Complete summary: Princess Naoko knows her father is a horrible ruler, but no one suspected his selfish ways would end in her being kidnapped. Now traveling through her Kingdom Aralon, across wilderness into the enemy country Honrako, Naoko and her servant friend Suki soon learn that their kidnappers, the four bandits of Quentia, might not be so bad after all.
A/N: YAY! Summer school exams are officially done! And with that in mind, here's chapter five.
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Arigatou
Chapter Five
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When Princess Naoko woke up, she knew two new things. As much as she hated to admit it, Ryo was right about one thing. It was beautiful sleeping under the stars. That night she had gazed up at the stars once everyone else was asleep, and was speechless at its splendour. But now that she had woken up she had learned one more thing, and that was that resting oneself on a tree to sleep was the worst idea one could possibly ever have.
She got up slowly and looked around. All four bandits were up except Mikitao; Yukio was busy pulling food from his magical bag, and the other two we sitting around the still burning fire talking. Suki was still fast asleep but that did not surprise Naoko.
"Good morning." She said courteously, walking over to them and taking a seat by the fire.
"Was the tree comfortable enough for you?" Ryo enquired with a sarcastic apathetic tone.
"Ah, don't pay any attention to him Princess." Shinji laughed when he saw her eyes narrow severely.
"Yes, we really do hope you slept well enough." Yukio nodded sincerely.
"Thank you, just fine." She lied. "So what is there to consume?"
"Bought lots of rice and noodle, but that's for lunch and supper. As for the morning, it's shrimp crackers for all."
"Shrimp crackers?" The Princess looked at him curiously, as he passes her a little bag full of shrimp crackers.
"Yes, they're very popular on Quentia Island. Don't sell them much here but the village back there happened to have them so I thought, why not. When opportunity hits, one must never shy away or regret will surpass." He quoted.
"Ugh, not shrimp crackers." Naoko heard someone yawn behind her.
"Wow Mikitao, you are not the last one to wake up, what a surprise." Shinji commented.
"I was hungry." He sniffed, looking down at the bags of shrimp crackers.
"Now that is not a surprise." Ryo laughed to himself.
"Yukio, why do you always have to buy this measly stuff for morning meals? You know it doesn't fill me up." Mikitao grumbled on.
"My good friend, nothing fills you up." Shinji pointed out.
"I'll have to wait till lunch to eat some decent then." Mikitao grunted. "Might as well have slept in longer."
"No, I think we all must hurry and eat, and then be on our way. We should wake up the other girl." Ryo responded.
"By the way Saiku-I mean Princess, since you have finally admitted to being the princess, do you mind telling us your friend's name, so we do not have to call her fake princess any longer?" Shinji asked.
"She is Suki." Naoko informed them.
"Alright, but I'm going to call her Princess Suki and you Saikuya. I never say real names, you know" Yukio replied.
"Yes, alright then." Naoko nodded though she had no idea what he meant. "But please just call me Naoko, Shinji, not Princess Naoko, and you too Mikitao."
"Ah Princess, but I wish to call you nothing but Princess because it is such a beautiful title to give such a beautiful lady."
"Suit yourself, then. I'll go wake Suki up now." Naoko walked over to Suki.
"But what shall I call you? You never addressed me just now." Ryo called from the fire.
"I would prefer that you just don't converse with me at all, bandit." She said coldly, and turned back to Suki.
Shinji, Mikitao and Yukio all looked at him and laughed, but Ryo sighed and said, "women, always holding grudges."
"Suki, Suki, wake up." The Princess pretended she didn't hear Ryo's comment, and started to shake her friend awake.
"I'm up Naoko, I'm up." Suki said lazily, rolling to her other side.
"Suki, you may be awake now, but I need you to go a step further and actually get up."
Suki groaned and turned over again. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned and gradually got up.
"What's this? Where did this pillow and blanket come from?" She asked, looking down at what she had just slept with.
"It came from my sack. I carry a number of things as you can see." Yukio answered, walking over to them and offering her some shrimp crackers. "It is always good for one to be prepared."
"Thank you." Suki nodded taking some food.
- - -
"Sir, do you think the others stopped for the night as well?" Takashi the knight asked Kanitsu.
