BOOK I
"There's Always A Way, Until You Give Up"
Tale Four ---Together Forever?---
Rating: T
I don't know when I made my choice
A long time ago, I am very sure
For behind me, the path is all long gone
And I realize I am truly alone
Everything is silent, still and pure
And I can't even hear my own smothered voice
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Years passed and the hunt for the Children of Ryuuguu was abandoned. Gular and Uyra, the sole legacy the Ryuujin had left behind were considered dead.
Hidden in time and wilderness, two children fend hard for themselves, tried to grow up in a harsh, war-torn land.
They were the only ones able to turn around the mayhem that razed Chikura-sei for nearly a decade now.
"Gular-kun! Gular stop playing around with that sword, it's dinner time!"
Orange and purple of breaching sunset at the distant horizon blend in with rippling dunes that celebrated the distant lands. Woodland and mountains rose up almost abruptly and in the shadow of a gigantic, deciduous tree a teenage boy practiced katas, hurling his sword at an invisible, nonexistent enemy.
"I'm coming Uyra!" he yelled. "Just a few more minutes!"
He continued lashing down his sword, bringing it up again. In between moves he released his breath and retaliated at his imagined adversary.
"Gular!" the girl called for him again and eventually he gave in, knowing she would continue calling for him until both suns would have vanished under the horizon.
He sheated his sword, flicked off a little dust from his collar and rubbed his forehead, smearing a mixture of dirt and sweat across his cheeks.
Crossing a small stream, he strode through a lush field of grass and small leafed spring foliage before finding his way alongside rims of mountain. By the entry of a fissure that seemed to be a split mountain of some sort, sat a young girl; her hair as pale as snowfall, her cheeks rosy and flushed.
As the boy bend through his knees to sit down he was abruptly stopped. One of the girl's small fingers touched his nose warningly, almost holding the boy in place. "Hold it right there, mister high and mighty!" she scolded, "Don't think I'll let you eat close to a bite when you're all dirty like that! Go wash up!"
The boy swallowed and nodded. He knew she'd never let him enjoy dinner in peace and quiet before he'd cleaned himself up. And so he did.
He did not want to disturb his sister while she was eating but by the troubled look on her face he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep if he did not find out what it was that bothered her this time. He sighed, it was so like her to pretend nothing was bothering her and sit quietly during dinner.
Gular knew his sister well enough to know she refused to respond to direct questions so the boy decided to try a more evasive way of approaching her.
"You remember Burresba-san always saying..." he began, hoping she'd respond.
The girl looked up, her eyes wide and surprised by his choice of subject. "Come closer children, let old Burresba tell you a story!" she added, imitating the old man's voice as she attended her food again. She smiled ruefully. "Omoidotta. I remember. He was such a good man, wasn't he?"
For some reason, one the boy could not determine, Gular felt a sense of peace coming from within her he hadn't felt since Burresba had been so brutally murdered about a decade ago, murdered in the main street of Vizz-Uhn, by the chapel's altar; in front of Uyra's very eyes. She had only been four years old back then.
Gular sighed, turning away, his stare lost in one of the setting suns. The dying sunlight stung in his eyes, making him feel dizzy. It had been the dragon that had murdered Burresba. It had been the dragon inside of his sister that had been awakened by something of which his sister had been witness, something he could only conjecture about.
He knew the dragon that slept inside of him alike the one that roared inside his sister, was a heritage the Ryuujin bloodline had bestowed. He knew it was a power he could control if he were determined enough, for he knew the power was similar to the ones mentioned in the tales and legends their mother had always told them about. He knew it was the legacy of Murass, Lord of Dragons.
He looked at his sister again before he rose upon his feet and left. He turned away from the fissure and leaned against the trunk of a massive tree, staring blankly.
Uyra looked at her brother, unable to read what he was thinking. She knew, however, something was bothering him. "Maybe you'll feel better if we talk about it," she attempted.
Gular didn't respond; he simply continued staring at nothing in particular, back turned to his sibling.
