Royal Tail: Chapter 4: A New World
Author's Note: Yup, I'm still writing *laughs*. Some people would have given up by now, with no reviews ya? It's okay, as long as you have a story to tell, you're faith is alive I guess. Again, thanks to anyone who's read the story out there. And thank you to those who have reviewed ^_^. Oh yea, my friend read my story the other day, and then asked me "Why is it called 'Royal Tail', shouldn't it be tale instead?" nope, I meant to do that. You'll see soon. Well hope you enjoy this chapter.
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Vanda lifted her head from the soft soil beneath her. "When have I fallen asleep?" She asked herself and slowly pushed herself off the ground. She shook her head and saw that she was sleeping underneath a tree. There was a dying fire that was going out soon, as the sun was about to go up from behind the mountains. She felt her head, as flashes of the events that happened last night went through her head. "What happened?" she asked. She remembered bright lights, fire. Black monsters entering her kingdom. She was lost in her thoughts until she heard footsteps coming up to her. She looked up to find Vlad standing before her. He smiled and kneed down to her level, and handed her a cup of water. "Here, drink some." He said and handed her the wooden cup. She stared at him, making sure he's not going to do anything to her, then took the drink from his hand. "Thank you…" She said in a soft whisper. He nodded and got back up. "You know, you fell asleep on your chocobo…" He said as he took a twig to feed the fire. He added more firewood to the hungry fire. "Luckily you didn't fall off…" he added on. He was in the same outfit as last night, a formal outfit. "You almost did though…if it weren't for me…" He said. "Ahem!! You mean it if it weren't for me!!!" Vanda turned around to see Orva coming up with fresh fish all tied up on a string. "…what she said…" Vlad then added on and coughed. Orva rolled her eyes, and handed Vlad the fishes. "Well since you were too scared to help me catch them, the least you can do is poke them on a stick so we can fry them and eat!" Orva dropped the fishes on his lap. He made a sound that sounded like "EWWWW!!" and he made a face. "OH MAN IT SMELLS!!" He shouted and picked one up by it's tail using his fingertips. "Oh you gotta be kidding!!" Orva shouted with her hands on her hips. "And you call yourself a 'Prince'?" Orva said with an angry face on. "Hmph! Princes don't really do these kind of…well things." He said and removed the fishes slowly off his lap and on to the near by blanket. "Well…if you ask me, Princesses are better, isn't that right Princess?" Orva asked. Vanda laughed and gave a slight nod. Vlad made a face. "How so?" He then asked. "Well unlike you…" She picked up the fish and started to clean it. "I'm not afraid to get dirty." Vanda then placed the fish leading against the fire, frying it, and took another fish and did the same. The Prince sat there and watched, shuddering as she picked up the 'thing'. "There, now we'll have food." Vanda said and whipped her hands off on the piece of cloth near. He stared in disgust. "How do you manage? You're a princess!!" He said and held his legs closed to himself. Vanda looked over to Orva and she rolled her eyes. Vanda then got up and watched as the sun got up behind the mountains.
"How far do we have til' Lindblum?" Vanda turned around to ask the two. "Ah-Ha! Not far!" Vlad shouted. "How far is 'not far'"?" Orva asked. "Oh just trust me, Lindblum is my home alright?" He said. "WHAT?!! YOU'RE GREAT UNCLE CID'S SON OR SOMETHING?!!!" Vanda exclaimed. Vlad shook his head. "I am my father's, Cid's son." He explained. "So you're Uncle Cid the 2nd's son." Vanda said. Vlad nodded. "Creepy. That would make you almost like a cousin to me…since our family is close…" Vanda said and remember how he kissed her hand and all. She shuddered. "Well, at least we're not blood related." He said. Orva then kneed down and grabbed one of the fish sticks. She handed one to Vanda. "Eat up, we have a while to go." She said. Vanda have never really eaten anything like this before, the only time she has eaten something close to this, was when Quina made fry frog legs. It wasn't that bad actually. Orva started to chow down. Vanda ate it slowly, like a princess, she then looked up and over to Vlad who were staring at them as if they were aliens from other planets. "Okay! So you can round up a bunch of Chocobos, then risk your life to save the both of us from those dragons, you're sitting on soil, and you're all sweaty and dirty…yet you can't eat, nor touch something like a fish?!! What's up with that???" Vanda exclaimed. "You see…Princes are suppose to do brave things…" he started. "Oh please!! Eat up!! I don't want you passing out on our trip." She said and tossed him one of the fish sticks. Not wanting to waste food, he caught the fish and stared at it. He shuddered once again and looked up at Vanda and Orva who were eating it. He took a bite out of it, and chewed it slowly, to his surprise, it wasn't so bad after all. He just wasn't use to it though, there was something about it that separates it from the royal dishes he would eat at home.
