Wheels of Fate, BoF II novelization.
Summary: Novelization of Breath of Fire II: Shimei no Ko (The Destined Child). Some events altered. Strong language will be in play.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters; they belong to Capcom, as the game does. I own nothing, hear ye, lawyers. But that doesn't get you the permission to publish this as a book without the proper written and legally signed consent of whoever holds the copyright. Other characters belong to other companies, unless specifically said that they'd be my creation.
Additional Note 1: I hereby declare that in no way whatsoever I encourage relationships of this kind between a minor and a legally declared adult (I'm assuming legal age to be 18). You have to consider that in a medieval-fantasy setting the princesses and noble girls were used as 'commodities' for securing alliances between kingdoms; they usually ended up promised in marriage at five years old and ended up marrying at 14 or 15 years of age; anything beyond 20 years, and for all purposes they were considered old maids.
AN2: 2018-12-07, finally got some hadou sho-ryu-ken level mojo (go to youtube, look for the video of Ken in SF II V making that move… it's something epic and out of this world, but maybe not out of Asparian fantasy). My mind is on overdrive creative mode for this… plane. I'm coming up and dumping ideas at an alarming rate, in a timeline, glossary, etc. etc… will even write a story on Balbaroy, and some other events… Hell… You'd say I'm defining a BoF universe… now I understand why George R.R. Martin takes too damn long to write a couple pages and kills a most favourite character in a gory bloodbath worthy of the 'Vandal Hearts' death animations, whenever anyone asks about his upcoming book. That means I will take my damn time to publish. In fact, I will rewrite some of these already published and touch some slight details to have consistency. I want the story to be gritty, somehow 'realist' in the sense that I would discuss and expose very actual topics on the human condition; in fact, I would love to even print it as several leather-bound books… revised my outline and seems it'll hit the 90 chapters. If I ever have children, my desire is that when they hit 18, start reading it and be wondered… and ask: What have you done 'daaa'? I can't stop reading this thing!
Chapter 11: Life in the wastelands.
Night came, and the group went to one of the inns in Colossea, not too shabby but also not so expensive; Mina was about to complain but Katt and Nina glaring at her made her keep her opinions to herself, making Ryu sigh again.
"Young ranger, we only have two rooms available with the conditions you require; here are the keys," the innkeeper said, with an impish smile plastered as he handed two sets of key-chains. The group went upstairs, and when the time came to settle for the chambers, they saw that one had two beds, and the other... one bed for two people.
"Hey! Don't be mad at me. I just asked for clean and decent rooms," Ryu started to say, as the girls glared at him. "This was the best inn we could afford; money doesn't grow on trees you know..."
"Yeah right you pervert," Katt mock-glared at him while Nina and Mina giggled. "I'm not buying it," And she got her staff ready to strike, with an impish smile on her face.
Ryu gulped. "Hey, put that thing down! I'm sleeping on the floor," and he waved his hands desperately, making Katt's smirk grow even wider.
Mina had a sudden idea that made an evil glint appear in her eyes, followed by her cherub-like smile. 'Nina is so going to hate me for this, but I insist... I saw him first!'
While Katt and Nina argued, she dragged Ryu towards the room with the double bed, and slammed the door closed. Ryu then recovered and realized the predicament he was in. If Nina's behavior towards the Joker or his goons was any indicative, Katt's mauling in the locker room could easily pass as child's play. Mina just giggled impishly as she saw Ryu sweating.
"Don't worry. If you obey me, I won't scream." she winked at him. 'I love doing this. Not a date precisely, but I'm already having fun with him; like my own tamed dog, mind you... and way more good looking. Now I will get to try his sense of humour.'
Ryu gulped; he was walking bare feet through hot coals. Escaping from the room busting the door was off-limits, because they would have to pay damages; obeying Mina would mean getting turned to cinder by Nina, and not complying with his momentary-captor would mean the same because the oh-so-innocent princess would scream.
Katt and Nina felt the door being slammed and realized that Ryu and Mina weren't there. Both heard a muffled giggling coming from the other side. Both girls realized what had just happened and reacted way differently.
Katt for her part started laughing out loudly, while thinking about how a little bluebird was so damn dashing, even after she seemed in tune with the other two for embarrassing Ryu until he couldn't get any redder. Also, a bit of envy; she was just realizing that something happened. She might just have started liking Ryu.
Nonetheless, she couldn't decide if congratulating little Mina, or pouncing on the door claiming her rights to her blue-haired prey; after all he had bested her in battle, and according to the customs of her tribe, she had prime rights to him as a possible mating companion, and any woman who dared to say differently would have to win her approval first.
On other side, there were several things running through Nina's mind. The first was pure and sheer horror, because if word were to come that the princess of Wyndia was alone in a room with a man there would be really nasty consequences for everyone involved, and knowing the Queen's temper firsthand, beheading would be only a final release. For other part, Nina also had just started to have some certain fondness for the blue haired boy; also, she had seen him from years before her sister.
