Strange Journey
By Phoenix Hoshika
Part VI
Ryu didn't say a word as he and the young woman sailed across the sky. From the expression on her face it seemed she was concentrating rather hard on keeping afloat and at their height he was worried saying something to her might break that concentration and they would plummet to the earth. Though in dragonized form Ryu had an extraordinarily high threshold for injury and pain he was not too eager to find out exactly how far those limits could be pushed so he kept his mouth shut and didn't move an inch as she carried him. It was a while before he allowed himself to slowly turn his head to look down. He watched as they flew rather fast over the birds and clouds. After a few minutes this only served to make him nervous so he faced forward again. His eyes widened as he felt her arms loosen around his waist then tighten again. From the look on her face Ryu was pretty certain she was asleep, but could not be 100 percent sure since her eyes were still very much open.
"Miss Taiko?" Ryu uttered nervously, but received no response. "Miss Taiko?" Ryu said again and what he was dreading the most happened. Taiko's wings stopped moving and they started to fall and as they did Ryu's mind went into a thoughtless slumber. Using Dragon's Breath Ryu was able to slow their fall enough so that they landed on their feet, however for about a mile the land around them was charred to a crisp.
"Gotta keep going, gotta keep going." Taiko thought as she fought to stay airborne. Though she had managed to get into the sky she had no clue how to land. Looking down and finding that she had somehow flown over the troposphere caused her heart to race with worry at the thought of what might happen if she tried to touch the ground. Seeing a mountain in the distance Taiko flew as fast as she knew how to reach it thinking that landing on a mountain would be safer than trying to land thousands of feet below; however, the mountain was further away than she realized and after some hours of flying Taiko was becoming extremely exhausted.
"He's heavy." Taiko thought looking down at the young dragon who looked back up at her. "He looks like he wants to say something. Probably wondering, why doesn't this dummy land already?" Taiko thought as she kept her gaze focused on the mountain. "You see, I'd love to, but I'm new to this flying thing and I'm afraid if I try to land that we'll just end up making a mess on the ground. Don't worry it will all be over soon. You were nice enough to bust me out of that prison so once I get the hang of this flying thing I could give you a lift back to your home. It would be convenient if your home was in that mountain over there…" Taiko thought as she started dreaming the mountain she was headed toward contained a village of beings that looked similar to the one she was carrying. Taiko was so far gone she didn't hear him call her name or realize that she was on the ground when she woke up.
They had just landed when Taiko's eyes slowly started to open. Still half asleep and believing that they were still in the air. Taiko tightened her arms around his waist and started screaming. "I'm sorry! We're gonna die!" She had even come to tears as she braced herself for a sudden death impact that would never happen. Feeling the charred ground beneath her feet Taiko opened her eyes and sweat dropped. "Oh." She uttered as she lifted her head from Ryu's shoulder, who had unconsciously hugged her in an effort to calm her down, and looked around. Her face turned beat red from embarrassment. "Sorry about that." Taiko said avoiding eye contact.
Waking up from his trance Ryu looked at Taiko with concern. "Are you okay?" He asked as Taiko removed her arms from around him. She looked as if she was going to answer, but her expression went completely blank and the color drained from her face.
In all the commotion it totally went unnoticed, but as Taiko loosed her grasp on the dragon she noticed that the series of scales that ran down his body from the waist to the knees were in fact not pants, but his skin.
"He's naked!" Taiko thought, her heart nearly stopping. After taking a few wobbly steps back Taiko finally answered his question. "I'm fine." She said abruptly turning her back to him.
"And your wrist and ankle how are they doing?" Ryu asked taking notice of the bandages around her left ankle and right wrist.
"Ummm, it's nothing just a couple of sprains." Taiko answered nervously.
"You're arm…"
"Huh?" Taiko said turning around then back again. "What? What, do you mean?"
"It looks swollen."
"Yes, I have been rough on it." Taiko thought as she cradled it. "It would be doing much better, like my ankle, if I had taken better care of it."
"Let me take a look at it."
"No!" Taiko hastily answered. "I mean, no, I can take care of it myself. Thank you for your help back there."
"You're welcome." Ryu answered.
"Well good bye." Taiko said feeling his eyes on her back. "I'd offer to fly you back to your home or something, but as you can see I'm no good at it, so you'd be better off walking." Taiko said shortly wishing she could show more gratitude. "Well, see you around." Taiko said keeping her back turned.
"Right. Good bye then." Ryu said then turned to walk away when he heard something fall heavily to the ground.
