In which Eva and Tony become fascinated by the other and Roland sees the bonds Eva is currently weaving…even if she doesn't know it.
And the president of another world is remembering if he used to smile as much….
Enjoy.
The Wyvern Cave
He's almost out of breath.
They've been running, or Roland has been chasing Eva through the cave ever since they've gone in.
She's worried for the boy. And while he understands the urge to repay a debt, Eva really needs to relax.
"Eva."
He knows she heard him, seeing the slight twitch in her feline ears.
".…Yes?"
"Please calm down. Tony is going to be fine."
"Ah…but-"
They've so far made it into the cave, which turned out to be a narrow passage for a hideout belonging to no human sized creatures. Eva, once she entered, dashed in.
He didn't even have time to walk.
Roland looks at Eva whose still deep in thought, probably thinking about the whole situation, not that he blames her, but she kept glancing forward down the passage.
"I…..have a bad feeling, that's all."
A bad feeling?
"What do you mean?"
"I was thinking….that maybe one of them would go against there word and-"
Roland gently grabs her by the shoulder, "If that happens, then there will be consequences."
He gives her a straight look, signaling what she would do if such a situation came to light. Eva's eyes hardened. "Right. If he gets hurt, we'll show them the consequences."
With the tone and look he was getting from her, Roland almost hopes the Wyverns didn't even touch the kid.
He lets her go as they move towards the end of the cave, now at a relaxed speed.
They're entering a wide empty area with a wooden cage blocking an entrance. Roland thinks Tony is behind there but he doesn't sense anyone human around. Eva slowly walks forward, "He's not here…"
And he watched her stop, for a moment, to look at the ground, before she swings her head above.
"But you are."
Up above them were the Wyverns, and they're leader.
...
There they were.
The nagging and horrible feeling of something happening to Tony didn't just come from a little bit of paranoia. No, it came from the clinking weapons and snarling she heard from the Wyverns in the distance. Whether it was an ambush or a total scam of their word, Eva knew something was off. She tried to look for Tony in the crowd of viscous Wyverns when Roland is yelling at her to move.
The leader of the Wyverns swoops down to her exact spot and she quickly stumbles back, right next to Roland. The dragon like creature is dressed in gold armor. With such a grand design he held to himself, Eva knew automatically he was a leader.
"And what brings you here, hm?" The amused Wyverns leader asked.
In front of the leader, Eva quickly regained her posture, "We're here for Tony."
It sneers at them, "The pirate boy?" The Wyvern laughs. "You do not look like the sky pirates, too small….too succulent….." Eyeing the both of them with mocking doubt.
The Wyvern leader arched it's back with it's wings spread like a cape as it stood straight. "The CloudCoil Canyon belongs to us Wyverns! You have no business here!" It roared along with the other Wyverns chanting them to leave.
Eva ghostly clutches her sword and keeps her tone and expression straightlace, "We're not going anywhere without him." She demands as if to order them.
Just like her father when he used to give an order.
"Attagirl, Eva." Roland says right next to her.
She forcing her straight face while fighting the warmness in her cheeks after being praised.
Why does she get so embarrassed after being complimented by Roland?!
She lets out her frustrating embarrassed squirming mentally, where no one can hear. And slightly turns her head so Roland can't look.
"If this wasn't our business before, it sure is now." Roland's voice brought her back to reality.
Eva nods, "That's right."
The Wyvern leader roars, threatening to give them suffering. Too late, she thinks. She's already suffered enough.
And whatever these Wyverns had planned, it was a grain of salt compared to what's she's been through.
Roland and Eva head forward. Roland notices, on who she's looking at, she had the same idea.
Take out the head and finish the rest.
Just when he and Eva are close to reach the leader, he flies into the sky. A coward move, he thinks. Having it's cronies surround them as it watches from above.
Unfortunately for that thing, nothing's stopping Eva and himself from fighting. Eva takes the right of the field, heading straight to the upcoming Wyverns, almost head-butting one of them at close range. She attacks, speed and adrenaline roaring. No matter how big or small the opening, She's striking at every moment, calling upfront the Higgledies to take out as many they can.
The little fighting machine inside of her is really kicking in.
