I do not own Legend of Dragoon or any of the characters.
Sailing
Cade groaned, eyes slowly crawling open, allowing him to stare up at the off-white ceiling above him. After a few seconds, he slowly looked around, seeing Shana in the bed to his left, a rag on her forehead, but seeming fine. As he turned his head to the other side, he saw Rose seated on a chair between his bed and the one to his right, sleeping. As he began to sit up, she stirred, raising her head and blinking before her entire aura suddenly seemed to lighten, her posture straightening and a weight seeming to lift off of her.
"How do you feel?" Rose asked.
"I'm...I'm fine," Cade said, frowning. He felt tired, but he was alive and not wounded, so he really was fine. He was only slightly sore from being tired. "What happened? I remember being hit by her spell, but..."
Shana saved you," Rose said. "She accidentally summoned the spirit of the White-Silver Dragon and it attacked Lenus, then healed you."
"Wow," Cade said, looking over at her again. "So...is Lenus..."
"She's still alive," Rose said. "I could sense her magic power after the blast. I doubt she's in very good shape, but she's alive. She escaped into Illisa Bay, so we're going to be going after her using a ship at Donau. We were just waiting for the two of you to wake up."
Cade nodded. "How long have you been sitting there?"
Rose looked down at her lap for a moment before answering. "Since I brought you here."
He glanced around, finally recognizing the same room they slept in the night before going to the Valley of Corrupted Gravity, now that his brain was waking up. "How long ago was that?"
"About a day," Rose admitted. "I figured that since you were nearly killed saving me, I should be the one to look after you. And Shana too, since she used up too much energy saving you. Both are because I dropped my guard."
"We all did," Cade said. "It's not your fault."
He swung his legs off the bed and Rose stood, helping him to his feet and steadying him when he swayed for a moment. He nodded once he could stand on his own and looked down at his bare torso. He still wore his pants, but his armor, shirt, poncho and scarf had been removed. The icicles hadn't left a scar, but the gash Lenus had put in his abdomen had, despite Shana healing that too.
"I seem to finally be accumulating some worthwhile scars," he said, holding a hand to it.
"I don't know why you like them," Rose said. "Scars are proof that you made a mistake."
"No," Cade said. "They're proof that I did more with my life than hide from the world. They're proof I had something worth risking my life for."
Rose remained silent for a moment before nodding. "Your shirt and poncho were ruined by the spell, so the king had some new clothes made for you. I made sure they included a poncho, since you're so dead set on having it."
She gestured to a folded up black shirt and grey poncho off to the side. Both were extremely plain, but that was how he liked it. he also had to smile when he saw his fully regenerated armor beside the clothes.
"Whatever magic you put on that armor is effective," Rose said. "The armor went from mangled to as good as new inside of a few hours."
Cade smiled. "I took precautions, since I like the armor." He pulled his clothes and armor on, then put his sword belt back on. "I'm going to head to the washroom."
"I'll be here," Rose said. "I'm still waiting for Shana to wake up."
Cade nodded and left, asking a guard for directions before relieving himself and heading back to the room. As he arrived, he found Shana awake and thanked her for saving him. Then, she left to get cleaned up before the three of them left, heading to the bar to meet up with the others before they all left for Donau.
The ship, the Queen Fury, was amazing. A massive ship with steel plating along the hull and the two gangways, metal spikes sticking off of the hull's plating, and had slanted pieces of metal sticking out of the sides from just above the water to a short ways below it, apparently both to help them float, keep them from tipping over in a storm, and make it safer to ram other ships, if need be. The first comment any of them had had when they saw it had been Kongol, who had been excited that it was bigger than him. That had made Cade laugh. Since they'd been under way, he'd been giving Rose some space, as she'd clearly wanted to be alone, to the point of heading up to the crow's nest to get far away from everyone. So, instead, he'd been with Meru, who'd been telling him about the Forest of Winglies, and what it was like to live there.
