Jurai Saga
Chapter 3
A Time for Healing
Ayeka. The first princess of the royal house of Jurai. Born of the second wife of the current Jurai Emperor, older sister of Sasami.
Purple haired she was, and it just seemed to shine no matter which way she moved. She was always found with it in that particular style, a chin length straight cut that frames her face, with those two long tails protruding out the back of it, traveling down towards her knees. Her skin was pale, but healthy in appearance, giving her a china doll look to her. Red eyes shown forward through her bangs, large and displaying, showing the world around her how she was feeling at all times. Her face could only be described as beautiful, and that was to even those of the most picky of tastes. Her body followed a similar suit, slim, attractive, and proper for the appearance of one of her stature.
The human had been on Jurai for about five days now. After the display that he showed in the sparing session, they had decided to train him. Then again, he had also suffered far too many injuries during the time as well. They had him stored away in a medical room, feeding him herbs and medicines to help his bones repair themselves quickly.
Ayeka was curious about this human. He had managed to break into her room, that part of him scared her at first. Then, she heard his story. No one believed him, but somehow his story made sense to her. It did because there was no way he could have gotten in. The doors to her room stay locked, at all times. Only when she enters and exits do those doors ever open. Even the guards that grabbed him had to get the door open before they could get in. The only window in the room was an energy window, and generally not large enough for a being, especially one of his size, to fit through.
She had gotten up early this morning, and was taken extra care in grooming herself. She didn't know why, perhaps she just wanted to give a decent impression, she was going to go visit this "guest" of theirs. Maybe there was just something more to it all, something she didn't really understand, but felt she needed to. She ran the comb through her dark purple hair, smiling to herself in the mirror.
She blinked a few times, and then stopped, looking down towards her hair and blushed a bit. "My, my. What am I doing? You would think I'm trying to win his heart over." A laugh escaped her lips as she closed her eyes, and reached behind her back. Fastening her hair back into her usual two tails, she would nod to herself and stand up.
Covered in an undershirt of sorts, she moved over towards one of the log style containers, and opened it up. The undershirt was like a bathing suit, though it had a train of cloth down the back that started at her waist. Pulling out a light purple, almost blue undershirt she would smile to herself and slip it on. Tying the darker purple sash over her waist to secure the outfit, she then reached in for yet another article of clothing. Those slender digits of hers would pull out an almost red purple kimono with a wish sash and white trim.
"Ayeka," a light, younger voice came from behind her, "what are you doing?"
Ayeka turned and smiled to her younger sister, the cute Sasami. The blue haired girl walked up to her sister, her odd pink eyes closed as she gave a wonderful smile, which Ayeka returned.
"Oh Sasami. Nothing, just getting dressed, was thinking about seeing our guest today." She turned back around and slipped the kimono onto her form, tying the sash and sliding it back behind her waist.
"Oh! You mean Steven!" Sasami came back in her usual cheerful voice.
Ayeka blinked lightly hearing Sasami say his name. She hadn't even met him yet. With a blush, she looked back to her sister. "You've already met him Sasami?" This made her feel uncomfortable, and a bit uncourteous.
"Yeah. He has all sorts of neat stories of his home world, and he is really a nice person, though a bit on the shy side." She looked over her sister slowly and then gave a slight cant to her head. "I'm sure he will like you Ayeka, despite you having kicked him the way you did."
Ayeka gave a slight laugh as she nodded a bit to her sister. "I was going to apologize for that as well."
Sasami bowed her head and took off out of the room in a bit of a happy jog. Such a cheerful little girl she always was. So energetic and free spirited. Ayeka wished sometimes, that she was still that way, that part of her could recapture that youthful feel about herself. She hadn't been like that since the day her brother left.
Ayeka gathered herself once more and walked out the door of her chambers, moving down the hall way and into the small room that they were keeping the human. Knocking lightly upon the inner door, she waited for a response from him.
"Enter," came the voice from the other side of the door.
She slide the door open slowly and stepped in, shutting it once again when she was fully in the room. Turning around she let her red eyes gaze upon him as she bowed slowly. "Good day to you, I, the first Princess of Jurai, welcome you to our home."
