Welcome to chapter 3 of Whispers of the Water! I apologize for the delay between the last chapter and this one. I was caught up in my other story, To Have Loved and Lost. This story is likely to be just as long, if not longer, than my True Gaia series. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Legaia. I do, however, own Shera.
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Chapter 3: Winds of Change
It took them a while, but the two of them (plus Meta, but Shera counted him as part of Vahn.) made it out and up to the top of the dormant volcano before the sun was too high in the sky. Shera blinked as she saw a redheaded young girl trying to fight some big flying thing. Vahn did the same, but he didn't charge towards the fight like Shera did.
The redhead yelped as Shera pulled her down just in time to evade a slice from the thing's overgrown claws. She turned her big green eyes on the brunette as she stood and glanced at Vahn, who had stopped paying attention to Meta and started paying attention to his surroundings.
"You alright?" Shera turned her stormy grey-blue eyes on the redhead, a sort of calming in them that wasn't ever towards any guys. Her eyes skimmed over the girl's body, and she frowned as she saw all the wounds. "Vahn, you remember what you were telling me earlier?" The blunette looked over his shoulder at them, and she nodded her head to the kid.
"Right. Keep this thing occupied, then. And don't get yourself killed." Shera merely grinned as she stood and pulled the knife out of its sheathe to hold it in a fighting grip in front of her as she stared down what she could feel was a Seru.
Shera paced away from Vahn and the girl to the side, getting more space for them to dodge if they needed to. The Seru charged at her, and she rolled to the side to dodge its claws, standing to slash at its left wing. It roared in pain and anger at her as she darted out from under it. Its left claw barely grazed her chest, but she did a somersault to make sure she was out of the way.
Unfortunately, she hadn't kept in mind that even though its wing was now lying limply on the ground, it could still move to attack. She bit back a scream as its claws dug into her arm, and backed up almost to the genesis tree, holding her arm. Her knife had been dropped as soon as her right arm had been injured, unable to hold the weapon.
"Shera!" Shera's eyes flicked from the Seru to Vahn, who was looking both angry and worried.
"I'll be fine! Just concentrate on killing it!" The Seru still hadn't taken its attention away from Shera, and sliced at her with its claws again. She dropped to her knees to avoid it, but then found that she couldn't force herself to stand again. She was bleeding rather heavily. "D-dammit..." Shera blinked a couple of times, trying to keep from blacking out. She removed a bloody hand from her injury and dug through her belt pouch, trying to find the packet of healing leaves. A slight whine came from nearby, and she turned her head.
["Child...Are you...traveling with Vahn?"] Shera's eyes widened, staring at the old wolf lying injured near her. There was an odd green shape attached to its wolf.
"Y-yes, I am." She winced as she heard how weak she sounded, and found the packet and pulled it out. She pulled out a couple of the leaves and gently crushed it before letting the juices that dripped out of the plump leaf fall into her wound. It stung a bit, so she winced, but it did the trick and started to heal.
["I am Terra, a Ra-Seru... I may not be able...to move much...and my energy is draining...but here, allow me to finish...healing your wounds for you..."] Shera blinked as the green shape on the wolf's head glowed, and then the wound on her arm. She felt her light-headedness disappear and her strength return, and she nodded her thanks to the Ra-Seru, putting away the packet of leaves. ["Please...Help Noa."]
Shera paused to look down at the Ra-Seru attached to the wolf's head, and nodded before darting over to pick up her knife and slip back into the fray, slicing the tendons of its other wing as it tried to hit the redhead with it.
"Shera! What did you-" Shera darted backwards again as the Seru tried to slice her open again, and then glanced over at the other two. There was a slight red glow around Meta as he spoke to Vahn, which explained why the blunette's sentence had been cut off in the middle.
"Less talking, more fighting." Shera stepped to the right as the Seru tried to swing downwards at her, and sliced at a tendon with her dagger. It didn't cut it all the way, but her blade was stained red with its blood again.
The redhead seemed to be concentrating on trying to hit its eyes, which was probably a really good tactic, and Vahn looked like he was concentrating, and Meta was glowing slightly. Fire erupted around his hand suddenly, and he dashed towards the Seru. Shera decided that it would be best for her to act as support, and drew its attention by darting forwards to stab her knife into its paw. It turned its head and roared right in her face, lifting its abused paw to slash down at her.