Finally, reason prevailed inside Nina's conflict and her demeanor changed; she started banging the door while yelling.
"Mina, you wayward baby girl; this is far from proper behavior. Open this door in this very instant."
From the inside soft laughter could be heard.
"No way, dear sister; I saw him first, and I'm going to have a little fun with this blue haired subject of mine." Katt seemed baffled at this remark.
"What?" Nina exclaimed with an outraged ring to her voice. "Mina, open this Ladon-damned door, Now!"
Katt recovered from her reverie, surprised at seeing the blonde angel using such harsh words while being angry. Well, the youngest used rather suggestive language, making her smirk.
"Nina, your sister is way too dashing; she beats everything I have seen."
Nina just seethed in rage, glaring at Katt and making her fur cringe a bit.
Mina's laughter could be heard, as if she was rolling on the floor. When it ceased, she asked with a hint of sarcasm and amusement in her voice.
"Sis, are you afraid of a little competition? And the lady Katt is also afraid?" Mina's amused tone was saying everything as Nina and Katt blushed slightly, as Mina continued with mirth in her voice, "We would make a good couple since our hair-colour is the same,"
"Just open the door, dammit!" Nina exclaimed after recovering from embarrassment. Then she mulled about it for a while, and smirked. A change in strategy was in order, and this one was sure to work.
"Ryu, if you don't open the door, I'm going to do the torturing myself. You heard the story from my uncle; I'm sure the ghosts or pieces of the jokers can attest that I'm not a nice girl when provoked."
On the other side of the door, Ryu paled when hearing this. Mina sighed and spoke. "Come on sister, I know what I'm doing,"
"Yes you do, and that is why I'm ordering Ryu to open this door, in this very instant!" Nina's enraged voice was unwavering. "Don't even think of putting a single finger on her, else you're as good as dead."
Ryu finally reacted, he would have to put his best poker face and tone... but he might manage to avoid getting seared away and maybe even keep the tomboy princess at bay for a while.
"Nina, let's talk seriously. I'm with no choices here, but your sister seems to have the winning hand at cards. Anyway after all the threats and your uncle's tale, doing anything funny to her would spell my certain doom, death being a most welcome release; thus having anything more than just conversation with her is out of question. Finally..." Ryu sighed loudly.
"She resembles someone I once knew and held very dear; hell... for our blue hair you could say I'm her long-lost brother or something like that, end of discussion."
'By all the feathers of the great bird!' Mina cursed inwardly as she frowned. 'That was the last thing I could expect from any man; I thought they would have never used that kind of excuse. All the snotty boys I have known are more than willing to overlook those details.' Mina sighed. 'Well, no one of those scrubs had blue hair, nor was this brave.'
'Well, I'll get as much as I can of a good talk today, and I hope he is comfy to lean while sleeping; but I'm not expecting him to be as my plush bird at home; also... I don't mind having him as my first male companion only for sleeping, though. Damn royal duties. If I had not been born as a princess... Maybe I wouldn't have ever met him...'
Nina seemed to mull about it, as Katt seemed to have a memory about something and realized that Ryu was speaking honestly; she remembered when she teased him about his mother and realized that his lost family or something like that must have had blue hair as well.
"Nina, just leave him; he won't do a thing to her,"
"Are you sure?" The blonde asked. "You called him a pervert,"
"Yeah," she paused for a moment, doubting whether to tell that memory she had, but decided telling her about another one. "I was alone with him in a room and he did not try anything; instead, he was a good listener... and we were fighting against a rather large apple-pie," Katt laughed as she told her the episode in Ryu's rented room with miss Sylvia, omitting the parts of being teased as his girlfriend; Nina seemed relieved after this tale.
"Well, I truly hope he's a good listener," Nina giggled impishly.
"Why are you giggling right now?"
"You'll see tomorrow, payback time, and it is a bitch," Nina had a malicious glint in her eyes, and then she whispered something at Katt, who had to stifle her laughter at the remark.
"Now, I think I need a bath; my fur stinks,"
"Me too; I scratch your back, you do mine?"
"Deal, but don't mind me if I purr."
Nina giggled. "I just will ask you be careful with my back, wing joints are sensitive,"
- o -
The darkness enveloped Ryu as he opened his eyes; nothing could be seen in front of him. The demonic and deep voice of the demon tainting his dreams, dripping with mockery could be heard coming from everywhere.
Destined Child, it is a real pleasure to see you again.
He wasn't able to move or speak his mind about. It was him, the demon of that fateful day. There was no way for him to enjoy the predicament; in fact, just being there filled him with silent rage, unable to scream it away.
I see that the feeling isn't mutual, a pity indeed. Nonetheless, look at the scene in front of your eyes.
