Impossible
Fantasy
By Dyaoka
Disclaimer: I
don’t own Prince of Tennis. I don’t own almost everything here. So you
can’t sue since I said I own almost nothing.
Warnings/Notes:
Beta-ed…sort of. Hopefully, it’s better grammar-ed than before. My sense
of grammar sucks.
Scroll One: The
Strangers
A delicate hand reached out to touch his face. The youth looked up to stare into the most brilliant colored piercing blue eyes. The other with the blue eyes was saying something, but Ryoma could make no sense of it. He didn’t understand what the other was trying to say. Then suddenly, the scene shifted. They were in a dungeon of some sort, ruins were everywhere. Age-old corpses littered the ground, the flesh already rotted away from the bones. Something roared and Ryoma looked up to see a violet-eyed boy standing next to him, a hand on his shoulder as if steadying him. He shouted something and charged at the beast in front of them, his sword poised to strike. Before Ryoma could do anything else, the scene flashed and suddenly, Ryoma found his hands covered in blood. He looked over in horror to the blue-eyed youth that lay in front of him. The other youth only smiled at him.
Ryoma then woke up.
“Are you alright?”
Ryoma bolted up from bed, his body drenched in sweat. His dream had been as vivid as ever and the room he was in was boiling. Of course, the Dry Season had just reached mid-point a few days ago. The temperature was going to get even hotter than before, and if they were lucky at all, there won’t be any fires started.
“Ryoma…are you alright?” asked the voice. Ryoma looked to his talking cat—yes, talking cat. A talking cat is rare, but one of this species of talking cats is even rarer. Karupin was the rare among the rare—bred by the best of its breed and as it was a gift from the Duke of Alexandria, Karupin was no ordinary cat. Of course, besides that, everything about the cat practically screamed it’s unusual. “Ryoma?”
The dark haired boy looked down at his cat and best friend ever since he could remember. “I’m ok…” the boy answered in a shaky voice. “I’m…ok.”
“Were you dreaming again?” Karupin asked, settling down next to his owner despite the terribly humid weather.
“Yeah…” Ryoma answered with a sigh.
“Would you like to talk about it?”
“Well…it was that again…” Ryoma begun saying. “Except…this time, it was different. I…I actually saw the faces of the people. The events that happened were different too. We were…well…I think that we were in a dungeon ruin or something. I can’t really remember what, but then there was this…beast. We were fighting…and someone got hurt…Blood…there’s so much blood…” Ryoma trailed off. “Forget this. I’m going to sleep.” With that, the boy just turned over and went back to sleep with an unusual ease. Karupin, however, stayed awake and contemplated his master’s words.
When the wee hours of morning came, Ryoma was awakened from his sleep by his old master. He was a strange old man, lecherous and every bit annoying. However, Nanjirou was a powerful Seer (albeit very arrogant) and was also a quite accomplished mage in the White and Dark Arts (also known as magic).
Early in his childhood, when Ryoma was barely even three, he was dropped onto the old Seer’s front steps. By whom, Nanjirou wouldn’t say. However, ever since then, Ryoma never saw his family again—he only knew his name was ‘Ryoma.’ So, Nanjirou (out of hospitality, he said) took the boy in and made him his pupil. When Ryoma turned five, he was to be schooled, but since Nanjirou had never taken in any pupils before, many were jealous of little Ryoma. They stoned him, of course and beat him within an inch of his life. Ryoma never spoke of this to his guardian since he knew that Nanjirou knew anyway. The young boy just took whatever it was that was thrown his way. Living with Nanjirou taught him to accept what he was given; it was either fate or that someone really hated him or liked him.
Now, at the age of fourteen, Ryoma had already officially grown out of the ‘childhood stage,’ although Nanjirou had determined that Ryoma had already grown out of it at the age of eight. “When I was eight, I was already up and making my own money!” Nanjirou boasted and then whisked the both of them off on a particularly dangerous adventure. Ryoma had never quite forgiven Nanjirou for that.
“Wake up!” Nanjirou had yelled when he roused Ryoma from his sleep. “It’s time for work! Come on, come on!” With a grumble, Ryoma rolled out of bed and Karupin gave a yelp of surprise when his master seemed to have just disappeared from under the covers.
“Come on, we have a shop to tend to!” Nanjirou exclaimed wholeheartedly. To Ryoma, it seemed that the old Seer was very enthusiastic today, and the apprentice boy did not know why.
“Get out! At least let me get changed first!” Ryoma yelled, pushing his mentor out of his room. “Stupid old man…” he muttered.
“You never get any peace or quiet around here…especially in the morning,” Karupin whined. “That old man’s annoying. I’m going to have to shut him up for good one day…” With a purr of contentment, Karupin curled up again on top of the sheets and went to sleep.
“All you do is sleep,” Ryoma muttered, changing out of his sleepwear and in to some other clothes. He put on a simple lace-up white cotton shirt along with a vest that was made of scales—from what, he didn’t know and neither did he want to know. For pants, he put on a pair of breeches whose color had worn out long before. Now it was a faded color.
Exiting his room, Ryoma went down the wooden stairs and into the back room of the shop. There he found Nanjirou, looking over the newspaper. “You know what, boy?” the old Seer asked. Ryoma didn’t answer, knowing that Nanjirou would continue what he was going to say anyway. And exactly right, because Nanjirou did continue what he was saying. “The Baron had just established a school near here…a school for magic practitioners. Heh…they’ll be flocking here for some of the items needed! We’re going to have business, Ryoma!”
“You don’t need to remind me that our shop hasn’t been selling well lately,” Ryoma commented from his place over at the stove as he prepares breakfast. “I have been perfectly aware of it.”
“Exactly, that is why we must open up bright and early! Hurry up, Ryoma!”
“Unless you want half cooked eggs, ok” Ryoma said, eyeing the still uncooked egg. “Don’t blame me if you get sick from eating a raw egg though.”
