ThePenandtheSword-I'm glad you found in funny. The rice part was my favorite too. It actually fit into the second draft of the chapter better (that was really the third) but I made it fit, I just wanted to put it in so bad :P
Agony-Howl-Some people will call him by his 'real name'. Some people will call him Raguna. Mostly, he'll probably be called Raguna.
It's a good testimony to my laziness to say that, as I write this chapter, there are now 33 days until Rune Factory Frontier comes out. Hopefully, by the time this story is posted I'll know what the heck is up with Mist Gun (cue confusion among non-Fairy Tail readers)
Chapter 2
Greed cave was, in its own unique way, a wonderful place. That was the best Raguna could describe it as. Something about caves drew him to them, but none were so enticing for him as Greed. Sure, Misty Bloom was beautiful, but it was also inaccessible at the current moment.
The taste of soy sauce was stuck in his mouth. He'd stopped at every opportunity along the way to drink as much water as he could, but it didn't seem to be enough. On top of that, he probably drank something contaminated on his way there since his stomach was bothering him now. Or maybe that was still just the soy sauce? Either way, his stomach was bothering him and it made it hard focus on which direction he was going.
He got lost an unusually large number of times as he made his way through the cave. Eventually finding that he had to set up camp sleep there for the night.
The next morning he was feeling better, but deeply regretted not packing extra food with him. So as not to starve to death, he resolved to get Mist's request over with quickly and be on his way.
Still, even with this new determination, it wasn't until high noon that he actually found the monster she'd been hoping for.
Why she wanted a Mini Dragon, he didn't know. If he had to guess, it had been a slowly increasing desire since Terrable had saved the town, and she couldn't resist it any longer. Or maybe she thought it would help him get over his fear of dragons which existed only in her own mind after his last fight in Greed cave. Be it one of those two reasons or something completely random, it was what Mist wanted, and since Raguna was like her little lap dog, it was what he was doing.
Humorously enough, Raguna felt no romantic affection for Mist, and was completely unaware of how easily she controlled him (though Mist just saw it as asking for favors).
The dragon he came across was incredibly stubborn, but he finally managed to send it back to the hut on his farm. With this task accomplished, and his escape spell conveniently missing, he began his long walk home.
Waiting at the crossroad was something unexpected. The first person in the group Raguna spotted there was Godwin, who was timidly greeting a total stranger dressed entirely in silk. Probably the king everyone had been talking about. The third person looked very familiar, but it took Raguna a moment to recognize him. It was Ivan. Ivan with his hair done up differently and in nicer clothing.
Ivan spotted him and made increasingly more obvious gestures for him to scram. Both the king and Godwin looked at him like he was behaving extraordinarily oddly. The king's back was to Raguna, but Godwin was just barely facing the right way to spot Raguna by following Ivan's gaze, and he beckoned for the amnesiac to come over.
Now Raguna was at a loss for what to do. Ivan told him to go-had even warned him the previous day to stay away, but Godwin was telling him to come, and running would be rude.
Now, with so much attention directed behind him the king turned around and his jaw dropped. Ivan gave up and looked away.
"Raguna, come over here" Godwin said out loud.
Raguna did as he was told, coming over and standing next to Godwin.
"That's…" The king stared at him.
"Gilbert, this is Raguna. He's the boy who helped us out with the Sech" Godwin smiled "We were truly blessed the day he wandered into this town"
"Wandered… into… this town?"
Gilbert looked like he was about to pass out from lack of oxygen, but Godwin, who was used to seeing Felicity look a little sick but still working had come to view it as normal to see someone so pale "Yes. Lost his memories. Mist found him at the edge of the town and he's been helping us out ever sense. He's like a gift from god"
Ivan looked like he didn't know if he should laugh, groan, or flee.
"Ch…" Gilbert reached out and brushed Raguna's banes back before moving his hand away and letting the boy's hair fall back down "Chairo?"
"Okay. This meeting gone on long enough" Ivan said, grabbing Raguna and starting to pull him away "Raguna, come on, I have something to show you-"
"Chairo, that is you, isn't it? Ivan, why didn't you tell me?" Gilbert accused.
"What are you talking about, grandfather?" Ivan asked with a falsely sweet voice, stopping and looking back at his relative with a fake smile "I told you-I met a boy who looked like my brother. He does look like my brother, doesn't he?" Raguna's eyes widened, and he stared at Ivan in shock.
"Ivan, you know what I mean" Gilbert said "Your habit of dancing around the truth is annoying. Of course he looks like himself."
"Now, grandfather…"
Gilbert extended his hand towards Raguna, ignoring Ivan completely "Chairo… will you return to the capital with me?"
XXXXX
Everyone sat in the bar. Their expressions went from people who were mildly surprised, like Mei, to people who were in a total state of shock, like Bianca who couldn't believe the farmer boy she'd treated like a peasant was a member of the royal family.
"So that's the whole story" Godwin finished. He was the only person standing. Everyone else had sat down, mostly for fear of passing out, though some just didn't feel like standing. Even Raguna, who already knew the whole thing and had several hours to let it sink in, had been sinking further and further into a daze the whole time.
Mist, the one person who seemed completely unfazed by this-most likely because she'd always had such high expectations of him-had spent the speech trying to snap Raguna out of his trance. This included the basics like snapping fingers and varying amounts of shaking to dumping teriyaki sauce over Raguna's head. This was why, when Ivan entered the bar dressed as he normally was, Raguna's hair was off colored and sticky.
For the sake of keeping up his regular routine, Godwin had been sworn into secrecy about Ivan's relation to the royal family. Raguna's had to be brought up though, because no one would accept anything but the truth if he'd just announced he was leaving without giving a reason.
"I thought I'd come by when I heard Raguna would be leaving"
This snapped Raguna out of his trance "I'm leaving?"
"We already went over this with you" Godwin said "Twice"
"We… did?" Raguna blinked "Sorry. My mind kind of froze when the king recognized me"
Ivan should have recognized then that the transition would not be easy.
"Well, if Raguna has to leave…" Mist said thoughtfully "Then let's send him off with a bang! We'll through a goodbye party for him. And then we'll all visit him in the capital when he least expects it! We'll need a really out there place to celebrate… like… Mt Gigant! We can clear out the monsters ahead of time!"
And this was when Raguna should have realized that something was going to go horribly wrong.
OXXXXXO
Rune Caster: Gah. I got stuck forever on what to write next about 3 paragraphs from the end.
Raguna's 'real name' is just the japanese word for brown. I thought it made a decent name, and he has brown hair, so it works.
by the way, I did get RRF before posting chapter 1. It rocks.
