Ryumiko jumped a little as all of a sudden the quiet room echoed a cacophany of outcry and confusion. In their distraction, she felt it might be okay to look up at the Leaders, to see what was going on. They were all talking loudly amongst themselves gesturing at each other, Akinobu, sometimes her. Some showed panic on their faces, some fear, some anger. As her eyes scanned across the room, she ended up locking eyes with the warm orange-brown ones of Lord Natsuo. Her eyes widened as she realised she had been caught lifting her eyes towards the Leaders, but came to notice that Lord Natsuo was the only Leader in the room that was not engaged with conversation with anyone and was instead gazing intensely at her.
"My children, be calm," rang out Akinobu's voice, causing everyone to be still and Ryumiko's head to snap back down. "It should not be suprising to find Yubaba has prevented me from returning to you completely as we have discerned just now."
The Eldest stood with a short nod, "You are correct. In the meantime, what do you suggest, Great One?"
Ryumiko was sure she saw Akinobu's glow momentarily brighten with the title before he floated back to her, resting on her shoulders.
"I shall remain with the girl Ryumiko," he declared.
She could hear the murmurs of apprehension float around her, confirmed by the disapproving drawl of Lord Raiden, "And what qualifications does this human have that make her more eligible to be your caretaker than any of us? We are the Leaders of this Clan!"
Ryumiko would have sent a sharp glare towards the black haired lord of the south at the insinuation she was inadequate in some way, however Akinobu required her to keep focused.
"Ryumiko is a dragon spirit and has already proven a suitable caretaker," Akinobu stated.
"How is that possible? She is clearly a human!" Lord Raiden spat back.
"Her mother kept her in the world of the living by means of storing her in the body of a stillborn child," Akinobu explained.
When a few exclaims of disbelief started to rise, the Eldest calmed them by addressing her once again, "Child, can you please authenicate these claims of being one of the dragon spirits?"
She took a shaky breath, "Yes."
"Would you mind showing us?" he asked.
Ryumiko flicked a nervous glance at Akinobu, who returned an encouraging nod. Exhaling deeply, she lightly touched the silver chain around her wrist allowing her human guise to slip away. She held her breath as that feeling of steel coated her skin, warmth spreading from her inside out and the unmistakable feel and sound of her hair slithering down her back to brush against the floor. When the changes settled, she opened her eyes cautiously, hyper aware of the gasps of incredulity and hit by the sudden intensity of all of her now heightened senses. With all the willpower she had, she stifled the instinct to choke on the scents and tastes in the air and stood tall. Nervously, Ryumiko wondered how they'd be able to tell she was a dragon spirit when she didn't have a dragon form, but Akinobu filled in the gaps for her.
"It is indeed a marvellous wonder that one of our kind has been unknowingly residing in the realm of the living for so long..." the Eldest mused quietly, something she probably wouldn't have heard without being in her spirit form.
Lord Raiden however remained unconvinced, his white eyes boring into her fiercely as he spat, "Just because she has proven to be a spirit does not make her one of us!"
"Ryumiko has been confirmed by both myself and the sorceress Zeniba to be of dragon descent. As for her humanoid appearance, she has yet to unveil her beastly form due to years of containment in the Living world. Her body is slowly adjusting to accommodate the change," Akinobu lied. When no-one had anything left to dispute, he continued, "Seeing as you now have confirmation of Ryumiko's status as a dragon spirit, she and I request her welcome into the Clan as a permanent addition."
The Eldest spoke, "I shall grant your request willingly, Great One. All that is required is for one of the leaders to accept her into their-"
"I shall accept the girl," offered Lord Natsuo, cutting off the end of the Eldest's sentence.
The abruptness of the Clan Leader's acceptance caused Ryumiko to quickly tilt her head up to look at the dragon. His copper eyes were fixed pointedly and purposefully on the Eldest's own orange ones. Wondering what this meant, she instinctively turned to look at Retsu, who was also staring at the Lord of the Fortress, Natsuo.
"Then it is settled," the Eldest announced. "I welcome you, Ryumiko of the central dragons and carer of the Clan's power as a member of the Dragon Clan."
As Retsu, Yukaoi, Akinobu and Ryumiko all waited outside of the hall for the servants to take them to their rooms, Ryumiko contemplated what had just happened in a daze.
'Akinobu? Did I just get adopted?' she asked.
'Technically speaking, yes you did,' he answered in a matter-of-factly manner.
