Chapter 5
Companionship
Lucia scowled into her mirror, pushing fiery red hair from her slate gray eyes. She pawed at a small purple bruise on her forehead, her scowl deepening. Who had run into her? No one but the guards ever really roamed that part of the castle. She wished she would have gotten a better look, but without her glasses, she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. Sighing loudly, she glanced down at her slightly bent glasses, which were lying in between a few bottles of perfume and makeup. She picked them up and placed them on her nose, twisting the sides a bit. "Damn..." she muttered. She pursed her lips and tapped them roughly.
After a minute or so, she gave up and turned to the open window beside her. A slight breeze blew, causing her short bangs to ruffle up above her forehead. She tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her long, black ears and stared out into the courtyard below. An elaborate white marble fountain was sitting in the middle of the many pathways there, gurgling softly, sending streams of water high into the air. She watched as a few colorful fish jumped from the streams and into the magically lit bottom, swimming over a bright red mosaic of the Windian emblem, the phoenix.
Laying her head on her hands, Lucia closed her eyes, letting the gentle breeze caress the soft tawny fur on her face. For once, she felt relaxed; away from all the bustle of the castle. Her lips curled into a small smile as the breeze blew a little harder. There was nothing that could bother her now, nothing...
A rustle from below jarred her thoughts, causing her to glance downward. A flash of blue came into her vision. "Hmmm...?" she whispered softly, grasping the stones framing the window and leaning out, peering into the bushes. Her eyes widened when she saw that the blue was a boy's head. Blue hair? Was that...the dragon she had heard about? She watched as he darted into the shadows and hid behind another bush. Sliding almost gracefully to a stop, he reached out a hand, beckoning to something. Lucia leaned out more to see a small person in a large beige cloak stumbling awkwardly to him. When it reached him, they repeated the process until they reached the far east wall.
Lucia's brow furrowed. What was he doing? Where were the guards? To her surprise, the blue haired boy managed to climb the wall without anyone spotting him. She watched as he reached down from the top and with one swift movement, lifted the cloaked one up to him. Lucia glanced around. Still no guards. What the hell were they doing? The dragon was going to escape! Exasperated, she drew in a sharp breath. Well if no one else was going to do anything, "Hey...!" she began to cry but her words caught in her throat.
A strong gust of wind blew, throwing the hood off of the cloaked person's head, drawing Lucia's attention to the mass of blonde hair that appeared. Her mouth gaped and her tail began to twitch sharply. The Princess?
Nina gasped as she toppled into Ryu's arms, knocking him back against a tree. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her heart's relentless beating; it was starting to hurt. She slowly pulled away from him, her body shaking, and looked back at the massive stone wall. The shaking started to become almost uncontrollable as one fact filled her apprehensive mind.
She was out.
Despite her fears, the thought brought a small smile to her face, but caused her stomach to take a leap. What would they do now? All that was on her mind before hand was getting out of the castle. She had no plan. She glanced up at Ryu, who kept tapping his feet on the ground, his eyes darting to the pathway leading into the forest.
Nina walked forward a bit, staring at the wild look that had suddenly come over him. He lifted his head and seemed to sniff the air.
"Umm...Ryu...?"
"Three..." he said softly, stepping back, almost colliding with Nina.
"What...?"
"Three of them." he cut her off, tossing his grimy hair over his shoulders. She watched as an odd smile crept to his face.
She reached out to him. "Ryu what's going on?"
He glanced over his shoulder at her, the smiled widening, allowing those canines to show. "Don't worry, just put your hood back on and it'll be over in a second."
"What do you mean...?"
Just then three guards rounded the corner near them, engrossed in conversation. Nina barely had time to breathe before Ryu leaped. He soared into the air with his fists clenched, hair and cloak swirling, and brought his right arm back behind him. The soldier had no chance. Ryu's blow caught the side of his helmet, denting it on impact, and sent him flying back into the wall. He hit and crumpled noisily to the ground. Ryu's feet left the ground as fast as he had landed, dodging a thrust from the sword of another guard. Grinning, he brought his elbow down on the guard's head, the sound of the crash echoing through the night air and into Nina's frightened ears. The soldiers eyes unfocused and he fell, joining the other guard as a heap of metal.
