Bonding and exploration has finally arrived.
Here it'll still be the same perspectives by Eva and Roland. The story will jump a bit quicker at times simply to introduce our incoming party character's perspectives as well. And their beginning relationships with the duo.
Enjoy.
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Night crawls away from sky, dragging it's dark obsidian hue to a slow faded ember.
The sun is about to set.
Roland takes his eyes off the sky and looks to the sleeping girl rolled up in a ball. Her hands protectively surrounding her bended curled legs, with her blonde hair covering her half of her face. His eyes travel to her ears, the feline ears perch on top were folded low nested in strings of hair. He hears her soft breaths hum throughout the open doors of nature.
This was Princesss Eva Tildrum Pettiwhisker.
She was made to rule, from what he understands, if the coup never happened.
But why is he here?
In a scene where a girl loses her family and is kicked out of her own home(or castle), what does he have to contribute here?
He lost his country and in this world he's no one important.
….Or was it fate that brought the two together?
Lonely souls tend to find others alike, he guesses.
He hears a rustle in the leaves. Right where Eva is, stirring.
His lips curve. Guess it's time for an actual introduction.
Eva slowly opens her eyes, she's on the ground when she tries to lift her head.
"Finally awake?" A voice bring her back.
Roland's up peering down on her and she thinks he's been probably waiting on her to wake up.
"I….had a strange dream." A blue haired boy who told her what she needed to hear and reassured her of the positive things she could experience in the future. But there was also the negative things. She wasn't sure what they were or could mean…
But she's taking on whatever was coming her way if thats what it's going to take to become queen.
"Not a nightmare I hope?" Roland asked.
She shook her head.
"I see. That's good." Roland looks to side.
"Are you going somewhere?" It looked like he was about to take off.
"I need to take a stroll. Feel the wind on my face, clear my head a bit." He motions her to get up. "C'mon lets have a little talk."
She gets up to follow him. Eva looks around to see a dusk mossy grassland. The area looks unpleasant but calm and collected. They stand by the edge of a view, staring into the fog engulfed sky and at the air held plateaus.
"So I really am in another world…We don't have views like this over there." As Roland looks ahead Eva can't help but to wonder what exactly his world looks like.
"What's..it like? Your world I mean" Eva peaked.
Roland crosses his arms. "Hm..I guess it's ahead of this world…, and in some way, behind in others…."
The thought reminded her of a story Nella once told her. However, she never knew if it were true.
"I remember being told a story once…it was about another world, closely connected to ours…"
After a small thought, " I didn't know if it was a fairy tail…But I guess it might be true…" She pears up at Roland and smiles.
"So I got lost…between two worlds and I wound up here? He reluctantly stops.
"...Is there no way home?.." It sounded like he questioned himself. Eva decided to answer anyways.
"Maybe there is." She blurts it out before she thinks. Nella use to say something to her when she was little, where home becomes more than just place and more about who becomes your home, she doesn't understand but she says it anyways; "Home is never far away."
Unknown her Roland stares at her. Eva pipes up more questions." What did you do in your world? You told me before…I imagine your very important."
Roland tries to stifle a smile as he still looks ahead.
"I was…a King." He puts the term into the rank this world would give him if he lived here.
Eva eyes widen. "...So that's what a president is."
Well to you, yes, he thinks. " As I said before, a President is an important role….its kind of the same thing."
He mentions that he has experience in running a country and keeps an eye on Eva as she goes still.
"That must be amazing."
It wasn't the response he expected. Maybe another question but not a compliment. Her eyes are lit with the fire he's seen before but softer and less agitated.
He keeps forgetting she has to rule. But the passion in others ruling had threw him off.
"I never was told anything about how the country is run. I was too young to know anything. But I've always wanted to find out how my father managed to do it all…"
"And it seems I'm going to learn on my own."
Eva was amazed that Roland was a king himself. She had doubts about trying to rule before the entire coup incident but now it became her mission. If someone like Roland could become King, then she too can do it.
She has to do this on her own. Learn to rule in her eyes on what it takes to become a leader. She might lack experience but Roland is probably her best chance. Learning from him would be wise.
