OK, here is Chapter 4.
It's mainly about Van and his feelings again but hopefully you don't
find it too boring. I know I said in
the last chapter that things would get interesting here but I had to push that
back in order to smooth out the plot line.
The song My Love by Westlife was a small inspiration for Hitomi's
part of this chapter. I couldn't really
think of a title for this chapter but since all of the other ones were song
titles I decided to do that again. Please
let me know if you like what I'm doing so far or if you absolutely hate it.
Traditions
Chapter 4: My Love
The sky above Fanelia was a gloomy grey in the
morning. Clouds covered every inch of
the usually clear sky and the wind was chilly.
If it were not for the loud clap of thunder, most of the castle would
have stayed in bed for it was almost as dark as night outside.
Van was horribly awoken by a sudden gust of cold wind with
a throbbing pain in his head from last night's rush of emotions. He quickly grabbed his blanket and ran back
into his room right before huge drops of rain came plummeting down. 'Great.
Even the weather is just as depressed as I am,' thought Van to
himself. He looked around the room to
see where Merle had gone. Seeing his
robe on a chair, he put it on and continued to search for the feline girl. His headache was a reminder as to what
happened last night and he wanted to thank Merle for being there when he needed
comforting. He was glad to have a
friend like Merle be there for him.
Ever since his parents and Folken died, Merle had been the only family
he had left. Although he still felt
miserable, Merle's little talk did give him a bit more hope and realize that he
couldn't just give up on everything. He
was a king and he had things to do; he couldn't put his life ahead of those of
his subjects.
Leaving his room, Van walked down the long hallway and
headed towards the Council Chamber where Merle usually hung out in the
mornings. On the way there, he bumped
into Lord Finnigan, the minister of defence.
He was an old man in his mid-sixties, with long white hair and a long
curly beard; he actually looked quite a bit like Emperor Dornkirk except not
evil. Today, he was wearing his usual
red and black velvet robes since it was quite cool outside. Lord Finnigan was Van's most trusted
advisor. He had been around since Lord
Goau was king and was a dear friend of Balgus.
When Balgus went in search of Varie and Folken, it was Finnigan that
took care of young Van. Because of
that, Van respected him and cared for him like family.
"Good morning my lord.
It's good to see that you have finally decided to leave your
bedchamber," greeted Finnigan in his gruff old voice.
"Good morning to you too, Lord Finnigan," returned Van with
a weak smile. He was embarrassed at the
way he had acted in front of the council members during the last few
weeks. Van's frustration with the
current situation made him grumpy and irritated. At every council meeting anyone who would mention how he was
feeling would be snapped at. He was
amazed that Lord Finnigan still treated him so nicely. "May I ask you a question?"
"But of course, Lord Van.
What would you like to know?"
"I was wondering if you had seen Lady Merle this morning?"
"Yes I did. Actually
it was still dark out the last time I saw her.
She said something about a mission to find something and took off into
the woods."
Van was suddenly reliving the previous night's events. He remembered the way he felt and the way he
ripped off the necklace and threw it out into the darkness. His cheeks blushed as he realized how his
actions immature his actions were.
"Thank you Lord Finnigan," said Van nodding his head as he
turned on his heel to return to his room.
"Going back inside your shell so soon?" questioned Finnigan
with a sly grin.
"A king cannot see to his kingly duties wearing just a robe
and pyjamas now can he?" Van replied with a bigger smile than before.
Lord Finnigan gave a small chuckle as Van continued to head
back down the hall. He was feeling
better but this whole thing with Hitomi still made him feel awful. Questions ran through his head, as he got
ready for his meetings. Was Merle right
about Hitomi? Is there still a chance
that Hitomi still wanted to be with him?
Why do I have to go to so many meetings? Why do emotions have to be so frustrating?! All he wanted to do was to sit down and
think everything through. But he
couldn't. Merle wouldn't like it if he
continued to mope and there isn't anything scarier than having Merle pissed off
at you. His foolish actions last night
had already led Merle out hunting in the woods, which meant an earful from the
feline when she returned. This whole
situation was enough to drive him insane.
'Why is my life filled with so much misfortune?'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A sudden flash of white light once again surrounded Hitomi
blinding her even though her eyes were shut. Soon she felt her feet
gently touch the ground and as she stumbled to regain her balance, the light
disappeared just as quickly as it appeared before. She looked around to
see if she could tell where she had landed, but all that she could see was a
pink and green blur that you get when you look at bright light. It would
take a bit of time before her eyes would adjust back to normal, so Hitomi
decided to sit down where she was and enjoy the warm rays of sun shining down.
Hitomi took a deep breath. It was so refreshing
breathing in the cool country air. The green grass was so soft and
inviting that Hitomi decided to lie down and relax after her long
journey. She wondered what all of her friends were doing and how they
were going to react when they saw that she had returned. What did they
all look like now? Was Merle still just as annoying as ever or has she
grown up to be "normal"?
Gradually, Hitomi's thoughts drifted to Van. 'Oh Van, my love. I
wonder how you have changed. Are you
still as stubborn and pig-headed as you were before? Have you grown taller and stronger than when I left? Are you still the boy that I fell in love
with so long ago? How I wish I could be
in your arms right now. To hold you in
my arms, to promise you my love, to tell you from my heart that you're all I'm
thinking of. I can't wait to see you
once again, my love.' It didn't
take long for Hitomi to fall into a peaceful sleep as she relived her most
precious memories.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Whoa!!!! Take it
easy there, Tanja," said the driver as he pulled on the reigns of the horse
drawn wagon. A rabbit had just jumped onto
the road startling the horse causing it to jolt unexpectedly.
