Thorns by liahime
13 Rose Metal
Disclaimer: liahime doesn't own Digimon. Even if she did, she still wouldn't make money from writing this fanfic anyways...
Pain erupted in the assassin's body as metal met flesh. He nearly dropped the girl, but held onto her as he leaped up into the smoky cloud. Again, metal hit his arm. Jumping from rooftop to tree to shadow, he searched for a hiding place where he could - thankfully- put the girl down.
Finally, far away enough from his little brother, he dumped the girl onto the earth and swore. He had huge, horseshoe sized bruises covering his arm, and he could feel his legs starting to ache. The little princess with the scarlet kite tail of hair that he had carried away didn't seem as delicate and light now.
Pine needles fell softly to the ground, littering the earth with muted gray-green and brown. In the dark, Rika felt something metallic under her leg. Standing up, she could barely make out the words carved into the plaque in the ground.
Kaho Akiyama, beloved wife, daughter, mother, buried on the 25th of June. The plaque went on, telling her birth date, her lineage. The end, however, unlike other graves, ended simply, without embellishment and stories of her life. Underneath two sets of hand prints and a smudged set of names, the final words read,
She embodied grace.
The two pairs of hands that had been molded into the copper on the ground were child sized, one larger than the other. The grave itself was clean; pine needles had been swept off, and the copper polished.
The assassin-kidnapper was looking at it strangely. "Don't move, brat. If you run, metal's going to be in between your neck and teeth." He held up a black dagger almost absent mindedly in a threat. He seemed to be reading the tombstone as well.
Rika didn't move. He bent over the grave, brushing a needle aside. For a moment, there was a silence in the grove of pines that cut Rika out of the moment, becoming a tableau of kidnapper and the tomb of Kaho Akiyama. She took advantage of the moment by slowly edging away, ready to bolt.
The man stood up from the grave, and looked at her. "I told you not to move." He muttered under his breath as he pulled a long, gnarled piece of rope from his cloak. He grumbled about stupid princesses that had nothing in their heads but which fork is for fish, clearly in a bad mood.
"Well, princess, I suppose we're going to be stuck with each other for a while," he said, in a false-cheerful tone, as he roughly tied a struggling Rika to a pine tree, "so I suppose that we should introduce each other. Your name?"
She glared at him. He sighed. "Very well. My name- you don't need to know my real one. I'm called Akiyama Itachi in business, so Itachi it is." He grinned at her. "The one and only murderer to work out of the kingdom, and the youngest assassin to kill a king."
As Itachi, as he called himself, polished the blade of another knife from his seemingly endless supply of weaponry, there was only one king, Rika realized, that this man could have killed.
Her father.
"You've met my oh-so-charming little brother, of course." He pinned the twisted rope to the pine tree with the knife. "Do you mind a gag? We do need to be silent."
She spit in his face, unable to breathe more than shallowly- the rope had nearly cut off her air supply. Itachi grimaced, and wiped it off with his sleeve.
"That was disgusting." He started to look for a suitable gag. "What do you useless royalty learn anyway? The difference between a count and a marchioness or something?"
Rika clamped her mouth shut as he created a makeshift gag, only to have it pried open again.
"No, you're going to talk a bit. I want information about the palace."
She set her mouth in a hard line. "Never."
Itachi glared at her. She stared back, with as much, if not more hate than he had accumulated and stored over his entire life. It was icy cold and fiery hot at the same time, warning him not to say another word.
He looked away first.
It was, he decided, going to be a very long day.
-
Far off on the steps of a courtyard, Priscilla stood, witch by her side- or at least, a few feet, out of smelling distance, away. Below her, a mass of bloodthirsty, scum-of-the-streets men, stood- her own army, plucked off the streets. Armed to the teeth with swords and poisons and every weapon designed for death, they waited silently for her voice.
It was odd seeing the huge crowd of dirt stained rogues and thieves, obeying the commands of a princess far younger and weaker than them, alone. Priscilla liked to think of their service being done out of love for her golden, flowing locks of hair. An army fighting for her love. Devoted always to their delicate princess, of course. She sighed happily.
