Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Bonds and Beginnings ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Time passed quickly but not uneventfully, as it has a habit of doing, and before either party had known it several elvin years gone by in what seemed like a matter of days. Though elves still ruled the land she lived on, human people passed like water through a stream, since human's lives were so much shorter than those of elves and Nameks. Ryven had grown a few more inches height-wise and a few more years wisdom-wise. Her skills had steadily increased over the years, until finally her training was nearly complete.

Ryven and Piccolo were meandering into rather large village on warm spring day, the girl in search of supplies and Piccolo hanging behind, trying to keep from sight of the villagers. Even so, many of them spotted the huge wall of a green man, and shied away, pulling their children from him and hurrying to their respective houses or shops. Ryven was in an especially foul mood that day, it being so close to her birthday and the fact that the day was rather humid, and she stalked through the town with an almost murderous air.

"I hope it rains like hell tonight. We need it." Ryven stated blandly. "It's already wet enough, what's a little more moisture?"

"Enough complaining, jama desu ne." Piccolo replied just as blandly. Ryven grunted, not turning around, but merely walking toward the nearest cart on the street. Grabbing an apple, she tossed the vendor a few copper pieces and walked away, munching on it solemnly. She didn't bother to offer Piccolo any, knowing that he only drank water.

"There's the general store's over there. I'm going to go see if I can't haggle down the price on a new pair of pants." Ryven told Piccolo, turning and pulling a bit on her ragged looking leather pants. "Maybe a new tunic too. They're both rather worn."

"Fine."

"I'll meet you back here by the fountain. Keep out of sight, a place this size is crawling with guards." said the girl, then walked into the store. Piccolo, however, followed her anyway.

"I am not hiding." Piccolo stated firmly, and Ryven knew that was the end of that conversation. They both entered the small wooden building, Ryven reaching to grab the coin purse on her belt as she did.

The store itself looked rather nice on the inside; much nicer than any shop should be for a mere village. The man behind the counter was a large man, his arms the size of logs and his neck just as thick. He was dressed in a fine leather vest and a nicely sewn shirt, his combed hair hidden under a black hat with a long feather sticking out of its band. About him weapons hung on the walls, while on the shelves sat folded clothing, food, rope and other essentials.

Ryven raised an eyebrow at the finery of the place and stepped inside, her old leather boots tapping dully on the hard wood floor. She instinctively reached back and rattled her sword a little in its sheathe, testing how easily it moved.

"Stop that, jama desu ne." Piccolosan grumbled from behind her. Ryven turned her head and gave him an almost poisonous look.

"Knock it off; I'm sick of you criticizing me today." she snapped back, equally irritated with his nit picking. "What's with you this morning, anyway?"

The shop keep, giving the two strange looks, spoke up. "Can I help you two?"

"Yes, I'd like to see what you have in the way of clothing, particularly pants and tunics." Ryven replied, using a polite tone that she saved especially for dealings such as this one. She took special care to hide her eyes with her hood as well, not wanting him to see their color and refuse her service on account that she was a half-breed. The shop keep nodded and came from behind the counter, walking over to a high shelf with some folded clothing on it. He took down some blue tunics, seeing that hers was blue under her cloak, and handed her the three pieces of clothing. Ryven looked at them all with care, turning them over and feeling the cloth and taking in the design until finally she chose a light-blue tunic with black stitching around the low, lace up collar.

"Now for the pants. They are premium cowhide, and these here are buckskin. Both slitted at the bottoms for ease of movement." the shop keep showed them off in his hands, stretching them out over his arms.

"I'll take the buckskin. How much is this going to come to?" Ryven asked, reaching for her coin purse.

"Fifty-two gold," he said, going behind the counter again. Ryven shot a look to the man and emptied her coin purse into her hand, only holding twenty in her palm.

"Um, how much are the pants?"

"Twenty-five."

"I'll pay fifteen for them, since they're buckskin."

"Twenty two"

"Twenty's my final offer."

The shop keep groaned. "Fine. Take them."

Ryven smiled and handed him all her money, taking the pants in the crook of her arm as she started out of the building. On a whim, however, she turned before she reached the door, back to the shop keep with an inquiring look on her face.

"Why is everything in this town so expensive?" she asked. Piccolo stopped and let out an irritated sigh, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the doorjamb, closing his eyes and waiting.

The shop keep blinked. "You don't know?"

"Well, if I knew, I wouldn't have to ask, now would I?" she said.

"I figured that most everyone within a hundred miles knew about the great Wyvern, the menace of this manor," the shop keep replied in a surprised tone.