“Yuck…never mind…”
So after a hasty breakfast, they opened up the shop. The shop sold mostly spell books and items that have been enchanted by Nanjirou himself. Things such as weapons that can never break and armor that never rusts. Aside from those, there are rare and unusual things that Nanjirou collected from faraway lands. Of course, after an hour of waiting, the first customer came in.
Indeed, as Nanjirou had said, the people going to the new school that had just been established were also visiting their shop for items they’d need. It was obviously a teacher, since he was shopping for things that students should not get a hold of—especially that flask of blinding liquid. Still, the business over all had improved because by the time the sun had raised high into the sky, many people had already come and gone.
“What did I say, what did I say?” Nanjirou exclaimed happily in the heated afternoon. “Oi, Ryoma, go into town and get me something to drink!”
“Drink water” Ryoma said bitterly, wondering why he had to do every request of Nanjirou’s.
“I want something better than water! Something…with taste…” the old Seer said thoughtfully. Ryoma rolled his eyes.
“Fine,” the boy consented. Grabbing some money from the profit they made that day, he left the shop.
The dark haired boy had been walking for not too long when he arrived at the town square. It was rowdy and dusty and everything was exactly as it had been ever since. There were yelling and lots and lots of chatter from different people and merchants. There was a tap on the golden-eyed boy’s shoulder.
“Excuse me, but do you know where Nanjirou’s shop is?” someone asked from behind the boy. Ryoma turned around to face four cloaked strangers. It was indeed warm weather and the cloaks that surrounded the other four looked suspicious to Ryoma. He did not have Immediate Sight as Nanjirou did, but Ryoma did have the Seer power—and Ryoma knew almost instinctively that the four (and him) were linked somehow.
“Nanjirou? What do you need to go there for?” Ryoma asked, choosing his words carefully, knowing that the four did not just want to go there to buy items. Call it a gut feeling or whatever, but Ryoma knew that there was something else about the four.
“We’ve been told to go there by someone,” the cloaked figure answered.
“Well, I’d show you the way there myself, but I’m on an errand at the moment. If you’d wait here for a bit, I’ll show you” Ryoma said. He would like to observe the group (and no…it’s not out of curiosity…or so he kept saying over and over again to himself in his mind).
“Then go on. We’ll wait here,” the cloaked figure said after a moment’s pause. Ryoma gave a formal bow of leaving and disappeared into the crowd.
“Hey, do you think we can trust him?” whispered one of the cloaked figures. The others only shrugged.
Ryoma had purchased a quick drink for his mentor and ran back to the shop. “What took you so long?” grunted the old man from behind the counter. Ryoma rolled his eyes and set the drink in front of Nanjirou.
“Did you invite anyone here?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” Nanjirou answered in confusion. Then, his expression straightened out. “Oh yes, four people…they’re suppose to arrive today. Another one should be coming along tomorrow.”
Ryoma knew that the old Seer was lying.
~*~
“The kid’s been gone for a long time; do you think he’s just left us here?”
“Possibly. We do look suspicious in these cloaks, you know.”
“Why can’t we just ask anyone else for directions?”
“Because…the townspeople don’t seem very keen on foreigners, especially people that look so suspicious.”
“But still!”
“Shh! Quiet!”
Ryoma had heard only part of the conversation before he was discovered. With a motion of his head, he had told them wordlessly to follow him. He took them through the direct path of the town and eventually came back to the shop he was supposed to be looking after.
“This is it” Ryoma said. And with that, he ran away quickly into the back door of the shop, wanting to just observe what happens. Of course, he made sure that nobody saw him.
~*~
“Are you Seer Nanjirou?” asked one of the cloaked figures. The voice was smooth and calm, and from the way it was spoken, the person was obviously raised by a very high-class family.
“Ah. Are you four the ones I’m expecting?” the old Seer asked, his eyes studying the four in front of him.
“Perhaps” came the reply.
“Then help me close up this shop. We opened early…” Nanjirou got up out of his seat. “Since we opened up early today, I guess we could close early too…”
“Very well” said another of the cloaked figure. The person walked outside and extinguished the light that tells if a store was open or not. Then, he closed the door and locked it and drew the curtains over exposed glass windows. “Better?”
“Thank you. Come this way to the back” Nanjirou said in all seriousness. He motioned towards a door and watched the four go into the room. Nanjirou then followed them in.
The room was dimly lit by magic, there was no light or torches or anything of the sort. The room was just…lit. “Have a seat,” the old man said, motioning towards the chairs that were scattered about the room. “Oh, and you could take off those cloaks, I assure you that it is safe.” There was several sighs of relief as the sound of cloaks being slung over the back of the chairs in the room was heard. Karupin chose this moment to show up and curled up in Nanjirou’s lap. “Eh? You stupid cat, where were you the whole day?” the old man wondered aloud and stroked the soft fur of the cat. Karupin only gave a contented purr in reply. “So, what are you four here for?”
“We’re fugitives, sir” spoke one of the young boys. “We’re fugitives from the land across the sea.”
“I figured that much” Nanjirou mused. “The clothes that you wear under the cloaks are even stranger.”
“Pardon us then.”
“Ha! Don’t know what you’re so polite about. Well, anyways, you aren’t here for a reason, I know that. Come, come, I haven’t got all day, you know? You better tell me now before I decide otherwise” said the old Seer.
“Well, we’d have to explain the whole story first” one said. “I’ll explain it since my companions do not need anymore reminding of this…incident. It all started two years ago when my companions and I have found out about the King’s immoral plan…to what, I cannot say. However, it turns out that we were not the only ones who knew this and so one night we were called in front of the King, privately…and he was slain before our eyes. We are innocent, for we have done nothing, but we were blamed for the death of our King. We have come a long way to request your help; to prove our innocence. You must have the power to do this…”
Nanjirou was silent. He said nothing, but stared at the youths before him. The one who had spoken was a dark haired young man with an odd bowl-shaped haircut with two small masses of hair that could have been described as ‘bangs’ hanging down the front of his face. Next to him was a boy that looked a bit younger than him with a reddish colored hair—it looked to be the color of blood. There was a small strip of a band-aid on his cheek. The boy that sat in the corner had shoulder length hair that was an odd auburn color whereas the other boy that was examining the room with a remarkable interest had spiky black hair and thick spectacles that you couldn’t see through.
