The White Vixen Nymph
Chapter One:
Emperor Rudolf: Kidnapped!
By: fairysphinx
fairysphinx: Hey! I was just thinking about how little attention authors/authoresses give poor Rudolf. So, here's a fic about him. For those of you who have read my fics before, I hope this doesn't fall short of your standards! So, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids, so forget about trying to sue me, if you don't mind!
Rudolf sighed, as he thought of the work ahead of him. And to top it all off, Mary-Anne was coming that day. It's not that he didn't like her-really, he did-it was just that she was such a nuisance!
"What are you thinking about?" asked Rosso, as he casually walked into the room.
"I need a break! I just don't know how I'm going to get through all this work!" Rosso handed the stressed Emperor a cola. Rudolf opened it, sipping the cool liquid, thoughtfully.
"Mary-Anne's coming today," Rosso said. Rudolf sighed.
"I need a vacation. But, I can't afford to take one! I'm so behind in my work! If I leave now, I'll never get caught up!" His dad, so to speak, nodded, fully understanding the sixteen-year-old's predicament.
"It's hard being Emperor at such a young age. I'm actually surprised you've made it this long without having a mental breakdown. But, at least the Madam President is there when you need her."
"And I have you guys." Rudolf was, of course, referring to Rosso and Viola, his 'adopted' parents. The pair had gotten married a year after the defeat of the Death Stinger, the death of Prozen, and the uncovering of Zoid Eve. For the two months after, they had gone on a honeymoon to Mount Isolina, Viola's home. The pair lived happily with their 'son', Rudolf, and Dandy, their newborne daughter (sorry, I know this really doesn't fit into the main story plot, but, hey, I thought that it would be nice to let the readers know what's been going on in the past couple years).
Thomas had finally expressed his feelings to Fiona, who openly accepted his love, getting married six months later (sorry, I just love the pairing of Thomas and Fiona, although I despise the pairing of Fiona and Van, though I'll deal with it if I like the fic), and moving to a more secluded area, although open to be called by the Emperor, when needed. They had their first baby, a son named Max.
Dr. D went to live with his grandson, on his snow-topped mountain house. There, he conducted research on how to make it STOP snowing (it hadn't stopped snowing since when Van, Irvine, Fiona, Moonbay, and Zeke had passed through).
Moonbay and Irvine started a transporting service, delivering mail, weapons, and other such things between the Republic and the Empire. Oddly enough, Irvine had very few injuries on these trips.
Van and Zeke traveled around, competing in a few tournaments, here and there, to help support his sister. They mostly wandered around Zi, and rarely visited anyone.
No one knows what became of Raven (and I personally don't care what happened to Reece).
Rudolf pulled himself back to reality. He had to start working, if he wanted to at least make a dent in his work. "Better go back to work. Maybe I'll be able to join you for dinner, if I hurry." Rosso nodded at Rudolf's silent request to be left to his work.
As the door closed, the poor boy tried to concentrate on the work before him, but he just couldn't focus. Something kept tugging at the back of his mind. Something like the feeling he had gotten when Rosso and Viola had first kidnapped him.
Brushing aside the feeling of insecurity, Rudolf said to himself: "The palace is well protected. I'm just too paranoid since...." He shuddered at the thought of the time where Rosso and Viola had been on their honeymoon. Someone had broken into his room, with a knife in his hand, raised above the boy's head. In the end, though, no one had been caught. Rudolf still had nightmares about the man. The glint of the knife, the cackle of the man's voice, it all seemed so real, those nights before his parents came home. Rosso had been infuriated at what the Prime Minister had told him, and Viola had gone out of her way to make sure he was safe, and even, at times, crept in at night to make sure he was okay.
A wind seemed to tug at Rudolf, playfully. He looked about, but found no open widow. 'Odd,' he thought. 'Wouldn't there have to be an open window to be a breeze?' Without a moment to collect himself, Rudolf felt a dull thud at the back of his neck, before his world went totally black.
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The day was hot and sunny. The blue sky was cloudless. And all was silent. Ayu pulled her hair back, out of her face, and set to work, cleaning the house.
'Well, at least it's a pretty day!' she thought to herself. Traveling to oasis in front of her house, the girl's heart flew with a common fairytale she told herself. "I am a princess, being held captive and used as a slave by a cruel and evil man!" she told the birds in the tree. "And one day, I'm going to find my prince! When I'm doing my chores, I will fall over his battered body, for he has been kidnapped, and his capture beat him! I will revive the prince, taking care of him. But, I will have to hide him from my capture, or else he will surely be killed! And, my prince will repay my kindness by defeating my capture, taking me back to his castle, and declaring me his bride!" The birds chirped, as if laughing. Ayu laughed as well. "I know, I know! It'll never happen! But, that's the joy of fairytales! You can escape into a world where you decide what's to happen!" She dipped her bucket in the water, and, with a little hesitation, pulled it out. "But, I do wish that my dreams would come true! Like the dreams of all of the other princesses have!" She sighed. "Yeah, right, Ayu! Get a grip! Those princesses were fairytale princesses. There's no way that my dream could ever come true!" Ayu slowly headed back to the small place she called home.