Uyra rubbed her lips and stood, not once losing sight of Gular. "How about a swords-duel instead?"
This time, Gular shrugged, yet still did not reply. Uyra put her hands akimbo and exhaled. Suit it yourself, she thought.
She looked to her side, her double bladed longsword leaning on the rock she had sat all afternoon, whetting the blade.
She grimaced and picked up the weapon with a swift graceful move, soundlessly and poised.
I'll chop off his head if he doesn't open his mouth and talk. He'd better respond this time!
Her expression was more mischievous than angered, her smirk revealing a playful nature.
She pulled up her sword, bringing the blade far over her head, readying to strike down.
Just as she wielded her sword down, Gular put his open hand-palm to Uyra's stomach and sent her backwards with one powerful thrust of energy.
And Uyra was thrown through the sky, tossed in the middle of the kettle of hotchpotch she had brewed earlier this evening. "Gular!" she complained, "You jerk! Now look what you've done!"
Gular turned, looking at her impassively. "Serves you right."
The boy was planning to say more but was unable to keep an uncreaked face and laughed.
"Gular!" Uyra muttered futilely.
"Shou ga nai. I can't help it. You look like an idiot…" the boy laughed.
Uyra sneered, pulled herself out of the kettle and strode into the cave angrily. "This isn't funny!" She still muttered as she tried to wash off the stains the hotchpotch had caused and growled when she was unable to.
"I'll get you for this, Gular."
Gular on the other hand seemed the least worried as he turned away again, still chuckling over the funny picture of his sister stuck in a kettle of hotchpotch. Just as he was settling down again he felt a glutinous substance landing in the back of his neck, the goo slowly dripped down his back. It made him to shiver.
He turned around, wide-eyed. His sister usually wasn't this aggressive.
Next to the kettle that still hung over the fire, stood Uyra, holding a wooden spoon in her hand forebodingly, indicating the hotchpotch in Gular's neck was her doing.
"There's my revenge!" she guffawed.
Gular showed a half hidden grin, powerless to her enchanting smile. He shook his head, and reached for his sword. "If that's a challenge, I accept. Bring it on!" he said as he took on an offensive stance, gesturing with his hand for her to come closer.
In response to her brother, Uyra took her longsword, and resolutely approached.
"You may be stronger," she quipped, "but I am more agile, more cunning, smarter, more beautiful, have better senses..."
Gular, however, wouldn't let the girl finish her sentence and ferociously attacked his sister.
"Oi! I hadn't finished yet!" she protested, trying to avoid her brother from taking the advantage. Desperately, she attempted to dodge the blows Gular dealt.
She swiftly recoiled, attacking with fierce agility. At every strike she assured herself of her superiority over her brother.
"As I was saying – more agile," and with a clash the swords collided, "more cunning," again the metal clashed, "smarter!" she yelled when she noticed Gular wasn't just standing there, but was actually fighting back. "The better looking!" she growled, attempting to gain the upper hand on her older and obviously physically stronger brother.
Their eyes met and at that point Gular smiled smugly, noticing Uyra wasn't paying proper attention.
With a swift movement he put his foot behind the girl's heel, sweeping her off her feet. She lost her balance and fell.
In a matter of seconds Uyra dropped her sword and Gular caught it. He brought down both swords with a whoosh.
His pale haired sister didn't have time to react and closed her eyes, expecting a serious blow to the head – or worse.
As she opened her pale eyes, the blades of both swords were just an inch from her throat.
"You were saying, princess…" the boy teased.
He smiled, looking down at her flabbergasted expression. "I guess I won and you lost. You were off guard," he edified her.
"Ano, I let you win – to cheer you up."
The girl began flicking off the dust from her clothes after her brother had helped her up.
Gular smiled and put an arm round his sister. "I bet..."
Uyra loved how fearless and carefree her brother was. May it be he was a marvellous swordsman, it would never be enough to keep the enemy at bay forever.
They both still had a lot to learn although they were at least coping with the situation.