“I can’t prove your innocence without evidence,” Nanjirou said finally. There was down cast looks from the youths of the room. “However,” he paused for effect. It worked, as that everyone’s attention was on him. “However, I can give you a chance to redeem yourself even though you did no wrong. It’s fate. You were meant to be framed and to journey for so long to come here. You were meant to ask me for help. I have seen you four often in my visions, you know.” Nanjirou placed Karupin on the floor and watched it dash into the shadows. “I can prove your innocence, however, but you must go fetch for me the evidence” Nanjirou whispered.
“What must we do?”
“State your names, first and foremost” Nanjirou declared loudly. “I can’t help out anyone who is nameless!”
“I am Oishi Syuichirou” spoke the boy with the odd bowl-shaped haircut.
“The son of the Count? Hm…I can see how you were caught into this” Nanjirou commented. He looked to the others.
“Inui Sadaharu” introduced the boy with glasses. “Please to make your acquaintance.”
“I am Fuji Syusuke,” said the one that was sitting in the corner. “Please to meet you, sir.”
Then, all eyes turned to the red head with the band-aid on his cheek. “Eiji” the boy mumbled. “I ain’t got any family and I ain’t from high class either.”
“Now, don’t be ashamed, boy!” Nanjirou exclaimed loudly with a laugh. “I use to be a no-name too! Look where I am now! You don’t need to feel so down! Cheer up, things will be brighter! Say, you four stay tonight because someone important is coming tomorrow that I’d like you to meet! Did you eat dinner yet? Aw, who cares? If you did, you all look like you could use a bit more food in you anyway!”
“Th-thank you sir!” Eiji exclaimed almost immediately. “Yay! We get free lodging and food! Nya!”
“Be thankful because usually I’m not this nice” Nanjirou said with a bit of a grumble.
“We’re really thankful that you’re doing so much for us, but we haven’t much money left on us” Inui spoke up.
“Ah, so you might have to wait sometime before you get
your reward”
“Ha, you’re right. I do want something in return,” Nanjirou said without a bit of shame. “Oi, Ryoma! Get your butt over here, I know you were spying on us!” he yelled.
“Che…found out already…” spoke a solemn voice. They all looked up to see Ryoma walk out of the shadows holding Karupin who was snuggle and comfortable in his master’s hold.
“You’ve got years to go before you can outwit me,” Nanjirou said. Ryoma said nothing but glanced over at the other youths in the room. They were staring back at him of course.
“What are you doing here?” blurted the red head, recognizing Ryoma as the boy from the streets.
“I thought you said it was safe…?”
“Of course it is! The only reason I let him eavesdrop was because he’s the thing I want you to take care of!” Nanjirou exclaimed. “I want you to take Ryoma on your journey.”
“Forget it. I don’t want to go on no stupid journey. I’m never going to get over that one ‘adventure’ you had me go on…” Ryoma muttered, giving Nanjirou a harsh glare. He set Karupin down on the floor. “I’ll go make dinner.” With that, the boy stepped into the kitchen and shut the swinging door behind him.
“Er…Seer Nanjirou…uh…we can’t be…babysitting on this journey,” Oishi said with some great difficulty. “Is he…your son?”
“No, he’s my apprentice” Nanjirou explained. “And just call me Nanjirou—I hate the formality crap. One reason why I don’t live within palace courts although I’ve been given such liberties. And, I lost my real son years ago.”
“Oh…I’m sorry” Oishi said with sympathy.
“Well, technically it would be like babysitting,” Nanjirou said, continuing the conversation. “However, his skills are hard to come by, you know. You will need his help on your journey. Besides that fact, he can’t gain any experience from just staying around a ratty old shop like this. The boy claims that he’ll rival me one day” the old Seer gave a chuckle. “He’ll never be able to do anything if he just stays here with me. He needs to learn things on his own.”
“That boy…what is he?”
“You’re from the House of Fuji, correct?” Nanjirou asked. Fuji Syusuke, a famed prodigy, nodded in reply. “Well, I should guess so…but for you to figure out just like that, it’s a good talent you have there. That boy, he’s not even aware of what he is—that is why I need for you four…no, by tomorrow, it would be five, to take him onto your journey. He needs to grow up.”
“Very well,”
With a snap of his fingers, a table and tablecloth appeared. He set the dishes in a pile onto the table and said; “You’re setting the table.” Then, he turned back to the kitchen.
“Nya! Food!” Eiji exclaimed, setting the table with an impossible speed. “That’s so cool how he made everything appear!”
“Well, since we’ll be eating in a few moments, better make it brighter” Nanjirou spoke. And as soon as he spoke, the dimly lit room grew brighter and brighter until it was as light as day.
“Wow! That’s cool!” Eiji exclaimed. “I don’t have any of these abilities…” he then added dejectedly.
“Eiji, you’re already special enough, you don’t need these abilities” Oishi spoke, and then suddenly realized he spoke aloud and blush a bright crimson.
“Thanks” Eiji said, turning to the other boy and giving him a hug. Nanjirou couldn’t help but think that the two were somehow romantically involved and had not only fled because of the fraud, but because of their relationship.
The door to the kitchen opened and the utensils came flying out.
“Wah! I get the point! You don’t want to go!” Nanjirou exclaimed as all the eating utensils came flying at him. Luckily, it missed and then they settled themselves calmly onto the table next to the plates.
“Che. I missed” Ryoma said mockingly as he appeared with the dishes of food. Placing them onto the table, he went and retrieved the rest of the food from the kitchen. In the end, it was quite a feast that was spread out before them. “Karupin” Ryoma called and the cat appeared at its master’s call. It jumped onto Ryoma’s lap before digging into Ryoma’s food.
