Okay get ready for a long chapter, because this one's a doozy! I didn't realize it would be this long, but in respect this is full of a lot of backstory. Also a new character that I was dying to write. I hope you enjoy this one!
A/N: I am going to let you guys know before I forget, I'm going back to college soon and might not be able to upload any chapters at the time. Of course I'm going to be continuing the stories, I will just be busy so much with college stuff and homework that I might not have enough time. But if I do have any time, I promise I will be working on the next chapters with a vengence! Also if anyone is a deviantart member, I'm holding my first ever contest with my character Lucy and Ralph! My username is PureAngelDragon713 and here's the link to the journal (if it works): journal/My-First-Ever-Contest-473715549
The Magical Bond Between Two Hearts
Chapter 12: Stories of the Past
"Augh! I lost them, how could I be so stupid?!"
Eris paced back and forth, her mind racing from what had just happened.
"One minute they were right in front of me, but then the kart just happened to teleport in a golden light right past me! I can't even believe-"
She stopped right in her tracks. "Wait...golden light? Impossible! The little girl's kart glitches in pixel blue, not gold. This could only mean..."
"Aww, are you lost 'Ice Queen'? What a shame!"
Eris frowned as she turned to look at the voice coming right next to her. A young man stood there, staring her down with the most annoying, determined smile that she knew only belonged to one person.
"Arren! I thought as much, where were you?!"
His smile only grew wider at her outburst. She groaned in frustration.
"It's not my fault! I only did what you told me to do, seek out the girl with the glitching powers." he replied smoothly, "Boy though, that girl is sure a hard one to catch!"
"And definitely a fast one at that." Eris grumbled.
"So what happened to you that let them get away?" Arren coaxed her on.
"Arren, so help me..."
"Come on! You know something that I don't!" he sang teasingly.
"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! WOULD YOU JUST ZIP IT FOR A FEW SECONDS AND LET ME EXPLAIN?!"
Arren paused, his smile turning into a pouting frown.
"FINE!" he whined crossing his arms.
Eris gave him an angry look before continuing: "I had the three of them in my range, but then a golden light appeared..."
"That's odd, doesn't the kid's kart glitch a pixel blue?" Arren interrupted.
With one swift motion Eris threw a handmade snowball right at his face. It splatted ice all over his face making him cringe.
"OW! Those things hurt my face you know!" he grumbled.
"Well, then you should let me finish." she replied with one eyebrow raised.
Arren open his mouth to protest, but hesitated and returned to his pouting frown.
"As I was saying, they disappeared in the gold light, and lost them at Diet Cola Mountain. I don't know how but...they were just, gone...out of thin air."
For a moment the both of them fell silent as Eris finished.
"So what do we do then? Wait until they come out?" Arren asked.
Eris thought about it, true they did disappear into the mountain, but there was no entrance to the mountain at all from what she could see.
"There is no choice, we will have to." Eris sighed as she sat herself down on a fallen trunk of a candy tree.
"Eris...are you sure she is the girl?" Arren sat next to Eris looking her in the eye, "I mean, you've mistaken other girls before you know."
"Arren," Eris looked him in the eye, "I'm positive this time. She's the one who can stop him."
She looked up at the mountain. "If only there was an opening somewhere. Maybe at the top of the mountain or-"
Suddenly Eris sat up straighter, looking solely at the top of the mountain. She grinned deviously and turned to her companion.
"Arren." she grabbed him by the cheek, making him cringe a little, "How would you like to find out what's on top of the mountain?"
0 - 0 - 0 - 0
Lucy could barely see in the dim light of the caves as Ralph raced forward with her in his arms. Yet she did not seem to be worried at all, finding herself giggling and laughing for what seemed like the first time in a long while.
Finally the two of them reached a place that Lucy could not believe she was seeing. In front of them was what looked like a boiling lake of thick liquid. Yet what surprised and awed her was when she looked right above. Thousands of individual slabs hung from the tip top of the roof, almost like stalactites, she thought.
