The Country of Elwood by Lady Torrent Chapter 1 ______________________________________________________________________________ Disclaimer: Don't own the Ronins. Wish I did. That would be pretty cool. I wrote this story. If it sounds like a story you wrote, I'm sorry. I might have read yours while I was thinking of ideas for this one. Don't sue me. You won't get anything. I'm broke. ^_^o This is a challenge, and I accepted. Hope you enjoy it. Review, and I'll love you forever!
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The lone figure slowly trudged along, their arms wrapped tightly around themselves as the black clouds dropped buckets of the cold, bone chilling water. Even being under the canopies of the forest didn't help keep the water from completely drenching him. He shivered, his teeth chattering as he put his right hand over a deep gash along his left bicep. A bolt of lightning lit the dark blue, velvet night sky. Thunder closely followed. He stopped and leaned against a very large tree trunk. Slowly, he slid down it, wiping the rain out of his eyes. His arm protested the movement. The gash was throbbing with pain. He wouldn't be surprised if it were infected. He sighed, wrapping his arms tighter around himself for what little heat it offered. Consciousness slowly slipped away from the boy as another bolt of lightning flashed across the stormy sky. <><><><><> Ryo grinned, his horse making circles around his blonde cousin. "Come on, Sage. Let's go do something." He whined, stopping the horse in front of Sage. He leaned forward, resting his head on the horse's neck, gazing into ice blue eyes. Sage dropped out of his practice stance and cocked an eyebrow at the ebony haired prince in front of him. "I *am* doing something." Ryo groaned. "Sage, put your damn sword away and let's go look around." He ordered. Sage was about to reply when a couple of the king's men rode past, one of them holding the limp form of a body. Sage looked up at Ryo before pulling himself onto the horse behind the other boy. Ryo dug his heels into the horse's side, and they started off toward the castle at a quick pace, eager to find out what was going on. Once at the castle, the two hurried to the throne room to see what the commotion was about. Sage put his sword back in its sheath and followed Ryo to the front of the throne room. "Your Majesty, we found him unconscious in the woods." One of the knights knelt before the king, and gestured to the auburn haired boy another knight was holding. "You may rise. Send for the elf boy." The king waved his hand toward a servant. The servant nodded and disappeared through a side door. Minutes later, the servant reappeared and quickly knelt before the king. The blue haired elf crossed his arms, cocking an eyebrow at the man seated on the throne. "You will kneel before the king." One of the knights growled at him, grabbing his arm. "Like hell I will." The elf snapped back, jerking his arm away from the knight. The knight grabbed the back of the elf's neck and swung a foot out, efficiently tripping the boy, and sending him to his hands and knees. "Elf, I want you to heal this boy and carry him down to the servant quarters so he can rest." The king commanded, watching the elf. The elf glared at him. "You heal and carry him yourself you son of a bitch!" Ryo snorted, which received a glare from the king. He quickly looked straight ahead, covering his mouth with his hand. Sage managed to keep a straight face and looked to Ryo out of the corner of his eyes. He smiled slightly as he noticed Ryo was still having a hard time keeping himself quiet. The elf got a swift kick to his stomach, but didn't make a sound as the knight did so. The servant next to the elf spoke up. "Heh. Excuse me for interrupting, your Majesty, but Touma's not well. We're looking into it." "What's your name, servant?" The king's gaze switched to the other blue haired boy. "Kento, sir." The servant watched the king, and licked his lips, waiting to see what he said. "Take the boy to the servant's quarters. As for the elf, give him the usual punishment." The king dismissed them both with a wave of his hand. Kento nodded, sighing to himself as he stood and took the auburn haired boy from the knight, and walked out of the throne room. The knight roughly pulled the elf to his feet. Touma tried to loosen the grip of the knight causing another to grab him as they dragged him from the room, kicking and screaming curses at the king. "See! You don't even *beat* people on your