The gargantuan scaled spider-like frame of the demon was there, holding the Crown Princess of Wyndia in its massive claws. Mina was shaking in fear, unable to say anything coherent. In front of the monstrosity, caged in a structure made of bones and rotting flesh, being held by tendons of slain monsters was Nina, struggling to get free, channeling her magic powers meeting very little success.
They were in a chamber seemingly made of darkness; only able to see what he wanted to show.
Look what we have here; a little bluebird. She is useless to me; without her soul and humanity she would be a fitting slave for Our God, or maybe for a lowly servant as me.
Suddenly, Nina's voice resounded in the dark chamber,
"Foul demon! Leave my sister alone! I'm going to turn you into a smoldering pile of ashes!"
An overpowering magical aura surged from her, converting into mighty gales of wind that were shredding the cage and her bindings. Once freed from the prison, she spread her wings that were now glowing in a way that made her dark feathers look purplish. She took off from the ground and kept hovering at some stories of distance as she gathered more power.
How moving. You have come to save your little sister. It does not matter what you try, princess; it is too late.
The demon laughed insanely as he tossed Mina into the darkness, who was screaming in horror, white feathers ended in golden, blue and pinkish hues being cast adrift; her voice seemed to fade as she was cast into the obscurity, and no crashing sound could be heard, though her cries of anguish echoed in the chamber.
"Monster, give back my sister!" Nina screamed, as magical power was given the form of a massive wind gale filled with electric sparks directed towards the ceiling over the demon.
The demon just laughed hard.
Such a pitiful arcane attack won't be able to hurt me winged one, no matter if it bears the name of the Hammer of the deity of thunder.
A huge column of lightning that lasted for several seconds enveloped the demon making a scent of charred flesh pollute the air, as several blades made of wind descended mercilessly going to the base of the pillar. When it vanished, the monstrosity was still there; just some minor burns could be seen on it as smoke sizzled from them, and some minor slashes on its armor plating, but no lethal wounds of any kind… yet some vapour had started to come out of its left eye as the black ichor that seemed to be blood left its body. He saw that Nina had allowed herself a slight smile as she started preparing another spell.
Most interesting… dark winged princess, your skill in the arcane arts is surprising; you deserve a cookie... but as you can see, you just grazed me. Now it's my turn.
Then he blew a cloud of freezing air towards Nina, who was trying to avoid but somehow the vapor followed her everywhere until it collided. She screamed in pain, as Ryu could feel the frostbite on his own flesh, being unable to utter any kind of sounds, but his mind was set on fire. He heard some of her bones snapping as she hit the floor.
The demon appeared in front of Nina and enveloped her with one of its paws.
Ah, it is time for your demise, princess. The dead do not need such rich clothing, even if humans usually think different; those onerous funerals are quite a waste in my humble opinion.
Then using his claws he started to rip her clothes apart, revealing her naked frame. A lustful expression could be seen on the demonic face.
I reckon that she is quite an attractive woman; A pity, for now I'll show you something really interesting about her kind.
The monstrosity took carefully the blonde girl between its claws and snickered.
Destined child, do you wish to know the most grievous way to torture a Wyndian? Simple, pluck their feathers one by one, and then rip the wings apart from the body. In the process you may lick the blood that seeps through them, it is like an elixir for our kind.
Using his hands again, the demon plucked the feathers in groups of many, making Nina scream in pain, unable to faint. Blood started flowing from her wings, as the monster started licking it while still removing feathers steadily.
"Mmm… tastes like chicken. Would need to be much plumper for qualifying as turkey for that matter... I think." The demon mocked them all.
Once the wings were just bare avian skin, the demon took them on its claws and tore them apart from her limp body; she screamed one last time while looking at Ryu pleadingly; finally, her eyes closed, and the hell spawn let her frame fall to the ground and he stabbed her through the chest.
Ryu's mind screamed enraged beyond anything, as he started to give in to his despair... Nina!
~This is what you risk for not being strong enough. You are already advancing towards our reunion, and you will realize who you are. Yet, you have to prove your worth to me. And by what I see, it's zilch! ~
== Young child; I shall protect you from the worst of this nightmare... Awaken now! ==
- o -
The morning came, it was just one hour past sunrise; sunlight was hitting directly on Mina's face, making her cover her eyes and try to sleep again meeting only failure. There she started hearing some loud heartbeats, and a loud pained scream, really close to her. That scared her and made her sit on the bed, truly frightened, as the times she had been tortured psychologically in the dungeons of the Joker's Gang hideout.
She looked around, and saw Ryu hyperventilating and lurching on his bedroll; she tried to approach him, getting out of the bed in her nightgown... But when she was about to touch him, some sort of barrier repelled her hand; she tried several times, getting desperate and shedding tears as she heard him howl in pain in various occasions. She even tried using magic to dispel the field, to no avail.