But ultimately, she had to piece it all together.
Roland throws her a look. "What exactly are you planning? Living out here in the mountains isn't a bad idea."
Eva tries hard not to give him a blank stare.
A small smile instead.
"That would be nice …,"
A witty smile.
"But promises aren't made to be buried. And dying out here isn't really fit for someone like me, yes?"
She can't help but to grin when he blinks as if he didn't see that coming.
The tension was uneasy and uncomforting when their conversation began. She wanted to break it.
After all, he's homesick.
She could at the very least make him feel better after everything he's done so far.
"I made a promise. And the people of grimelkin never break their promises." Her fist lightly taps her heart.
What would she do if she didn't become queen?
She'd let her family down, of course.
Well, what do you know.
A child with as much motivation to fit the shoes of an adult wants to still rule after all the inducing trauma she had just suffered.
The girl grew up fast.
But was she ready for something like this?
It's not easy being a President. He had to earn his people trust, campaign for the betterment, solve the long term and short term problems of the future, and work patiently with other world leaders.
Its taxing.
It's not a responsibility everyone can handle. The public, those watching you will see you for hope and will watch your every move.
They'll watch if you fall.
He looks down at her again. Is she really ready for this? He keeps trying to divert the topic of a monarchy and focusing for what to do next-
And he sees the mischief in her eyes, the slight curve of her beaming smile.
He didn't expected such a light tone from her.
Or to even joke about dying.
He's expecting this traumatized girl to move on. Get out of the big shoes she's been given and start a life anew. Not a teasing smile. Nor a sudden pleasant atmosphere after a full day of running and demise and death.
He eyes her wearily for her next move.
Eva's head turns abrupt, back to the sky. Her eyes never leave the view of mist. "I'm going to build a kingdom where peace and happiness will carry on forever."
So that's it.
Well, now. Quite a bold thing to say.
"You are, huh?" He feels a tug on his lips, his eyes jump challenging the idea.
He can't help it. That's not something you hear everyday. It's too good to be true, especially from someone so young. So sheltered.
"Good for you."
But he takes the chance. "I'm making up my mind, too." He glances back at Eva.
Guess it won't be too lonely from here on out.
"I'm staying in this world. With you, Eva."
Eva feels the heat warming her face when she hears those words. She had a feeling he'd stay, but to hear him say it made her warmer on the inside.
It felt nice. Having someone by your side again.
"Thank you. I appreciate it." She gives him a genuine smile and they both turn to the view once more.
"If I'm going to become queen, I'll need a Kingmaker." Eva declared.
The both of them found a comfortable area with large rocks huddled around them. Roland sat perched on a large rock as Eva sat on the ground, her hands resting on her lap adjusting her skirt, leaning on a large boulder behind her.
"A kingmaker?" Roland questions.
It's not surprising that he doesn't know. So she tells him about the necessary bond between a King and Kingmaker.
"Yes. A monarch must have the power to rule over their kingdom. A kingmaker is a magical creature with great power and chooses its Ruler by bending to it's will. That would mean the Ruler is worthy of that power to lead it's nation." Eva recites from words every ruler should know.
"So…it's a mark of authority?" Roland theorizes.
"Yes. However, it's also a guardian." Eva adds, "In times of need, the Kingmaker would protect its nation like it's home or nest. It's equivalent to an entire army." Knowing this Eva is wondering what Kingmaker she would receive.
The one that belonged to her father…isn't available anymore.
What happened to it anyways….?
"Is that so?...I'm guessing there pretty big.." He speculated.
Eva kept going, "Oh yes, some as big as a castle." She misses the uneasiness in Roland's expression. She's too giddy at the moment of actually getting tohave one.
"You don't say…you think you can tame one these?" His amusing tone brings Eva back to reality.
Just when she's about to answer, he cuts her off-
"Wait a minute, you were in charge just recently, right? Shouldn't you already have a Kingmaker?"
Oh, that.
"Well my father passed away a month ago….and we hadn't prepared for the ceremony…."