"It's about time you two birdies caught up."
Vanellope's voice echoed through the big cavern as she stood in front of them.
"Birdies?!" Ralph questioned. He put Lucy down carefully, leaving her to confront Vanellope, "Kid, you are the most diabolical of all my friends to date!"
"Why thank you, stinkbrain! Such a compliment to a child!" Vanellope replied teasingly.
Lucy could not help but giggle to herself as they continued calling names to each other. That was when she noticed a little sign right next to the boiling pit.
"Diet Cola Hot Springs..." she narrowed her eyes as she read the sign, "Watch out for, falling Mentos?"
Lucy tilted her head back up to the ceiling where the stalactites of tablets lay stuck on the roof.
"I wonder if these are the mentos?" Lucy thought with curiousity.
Then she looked down, searching for something small to throw. She found a tiny rock, and threw it as far as she could upwards. Barely it hit one of them at the bottom, but it did not budge an inch. Lucy sighed sadly, disappointed that she did not move a mentos from it's spot. As soon as she decided to give up, Lucy heard a crack from the mentos, and it fell straight down into the boiling cola springs below.
Curious as to what will happen now she moved a little closer, but before she could step any further, she was tugged back suddenly by Ralph's hand around her whole body. Confused she wondered why he would, but as she looked back at the springs she saw that where the mentos hit, boling cola bursted upward in the sky.
While Ralph was apparently afraid, Lucy felt awed and excited about this new thing she found. She gripped slightly on one of Ralph's fingers, watching the cola spew droplets all around them.
"Cool." she found herself mumbling in awe.
"Yep." Vanellope replied with a huge smile on her face. Lucy in return smiled brightly, glad that Vanellope agreed with her.
"Guys! It's boiling hot cola!" Ralph sternly said, "Who knows what could have happened if the whole thing came down on us!"
"Well I would just glitch us all out of there, like last time." Vanellope replied with a huff.
"Last time?" Lucy asked curiously.
The two of them turned their attention to her, sharing the same curious looks as she had.
"I-It's...like in the story right?" she stammered, yet still was curious.
The three of them stared at each other in silence, making Lucy think that she had said something off or wrong.
"Story? You mean...the game-jumping one?" Vanellope asked after a long while of awkward silence.
Lucy nodded in return slowly. She finally let go of Ralph's hand realizing that he had let go of her. She then thought of an idea, her smile growing wider with that thought.
"Could you guys tell me the real story?! Please, please, PLEASE?!" she pleaded with glee.
Ralph and Vanellope did not answer, for they were surprised at her sudden outburst.
"Well, I mean I thought...since you guys were really there that, I mean..." she stopped mid-sentence, not knowing what else to say. She looked down feeling as if she had embarrassed herself with that idea. How could I be so-
"Sure."
Lucy lifted her head slightly to face Ralph, who had agreed with her. She felt her happiness suddenly come back, making her feel joyful again.
"But...let's make a deal with this."
Lucy tilted her head, confused and curious.
"Ralph, are you taking deal tricks from me?" Vanellope questioned teasingly, having glitched up onto his shoulder yet again.
"Yes kid I am, taking a child's methods of 'making a deal'." he replied, quoting the last part with his huge fingers.
At that Lucy giggled a little, finding she enjoyed their company the more they argued with each other.
"So...what's the deal then?" she asked curiously.
"Okay," Ralph knelt down to her level, "I'll tell you what really happened that day one year ago, if...you tell me more about you."
She felt her heart drop at the mention of telling them her past. No one had ever wanted to know about her past at all.
But Lucy was also afraid that talking about her past would not only hurt her, but her new friends as well.
"I...I can't." she replied turning away from them, feeling tears stinging her eyes.
"Why not?" Vanellope asked.
"I JUST...can't." Lucy shut her eyes trying her very hardest not to let them see her broken like this. In her heart Lucy knew if she told them her story, they would surely get into serious trouble. More than they can imagine. More than I can.
