The torches flickered with hot flames, eerily lighting up the ominous area. It had to be late at night, as the moon was high and bright in the sky. Laying his forehead against the cold wall, N felt the symptoms of a headache beginning in his throbbing temples. He didn't really care, though; it was just another irrelevant pain to add on to his misery. His eyes were focused on the chain on the ground, watching as he agitated it again and again just to hear the metal's sound. He was tired, but didn't dare close his eyes. The queen could send a guard down to do something terrible, such as inject some type of drug in his arm, or wake him with fire burning against his skin. However, no one ever did show up except to give him food. The prince barely even touched it, let alone looked at it for more than a few seconds to know what to salvage.
N let out a groan, moving his head to press roughly against a bar. It would probably leave a light bruise. His eyes wandered down the hall, seeing really nothing that interested him. The queen promised Touko that they would not hurt him, but couldn't she at least supply him with some sort of amusement? A book wouldn't hurt, or someone to talk to at the very least! Was the practice of doing and seeing nothing going to give him adequate entertainment? Well, it was obviously not doing that. It was like being in a room that had nothing in it, and every single wall appeared plain and colorless. Boring. The night was boring. Everything was boring! He really needed something to do or else!
"N . . . a-are you down here?"
Am I being questioned if I exist anymore? Surely it's a guard teasing; I doubt anyone would visit me. He shifted his gaze down the small hall, seeing the shadow of a figure. The voice came as a simple whisper, like the wind; but it was easy to detect that it was a male's voice. Perhaps it was a friend of Touko? N watched as the person moved, finally recognizing the visitor's shaggy brown hair: it was Touya. Perhaps he was going to show sympathy, or laugh at the irony of a prince basking in a dirty dungeon? The older man gave a rather small smile on the thought.
"N, you look like a poor Purrloin not getting its way! Are you alright? I brought some warm soup; we could share if you want or—"
"Did your mother send you down here so you could see how miserable I am?" N asked, his voice harsh to make Touya move a step back.
"N-no, I promised Touko that I would check on you to make sure you're alright," he murmured. Touya watched as N shifted, looking up at him with worried gray eyes. Kneeling down with a warm smile, the young prince held the steamy bowl of soup to N.
"Before you say anything else, I'm on your side. . . . Seeing you two together is marvelous; I like that my sister has found someone to love. Really, your background concerning your father does not matter to me whatsoever. Now eat up—we can talk while they're gone."
"Who's gone?" N asked, grabbing the bowl. It smelled pleasant and definitely looked appetizing. Touya sat down close, giving N a spoon.
"Mother is gone on a trip to talk with Cheren's family. It'll be at least over a week for her to be gone. Right now I'm just keeping the castle in check while my wife is at our home. Do you need anything down here? I could bring books, any food you want, and I can let you see your Pokémon. We'll have to be quiet about this though—I'm giving you special treatment!" the male explained. N smiled. Touko's brother was interesting. He was similar to Touko, but very different in many ways.
"Could you bring some books next time? It's rather boring down here alone. How is Touko?"
"She's doing fine, actually! I've sent my Zorua to check on her. Now, let's talk about you now, 'kay?"
"T-Touko, get off . . . we have to go," Cheren hissed, lying on his back. The princess made a small noise, annoyed that he had moved. Opening his eyes, Cheren was met with black eyes staring down at him. They were small, and curiosity showed through them. The creature tilted its head, its long ears following along as a smile appeared on its face. A Deerling—how spectacular to see one in such a moment, the prince thought. He sat up so Touko was no longer holding onto him; the Pokémon ran out of the cave happily. Cheren placed his glasses back on with a sigh.
"Touko, if you don't wake up I will carry you outside and throw you into that damn water."
"Fine, I'm up, jeez," she snapped, sitting up. Both looked at each other. It was another day for searching for Shaymin. Though it was only the second day, Touko felt like it was longer. With a rather harsh glare, she stood up and began walking out of the cave. Broken branches were everywhere, causing the place to look even more crazed. Cheren walked forward, looking back and stretching slowly. The princess noticed his bandages had blood seeping through, but it looked like the bleeding stopped overnight. She took out a Poké Ball and released Liepard.