'What does that mean for me?'
'That you are now protected by the Clan, in particular the Central dragons, simple.'
'Doesn't that mean that I'm obligated to stay in the Spirit World?'
'Not necessarily. Unless Lord Natsuo decides to start a war with someone or another division of the Clan.'
'Okay... Just so you know, I'm trusting you.'
'I know little one.'
She sighed in mild resignation and leaned her head back against the wall she was sitting against. She was situated between the two dragon siblings, Yukaoi discussing something with another dragon on her left, a servant she presumed, and Retsu stood while leaning against the marble wall on her right. Akinobu had suggested she remained in her spirit form for a while, so she had the ends of her stupidly long hair piled up in her lap so as not to have anyone trip over with it as she took in the scent of the fortress. Though the smell of pine and wood fires was strong and almost overbearing, her senses had become somewhat used to the change... or she had at least accustomed enough to make it just bearable. However, it didn't stop her from jumping when Retsu's voice cut through the silence.
"So you belong to the central dragons now?" he asked.
"Ah! Um - Ye-Yeah, I guess so... Retsu?"
"Mm?"
"Why do you think Lord Natsuo agreed to take me in so quickly?" she asked, beginning to nervously comb through her hair with her hands.
Retsu sighed, having already wrestled with this question. "I do not know. Lord Natsuo is and always has been a rather reserved character, he doesn't have any relatives nor has he ever taken a mate so I do not understand why he was so eager to add you to the central dragons. However his abilities as a leader of wisdom and strength have been a great asset to the Clan. I suppose he must have reasons of his own... You could ask him now."
She raised a quizzical eyebrow at his suggestion, until she noticed the sound of loud, purposeful footsteps getting closer. She turned her head the other way to see the lord striding straight in their direction.
'Stand up you fool.'
Hearing the 'subtle suggestion' about her conduct, Ryumiko hurried to her feet as the lord approached and bowed as Akinobu instructed, Retsu and Yukaoi bowing also in unison. She gave a small squeak of alarm when she felt herself wobble a bit, only to feel Retsu steady her by placing a hand on her shoulder. She reminded herself to thank him later for preventing her from embarrassing herself in front of her new lord.
"You may rise," Lord Natsuo said, his voice much deeper and richer in timbre when he was standing right in front of her. As all three rose from their bows, Ryumiko looked up at the man... the actually rather tall man. And when she finally met his eyes - though Akinobu 'suggested' not to - she was taken aback to see a similar expression in his warm copper eyes to what she saw when Mr. Ogiro looked at his daughter Chihiro. "You have made quite a scene today. The other Leaders are appalled to discover they are not as all-knowing as they once thought."
She bit back a laugh at the discrete insult he threw at the other clan Leaders and settled on smiling amusedly.
"I also wish to thank you both for your services to the Clan," he added, addressing Retsu and Yukaoi, who made gestures of appreciation in response. "I am of the understanding that you two each have a place in the fortress. It would be my honour to guide you to your rooms as I am also to show our newest central dragon to her new home."
With that, Lord Natsuo held his elbow out to Ryumiko, whom after Akinobu had to tell her what to do, took hold of it. The dragon Leader escorted her through the many corridors and halls of the fortress with Retsu and Yukaoi following behind. Lord Natsuo pointed out places of importance or of interest and Ryumiko sated her curiosity by asking various questions about anything he pointed out. Places she decided were the most important in her opinion, was the Leader's hall incase of emergencies or if anything new happened concerning Akinobu, the western gardens because it would be her new favourite place to spend her time, and the dining hall for obvious reasons.
Eventually they reached an enormous circular room that had a large opening at the top of the ten-floor high ceiling, revealing a small segment of the sky. She noticed that the cylindrical room was layered with rings which had what looked like large corridors branching off each ring. Lord Natsuo explained that this was the living quarters of all the residents of the fortress.
"Your room is situated on the second ring from the top, Ryumiko and I believe you two are also on the second ring, if I remember correctly," Lord Natsuo stated, half to them, half to himself. As she looked up, she noticed to some degree of horror, that there were no stairs anywhere. Ryumiko was about to send a look of panic towards Retsu about the obvious lack of stairs she could use, but before she could spiral into a full-blown state of distress, the lord spoke, "Now usually we would fly up to your rooms, however that would defeat the purpose of showing you around, so we shall take the stairs."