"It is most probable. We would have continued on if it weren't too dark to see. I am sure the other search parties took break for the night too, and I am sure after a tiring day of kidnapping and riding, those bandits stopped likewise."
"Yes, but now we should all set off. We must try and catch up to the enemy before they start today's journey again." Hiromi added, grabbing his horse's reigns, and bringing her out of the woods and onto the clear path cutting through.
"My lord, we may have taken the main road, but there are eleven other groups of men surrounding the woods all around. You need not be so impatient, we will find your sister."
" Kanitsu, we leave now." Hiromi ordered.
"Very well your lordship," Kanitsu bowed, knowing the Prince would not listen to his reason. "We skip breakfast to set off now. Takashi, Harue, both of you gather your horses and let us be off."
- - -
"Oh no, not more horse riding." Suki groaned.
The four bandits had gathered their horses and lead them to the cleared trail cutting through wilderness.
"Yes of course my lady we have more riding ahead." Shinji good-naturedly explained.
"It is quite funny, isn't it? The lady spoke not but a few words yesterday, frightened by us is my guess, but now she is comfortable enough to complain." Mikitao laughed.
"Suki, we must keep going so that we can reach Honrako and be traded back to my father." Naoko reminded her.
"But you have all ridden horse before. I am not used to it, I am still in such awful pain from the day before."
"I regret to say Suki," Mikitao turned to her, "that I happen to have the biggest and roughest horse, which would explain why someone with no experience as yourself would be pained. My horse takes a deal of time to getting used to."
"Oh, please do not force me to ride that horse again." Suki groaned on.
"Princess Suki, ride with me instead," Yukio suggested. "For I have the lightest and easiest horse. It was not long ago that I was as inexperienced at riding as yourself."
"Are you sure Yukio? You have the smallest horse. And there are two of you then." Shinji questioned.
"My dear Musician, you know that these horses are enchanted and weight makes no difference to them. Besides the girl barely reaches five feet from the ground. She is quite petite enough, I am sure." Yukio resolved.
"Oh thank you." Suki felt relieved, though she wondered at him calling her Princess.
"Milady, we never say thank you." Shinji corrected her. "Thank you does not exist in our speech. We say arigatou."
"Alright then, arigatou Yukio." Suki smiled just the same.
"My pleasure." Yukio nodded and helped her mount his horse, though it was not that tall to begin with.
Shinji mounted his horse as well as Mikitao. Instead of mounting Ryo's horse though, Naoko walked over to Mikitao.
"Since you are no longer carrying Suki with you, is it possible that I may ride with you, or maybe you Shinji?" She turned and looked at Shinji as well.
They both took a momentary look at Ryo. A smirk crept onto his face but he just shrugged to them and mounted his horse.
"I would be very glad to share my horse with you Princess." Shinji offered.
"As would I." Mikitao added.
"But perhaps you better ride with me, for Mikitao's horse is the hardest to mount, and I believe mine is just the right size you for to attempted it." Shinji smiled kindly.
"Thank—I mean, arigatou, both of you." She walked over to his horse.
Shinji moved a bit back to make room for her. After the first three attempts failed, Naoko managed to grab hold of the saddle and put her foot in the sternum without falling back. She heaved herself up and sat sidesaddle on the horse, as ladies usually did.
Mikitao and Yukio both laughed at seeing her succeed, Ryo simply chuckled in a bit of surprise, and Shinji complimented her on her little accomplishment. With everyone now mounted, they turned to the path, and set off for the day's journey.
- - -
"Sir, I think I see something." Takashi said, pointing to his left side, where a blinking light could be seen not to off into the forest.
"Yes, I see it too." Kanitsu answered, dismounting his stallion and walking over to the clearing where a burning fire was found.
"It looks like someone was here not to long ago." He said, coming back to his horse and getting back on. "But that fire is not normal. It burns in one spot without any wood to support it. It would seem the bandits have some magical presence with them."
"Nevertheless, it is still early in the morning, and this tells us that they must have stopped for the night. Look there, in the path ahead I see fresh horse tracks. Harue," Hiromi turned to the knight near him, "you're known for your skill of reading wild tracks. Take a look at those and extract any information you can."
