Secrets of Avalon
Silver's Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. Well this is Hinata's Intro Chapter to the world of Avalon. Anyway, we hope that you do enjoy it and don't worry, Sasuke will be back soon.
Chapter 2
Hinata's eyes slowly flutter open. "I must have been dreaming." That's when she notices that she was in a forest. A beautiful forest that seemed to be filled with particularly leafy willow trees and lush green grass with some sunlight flickering through the canopy. "This can't be real." As if to prove this, she pinches herself. "Owe!"
The bluenette gulps as ice water rushes through her veins and settles in the pit of her stomach, filling her with a sense of dread. "This is real." That book! That book had said something about a Seeker and destiny. This couldn't actually be happening, but it was!
That's when she made the mistake of looking down. "A dress?" Somehow, she had changed her clothes, or someone or something else had done it for her. "Well it is beautiful." But she really hoped it wasn't the latter, that would just be unsettling to put it mildly.
She wore a mossy green colored dress with a clasped collar that spanned out into a long elegant cape of sheer, shimmering fabric. Ethereal and elegant was how she would describe the material that reached all the way to the bottom of her dress. She also wore a silken green belt with a golden buckle on it. The belt was draped about her hips in a daring, yet sophisticated fashion, the ends laying atop one another as they fell to the hem of her skirt.
The outfit was a bit more risky than she would have ever dreamed to wear back home. Her shoulders were bare and it had a very low sweetheart neckline. It displayed more cleavage than she was comfortable with, but probably was considered modest by cheerleader standards. "Ino would never believe me if I told her that I was wearing THIS kind of dress…" The silken and lacy fabric clung to her form elegantly and she noted the delicate green garment blended in perfectly with the trees around her.
Breezes whisper across leaves and whistle through the trees around her, the music of the forest a beautiful melody. Tiny animals race through the roots of the mighty forest that stretches towards the sky, the green leaves reaching tens, maybe hundreds of feet above her head.
High above in the spaces between the massive trees, large shadows accompanied by loud wingbeats soar through the canopies, dipping in and out of sight too quickly to be identified. The beats make the vines rustle, draped about the lower boughs like garlands. Decorations, on which sit smaller birds, content to sing their pleasure.
Hinata blinks as she looks around in awe. "This place can't actually exist." She'd never imagined that anything like this could be found outside of fairy tales or legends. "I should probably try to find that voice though." She needed to focus! Now was not the time for sight seeing!
There were some small paths through the forest, for hunters and animals, no doubt, but no roads in sight. The wind kicks up small plumes of dust that glow a golden green in the light before settling again. And the only sounds were those of the animals, the wind, and of Hinata's own voice.
"Great. I'm playing Hide and Seek with a nameless voice." Hinata sighs as she decides to follow the animal paths. After all, a disturbance in the ground meant something had walked through. So it was possible the voice had.
As she walks the path, it widens slightly, and the dirt becomes harder, packed down by the hooves of horses riding through. Small, trickling streams wind between the great trees, some of them flowing into each other as they line the sides of the growing path. The music of the water joins that of the animals and the wind, creating a soft, natural symphony.
The horse prints catch her eye most. "They might have riders." And if someone was riding the horses, they might be able to help her get back home! With that in mind, she follows the tracks, hoping that somehow, she'd be back in her own bed soon.
The streams along the path widen, coming together under the bridge ahead. The wooden construct bends off to the left, made of what looked like twisted tree roots. It was sturdy, though showed signs of use by horses and carts. Woven into the rails on either side were lavender ribbons, twisting around the branches that made up the rails. And on the other side of the bridge were the sounds of horses, and a waterfall.
That definitely wasn't natural. Someone had made the bridge and those lavender ribbons spoke volumes. This wasn't something that occurred naturally in a forest. People had put up those ribbons, rails, and those tracks. "Cart tracks!" And carts were just the icing on the cake. She wasn't in the middle of nowhere! She could go home!
Hinata beams as she cautiously crosses the bridge and follows the sound of the horses to the waterfall. Yeah. She had been right. Surely, someone was riding the horses. "Hello?" And they might know how to get back to Konoha High!