own. You get people to do it for you, you stupid ba-" The elf's shouts were cut off as the large door slammed shut. "Sage, tell them to double the punishment on the elf. As for you, Ryo, come here." The king commanded. "Yes sir." Sage murmured, and walked down the red carpet toward the large doors, his hand holding the hilt of his sword. Ryo sank to one knee in front of his father, his left hand holding his sheathed sword, and his right hand resting on the floor next to him. "You dare laugh when someone insults me? You shame the royal family's bloodline." The king rose from the throne and swiftly proceeded to walk toward Ryo. With one quick motion, he backhanded Ryo across the face. Ryo's head snapped to the side and he could feel warm blood trickle from the cut the gaudy ring on his father's hand left. "You are dismissed. Go." The king growled, pointing toward the door, and reseating himself atop the throne. Ryo wordlessly stood and walked out of the throne room. Sage appeared out of the shadows, falling into step with Ryo. "You didn't tell them, did you?" Ryo asked, ignoring the blood dripping from his cheek. Sage shook his head. "No. No one deserves to be whipped like Touma. I figured fifteen strikes were good enough. Thirty would probably kill the poor guy. Besides, I thought it was hilarious. You're just unlucky in that you can't hide your emotions as well as I can." Sage stopped Ryo, and took his chin in his hand, turning his head. "Come on, we ought to get that cleaned up." Ryo sighed, and nodded, following Sage down to the servant's quarters. <><><><><> Touma winced as the whip hit his back. The skin, still tender from the last beating, split open easily. //Only three more...// He thought to himself, and winced as he was struck again. The slashes criss crossed in all directions along the elf's back, blood trickling from them. The knight sighed as he delivered the last blow to the raw skin. The king would be disappointed once again. The elf still did not cry out in pain, but remained silent. He grabbed the elf's arm and roughly pulled him through the large corridors before opening a door and pushing the elf through. <><><><><> Kento looked up as the door opened, and Rowen stumbled through it. He left the wrapping on the auburn boy's arm unfinished before heading to help the elf. When he saw the marks on his back, he sighed. "Ro, you really need to learn when to keep your mouth shut." "I don't see why." Rowen muttered as he lay on another table in the 'hospital wing'. He hissed as Kento tended to the wounds. He looked toward the boy on the table across the room. Kento noticed the elf's gaze and spoke up. "The cut on his arm is infected. But I treated it. Otherwise, he's fine. Probably hasn't had anything to eat for a good week. He's skinnier than you." Kento tried to lighten the mood, poking the elf in the back of the head. Rowen ignored Kento's light joke. "Did he come to yet?" He asked, wincing slightly. "Nope." Kento looked toward the door as it opened. Prince Sage and prince Ryo walked in, blood dripping from a deep cut on the latter's face. Rowen watched them silently, his chin resting on his folded arms. No one ever bugged the prince's if they showed up in the hospital wing. Both knew how to properly treat and disinfect wounds. Ryo walked over to the auburn haired boy, his head tilted to the side. He carefully finished wrapping the boy's arm as Sage got the necessary items to fix Ryo up. "Ok, I'm done Touma." Kento murmured, and watched Sage push Ryo onto one of the tables as he started cleaning the cut. "Ow!" Ryo yelped as Sage put peroxide to it, and knocked the blonde's hand away. Sage laughed. "Ok, go ahead and bleed to death." Ignoring the glare from Ryo, he dabbed the cut gently. Ryo pouted slightly, but allowed Sage to continue. Rowen watched them for another minute before pulling his blue tunic on over his head. He walked over to the unconscious boy and put a hand to the boy's forehead, closing his eyes. Ryo nodded toward the elf, and Sage turned. Both enjoyed watching the elf heal the injured people. When Rowen's eyes opened they locked onto the ice blue ones of the blonde prince. Looking away, he turned to Kento. "I didn't do anything, but he's running a bit of a fever. See what you can do. I'm gonna get more wrap out of the closet." "So what do you wan to do today, Ryo?" Sage asked, putting the medical equipment back in its rightful place. "Let's go into town. I really just want to get out of here." Ryo's voice faded as the two wandered