He smirks and turns to deal with the left plank of Wyverns. He swiftly runs to a Wyvern and swings his sword in front of its face, only to strike downward and disarm it's legs. A vicious surprised he learned from sword fighting in his younger days. The move would normally make a person trip or feel pressure on their legs. A weak point to keep standing.
And the Wyvern doesn't fly.
A mistake, really.
Roland backs away from it's vile wings and sharp claws as he swiftly steps forward to pierce it in the chest and ignites the sword to slam it to the ground. He looks up to see the Wyverns halt for moment-
-and come racing in his direction.
Well alright then.
He dodges the first two Wyverns in between him, rolling to the ground as they come from above, and shooting ammo at the one of the beast's legs. The one he shot is still forcing it's legs to run. It's barbaric wooden mallet flies in his direction and he flips back as the Wyvern rushes forward.
Holding his sword up front, positioned from across his chest, he stabs the Wyvern multiple times like rapid gun shots, and turns around on one foot to strike it in the back. It's body snaps as it collapse.
The second Wyvern flies to him in fury, axe in hand. Roland pulls out his broad sword in front and clashes with the axe coming down on him. He's holding his ground until he rolls to the side and sees a cannon blast the Wyvern to the ground. The Higgledies around Eva cheer for their lucky shot.
Nice little things they are. Truly.
He snaps out of his praise for them and looks to the head Wyvern still in the air.
It's furious.
And it's looking at Eva….
Eva snaps back at the Wyvern in front.
The creature was mockingly flying around as she kept taking steps back to avoid it's the sharp wings.
But just because it's in the air, its not completely safe!
Another Wyvern heads to her direction. A mallet in hand and it holds it above to bring it down-
Until a spear slaps it face, almost put in a daze. Eva keeps slashing the beast multiple times until it's completely stunned to stand. And just when it about to fall backwards, she jumps, her foot on the unconscious Wyvern's face and strikes her ignited sword in the flying Wyvern's body.
The monster's on the ground immediately to her surprise.
But now's not the time to look at it's defeated form.
She snaps her head to find the other Wyverns nearby. One stops in front of her, almost surprised by her look, but raises his sharp blade as she moves to the right to dodge. She charges at it's opening-
The Wyvern is quicker, moving back with the force of its wings before her blade slices the air.
Eva raises her eyebrow. The Wyvern can dodge alright….
She steps in quicker and strikes by its sides simultaneously. The Wyvern still pushes back, the tip of her blade almost pierces it's flesh-
Until another Wyvern comes from above-
The leader flies down with a blade pointed at her head,
Her blood rushes and her feet scream at her to move back-
A ray of electrical force knocks the blade of out it's hands. Roland comes from the left, along with the Higgledies aiding with canons.
There's now a good few meters between the two Wyverns and Eva. She lets go of a breath she didn't know was holding. She took the scene before her again and realized the Wyvern she was chasing was leading her to be decapitated by the head Wyvern.
How did she not see that?!
Roland's eyes were fixated at the leader. He already took down the Wyvern who she was battling on the ground with just two 3 shots.
Eva can't move. Her mind keeps flashing back to the blade that could have ended her life. She stifles a gulp and shuts her eyes for a moment to lose the image.
Her heart pounds as she clutches her shirt in distress. Her thoughts spiral out of control.
So close...so close again just like last time, the shortness of breath starts-
The mental image of blood trailing down her hand like before comes up again, death up close-
Eva forces her eyes open, the real world comes into view. Shes gasping for breath unitl she can breath in a few times to finally calm her body and mind.
She should have been smarter, she tells herself as Eva runs to aid Roland with the final foe.
They're done with all the Wyverns.
Or they are done with them.
Fleeing once the their leader was defeated is satisfying to say the least. But Roland couldn't help but feel dissatisfied with such an ending.
Ah well, it doesn't really matter now.
Eva is eyeing the ruins and home of the Wyverns. She's pacing, almost in a worrisome state to empty her mind.
He knows from experience, she's troubled.
And he can guess what exactly it could be.
"Eva." He calls.
She slowly turns to face him, her expression lightless. "Y-Yes?"
He wants to tell her it's not her fault for not seeing the leader try to ambush her. That she's a amateur beginner fighter and is allowed to make mistakes. The sadden hue in her eyes make him hold his tongue. He really shouldn't have to sugarcoat here since Eva has room to grow. She's come this far.