Something warm on her shoulder caused her to flinch. She looked down at her shoulder and realized Ralph had put a warm hand there, engulfing all of her shoulder with his one hand.
"Lucy, why won't you tell us about yourself? Are you...scared?"
When he said that, Lucy turned to look at his face. She felt guilty when she realized that Ralph was giving her the most sincere, kind look that she had ever seen. Of course she knew that Ralph was kind already, but to see him looking so concerned about her...
"Well...I-It's just, my past life is not a happy story and...I-I don't know what would happen if I told it to you guys." Lucy turned to face the two with guilt and sadness weighing down on her, "I mean...you two are the first friends I have ever made since I came here, and I, well...I don't want to lose you to tell you the truth."
"Girlie, you have a lot to learn about us."
"Huh?" Lucy said, giving Vanellope a look of puzzlement.
"Listen, I'm sure that your story is a lot better than the story of a glitch who for years was considered to be a mistake by her own friends!" Vanellope pointed to herself, blue pixels glitching around her.
"Or take me, spending most of my life living alone in the garbage, with no friends or anyone that cared about you." Ralph pointed to himself with a small smile, "I'm sure your story must be better than that."
Lucy looked at her two friends. She could not believe that a small child and a gentle giant had gone through more terrible cruelties and hardships than she could imagine. For a moment she felt sorry for what they had gone through. Yet as she looked at them, she could not help but feel that for some reason she was more open to them than any other person she had ever met.
Lucy sighed as she ruffled slightly with her tangled mess of hair, "Alright, you've got a deal."
She extended a hand out to Ralph's, who gladly took her hand into his.
"Deal." he said slowly shaking her hand.
"Hey! I want to shake hands too, I'm with this deal remember?!" Vanellope slipped her hand inside Ralph's and Lucy's hands and started to shake as hard as she could.
Together they managed to do a three-hand shake, then let go all at once.
"Well...I guess I should go first." Lucy giggled slightly, "But I don't really remember too much about my game, it's been a long time since I've told someone about my game."
"Ah, don't worry about it girlie!" Vanellope called, "I think we'll be able to 'understand it enough'." she nudged Ralph on the side of his head.
"Hey, I'm not that dim kid!" Ralph protested with a chuckle.
"Sure." Vanellope teased nudging his head again.
Lucy giggled to herself, lucky to have them cheering her up at every turn.
"Okay then, let's see...where do I even start?"
"At the beginning?" Vanellope said obviously.
Lucy thought long and hard by what the 'beginning' was supposed to mean. Then she remembered suddenly a story that she used to read as a child.
She looked around and found a pretzel stick lying just at her feet. Grabbing it she put the tip of the pretzel into the boling cola, and with her artistic instincts coming on, started to paint out in thin air with the cola covered pretzel stick.
"I guess...it all began with the story of the first queen of Maic."
0 - 0 - 0 - 0
"Do you see anything up there?" Eris called into the sky.
She stood at the foot of the mountain, looking up to see if she could see Arren anywhere. A moment ago he had gone all the way up to the top of the mountain, helping Eris find an entrance.
"Yeah, I think I see something!" he shouted back down.
"Well, what is it?!" she shouted back.
"There's a small opening in the mentos roof! Though, it's not big enough to fit us both!"
"Are you serious?!" Eris yelled in frustration. "How in the world are we supposed to get in if we can't even fit through the entrance?!"
"Can I come down now?! My wings are killing me flying around at this rate!"
"FINE!" she shouted angrily.
A flapping sound grew louder and louder as Arren came down from the mountain. Though he was not a man, he had in fact transformed into a crow, black feathers and all. He landed and perched right on Eris's shoulder.
"Would you get off of me?!" she said waving her arms to shoo him off her shoulder.
Arren flapped his wings, once off of Eris transformed back into his regular self.
"Honestly, I don't know why you insist letting me have you stay."
"Aww come on Eris," Arren took her hand in an affectionate way she did not like, "You really are a sourpuss, but inside your just a big softie for me."