Until yesterday.
Where she would finally bond with one.
Eva's hands clutched her skirt. Her eyes casted down. "I was never truly Queen at that time. Had the ceremony gone the way it did…I would have had my father's Kingmaker, Oakenhart."
And there's that feeling from before. Before meeting Roland and before the day started. She had the terrible numbness around her chest. The day she was nervous to face becoming a monarch after the pain of grief and solitude. She had been worrying over many things. But one of the them she will never know if it true.
If Oakenhart wouldn't bow to her.
She feared it before the day began and feared it after Mausinger took over.
Raising her head to shake her thoughts, she wondered if maybe it were true then maybe-
There would be another Kingmaker just for her.
Yes. There no need to think too negatively.
It's unfit for a queen! she cupped her face with her own hands to steady herself.
"I wonder what's happening to your Kingmaker," Roland started, brining Eva back to the conversation, "since your out of the picture."
She looks up at the sky, her mouth straight. "Well, it won't matter anymore since I'll be getting a new one soon."
That's right. Mausinger can keep him.
Hers will be much stronger.
Roland eyes Eva carefully. One minute she's hiding her eyes from his vision and she readily picks herself up. The kid was easy to read. And stubborn too. Holding her head up high after discarding her old Kingmaker like that.
He's quite impressed in a way.
She gets down once in a while but she's got something to remind it to give up. He sees it everytime her eyes shift from one emotion to another.
But he thinks back to the situation at hand. Mausigner, or the rat man who has kicked Eva and himself out of the castle, must be taking control. So that means.. "He's probably already taken the old Kingmaker."
Eva nods. So she realized it too.
"I'm sure of it. That's why I'll going to get a get new one."
"And where would we find one exactly? There can't be many lying around."
Eva slightly smiles. He's getting the feeling she really likes telling him all this information.
He's trying not to show the knowledge of a newborn but what can you when you're in another world?
"We have to visit the King's Cradle beyond the Cloudcoil Canyon. It's where Kingmakers are born."
"The King's Cradle?"
More important names with important places. He decides if he gets a chance, he's writing this information down.
"It's a holy place where Kingmakers reside. Every Kingdom has one."
Alright. He's piecing it all together. "So if a Kingmaker happened to be at loose ends, we could visit them at their King's Cradle and convince them to sign up with us?"
"I would say, yes, since that how the introduction to a Kingmaker goes….but I've heard that something that has to be in order to seem worthy of an incoming ruler…." She thinks to herself what the other option to be. Then she adds, "There's a place I heard…about a Kingmaker that has yet to be claimed."
Roland interests piped. Now we're getting somewhere. "Well what are we're waiting for? Let's go!" He stood up, Eva doing the same until she calls out to him. He gives her moment to dust off her cape and clothes.
"I'm going to fight besides you from now on. I appreciate your assistance but I can't keep relying on you forever." She taps her skirt pocket where her dagger from Nella is.
Oh. He forgot that he needed to address that.
It's not that he didn't think she wasn't strong enough. Letting a girl get her hands dirty wouldn't be ideal. But…
Those determined eyes of this young sweet looking girl is making it difficult for him to say no.
"Alright, Princess. Just keep a head up at all times."
Hes taking the front. No exceptions.
"It's queen now, Roland! I'm not a princess anymore since it's just me. You have to remember that right!" She huffed, pouting her cheeks with her hands on her hips.
Is she giving him sass?
That's cute.
"Heh. Alright my little Lady, but let's take it easy."
He earns a light jab from the fiery little grimalkin.
As they wondered around the area, Eva began indulging Roland in the amount of magic she knows so far. She can cast a few spells of fire and water, the basic elements. Even the basic necessary magic. Roland was hesitant at first, but he allowed her to hold his broad sword and the others Nella equipped him with. Eva studying the sharp curved Cutlass blade(to which he immediately took away when she tried to trace her finger on the edge) when Roland finally decided she'd take the damp Broadsword. A bit duller and wearier than the original but still effective. She just had to grip harder since it was heavy.