She showed Gular a small smile.
The enemy armies and mercenaries might be skilled but not skilled enough to find them. She knew the enemy considered them dead and it was all for the best, for now. One day, all that would change. But it wasn't the right time yet.
For even the mundane life they led now was filled with danger.
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Yam was never the same after she'd officially become Lord Vejiita's wife. Not long after their marriage she had given birth to a proper heir, as far as Vejiita was concerned; one worthy to bear his name. The boy was a lot stronger than her daughter had ever been, even today, but Yam knew her daughter's strength may not be high in terms of the physical but all the greater on a different level completely. She knew Kaiyl, as she was dubbed by their lord king, was closer to becoming a Super Saiyajin than any of them would ever be.
And so Yam pulled back into a covert life as Queen of the Saiyajin. She missed the days of glory when her lord king had still been her closest friend, her lover. Now, King Vejiita thought of nothing but Saiyajin supremacy and the will to become a Super Saiyajin. He poisoned their son rousing him to hate her and his feeble sister who was considered illicit and unworthy to be of an elite house.
However, the Queen of the Saiyajin knew her place and decided it best to not openly challenge the king. She allowed him to poison their son but she forbade him to have Kaiyl sent off to a second class legion.
"Kaiyl stays," she had said to him. "Or you'll lose your precious son."
King Vejiita had not been amused.
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The world was torn by war, dearth, and shortage, claiming its toll on visibly each of Chikura-sei's inhabitants. Famished men and women, an absurd levy the Chikurajin were paying for precedent mishap that perhaps wasn't even their fault. Many had not survived, even more would still follow, and the Chikurajin wondered when their tribulation would end.
Although callous, the Chikura learnt to live with ruin luring everywhere, yet after having dominated their lives for nearly fifteen years, Black Death vanished unexpectedly.
To this day, one might still wonder how it happened but less than six months after Black Death's final victim, an inward struggle divided the Chikurajin into two rivaling parties: Sanûme and Ilrindûme, Healers and Fighters.
Sanûmé, named after the glistening pallid Tear of Ganda –Dragoness of the Centre, were a calm folk, always playing a waiting game when it came to both trepidation and bliss.
Ilrindûme, in sharp contrast to the Sané, or Healers, were antagonistic and belligerent; always searching for rigorous solution. Ilrindûmé, named after the fiery Tear of Alana, Guardian of the North.
It wouldn't have been ever so perilous had it not been for Darken, Overlord of the Ilrindûmé, who acclaimed the Fighters as sole and rightful inhabitants of Chikura-sei, oppressing the People of Ganda and ravishing everything in sight.
To Darken, this still wasn't enough.
Sometimes, Uyra heard nearby villagers frightfully discussing what to do about their Overlord, they called Darken. She remembered a man by that name, a man of a long ago legend causing the downfall of their formerly divine existence.
A legend going back centuries, a man who had been killed by none other than the Kaiou-shin themselves. Henceforth, it could not be that very man who called himself Overlord, could it? Was it by some twisted irony that this man bore that very name?
To Uyra and Gular things were ethereal and far away.
Little did the two of them know how close by core of the situation actually was and how strongly it would affect them in time ahead. For Gular was a gifted warrior, an Ilrindûme by birth, and his sister was close to a chaste progeny of Ganda herself, the Goddess of Apathy, bearing the spirit of the healer!
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Young Vejiita, Prince of the Saiyajin was spoiled rotten by his father but in a manner one would expect of a Saiyajin lord. For Vejiita was not showered with gifts, au contraire! Vejiita was given one opportunity after the next to show his superiority over each and every Saiyajin or alien he was confronted with. Vejiita learned what it meant to be victorious and it filled the boy with an unhealthy pride. Young Vejiita was not allowed to muster even the most dwindling of emotions let alone shed any tears at his mother's sudden disappearance.
No one knew where Yam had gone, except maybe King Vejiita himself and Yam's most trusted bodyguard, Nappa. But King Vejiita never spoke of Yam's vanishing, except to Nappa, only once.