The last guard stood, sword raised, trembling and staring at his fallen comrades. His eyes widened as Ryu landed in front of him, raising his hand in a taunt and smiling in a way that made the soldier's blood run cold. "Y-You're a...a monster...!" He stammered stepping back, the sword beginning to shake so hard, it threatened to fly from his hands. His shivering became even more violent as Ryu approached him, teeth glinting in the moonlight, smile widening. The soldier let out a cry and dropped his sword. He wheeled around, sand started to run back towards the castle. Ryu reached down, grasped a small rock in his hand and brought his arm back. With one swift movement, he hurled it at the soldier, striking him on the back of the head. Like the others, he fell almost instantly to a cloud of dust.
Nina's hands were on her mouth in shock as Ryu turned to her, beaming. "Did you see that? Did you?" he whispered excitedly, green eyes shining. "It's a shame I didn't have my sword though...Then I could have really done something about them." Nina's body jolted as he reached over and grabbed her hood, throwing it back over her face. "Well, let's just hope they didn't see you." he said, his excited demeanor beginning to fade.
He turned towards the pathway through the woods, glancing up at the sky for a second. "We've got quite a bit of time before morning. We might as well get this forest over with tonight. Once outside, we'll camp. Is that okay with you, Nina? ...Nina?"
Nina's head snapped up at the mention of her name. "Ah...yes. Yes, that's good."she whispered, her hands nervously clutching her cloak. How had Ryu been able to fight like that? No normal human could be that fast. Watching him was like watching a blur, she almost couldn't keep up with him. Her eyes went to the pile of soldiers on the ground. Were they dead? None of them were moving. How could he have sent them flying like that? She glanced up and as quickly as her eyes met his, they left them.
"Come on," he said, grasping her arm, leading her onto the dirt pathway, "Before anyone else sees..."
He stopped as voices echoed from behind them.
"What the hell happened here? Why are these men all..."
"Are they...?"
"Hey, over there! Is that the prisoner...?"
Ryu and Nina both whirled around to see four more soldiers standing by the fallen ones, all facing towards them. Before she could utter a sound, she was hauled into the forest roughly and she followed, feet dragging as she tried to keep up with Ryu's inhuman pace. Behind them, she could hear the sounds of footsteps and yelling. Heart pounding, she clutched her hood, and ducked as they dove through bushes and trees. Her legs ached, her lungs burned. All she could see was Ryu's hair and cloak, waving in front of her, almost engulfing her. His grip was tight against her wrist and his fingernails were digging into her skin, but she didn't care. She just had to run. Her body trembled as adrenaline pumped through and sweat glistened as it ran down her face. Her backpack hit the base of her wings painfully with every step, causing her to stumble frequently into Ryu's armored back.
Thunder broke overhead, and rain began to fall in sheets, soaking them both in a matter of seconds. Nina closed her eyes as the rain pelted her face, and reached out, taking hold of Ryu's cloak. He lifted his arm above his head, trying to peer through the rain as they burst through a line of bushes into a small clearing. Nina opened her eyes just as Ryu stopped suddenly and her body collided painfully into his. Rubbing her forehead, she glanced in front of him, wondering why he stopped, when her stomach dropped to the ground.
A cliff.
They were standing on the very edge of a very steep, rocky cliff. Nina began to shiver as winds and rain whipped around them causing their cloaks to wave violently behind them. Glancing down, all she could see was darkness. The beating of her heart was excruciating, banging against her chest with such force, she thought it would burst. She cried out as her hood was blown from her grasp. The voices were becoming louder, the footsteps closer. But everything was muffled by the winds thundering around her. She looked up at Ryu, her hands shielding her eyes. He was smiling, his green eyes strangely standing out in the darkness. His face turned slowly towards her, the eyes peering into hers, giving her an odd feeling. His mouth. He was speaking, but she couldn't hear him. She tried to talk to him, but her voice felt muffled and strange. The winds blew even stronger, threatening to take her off the cliff. She tried to back up, but Ryu had grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, holding her tight against his chest. He turned around, holding Nina in front of him, facing the soldiers. Her eyes widened and she could see them trying to reach out to her in the rain. They were also yelling, but the sound of the rain pelting her drowned out everything else. Suddenly, she felt Ryu lean back, her view going from the soldiers, to the dark sky. Her breath caught in her throat as she realized they were falling. She felt her body start to tingle slightly and her cloak billowed out in front of her, taking the screaming soldiers leaning off the cliff from her view. Her eyes slowly closed, and they plunged into nothingness.