Roland asked if she wanted to her changer mind.
She quickly replied it was alright. She's going to get used to holding it anyway.
There was still the magic wand she's had ever since Nella became her governess. The new spells she would teach herself in the future excited her. She wondered how many there were. And if she'd be as strong as Nella.
Then there's the dagger. Snug in the pocket of her skirt. It was meant for close combat. To stab at whatever danger was in your way. She was hesitant on bringing it out where Roland was around. She thinks it might worry him so she decided to use it only when necessary.
Her mind flashes back to the dead mouse-kin guard with a two bloody stab wounds.
She clutches her pocket.
Only when necessary.
Eva decides she's going to need training in hands to hand combat in order to wield a dagger like a proper weapon. Roland is too tall to help her with that. She's going to need someone her age already skilled.
Hopefully, for now she can learn to aim by throwing and blocking with the dagger when the time comes..
Eva and himself are walking when they see a ray of blue light shimmering from the ground up.
"Oh! A trip door!" She points at it.
Huh? "A what?" It sounded odd…. And made up.
Ah but these are the names of this world and he needs to remember that. He really needs to stop forgetting.
"A trip door! They're found when energy around the land is especially strong. If you use it, it will remember you, and can return any time you want. However, not everyone can use it. You need o know a spell called Travel. Luckily, Nella taught me this one!" She stands proudly for her useful knowledge. He senses her excitement again. Explaining the important parts of her world to him. Again.
The trip door is reminding him of something. Something his media part of the world views as a fantasy magical kind of transportation that people would use to get from one place to the other in a second.
"So you're telling me you know how to teleport?"
And when he says it, he immediately asks why they didn't use it to escape that awfully castle.
"Well….like I said you needed to have visited a trip door to In order to travel back…..I've never seen one until now since….I rarely left the castle."
Roland knew Eva was sheltered. She's royalty so it makes sense...But not traveling even outside for the use of helpful knowledge sounded...off. A person can't be too sheltered in this world. He starts wondering if Eva ever seen the other kingdoms before.
He glances back at Eva, whose eyes are still glued at the trip door, he guesses having it locked into memory.
She knows she has to learn and she's doing just that.
"Of course. Well, let's visit as many as we can from now on. They'll come in handy for sure."
Her face lifts. "Yes! Let's begin by having this one remember us." Eva runs to the trip door as Roland follows behind.
They head out onto the meadow, away from the area of large boulders. Even at a low level, they can tell there's many enemies scattered. Non look too dangerous as most enemies they could see were greatly below Eva's height. This made the two feel at ease but for different reasons.
Roland doesn't have to guard Eva entirely but either way he'll still take the front.
Eva is finally going to duel with a sword.
They've finished a few of the smaller enemies and take on the medium size ones. Or those almost as big as Eva with their own miniature weapons.
Eva charges head on towards three upright monsters with wooden boulder looking sticks, hearing Roland warning her watch her step.
At first, Roland charged in first, finshing the enemy if it was alone. Eva, first as the defense with magic to cover Roland, finished off a few monsters with her broadsword when Roland was occupied.
Since fighting together, Roland now gets on the defense, trusting Eva to attack first if the enemy moves are predictable and smaller than her. Roland, though, is on the side in case Eva gets hit with an attack from where she can't see. Eva does him the favor of aiming fireballs and water spells around him to distract the monsters. They tend to share a look in the middle of the battlefield and communicate by their actions.
They've become a tag team of sorts.
And it's more than Eva had hoped for.
The monster in front of her clashes weapons with her damp Broadsword, gaining leverage against it. She pulls back and strikes again tearing though the thread of the stick. Eva jumps back unleashing a few wisps of fire as it runs to get her. Once injured she circles around it, quickly glancing at Roland who is about to strike down the last remaining enemy. He glances back.
And she instinctively knows he'll take care of the other.
She looks at the struggling monster at the ground still trying to get up.
Trying to get up like that mouse kin guard.
