FairyLyte: Alright, here is the next chapter of Halloween Fairytale! I'm very sorry for the delay.

Chapter 3

Ryoga was lying in his bed, grumbling about his loss. Bandages covered his arms, while smaller ones covered his face. It was stupid of him to fight that thing. That... demon. That was the only word that seemed to fit. What else could transform from wolf to man? What else could beat him so quickly, as if he were speed itself? Ryoga had spent much time in the courtyard back at the castle, practicing his swordsmanship. He was a master. He had beaten his own teacher in battle. So how? How did that demon beat him so soundly?

The door to his chambers opened, revealing a young werecat girl. She had soft, light brown fur, growing lighter as it reached the tips of her furry cat ears. She wore a dark brown dress, the skirt reaching down below her knees. Her eyes, however, were complete mystery, as they were lightly shut. She held a small box in her hands, which Ryoga recognized as the medical kit she used earlier, when she first bandaged his wounds. He sat up in his bed, wary of her.

The girl sensed his wariness. "There is no reason to worry. I will not harm you." she sat down on the bed, placing the box next to her. "Come," she said " your bandages must be changed."

Ryoga didn't move. "What makes you think I can trust you?" He asked.

The girl smiled. "Nothing. But I do know that if your wounds aren't treated, they will become infected, and you'll die. And since you were brave enough to fight for your sister's freedom, I doubt that you would be willing to leave her here alone. Please let me help you, Prince Ryoga."

Ryoga winced. The girl had a point. Reluctantly, he allowed her to take off the bandages. With quick preciseness, she cleaned the wounds on his arms and covered them with clean bandages. Ryoga wondered about the girl's skill. She was a beast. A beast from legend. What he thought to be things of that world were suddenly found to be true. But he couldn't fight back the girl. He had no form of protection. The only thing he could do was wait until the girl finished.

The girl finished in good time. She stood up, taking the box with her. In one quick moment, she had left the room.

With nothing else to do, Ryoga stood up and looked around the room, having not paid attention to it before. The room's walls were a dull grey, and purple drapes kept the light from outside from entering the room. Similar drapes decorated the sides of the bedstead, with black cords holding them back. The bedstead itself was made of mahogany, a flat roof covering the top of it. Next to the bed was a wardrobe and a small table. When Ryoga opened the wardrobe, he saw that there was a collection of clothes inside. The demon definitely had everything prepared. He also saw a chair in front of the window, to look out from if he wanted.

Ryoga turned, headed for the door, and took hold of the knob. He didn't want to look out a window. He was worried for his sister, and he was determined to find her.

With that, he opened the door, and left.

Rio's predicament and rooming weren't that different from her brother's. The only difference was the drapes. While Ryoga's room had purple drapes, she had blue. But she didn't spend much time looking at the room. She was worried for her brother. He was wounded when he was taken to his room, although he tried to hide the pain. How were they treating him? Were they caring for his wounds? These thoughts were making her sick with worry. She stopped pacing around her room and tried the door for the hundredth time. As always, it was locked. Giving up in defeat, she flopped on her bed. She had looked everywhere for something to unlock the door, but found nothing. She had tried to trick one of the servants into leaving the door open, but that never worked. It was the same servant each time; a middle aged, grey-furred werecat. And she would not be tricked. Rio had even resorted to throwing her food on the floor, hoping to annoy the werecat enough to forget about the lock. That plan was still in action. It just hadn't taken affect yet.

Rio jolted off the bed in alarm when she heard the knob being turned. Slowly, slowly, the door opened. But it wasn't the same person. The grey werecat had been replaced with a younger one.

The same one that tended to Ryoga's wounds.

However, instead of bandages, she held a tray of food in her hands. Rio grabbed one of the four rods on the bed. "What are you? Why are you here?" she asked.

The girl placed the tray on the table. "My name is Madelyn. I am a werecat. As for my being here, I noticed my friend was getting rather angry. When I learned the reason, I offered to do the job for her. Food doesn't come from nowhere, you know. You shouldn't have been doing that."

