Disclaimer: I only own what is mine. My OCs and ideas.
A/N: Ok, so my friend wants me to update this one because I told her all about it. And she loved it. It is a good one and introduces how the mages work and live. So I enjoyed it. A new character is introduced. I don't know how I keep making a new character over and over again. I had "some" free time this weekend.
Reviews:
ArtemisBAMF1218- I'll put the Geisha story on the list of things to do, which is currently going out the door back in the window and wrapping around the house. It's not that bad, but... I just think it is more than it is.
Danny and the twins are really sweet to me. Danny with any of his grandchildren is really cute.
I can not wait until Hope is born in Neon, but first, I have to go through Danny and Aiko getting married and before that Danny needs to become the king. And all of that. Kai does seem to have that thing where it seems like he enjoys dying. In that last story... Ryu would be about... 58 years old at this point. I would kind of hope she'd calm down. Ryu's story doesn't have a title yet, I can only really work on so many stories at one time.
Prompt: "I'm sure that if it was really dangerous, they would have told us."
POV: 3rd
"I'm sure that if it was really dangerous, they would have told us," Danny muttered again.
"I don't think they would have told you," Aiko complained as she looked down the pathway.
"Why not?" Danny asked he adjusted himself on the horse he was riding.
"You would not have come." Aiko pointed out as she adjusted her weight on the saddle of the horse she was riding.
"Spill it then," Danny ordered.
"They didn't tell me it was dangerous," Aiko smiled.
"They would not have told either of you two anything because it's not your mission," Hiroshi spoke up, he was leading the group of five. "You two are here for the experience."
"Then why is Kasumi here?" Aiko asked.
"I'm here to treat your injuries. And others. Did you guys really not hear a word about the mission?" The older Japanese girl asked.
"No," Danny complained. "Aiko was too excited to ask about details. So why are we going on this mission?"
"Daghisee." Hiroshi said calmly.
"What?" Aiko instantly yelled. "Who sends a bunch of kids after a Daghisee?"
"A what?" Danny asked.
"Think of it as someone's body being possessed." Kasumi said gently.
"Is that what it is? Possession?" Danny asked.
Kasumi sighed. "That's the most I can dumb it down. It actually occurs when someone's body used in a demon summoning spell. From there either one of two things will happen, but the end result is the same. Either you get fatally ill, then if you don't get help you die. Or your body gets possessed and you slowly rot away until there is nothing left, there is thought to be a way to reverse the spell."
"That's why I'm here." The youngest girl spoke up, she wasn't even ten years old. Her name was Wanika, and according to Aiko, she was clearly from Laos decent, not that Danny had a clue what country that was. "To try to reverse the spell."
Danny stared at the pair. Kasumi had Wanika in front of her on the saddle. "This is insane." He complained. "This is way over our heads."
"If you keep thinking like that it will be." Hiroshi sighed from the front. "You outsiders are strange." He sighed.
"Yeah, well, where I am from… we don't send out twelve-year-olds on potentially deadly missions." Danny sighed.
"You are the one from the outside?" Wanika asked.
Danny's face burned. "Yes."
"Interesting." She smiled.
\
Everyone bolted up from their sleeping bags all at once. There was a loud screaming roar coming from outside and they all clasped their hands over their ears. The house seemed to shake.
When it stopped Hiroshi jumped up and rushed to the door. Aiko hot on his tail. The two looked outside.
"Dragon Lords…" Hiroshi muttered. "This is bad."
Kasumi hurried over to look while Wanika looked over at Danny fearfully.
"Don't worry," Danny said quietly.
The girl nodded. "I know."
Hiroshi looked back at Danny. "Keep Wanika out of the way. Kasumi, see what you can do to help. Aiko, you are with me."
"Right." The three said mostly together. Everyone was gone.
Danny stretched out his back and got off his rolled out mat.
"We're going to the edge of the town." He said calmly.
"What? Why?" Wanika asked scrambling to her feet.
"Do you want to stay right in the middle of everything?" Danny asked as he threw on a shirt, seeing as he was shirtless. He easily strung a bow and threw a quiver around his shoulder, the oversized strap fell to his waist.
