Hey guys. Sorry about the wait. I decided to take a break. I needed time to think. And what better time than thanksgiving... and another week. So I took a three week hiatus as I'm sure you're all aware.

So with that. Let's get to some other things. I'm a beta reader! I'll gladly be excepting any requests to beta read stories. But first I want you to look through my resume. Aka the red B above my profile picture. It'll tell you the requirements to be met and what things I'll beta read. So that's cool and all.

Also. I hate leaving you guys in the dark like I did for these last three weeks. I don't want you to think that I'm abandoning this story. So I'll be updating my bio in my profile with a note for any and all updates on how things are. Won't be daily. But make sure to check that if something like this happens again. And if you have any further questions. PM me. I'll respond as soon as I can. I'm a busy guy.

Anyways. Enough talk... from me. To the long awaited chapter 6. Please. Enjoy!


Chapter 6:

Arthur Drachen


Three days after the invasion...

Arthur strode down the crystal white halls of the palace in no rush to reach the dining hall. The twenty-one year old arcanine was only four months away from his coronation and he had been going through countless training sessions with the captain of the royal guard and even more lectures from his mentor on how to be a good king. Yet Arthur had never wanted to be a king. The idea of being responsible for a kingdom and all of its residents made Arthur shiver every time he thought about it. Sometimes Arthur wished he had never been born into the royal family or just into his family in general. Than his life would've been a lot easier.

"Master Arthur! Please wait up!" a voice shouted from behind Arthur. Arthur continued to walk at the same pace hoping to reach the dining hall before his maid caught up. Unfortunately Arthur's maid was a mienshao so she caught up quickly. "Master Arthur. We have to review your duties for today. Your father requested it," Arthur's maid said breathing heavily.

Arthur had never liked maids or servants. In fact he hated them and often treated them badly. But he was crueler to this one than the other ones. Belle Eston was her full name and she was assigned to Arthur on his fifteenth birthday. To Arthur she was an itch that would never stop. She followed him everywhere as his most loyal maid and always tried to help him even if he didn't want it. Arthur didn't know much else about her nor did he care to.

"I don't care what that old man wants," Arthur said quickly growing annoyed.

"But you have to. It's your responsibility as the next king. Here I'll just let you see the paper while I go over-" Belle attempted to say before Arthur quickly whipped around and tore the paper out of the twenty-four year old's hands.

"I said I don't care! Get out of my sight!" Arthur barked at her harshly.

She stood still in shock. Arthur saw tears form in her eyes as she bowed to him and said, "Of course your majesty," before walking away quickly.

Arthur turned around and again continued to make his way down the hall. Arthur saw the doors to the dining hall open. Great. He reached the door and walked inside and to no surprise his family was already sitting at the table.

He saw his father, another arcanine, look towards Arthur with a stern expression. His mother, a ninetales sat beside him eating. They sat at the head of the long table while Arthur's sister, Shyann, an alolan ninetales, sat elegantly to the right of his parents. He walked over to the table and sat across from his sister.

"Your late again boy," Arthur's father said taking a sip of his soup.

"Ask if I care," Arthur said back to his father. He saw his sister twitch from that. His father quickly glanced at Arthur before taking another sip of his soup.

"Did you review your duties with Miss Eston?" Arthur's father asked.

"I didn't see any reason to," Arthur said lifting up a piece of bluk berry bread.

"Put it down," Arthur's father demanded.

"Why?" Arthur asked back.

"Because I'm your father and your king. Put the bread down now," the arcanine said looking at Arthur with a serious expression. Arthur set down the bread and waited impatiently for his father to speak. "Three months," Arthur's father said.

Shyann looked at Arthur then at their father. Arthur thought his father was talking about the coronation. But that was four months away. Not five. "It's four months. I guess old age is finally settling in," Arthur said mockingly.

"No. Three months," Arthur's father said again.

"Four months. I think you should be reviewing your facts instead of me," Arthur said harshly.

"Your coronation is in four months boy. My death is in three," Arthur's father said taking another sip of his soup. Arthur stared at his father feeling lost in thought. Arthur's father looked back at him and then looked back at his food and chuckled. "What's the matter boy? Hmm? You felt like talking so much a few minutes ago and now you look a bit blue," Arthur's father said taking a sip of his soup again.

"How? I thought the doctors said they could cure your illness," Shyann asked.

"Yes. 'Thought'. But they recently found that this is no illness. It's something else they can't explain. I asked them how much time I have. They told me if I am lucky. Around four months. But it's looking more like three months," the old man said. "Don't worry boy. I'll be out of you fur soon enough. Won't have a father annoying you anymore," he said looking at Arthur.