“The cat’s eating your food” Eiji pointed out. “Can cats even eat human food?”
“Technically they can, but then if you’re not
careful, they will choke on it or they may get sick from it”
~*~
Ryoma ended up having sacrificed his room for the four strangers that had come to his house that night. Needless to say, Ryoma wasn’t too happy about that. He was forced to sleep in the kitchen because there was little room elsewhere. Stifling a yawn, he got off of the foldout chair that was a makeshift bed. He padded over to the stove and turned it on and begun to cook breakfast. He and his old mentor had stayed up late discussing many things. One, was that Ryoma absolutely must go with them. Two, was the stops that they should take. When Ryoma questioned the older man, all he received was a piercing stare that seemed to bore straight into his soul. However, despite that, Nanjirou gave Ryoma a message.
“This is a message to the Old Lady of the
Meanwhile, upstairs, in Ryoma’s room, Eiji had just awoken at the same time as Ryoma. Except the red head had just lain there, content to bathe in the sun’s glorious rays. He gave a small smile as he looked over to Oishi, who was still asleep. ‘So peaceful…’ Eiji thought as he laid a hand on Oishi’s cheek. His eyes traveled around the room, taking in his surroundings. It was a rather blank room, with not much of anything in there. There was the bed that Eiji was on, a small desk made of a polished fir trunk. How that made it into this small room was a mystery to Eiji. Besides that, there was a small dresser in the corner of the room and that was it. No more, no less.
“Eiji…” was the small whisper from Oishi as he placed his own hand over the red head’s. Eiji gave a happy smile and rolled off the bed, surprising Oishi. Like a cat, he purred when he felt Oishi wrap his arms around him and started to stroke his hair.
“Wai! Nanjirou sure is kind to us!” Eiji exclaimed happily as Oishi was attempting to get Eiji off him so he could get up. Since Ryoma’s room could only hold two people, Eiji and Oishi took the room. Technically, it wasn’t really a room but more of a small attic.
“Not everyone in the world has black hearts, Eiji” Oishi said in return, giving up to the immobile Eiji. Then, suddenly they heard yelling downstairs.
“Eh? What’s going on?” Eiji wondered out loud, rolling off of the olive-green eyed youth. “Oishi, come on! Let’s go see!” With that, the active red head dragged his companion downstairs where the ruckus was happening.
It turned out that it was a fight between Nanjirou and Karupin.
“You stupid old man! You could at least watch where you step!” Karupin hissed.
“You should just watch where you go!” Nanjirou snapped.
“You’re a Seer, aren’t you? You could at least try to prevent some things from happening!” the cat yelled back.
“I don’t use it all the time! Besides, you stupid cat, don’t you have better reflexes than humans?! I keep hearing you praise yourself about this over and over again! Where did your reflexes go now, huh? Huh? Huh?” Nanjirou taunted back. Karupin bit the old Seer on the leg and then ran into the kitchen.
“Argh! You stupid cat…” muttered Nanjirou as he sat down to nurse his wound.
“That cat…can talk?” Inui asked incredulously.
“Huh? Oh, yeah” Nanjirou said. “Ouch! Stupid cat…I’m going to pull out its teeth one of these days and it can’t bite down on anything…! Not even food!” He gave an evil laugh but then was disrupted by Ryoma who had just walked through the door.
“Dumb ass” Ryoma muttered before setting the plates on the table. He turned his attention to the strangers that showed up at his home yesterday. “You all should go wash up. If you go behind the building, there’s a small private bath house there.”
“Thank you” Fuji said and almost immediately headed towards to the place where Ryoma had described.
“Wai! Thank you!” Eiji exclaimed, running after Fuji. “Oi…Fuji, wait up!”
After the four had washed up, breakfast was served to them. “You’re a good cook, nya!” Eiji exclaimed; he was very much enthralled by Ryoma’s cooking. “Mm! The sausage is all yummy!”
“Thanks” Ryoma said with little energy. “Bye. I guess I’ll see you later.” With that, he left the room and entered into the shop. They heard some shuffling around and then the door to the shop open and close.
“He didn’t even eat breakfast. Where’s he going?” Fuji inquired. “He did make the food after all. The table’s even set for one more and the spot is untouched. Is our stay here to bothersome?”
“No, I sent him out to…retrieve someone. I’m pretty sure he won’t be back before noon so…” Nanjirou eyed the food on the plate hungrily. “I guess I’ll help myself!” With that, he attempted to snatch the food away from the plate when Karupin emerged from somewhere and got the food before the old Seer did.
“Mwin!” the cat said with a mouthful of food. It chewed hungrily at the food before running away.
“Looks like the cat’s got your tongue!” Eiji joked. Nanjirou glared back at the red head.
~*~
“Why couldn’t the stupid old man come out here and do the job himself?” Ryoma muttered to himself. “To find…I don’t even know the guy’s name.”
The instructions Nanjirou had given the apprentice were to find a boy, tall and with strange eyes. He was supposed to be only about two years older than Ryoma, but then there are a lot of boys around town that fit the description. Of course if the stranger had unique eye color as Nanjirou said, then it would narrow down the list a bit. However, the instructions and descriptions were very vague.
“Yeah…find who…” Ryoma kicked at the dusty road that leads into the center of the town. Since it was still early in the morning, not too many people were out at this time. “This will be impossible…” Ryoma commented. “Forget this.” Instead, Ryoma walked to the left side of the town where a temple was. Since Nanjirou was considered somewhat of a holy man, the temple was in close relation to Nanjirou—and Ryoma as well.
Knowing fully well that the temple wasn’t opened such an hour, Ryoma stepped into the courtyard instead. He found his favorite tree with no problem—he planted it and helped it grow after all. Now, it was large—a very large and grand oak tree. Usually trees take many years to grow, but this one had help of magic and was the first tree Ryoma had ever grown using magic. He had planted one more though; just one more and this one was growing fine on its own without magic. Climbing up onto the top of one of the tree’s magnificent branches, Ryoma fell asleep.
