Disclaimer: Rath plushie: $15. Dragon Knights Volume 17: $9.99. Dragon Knights Image Album: $10.95. "Borrowing" the Dragon Knights cast for an infinite amount of time and denying that they belong to Mineko Ohkami (even if they do): Priceless, please don't sue ;)
Warnings: Irrelevance to story from volume five/six. Shifting in the timeline of the plot. Horribly attempted dry humor.
In The Dark
Interlude: Stay
"Are you just going to leave?" she asked, her voice barely audible in the tense silence.
"...maybe." he answered gruffly, shrugging his slender shoulders before looking away from her intense gaze. "Why do you want to know?"
"Rath," she started gently. "They may not seem it, but Thatz and Rune are hurting. So is everyone else. Don't do this to them." She took a stop closer to him, her quick eyes aware of his every move.
He felt her move closer, but what could he do? He couldn't run away. "Stop." He croaked in a shaken voice. "Just stop."
She paused. She could feel the fear and anger rolling of him in heavy waves. What was he afraid of? Talking about himself? "Stop what, Rath?" she asked softly, taking another step towards him.
"Everything!" he burst out. "Stop! Get out of my head!" He stopped short and whipped his furious gaze towards her. "Why the hell are you even talking to me?"
"I'm not in your head, Rath." She answered, "We're all worried, you know we are. Why won't you let us help?" she beseeched with pleading eyes.
Rath turned away, almost ashamed. His shoulders slumped in defeat. He had nothing left to fight. "She's gone and there's no chance of her coming back. It could be ages before she comes back. If she even comes back." He whispered, his face filled with despair. "What is there for me to do? Where is there left for me here? I need to leave."
She vigorously shook her head. "Rath, no." she protested. "This isn't what she would've wanted. This isn't what Cesia would've wanted. She's not gone because of you or me or anyone else here. She left because she had to." Hesitantly, she took a step closer. "Stay, Rath." She coaxed. "His majesty and I need you here. Thatz and Rune are going crazy, wondering what's wrong! Rath, don't leave."
He paused. There was nothing else for him to say. What was the use, anyway. "I'll think about it." He mumbled as he struggled to keep his facial expressions impassive.
Raseleanne's face relaxed as she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Rath." Her face broke out into a beautiful smile, Rath noticed. But not like Cesia's, he decided.
"Don't mention it." He responded his voice rough as he turned and walked towards the slightly ajar door. Turning slightly, he caught the queen's smile growing broader from the edge of his peripheral vision.
I'll leave tonight. He promised himself.
---
"Damn." He whispered to himself, frustrated. "Dammit!" Furious with himself, Rath slammed his fist into the wall.
He couldn't do it. He couldn't bring himself to leave, he couldn't leave them, the people, everyone in this bedamned castle. Why? What was wrong with him?
"Why?" He groaned. He used to hate everyone here, the whole lot of them. To him, they didn't matter; they were just there to torment him, to remind him of why he was still alive. But now, what were they to him? And more importantly, what was he to them?
---
"Rath?"
He frowned, his back still turned towards them. What did they want now?
"Rath? Rath? Rath, can't you hear us calling you?"
Sighing loudly, Rath finally turned. "Obviously." He answered dryly. "What do you want?"
"His Majesty wants to talk to you." Alfeegi snapped, annoyed at having someone ignore him so. "Now." He stressed when Rath made a move to walk away.
Sighing even louder this time, Rath stalked past Alfeegi. "I'm going I'm going!" he groused, rubbing his forehead with his hand.
You really couldn't tell who was more pissed; Rath or Alfeegi. But it didn't matter by the time they reached the Dragon Lord's personal office, because each looked like they were about to rip each other's heads' off for no apparent reason.
Lykouleon sighed for what seemed like the billionth time that day and gave them three options. "Stay in, shut up or get out. I'm working."
"Yes milord," both mumbled while still managing to maintain a murderous look on their faces. Alfeegi then stalked out of the office, but not before shooting Rath a look that clearly said don't-piss-off-the-lord-or-I-will-literally-kill-you and casting a worried glance at Lykouleon.