Arthur looked away and sat quietly. He knew his father was going to die someday. But so soon. Why should I care? Arthur thought to himself. "Good. At least I won't have someone barking down my neck every second," Arthur said harshly.

"Arthur Drachen how dare you! That's your father you're speaking to! Apologize now!" Arthur's mother demanded.

"No no sweetie. It's fine. The boy is right. He'll be running a kingdom. It would be good if he didn't have any distractions. I'd only be getting in his way. Right?" Arthur's father said staring at him.

"Yeah. You would," Arthur said back.

"That is enough out of you Arthur! Go to your room now!" Arthur's mother demanded.

"I'm twenty-one now! You can't tell me what to do anymore! Screw this!" Arthur yelled getting up, "I'm going out! I hope you die sooner you old fool!" Arthur ran out of the dining hall and down the halls past servants and maids who moved out of the way. He continued to run until he was out of the palace. Arthur found himself in the gardens. The sun was bright and the skies were clear. The air felt warmer than usual.

He looked around for the best route to the town. He looked down a path that led straight into town. He ran down the path as fast as he could feeling tears fill up his eyes. He reached the entrance to the gardens and ran out into the streets and between the houses. He ran through the alleys of the town towards the inner walls of the kingdom.

Arthur ran for ten minutes until he finally reached the inner walls. He walked out of the alleyway and into the streets. Arthur didn't come out of the castle often. He never liked anyone. He never had any friends nor did he want any. For most of the people in the kingdom the feeling was mutual. Nobody dare say anything about him to his face or to his parents. But outside of that talk and hate towards Arthur was prominent.

Unfortunately people had already noticed him and were looking his way. Some faces of disgust. Others were plain and decided to continue on with their business. Arthur began to walk down the streets hoping to get his mind off his father. Why should I care? Arthur thought again.

Arthur felt his stomach rumble. He quickly remembered he had not eaten anything before he ran out of the castle. He looked around for a shop and found one standing out from the others. The store was built out of light pink wood leading Arthur to believe it was Pink Ivory. What also caught him by surprise was the plethora of flowers that coated the store.

He walked over to it curiously and took a look inside. From what Arthur could see, the shop sold flowers, food, souvenirs, and other interesting things. Arthur opened the door to the shop and walked in. Arthur immediately noticed the shop smelled like a mixture of flowers and foods. He walked around and traced the walls of flowers. There were so many kinds. Even some Arthur couldn't identify himself. He continued to look at the flowers until one in particular caught his eye. He saw a glowing golden flower outside of a window that had a bright white core on the inside. He walked over to it to get a closer look. Arthur had no idea what it was. But it held a magical feeling to it that he couldn't quite wrap his paw around.

He stared at it for a few seconds more until a voice behind him said, "We call it the golden flower." Arthur turned around and saw a pink leafeon walking towards him. "Mostly because we don't know it's real name. But also for the fact that it glows like the sun. Pretty isn't it?" the girl said standing next to Arthur.

The flower wasn't what Arthur found pretty. He stared at the gorgeous pink leafeon that stood next to him. Arthur had never seen anyone so pretty before. Where did you come from? Arthur thought. If she had been in this kingdom for a while now he would've known from his sister. So she must've come from outside of the kingdom. But where?

She turned to him and smiled before saying, "Hi. My name is Ana. I'm new to this whole kingdom thing. I come from Conter Valley. I'm used to knowing everybody. But now I don't know anybody. Hey. I got an idea. How about you be the first I get to know? What's your name?" Ana asked enthusiastically.

Conter Valley? That's miles away. No wonder she doesn't know who I am. Those people are secluded from everything nowadays. Arthur thought. "You just met me. I'm a completely random stranger who showed up to this store as a customer. And I came here to get something to eat. Not to talk to someone from the 'prideful' residents of Conter Valley," Arthur said back walking to where the food was.

"Yeah I know. We're quite the prideful and arrogant bunch. I can't deny that. But we're prideful and arrogant together as one big family," Ana said walking behind Arthur. "I also don't think it's all that weird to talk to new people. Otherwise how would we meet new friends?"

What's with this girl? Even after Arthur tried to insult her so she would leave him alone. She persisted completely unaffected. "I don't know. I don't care," Arthur said looking at some of the foods that were in front of him.

"You're a grumpy one? Wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I know I did. I'm still tired. I usually get seventeen hours of sleep in Conter Valley. But the sun rises earlier here. Much earlier. I'm still trying to get used to it," Ana said yawning.

