The first chapter of 2022
Chapter 12 – The Princess, The Elf, The Demon and the Wanderer Part 12
Bean had woke up around evening time. But she didn't get out the bed till an hour later. When she had woken up she stayed in bed thinking about Dreamland. Bean began to think about what Koga was going to do. Did he completely forget about his mission to take her back to dreamland? This was something Bean had to find out right away. Bean yanks the covers off of her and gets out of bed and then heads down the hallway to Koga's room. Bean stood in front of Koga's door, takes a deep breath, and knocks.
"Oh my god, Barbara you don't have to keep knocking on my door every 5 minutes!" Koga said as he opened the door "I'm not leaving the r-Oh."
Bean smiled at Koga "Hey," She said holding up her hand.
"Sup?" said Koga
"Oh I just needed to talk to you is all. Can I come in?"
"Sure why not," said Koga as he stepped aside and let Bean into his room. Bean sits down on a chair next to Koga's bed and she brushes her hair aside. "So what's up?"
"Oh uh…" Bean didn't know where to begin "Well firstly, how are you holding up?"
"So far so good. Nothing I haven't dealt with before," said Koga as he lay back down on his bed and stares up at the ceiling.
"You're something you know that?" said Bean smiling at Koga.
"I guess so," said Koga, rocking his foot on the base of the bed.
Bean places her eyes back onto the floor "So are you…going to stay in Southwold?"
"Nope," Koga replied quickly "I'm planning on leaving tomorrow."
"O-Oh…" Bean snaps her eyes back on Koga. "R-Really? It looked like you were getting comfortable back here and all…"
"It was nice seeing everyone again. But it's time for me to get back on my travels. They don't call me Koga the wanderer for nothing" said Koga as he slowly lies up, grunting as he did so.
"And…what about me, Elfo and Luci?" Bean asked, watching Koga carefully "What are you going to do?"
Koga looks over at Bean. The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Koga turns to look out the window on his left. "I don't know…" He murmured.
Bean looked at him confused "You don't know? Are you not going to take me back to Dreamland?"
Koga just scratches the back of his head "To be honest ever since I came back home I haven't thought about the mission I was given. I was caught up with what was going on here in Southwold it slipped my mind completely," He let out a big yawn then looks over at Bean "You know you had plenty of opportunities to run off. When the Order of the sword attacked you and your friends could've snuck out of here."
"AND WHAT? RUNAWAY?!" Bean said taken aback by Koga's comment and she springs from her seat "Everyone in this town has been so good to me! How could I just run off and let everyone fight? Hell no!"
Koga wasn't going to lie. Her saying that did impress him. Which also reminded him. "Thanks for helping Freya," He said earnestly. "I don't think I could live with myself knowing that…she was wasn't with me anymore…" He stared at the headboard of the bed.
The small rage that Bean felt was quickly washed away by Koga's gentle words "Oh uh..yeah…no problem…" She said sitting back down in her seat. Bean looks over at Koga and stared into his bright green eyes. They looked relieved…and sad at the same time. "Sorry about the yelling…" She said as she began to feel bad about her outburst.
Koga laughed softly "No need to apologize," He lays back down slowly and placed his eyes outside the window where the sun was shining its rays nicely into the room. "The people are nice here aren't they?"
"Yeah," Bean nods "It does make me wonder Koga. Why did you leave here?"
"Well, I wanted to go on my own adventures," said Koga "Travel the world, see new places, fight stronger foes while getting stronger myself. I love Southwold, but you can't branch off to new things being stuck here."
"That…that right there what you just said…." said Bean as she lowered her head. "That's all I want. That's all I ever wanted. I don't want to go home…I don't want to get married. I just want to live my life free to find out who I am as a person. Not to be some stupid prince's wife just for some political agenda! I-" Bean turns away from Koga and tears begin falling down her cheeks. "I want what you have Koga…I want to see the world…I want to meet new people just like everyone here in Southwold…that's all I want…Is too much to ask for?"
