Chapter One: Today's just an 'Oh shit' Moment.
Rhiannon woke up with the sun, her head spinning lightly as she slowly sat up. "What a weird dream……" she murmured, "What was that big green thing? Looked kinda like an ogre….. And that boy-" she said as she turned her head, seeing said boy. He smirked lightly as she fell out of her bed in the shock.
"Heh… you're funny. What else could it have been, but an ogre? Are the vermin not crawling around everywhere these days? Really…" he said, standing up to his full height, "You look as if you've never seen the likes of him before!"
The girl glared at him, anger shown plain on her face as she stood up as well. "What in the name of everything makes you think I have?! Ogres are just fairy tale things. Not real at all!" He seemed taken aback, trying to figure out a way to reply to what she had just said. And as he did, she looked him over quickly. The boy had golden eyes, seemingly shining in the half light, His longer, raven black hair was put into a ponytail, he seemed to be wearing a brown fur vest with a black tunic underneath, He wore brown cloth pants which adorned many rips and patches that were poorly sewn together, and he was barefoot, and his skin was tan in color, as opposed to the girl, who was quite pale. But, the weirdest thing at all about him, besides his old-style English, was the fact that he had strange dog-like ears.
After a few more seconds, he finally answered. "Girl, how could you say such a thing? I fight dozens of the beasts daily! Are you as blind and thick headed as the ogres themselves?!" he asked.
The girl was fuming at this point. "I am not 'Girl'! I have a perfectly good name, Boy! I am Rhiannon Fierstele! And I'm in no way stupid or thick headed or anything!!!"
The boy smirked, seeming to have gotten what he wanted. "Well, Miss Fierstele… I am Skylarian Nitewing, also called Keir, and you are coming with me."
Rhiannon laughed slightly. "Great, I'm about to be kidnapped by a psychotic teenager, and my parents aren't even here to not miss me! That's almost as sad as it sounds." She said sighing and shaking her head lightly, "Look, you want to show me ogres? Fine, I'll go to see this little corner of Wonder Land you have. But I am getting dressed and you are getting out of my room!" She added, opening the door and pushing him out it.
He seemed like he was going to protest, but probably thought smarter of it. He turned around as she shut the door and locked it. "Hmm…." He said, touching the door lightly with both hands, "What a strange place this is… doors that can move in such a fashion are quite rare…."
After a few minutes, Rhiannon stepped out of the room again. She wore a red t-shirt with black heart and skull designs on it, her jeans were a faded blue color that almost seemed purple, and her socks were the generally average white color, though Keir seemed somewhat perplexed by them. He visibly shrugged it off and she led him down the stair case to another door…. Finding it locked. She then quickly turned to the boy, who seemed to be waiting for her to open it. "D-Did you come in through the door…?"
He shook his head, a quizzical look in his eyes. "No, I followed the ogre through the shielded window…" he said.
Rhiannon simply sighed, unlocking the door and walking to the front porch, putting on a pair of comfortable tennis shoes. He didn't seem confused so much about those; he simply grabbed her wrist, leading her down the rode.
She rolled her eyes as they headed down the next couple of blocks, heading toward the park. They crisscrossed down a few paths and cut through many patches of grass until they were at the small island in the center of the park. They quickly crossed the bridge and Keir/Skylarian pulled her down under it once they reached the other side.
Keir smiled to himself. "Here it is…" he said, letting go of the girl's wrist.
Rhiannon turned around for a second, looking. "Where what-- …… is?" she said as she looked back at the small wall underneath the bridge. Unlike a few seconds ago, there was now the entrance to a cave there. 'Maybe this wasn't one of my best plans….' She thought to her self as she followed him in. For a good portion of the way, there were crystals of all colors, even black, glowing in the dim light. That is, until they reached a fork in the path, where Keir turned, without hesitation, to the side that was completely pitch black and void of any crystals. She stopped. "What about that way…?" she asked, her voice shaking.
He turned slightly, his face barely visible. "You don't want to know…. Trust me on that, at least." He said, continuing down the path. And, reluctantly, she followed him.
Her breathing grew heavy and her heart began to beat faster as the way grew darker. She didn't like the dark. At all. A weird crashing sound came from somewhere a distance behind them, causing her to squeak and grab his arm. "W-what was that?"