"Aye, well, I don't come from here,"

"There's a huge wyvern that has been attacking the village and carrying off our virgin girls. It hasn't attacked in a few weeks, but I'm sure if you looked around town, you'd see that we still haven't fully recovered." he explained. "So, as a result, to make up for everything we're losing, Lord Sauldernon has raised taxes, and to keep up, we have to raise prices."

Ryven nodded, listening to the man's story, her eyes narrowed in a most thoughtful way. Piccolo raised an eyebrow as he watched her, looking to the shop keep, who was now going about his business.

~What are you plotting, Young one?~

~You'll see.~

Piccolo grunted as he walked out the door and started out into the street, his student following close behind. They walked down the street for a few minutes more before Piccolosan addressed her again.

~You are going to attempt to kill that Wy- whatever it is called, are you not?~

~Aye.~

~Why bother?~ her sensei asked. ~You have more important things to do. WE have more important things to tend to.~

~Because I need the money, and maybe I'll earn a bit more respect if I do.~ She stopped, then added, ~And to top it off, I'm still a virgin.~

Piccolo sighed shook his head. ~Fine. When are we planning on going on this little escapade?~

~Well, first of all, it's me that's going, not you.~ Ryven replied. Piccolo nearly stopped in his tracks, making Ryven nearly run into him. He turned his head and glared over his shoulder.

~Oh really? And how do you plan on killing this beast all by yourself?~ he snapped.

~Well, for one thing, I can handle one little wyvern by myself. And second of all, this is something that I need to do alone.~ she replied in all seriousness.

Piccolo thought about arguing more, but there was something in her voice that told him better. She had to do this to prove herself to her people. And, if that's what would make her believe in herself, then Piccolo would be more than willing to help.

~Alright, Young One. Then we need to see the lord of this manor.~

~Aye, agreed. Let's go.~

They asked several people along the way for directions to the Lord's castle, and several people and several stories later, they were finally at the gates of a small, but stately castle. Upon walking to the gates, however, Piccolo and Ryven were stopped by a small band of guards, obviously disturbed by their odd appearance.

"State your business," one guard ordered harshly. Piccolo narrowed his eyes at him, but Ryven did the talking.

"I want an audience with the Lord of this castle. I have business matters I want to discuss with him." was her reply. The guard looked skeptical.

"What matters would a little girl like ye be wantin' to discuss with Lord Sauldernon?" the guard asked suspiciously, eyeing the elf girl. Upon peering into her hood he saw her blonde hair, and assumed she was noble, but didn't make his suspicions abate.

"Well, if you don't want this gods-forsaken wyvern to die, then I guess you can merely let me go, but I think your lord would want to hear me out first." Ryven replied calmly, her arms crossing over her chest. The guard's eyebrows raised a bit, and then he motioned for the other soldiers to huddle with him. They left Ryven and Piccolo there to wait as they mumbled between themselves until finally the first guard broke the huddle and came toward the two.

"Go ahead and come in," he said, then yelled for the gates keepers to open the gates. "But be on your best behavior. No funny stuff, or we'll slice ye open like it's nobody's business. Got me?"

"Aye, I understand you perfectly fine, thank you." Ryven replied, walking past him and through the gates. They were led through a courtyard, picking their way through the soldier's training exercises, goats and chickens that littered the yard. To their left on the far wall stood a small but ornate building, and people sat on its steps, talking amongst themselves while others walked into the building in robes of gold, black and red.

~It figures. They worship Kyon'dai.~ Ryven told Piccolo mentally, taking a moment to catch a glimpse of Snowblind, now in raven form and perched on a spire above them.

~What?~

~The god of war and discord. And the dark arts. `Tis the god that the warlords and necromancers worship. Except the necromancers also pay tribute to Jalayne, the goddess of the underworld.~ Ryven explained.

~I have never understood why people feel the need to believe in a higher power.~ Piccolo commented. ~Do you worship these gods, Young One?~

~You haven't noticed by now?~ Ryven sighed. ~Not those particular ones. My goddess is Aiyne, the Huntress and the moon, as was the goddess of my village. And I've been known to pay homage to Shyainae of the wind and weather.~

~Foolishness.~

~`Tis not!~

Piccolo grunted a little at the girl, but cut off the argument before it could escalate. While they were arguing amongst themselves they had entered the main hall of the castle. The servants and nobles all gave the two strange looks, eyeing them with disgust and fear, as was the common behavior of elves in that time to regard others than themselves with the same snobbish behavior.

