp.
The men were put to attention before the stone cabin, and everywhere exited whispers buzzed about.
"I heard that once the general made someone eat hay for complaining about the food."
"I heard that once she pushed someone off a mountain when they said they were afraid of heights."
"I heard that she made someone wash their mouth out with soup because they talked back!"
"That was your mom, and she did that to you."
"You know what? Shut up!"
"Why don't you make me?!
"Oh I'll make you all right!"
The man who made the last comment knocked the other to the ground and before anyone could tell them to knock it off they were going at it. And very suddenly the tense silent air was filled with whooping, hollering, cheering, and the sounds of punches echoing in the distance.
Sheeta just stood with her feet plastered to the ground, watching everything unfold before her. She suddenly regretted ever thinking about leaving the castle no matter how daring and gallant it had seemed at first. At this point all she wanted to do was go home and hide in her room.
Suddenly Conscience was beside her. "Don't. You. dare!" she said decisively. Sheeta looked up at her, surprised by her sudden presence. "Don't I dare what?" Conscience put her hands on her hips in a "Don't give me that" manner. "Don't you dare try to run away! I can read your thoughts Sheeta, and I'm telling you right now, you'll only regret it." Sheeta looked helplessly from Conscience to the fist fight and back again. "But Conscience, I don't know anything about this world! Besides I don't even know how I'm going to get Pazu out of here now that I'm in. Daring plans sometimes seem like a good idea at the time, but turn out to be childlike fantasies!"
"Well childlike fantasies or no, you are going to stay."
"And how do you know that?"
"Because the general just came outside." With that she disappeared without another word
The slamming of a door shutting brought every man and boy scrambling back into line, and all the recklessness was sucked out of the air in an instant. Before them stood a tall old woman with pink pigtails and haggard brown skin. Most people would've laughed, in fact at first glance most everyone almost did. But with her mouth twisted into a fierce grimace and her eyes ablaze, the thought of laughing was all but ridiculous.
At first she scrutinized the people in front of them, her gaze lagging on a few Sheeta included. Finally she closed her eyes and tapped her foot. "Well," she began, "I suppose I should start with my name is Dola…I will be your general." Some where in the crowd, someone scoffed incredulously. Dola's fiery gaze snapped to the man who had started the fight earlier. Everyone took a step back leaving him in front.
The man continued on, mumbling to himself more than anyone else. "An old woman? You've got to be joking! I could see maybe a stern old guy but this is ridiculous! She's got pink hair for Pete's sake…" He was stop mid-rant by Dola's firm grip lifting him into the air by the collar of his shirt. Amazed and terrified gasps filled the crowd as the man dangled helplessly in the woman's grasp, trying too hard not to look her in the eye.
"What's wrong with my hair?" Dola said in a voice that could only be prepared to every fairy tale's wicked witch, "I think it looks rather nice don'tcha think?" The man nodded obediently muttering an inaudible "yes ma'am" "Yes ma'am what?" A grin spread across Dola's face. She was so obviously enjoying this. The man gulped and he said, "Yes Ma'am I think your hair looks nice."
Dola cackled and dropped the man who scrambled back to his place in line. Dola returned to her place in the center before everyone. "As you can see I don't take kindly to people who decide they want to make a rude remark about me, after all I am your direct superior, so you will refer to me as ma'am. No one will ever talk back and most certainly won't ever complain. When you hear me blow my whistle you will report here immediately, failure to do so will result in you walking back to whatever rat-hole ya came from. Meals will be served when the meal bell rings and not a minuet sooner! Anyone disagrees, no body eats. Any questions?"
Sheeta's head was spinning. How was she supposed to remember all of that? She was going to crash and burn here for sure! And then how was she supposed to rescue Pazu? She glanced down the line, searching for him. He was a few people down standing with his gaze fixed in front of him. He certainly didn't look like he was scared to death she was.
Sheeta was so lost in her anxieties she didn't even notice when Dola had approached and was looming over her, so as you imagine it was of great surprise when her voice was barking directly at her. "…And you!" Sheeta could've collapsed on the spot but she braced herself and said as evenly as possible, "Yes Ma'am?" Dola had a hard analyzing expression on her face which Sheeta did her best not to look directly at. "See me after this." She had said it in a low enough voice that she should've been the only one to hear, but in the silent stiff air it was obvious that every word was heard by everyone there.
Dola turned and began barking off more instructions that Sheeta couldn't focus on. Great, just great. Now to top it all off she was probably in trouble now and she didn't even do anything! She glanced back down the row to Pazu who was now looking at her, a questioning look upon his face. All Sheeta could do was shrug before Dola had concluded her instructions and told everyone to set up their tents. "Except you." She said letting her iron fingered grip fall on Sheeta's shoulder.
While the rest retreated, all buzzing about the mysterious boy who was being dragged away by Dola, Sheeta was being dragged towards the stone cabin, and was shoved inside. At first Sheeta had to admire the cozy interior that reminded her of a fairy tale cottage but all her blood ran cold as Dola said, "Welcome to my cottage 'boy', or should I say… your highness?"
WOOT! Finally I'm done! I know I'm pure evil for taking forever to update and then leaving you with a cliffie! But I'll try try TRY to update sooner next time! But anywho,
Please review!
