navy = dreams
She was standing once again in the midst of her village's ruins, chunks
of unidentifiably burned mass littered around her feet. Old wails of anguish
echoed off the crumbling remains of buildings, resounding in her ears. She
heard the distinct crunching of footsteps in the sand behind her, approaching
her. "It's you again."
He stopped inches from her; she could hear him breathing. "Who did you
expect?" he asked with amusement, tracing his finger down the back of her
neck. "My Daughter..."
Rawnie swatted his hand away and turned to face him, arms folded across
her chest. "What do you want with me?" she demanded, staring boldly into his
red eyes. His 'ruby' eyes.
He chuckled and tossed his raven hair back over his shoulders. "Tell me,
do you know who I am? Am I not familiar to you?"
The green-haired girl raised one eyebrow. "I'd recognize you no matter
what form you take," she informed him. "But I still don't see what interest
the Dark Lord Shabranigdo would have in a mere human such as myself. I'm just
an ordinary..." She paused. "Unless..." she whispered, IT suddenly dawning
upon her. Rawnie sat down in the dirt as the magnitude of the situation
struck her. "Oh, damn."
The ruby-eyed lord smirked at her, his long black hair flapping behind
him in the breeze. "Now you understand...my Knight."
Rawnie shook her head in disbelief. "So that's why the Gold Dragons
destroyed my village. They knew I would grow up to become the Knight of
Shabranigdo." She scratched her head, still trying to grasp the concept. She
looked up at the Dark Lord, her eyes full of questions. "But why? Why did you
wait until now to contact me?"
He eyed her thoughtfully. "I've always been with you, my Knight. Ever
since you entered this world, I was with you. Why else would your magic have
been so strong?"
She was silent for a few moments then stood and faced her Father, her
lord, with eyes bright and unafraid. "All right then, Shabby. I'm your
Knight. So now what? Now what am I supposed to do? I know I'm the intercessor
between you and the Mazoku, but is that all? What else do you want me to do?"
Shabranigdo regarded her with amusement. "Sore wa himitsu desu!"
She blinked. "Huh?"
"Sore wa himitsu desu!"
Rawnie rubbed her yellow eyes as they tried to focus on the purple-haired Mazoku who sat next to her previously sleeping form. "YOU!" she exclaimed, leaping out of her sleeping bag and pinning him to the ground with a clenched fist. "Why didn't you tell me???"
Xelloss looked vaguely amused. "Tell you what?"
"That I - " she stopped short, noticing that the others were still asleep around her, and lowered her voice to a whisper. "That I'm His Knight. Why didn't you tell me before?" He smirked and opened his mouth to state his usual answer, but Rawnie interrupted him. "Don't even say it, priest-boy. Never mind." She released him and sat back on her heels, looking both annoyed and worried at the same time.
Xelloss rested his staff across his knees. "You do realize that as a Mazoku I am obligated to persuade you to use His power as often as possible..." he joked, causing her to crack a smile.
"Oh, you will now, huh?" she teased. "What're you gonna do, follow me around for the rest of my life?"
The Trickster gave a scary little smile and regarded her with open eyes, causing Rawnie's own smile to falter for a moment. When Xelloss opened his eyes, the matter became serious. "Perhaps I will." She stared at him in silent horror, not really wanting to know the implications of those words.
Zelgadis yawned and rolled over a few feet away from them, slowly awakening from sleep. Rawnie quickly scrambled away from Xelloss and hopped back into her sleeping bag, glad for the interruption. The Mazoku resealed his eyes and disappeared, smirking imperceptibly, much to the green-haired girl's relief. What was that all about? Kowai... she thought, hiding under her pillow and pretending to be asleep.
Zelgadis rubbed the bleariness from his eyes and sat up, thinking he'd heard that damn Mazoku laughing. He glanced around at his companions, who were all fast asleep. Xelloss was nowhere in sight. The chimera briefly wondered of he'd been dreaming and looked around at his other companions: Amelia, who was mumbling something about justice and thrashing around in her sleep; and Rawnie, who's head was buried under her pillow. Zelgadis sweatdropped.
Gourry rolled over in his sleep, murmuring about food, and proceeded to smack Lina directly in the face. This quickly woke the sleeping sorceress, who in turn shrieked with anger and beat the stuffing out of him. And so began a typical morning.
The group trekked noisily through a densely-forested area, on their way to find the Miwagi people, whose village was rumored to exist somewhere near that area. Problem was, nobody knew exactly where. Kaltier walked near the green-haired Knight, stealing a glance at her every once in awhile. She was exceedingly pretty, yes, but he found her self-seeking disposition aggravating and her bluntness irritating. Also, she was not as innocent as he thought she'd be. In all honesty, she knew too much for her age. Kaltier sighed mentally. This is going to be a real pain...I mean, she's not bad-looking, but her personality is definitely lacking. She's not exactly the kind of person I'd enjoy being with.