The young man on the bed offered a smile, at least as best as he could. His left eye wasn't swollen shut anymore, but it was still black. His left arm was in a full cast, from the impact of the wood against it, his ribs were bandaged up under the robe that he wore, as well as his collar bone on his left side. Those students had offered him a harsh beating.
"Thank you princess." He nodded his head to her.
"I must apologize for the lateness of my welcoming. And I must also offer my apologizes for my behavior towards you the night you arrived." She said as she gave a bow to him once more.
"You don't need to apologize to me. Your actions were out of confusion, you had every right to kick me like that." He offered her a light smile as he sat up slowly, then propped his back against the wall behind the bed.
Standing there with her hands clasped in front of her, she offered him a smile before she bowed again. "My name is Ayeka."
"So I've been told by your sister Sasami, and your father. Both of them have frequented this place since the abuse session that I received." He stretched his good arm a bit then continued. "I'm Steven Alexanders, but you can call me Steven."
"Yes Lord Steven, it is an honor to meet you."
"Um, Steven works just fine, thank you." He gave a bit of a funny expression to how she said that.
Her eyes shot wide open as she heard him say this, but she hadn't been taught anything but the manners of royalty. Recomposing herself, she gave a small bow. "My apologies Lord...I mean, Steven. You will have to forgive me if I slip and say that, I've not been taught to say much else."
"I will let it slide for now. So, is all you came here to do greet me and apologize?" He canted his head lightly to the left as he inquired.
"Actually, I was curious what they have told you about our culture as of this point?"
"Well, your father hasn't told me much of anything. All he has really been doing was telling me about the medicines they would be using to treat my injuries, and how he looks forward to getting me into training. As far as your sister goes, all she really does is come in here to listen to my childhood stories of when I was her age on Earth and such."
She gave him a smile and moved over to the side of the bed. "Can you stand and walk?"
He turned and got out of the bed, standing up slowly, so not to hurt his ribs. "Yeah, I can, but walking is about all I can do."
She turned her back to him and looked back over her shoulders towards him. "Well then, follow me Lord Alexanders, I will teach you of my people."
Ayeka led Steven through the corridors of the palace, each one was elaborate with decorations, and colors from all ranges of the spectrum covered the walls. Pictures and paintings that depicted the generations of the past lined each hallway, perfectly spaced apart. She would turn a corner and they would be staring at huge doors, a very dark, almost muck brown in color, polished to shine. The doors were trimmed in a lighter brown, leaf like design, much like everything else in the place. She stopped at the door and smiled back at him.
"This here is the house of the royal trees. The trees that sustain the life of the royal family are kept and maintained here within the waters of life. It is also where the ships of the royal family are stored, for they are also our trees." She spoke as she moved her hand towards the doors, at which they would open instantly. She gave him the motion to follow as she turned and stepped into the room.
Like everything else in the palace, this place was a sight to behold. The room stretched from deep underground to a point way up in the air that could not be seen. Where they had entered was a silver catwalk, with no side rails, which lead to a flaring out. The end of it held a tree which was surrounded by water. Its roots sat in the water, but did not seem to penetrate the catwalk. To the left and the right, both up and down, could be seen hundreds of other trees, placed on similar catwalks, though some didn't attach to doors. The tree itself wasn't that old of a tree, maybe 17 years of growth. It was a strong tree by the looks of it, but it wasn't like some of the others in the room.
Ayeka walked up to the tree and reached out, touching it lightly with her fingers. A small inhale was taken into her as those fingers ran over its bark lightly. Turning to look back at him, she offered him yet another one of her wonderful smiles.
"This is Ryu-Oh. This is my tree." She turned her back against it and slide down to her knees, the expression upon her face gave away her contentment for being here. With her knees folded under her, she leaned back against her tree.
Steven stepped forward, watching and listening to her with curiosity as she spoke. "Your tree? You mean the tree belongs to you, they planted it here when you were born?"
She gave a light laugh at his comment. "Well, sort of. Those of the royal blood here on Jurai are bonded to their trees. The trees are our power, our life. When a member of a Jurai royal family is born, a tree sprouts from the many seeds. When the tree and the member are of a certain age, they are bonded. This bonding gives us longevity. As long as the tree stays in the waters of life, we will not age past our full maturity."
