? ? ?, Hoshido

The bandits ran away, having not expect there latest pillage to go so poorly. Usually, small little towns like this out in the outskirts of Hoshido were too far away from the capital for soldiers. A few months ago there were actually guards walking around, but with everything that has happened in that time they had long since disappeared. That made pillaging, killing, and giving out ransoms all the easier. At least, it was, and then all of a sudden she showed up, a so called "princess" from a far away land.

Elizabeth had quickly brought down the first one to actually call her a princess, a title she actively disdained and hated. In a way, he was right, because she was Princess Elizabeth Vendasil Graandershield of Arcadmis, who by all means should have been crowned princess of her kingdom. Long story short, she didn't want any of that, having spent most of her life just trying to prove to her father that she was more than just a tool for marriage like any other women. He didn't listen to her, so he was no longer around. So with that in mind, she was hunted by Arcadmis' new king, her brother Geoffrey, for the murder of her father, betraying the kingdom, and committing regicide. She didn't know how the first and last thing needed to be seperate, as they were both the same, but she didn't care.

To her, saving villagers with her companions by her side was a sense that she was free, or at least as free as you could be when one is in self-exile. She watched as the bandits headed back into the trees, keeping her rapier, Pholstien, unsheathed just in case. A figure moved up to her side, and she looked to see a man with dark robes and a strange staff at his side. He looked to Elizabeth with a smile so wide it was creepy, and with a sigh she shook her head.

"I don't care if there camp is in that forest, Gabriel, we are not burning it down," Elizabeth said, holding her head in her hands as a second figure approached from the other side a put a hand on her shoulder.

"You know, you really are no fun sometimes," The necromancer replied with something that could only be summarized as a mix of a smile and frown at the same exact time.

Elizabeth turned around to see a women behind her, belonging to a rounder women wearing an apron. Behind her was several other villagers of varies different ages, all cheering her and Gabriel on.

"Thank you kind lady. Thank you kind lad," The women said. Gabriel couldn't help but chuckle at hearing him get called "kind". "You have no idea what a favor you have done for us. Those horrible men have been at us for months now, but with you around I don't think we will be safe for a while. How could we repay you?"

"I could think of one thing, if my partner is okay with that," Elizabeth said. She quickly looked to Gabriel, who gave a shrug in response. She turned back to the women with his silent answer in mind. "Could you direct us in the direction of this country's capital? I must find the king."

"O-of course, but you wouldn't mind staying for-"

"Capital, now!" Elizabeth yelled as she pushed the women aside. Though most of the crowd was still cheering her and Gabriel, who was bowing as he basked in the villager's kind words to him, some had stopped.

"Isn't someone like her… usually a hero?" The women said in surprise. "The way she talks, acts, and moves, it's like she is the exact opposite of Lady Corrin!"

Outrealm - Corrin's Castle

Elise wasn't exactly sure how she felt right now, not because it was uncomfortable but more so because she was currently being ridden. At least, Mozu was trying to ride her, as Elise was still having trouble moving with her new wings. With some help from the farmer, she had at least gotten to the point where she wasn't tripping over every five steps, but it was still difficult. She could probably still manage though if all she had on her currently was a girl only a year or so older than her.

Sadly, as Elise had found it, there was a reason that Xander didn't like the idea of Elise being a battle mount. The saddle she could handle, despite how weird the leather and cold metal felt against her back. Strangely, the metal didn't seem to hurt, which she guessed was maybe because of her scales but that wasn't certain. What was making her uncomfortable was the bridle, which was currently the worst tasting thing she had ever had in her mouth, and the reins, which she did her beset to make sure wasn't used at all. She already had a hard metal bar in her mouth, the last thing she needed was for that metal bar to suddenly force her in any direction she pleased.