Wanika didn't hesitate to get up and throw on shoes. She grabbed her small satchel and nodded at Danny.
Another roaring scream shook the building and Danny and Wanika both fell to their knees.
Wanika's eyes filled up with tears and she clamped her hands over her ears.
Once it stopped Danny quickly rushed to grab her arm and pulled the girl outside.
Which would have been his first mistake... It was a mess.
Having never seen a Daghisee before it didn't take Danny very long to figure out what it was. His eyes flashed as he watched the larger than life creature that was about 20 feet away. He was scared, but he didn't show it.
His grip tightened on his weapon, but it was clear the thing didn't see him, so he didn't need to attract its attention.
Wanika hurried after him as Danny took off running.
"Danny?" She asked once they had reached some trees.
"What?" Danny asked.
"That person," Wanika muttered.
"That was not a person," Danny said out of breath. "I have a really bad feeling." Danny looked over at the village. Some buildings were on fire. He didn't want to know the reason.
"Are you scared?" Wanika asked.
"I'd use to word paranoid," Danny replied pulling an arrow out of his quiver and nocking it.
"Are you any good with that thing?" Wanika asked.
"I can hit a target, that's about all." Danny sighed. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
It was quiet for a minute. "Something's coming." He muttered.
Wanika made herself small near the base of a tree, using a cloak to hide her. Danny moved closer and looked toward the village. But the sound wasn't coming from there.
Danny looked the other way and adjusted his grip on the bow string. He pulled it back and blindly fired into the dark woods.
A moment later he felt something behind him. "Looking for this?" Danny didn't move. He didn't open his eyes.
There was one of the Daghisee behind him. He could feel its warmth.
Danny knew his next move. He moved swiftly away and then pulled another arrow out and quickly went to fire it.
Missing his target, he hit the tree about three feet above Wanika's head.
Wanika sunk further into the tree, trying to stay hidden.
"Wretched boy!" The demon laughed. Danny sighed. "Well, aren't you going to try to kill me?"
"I don't kill." Danny's words were hard as rocks. "Find someone else to kill you."
"But that's all I want, to be free." The Daghisee pleaded.
Danny didn't know what had hit him. The thing had moved so fast and stabbed him with the two arrows he had shot. One in the right side and the other in his left thigh.'
Danny fell over and felt a heavy burning weight on his back, he also felt a great popping sensation.
"Ouch," Danny muttered weakly. His vision was blurry and he wasn't sure of anything but pain at the moment.
"Now to the girl." The word registered slower in his mind than Wanika's scream.
"Demon, the pain you have caused in enough. For all this time you've been too rough.
Now you've had your fun and play. Don't come back on any day."
The spell was broken up. Not strong enough to be performed correctly.
Danny heard a loud noise and then a cry. He pushed his upper body off the ground and watched a limp body fall to the ground. Trees had started to shake and fall over.
Danny pushed using his right leg and was able to hold himself over Wanika as the trees came down. Wanika was breathing hard. Danny felt the first heavy branch hit him.
"Dragon Bones!" He yelled. "Wanika, I am trying."
"I know." Her small voice replied.
Danny's breathing was uneven. "I'm sorry…" He didn't actually complete the sentence. It was a cut off about half way. His words were stopped by another large branch dropped by the Draghisee.
/
Cold.
One word, which was all Danny knew at the moment. The cold.
Danny opened his eyes and then closed them again.
He turned his head to the side and opened his eyes again to see Wanika was laying in a bed on the other side of the room. Kasumi was sitting next to her. Kasumi sighed and moved her hair back before going back to wrapping Wanika's forehead.
"Is she okay?" Danny croaked out.
Kasumi didn't look up. "She will recover, and when she does she will go back to Natsukashii."
"What does the name of that city mean?" Danny asked.
"It's Japanese, and hard to explain." Kasumi sighed. She finished tying off the bandage. She walked over to Danny's bed and looked down at him. "It means something like… hm… what's something you really like?"
"Your deserts," Danny smiled.
Kasumi laughed. "Sure, now imagine you are just now having one for the first time in a long time. Or the first time at all."