Vahn arrived right then, though, and punched upwards at the creature's head, somehow putting enough force into the blow to make it flip over and land on its back. Shera winced as she heard snapping from what she assumed were its wings, and then took a step back as fractures appeared all over it. She glanced at Vahn, with her eyes wide, and he looked just as clueless. The Seru shattered, the dust floating off on a stiff wind.
The burst of energy that she had gotten when Terra healed her wore off, and she fell to one knee, blinking a few times as she suddenly realized there was sweat dripping into her eyes. She noticed Vahn immediately knelt next to her, looking concerned, and she shook her head at him, showing she was fine.
"Just tired...I guess you really are on a different level than me, now..." Noa, the redhead, started to try to lift the wolf by herself, and Shera stood. "Here, let us help. We don't want to hurt her more than she already is." Vahn blinked at Shera as she limped over to Noa and lifted the wolf's front. Vahn walked over to support the wolf's rear, and they moved to lay it near the Genesis Tree.
["Thank you..."] Shera blinked as the Ra-Seru addressed her and licked her hand slightly as she remained kneeling where she was. Vahn approached the tree, and lifted his hand to touch the trunk. A familiar red light filled his palm, and then moved to sink into the trunk of the tree. Shera closed her eyes for a moment as the tree shone brightly, though she felt the calmness emanate from this tree the same as she had from the one in Rim Elm.
Once the bright flash of light had passed, she opened her eyes again, and looked up to watch the tree grow. Noa was standing to her left, though the redhead helped her to stand. Apparently it was obvious that she was feeling weak from that injury yet. Vahn moved out of the pillar of light that had formed, and glanced over at Shera for a moment.
Before he had a chance to ask if she was feeling alright again, the wolf sat up and the green object came off of its head, floating over to Noa, who stuck out her left hand for it to attach to. There was a small flash of light as the metallic thing started to configure itself to fit around the girl's hand.
As Shera was blinking away the stars that dotted her vision from that light, she felt something brush past her left leg...which she quickly realized was hurting quite badly. She felt arms around her suddenly, and then she felt like she was floating, the pain gone. She didn't feel sore, just tired.
"Shera! Come on, don't fall asleep!" She wearily blinked again, starting to be able to see past the white dots. Vahn looked...panicked.
"Here, let me handle keeping her awake. You heal her leg." The redhead entered Shera's vision as Vahn's face disappeared. "I'm sorry. I thought you noticed that your leg was bleeding and decided to ignore it." Oh, so that's what was wrong with her leg? No wonder it hadn't been able to support her whole weight and she had to kneel.
Hold on...When had she been laid on the ground? Pain suddenly flared into Shera's left leg, and she jerked, trying to sit up. Noa, though, put both her hands on Shera's shoulders to keep her down.
"Sorry, Shera. It's gonna hurt for a bit." That was Vahn...Well, at least the one that she knew had access to healing magic was the one tending to her wound...But why was it gonna-
Shera bit down a scream as she felt something enter her skin several times. She would have punched Vahn if not for the fact that Noa was holding her down with more force than she'd thought the redhead would have. Either the Ra-Seru gave her that much more strength, or Shera was just feeling that weak.
Vahn was done, finally, and Noa helped Shera to sit up. The brunette was shaking and sweating, but she still had enough energy to glare at Vahn. He was wiping something off, and smiled a bit sheepishly as he noticed her glare.
"Sorry. Your wound needed stitches, though. That thing cut a pretty big flap off of your leg." She looked at her leg, and winced as she saw how much blood had soaked into her pants. "Meta had just enough energy to make it so that you weren't bleeding as much, and to clean it out." Again, she winced, and made as if she wanted to stand.
"No, we should camp here for the night." Noa kept Shera from moving again, to the brunette's annoyance. "Besides, you shouldn't move around on that leg just yet. You might rip the wound open again." With a sigh, Shera gave in. She just didn't have the energy to argue at both of them right then. Besides, the sun was going down anyhow.