And that was exactly how the clerics found the boy two hours later when the sun had fully risen up into the sky.
“Really, Ryoma! You shouldn’t come into places where you aren’t allowed! Haven’t Seer Nanjirou taught you anything?” they lectured him. Ryoma, of course, never listens to the clerics. To him, they were just a bunch of fools that believe in something that doesn’t exist. The clerics continued their ramblings on ‘good will and good intentions can lead to bad things’ or something like that. Then, something caught the boy’s eyes.
He was obviously a foreigner and was definitely lost. The way he was dressed however, suggested that he had position in perhaps a King’s court. He was tall, of course, and couldn’t be that much older than Ryoma. Something in the deep recess of Ryoma’s mind went off in alarm and pain started to flow through him. Immediately, he clutched at his head.
“Are you alright? Ryoma?” the clerics asked, surprised at Ryoma’s reaction. Ryoma’s golden eyes started to shimmer, but stopped after a few moments.
“Damn it…move” Ryoma hissed as he pushed his way around the group of clerics that had gathered. He stopped right in front of the stranger he saw. “What the hell did you do to me?” he asked in a dangerous tone. Whoever it was turned around and saw Ryoma glaring heatedly at him. It was then that Ryoma observed that the other boy did not have normal eye color; it was a violet color, one of the seven rarest eye colors in the world. His own, Ryoma’s, was gold, and was also considered one of the seven rarest eye colors in the world.
“Whoa, whoa! What do you mean? I didn’t do anything! Innocent, I swear!” the boy swore, holding his hands up as a sign of defeat when he saw an angry Ryoma.
“Don’t you lie to me!” Ryoma snapped. “You did something! Otherwise I wouldn’t be like this…!” With one hand still clutching his hand, he used his other and summoned a fire. “If you don’t want to be burned, stop whatever it is you’ve cast over me!”
“H-hold it! I swear! I did nothing!” the stranger started to run. And Ryoma gave chase.
~*~
“Damn…helping out at the store here sure is hard!” Eiji said as he helped restock the shelves that had been emptied just earlier. “Today’s so busy!”
“The majority of the days aren’t this busy, but it’s because they built that new magic school that everyone is coming here for supplies” Karupin explained from his place on one of the shelves.
“You better get off of that shelf or someone’s going to buy you for sure” Eiji quipped. Karupin gave a faint growl in displeasure before jumping off of the high shelf and landing on his four feet and ran into the back of the shop. Eiji gave a small chuckle and then returned to restocking the shelves.
On the other side of the counter, Inui was put in charge of the money and Oishi was cleaning up the very dusty shop (Ryoma and Nanjirou both detest to clean…). Fuji was running around retrieving an item that a customer wanted while Nanjirou was there to supervise and answer questions about various objects. However, all things came into a halt when a stranger came running into the shop and collided with Eiji who was near the door.
“Ah! I-I’m sorry!” stammered the boy before getting off of the red head and helped him up. Then the door opened and Ryoma appeared.
“You! Get out of there!” he yelled, still clutching at his head. “Don’t make me…force you…” with that, Ryoma collapsed onto the floor.
“What the?!”
“Oi! Oi! Kid—Ryoma, are you ok? Hang in there!”
“Take him into the back, I’ll be there in a moment to see what’s wrong” Nanjirou said with a sigh. “Really, the youths these days…” With that taken care of, he went back to talking with the bewildered customer.
~*~
“Really, the stupid kid” Nanjirou muttered to himself as he paced around the room. After Ryoma had stumbled in and collapsed, they decided to close the shop early for today (“Again? Are you sure?” Oishi asked in bewilderment). The other boy who appeared to have been running away from Ryoma was called Momoshiro Takeshi. He had been identified as the youngest captain of the King’s private guards—who had recently disappeared from the face of the world, they say. However, it proved them wrong that he was there in front of the small group of fugitives safe and sound (well, quite shaken by Ryoma’s anger at him, but otherwise fine).
Now, Ryoma was lying in a makeshift bed in the room behind the shop. Karupin had appeared again and curled up next to his master, but did not sleep. “What’s wrong with him? His heartbeat sounds…erratic…” Karupin said worriedly. “Couldn’t we just wake him up?”
“Nope, the situation isn’t that simple” Nanjirou said, finally settling down onto the floor. “He’ll be OK though, but I don’t know what made him faint like that. And you, Momoshiro, can help with the cooking!”
“Eh? But I don’t even know how to cook!” the young captain exclaimed.
“Ah…well, the only person who actually knows how to cook properly is the kid” Nanjirou said, jerking his thumb at the unconscious boy. “I wasn’t the one who taught him how to cook though, so don’t expect any advice from me!” The old Seer gave a hearty laugh whereas everyone else looked rather glum.
“Old Seer Nanjirou has killed lesser people with his magic than cooking” Karupin commented from the side.
“Hey!”
“Well, then, I guess I’ll give cooking a try…can’t be too hard” Momoshiro said, getting up from his spot on the floor.
“Oh! Oh! Let me help! Let me help!” Eiji exclaimed almost immediately. The spiky haired boy nodded and the two entered the kitchen.
“We already know that Eiji can cook…a little. I guess I’ll see if I can help salvage our dinner” Inui said, also walking into the kitchen.
“No, no! Inui, that is…quite alright!” Oishi said quickly. “I’m sure with the two of them it’ll turn out ok!”
Inui was quite infamous for his…concoctions. There are also things that he claims to be ‘edible’ were definitely harmful to your health and so…no one really wanted for Inui to get near the kitchen. It would be quite harmful to your health…and everyone else’s.