He couldn't say he was impressed. She was definitely biased, having wanted to explore the world and been told not to, but at the same time, from her description of social interaction, etiquette, and a bunch of other fine points of the culture, it seemed like the culture was extremely strict and rigid in the Winglies' belief that they were still above the rest of the races. He did find some parts of it interesting though. She described the Wingly faith of worshiping the guardian deity Archangel in detail, though she personally wasn't a believer. And she explained that all Wingly clothing and armor, to include her dancer's uniform, was imbued with magic wards, lessening damage from magic, and helping protect from injuries. Normal clothes obviously still wouldn't stop a blade, no more than Meru's exposed skin could, but she explained that normal clothes were often more receptive to magic dampening wards while armor was usually given physical wards, save for more expensive armors used by the Winglies.
"It sounds...complicated," Cade decided after she'd finished describing everything she could think of at the moment.
"It is," Meru said. "Part of me misses it, but I'm really glad I left."
"I can understand that," Cade says. "Part of me wishes I grew up there, but I'm also glad I didn't."
Meru nodded. "I'm kind of glad you didn't, too. You're really nice, and really fun to be around."
"Thanks," Cade smiled. "You too. I'm not sure I've ever met someone quite as...cheery, as you."
Meru smiled. "Well, someone had to be with Rose being all doom and gloom all the time." She paused, frowning. "Can I...ask you something?"
"Sure," Cade nodded.
"Do you like Rose?" Meru asked. "I mean...you always act really protective of her, even thought she's probably the best fighter in the group, and you didn't even hesitate to sacrifice yourself for her."
"Yeah, I do," Cade said. "She's so beautiful and amazing, and yet...she's suffering. Ever since I met her, she's been suffering so much more than I could ever understand. I want to help her, and I want to protect her from it. But also, I want to be able to make her happy." He frowned. "I can't really explain exactly why I care about her, I guess."
"It's complicated," Meru said. "Well, if it helps, I think she might kind of like you too. She was super worried about you after you were hurt, and she wouldn't leave your side no matter what anybody said."
Cade smiled. "I hope you're right. Lord knows I've tried hard enough to wear her down."
"What do you mean?" Meru asked.
Cade chuckled. "After we met, I flirted with her every opportunity I got, no matter how many times it annoyed her. At once point, I actually offered to stop, so long as she'd ask nicely and smile. Obviously, she wasn't about to smile, or be nice about telling me to stop, which indirectly meant she was giving me permission to continue."
"Nice!" Meru laughed. "Well played."
"Thank you," Cade smiled. "Anyway, I haven't been doing it as much, recently, since we've had a lot going on, but I fully intend to continue once she's done being antisocial up in the crow's nest."
"Why don't you go keep her company?" Meru asked.
"Partially because I wanted to talk to you about the forest," Cade said. "And partially because I could tell she needed to be alone for a bit."
Meru nodded. "You know, I like you. You're like the big brother I never got to have. Plus you view humanity and the Winglies almost the same way I do."
"What, that they should stop hating each other already?" Cade smirked.
"Exactly!" Meru nodded. "The grudge they hold is eleven thousand years old! It's time to let it go!"
Cade nodded in agreement. "They won't though. Not for a very long time."
Meru nodded. "Alright. Time for you to go spend time with Rose."
Cade chuckled, then sighed and nodded. "Alright. I suppose I might as well give it a try. If all else fails, I can just flirt with her to distract her from wanting to be alone."
Meru nodded, then swung her legs up onto the bed and lay down. "I'm going to take a nap."
"Good luck," Cade laughed. "You'll be bouncing off the walls from boredom in minutes."
Meru hurled a pillow at him and he caught it, tossing it back before walking up to the deck and looking up, seeing Rose climbing up the ladder back to the crow's nest, apparently having left it at some point. He extended his wings, flying up to the top and offered her his hand when she reached it, smiling knowingly at her. She rolled her eyes, brushing his hand aside and climbed the rest of the way up.
"I was wondering when you were going to start being unbearable again," Rose said, walking over to the railing off to the side, staring out to sea. "The break was nice while it lasted."
Cade chuckled. "Don't act like you don't enjoy the attention."
