[M] Draconian Prophecy (Ushima/Ashen)

[Ushima]

"Yeah I hear them." Mikal whispered. He slowed his pace down and crouched lower. "Drive them out. I got a plan." Two small pebbles levitated off the ground, one each above his hand. "I'll use a trick the High Mystic taught me." He waited until the critters were flushed out and with quick reflexes launched the tiny rocks. The creatures, which were rabbits, were struck with the pebbles. Being struck with tiny rocks normally would cause sudden death but these were propelled by magic, they travelled fast and struck the rabbits hard. A shrill cry was emitted and the rabbits were knocked back about a foot and a half. "You have no idea how long it took me to perfect that trick shot." Mikal stood, walking over to the downed creatures. Reaching down he picked them up. The prince pinched them, feeling the meat on the bones. "Nice and plump. These will be good." Off in the distance Mikal heard the roar of a dragon. "Sounds like Astroth found something for himself. Lets get back."

As they walked Mikal held both rabbits in his left hand. Now it was the two of them walking back to the stream together. "Good job hearing those rabbits. I'd probably walk right by them." He hadn't actually been looking that hard so indeed he would have just marched right on back and spooked them. As they walked Mikal eyed Clover's free hand and took hold of it, interlacing their fingers. "Gladios isn't here." He missed the warmth he felt when they touched. Mikal knew she held her affection back in front of others, especially Gladios. At least now they were alone until they reached the stream again and could let go right before. Mikal looked at Clover. "Just so you know there are locks on the doors at the palace." The prince gave her a wink. He was teasing. Though he doubted they'd do anything. Memories would be all he had and he was ok with that. His stomach made a loud noise. "Now I'm getting hungry. You're going to enjoy the food when we get to the castle."

[Ashen]

Clover was ready to use her knives to kill the rabbits. She was already busying herself with thinking of how delicious they would be, spiced up just right. But then Mikal called out directions to her, and she stilled her blades. The prince had something else up his sleeve. She raised a brow at him, curious about this magic that she now knew he possessed. He seemed to perform some sort of telekinesis. The rabbits let out too inhumane a noise, and soon they were dead.

They started back, Mikal taking his catch himself. Clover shrugged at his compliment. "Nice on the magic. We could have gone without hurting them, even in the last moments of their deaths. But still, I couldn't have done that. I always admire people who can do anything with magic." She glanced over at the rabbits in his hand, and while she did, Mikal grabbed for her hand. Instinctively Clover tensed, but she soon relaxed. He was right. The Draket was not here; they were free.

Clover swung their hands a bit as they walked back. She rolled her eyes at his joke, but she had to stop herself from snorting at it. "Excuse me," she said after composing herself. "What do you take me for? Just some whore of yours?" But she was smirking now. She looked about to say something else, but Mikal's stomach interrupted. "I don't know that I'll be able to eat all the food you're used to. I am used to all natural ingredients, not the imported things I've heard you have. And the portions, I have heard stories..." She sighed, almost dreamily. "I look forward to experiencing it all. Did you have culture shock when you came to us? It's hard to get homesick when you've never had a home, huh?"

[Ushima]

"A bit." Mikal replied as his thumb brushed across Clover's knuckles. "The first few nights I woke in a panic, not recognizing the ceiling. There are noticeable differences between tent cloth and dark stone. I think most I missed was having lunch with my mother. We'd sit on her balcony and enjoy the time together. Once I was old enough to go into the field with the army the amount of times we saw each other decreased drastically." The prince smiled softly. "My mother wasn't too happy about it. For most of my childhood was spent clutching my mother's dress wherever she went. All the nobles thought it was cute the way I was shy, hiding behind my mother, thumb in my mouth. Then I got big enough to hold a sword and her baby boy was no longer chasing after her, sitting in her lap as she looked over plans at her desk, holding her hand as she walked through the halls to her next meeting." Mikal sighed, now missing his mother. "She gave the best hugs. So warm and comfy." He was loosing himself in the memory and brought himself back. "But you'll probably miss the people more than places, like me and my mother." That made Mikal pause. "Hey that's something we kind of have in common."

The duo returned to their makeshift rest spot. Gladios was still gone so Mikal took the opportunity and leaned in, capturing Clover's lips in a kiss. Heat flooded his body as he kissed her. The prince didn't want to pull away, he wanted to enjoy the moment, but they didn't have time. So reluctantly pulling away his smiled. "Still just as good as the first one." He gave her one last peck as there came the noise of a twig snapping off in the distance.

"My lord. I have returned." Gladios returned with an armful of kindling. "Ah I see you have returned successful as well."

Mikal held up his kills. "Indeed."

"Excellent. Our large friend has yet to return so we'll have to do this by hand." Gladios set about building a fire. Mikal started to prepare the rabbits, skinning them with a knife Gladios handed him.

"Can't wait to dig in." Mikal said as he prepared the meat, his stomach making noise. Gladios got the fire going and took the dead rabbits from Mikal once they were ready and put them in the fire. Gladios took over cooking and Mikal sat back, watching the flames dance as he waited for the meal to be ready.