"Oh shush, and let go of my hand!" she angrily glared pulling her hand free of his grasp.
"Alright, alright! Don't get mad, sheesh!" Arren crossed his arms, looking away.
Eris sighed, knowing that finding this girl had taking a toll on the both of them, especially herself.
"Look, I'm sorry Arren. I just need to know if she is the right one."
"And what if she's not?"
Eris flinched at the sudden dark tone in his voice.
"Eris, we've been searching for 9 years to find her, and not once did we find any trace of her powers."
"Until now that is." Eris pointed an accusing finger at him, "Do you know how long I've waited to find her? How long I had to endure these shadows that kept coming after me?!"
She found herself trying her hardest not to cry and show her emotions. For one thing she was strong, but inside it was a bomb of emotions waiting to explode.
"Of course I do Eris! That's why I've sticked around this long with you!" he blurted.
Eris gasped slightly at his outburst, letting slip a smile across her lips, but before Arren could see it she hid it away just as quickly as it came.
"Right, now about the entrance..."
"Yeah, right." Arren looked away from her to face the top of the mountain, "It is possible to go through it, but there will be a pit of boiling cola at the bottom though."
"Unless...there's a bridge below." Eris smiled, having formed an idea.
"Oh no! Please don't tell me you mean to jump right through the hole?!"
Eris turned to Arren's worrisome face and grinned.
"That's exactly what I plan to do."
0 - 0 - 0 - 0
"Oh boy, a picture show!" Vanellope squealed excitedly as she glitched down into Ralph's lap.
Having sat down to watch, he did not hear what Vanellope had said or seen her glitch into his lap. Ralph instead was entranced by Lucy's story through her pictures forming from thin air, impressed of her making a pretzel stick and some boiling cola become her paintbrush.
"I remember this story from when I was a child." Lucy began:
'Once there was a place named Maic, which was a peaceful village before a kingdom grew there. There was nothing to fear or to fight for, because it was filled with good people that treated everyone equally.
But one day something came unexpectedly. We don't know exactly how it came to be, but all we knew was that it had very evil intentions. They were simply called shadows, because they did not have a true form, and they were not human. The village fell to the shadows, and a peaceful town was replaced with people who lived in fear.
That is...until the first queen of Maic came. Like the shadows, the people of the town did not know where she came from. This time though, the girl fought on the village's side, and managed to repell back the forces of the dark shadows and its evil. From then on the kingdom of Maic was born, and harbored a temporary peace with the shadows gone.
But then one day the shadows decided to come back, but this time they became stronger and more powerful than before. The queen realized that in order to push back the darkness once more, she needed gifted people who had extraordinary powers beyond belief.
So she sent for anyone who possessed any such power. What she recieved in return were young children and adults that had magical powers. So taking them in she trained them to control their powers, and sent them to push back the dark shadows once more. They did suceed, but only for a little while. The shadows just kept coming back, and were more powerful than the last time. Then...'"
Ralph looked at her in puzzlement as she stopped mid-sentence. She looked very troubled about something, but he did not know what.
"Then...what?" Vanellope's question snapped Lucy's attention back to them.
"Well, that's actually all I can remember." she replied with a smile.
"Aww man!" Vanellope whined, making Ralph chuckle.
He then turned his attention back to her, as she stared at her own handiwork. While telling the story, Ralph had witnessed a progression of well drawn pictures to go along with it. First, was what the village looked like in peace, then what appeared to be the shadows, then a vague image of what was apparently the first queen. Yet the queen's features were all but blurred, as if Lucy did not know what she looked like either.
He smiled as he kept looking at the pictures, fascinated by her being an expert in anything artistic.
"Well, I guess since you know the story about my game..." Lucy said, sitting down and turning to look at them, "...I guess I should tell you my story."
Seeing that she seemed nervous and fearful, Ralph gave her a comforting smile.
"Go ahead." he said warmly.
She stared at him unsurely, but then she gave a small smile back at him and took a deep breath.