"Let's have her stay out by our side; she has keen hearing and excellent skills . . . we'll be safe and won't get attacked again," Cheren murmured, walking. Touko followed behind him, not really caring about what he had said. Her body was sore from sleeping on the hard ground. It was cold, and the rain just made it worse. Being outside and feeling the heat was so much better, yet Touko was still grumpy. She hadn't eaten in a while, so her stomach was growling. Liepard heard it and kept looking back at the princess.
"Cheren, are we almost there?" she asked, trying not to sound desperate. He turned his head to the side, looking back at her with a rather lazy expression. The princess puffed out her cheeks a bit, annoyed by his lack of manners.
"Yes, about half an hour at least."
That was it, wasn't it? Cheren was rather harsh this morning, but he usually was in a sour mood when waking. It was like those nights when he stayed up too late reading and studying. By the time he fell asleep, the next morning he was sour and literally would kill anybody if they made a mistake.
Touko looked up, staring at the puffy white clouds. How could a storm blow away so quickly overnight? It interested the princess like that—how something was simply there, and then disappeared so quickly. If only disasters, hell, and pain could be blown away just like a storm. The rain would be for tears, thunder and lightning for anger, dark clouds for the rotten part of the soul, and then the wind to make it all go away.
She sweat-dropped. Thinking so deeply made the princess question herself. In the beginning, before she met N, Touko was rather rude and heartless in certain ways. Now, Touko got swept away daydreaming, thinking a lot, and wondering about her feelings for N. But of course she loved N; whenever he stared down at her, those grey eyes always held such a serious and loving expression. It made her heartbeat quicken just thinking about it.
"Touko, quit blushing . . . it's creeping me out," Cheren said, making Touko come back to reality. Only after seeing that harsh glare, face even more flushed, did the prince give a laugh.
"S-shut up! I can't help what my face looks like!" Touko snapped. Cheren smiled at her before looking forward, Liepard walking in front of them.
Finally! A town! The princess walked quicker, passing Cheren to look around at the town's layout. Cute little homes in all sorts of colors flanked small fields with either wheat or corn growing tall. Buildings here weren't very tall, standing at four stories high at least. Shops were opened for the eye to see. Pokémon from all regions were walking around freely with Trainers, others helping move boxes.
"Wow, this place is so cool!" she chirped, looking at a store. Inside were simple carvings of Pokémon, some small, others a bigger size. Touko looked at one curiously. It had large arms, its body pure white except for its stomach, and two spikes on the end of its tail. It looked like its eyes had triangle-shaped blue patches as well. The carving's paint was not sloppy; it followed the figure's lines gently and gave life to the pretty carving.
"That's Lugia, a Legendary Pokémon! It's one of a kind!" the saleswoman said in a happy tune. Touko stood straight, looking at the older woman.
"Really? Wow . . ."
"Ma'am, if you don't mind my intrusion, where is the closest hotel?" Cheren asked, pressing a hand to his chest in a polite manor. The elderly woman smiled.
"My, my! You're such a handsome young man with such respectful manors! Well, the closest one will be down the street here, sir. The place is quite clean, so there's no need to go about wondering if it's dirty."
Cheren smiled, bowing before turning around to stick his tongue out at Touko. She rolled her eyes. They walked out, both following the directions the woman gave, and came upon the hotel. It was at least half an hour before they got a room. The princess sighed, lying on the bed with a light thump. It was so soft and comfortable! Liepard stretched, lying on the floor, while Cheren sat beside Touko. He chuckled, ruffling her hair.
"Well, Princess, we'll begin tomorrow. Right now we just need to rest up and collect as much information as possible, all right?" Cheren asked, placing his hand back on the bed. Touko lifted her head to nod before placing it back down. She didn't want to get up, even though a bath seemed more important than lounging. The princess frowned, hearing clothes rustling, so she peeked above her arm. Cheren was unbuttoning his shirt slowly, not really minding Touko lying beside him. Letting the shirt slide off, he looked over his shoulder to catch her eyes. Taking in his expressionless look, Touko let her eyes drift to his arm. He looked down, seeing it as well. His arm was bleeding again. Walking him to the bathroom, Touko quickly grabbed the small bucket on the sink and filled it up with hot water. She instructed him to sit on the tub's edge; Cheren simply nodded. He took off his pants quietly, leaving on his boxers, before sitting. Touko sweat-dropped.