But death is always nearing them both. It's hard to escape such a cruel reality.
"Great job."
Her eyes widen and blink a couple of times. A small blush creeped behind her ears. She looks confused as she opens her mouth simply to close it multiple times.
Take the compliment Eva. Don't ask questions and make this hard.
He sees her eye the ground and turn her head slightly to the right. "….Thank you." Her eyes and facial features soften and loosen. He feels the curve of his smile raise.
There you go kid.
"So….is Tony behind that gate?" She points at the barricade made out of woods.
He eyes the gate. "Probably so. Hope he's okay."
They head towards the gate and down the dark corridor.
It's not too soon that they find Tony, wrapped around a rope and loosely swinging to wretch free from the strings.
One of the higgeldies comes into Eva's view, holding a leaf cutter in his tiny hand. "Oh, Wiff-Waff," suddenly remembering it's name, "please get him down." She politely asks the higgledy as it disappears from her sight and near Tony.
Tony, sensing that something is behind him, sees the a glob of green with a….leaf(?) in its hand. He turns than view below to find Eva and man he saved earlier. What are they-
He feels the light strong snap from behind him and soon he's falling straight to the ground. He awaits the impact as he hears a scream call for him-
His front and face hit an unusual soft surface. His ear hears a groan from someone very very close to him. It sounded like right below him…. With the rope cut from before, he twists his hands around to be completely free from the wretched rope. With two hands placed besides his chest and whatever he's on, he lifts himself up to find a face full of messy blond hair spiraling in the ground.
Bloody heck-
It was her again, the girl he saved earlier, and she was unconscious, but her eyes are slightly twitching. What was she doing here?! And why did she try to save him by being his cushion to break his fall?!
He eyes her again. She's more reckless than he thought. Really now, what kind of heroism is this? Her lips part as she breathes in. But she was okay. That was the important part.
He kept staring at her peaceful face and noticed all the blonde strands array in different directions. There was no sunlight in the cave, but he wonders if her hair would shine like gold….
A few hair strands lay across from her right cheek. He decided to clear her face until a hand grabs his wrist with a tight warning. It was almost painful. He looks up to see the other man she was traveling with staring him down.
"I think it's time for you to get up."
Oh. Right.
He scrambles while carefully trying to not step over Eva's unconscious form. He backs away from the whole scene.
Tony watches as the man tries to carefully wake Eva, while wondering if he had did something wrong to offend him. He was just trying to reorganize her hair. What was the problem-
Oh.
Oooh.
It clicks to him.
He was on top of her for way too long.. If he was a better man, remembering one of the sayings from the older men in his village, he would have gotten off of her as soon as he was free.
Tony wasn't entirely a gentleman, but he knew how to act towards girls. His dad made sure of it. After what mom drilled into him before she passed, he could hardly forget those lessons.
He scratches the back of head. Hopefully, the Eva won't be too mad…..
He hears her voice call out to the man.
So his name was Roland...
Well, Roland may not like him after this.
He sees her eyes flutter and she looks at him. Her eyes brighten. "You're okay!" She smiles.
Tony can't help to inch his lips to smile back.
"What are you two doing here?" Tony asks them. Though Roland isn't furious at the boy, more annoyed if he could say, Tony doesn't look his way as he speaks.
And Eva hardly notices the current atmosphere.
She was unconscious after all. And had she been conscious, this would be a whole other different scenario.
"We're here to save you. Your father sent us to rescue you." Eva answered him.
Tony was taken back. "Really? I would have thought he'd leave me alone to come home myself!" Tony chuckled.
Roland blinked. What?
The wild boy in front him shrugged it off like it was just another day. He had a feeling Tony would come home with animals dragged beneath his feet or whatever mission adults would do in the village.
He will admit though, Tony was pretty strong. He could see the muscle in his arms as he flexed his arm bashfully behind his unruly maroon hair.
It was also another reason why he was worried for Eva's health. He could have broken her bones.
"Anyways, thanks for coming to the rescue." The giddy kid, who was now looking at him without hesitation, "didn't think you guys were reckless enough to come down here though." He eyes Eva at the word "reckless."
And my god that couldn't be any more true.
Eva huffs a chuckle, " We're not the only reckless ones here. You got caught, remember?" She playfully reminds him.