Before she could ask if he was hallucinating the presence of stairs, he pushed a patterned tile on the wall and she heard a light click. To her bewilderment, the blocks of stone that formed the walls pushed out to create steps that spiralled around the room all the way to the top floor. Trying not to let out an audible exhale of relief, she let the older dragon lead her up the tower steps. Lord Natsuo explained that the numerous floors were an indication of rank, the top floor belonging to the Clan Leaders, the bottom for the servants. Through the Lord's commentary of the various floors, Ryumiko noticed that each floor had a similar patterned tile which she assumed summoned the staircase.
When they finally reached the second floor, Ryumiko took a deep breath to steady her aching legs... if she was going to live here for too long, climbing these stairs was going to kill her one day.
"Ryumiko?" began Lord Natsuo, making her realize she had stopped for quite a while. "Your room is just here."
He indicated to a set of doors a little further down the corridor. Stepping towards them, her eyes widened at carving on the door. The wood was a warm dark brown and had patterns of the sea carved into it. The white foam of the waves and the light reflecting off the water was gilded in silver, while koi fish in the water were outlined in gold threads. She lightly brushed her fingers over the lines of the waves, feeling the curves etched into the wood by loving carpenters. She looked for the handle, which turned out to be a circle of silver in the middle of the door, held in the mouth of a small dragon that vaguely reminded her of Akinobu.
'I look nothing like that,'Akinobu adamantly refuted.
Biting back a smile, she took hold of the silver handle and gave the door a push letting a gasp slip out as the room was revealed. The stone walls of the room were painted blue with delicate silver koi filling the solid colour. There was a large raised futon bed covered in soft blankets in embroidered silk, a dark wood table with ink and parchment sitting on top and beyond the shoji wall opposite the door, was a large balcony that overlooked the inner gardens of the Fortress. The whole room was filled with what looked like highly costly extravagances befitting a princess of any era. It was absolutely stunning and she had nothing but excitement fill her as she observed every minute detail.
"A-Are you sure this isn't too much?" she asked Lord Natsuo, letting her fingers slide over the silk blankets on the bed.
"This is a perfect dwelling for the one who has liberated the strength of thousands of dragons," he answered with a smile. Ryumiko noticed his smile waver briefly before he turned to beckon Retsu and Yukaoi into her room as well. "Actually, I'd like to discuss something important while you are all here."
After the two entered, Lord Natsuo shut the door behind them with a great thud, his face turning grave.
"No words can express my gratitude for your retrieval of our Clan's power, Ryumiko, especially when it has caused you such grievances," he stated, nodding his head towards her ever-present bandages. "And as much as I wish that you all took the time to relax from your ordeals, I must request that you all keep a sharp eye for any threats within the Clan."
Ryumiko noticed Retsu's visible tenseness at Lord Natsuo's warning. She could hear it as his words were strained and alert, like a soldier in front of his commanding officer, "What should we be looking out for?"
Lord Natsuo paused before speaking lowly, "Yubaba could not have gotten hold of the Clan's power without some kind of deal having been made. And the only ones who have access to the power are those within the Clan itself."
"There's a traitor in our midst," Yukaoi muttered venomously. "Do you suppose they are plotting against the Clan?"
"Without knowing who it is, we cannot say for certain what their motives are. However, it is a likely possibility... It is near impossible to infiltrate the Leader's hall single handedly, so we can also assume that whoever is behind this, either has the support of or is a Clan Leader. Because of that, we should keep an eye out for Ryumiko seeing as she is the current guardian of the Dragon Clan's power," Lord Natsuo added.
"Wait!" Ryumiko interjected. "How can you be certain that the hall can't be infiltrated by another dragon?"
"When the hall is empty, the hall is protected by a layer of spells that only the Clan Leaders know how to disengage, which means that the traitor must have either gained a Leader's help in stealing the power or is a Leader," Retsu explained, staring at Akinobu with unfocused eyes.
Sighing as she noticed Yukaoi grab Retsu's arm and give him a stern look, she spoke, "Okay, so what else do we know?"
"The Central, the Eastern and North-western dragons are all close allies, so it would be safe to assume that no-one from any of those factions are responsible," Lord Natsuo said.
Again, Ryumiko blinked asking, "And what makes you think that just because you're allies that no-one from there is a traitor?"
She could see a slight hesitation from all three of the dragons in answering her.
It was only until Yukaoi broke the silence that she understood the reason why they had hesitated.