"Okay then, Madelyn. Where is my brother?"

"He is safe, and his wounds are treated. You shouldn't worry about him. You should be more worried about yourself. If you don't eat, you will get hungry, and if you remain that way, you will die. I do not want that to happen to you, or your brother. We can take care of you, but you also have to take care of yourselves. I will leave the tray here. Goodbye, Princess Rio." With that, she left, closing the door behind her.

Rio paced the room a bit longer before she picked up the tray. It held a meal of rice, soup, and bread, exactly what she threw to the floor the last three times. If the floor wasn't made of wood, it would have been much harder to clean. Rio looked at it a bit longer before eating it with the chopsticks she was given. It was tasty, contrary to what she thought. She was soon done with it, leaving the tray on the table she took it from. She went to the door, willing to try the lock one last time. She placed her hand on the knob, and smiled.

The door was unlocked.

Rio slowly snuck through the hallways in the castle. The castle was grand, even from where she was standing. There were many small, evenly spaced, pillars of white marble, reaching from the floor to the roof. In between every other space made by the pillars was an alcove, each containing a statue a little bigger than a human. They were all colored a soft grey, each one being a majestic dragon with mighty wings. However, that is where the resemblance ended. Each one was doing something different. One stood on his hind legs. One was curled up in a ball, similar to a dog, with his tail in front of his nose. Yet another was roaring on his hind legs, his front feet held in front of him, his wings fully outstretched. Though small, these mighty beasts completely transfixed Rio, who just stared in wonder.

"The craftsmanship is amazing," she said, reaching for the dragon in front of her, "I wonder who-"

She froze. The sounds of footsteps filled the room, urging Rio to retreat behind the roaring dragon, which she quickly did. She silently waited for the person to walk away, so she could continue finding her brother, but the footsteps slowed down to a stop. She began to hear them coming closer and closer, and Rio was trembling with fright. Did the person see her? Or hear her hide behind the dragon? In spite of herself, she let out a whimper.

And then wished she never had.

The footsteps stopped. Then they started to walk towards the statue she hid behind. Rio watched with terror as the persons hand came into sight, grabbed hers, and pulled her out from her hiding place. She began to scream, but was quickly stopped by the hand on her mouth. Feeling nothing but fear, Rio turned her head to face her captor.

Ryoga.

"You shouldn't scream. We don't want someone to find us, do we?" Rio stared with shock.

"Ryoga!" Rio jumped on him. "You're okay! I was looking for you."

"Of course I'm all right. What were you thinking?"

"That you were still hurt!" Rio got off of him, that glitter of happiness back in her eyes. Ryoga hadn't seen it since the attack, but then again, who could blame her? They didn't know for sure if their parents were alive or dead, though the latter seemed to make more sense. They heard their screams, they heard the men, it just all seemed so true. The only thing they didn't see was the bodies. The two didn't talk about it, but it was the only hope they had. The only hope to see their parents again. Ryoga turned around and started ahead, Rio's hand in his.

"Ry-Ryoga, where are we going?" Rio stammered.

Ryoga's answer was immediate. "Were going to find that demon."

Rio froze in her place, immediately pulling her hand from Ryoga's grip.

"No," she said, "you can't go there. Remember what he did to you. I won't let you do that again." She was adamant on her decision. She wouldn't let Ryoga fight that man. He was dangerous.

Ryoga turned towards his sister. "I'll do what I have to do to get us out," he said. "Alright, Rio?"

But as I said, she was firm. "Promise me you won't get hurt. If you do, I'll let you go." Ryoga stared at Rio for a minute, then nodded. He grabbed her hand and continued down the hall, a determined look set on his face.

'I'm going to find you, demon.' he thought, 'And you're going to release us both. I will not be trapped here for the rest of my life.'

FairyLyte: And that's the end of the chapter. Frozen Galaxy! Your turn.