WHUMP. The dark-haired young sorceress in front of him tripped over an invisible rock and fell to the ground...hard. "Itai..." she mumbled, rubbing her back, while most of the others rolled their eyes at her clumsiness.
Kaltier stopped and bent over the girl, his dark hair falling over his eyes. He offered a hand to help her up. "Daijobu ka?"
The girl...Amelia was her name...looked up at him with large, innocent eyes and blushed slightly. She took his offered hand with her small, soft one and let him pull her to her feet. "Arigato, Kalen-san!" she thanked him cheerfully, flashing the 'victory' sign and continuing with her previous pace. He blinked with slight surprise.
Up ahead, Lina Inverse was yelling something and sounding relatively annoyed. Water? They'd encountered a river. "Che!" she exclaimed. "What are we going to do? We need a boat!" They all stared at the offending body of water for a few moments, silent. Kaltier thought he heard Rawnie grumbling something about how she wished they had a couple of canoes.
"Hey, look!" Gourry pointed upstream towards a shadowed object...no, two shadowed objects...floating beneath the hanging trees. Everyone blinked and peered closer as...a pair of canoes floated into sight.
"What?!" Rawnie nearly fell over. "But...but...I just said..."
"Such luck!" Amelia asserted as Lina and Gourry dragged the canoes into shore. "This must be a gift for the allies of justice!"
Kaltier stole a glance at the green-haired girl, who was still scratching her head in confusion. Shabranigdo's power. Why use it so recklessly? Unless she didn't know she was using His power. That could prove to be dangerous in the future, he thought to himself, climbing into the second canoe with Rawnie and Zelgadis.
The group rowed along quietly, keeping a sharp eye out for rocks or rapids in the river, and hoping no waterfalls were nearby. Rawnie sighed and leaned her head on her folded arms, letting the two males row by themselves, of course. Things were getting weirder and weirder. She didn't mind being in another world and traveling with Lina's group, but she found her title as the Knight of Shabranigdo a little scary. That was a huge responsibility. And there was this thing with the canoes appearing right after she'd said she wished there were canoes. And then there was Xelloss, who was acting as suspiciously as ever.
He was up in the first canoe, taunting Amelia. She leaped up to spout a justice speech at him and promptly fell out of the canoe with a splash. Kaltier picked the dripping wet princess out of the water as he rowed by. "That's twice today I've saved you, Miss Amelia," he informed her with a boyish grin, then mentally smacked himself. Why am I being so nice to this human?
The girl blushed and smiled at him, wringing out her black hair. "Guess I owe you then, ne?" she commented, flinging her hair over her shoulder and whacking Rawnie with it. "Oops..."
Rawnie wiped the water off her face and scowled. "I wish we were there already..."
Suddenly, an array of arrows leaped from the bushes lining both sides of the riverbank, some striking the canoes and some narrowly missing the people in them. "What was that?" Zelgadis hissed, scanning the bushes for signs of movement. There was a short silence, and then the arrows began to fly again. Everyone scrambled to avoid getting hit, only succeeding in capsizing the boats and dumping themselves into the water.
Rawnie painfully opened her eyes under the water, mentally noting that it hurt a considerable lot less than opening eyes in chlorinated water. She saw Amelia clinging to Zel, who was sinking FAST. Gourry and Lina were already at the surface with Kaltier, and Xelloss was nowhere in sight. She, having a larger lung capacity than the others, kicked down and helped pull the chimera to the surface, only to be yanked bodily out of the water as soon as she touched air. "Nani?" she gasped as she was thrown onto the ground by rough hands.
Someone shoved a spear threateningly in her face. "You trespass!"
Rawnie looked up to see a small crew on scantily-clad women, armed with both spears and bows, confronting the group. "What? Amazons, here?"
Their leader, a medium-sized muscular girl with red stripes across her cheeks, brandished her feather-adorned spear. "You trespass here. Is not allowed. We take prisoner."
"Prisoner? No way!" Lina laughed and tossed her wet hair, conjuring up a fireball and blasting the natives, thinking that it was going to be easy to get away from them. But when the smoke cleared, not a single one of them was harmed. "What?"
Another spoke. "You skilled in nature magic. Impressive. But we know nature magic also."
"Nature...?" Lina wondered.
Zelgadis was next to her. "She must mean Shamanism. They're awfully powerful to have blocked a fireball," he mused.
"Come," the apparent stripe-faced leader ordered. "We take you now."
"You'll do no such thing!" Lina exclaimed, insulted. "I won't be beaten so easily!" she informed them, powering up a Dragu Slave.
"Lina-san, no!" The others struggled to restrain her. "You'll blow up the entire forest!"
"I don't care! Nobody's taking ME prisoner!"
"Wait." Amelia faced the leader. "Why do you want to capture us? Where will you take us?"