"Yes my Lord." He got off his horse and got down to examine the tracks.
"Hmmm, yes. It would seem they do not take well care of the horses. These horses are not shifting their weight properly, and one of them seems to have a mild limp. They cannot be traveling at a quick pace, I am sure we can out ride them. These tracks lead me to suspect they only have two horses, both very tired. And one of them is a mare, stolen no doubt. We can easily out take these bandits. Why with four of them, two victims and only two horses, I do not see how they manage."
"Alright, good work Harue. The tracks look as if they are planning on using the path for the rest of the journey down. We should get on and outride these men, come on." Hriomi said before kicking his horse's sides to gallop on.
The three knights followed him and took off leaving the morning sun behind.
- - -
"It is such a hot a day." Suki sighed, wafted the air about her with the fan she kept inside her dress.
"It is summer. A fair day for a fair lady." Yukio answered pleasantly.
"But we are to ride all day in this heat through the clear part of a forest where the sun can catch us. I will faint of a heat stroke." She began to fan herself slower and slower, as her hand got tired.
"We will break for lunch, hold on till then." Ryo told her.
"Naoko I do not know how you can cope with this." Suki sighed.
"Oh Suki." Naoko laughed. She too was starting to feel the heat but she decided to keep quiet about it.
"I quite agree with Suki. You are a Princess and I am shocked. I was under the impression that Princess' complained if not everything was perfect. A little dampness outside, or a blistering hot day, I was sure a Princess would be the first to whine in protest." Mikitao laughed.
"I was taught not to moan and groan when I cannot get my way. I was taught to accept it and move on."
"You were taught well then. A Princess who is not spoiled rotten is a sure treat." Shinji smiled.
"But on the other hand, a servant who does grumble is appalling." Ryo added.
Both Suki and Naoko were offended by this. Shinji sighed to himself, Mikitao shook his head, but Yukio was the one to come to Suki's defence.
"That is not very benevolent of you to say. Besides, we have no servant here, only two elegant ladies both equal to being Princesses as I see it. Be more understanding Commander, they are not like us; accustom to traveling in this kind of weather."
"You are a gentlemen, arigatou Yukio." Suki said appreciatively.
"If you two are done having a your little tender moment, do you think maybe we could concentrate at the task at hand?" Ryo interrupted with a scowl.
"Oh Ryo, let them have their privacy, it-" Mikitao began.
"If you and the Commander are done talking about us as if we aren't all here listening, I think you would both like to know that I can sense horse movement, not to far off. It would seem some of our pursuers are starting to catch up with us." Yukio interrupted feeling the vibe of horses in the distance, while also sensing Suki's embarrassment.
"Catching up to us? How can this be, we have enchanted horses!" Mikitao exclaimed.
"Tell me Naoko, does your father employ wizards with his soldiers?" Ryo asked after a moment's thought.
"No, he does not," was the biggest answer she was willing to give.
"Then they must have not stopped for the night as we did. Tell me Yukio, are the horses coming from the same trail we are on, or a different one."
"I believe there are people following us on this trail, but they are too far off to sense. The horses I sense close by are coming from the woods. They must have separated into troupes to search for Saikuya." Yukio confirmed.
"Alright, then let's us ride fast." Ryo kicked his horse off, and began to travel faster.
"Ladies, may I suggest you all hold on tight." Shinji said and kicked his horse as well.
Yukio, Suki and Mikitao followed, and they all began the fastest race on horseback of their lives.
- - -
End of ch.o5
A/N: So things are starting to get even more apparent, aren't they? Yum...shrimp crackers...I'm sorry, but I used to be in love with them, they still sell them over at a grocery store called TNT near me. If you've never had them, give 'em a shot!
To ObsessedReader, your ideas are great, but the thing is everything you've suggested is already gonna happen. So it would appear you are psychic (or incredibly insightful), or maybe I'm just a really obvious writer…we'll see. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!
To like i'd tell you, my lips are sealed as to who goes with who…keep in mind though, I may have just been trying to trick you with my last Author's Note. As far as you know, anyone can end up with anyone, but I think we both know who's really going with whom, don't we? ;)
I'll also leave a shoutout for fairybells, whoever you are, you have my great esteem.
-rayko.