Moriyasha Neko-hime here! (Bows) And welcome back for another Chapter of Dragon Kings!
It took me a while to write this chapter on paper after Eight, the desire was there, but not the urge; I had to scratch away at it for a while, but I did finish it.
Now, heroes of three of the Kingdoms have set out in search of answers, leaders and a cure for the strange sleep their loved ones have been blanketed under.
But what lies in waiting for the Black Dragon Kingdom? What will spur a fourth band into action?
Lo, you must wait and read on.
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Chapter Nine: Phoenix Light…
It was nightfall of the third day since the attack on the castle by the mysterious Rafael. And since that time rain had fallen across the kingdom, as if angels wept for the Black Dragon Kingdom's fallen prince.
Yuugi was alive, much to everyone's relief, but he seemed to be in a deep sleep. The old women of the castle had tried several remedies to stir the prince, but the youth would not wake. It seemed that all anyone could do was to wait for a solution, at least until all the Slayers returned to the Kingdom.
It was commonplace for Slayers to be called out by villages in the Black Dragon region to deal with rampaging monsters; the late King Mutou had insisted on keeping his people safe, hence the forming of the Slayers in the first place.
Clad in a hooded cloak, Katsuya walked down the muddy street to one of the smithies the Slayers used to forge weapons. Making it under a rain cover, the blond cast a glance up to the pouring sky, hoping to find some sign of it clearing up.
When he found no moonlight or starlight, he sighed and entered the smithy.
Though small, the Black Dragon Kingdom was known for its master craftsmen and artisans of metal; it was important in several parts of their society to be able to make weapons and sometimes jewelry. It was rumored that the kingdom's hand forged metals rivaled even the synthesized metals created by the White Dragon Kingdom's alchemists; as the two kingdoms had only ever been known to have gone to war once, it couldn't be said for sure.
Katsuya pulled his hood down as he entered the warm room to find Ryuzaki, despite his arm being in a sling, hammering away at the metal of his current project bearing a determined expression. Honda sat in the corner near the hearth as he re-bandaged his wrist in grim silence.
"Hey…"
The two looked over toward Katsuya as he pulled his cloak off. "Hey, Jou," Ryuzaki waved with his hammer.
"Is your shoulder feeling okay?" The blond asked as he set his dripping cloak on a nearby chair. "Should you be working?"
The slayer cast his black eyes down to the metal. "I feel worse if I'm not working…"
Honda finished tying his bandage with his teeth and leaned his arm across his knee. "How is he? Any improvement?"
Katsuya shook his head with a sigh. "Nothing."
"And…Shizuka?"
The brother of the young woman in question paused. "She's…okay," he finally replied. "Her hands were burned pretty bad, but they should heal okay. The old ladies say that so long as she gets enough rest, she'll be alright."
Honda nodded slowly.
Ryuzaki continued to hammer at the metal. "No she won't," he said, making his friends and fellow slayers look at him. "She'll tear herself down until there's nothing left. Unlike the rest of us, she was right there; she saw what happened up close." He slowed in his pounding. "When she first started training to become a slayer, whenever she made a mistake she would apologize, step down, call herself stupid…"
The youth finally stopped. "You remember? Her first mission was the incident in Hasalm…"
No one would ever forget that mission, not if they could help it.
It was a call that had required the entire Slayer force to gather in one place, both the top slayers and the new recruits. The place had been overrun by undead, and in the end the mission had taken the lives of all the adult men and several rookies in their slaying. Any survivors at all had to be a miracle and a blessing from God.
But despite those who lived, they could never replace those that had died, and there were many. That was why the Slayers mostly consisted of young men now.
"Shizuka was broken," Ryuzaki went on. "But…she pulled herself back up…when…when she…"
Katsuya nodded slowly. "Yeah. I know."
Honda scoffed. "If she had been here—"
"HONDA!" Katsuya shouted, making the smithy shake and his friend jump with his glare. "Tons of Slayers were called out at the time!" The blond turned away, his fists clenched tightly. "She left a long time ago! You can't think things would have been any different of She had been here!"
The smithy fell silent save for the sound of the rain on the roof.
Katsuya cross the room to look out the window, his hand straying to the pouch on his side. Inside, his fingers brushed a metal charm attached to a braided strap of leather.
He had crafted it himself as a gift for a very special woman. She had been a Slayer, like him—and had in fact been two years his senior. She had been the real inspiration for Shizuka's becoming a Slayer, and the desire of every man in the kingdom before Katsuya's little sister.
A blonde beauty with eyes like the richest purple velvet.
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Shizuka drearily wandered the castle with no real destination in mind. She really didn't want to think about anything, and so she didn't.
Somehow, she found herself outside. She stood in the training grounds, letting the rain pour over her without care.
Memories resurfaced from their sleep and the young woman tried to recall how many times she had been scolded by the instructors during her training.
"Too slow!"
"How many times do I have to tell you!"
"Don't get scared! All it does it slow your reactions!"
Letting the memories drift back down to their resting place, Shizuka tilted her head back to look up at the darkened sky, content to feel the rain hit her in the face.
She had decided to become a Slayer around the same time her brother had. Where Katsuya felt it would be his rite of passage to becoming a man, Shizuka's reasons were a little different.
She had wanted to feel safe, knowing she could defend herself from the monsters she hated and feared so much. She wanted to overcome those feelings of uselessness and fear that had been planted in her so long ago…
Even now, ten years after the incident, it broke her heart and brought tears to her eyes.
She herself couldn't remember how it had happened, it was all mist and shadow, but after her brother had told her only once she would never forget the images she could only imagine.
Their parents had been doctors, and as it was their duty, they were called to treat villagers that had been caught in the middle of a battle.
