Chapter 3, Freedom and botherings
A blue, wide banner hung on the wall. Kevin easily tore it down, thereby revealing a door.
"Don't like thieves," the leader said with a short grin and pushed the small portal open.
"Yeah, they are a /pain/, aren't they?" Hawk smirked, hurrying to retrieve Kevin's backpack.
The thief took care of his friend's pack, refusing to let Kevin carry his own stuff because of the wounds.
The door lead to a wide balcony.
About ten gigantic birds rested on the thick railing; they were twice Lise's size. The sight was lightly said impressive and, frankly, not too pleasant. But none of the winged beasts moved. They seemed to be sleeping.
Kevin waved at his friends to wait and carefully walked over to the closest bird. Its eyes suddenly opened, glimmering in the light of the door.
The halfway human reached out and touched the feathered creature's left wing.
"Hello," he said in a low, soft voice.
The bird chirped, surprisingly smoothly singing for its size.
"Been eating?" Kevin kindly asked, "can you fly?"
With a warm chirp the bird waved a little with its wings. The half blood nodded and looked around.
"Hawk, let her greet you, gah…"
"Umm… okay," the thief said, not too secure.
The bird seemed affected by Hawk's nervous tension for a moment, but Kevin kindly patted its wings to make it calm down. As the man of Navarre finally dared to touch her himself she nodded and chirped at him.
"Good," Kevin smiled and went on to the next bird in order to talk to it.
A moment later he called Lise forward. She moved closer with respect for the bird's size, but as soon as she touched the soft feathers with her hand the worries flew away. There were many birds in Rolante, but she had never been this close to any of them. Except the needle birds that she and the other amazons had to clean out in order to make the roads safe for travelers, of course. But those birds were aggressive and dangerous. This one softly pecked at her shoulder with a friendly chirping.
"Likes you," Kevin smiled, "that good."
Lise smiled at him, a bit unsure about what to understand by his statement. Was it a compliment? She had no idea.
While Kevin got himself a bird of his own she checked that her spear was safely secured on her back, just beside the sack of supplies. She couldn't afford to lose her weapon, especially not in a nightly flight.
"Ready?" the half blood asked.
"I guess so," Lise nodded.
"Let's go," Hawk said, still a bit tense.
Kevin whistled. By the sound all the three birds spread their wings and got into the air. Then they kept as still as possible, waiting.
"Not dangerous," Kevin said with a calming smile and reached up.
He grabbed his bird's legs, and it rose up above the balcony. Lise and Hawk had to do as their friend did.
The princess of Rolante secured her fingers around the thick, hard legs and her feet left the building. At first she experienced a worry for the flight, not certain for how long she would be able to hold on. But then the bird's talons carefully closed around her wrists without harming her the slightest, relieving Lise from the duty to hold on.
"Where to?" Kevin asked.
Now he and his bird were just shadows of the moonlight, therefore Lise heard him much better than saw.
"We need to go someplace neutral to plan better," she said after pondering it for a moment, "I think that Maia is still free of occupation, but it's almost two days' sail from here…"
"Birds make it in few hours," Kevin grinned, "we rest when need. Where?"
"Towards the west."
Kevin whistled again, and the wind began to whisper in Lise's ears.
After the first moments filled with a swirling tension the princess was completely caught up in the overwhelming feeling of freedom as she soared through the air. The bird's grip was safe, its wings trustfully beat to keep her floating. The three moons' rays lit up her friends and their flights.
As she watched the skies and its dress of stars, surrounded by the clean, clear air Lise was filled with a feeling of glorious triumph. She would find Eliott, she knew it! And she'd find a way to free her country from Navarre!
A laughter grown from the roses of happiness in her soul left her lips, dancing through the night like the stars above. Yes!
"What are you laughing at?" Hawk moaned, "I feel sick…"
"Get used to it after a while," Kevin grinned, "tell when need rest. We follow coastline just for safe tonight."
Lise looked towards him in the moonlight, a smile still on her lips. He looked back, and the weak light was enough to show the smile on his lips too.
"Happy if Lise like flight," he said, a bit shy again.
She had to laugh again, warmly this time. Kevin was just so… cute! A kind, shy boy in the body of a monster!
"It's great, Kevin," she gladly reported, "thank you for everything!"
"Thank you too," he replied, "save my life."
By those words Lise's memory caught up with something that caused her triumph to shatter, and that was very painful. Wasn't her feeling of approaching victory stronger than that…? What was it worth, in that case?
"Kevin, can you really hang on with your wounds?" she asked, suddenly much less warm.