The hall was decorated richly, with colorful tapestries adorning each of the walls, the silver or golden threads glittering in the torchlight. Expensive looking candelabras were set upon each table as they past, and paintings of the lord's family hung where the tapestries didn't. Upon entering the throne room, their eyes were almost dazzled with the amount of gold used to decorate the room. It seemed that everything was lined or plated with the yellow ore, even the dishes and cups to drink from.

Sitting in a low throne made from gold was a tall elf, his long black hair slicked back in a smooth ponytail at the base of his neck. A silver circlet embraced his cream colored forehead, sparkling just as much as his blue-gray eyes. He was in half armor, his dark green tunic showing under his gold plated breast plate. On his feet were black boots of the most expensive leather, matching his black leggings. His fingers were endowed with a ring on each one, all gold and set with a large precious gem. At his feet was a young elvin girl, a copper circlet upon her fair forehead. She had long dark hair like he had, yet she had lighter eyes, ones that almost looked like silver themselves. Dressed in a long, flowing lavender gown, she was obviously his daughter.

Ryven walked up the red carpet, taking long strides to get to the man in the throne. She still had her cloak over her eyes to prevent them from seeing her fully, but Piccolosan walked out in the open still, almost daring someone to say something about him. Lord Sauldernon raised an eyebrow at his unexpected company, giving the guard an odd look as he approached him.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked the lord loudly, sitting up in his chair and resting his arms on the armrests. The guard bowed low to the lord.

"M'lord, forgive me, but this girl and her ... companion asked for an audience with you. About the wyvern." the guard explained humbly. Sauldernon's countenance took on a gentler air when he said this.

"Oh, fine then. Leave us, it seems we have business, yes?" he said, waving his hand. The people in the room filed out, his daughter stopping a moment to kiss her father's hand before she walked gracefully from the room. Before leaving, however, she stopped a second by Ryven and looked down at her, throwing her nose up slightly as she walked from the room. Ryven snarled under her cloak, but paid no more mind to it, as Lord Sauldernon rose from his throne.

"So, you think you can do something about this wyvern, girl?" he asked, walking down the carpet. "Tell me, what do you plan to do?"

"I plan to slay him."

Lord Sauldernon merely chuckled, and his chuckle built into a loud, hardy laugh. "You? Slay the wyvern? Girl, I don't have time to listen to your practical jokes. You should be spinning with your mother. Why don't you go home?"

"Because I'm going to kill that wyvern, whether you want me to or not." she replied, her teeth clenched under her hood. Sauldernon sobered, looking at the girl.

"You're serious, aren't you?" he asked. "Well then, if you really think you can defeat this wyvern, then by all means, try, but don't come running to me when you skin your knees."

"She will not, because she will have it done before tomorrow's sunset." Piccolo spoke up from behind them, his arms crossed over his immense chest. Sauldernon looked at the Namek suspiciously, then to the girl.

"Throw back your hood, girl. I want to see who I'm hiring." he asked slowly.

"I'd rather not, sir."

"Why? I care not who I hire, as long as the job gets done."

Ryven sighed, and, however hesitantly, lifted her hood off her head. Her blonde hair spilled out over her shoulders, somewhat mussed from the hood, and her dark blue eyes looked up at Sauldernon. The elvin warlord was taken by surprise, but quickly recovered. He suddenly knew who this girl was, and who her companion was, but wisely said nothing.

"Hm, a half-breed. I see now why you kept your hood up." he said with a heavy hint of distaste. "But, when one's manor is in danger, one cannot discriminate, eh?"

"I suppose not, sir."

"Well then, if you think you can defeat this bane on my land, then do so, by all means. Afterwards, come back here and I shall reward you." Sauldernon told her, then turned his back and went to his throne again. "I thank you, now leave me in peace."

Ryven nodded. "As you wish, sir. I'll be back before tomorrow night. Wait and see." she told him, turning on her heel and leaving the immense room. He waited a few minutes after she left, and then called a page into the room.

"Boy, I need you to get a message out to Al'Thor. Tell him I have his quarry in my clutches." he said, getting up from his throne and pacing back and forth.

"It's too late sir, he already knows." the page told him. Sauldernon gave him a look, and nodded.

"He must have been watching. What are his orders?"

"He's sending down a special unit, someone to take care of her and all. He wants this done with the utmost delicacy, he says." the boy replied. "Can I go now?"

"Yes, you may. And thank you. Here, have a copper piece for your trouble." He slipped the boy a coin and watched as the page left the room in a childish run. Sauldernon sank in his throne with a wide grin on his face.

"Finally, I might be able to rest easily tonight."