Tony blinks and stretches his jaw. "Hey! I was ambushed! And it's not the first time this has happened. I just got unlucky…."
"Well, we all tend to be unlucky….." Eva says in a soft tone. Was she sympathizing?
"But you should really watch your back from now." She ends with a witty smile.
Ah, he saw that coming.
Tony blinks, totally not expecting that kind of answer. Roland lets outs laugh.
He knew his dad pulled through. Tony was sure his dad wouldn't walk Eva and Roland off a cliff. He had a good feeling about them.
And he's pretty reassured his dad felt the same way.
They just arrived at the base. The base he grew up in. All of his precious memories and mission all flood back into his mind as he takes in the sweet air of home sweet home.
Eva and Roland just explained that they made a deal with his dad. Bringing him home so that they can cross the canyon to the King's Cradle. Listening to their deal made him curious. Roland nor Eva never said why they were going to head to such a sacred ancient place.
An instinct told him these two equal an adventure.
And seeing that it's likely, he might as well give it a shot.
Tony runs up to the highest set of wood and yells, "Hey Everyone! I'm home!"
Everyone stops and looks up to the son of the chief Batu waving at all of them. Tony is greeted by so many of his friends and family as they come running to make sure he won't go anywhere else.
He chuckles at everyone's enthusiasm and nagging worry around him. "What are you all taking about? I'm still here, aren't I?" He outstretched his arms. "I'm not going anywhere!" He chuckles to the crowd around him.
"Tony!" A familiar voice rings through the crowd.
"Aunt Gerel?" He turns to find his green haired aunt with a worrisome expression.
"Where are earth have you been? Do you know how worried we were?" Her words were harsh but her eyes were too soft on him.
"Everything's alright Aunt Gerel," he gives her grin, "I came back didn't I?" He smoothly reassures her with a wink.
She smirks at him. "You came back alright."
Then she grabs him by the ear. "And you better be more careful now that your back!"
"Ow! Ow, ow, ow! Aunt Gerel!" The crowd around laughs at the scenario. Or more specifically, Gerel's mother bear antics towards the chief's son. She soon lets go.
"There he is, boss!" He hears his dad coming.
He straightens himself and walks up to his dad, whose crossed his arms and is waiting to see him. Tony smirks. "Hey Boss! Did ya miss me?"
His dad returns the smirk. "Aye. Yer went an' got yourself captured eh, lad?"
Tony throw a chuckle, "Well it's a good thing I got rescued! Sorry boss!" Tony can't stop feeling giddy. He likes the play the role of chief and call his dad boss, even if dad is okay. Being a pirate, you were free to indulge and have a set of codes to follow.
And if you're the son of the Boss, you can most certainly bend those codes.
His dad turns his attention to the other two behind him. Eva and Roland are standing behind him.
"Eva lassie, ye' kept yer' word. Now I shall keep mine. Ye' can pass by the canyon as freely as you want." Batu nods.
Eva gives him a gracious little bow. "Thank you, Chief Batu."
"One step closer to King's Cradle, huh?" Roland mentions to Eva.
And Tony sees his chance. "So your really going to there, then? To the Cradle?"
"Yes." Eva answers.
"Why are you going?" The answer he needed to know.
"Why lad, don't ye' know? This one is going to be Queen of the whole blessin' world! Gonna get herself a Kingmaker for it." His dad, apparently had known before him.
But nonetheless, he's pretty shocked. "Queen of the whole world….?"
"Bloody heck," he looks at Eva, "You've got a lot of ideas for a shorty." He crosses his arms holding back a smirk. Payback for the teasing back at the Wyvern cave.
Eva tilts her head. "Your barely over my height. And my ideas won't lead me to be kidnapped!" She exclaimes.
Tony ignores that and declares his decision, "I've decided, that I shall go with you, just in case you don't get lost."
Eva and Roland just stand there, making sure they right.
Tony just stands proudly. His dad on the other hand….
"What are ya gonna do swindlin' with these sorry swabs, lad?"
He turns to his dad, "You're the one who said If I want to do something then I should do it. And this is what I want to do right now."
He turns back to the speechless duo. "I'm coming with ya, even if you say no." He grins as he hand gestures a take off plane in the distance.
His grin gets wider as he feel his dad face palming besides him.
