Tired of being alone (open)

The wind was cool and it seemed all was well, however in a light flurry of cold rain, a force seemed to emanate. The source was hard to find considering it was only slightly over 5 feet tall and hazed by rushing pelts of rain, but it was there: a young woman. Her hair was a mess and her face was reddish from the cold blur but her eyes stayed piercingly sharp. The wrinkles of her clothes flapped around in the wind wildly. In all she looked like a strange fog of brown blue and black in a circle of showering gray and silver.

With huff, she found herself crawling into the alcove of a ave and sat, her body collapsing from the length of the journey. Having been jumped, kidnapped briefly and fought by the weather itself, her body was exhausted. The frail princess structure of hers not use to the vicious world outside the palace walls. On top of it all, she was lost.... completely.

With a groan she collapsed backwards and mumbled under her breath soft curses to her body and to her husband who had left her alone in Xing for far too long. The sense of adventure called her too thoroughly and though she fought it, she couldn't for very long. She wanted to know more about the world and that lust for knowledge overcame her. As she disentangled a branch from her hair, she sat up and stared a moment, shuttering from the cold embrace of damp clothes before looking in her hair for more twigs. "Fire... I need fire.." Why couldn't she have learned alchemy? Then she wouldn't have to look for the components of fire. What were those again? Oxygen.. air..wait aren't those the same? "Gaah focus!" She ruffled her hair, dislodging a few more twigs and wet grass. She could only imagine how awful she looked.

Brushing of the troublesome thought, she began her attempt at fire, hoping the wood she had wouldn't be too wet. Her cyan eye half close in tiredness. She wondered why she decide to do this again. Oh right... to see Sonai. Well the bad news for her was, she was a ways off from where the Xingese prince was and on top of it all, she was alone in a cave; freezing practically to the bone. Oh how fortune frowned upon her. It was too late to turn back now though...

"Foolish princess..."

"...following Prince Sonai all this way..."

"...She doesn't know anything about this country..."

"I agree with you, brother. We must help her, like we were told to."

"That we must do, sister, like Prince Sonai told us - as his Kalmia."

Two people stood at the entrance of the cave, watching the young princess carefully. hey smirked and walked headlong into the room, keeping as quiet as they could. As they got near, Heian raised his fist, and punched straight onto the ground, creating a small spire in front of Ao with his Alchemy...

As soon as her brother had done so, Guang clicked her fingers, and modified the hydrogen outside the edge of the rock, causing it to ignite in an ever-burning flame. Well, until the hydrogen in the air ran out. She smiled at her brother, and the pair walked by Ao, sitting either side of her with big smiles on their faces.

"Sorry we..."

"...took so long to make it!" They both giggled at the same time, and moved their hands out to bask in the heat of the flame. If it got too bad, Heian would be happy to create a wall between them and the cave mouth, for now.

Ao sighed, her breath seen as steam in front of her, her eyes cold and her body nearly numb. It had to be forty or less and that was just too cold for her with the soaked clothes as well. She closed her eyes and tried to focus, but her attention snapped back as a loud crash sounded and erupted into her eardrums. Terrified, she let out a scream and staggered in a somewhat crawl behind a nearby boulder. Tears in her eyes from pure frustration and the fear that nearly made her pass out.

It took her a moment, but soon she realized that it wasn't a danger, just a fire. "You two? Who are you?" she didn't recall who it was, who they were. She only knew that they spoke Xingese and that gave her some solace at least. Her eyes closed again as she rubbed her dainty fists against her eyes to wipe the tears that she pretended weren't there. With a soft huff and a shy look, she scooted to the fire and stretched out her hands, her palms flat before her and the color showing the obvious cold she felt.

The cave felt cozier now, safer without the bitter bite of death attempting to tackle her. With a sniff she coughed and hugged her knees close to herself. Her eyes soft and gentle. "I just wanted to see Sonai, he's been gone a while.. and I missed him." She had a soft red on her cheeks, her ears burning at the thought of her husband. "I just want to know he's safe."

"We're your guard, Madam Princess."

"We're here to make sure that you are safe, at the requet of Master Sonai."

"Before you ask, we don't know where he is."

"We were just asked to follow you."

"Yes, when he left before you." They nodded in unison, still sitting beside her and smileing brightly. One of them held out a hand - it was Heian.

"I am Heian Li." Suddenly, the other one held out her hand too, expecting a shake.

"And I'm Guang Li. We're the Royal Guard, the Kalmia." They both smiled at her brightly, and suddenly Heian stood up, walking over to the mouth of the cave.