"Sire, may I have a word with you?"
King Windia glanced up from his desk, dipping a quill back into an ink bottle. "Of course, Shyong. What seems to be the problem?" he asked, standing up and closing a large book he was writing in. Shyong knelt to the ground, his navy cloak falling around him. He lowered his head once, then looked back at the King.
"I wanted to know if you have seen the Princess lately, sire."
The King's brow furrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest, touching his light blonde mustache with one hand. "I...sent her to her quarters a few hours ago...have you checked there?"
Shyong nodded slowly. "Yes, sire, that is what's peculiar. She's not there."
The King's hand dropped from his mustache and his dull blue eyes narrowed. "What do you mean she is not there?"
"Sire, I..."
"My liege!"
Shyong and the King both glanced up to see a soldier barge into the room, face flushed and breathing heavily.
"What is the meaning of this?" the King asked sharply as the soldier knelt beside Shyong.
"Sire...prisoner...escaped...killed three men..."he stuttered trying to catch his breath.
Shyong jumped to his feet, reaching over and grabbing the soldier's crimson cloak front, dragging him to his feet. "What do you mean he escaped?" he hissed slowly, staring deep into the soldier frightened eyes.
"I don't know Sir Tsunaia, I just..."
"You just what? How did that...thing...kill three of my men?!" He pushed the soldier back and let go, causing him to fall backwards onto the ground. The soldier looked up frightfully at Shyong's glaring face. "He...I don't know sir..." he stammered, raising his arm up to shield his face.
"Insolent fool..." Shyong rasped walking towards him. The soldier tried to back away, but found he was frozen in his glare. "I can't believe you ingrates would let a drag..."
"He took Princess Nina with him."
Shyong's blazing eyes snapped up to the doorway, where Lucia stood, leaning against it. "What...did you say?" he asked, forgetting about the trembling soldier, who scrambled to his feet quickly and stood beside the King.
She tossed her hair behind her and smiled, adjusting her glasses. "I saw him take the Princess over the courtyard wall. I thought about calling your guards but," She moved her eyes to the soldier, watching with amusement as he began to tremble, "They were nowhere to be found."
Shyong glanced at the soldier, who went pale, then back at her, beginning to rub the hilt of his sword unconsciously. "Bastard...Why did he take her...?"
Lucia shrugged, her tail twitching behind her "Who knows? Maybe she wanted to go." her voice was taunting.
No, she wouldn't go. Not with him. Not with a monster like that. Shyong thought, staring coldly into Lucia's pale gray eyes.
"She was holding hands with him." The sound of her voice grated on Shyong's mind, sending a piercing pain through his head.
"You lie!" he cried, walking towards her. "The Princess would never side with someone like him. She wouldn't..."
"Shyong! Calm yourself!" The King bellowed, causing both of them to look his way. He placed his hands on his crimson robed hips, his expression stern. "There's not time for you two to bicker. We have to get her back before word gets out." Shyong nodded a bit reluctantly. The King's gaze went to the ground, his eyes narrowing. "If Valcomn found out we lost her..."
"Do the dragons know something we don't?" The King glanced up at Lucia who was clicking her claws together on one hand. "After all, isn't it odd that one would wander so close to here? There are many Goddess worshipers in this country. I would think it would be quite dangerous for a lone dragon."
Shyong's hands grasped his aching head. "He wanted to cross the borders." he said into his hand.
The King cross his arms over his heavily embroidered chest, his brow furrowing. "There's nothing past here, though. Nothing but the..." his eyes widened and his gaze went to Shyong.
"Tsunaia, I want you to form a search party immediately. I want the Princess found." his voice beginning to shake.
Shyong took his hand from his head, and stared at the obviously worried King. "I...sire..." He immediately dropped to the ground, kneeling before the King. "I will do everything in my power to get her back. I can assure you of that, my liege."
"What about the dragon? Are we just going to let him wander around like this?" Lucia asked, stepping forward, her tiger striped tail snaking behind her.