Danny closed his eyes and smiled.
Kasumi gently placed a hand on his shoulder, "that. That is the meaning of Natsukashii. You did your best on this mission, Danny, I know you think you failed. But we all came back alive."
"Someone was killed in this whole mess, someone died because of it. I know this." Danny sighed.
"Don't worry about it." Kasumi sighed. "It's how life works."
"How are Hiroshi and Aiko?" Danny asked.
"Well, Hiroshi and his 'Mongolian Blood' are fine. Just a few scratches and cuts." Kasumi started. "And Aiko was well enough to go home, I gave her some medicine to help her calm down through because after that mission she was rather jumpy."
"We are home?" Danny asked.
"It wasn't a long trip. You have bene sleeping for a few days. And Wanika has been in and out of it the past few days, not yet strong enough to leave." Kasumi sighed.
They pair sat quietly.
"Do you need anything?" Kasumi asked.
Danny shook his head. "I'm ok. I just need some sleep."
Kasumi smiled. "Alright. Get your rest then, your injuries are not too bad. Just two small stab wounds and lots of bruises, luckily no broken bones."
Kasumi stood up and walked to the door. When she looked back Danny had moved so he was in a more natural sleeping position. His legs pulled into his chest and one arm close to his face with the other under the pillow.
Kasumi smiled at the younger boy. And walked out of the room.
A woman who was about 23 years old stood watching the area where two small kids were fighting. A tanned boy with wild black hair and a younger girl with pale skin and flowing red hair in one long braid down her back.
"Wanika, it is good to see you again." Aiko smiled as she and Danny walked up to the women.
"As it is to see both of you." The mage bowed respectfully. "So the girl is your daughter?"
"Yes, her name is Hope," Danny spoke carefully.
"She is the one you told me about?" Wanika asked.
"Yes," Danny nodded. "She's developed magic, at least it seems. Strange things keep happening just randomly. She had an instance last week where she turned herself and my sister purple."
Wanika covered her mouth to keep the laughing down. "That does seem to be a little strange for some magic to not have been involved."
When the adults turned back to the kids they noticed they had stopped fighting and were looking at them.
"Hope, come over here please," Aiko called. The little girl ran over and looked up at the adults.
"Hello, Hope." Wanika knelt down on her knees. "How are you doing?"
Hope's hands darted behind her back. "I'm good. Are you a mage?"
"How can you tell?" Wanika asked.
"The belt is leather and has a bunch of pouches." Hope pointed. "Is your cloak also a mage's cloak?"
Wanika nodded. "Smart girl." She smiled.
"How about you show Wanika your magic? Ok, Hope?" Aiko smiled.
Hope looked up at her mom. "But I cannot do it on purpose."
Danny sighed and then bent down and pulled a dagger from his side, easily jabbing Hope in the back with the pommel of the dagger.
Hope jumped and let out a yelp. "Elprup!"
Danny's entire body flashed purple his clothing and everything else included. It faded as soon as it came.
"Magic indeed." She stood, "it could be anything. Any type of magic."
Hope had moved over and Aiko hugged her. Jun had walked over.
"Magic?" He asked.
"And this is…?" Wanika asked.
"Hiroshi's son, his name is Jun," Danny smiled. "How about you head home?"
Jun nodded, bowed, and then ran off.
Wanika looked down at Hope. "I can help her with her magic. I know I can."
"That's all I think we need to hear," Aiko smiled.
Danny nodded. "Thank you, Wanika."
The woman smiled. "It's the least I can do." She looked down at the child. "How about we go to your room and get started? We will get to know each other."
Hope nodded. The small girl's face lit up. "Ok!" She ran off. "Follow me!"
Wanika nodded, following the red haired girl.
Danny's hand went to Aiko's waist. "We're lucky aren't we?"
"What do you mean?" Aiko asked.
"Look at her."
Aiko did, watching the small girl. "I guess so, she's pretty great. And Magic. I don't know what we're going to do."
"We'll figure it out. Don't we always?" Danny laughed.
Aiko leaned her head on her husband's shoulder. "Of course."
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