The early morning air was crisp and fresh, bringing a small smile to my face. Being one that doesn't ever sleep, I often look over the castle while the others rested. I usually sit on the highest point of the castle, because I can see everything from this vantage point. I let out a small sigh as the sun begins to rise. I guess I should get down from here , people should be waking soon, and knowing Hak and Soo-won. They will be one of the first people to wake and begin activities.
Jumping down from my perch, I land quietly on the shingles below me; careful not to make any unnecessary sound. Standing, I jump and do a flip before landing on the ground in a crouch position. Standing, I dust myself off and tighten my ponytail. Time to go see if the two are awake yet. Walking leisurely to Hak's quarters, I walk in without even knocking. Surprisingly, he is still fast asleep in bed. A wicked smile makes it's way onto my way as I slowly creep up on him. Leaning down, I bring my lips close to Hak's ear and try to keep in a laugh.
"HAK!"
In a split second Hak was up and his Spear pointed at my throat, a snarl evident on his face. Rolling my eyes, I swat the weapon away and turn around heading for the door.
"Just wanted to tell ya to get up, meet me in the stables, and to bring your bow. I'm going to go get Soo-Won right now."
Walking out of the room, I faintly hear him mutter "Crazy fucking Woman." Laughing I head towards Soo-Won's designated room.
Reaching his room, I go to walk in; but the sound of movement by the door makes me stop. He's already awake. I wait patiently for him to open the door, and when he does, he visibly jumps from my close proximity. This makes yet another smile spread across my lips, because he obviously wasn't expecting me.
He relaxes almost immediately, and a small smile grows on his face.
"Akuma-chan, what can I do for you?"
The innocence in his voice was comforting...yet..disturbing. (Like always). I point behind him, indicating to his room.
"Just coming to tell you that me and Hak are going to go get the horses from the stables. I recommend bringing your bow if your coming." Although the sentence gave him an option, my tone certainly did not.
His smile gets even bigger, and he nods his head repeatedly. "Okay! I'll be right down!" He turns and closes the door, most likely to go and change. Sighing I shake my head at the enthusiastic boy and turn to leave for my room. I need to retrieve my own bow if I want to even consider practicing with them. Mainly because I usually practice archery at the village, and don't usually bring an extra one on my travels.... Which leaves me with my old bow in my even older bedroom.
Looking around, I try to find anyone watching, luckily I find none. Taking the opportunity, I sprint towards the farthest point of the stone walls surrounding the castle. Looking around again just to make sure, I look for the tiny symbol that I had carved into the wall. Finding the small dragon symbol, I press that part of stone inwards. I grin with satisfaction as the stone wall shifts, revealing a dark and damp corridor.
Walking in, I lift my hand in the air, the shadows pushing the door close for me. This door was designed so that it could be opened by anyone, but the moment someone tried to close it without the help from the dark....that door wouldn't even move a budge.
I would instantly know that someone had been snooping, and because of these facts. Not many people try to go into my space without asking.
Well, except for the damn greenie who thought it was amusing to piss me off. He constantly went through my things, just for the heck of it. Smiling at the thought of my old friend, I continue to walk down the corridor. The hall was exactly the same way it was before I left. Vibrant blue luminescent crystals light the hall way, peace lilies growing at random spots in the ground.
The place was mold free, for the flowers would soak up any type of moisture that just so happened to seep into the ground below.
Arriving to a metal door, I grab the handle and push it open with little effort. Although the screech of the metal hinges indicate their sheer age.
The room itself looked as it once had many years ago, but the musky smell shows that it hasn't been used in awhile. The flooring was made out of treated wood, so it would never rot, and the walls were made out of the exact same thing.
Off to the far left corner of the room lies my old cot, laying on top of it are the animal furs I had gathered on my first hunt with the other three. Laying up against the opposite wall, facing the cot was my chest. Which I keep all my belongings in.