"Of course not, my dear." The King replied, walking forward and placing a hand on Shyong's shoulder. "I'm sure there's some penalty for kidnapping a member of the royal family." The King's words echoed in Shyong's mind, a smile coming to his face.
"I want him dead."
Wings...? No, they weren't her own. She could feel them snug behind her back. Shaking her head, Nina glanced up and into the crimson eyes of a monster. She tried to scream, but a blow came from below, knocking the wind from her. She wheezed for a minute, her lungs burning and her eyes bulging. Gasping for breath, she watched as the world again faded from view.
In the back alleyways of Windia, something emerged from the piles of boxes and rubble. Rats scurried past, their beady red eyes surveying the shivering robed bundle lying on the ground. A bloodstained tan hand came from underneath, pulling back the tattered hood, and revealing a mass of almost pure white hair. Orange brown eyes looked up, slightly slitted pupils adjusting to the light. Slowly, the man crawled forward, sending the rats into a fury. With trembling arms, he lifted himself upward into a staggering stance, the hunter green robe waving gently in the breeze. Again the eyes looked up, focusing on the Windian castle, which was barely visible between the buildings. His body rocked as a small laugh escaped his chapped lips.
The sound of running water filled Nina's ears as she awoke. She slowly opened her eyes and the world came into focus. Ryu was leaning over her, his image gradually sharpening. His worried expression broke into a relieved smile. "You're awake!" he cried, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I was beginning to think...ah, nevermind. The good news is you're okay."
Nina groaned and sat up, Ryu moving beside her. She looked around her, eyes still trying to focus. They were in some kind of cave. Outside, she could see it was still raining. Lightning struck and illuminated a stream and a few trees. "Where are we?" she croaked, glancing over at Ryu.
He kept his hand on her shoulder, helping her sit straight. Nina noticed his armor was gone and the white undershirt he had on, was torn almost to shreds. His long hair was now bound rather messily behind him, but his unruly bangs were still hanging in his face. He shrugged, his shoulders moving a bit awkwardly "We're at the bottom of the cliff." he said.
"But...how did we get here? The last thing I remember was..." she trailed off. She remembered falling off of the cliff with him, and...the sound of wings. Her eyes widened. "The monster..." she said softly, her fearful eyes turning to Ryu. "I saw a monster! He attacked me..."
Ryu let go of her, his eyes quickly moving away from hers. "Don't worry about it, we're here now aren't we?" he said in a slightly agitated tone, glancing at her worried face. Sighing, he stood up and walked to a pile of sticks in the middle of the cave. He sat near it and held out a finger, pointing it at the wood. He held it still for a minute, then shook it, muttering bitterly. After a second it smoldered and sent a shot of sparks towards the sticks. They erupted into flames and then died down a bit. He stared at the fire for a second, then back at Nina who still was white as a sheet. "Look, Nina," he said softly, waiting until her gaze met his, "You must have had a bad dream. You fainted right after we jumped." Her face remained the same. Ryu sighed again and crossed his arms. "Do you really think I'd let a monster come anywhere near us? After we've already gotten so far?" This seemed to relieve her a bit.
She shook her head slowly and stood up, wiping dirt from her cloak. Ryu watched as she arched her back, putting her arms over her head. Her cloak lifted, giving him a glimpse of an expensive looking light blue dress that came just to the middle of her thighs. The bottom was ripped on both sides, probably from running through the forest. Her black leggings also had countless tears on them. He glanced up at her face as she turned to stare outside. There was dirt and a few scratches and her hair was wet and matted down, but she still had a certain feel of importance about her that intrigued him. Still, he felt a little guilty. He wouldn't admit it, but he had no idea what they were going to do next. She was going to be hard to keep up with. He had already had one close call. If she found out what he was, he didn't think she'd be so eager to travel with him. He shook his head and turned his attention to the fire, poking it a few times with a stray stick. He was being stupid. It wasn't like him to be this careless. The fire sent sparks out into the air as he played with it, shadows dancing on the cave wall. As much as he tried not to, he found himself continually stealing glances at her. Trouble or not, she really wasn't bad to look at.