Something had happened, another attack of the village was what Katsuya had always suspected, and the two of them had fled to the mountains separating the White and Black Dragon regions. Crossing them, the children had been attacked by the monsters dwelling there. Luckily, they had been saved by a band of Slayers that had been returning from an expedition and taken in by the King of the Black Dragon Kingdom himself.
Shizuka never wanted to feel that defenseless again. She had learned from a good and dear friend how to fight, to protect herself and those she held dear. But despite her training, she had lost to an opponent. She had lost Yuugi…
Falling to her knees, caking her legs with mud, she buried her face in her bandaged hands and cried.
What good was the strength she had obtained if she couldn't protect the people she loved? The answer was she had no strength; she was still that weak little girl wandering in the mountains and always would be.
A pair of hands rested on her wet shoulders, making her look back into a pair of soft blue eyes under a hooded cloak.
"If you stay out in this you're bound to catch a cold," Anzu said softly, standing the girl up and draping some of her cloak over her shoulders. "Come on. You need some sleep."
Shizuka didn't respond aside from following the apprentice advisor back into the castle. Making it to the fiery-haired young woman's room, Anzu helped her change into dry nightclothes and laid her down to bed.
"Don't worry, Shizuka," the young woman whispered, brushing her damp bangs out of her face. "Yuugi will be fine. You'll see." Anzu's words lacked their usual confidence, and both she and Shizuka knew it.
Nonetheless, Shizuka was tired and gladly succumbed to sleep.
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He was stabbed countless times by the spears of the dark-skinned warriors. The injuries did not show on his black clothes, but it stained his visible skin garnet, making it clash slightly with his fiery red hair.
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Shizuka shrieked, snapping awake, horrified to find herself drenched with blood. She gasped, blinking for a split-second, and the blood was gone.
She stared at her hands as she caught her breath before laying back down. 'Just…a dream…'
Content that it had only been a dream and she was not injured,Shizuka buried her face in her pillow to dry her tears and sweat and continue sleeping.
However, something would not allow her to rest: a strange light kept her from sleep.
She rolled over to avoid the light, but it seemed to reach far into the back of her eyes. Finally pushing herself up, the young woman opened her eyes to find her room pitch black; but the light still shone from deep inside her eyes.
Pulling herself out of bed, Shizuka crossed her room to the door; the hallway was empty and silent, save for the rain rattling the windows.
Unsure, but compelled, she followed the light in the back of her eyes down the hall and up a flight of stairs. She was surprised she could see and feel it stronger whenever she closed her eyes, and finally resorted to walking with her eyes closed, her hand gripping a banister or gliding across the wall for support.
Shizuka finally came to a door, and looking around she realized it was the door to Yuugi's room.
She had only entered the bedchamber once since the attack and hesitated in seeing her friend in his unnatural sleep again. Taking a deep breath, Shizuka turned the handle and quietly pushed the door open.
Normally, Yuugi's room was very welcoming and colorful, but now it was dark and a little cold. Shizuka approached the bed and looked down into the face of the sleeping prince.
'Yuugi…'
The memory of what happened to put him in this state made tears gather in the young woman's eyes and she bowed her head.
'I'm sorry…'
Clamping her eyes shut to try and stop the tears, she saw the light again, but it was not emitting from Yuugi; it came from somewhere behind her.
Looking over her shoulder, toward the windows, Shizuka could see a gold light in the distance. Moving closer to the window she focused harder on the light, and realized it was coming straight toward her.
She barely took half a step back before the light burst through the windows, shattering the glass and knocking Shizuka to the floor where she shielded her face from flying glass.
The young woman pushed herself up she found the colors of the room visible and the warmth returning in whirlwind; looking toward the origin of the gold light and wind that filled the room, she found Yuugi glowing. Astonished at the sight of her prince and friend's glowing form, Shizuka rushed to his side with some difficulty due to the wind that surrounded him.
Then, as if nothing had happened, the light faded and the wind died, leaving the room quiet and dark again.
Shizuka grabbed Yuugi's hand, relieved to feel a pulse and sighed. She wondered if the whole thing had been a dream—like the moment with the blood—but cast that theory aside at the window and glass scattered across the floor.
Looking back to Yuugi to make sure he hadn't been hurt, Shizuka noticed something strange about the prince's hair; it looked as though some of his gold bangs had shot up into his hair.
'Was it like that before…?' She wondered. Curious, she touched the gold locks, but immediately snatched her hand back when the prince stirred slightly.
Shizuka kept completely still as the youth moaned sleepily, rubbing his eyes before opening them. The young woman put her hands to her mouth and began trembling, unable to hold back her tears.
The prince sat up, glancing around before his gaze settled on the girl standing beside him.
"Oh, Yuugi!" Shizuka wrapped her arms around him as her tears flowed harder than before. "Thank God you're alright! I've been so worried!"
The youth did not return the embrace. Carefully grasping her shoulders, he pulled the young woman out at arms length.
"Yuugi?" Shizuka looked into the prince's eyes and froze.
The gaze that looked back into her own belonged to someone she did not know, and in turn, someone who did not know her. It was a strong gaze, which was confused but not about to break down or panic at its unfamiliar surroundings.
Brown gazed back into ruby red, and two people from foreign kingdoms met for the first time.
And outside, the rain stopped.
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Jaan jaa!
What did you think? I was a little anxious because there wasn't a whole lot of talking on Shizuka's part in this chapter, and it seemed pretty short, but it seems to have turned out okay.
Can anyone guess what just happened?
Does anyone know why it happened?
(Shrugs) Me neither. (Flips open fan with the Kanji for Liar) Well, I don't know when I'll get the urge to write CHAPTER TEN (woo-hoo!), but I'll try to make it quick.