The sounds of horses venture closer, echoing through the trees as the riders approach. And they WERE riders, four riders on horseback appearing through the trees. All were elegantly armored, over silken white and gold robes.
One of the riders, male, with long dark brown hair and pointed ears, and eyes to match the lavender ribbons, stops next to the stranger in their lands. "Halt, Lady. To what house do you belong?" He pulls his sword a few inches from its sheath. "Speak truly or risk having your heart run through by my blade."
At first, Hinata was enchanted by the image the riders presented in their glorious clothes. It was like something out of a movie. The spell was soon broken though by the man threatening to KILL her?!
The bluenette looks around in a panic. "My H-House?" How could such a beautiful place suddenly turn into her possible resting place? Why was this rider threatening her?! "H-Hyuga!" She could only assume that he wanted her last name.
History had always been her favorite subject and she had watched more medieval movies than she could count. "I m-meant no offense?" Which might very well be the one thing that could save her life at this moment. "I'm just lost and needed some help, finding my way back home."
"Hyuga?" The man's eyebrows furrow. He looks her up and down, frowning at the eyes so like his own. "The ruling family of Aladel?" Strange, he had never seen this woman before. Still, she did resemble the Hyuga, and those eyes…only their family had those eyes. "Very well, then you ride with me." He rests the sword back in it's sheath, reaching his hand down to the lady. "We will see the truth of it upon our return."
She nods rather quickly. "Yes, Hyuga." Hinata had no idea what he meant by the ruling family of Aladel, but maybe someone would be able to help her there. That and she was afraid if she said no, he'd probably kill her. "Thank you." The bluenette quickly mounts the horse and sits behind him.
It was strange. She had never ridden a horse, save for a few instances at some petting zoos. Yet, she had gotten on this one as if it was as natural to ride a horse as it was to breath. Oh well. She wasn't going to question it. That was probably the least strange thing about this place.
As the horseman turns them around, continuing on down the path, one of the retainers pulls up beside him. "Lord Hyuga, we are taking this woman with us?"
"We are." The young lord, spurs his horse on faster, issuing a soft command in a foreign tongue. "His Majesty will want to see her with his own eyes."
Hinata blinks at this. Lord Hyuga? This man was somehow related to her and nobility of some kind? She had always heard people jokingly refer to their family as royalty or blue bloods, but this was ridiculous!
Glancing back over his shoulder, the young Hyuga lord appraises the woman with her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. "Your name, so that I might present you to my uncle, the king?"
"Hinata Hyuga." She wasn't sure how she was going to explain this to the King, but the bluenette was now noticing something else that was strange. Everything was so much more vivid. Every sight, scent, sound, taste, and touch. She felt like she had been blind, deaf, and dumb before.
"Hinata…" He frowns slightly. He didn't know any cousins by that name. Then again, their family was not small. She could be the daughter of one of the minor lords. There was a lot of tension at the moment, and attention was not being focused into keeping track of all of the members of their extended family. "In any case, take care when you speak to the king. He is twice as suspicious as I, and three times as powerful a combatant. He practices magic in ways that I am yet learning."
Not subtle. That was definitely not a subtle threat. "I see. Well I shall do my best not to arouse his ire." She figured it was probably best to try to talk like this man was. Blend in more.
The man smirks at the response. "A wise approach to a fair warning." Though he could hear the anxiety in her voice. "I tell you this because of the rising tensions between our house and that of the royal family of Thiral. We are watching carefully for spies." Thus far, he had surmised that she was being truthful. He would soon know if that judgment was correct.
"S-Spies?" Uh oh. That didn't sound good. "Well that's good to know."
Well, that was interesting. It appeared that the woman was rather shy, and easily flustered. He makes a note of that for later. And further investigation into her would have to wait as the party arrives at the cliffs into which they built their white marble city.
He stops the horse at the raised bridge, spotting the guards who work the magical construct. One of the retainers nudges his horse ahead. "Lord Neji Hyuga has returned from a scout and requests entry back into the city!"
"Permission granted, Lord Neji!" Someone shouts out as the gates are opened and the bridge lowered through magical means for the Hyuga Elf and his party to enter. "Welcome home!"
