ShadowMoon - Fanfictions - The Country of Elwood / Chapter 4 by Lady Torrent

The Country of Elwood

Chapter 4

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Disclaimer:

*runs away crying, complaining about not owning the Ronins*

You guys are so cool! I love you all! *sniffle* You guys make me feel so loved and happy! You guys are too good to me, really. And as far as a question about Yuli... He'll be here eventually. I have plans for the whiney little brat to come in later. *cough* I personally thought Ryo had the right idea when he slapped him.

Muchos gracias goes to WildfireFriendship, Hiruma, Jou-chan, Kireina-Ame, Gradual Decline, Sailor Moon, Axisor, Djinn Hashiba-Maxwell, and Shadow Fax!!

I love you guys!

<><><><><>

Rowen sighed, leaning on the handle of the broom he was using to sweep the floor. "Geez... this sucks." He muttered, running a hand through his disheveled blue hair.

"So don't do it."

Rowen glanced over his shoulder at the blonde leaning in the doorway. "And get whipped for it? No thank you."

Sage gave him a cool gaze, making a thoughtful noise. "Hm. That never seemed to stop you before... you knew I was standing here, didn't you?"

Rowen turned on him, blue eyes glaring a hole in the prince. "You know what? Fuck you. And yes, I knew you were there. I'm an elf." Rowen continued to glare, and started slowly toward the blonde. "And I don't care what Cye thinks. All of you royal types are all the same. You're all complete assholes."

Sage raised an eyebrow, intrigued by Rowen's statement. "Really?" He smirked slightly, starting toward Rowen; his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the elf.

Rowen stopped walking as Sage started forward. He then began to take a step backward for every step the blonde took. The look in Sage's eyes unnerved him. He had never seen that look directed toward him. Other people, yes. But never at him. He continued to back up until he ran into one of the walls.

"Oops. No where to go now, Touma." Sage breathed, rather close to the slightly panicky boy. Sage put a hand against the wall near Rowen's ear. "So... how did I achieve the title of asshole in your book?"

Rowen opened his mouth to say something, avoiding the ice blue eyes. He didn't know what to say. "... You're drunk." He tried to move to the left side, where Sage's arm wasn't blocking him, but the swordsman's other arm came up rather quickly, efficiently pinning him to the wall.

The blonde laughed slightly. "I'm not drunk. The only thing that I've been drinking at all today was water." He smiled, tilting his head to the side slightly. "You're avoiding the subject."

Rowen continued to look away. //What is he *doing*?// "You sound drunk to me..." His voice trailed off.

Sage smirked, watching Rowen closely. "I'm incoherent when I'm drunk, Touma. You can even ask Ryo about that one."

Rowen looked slightly disappointed. "...Oh..." He scratched his head, still avoiding the piercing ice blue eyes. "Wh-what are you doing, Pri-" He was cut off when Sage's lips were pressed to his own. He promptly tried to push the blonde away, not used to getting this much attention, but Sage had him thoroughly pinned.

Sage pulled away when Rowen didn't respond to him. He watched the elf's eyes dart around the room, as he bit his bottom lip. Sage smiled and briefly brushed his lips against Rowen's once more before forcing the elf to look at him.

Rowen blushed a faint red, searching Sage's face for answers. "What was that for?" He asked softly, watching Sage slowly lick his lips.

"That color suits you, Touma." Sage brushed a finger over Rowen's cheek, and smiled. "You're a very attractive person Touma. Never doubt that." He kissed Rowen's forehead before giving the gold earring a playful tug. Sage turned and started for the door.

"Prince Sage?" Rowen called out, pulling himself off the wall after his initial shock had passed.

Sage paused, and turned his head, looking over his shoulder. "Yes?"

"Call me Rowen." The elf smiled, somewhat shyly as he nervously tugged on his earring.

Sage nodded. "Call me Sage. See you later, Rowen." He gave Rowen a seductive smile before leaving.

Rowen ran a hand through his hair, letting out a deep breath. "Woah... where the hell did *that* come from?" He murmured aloud, still watching the door the blonde had just left through.

<><><><><>

Ryo spit the water that he had in his mouth out as he listened to Sage's earlier encounter with Rowen. "I can't believe you did that! I didn't think you had it in you." He punched his cousin's shoulder teasingly.

"Heh. Well, I can tell you *he* sure wasn't expecting it." Sage ran a hand through his hair before sighing. "I still can't believe I did that either."

"So are you going to try to pursue anything with our little elfin friend?" Ryo grinned, winking provocatively at him.

Sage groaned and smacked himself in the forehead. "You're never going to let me live this moment down, are you?" He questioned.

Ryo's grin got wider, if it was humanly possible. "Hell no." He shook his head, and put an arm around Sage's shoulder. "I'm going to remind you of it every day until you die, my friend."