'Maybe Nina can help me with this.' Mina thought as she unlocked the door and went to the other room. When she arrived at the door, it opened, revealing both Katt and Nina in a similar attire; it seemed like they were in a hurry, after something woke them up.
Katt just avoided her and ran towards the room Mina came from. Nina looked at her sister looking for any signs of physical damage, but it was only fright; she was wide awake, unlike the times she had risen early having been forced to do so.
"Are you all right, little sister?"
"Yes, Ryu just gave me a scare," Mina said, almost shaking, taking Nina's hand as the elder sister started to glare. "No, I do not mean it that way. Just follow me, will you? He slept on the floor on a bedroll; he refused to sleep in the bed... he's a real gentleman by what it seems, but a bit of a hillbilly one," she said rolling her eyes.
Nina just nodded then, breathing relieved, but somehow feeling as if she had to lecture her sister for mocking one of the people who had just saved her yesterday. She shot a very stern glare to her sister and the youngest sighed, getting the message.
They entered the room and saw Katt being kept at a fixed distance of Ryu, as some sort of barrier encompassed him, as she groaned while pounding the barrier with her bare fists. "Darn it! Not again," she uttered in an annoyed tone.
Suddenly, the barrier vanished with a flash of light, making Katt being repelled back. She stood and with the other girls she walked towards Ryu; when they reached him, they knelt and saw a bright small golden light shining on his chest through the fabric of the sleeping roll.
"It must be that necklace Ryu has." Katt stated.
"A necklace, you say?" Nina asked with curiosity in her eyes. "How does it look?"
"He never told me about it, I just saw it once." Katt sighed. "It seems to be rather important to him; I think that it looks like some sort of dragon with a jewel on its center... forgot its name; I'm sure he told me the name, but nothing else."
Mina went and uncovered Ryu who was just sleeping with white shorts and a shirt soaked in his own sweat, clinging to his muscled frame very tightly; the girls saw this, and turned beet red at the same time.
Katt was the first to recover, and smirked as she thought, 'Payback time, you panty thief! You're definitely a treat to sore girly eyes; I'm definitely going for you, blue-boy.'
Nina and Mina shared a glance and they blushed even deeper.
'By Ladon's scales! I lost the chance to sleep in the same bed with this good-looking hunk… Damn it! I'll have to force myself; a man won't refuse a scared girl… A thunderstorm should help with that… I hope one comes, though.'
'He definitely is a cute guy up close; I kind of envy my sister for being so direct towards men, I can't seem to be able to do that… He is strong, seems reliable, and there is that hidden strength of his, which he either doesn't speak about or doesn't know about… How would you explain that he seems to have no memory about it?'
After they recovered, a bright flash of white light came up from the jewel, blinding them temporarily; and when it ceased, Ryu was sitting, panting, and holding the pendant on his left hand as if his life depended on that. His shirt had dried up completely; there was a golden glow on his eyes for a brief instant, a feat that startled the girls, even Katt who had already seen and knew about them.
"So," Nina asked with a face filled with eagerness to know. "You can see in the dark at will? That is simply amazing."
"Yeah," Ryu answered, still panting and clutching his pendant. "I still can't get used to them, but seems to have a focused range, not as long..."
"Say, Ryu..." Mina asked, innocently. "Why do you hold that jewel so hard?"
Katt looked at her with a surprised expression on her face.
Mina saw him turn his eyes towards her, and they locked gazes. Little by little, she felt unnerved, somehow overpowered by him, as his pupils reflected something different, that she couldn't tell. Finally, he sighed looking away afterwards. She felt as if she shouldn't have asked that question.
"Ryu-" She started speaking, but he lifted a hand to stop her.
"I think I can speak about it..." he took a deep breath and continued, "Some years ago, a woman named Valerie gave this to me. She said that it would protect me and guide me on my life. Until now it has not failed, and I'd say that it has even more secrets that I will ever know in my life."
"So, about this lady..." Katt asked, her ears and tail twitching.
"She had flowing and long beautiful blue hair and the gentlest expression on her face ever, and according to the people of the town we lived the most caring person they met in their lives, even more than any of the gentle priests or nuns of the church of Saint Evan. Some said that she was so radiant, that whenever she worked a bit on the earth, the soil became more fertile," Ryu paused looking at Mina took a deep breath. "And finally, she had beautiful wings of a pinkish hue... She was my mother..."
Nina and Mina gasped. The latter recovered first, with a mix of astonishment and sadness in her eyes, she just sighed; the eldest asked once she recovered.
"So, little Mina here resembles your mother?"
Ryu just nodded and added "Yes… but without the politeness."
Mina uttered a rather foul word, making Katt snort, and Nina sigh. Ryu seemed to have the hint of a smile on his face.
"Sorry, it's kind of a hard topic for me..." Ryu paused, and smiled again. "But since you've got me surrounded and I think you won't let me go until this interrogation is done... Yes, she had wings; but they weren't Wyndian..."