Now she was worried instead. Such an awful turn…
"Ah, no problem," Kevin hurriedly said, almost shocked of her concern, "rest when needed. No worry, Lise."
She said nothing at that, but couldn't shake off the worry.
Half an hour later they went further southwards, and with the help of the birds' dark sight landed on a beach below the mountain area north of Astoria.
"Goddess, my arms…" Hawk muttered in the darkness, and by the sound he was smacking his limbs with his hands in order to awaken them, "but you're right about that one gets used to it, anyway."
The last was said with a small grin.
"Me feel dizzy when first time too," Kevin agreed with a smile, "but now great."
"I can see that," the thief smiled.
Lise massaged some life back into her numb arms. Flying was wonderful, but after a while it got harsher on you.
She pondered how to go on. Kevin's wounds concerned her, by no means she wanted him to strain himself just because of her and Hawk. But she didn't want to nag on him either…
"Hey, are you sure about flying with those holes on your back, Kevin?" Hawk suddenly said.
Lise let out a relieved breath.
"You worry, gah," Kevin sheepishly said, "no need…"
"You don't have to pain yourself for our sake, right Lise?" the thief said, and she could trace his concerned frown by his voice.
"Hawk's right," she agreed, "don't tell us that it doesn't hurt."
"Ah…"
Kevin was silent for a while. Then he gave up.
"A bit," he admitted, reluctantly.
"Let's rest here until sunrise," Lise kindly said, "and I'll check your wounds again tomorrow. This place should be safe, it's far away from the main paths of the forest."
"I agree," Hawk said.
Kevin was silent for a moment.
"Well, alright," he finally said with a sigh.
Lise took the first guard, not awaiting any trouble. The cute but aggressive rabites always slept soundly at night, and the mushroom creatures, matangos, preferred to guard the roads of the forest for travelers who didn't pay attention. Those monsters were the only ones she knew infested the land around her, but anyhow none of them were at home on beaches.
The ocean's movements caused a whispering sound as the water softly moved onto the beach and back again.
Counting the hours by the planets' movements the princess of Rolante patiently waited for her turn sleeping.
What a night…
Lise yawned and stretched her legs a little.
So far it had truly been a night of experiences. Now she had time to try sorting them out.
Maybe it hadn't been a bad thing that she had missed the ship after all. It had lead her to meeting Hawk and Kevin. She didn't really think that they'd be traveling together for very long, but some part of her wanted to hope. The two young men had no real place to go for the moment; neither had she. They all needed to find safe ground for a while in order to prepare for whatever fate had in store for them.
She sighed a bit.
The two young (just admit it, lady) peculiar men had brought some light to her darkened mind and heart. And she wouldn't exactly say no to an offer to keep fighting together with them, the fight against the beastmen had proven that the small group without doubt could overcome frightening ordeals. Plus, the world was an insecure place these days, even for a skilled warrior. If the warrior was alone.
But she knew that their quests were too parted by the goals. It just wouldn't work out.
Lise wanted to find her brother, and carried a faint hope of someday being able to somehow free Rolante.
Hawk wanted to avenge the death of his best friend and save Eagle's sister. What would follow… the young thief probably didn't know himself.
Kevin wanted revenge on his father and Deathjester, those that had fooled the prince to kill his best friend. But how he would manage that…
The three roads lead away from each other, all of them covered with own stones and thorns.
It just wouldn't work out.
Lise sighed again and looked up at the sky. She wondered if Eliott looked at the same stars and silent planets, wherever he could be.
She missed him.
She missed her father.
She missed her friends.
She missed her country.
She could hear the desperate groans of her trusted warriors as they fought against the sleeping flowers' poison, all of them knowing that if they fell asleep the invading ninjas would…
She could see her father's blind eyes stare at nothing, glistening as the last of his life ran out over the green carpet of the throne room…
She could hear Eliott's weak squeal for help, that she in her haste to save her father had ignored. In that moment she had waved the danger behind her brother's back off, thinking that he could outrun a couple of ninjas… like a fool, leaving him to face his doom…
The princess of Rolante closed her eyes and tried to fight the memories back. A tear ran down her cheek, but she immediately rubbed it away. No tears. Not during battle. Focus. Be strong.
Be strong.
Lise pulled up her legs and hugged them, clenching her teeth.
She had to be strong. Miss Lise wasn't a damsel in distress who'd break down crying after only a week of exile. No, she was the leader of the great amazons of Rolante, the wind kingdom!
Rolante is no more.
Lise clamped her teeth even harder.
It would be fine. She'd find Eliott safe and sound, they would find a way… if she just kept fighting, not allowing herself any weakness… it would be fine.
Fine. Strong.