"Miss Taiko." Ryu said rushing over to her to find that she was fast asleep. Picking her up Ryu begin walking northeast in hopes of finding other people.
By the time Taiko woke up it was the middle of the night. Judging from the soft orange light and warmth Taiko thought she was by a fire. When she realized she was actually laying on the ground in front of Ryu lap she was on her feet and had was two arms lengths away from him in a matter of seconds. Taiko panicked when she saw the flames emanating from his claws and back. "YOU'RE ON FIRE!" Taiko yelled franticly. Then she grabbed up a huge pile of snow and would have dumped it on him if he had not said anything.
"No, it's okay." Ryu said turning off the flames. "See?" He said smiling.
"Taiko dropped the snow and looked at him wide eyed. "How did you… When did you learn how to… How did you do that?" Taiko stammered.
"Not sure, I just can."
Taiko took a step back as Ryu came closer to her. "What's wrong?" He asked noticing her finicky behavior.
"Should I just say it or should I just keep my mouth shut?" Taiko thought as she looked at the snow covered ground and trees then shivered. "So, when did all this happen?" Taiko asked continuing to shiver.
"Just within the hour, The sky became dark and all this fluffy ice fell down."
"Fluffy ice?" Taiko grinned. "You talk like someone who's been underground all their life." Ryu hung his head and Taiko gasped realizing that he actually had been.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I mean I didn't know." Taiko said grabbing his hand.
"It's okay." Ryu said raising his gaze to meet hers.
"What is it?" Taiko asked noticing the quizzical look on his face.
"What do you call this fluffy ice then?"
"Snow."
"Ah!" Ryu said running over to a pile of snow and unearthing some planets. "And these, what are these?" He asked bringing them to her.
"Those are flowers." Taiko asnswered still shivering.
"Flowers…" Ryu repeated looking down at the planets he had pulled up by their roots remembering how Nina loved weaving them into her hair. "And you, what are you Miss Taiko?" He asked looking up at her.
"Miss… Taiko?"
"That isn't your name?"
"Well yes it is, but without the Miss." Taiko said rubbing her hands together. "I can't stand it when people call me Miss, but for some reason it sounds cute when he says it." Taiko thought blushing. "What the heck is wrong with me?" She thought beratingly.
"Are you alright, Taiko?" Ryu asked putting the dead flowers down from where he got them.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Taiko answered trying not to shiver. "Just a little cold."
"You're not cold?" Ryu asked walking over to her.
"Actually I am." Taiko chuckled. "I'm freezing!"
"Sorry." Ryu said as his body once again became illuminated by the flames coming from his hands, feet and back. "Does this help?"
"Yes, it helps a lot!" Taiko answered sighing with relief as she kneeled down by a pile of snow. "This is your first time seeing snow right?"
"Yes."
"Here have a snow ball." Taiko said handing him a small ball of snow that melted as soon as it touched his hands. "Oh, dear. Here, try this, open your mouth." Taiko said cheerfully.
"You want me to eat it? Are you sure it isn't polluted?"
"Polluted?" Taiko said looking up at the clear sky and thinking of the smoggy city she once lived in. "No, I don't think it's polluted at all." She said making another small snow ball then eating it. "In fact I think it's much cleaner than the snow is where I come from. I always wanted to try this, but the water was too polluted in my world so I never did. This can be a first experience for both of us." Taiko stated then made another snow ball. "Now open wide."
"Right." Ryu said closing his eyes and opening his mouth. His eyes snapped open when he felt a huge ball of snow being stuffed into it.
"I'm sorry." Taiko chuckled. I couldn't help myself. You opened your mouth so wide I'm sure a train could have fit into it."
Ryu sweat dropped then swallowed. "Was it really that big?"
"Huh? No, way, but it was wide enough for me to see down into your throat that's for sure." Taiko continued to tease and Ryu sweat dropped again. "Hey don't over react. I did say 'open wide' after all."
"Right…" Ryu said still feeling self conscious. "So, Taiko the water and the snow that fell by that large building was polluted?"
"You mean the castle? No you misunderstood. I said where I come from."
"You're not from this world either?" Ryu asked perplexed.
"No, and you?" Taiko asked and Ryu shook his head. "Then what he told me was true…" Taiko sighed.
"The other one with wings? What did he say?"
"It was right before he died, he told me that there were no other people on this planet, that we were the only two. Of course when I saw you I was certain he was lying but now…"
"Well if I ended up here and you ended up here, then maybe other people some how have ended up here." Ryu said hopefully.