[Ashen]

Clover listened to Mikal talk about his mother. Normally she'd shut him down, remind him how her mother was dead because of him, but instead she held her tongue. There was no need for such talk, she realized, and she was interested in hearing about what Mikal had to say. She wanted to meet this woman, mingle with her, but she didn't know how that would play out. Would Mikal's mother want to meet her? Would she accept her? Mikal had tried to reassure her, but she still had her doubts, and she didn't know what to think.

Mikal snuck a kiss, which caused Clover to go red. She waved him off quickly. "Stop being so risky with that," she said, swatting at him. She was joking, and her smirk told him that. Soon the Draket came back though, and Clover let go of him immediately. Clover didn't address him, and stood by to watch their interaction. She helped Mikal skin a rabbit, then moved towards the fire. She didn't like letting the Draket cook alone, so, hesitantly, she spoke to him.

"I think we would benefit from my knowledge of spices." She shouldered him out of her way and looked over their meat. "If we season the rabbit with this..." She removed some spices she had found earlier from her bag and looked them over. "And then we turn it this way..." She got to work with the meal, feeling more at home as she worked. Clover knew how to cook, and she was proud to show off her culture to these two. Even if her cooking could hold nothing to Cicero's, she was sure she'd at least manage to not burn it this time.

Their meal eventually finished cooking, and Clover sighed. Now they could relax, and wait for the overgrown lizard to get back. She looked to the sky, a question in her eyes. "Think he got lost?" she asked. "Your dragon I mean."

[Ushima]

"He's fine." Mikal replied as he took a bite into his meal. "Astroth is just having some fun on his own. Probably has a deer or a boar at this point." Taking another bite Mikal let out a satisfied moan. "This tastes good."

Gladios nodded. "Indeed. The addition of local floral certainly improved the quality."

"And to think we were going to settle for simple roasted rabbits." Chuckling Mikal took another bite. "Maybe you should spend some time in the kitchens with our Head Chef. He could show you a thing or two about spices."

Gladios set his completed remains down. "Kelian is a fantastic cook. Years of culinary knowledge under his belt. There is no position higher in the culinary world that Royal Chef. Only the best get to work in our kitchens."

"He'd always chase me out of the kitchens when I was trying to steal or charm a snack away from one of his assistants. I'd be reaching for an apple then he'd just turn the corner waving a rolling pin at me and shuffle me out of the door." Mikal smiled. "Yet whenever I got hurt he was always quick to mix up a batch of sweets for me while I lay in bed." There was a brief pause as Mikal thought. "Kelian will be retiring soon won't he?"

Gladios nodded sadly. "He is getting up there in age. Currently he has been looking for a suitable replacement for him."

Mikal turned to Clover. "Well at least you can still get his treats for the time being." The prince set his devoured rabbit down. Laying back he crossed his arms behind his head and sighed contently, waiting for the others to finish. Off in the distance Mikal heard a roar. "Astroth is coming back. Once he's here and everyone is done we can head out again."

[Ashen]

Clover warmly accepted praise for her cooking. She didn't know about this royal chef the two were talking about, this Kelian. The Lucet knew he couldn't hold a candle to her family's cooking, not when they had Cissy, and a group of others who were just as qualified. But perhaps she would have to study under the chef, learn about Drakilian cuisine. It was never something she had considered before, but the extra knowledge wouldn't hurt, and maybe it would even be... fun.

She nodded at Mikal, and was about to tell him that she looked forward to sampling the sweets he spoke of, but a roar cut through the sky. She looked to the source. "Ah, your lizard is back," she said. She finished the last of her portion of rabbit and stood, trying to see what the dragon had returned with. "If he has brought back what you say, there will be a lot of leftovers. We should have him carry his findings to the next pit stop for us."

She was glad to be heading out again. The more she heard about the Empire, the more she wanted to see what it was really like. The last time, she'd been so caught up in her goal she hadn't noticed just what was going on. There had been a party, but why had she not stopped to sample the food, mingle with the people? Her eyes wouldn't be so hated, not when this Draket and others like him wore the same. But she hadn't stopped, and though she regretted it, she'd have... at least a temporary chance to try again. She didn't know how long she could be staying. She looked to the sky again, as if expecting a black dragon to be beside Astroth. Obviously, Diabolus was not there. "Right," she said. "I'll start cleaning up the rabbit. We'll be off again in no time."

[Ushima]

Astroth entered the clearing, finding his master's side quickly. "There's a good boy." Mikal patted his dragon's head. "You enjoy your hunt?" Astroth belched, a puff of dark smoke coming out of his mouth. "I'll take that as a yes." The prince noted that the red dragon's mouth was covered in blood. Leftovers from his hunt. "Go get a drink. Clean yourself up a bit will ya?" Astroth snapped his jaws tight. His belly rumbled with a false threat as he walked over to the water and drank, washing away the gore.

"Everybody ready?" Gladios asked, stepping away from the bushes after relieving himself.