She forced her mind into focusing on those words. Clamping her teeth, hugging her legs, focusing her mind to the border of madness.
After the longest hour of her life later she went over to Hawk to wake him up.
"Waz… my turn?" he drowsily mumbled and yawned and he went into a sitting position.
"Yeah," Lise said in a low voice not to wake up Kevin or the birds, "good night."
"Sleep well."
Neither the thief nor Kevin called her "miss Lise" or "Your Highness". The princess found it calming, as if the lack of titles she was used to brought her to a level of purer friendship.
As Hawk left his bedroll Lise walked over to her, even as she sat down working on freeing her hair from the two metallic wings resting above her ears with the help of her metallic headband. It was custom of the amazons; those wings pointed out the power of the creature's devoted to the Wind.
Lise tiredly pulled out the green ribbon keeping her hair fairly under control and placed her accessories on the ground. Then she paused for a moment.
She figured it would be impossible to sleep in her armor, and by now she was gladly prepared to trust her friends anyhow. If they'd get any ideas, which she highly doubted, they should know her knowledge of battle. She could trust them.
Her skilled fingers released the laces of her leathery armor, and after taking off her shoes she crept into her cold bedroll only dressed in the simple, long tunic she wore beneath the battle clothing. Soon enough the blankets around her began to warm up by the warmth of her own body, and she fell asleep.
Hawk sat down in the sand, listening to the whispering of waves as they caressed the tiny and bigger stones of the beach.
He tried not to think about his last hours in Navarre; Eagle's empty eyes, the blood on the daggers, the shock and accusation burning in the eyes of all the ninjas rushing into the room, Jessica's grey face as her trust in him faltered…
Jessica…
Hawk's lips formed a small O, and he slowly released a deep breath through it.
He hoped that she was alright, that Nikita would look after her as he had promised. And all the others… who didn't trust him anymore…
He'd just have to prove himself somehow. But maybe killing Isabella wouldn't help him to do that. It certainly wouldn't help him save Jessica.
What to do…?
There just had to be a way to free her of the cursed necklace!
He looked over at the shadows that were his two allies. Just temporary allies… a pity, really. After only a few hours of knowing each other he already dreaded the moment of goodbye. Both Kevin and Lise had impressed him during the battle in Jad's fort. He couldn't keep from wondering if they thought that /he/ had been helpful… well, he hadn't managed to knock anyone, but at least he had helped the half blood to do so. It was just the way of the ninja; brain and quickness was far more important than brute strength.
It would be nice to keep traveling together. Not only would it be much safer for all of them, but Kevin was also the only reason they could use the birds and Lise was… strong. And she was… she was…
Hawk slapped his own face and tried to focus on Jessica instead, before he thought anything he might regret.
But on the other hand… Jessica wasn't exactly his girlfriend, and maybe she had no trust in him left at all.
Hawk pursed his mouth. Here we go again…
No! Have to focus on Jessica! /Jessica/!
He sighed and rubbed his forehead with all his fingers.
Come on… blue hair, sunburned face… blond hair, smooth… ugh!
Lise surely had a dozen high class youngsters begging for her attention back in Rolante… no, wait… that wasn't exactly possible nowadays. So much for that argument…
Well then, she is a princess… no kingdom. She's a lawless. Oh, just like him!
Good grief…
She… she is… umm…
He groaned, as quiet as possible.
Good ol' Hawk, new love every month… he seemed to return to Jessica every time though. Now that he thought about it, how many times had she really won back his attention? Heh… and did she even know?
Hmm, Kevin was a lawless too. And Lise seemed to care for him…
Hawk snorted.
Yeah, she cared for him. But it was just common sense worries. At that level, Hawk was concerned about Kevin too. That half blood was crazy, hanging himself onto a nightly flight with his back torn up. It must have stung pretty badly, but he wouldn't hold back. Tss…
And he was a werewolf. He grew fur and whiskers at night.
He wasn't any opponent.
Hawk slapped himself again.
'/There are no opponents, I'm not in a contest for Lise's attention/!' he furiously thought.
In her state she surely wouldn't want any romance anyway. Exiled, in the search for her kidnapped brother… a messing thief was the last thing she wanted.
Yep, that's it.
But she really was cute, though…
Urgh, now he had thought about it. Just great. Well done.
He looked up at the moons and stars with a deep sigh.
What a night… a real pity that they probably wouldn't keep traveling together.
After the longest guard time in Hawk's entire life he went over to the dark lump that happened to be Kevin. And the thief realized that among all the things that he had thought about, he had forgotten to invent a good way of awakening a potential werewolf.
Ahem.
Carefully was surely the wisest thing.