After they were done, they packed up and got on their Chocobos again, riding off to Lindblum. Vanda took one last look behind her. The clouds of black smoke was still in the air. "Everyone…I hope you're okay." She placed a hand on her heart and looked down. It's been hours since they rode on the rode. Their chocobos were tired, well at least Vanda noticed. Her chocobo was moving slower and slower and it seemed very tired. "Guys, maybe we should take a break." She suggested. "Why? We're almost there…" Vlad said. "Actually, no, it'll take about 3 more hours to get there, according to my map." Orva pointed out. "Fine, whatever." Vlad crossed his arms and looked the other way. Orva sighed and rolled her eyes. Vanda then hopped off her Chocobo and looked at it. "Are you okay?" She asked it and checked it's eyes and all. Orva and Vlad looked back and stared at her, not knowing what she was doing. "I think it's dehydrated." She then turned around and said. "Orva, is there a stream near here?" Vanda asked looking very concern. Orva has never seen her look worried, the only times she has seen her look worried was when she sees someone hurt, or is really stressed out about something. But for a chocobo? Nooo!! "Orva? Is there a stream near?" She asked again. Orva snapped out of her thoughts and looked down at the map. She shook her head. "Sorry Princess, but there's no source of water around." Orva said. "Oh…that's okay, don't say sorry." Vanda said then looked around once again. She then looked in her bag and realizes there was something dripping. She felt it, it was coming from the piece of ice she took from the Ice Craven. "Wait!!" She thought and pulled out the chunk of ice. "What are you doing??" Vlad asked. "You took a piece of ice with you?!!" He exclaimed once he saw it. "What's your point? It could be an emergency water supply once it melts." She said and took out a wooden cup. She then took out a piece of glass and pointed it at the sun. "Psh! It's going to take a long time to turn into water." He said and nodded. Vanda ignored him. She then placed the piece of glass down. She held up her hands and a ball of fire came up. "Whoa!! She's a mage?!!" Vlad shook his head in surprise. She stared to heat up the glass, then placed it on to the ice. The water started to melt in an instead. "Maybe that Lar is good for something." She chuckled to herself. After the water melt, she took off the glass and picked up the cup of water. "Open your beak." She said, and the chocobo did. She then slowly poured the water into it's mouth. After she was done she patted it's head. The chocobo jumped up with joy. "Kkkkrrwwkk!" it gave a cheerful tone. Vanda smiled. "Ready to go right?" She asked. The chocobo nodded. Orva watched her young sister like friend as she hopped back on to the Chocobo. "She really has grown…" Orva thought. "Alright! Lets go!!" The chocobo then rushed off ahead of Vlad and Orva. "Hey what up!!" Orva giggled and ran up to her. "Huh? OH WAIT FOR ME!!" Vlad said and rode off again.
The sun was almost setting once they've reached the gates of Lindblum. They entered through the Dragon Gates, and the guards bowed down. "Prince Vlad!!" One of them exclaimed and the two kneed down to him. "Where's my father?" Vlad asked. "We must see him." Vanda said. She was about to follow through with Vlad but the guards blocked her with their swords. "Halt! Who might you be??" One of them asked and with this Vlad turned around. "This is, Princess Vanda Tribal Alexandors." Vlad announced. The guards then looked at each other and gasped, and kneed down. "I'm sorry your highness." One said. "It's okay, please just get up." Vanda said, and they did. "Thank you Princess." They said. "You may pass." As if that wasn't obvious. Vanda and Orva then started walk behind Vlad. "Great, you're going to hate it here…" Orva whispered joking. "Yea, don't rub it in." She said, and they all got on to the cart and it road down the railroad. Once they reached the stops they've hopped off. This isn't the 1st time Vanda has been through here, she remembers visiting her uncle a few times when she was little, she just never traveled that way to get there. They then got into the lift and went up. It was a silent little travel as the three went up to the royal area. No one wanted to talk. Or it just doesn't feel right to do so. Once they've reached the top, they all got off, and all walked up to the thorn's area.