Yam had had enough of the constant interference of Lord Furiiza, a changeling overlord with whom the king had foolishly closed a deal, putting all Saiyajin in the shackles of servitude for but some measly pieces of gold, some meaningless technology and the duties of cleaning up worthless planets lord Furiiza either kept for his collection or sold off to whoever would provide him with the highest bid. This was not the path Yam had envisioned for the Saiyajin and so she'd had argument after argument with the king until she'd figured she was going in circles and would put an end to this ordeal herself.
Yam had decided to confront Lord Furiiza in person.
Nappa had come with her on this single-suicide mission. Nappa however, was a fool and had not foreseen Yam's true plans. She'd thought Furiiza reasonable enough for further negotiations however in the back of her head she had known the only way to force themselves out of the contract was to show the changeling that Saiyajin were strong enough to deal with Furiiza.
She knew of Furiiza's power and so she had gotten ready to take Furiiza with her to the grave. And she wasn't planning on making Nappa her witness. She had made him swear to take care of her son Vejiita.
Nappa closed his eyes. He remembered too well. Looking at her son, he remembered her even more. It was as if he could even smell her again. He saw a hint of bloodred in the Prince's eyes that was unmistakably Yam's. He missed her. She had taught him to always have a back-up plan. He remembered.
"Why your son?" he had asked her. "What about Kaiyl?"
Yam had smiled at him as she put a hand on his shoulder. "You know the answer, Nappa-san." Her smile turned to a smirk. "Kaiyl can stand up for herself. She's always been able to stay out of trouble. I can't say the same for that baka son of mine, now can I, Nappa?"
Nappa had laughed at the time but in retrospect he should've known what she was saying.
The incident had caused a lot of turmoil between Furiiza and the Saiyajin and Nappa was convinced they hadn't seen the end of it yet.
Lord Vejiita had left Yam to die. And on the outside, it didn't even seem to affect him.
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Early morn sunlight threw tall shadows across the cavern, tingling and quivering, gentle rays rested upon the girl's face. She kept her eyes shut deliberately for the teenager had already awoken earlier yet refused to get up and greet the sun.
Dancing in the clear beams of a rising star, particles of dust whirled blissfully in front of her. She still held her eyes shut, snubbing and drowsily.
Dust touching the tip of her nose ever so lightly, she sat up instantly and sneezed. She rubbed her face, opening her pale eyes. Uyra looked at the world covered in morning delight. She yawned and got up.
She looked behind her, watching her brother who was still far away, dozing and dreaming of a life in magnificence no doubt. She yawned again and shook her head. Why was she always the one to get up earliest and prepare breakfast? She shrugged off those thoughts and sat down on a small wooden box.
After having brushed her silk white hair, she stepped outside, to salute the sun and wash up. Outside, her eyes widened for a moment and she frowned. Then, the girl turned and dashed back into the cavern.
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"One two three four! We are gonna win this war. Five six seven eight, surrender now bef're it's too late. Nine ten eleven twelve, come along and see yourself!"
Their firm boots moved in unison, crushing leaves and sand underneath.
The pace of their movement reverberated across the valley, amplified by mountain range in their eastern flank. It was a small party, no more than four soldiers including leader, a tall old man, who, despite his probable age stood proud and ostentatious.
"Seize such snivelling," he ordered pompously, "rebels are said to be in the vicinity. Soldiers ought to know better than to recite meaningless drivel while marching upon possible resistance."
"Yes sir!" And at that, all soldiers held their tongue. All that was left to be heard was the stomping of their feet onto the dense soil.
One girl watched them, only for an instant, though none of them even noticed.
One of the soldiers knew who was watching, who witnessed their every move at the very moment. And he knew, he knew what this meant. Uyra Ryuujin was still alive. He smirked.
Child of Ryuuguu, she lives!That man, was Darken.
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Author's Note: In the next episode young Vejiita wants to learn of his mother.
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