"Hey, Kevin!" the thief whispered as politely as possible, "wake up, it's your turn to guard."
"Mhh…"
By the sound of it the half blood yawned pretty widely.
"Coming…" he mumbled while rubbing his eyes.
"How's your back?" Hawk asked.
"Not bad."
Kevin sounded rather embarrassed, he obviously wasn't used to speaking of his ordeals.
"Good night, then," the thief said and managed to smile a bit, even though his new friend probably couldn't see it.
"Good night."
Hawk gratefully went back to his bedroll, Kevin walked closer to the water and sat down in the sand. Better not sit on the warm blankets when keeping guard, he didn't want to risk falling asleep again.
Kevin wasn't really used to blankets in any case. He had bought some food and a bedroll in Mintos before leaving, using money that the few pure werewolves of the Moonlight forest had dropped after he had… made them step out of his way. The only reason Kevin had thought about something to sleep in was that he had heard that the other countries had a cooler climate. It was true, and he was happy for the precautions he had made.
The beastmen had beds in their castle, but the exiled prince had always preferred the grass of the dark forest.
Every blade of grass and of the bushes and trees glowing in the moonlight, a smooth wind gently whispering, Karl's warm body by his side…
Kevin shuddered and rubbed his upper arms. As he did so the wounds on his back burned a little, but he didn't mind much.
Karl…
He tried to push the memories aside, tried to think of something else. His eyes, already well used to the darkness, went over to the three shadows of the birds and then to the two dark heaps on the ground.
Hawk and Lise.
Their care for him was puzzling. They kept asking him if his wounds hurt. Sure it did, but he had already told the two humans that it was alright once. Why did they keep worrying about it?
It /had/ been hard to stay in the air; the pain had grown more and more for every moment. But still he could have continued the journey for a while longer. Kevin knew that he had to push himself if he was to gain enough strength to fight Beast King.
Yet… even though he didn't think that it was necessary to mind, his two new friends' concern somehow made him feel ticklish around the stomach. Almost like when Karl had been rubbing his head against his half human friend's chest…
Kevin clamped his teeth and closed his eyes.
He wanted to think of Karl, but whenever he did so it hurt. He couldn't keep his mind off the sudden madness in the small eyes, hair bristling so that the pup seemed much bigger and the fangs… blood on the soft-brown fur and on his hands…
Beast King and Deathjester…
A growl ran through Kevin's throat and passed his teeth, bare as the lips had drawn apart.
All alone now… he was all alone.
He looked at the shadows again.
For just a short while he wasn't alone. But he realized that Hawk and Lise wouldn't travel with him much longer. This fight ahead was his lonely one. And they had other things to take care of.
Hawk was searching revenge, just like Kevin. But that was nothing the half blood wanted to share with anyone; he didn't want anyone to know his pain. At least Lise had some hopes of finding the one she cared for. Oh, but she had lost her father and many other friends…
Kevin rubbed his cheek.
What was a father, how did it feel to lose one? He had always known that Beast King was his father, and even though Kevin had been taught how to fight by the great beastman he had never felt any closeness.
He could remember endless hours of practice, the strong voice commanding him to hit harder, kick with more force… just a teacher, a voice to take commands from.
And whenever the training was finished the young prince had gone into the Moonlight forest. One day he had found a small, lonely wolf pup. Karl hadn't had anyone who cared for him either.
/"I protect like mother!"/
Kevin shuddered again. He had promised Karl that… moments later he had killed the small wolf. After all they had experienced together, so many nights of just running around in the dark, welcoming forest… free as the wind…
And now…
The half blood rubbed his cheek again.
He would return, and he would have his revenge for the death of his friend!
But he needed to become so much stronger, he knew that. But how?
Kevin shook his head, trying to get rid of all the bitter thoughts. It didn't help him at all.
He looked up at the still dark sky. The sun would rise soon, and turn the black into a flaming scenery of wonder. And then warmly blue.
The exiled prince liked the sun. He had never seen it before leaving his home. On a ship sailing from Mintos in an early hour he had been standing with open mouth, watching the glorious morning's beauty for the very first time.
He had left fifteen years of missed sunrises and sunsets behind.
But the sun wouldn't help him to become stronger. Only training would. He had to find some place where he could train on his own, without being disturbed.
On his own…
He looked back at the birds and two sleeping warriors again. Lise and Hawk were strong. That was good. Without their help he wouldn't have been able to escape from Jad.
They seemed to smile a lot. It was nice, he wasn't used to that either. But it made him feel much better.
He wouldn't like leaving them behind. Maybe he was worried that it would have even the tiniest similarity with the pain of losing Karl. He didn't want to lose anyone again. It hurt too much.