"Don't say anything; I can only take so much of your complaints. Hurry up—it's cold in here without anything on," Cheren murmured over his shoulder. Sitting on the edge as well, Touko slowly unwrapped his arm. She wanted to snap back, but wasn't really sure how to respond. Besides, he usually won their arguments. Red blood slowly slid down his arm. The wound didn't look infected, which was good, but she still needed to add ointment and tend to it for it to properly heal. The claw marks on his stomach weren't as bad, dried and non-infected as well.
"T-Touko, don't you think it's a bit too hot?"
"What? No! Just be quiet—you're lucky I'm caring for you right now!" Touko growled, rubbing more hot water on his arm. He sighed, straightening his back. The bathroom became silent once more. Touko didn't like it. Cheren usually talked an awful lot, but now . . . he was different. Did she say something that caught him off guard? Touko couldn't possibly make him feel guilty about something, right? She began washing his back and anything else she felt comfortable washing; besides, it could be his bath that silenced him. After Touko dried him off and wrapped his injuries with clean bandages, Cheren left so Touko could clean up.
Really, he is a pain. Why am I taking care of him now? It's like he's a little kid, just trying to act innocent and wanting to be near me every single minute. I know Cheren; he was acting normal earlier, but this isn't really like him. Right now, he's different. Maybe the scene yesterday scared him? Was he thinking he was going to lose a friend yesterday? Surely not—Cheren would never get scared that easily! Touko sighed. Thinking too much was giving her a headache, and to begin thinking about N wouldn't solve the problems here either. Getting out of the shower and putting on the simple white shirt with baby-blue-colored shorts, she walked out to see Cheren sleeping on the bed. Pressing a hand to her head so the towel wouldn't fall, Touko sat on the edge.
He wore a simple white shirt as well with a black jacket over it and dark blue jeans. His hair was ruffled from the bottom, the little tangles raised even when he was lying down. Touko remembered she would play with it all the time, trying to keep it down, only to watch it spring back up. Cheren would get so mad when he woke up to catch her doing it, saying it was mean.
"You're staring at me. . . . It's creepy," Cheren whispered. Touko jerked back, shocked. Peeking at her, he smirked.
"Seeing your face is priceless; I wish you could see it as well." Cheren sat up. "Here, I'll dry your hair and we'll leave and eat somewhere—my treat."
Cheren ruffled Touko's hair gently with the towel once she turned around from glaring at him. He was like a brother still, taking care of her. Sure they were older and things did change between them, but they were still the same in some ways. "Um, Cheren . . . can I ask a question? It's nothing serious . . ."
"And that is what?" he asked, moving the towel away. Touko thought for a moment, feeling that he was combing through her hair.
"Did y-yesterday's scene scare you or something? You've been acting different since we walked in the town. I mean, you don't have to tell me or anything; I'm just worried about my friend," she muttered. Cheren stopped. Touko turned to look up at him. "Did you think you were going to lose me or something?"
"Well, you're correct. . . . I was afraid you were going to get hurt. N wouldn't like it one bit if you were pained on this trip; he would surely kill me after the agreement we made." He continued to comb her hair. "He's a very difficult person to talk to at times, but I understand why you love him. His personality is very interesting, and he doesn't like to hurt others very much. Even though he's a pervert and he has touched you—"
"C-Cheren! Quit bringing that up out of the blue!" Touko stuttered, blushing uncontrollably. He chuckled, pulling her hair into a simple ponytail, fluffing up her bangs so they poked up in her ponytail in two separate ways. He left some long hair on either side of her shoulders. Cheren handed the comb back to the princess.
"I'm sorry, but seeing you pinned against the tree by him made me think he's a pervert," he teased. Touko stood up, turning around to glare at the prince.
"For your information, he's not that much of a pervert! He'll know when to stop!"
"See! You're even calling him a pervert!" he pointed out, standing up as well. Touko stopped talking, feeling that her face was warm. Giving off a snort, she began walking out of the room, muttering in anger. It seemed like he was back to normal for some reason. . . . Maybe if she pushed him into a pound she saw earlier, he might be in a mood to stop talking.
A/N: I am really terribly sorry for my lateness of updating this story my Reshi's! My computer is acting up and will not let me connect to the internet. I'm using my Grandma's computer. Please give it time for my computer to be working for this story to continue till the end!
Leave a review and favorite this story! I credit Pepper1622 for helping correcting this chapter and the rest of the story so far! Go visit her site and check out her stories too! Until next time, bye my wonderfully fabulous Reshi's!