The eyes of the sisters perked up at this… they had not heard of other winged clans… there were no other recorded clans with wings on the land.
"She always kept them folded, and nothing would have convinced her to do otherwise," Ryu said between sighs. "Instead, they were pinkish and ended in a talon; somehow they resembled the ones of a large bat."
He paused, and gasped inwardly, and shook his head... 'It would be too much of an irony of existence… will not think about it.'
The faces of the ladies were now something to see, because the three had similar unbelieving expressions. Once recovered, Mina was going to speak but Nina glared at her, quenching immediately her desire to know.
"Sister, enough with that;" She sighed. "We have been very inconsiderate to Ryu. Katt and him are going to help me take you back to Wyndia safely; thus, we shouldn't pry on their private lives. You wouldn't like it as well, do you?"
"Yes sister," Mina sighed, and looked to Ryu. "I apologize-"
"No need to. Just be careful... curiosity-"
Katt just glared at them and then spoke. "Killed the cat. I get it," Finally she groaned loudly, as the other girls giggled, and Ryu just smirked.
"I was going to say that overly curious little birds also can get caught..."
After a more detailed explanation of what Ryu knew about the jewel's working, and how it could tell about the intentions of people, they cleaned up, had breakfast, and went through the gates of the city; Katt, Nina and Ryu swore that the statue of Ladon waved at them again, as if saying goodbye; they just rolled their eyes and smiled.
The journey to Wyndia had just started. Looking at a map, they saw that first they had to go one day of hard travel through the edge of the lands of the Eaglehorn family, bordering the wastelands; then three days through the wastelands that long ago were called the 'golden praeries' where in ancient times the whelks, some sort of gigantic floating snail that lived in the grasslands was a common sight and used for traveling by the local tribes, mostly Worens. Then it would be nearly 3 more days to Wyndia, half of one of those around the lands of another great house.
It is not known why the land had turned almost sterile and devoid of nutrients for crops, but fortunately the blighted zone was contained between two fault-lines, and it did not seem as if it were going to expand. Still, there could be very rare ores, minerals and even chrysm formations, that made the people who went there and settle allow for a decent living if they hit one of those sites; the only pre-requisite was registering in Wyndia, and pay a fixed amount tax, the collection occurring once a year when the official caravan went over there at the beginning of every year. There was also a type of sand mineral there, called caliche or calcrete, that if used combined with manure, it could help to yield better crops.
The western fault-line was at about half a day eastward from the port city of Kerachi, another point of trade in the kingdom. This city was under the domain of the Pazzuri noble line.
The eastern one delimited the lands of the Eaglehorn family with the wastelands. In the narrowest part, took about three days of hard travel to cross the waste, but there would be very little game to be found, only streams with poisonous fishes.
Currently, no noble family had asked for the domain of the wastelands, since it apparently was a cursed land; there were rumors of bandits living there, no one knew really how they would get enough food for that purpose.
There were several noble families in the kingdom, the most notorious were the Eaglehorn, Pazzuri, Alharian, McNeil, Morinius. The race for the throne had started long ago, and every noble family wanted their best son to be the one chosen by the King, but he had not deemed it time yet.
The Skye family was just a mere shadow of what it had used to be in the past, since the only heir, Lord Davan was not going to take his birthright because of his post as the Supreme Commander of the Elite Guard; long ago he had sworn to protect Wyndia, and he was adamant about it. However, no one dared to state this fact aloud; for the Queen shared the same bloodline, and she had inherited without question the legendary bravery of the family as well, though there were rumours of a cruelty that came from millennia ago.
Thinking about politics and royal matters just made Mina more nervous, because that was the only thing that she dreaded of going back to the castle; in the end, it meant that she would not really have a choice on who would she be able to marry. All made it seem that true love was just for fairy tale princesses, not the real ones.
Wastelands, 1st travel day, afternoon.
The travel pace had been steady, not as quick as a Ranger and a Wandering warrior were used to, but still good enough. The winged girls wore capes, but Nina's was different; it covered her dark wings in a way they wouldn't be seen. She didn't tell the reason; nonetheless, Ryu wasn't taking them directly through the main road; he was in charge of the safety of the heir to the Wyndian throne, so he had to avoid risks whenever possible.
"Mina, cheer up!" Katt said aloud, the worry for the blue haired girl was evident in her face; definitely she had developed a certain fondness for the tomboy girl. "In just a few days you'll be home in a cozy palace… A hot bath…"
Mina just sighed and groaned loudly. "Sometimes… I'd prefer freedom over that damn castle; I just can't stand some brainless idiots of the winged nobility; I can't even begin to fathom how do they run their domains with all that air inside their thick heads."