The next few things that happened were rather a blur for the girl. One minute, she was carrying the water, standing upright, and the next, she was on the ground, water running all over. "What the-." Picking herself up, she looked around, trying to figure out what tripped her. Ayu's eyes fell upon a piece of dirty, bright-colored cloth. She fell to her knees, and brushed the dirt off of a young boy, to whom the cloth belonged.
The boy was dirty and unconscious. His shirt lay in shreds across his chest. His hair was sprawled out, laying here and there, in no particular manner. Ayu felt pity for the boy. She ran, filled the water bucket once again, and started using some of her quilt squares and her apron to clean the boy up.
"I wonder," she said the him, even though he was unconscious. "I wonder how long you've been here. Do you have a chance at survival? My guess is you're rather dehydrated. But how to get you to drink?"
Many experiments followed. She used glasses, cups, spoons. Finally, Ayu settled on using an eyedropper, giving him a few drops at a time. It was slow, but at least it got the job done.
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Rudolf woke up, cool, sore, and absolutely wet! He shivered as a breeze blew, chilling him even more. He tried to sit up, but a hand forced him back into a lying position. At first, he thought he had passed out, from the overload of work, and Viola was making him rest in his bed. But-. But, his bed didn't feel like dirt. Slowly, he opened his eyes, to see a girl, around his age, with white/albino hair, and dull grey eyes, sitting by him, dip her apron in a bucket of water, and wipe his face.
"Hey, stop it!" He cried trying to swat away the cloth, accidentally grabbing her wrist.
"No! You are an absolute mess!"
"I'll take care of that later!" He once again, tried to sit up, successful this time, because the girl really wasn't very strong. He stood up, and looked around. "Where am I?"
"Um, I guess you could say that we're in, well, it hasn't been named. But, we're on an island, south of the main continent. Could you please let go now, you're crushing my wrist!" Rudolf had forgotten what he was holding, and had started to make a fist.
"Whoops, sorry!" he said, turning a shade of pink. His face quickly turned to dismay, thinking about how far he'd have to travel to get back to the palace. "This is bad! How am I supposed to get back into the Empire?"
"The what?"
"The Empire. You know, like the Empire and the Republic?"
"Oh. I think I've heard my dad and his friends talking about it."
"I can't believe-." Rudolf was cut off by a large growling in his stomach. "I can't believe how hungry I am!" The girl giggled.
"Come. We should have something in the house. But, it's not that extravagant!"
"That's okay. Right now, I'd eat sand!" He was led into the house, where the girl served him bread, green beans, and ham.
"I'm not sure I caught your name," she quietly asked him.
"Rudolf. I'm Rudolf. And you are?"
"Ayu. Just Ayu."
"Ayu. That's a strange name. I don't recall that one."
"I would be surprised if you did. No, that's just my nickname. My real name is Mercy. But, everyone around here has a habit of slurring, and when someone wanted me, they'd call, ' 'ey, you!' So, that became my nickname." She shook her head. "If you live up north, what are you doing here?"
"I really don't know. I think that I was kidnapped." Ayu's expression went from shocked, to amused, to disgusted.
"I would really suggest that you cut your hair!"
"Why?"
"Well, while you were sleeping, a scorpion seems to have made your hair it's new burrow!" A scorpion clung to the tips of his hair. "Here!" Ayu picked up a pair of scissors, cutting his hair to a little shorter than shoulder length, and did the same with the two strands that were separate from the main body, cut shoulder length. "There! I'd say that you look better with shorter hair!" As they laughed, Ayu's ears pricked up. Rudolf smelled alcohol, very strong alcohol. "Quick, follow me!" she quietly said.
The two entered a room that was dark and bare, save for a blanket and a rug. Ayu lifted the rug, opening a trap door. "Get in!" Rudolf did what he was told, quietly scrambling down into the small space. Ayu locked the door behind him.
The next thing he heard was the sound of heavy boots, something slamming into a wall, and a scream.
END OF CHAPTER ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
fairysphinx: Well? How was it? Hope you liked it! And I hope no one was too out of character! Oh, well! I liked it. Please R & R, and enjoy! See you later!