Those sandaled feet would carry him over towards the tree. Standing next to where Ayeka sat, he reached out and let his hand touch the tree. His eyes were wide after hearing the stuff she had just told him. "Such an amazing people you Jurai are. So simple in spirit and in life, and yet, so advanced in everything else." He stopped for a moment, looking down to her while his hand ran over the bark of the tree. "Your culture is a lot like the Japanese people where I'm from, almost identical actually."
"Perhaps a member of our empire settled there long ago, and helped structure their way of life." She looked up to him with a matter of fact grin. "It wouldn't be the first time our influence was felt on a planet so remote has been impacted by our people."
As Steven's hand ran along the edge of the tree, small beams of colored light would branch out from its leaves, and shine down upon the pool of water below. Steven stepped back shocked as his eyes caught all of this.
She would give another small giggle and cover her mouth with her hand lightly. "It's nothing to be alarmed about. Ryu-Oh is just talking to you. You can't understand him though, so I will help you." She looked over the beams of light as the flicked about them, and gave yet another smile as she looked back up to him. "It says you're a peaceful person, it can tell by the way your hand touches it. It says it's a light touch, gentle."
He gave a smile as he put his hand back against the tree, the only good hand he had, and let it touch the tree softly again.
"What about your world Steven? What are they like? Your people?" She asked lightly as those red eyes turned to gaze back upon him once more.
He would look down lightly, and take a small sigh. "I wish I could say that my people were worth talking about, but humans are a savage race compared to you and your kind. Always fighting, even in times of peace. The world is divided by nations, and none of them truly get along. Some help others, if their own enemies are involved, and then turn against the ones they helped when it suits them best. We work so hard to create peace, to understand who and what we are, and yet, we always seem to destroy it in the end."
She looked out over the area and then stood up. He and she were the same height. She clasped her hands together down in front of her stomach, those wonderful eyes and beautiful face shone with a reassuring smile. "Well then. I guess that you're better off here then. Perhaps one day, your people will find the light. Until then, you are a guest in the royal house, and you have a friend in me. I believe you Lord Alexanders, I believe everything you say, even your story about how you ended up in my room, and I will stand by your side even when others will not."
He couldn't help but smile at her words and nod his head slowly. "Thank you Lady Ayeka, you are too kind."
Ayeka. The first princess of the royal house of Jurai. Born of the second wife of the current Jurai Emperor, older sister of Sasami.
Purple haired she was, and it just seemed to shine no matter which way she moved. She was always found with it in that particular style, a chin length straight cut that frames her face, with those two long tails protruding out the back of it, traveling down towards her knees. Her skin was pale, but healthy in appearance, giving her a china doll look to her. Red eyes shown forward through her bangs, large and displaying, showing the world around her how she was feeling at all times. Her face could only be described as beautiful, and that was to even those of the most picky of tastes. Her body followed a similar suit, slim, attractive, and proper for the appearance of one of her stature.
The human had been on Jurai for about five days now. After the display that he showed in the sparing session, they had decided to train him. Then again, he had also suffered far too many injuries during the time as well. They had him stored away in a medical room, feeding him herbs and medicines to help his bones repair themselves quickly.
Ayeka was curious about this human. He had managed to break into her room, that part of him scared her at first. Then, she heard his story. No one believed him, but somehow his story made sense to her. It did because there was no way he could have gotten in. The doors to her room stay locked, at all times. Only when she enters and exits do those doors ever open. Even the guards that grabbed him had to get the door open before they could get in. The only window in the room was an energy window, and generally not large enough for a being, especially one of his size, to fit through.
She had gotten up early this morning, and was taken extra care in grooming herself. She didn't know why, perhaps she just wanted to give a decent impression, she was going to go visit this "guest" of theirs. Maybe there was just something more to it all, something she didn't really understand, but felt she needed to. She ran the comb through her dark purple hair, smiling to herself in the mirror.
She blinked a few times, and then stopped, looking down towards her hair and blushed a bit. "My, my. What am I doing? You would think I'm trying to win his heart over." A laugh escaped her lips as she closed her eyes, and reached behind her back. Fastening her hair back into her usual two tails, she would nod to herself and stand up.