He watched as she began to take off her cloak, allowing her wings to be visible. She stretched them as far as they would go, fluttering them a bit to get the water off. She took the backpack off and set it by her feet, kneeling down to look through it. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she smiled at Ryu. "Here." She said pulling out two small, pale, round objects, tossing one to him. He caught it and turned it over in his hand, brow furrowing.
"It's just a dinner roll." she said, noticing his puzzled look, "I know it's not much, but it's all I have."
He lifted it to his nose and sniffed, his expression unchanging. After a second he crammed it into his mouth, causing his cheeks to bulge.
"Imf's mhery guud."
Nina laughed softly, pulling a small, flowery pink, handkerchief out of her bag and tosseing it to him. "Don't eat so fast, you might choke." she said, lifting her roll to her mouth and taking a small nibble. Ryu took the handkerchief and wiped his mouth on it roughly, then tossed it back to her. Again she laughed and he gave her a hurt glance. "I'm not trying to make fun of you," she said, her hand on her mouth, "I've just never seen anyone eat like that."
He crossed his arms over his chest, "Well, not everyone here is a princess." he said in a slightly bitter tone, turning back towards the fire.
She smiled and reached in her bag, taking out two more rolls. "So, I guess you wouldn't want another one?" Ryu's eyes met hers and his frown turned into a slight smirk. He held out one hand and she moved towards him, placing it in his palm.
They ate in silence, Ryu taking care to eat slowly whenever she happened to glance at him. After all the food was eaten, they both sat and stared into the flickering fire before them. Nina brought her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and laid her head down, her sea blue eyes concentrating on the red, orange, and yellow swirling flames. Her stomach felt weak. Was this really what she wanted? To rely on someone she barely knew to help her turn her life around? She knew that back at the castle wasn't necessarily that bad. Everyone was always nice to her and strived to be there for her no matter what, but she couldn't help thinking they just did it because it was their job. The only one that actually seemed to enjoy coming to see her was Shyong. She closed her eyes. She had forgotten about him. He was probably going ballistic. She knew how he got when he couldn't find her. The thought brought a shiver to her body, causing her to hug her knees tighter. Again, she stared at the fire, then moved her eyes over to Ryu. She jumped as she realized he was staring back at her. Cheeks flushing, she quickly looked away, hands nervously tugging on a rip in her leggings.
"Why did you choose to come with me?"
The question startled Nina, and she raised her gaze to his. The fire reflected off of his green eyes, making them seem strangely intense. "I...I'm not quite sure..."she said softly, looking back at the fire, watching the shadows stream over the wall behind it. "I guess I was lonely...and you..."
"It's just, I never thought I'd be the type of person someone like you would aspire to associate with." his tone was soft.
She turned her head back to him. "Well...why did you agree?"
He stared at her for what seemed like ages, no expression on his face. Then he turned his head away, his voice coming out in almost a whisper.
"Because...I know what it feels like...to be a prisoner."
She felt a pang of guilt, her eyes focusing on his solemn profile. She had been hung up so much on her feelings, on her problems...she hadn't thought to wonder about his. He had been so light-hearted earlier, and now, he looked as though she had hit him with the most painful memory possible.
"We should get to sleep, we have a long way to go tomorrow." the softness of his voice was starting to worry her. She watched as he stood up abruptly, picking up his cloak and moving it to a corner, spreading it out on the ground. "You can sleep here. Use yours as a blanket. You should stay warm with it."
She stood and brushed dirt from her dress. "What about you, Ryu? You'll need it to..."
"Don't worry about me," he said walking to the adjacent corner and sitting down, leaning against the hard rock wall. He brought one of his legs to his chest and wrapped an arm around it. "I'm used to it."
She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped as he glanced at her, a tiny smile appearing on his face. Her hands came to the collar of her dress and she clutched it tight. Their eyes locked for what seemed like forever. Nina's heart began to beat quickly. Why did it do that whenever he looked at her? She backed away towards the cloak, her face breaking into a warm smile. "Goodnight, Ryu." she said bowing slightly.
As she slid in between the cloaks, her body immediately felt heavy, her mind realizing just how tired her body was. Trying to ignore the fact that the cloaks were slightly damp and smelled strongly of mildew, she closed her eyes. She wasn't quite sure, but as she drifted off into sleep, she thought she heard Ryu whispering softly to her.
"Good dreaming to you, little bird."