Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Hunting The Dragon ❯ Hermit versus Slayer ( Chapter 4 )

(Author's Notes: Thank you for the reviews! I hope you enjoy the next chapter of Hunting the Dragon! ~Annclaire)

Hunting the Dragon

Chapter Four: Hermit versus Slayer

Juroku raised his hands in an automatic and defensive gesture. "I ain' gonna figh' ye, sir…. I dun be `armful t' ye or th' animals o' this fores'."

Ryo didn't lower his blade, his eyes grim. "If you don't give tithes to the king, then you must be brought to justice and go to jail. Come with us without a fight, if you truly are a pacifist like you claim."

"Ryo…. Please." Quatre's plea was ignored once more, but Goten took a step closer to his fellow slayer, attempting a reassuring smile to the blonde and adding onto his call for peace.

"Come on, Ryo. The guy's nice enough, and every minute gives the dragon lord even more of a head start!"

"Be quiet," was the tiger-blue eyed boy's terse reply as he kept a wary eye on the recluse. His gaze was focused completely on the large man, carefully noting the way the hermit shifted uncomfortably as Ryo kept brandishing his weapon.

Juroku had allowed Trowa to keep Trunks' sword at his side because the servant had never flourished it or hoisted it in anger; instead, the animal-speaker had only kept the blade in tip-top condition. Still, the hermit had always been uneasy with a sword in his humble abode, and with the fiery-tempered swordsman pointing the blade at him with intent to use it, Juroku was beginning to hate the weapons even more so than before. So the hermit fidgeted and eyed the blade nervously, wishing for a brief moment that Trunks and Trowa had never come here. The thought was quickly banished by the reminder that it had been Trowa who had helped him speak to and understand Gold Wolf.

"I be stayin' `ere." Juroku kept his voice as firm as possible, towering over the trio of dragon slayers. "Now gi' out. Please."

"No, you're coming with us. We'll drop you off at the nearest sheriff's office, and he will take you to the palace for your sentence."

"Ryo…." Quatre and Goten whined as one, the latter beginning to pout.

"Listen, you two, King Juunana assigned us to do two jobs. First and foremost: catch and kill the dragon lord abomination. Secondly: apprehend anyone who isn't obeying his laws or King Vegeta's laws when we're in his kingdom," stated Ryo firmly, sheathing his weapon and crossing his arms. "And we're in King Vegeta's realm." He was obviously annoyed with his slayer-mates, and it showed in his petulant frown.

"But this is totally wasting time!" Goten protested, looking stubborn as Quatre nodded agreement.

Ryo's frown deepened into a scowl. "We're going to do our jobs, no matter what you two think! The longer you argue with me, the longer we have to catch up with the dragon lord!"

Juroku decided to keep quiet, realizing that they were all correct. As long as they kept arguing among themselves, they'd never catch up with Trunks and Trowa. He did, however, stiffen when the swordsman drew both of his blades, the identical rapiers gleaming in the firelight.

Ryo stood in a fighter's stance, glancing between his fellow dragon slayers and the hermit, a look of determination on his visage. "We're taking him with us, and that is that."

…

"Are you alright, milord Trunks?" Trowa inquired immediately, as Trunks regained his footing after stumbling over a rock.

"I'm fine," Trunks attempted to reassure his companion, even as Gold Wolf trotted over to stay by the dragon lord's side, a golden protector as they headed towards an unknown destination.

"I wonder what happened to our bouncer friend Kento and Juroku," the animal-speaker couldn't help but wonder out loud, a hint of worry in his words. He knew that all dragon slayers were ruthless, and he didn't want to think about what they would have done to the bouncer and the hermit if the two had tried to stop them from chasing Trunks.

"Well, Juroku would have tried to delay them but not violently, so I'm sure he'll be all right." Trunks didn't add on about Kento, knowing the bouncer would have fought the dragon slayers…and lost.

Gold Wolf glanced between the two of them and whined softly, not understanding who this Kento was but realizing that he had to have been important to the two. The wolf increased his pace a little so that he walked briskly in front of both men, raising his snout to catch at the winds, attempting to latch onto that familiar smell that would mean retribution. Gold Wolf would have his vengeance upon the magician who had so drastically altered his life. The wolf couldn't wait for that day.

