Samurai Princess
Disclaimer: I don't own SDK or Swan Princess. Get that? All I own is how I made this story flow n my own flesh and blood. And even then I belong to my parents.
Chapter 4
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Kyo! Rise 'n shine sleepy head! Time for practice!" shouted a voice outside his bedroom door. Groaning Kyo roused himself swearing to kill the person who so rudely awakened him.
The door was flung open, "Kyo get your rotten half-baked, lacking substance, worm-ridden behind down there!" Okuni looked fierce. Then in the blink of an eye, she was composed again, "We are having a sit out and would like to monitor your progress." Kyo groaned again from his position on the floor. That was just another way of saying, "More prospective brides are here for you.".
'Great! I'm about to become her prized cow yet again!' he thought to himself acidly. He pulled something on and stepped out of his room, only to run into… "Benitora!" he growled.
"Move." Benitora raised an eyebrow, "I don't think you'd be wanting to go out in those clothes. Have you taken a look in the mirror yet?" Frowning Kyo popped a head back in his room. His eyes bulged, 'Was I really going to go down like this?' He had on pants that looked like they wee two sizes too small (no doubt his mother expected him to wear it to all functions, but he preferred his slightly looser pants), a purple doublet over his shirt and white leather shoes.
He jumped back into his room to change. Coming out he looked slightly more presentable to himself. "Let's go," he muttered. Benitora laughed.
"Going to be the meat that is ogled again are you?" crowed Benitora.
"Not if I can help it!"
Stomping down the stairs into the parlor, Kyo burst out the doors onto the lawn. "KYO!" came the inhuman shriek. He stopped dead, there with his mother stood the positively most princessy princess he had ever seen!
"Kyo this is Princess Lian. We are just dying to see your performance today!"
Kyo didn't hear his mother. His eyes were dilated in horror as he watched the princess curtsey. Slapping on a polite smirk (though he reallt didn't know how polite a smirk was), He took the girl's hand and kissed the back of it saying a gracious, "M'lady."
Even with that little the girl flushed crimson to her toes. 'Well, I see we have a virgin here. Mmm… maybe something good will come out of this after all.' The 'GO DIE!' look Queen Okuni sent him though didn't do much to encourage those ideas. Sighing Kyo excused himself and took the conventional route to the practice field. It was less scenic and the route most of the staff used, though when Kyo was trying to escape someone he often secreted himself away there.
The book he had read yesterday had really meddled with his thoughts. He finally realized what it was that King Migeira had meant. 'Yuya…' Kyo stopped a while tolook at a path he knew led to a fountain somewhere in the gardens. That was the place Yuya had first stood up to him- she had pushed both he and Benitora into the water after they put a handful of worms into her undergarment's drawer. He was one step closer to finding her.
The he was on the practice grounds and had no more time for thought. He grabbed one of the swords throwing it into the air and deftly catching it by the hilt "Shall we begin gentlemen?" asked Kyo, his characteristic smirk upon his face. The musicians who were doubling as his sparring partners cowered fearfully. Benitora then strode forth, "Geeze Kyo! Come on! I'll bet I will beat you this time."
"GO PRINCE KYO!" came the squeals form the audience of twenty or so ladies.
The two opponents on the field ignored them. "Very well useless. Let's get this over with. First draw in the most fatal place?" Benitora just got into stance and prepared to charge.
(A/N: Since I am not able to describe a fight scene in detail…)
We are a band
and not a band of animals
This masquerade
Is more than I can bear
There goes my reputation
It's awful this humiliation
And I've the lion's share
Now that the musicians had finished grumbling after putting on their protective gear they were ready. Sufficiently bulked up only very little skin could be seen. Reason being, when the two young men started to compete, things could get bloody. Akira, who had decided to postpone his trip with Tokito was observing the match. He raised his arm and brought it down, swiftly jumping out of the way saying, "Begin."
Day after day all the Prince ever does is
practice, practice, practice
Thinking of her and the way that it was
Practice, practice, practice!
The swords that Benitora were not in the least dangerous. They were blunted metal that wad a cavity which released a colored paint whenever the blade was hit, so the only things the Musicians would have to do after that would be to take a nice long bath. It was also clear to see the more skilled of the two friends was Kyo. Probably fueled on by his own determination to become better to find someone.
He's not happy 'til he has attacked us
Day after day all the prince ever does
Is practice, practice, practice
Thinking of her and the way that it as
Practice, practice, practice
If we refused then he would have sacked us
So we face a life of target
Practice, practice, practice
PRACTICE!
"Time!" shouted Akira. "Animals! Assemble for counting." Tallying the points Akira announced, "Very good Kyo, a total of 298. And Benitora, my eyes must be deceiving me, a 300?" Benitora's face held a smug grin, "Well Kyo, you can't win all the time." Kyo's smirk still didn't disappear.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that. Bend down." Quizzically Beitora bent over and heard Akira laughing. Why you ask? There was a bright red splotch of paint on Benitora's head. "Kyo wins!" Akira announced doubled over with laughter. Benitora and Kyo shook hands and customarily, they would have gone to join the people on the trrrace, but today the group seemed particularly ravenous and Kyo knew for a fact that Benitora was going to beg food from Mahiro. The ravenous hunger of the women was not caused by the lack of food.
After five yeard of having to put up with princesses, Kyo was convinced they were cannibals. They were acting as though they were starver of Prime Prince Chops! Scary thought! So Kyo did the only sane thing that came to mind, he fled to the library. Besides he needed to do more research. Sadly, his thoughts caught up to him as soon as he walked in. He remembered when Yuya had first disappeared, everytime he passed the library, he kept thinking he saw her inside reading, it had been her favourite place. Then he had seen all those Princesses and he was wondering now, 'Is she alright?'