The hired men were in it for a different type of gold- the hard, cold, and spendable type. The princess had purses overflowing with gold, and in exchange for a day or two of work, she'd hand over a generous payment. After all, money was money, even if it did mean scraping your nose on the floor.
She grinned triumphantly, announcing her plan. "First, we'll capture Rika, and get rid of her."
There was silence at this command. She glared.
They all burst into wild applause, trying to outdo the other.
Priscilla smiled smugly. "Since I have so much wonderful support, I'll announce the next part of the plan. We'll capture that lying Akiyama Ryo, and-" She paused for effect.
"And?" The men were well trained, ready to sacrifice for their client. Four hundred pieces of gold would buy a river of beer, pay off gambling debts, would feed them for the time- for the huddled mass that she had bailed from jail for this, it was
"I'll make him marry me."
"Worst punishment of all for him then!"chortled one of the men in front, who had unwisely let it slip rather loudly.
"Oh, shut up." And the delicate princess Priscilla booted him in the stomach with her dainty, slippered foot.
-
Itachi and Rika had managed to get through an hour without talking. It was the oddest kidnapping that Itachi had ever begun. No money was involved, for one. His victim didn't seem to be scared, he had huge bruises all over his body, and strangest of all-
He was hiding in a place, undefended that he had never see or known of.
His mother's grave.
It was there- he remembered his father, not allowing him to attend the funeral. Stay home and watch your brother, he had said. He had never known where she had been buried until now.
There didn't seem to be other graves- she was alone in the dark pines. She would have hated that, his eight year old memories recalled. She loved being with people, out in the open sunlight. Always laughing, with her scarlet hair flying, she had charmed the court. His father had laid down his knives and quit the business to marry her. Not completely socially correct, but she was so full of joy that no one had minded.
Except one person.
A West kingdom duchess, with blood as blue as the sky, was jealous of the attention Kaho, a mere knight's daughter, was receiving from her court. Plotting to kick her out of the court, she ruined Kaho's reputation, and nearly had her decapitated for a few rumors spread conveniently so that they reached the ears of the king.
Her family had fled with her at night, escaping the wrath of nobility. Kaho found work as a serving maid in the palace. His father had turned back to more unorthodox ways of earning money. They lived in poverty.
With little food, and less money, his mother had grown sick. There was no way to save her, and the princes of the West had turned a deaf ear on their requests. She was still graceful and joyful, dying with as much poise as any fool noble could have ever had.
And if it wasn't for the nobility, she'd still be alive today.
After his mother had died, whatever peace they had evaporated. His father never talked. His brother was some foolish hero, incompetent as always.
He flew out of his thoughts as he heard the sound of rope scraping bark. While he had been thinking, the princess had managed to loosen the ropes around her by rubbing the fraying rope against the bark. Something he would have done himself-
But all nobles were fools, he reminded himself, so it was probably some moment of uncomfortable seating. He brushed it off as nerves, and tightened the rope, ignoring her.
It would have been easier not to think of Rika if it wasn't her eyes, he decided. She had assassin's eyes- icy cold, never revealing what went on behind them. No honored lord or lady had eyes that cold, skin that rough. Was it possible that this wasn't the princess? A peasant serving woman in her princess's clothes?
This was too easy- hide somewhere, and wait. His little brother would be coming along shortly, perhaps waving a sword and shouting. Then, he just needed to kill the girl, make his brother suffer, and walk off. Itachi turned again to judge if this girl he had kidnaped was really one of the upperclass. If she was noble, he could find a way to get some gold in the process as well. He turned.
She was gone.
-
The mob in front of Priscilla was not very happy. It had been at least an hour, and they hadn't pillaged, destroyed, or anything that would receive gold. There had been no instructions- the client had announced her plan- not how to do it.
Priscilla, looking frantically for the assassin she had hired. It was supposed to be him talking to the crowd in front, not her.
"Settle down, everyone." No one turned a head.
