The Dragon's Legend : Cadmus

Chapter 7: Bounty Hunter

I finally gained my line of vision. I lay groggily in what seemed like a bed. My eyes widened and I realized I was in a treehouse, with pink flowers on the edges of every wall, as well as pink wall paper and brown wooden floor. It was very girly.
"Oh good, he's awake!" someone in the corner of the room said. I adjusted my head to see who said that. It was some sort of fairy girl.
"Who are you? Where am I?" I asked, looking around frantically. Haruki walked up to me.
"Good morning!" he smiled.
"Huh? Haruki, who is that?" I asked, pointing at the fairy.
"That's Tomoko, she brought you and me over here," Haruki says.
"Oh," I sighed.
"I hope you're feeling better! Because I have some questions to ask you," she stated.
"Yeah, I'm a bit curious too," Haruki informed me.
"Alright, about what?" I asked as I sat up in bed.
"About what happened of course," Tomoko said, smirking while rolling her eyes like it was some joke.
"Well, all I remember was a huge ogre landing on the ground then I fell unconscious," I said. Then, I felt a wave of guilt and disappointment. I'm supposed to be the king of dragons? And I couldn't handle a single headache, so I passed out in battle? I'm so weak. I put my face in my hands, stressed.
"So, you seriously don't remember what happened?" Haruki asked, concerned.
"Well, no-" I suddenly stopped, remembering I saw two dragon tails. A white one and a red one.
"Yeah, I don't remember anything," I lied. I have a feeling that those two dragons are something I have to deal with all on my own.
"Well, it was like you lost control, you weren't yourself," Haruki said.
"Wait, what?" I asked, shocked.
"Indeed! In fact, you had your left eye glowing white, while the one with the scar was glowing red. It was quite fascinating," Tomoko said smiling, then stood up. I realized something. The white tail was on my left side of what I could see, while the red tail was on my right. Was this merely a coincidence? No, usually if you'd get a vision, it would be someone you had already met. Kaji is the only red dragon I know, and his tail didn't look like the one from that vision. And the white dragon, what dragon I know has white scales?
    Lost in my thoughts, Tomoko tapped me on the shoulder. I jumped, gasping. "Sorry, I was just thinking," I said, looking back to the floor. Tomoko moved herself in front of my view. I turned my head up to look at her. She was smiling, but it seemed like... A smirk? A fake smile?
"Tell me, Ryuu, do you know something that we don't? If you do, you should share it with us. Remember, it's not just you and your dragons in danger anymore, now that we're involved. We should at least have a right to know," she said, still smiling that fake smile. I scoffed. She tilted her head, looking a bit angrier, but still having that fake smile.
"Something wrong?" she asked, seeming like she was holding in her annoyance.
"I just hate how you're smiling, it's fake," I said, looking to my right. She sighed.
"Alright, whatever, you don't have to tell us! Just get some rest for a bit," she told me. She patted my shoulder and started walking out of the room. But she suddenly stopped.
"By the way, I'm coming with you wherever you're headed next. It's likely that someone else might come after you. For what reason, I don't know, but we can discuss it later when you're ready," she explained. She turned her head around and smiled, then turned around and walked out.
"Gee, she's kinda scary," whimpered Haruki.
"Why did she assume that more people would be coming after me?" I asked, growing suspicions of her.
"I mean, that scary ogre seemed like he was working for someone. Once he had you in his grasp, he said that this was all he needed, and he was going to leave. I know all three of us can tell he's not the mastermind, there's someone else pulling the strings, meaning they might send more of their puppets," Haruki explained.
"That's true. And we all know what they want. Me, alive. The question is, why?" I asked, thinking hard. Haruki and I stayed silent for a moment to think.
"Maybe we should stay low for a bit," Haruki suggested.
"No, that can't work," I disagreed. He turned his head to face me.
"If that ogre was able to track me and if they send someone else, they would be stronger than that ogre, meaning they would have a better chance of finding me," I explained.
"Hey, don't you think you're overthinking this?" Haruki asks.
"No, I'm not, it's simple," I said.
"Alright, if you really think that someone stronger is coming to get you, then we need to run," Haruki said.
"Again, no, they'll find us, no doubt," I said.