Neji's horse clops forward across the stones of the bridge, fitted together with barely a seam between the pieces. "Do you recognize this place, Lady Hinata?"
She shakes her head. "No." There was no point in lying. That would probably only get her killed quicker. "I'm foreign."
At that, Neji raises an eyebrow. A foreign Hyuga? Such a thing should be impossible unless she came from the ancestral lands. And no elf had come from that place in at least a thousand years. At least to his knowledge. Or perhaps she simply meant that she had been raised away from home, and thus felt foreign in this place. Whatever the case, the king would ascertain the truth.
When they come to the courtyard, decorated with vines and flowering plants, willow trees and rose bushes, Neji dismounts smoothly, reaching up to take Hinata by the waist and lift her off the back of the horse. "Then allow me to welcome you to Aelithya, capital of the Kingdom of Aladel, and home of the royal Hyuga Clan."
"Thank you." Hinata smiles as she slips off the horse and looks around in awe. "It's truly beautiful." She'd never seen anything like it.
The horses are taken to be stabled, and Neji keeps a close eye on Hinata as he leads her across bridges and under sparkling waterfalls, through a city shot through with sunlight. "It was designed and built with beauty in mind. It is the greatest elven city in all of Avalon."
She nods at this. "Well whoever built it certainly managed that." Hinata smiles as she follows him.
"Indeed they did. Our architects are the finest in the world, shaping the city right out of the marble cliffs." And Neji was proud to call this place his home. "Much more beautiful than the crude dwellings of the forest people, who grow their homes from plants."
"Oh I see." She didn't know who the forest people were, but that sounded rather mean. "Well no one can doubt this place's beauty."
"No…none can." Neji stops in front of a truly grand marble building, with columns reaching into the sky, and the front half carved half out of the cliff. Reliefs depicting the starts, elven folk dancing, and great battles dot the stone around the entrance to the majestic home. "This is the palace, where His Majesty, King Hiashi Hyuga rules all of Aladel." He steps through the open doors and towards the grand golden doors, beyond which lies the throne room.
Yep. It was definitely a palace. "Yes, I see." She wasn't sure what else could be said at the moment. Everything was almost impossibly grand.
As the golden doors open for him, Neji strides into the throne room, making it about fifteen feet from the throne, before dropping to one knee. "Your Majesty, I am here to report that no spies were found in our woods, nor humans, nor any magical creatures not meant to be there." He glances back at the young lady following him. "However, we did find this young woman who claims that her name is Hinata Hyuga, therefore, I have brought her here for your scrutiny."
Hiashi raises an eyebrow as he sees his nephew come in with a beautiful elven woman. "Well she certainly does look like someone from our bloodline." Those eyes spoke volumes. "I've never seen her before in my life though. Most curious." He gives her a stern look. "Tell us where you hail from."
"From a land far, far away from this one I presume. I live in Tokyo and attend Konoha High." This was all so surreal. She was still holding out hope that she might wake up from this strange dream any moment. "And I do appreciate the safe passage that Lord Neji granted me. I promise you that all I desire is to return home."
Neji blinks, never having heard of this…Tokyo place. There was no place in Avalon by that name, unless it was truly on the other side of the world. Perhaps on a small, unexplored continent? The maps held in their library were very complete, though. Perhaps this Tokyo place was a hidden city? However…only dwarves ever made such cities… Strange… In any case, it seemed that this girl was an outsider, and if she made a single movement that indicated a threat to his king, Neji would strike her down in an instant.
"I've never heard of that city before." Hiashi frowns at the answer. Not liking that he was ignorant in such an important matter. "Neji, have you heard of this Tokyo?" The girl sounded so sincere. He liked to consider himself a good judge of character and thus far he hadn't been proven wrong yet.
"No, I have not." Neji shakes his head slowly. "I have never heard of such a place. But…even our own maps are still incomplete. There are small pockets of uncharted space." But it was a minuscule chance that this Tokyo would be found in any of those harsh places.
Hinata wanted to scream or cry at that knowledge. "It seems we can not help you find your way home, but you do appear to have Hyuga blood and thus, you are welcome to stay here." Hiashi watches her with a calculated gaze in a manner similar to how a person might judge a thoroughbred horse. "As long as you earn your keep, of course."