"Freafe Mrofu, ri canf't sssfeak creafry wrif tif," Elise tried to tell the farmer. Some people already had a hard time understanding her, and the thing currently in her muzzle only seemed to make that even worse. "Orf, ri don knrorw, juf get ift out of the-"

Mozu suddenly pulled back, not too forcefully, but enough where Elise was forced to halt her words and come to a stop. The farm girl knew that Elise wasn't happy about what was going on, but she had to go through a lot of stuff in the barn to find something that fit the wyvern. It wasn't just bulk or fat that made it hard for her to find something in the right size, but rather a combination of all of the above. She had such a different body structure to a horse and wyvern riding equipment looked so similar to horse ones that she couldn't tell the difference. Even when she did find one, Elise was no very complacent.

"Sorry Elise, but you need to focus on the actual objective here," Mozu explained, as she loosened up on the reins, allowing the wyvern's head to return to a more comfortable position. "I know you don't want this, and honestly I don't want to either, but we gotta do it. Plus, you should talk with your mouth full."

"Rrrrr," Elise growled at the girl riding her, just softly enough for Mozu to not hear her. She liked Mozu as a friend, but this was starting to drive her crazy. Still, she sighed, knowing there was nothing she could do. "Sssorry Mrofu, ift juf i'int fun."

"I understand," Mozu replied. "Now let's get back to work shall we?"

Elise simply nodded, working her way around the rushed, makeshift track that Mozu had made for her. As she continued silently onward, she tried to think of something to get the taste of disgusting metal out of her mouth. In the end, she ended up thinking about Leo, and what could possibly be going on in Hoshido. Besides, she had heard some interesting things lately concerning a girl who the townsfolk called both a hero and a selfish child. She could only wonder who that could be.

Between the two kingdoms, the Bottomless Canyon

Leo always got a chill as he and his horse rode across this old, warn rope bridge. He knew that, if he did fall down there, everything would be okay, but it didn't make it any less terrifying. He couldn't see Valla from how high up he was, but he couldn't help but think that, if he did, it would only make things more terrifying. So instead of looking down he looked straight ahead, noticing two very recognizable figures waiting for him on the other side of the bridge. Saizo and Kagero, but no Ryoma as far as Leo could see.

That made him worried.

"You're here," Kagero said as Leo reach them. The prince got off his horse and shook the women's hand, Saizo staying silent as his fellow retainer continued. "It's nice to see you. It appears that both of our your family and the Hoshidan royal family have found themselves in similar situations right now."

"Situation, you don't mean-" Leo started to say, stopping his sentence to quickly make sure nothing he was wearing was inside out. Once he assured himself that this was the case, he continued. "Are you saying you found one of these Dragon Seals?"

"Yes," Kagero replied. "Not only like that, but one of us has… accidentally activated the seal."

Leo was surprised at this, not because he didn't think it would happen but rather because none of the royal family was Elise. Hinoka, Sakura, Ryoma, Takumi, even the youngest of those siblings acted more mature than his younger sister. Leo did his best to try and think of which one was most likely to have activated one of the seals, but he found himself at an odd answer. He didn't want to think of it, but he couldn't think of anyone else. The prince swallowed to get the bad taste that was currently in his mouth out.

"I can't believe I'm even asking this question, but… was it Ryoma?"

Kagero nodded, and Leo quickly found himself judging the king of Hoshido.

Outrealm - Corrin's Castle

"Ri'm free!" Elise yelled, spreading her wings out and falling backwards. After an hour of having the bridle in her mouth, Mozu had finally taken everything off of her. "Ri've never frelt ssso happy about nort wear sssomerhing!"

"We're only taking a break, and you're over exaggerating," Mozu replied with a sigh. Elise, despite having gotten far better at carrying extra weight and walking with her wings, she had proven to be a handful. Mozu knew that a mount was the last thing anyone wanted to be used as, but Elise had been ridiculous. "If you stop complaining, did as I said, and just listen for a second, I wouldn't have had to pull the reins on you so many times."

"Mrozru, you hrave no ridea horw bad thrat thring tastesss," Elise told the farmer. "Thranksss through. Irtsss jurssst… nort fun."

Mozu didn't reply, instead motion for Elise to wait as she went to grab something. The wyvern princess watched as the girl ran to the barracks, where she spent a good thirty minutes before coming back out. As Mozu came back, she found Elise trying to figure out how her wings worked, a quick flap sending the wyvern into the air quickly before sending her falling face first. Mozu couldn't help but giggle as Elise making a pouty face (or at least as much of one as a dragon could).