"All of us support the Nobles. In fact, I think apart from the dragon leaders, our allies are the only others who know of their existence," Yukaoi explained.
Ryumiko's mouth formed a slight 'o'. So Retsu and Yukaoi must have been reluctant to tell incase anything was revealed about her somehow and she supposed Lord Natsuo just didn't know if she already knew about Nobles in the first place or not.
Now that the topic had come up, and now that she knew Lord Natsuo was a supporter of her kind, she wondered if she would be able to tell her new superior about her true lineage. Though Retsu noticed the expression on her face and slowly shook his head in warning.
In response to his stern 'suggestion', she moved the conversation along, "Okay. But don't you think that would be more of a motive for our 'allies' if they want you- us reptiles to be weaker than the Nobles?"
"It is our goal to restore the race, not to establish a clear hierarchy, though there are still those within the rest of the Clan that would rather they would not return at all. It is almost guaranteed that there will be a battle to defend the Noble dragons in the future and what good will taking away our own power be if it comes to such a circumstance?" Lord Natsuo argued.
He did have a point, Ryumiko thought, murmuring a small noise of understanding.
A light knock on the door broke the conversation as a small young sombre-looking boy with hair the colour of stormy clouds poked his head through the doors, his voice stoic as he addressed the copper haired leader, "Lord Natsuo, a message."
"Excuse me for a moment," he told the three of them before meeting the boy outside of the room.
Deciding to take her mind off the news she had just heard, she let Akinobu settle down on a pillow beside her new bed and let herself get lost in her new room. Though despite her efforts, she couldn't help notice Retsu and Yukaoi quietly having a rather intense discussion amongst themselves.
When the two outside had finished speaking, Lord Natsuo spoke quickly through the doors, "I have matters I must attend now, Ryumiko. Should you need anything, simply ask and a servant should hear you." He bowed and left her in the room with the servant and the other two dragons.
"Thank-you!" she called out after him, smacking her forehead when he was out of sight upon remembering that she probably should have thanked him the way normal dragons did.
"Lady Ryumiko?" came a quiet voice.
Surprised, she turned to see the servant that had spoken with Lord Natsuo. The dragon looked like twelve years old it had the expression of a wise old man... Considering the nature of spirits that was probably possible.
"Yeah?"
"I have been asked to take your measurements and to inform you that dinner tonight is to be served once the sun has set," he related efficiently.
"Oh. Okay, thank you- um - I'm sorry I don't know your name?"
The boy blinked as if he had never been asked the question. "Izo."
"Thank you, Izo!" she said, quickly remembering to thank him the proper way. Though with Akinobu sitting away from her, she soon forgot which one she was supposed to use for subordinates.
Not wanting to seem too awkward, she placed her hand on his shoulder and anxiously waited for his reaction. When he simply bowed and began taking her measurements, she sighed in relief. She'd gotten it right. Not long after, Izo left and she turned to the other dragons, excited about having finally done something right on her own.
"I'm both annoyed you forgot to properly thank Lord Natsuo for this gift and impressed you remembered the right gesture for subordinates," remarked Akinobu.
She smiled sheepishly, "Actually that was a lucky guess."
Akinobu sighed but didn't further the matter.
"I feel a little weird addressing Izo as a 'subordinate'," she said quietly, pulling a face at the word. And it was true, she'd never had subordinates... and had never experienced a culture that had subordinates.
"Usually subordinates will not be offended by a friendly superior, it is always safer however to be respectful to your superiors, so I would expect that in the meantime while the others are getting used to you that they will show you the proper respect of a superior before addressing you more familiarly," Yukaoi explained.
Retsu placed a hand on his sister's shoulder to get her attention. They shared a look before he spoke, "We have a few things to deal with here since we haven't been back to the Fortress in a while. If you need us just call out and we will hear you."
"Also, our rooms are just down the hall!" Yukaoi added as they headed out of her room.
The door shut behind them with a solid thud, leaving Ryumiko alone with Akinobu.
There was a long pause and she didn't really know what to do or say.
"Do you - um - maybe want to go for a walk?" She asked.
He stared at her blankly, replying dryly, "You were just informed that there is one in this fortress who is in league with Yubaba and would happily kill you just to take me back to her, and you want to stroll around the Fortress with me unprotected? Is that the wisest thing you could be doing right now child?"
She scowled at his logic. "Fine. I'll just stay here then..."