"...Fine..." Noa grinned, and started to run around to find things to burn for a fire. Vahn helped Shera up and to the tree to lean against it, being surprisingly gentle for all that he was aiding his rival. Not that he thought that way.
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The next dawn found Shera lying curled up on her right side, her open cape draped over her as a blanket. Vahn was sprawled out not too far from her, sleeping about as silently. Noa, however, was up already, and was watching the sunrise with wonder on her face. It was only her third day out of the Snowdrift Cave, and yet...well, she wasn't sure they did the same, but she considered Shera and Vahn to be friends and companions. Vahn had a Ra-Seru like she did, and Shera...Shera was really nice. She saw Noa was in trouble and charged straight into a dangerous battle for someone she didn't know.
["That may have simply been recklessness on her part, Noa."] The redhead looked at the green glove that covered her left hand as it glowed softly.
"Yeah, but...It was still awfully brave of her." She felt Terra's amusement, and then looked over her shoulder as she heard someone moving around. Shera was still curled up, sleeping soundly, though Vahn was sitting up, yawning. "Good morning!" The blunette turned his head as if he could see her even with his back to her, and then stood, stretching.
"Good morning, Noa." They'd talked a bit after Shera had fallen asleep the night before. She'd been surprised to find that Shera was considered Vahn's rival in their hometown until the blue-haired one mentioned that gaining Meta had increased his strength. That might explain why, even though Shera had seemed to be so strong during the fight against Caruban, she was so weak when Noa had to keep her down. Well, that could also have been due to blood loss...
As Noa watched, Vahn knelt next to Shera to press a gentle hand to her forehead, to check and see if she had a fever. He'd mentioned he was worried about that, since the only time he'd ever seen her with a fever, she wasn't able to get out of bed for a full week, it had been so strong.
"Bug off, Vahn..." Noa grinned as Shera's sleepy complaint emerged from under her mess of hair. She'd unbraided it the night before, though Noa saw her starting to try to comb through it with her fingers, sitting up. She seemed to be in a really sour mood, though that may have simply been because of her leg.
Once her hair was braided, Shera tried to stand, and ended up needing Noa's help again. The dried meat that Noa had brought from wherever she'd lived was passed out amongst them for them to munch on while they traveled, and they started the painstaking task of getting down the mountain again.
It was a bit nerve-racking, especially when they reached the part that Shera and Vahn had had to rock-climb to get up. With Terra's help, though, they found an alternate route for each area where Shera would have had an issue.
By the time they reached the base, however, Shera was sweating slightly from pain and they had to stop for a while. Vahn checked the wound on Shera's leg, and replaced the bandages he'd made from the torn part of Shera's pants. Noa spent that time darting around killing things that were attracted by the scent of blood, and they stood to keep going after that.
There weren't as many creatures willing to attack them on the plains now that the Mist was gone. Both Vahn and Shera were thankful for that, but it seemed that Noa hadn't really noticed a difference. She was too busy trying out some new technique or another to.
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The guards standing outside the Mountain Gate of Drake Castle peered towards the pinprick of light partway across the plains between the dormant volcano and the craggy gate. Was that...a campfire? Could it be the ones who banished the Mist? They debated amongst themselves, and then sent a message to King Drake III. They'd been told to keep an eye out for the arrival of the ones that were most likely to be their saviors, the ones who walked through the Mist without fear.
They'd spoken amongst themselves all through the day, trying to figure out about how long it would take to reach Drake Castle from the summit of Mt. Rikuroa, and they were somewhat disturbed when the awaited ones weren't within sight by the day's end. Though, the light of their fire showed their presence in the dark, easing their worries.
When they spotted the trio the next day, though, they weren't expecting a young man, a young woman, and a child. Nor were they expecting to see the young woman supported by the young man as she walked, obviously injured. The child was the one darting about and killing the monsters that would have attacked them.
By the time they arrived at the gate, there were a full platoon of soldiers standing there to greet them, along with the king himself. King Drake's eyes were on the young woman, though, concerned more about her than he was eager to know their tale. Had there been a battle? He hadn't thought about that possibility. If that were so, had any of their number been killed? He would have a hard time accepting that, if it were true. They stopped just in front of him, the brunette woman studying him from under her bangs. That one held quite a bit of knowledge, and was quite possibly smarter than she appeared.
