The castle grounds were immensely large, but still felt like a prison when King Hayate limited Nanashi to just that. He said that his queen, Queen Minha, wanted to keep her close for the time being. Vague reasoning made her even more restless.
Days eked by, and still no sign that Hiei, Kurama, and Yasha had been rescued by the king's men. King Hayate had put Jiro, his first cousin in charge of the operation for her. She was to go to him for news. Not like he was hard to find anyway. He always seemed to be around her. He trained with her in the mornings, even though he was not part of the guard and could hardly fight himself. He found his chances to spend time with at meal times, afternoons, and evenings. He was sweet in his own way, but being around him so much was tiring. It was especially tiring when he would remind that Hiei would still have to stand trial by the king when he was brought back to the castle.
She did figure out a way to get around him and get some peace from him: the hippogriffs. She was drawn to them, being they could fly just as well as she. She was a little bit jealous of them that they could fly beyond the castle grounds, but she could not.
Jin was there. He was head of the stables. He had been with Jiro when they rescued her and the prince. She had thought at first they had been friends or something because they found her and the prince together. In reality, the two of them could hardly stand each other.
She had left Jiro after lunch one day, hoping she could just slip out to the stables unnoticed. The prince noticed though, running after her in his eternal youth. She still could hardly fathom how he was forty-three years old, but aged at a third of the rate of a human. All elves did. This short stack was older than her, which was hard to wrap her mind around sometimes.
"Angel, angel-" Prince Takashi said, dancing around her feet.
"My name is Nanashi," she told him, trying not to sound short. Everyone in the castle knew her name by now, but beyond Jin, they usually called her 'angel.'
"Angel Nanashi," Prince Takashi prattled on. "Do you want see some more of the books in the library about angel lore?"
She gave him a patient, but kept walking. "I already read them all with Jiro," she said calmly.
"But you haven't read them with me," he replied. "Maybe we could figure out more about your weapon?"
"There wasn't anything in the books I read about that, my prince," she replied gently.
'Besides,' the wind serpent echoed in her head. 'I can tell you all you need to know about me.'
She thought about rolling her eyes, but did not as that might insult Prince Takashi. 'The Great Hawk Spirit created you and your elemental brothers to assist her warrior angels in their defense of the mortal world.'
'And I am the last one left,' it purred. 'Never thought I'd live on the mortal world.'
"Ange- Nanashi," Prince Takashi was still talking in the midst of her private conversation. "Did you hear what I said?" She hummed under the breath. "I said, do you want to go walk the gardens with me?"
She had walked them a few times with Jiro already. "Perhaps another time. Jin could really use some help with the hippogriffs today. Especially since some of the mothers have recently had their foals. They need care, but are cautious of those whom they don't trust. You can help up if you want."
"Why do you always want to go to the stables?" he grumbled.
She bit back a frown at his tone. Jiro spoke the same way. "I really like the steads. They make me feel like I can do something, beyond just sit around and wait for my friends to be rescued."
"You could spend more time with me- I mean Jiro," he griped childishly.
She stopped dead in her tracks, turning to face him. "What do you mean?" she asked, letting her face betray her annoyance with him this time around.
"Father said-" he started, but halted.
"Your father said what?" she asked, facing the prince.
'Pull back,' the wind serpent cautioned. 'He'll tell you more if you are sweeter to him.'
She closed her eyes for a second and softened her face. She knelt down enough to be eye level with the prince. "Your father is wise and does what is best for his kingdom. For all three races; elves, humans, and even demons. Like a monarch should. What did he say? I hope that's in line with that."
Prince Takashi's head drooped low, eyes trailed to the ground. "He said Jiro really likes you... and..."
"And what?" she asked.
"And that Jiro doesn't like you spending so much time with someone who is... a half breed," he confessed.
"A what?" Nanashi said, taken aback by such a comment coming from a child.
He squirmed under her gaze, turned, and ran off abruptly.