Hitomi stirred in the back of the wagon. The jolt had obviously woken her up from her
pleasant nap. Opening her eyes, she saw
the blue sky above her and a whole bunch of brown packages around her. She scrambled up to find that she had been
laying in a small mound of hay with her duffle bag as a pillow. Looking around, she noticed that the wagon
was stopped. Frightened that some
nomads might have just kidnapped her, Hitomi took the chance that the wagon
might be broken and tried to make a run for it. Just then, she heard a familiar voice call out to her from the
driver compartment.
"I hope you don't plan of leaving again so soon," called
out a deep scruffy voice.
Turning around, Hitomi recognized the voice right
away. There was no mistaking the
clothes and the hair. "Dryden!!" she
exclaimed as she reached out and gave him a big hug. "I'm so glad to see you."
"Really? I thought
you would've expected the first person you'd see would be a certain king with
short dark hair, not long brown hair like mine."
Hitomi's cheeks flushed a bright crimson as she broke the
hug. "Well, yes, but I'm still very
glad to see you and not some strange nomad who would sell me."
"Who said that I wasn't going to sell you?" replied Dryden
with a sneaky grin. "Just kidding. Well, let me take a look at you Miss
Kanzaki. I am right, aren't I? You are still Miss Kanzaki."
"Of course!" retorted Hitomi as she stepped back to let
Dryden see her. Before she left the
Mystic Moon, Hitomi had changed out of her bride's maid dress and into a nice
fitting grey t-shirt and a pair of old comfy jeans. Her shoulder length hair, which had been in an up-do at the
wedding was now undone and framing her face.
She twirled around like a little girl for Dryden to see.
"You've grown into a very beautiful woman, not unlike my
wife."
All Hitomi could do was blush even brighter. She never knew what to say when someone
complemented her. After a brief moment of
thought, Hitomi finally spoke up. "You
haven't changed one bit, Dryden." He,
of course, was wearing his usual brown robes and had his hair tied up in a
ponytail. "I see you still haven't
shaved."
"Millerna will like having you around to help her pester me
into changing my habits. Well, come sit
up here. We can talk as we make our way
home," stated Dryden as he helped Hitomi up into the driver compartment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Back in Fanelia…
The sun was slowly setting behind the horizon leaving the
sky an amazing swirl of red, pink, orange, yellow, and grey. Earlier in the day, the rain had stopped but
the clouds remained hiding the blue sky.
Van had finished his duties for the day and was sitting on his balcony
waiting for Merle to return. He was
beginning to get worried. It wasn't
like Merle to go off so long without checking in with him at least once. If anything were to happen to Merle because
of him he would never forgive himself.
Merle was his only loved one since his family died when he was young and
Hitomi was nowhere to be found. Without
her, he would have nothing.
Van waited until the sun had completely gone down and the
only light available was that of the Mystic Moon which was bright enough to
shine through the clouds before he could wait no longer. He called an emergency meeting and ordered a
search party for the woods to find Merle.
Something must've happened because Merle had been out for almost 24
hours and she still hadn't returned.
Van needed Allen's advice in situations like these but he had gone to
Asturia to visit Celena who had fallen ill recently. Everything in his life was going wrong and he had no idea what to
do. 'Where are you Merle? It can't be taking you that long to find the
necklace. I've got to find you. I can't lose you too.' Van clenched his fists into a tight ball as
he made his decision. He couldn't just
sit around when his best friend could be in danger. There was no choice but to reveal the secret he had tried so hard
to keep; he had to use his wings. Van
walked over to the balcony in his room pulling his red shirt over his head and
placed it on the table by the doors.
Miraculously, a pair of soft pearly white wings appeared from Van's
back. He stretched them out as far as
he could, sending the loose feathers flying about the room. Van took a deep breath and took off. It was quite dark out so hopefully not many
people will spot him as he flew around.
The night air was crisp and cool as it brushed against
Van's body. He shivered as the chill
went through his body but he didn't let it faze him. Finding Merle was more important than a little chill. Van circled the air around the woods high
and low squinting to see anything that resembled a furry orange feline with
bright pink hair. Nothing. There wasn't a creature in sight
anywhere. The only movement came from
the tree branches and leaves moving in the wind. Van continued his search going back and forth hoping to see
something that he missed but it was hopeless.
His wings were getting tired and he was beginning to lose the feeling in
his cheeks and arms from the cold wind.
He knew he wouldn't last much longer outside so he reluctantly returned
to the palace.
Van felt more horrible than last night. His entire world was crumbling down on
him. Everything and anything that meant
something to him was gone. Why did the
gods curse him like this? Was it
because he was half Draconian? He
always knew he was cursed but he never expected it to harm his closest friend.
Just as Van landed back on the balcony, he heard pounding
on his bedroom door. He quickly pulled
his shirt back over his head and headed to open the door when suddenly,
Finnigan came rushing in.
"Van!! Why didn't
you come open the door?! I was worried
that you might have done something unspeakable," said Finnigan between gasps.
"I'm sorry, Lord Finnigan.
I was lost in my thoughts."
"Well, you better come out of those thoughts! News has come from downstairs that the
soldiers have found a girl out in the woods.
It might be Lady Merle or someone else, if you know what I mean. Come on hurry up! You'd think you were the elder by the speed you're moving, Van,"
exclaimed Finnigan as he grabbed Van by the wrist like a child and dragged him
out the door.
Van's heart skipped a beat. Could Merle really have been found? Or even better yet, has Hitomi finally returned to him?