Fuji, who had remained silent for some time now, still had his eyes on Ryoma. There was something going on, the famed prodigy was sure of it, and the old Seer knew what it is. Too bad he wouldn’t tell them. Fuji Syusuke only smiled his ever-lingering smile.
~*~
That night, their dinner wasn’t comparable to Ryoma’s cooking, but at least it was still something to fill their stomachs with. They retired to bed early and set out an extra makeshift bed for Momo, whom Nanjirou had said wanted him to stay. It was several hours before dawn when Ryoma had awoken from his ‘sleep.’ Karupin had woken up along with his master.
“Ryoma! Are you ok?” Karupin whispered frantically. Karupin licked Ryoma’s hand worriedly before nuzzling his neck. “I was worried.”
“Ah. I’m ok” Ryoma whispered back, but his tone sounded the exact opposite of his words.
“You should rest some more” Karupin chided. “I was really worried, but now I don’t have to worry so much…since you’re awake and well. What happened?”
“Karupin, come with me outside?” Ryoma requested after a moment of silence. Karupin settled himself in Ryoma’s arms and allowed his owner to carry him outside. They settled to in front of the shop, on the front steps.
“The sky’s really clear” Karupin said, admiring the sky.
“Ah.”
The two sat there for a while, each thinking their own thoughts in silence while looking up at the dark sky filled with the twinkling diamonds called stars. “Ryoma?” Karupin spoke, breaking the silence. “What’s going on? What happened?”
And so, Ryoma explained. “That person…the one that ran into our shop...he…I don’t know. This morning I was suppose to go find someone…I don’t know whom, since the stupid old man was so vague in description. Well, I stopped by the temple and talked to some of the clerics, but then…that boy, with the violet eyes…he passed by the temple. Then, my head started to hurt and…I’m positive that he cast a spell on me, or something. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been hurting like that.”
“Ryoma…” Karupin whispered and curled up on Ryoma’s lap. “You know, there’s always a reason behind every action. There’s always a past behind ever person and there’s always a lie behind every truth.”
“You make no sense” Ryoma chuckled.
“You were dreaming of something. What was it?” Karupin asked, changing the subject.
“How would you know that I was dreaming?”
“I heard your heart cry” Karupin answered nonchalantly.
“You give the strangest answers” Ryoma commented. Nevertheless, he explained his dream. “I don’t know what it was that I dreamed of, but I saw grand halls and many different things. It must have been at a palace or something, but it certainly didn’t look like any place that I’ve seen or heard of. I saw the land surrounding it—it was a luscious green land of forests and rivers around it. Anyways, the people that live…lived there seemed to be really nice.” Ryoma paused as he watched the fading stars. “Then…they were killed. I don’t know who it was, but I watched them get killed…one by one. It’s rather sickening…”
“Ryoma, you know that it’s only a dream” Karupin reassured.
“It felt…so real. And…there was also a boy with violet eyes in my dream…” Ryoma trailed off. The two sat there in comfortable silence and watched the stars fade and the sunrise. All the while never noticing someone was listening in on their conversation.
~*~
“Alright!” Nanjirou exclaimed while stretching. The group of them had just finished lunch and Nanjirou declared to close the shop early (for the third day in a row)! When they asked, Nanjirou only replied with a great big grin and that was all.
“That was a great feast!” Momo exclaimed from one end of the table. Ryoma was still wary about the other boy although they have been ‘reacquainted’. It seemed that whatever it was that caused Ryoma pain, had disappeared. Momo continued; “I haven’t eaten such great food in a long while! Thank you!”
“Hm,” Ryoma said as he cleared away the plates with a wave of his hand; the plates disappeared as well as everything that was on the table. In fact, the table disappeared as well.
“Unya? What the?” Eiji blinked.
“When we feel it is time to discuss serious matters, we will clear everything away…and let’s set this into a more comfortable atmosphere, shall we?” Nanjirou said. Nobody understood what he said.
“He means get off of the stools and stand aside. He’s going to make this place look like a King’s royal palace” Karupin explained, appearing from out of the shadows. It seemed to everyone that the cat really loved the shadows and hung around the darkest corners the most. Almost immediately, they got off of the stools and stood to the side, as Karupin instructed.
“Hehe, be awed by my prowess!” Nanjirou exclaimed. He clapped his hands together and suddenly; the room seemed to melt away and into a much, much, much more luxurious setting. Comfortable sofas and couches and rugs were spread everywhere. There was a hearth that Ryoma had immediately started to tend to and Karupin curled up in a spot near the fireplace.
“Nya…where’s this?” Eiji asked, still in awe.
“You don’t have to know” Ryoma said. “All you need to know is that this place exists.”
“Ha-ha, that’s m’boy!” Nanjirou slapped Ryoma heartily on the back, quite unaware that he almost pushed Ryoma into the burning hearth.
“You stupid old man!” Ryoma snapped as he back away from the hearth.
“Well, then, sit down” Nanjirou said, ignoring Ryoma. The old Seer settled down onto the most comfortable looking couch. “I have things to say, to you all, but I don’t have enough time. So I thought this out during the day; I will only tell you what you need to know. I’m sure the other things you would be able to figure out on your own.” The old Seer took a breath and begun.
“I know that not all of you have any connections you are aware of except for you four; you’ve been companions for some time. However, I shall declare this now; you six have fates intertwined with one another—whether its good or bad, we have yet to know. Tonight, you will set out on your journey. You must move quickly and fast, time runs short. You four seek a way to prove your innocence, where as you seek to return to your kingdom. You, Ryoma, you want to find something…yet you do not know what. That is why I will put you six together on this journey—the goal is essentially the same, each is seeking their own thing. First, head to the Hangma Forest and consult the old lady Ryuzaki there. She’s annoying as hell, but she’s the one who trained me. However, I warn you to stay away from the old castle ruins in the far north that is surrounded by greens.”
“Why?” Ryoma asked.
“You’ll die if you go there,” Nanjirou said flatly.
“Che. It’s not like I’m weak,” Ryoma grumbled.