He turned his head towards her, giving off a light sigh. "Don't worry about it. I'll protect you from anything you could possibly find in my world. It's really a lot more beautiful than you'd probably think. The demons and such like me are just the side effects."
"… Demons? You aren't anything like a demon. A bit on the weird side, yes. But certainly you aren't scaly or horned… except for those ears."
If it wasn't so dark, she might have seen him smirk. "My dearest Miss Fierstele…. You know so little about anything truly important that it almost pains me to hear you talk." He said, coming to a sudden stop. Rhiannon would have done something rash or painful for him to say something so rude, but she didn't get the chance before he raised the hand that she wasn't holding onto. "Openia Gatorious…" he murmured, and suddenly the stone wall in front of them moved to reveal a glow almost like the sun, but not nearly as dull.
Keir led her out of the caved, which resealed behind them, and she couldn't help but to smile as she gazed around her. "It's…. I… it's spectacular! It's like something I would only dream of!!" she whispered, looking around at the woodland area all around them. They seemed to be in a sort of meadow, enclosed on all sides by the rock wall, the forests, and the river that came from a large waterfall that fell from the rocks. There were Morning Glories, Sunflowers, Violets… any sort of wonderful flower you could ever dream of was growing right in front of them.
"You like it then, Miss Fierstele?"
"Yes! I don't know about your so called ogres or demons… but this place seems magical enough to me!"
Sadly, the beautiful moment wasn't really meant to last. Out of the woods, a large, REALLY large, sort of Vulture thing came blundering around. It stared at the two, a hungry look in his eyes as his gaze passed over our dumbfounded heroine.
Keir growled menacingly at the creature, standing protectively in front of the young girl. He drew his sword, taking a defensive stance as he glared at the large 'bird'. "Away with ye, vulture!"
The Vulture demon's gaze returned to the boy. "Oh, dearest Master Keir… you've caught me hunting and… oh, is that human? I haven't eaten a human maiden for so long.." he stepped forward, and so did Keir.
"You wouldn't dare to touch her!" he growled. Rhiannon backed up a few steps, her brain not really able to process much of anything. THAT was a REALLY big birdie! The demon lunged forward, most likely hoping to plow right through the teenage boy standing in between him and his meal. "VIRMIN!" Keir shouted, lunging as well and striking one of the wings with his blade, and cutting it good and clean off.
The demon hissed, using his free wing to send a large blast of wind and knock Keir a good hundred or two feet into the woods. Rhiannon's mouth flew open. "Keir!"
"Worry about your own skin, human." The vulture hissed stepping towards her again.
"W-wait… please! I really don't taste that good!" she said, backing up until she was finally pinned to the wall. "Oh gods…" she whispered, positive that she was really facing death here, in such beautiful scenery… but it didn't seem that it was her time yet.
Keir came crashing through the tree barrier, at a speed that would put Olympics gold medalists to utter shame. "You stay away from her!" he yelled, jumping up and lopping off the bird's giant head. He then re-sheathed his blade, walking calmly over to Rhiannon. "Are you alright, Miss Fierstele?"
She simply nodded, not really having much to say. "Y-yeah, just fine." She squeaked.
Keir smirked. "You believe me now then? Or do you have some other sort of bogus theory?"
"I'm really not sure…. My brain keeps trying to come up with one… but nothing can totally explain anything right now!"
"Then I believe we're ready to move on.. Trust me, you'll really like it when we get to the rebel's camp….." he muttered, grabbing Rhiannon's hand and tugging her along into the woods.
"Oh… and I guess… I should thank you for saving me.. And warn you about something."
"Wha?"
"I'm not only clumsy, but I'm danger prone. Name one thing dangerous from my world that can happen to me, and its probably happened to me. So you've kidnapped me and brought me to a dangerous new place full of things that can eat me… Saving me is going to be part of the package." She said, her serious voice changing into a more happy, musical one.
He easily caught the change and blinked at her. "And this makes you happy?"
"Well, yeah! I've never had someone there to rescue me before… I'm always alone, so I usually have to deal with it myself… like my own personal…"
"'Own personal'… what?" he asked, getting a bit closer.
"Well, I guess kind of like.. My own prince or a night in shining armor. I've always sort of dreamed about stuff like that."
"Oh really? That makes things rather interesting…" he murmured to himself. Rhiannon looked up, seeing that the sky was getting much darker.
"Uh… I thought it was morning… but the sun's starting to set…."