Nina sighed and then went towards her little sister and softly caressed her hair. "Sis… I understand…"
"No, you don't!" Mina cried as she leaned on her elder sibling's shoulder, sobbing. "Since you went away, I was alone all the time save for Suzy… and she's no more… I've been locked up in the castle, lessons all time, with the only time for distractions those short whiles I could come and see you…"
Nina embraced her sister again, until she calmed. "Mina… I've missed you so much as well; life in the magic school wasn't as pretty as you'd think…" Then she sighed, and kissed Mina's forehead, as her eyes held tears back.
Ryu saw that but didn't ask a thing. He figured it had to do something with Nina covering her wings; Mina had said something earlier about that Nina shouldn't be covering her wings, but Nina had just shot an 'elderly-sister' glare that settled the matter.
xXx
"Stay hidden." Ryu whispered to the girls. All of them were hidden in a small forest just outside of a farm. Probably some pioneers trying to make a living outside from the domains of the noble houses; but those people not only had difficulties with the harvests, because some of the soldier patrols had other objectives besides the main directives of keeping roads and subjects safe from monsters and bandits; like charging some extra taxes, not usually planned by the colonists.
That was just one of the cases; there was a fifty men unit of the House Eaglehorn in the duty of charging the protection-tax, as they had called it; Ryu just shrugged, Katt didn't like it one bit, her fur bristling, Nina had her rage in check, but Mina… was both horrified and angry. She couldn't believe what her advanced scrying spell had shown her. That this illegal collection was being led by the heir of the bloodline himself, and he had been quite clear in his intentions; either they paid, or there would be consequences.
"Mina, we can't go." Ryu stated, sighing as the princess was determined to stop what was an injustice; all pioneers paid once per year only to the crown of in exchange for settling and in the long run make the badlands fertile again and less dangerous to travel.
"Why not?" The princess looked at him with both rage and uncertainty. "That idiotic Cedric Eaglehorn has to obey the crown princess of Wyndia!"
"We have to take you safely to the palace." Katt said. "We can't put you at risk."
"Sister," Nina said, holding Mina's hand. "They are right, we are too few."
"But this is unfair! Those farmers get their crops, and the sale from some of the ores found in the land, and they work hard and honestly! Those troopers are no better than bandits."
"Yes. But since now you know something… You could just start an internal investigation from the castle…" Nina pointed, smirking a bit.
Mina's eyes lightened only a bit… there was still rage, but in a different way. "I see your point sister… but still, if we ask, they would escort us all the way to Windia, don't you think?"
"Not a good idea." Katt said. "We travel quite quicker in a small group."
"Besides, they would ask too many questions, like what are you doing in here." Nina said. "You aren't supposed to go out of the castle, I recall."
"Yes…"
"So, Mina… All those times you came to NewHaven were in secret?" Ryu asked. "Because of Nina?"
"Yes."
"More the reason not to ask for help of the troop. And if what I'm thinking is correct… That would really make the House Eaglehorn to be looked with respect by other nobles and the crown itself, right?"
"Again… you're right Ryu. But I don't see your point…" Mina stopped and nearly choked for some air. "Damn! He'd be first in the choices that my parents would make concerning…. Political marriage to ensure the succession."
Nina smirked… so this was the thing that her little sister so much hated. She didn't like to be forced to do anything, but now had to choose the lesser of two evils; she'd first drop dead than giving one of those idiots a chance for instant marriage to the crown princess.
"So little Mina here's the big prize-catch? Does it include a plushie?" Katt asked teasingly.
"Shut yer trap' o'kitten without mittens! Go play with your yarn!" Mina put an angry face and gave her the middle-finger, as Ryu and Nina just looked between them and sighed, as Katt had to cover her mouth to avoid laughing out loud.
xXx
Some miles away from that farm, just before dusk, they set up camp; Ryu and Nina were on watch duty, Katt had gone hunting, and Mina was preparing the fire.
"You know, Nina… I've been curious since I met you…"
"What about, Ryu?" Nina looked at him with doubt in her expression.
"It's just that… one day by that Statue of the Dragon God, I found this Fishing Rod, along with a note addressed to me and this." Then he took out one of the dark feathers that he had; one that had a purplish look, instead of pure black. Nina opened her eyes widely and looked away. "And wanted to know…"
"No I didn't know a thing…" Nina wasn't looking at him.
Mina's footsteps came in closer, "The fire's ready," she said, and when she saw the feather in Ryu's hand she couldn't hide an exclamation. "Oh my! Nina!" There was a very slight bitter frown in her temple, but then changed to a mischievous grin.
Ryu looked definitely like he didn't understand what was going on. "What?"
Mina said, with the tone of someone who really knows what she is speaking. "It's a very old Wyndian tradition dating to ancient times around the time of the Fou Empire…"
"Please sis… don't continue." Nina said without looking at them, with embarrassment notorious in her voice.
