Falling Dragons

First Steps

Boros and Kelsey are mostly silent as they walk down the main road that connects the kingdom to the rest of the continent. Boros finally decides to speak up. He's never known Kelsey to be quiet for so long. "So what's your plan?" Kelsey responds to him almost emotionless. "I told you, I'm going to find whoever did this. And I'm going to kill them." Boros looks at her as they walk together. It's amazing to him that someone who's barely 5 feet tall and so bubbly could be so intimidating. He wonders if this side of her is solely from her father being assaulted or if her upbringing in the Fire Dragon Kingdom had anything to do with it. He decides none of that matters. What's important to him at the moment is making sure she's safe and that her mental state isn't broken. "Where do you plan on going first? How do we intend to find them?" Boros asks, trying to get an idea of what she has on her mind. Forcing her to open up more may be the best way to help. Kelsey doesn't seem to lighten up any. Still remaining short and oddly calm, she answers. "We head to the nearest cities. I'm going to look for anything strange in town. Seedy undergrounds usually hide the biggest threats." He can't tell if she intends on searching in the criminal world or avoiding it. Deciding not to press the issue further, he remains quiet for a while longer. They travel for hours. The day turns to night as they begin walking along a path with thick woods on both sides. Boros again disturbs the silence. "Ah, the Timber Trade Route. It's famous in the kingdom. Who knows how many generations ago they decided to carve out a path through the woods." His words don't generate a response this time. A few seconds later, he continues. "Kelsey, we should stop and make camp for the night. These woods are more famous for opportunistic muggings than they are for being a quick route for merchants." Finally, it appears she will speak. "Yeah. Let's go into the woods a ways." He agrees it would be a much better idea to hide out within the woods than to sit on the side of the road. No sense in making themselves an easy target. After a brief walk into the woods, they arrive at a small clearing. The space is barely  empty enough to fit a couple of tents. Since they didn't bring tents or bedrolls, it seems perfect. Kelsey is the first to comment. "Here looks fine. We should sleep in shifts. I'll stay up the first part of the night." She seems so much different from the Kelsey he knew from before. He almost wonders if she's the same person at all. He doesn't feel right letting her take the first shift, though. "Kelsey,  why don't you let me take the first shift?" Kelsey responds almost as empty and emotionless as before. But he can tell that there's a hint of warmth in her voice. It gives him a bit of hope. "You get some rest, Boros. I can't sleep yet anyway." He reluctantly begins to lay down, feeling exhausted from such a long trip. "Okay, Kelsey.  I won't fight you on it if you can't sleep. But promise me you'll wake me up if anything seems off. And no running away alone while I'm asleep. I am supposed to be taking care of you after all." She gives a slight and forced smile in return. "I know, I know. I promise. I'm not just some helpless princess, ya know." Kelsey says, sitting on the ground next to him. "I know, Kelsey. Goodnight." He says to her while yawning as he begins to fall asleep. He hears her reply before he drifts into unconsciousness. "Goodnight, Boros." He awakes an unknown amount of time later to Kelsey pushing on his shoulder. "Boros. Boros! Get up. It's your turn." He hears her saying to him as he begins to stir awake slowly. "I'm awake Kelsey, wait... Kelsey? Why are you in my... oh yeah. We're in the woods." He murmurs as he wakes up." Kelsey chuckles a little bit. "What's so funny?" Boros asks her, rubbing his eyes. "You are. Did you forget we left the kingdom?" Kelsey asks him, almost laughing as she does.   Boros sits up before answering her question. "Yeah, I did, honestly." He still can't fully believe what happened yesterday. "Well, it's your turn now. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep yet. But I'm gonna try." She tells him while reaching into her cloak. She pulls out a dagger and hands it to him. He waves his hand to her. "I've got one, thank you." He pulls out his own dagger as he prepares to stand guard. Kelsey lays down and rolls over. "Okay, I'm gonna try to get some rest now. If I actually can fall asleep, wake me up if you need me." She yawns as she speaks, clearly exhausted from such a mentally and physically busy day. Boros gently responds. "Okay, I will. Get some rest." After a moment of silence, he hears her speak again. "And don't try anything funny while I'm asleep." Stunned, he sits there silently with him, mouth hanging open. Once he recovers from the shock, he almost shouts. "Hey! Just what kind of guy do you think I am?" Kelsey lays as still as ever. Her only reply was a soft "a good one." Her response gets him a bit flustered. The only thing he can think to say to her is equally as soft and gentle. "Goodnight, Kelsey." Kelsey tells him. "Goodnight, Boros." He sits up and waits for what feels like an eternity. It's an incredibly boring night. The only thing he hears is the loud sound of the locusts that live in the woods. Occasionally, he hears the sound of owls. He finally sees the sun rising. "Thank goodness." He thinks to himself, having nearly fallen asleep several times. He didn't sleep as well as he liked, being so different from the cozy bed he usually rests in. After a little bit longer, the woods are illuminated by the shining sun. He decides to wake up his comrade. He pushes on her shoulder the way that she did to him when he awoke. "Kelsey, Kelsey. You need to get up. It's daylight." She stirs a bit before waking up. "Dad? Wait... Boros? What are you..." Boros thinks that this must be what it was like when he first woke up. "Now who's forgetting about our journey?" Kelsey's face begins to turn to a sad expression, nearly forming tears. "I was hoping it was just a bad dream." Boros can imagine it's been a rough experience for her. "Yeah, me too." He hangs his head for a moment. Kelsey responds more quickly than he imagined she would. "Well, I guess those bastards aren't going to kill themselves." She begins to sit up and quickly rises to her feet. Boros notices bags under her eyes. He assumes she must have had trouble sleeping. He stands up as well, and they begin to set out on their trip once again. Before they know it, the sun is high in the sky. Hours have passed. They encounter nothing aside from a few traveling merchants. Boros notices Kelsey grasping something underneath her cloak. He makes a guess that it's her dagger. He wonders why she's on such high alert from just a few merchants. They pass by the group, exchanging nothing but a simple nod. Several more hours pass before they arrive on the other side of the woods. Boros is thrilled to see something besides trees. He notices a small town far away in the distance. It seems like they finally reached their first destination in one piece. Kelsey stares at the town as they walk. He wonders what she's thinking. Is she relieved at all? They continue walking until they're almost in front of the town. "We made it." He says. As someone is heading their way, she responds. "We did. I hope they're going to give us a warm welcome." Before they can speak more, the dragon approaching them begins shouting. A large dragon, at least 6 and a half feet tall. He's around the same height as Boros, with a strong muscular frame. His armor has several cracks in it, and his scales are broken in many places. "Hey, you two! What's your business here?" He gets fairly close to them. Kelsey doesn't bother shouting, knowing he can hear them clearly with a normal speaking voice. "Just visiting some of the cities near the kingdom." It's at this point the beefy man realizes that she's not just any wolf. "Princess?! Why are you not in the kingdom? We didn't expect you to be visiting." Boros can't believe that the man head no idea that she's the princess. It's not like many wolves travel the continent.  Kelsey says to the man in a very casual tone, not the manner he expected royalty to speak. "Yeah, well, I wanted to stretch my legs a little bit. Can you show us to the local inn? We could use a nice bed to sleep in after such a long trip." Even though there's still a few hours until night, the man doesn't seem to be concerned with anything other than accommodating the princess. "Other course, my apologies!" He states hastily before he continues. "Follow me, Your Highness." Before the know it, they're following him into the heart of the town. Surrounded by the welcome sight of civilization all around them.