Now that did get Arthur's attention. Seventeen hours?! That's absurd. Arthur thought wishing he got that many hours of sleep. "Maybe you should go back to bed then. It would be better for both of us," Arthur said back still trying to figure out which food to choose.

"I recommend the oran berry pie. It's one of Conter Valley's best meals," Ana said walking behind the counter.

Arthur knew she had to be some kind of employee of the store. But why was she running it by herself. She didn't even look that old. Wait. How old is she? Arthur thought curiously. "How old are you?" he asked.

"Why do you ask?" Ana asked back while cutting a slice of the pie.

"You look young. And right now you're running this store by yourself," Arthur said.

"Seventeen," Ana responded placing the peace of pie on a plate.

Seventeen?! Arthur thought in shock. He knew she was young. But that young and already so beautiful. "So you're seventeen and running the store by yourself. Aren't you a little young to be running a store by yourself?" Arthur asked.

"I don't think so. In Conter Valley a kid can help run a shop by the age of fourteen. Plus. I'm just holding down the fort until my aunt gets back," she replied.

"What about your parents?" Arthur asked.

"They've gone out to talk to a count about enlisting as citizens within the inner walls of the kingdom. I don't know when they'll get back," Ana said handing the piece of pie to Arthur. He took it from her and took a small bite. It tasted amazing. He took another large bite out of it. Ana giggled and said, "I thought you might like that one. Everyone does."

"Hmm," was his only response as he continued to eat it.

"Oh. Crap. Uh. That costs money. I forgot. We don't usually use money in Conter Valley. Um. Do you have payment?" Ana asked looking at him.

"You don't use money in Conter Valley?! How?" Arthur asked in disbelief.

"We just have a lot of food for everybody. And the only thing that costs money is houses. And even then they cost ten times less than what they cost here," Ana said.

Arthur was about to say something back to her until he heard a familiar voice coming from outside getting closer.

"And that should be all the arrangements. If you ever need anything else you just come ask me," said Counselor Brandon.

"Thanks again for all the help counselor. We would like to treat you to one our pies for being so nice," a new voice said back. Arthur turned around and saw three people walk in: an umbreon, an espeon, and a slowking.

"Oh I would love to. I've heard a great many things about…" Counselor Brandon trailed off as he immediately noticed Arthur. "Prince Arthur! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be going through fighting lessons with Master Henry?" Brandon asked.

"Prince?!" Ana said behind Arthur surprised. Arthur noticed the umbreon and espeon gasp before bowing. He turned around and found Ana bowing as well. "Um. Don't worry about payment. It's free," Ana said still bowing.

Arthur quickly grew annoyed again. Damn you Brandon. Arthur thought before cursing quietly. "Stop bowing! Now!" Arthur demanded. Ana sat up but remained silent with a plain expression. Just like everyone else… Arthur thought agitated. "I skipped. Didn't feel like it today," Arthur said feeling his anger build up again. Why'd you have to ruin this Brandon? Arthur thought wishing he could hear Ana talk about Conter Valley again. About anything really.

"Your coronation is months away. You must not be skipping your sessions with your teachers," Brandon said in a worried tone.

"Fine. I'll go to Master Henry but only if you pay the girl three times the cost of the pie I ate," Arthur said walking towards the door. Brandon pulled out some gold coins and held them towards the umbreon. "I said the girl Counselor," Arthur said getting in between the umbreon and the slowking.

"They are the parents of the girl my prince. It's still going to the shop," Brandon said confused.

Arthur gave the counselor a serious expression and said, "Did I say something wrong counselor? I'm pretty sure I said the girl. Now." Brandon's expression changed from confused to surprised.

"Of course my prince," Brandon said before walking over to Ana.

Arthur walked out the door and into the streets. He took a deep breath and began making the long walk back to the castle. He still got looks of disgust as he walked by other people. But he didn't care. The only thing he was thinking about was that girl. She was so nice to him even when he responded back harshly until she found out he was the prince. It annoyed him. Why do I care? Arthur thought picking up his pace to try and push the girl out of his mind. But even though he tried. He only thought about her the whole way back. He sighed. I'll visit her tomorrow. Arthur thought. Ana…. A pretty name.


And there you have it. After a long time chapter 6 is finally done. This didn't take nearly as long and wasn't nearly as long as the other chapters. But I feel I accomplished what I wanted to say for this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it and I hope you're still with me (I'm surry ;^;).

But anyways. Criticism and reviews are appreciated as always. I'll see you next time!

"Make the leap" - Nice Guy Wolf