Author's Note
This is Chapter 2! I can't believe how lengthy these chapters are getting, haha. I also have two favourites! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this story. I hope I don't disappoint you in the future.
As always, comments and reviews appreciated!
Chapter 2
Sakuno bit back tears as she walked. They had walked through the night, and day was beginning to break in the sky above her. She glanced at Ryoma. The prince marched on silently, a stony look on his face. He had lost everything; his title, his power, his home, and now his family. And yet he pressed forward, looking for a way to move on. Courage was inspired in Sakuno, looking at the prince she knew she would follow to the ends of the earth. She looked to her grandmother, who was struggling to keep up with their pace.
"Here, grandmother. Let me take your pack for you." Sakuno reached over and lifted the pack from Sumire's shoulders. It was light, for both Ryuuzaki's did not have much to their names. Ryoma's pack was likely heavier than both of theirs combined, not to mention he was weighed down by his sword and by the bells. Sakuno looked over the bells. She had only seen them once before, when the late King had brought them out for polishing one afternoon. Though she did not know their powers, she knew that the king himself had passed them on to the young prince. They must have been important.
"Thank you, Sakuno," Sumire said to her granddaughter before calling out to Ryoma. "There should be a small town just a little further ahead. We would do well to stop there and rest a while, young Prince."
Ryoma grit his teeth and stopped in his tracks. He didn't want to rest. He wanted to continue walking, to find the sources of power in order to use the bells, and to master the elements quickly. Only then would he be strong enough to avenge the deaths of his family. But turning back to his company, he could see how tired they were. The old Sumire and the weak Sakuno would not be able to keep up with him. He shut his mouth and nodded. They would stop and rest for a day or two.
They continued walking, though Ryoma now set a slower pace. It was time that he stopped being a child. From now on, he needed to be a leader.
The trio reached the small town of Fudomine by late afternoon. Sumire directed Ryoma to a building in the middle of town. It was a small inn and pub called The Golden Lion. The trio entered the noisy pub.
While Sumire, accompanied by Sakuno, left to sort out rooms for the night, Ryoma headed to the pub. After the events of the night and the long trek, he found himself in need of a drink. He approached the bartenders.
"Hello, young man!" One bartender greeted him as he walked forward. He had red hair that fell in front of his face, and he spoke loudly and quickly. The other bartender hung back, his dark blue hair hanging to the sides of his face as cool eyes observed the scene quietly. The red-headed bartender winked as he noticed Ryoma glancing at the bartender behind him. "Don't mind Shinji, he's always like that. I'm Akira. What can I do for you?"
"Well, Akira, I'd really like a glass of honey ale," Ryoma said smirking. "But I'd love it even more if Shinji over there were the one to serve it to me."
Akira burst out laughing. Shinji, who had obviously heard Ryoma's request sighed, and mumbled to himself. "Why me, why does the kid want me to serve him…?" Shinji grumbled, but pulled out a clean glass and poured Ryoma his drink.
Ryoma laughed along with Akira, and opened his pack to find payment for his drink. He stepped back as Karupin leapt out of his pack. "Ka-Karupin!" Ryoma stammered. He thought he had lost the cat as he left the house with the Ryuuzaki's. Karupin meowed. Akira smiled, and brought out a small plate of dried fish for her. "It's on the house," he said goodheartedly.
Ryoma smiled at Akira, reaching into his pack to pull out his coin purse. Ryoma had a sizeable amount of gold, silver, and money at his disposal, for he could still access his family's money through the bank system that ran throughout the continent. Dropping an extra gold coin each for Akira and Shinji, he grabbed his drink and the dish of fish and made way for a quiet seat at the end of the bar.
He took a sip of his ale, and watched as Sakuno walked up to him. "Ryoma," she said, blushing again. "Here is the key to your room. You're in room 207, which is just upstairs. Grandmother and I will be in the room across from yours, room 208." She handed him the small brass key.
"Ah…" Ryoma said, accepting the key. "What about payment?"
Sakuno blushed even more. "Well… That is, Grandmother already paid for it. She's in her room resting right now; she's tired after the trip. I'm going to buy some food and bring it up to her."
Ryoma nodded, knowing that he easily had more wealth than the Ryuuzaki family did. "Let me pay for her meal, at least." He dug out his coin purse again, and handed Sakuno 2 gold coins and 3 silver coins. That would buy two meals for the hungriest of men.
Sakuno's eyes widened, and she flushed an even deeper red. "Th-thank you, my prince!" Sakuno bowed deeply before running off to the pub bar.
