The Shadow is the Light

Chapter Twenty-Two; Information and a Decision.

Yin jolted awake when she heard a loud knocking noise.
Cea had already gotten up to answer the door, and he did not look happy.
Cea opened the door.
"What?" He asked glaring at the disturber.
"Eep!" The girl at the door exclaimed.
Risy...? Yin thought.
"Why are you here?" Cea asked, he still sounded annoyed.
"I-I came to inform you of a disturbance." Risy said.
"Well you're disturbing us." Cea said.
"I d-didn't mean to." Risy said.
Yin rolled her eyes and got out of bed, making sure not to wake Vedran up, she pushed Cea out of the way, and stared at Risy for a few seconds.
"Come in and tells us what you need to." Yin said, turning and walking back into the room followed by Risy and an annoyed Cea.
Risy sat down on the couch, Cea laid on his bed, and Yin sat on the edge of her own bed while Vedran was still asleep.
"Okay. So what was so important that you had to come tell us just before the sun came up?" Cea asked staring at the ceiling.
"Lys or-ordered me to tell you that a Demon has entered town." Risy said.
"What Demon?" Yin asked standing up.
"I think his name is Kalm?" Risy said.
"Kalm?" Cea asked sounding skeptical.
"N-no. That wasn't it... I should have had Lys repeat his name...." Risy said.
"Kalm...." Yin repeated in thought, then her eyes went wide. "Klame." she said.
"That was his name." Risy nodded. "Do you know him?".
"I wish I didn't." Yin growled and plopped back down on the edge of the bed..
"Oh great." Cea said sitting up. "More Demons to worry about.".
"Th-that's not all..." Risy informed.
"What could make this any worse?" Yin rolled her eyes. "What else?".
"Klame came to us to ask if we knew where you were." Risy said.
"Did you tell him where we are?" Cea asked.
"No of course not... B-but he will be looking for you." Risy said.
"Do you know where he is?" Yin asked.
"Y-yes." Risy nodded.
"Where?" Yin questioned.
Risy rubbed her upper arms.
"Where is he staying?" Yin repeated.
Risy gulped.
"Spit it out!" Cea exclaimed.
"I don't know where he's staying!" Risy said really fast and loud.
Vedran sat bolt upright.
"What's going on?" Vedran asked.
"Eep!" Risy exclaimed.
Yin rolled her eyes.
"Sleeping Princey wakes up finally." Cea said.
Vedran looked from Cea to Yin, then to Risy.
"Why are you here?" Vedran asked.
"I-I came to in-inform all of yo-you of so-something." Risy said looking at the ground.
She's scared of her own shadow... Yin grumbled in her head.
Someone's jealous~
Oh shut the flare up.
"Yes she told us that Klame is looking for us." Cea said.
Vedan nodded as if trying to figure something out.
"Klame is the Demon that you knocked down." Yin said.
"Oh!" Vedran exclaimed. "He wasn't the most pleasant person was he." Vedran grinned.
"No he wasn't." Yin smiled faintly.
"Yo-you have met him?" Risy asked looking at Vedran.
"Yeah." he laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. "I kind of knocked him down by tripping.".
Risy stared at Vedran with astonishment.
Yin refrained from glaring at the shorter girl.
"Anyway... miss Risy you should probably go so we can get breakfast." Cea said.
Yes please just go. Yin thought, and she heard chuckling in her head.
You should just own up to your jealousy dear Yiny~
Go the flaring core away!
"Okay I'll go." Risy said and headed to the door she glanced at Vedran a few times.
Cea had stood up and opened to door for her. "Good bye." He said and closed the door without waiting for her response.
"That was rude." Vedran scolded Cea.
"I'm not a Prince I don't have to follow proper etiquette, plus she gets on my nerves." Cea stated.
Vedran shook his head disapprovingly.
Yin laid back on the bed with her legs hanging off the foot of it where she had been sitting, she glared up at the ceiling.
Vedran leaned over her blocking her view of the white ceiling.
"What's that matter Yin?" Vedran asked worry in his voice.
Yin stopped glaring and she just stared at the Prince.
"Nothing...." Yin assured. "I'm fine.".
Vedran just stared at her as well, he didn't look very convinced, and he wasn't.
Don't lie to your Princey~
Yin growled inwardly.
He knows you're lying anyway...~
I know he does.
"Are you two gonna keep staring longingly at each other, kiss, or can we go get breakfast?" Cea asked.
Yin looked over at and glared at Cea who just chuckled.
Vedran laid back down seeming unfazed by Cea's teasing.
"I just wanna go back to sleep." Vedran groaned, and shivered. "It's cold.".
"The sun hasn't completely come up yet..." Yin said.
"Oh..." Vedran sighed, and pulled the blanket over his head. "Wake me went the sun is all the way up and warmer.".
"Yes your Princeliness." Yin smiled fainly.
"That's not even a word." Vedran grumbled.
"Yes it is." Cea stated.
Vedran sighed in exasperation.
Yin grinned.
Vedran's head popped out from under the blanket.
"Why aren't either of you freezing?" The Prince asked.
"Dragons can keep from becoming cold for a while." Yin answered.
"Fascinating." Vedran said with wonder, and a huge smile.
Yin smiled back.
"We should probably wait for the sun to fully rise to get breakfast." Cea stated.