"Travelers, are you the ones that have driven away the Mist?" Vahn blinked at the king, obviously recognizing him, but Noa beat him to the answer.
"Yup! Vahn woke up the Genesis Tree!" Shera smirked at Noa's energy as she bounced up and down.
"So what we heard was true! One look at the shining Seru on your arms, and I understand how this miracle occurred." Shera blinked. She didn't have a Ra-Seru. Maybe he was thinking that she had been a traveler that had been found and rescued by Vahn and Noa? "Your companion seems injured, though. Please, come." He bowed slightly, and both Vahn and Shera found themselves nodding awkwardly back to him, seeing as neither could bow at the moment.
They followed him into his castle, the king continuing to talk. "I am Drake III, king of this castle. You have my deepest gratitude." Vahn was being rather careful with Shera, and, though she was tired and therefore slightly grumpy, she was able to keep her tongue in check and not scold the blunette. "Here. The three of you may rest in the guest rooms. I will call for my personal physician to take a look at the young lady's leg." Shera blinked slightly at the king, a bit surprised that he would do that.
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Later on, once Shera's leg had been checked and declared perfectly fine, the trio of travelers were invited to join the king for dinner. Noa and Shera were given dresses that they could wear, and Vahn was given some clean clothes as well.
While waiting, Shera had been mending her armor, which confused the servants a bit. It hadn't sustained too much damage, but there were scratches that needed attention. Noa sat and watched for a while, but went to look for Vahn after a while, bored. Shera was measured for some new clothes to wear under her armor, mainly for pants.
She still limped as she walked, but Shera was able to walk around without help. The people of the castle were polite enough to her, though it seemed they weren't aware she had been traveling with Vahn and Noa. That was just fine with her, though, and she learned a lot about the Drake kingdom than if she would have if she were walking around with Vahn or Noa.
The dress that Shera showed up to the dinner in was a simple blue dress that made her eyes seem bluer than they normally were. She noticed that Vahn took a couple of looks at her before seemingly accepting that she was dressed like a woman. Noa looked a bit awkward in her green dress. Both were wearing their hair loose, and Shera's was curling slightly.
"Ah, good. You are feeling well now?" Shera nodded and took her seat in the chair that one of the servants pulled back for her, smiling slightly.
"My leg is still sore, but it is bearable." The king nodded, smiling with relief. The food arrived shortly, and Shera showed that she had learned the proper manners, and then had to try to show Noa, who hadn't learned them yet.
"I would like to hear your story." Shera blinked as she looked to King Drake from correcting how Noa was holding her fork again. She exchanged a slightly amused glance with Vahn, and nodded to him. She was busy, so until he reached the point where she left the village to catch up to him, she allowed him to tell it all. Then it was Noa's turn, as Shera hadn't had much to tell. "I see...So Shera chased after Vahn as he left Rim Elm to find and revive the Genesis Trees to keep a promise to her sister, and Noa lived beyond Mt. Rikuroa..."
Vahn fiddled with the napkin on his lap, the movement catching Shera's eye. "Actually, Your Majesty, there was another reason I left Rim Elm. I spoke to the Village Elder before I left home. He had requested that I go to the Biron Monastery. The last anyone heard from Mei's mother, ten years ago, she was working there." Shera's eyes widened slightly.
"That's...what you were going to tell me and forgot about?" Vahn smiled slightly sheepishly at Shera, rubbing the back of his head. The king looked between them as they waited for the next course, looking slightly confused. "Mei is my sister. About seven or eight years ago, I washed up on the shores of Rim Elm. Her father, Juno, offered to take me in and raised me as his own child." The king stroked his moustache thoughtfully.
"I see. In that case, my decision to open the Water Gate must have posed quite the obstacle." The final course of food arrived, and Shera blinked at the small sugar statues. "Hm. A meager meal, but I suppose that was to be expected as no fields were tilled for ten years." Shera lifted an eyebrow at him for a moment. It had been a far larger meal than they had ever had at Rim Elm. "I will have a soldier sent out to close the Water Gate as soon as this meal is done, and check the state of the bridge. I fear that without any maintenance for ten years that it has fallen into a sad state of disrepair." Vahn nodded, and started to munch at the piece he had broken off of the sugar statuette.