Covered in an undershirt of sorts, she moved over towards one of the log style containers, and opened it up. The undershirt was like a bathing suit, though it had a train of cloth down the back that started at her waist. Pulling out a light purple, almost blue undershirt she would smile to herself and slip it on. Tying the darker purple sash over her waist to secure the outfit, she then reached in for yet another article of clothing. Those slender digits of hers would pull out an almost red purple kimono with a wish sash and white trim.
"Ayeka," a light, younger voice came from behind her, "what are you doing?"
Ayeka turned and smiled to her younger sister, the cute Sasami. The blue haired girl walked up to her sister, her odd pink eyes closed as she gave a wonderful smile, which Ayeka returned.
"Oh Sasami. Nothing, just getting dressed, was thinking about seeing our guest today." She turned back around and slipped the kimono onto her form, tying the sash and sliding it back behind her waist.
"Oh! You mean Steven!" Sasami came back in her usual cheerful voice.
Ayeka blinked lightly hearing Sasami say his name. She hadn't even met him yet. With a blush, she looked back to her sister. "You've already met him Sasami?" This made her feel uncomfortable, and a bit uncourteous.
"Yeah. He has all sorts of neat stories of his home world, and he is really a nice person, though a bit on the shy side." She looked over her sister slowly and then gave a slight cant to her head. "I'm sure he will like you Ayeka, despite you having kicked him the way you did."
Ayeka gave a slight laugh as she nodded a bit to her sister. "I was going to apologize for that as well."
Sasami bowed her head and took off out of the room in a bit of a happy jog. Such a cheerful little girl she always was. So energetic and free spirited. Ayeka wished sometimes, that she was still that way, that part of her could recapture that youthful feel about herself. She hadn't been like that since the day her brother left.
Ayeka gathered herself once more and walked out the door of her chambers, moving down the hall way and into the small room that they were keeping the human. Knocking lightly upon the inner door, she waited for a response from him.
"Enter," came the voice from the other side of the door.
She slide the door open slowly and stepped in, shutting it once again when she was fully in the room. Turning around she let her red eyes gaze upon him as she bowed slowly. "Good day to you, I, the first Princess of Jurai, welcome you to our home."
The young man on the bed offered a smile, at least as best as he could. His left eye wasn't swollen shut anymore, but it was still black. His left arm was in a full cast, from the impact of the wood against it, his ribs were bandaged up under the robe that he wore, as well as his collar bone on his left side. Those students had offered him a harsh beating.
"Thank you princess." He nodded his head to her.
"I must apologize for the lateness of my welcoming. And I must also offer my apologizes for my behavior towards you the night you arrived." She said as she gave a bow to him once more.
"You don't need to apologize to me. Your actions were out of confusion, you had every right to kick me like that." He offered her a light smile as he sat up slowly, then propped his back against the wall behind the bed.
Standing there with her hands clasped in front of her, she offered him a smile before she bowed again. "My name is Ayeka."
"So I've been told by your sister Sasami, and your father. Both of them have frequented this place since the abuse session that I received." He stretched his good arm a bit then continued. "I'm Steven Alexanders, but you can call me Steven."
"Yes Lord Steven, it is an honor to meet you."
"Um, Steven works just fine, thank you." He gave a bit of a funny expression to how she said that.
Her eyes shot wide open as she heard him say this, but she hadn't been taught anything but the manners of royalty. Recomposing herself, she gave a small bow. "My apologies Lord...I mean, Steven. You will have to forgive me if I slip and say that, I've not been taught to say much else."
"I will let it slide for now. So, is all you came here to do greet me and apologize?" He canted his head lightly to the left as he inquired.
"Actually, I was curious what they have told you about our culture as of this point?"
"Well, your father hasn't told me much of anything. All he has really been doing was telling me about the medicines they would be using to treat my injuries, and how he looks forward to getting me into training. As far as your sister goes, all she really does is come in here to listen to my childhood stories of when I was her age on Earth and such."
She gave him a smile and moved over to the side of the bed. "Can you stand and walk?"
He turned and got out of the bed, standing up slowly, so not to hurt his ribs. "Yeah, I can, but walking is about all I can do."
She turned her back to him and looked back over her shoulders towards him. "Well then, follow me Lord Alexanders, I will teach you of my people."