A blue, wide banner hung on the wall. Kevin easily tore it down, thereby revealing a door.
"Don't like thieves," the leader said with a short grin and pushed the small portal open.
"Yeah, they are a /pain/, aren't they?" Hawk smirked, hurrying to retrieve Kevin's backpack.
The thief took care of his friend's pack, refusing to let Kevin carry his own stuff because of the wounds.
The door lead to a wide balcony.
About ten gigantic birds rested on the thick railing; they were twice Lise's size. The sight was lightly said impressive and, frankly, not too pleasant. But none of the winged beasts moved. They seemed to be sleeping.
Kevin waved at his friends to wait and carefully walked over to the closest bird. Its eyes suddenly opened, glimmering in the light of the door.
The halfway human reached out and touched the feathered creature's left wing.
"Hello," he said in a low, soft voice.
The bird chirped, surprisingly smoothly singing for its size.
"Been eating?" Kevin kindly asked, "can you fly?"
With a warm chirp the bird waved a little with its wings. The half blood nodded and looked around.
"Hawk, let her greet you, gah…"
"Umm… okay," the thief said, not too secure.
The bird seemed affected by Hawk's nervous tension for a moment, but Kevin kindly patted its wings to make it calm down. As the man of Navarre finally dared to touch her himself she nodded and chirped at him.
"Good," Kevin smiled and went on to the next bird in order to talk to it.
A moment later he called Lise forward. She moved closer with respect for the bird's size, but as soon as she touched the soft feathers with her hand the worries flew away. There were many birds in Rolante, but she had never been this close to any of them. Except the needle birds that she and the other amazons had to clean out in order to make the roads safe for travelers, of course. But those birds were aggressive and dangerous. This one softly pecked at her shoulder with a friendly chirping.
"Likes you," Kevin smiled, "that good."
Lise smiled at him, a bit unsure about what to understand by his statement. Was it a compliment? She had no idea.
While Kevin got himself a bird of his own she checked that her spear was safely secured on her back, just beside the sack of supplies. She couldn't afford to lose her weapon, especially not in a nightly flight.
"Ready?" the half blood asked.
"I guess so," Lise nodded.
"Let's go," Hawk said, still a bit tense.
Kevin whistled. By the sound all the three birds spread their wings and got into the air. Then they kept as still as possible, waiting.
"Not dangerous," Kevin said with a calming smile and reached up.
He grabbed his bird's legs, and it rose up above the balcony. Lise and Hawk had to do as their friend did.
The princess of Rolante secured her fingers around the thick, hard legs and her feet left the building. At first she experienced a worry for the flight, not certain for how long she would be able to hold on. But then the bird's talons carefully closed around her wrists without harming her the slightest, relieving Lise from the duty to hold on.
"Where to?" Kevin asked.
Now he and his bird were just shadows of the moonlight, therefore Lise heard him much better than saw.
"We need to go someplace neutral to plan better," she said after pondering it for a moment, "I think that Maia is still free of occupation, but it's almost two days' sail from here…"
"Birds make it in few hours," Kevin grinned, "we rest when need. Where?"
"Towards the west."
Kevin whistled again, and the wind began to whisper in Lise's ears.
After the first moments filled with a swirling tension the princess was completely caught up in the overwhelming feeling of freedom as she soared through the air. The bird's grip was safe, its wings trustfully beat to keep her floating. The three moons' rays lit up her friends and their flights.
As she watched the skies and its dress of stars, surrounded by the clean, clear air Lise was filled with a feeling of glorious triumph. She would find Eliott, she knew it! And she'd find a way to free her country from Navarre!
A laughter grown from the roses of happiness in her soul left her lips, dancing through the night like the stars above. Yes!
"What are you laughing at?" Hawk moaned, "I feel sick…"
"Get used to it after a while," Kevin grinned, "tell when need rest. We follow coastline just for safe tonight."
Lise looked towards him in the moonlight, a smile still on her lips. He looked back, and the weak light was enough to show the smile on his lips too.
"Happy if Lise like flight," he said, a bit shy again.
She had to laugh again, warmly this time. Kevin was just so… cute! A kind, shy boy in the body of a monster!
"It's great, Kevin," she gladly reported, "thank you for everything!"
"Thank you too," he replied, "save my life."
By those words Lise's memory caught up with something that caused her triumph to shatter, and that was very painful. Wasn't her feeling of approaching victory stronger than that…? What was it worth, in that case?
"Kevin, can you really hang on with your wounds?" she asked, suddenly much less warm.
Now she was worried instead. Such an awful turn…
"Ah, no problem," Kevin hurriedly said, almost shocked of her concern, "rest when needed. No worry, Lise."