down the hallway, away from the hospital wing. Rowen crossed back over to Kento and the boy. "I started to heal him, but stopped. I knew they were watching me." Rowen answered Kento's unasked question. Kento nodded and watched the boy's eyes flutter open as Rowen healed him. He was one of the only people Rowen allowed in the room while he healed someone. He didn't like people staring at him while he did it. He'd healed people in the throne room on many different occasions, but if he had a choice, he wouldn't. The elf was always left weak or unconscious after healing someone. Rowen sank into the chair next to the table, his breathing a little heavier than it was supposed to be. "Wh-where am I?" The boy asked, his voice somewhat scratchy. "The king of Elwood's castle." Kento replied, his hands on his hips, unintentionally blocking Rowen from view. "Elwood?" The boy asked, his eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Yeah. Funny name, ain't it?" Kento asked, grinning. "Whoever named it should be dragged out in the street and killed." Rowen muttered, rubbing his forehead. The boy jumped. "Who said that?" He asked, looking around the room. Kento laughed, and stepped to the side, revealing Rowen sitting in the chair. The boy blinked a couple times, staring at Rowen. "You're an elf." Rowen grinned. "What was your first clue?" He asked, tugging on the small gold hoop through his right ear lobe. "You have pointy ears..." The boy's voice trailed off, watching Rowen. "Heh. Very astute of you." Rowen laughed, letting go of the earring. "Who are you guys?" The boy sat up, and looked at the two questioningly, his head tilted to the side. "I'm Touma. But you can call me Rowen. Touma's my elf name. Only call me Touma if we're around anybody but other servants. And this is Kento." Rowen hit the other boy's shoulder. "I'm Cye. Why are you guys here?" He asked, inspecting the wrap around his left arm. "Oh, you can take that off. I just put it on to wait until Rowen got back." Kento grinned. "I'm here because I was born here. My mom was a servant here a long time ago. I guess that it was my fate... or something weird like that." "I was dragged out of the woods when some of the king's knights found out I could heal things." Rowen muttered, frowning deeply. "Yeah, but you were kicked out of your village to begin with, Ro." Kento pointed out, scratching his head. Rowen tossed him a look. "It doesn't matter. It's the principle of the thing." He stated, tugging on his earring again. "Oh. I'm sorry." Cye mumbled, putting the wrap next to him on the table. He crossed his legs, and rested his elbows on his knees, inspecting the other two quietly. Rowen shrugged his shoulders. "You didn't do anything. You don't have to be sorry." <><><><><> Sage grinned at Ryo from under the safety of his hood. The two of them always wore hooded cloaks when they went into the town to keep themselves from being recognized. Ryo stuck his tongue out at the blonde and turned back toward the young lady behind the stand. "How much?" He asked. "Twenty-five cents, your Highness." The girl replied, holding the apple out, smiling at him. Ryo stood there, blinking for a minute or two before smiling and putting a finger over his lips. He handed her fifty cents and took the apple. "Thanks. Keep the change." The girl smiled, and nodded at him, watching the two continue down the street, blending right in with everyone else. Ryo bit into his apple, looking around when something hit him. He fell flat on his butt, his hood coming off his head. The girl made a frantic yelp and dropped to the ground in front of him. "I'm so sorry, your Highness. Please forgive me." She murmured over and over again. Ryo quickly pulled his hood back up, looking around. "Please don't do that." He pulled the girl back to her feet, after getting off the ground himself. "Don't you work in the castle?" Sage asked, in a hushed tone, picking up the box of fabric the girl dropped when she ran into Ryo. She took the box from the blonde, thanking him, and then nodded. "Yes, I do." She replied. "What's your name?" Sage asked, watching her completely straight and rigid posture. "Relax. Nothing's going to happen to you for knocking Ryo flat on his ass. I found it rather amusing." The blonde's eyes glinted with amusement as he glanced at his scowling cousin. Ryo shot Sage a look, before turning back to the girl, watching her expectantly. "M-my name's Mia. Mia Koji."
To be continued .... |
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