"Well...when my game was plugged in for the first time, nine years ago, many gamers came to play our newly plugged-in game. It was after that same game day, I came into existance."
"After that same day?!" Ralph and Vanellope exclaimed at once.
Lucy blinked in surprise, "Y-yeah, weird isn't it?"
"It's definitely unusual, that's for sure." Vanellope replied.
"Well I don't think it is!" Ralph blurted out unintentionally.
The two girls looked at him with puzzled expressions.
"You think so?" Lucy said with a weak smile.
He looked down feeling very embarrassed, "Yeah, sure. I think it has happened before."
"So, what happened then?" Vanellope said after a while of silence.
Lucy took another breath in, "Right, after I had appeared at first everyone thought that I was a glitch in the game. Though it turns out that I am part of the game, and when everyone found out about it...they just, left me alone. I did not know what to do at first, since I was new and all. But as the gaming days went by, I found out that I never even got to be played by any of the gamers."
"What? How can that be?!" Vanellope said loudly.
"Well...if you are a part of the game, isn't it allowed for the gamers to play you as one of the charcters?" Ralph asked her.
"Yeah, but for some reason no one could play me." Lucy sighed sadly, "When I was a child I did think that I was a mistake, but...my sister thought that I was someone special."
"Sister? You have a sister?" he said surprised.
"Well, sort of. Daisy was my only friend, and she treated me like I was her sister."
"Hmm, Daisy. That's a pretty name." he smiled at the thought.
"Yeah." Vanellope agreed, "It is pretty, though I do prefer much cooler names!"
"Like what?" Ralph asked turning to his little friend.
"Well...there's...um...okay I can't think of any right now, but I do like cool names!" Vanellope spluttered in frustration.
"Alright kid! I get it!" Ralph laughed patting her on top of her tiny head. She tried to push off his hand, but it was no use.
After finishing patting the kid's head, he turned back to Lucy, "So what happened then with you two?" he asked nicely, not wanting to seem like he was rushing her.
Lucy smiled, "We would go off on adventures, the two of us, through our game. I remember the game being so big that you can't see the end of it!" she chuckled slightly as she said it, "Though, we could not go outside into the other games in the arcade because well...we feared that those on the outside would want to take over our game."
She sighed as her smile faded, "So the game was isolated from everyone out here, no one could go in or come out through the tunnel. Sometimes I felt like I was trapped in a box or a cage, with no door or exit. Though...the worse came when..."
Lucy hugged herself tighter than she had before, making Ralph feel concerned about her sudden pain. He extended his hand out to her, softly patting her on the head.
"You don't have to tell us that much if it's too much for you." he said softly, ruffling her messy hair.
"I-I don't?" she looked up with confused but curious eyes.
"WHAT?! RALPH!" Vanellope whined.
He turned to look at her with his hand still on Lucy's head, "Kid, I think we can pretty much figure out what happened!"
She looked at him puzzled for a minute, her eyes narrowed on his. Then slowly her eyes began to show understanding as she nodded a few times slowly.
He turned back to Lucy, still looking upset as she had hugged herself tighter.
"Hey, don't feel too bad. From what you told us, your story isn't as bad as ours."
"Yeah girlie!" Vanellope chimed in, "You're not the only one who doesn't have a happy beginning."
Lucy's eyes at that moment peaked out beneath Ralph's fingers out of sheer curiousity.
"Is...is that really true?" she said softly.
"It's true for me, trust me." Ralph chuckled lightly, "I know, I've lived 30 years of my life living with no friends or anyone who appreciated me."
"30 years?!" Lucy's eyes widened, "You've been here for 30 years?!"
"Yep! This stinkbrain is almost as old as Pac-Man is!" Vanellope exclaimed gleefully.
Ralph rolled his eyes at the mention of his nickname.
"So...I guess we should tell you our story then." he said, smiling down at Lucy.
She nodded and gleefully sat up to listen, her eyes full of wonder and excitement.