"We're good. Just tossed the scraps aside." There really wasn't much clean up in tossing away a small animal carcass. "Astroth?" The red dragon lifted his head, water dripping from his jaws. A large tongue wiped up the excess liquid. "Time to go." As the dragon passed Mikal patted his side and started walking, keeping pace with his dragon friend. "What's the plan Gladios?"

The Draket bodyguard looked at his charge. "We'll walk until nightfall then set up camp for the evening. Then tomorrow Astroth should be strong enough to fly you back to the castle. Clover and I would keep pace as birds. We should be home by early evening or the end of the day tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me." Mikal smiled. "Hear that buddy? Almost home. You heal up nice and good." Astroth let out a roar of excitement as they continued to walk.

[Ashen]

Clover arched a brow when the dragon returned. Whatever he had eaten, it had been something big. Pieces of it stuck to his teeth, and the dark red stood out from his shining scales. Clover turned away, not liking the sight of blood. She realized the necessity of eating animals, but she still didn't like it. This dragon needed far more meat than she. All those animals that would have to die to feed this beast... She tried not to think about it.

Gladios was made to plan their route. Clover would have preferred to have a say in what they were doing, but she remained silent. She crossed her arms. "I think it would be much more efficient if we followed the dragon as, I don't know, dragons ourselves. Have you never tried to keep up with a dragon as a bird? That sounds like a good way to get your wings very tired very quickly." She was more just trying to find fault with what the Draket suggested. This journey would not be a walk in the park, not with this man.

They continued on, and though now full, Clover could feel herself growing weary. Night was beginning to fall, and she wondered how long they had been walking, how far she was from home. If she died out here, how long until one of the Lucet even bothered coming for her? Would they? She didn't want to think about it. "Where are we?" she asked. "Are these parts dangerous?" She could hear no immediate danger, which was good. "Someone should keep guard while the other two sleep." She was looking at Gladios, but soon looked away submissively.

[Ushima]

"We'll stop here for the night." Gladios announced, halting their walking.

Mikal looked over at Clover after she asked a series of questions about their current location. "These parts shouldn't be dangerous. Air born patrols sometimes fly over here. Bandits don't like the idea of being spotted by roaming Sky Knight patrols." The prince started picking up wood for a fire. "Which means there's a field outpost where they stop for supplies nearby but it's too out of the way for us to stop there." Mikal had a good armful of wood. "But even though bandit sightings are super rare standard protocol for camping out is to have a lookout. If we were on the open plains we'd have to worry about roving bands of Gnolls." Gnolls were vicious humanoid Hyenas. They killed anyone they caught and took their things. Try as the Drakil might but they were like vermin and all attempts at driving them out proved fruitless. Most that would happen would be a few months of peace before more reports of malicious murders would come across the King's desk.

"I will volunteer for first watch." Gladios set his pile of wood down. "I'll stay up for four hours then I'll wake you up."

"Sounds good." Mikal crouched down and started arranging the wood. Astroth found a place off to the side close to the fire and curled up. "Do you want to take last watch Clover? Or perhaps take my middle spot?" Once the wood was set Astroth's neck lifted up. With a small puff of flame the fire was lit, bathing the clearing in an orange glow. "Good boy." Mikal patted the side of the dragon and sat down, leaning against the dragon's side. Mikal looked over at Clover, giving her a pleading look and patting the ground next to him. "Please?" He said a little above a whisper. "He won't care all that much." Astroth snorted and his human's attempt at courtship and laid his head down for some rest. "You hush."

[Ashen]

Clover looked up as if she would see a Sky Knight flying overhead that instant. Obviously, there was no one, and she turned her attention back to their group. While she didn't like the idea of Drakilian knights finding her, she had to remind herself that she was with their prince, that she would be safe. Besides, the protection from bandits was well worth the fear of her being singled out by a knight.

Galdios took first watch, like Clover believed he ought have. "I'll take third watch, if you're alright with second, Mikal," she said. She decided it would be better for her to wake up early and stay up rather than interrupt her sleep. She would have taken second, though, if Mikal hadn't wanted it. Astroth got himself comfortable, and Gladios got ready to stay up later than the rest of them. Clover prepared to lay down too, but she noticed Mikal pat the space beside him. She cast her gaze to the Draket and raised a brow, but he seemed to answer her question before she asked it. The Lucet girl hesitated, but she lay down next to the prince. "Don't try anything," she breathed so that only he would hear.

A night under the stars, lying by the prince of the enemy kingdom. Clover smiled remembering their first time doing just that, but she soon cleared her head. Now was not the time to be thinking of such things. She was almost paranoid the Draket would be able to see what she was thinking. Cover tried to fall asleep, but she was having a rough time. She was worried about her family, and about her reception in the big empire. But she was excited, too, excited for more time with Mikal, and the opportunity to experience their culture, even if it was for some silly legend. Clover let out a large sigh. Not much longer now, she told herself. Soon, they would be in the castle, living like she never had before.