The guards bowed down to them as they walked through the doors and into the pinkish, reddish room. Up on the seat sat King Cid the 2nd. "Your highness…" All of the bowed down to him. He nodded then raised his hand up for them to get up. "My children, please get up, there's no need to be so formal…what has bring you all here?" He asked quiet worried. "Father…Alexandria…has been attacked last night at the ball…" Vlad explained. Cid's eyes shot right open. "What?!! How can this be?!!! What happened?" Cid asked now just about to jump off his seat. "We were all at the ball, the Princess here felt faint so I took her up to the camber…all I know is I heard crashes and just saw flashes until King Zidane rushed up and told us to escape. Later on, we rushed into the kingdom only to be stopped by dragons…Prince Vlad here saved us with Chocobos." Orva added on. "I don't know what happened Father…I remember standing there with Grandfather, and then the place went dark, grandfather then told me to go round up some chocobos and escape, I just followed his orders." Vlad said. Cid sat there and listened carefully at the explanations. He then sighed and got up from his thorn. "It's going to be dark times again…" He sighed once again and walked up to a near by window, with his hands behind his back. Vanda and the rest were confused, what did he mean by 'dark times again' ?? "What do you mean?" Vanda asked. "Huh?" the king turned around to face Vanda. He walked up to her and then placed a hand on to her shoulder. "You'll find out soon…" He said. "As for now, we don't have much time, I'll sent some of our troops over to Alexandria, in hopes to find clues to what happened. For now, Vanda and Orva, you're welcome to stay in the guestroom." He said. "Vlad, take care of them, I'll be out now alright?" He said and messed up Vlad's hair. "Yes sir…" he responded and twitched at the same time, and with that Cid left the room, leaving the three behind, and as soon as he did, Vlad stuff his hand into his pocket and pulled out a comb, combing every single piece of hair back into the right spot. "You gotta be kidding…" Orva had her arms crossed and staring at the so called 'Prince'. Vanda and Orva stood there and just stared as he made his hair 'prefect' again. He then realize the awkward silence and looked up. "What?!!" he demanded. "Nothing…oh just nothing…" Vanda said and left the room, followed by Orva. "Whatever…" He then slip his comb back into his pocket and went out too.
Vanda and Orva spent the rest of the day sleeping in the guestroom. Vanda tossed and turned in the bed as she slept, dreams…no nightmares were rushing through her mind as she did her best to fight them. Flashes of memories, lights of fire. She sweated so much that it left damp marks on her pillow and sheets. She kicked off the blanket and her breath quicken. "NOOO!!" She jumped up and shouted. Orva then in an instant, awoken from her sleep and rushed up the stairs. "My Princess, are you alright?" She asked. Vanda pulled her legs closer to her, and shook her head trying to get the headache out of her head. After a while she looked up to Orva and realized she was back in reality. "Don't worry, it was just a nightmare…it wasn't real Princess…" Orva tired to comfort her. But why did the pain felt so real? Why did it feel like reality…why did it feel so familiar? Vanda looked out through the stain glass window, and realize it was still dark out. "Sshhh! Go back to sleep Princess…go back to sleep…" Orva picked up her blanket and made her lay down. She then tucked her in, and rubbed her forehead a few times. "You know…I'm not a baby…" Vanda whispered before she fell asleep again. "You know what…I don't seem to care any more…" and with that Orva went back to her own bed and slept.
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This is taking me a while to write. School is back in for me, so I don't know when I will have time to work on this story. After homework and all, then maybe yea, but usually when I get done with my homework, it'll be around 10 PM – 11 PM…and STAR TESTINGS and CAT 6 TESTING are coming up, so I have to get as much rest as possible. So this story might take a while, and I'm very sorry…hopefully if it's not done by the end of the school year, I'll have time to work on it over the summer, so thank you to all those who's sticking with me!! You guys rock!
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