When the door finally shut quietly behind Alfeegi, Lykouleon sighed heavily and pushed back from his desk to scrutinize Rath carefully, who in turn glared back at the Dragon Lord. But even Rath couldn't stand it after a few minutes of the tense staring contest, and squirmed a little before finally turning away from the Lord's clear, unwavering gaze.
"Is there a reason why you called for me?"
Lykouleon finally turned away to look back down at the load of reports on his desk. "Yes, there is Rath." He answered quietly.
When he didn't respond, Rath raised his eyebrows. "Then what is it?"
Then the Dragon Lord looked up again at Rath with a smile on his face that didn't quite reach his worried eyes. "Raseleanne talked to me earlier." He simply stated, still sustaining an unbroken connection with Rath's eyes.
Rath glared back, refusing to lose. "...And? What about it?"
The Dragon Lord merely just stared back, as if searching for an answer on Rath's face. When satisfied with what he saw, Lykouleon in the end was the one who looked away, back towards his documents. "Is there anything that you'd like to tell me?" he asked casually, obviously distracted.
Strangely pissed, Rath glowered some more at the Dragon Lord. "You suck." Rath snapped.
Lykouleon looked up again. "Oh?" He raised a delicate eyebrow at Rath. "How so?"
Scowling at the Dragon Lord, Rath answered, "You were the one who called me. I make the goddamn effort to get here, while Alfeegi gets on my case over and over again and pisses me off again. And now, 'Oh, thanks Rath for coming, is there anything you wanna say?' is ALL I get? What was the point in calling me then!"
Sighing, Lykouleon looked a Rath's angry face for a long time. Resting the side of his face in the palm as he leaned on the desk, he asked, "Would it be okay if I just said I forgot what I was going to say?"
Rath gaped at the Dragon Lord, incredulous. "NO! Of course not! What the hell are you thinking!"
Lykouleon just shrugged. "It was okay the last fifteen million eight hundred twelve thousand nine hundred sixty seven times I said it."
Furious, Rath growled, "Shut up."
Lykouleon gave Rath a resigned smile and leaned back into his chair to carefully examine the young man standing in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak when...
"Shut up."
Rath proceeded to glare at the Lord as he was stared at with another risen eyebrow. "I didn't say anything," he'd heard Lykouleon say. Rath pressed his lips together tightly, to prevent himself from saying anything else stupid that he didn't mean and settled on staring at the wall behind the Lord's head.
Lykouleon looked away from Rath, towards to window. Neither said anything. Finally, Rath turned away and started walking away.
"Rath."
His hand rested on the doorknob, shaking. "What?" he grounded out through clenched teeth. He felt the slight pause before the Dragon Lord spoke.
"Stay." Lykouleon said, his voice soft. "We need you."
Rath felt himself stiffen. "That's what you think." He declared coldly, before walking out and slamming the door behind him. Once he was far enough down the hallway, Rath broke into a run.
They might need me, but I don't need them, do I?
----
"Say what!"
Kai-stern sprinted down the hallway, and burst into Lykouleon's office, only to see a pissed off Alfeegi and a cowering Ruwalk at his mercy. He frowned. "What's going on here?"
Suddenly it was deathly quiet. " 'What's going on here?' " Alfeegi repeated. " 'What's going on here!' " With each passing word, the white dragon officer's voice got louder and louder. "This is what's going on!" Clearly pissed off, Alfeegi thrust a sheet of paper into Kai-stern's face.
His frown deepened. "Playing hide-and-seek with Rune and Thatz." He read aloud. "We'll be done in a few hours. Rath." He looked back at Alfeegi and Ruwalk. "Why in the world would they play hide-and-seek?"
Ruwalk shrugged and mouthed back, "Beats me."
Alfeegi just seemed to get even angrier. "How am I supposed to know?" he snapped. "We have to find them!"
Ruwalk couldn't resist himself. "Isn't that kind of obvious?" But of course he regretted those words when Alfeegi turned upon him with his all too famous pissed off face.
Kai-stern just sighed at the both of them. "I'll go look for Rune and Thatz then. Mind you," he warned. "I have to leave for another mission tomorrow, so make sure you guys get this settled if I don't."
Alfeegi looked absolutely delighted. "Of course, Kai-stern." He even managed to grace the blue dragon officer with a tiny smile before the door closed. He turned to look back at Ruwalk. "Tell his Majesty about this." He said quietly, before going back behind the desk to straighten up the papers.