Koga looks over at Bean. He watched as she silently cried. Koga looks back up at the ceiling before he lies up slowly. "Alright then," He said. "It's settled."
Bean looks over at Koga with tears still coming down her cheeks "W-What?"
"Tomorrow we head out. If you want to hang with me we're going to have to do a bit of training. Your skills aren't too bad but they could use some work. Try not to slow me down ok?" Koga said as he yawned and closed his eyes.
"You-Are you-Are you serious?" Bean stuttered in shock. "Wait…hold on…are you letting us come with you?"
"I don't see why not," Koga replied. He then remembers the conversation that he and Elfo had. "I suppose I could use some traveling buddies…"
It was as if a wave of happiness had flooded into Beans heart. She wasn't going home. She wasn't going to get married. Bean along with Elfo and Luci was going to travel with Koga around the world and…be free. Bean for the first time in so long smiled and an honest happy smile.
"Koga…I…thank you so much…" Bean said smiling as she wipes her eyes.
Koga looks over at Bean and smiles "A smile like that suits you…try and do it more often for me would ya?"
Bean giggles "Sure!" She nods. Some tears were still falling from her eyes.
Koga lays up "Since I'm doing this awesome thing and you love me now. How about convincing Barbara to let me out of the room for the day?" He asked smiling at her. "Use a bit of that princess charm for me."
Bean giggles more "No problem big guy," She said as she left the room. It was odd for Bean. She hasn't felt this type of joy in so long. She didn't have to be drunk to even feel happy. "Wow…is this what feeling naturally happy is like?" Bean takes a deep breath and exhales. "I could get used to this…"
…
Following that same day, Bean was able to convice Barbara to let Koga out to stretch his legs. However, he was forbidden to bring his swords and was not allowed to do any heavy lifting or anything that would reopen his wounds. Barbara spent half an hour trying
"I'm a grown-ass man damn it!" said Koga annoyed as he left the inn with Bean, who was smiling from ear to ear.
"Oh come on she doesn't want to see you hurt again," said Bean who was humming a delightful tune as they strolled down the dirt path. "She reminds me a lot of Bunty."
"Who's Bunty?"
"She's the castle maid who pretty much raised me after I lost my mom," said Bean, as her big smile grew smaller slightly. "Things got hard after my real mom passed away. Bunty was there for me through it all. That and a few drinking buddies I met at a bar."
"Wait so the people you met at the bar raised you too?"
"Yeah, I mean they're ok people. I wouldn't call them friends either…" said Bean as she placed both of her arms behind her back and stares up at the sky. "After my mom passed my dad had to remarry so we could have a successor to the throne if something happens to him. It was…just weird you know. Having a stepmom and a stepbrother who you rarely know. Everything about my family just…changed after my real mom passed."
"I see…" Koga said as he listened carefully. "What was your real mom like?"
"She was so cool…so sweet and caring. To me, she was the best mom ever." Bean said as she began to remember all the moments she had with her mother. That…also brought up some old memories she had. It almost brought her on the verge of tears one more. Bean would then shake her head and wipe her eyes
"Enough about me though!" said Bean, snapping back to her happy self and wanting to forget about all of that. She'd be leaving that life anyway. "What about you? Do you remember anything about your real family?"
"My real family?" Koga repeated. "To be honest I don't know. I've never given it much thought as to who my real family was. I always thought I didn't have a real family. It was either Fergus or the wolves I was with when I was a child."
"Oh," said Bean as she lowered her eyes from Koga to the ground as she walked. She laughed softly "Whoever your real family was must've been super strong. I mean look how you turned out. And you're like really tall too." She gasped "OH! What if you're like a demi-god or something! Like a deity came down from the sky and fell in love with a human woman! And then you were born!"
Koga looks down at Bean and raised a brow "You know…you should write a book with that imagination of yours." He smiled and chuckles.
"Oh if you think that's good you should listen to the story's I tell when I'm drunk!" said Bean with a big grin on her face. "I mean I don't remember them when I pass out because when I drink- I drink A LOT but from what I hear I tell really good stories!"