Three hours or so of research later and Kyo went downstairs for lunch.He was just dying to tell Benitora and Mahiro of his recent findings and wanted to know their opinion on the subject.
- - - - - - - - - -
The moon was just rising, it's reflection bouncing across the lake before an ominous castle when a fire-bird, a phoenix alighted on the water. In a flash of blinding light, where the phoenix once floated, now stood a cat-eyed, blonde beauty. "Yuya, I shall ask you again."
'Ugh! It's Nobunaga' "Yuya, will you or will you not consent to being my wife." Yuya turned her back on him, the pink skirts of her dress swishing around her legs.
"Very well my little songbird. But no one will find you here. And even if they did… They would die eventually. Too soon to declare undying love for you." With that parting warning Nobunaga left. Yuya knew it was becoming more unsafe by the day to resist her captor. For 8 years, Nobunaga had relentlessly persisted. He only wanted her father's kingdom, but Yuya had been brought up better. Should she be announced dead, Queen Okuni would take over her father's kingdom and care for it's inhabitants.
Meanwhile, she had to figure out some way to break the curse. Every night, when the moonlight touched the lake, Yuya had to be o it for the transformation to occur. She would shed her cursed form of a phoenix and would become this amazing 20-year-old that stood on the bank now.
"Yuya-san, Kyoshiro-san would like to inform you that he would be glad to rip Nobunaga's guts out." Yuya smiled, "Thank you Yukimura, but please inform Kyoshiro-san that I am fine." No doubt, it would be useless to converse with him now that he was muttering and cursing, the only person who would be able to reach him would be Sakuya who was already trying to do just that. Yuya spared one lat look at the other princess then turned to Yukimura.
"Time for our lesson." Yukimura nodded and threw a long stick to her. Unbeknownst to Nobunaga, aside form sitting and brooding, over the eight years, Yuya had been becoming steadily more proficient in swordplay.
Though they could never get their hands on a real sword, sticks worked just fine. The princess in fact was the guardian of the lake. Another fact Nobunaga didn't know. Neither did he know where the last Muramasa was kept. Though a phoenix wasn't an aquatic bird, Yuya was able to dive underwater. Why? To check on the treasure she was supposed to guard. Tenro… The Last True Muramasa that Nobunaga had yet to find. Let him keep searching all the countries, she wasn't about to surrender her only ticket out of there!
Yukimura attacked and Yuya similarly parried.
"Yuki!" she dragged his name out in a whine, "You promised never to spar until I was wearing proper clothes!"
Yukimura arched an eyebrow, "Why Yuya-san, if you wanted to divest all your clothes, please, be my guest…"
Yuya glared at him, then attacked. Now that she was running on her ire, it would be some time before she let up. Kyoshiro and Sakuya sat on the sidelined cheering the fighters on. Gradually they slowed down and finally stopped. Yuya and Sakuya went off a ways to allow Yuya to bathe with some privacy.
After removing all her clothes, Yuya gingerly stepped into the hot spring. She leaned back against the boulder behind her and sighed. "Kyo…" she murmured. A giggle came form opposite her.
"What's so funny Sakuya?"
GIGGLE
"Nothing Yuya-san. It's just you might have thought that with Kyo-sama's twin here you might have forgotten about him. But you are faithful to his memory, aren't you?"
Yuya just sighed again. Father… Mahiro… Queen Okuni… Benitora… Kyo… No one would know how she felt. Not even Kyo. Knowing him he would be off gallivanting with some village girl adding to the scandal of the royal family. Sakuya was right, it was time to move on… But how could she do that? Unknowingly, when she was younger, she had wholeheartedly given her heart and love to her betrothed. Each summer when she returned to his castle, it was the most painful times of her life as well as the most joyous.
If I could break this spell
I'd run to him today
But somehow I know
He's on his way to me
Kyo, you and I were meant to be (A/N: I know it doesn't rhyme. Sorry but I couldn't very well put in Derek!)
The first time Yuya had laid eyes on the spoilt Prince she had hated him. No child was happy to know that their parents already determined their spouse before they learned to walk! However, as she was a princess, she was prepared to behave cordially. Kyo on the other hand was perfectly happy to play the little villain. He had almost succeeded in transforming her life to a living hell. Then she had started to fight back.
Far longer than forever
Similarly, the object of Yuya's thoughts was also thinking about her. He reflected on how she must look after almost nine years. Would puberty have been kind to her and gotten rid of any unwanted bulk? Would she be graceful of pudgy? Learned or dumb? But most importantly, would she still remember him?
Far longer than forever
As both adults pondered each other late into the night, the wantonness in them increased by the second. It was too much! It was as though each other was right there in front of them, but someone was deliberately pulling a veil across their eyes. Each thought the other had forgotten, and the fear limited their connection. Neither wanted to appear and suddenly be rejected.
Kyo knew that he could stay in the castle and marry any of the girls his mother chose for him. The weren't not beautiful, they were downright stunning and without a doubt be able to outshine Yuya, but it just didn't feel right. He would grow up and realize that though he had a perfect life, that extra ingredient was missing.
Yuya knew she could stay in the forest and would be well provided for, but that nigging sense of adventure that she had within her would torment her the rest of her life. She would continuously wonder whether had she taken an alternative choice, would her life become easier and better. Hopefully with someone she loved. But there was one thin the prince and princess held in common, they had already bestowed their heart and anyone else fell short of their needs.
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler long I stood
and look down one as long as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth
Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
For it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And I- I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference
A/N: Thx to all my reviewers. By the end of oct expect another story. One-shot but very long. An Esca fanfic. Now I need someone to type it for me. Yea sorry about the song part. I luv all you readers! Never forget! This is taking longer than anticipated. I should be able to fin by the end of the year. I do hope so. BB!