Chihiro was idly chopping vegetables for lunch with Rin, often letting her thoughts stray to the moment she and Haku had shared earlier that day. The object of her thoughts was currently out doing something or rather - she had been too distracted by him to be focusing on his words - leaving her time to reflect on their kiss. Quite honestly she would have loved for Haku to come back already so that she could steal another one off him, but that would have to wait.
"Chihiro!" Rin cried, bringing the girl out of her thoughts.
Surprised by the sudden outburst, Chihiro snapped her attention back onto the vegetables, discovering that she had unknowingly been chopping nothing for quite some time.
She smiled sheepishly at Rin. "Sorry! Mind was elsewhere..."
Rin snorted, "You were thinking about your little rendezvous with dragon boy this morning aren't you?"
Chihiro coughed and sputtered, "What on Earth are you talking about?"
The spirit smirked at her expression on embarrassment. "Please, Zeniba and I saw the whole thing! We were going to break up your little lover's spat before but we clearly didn't have anything to worry about, did we?" Rin commented, her grin getting wider as the girl's face went bright red. After letting her stew in her mortification for a little longer, she asked seriously, "So what's the plan for you guys now?"
At this, Chihiro raised a questioning brow, "What do you mean 'plan'?"
"Well, are you going to go back to the world of the Living? Haku can't leave the Spirit World right now, unless you want to help us defeat Yubaba? Though I'm not sure Haku would want you amongst the crossfire knowing him," Rin said.
"We haven't really discussed that yet," she answered, sliding her vegetables into the pot of boiling water over the open fire. "But Yubaba's cursed you both, tried to keep Haku away from me and now she's after Yumi too, I have more than enough reason to stay until the witch has gone. I'm just not sure how much help I'd be..."
"I think you'd be more help than you realise," came the voice of Zeniba from the front door, causing both women to turn to face her.
"How so?" Chihiro asked, raising a quizzical brow.
Zeniba smiled knowingly as she made her way to her rocking chair. "When you came here as a child, Kohaku supported you throughout your journey, did he not?"
Chihiro nodded.
"Well, you can be a support for him, and Ryumiko now. Because they will need you to be there for them, regardless if you can help fight my sister or not," Zeniba explained. "And even if you could fight, I doubt that young Kohaku would allow you to charge into battle. For now, helping us get rid of tasks and chores that would otherwise keep us busy is giving us more time to make preparations."
At this, Chihiro giggled, "Saving the Spirit World one vegetable at a time, am I?"
I am actually cringing at the abuse that I am ninety-eight percent sure is coming my way... I am so sorry guys! I've had this chapter ready for a while now but I haven't posted it! Anyways, I'm working on the next one as we speak! Hopefully I won't take even half as long as this one did! Though admittedly, I am finding this Dragon Clan business very challenging to write, particularly due to trying to work out multiple things with the character's emotions.
Also I'm glad the last chapter was good! Especially considering I've never written a kiss scene before! I may have agonised over it a little... and possibly googled how to write one... then realised I was being ridiculous.
But to the reviewers who still reviewed despite my failures as an author!
Anabelle9 (YAY! I'm glad you thought I did well on the kiss scene! And I will find a way for them! Thank you so much for your review!)
Anne Fatalism Dilettante (Thank you so much for your encouragement during exams! and for reviewing of course :P)
JoanMystique (I'm so glad you've enjoyed reading this! AND THAT IS A BRILLIANT IDEA! :D)
TheOtherWhiteRabbit (Thank you so much for the compliments! And I re-read the story and couldn't find any tense mix-ups, unless you meant my use of cataphoric tense reference... which I use a lot. But that means the tense is implied from the tense at the beginning of a sentence, and changes all the tenses to past tense despite being written in present. It's confusing and complex but it's a witing technique I know I use a lot. :P)
FoxxyNeko (I'm so happy you liked the chapter! :D Thank you so much for your review!)
Moongirl12121 (Thank you for the well-wishes on the exams! Thank you so much for your reviewing!)
InkWoven (Yes... spaced out chapters... Haha, but yes that is a good idea! Thank you for your review!)
Evanna23 (Haha! That's okay I took a while! Thank-you for reviewing! Oh! You meant 'Damn'! That's really quite interesting, because in Australia it's a pretty harmless word :/ About the same as Darn...)
For the rest of you: Please Review!
Anything.
Please.
You have my full permission to throw as many bricks and/or any other object of brutality you desire at me...
New review box/Button is here!
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