He gave her a warm smile, relieved that she finally was back to her normal self.
"Well let's see...I guess I should start out with my game's backstory." he started a nervous grin on his face.
"'To start, I lived on my own land, with a tree stump as my home. Then one day the residents of Niceland came and built an apartment building on my own land. I got angry at this, so I vowed to wreck and tear down the building to take back my own land.
Felix, or Fix-It Felix Jr., is the good guy and it is his job to fix what I wreck. And that's the name of the game. It had always been that way for 30 years. The hardest part though, was that no one treated me differently outside my game. I would always be the bad guy...'"
Ralph found himself sadly sighing remembering the life that he used to have, living alone in the garbage, not having any friends, people running away from him.
"I never knew...that you felt so lonely." Lucy's warm eyes pierced his with sympathy and comfort.
He smiled at her in return, "Yeah. Um...thank you." he patted her head once more, making her smile brightly.
"So...you did something that surprised everyone right?" she asked still smiling.
"That's right. On the 30th anniversary of my game I decided that, well...I did not want to be the bad guy anymore. I wanted to prove to everyone that I was as good a guy as Felix was. And the only way to show that was winning a medal. So I...game-jumped.
I found out that Hero's Duty was a game that you can earn a medal. But...let's just say that the game was, too much for me. I managed to get the medal, but also unleashed an evil bug in the process. And then I met this smartie right here..."
Ralph pointed over to his little friend, who seemed to have brighten up at the mention of her.
"And I took that medal from him." Vanellope remarked with a sly smile.
"And you were the one that caused me to fall in that taffy swamp. and made me look like a taffy monster!" he retorted back with the same smile.
Vanellope blew a raspberry, blowing some hair out of her face. She crossed her arms with defiance, "In my defense, I thought that his medal was a gold coin."
"Anyway, if I can get on with the story, after the kid took my medal she used it to enter herself in the Random Roster Race. Though the only problem was that she was a glitch, and was not able to participate in any of the races-"
"So we made a deal." Vanellope interrupted, causing Ralph to scowl at her, "I said to him 'You help me get a kart, a real kart, and I'll win the race and give you back your medal!' In which this stinkbrain agreed on with some coaxing."
Ralph rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Why does she have to call me that in front of her?"
"So we broke into the Bakery," Vanellope continued, "And Ralph helped me build a kart and teach me how to drive!"
"So, that's how you knew when you were teaching me Ralph!" Lucy said happily looking at him directly. He felt his face go beet red.
"Well, I had never done it and..." he flustered as he tried to control his face from burning red.
"Still he was able to teach me." Vanellope finished for him, "Though I did hit him maybe more than once."
Lucy gaped and giggled at the kid's remark. This made Ralph's face finally turn a bright red.
"KID!" he shouted at Vanellope with embarassment running through himself.
He realized that he must have shouted too loud, because Lucy and Vanellope both looked at him with shock and curiousity.
"Your face turned red again." Lucy said tilting her head curiously.
It was then Vanellope gave him a look telling him that she knew why. "Oh no! Please don't let Vanellope tell her what it means!" he prayed to himself.
"Ralph, what happens then?"
He snapped out of his thoughts at the question Lucy gave him. Suddenly he remembered that the story wasn't finished.
"Oh right, sorry. After I did teach the kid how to drive, we were on our way to the race. But then King Candy found me, and told me Vanellope would die if she won the race."
"Why?" Lucy asked curiously, but in her eyes showed worry.
"Because glitches can't leave their games is why." Vanellope replied. She had a sad expression written on her face, knowing what had happened that day.
"I-I had to...destroy her kart, after she gave me her own medal." Ralph continued fighting the urge to choke with tears, "I realized then that being a hero wasn't about winning a medal or trying to be someone you're not..."
"It's about being yourself, right?"
This time both he and Vanellope gaped in shock at Lucy. She gave a small smile and waited for someone to answer.