"I don't think so." Taiko said causing an awkward silence to fall between them before she spoke again. "But you said you just got here right? So, there must be a way off of this rock! So, how did you do it?"
"Huh?"
"How did you get here?"
"I was hoping you'd tell me how you got here."
"I don't know how I got here cuz that bastard, God rest his soul, knocked me out and the next thing you know I was waking up in the forest somewhere. Don't tell me that's what happened to you too?"
"I was pushed through a hole."
"What!" Taiko exclaimed.
"I was pushed through a hole." Ryu repeated shaking his head. "After that I don't remember a thing except for waking up here."
"…Oh…" Taiko said falling silent. "Damnit! How did that pampas jerk get me here? If I knew that then maybe I could figure out a way to leave." Taiko thought as she heard the roar of some strange beast in the distance. Not thinking Taiko grabbed Ryu. "I can't believe I just hugged a naked guy." Taiko thought realizing what she just did.
"Don't worry about it. If something attacks us I'll take care of it." Ryu assured in an effort to calm the frightened girl.
"Great, now he thinks I'm a coward." Taiko thought stepping away from him. "Listen I'm not scared it just surprised me is all."
"Okay." Ryu smiled as he sat on the ground. He knew she was lying. He couldn't explain it but somehow Ryu could smell the fear radiating from her so thick he could almost tasted it. Usually being able to sense such a thing from other people disturbed him because usually he was the thing they were afraid and wanted to destroy for that reason, that is, if it was possible to destroy the destroyer. When Taiko clung to him for that brief moment Ryu felt almost human again, something he hadn't felt in a long time. Even when not in dragonized form ever since Ryu merged with the dragon Odjn he could feel the giant rift that existed between him and normal people. For a moment he wondered if it was because Taiko was not human herself the reason she wasn't afraid of him. Either way he couldn't help, but smile at the fact that for once he was being treated as a person and not a monster.
"Stop laughing, I wasn't scared." Taiko protested
"Alright." Ryu said still grinning.
"Look you." Taiko said kneeling down in front of him with a serious look on her face then sighed. "What is your name anyway?"
Ryu only smiled. Maybe the sudden noise in the dead of night had frightened her, but he could honestly believe she wasn't much afraid of anything else by the way she was staring him down. Not Lin or even Nina would come anywhere within arms' reach of him while he was in dragonized form, but this girl had carried him half way across the sky and was closer to him then he thought any person would dare come.
"You're weird." He said laying down on his side his back still ablaze.
"Huh?" Taiko thought debating on whether or not to be angry by the comment, but put it aside when she noticed he was trying to go to sleep. "Hey! Don't go to sleep. I asked what your name is." Taiko demanded.
"Ryu… 1/8192." He answered falling asleep.
"Huh?" Taiko uttered. "What kind of a name is that? 1/8192…is he a convict or something… a soldier maybe?" Taiko thought as she looked down at him and sighed again. "I'll ask him in the morning." She then stood and laid down on the ground about five feet away from him. A few minutes later Taiko heard another roar and shot up.
Ryu opened his eyes when he felt something blocking the air in front of him. "Taiko?"
"Okay, some things freak me out, but I'm not scared." Taiko said laying down again. "And besides it's too cold over there."
"Right.' Ryu said trying to mask a giggle.
"Stop laughing." Taiko groaned.
"I can't help it you're so funny.' Ryu said laughing out loud. He honestly found it amusing that Taiko was afraid of the noises in the dark more than she was of him, especially since he was afraid of himself. Unable to return to human form he was afraid he'd go into another trance and possibly kill the girl who had so easily befriended him. Even so, that was a fear he kept to himself, hidden in the back of his mind under a veil of denial stubbornly believing he would never do such a thing based upon the fact that he had never hurt Lin or Nina, but as much as they stayed away from him while in dragonized form he stayed away from them believing if he didn't he would hurt them regardless. "I don't want to believe that I'm really capable of being that kind of monster." Ryu thought resting his hand on Taiko's shoulder to confirm with himself that every living he came into physical contact with didn't die some horrible death.
"What is it?" Taiko asked opening her eyes when she felt the scaly hand against her skin. The touch had startled her out of the slumber she had slipped into a few seconds before.
"….it's nothing. I'm sorry." Ryu said hesitantly.
Taiko didn't believe it was nothing, but let it go in hopes of finally getting a genuine good night's rest, even if it was on the cold unyielding ground, because for once she felt she could actually close her eyes and not worry about anything.
…To Be Continued…