"I'll take first watch, sister. You keep an eye on her." Guang nodded briefly, and Heian suddenly stood stock still, watching for any intrusions. They were both good at their jobs - he wouldn't be distrcted that easily, and Guang's job was to keep the princess awake and alert. If they were attacked, they'd need to escape in a hurry, so keeping her alert meant they had that much more time ahead of any attackers.

"So, Miss Ao? How is it, being the Princess of Xing? I mean, I've never been more than a guard, so I wouldn't know too much about being royalty. Is it a difficult job? Or is it like they say, all dinner parties and dancing?" She looked inquiringly at the girl - there wasn't exactly much else to talk about now, was there?

Ao watched with her drowsy eyes as she yawned and groaned; cracking her back. She definitely didn't have the body for the kind of adventuring she'd just attempted. Her arms were sore and her legs felt like jell-o before her. Her clothes stuck like glue to her body, pasting the wet silk to her skin. She coughed again and watched them as they introduced themselves, tilting her head as one held out his hand. A gesture she was unfamiliar with. Not to be rude, she hesitantly held out her own hand to catch his nervously.

"Sonai sent you?" She seemed to daydream a moment; a dream about being in a warm room with her love, a book by her side and his warm arms keeping her safe. It wasn't long before she snapped back because4 the wind howled and bit angrily at her body. Shaking, she shimmied closer and took a deep breath. "Why is it so cold here? I should have been at Briggs by now... with Sonai." she dipped her head and sighed.

As the female twin turned and began talking to her. "It's hard. In truth knowing all of Xing is on your husband's shoulders. You have to be back behind him. It makes you nervous, knowing that you are a sort of shoulder to cry on. And the dinners and parties aren't all that fun, people scare me." She said honestly, blushing lightly. "I'm sorry I shouldn't be burdening my people with my problems."

The female twin smiled briefly at her princess. So that's how it was, huh? All parteis and the like... She smiled, and fluttered inside, now daydreaming about what it could be like... Oh, to be royalty, like Takegami... She sighed out like a lover would, and tilted her head to the side, giggling softly.

From the mouth of the cave, Heian sighed. His sister... was rather girlish for a guard. Never the best thing. But as an Alchemist? Never better. He yawned, and sat down, fists level on the ground, watching carefully for any suspicious movements. He had to protect her with his life.

"Heian..." A small voice came from within cave. Not turning back to look, the boy replied quietly.

"Yeah, Guang?" The girl gulped. How should she put this...?

"I'm... scared, brother." Heian blinked, and suddenly felt a warm mass cuddle up to him. Heian sighed, and nodded, allowing her to stick close.

"Alright, Guang. Just... make sure you watch the princess. Alright?"

"Yeah, I will."

Ao sighed and rubbed her temples. Her eyes felt heavy and she laid on her side. She was exhausted and felt like sleep would feel so much better. Her eyes closed, she sniffed; cold and waiting for sleep. Even though it would be difficult. The princess wasn't a good communicator and in fact she ignored everything completely at this moment. It was almost rude, but she wasn't in the mood for conversation and the sticks in her hair didn't help. As she lay there she daydreamed about her husband and how he was. Her eyes closed she imagined what he was doing, wondered if he was missing her how much she missed him. Then she wondered if she was foolish for feeling so strongly at her age.

With a twitch of her nose she tried to forget the subject. Her mind attempting to focus on something else. Perhaps one day Xing would be calm again. Whether it would truly be or not she wondered if she would see the day. Her mind rested on the Li Twins wondering what they did in their spare time. Ao wasted hers on books and etiquette and yet found that when it came to fun and freedom, that was something she didn't have. A soft sigh fell from her lips as she allowed the soft pattern of the falling rain grace her ears and relax her completely.

She was asleep. Heian could feel his sister on his back. Yeah, he was getting pretty tired too, that was for sure. He sighed softly, and looked over his shoulder at Ao. She seemed to be getting ready to sleep as well. He sighed to himself once more, and yawned. Yeah, it was getting late. He didn't not want to sleep.. But he couldn't make his eyes stay open for much longer... He groaned, and punched the ground, activating his Alchemy.

Rock flew up from the ground by his feet, colliding with the ceiling above them. He had made them a nice rock wall - but to make things slightly better, and to keep the air from going stale, he punched the wall once more, and forced a hole in it, again, with his Alchemy. He smiled to himself, and used his sister as a prop, slowly falling asleep...

"G'night, Guang. G'night, Ao." His breaths grew heavier, and he began to snore, Heian Li finally falling asleep.

{Thread CLOSED}