"WHAT?! THEN WE'LL GET KILLED?! WE'RE DEAD! DEAD, DEAD, DEAD!!" Haruki screamed. I was getting annoyed.
"HEY!!" I yelled out in anger. He stopped, looking shocked at me. I was losing my cool.
"Haruki, why did you come along, huh?! You always assume that we're going to die, you can never have faith in me! You're too much of a coward for this type of thing! If you're so scared, pick up that bow, and go HOME!" I shouted. I was taking my anger out on him. He stopped for a moment, then looked down, thinking about what I just said. His face was filled with sadness and regret. I then realized what I had done.
"Wait, Haruki, I-"
"It's fine, Ryuu. I understand it, I get it a lot," he said, interrupting me as he turned around. Haruki clenched his fist in anger.
"I've been called a coward and a greedy child for my entire life," Haruki says. I looked at him, not being able to spit out a word.
"Ever since I obtained the lightning powers, the other kids envied me for it, called me an attention seeker, hit me, stole from me, everything. I wasn't living a great life. And it only got worse when both my mother and father passed away." I was still speechless. This kid was going through a bad past. I said so many wrong things to him.
"But luckily, my aunt came along and took me in. Once she saw me getting beaten up by others, she told me she would put my powers to use and train me to protect myself. The training didn't go well. I was a coward and still am, I would always try to run away, I never wanted to learn to fight. But then what good would my powers be? She put me through such hellish training, and she was relentless. But she helped me. She taught me to control my power. And I did. Then we found out when I slapped my face with electricity, I changed into someone different. It was strange, but when I was done, she kicked me out and told me to go kill some monsters and become an amazing traveler. At that very moment, she gave me this bow," Haruki said, looking down at his bow.
"It was originally hers so I treasure it with my life, even if I am a coward, I will protect it even if it means my death," Haruki said.
"I'm sorry... I didn't know," I apologized.
"It's alright," he said.
"I didn't mean to, I shouldn't have-" I facepalmed from my idiocy. A king is supposed to be calm and rational. Yeah, that's sure what this looks like. He suddenly put his hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, we're still friends, aren't we?" Haruki states. I look at him and smile. He then puts his hand out.
"Don't leave me hangin'," Haruki said with a smirk. I raised my hand and we high fived. We started chuckling. Suddenly, a loud bang and slash of a steel weapon can be heard outside. We both charge out of the house and onto the balcony of the treehouse. There, we both spotted Tomoko, smirking and saying, "If you really think a magicless weapon could hurt a fairy like me, you are sorely mistaken." As we turned our heads to where she was talking, we spotted a male with dark grey hair with a mohawk, carrying a huge spear.
"Agh, we can never catch a damn break!!" Haruki complained. The mysterious guy with the mohawk glanced in our direction. Haruki yelped and jumped behind me, shaking. I stared intensely at the guy, waiting for his next move.
"It doesn't matter if this thing is magical or not, whatever the case, I'm going to get what I came here for, fairy girl," The male said as he stared at Tomoko, standing up straight and pointing his spear at her. He had such a cold look on his face.
    Tomoko giggled. "I have no idea of what you would desire so badly from me that you would point your spear at me, intending to battle me," she said, still smiling.
"I have no intention of harming you, just go retrieve the orb that I need inside that tree-house of yours," he said, still with that cold look on his face.
"Hehe! You should smile more often!" Tomoko said happily.
"What do you want?" I spoke up, jumping down from the balcony. The spear-wielder and Tomoko drew their attention to me.
"W-wait, don't leave me here!" Haruki exclaimed as he also jumped down from the balcony, grabbing his bow.
"State your name," I demanded, looking at the male. He lowered his head a bit, turning his body to face me.
"My name is of no importance, all I need is the orb the fairy girl obtains," he said, pointing at Tomoko.
"It's Tomoko, not 'fairy girl'!" Tomoko exclaimed, changing her smile to a fake smile.
"Describe the orb, then," I ordered. He looked at me intensely, then spoke up.
"A white orb, with the power to show anything you demand it to show inside the orb. I require it for personal reasons."
"Tomoko, do you have an item such as that?" I asked, looking at her.