The girl looked Amelia over critically. "This one strong in both nature magic and healing magic," she noted. "But you trespass on our land. Take you to the Elder. She decide what do."
"But we didn't know we were trespassing!" Amelia protested.
"Matters not. We take you anyway."
"Over my dead body!" Lina yelled angrily.
The chimera put a restraining hand on her shoulder. "Think rationally, Lina. Perhaps we should let ourselves get captured."
"What?!"
"He's right," Rawnie agreed. "They may be the exact tribe we're looking for. And if not, perhaps they can give us some clues."
"Besides," Zelgadis added. "They don't look like the type I'd want to pick a fight with."
The red-haired sorceress grumbled a bit, but reluctantly agreed. "Fine then," she scowled. "We'll do it your way."
The Elder, a graying middle-aged woman wearing a helm of lizard scales, looked over the ragtag group of prisoners and then back at the stripe-faced girl. "You capture them?" she asked.
The girl nodded. "Yes, Kalila-elder. They trespass. I thought to leave them, but others thought their slaves interesting. So we capture and bring to you."
Elder Kalila nodded with understanding, but frowned at the young girl. "Not good. I understand why you capture slaves, Somei-spellcaster, but you treat our foreign sisters badly. Never do this again. Understand?"
The girl lowered her head in shame. "I understand."
Kalila turned to Lina, who she assumed to be the group's leader. "I am sorry for this. Those spellcasters are young and foolish. I hope you forgive."
The redhead smiled at her, glad to be back in charge of things again. "Of course. May I introduce myself? My name is Lina Inverse."
Kalila regarded her slowly. "Hmm...you strong in both nature magic and shadow magic. Odd for one so young. Our spellcasters master but one type in lifetime." She gestured to the other two females. "And who they? This young one strong in both nature magic and healing magic, and this one posses more shadow magic than I ever see."
"I am Amelia Wil Tesla Sailoon."
"I am Rawnie An - um, I mean, C'Neidara."
"You all such strong spellcasters," the woman told them. "I admire this. As tribe Elder, I invite to join. You will be honorary Miwagi sisters. After ritual."
"Join your tribe?" Lina asked, thinking it over.
"Wait, what about us?" Gourry asked, scratching his head.
Kalila glared at him. "Your mate speaks out of turn," she informed Lina.
"My what???" Lina turned several interesting shades of red. "What are you talking about???"
The woman blinked in surprise. "He is not your slave?" She put a hand out towards them, frowning. "I feel strong connection. I usually not wrong about these things."
"An empath..." Kaltier whispered. "She can feel things without even touching people."
"Well she's OBVIOUSLY feeling something wrong!" Lina protested. "We're just traveling companions! That's all!"
Kalila frowned a little and looked over the young men. "Then you not object to us put them up for competition?"
"What?"
"All captured males not yet owned can be owned. Sisters compete to win and claim choice as slave," Kalila explained. "Does this not happen where you live?"
"Whoa, wait a minute!" Zelgadis protested. "I'm not anybody's slave! I refuse to - "
"Silence, man!" Kalila boomed, whacking him with the end of her staff. Unless to-be Miwagi sister claim, now-Miwagi sisters for you compete. Such are our laws!"
"But - "
"Shh!" Lina folded her arms across her chest, deep in thought. This was all becoming rather amusing to her. A society where the woman is dominant, and they either capture their men or compete for them. Interesting. And many of these women were very powerful mages who might know spells that she didn't. Nothing attracted Lina Inverse more to a place than the prospect of new spells and treasure. "We respect your laws, Kalila-elder. Forgive my friends for being so impertinent."
"But Lina-san!" Amelia gasped.
"Lina's right, Amelia-chan," Rawnie told her. "This is technically a diplomatic situation here, especially with a princess of Sailoon present. And in diplomatic situations, one should always abide by the laws of the hosting country, right?"
"Well...yes..." The girl sounded unsure.
"And besides, this will take us closer to finding that temple full of treasure Kalen-san is looking for," she whispered loudly enough for the others to hear. "We'll get 'em to trust us, and then ask about the temple."
"But they're going to..." Zelgadis protested.
Lina and Rawnie looked at each other, then grinned lopsidedly at him. "Don't worry. Your sacrifice won't be in vain." The chimera gave them both a pained look.
The Dra-mata turned back to the tribe Elder, a determined little smile on her face. "Okay, Kalila-elder. We agree to go through the ritual and become members of your tribe. But we are concerned about what will happen to our friends. Is there anything we can do?"
The Elder gave them a funny look. "You befriend these males, yet not belong to you? Strange ways," she mused. "Like I say before, you and Rawnie-to-be-sister allowed keep slaves. Other two we keep for competition." She nodded at Amelia. "Amelia-to-be-sister stay with other young ones."