Ryoma watched her leave, shaking his head. Sakuno was always nervous around him. He turned back to his ale, thinking he would finally be able to have a moment of silence with Karupin.
The door opened, and in walked a group of eight mismatched travelers. The two leading the group spoke loudly.
"Ahh, I'm hungry, so very hungry!" The one who spoke had blue cat-like eyes and red hair. He was dressed in a blue short-sleeved robe, tied with red sashes. He wore blue fingerless gloves on his hands. "Nya, let's get some food soon!"
"We just can't go that long without food," the second agreed. He had black hair that stood up straight on his head, and piercing violet eyes. He wore a simple robe of red and orange, tied with a black sash. A broadsword hung across his back. "We just can't."
"Well, everyone," a third said as he entered. He had short black hair, with two long bangs hanging down over his face. He carried a wooden staff, and wore healer's robes of blue and gold. His green eyes were calm and peaceful. "Tezuka and I will deal with lodging assignments. Why don't the rest of you get some food?"
The two that entered first gave a great cheer, and made a beeline for the bar. Ryoma watched as more men came through the door. One wore black robes with silver armour on top. A long sword hung at his side by a red sash. His brown hair fell messily over his eyes. He adjusted his glasses, hazel eyes calmly surveying the area. "Be careful, everyone," he said before going off to join the healer.
After him came a young man in a green bandana. His hair was black, and his eyes were dark. He wore a green, short-sleeved robe over a set of tight black robes. A katana hung diagonally across his back by means of a dark blue sash. He hissed. "You're all being too loud."
"What was that, viper?" The black-haired, violent-eyed one shouted. He ran to the "viper," his fists at the ready. "You wanna start something?"
"Chances that Tezuka will be happy about Momoshirou and Kaidou fighting: 0%." The next one to walk in had black hair that stood straight up in spikes, although shorter than the one that Ryoma figured was "Momoshirou." Like "Kaidou" before him, this one was dressed in green and black. However, his robes were much more eloquent, and obviously not meant for combat. His thick spectacles hid his brown eyes, as he recorded something in a book of parchment.
"Ahh, let's not fight, guys!" A man ran in, dressed in simple brown robes with a silver chest plate. A long sword hung by his left hip by means of a black belt. His brown hair stood up on his head, and his brown eyes were wide with worry.
"Yeah, yeah! Forget fighting, let's eat!" The red-haired one chimed in, practically jumping around his friends.
"Saa, Eiji, as their elder, you should have been watching over them. That way the fight would not have started in the first place."
Ryoma froze as a silky soft voice preceded the next, and final, young man through the doorway. His brown hair fell below his jawline, but not quite to his shoulders. On his slender build, he wore flowing robes of purple and silver with a hood. Slung on his shoulder was a bow and a quiver of arrows, while under his robes, Ryoma could make out the shape of a belt containing three deadly sharp daggers. His eyes were closed, and he smiled faintly.
Ryoma's golden eyes widened slightly as the young man turned towards him for a split second. Closed eyelids fluttered open to reveal shimmering orbs of blue, and the man's smile faltered. The split second during which their gaze beheld each other felt like an eternity… Until Eiji, the red-haired one, interrupted.
"Maa, Fuji," he pouted. "That's not fair! You're their elder too!" Eiji ran to his best friend and jumped on his back, hugging him with his arms and legs.
Fuji's head snapped back to his friends, his eyes closing once again, that same smile plastered on his face. He stumbled with the weight of his friend, and chuckled. "Let's just get some food then."
The travelers cheered, approaching the bar and each ordering their own meals. Ryoma turned back to his ale. Who was that strange, yet alluring, man? Why did he hold such power over Ryoma? He took another sip of his sweet nectar.
"Nya, a kitty cat!" Ryoma's head snapped up, meeting the dark blue eyes of the one they had called Eiji.
"Ahh, you mean Karupin," he started to say, but then realized that Eiji had been talking about him.
"Look, Momo! This ochibi here is absolutely adorable, just like a kitty cat!" The joy in Eiji's voice was reflected by the look in his eyes. Ryoma frowned. Him? Adorable? An ochibi? A kitty cat?
Momoshirou walked over. "Yeah, yeah, Kikumaru. He really is a cute little boy! Hey, what are you doing alone? Wanna come have dinner with us instead?" He asked loudly. "We can't leave you to dine alone, we just can't. The name's Momoshirou Takeshi, but feel free to call me Momo like everyone else does." He stuck his hand out.
Ryoma took his hand silently, golden gazing into purple.