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The next morning, Shera woke up in the guest quarters, and sat up before flinching, putting a hand near her left leg, remembering that it had been injured a few days ago. There was a knock on the door, and she lifted her head to see Noa walk in, dressed, as she was, in a nightgown.
"Yay, you're up! Vahn wanted to know if he could try healing your leg again. He says that it probably won't work all the way, but..." Shera smiled and stood, resting most of her weight on her left foot.
"Sure. I should probably change into something other than this, though, huh?" She gestured towards her nightgown, smiling slightly. Noa blinked, and tilted her head to the side, clueless. "I'd rather not have Vahn see me in my bedclothes. Here, help me balance?" Noa walked up to offer her shoulder to Shera. They'd found out while traveling that when Shera had just woken up, her sense of balance was completely gone.
The redhead helped Shera to get dressed in a pair of slightly loose pants and a simple shirt before letting her sit down on a chair. Noa didn't notice that Shera grabbed a book that had been sitting near the chair and left to find Vahn.
Shera definitely had her nose buried into the book when Vahn arrived, and the blunette cleared his throat to get her to look up. He had a smile on his face at that, and she rolled her eyes before setting the book aside.
"That still the one from the guest room?" Shera nodded as Vahn rolled up her pants leg to reveal the bandages on her leg. Meta glowed on his wrist, and the translucent shape of the bat Seru, the Vera, appeared. Shera almost flinched as she felt the effects of the spell. It wasn't painful, but it didn't feel...normal. "There. That should be it." Vahn pulled his hand away from the bandages, and Shera stood warily. Her eyebrows went up as she didn't feel the sharp pain from her wound.
"That's mighty effective." She bent down and unwrapped her leg to see the oddly shaped scar on her leg. It was faint, but present. She ran her fingers over the mark, lifting an eyebrow at the senseless skin. As she traced it, she frowned a little. It was as if she weren't touching herself. She could feel it on her fingers, but there was no sensation of it from her leg. "No feeling...is that normal for scars?" Vahn lifted an eyebrow at her.
"I'm not sure. It may be." Shera sighed a little, and rolled down the pants leg again. She then walked over to the wardrobe and pulled a tunic over her head. It was a simple thing, with a blue theme. "They gave you more than the one dress?" Shera cast her rival a flat look.
"I didn't bring too many changes of clothes. The shirt and pants I was wearing during that fight got damaged, as you should remember. The tunic is what they gave me for when I didn't want to wear a dress but didn't want to seem terribly rude by wearing what amounted to work clothing." Socks were pulled onto Shera's feet, and she then pulled on the thin shoes that were used to walk around indoors, here. "Well, shall we go see if we can get some breakfast?" Vahn chuckled slightly as he led the way out the guestroom door.
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Shera watched as Noa darted around the market from where she sat on the bottom of the castle steps. The market had been set up in the castle's forecourt, and the people who had been trapped in the castle's enclaves were milling about, looking for necessities. Warriors and soldiers were gathering around the weapon and armor stalls, and women were looking at the meager grocery supplies, as well as the scarce textiles. Vahn was trailing along after Noa, who was talking to as many people as possible.
"Hard to believe such a sweet girl is one of the kingdom's saviors, huh?" Shera turned her head to look at the elderly man standing near her.
"They haven't saved it yet. There's still Mist to the East." The old man stared at Shera for a moment, as if asking her how she dared to be so pessimistic. "The Genesis Trees have the power to push the Mist back only so far. Rim Elm's Genesis Tree barely secured Hunter's Spring. I imagine that Mount Rikuroa's power doesn't even reach the Biron Monastery." The man stared at her now.
"You...you are the girl that travels with Vahn, correct? The girl from Rim Elm?" Shera blinked. She wasn't aware that people had been talking about her as well.
"Yes, I am." The man hummed slightly, still staring at her. "Is there some particular reason this fact is important?" The old man chuckled slightly and looked back towards Noa.