He was so busy plotting his revenge that he didn't notice the curious looks Trowa kept flitting towards him, for the animal speaker was beginning to get an odd feeling in his belly about this gold wolf, an odd feeling that the gold wolf was not what he seemed.

…

"You know, sometimes you really bug me, Ryo," Goten grumbled, glancing over at a now-miserable Quatre. The blonde definitely befriended people too easily, the brunet decided, as those cornflower blue eyes filled with tears as the pale dragon slayer took a step closer to the now bound hermit.

"I'm sorry," Quatre murmured softly, completely distressed over these horrible turn of events.

Juroku offered him a slow, gentle smile. "Ye ain' `urtin' th' fores', so's why be ye apologizin'?"

"Be…because now you have to go to jail, and I like you and this forest is too pretty to be hunted in," the blonde whispered, very miserable despite Goten's soft touch upon his shoulder.

"He'll be fine. King Vegeta won't be too harsh with him. He might be annoyed, but everyone knows hermits are odd and can't really be blamed for their lack of common sense."

Blue eyes looked sternly at the brunet as Juroku spoke up, defending himself, "I `ave common sense, boy…. Th' fores' be my `ome, an' th' animals be my neighbors. Ye dun `unt yer neighbors do ye?"

As Goten blinked and attempted to comprehend the accented words, Quatre managed a watery smile at the tethered man. "I think I'll `lose' the directions to your forest, so King Vegeta won't be able to find it…."

Juroku's smile widened and he bobbed his head. "My thanks fer tha', good sir."

"I'll just pretend I didn't hear that plot," Goten commented, shaking his head a little before giving Quatre's shoulder a quick pat. Smiling at the blonde, the dragon slayer stepped up his pace to walk by Ryo's side in an attempt to distract the other brunet.

"So, you actually saw the dragon lord and his companion?" Quatre said once Goten had successfully annoyed the swordsman enough to get him to argue, thereby diverting his attention from the huge hermit and the small slayer.

"Aye…." It was only then that Juroku remembered his lie, so he added, "'f only fer a few minutes…."

"What do they look like? All Goten, Ryo, and I know about them is that one's a dragon lord." The blonde's curiosity was evident.

Juroku didn't really see what the harm could be in telling Quatre what the duo looked like. "Well, one be lavender-`aired, with real blue eyes tha' were kind o' nervous like. `e be tall with a sword. The other be brown-`aired, with deep green eyes. `is `air be kind o' funny lookin'. I dun know `ow t'talk `bou' `is `air." The gentle giant raised his shoulders in a light shrug. "They were both real polite though."

"Right." The blonde's tone was almost dismissive, but somehow Quatre's very voice was too kind to sound completely trivializing.

"'f ye dun e'en know wha' the dragon lord and `is friend look like, `ow kin ye track them?"

"Goten's a Seeker."

Juroku's eyes flickered between the blonde and the aforementioned brunet, who had just smacked Ryo over the head and was now running in circles as the swordsman chased after him. "A Seeker?"

"It's a type of human who can find any type of creature that he's told about. Once he's found that type of creature, he will track that one individual to the ends of the world or until the death of the creature. In this case, it's the dragon lord. We've been finding dragon lords for the last couple of years, but this one's been giving us the most trouble."

Juroku couldn't understand the blonde's matter-of-fact tone. "The dragon lord was so polite…. Why be ye `untin' `im?"

"Dragon lords may seem polite, but when push comes to shove, they're dragons, and they're monsters. They'll kill you once you've outlived your usefulness."

"Really? Ye mean ye `unt because `t be the righ' thin' to do, no' because o' th' grand ruby?" The hermit's tone barely betrayed his skepticism, but the blonde stiffened.

"I…." Quatre trailed off, a dozen emotions contorting his face for a few brief seconds before he shook his head, his pale locks falling in front of his pale, cornflower blue eyes. "They're monsters," he said stubbornly before he moved forward to pull Ryo off Goten, for the swordsman had caught the goof and had been tugging on his ear unmercifully, oblivious to the other brunet's yelps.

Juroku glanced down at his tethered hands and bit back a sigh, following behind the horse that his tether was linked to. The mare whinnied softly, nudging him in a reassuring gesture as she continued to meander after the trio of dragon slayers, leading the hermit onto an unknown destination.

(To be continued….)