Dad's proud, he just won't show it.
Roland takes a stroll around the base for a while. He and Eva should leave right away for the Cradle, but he suggested to Eva that they should rest a bit. Batu and Tony didn't have a problem, so they were granted access to roam around and scout for materials. Eva is with Tony, being lectured on how a plane works and just showing off all their prized possessions. He sees them from a distance, with Tony's loud voice booming over the base. He can faintly hear Eva gasp and squeal in excitement. He's got a good view of them, in case are something happens, he knows where Eva is.
He's been thinking about Tony and the sky pirates for a while now. They're good people and care for each other. But they mean harm to others. To strangers, who are not apart of their base. And with that, a reputation is set upon them by others living away. To never come across them or to be armed just in case.
It reminded him a few countries of his world who are simply living to have a good life, but refuse to share or come across foreign communication from other countries. Or to even acknowledge they are good people simply for what they are stereotypically known for.
Problems he wanted to solve back home. His home.
There was so much to do that had yet to be finished. On the day his world supposedly exploded, he was going to attend a meeting, and foreign communication was one of his desired topics to discuss.
He was a workaholic. Always trying to get things done in the office and anywhere he went.
And for the first time, he's not doing paperwork or being told to head somewhere right away.
No. Now he was with a girl on a journey on making her a president instead.
Well, a Queen, but it was the same thing.
And being a President wasn't supposed to relaxing nor fun.
But being with Eva so far, with their goal not even accomplished, made him feel loose. Besides the fact that he was young, he felt all the grey hair and back pain go away at once.
And it was all because of the sword fighting and a grimalkin girl that have eased him-for once in a long time-to make him laugh.
To actually enjoy a break.
He hates to admit It, because many people in his world would point it out, even his son, that he always excused relaxation and prefer to work when someone was celebrating.
His family wasn't that big. He had a mother and a father, both retired and almost gone into the heavens. He was the youngest of three, with an older married sister who moved to a foreign country with her spouse, and his second older brother who lives with him in the white house, a complete opposite of him. Fun, loose, lazy, and sometimes responsible, but Richard wasn't a role model.
Yet, it would him to take care of his son for him when he was busy.
He could still hear his brother tell him how much his son misses him sometimes. It was painful.
Being a single parent is painful.
He doesn't want to go in to deep right now. But alas, his mind makes plans for him.
Suddenly the hairs on his neck stand and he feels someone nearby…..
Roland turns to the left to find Batu staring at him. The Chief of the village walks his way. Roland waits for to him arrive. "Yer a suspicious fella ye' know that, Roland?"
"If I wasn't who I was, I'd agree."
The burly pirate stands next to him, arms crossed. He's felt this feeling before. Standing next to a country leader with business to settle.
"What's the lassie to ye'? Yer' daughter?"
It's out of the blue but by the look of Batu, he's not joking. Maybe he thinks he's different and senses he's not from around here.
Literally.
"She's just a kid who needed help along the way. And I was there in the moment."
"Oh? She's got a wild dream that girl, an' I don't like seeing kids be scammed."
He throws him a warning look. He thinks he's using Eva?
That was absurd especially for a number of reasons. He was new to this world and taking advantage to a girl with probable high PTSD was automatically wrong.
And wasn't he about to throw a child off a cliff?
Logically, it was Eva that kept her word and proved herself to Batu. It seems he needed a prove himself as well.
Roland took a moment to think about his response." I'm a leader myself. And I know Eva will rise to be one." He gives a Batu a determined look.
Somewhere in his mind he started believing. He's not sure how it started. But the resilience Eva had mustered by far gave him light to believe.
Batu keeps staring at him till he lets out huff. "Yer' just like her then."
He was about to ask what he meant until Eva calls him over.
Eva was so fascinated with the planes that she literally couldn't take her eyes off of it. Tony was telling Roland in the distance how the planes work and all the things he already mentioned to her. Although he didn't seem excited or much of a show off with Rolland. He was keeping his tone professional, like an adult.
She could see Roland focus on the information given to him, as well as a twinkle in eyes.
She'd smile too if Tony was acting all stiff and proper all of the sudden.
She wonders why though….
"Eva lassie, a word with ye'" Batu calls over from her right. She automatically heads over.
"Yes?"
