Chapter 8: Escaping and Evading

Morning dawned on a rotten Windbloom. Merchants bustled around busily, criers ran through the streets, gulls squawked- any other crisp day could be like this.

The King is dead. Long live the king.

Windbloom was teetering over the brink of destruction. Seers could feel it in their bones as they massed on street corners and pulled their shawls tighter around themselves. The proud guards that patrolled the city trembled almost unnoticeably. People milled around the market quarter, quietly going about their business.

Bang.

The musket shot was heard citywide. Stood in the throng of somber people was Sergay of Family Wang, an important political leader. The square hushed to listen to his message.

"People of Windbloom." He said, eyes steely. "Our King is dead."

-In a Forest East of Windbloom-

"I can almost feel it, Natsuki," Shizuru murmured, looking wistfully back at her city. "It shouldn't have to be like this. That Wraythe shouldn't have possessed Father. We shouldn't have to flee the city-"

"Shut up. Anyone could be listening." Growled the Halfling, hand nervously fidgeting with the pommel of her right-hand dagger. "And, for the record, you can say 'shouldn't' as many times as you like, but the situation won't change."

"I know," Shizuru sighed. "Where are we going?"

Natsuki's mouth curled into a grimace. "Where everyone who has no place in this kingdom goes."

A moment of silence enveloped them before Shizuru realized. "Barren's Plain…" she mused, trying it on her tongue. "It must be really hard for you to go back there."

"I lived there for four years. not much compared to Windbloom," Natsuki explained, voice quiet. " But I owe the place some of the most haunting memories of my life."

Shizuru shuddered as she remembered the memory Natsuki had shown her. Her cheeks reddened as she remembered how she had seen the vision: through a kiss with Natsuki. She felt her lips, feeling changed. More alive, and in some ways, world weary. The whole world stretched across her horizon, a prospect that filled her with glee; though this was contrasted with her regrets, her doubts, and the fact that her father was dead and she was running into the desert with his killer. The world was confusing.

Hey trudged through the forest for another couple of hours, Shizuru regretting skipping fencing and dance lessons because she was soon out of breath. After another two hours, in which there were only a total of 20 words spoken, the princess was exhausted.

"Um, Natsuki?" she gasped, leaning onto a tree. "Are we nearly there?"

Natsuki chuckled and checked the sky through the thin veil of green. "Well it's about another league to the village I want to stop at."

Shizuru perked up. "Good. Then we can stop at an inn. I'm near-dead." She mused, breathing normally as a thought occurred to her. "Do we get to share a bed?" an eyebrow rose suggestively.

Natsuki's cheeks redden. "Um… I like sleeping on the floor. It will be fine."

She turned on her heels and briskly walked off into the forest, leaving Shizuru to jog to catch up. "Shizuru." She said, voice weighted

"Yes, Natsuki?"

"We're going to Roedrenmon."

The silence was thick enough to cut with a dagger. Shizuru regained her speech first. "It's a long journey. Not even you can navigate the Plains by yourself."

"I know." She sighed, stepping over a buttress root. "We'll stow on a land vessel to either Twyr or En'Terrek- I know that the Alkatryz are welcoming, and liberal. We can pick up a party headed that side of the plain- it's southeasterly, so that would mean skirting around Host territory for about a tenday… ummm…" she struggled with the calculations. "If we make good time, about a month."

"A month of travel just to get to Roedrenmon? Isn't it just a swampy graveyard now?" Shizuru immediately regretted her words. Natsuki stopped and turned to her angrily.

"Yes, SHizuru. It's just a swampy graveyard. I'm just the last Halfling. It's my birthplace, my culture. It's my ancestors and their ancestors and the place where my Gods are most present. It's the last place I saw my mother, cradling my little brother as he cried at the screams. It's the last place I saw my father, a spear jutting from his back. It's the last place Halfling screamed with fear, with joy, with surprise. It's just a swampy graveyard, Shizuru."

"I didn't mean that!" Shizuru watched Natsuki run off into the forest, tears streaming form her eyes. "You stupid girl!" she scolded herself. "Stupid, stupid, spoilt brat."

She looked around. Wow… the forest looked very scary now Natsuki wasn't there to guide her. And she didn't know the way to the village.

"Drat."

Sorry, short, fillerish, but I'm back after a long time. TBD will be coming back tomorrow morning. It's 1am and I have an English coursework on much ado about nothing due Thursday that I haven't even thought about yet. Methinks the lady doth procrastinate too much! Was my comeback better than Michael Jackson's this month? Review!

~Emiri