"Wratsss ssso funny?" Elise asked with a glare. The wyvern's nose picked something up, though she couldn't tell what it was. All she knew is that Mozu was hiding it behind her back.

"Sorry, I've just never seen a wyvern fail to fly before," Mozu said. Elise watched as Mozu brought a small steak out from behind her back, the wyverns eyes rising as something within her made her start drooling. "So, does the wyvern want a snack?"

"Yeeesss, preassse!" Elise replied, mouth hanging open as she stared at the steak. She didn't know why it smelled so good, why it looked so tasty now, but she wasn't going to argue. "Ssstreak, preassse mrozru!"

Mozu tossed the steak to Elise, the wyvern somehow managing to jump and catch it in mid air before landing roughly on the ground. The farmer couldn't help but giggle as she watched Elise work through the steak, having known that this would probably happen. She remembered watching Camilla feed her wyvern and had come to wonder if some of that instinct had found its way into Elise. If Elise's sudden surprise when she was halfway through her meal was anything to say, it seemed to be true.

Elise shot up into a sitting position, looking down to the mess that she had made of herself. She hadn't realized it at first, mainly because it somehow tasted even better, but that wasn't a cooked steak. It was raw, bloody, messy uncooked steak, and her muzzle was covered in bits and pieces of it from her frenzy. No, not just her muzzle, but her wings, her neck, and her jaw was all covered in her meal. Looking to Mozu, she saw the young girl smiling innocently as if she had no idea what she had just done. Then, she looked back down to the half eaten steak, and to Mozu again, and back to the steak. Too late to hide it now, and honestly she didn't even care right now, she was hungry.

"Jurst, don't terl Camrila, okay?" Elise said, and immediately went back to destroying the food in front of her.

Castle Shirasagi, Hoshido

As Leo was led by the two ninja's up to the throne room, he ran various different scenarios through his head that could possibly explain what he had just learned. Ryoma, king of Hoshido, wielder of the Raijinto, somehow got himself turn into, from the sound of it, a dragon. That would make sense if it somehow just happened, but this was a modified heart seal, meaning someone would have had to activate it. Maybe one of Sakura's retainers almost activate it and he pushed them out of the way? That was the only thing he could think of, but by the sound of voices coming from the other room, he wouldn't have much more time to.

"Takumi, listen to me," Leo instantly recognized that first voice as Ryoma. "Whether this girl is a threat is not the question, and we've all discussed that I'm not keeping this a secret."

"I don't care Ryoma, people are going to be afraid of you, especially after the entire Anankos thing that everyone is still getting over," Takumi said as Kagero and Saizo opened the door for Leo. All conversation stopped as the mage entered the room, with the Nohr prince looking at the creature on the throne in shock.

Where Ryoma usually sat was an eastern dragon about as tall as Leo and Sakura combined if it fully stretched out it's body. It was wearing loose fitting armor that was clearly meant for a more human shaped body, with a black mane like one would see on a horse went down almost it's entire back. It's scale pattern was also pretty interesting, with most of it's body being white saved for it's under scales and the scales on its arms and feet, which were crimson red. By it's side was a strange blue orb, not a dragonstone like Corrin had, but something different. There was only one person that could be, and considering the one member of the Hoshidan royal family that was currently not in the room, it was clear the retainers weren't pulling some mean prank.

"Ryoma?" Leo managed to say, able to withhold his shock just enough.

"Leo," Ryoma said with a smile. "Sorry we had to meet like this. The morning was interesting."

Thanks to Ryan Widjaja for the idea on turning Ryoma into a eastern dragon. We will have the actual tf next chapter, I promise.

Ryoma (Dragon Samurai)

HP: 25

Str: 11

Mag: 5

Skill: 7

Spd: 10

Lck: 6

Def: 6

Res: 12

Also next time, your typical morning in the Hoshidan Royal family and Elizabeth acts like more of an ass.