Hanging from the walls were the same crystal that were in the corridor. Only difference was that I had them fashioned into different shapes, so I could hang them from the walls and use them as lights. (Not that I needed them, but sometimes light was good to have.) Then Finally, to fill up the two walls to the door, I had a weaver make black tapestries of each one of the dragon warriors..one for each of my dear friends. To the left of the door were the ones of Zeno and Abi, to the right were the ones of Guten and Shuten.
Then right on the wall; in the middle of both the chest and the cot..was a tapestry of me and the Darkness dragon..
Yep..nothings changed.
Sighing, I walk over to my chest and open it. Instantly recognizing the black bow and my black armor covered in dust. Trying not to dwell to much on the past, I swiftly grab the bow and the quiver. closing the chest, I exit the room quickly and run down the corridor. Opening the stone door with little hesitation, I close it and sprint towards to the stables.
Standing there waiting for me was Hak and Soo-Won. Both of them talking about who-knows-what, as they saddled up their horses. Walking to one of the stables, I pull out a black stallion and begin to saddle him up.
My presence didn't go unnoticed for very long. "And what took you so long? Fixing your appearance?" I turn and shoot Hak a glare, continuing to saddle up Onyx. ( That is what I'm naming him for the time being.)
"For your information, I was grabbing my bow and my quiver." I say, my voice slightly tense and mocking as I finish up what I was doing. With ease, I hoist myself up onto the horse and look down at the two that were still standing beside their horses, although they soon followed my lead and mounted.
With a click of my tongue, Onyx starts to move forward, and I lead him out of the stables.
"Well that really is a shame, you look awful in that attire. Frankly I think you look horrible everyday, but that's besides the point." Hak say's mockingly. Without giving it a thought, I grab an arrow from my quiver and notch it into place. Raising my bow, I point the arrow directly for Hak's forehead. Suddenly thinking better of it, I take the arrow and smack him hard on top of the head with it.
Hak's hand's instantly go to his head as he shoots me a glare.
"That hurt you crazy woman! It isn't very lady-like to be that violent you know!"
I scoff and lead Onyx into the ring. "Does it look like I really care?"
Soo-won barks out a laugh and looks at me, eye's gleaming. "Oh how iv'e missed you two."
I shoot him a lazy grin and look at my bow, only now just realizing that I hadn't cleaned off the layer of dust that had collected. The dust will come off on it's own as I practice.
"Hey you two! warning ya now, I might be a bit rusty!" Hak's remark to what I said was quick.
"As expected from an old hag!" Oh that little brat. I click my tongue three times, and Onyx begins to gallop. Getting a feeling for the ring, I feel two other horse's speeding up to me. Soo-Won shows up on my right, Hak on my left. "Come on Akuma-Chan! Let's see how rusty you actually are!" Soo-Won's voice was teasing as Hak sends me a smirk.
Laughing, the two surge ahead of me, both of them taking the first shots. Soo-won was a little off , but Hak hit dead center. I smirk and push the horse to go faster. Approaching Hak's horse, I jump off Onyx and land on the back of Hak's horse.
"What?!"
My smirk turns deadly as adrenaline fills my bones. Jumping over Hak, I land in front of him and let out a sharp whistle before running up the length of the horse. Jumping off it's nose, I land again on the running horse and notch in two arrows. Shooting them all once at a time, I aim directly for the middle.
All hit bulls-eye.
Small curls had fallen loose from my ponytail and were now laying scattered all over my face. A triumphant smile breaks across my smiles as I stare at my work. Maybe I wasn't so rusty after all.. although my definition of rusty is much different from theirs.
I did have to pass the time somehow...so I did it with training in various weapons. I just hadn't practiced the bow in about two years. So yes, I was sorta rusty.
"You call that rusty?! You damn liar!" Hak's outraged tone fills my ears, and I turn to look at him sheepishly. "That was great Akuma-Chan! How did you learn to do all that, and I don't just mean the archery skills!" Soo-Won was staring at me with wide eyes and I feel my face go straight.