"I couldn't refuse Tony back there, but that cradle is a dangerous place. No one comes unscathed an' live to tell the tale…"
He makes strict eye contact.
"He better be back safe, lassie."
"I promise you he will." She nods.
Eva gives him a teensy smile. "You have my word, after all."
Batu blinks and barks out a raucous laugh. "Your quite the lass, aren't you?"
Before Eva could say anything, Tony calls for everyone to get ready for flight.
Roland's been on a plane before. On a jet plane, once. That time, he was young in his 20s. He boarded a plane in his late twenties and thirties.
And ever since he became the President, he boarded a plane often to reach his destinations across the country and beyond for foreign meetings.
But he's never felt the rush of the wind or enjoyed the view as much before. The planes that belong to the pirates are free willed, not much safety to them like windows or glass surrounding his view, but he didn't mind it that much.
The wind and sight of the clouds were fascinating to see up close than through a window.
Maybe he should change his personal planes adjusted like this just for him.
Might give his security team a heart attack, he amusingly thought.
Eva was surely enjoying it. Her hands were outreach almost to touch the clouds with a giddy grin. Tony was steering the plane in front, but he shifted his head time to time to talk to Eva. He couldn't hear what they were saying but he's betting he's telling her more about flying.
Eva's eyes light up every time he spoke.
She really is fascinated. And Roland couldn't blame her.
The breeze along with the view of the water feels nice.
King's Cradle
They were finally here. Roland only sees the flight of stairs before them as Tony introduces them to Cradle.
But the pirate boy hasn't explored the area.
Eva's left speechless. It was probably the fact that we're finally here. A step closer to getting a kingmaker.
A step closer to becoming a ruler.
Roland gives Eva a little push.
She turns to eye him and then quickly regains her posture. "Time to go." And with that, she marches on first.
... ...
The three of them enter the hidden temple and down a corridor after dealing with the long flight of stairs. Surprisingly, no one's exhausted. Especially not Eva.
She feels too anxious to stop. The exhaustion is there but what lies waiting is making her heart pound against her ribs.
It was time to prove herself worthy.
Eva steps to see room corned with light and statues with a force she can't decipher.
This must be the cradle of light, she thinks. She's read book about kingdoms and rulers. The process of it all. But seeing and actually being in the presence made much more sense. The cradle of Light was a room for the designated ruler to prove themselves worthy. It's said that the designated ruler can feel the power of the room upon entering.
But she was starting to feel more nauseous than anything.
Hold it in Eva, hold it in…
Eva turns to the statue with a dragon head engraved in the wall. Across from the room, she walked toward It, slightly touching the engraved runes on the pavement-
And the green light almost blinds her.
A voice roars over the room, "Wanderer, seek thou to prove thyself King?"
The dragons illuminated eye stay in her direction.
"Great, talking statues, what else…." She hear Roland from behind. Tony stays eerily quiet...
"I do," she answers, "I am Eva Tildrum Pettiwhisker, from the land of Ding Dong Dell," She ignores the pain in saying that, "and I've come to make a pact with one of your guardians."
She waits for a response. "Very well. The Test of Knowledge and Courage await."
A blue light transitions behind them as the three of them find a portal that leads to elsewhere.
"Leave thy companions behind, and prove your worth, Eva Tildrum Pettiwhisker, of the house of Tildrum."
Eva takes two steps forward, and turn around to face her companions.
"I..I will be right back." She stutters a bit but keeps her voice steady.
Tony gives her a thumbs up. "Bloody heck….good luck alright!"
Roland nods, "You'll do fine, Eva. You can do this." And his reassured voice really means it.
She sends them both a smile, her shivers of anxiety have calm down. "Thank you, I appreciate it from the both of you."
Tony flashes her a wider grin as Roland reminds her again that they'll be waiting for her once she's done.
What in the world has she done to deserve such support? It was only a few days of knowing Roland and few hours of knowing Tony, and it suddenly feels like she's can trust the two with her life more than anything.
She takes a step back, close enough to the center of the portal, and disappears from the Cradle of Light.
"She's gone….wow, I haven't seen that kind of magic before.." Tony circles around the room looking at various runes inscribed in the pavement. He's never seen magic used often. The village base was more a brute strength and weapon- style tactics. But he was always curious to see what if felt like.