Neji raises his gaze in surprise. The king was going to allow her to stay? "Your Majesty, where would you place her?" Give her a duty? Or offer her a marriage to one of the lords of the house? Perhaps as a way of alliance with another house? They were, after all, gathering support for the coming war. They knew that violence was on the horizon, and they would be prepared to strike first. For that, they needed allies.
"Before I could promise her to anyone, I would need to know what sort of bride I would be offering." Hiashi's brows furrow in thought. "Her education and intelligence are of course, paramount. The fact that she is pleasant to look upon, well that never hurts in such arrangements." He pauses as he continues. "I will need to be assured of her loyalty and discover any skills she might possess be they magic, mental, or physical in nature."
"Of course, Your Majesty, very wise." It was the logical course of action, Neji knew that much. This woman, though clearly Hyuga, was an unknown. "Shall I take her to the solarium to meet with the royal knowledge keepers?" The elders knew more than anyone else about elven-kind, at least their own kind, and they could most accurately assess anyone's skills in the various arts.
Hiashi nods approvingly. "That sounds like an excellent suggestion and afterward, see to it that she is fed and given quarters. Just the standard ones will do for now."
"Of course, Your Majesty." Neji bows his head once more, before rising to his feet and turning to Hinata. "Come, the knowledge keepers will be waiting for us." Those old elves seemed to know everything, it was actually rather frightening. Never surprised when someone came to visit, always prepared for whatever one could request of them. Not command, for no one commanded the oldest of elves.
"Coming!" Hinata follows him rather quickly. The last thing she wanted to do was upset these royal elves by being too slow.
Neji eyes the girl as they leave the throne room and venture deeper into the palace. So very shy and demure, she was, not even protesting as her potential fate was decided right in front of her. She had taken it with silence and grace, as expected of a royal of Aladel. "So, you have survived meeting with our king. Not all can say the same."
Hinata smiles at him warily. "I was lucky and your advice was helpful." And with that, she walks alongside him towards the elders.
"Good." Neji leads her to a pair of glassy doors, leading into a large circular room, gilded marble and many colored pieces of glass. "Let us see just what kind of lady you, are, shall we?" After all, the king was not the only one eager to find out the results of this evaluation.
After standing guard outside the solarium for several hours, Neji leads Hinata into a different wing of the palace, where the members of the Hyuga Clan could find their sleeping quarters. As instructed, he was showing her to the standard quarters.
Standard, meaning a large, sweeping room extending wide enough for a small house, with windows floor to ceiling, and drapes that could be pulled for darkness or privacy. In the middle of the room lay a large round bed covered in silken sheets, with a white, gauzy canopy that could also be pulled for further privacy. Flowers decorate the sweeping arches containing the windows, as well as the ceiling around the bed. In a corner lay mirrors, and a grand wardrobe lay in the adjacent corner.
He shows her inside, as a gracious host. "These will be your quarters while you are here." He points to a half-hidden archway. "Through there, you will find your bathing room. And if you require anything, there are servants in the palace to tend to our clan's needs." Low ranked elves from lesser nobility, hoping to climb the ranks through good service and the king's goodwill.
She gasps and smiles. "It's so beautiful." Hinata looks at the room, utterly stunned. "This is mine?" The bluenette blinks at that knowledge. She was no stranger to luxury, but this was almost overwhelming even by her human family's standards. "And I will keep that in mind about the staff."
Neji blinks. The staff? No matter, whatever it was, it wasn't important. "The knowledge keepers said that your results were perplexing. That you are very bright and observant, have a aptitude for learning quickly, and yet seem to know nothing about this land, the surrounding lands, or anything of our world. It's very…curious." And suspicious, though Neji was sure she meant no harm. If she did, the knowledge keepers would have called the guards to deal with her.
"Oh um…thank you." Hinata wasn't really sure what to say about that. "As I said, I'm from very far away and I'm afraid that's an accurate assessment, especially the latter part."
"Yes, you keep saying that you are from far away, and yet that tells me nothing about how you came to be here." Neji sighs in frustration. "If your wish is to go home, then telling us how you came in the first place may well prove to be the detail that changes whether or not that is possible." Without the how, Neji could not see how there was anything that could be done. And if she truly wanted to return home to this…Tokyo, then she would have to do so before being promised as a bride.