I can't exactly tell them I practiced for almost one hundred years, now can I? "My family had a history of archers that went back millennia, so I was taught since I could walk. And the other stuff was merely something I picked up on the road. I have to be quick on my feet in order to survive by myself."
Hak narrows his eyes at me in suspicion, and no doubt Soo-won had his question's as well.
"Then why do you have a sword that your so good at using? Whenever we sparred you were extremely good at it. Not to mention you never bothered to shoot with us until now. " I dead pan and give Hak a look that just screamed 'your an idiot'.
"I can't exactly use a bow for close combat now can I? And I never did till now, because I was keeping Yona company. Geez I thought you were smart, but really your just as dimwitted as a toad."
Hak growls and throws a punch towards my face, but I dodge it and continue laughing at Hak, who just rolled his eyes and tried to hit me again.
"Yona! Come on down and ride the horse!" Soo-won's call makes both Hak and I stop. looking up, I see Yona descending from the balcony and down the the ring, a smile plastered on her face.
She runs over to us, and heads straight for Soo-wons horse, where he offers her a hand. I look over to Hak and nod over towards their direction. With a Sigh, He gets off his horse and goes to help, me soon following suit.
Yona lets out a shriek as she tries to get onto the horse. "It's High! I'm scared!"
Soo-Won laughs as all three of us try to help her onto the horse. I hope she realizes that this would be ten times easier if she wasn't letting herself hang like a rag doll.
"Hak will die under the princess's weight soon." Hak say's making a funny face.
"Akuma eventually will too..Princess hurry up please." I say, my voice filled with a teasing tone. "I'll kick you both down!!" I laugh and give a simple push, tired of pretending that this was hard. She lets out a small scream as she goes soaring up unto the horse. Soo-won catch's her, and she begins to blush, and I refrain from laughing at her flustered look.
/////////////////////////Time Skip///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Stretching up from my cot, I look around at the familiar room and smile to myself. Today was Yona's birthday banquet, and I really look forward to it. Standing up, I walk over to the wall, where I hung up the Kimono that King Il had made for me. Not only had he given me a kimono but he had also given me a hair ornament, and new shoes to go along with it. The king was too kind...
I look down at my own comfy clothing and feel almost sad to take it off. It was really just a black tunic, black trousers and black boots. There were dark blue wrapping around both my legs and arms so no loose clothing could hinder me. I also have a dark blue sash wrapped around my mid-section to keep it in place. not to mention my dark blue finger-less gloves. Again, I don't want to take these off, but I unfortunately have to.
Sighing, I begin to strip and put on the beautiful Kimono. The colours for the Kimono was white, black and different shades of blue. The main part of the kimono was a shimmering white, with patterns of blue flames licking the bottom of the long sleeves, and at the bottom of the kimono. I start off by putting on the white nagajuban (underpart of kimono) and then securing it with a plain white Datejime sash. Finally I put on the intricate Kimono, yet again marveling at the blue flames that decorated it.
picking up the massive Obi, I just sit and look at it. Trying to figure out which knot would be appropriate for this occasion.
I eventually picked which knot would suffice and begin to get to work. The cloth came in four shades of blue, each shade getting lighter as it went on. wrapping it around my mid-section, I fold it into vertical rectangles before securing it with main black part around my waist. Folding and tying the obi as I remembered, I secure the entire Kimono.
But... at closer inspection, the Obi had Icy blue markings...making it look like scales...
Odd.
Pulling out my long hair, and brushing it, I begin to think. Does that King know who I am? Is that the reason why he gave me a kimono with these designs? It can't be by chance that he happened to give this to me. Regardless of the fact that the scales should be black not blue....that is besides the point.
Brushing out my hair, I pin it half way up with the hair ornament and put on the shoes.
Grabbing Yona's crystal necklace that I had created for her, I head out towards the castle. The king had better not know, or else all hell will break loose.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Walking through the herd of people, I keep my head down, trying to stay unnoticed. But that was a little hard considering the intricate kimono i'm wearing, and the old fashioned way I was wearing it. What can I say? I like to keep old traditions, and my village usually wears kimono's like this.
