Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Hunting The Dragon ❯ Chapter Two: The Hermit Healer ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two: The Hermit Healer

Trowa's calls were left unanswered for a long moment. Then another. As the seconds

dragged on, the animal mage felt his hope begin to diminish. He bowed his head, and was silent.

Just as he lowered his chin, a thin, long wail shattered the silence, making the servant jump. He looked northward, his emerald green eyes lighting up as the wolf howled a reply to his summons. The wolf would be at the clearing soon. After the wolf had finished, other creatures began to answer. Trowa listened to their whistles, chirps, barks, hisses, and howls.

And smiled.

Within the next few minutes, the wolf bounded into the clearing, bright sunlight making his thin form seeming like a enormous molten golden bullet as he collapsed silently before the animal mage, his thin sides heaving as he panted.

"Greetings, child of the moon," Trowa said, once the wolf had caught his breath.
The wolf's unusual eyes, an odd, eerie lavender, met his evenly. "How goes the never-ending hunt?"

"Greetings yourself, Mage of the People," replied the wolf. "The hunt goes well for others, though not for myself." Trowa eyed the wolf's skeletal form, and could see the ribs poking from the golden fur. Privately, the animal mage agreed with the wolf's words, but instead he spoke words of concern.

"I am sorry to hear that, brother of the night." The wolf sat up, his bright red tongue slipping from his mouth as he looked down at Trunks's unconscious form.

"This is the dragon lord?" he questioned slowly, his tail slowly beginning to tap against the earth, sending puffs of dirt into the air. Trowa nodded.

"That is he. We have been chased for many months by dragon slayers." The wolf's tail stopped tapping instantly, and his entire golden form stiffened as he growled in rage.

"A dragon lord, hunted? When have humans ever been so foolish?" was his growl as his fur bristled. Trowa was surprised. A normal wolf never called humans by their true name, only two footers or sons of knowledge.

Nevertheless, he replied with a quiet, "I know not, moon-child." Composing himself, the wolf growled something rather profane, then settled down beside Trunks's still form.

"I will watch over him for you, Mage of the People," he stated firmly, his now calm, violet eyes watching the dragon lord's face. "A hermit's home is a few minute's walk from where I came. Tell him at once that the Gold Wolf sent you, and that your injured friend is a dragon lord. Otherwise, he will not help you. Go. I can, and will, protect him." When Trowa hesitated, the wolf added firmly, "I'll protect him with my life, People Speaker. Now go!" Still the animal mage hesitated, staring down at his lord's unconscious body, not wanting to leave his noble- his friend behind, even though he knew the wolf and the other beasts of the forest would protect him by responding to the animal mage's plea.

"Call me Trowa," he finally said, and fled in the direction the wolf had come from, running as fast as his feet could take him.

Trowa arrived at the hermit's rather large residence for a recluse such as the healer, completely winded. For a moment, he simply doubled over, gasping for breath, before staggering towards the door. Reaching out with a trembling hand, he knocked, beads of sweat trickling down his pale visage. After a long pause, the door swung wide to reveal an unsmiling face.

"What does ye want with me?" The recluse's voice was deep and husky, with an accent the animal mage couldn't place.

"My name is Trowa, or rather, Trowa of the People, the Animal Mage. The Gold Wolf sent me. My friend, Trunks the Dragon Lord, lies injured in your woods." All of that was said in one breath, the mage still red-faced from running.

The hermit was silent for a moment, his face unreadable as a strand of crimson fell in front of his light blue eyes. At last, he stepped into the sunlight, holding a leather bag in his enormous hands.

"I be Juroku," the recluse stated simply. "Take me to thine friend."

Gladly, Trowa obeyed.

After a long amount of time and an enormous quantity of precious herbs, the healer looked up from Trunks's still form, looking serious.

"He'll live. But he must stay with me at my cottage."

"Then I'm staying with you," was the firm, controlled reply from the animal mage.

The wolf rose from his crouch at the dragon lord's feet, his eerie eyes glowing. "As will I."

"I'm not sure if he'll have anything for you to sleep on," Trowa commented, half smiling. Juroku raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled. To his embarrassment, the animal mage blushed.

"I can speak to animals," he explained. Immediately, the hermit's bright blue eyes lit up with an inner fire.

"You speak to Gold Wolf?" he questioned, his deep, faltering voice childishly eager. Trowa nodded, and a broad smile found its way onto the healer's normally serious face. "Then you be welcome, beast mage."

"Is it all right if Gold Wolf stays too?"

"Anything he wants, he shall get," was the firm reply, and if possible, both Gold Wolf and Trowa smiled.

"Then let us be off." Without another word, Juroku easily lifted Trunks's prone form with his large arms, and they walked slowly back to the hermit's cottage.


"Damn!" The leader of the dragon slayers exploded with fury, his tiger-blue eyes blazing. "We lost them! And all because of that foolish bouncer!"

"I'm glad we showed him," snarled one of the other slayers, his obsidian eyes slightly gleeful.

"Come on, Ryo. They can't hide from us for long," the last of the trio consoled him, his pale blond, almost white locks framing his angelic face as he frowned.

The leader sighed, his shoulders slumping. "I guess you're right. Let's go."

Without another word, the three disappeared from the remains of what had used to be Trunks and Trowa's room into the horizon.