She said nothing at that, but couldn't shake off the worry.
Half an hour later they went further southwards, and with the help of the birds' dark sight landed on a beach below the mountain area north of Astoria.
"Goddess, my arms…" Hawk muttered in the darkness, and by the sound he was smacking his limbs with his hands in order to awaken them, "but you're right about that one gets used to it, anyway."
The last was said with a small grin.
"Me feel dizzy when first time too," Kevin agreed with a smile, "but now great."
"I can see that," the thief smiled.
Lise massaged some life back into her numb arms. Flying was wonderful, but after a while it got harsher on you.
She pondered how to go on. Kevin's wounds concerned her, by no means she wanted him to strain himself just because of her and Hawk. But she didn't want to nag on him either…
"Hey, are you sure about flying with those holes on your back, Kevin?" Hawk suddenly said.
Lise let out a relieved breath.
"You worry, gah," Kevin sheepishly said, "no need…"
"You don't have to pain yourself for our sake, right Lise?" the thief said, and she could trace his concerned frown by his voice.
"Hawk's right," she agreed, "don't tell us that it doesn't hurt."
"Ah…"
Kevin was silent for a while. Then he gave up.
"A bit," he admitted, reluctantly.
"Let's rest here until sunrise," Lise kindly said, "and I'll check your wounds again tomorrow. This place should be safe, it's far away from the main paths of the forest."
"I agree," Hawk said.
Kevin was silent for a moment.
"Well, alright," he finally said with a sigh.
Lise took the first guard, not awaiting any trouble. The cute but aggressive rabites always slept soundly at night, and the mushroom creatures, matangos, preferred to guard the roads of the forest for travelers who didn't pay attention. Those monsters were the only ones she knew infested the land around her, but anyhow none of them were at home on beaches.
The ocean's movements caused a whispering sound as the water softly moved onto the beach and back again.
Counting the hours by the planets' movements the princess of Rolante patiently waited for her turn sleeping.
What a night…
Lise yawned and stretched her legs a little.
So far it had truly been a night of experiences. Now she had time to try sorting them out.
Maybe it hadn't been a bad thing that she had missed the ship after all. It had lead her to meeting Hawk and Kevin. She didn't really think that they'd be traveling together for very long, but some part of her wanted to hope. The two young men had no real place to go for the moment; neither had she. They all needed to find safe ground for a while in order to prepare for whatever fate had in store for them.
She sighed a bit.
The two young (just admit it, lady) peculiar men had brought some light to her darkened mind and heart. And she wouldn't exactly say no to an offer to keep fighting together with them, the fight against the beastmen had proven that the small group without doubt could overcome frightening ordeals. Plus, the world was an insecure place these days, even for a skilled warrior. If the warrior was alone.
But she knew that their quests were too parted by the goals. It just wouldn't work out.
Lise wanted to find her brother, and carried a faint hope of someday being able to somehow free Rolante.
Hawk wanted to avenge the death of his best friend and save Eagle's sister. What would follow… the young thief probably didn't know himself.
Kevin wanted revenge on his father and Deathjester, those that had fooled the prince to kill his best friend. But how he would manage that…
The three roads lead away from each other, all of them covered with own stones and thorns.
It just wouldn't work out.
Lise sighed again and looked up at the sky. She wondered if Eliott looked at the same stars and silent planets, wherever he could be.
She missed him.
She missed her father.
She missed her friends.
She missed her country.
She could hear the desperate groans of her trusted warriors as they fought against the sleeping flowers' poison, all of them knowing that if they fell asleep the invading ninjas would…
She could see her father's blind eyes stare at nothing, glistening as the last of his life ran out over the green carpet of the throne room…
She could hear Eliott's weak squeal for help, that she in her haste to save her father had ignored. In that moment she had waved the danger behind her brother's back off, thinking that he could outrun a couple of ninjas… like a fool, leaving him to face his doom…
The princess of Rolante closed her eyes and tried to fight the memories back. A tear ran down her cheek, but she immediately rubbed it away. No tears. Not during battle. Focus. Be strong.
Be strong.
Lise pulled up her legs and hugged them, clenching her teeth.
She had to be strong. Miss Lise wasn't a damsel in distress who'd break down crying after only a week of exile. No, she was the leader of the great amazons of Rolante, the wind kingdom!
Rolante is no more.
Lise clamped her teeth even harder.
It would be fine. She'd find Eliott safe and sound, they would find a way… if she just kept fighting, not allowing herself any weakness… it would be fine.
Fine. Strong.
She forced her mind into focusing on those words. Clamping her teeth, hugging her legs, focusing her mind to the border of madness.