Walking up towards the front, I lift my lowered head, and walk proudly. Why should I keep my head low? I've attracted attention before (Not from what you think) this can't be any worse. Walking up to Yona with a smile on my face, I hide her present in the sleeve of my Kimono.
Yona turns her head and instantly smiles when she see's me. "Akuma-Chan! You look so pretty! I love your Kimono!" I feel my face heat a little at her compliment. Not really being used to getting compliments on anything other then my battle skills. "Thank you princess, but it's really thanks to your father. if it wasn't for him, I'd still be wearing my tunic and trousers."
I shoot King Il a grateful smile, which he willingly returns. Turning back to Yona, I pull out my present and hand it over to her. "Happy birthday, Princess Yona."
She takes the necklace and a smile breaks out on to her face. "That you so much, Akuma-Chan! It's beautiful!" Letting out a laugh, I clasp my bigger hands over her extremely small ones. "Put the crystal into the dark, and look what happens."
She does what I instruct, and covers the crystal with her hands and peeks through a little hole. Instantly she gasps and snaps her head up to me; eye's wide. "I-It's glowing! How is it doing that?!"
Shaking my head, My entire body shakes as a laugh vibrates through my body. Taking the necklace, I put it over her head; the necklace resting on her neck.
"It's a type of crystal that only grows in certain places, and because of a certain chemical in them; they are able to glow. Sometimes they glow just as bright as a regular lamp". Eyes still wide, She continues to admire it, but the feeling of eyes burning holes into me makes me turn around.
The set of eyes just so happen to be Soo-Won, and by the way he was looking pointedly at Yona, he obviously wanted to see her. Turning back around, I give Yona a little nudge and give a small point over towards the boy.
"Someone over there want's to see you." I didn't have to say another word because she was already gone.
Sighing, I turn and look over to King Il. "I want to thank you again for the Kimono. It truly is beautiful." I say with a smile. The king waves his hand dismissively. "Please don't thank me. Someone had sent this about two days after you arrived. It wasn't actually from me."
Shock ripples through me to the very core. Who could have sent this? It couldn't have been anyone from the village, because I hadn't ordered anyone to make me one...and the only other people that know about me are the three dragonet's and--
I give King Il a small smile and dismiss myself. That cheeky bastard. Where did he even get the money to pay for this...unless he went back to my village and said that I wanted one ordered. Knowing the seamstress, she wouldn't have said no regardless. Although he has no command whatsoever, people still seem to adore him whenever he comes to visit, meaning he could get whatever he wanted effortlessly... I love the Kimono, trust me. But i'm not Seiryuu, I'm the Yamiryuu, the dragon warrior of darkness. You'd think he'd pick something with more black to it.
Shaking my head at his antics, I continue on with the banquet. Occasionally seeing Hak and the others.
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It was well past midnight and I had changed out of the Kimono and packed it into a bag, along with the tapestries, my armor, and my bow. There was really no point in keeping all of this stuff here when I don't live here anymore. I go to crawl into bed but something makes me freeze, something that I haven't felt in what felt like forever.
Throwing my over coat on, grabbing my sword and my belongings, I sprint out of the room and out of the corridor. Closing the door as fast as I can, I run and jump onto the roofs.
Excitement and dread flow through my veins, making me feel amazing...but there is only one reason as to my I could possibly feel this way.
Darkness was forming in the streets, the sense of blood-lust, and fear is so fresh in the air that it was almost like smelling fresh baked pastries. Yet the reason for this scares me. Someone was just murdered...not only that, but by looking around....there is not a single guard in his post; meaning they've betrayed the king.
A deadly smirk makes it's way onto my face. Looks like the fun has just begun, and whoever caused this is sure gonna wish they hadn't.
Because I don't tolerate Murders in Hiryuu castle, nor do I tolerate traitors to the crown, not after we had to fight for so long to make the kingdom the way it way.
People are going to die tonight. Mark My words.