She hastily shakes her and grips her sword. Thinking of one of the moves Roland used from his arms band back at Ding Dong Well, she began enchanting her wisps of fire magic as she charges straight for limping monster-
And smoothly halts her feet as she swings just a second away, a wave of fire striking it in its path.
The creature goes faced down on the ground, defeated.
She feels a sense of pride running through and lifts her sword in victory. She turns around as she hears a clap behind her. Roland is sitting on the ground hands together with two monster by his side knocked out. "Your getting better at this."
She cant help by to grin and chuckle at the compliment. Not caring if her face is warm again.
They share a moment of appreciation until a howling erupts their peace.
Roland didn't know what these monsters were but were a combination of a crocodile hound.
Scary thing if they were real in the his world.
These things came at them from the distance instead of an ambush. Which he thanks god because there was seven of them.
That meant they would split enemies.
And Eva could only handle 2 enemies at once. He needed to finish up most of them. Taking his broad sword he dived between two hounds and swung, rotating his body to attack to create a riveting force around him. The hounds were quick, so slow moments were unwise at the moment. With two hounds down and two more approaching, he glances back at Eva whose maintaining two enemies at once, stepping back and aiming with magic. She can't get close due to their feral speed.
Wait, where was the other one?
Eva had two, he had two and two were already lying unconscious. Before he sees the what he believes is the leader (because its just standing there spectating the whole thing) he hauls his sword sideways when one of the hounds jumps at him.
He pushes against the monster back with full force as the Broadsword ignites with flame due to his arms band. He strikes with a sprint charge towards the hound one more time to take it down and heads to quickly to finish the other.
Glancing up, the leader of the pack is gone.
Where did he-
As he stabs his ignited sword at the hound in front he turns around to see Eva fly back and pinned on the ground by the alpha. Her eyes shut and her teeth grit in pain as the impact slams her head to ground.
He take out his gun, controlled by his arms band, and shoots a ray of force towards the alpha.
It dodges.
Dammit it's fast.
He manages to hit one of the hounds. It's injured, barely able to stand. One of them however is about to attack Eva when a strong blast of fire knocks it back.
Eva's hand is outreach with a dangerous look in her eyes.
She gets up, out of breath and takes her dull broadsword to attack the injured hound with brute force. It goes down unconscious as she holds her sword up, breathing heavily.
He runs to her, his hand holding her back to help her stay upright.
"You alright?" Roland eyes the last hound as it prepares its attack.
"…Yes…" She nods. The attack slammed her body to ground so her back must ache a bit.
They both stare at the hound coming close and look each other in the eye.
They take each others signal and ready their magic and swords when the last hound charges.
"Whew! That was close." Eva sat on the ground exasperated.
"Too close. That might have been there leader. Now, we don't have to deal with him ever again" Roland insights.
Eva, loving the comfortable ground as a resting spot, senses her ears twitch. She stands upright, jumping to her feet.
"What's wrong?" Roland looks around.
Because the grimalkin had acute senses Eva could hear what Roland couldn't. And it sounded like a… woman screaming?
She runs to the sound and Roland runs after her, shouting at her for answers.
The sound becomes a lot clearer when a woman is complaining about a flying monster's hostility hovering around her. There's a few little pets(?)around her and Eva watches as he lands.
It's a monster way bigger than her and Roland. And it looks deadlier than what she fought just earlier.
She grips her Broadsword. Her eyes never leave the monster.
Then Roland shows up and sees the green beast. The old woman is now on the ground surrounded by her pets, her arms shielding her face as the monster hovers.
Before Roland can say the word, Eva is already running.
Eva constantly strikes at the beast once it hits the land. She aims for the wings, hoping to damage it's useful flying ability. But the monster always backs away with his wings held back.
Then Roland strikes his upper body, his sword ignited and ready. The beast takes damage, trying it's best to claw Roland. Eva throws wisps or fire and water his way to distract the monster, but it's body is too strong to take damage.
The best way to go about this is their swords. So she joins Roland side by side taking on the flying monster. It's working until it flies into the sky again.
It swoops down above them as it collides against Roland's sword. It hovers again, dead set on its targets right in front of it.