"Ne, ne, Momo, that's not fair, I wanna be his friend too!" the red-haired one pouted, lightly batting Momo's hand away. "Kikumaru Eiji, at your service!" He saluted, before jumping onto Ryoma and giving him a big bear hug. "Nice to meet you!"
Ryoma staggered and nearly fell of his chair, having to now support the weight of a young man much taller than he was. "Nice… to meet you too, Kikumaru, Momo." His patience was already being tried.
Kikumaru's eyes fell upon Ryoma's sword. "Hey, you're a swordsman too! I bet you're no match against our Kawamura though!"
Ryoma's eyes narrowed. He was confident in his skills as a swordsman, and would take any challenge thrown at him. "Hm. Is that so?"
"Yeah, definitely! You can't win against Taka," Momo said, beckoning the one brown-haired one over. "You just can't."
The man strode forward, holding his right hand out to Ryoma, his left hand rubbing the back of his head. "Hi, I'm Kawamura Takashi," he said sheepishly. "How do you do?"
Ryoma smiled. He liked the kind-hearted Kawamura, and eagerly took his hand. " I'm fine, it's nice to meet you, Kawamura."
"Ne, Kawamura, this ochibi reckons he can beat you in a duel!" Kikumaru egged on, making things up now. "You should try to take him on!"
Kawamura held his hands up before him, obviously not wanting to fight. "Now now, Eiji, Oishi and Tezuka wouldn't like it if we started dueling anyone here, especially such a nice young boy. We don't want anyone to get hurt!"
Momo and Kikumaru protested while Ryoma frowned. It was true that he would rather not waste any effort in a duel after such a long day, but he was certain of his abilities and did not take well to being looked down upon for being younger and smaller. He began to say that, when something felt wrong to him. A shiver ran up and down his spine, as he heard a low rumbling. Something was coming.
A scream rang from outside of the pub. Ryoma, Kawamura, Momo, and Kikumaru ran out to see what the commotion was. Even though the sun had yet to set, the sky was dark. A fog rolled in front of them, approaching quickly. Throwing up his right arm in front of him, Ryoma shielded himself from an approaching tendril of darkness.
A creature sprang from the fog, its paws dancing quickly over the distance between it and Ryoma. It leapt, and its jaws clamped over Ryoma's outstretched arm.
"Aaaaargh!" Ryoma cried out in pain.
"Ochibi!" Kikumaru cried. But before he could react, a burst of flame erupted from nowhere as Kawamura drew his sword and stepped forward.
"Come on, doggy, let's play!" He yelled, brandishing the fiery sword before him. The beast released Ryoma and squared off with Kawamura. It looked like a giant black hound, two curved horns protruding from its head. Its spiked tail whipped back and forth behind it as it lowered its head and growled at the fire wielder, its long fangs dripping blood. The hellhound crouched down on all fours, and then sprang at the swordsman.
"Kawamura!" Ryoma shouted, as the swordsman brought his sword down upon the hellhound. The fire seemed to dance brighter around Kawamura, as Ryoma felt a burning warmth on his chest. Looking down, he saw the first bell glowing. He withdrew the first bell, a small bell with a bright ringing chime, now gleaming fiery gold. However, contrary to its sound and appearance, this bell's purpose and name were completely unexpected; Ryoma had drawn the bell of fire, Kanna The Sleeper.
Remembering the short introduction that his father had given him, Ryoma held The Sleeper in his left, uninjured arm, and flicked his wrist up quickly. The Sleeper sounded thrice, three purely bright tones. Sparks of flames danced from the bell, surrounding the hellhound. The beast fell to the ground, its power weakened. It was deep in slumber.
"Finish it, Kawamura!" Ryoma yelled to the swordsman.
"Aaaaaah!" With a great battle cry, Kawamura brought his sword down upon the hound. The hellhound disintegrated into the dark fog, and the sky cleared to reveal a magnificent sunset.
"Momo! Eiji!" A voice cried out from inside the inn, as the healer ran out.
"Oishi!" Kikumaru cried, jumping onto the man. "You should've seen what happened! There was this dark doggy, and it attacked Ochibi-chan, and…"
"It attacked someone?" Oishi cried out, worried. His gaze fell upon Ryoma's bleeding arm. "Oh no! Let me treat that immediately!" He reached into one of the many pouches around his waist and pulled out healing salves and bandages.
"Ah… Thank you." Ryoma said quietly. The man called Oishi began tending to his arm immediately. Ryoma stared at the bell in his hand. Though it no longer rang, it quivered warmly in his hand. He set Kanna back in its clapper, and opened his hand, feeling his newfound power. A burst of blue flame danced in the middle of his palm. 'Dad… I think I've found my first power."