"So you don't use magic in this world?" He turns to find Roland walking out into the corridor. Tony unconsciously follows behind him. The room was interesting but there's a lot more to see around.
"Not really. Dad calls it the Devil's work or something." His dad really exaggerated much but there's really no telling with what magic could do. It was nice to see but he'd rather rely on a spear than some flimsy wand.
"Hm. So why did you come along?" Roland finally asks him the question he was waiting for. Of course, being here wasn't any of his business. Except for the plane part.
"Nothing interesting ever happens around here. Couldn't miss an opportunity, you know?" Tony flashes him a grin and the man gave him a raised eyebrow in response.
"I've never met anyone like Eva either." He says out loud. It's true. Most girls he's met, all of them at base were younger then him, and only knew how to cook, clean, and half would probably train if they really wanted to. "And I want to see what a princess can do." He smirks.
Tony has only ever related the term "royalty" with stuck up rich folks who rule and are in charge. They get anything they want with a snap of finger without anyone's say. His dad hated the Kings around the area who wanted nothing but their own views and laws.
But Eva was different. He hasn't realized she was royalty until his dad pulled him to the side to tell him who she was and where she came from.
Surprisingly, it didn't change his view of her. First, she saved him, and second,
She was too nice.
Too polite and honorable to the boot. He couldn't stay mad or be disgusted with the way she acts. She's friendly, and something about that clicked his instincts to make friends.
"Tony?" A voice brings him back from this thoughts. He head snaps to Roland.
"Oh, I'm alright, just thinking!" He chuckles.
Roland stares at him for a minute. "So you don't think she can do it?"
"I never said that," he rapidly replies, "I just want to know what she's got up her sleeve."
"And Besides," Tony slowly curves his lips to a wide grin, "we both know she's coming back with a kingmaker."
The voice that belongs to Cradle bellowed the rules in the mysterious dark patterned land.
There's a beginning, a Foregathering, and an Ending to a story.
Eva walks toward he stone engraved with golden runes, and reaches out to read a letter.
It's labeled "beginnings."
She reads about the tale of a boy from another world who comes to stop a dragon's misery and bring happiness to all. The boy held a wand at first touch, and was granted the power of fine sorcery. The power he processed called upon a fairy to guide him and help defeat the terrible dragon.
A fairy?
Eva has never seen a fairy in person before….
She's always wanted to find them.
Setting the parchment down, Golden lights in front of her expand to blocks, highlighting a way to reach all the statues around.
Alright. She concentrates on setting the story right and proving her knowledge.
Let's do this.
... ...
It didn't take long to finish the Beginning of the story. She had turned the fairy with a lantern facing the wand on the right. At first she had the fairy pointed at the boy.
For some reason, it looked as if two friends were going to greet each other.
But she had to remind herself that this was a test. No distractions.
At the moment, she was going to finish the Foregathering's of the story. The story had progresses into the boy meeting faithful companions in his journey. There were currently four and Eva had managed to get two in the right position. All that's left if s the boy himself and a statue of a monster.
The parchment read that the hero and his three companions would face a monster. But the monster facing "who" troubled her. She thought maybe all of them, but that would be impossible. She went with the chosen hero of the story, facing the monster as the monster faces in his direction.
The problem was her movement. To make them both turn to face each other…..
Her eyes go to the middle block between the two statues and she dives right in.
... ...
Upon the entering the third trail, a parchment lies for her read the last remaining part of the story. The Ending. The boy and his companions take position to strike the dragon, all having their own actions and attacks. But it's mainly the hero who defeats the dragon and brings peace. She heads on to finish the last task, and eyes the wand in the hold of the statue of the hero….
It's been some time since Eva has been gone.
Roland truly hopes she's okay.
He knows she can finish the trial. But he doesn't know what lies for her if she fails.
Roland and Tony stood outside and siting on the stairs of the Cradle. Eva wasn't particularly taking a long time, but Roland suggested they wait and rest by the time she comes back. Tony didn't mind.
But he was quite a chatterbox throughout the whole time. He mostly wanted to know about him and Eva. He gave whatever he knew mostly about her. But for himself….he decided to keep him being from another world a secret.
Even so, Tony knew something was missing. He could tell by the look of his face.
He's smart, but not too smart. Tony brushed it off and asked if Eva and him were related.