She raised her voice. "Do be quiet, gentlemen." Again, not a single response.
"SHUT UP, YOU OX-BRAINED LICE, OR YOUR MONEY IS GOING TO GO TO A CHARITY!" An ear piercing shriek rose over the crowd. They snapped to attention.
"Now, I want you to go, find the princess, and bring her back here, dead or alive, but I prefer bruised and injured." They nodded at that; it was reasonable enough.
"You're also to look for a very handsome guy about this tall." She held her hand up over her head. "Bring him back definitely alive, and in one piece." One piece. Perhaps two or three, they decided among themselves. It was always easier.
They waited for further instruction. Priscilla looked blankly back at them."Well? Go!"
The crowd roared as they went out into the night, leaving the witch and Priscilla alone.
She sighed. It was impossible doing this, stuck with these old people with no fashion taste and no personal hygiene. One of the stray rabble seemed to have become confused, and ran around in circles. In as a screech as lady like as possible, she screamed at him to get moving. With a grumble, she sunk down onto the steps. The witch kept up a steady mumbling drone behind her.
These were the times that she needed her knights in shining armor- but they were all sleeping, snoring away under the spell. Instead, she was here, alone, confused, and freezing cold- thin silk wasn't the best for this type of thing.
A rush of fire swept across the ground in front of her. She turned to glare at the witch.
"Oops. My mistake"
Priscilla, for the first time, was beginning to have second thoughts, wondering just what disaster she had gotten herself into.
-
Rika, cursing herself for running off in white, into a pitch black forest, ran as carefully as possible through the trees. The dress was like a piece of the moon, practically giving off light in the night. Nearly bumping into trees as she went, pine needles rustling under her feet. The sound was disturbingly louder than it had ever sounded before.
Someone was coming- she could hear them, grumbling. Itachi? Another person? In the dark, everything was chaotic and jumbled, her heart pounding in her ears. Rika could see light in the distance- a tiny orb of it, seemingly floating in the air.
Every decision was life or death, and the clock was ticking. The black pine trees gave no clue to where she was, how far she was from the palace. No familiar sounds were coming in any direction- just muted steps, pine needles rustling under feet.
A twig snapped, and she nearly jumped in the air as she ran. Blood was rushing through her, and her breath grew ragged as she blindly ran away from the kidnapper. The pines grew closer together, low branches twisting and turning as the princess ducked and leaped over the brush and branches.
The outer layers tore off one by one, leaving a glowing trail of fabric behind her. As Rika ran, she stepped on the long skirt, and stumbled, falling into the person in front of her. Forged metal glinted in candle light as he looked down at her.
"Got you."
Kari Minamoto- thanks for taking the time to review I know what you mean.. School takes up a lot of time.
DigiChick- It's great that your foot healed up.. Just for you, I made myself pick out a name for the Evil Older Brother.. (I know, the name's not too great.. Oh well..)
My Dream's Shadow- thank you for reviewing
Lil' Lilo- thank you very much!
kunoicchixxkanna- 4 day weekends are rare for me.. Glad you liked this chapter!
AzNAnGeL07- That will happen.. Not yet though.. Thank you!
Anna- Thank you! Hope the party went well..
Dolce Saito- I tried to update faster this time.. Thank you!
lady-snow- thank you!
permanent-rose- thanks for reviewing so early in the morning, then!
authoress comments :
I feel so horrible, because I was completely expecting to be done with the chapter earlier.. And then homework and tiredness came along. Speeches in language arts, korean essays, spanish conjugations.. My teachers are plotting to bury me in papers... So I've been cramming this in as much as I could this week.. Sorry for the wait!
Anyways.. Thank you for reading, and I hope that you liked this chapter.. But otherwise, liahime is too exhausted from doing tutoring and homework and piano (it hurts to type after piano practice..) So .. Not much more!
exhausted..still more homework to go, too.. Thank you for putting up with not-absolute-best-work chapters and the long time it takes for me to write them.. I'll try to have better time management in the future, really..
Thank you for reviewing, everyone!
-liahime