"The times and all that are different. I suppose I should make camp for you so you can rest."
"And you don't need to?"
"Of course not. I'm a demon, we're a lot stronger than humans!"
"Apparently.."
They were soon both sitting by a small fire, Keir leaned against a tree and Rhiannon simply lay on her back, thinking about everything, and also nothing. She was utterly content, more happy than she's ever been in a long time. This new place, though filled with danger, was exactly where she'd always dreamed she would maybe end up some day. Untouched by mankind, this place was beautiful in every way and form.
Keir glanced over at her every once in a while, really not able to keep himself from it. He had no clue what it was that was so great about her. There were tons of demon girls and such for him at his home, so why should he be feeling so protective of a human? Sure, he himself was truly a quarter human, but that couldn't be it! The demon blood inside of him should have more control than some weak human blood… but maybe that was it? Maybe, it was the demon inside of him that yearned to stay close and to protect her? But, then he would be showing human emotion, wouldn't he?
Despite all of his uncertainties, he couldn't bare to leave her out in the open alone much longer. In a few swift movements and no distinguishable sounds, he was sitting beside her, leaning over and staring down into her eyes. "What are you up to?"
She blinked lightly, not even trying to figure out how anyone could possibly move so fast with what seemed as no motivation. "Thinking about my life thus far and my place in the universe. You?"
"Eh, just wondering what you're doing over here." He leaned back once again, looking into the fire, but casting glances down at Rhiannon. "Uhm… Miss Fierstele…?" he asked.
"Oh, you can call me Rhiannon or Rhia if you want… what's wrong?"
"Well, Miss Rhiannon Fierstele, I think I would like to get to know you better. And I'm sure you have a few questions for me."
"Well…. Yeah….. Ask away I guess. You ask a question, then I get one."
"Deal. Okay… Do you normally have weird dreams? Like, how you said that you always dreamed of a place like this?"
"Oh, uh, yeah.. I have an overactive imagination I guess… A part of me somehow always wished for something bigger…. More magical… even though I normally come off as a fairytale hater. I think I just tell people not to believe that stuff… because I was trying to tell myself it wasn't real." She said, sitting up and scooting next to Keir. "My turn now! Okay… What do you think is best about this place? Like… what do you think makes it worth while to live here?"
He chuckled a little after listening. "Good question… I wonder myself sometimes…. It's a secret though, I'll have to show you my special reason some day."
"That's not really a valid answer!" she pouted, poking his shoulder.
"Don't worry, I said I'd show you, right? Now.. next question: Do you, y'know, have a mate or anyone important you're leaving behind to go on this little venture?"
She giggled. "What a question!! Well… I guess there IS Skylar…. But He's not all that important. And really, I don't even have that many friends that are boys back home… most of them kinda keep their distance I guess. But I really don't have anyone important at all…." She sighed. "I live the lonely life of your average, unpopular teenage girl."
"I happen to think you're fairly interesting!" he laughed, patting her head lightly. "You're definitely much more conversational than any other women I've ever met."
Rhiannon grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment. Now, do you have a girlfriend… or, uh, mate?"
He shook his head. "Nah. I'm more of the silent cool guy… I'm not really one to talk, and when I do, I normally just listen….. It's actually quite rare for me to sit and talk like this!"
"Cool. I guess I'm just lucky. Now it's your turn!"
"Indeed it is…"
"I beg to differ!" said a voice behind us. Keir immediately jumped up and stood between me and the figure leaning against a nearby tree. He looked almost exactly like Keir, only he was older, probably in his mid twenties. "Really Keir, do you honestly have to be such a boring person? I think its my turn!"
"Crow… What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home, planning some way to make everyone else miserable?"
"Now now, little brother. I'm on break!" he said, stepping forward, causing Keir to growl. Rhiannon stood up and hid behind him. "Oh, did I scare you?" the man, Crow, asked sadistically.
"You'd scare yourself if you had to stand here listening to you blab." Keir murmured, pulling out his sword, which gave off an ominous glow.
"Oh, are we fighting now? It's not wise to bare your teeth at me, puppy. I'm much stronger than you, even without a weapon!" Crow said, rushing at Keir.
"Miss Fierstele, go and hide. I'll fight him off." Keir whispered, and lunged quickly at his apparent older brother.