Ruwalk nodded and too, silently slipped out of the room.
---
"What's going on?" Rune asked, the concern evident in his eyes.
Kai-stern sighed and thought sardonically to himself, Those words sure are being said a lot today. Shaking his head at himself, he turned back to the two dragon knights. "So Rath never talked to you guys about playing hide-and-seek with you guys?"
Both looked equally confused. "Noooo." Rune slowly dragged out the word, the wheels in his head turning.
"Why?" Thatz piped up. "Did he want to?"
Kai-stern chose to ignore Thatz at that moment. "Do you guys have any idea what he might have meant by playing hide-and-seek?"
Rune shook his head, but Thatz looked contemplative. "Maybe he's hiding and waiting for us to find him." He suggested.
"Thatz," Rune admonished. "Now is not a good time to be joking."
"Wait," Kai-stern cut in, his eyebrows furrowed as he thought. "Maybe Thatz is right." The thief stuck his tongue out at the elf, as the blue dragon officer paced about the room. "Maybe he is waiting for us to find him."
The three men looked at each other for a moment. "Check the west wing, Rune. Thatz, you take the east wing." Kai-stern instructed. "I'll check the northern and southern wings."
And so, each went their own little ways.
---
About three hours later, Rune met up with Thatz by the main doors. "I can't find him anywhere." Rune panted, bending over to concentrate on breathing.
"Me neither." Thatz leaned against the wall, holding his hand to his heart. "What about Kai-stern?" He asked, looking at Rune.
Rune looked at his fellow dragon knight, bewildered. "I haven't seen him at all."
"Me neither." Thatz leaned back, thinking again. "Maybe we should go help him?" He looked at Rune, the look on his face thoughtful.
"Maybe." Rune answered sarcastically. With that, they ran off towards the north wing of the castle.
Meanwhile, at the complete opposite end of the palace, in the south wing, Kai-stern found Rath hiding under the sink of one of the many kitchens there.
"You know, Rath," Kai-stern started. "It's no fun to play hide-and-seek if your seekers have no idea that they are even supposed to seek."
No response.
"You can come out now." Kai-stern said gently to the cupboard. The doors shook once, and out came a red head.
"Kai-stern!" Suddenly Kai-stern found himself in a tight grip.
"Rath?" He looked down onto the shaking head. "What's wrong?"
The shaking didn't stop. "Did I do something wrong?" A small voice asked. "Was it something that I did? Did I do anything to drive her away?"
Kai-stern felt the sympathy settle into his heart. "That's not something that Cesia would do." He tried to reassure him. "If it was you that drove her away, then she would've left years ago." He attempted to joke.
If anything, the shaking got worse. "Then that's why she left now." Rath responded. "Why do I care, Kai-stern? Why do I care?"
"You care," Kai-stern started in a gentle voice. "Because she is someone you care about." He stated simply.
"Heh," Rath smiled bitterly. "Isn't there more than that?"
Kai-stern nodded, but didn't say anything. Rath waited.
"You need her." The older man said softly. Rath stiffened, yet Kai-stern continued talking. "Just the way she needs you." He looked to smile gently upon his longtime friend. "Which is why she will come back."
Rath looked at him, and mustered up a reluctant smile. "Thank you, Kai-stern." He said quietly, before pulling away and walking off. Kai-stern's smile never disappeared as he watched Rath leave.
When the red head entered the main hall, Rune and Thatz rushed towards him.
"Rath! Where in the world were you!"
"We couldn't find you anywhere!"
"Hush guys." Rath smirked, and his friends looked confused. "You don't need to worry anymore..."
...Because I'm here to stay.
---
A/N: This is going to be a slightly long note for everyone. First of all, I'd like to say I'm incredibly sorry for not updating for a year? A really long time? But it's my fault for not working on this. Second of all, I'm not continuing this anymore, along with all my other stories. I just haven't been able to find the motivation or time to work on these pieces anymore. I don't know if anyone reads this anymore, but I apologize deeply. This, along with probably another chapter of 'Guns and Handcuffs' will be my last update here. Maybe if in the future, I might come back to these, but for now, everything is discontinued. I thank everyone for understanding.