She felt tempted to run after him, but the king and queen had told her she had the run of the castle and grounds only, so she could go to the royal stables anytime she wanted. So right now, she headed straight there.
Jin was there at the front of of the stables. Nanashi could hear a few other stable hands working in the back. Jin was walking a new born hippogriff on a lead slowly up and down the the hallway between the other stalls. He faced the foal, speaking soothing words towards it as followed him trustingly.
Nanashi smiled to herself. She stepped in line with Jin's walking path and stood there. When he ran into her, he jumped abruptly and turned around spooked. He went from looking annoyed to looking smile right down at her. He kept walking forward into her, making her walk back out of his way.
"Finally showed up, did you?" he teased. He turned his attention back to the foal, leading it as he walked backwards. "The foals need exercising. You up for that arduous task?"
She felt a spark of excitement surge through her. The newborn hippogriffs were so cute. The mothers were trusting with her and Jin, considering she was half angel and Jin was apparently a wind mage kind of elf. The other stable hands had to be more cautious with the mothers because they were seen as less trustworthy to them. Only Jin and Nanashi so far were allowed to take the foals out of their mothers' sights.
Jin reached the entrance of the stables, and turned around with his foal. Jin pulled her over in front of him, passing the lead to her. He lead her to lead the foal by walking backwards.
"Steady there," he whispered in her ear. "Easy does it. It needs to go slowly its first time." She felt herself flush at his words. "Walking can be awkward, almost painful for them in the beginning."
He led her to the back of the stables. Five other stable hands were around nearby, cleaning stables if the mothers did not trust them and tending to the foals if they did so out of sight. There were seven newborns in all.
"First time walking the little beasties, it is. The mothers will only let me walk them, but likely will let you walk one," Jin explained. He let the foal they had let go back to its mother and brought two more up to walk. He passed one lead to her and took the other in hand. "Watch its mother cautiously," he advised her. "If she seems bothered, bring the babe back."
She nodded, watching her new foal's mother carefully. The mother did look up at her, cocking her head slightly. When she dropped her back down care free, Nanashi breathed a sigh of relief.
As they walked, Nanashi asked, "why are the mothers so trusting with us?"
"Because they sense our own connection to the wind. They are wind creatures themselves. They are smarter than those horses humans love to ride," he explained. "But a lot harder to tame."
She hummed under her breath. "You're a wind elf. And the king is a mental elf. Do all elves have some sort elemental affinity?"
"Yeah, just like demons, but not humans," he answered.
She looked him over. He had the pointy ears of an elf, but not as sharp as the ears of the other elves she had seen. He also had a more muscular build than some of the elves she trained with. He had bulky muscles where the other elves had more lean muscles. The king was large and stocky, but did not have the same build as Jin.
"You're not a full elf, are you...?" she asked in a hushed voice.
His face went dark for a split second. It made her breath catch in her throat. "How'd you figure?"
She felt a strong desire to not answer. "You're built differently than the other elves, and..."
"And what?" he asked.
"The prince called you a half breed," she confessed.
"The prince? Not Jiro?" he asked. He was annoyed, but not at her. She shook her head. "I'm half demon, and not by mother's choice. Leave it at that. She was a wind mage herself, and the demon blood in me amplified my abilities compared to hers. I can fly at times as well, though not as gracefully as yourself," He fell silent next to her.
"I'm sorry," she said, breaking the silence.
"I hate the term half breed," he told her. "The elves and the king preach about unity between the three races, but mixing between them is looked down upon, especially if an elf has a child with a non-elf. The royal family steeps themselves in this ridiculous prejudice. You've dealt with that before, with being raised under the impression you were half demon. If I wasn't so good with the hippogriffs, I would not even be allowed in the line of sight of the royal family."
"Why is half angel seen as different, acceptable?" she asked.