After the longest hour of her life later she went over to Hawk to wake him up.
"Waz… my turn?" he drowsily mumbled and yawned and he went into a sitting position.
"Yeah," Lise said in a low voice not to wake up Kevin or the birds, "good night."
"Sleep well."
Neither the thief nor Kevin called her "miss Lise" or "Your Highness". The princess found it calming, as if the lack of titles she was used to brought her to a level of purer friendship.
As Hawk left his bedroll Lise walked over to her, even as she sat down working on freeing her hair from the two metallic wings resting above her ears with the help of her metallic headband. It was custom of the amazons; those wings pointed out the power of the creature's devoted to the Wind.
Lise tiredly pulled out the green ribbon keeping her hair fairly under control and placed her accessories on the ground. Then she paused for a moment.
She figured it would be impossible to sleep in her armor, and by now she was gladly prepared to trust her friends anyhow. If they'd get any ideas, which she highly doubted, they should know her knowledge of battle. She could trust them.
Her skilled fingers released the laces of her leathery armor, and after taking off her shoes she crept into her cold bedroll only dressed in the simple, long tunic she wore beneath the battle clothing. Soon enough the blankets around her began to warm up by the warmth of her own body, and she fell asleep.
Hawk sat down in the sand, listening to the whispering of waves as they caressed the tiny and bigger stones of the beach.
He tried not to think about his last hours in Navarre; Eagle's empty eyes, the blood on the daggers, the shock and accusation burning in the eyes of all the ninjas rushing into the room, Jessica's grey face as her trust in him faltered…
Jessica…
Hawk's lips formed a small O, and he slowly released a deep breath through it.
He hoped that she was alright, that Nikita would look after her as he had promised. And all the others… who didn't trust him anymore…
He'd just have to prove himself somehow. But maybe killing Isabella wouldn't help him to do that. It certainly wouldn't help him save Jessica.
What to do…?
There just had to be a way to free her of the cursed necklace!
He looked over at the shadows that were his two allies. Just temporary allies… a pity, really. After only a few hours of knowing each other he already dreaded the moment of goodbye. Both Kevin and Lise had impressed him during the battle in Jad's fort. He couldn't keep from wondering if they thought that /he/ had been helpful… well, he hadn't managed to knock anyone, but at least he had helped the half blood to do so. It was just the way of the ninja; brain and quickness was far more important than brute strength.
It would be nice to keep traveling together. Not only would it be much safer for all of them, but Kevin was also the only reason they could use the birds and Lise was… strong. And she was… she was…
Hawk slapped his own face and tried to focus on Jessica instead, before he thought anything he might regret.
But on the other hand… Jessica wasn't exactly his girlfriend, and maybe she had no trust in him left at all.
Hawk pursed his mouth. Here we go again…
No! Have to focus on Jessica! /Jessica/!
He sighed and rubbed his forehead with all his fingers.
Come on… blue hair, sunburned face… blond hair, smooth… ugh!
Lise surely had a dozen high class youngsters begging for her attention back in Rolante… no, wait… that wasn't exactly possible nowadays. So much for that argument…
Well then, she is a princess… no kingdom. She's a lawless. Oh, just like him!
Good grief…
She… she is… umm…
He groaned, as quiet as possible.
Good ol' Hawk, new love every month… he seemed to return to Jessica every time though. Now that he thought about it, how many times had she really won back his attention? Heh… and did she even know?
Hmm, Kevin was a lawless too. And Lise seemed to care for him…
Hawk snorted.
Yeah, she cared for him. But it was just common sense worries. At that level, Hawk was concerned about Kevin too. That half blood was crazy, hanging himself onto a nightly flight with his back torn up. It must have stung pretty badly, but he wouldn't hold back. Tss…
And he was a werewolf. He grew fur and whiskers at night.
He wasn't any opponent.
Hawk slapped himself again.
'/There are no opponents, I'm not in a contest for Lise's attention/!' he furiously thought.
In her state she surely wouldn't want any romance anyway. Exiled, in the search for her kidnapped brother… a messing thief was the last thing she wanted.
Yep, that's it.
But she really was cute, though…
Urgh, now he had thought about it. Just great. Well done.
He looked up at the moons and stars with a deep sigh.
What a night… a real pity that they probably wouldn't keep traveling together.
After the longest guard time in Hawk's entire life he went over to the dark lump that happened to be Kevin. And the thief realized that among all the things that he had thought about, he had forgotten to invent a good way of awakening a potential werewolf.
Ahem.
Carefully was surely the wisest thing.