Roland is in front of Eva when it dives and roars-
And the (cute?)little weirdly shaped creatures from before try to grab on like an ornament.
Huh?
The older woman announces the help of her little friends as she and Roland simply accept their help due to the sudden creation of a canon.
It's over before they know it.
Those little guys really work fast, Roland thought.
From canons to healing abilities, Roland has never seen a more useful thing in all of his life.
They soon enter the home of Auntie Martha, whose house is infested with Higgeldy Piggledies. Odd name but fitting for what they are. They remind him of little ghosts.
He's actually not quite sure if these things have souls but he doesn't ask.
Eva, on the other hand, is staring at every higgledy she can find. Her eyes are shining at their every move, amazed by it all.
He's more astonished that there helpful and clueless than destructive. These things can cause chaos if they really wanted to.
While Auntie Martha is rambling about how her day went and how the Wyvern attacked, he had to ask more about these things.
"So...these creatures of yours….are they monsters?" Roland is trying not to be rude, since these things can probably attack him if she wanted to.
The old woman corrects him, "Oh, the cheeky so and so, no they are not! They're more…ah…phenomena than anything."
"Phenomena?.." Eva tries to understand.
"Yes my dear, there's the wind, the fire and water, and suchlike-there all like natural phenomena. And when these phenomena grow legs and arms and start running around being adorable, they become Higgledies!" Martha explains enthusiastically.
Huh. so that's it. The elements turn into miniature walking piece of oddly shaped light bulbs.
Martha then asks where they came from and how they managed to find her home. She doesn't get visitors often she says.
"We were on our way to visit the King's Cradle, beyond Cloudcoil Canyon." Replied Eva. Who still is eyeing the roaming Higgledies in the distance with a shine in her eyes...
Martha gasps. "What?! Really? Just the two of you going into the that den of horrible sky pirates?"
Roland catches that last part, "Sky pirates?"
Who were they-
"We have to go!" Eva urges.
"'Have to?' Do you positively absolutely have to my dear?" She presses.
"Yes. Absolutely positively have to!" She urges again.
Roland is staring between the two females. What kind of tension is this?
If takes a moment until the old woman lets out a laugh.
"Well if your going down there, your gonna need my little lovelies to go with you."
Ah so that's what she wanted. They could potentially use them for battle tactics and many healing-
Before he knows it Eva disappears from his side and Martha give him a sly smile. He looks around to find Eva-
And she's hugging atleast twenty Higgledies in her arms.
Oh boy.
"I'll take you…we're gonna need you….oh definitely you! And you of course..." She's counting the Higgledies and eyeing more even if she can't even move her arms to grab more.
"Roland!" She calls out to him. "Can you help me pick out some more please! My arms are full." She says huddled around Higgledies and her face is barely seen with the all the Higgledies jumping in her arms. Eva is giggling at their antics.
He lets out a sigh as Martha chuckles.
They say goodbye to auntie Martha, the woman giving a big bear hug to Eva as they leave with her precious Higgledies Eva promises to take extra good care of.
They enter the Canyon and run into a grimalkin shopkeeper to Eva's delight.
CLOUCOIL CANYON
He sees them approach the shopkeeper.
He was flying in the distance when something catches his eye. Two travelers he's never seen before in the Cloudcoil Canyon.
Their territory.
Who are they, he thinks.
One is a man he believes will be a challenge to fight head on. He seems strong. Maybe even as strong as his Dad.
The other is a little blonde half Grimalkin. He can't get a good look on her face until she turns to look at the sky to see the road ahead of them.
He lets those blue eyes distract him for a bit when he realizes he's steering a plane.
He looks again.
She's smiling to the older man and her face is…..so angelic.
Again he's getting distracted. But he wants to know who these trespassers are on their land. So he keeps an eye on them from behind the clouds….
I wonder who that was…. Hehe.
Pretty long chapter here. I didnt mean to take too long here but I've been busy in preparation for college starting up in a few days.
Not entirely sure but updates will probably be slower. I'll try to remind myself to work bit by bit in my free time.
Next chapter we get our other two party members.