"Because it's never been heard of before. Lore says the elves descend from fallen angels," he explained. "So them mixing with anyone less than that is shameful, willingly or unwillingly."
She hummed to herself. "So that's why Jiro likes me." She was not sure how she should feel about that. Jiro was sweet enough, but weak and dull when compared to Hiei and Jin. Better Jiro than Ruka though. Her leaving abruptly was disheartening. Nanashi missed her, but did not want to miss her.
"He does, does he?" Jin asked coyly. "He's not the only one," he hinted. "But might be the only one allowed to pursue you. The must eligible elvish bachelor in the kingdom. The second in line for the throne behind the prince himself. Too bad he's weak as water."
"He's sweet, in his own way. Kind. Just more bookish than most," she confessed. "some women like that."
"Boring. You can do better," he cautioned. They had reached the front of the stables.
They heard someone clear their throat behind them. The both of them turned around. They looked at the entrance, seeing Jiro standing before them.
Jin stiffened. "Keep your distance, the mothers wouldn't want your strange, bookish scent on the newborns."
Nanashi shifted uncomfortably at the sudden shift in tensions. Neither man really liked the other. She recalled Jin telling her once the only reason they were out searching for the prince together the night she fell from the sky was because they had drawn straws as partners; just like the other pairs who had also been sent out to find the prince.
"Jin," she said, bringing her hand up to gently rest on his upper arm. She passed the lead of her foal over to Jin. She stepped over to Jiro. "What is it, Jiro?" He stood just outside the stables in the sunlight.
"Angel, I have received word from the soldiers in the Gandaran Forest," Jiro informed her. She gasped, suddenly hopeful. "They've combed through the Eastern part of the forest, and came up empty handed."
"Oh," she said, downcast.
He cast a glance behind her. He took her hand in his hands. "I instructed them to continue searching the Western part of the forest and then head North towards the capital to find them."
"Oh," she repeated.
"Your friends will surely still be alive. You had said yourself that their capture, Sakyo, wanted to get them to the capital alive," he attempted to comfort her and failed.
"Thank you for the update," she said politely. To her, it was a useless update at best.
"I hope they are found soon. For I know it will bring you such joy, angel," he said desperately.
"Thank you," she said, moping.
"Would you like to see the letter I was sent by raven?" he asked, trying to pull her away from the stables.
She did not budge an inch. "Maybe later," she responded. Right now she felt the desire to be alone.
"Yes, my angel," he conceded. He looked behind her. "I'll look for you at dinner?" he asked hopefully. She nodded, not wanting to talk. "Very good," he said. "Right," he told himself softly. He raised himself up on the balls of his feet. He kissed her, but on the cheek innocently. "Farewell, my angel," he said before he walked off towards the main tower.
She watched him walk off, irritable that all the news he had for her after so many days of waiting and wondering was the kings men were looking in the wrong part of the forest. She turned back to the stables, taking her foal's lead from Jin, but then not wanting to move.
"Nanashi," Jin said her name softly. "They're still alive and they'll be found," he soothed. He stood close to her.
"When?" she choked out, not wanting to cry in front of him right now.
"Hey," he soothed, stepping close to her. He pulled her into his arms. He smelled strongly of hippogriff, but she did not mind it. It was comforting in its own way. She let herself sink against him, recalling how he comforted her last time when she fell from the sky and rescued the prince. His hand snaked its way to the back of her head, stroking the edge of one of her braids. She found it comforting.
She felt like she could have stood there with him forever with him, until she had opened her eyes and saw the two foals they had been leading making a clumsy run for it out of the stables and into the yard. Jin must have dropped their leads when he hugged her.
"Jin," she said calling his attention to the foals.
"Oh, fuck," he swore. "We need to catch them, now. If they come back smelling too foreign to their mothers, they'll reject them."
Nanashi forgotten, he ran off after the foals, shouting for no one to touch them. She laughed at the sight of it in spite of herself before she ran after him to help.