"Hey, Kevin!" the thief whispered as politely as possible, "wake up, it's your turn to guard."
"Mhh…"
By the sound of it the half blood yawned pretty widely.
"Coming…" he mumbled while rubbing his eyes.
"How's your back?" Hawk asked.
"Not bad."
Kevin sounded rather embarrassed, he obviously wasn't used to speaking of his ordeals.
"Good night, then," the thief said and managed to smile a bit, even though his new friend probably couldn't see it.
"Good night."
Hawk gratefully went back to his bedroll, Kevin walked closer to the water and sat down in the sand. Better not sit on the warm blankets when keeping guard, he didn't want to risk falling asleep again.
Kevin wasn't really used to blankets in any case. He had bought some food and a bedroll in Mintos before leaving, using money that the few pure werewolves of the Moonlight forest had dropped after he had… made them step out of his way. The only reason Kevin had thought about something to sleep in was that he had heard that the other countries had a cooler climate. It was true, and he was happy for the precautions he had made.
The beastmen had beds in their castle, but the exiled prince had always preferred the grass of the dark forest.
Every blade of grass and of the bushes and trees glowing in the moonlight, a smooth wind gently whispering, Karl's warm body by his side…
Kevin shuddered and rubbed his upper arms. As he did so the wounds on his back burned a little, but he didn't mind much.
Karl…
He tried to push the memories aside, tried to think of something else. His eyes, already well used to the darkness, went over to the three shadows of the birds and then to the two dark heaps on the ground.
Hawk and Lise.
Their care for him was puzzling. They kept asking him if his wounds hurt. Sure it did, but he had already told the two humans that it was alright once. Why did they keep worrying about it?
It /had/ been hard to stay in the air; the pain had grown more and more for every moment. But still he could have continued the journey for a while longer. Kevin knew that he had to push himself if he was to gain enough strength to fight Beast King.
Yet… even though he didn't think that it was necessary to mind, his two new friends' concern somehow made him feel ticklish around the stomach. Almost like when Karl had been rubbing his head against his half human friend's chest…
Kevin clamped his teeth and closed his eyes.
He wanted to think of Karl, but whenever he did so it hurt. He couldn't keep his mind off the sudden madness in the small eyes, hair bristling so that the pup seemed much bigger and the fangs… blood on the soft-brown fur and on his hands…
Beast King and Deathjester…
A growl ran through Kevin's throat and passed his teeth, bare as the lips had drawn apart.
All alone now… he was all alone.
He looked at the shadows again.
For just a short while he wasn't alone. But he realized that Hawk and Lise wouldn't travel with him much longer. This fight ahead was his lonely one. And they had other things to take care of.
Hawk was searching revenge, just like Kevin. But that was nothing the half blood wanted to share with anyone; he didn't want anyone to know his pain. At least Lise had some hopes of finding the one she cared for. Oh, but she had lost her father and many other friends…
Kevin rubbed his cheek.
What was a father, how did it feel to lose one? He had always known that Beast King was his father, and even though Kevin had been taught how to fight by the great beastman he had never felt any closeness.
He could remember endless hours of practice, the strong voice commanding him to hit harder, kick with more force… just a teacher, a voice to take commands from.
And whenever the training was finished the young prince had gone into the Moonlight forest. One day he had found a small, lonely wolf pup. Karl hadn't had anyone who cared for him either.
/"I protect like mother!"/
Kevin shuddered again. He had promised Karl that… moments later he had killed the small wolf. After all they had experienced together, so many nights of just running around in the dark, welcoming forest… free as the wind…
And now…
The half blood rubbed his cheek again.
He would return, and he would have his revenge for the death of his friend!
But he needed to become so much stronger, he knew that. But how?
Kevin shook his head, trying to get rid of all the bitter thoughts. It didn't help him at all.
He looked up at the still dark sky. The sun would rise soon, and turn the black into a flaming scenery of wonder. And then warmly blue.
The exiled prince liked the sun. He had never seen it before leaving his home. On a ship sailing from Mintos in an early hour he had been standing with open mouth, watching the glorious morning's beauty for the very first time.
He had left fifteen years of missed sunrises and sunsets behind.
But the sun wouldn't help him to become stronger. Only training would. He had to find some place where he could train on his own, without being disturbed.
On his own…
He looked back at the birds and two sleeping warriors again. Lise and Hawk were strong. That was good. Without their help he wouldn't have been able to escape from Jad.
They seemed to smile a lot. It was nice, he wasn't used to that either. But it made him feel much better.
He wouldn't like leaving them behind. Maybe he was worried that it would have even the tiniest similarity with the pain of losing Karl. He didn't want to lose anyone again. It hurt too much.