"When you definitely like someone or consider them an important friend, you literally give them a part of yourself… in this case one of the inner feathers… and there were even vows exchanged!" Mina said in a tone that was both teasing and cold stating of the truth, and smirking as she saw Ryu's expression was dumbfounded.
"But I haven't given any of my feathers to anyone…" Nina said, still embarrassed. "Not even to auntie Zari."
Ryu went towards Nina, and knelt beside her, and put the feather into her hand.
"I'm sorry, I didn't intend to embarrass you; I want to give it back to you then, I don't know who put it in there." He said, sighing. 'Probably, some prankster god, to make fun of me. Thank you again for teasing me… Not.'
Nina bolted a bit in her place, and looked at Mina, then at him. "I appreciate your intention, Ryu. However," she again took the feather and held it between them. "Thank you for that, but since you both saved us and are helping me to get my sister safe to the castle… Please have it, I'm truly honoured to call you a friend."
Ryu felt the warmth of Nina's friendly gesture, conveyed through the Dragon Tear; he knew that it was a turquoise tone this time. Their hands met for a brief instant, as Nina carefully put the feather in his hand and closed it softly, looking at her slender fingers meeting his rough ones; one thing she was sure… this felt right.
"Thank you, Nina." Ryu said, looking at her, and very carefully putting the feather back in a pouch. "I didn't know the significance…"
"Don't worry," she said, as she stood. "I'll go and watch the fire; Katt should be about to arrive anytime with the dinner, and if the fire's not ready… she'll get real mad." And then Nina laughed loudly, making both Ryu and Mina smile; then she walked away.
"You know, hillbilly…" Mina said to Ryu, once Nina was away from them. "You're fortunate to not to be of my tribe." All of this, while she was poking him with a finger.
"Why, oh-so your sassy-highness?" Ryu asked her with a slight smirk.
"Because, you idiotic peasant, doing exactly that thing, giving back the symbol that other gave you as a token of esteem for you, could either mean a declaration of hatred, or war; even if it's asked back by the one who gave it, it'd still be one of those situations. There is really no bailing out of that, so Wyndians give them only very sparely, usually only heard from couples with years of marriage, or childhood friends." She said smirking again at him, taking his hand softly. "Now, those feathers really hurt when we… pluck them. So it's kind a way of saying that you deserve a bit of sacrifice from us."
Ryu sighed. "I see… I just wanted to…"
"I know," Mina continued this time smiling without a teasing glint. "Your intentions were truly evident to us, you wanted to make my sister feel better, but she really saw that you deserved the token of her esteem for you as a valued friend, thus… she gave it to you formally," and the malicious smirk came back. "and knows that you were such a backwater twerp that you couldn't know the meaning of the disaster you were doing."
Ryu was deep in thought for a moment, ignoring her sarcastic remarks. "I don't know what to say."
"Just promise me that you'll protect her; Nina sometimes doesn't care for herself… please, would you do that for me?" Mina looked at him, putting a puppy-dog-eyes look. Ryu caved in and just nodded. "Thank you, blue boy… now for my reward to you…"
She stood on her tiptoes and planted a soft kiss on his cheek, dangerously close to his lips and he both froze felt exhilaration, as the tip of her tongue ran around the zone a bit where she held her lips; she continued teasing for some seconds, took the tongue to his lips, and stopped the kiss, and she just whispered "Later there might be more for my blue haired hero…". She winked at him and walked away back to her sister with a big smile on her face and giggling madly; Ryu for his part was still dazed, petrified and at the same time with some sort of excitement… and fear if Nina or Katt, even if he had gotten caught off guard by the wayward princess.
He knew already Katt's insane strength when angry… but he had also heard, but not seen first-hand that wyndians had enhanced muscles to resist a bit more the hits to their bones that were hollow, making them stronger than plain humans, as he seemed to be. He remembered tales of some lancers being able to stop the charge of a raging poison mover leaving it skewered on a proverbial stick… or the stories of master swordsmen being able to chop limbs cleanly, even cutting bone swiftly.
He also remembered that wyndians could hate with a passion people who used blunt weaponry… specially the dreaded swordmace; a long fully metallic mace the size of a bastard sword, made with four long parts that were like mounds, but the first recorded ones had shown it had serrated sharp edges; and some really advanced were said to be hollow and contain some heavy liquified metal that moved then wielded… making the hits even more lethal at the tip if used properly. It could bash and splinter hardened armour, flesh, bones, and most other living beings' tissue or chitin with a savagery comparable to the demons they faced. Seemingly it had been invented by the worans several millennia ago, when a war with no quarter at all with the wyndians had ensued; yet with the passage of time, worans ended up as allies most of the times, but seemingly one of the conditions was the "Do not show that weapon in Wyndia city, ever."
He wasn't willing to be tested anyway for the equivalent of a wyndian training doll, even for someone as sweet to his eyes as Nina. He winced as he remembered his only very hands-on experience about winged people hitting him… his mother after she found him painting a white moustache on the dark-obsidian shiny dragon god statue.