"Thanks... I don't know what I'm going to do... I guess it all depends on Rowen." Sage murmured, and shrugged a shoulder.

Ryo's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Rowen? Who's Rowen?"

Sage made a thoughtful noise. "Touma told me to call him Rowen." He shrugged again. "So what about you and Cye, hm? Are you pursuing anything there?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Ryo asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. He looked up as they heard people walking toward them.

Two knights turned about halfway down the corridor into the throne room. They were carrying what looked like an extremely bloody body between them.

Sage and Ryo exchanged looks before hurrying to the throne room, and quietly making their way toward the front to see what was going on.

"Your Majesty, we were on lookout through the woods when he was struck down by an arrow. We think it was an elf around the area." One of the knights spoke, bowing before the king respectively.

"Go fetch the elf kid." The king waved hi hand at a servant that was standing off to the side, watching quietly.

Minutes later, Rowen was pushed through the throne doors by a knight standing outside them. He slowly made his way to the king, glaring like there was no tomorrow.

"Boy, heal this knight." The king ordered, pointing to the almost corpse lying on the ground in front of him.

The knight on the ground coughed slightly, spitting up some blood as his hand covered his wounded side. A small rack of coughs came over him, and he spit up more blood.

There was a fleeting second where Rowen almost felt sorry for him. But he was one of the king's knights. One of the people who brought him here in the first place. He refused to feel sorry for any of them. He looked away from the pain filled green eyes, and looked up at the king. "Fuck you." He spat, crossing his arms over his chest.

Seconds later, there was a sword pressed against his neck, but not hard enough to draw any blood.

The king narrowed his eyes at Rowen threateningly. "Heal him now. Or die."

Rowen laughed, finding that statement highly amusing. "You wouldn't kill me. I'm too valuable to you." He paid the knight holding the sword to his neck no attention.

"Wouldn't I?" The king asked, raising an eyebrow as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He watched the elf raise his eyebrows.

"You're not going to do it. It would be too big of a set back to you." Rowen rolled his eyes before continuing. "And Lord knows you only think about yourself."

The pressure of the sword increased with a nod from the king, drawing a thin red line of blood.

"This is the last time I tell you. Heal him." The king motioned once more, mostly for emphasis.

Sage caught Rowen's gaze and looked down at the knight and then back at Rowen. He repeated it a couple times before Rowen sighed, and dropped to his knees, putting a hand on the knight's forehead.

When Rowen finished, his eyes fluttered open, and he stood, stumbling backwards. He blinked, trying to focus his blurry vision.

The king smirked coldly and turned his head toward Ryo and Sage. "Very good... Sage, I want you to double the punishment on the elf." He ordered him with another wave of his hand.

Sage's stomach lurched forward, and he watched as Rowen dropped to his hands and knees, now lacking the strength to keep himself in an upright position. "Me?" He asked quietly.

"You're the only Sage in this room." The king stated, giving Sage a weird look.

"No..." He whispered, shaking his head, then said it again with more force. "No." He walked over to Rowen, and knelt next to him, checking to see if the elf was alright.

"What?" The king slowly rose from his throne, eyes burning holes in Sage.

Ryo looked wide-eyed at Sage, then to the king. He wasn't exactly sure what would happen, but he knew it would not be good.

"I said no." Sage stood defiantly, ice blue eyes flashing with anger. "No human should be treated the way you treat Touma." Sage glared at the king. He was pretty sure he could guess what was coming and not be too far from the truth.

Rowen stared at Sage through blurry vision. He couldn't believe Sage was doing that for him. He blinked a couple times, looking up at the king through his bangs and then at the panic stricken Ryo out of the corner of his eyes. Everything slowly faded to black, and he fell limply to the floor.

<><><><><>

Sage winced, his bottom lip caught between even white teeth. The cleaning of the wounds hurt worse than the actually receiving them.

"Eh... sorry." Kento murmured, and dabbed at the tender, bleeding skin of Sage's back.

Sage nodded, making sure to avoid Ryo's glare.

"I can't believe you did *that* either. That was just plain fucking stupid." Ryo shook his head, from his spot against the wall.

Cye looked up from where he was tending to the still unconscious elf's wounds. "Sort of like you with that knife." He murmured softly before looking back down at what he was doing.

Sage's mouth dropped open and he looked over at Ryo. Roles switched and now Sage was the one glaring. "Ryo... what knife?" He looked toward Cye when Ryo refused to answer or meet his gaze.

Cye had a 'maybe-I-shouldn't-have-said-that' look on his face, and he too avoided Sage, walking over to the sink to fill a bowl with more water.

"What knife?" Sage asked again, through clenched teeth, getting up off the table. He ignored Kento's protests, and started toward Ryo.

Ryo backed away from Sage, laughing nervously. "Um... I uh... didn't really want to tell you..." Ryo shot a look Cye's direction. "But uh... I sorta..."