"Hm...I believe you are more remarkable than either of the other two. To survive in the Mist without the aide of a holy Seru...Perhaps your strength is greater than theirs..." Shera tilted her head and looked at the man oddly.
"Shera, there you are." The brunette blinked and leaned back slightly to look up at Vahn, who smiled down at his sometimes rival. "You're keeping an eye on Noa?" Shera smiled slightly and then turned her eyes back to the marketplace.
"That and keeping off my feet. I never knew how big Drake Kingdom was until I had to walk halfway across it." Vahn laughed and sat down on the step above the brunette.
"Yeah, well...This wasn't my first time here. When I was younger...I walked through the Mist to come here and get some Drake water. It...didn't work out that well, in the end." Shera turned her eyes to the blunette, but didn't say anything, sensing how delicate that subject was.
"Vahn! Shera!" Bothe looked to the hyperactive redhead that was charging in their direction. "Look what the nice guy at the armor shop gave me!" Shera winced mentally as she saw the fighting robe in Noa's arms. It was designed as much to draw the attention of male fighters as it was to protect from monsters' attacks. And considering the thickness of the cloth, it was definitely armor.
"I don't suppose he gave it to you for free, did he?" Vahn noted the dry tone in Shera's voice. Noa got a slightly confused look on her face and tilted her head to the side. Shera read the look accurately, and let her head fall back a little with a sigh.
"He said something about money, and then said that he'd just give it to me cause I didn't understand." Vahn chuckled, and then stood.
"Then yes, he did give it to you for free. Shera, come on, I want to see what weapons they have here, since a single knife between the three of us won't be much use." The brunette sighed a little and stood, brushing off her tunic and pants before patting her belt pouch to make sure it was still there.
"Oh, I don't know, it was doing just fine for us all the way up until we met Noa," she drawled, a slight smirk on her face. Vahn rolled his eyes at her, and led the way to the armor/weapons shop, Noa tagging along behind.
"Ah, the saviors of Drake Castle! Welcome, what can I do for you?" Shera smiled slightly at the eager shopkeeper, her eyes already scanning over the weapons behind the counter.
"Ah, well...Between the three of us, we've only got a single small knife as a weapon." Vahn rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. The shopkeeper's eyes lit up at this information as Shera's eyes landed on a particular pair of weapons.
"Well, what sort of weapons are you looking for?" Vahn looked at Shera, as if to exchange glances with her, and noticed her attention on something at the back of the shop. The shopkeeper noticed as well, and took the odd weapons off the pegs they were sitting on.
"Ah, so you're interested in these tonfas, miss? I admit, I didn't think you were the type to use them." The man offered the items to Shera for inspection, and she gripped the handles, stepping off to the side and experimenting. "But perhaps I was wrong. Have you ever used a pair before?" Shera ended her evaluations of the weapon with the longer part of the rod along her forearm.
"No, I haven't. But I can feel what style would best be used with them." There was a slight smirk on her face as she looked over the tonfa she held with her concentration more on the quality of its construction rather than the way to use it. Vahn, noticing this, chuckled and bargained for a decent price for his rival's new toys, as well as a short sword for himself, feeling better about his chances with a weapon actually in his hand rather than armed with a simple glove that wasn't even part of a pair.
After the gold for the weapons was handed over, Shera tucked the tonfas into the back of her belt, deciding that she'd have to figure out how to keep them on her without being either uncomfortable or being unable to pull them out at a moment's notice. She then led the way to get supplies for their traveling, Vahn keeping Noa occupied and from bothering the people around them.
Whereas Vahn used slight intimidation to get the price down, Shera chatted all the way through the process with the woman who owned the stand, and got a discount for being so personable. Vahn couldn't help but feel bemused at that, as the Shera he knew was far from nice. That was almost creepy, the way she was able to change how she acted depending on who she was talking with.
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I'm sort of embarressed that there's so many breaks in this chapter. I was having a bit of trouble keeping it flowing, and that seemed to be the best answer. Regardless, I'll try to get to the next region before going back to my True Gaia series.
I know there are people reading this story! I see the hits! So why am I getting no reviews for it?! ~goes and sulks in a corner~