“To some, you are but an insect” Nanjirou countered. “Well, since we are pressed for time, here.” Nanjirou placed a scroll into the hands of Fuji. “Give this to the Old Lady of the Forest. I trust you to keep it safe. I warn you to stay off the main roads because news of you four has reached these lands. Also, you” Nanjirou turned to Momo. “Keep a low profile. People now believe you are dead—the royal courts have devised to murder you, but have failed, they don’t know that yet however. Try not to get yourself recognized in public. And you two…” He eyed Eiji and Oishi. “I have nothing to say…but good luck. And you!” He turned to Inui. “Not everything can be determined from data, you should know that. Don’t try to predict anything—especially unpredictable situations! That is all I have to say. Ryoma, bring them back. I want to stay here for a little while.”
“Lazy” Ryoma muttered. He clapped his hands together and suddenly, they were all back into the room behind the shop…minus Nanjirou of course. “Hm. I forgot Karupin…”
“That was…strange” Momo said, voicing everyone’s thoughts.
“That was very. The magic there to perform that wasn’t very advanced though—I still have some doubts about how powerful you are,” Inui said to Ryoma.
“Whatever. I only just want to defeat the old man in a fight with magic…I never win against him because of that Immediate Sight he has…” Ryoma muttered. “Well, I’m going into town. Are you all coming? It’d be boring to just stay here.”
“Yeah! I’d love to!” Eiji exclaimed happily. “Come on, let’s go!”
“Hold it! Eiji, didn’t you just hear what Seer Nanjirou said? He said that news of the four of us have even reached the lands here. We can’t be seen!” Oishi exclaimed.
“Doesn’t matter. It’s not like they’ve put pictures up of you. They could only go by best is description…and sometimes, there are many that fit the description. Besides, you’ve been helping out around the shop” Ryoma said with a shrug. “Are you coming or not?”
“It would be a good chance to check out our surroundings” Inui mused.
“Well, then, let’s go” Fuji finished with his usual smile.
“Yay! Let’s go, nya!”
“We’re only going outside. I don’t see what’s so great about that,” Momo said, being the first to leave the building with Ryoma following after. “You’re giving us a tour of this place, right?”
“Whatever.”
~*~
Nanjirou gave a sigh as he continued to stare at the dancing flames of the hearth. ‘It would be soon’ he thought to himself. He gently scratched Karupin behind the ears and the cat purred in contentment. ‘Hopefully the idiot disciple of mine would make it through this thing…but he should be able to if he calls himself my disciple’ Nanjirou smirked at the thought. The aging man knew that in a few moments, the government would come. They would take him away, and he would be ‘helping’ someone, that much he knew. He would be in imprisonment for a long time. “Enough!” Nanjirou muttered to himself, trying to shake his depressing thoughts away.
“Enough what?” Karupin asked curiously.
“Get off, that’s what” Nanjirou said with a grin. “I’ve got places to go today!” He shooed the cat off his lap and got up, stretching his joints. In a few moments, it will begin. And everything will depend on whether the old Seer would be able to play his cards right. Nanjirou gave a clap of his hands and the scene of the luxurious room melted away to be the simple room that was behind the shop.
“Why did you do that?” Karupin complained. He was previously resting on a comfy sofa, and then suddenly it disappeared!
“Hey, we’ve got company” Nanjirou said, eyeing the door.
“I know. I smell them” Karupin retorted angrily. “They’re here with their pointy metal sticks too…”
“Karupin” Nanjirou called and petted the cat on its head. “Stay here. Ryoma will come back and someone will have to be here, you know?”
“You’re going somewhere?” Karupin asked in surprise.
“Yeah. I won’t be back soon though,” Nanjirou answered thoughtfully.
“Ok. Take your time” Karupin said jokingly.
“Whatever. See ya, you mangy feline” Nanjirou retorted before leaving with a wave. And that was the last that Karupin ever saw of the famous Seer Nanjirou.
~*~
“Hoi! This place sure is different from the place we were last at!” one red headed Eiji spoke aloud. It had been…quite an eventful afternoon. With Ryoma as their unofficial guide, they ran into trouble big and small. It seems that not many people would trifle with Nanjirou’s apprentice, but even more detests the boy. However, there were several that stood in their way of shops and such, forcing the group to go other ways.
“Ryoma, are you always treated like this?” Oishi asked worriedly. ‘Maybe this was also one of the reasons Seer Nanjirou wanted us to take him with us…?’ he wondered.
“I’m use to it” Ryoma said with a shrug.
“You could always scare them off” Inui said. “It seems they fear your powers in the Arts.”
“Have this been going on long?” Fuji asked sympathetically. “I’m pretty sure their just jealous of you.”
“Che. Whatever.”
“Hey! When people that are trying to offer condolence, don’t turn them away!” Momo exclaimed.
“I don’t want pity,” Ryoma muttered, rolling his eyes as he continued walking. He suddenly stopped though.
“Nya? Why’d ya stop?” Eiji asked. Ryoma pointed at something and they all looked to wherever he was pointing. There was smoke and fire coming from somewhere in the town.
“Isn’t…that the shop?” Inui asked, making a quick calculation of how far the shop was away.
“It is the shop!” Ryoma yelled. Immediately, the group ran in the direction of the smoke. When they got there, they found a group of people standing there, surrounding the shop. No one moved and no one did anything when they approached. Ryoma didn’t care. “Old Man! Karupin!” he called immediately. He kicked down the door and rushed into the shop.
“Ryoma! That’s dangerous!” Oishi exclaimed. “Come back!”
Suddenly, the roof collapsed in.
“Unya! Kiddo!” Eiji exclaimed fearfully. “You all wait here! I’ll go in!” And before anyone could blink, a blur of red hair had disappeared into the flames.
“If this fire continues, the probability of them coming back out alive is fifteen percent” Inui commented.
“That’s not really helping” Fuji said, his ice-blue eyes opened and reflecting the fiery red of the flames.