Rhiannon quickly hid herself behind a nearby tree and peeked around to watch the fight. Keir was losing, to her utter horror. He was plenty strong, fast, and brave. But Crow was older, faster, and stronger. He didn't even pull out his weapon, and Keir was thrown aside in a matter of minutes. When he was sure Keir wasn't getting up anytime soon, he turned and smirked at poor Rhia with a wide grin.
"So, hiya, I'm Crow. And you're the new girl who I'm taking home with me!" he said, swiftly picking her up and swinging her over his shoulder. "Get it, got it? Good!" he said, patting her on the butt… and that's where he totally crossed the line.
By some coincidence, he didn't really expect her to knee him in the gut. He set her back down on the ground out of surprise.
"What, you don't like me babe? Now I'm hurt…" he said, walking up to her and kissing her cheek, smirking as he lifted his head back up.
Now, though most would call Rhiannon average, that really wasn't the case at all. Inside of her, a strange and wonderful sort of power was hidden, growing inside of her heart throughout her life. It was magic, the most beautiful and wonderful energy source to ever have been… and unlucky for this man, she was just pissed enough to finally awaken it.
She knew she wasn't that strong, and she really wasn't that brave, she too saw herself as average… so she just did what she thought someone the opposite of her would do.
Rhiannon stamped hard on his bare foot, punched him in the nose, and kicked him in the shin as hard as she could! "How dare you!" she yelled. And it seemed that Keir was finally back in action, as he chuckled lightly from behind Crow, who was now jumping around on one foot cursing like a sailor. And Rhia, who didn't quite think she'd done anyone justice yet, also kicked him in the gut, hardly noticing the strange glow emitting from around her body.
"The fuck?! She has MAGIC?! Since when did this happen?!" Crow said, stumbling back and heading into the forest.
Keir stood beside our heroine, patting her on the head and laughing. "Apparently since you pissed her off!"
Rhiannon, not really sure about anything they were saying, simply blinked and watched as Crow disappeared. After a few seconds of silence, she was finally able to speak. "I-I… I had no idea I could hit that hard…"
"I'd guess not." He said, patting her on the back. "You know, you're alright for a human… I kinda like you Miss Fierstele!"
She smiled back. "Really though, you can just call me Rhia or something…" she said, and before he could speak, she put a hand over his mouth. "And I don't mean you can call me 'Or Something' by that."
Keir chuckled again, gently removing her hand. "Fine. Just Rhiannon?"
"Yes."
"Okay then… Just Rhiannon." He said, walking over to the fire and sitting down.
"Wha, eh… uh…. Hey!!" she said, going after him as he started cracking up again.
He'd truly never laughed this much throughout his entire life… which, unknown to Rhia, was almost seventy-five years. For some reason, it was hard for him to act his usual self around her… as if he was a totally different person now that he was with her… could it have been the influence of the jewel? Why was he suddenly forgetting why he even brought her here? On a whim, his inner bad-guy brought her here just to get to the Crystal of Fate…. But, was that really his reason? Or…. Was he suddenly wanting her for something… more?
He felt something gently fall onto his shoulder and he looked over at Rhiannon. She was asleep and had now leaned over onto him. He couldn't help but to sniff her lightly. Her dark blondish-black-brown hair smelled calming, like lavender and vanilla, only not quite. Her whole body smelled warmly pleasant to him, he didn't even have to move to realize that. She was definitely an intriguing young woman, able to hold her own against a man he had yet to beat. She also seemed educated, very highly educated, which was rare recently among the women for their lack of interest in books. He could also tell that she was definitely virgin, but he tried not to linger on a thought like that. Apparently, this 'Skylar' person was already attempting to claim her… and that thought almost caused him to growl.
What on earth was happening to him?! He really wasn't sure what he thought of her… they had just met…. But just looking at her caused his heart to beat quicker… He then noticed that she was shivering and he took off his vest, wrapping it around her and putting an arm over her shoulders to warm her up.
"Mmmmm… thank you Keir…." She mumbled in her sleep, and he smiled, immediately wondering if she was dreaming of him now. He winced lightly, knowing that he probably shouldn't care like this. But hey, he shouldn't argue, now should he? He simply sighed in contentment, staring into the fire. He would remain awake until morning, then he would take her to the rebel camp, and he would rest there. A good plan, he figured. And so he sat there, watching over Rhiannon through the night.