Chapter Four: Wonder

She could hear him enter. She could smell the wine on his breath. She clenched her eyes and fists tighter, and waited as her heart pounded in fear.

"So sorry," Mr. Hatachi slurred, sitting on her cage, which was just the right size for him to sit on, so he could drink out of his wineskin, "you didn't get to perform here, Little Snake. Oh, wait, I got paid good gold to never let you be seen here." He smiled evilly, and rapped his knuckles on the cold iron bars.

"I had a lot of people asking for you, too. Your fame is making me a very wealthy man, and I plan to retire in two year's time. My son will succeed me in the family business." Mr. Hatachi belched noisily, making the little girl wrinkle her nose in disgust. "He's got some big plans for you, too. He says if people are entertained by you getting chased by a rabid dog, we should notch things up a bit by just letting people chuck stuff at you." The drunkard scowled angrily.

"You didn't do so well, the night they decided to do that anyway. You're supposed to let them hit you, not dodge the garbage. Well, while the others are taking down the tents, why don't we practice?"

'Please no,' she silently begged as he fished out the key to her cage, and undid the lock. The tiny brunette had learned better than to talk to the man, thanks to the frequent beatings that he showered on her.

"Come out, Snake Girl," he said in a singsong voice while yanking on a thick chain. The collar around the tiny girl's neck nearly choked her as she was forcibly dragged from her small cage. He pulled the chain up enough to force the poor girl to rise to her knees, and then to her feet. She stepped as far from the man as she could manage, but that wasn't very much. The circus manager smiled again.

"Let's pretend that I'm the audience, and you're the stupid green girl that wants to be fed tonight. That should make it easier on you. Entertain me! Jump up and down!"

The girl lowered her face from his, and reluctantly began jumping.

"Higher! More enthusiasm!" he ordered, jerking on her chain to help her jump higher. The girl did her best to breathe when he let her, but that collar wasn't letting enough air through. Tears began to stream from her eyes.

"Hey, you're not supposed to do that yet!" he shrieked, punching her savagely in the face. "You're supposed to wait until I start throwing stuff, remember?!"

She fell to the ground and covered her face with her hands, trying to disguise her tears.

'Why did I have to be so ugly? Why do I have to be here?'

xxXxx

"Machida, are you certain you want to be His Majesty's guide?" Mute asked worriedly as the golden man sifted around the… "trailer", he called it, for the items that he wished to take with him.

The raven-haired man nodded firmly, his steely eyes filled with determination as he readjusted the packs on his back. But he did not speak, for he was the voiceless warrior that had previously tried to slay the dreaded witch. The obvious limp he walked with was also a sign of his encounter with the horrible monster.

The golden-haired monarch emerged from his peculiar dwelling, and patted its side once affectionately. Even if it would start up again, after what the tornado did, it truly wouldn't be a good idea to drive it here (especially with the blown-out tires). He couldn't tell much about this culture, but he felt pretty certain that it would be a better idea to sneak up on the witch.

Although he hadn't really wanted to, he had traded out his black tuxedo and dress shoes for a soft gray kimono and strange wooden slippers (that were a bit tricky to walk in), so he wouldn't stick out as much.

It was just as well. The clothes he had arrived in weren't exactly travel-friendly. But they had managed to crawl into his bag, nonetheless.

Mayor Yoshioka beamed at him once again before gesturing to an old woman behind him.

"You won't be able to get past the witch's gate with your looks, Majesty, so Himeko has come up with a solution to get you into the Mountain Witch's domain without anyone the wiser."

The old woman hobbled a little closer to the supposed king, and smiled crookedly.

"Please kneel, Your Majesty. I can't reach that high."

A little bemused, the green-eyed man did as she bid him while she opened a glass bottle, which was filled with a liquid darkness. Very carefully, she poured the concoction over his hair, changing the locks of sunlight into that of deepest night. It leaked onto his eyebrows, and made a pass over his body once, so that not a single golden hair was left.

He looked over himself in the mirror a girl offered him, with a light blush on her cheeks.

'I almost look like Father,' he thought as the woman corked the bottle, and took two pinches of a fine dust out of a tiny bag.

"Look at me, Your Majesty," she instructed, using one pinch for each of his eyes, temporarily blinding him as the dust was thrown into his face. After a few seconds, the light came back, and he was looking in the mirror once more.

Now he looked exactly like his sire, which somehow made the transition of appearances easier to bear. Having blue eyes would take some getting used to, though.

"Fear not the water, nor signs of time," the old witch intoned while pocketing the bag. "The alterations of appearance will last until thy task is complete."

The mayor beamed as the now-darker man stood up and straightened out his attire.

"I hope you'll have a safe journey, Your Majesty. We'd hate for anything to happen to you."

The younger man smiled a little bit and bowed back, realizing that this was the custom in the area. He pulled his large shoulder bag on, and waved once before walking beside the slightly shorter and silent guide that would lead him to the Mountain Witch's keep.

ooOoo

It was a long and exhausting journey, stretching into a long two weeks through forests and towns, which lay scattered across the land like dandelion seeds. More than once, the supposed king wished that he had taken his trailer at least part of the way and let people say what they will, as long as he could get off of his feet.

But he didn't complain, at least out loud. He reasoned that it was probably a good thing that he was moving around so much before meeting this Mountain Witch, since she was likely to put up an admirable fight.

In fact, he got to see her once, before reaching her keep.

A strange sound was being carried in the air, like dried husks on the wind.

Or a pair of giant wings.

Machida had spotted her first and managed to drag his companion under some trees, to wait until it was safe to continue on their journey.

It had been just about sunset at about then, and the Twin Mountains seemed to be lit on fire from the sun's parting rays. A large figure rose from between the mountains, and stretched its huge wings out in order to start flying.

As it came closer and closer, the would-be king became more and more amazed.

There could be no doubt that it was a dragon, almost looking like it had been taken from one of the better picture books that he had grown up with. She had two fairly short horns upon her brow that curved toward her neck. Her body was leanly muscular and the wings were massive. He could just see sunlight through the tautly pulled skin while the wings beat up and down, as the dragon began its flight.

The mayor of Raven's Hill had been correct. She was every bit as green as his eyes had once been. From down here, he guessed that she might have been as long as a football field. Or maybe even a little longer.

Not that anyone around here would know what a football field was, in any case.

She flew past them without a glance, the trees providing excellent cover for the travelers. The ex-blonde watched her silhouette disappear into the distance, not being able to help it as a bit of awe worked its way into his heart.

"Wow," he whispered excitedly. 'I got to see a real dragon! Who says childhood dreams can't come true?!'