Here I am again! This delves more into Raz's thoughts, as well as one of her brothers! ;)
After a nice long nap, Raz felt much better. Apparently, she'd slept from noon to nearly three a.m.; everyone was asleep when she got up to roam the halls. What could she say; after sleeping for that long, she was going to be awake for a while. And there was no way she was going to spend it standing in the same room.
She wandered the palace, admiring her temporary home. She was doing her beat to convince herself that this was a vacation. She was just staying here, taking a break, waiting for her family to come pick her up. She hated to say it; and in fact, she never would- but she liked this place. She liked the sheer beauty of the island, the beautiful garden outside. The soft silk rug under her feet and the comfortable bed. She liked the beautiful jewels there were to admire, and the shiny trinkets Zalim had given to her. And-
She stopped. She'd arrived in the biggest room of the palace, the throne room. Her perch was completely, a thirty foot tall perch made entirely of gold. It was plated with pearls, glimmering in the dim light of the ever burning torches. Her seat looked elegant, made for a beautiful and powerful queen, respected and loved. She didn't think herself worthy to sit somewhere like that.
"Do you approve of your throne?"
She turned. She recognized the leopard as Sunspot. She turned back to it. "Its… pretty ta look at."
"Ah, yes." She agreed. "Very beautiful, fit for a queen."
"But I'm no'!" she protested. "I'm no'… royal 'er nothin. I'm…"
"A queen."
"I am not a queen!" she insisted, feeling her temper rise. "I'm no' a queen, I'm no' yer lady, I'm no' nothin! I…" she glanced upwards, eyes resting on the beautiful full moon. The same moon she'd stared up at since she was a child. It had always looked the same from the ship… but now… "I'm no' royalty… Ah'm justa pirate, a warrior. I…" she sighed, cradling her head in her hands. She still had a headache. "I ain't meant ta sit on a throne."
"I… don't quite understand your hesitance, M'lady."
"Thing is, I don' wanna be a queen!"
"And why not?" in a moment Zalim stood before her, a cool, curious expression on his face. "Leave us." Sunspot instantly hurried from the room in a blur of yellow and brown spots. "Well? Tell me."
Her expression was haughty; she still didn't take kindly to hi orders. "Tell ya wot?"
"Why you do not wish to be a queen. Any other woman would jump at such a chance… so why don't you?"
She hugged her arms, turning away. "Cuz… I ain't used ta this, I s'pose."
"Used to… what?"
"Ta bein pampered like this!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms up in exasperation. "I… I just…"
"You… do not like the luxuries I arrange for you?"
"Well…" she struggled for a way to explained herself. "I… iss' no' that wet year doin for me ain't nice." By all means, she'd enjoyed the hot, pampering baths, the smooth silk to lay under, etcetera, etcetera. But… "I don' wan mahself gettin spoil'd." she really couldn't put it any other way. If she allowed herself to become accustomed to such things, she would only miss them when her family rescued her.
"Spoilt, you say?" he mused. "Well then… perhaps you would enjoy… simpler, gifts, mm?"
"Well…" she shifted uncomfortably. She was beginning to feel like an ungrateful brat, turning down all his gifts and whatnot. "I dunno… maybe."
He gave her a quaint bow. "If it pleases you, My Queen, then it will be done." And, before she could respond, he disappeared in a torrent of blue fire, disappearing in an instant, leaving just the faintest smell of smoke in the air. She scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Show off."
…
After Zalim's departure, Raz found herself in the garden, approaching that odd bush from before. The flowers were still glowing silver, and their fragrant smell was so powerful, it almost made her forget the cold night air. She knew she was just asking for her pneumonia to worsen, frolicking about t three a.m. in the frost bitten outdoors; but she was bored!
After picking a handful of the beautiful blossoms, she went out toward the beach, absent mindedly weaving the stems together. Upon arriving on the sandy shore, she hopped straight to the edge of the surf, shivering with both delight and chill as the gentle frothy waves lapped at her feet. "Ah…" sitting down on the soft sand, she lay on her back and stared up at the stars, counting the constellations. Her own cosmic portrait smiled down at her, and she smiled fondly to herself. Though she hated to admit it, it was a beautiful work of art. It was hard not to love it. "Oh boys…" she threw the chain of glowing blooms she'd formed into the water, where almost instantly, the waves carried them away. "Where are you…?"
…
Squint was perched on tone very edge of the ship, chin cradled in his hands as he stared up at his sister. They'd been following her constellation for two days now; he was just sure it would take them to her eventually. It had to. Really, what other explanation was there? Of all the thousands of miles worth of ocean, and all the millions of stars, some had somehow formed an exact image of his baby sister. It couldn't be a coincidence; he was more than confident that it was their map, their sole clue to her whereabouts.
He'd often wondered, what she was enduring. What were they doing to her? Was she being tortured? Starved? Sacrificed to the humans? He shuddered at the thought of his precious sisters' beautiful violet pelt wrapped around some heartless humans' shoulders. The thought made him sick to his stomach. Why had they taken her anyway? The challengers hadn't even seemed all that interested in fighting, now that he thought about it. He hadn't noticed during the excitement of battle, but he remembered now. Instantly all eight of the predators which made up the group had seemingly been drawn to Raz, like bees to honey. Of course, they had interrupted them, but they kept turning back to Raz until one managed to pounce on her from behind and bind her wrists and drag her away. His brow creased, remembering her shrieks of surprise and disbelief, shouting at her captives and family alike.
The rabbit's frown deepened further as he glared heavily at the horizon, before letting his gaze slide to his sister. His baby sister. "I'll find you Raz." He promised to the sky. "And I'll bring you home."
Please review, hope you liked it! What did ya'll think? Good, bad? In between? Anyone?