The crow's nest had a waist-high railing on the four corners of the square platform, then a gap in the center of it, for some reason. Cade leaned back in the corner to Rose's right, watching her. She ignored him and they both remained silent for a long while before she glanced over at him finally, raising an eyebrow.
"What?" she asked.
"I was just admiring," Cade smiled, earning yet another eyeroll. "So, what's your story?"
Rose glared at him for a moment before speaking. "I was born, I learned to fight, I fought, I met Dart, I met the others, I met you. You know the rest."
Cade laughed. "There are some pretty big chunks missing there." He looked out to see toward where the sun was descending toward the horizon. "Have you ever been sailing before?"
Rose was quiet for a long while before answering. "No. You?"
"Yes, but not on anything as grand as this," Cade said. "The last time it was me and my mother crammed into a cargo container filled with fish while being smuggled from Mille Seseau to Tiberoa. I prefer this."
Rose nodded. "It's...surprisingly peaceful. Calming."
"Beautiful," Cade said, Rose glaring at him. "I actually meant the sea this time, but you are too, obviously."
Rose rolled her eyes. "I suppose you're right about the sea." She sighed. "You really have no idea how aggravating it is when you flirt with me. I...I can't even remember the last person to call me beautiful. I can't remember the last time I received a compliment."
Cade's smile slipped. "That's a shame. It shouldn't be that way." He smiled again. "I can tell you more often, if you want."
Rose rolled her eyes. "That wasn't what I meant."
Cade chuckled. "But you didn't tell me not to, beautiful."
Rose glared daggers at him, then sighed, looking out at the water again. "Thank you. You definitely saved my life this time, and you didn't even hesitate. I don't deserve such sacrifice. Thank you."
"In my eyes, you will always deserve it," Cade said.
"You might not say that if you know my past," Rose said.
"I would," Cade said, reaching over and setting a hand on hers. "Whatever you've done, whatever happened in your past, you are still the most incredible, beautiful, and amazing person I've ever known. I don't care what happened in your past, because you're you."
Rose stared into space for a moment before slipping her hand out from under his. "You don't know that. You never know what someone's done. And you can never know what it will or will not change about the way you see them until you know."
"Maybe," Cade said. "But either way, what I said about you stands."
Rose sighed, shaking her head. "Relentless as always."
Cade smiled and they both fell silent, staring out to sea as both of them drifted into their own thoughts. After a couple hours, the sun began to set, both sets of eyes gravitating toward it. After a few minutes, Cade glanced over at Rose, staring for a moment before looking away. She looked as beautiful as ever, but also a little sad. Suddenly, the Queen Fury unleashed the bellowing wail of a ship's horn, sounding a warning. As it did, darkness suddenly began to spread over the sky, the sky darkening entirely too fast, becoming nearly pitch black night within seconds. And then, there was a ship. An ancient clipper ship with tattered sails, pursued by glowing fog, and with balls of blue flame drifting through the air around it. It was also headed directly for them. The ship's crew shouted in fear as the Queen Fury began to try to turn, but it was too late. With a thundering, splintering crash, the much larger wooden ship crashed into the Queen Fury. The entire ship lurched violently and Cade shouted in surprise as he was suddenly thrown toward the opening to his left, unable to catch anything or regain his balance. He was about to form his wings when Rose lunged for him.
"Cade!" Rose shouted, catching his arm and yanking him back.
Cade's arms instinctively wrapped around her as her free hand caught one of the railings, bracing them and holding them steady as the ship shuddered, shook, and rocked. Cade sighed in relief, resting his chin on her shoulder for a moment before their position registered in his brain, as well as the fact that the arm not holding a railing was wrapped around him.
"Thanks for the catch," Cade smiled. "I was just about to start flying, but it's much more pleasant to get to be held by you."
Rose made a disgusted noise and rolled her eyes, shoving him off the crow's nest. He yelped in surprise before forming his wings and catching himself, laughing as he flew back up to hover beside it.
"That wasn't very nice, you know," Cade said.
"You'll get over it," Rose said, beginning to climb down the ladder.
"Want a lift?" Cade offered.
"No," Rose said flatly.
He laughed, landing on the ladder above her and climbed down after her.
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