"Spit it out Ryo." Sage growled, still advancing.

"Eh heh heh... Isortatriedtokillmyself." He muttered, and winced, closing his eyes, expecting Sage to hit him. When he didn't feel anything, he opened them again.

Sage just stared at him incredulously. He looked more hurt than he did mad. "Why didn't you tell me, Ryo?"

Ryo scratched the back of his head. "I figured *you'd* try to kill me if I did." He murmured, and ran a hand through his hair.

"So... why didn't you..." Sage's voice trailed off, now a lot softer.

Ryo didn't reply, and looked down at his feet.

Rowen groaned slightly, and slowly pulled himself to a sitting position, swaying a little. "Anyone see what ran me over?" He slurred, rubbing his eyes.

Cye chuckled slightly, and handed Rowen a glass of water. "You healed an almost dead guy. That's why you feel like that."

He smiled and gulped the glass of water down, before looking around. He noticed Sage's back and paled. "S-Sage... your back..." Rowen stood and slowly walked over to him, inspecting it. "That's cause of me, isn't it? I can heal it for you..." He held his hand out, but Sage stopped him.

"No, Rowen. It's not your fault. I did that all on my own. I'll be okay. I don't want you to heal me and end up hurting yourself again." He smiled warmly at him, and tugged Rowen's earring.

Rowen blushed slightly, but nodded. "Okay."

Sage smiled, and placed a light kiss on Rowen's lips, but wasn't expecting the elf to kiss him back.

"Do you remember anything?" Kento asked, sitting on the table Sage had been occupying.

Rowen's eyebrows knit together in thought. "I remember they said the guy got hit by an arrow... and he had green eyes and dark hair. And then Sage's little stunt... But I don't remember ever actually healing him."

"Yeah. They said they think it was an elf that did it." Ryo pulled an arrow out of his boot and gave it to Rowen.

Rowen took the arrow and began to carefully inspect it, before he shook his head. "No. It wasn't an elf. All elves mark their property."

Sage's eyebrows knit together, as he watched Rowen pull his tunic on over his head. "What do you mean, 'mark their property'?" He asked, and took the shirt that Ryo handed him.

"We put our name or initials on everything we own. Bow, quiver, arrows... everything." Rowen shrugged his shoulders, putting the arrow on the table.

"Clothes too?" Ryo asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He was extremely happy the conversation was no longer centered on him, so he tried to keep Rowen talking.

Rowen nodded, and turned the end of his sleeve inside out.

"Hashiba, huh?" Sage read it, then looked up at Rowen, who nodded.

"Yup. That's me. Touma Hashiba." He grinned slightly and stretched, his back cracking as he did so.

"That definitely did *not* sound healthy." Cye murmured, cleaning up the remains of bloody bandages, and dumping pink water out.

All of them looked to the door when it opened, and a knight stepped in, bowing to Ryo and Sage. "Prince Sage, his Majesty the king wishes to speak to you." He murmured, and then glanced at Ryo. "He wishes for your presence as well, your Highness."

Sage nodded silently, and walked out the door, brushing past the knight.

Ryo sighed slightly, and followed, closing the door behind him.

<><><><><>

"How dare you defy me like that? The elf gets what he asks for. You have no right stepping in the middle of it. You are a Prince Sage. You should not be worrying about what happens to a low class insolent creature like that elf." The king pursed his lips, his elbows resting on the arm of the throne.

Ryo quietly gnawed on his bottom lip, constantly looking back and forth between Sage and the king.

"His name is Touma. He's just as human as any one else in this castle." Sage replied, his voice icy and flat.

The king smirked slightly. "Very well. Have it your way Sage. Since *Touma* is human, I guess he can endure a more human punishment. Thirty strikes as a starting point. And he has to you thank for that."

Sage's lip twitched slightly, and he turned on his heel and left, the throne room door slamming in his wake.

Ryo watched him go before running after him, passing Princess Kayura on the way.

"Ryo, wait a minute!" She turned as he went by her, and frowned before looking at the king.

"No worries, Princess. I shall take care of it." He smirked, and nodded his head toward her.

<><><><><>

The knight opened the servant's kitchen door, and walked in. He smiled politely at a couple of servants that were leaving, holding the door open for them. He noticed the elf across the room, talking to four other people. Two of them were male, the other two female. He walked up to them and smiled at the elf. "I wanted to thank you personally for healing me. You could have very easily not done it."

"Umm..." The blue haired boy looked extremely surprised, and glanced at the four he had been talking to. "You're... welcome... I guess..."

The knight smiled. "I take it not many people actually thank you for doing such things. What is your name?"

"Touma..."

"Well, Touma. It's nice to meet you. Once again, thank you for healing me." He smiled again, and stuck his hand out. "My name is Anubis."

To be continued ....