Koga just lets out a cheerful laugh. He looks up and found himself staring up at the sky. Then, Koga remembered something "I do have one memory…but I don't know if it's of my family," Bean looks over at Koga curiously. "I've been having this dream where I'm on a boat…but it's surrounded by fire. I hear a bunch of screaming and people fighting…I see someone get killed in front of me and then…that same person who killed that man came after me…then I wake up…"
"It's probably something from your past?" Bean suggested.
"It could be," said Koga with a shrug. "But whatever…I'm not too worried about it."
"You're not the least bit curious as to where you came from?"
"Not really," Koga said as he rubbed the back of his head "I mean I didn't need to know about them before so I don't need to know about them now."
"Well…if you say so," said Bean with a shrug. "OH! WHAT IF YOU'RE THE SON OF A GIANT?"
"Oh for god's sake…"
…
"Wait really?!" said Elfo with widened eyes. "W-We're not going back to dreamland?!"
"Nope!" said Bean shaking her head. "We're traveling with the big guy over here!" She pats him on the back.
"Well this is one hell of a surprise," said Luci "What changed your mind, big guy? You don't want that King money?"
"Not really," said Koga as he takes a bite out of his chicken leg. "I was already over everything once the mission after everything that happened here. And…well I'm taking a liking to you guys."
"Aww!" said Bean smiling at him.
"See! I knew liked us!" said Elfo grinning at him.
"Oh how sweet," said Luci sarcastically. "We love you too Koga…"
"So what's your story Luci? How'd you end up with Bean?" Koga asked.
"I'm a demon that was sent to curse the Princess of Dreamland. You know the conscious on your shoulders that tells you not to do something bad. I'm the one screaming over him," Luci stated.
"So you're a demon huh? I always thought you were a really sick cat," said Koga.
"Yeah you can piss off," Luci snapped back.
"So when we leave Southwold where are we going?" asked Elfo
"We're going wherever we want. We could end up anywhere. Meet new people, new towns, fight crazy people or creatures, get attacked by a monster that pops out from a book and transfers you into that said book." Koga explained.
"What?" said Bean, Elfo, and Luci.
"Forget I said that last part," Koga said quickly. "But that's the wanders life. Just go with the flow."
"I like the sound of that," said Bean as she falls back onto her bed and her head hits the pillow. "And the best part about it…I have you guys with me."
Elfo smiled at her "I'm glad to be with you too Bean…" He said sweetly.
"Hmm…traveling the world and causing chaos wherever I go. Sounds good to me." Luci said with a grin.
Koga suddenly springs to his feet and looks around the room. This alarmed the three of them and Bean quickly lays "What is it?" She asked. Koga looks outside the window for a moment. He then sits back and scratches the back of his head "Sorry I just had this weird feeling is all. Now and then I just feel like someone is watching us you know. This isn't the first time I've had this feeling…"
"Maybe it's the ghost of Noland's head coming back to haunt you," said Luci with a laugh.
"Honestly that'd be hilarious!" said Koga laughing as well. Koga then paused "And It'd be very annoying afterwards. Anyway, let's head to bed guys. We're heading out tomorrow!"
And so they did just that. Bean went to sleep with a big smile on her face. It was the smoothest she'd ever fallen asleep. No worries, no nodding thoughts, and a sense of unhappiness. She'd have the best sleep she had in a long time.
But however…Koga's senses were right. They were being watched.
"This Koga man is a sharp one…" said Becky in a worrisome tone.
"Well sister…what do you think of this?" asked Cloyd turning to her.
"It all depends. Luci doesn't seem to be trying anymore. And this Koga man might be getting in the way of this. While he seems to be indifferent as to what choices Luci and Bean make I feel as though he will stop her at crucial moments." Becky said as she taps her finger on the right side of her chin.
"Shall we interfere?"
"Hmm…" Beck thought long and hard about this. "We don't know for sure how Koga will see Bean once they begin their travels. We need to pay close attention to how they interact." Beck said as she stared into the green fire.
"Just maybe things won't change after all…"