"Y-yeah, that's right." Ralph stammered, "But...how do you-"
"Know? Well...a very close childhood friend taught me that." Lucy replied.
Looking at her Ralph realized that she seemed to be distressed, as if something were haunting her. Though her expressions and emotions did not show it, for some reason he felt insdie that Lucy had gone through more pain and suffering than he had thought.
"Well, when I did find that out I came back here." he continued on, "Felix helped fix Vanellope's kart, and she was able to race.
But the bugs had multiplied in numbers, and had ambushed the starting line. I did my best to push them back but it was no use. I tried to get Vanellope out of the game, but she could not leave. That was when I thought of using a beacon from this mountain to destroy the bugs once and for all. I was willing to sacrifice myself to save her, my only friend who understood how I felt..."
Ralph stopped mid-sentence and sighed. Shaking his head he looked down upon the two sleeping girls, the kid having fallen asleep in her sponge cake bed while Lucy was sleeping peacefully on the ground next to her.
Getting up slowly, Ralph walked over to the two sleeping forms and yawned. He realized that he was now sleepy too. Well...at least we'll all get a good reset.
Taking one of the blankets that now replaced the candy wrappers from Vanellope's bed, he wrapped one around each of them. Vanellope snuggled into the blanket just after Ralph had put it on her. And when he covered Lucy with the other blanket, she did not move an inch but a satisfied smile spread across her sleeping face.
With another big yawn, he sat himself down against Vanellope's bed. Having sandwiched himself between the two girls Ralph gave into a sudden deep slumber.
His dreams were a blur, but the only dream that he could see was a repeated dream with the same girl in the bright, golden light. A dream that never left his mind, but a figure that he could not forget.
0 - 0 - 0 - 0
Lucy woke up with a start, realizing that she had fallen asleep.
"What happened? I only felt my eyes droop a little, and then next thing I know they were closed..."
Slowly she looked around the amazing big cavern that she could not believe was here. Finally her eyes focused on the two sleeping figures next to her. Vanellope was sleeping peacefully on a bed that looked like a small cake. She giggled to herself, finding the cake bed adorable to her. She then turned her eyes to Ralph's figure. He was deeply asleep as well, but instead he was leaning back against the bed instead of on the ground.
"That's a very odd way to sleep." Lucy thought to herself, smiling at the sleeping giant.
He breathed in slow and steady, his chest expanding out and in. Watching him made Lucy feel her face grow warm, as well as having her smile grow wider. In an instant, she felt her eyes grow heavy again with sleep.
Slowly she rubbed her eyes and sat up, the blanket around her collapsing a little from her shoulders. Drawing them closer to her, she ventured a little closer to Ralph. She suddenly trembled when she felt something inside flutter with joy.
"What is this feeling?" she wondered drawing closer to Ralph with each flutter she felt.
Lucy's heart was pounding as she finally had closed the gap between her and Ralph's sleeping figure. Without thinking, she leaned her tired head right onto his huge chest. As she lay still next to him, she thought that she could hear something warm beating inside.
It's faint, but...it feels very powerful and warm...
Suddenly she felt Ralph stir from his sleep. Lucy began to feel nervous, afraid of what he might think when he sees her head lying on his chest. But as Lucy open her eyes to look at him, she sighed in relief as Ralph had gone back to sleep, but not before she noticed that he had placed a big, warm hand gently around her middle.
Her whole face now felt hot as she gaped in shock at his hand. For some reason she never really got to see his huge hands up close, only when she was drawing them. But now she noticed that his hands were block-like. She gently touched them not wanting to wake him, and felt that the skin was very firm yet it had a softness to it. Though she was not cold, his huge hands were as warm as blankets that she did not need the one she had on her shoulders.
Feeling herself grow weary with sleep, Lucy smiled and placed her head once more on Ralph's heaving chest and fell into a rather peaceful sleep. All in the while not noticing that she was in fact glowing a golden light.
I am going to have so much fun writing more about Eris and Arren! I hope you guys liked it! Reviews are always appreciated. See you guys!