Title: Another Day on the Road
Summary: It certainly took a long time for the Dragon Knights to get back from recovering Nadil's head. Or maybe not so long, considering all the side trips, demon fights, and treasure hunts the group went on. A missing tale from the road, where Rath fights, Thatz whines, and Rune wonders why he's doing this in the first place.
Notes: As I have said before, this is a random story. Completely random! There is no planned plot, just random stories and stuff. If you like it, you like it. If not, whatever. I have a real Dragon Knights story posted also, if you'd rather have serious fiction. Kind of. It's slash, even. YAY SLASH. And the random Karl is for Megan-chan, because she Loves him. And because shit, it's Karl. He rocks. Annnnnnyway, so this is not the last chapter of this story. This is the last chapter of this ARC, but hey, I'll probably update more. Mischief comes in many forms. And I'm bored a lot.
Warnings: KARL YAY KARL, Irritable!Rune, Hungry!Thatz, WTF Happened to You!Rath, and SEX. OMG SEX. ERM I MEAN SPARRING. Oh, and Mud Demons. Well, mention of Mud Demons, anyway.
Disclaimer: OH NOES NOT FANFIC!1!1!1!2!one!1!
Another Day on the Road
Once upon a time, there was a fairy princess named Shanna. She was lovely and delicate, with glistening silver hair and wide blue eyes that sparkled with an inner light. In the fairy kingdom, there were few who could say bad things about her, because she was gentle and kind and would always reach out a hand to help a friend in need. She was truly a great role model for all, and many other fairies aspired to be just like her.
Then one day, while Shanna was out in a forest, prancing and singing along her merry way, the One-Winged Angel came and killed her. The entire fairy community was devastated, and spent a year in mourning. They swore that they would find the One-Winged Angel and bring him to the justice he deserved.
And then they all were killed by the One-Winged Angel before they could. Losers.
Karl snickered.
He loved that story.
Rune sighed as he and Thatz trudged along. They had no idea where they were going, how far away the next town was, or even if they were going in the right direction. But walking around aimlessly was surely a better plan that staying in that cave with their wannabe-kidnappers. (Thatz agreed, especially considering that Rune wouldn't place bets on the winner of the fights.)
But still, it was really annoying to be traveling without any clue as to where to go. Especially considering that, sometime during the process of getting attacked by a tentacle demon, their food had run off.
"I could have sworn it was in here," Thatz muttered, digging through his bag for what seemed like the millionth time since they had started walking. (It was actually only the seventh. But two of those times Thatz had physically stopped and searched through his bag. So by the seventh time, Rune was distinctly less than enthusiastic about the search.)
"Thatz," Rune said.
"--dammit, and I had that nice bread, too--"
"Thatz."
"--and I -- what?"
Rune gave him a Look. "You're not going to find any food. You've already looked through your bag. There is no food."
"But -- wait, we haven't searched yours--"
"Yes, you have. Twice."
"But--"
Just then, as the plot was starting to get stagnant and the characterization even more horrid, there was a crash from above them. Rune and Thatz paused as a couple small branches and leaves fell down to the ground.
"Umm--"
They looked up to see Rath entangled in a mixture of a fishing net and tree branches, hanging fifty feet in the air. Perched on a branch nearby was Fire, looking rather muddy and irritated.
There was a long moment where the three parties just stared at each other.
Rune was the first to break the silence. Sighing, he turned away and started walking down the path again, muttering, "I cannot believe this..."
"Hey!" Thatz cried, running after him. "Don't go away! You have the money, and I'm hungry!"
"HEY!" Rath shouted, thoroughly entangled in the net. "Aren't you guys going to HELP ME DOWN?"
Thatz paused, momentarily forgetting about Rune, and gave Rath a strange look. "How on Earth did that happen, anyway?"
"Well, there was this mud demon," Rath began, clearly excited to tell his story, "but this fisherman guy kept screaming something about it being his lover -- which, by the way, GROSS --, and so Fire and I -- wait, hey! RUNE!"
Rune was not listening. Actually, strictly speaking, Rune was trying as best as he possibly could to ignore his traveling companions -- both of whom were not currently traveling at all -- and finding it difficult. It probably had something to do with them shouting at him.
"Rune!"
"Rune, stop walking away and help me down!"
"Hey, fairy-boy, the Dragon Lord won't like it if you come back without us!"
"Yeah, he's right! Come help me down!"
Rune paused. Considered. Fretted. Seethed.
Thatz smirked. "Heh, I know you too well, don't I, Ru--"
A rock smashed into Thatz's face.
"--ACK!"
Rune snarled up at Rath. "After this, we are going back to Draqueen. No demon hunting!" He turned to glare at Thatz, "And no treasure hunting!" Inside, Rune was weeping for how much lost time that stupid tentacle demon had cost them. He wanted to be home, in DRAQUEEN, where he could get a proper shower and nice clothes and not have to worry about this stupid mission any longer.
"Do you understand me?" Rune finished, giving them both his best I'm About Two Comments Away From Slaughtering You Horribly glare.
There was silence. And then:
"Yeah, sure, Mom, whatever the fuck you say."
"I don't care, just get me down! The blood's rushing to my head and it's really annoying!"
Rune resisted homicide.
Back in the cave, Erinatsu and Mican were not arguing any longer.
They were still engaging each other in a battle of some sort, but words were not part of the exchange. Just the occasional grunt or moan or perhaps the gasping for air.
They were, of course, sparring.
Which can be taken in many different ways, but let it be known that this author is not a dirty person and would never, ever reveal that there was, indeed, Sex happening. So that must mean that they were simply sparring, like every ordinary pair of fighters liked to do with one another. To keep each other battle ready.
...in BED.
Or in a cave. Whatever works.
It took the rest of the night for the Dragon Knights to make it to the next village. By this time, Rune had cooled off and was once again his usual calm-but-prone-to-random-surges-of-violence self. Thatz had been complaining about hunger for the past three hours, bemoaning the loss of his food. Rath was once again acting as if his mind was nothing more than a hamster running on a wheel, which in turn blinked a "KILL DEMONS" sign on in bright, neon colors.
Suffice to say, things were back to normal.
They were still no closer to Draqueen than they had been three days ago, but Rune was past caring for the night. And while Rath and Thatz were still thinking about demons and treasure respectively, food and sleep had long since reached top priority on their to-do lists. After shoveling down a very hearty meal, the three knights collapsed exhausted into their beds, ready for a long, relaxing sleep after the (absolutely stupid) adventure they had just had.
By the time the morning rolled around, however, things were really back to normal.
"Hey, Rune, I heard this thing from the innkeeper about an enchanted cave--"
"A what?"
"Yeah, it's supposed to be an old treasure hoard from--"
"No, we are NOT GOING TREASURE HUNTING."
"--demon thieves!"
"Demons? Really? Where?"
"No, Rath, we're not -- Thatz -- you guys, we need to go back to Draqueen."
"It's on the way!"
"And we'd be doing Lord Lukoleon a favor if we get rid of the demons!"
"Rath, Thatz just wants to search for treasure, not--"
"I want to fight demons, too, Rath! Don't believe Rune!"
"Yes! Demon hunting!"
"Let's go!"
"Hey -- no! Wait! Rath! Thatz!"
"Hurry up, Rune, or you'll get left behind!"
"Yeah, I'll kill all the demons before you even get there!"
"...we are NEVER going to get home..."