He cleared that up with a strong No.
Thankfully, Tony caught his drift and didn't ask any more on the subject of family.
Just then-he and Tony suddenly were surrounded by blue light….
Eva thinks she made it out, but a beast awaits for her for the trail of courage. A sword is placed on the ground as the Cradle's voice announces to draw a weapon in order to succeed.
She holds up her sword and takes a stance against the monster in the arena.
And succeed she will.
Roland and Tony are seated in the arena. All they see is a monster chained and Eva charging forward, sword in hand…
It's giant hands want to slam her flat as the ground. She keeps blocking and stepping back to avoid it massive claws. The beast is big, but rather, too slow for her to catch up.
She feels the tremble of the ground shake as it's large lands pound against it, raging that it can't smash her to the ground so easily.
It's going to have try better than that.
She needs an opening in all of the rumbling and pounding the monster keeps doing. She tried attacking it with her sword but it's doing so little for damage.
No, she needs a moment to strike it down. To bring it down all in one go.
The idea is insane and probably inaccurate in the situation.
But she has hope.
She swiftly rolls to the side as another hand comes from behind. The monster is getting annoyed at this point. Eva dashes, having an idea, and unleashes wisps of fire to distract it's sight.
Claws try to struck the air in futile as Eva circles around It, her sword ripping the surface of the ground,
Slowly the steel tip glows red and ignites in fury. Eva makes sure not to get dizzy going around the monster in such a haste as she stops right in front of the monster so it takes notice. A glove hand rises in the hair like a shadow, and pulls down to stomp her,
She flips back, hand on the ground and knee upright to sprint on top of the hand, and jump-her ignited sword above her head as she strikes it down,
-unleashing a stab full of fire and hot steel to it's surprised face.
She goes down with the monster, laying on its body like a pillow as it falls flat on the ground. A blue light shows below her and the monster and in an instant, the monster is gone, almost like it was never here.
"Hey!" Tony yells as he and Roland runs up to Eva in the center of the arena.
Roland sees Eva is all in one piece. Good.
"Nice trick you did there." Tony, if Roland remembers, was at the edge of his seat watching the fight between Eva and the large bulldozer of a beast. It was the first time he saw Eva fight first hand without him.
Roland too, was impressed. But he knew deep down she could handle herself quite well at this stage.
"You did It, congratulations."
"Yeah! Not bad." Tony gave her a thumbs up.
Eva smiles, a light pink hue forming on her cheeks. "Yes I….I did it!" Her breathing is a bit erratic from holding all the weight of anxiety and excitement from passing the test. But even with her small hyperventilation, she smiles in finally knowing it's over.
Roland has to make Eva gets some rest after this.
Just then, a black and gold orb appears before them, chanting Eva's full name, announcing that she has succeeded.
"Thou had proven thou is Worthy. A Kingmaker shall be thine!" And at the words, a golden orb floats in the sky, self destructing by rays of light from the inside until it explodes like confetti. All Roland sees is small orb in the sky until it's gone….
Eva looks up to see a flash of gold, and, by the hearing of her feline ears, a faint yell? Her eyes trail a ball of yellow falling. Her sight become sharper, following the trail of the bundle of gold and red as it falls.
Just to make sure she isn't seeing things or her senses aren't failing, she looks back at the sky, the after effects of the light are still there but nothing's shown up. She hears Tony's confusion, trying to find it in the sky.
Eva hears the thud on the ground, her eyes snap to her feet.
"Ta-dah!" The bright yellow and red monster(?) Below her smiles in existent as if it's the happiest thing in the world.
Only Eva sees the him first, as the others are still looking up, her eyes make contact with the large buggy eyes of the small creature and all she can think to say is,
"Oh."
I told myself I shouldn't make this too long….however, I couldn't help it. It's always a problem for me on where to end a chapter. I usually try to get most of out way plot wise. (The longer I take writing a chapter, the longer the chapter will be-sometimes.)
But more and more original behind the scene scenarios keep popping up.
But this fic is always on my mind, new things I wish to put in keep coming in even when the story isn't halfway yet.
Here is more insight on Tony and Roland. Tony is a goofball. A serious kind leader, but at the end of the day he's playful boy looking for fun and adventure.
And Roland needs some serious relaxing/loving.