Ayeka led Steven through the corridors of the palace, each one was elaborate with decorations, and colors from all ranges of the spectrum covered the walls. Pictures and paintings that depicted the generations of the past lined each hallway, perfectly spaced apart. She would turn a corner and they would be staring at huge doors, a very dark, almost muck brown in color, polished to shine. The doors were trimmed in a lighter brown, leaf like design, much like everything else in the place. She stopped at the door and smiled back at him.
"This here is the house of the royal trees. The trees that sustain the life of the royal family are kept and maintained here within the waters of life. It is also where the ships of the royal family are stored, for they are also our trees." She spoke as she moved her hand towards the doors, at which they would open instantly. She gave him the motion to follow as she turned and stepped into the room.
Like everything else in the palace, this place was a sight to behold. The room stretched from deep underground to a point way up in the air that could not be seen. Where they had entered was a silver catwalk, with no side rails, which lead to a flaring out. The end of it held a tree which was surrounded by water. Its roots sat in the water, but did not seem to penetrate the catwalk. To the left and the right, both up and down, could be seen hundreds of other trees, placed on similar catwalks, though some didn't attach to doors. The tree itself wasn't that old of a tree, maybe 17 years of growth. It was a strong tree by the looks of it, but it wasn't like some of the others in the room.
Ayeka walked up to the tree and reached out, touching it lightly with her fingers. A small inhale was taken into her as those fingers ran over its bark lightly. Turning to look back at him, she offered him yet another one of her wonderful smiles.
"This is Ryu-Oh. This is my tree." She turned her back against it and slide down to her knees, the expression upon her face gave away her contentment for being here. With her knees folded under her, she leaned back against her tree.
Steven stepped forward, watching and listening to her with curiosity as she spoke. "Your tree? You mean the tree belongs to you, they planted it here when you were born?"
She gave a light laugh at his comment. "Well, sort of. Those of the royal blood here on Jurai are bonded to their trees. The trees are our power, our life. When a member of a Jurai royal family is born, a tree sprouts from the many seeds. When the tree and the member are of a certain age, they are bonded. This bonding gives us longevity. As long as the tree stays in the waters of life, we will not age past our full maturity."
Those sandaled feet would carry him over towards the tree. Standing next to where Ayeka sat, he reached out and let his hand touch the tree. His eyes were wide after hearing the stuff she had just told him. "Such an amazing people you Jurai are. So simple in spirit and in life, and yet, so advanced in everything else." He stopped for a moment, looking down to her while his hand ran over the bark of the tree. "Your culture is a lot like the Japanese people where I'm from, almost identical actually."
"Perhaps a member of our empire settled there long ago, and helped structure their way of life." She looked up to him with a matter of fact grin. "It wouldn't be the first time our influence was felt on a planet so remote has been impacted by our people."
As Steven's hand ran along the edge of the tree, small beams of colored light would branch out from its leaves, and shine down upon the pool of water below. Steven stepped back shocked as his eyes caught all of this.
She would give another small giggle and cover her mouth with her hand lightly. "It's nothing to be alarmed about. Ryu-Oh is just talking to you. You can't understand him though, so I will help you." She looked over the beams of light as the flicked about them, and gave yet another smile as she looked back up to him. "It says you're a peaceful person, it can tell by the way your hand touches it. It says it's a light touch, gentle."
He gave a smile as he put his hand back against the tree, the only good hand he had, and let it touch the tree softly again.
"What about your world Steven? What are they like? Your people?" She asked lightly as those red eyes turned to gaze back upon him once more.
He would look down lightly, and take a small sigh. "I wish I could say that my people were worth talking about, but humans are a savage race compared to you and your kind. Always fighting, even in times of peace. The world is divided by nations, and none of them truly get along. Some help others, if their own enemies are involved, and then turn against the ones they helped when it suits them best. We work so hard to create peace, to understand who and what we are, and yet, we always seem to destroy it in the end."
She looked out over the area and then stood up. He and she were the same height. She clasped her hands together down in front of her stomach, those wonderful eyes and beautiful face shone with a reassuring smile. "Well then. I guess that you're better off here then. Perhaps one day, your people will find the light. Until then, you are a guest in the royal house, and you have a friend in me. I believe you Lord Alexanders, I believe everything you say, even your story about how you ended up in my room, and I will stand by your side even when others will not."
He couldn't help but smile at her words and nod his head slowly. "Thank you Lady Ayeka, you are too kind."