Maybe it was the impression of him being a little boy back then, but once his mother had finished the harsh spanking, as she strode away, he swore having felt the earth tremble at her steps as she went outside Gate and the guards made way for her, visibly scared… and those had been battle hardened soldiers once. And a product of his imagination… a very brief purple flash and then another golden one.
Even if he had found during his lifetime that he was much, much more durable than he seemed, and had taken some grievous and painful wounds while growing up, he kept getting up again… sometimes hitting from the back. Even if resisting was his life, the recovery most of the times was not pleasant at all.
Also, there was this large scarred zone across his chest that brought memories and occasional nightmares; he had found that the chief and four most veteran rangers just looked at him like knowing, but the truth is that only him and his buddy Bosch knew and felt like they could not share. And therefore, he was on this mission to prove his friend who knew and only him could relate, as innocent.
ooOoo
Genevieve, how does the trade fare?
** It is going smoothly, master. Neither the kingdom nor the paladins suspect it **
So, when shall we have a shipment?
** One has just sailed yesterday from the lands of one of the allied houses of, so they should arrive in a week; do not worry about their condition, they shall be ready to give you prime essence. **
As usual Genevieve… it seems letting you live is still paying off. Keep me apprised of the matters in the kingdom, for we must ensure the revival of Our God. Remember that any setback could be fatal, since you left some knots untied, and those are loose ends that can't be fixed, ever.
ooOoo
/ Anya, where are you going?
- I will be taking a night stroll on the wastes for a while, Eolos. There is something foul on the land... The rivers and the living earth say it aloud, don't you feel it, Ko-Rayén?
++ I feel it in the depths of the sea… the spirit of the earth speaks… it is struggling to contain it, Anastassia. Also, the toninae sing that the trempulcalwe are unnaturally asleep, and they cannot sing to the life of this world, without them, the spirit of the earth will weaken.
/ Then it's set. If they summon us, we give as much guidance as we can to the descendants of Yorae, and the warriors of wyrd. You should take your swordmace, just in case... even if I don't like it myself, much less those who descend from me and Celestia's sister.
++ Yes. Though the wyrd of this world depends on mortals' own decisions… we cannot deny having a vested interest. And to put some obstacles, neither Gracia, Rania, nor Richard are here anymore as before since they became the living spirit of the earth. And Gatsha... Faded when the first grand ancient tree froze to death some tens of millennia ago. To think we were unfading…
- Well, that is the price to pay for a damn good shisu, wine, pastries and coffee. Don't deny it... we all stayed for that, bunch of gluttons! Besides… who wants to live forever? And Gatsha did leave his progeny, so the world's pulse of life and sentience is interconnected. Well, I'll taking the bonebreaker with me, but it'll go in the guise of a guitar perhaps.
/ Ha! And you'll call yourself Kabong!
- If it comes to that… it's not a bad idea, actually *giggle*
- o -
End Chapter 11.
Author's Notes:
- I know, I took the idea of Mina dragging Ryu to a bedroom to 'have fun with him' from another BoF2 novelization, by Sipherous; no, they didn't have a passionate night, even if Mina was struggling hard not to do it; even if this rendition of her is a tomboy princess, she still knows her duty and what would it mean for her family should she not fulfil it. Anyways, it's my twist to this story, and it makes for more embarrassing moments to the story and being mean to Ryu. Also... for Ryu, I had mentioned that little Mina reminded him too much of his mother.
- Dragon tear turning white is more for storytelling effects: either an exorcism, like with Argus (only if the demon touches the jewel while trying to murder the owner), or a reaction from the guardian spirit, or maybe other thing that I might come up with.
- I'm going to be way off canon regarding timelines: for example, canon says that the interval between BoF1 and BoF2 is around 500 years. I toyed with my timeline and ended up being around 5000 years. Well, BoF3 still does not happen in my idea (no, won't start chasing THAT one wabbit… at least not until THIS one is finished).
- That impacts a lot… for example, in BoF1 Dragon Clan females had no visible wings; I'm going for the line of "being in the abyss too long", can play a bit. Specially, because I'm going to use the wildcard of the 'astral realm' to just get some semblance of how to give a decent explanation of things, and that will also toy with the Dragon Clan in several other ways... for example, the spanking episode with the 'sitting did hurt for a week before start receding', is plot.
- The last bits of this chapter's god banter (yes, put two of them), well… not saying anything now. Maybe in the future. Only that 'wyrd' is used as destiny.
- I'm using some mapuche terms: toninas are a species of dolphins. The trempulcalwe in their lore are four whales who take the departed to the other side (and I'm skipping the accents).
Special Thanks:
- Ryusui, for his Retranslation.
- Lady 'Kestre Wynde' from ; your proof-reading has helped me to understand about English language and improving the quality of my writing. Thank you very much.