Rawnie scratched her head. "Uhh...what? Hate to tell you this, lady, but none of these guys are mine."
"Nor mine," Lina added.
Kalila shook her head at them. "Strange that you deny. Your slaves you keep." She motioned to the other women in the hut. "Somei-spellcaster, take Lina-to-be-sister and Rawnie-to-be-sister to Mialera-teacher. Nedia-warrior, take Amelia-to-be-sister to place of before-age," she instructed, then gestured to Gourry and Xelloss. "Gisha-warrior, Ari-warrior, bring slaves of to-be-sisters to Vertil-mate." She then looked upon Zelgadis and Kaltier, who were sweatdropping and muttering curses under their breath. "These two we keep here until competition decided."
The two women, the tall one Gisha and the short one Ari, led Gourry and Xelloss with firm grips through the Miwagi village. The blond swordsman looked around himself at the peaceful little area, thinking it reminded him a little of his hometown, although they weren't much alike. Actually, they were nothing alike, but Gourry thought they were anyway. The village consisted of a cluster of grass huts, some larger than others depending on the number of people living in them. Lots of little children ran about, playing, while several elderly women watched them from under a nearby tree, resting in its cool shade and working on various crafts. The other women of the village went cheerfully about their daily work with their silent, servile husbands. The younger, more scantily-clad females trained with their friends and teachers in armed combat and magic in other areas of the village. Gourry thought it looked rather peaceful and happy. But what was all that talk about slaves? And why did the woman with the funny hat call him Lina's mate? What was a mate, anyway? Ah, well. He shrugged, guessing it was all just part of the plan.
Xelloss vaguely assessed the magical abilities of the villagers, noting that many of them possessed exquisite talents. However, none of them came anywhere near his level of power, and the Knight of Shabranigdo possessed far greater power than all of them combined. He grinned. This little adventure was working out very well. Not only was everyone else distracted by this turn of events, but it looked like he would get some time alone with his precious Knight. The empathic Elder had sensed something between them and immediately assumed that he belonged to her. Interesting. Perhaps she harbored some feeling for him after all.
The two were led into another grass hut, where a middle-aged man was whistling a song and carving a figurine out of a piece of wood. He didn't look up when they came in. "New recruits, eh? These ones taken?"
The taller girl saluted him briefly. "Yes, Vertil-slave-of-Kalila. Just today captured. Plus their owners and two unowned men."
The older man viewed them critically and dismissed the guards with a wave of the hand. "So," he began slowly, setting his craft aside. "How'd you boys end up getting captured?" he asked them, his speech much better than the others they'd met in the village. "On some kind of quest, right?"
Gourry blinked. "Well, yeah, I guess you could say that..."
Vertil nodded understandingly. "Mmm-hmm. Happens to the best of us." He looked over the two young men with a penetrating eye, and Xelloss realized that this man was also an empath. He looked at Gourry. "A swordsman...no magic training, am I right? And you..." His eyes traveled over Xelloss. "Uh. You've got traces of shadow magic all over you. Mazoku. Interesting, we've never had one of your kind in the village before."
Gourry was scratching his head again. "Exactly what are we doing here, anyway?"
Vertil lit up a pipe and raised an eyebrow at Xelloss. "Not too bright, is he. Well, my friend, essentially you're a slave. You're the property of whatever woman has claimed you." He took a puff on his pipe. "Don't look so scared, boy. It's not all that bad. I've been here since I was seventeen. The women don't mistreat their men, and if you're unhappy with your owner you can always appeal to the Elder, my Kalila, to find you a more suitable owner." He noticed the odd looks the two young men were giving him. "Yeah, I know it sounds weird. But you'd better get used to it. Here's a tip for you. Remember, it's always a good idea to try and gain respect from your owner. Look where it got me. Kalila considers me an equal, especially since I'm the only male in the village who has any shred of magical talent." He took another long puff on his pipe as he regarded the two. "You'll both need clothes better suited for your status before I put you back to work."
Meanwhile, Rawnie regarded the spellcaster Somei with keen eyes as she led her and her redheaded companion through the Miwagi village. The girl was of medium height and lean like a panther, with the long muscles of a runner. She wore a green midriff-cut tunic of dyed animal hide with matching shorts, and her long auburn hair was tied up into a messy ponytail. Somei walked jauntily, almost indifferently as she led them to this Mialera-teacher person.
Mialera was a retired Miwagi warrior who spent her time teaching the younger women how to fight, cast spells, and live on their own. She was the most renowned of the teachers in the village. They found her out by a large open field, where she was instructing a group of ten to twelve-year-old girls in archery. She was very old, with completely gray hair and wrinkled, sunburned skin. Mialera looked them over critically as Somei explained the situation in her own language. "Hmmph. We see. I put to test."
Lina smirked. "Don't underestimate us, old woman."
"Do your worst," Rawnie challenged.