"Not that I recall, but I have no intention to let a stranger go digging into my home to find an orb I don't even remember," she said, a smile gone. Then, the spear-wielder charged at Tomoko. She bent down, prepared to launch off the ground and charge as well at him. She started to form crystals. My eyes widened and I ran to stop it.
"H-hey, what are you doing, Ryuu?!" Haruki exclaimed. As the man and Tomoko were nearing, I jumped in the middle of it. I glanced at the both of them and they both gasped softly. I formed fire in my hands and shot them in both directions, to stop Tomoko's crystals and the male's charge. The crystals tumbled on the ground and the man was pushed back, then dodged the fire. Once it was done, I stopped my fire and lowered my arms.
"Enough," I said. The spear-wielder scoffed.
"Who are you to tell me to stop, exactly? I'm only doing a mission," he said. I turned my head to face him with another cold glance. He stopped talking and his eyes widened slightly.
"My name is Ryuu Gushiken, King of the Dragons. What about you?" I asked, walking up to him. He growled.
"It's Kenji Kikuchi, a bounty hunter. Now, where's that orb?" He asked, still with that same serious look on his face. I sighed, annoyed. Calm down, Ryuu, remember, you're a king. Handle this calmly and rationally.
"How about this? We'll help you find this orb you speak of, as long as you don't fight," I told him. He stayed quiet for a moment.
"No, I need to do this on my own," he said.
"Why?" I asked. He glanced back at me with the same serious stare.
"None of your business, now get out of my way, 'king'," he said mockingly. I growled. I grabbed his shoulder. He fiercely turned around and pointed his spear at me. I jumped back, getting in a fighting stance.
"I don't wish to resolve this with fighting, so calm down," I said.
"I am calm," he said with no emotion. Oh yeah, totally. He charged at me and lunged his spear forward. I jumped in the air above him, landing behind him. He turned around almost immediately, then charged at me once again.
"Wait, stop! I don't want to fight, dumbass!" I yelled out angrily. He threw his spear at me. I dodged it right in time, but it scratched my cheek. Then, the spear landed on the ground. I turned my head back around, seeing the man right in front of me. He jumped in the air and spinned around, landing behind me, snatching his spear, then thrusting his spear at my side, but I dodged just in time. He spun around with his spear and intended to slash my back with the side of his spear. I did a backflip over the spear as my cape caught onto his spear. Shit, I thought.
    He wrapped his spear around my cape and tried to rip it off but he struggled. Grunting to try and rip the cape, I unwrapped the cape and punched him in the face. He flew on the ground. He groaned and jumped back up to his feet. Then, he clenched his spear and charged at me, spear pointing in my direction. As I was about to dodge, he stuck his spear in the ground. His spear stood up straight. His hands clenched the handle and he spun around and around as he held on. He got his feet off the ground and suddenly kicked me in the face. I stumbled back, hands on my knees. As he spun around one more time, he let go of the spear, launching himself in my direction, about to kick me. I ducked down just in time. In the air, he spun himself around and landed back on the ground.
"Stop this instant! I don't wish to fight you!" I yelled out. He charged once more. Once he came close enough, he jumped in the air, putting his hands on my shoulders like he was down a cartwheel on my shoulders. He landed on the other side of me and grabbed his spear.
    Damn, this guy is talented, I thought. "Fine then, Kenji, if you won't stop," I said, looking down, "Then I'll play it your way." I raised my fist as fire engulfed my hand. I shot my head back up and charged at him. He was also charging at me. I drew my fist back and lunged it forward, creating a blast of fire in his direction. He jumped in the air, dodging it, doing what seemed like an aerial. As he was plummeting down towards me, I had enough. I growled. I ran forward so he wouldn't land on top of me. Then I jumped in the air and punched him in the stomach as he was still in the air. He groaned out and we both landed on the ground. He grunted and groaned more as he tried to get up. Reaching for his spear, I kicked it away. "That's enough," I said. His eyes widened slightly. Then, I reached my hand out to help him up, but he slapped my hand away.
"I'm fine, I can get up by myself," he said, getting to his knees.
    Once he fully stood up, he turned slightly to me to face me, still having that serious look on his face.

Here's Kenji!