~*~
“Hey! Kid-Ryoma! Where are you?!” Eiji yelled loudly. The flames were eating at everything and there were creaks that were obviously the wall support. The place was going to collapse any second. “Anyone there?! Ryoma!” Eiji yelled. Then he heard a weak coughing. Instantly, Eiji distinguished the direction it came from and ran towards the sound. The place was filled with smoke and it was making himself cough as well.
“Oi! Kid?”
“Help!”
He saw that Ryoma was trapped under some debris, which looked like some remnants of the roof. “Nya! What a predicament!” Ryoma only coughed before managing a weak reply.
“It’s got my legs! Here, take Karupin and go!” he shoved an unconscious fur ball covered in soot at the red head.
“Unya! I can’t do that! I’ll get both of you out!” Eiji exclaimed and proceeded to try and push all the debris off. Then, there was a loud cracking noise.
“You can’t move that! It’s the last support that’s holding the place up!” Ryoma exclaimed between coughs. “Hurry up and go!”
“And you’re stuck under it!”
“Take Karupin and go! Damn it!”
“If this place hasn’t collapsed on us both yet, then I’m goin’ to do my damned best to get you out!” Eiji exclaimed stubbornly and then pushed the part of the roof off of Ryoma. Then, the adjacent part of the roof fell, nearly crushing the red head.
“Ok, got half of ya out!” Eiji said as he cleared the rest of the debris off of Ryoma. The moment he did so, he scooped up the smaller boy into his arms along with the unconscious cat and ran out of the room…only to find that his entrance was barred by dancing flames. “Shit…”
“Get…the Sprite Dust” Ryoma coughed painfully. “It’s on the shelf behind you.”
“What good would that do?”
“Just get it!”
And so Eiji snatched a very small jar that contained a sort of blue dust. Unlike the rest of the room, the jar was cool to the touch and a little burned on the side—evidence that the flames had burned it.
“Just toss it into the fires at the entrance! It should stop the flames temporarily!” Ryoma instructed. Eiji obeyed and tossed the jar at the fire. There was a crack to indicate the glass broke and suddenly, the flame seemed to step aside to create an exit for them. The burdened red head ran through the door way just as he heard the back of the shop collapse in and a rush of flames burst at them.
“Eiji! Ryoma!”
Eiji collapsed onto his knees, breathless. He placed Ryoma gently onto the dusty ground with Karupin.
“That was reckless” Inui said, appearing next to them. “You could have been killed, but I won’t lecture you on that. You’re alive now so there’s no point in dwelling on the past.”
“I couldn’t find the stupid old man…I don’t know where he ran off to,” Ryoma muttered.
“The townsfolk say that the Seer was taken away by a government carriage. Other than that, there’s not much more we know” Inui informed. “The townsfolk said that we should get you out of town because they’re now looking for you too.”
“Inui! We can’t move much less get out of town!” Eiji protested. “Where’s Oishi?”
“Fuji took Oishi to go get some medicine to treat burns. If he hadn’t, I think that Oishi would have run in there himself” Inui said, pointing to the still burning house. “Well, I guess I’ll put the fire out now…”
The bespectacled boy raised his arm up ninety degrees upward from its usual resting position at his side. The dirt and sand from around them suddenly rose up and completely covered the shop. The flames were extinguished…and the shop was gone along with it, buried underneath the dirt and sand. The crowd observing was awed whereas some others looked on with hatred upon their faces.
“We don’t need anymore practitioners of the Art in this town” someone sneered. “Hell, they keep popping up like insects.”
“Eiji!” Oishi yelled, having just come back with Fuji. His wide olive-green eyes expressed the words he could not say. They spoke volumes of happiness, fear, and most of all; worry. “Eiji…”
“Oishi! I’m back!” the red head shouted cheerfully. “I’m not dead yet either!”
“You’re too reckless!” Oishi nearly shrieked once he snapped to his senses. “You too, Ryoma! I almost had a heart attack when you two rushed in there like that! Never do that again! Both of you!”
Fuji only chuckled at the ever-bighearted Oishi. “Well, Ryoma, you don’t look fit to walk. What happened to your legs?”
“You all…” someone spoke. They looked over to the mayor of the town. It was quite obvious he was the mayor, after all, since he does have a little badge that said ‘mayor’ pinned to his chest. “As the mayor, please, I ask you humbly to leave this town. Gracious people have gathered provisions for you all. Ryoma, although you were Nanjirou’s apprentice and he was a dear friend of mine, you do have to realize that this is the best I can do for you. The government dogs are looking for you and several fugitives who have been described in thorough detail. We know it is you all. That is why I ask you to leave our town peacefully so we wouldn’t have to turn you in.”
“Sure…” Ryoma said and then looked back to his broken and bloodied legs. A piece of white was sticking out on the side of his leg—obviously a bone. The red blood flowed freely on the dusty ground. “Let’s go. Just give us the provisions first.”
The provisions were brought to them.
“Ah…Ryoma, how do you …plan to move?” Momo asked. The violet eyed boy looked at the younger boy’s injury and blanched. “You’ve got some horrible wounds there…”
“Oh…I was…”
“Carry him or do you think you could lend us a horse?” Inui asked the mayor.
“Give them a horse,” the mayor ordered. A chocolate colored mare was brought before them by one of the priests.
“This is Lady, one of our finer thoroughbreds. It is only because you are Nanjirou’s apprentice that we…give you this splendid being. Take good care of her and yourself of course,” said the priest. His expression was unreadable and he practically just threw the reins in Momo’s direction.
“Hey! You people could have at least offered to heal him,” the violet-eyed boy muttered. With a lot of screaming involved, they got Fuji and Ryoma onto the mare.
“Now, now, Ryoma; you’re no child. Bear with the pain for just a moment…” Fuji said as he cradled the injured boy against his chest. With one hand gripping on the reigns, he held fast onto Ryoma. “Let’s go.”
To Be Continued…