She bites her lower lip nervously. "I'm not sure you would believe me." It was rather fantastical.
Neji raises an eyebrow. "I have seen many seemingly unbelievable things in my life. What can be accomplished through magical means is impressive, and wide-ranging. I doubt that you can truly shock me after I have spent nearly fifty years studying everything in my sight."
"F-Fifty?" There was no way that the man standing before her was that old! "Never mind. There was a book." He was going to think that she was crazy. "A magical book." Or maybe not. Neji had just said that he was studying magic. "It said something to me and then there was a bright light. When I woke up, I was in a forest and eventually, I found my way to you."
"A book?" Neji had seen many things, but a book transporting someone to another place… "If that is true, the book must have been under an enchantment of some kind. Spells of transportation are difficult and powerful magic. Few can master them, and even fewer can use them across great distances." And the limitations on them were significant. It's why moving an army with them was impossible. It would just take too much power. "And why does it appear as though my age surprises you?"
"You said you had been studying magic for fifty years and yet, you look as though you're my age." She pauses as she considers that information. "Magic is...normal here, but not teleportation magic?"
Neji blinks at the girl, baffled by her strange manner of speech. "I was acting under the assumption that you were of age…if that is not the case, you should make that known quickly." He pauses. "And what is this word…teleportation?"
"Oh. I'm seventeen." Maybe, that wasn't considered an adult here. "I'm almost legally considered an adult where I come from." Hinata tilts her head at his next question. "It's moving from one place to the next instantly by using magic. I didn't think that it existed before, but that book proved me wrong."
The magic aside, for he would be able to study the subject later, Neji's eyes widen. He was dealing with a youngling. "My apologies, child, had I known you were so young, I would have acted accordingly." Now he had to inform the king that they were not dealing with an elven woman, but a young girl who was less than half his age. "You must have been raised among humans, to believe that a mere seventeen years makes you fully grown."
You must have been raised among humans, to make you believe that a mere seventeen years makes you fully grown? "There's no need to apologize." She smiles nervously at him as she realizes that he definitely wasn't human. "You didn't know and yes, I was raised among humans." And suddenly, it dawned on Hinata why everything seemed so much more vivid. Her clothes weren't the only thing that had changed, but also her species!
"I see…" That explained quite a lot. Her age, coupled with being raised by humans explained why she seemed so ignorant, yet still so bright. "In that case, you will need to be properly educated. I doubt that the humans could provide more than a rudimentary education, at best." Neji inclines his head respectfully. "I shall bring the matter to the king immediately. You may stay here, bathe and rest. I will return when a decision has been made."
"Thank you." She nods at him. "That sounds wonderful." Hinata felt a bit insulted about that rudimentary education part. Konoha High was one of the most prestigious high schools in Japan, but she figured it was probably best not to quibble.
Neji nods silently, retreating from the room and shutting the doors behind him, leaving Hinata to herself as he proceeds towards the king's private chambers. With his absence, the room becomes very quiet, save for the sounds of water and birdsong. Light filters through the windows, passing through a clear waterfall just off the balcony.
She quickly rushes to the nearest mirror and looks at herself. Neji was treating her like she wasn't a human. Just what had she become?
The gilded mirror in the corner of the room reflects a very different picture to the one that Hinata had seen in her bedroom mirror this morning. Now, she could see how the dress flattered her pale skin, with her midnight blue locks tumbling down her shoulders to the small of her back. Some of her hair was pulled back from the temples in elegant braids, tying behind her head with something sparkly, likely a clasp. But poking up in front of the braids were not two rounded human ears, but thinner, more graceful ones tapered to soft points. Her eyes too, had changed, becoming a little bigger, and just a hint more almond-shaped than before. Though thankfully, most of her features remained similar enough to her own that she was not unrecognizable.
She touches her ears in disbelief. "I wonder if it's permanent?" Even if it was, she could always just hide her ears under her hair. Getting home took priority over worrying about such things. "Though at least I didn't turn into a goblin or something." Hinata could work with elf.
The question was…how was she supposed to get home?