Vedran nodded in agreement then pulled the blanket back over his head.
"So what are we going to do about Klame?" Vedran asked muffled from under the blanket.
"We should probably leave town." Cea suggested.
"I'm sick of running away...." Yin grumbled. "I'd rather confront him.".
"I'll do whatever you want to Yin." Vedran said.
"I guess we're gonna confront him before he can attack us." Cea sighed.
"I'll have to go find out where he is from Lys." Yin said, and laid down obviously not wanting to do what she had said.
"You can go ask after breakfast." Cea stated, and stood up. "The sun is all the way up and the heat is returning.".
"Good!" Vedran sat up.
"I'll go down and get breakfast." Cea walked toward the door.
"Waffles!" Vedran exclaimed.
"Everyone is getting Waffles." Cea assured.
"Yay!" Vedran said gleefully.
Cea opened the door and left, closing the door behind him.
Vedran laid back down with the blanket over his head.
"It's still cold." Vedran said with a shiver.
"It'll probably take a while for the heat to return completely." Yin informed.
Vedran nodded in reply.
"Are you really going to just stay under the blanket till it gets warm enough for you?" Yin asked, sitting up.
"Yes." Vedran answered.
"Some people say it's better to get up and move around than to stay under the blanket." Yin said.
"And some people say body heat is warmer than moving around." Vedran replied, his head popped out from under the blanket, and grinning.
Yin stared at him.
"Do you realize what you just said?" Yin asked.
Vedran paused as if trying to remember what he said, then he pulled the blanket over his head embarrassed.
Yin chuckled.
"Stop laughing." Vedran said muffled.
"Okay I'll stop, I'm sorry." Yin laid back down.
Vedran turned on his side and pulled the blanket off of his head, Yin was sure he was blushing.
"I'm sorry... I'll start thinking harder before I speak." Vedran said.
Yin looked at him from the corner of her eye, smiling.
"It's fine... I actually find it funny sometimes." Yin replied.
Vedran grinned.
Yin turned on to her side.
"What do you think will happen when we confront Klame?" Vedran asked.
Yin stared at him for a few seconds then she closed her eyes.
"I don't know?" She answered, opening her eyes with a sigh.
"Are you sure you want to confront him?" Vedran asked.
"To be honest... I really don't know." Yin answered. "All I do know is that I'm sick of running away.".
Vedran nodded.
"When we confront Klame will you promise to do whatever I tell you to?" Yin asked.
"Why do you ask?" Vedran questioned.
"Just promise." Yin ordered.
Vedran smiled slightly.
"Yes Yin, I will do whatever you tell me to when we confront Klame. Promise." Vedran promised.
Yin sat up. "I'm sorry." She said.
"About what?" Vedran asked, looking questioningly at her.
"About me..." Yin answered. "I've lied to you, made fun of you, and now I'm asking you to promise something you won't want to carry out later." Yin wouldn't look Vedran in the eye.
"What do you mean?" Vedran asked.
"Exactly what I just said." Yin stated.
Vedran sat up next to Yin, the cold was completely gone by now.
"Yin... what did you mean by the last one?" Vedran asked.
Yin looked down at her lap.
"If we're attacked... I don't want you getting killed for my sake." Yin said.
Vedran's eyes widened.
"Are you saying that if they're trying to kill you... if you tell me not to do anything... that... that...." Vedran couldn't finish the sentence.
"If I tell you not to do anything you won't do anything." Yin finished. "That's exactly what I'm saying.".
"I can't promise that Yin." Vedran said.
"You already did." Yin stated, and stood up from the bed.
"But Yin!" Vedran protested. "I wouldn't be able to keep from protecting you if you were in trouble.".
"You could." Yin said. "If I told you to.".
"I could but I wouldn't." Vedran argued.
Yin didn't say anything, and the room fell into silence.
"Yin why are you asking me to do this?" Vedran asked.
Yin glanced at Vedran.
"Because, you have a kingdom you will need to rule... I'm just a dragon. I have no other purpose than to protect humans and that includes dying if I must." Yin answered.
Vedran stared at her for a little while his expression a mix of shock, sadness, and anger.
Yin sighed.
"Please Vedran." She looked ready to beg.
"Yin... I..." Vedran sighed. "Yes Yin." he gave a recognizably fake smile.
"Thank you." Yin said.
Cea walked in, once he did he noticed the odd atmosphere in the room, immediately realizing he had walked in on an intense conversation, but he chose to ignore it and set the food down on the table considerably loud.
"Waffles." Cea said.
"Yay!" Vedran exclaimed joyfully, all tension from his and Yin's conversation almost entirely gone.
"Finally." Yin said.
"I wasn't gone that long." Cea rolled his eyes.
"You were gone long enough. Let's eat." Yin said, picked up her plate of waffles, and started eating them.
Vedran grabbed his plate of waffles, and ate them as if he was eating the food version of gold.

/§\

"So are you completely sure you want to confront Klame?" Cea asked Yin.
Yin looked at Cea.
"No I'm not." Yin answered. "But I'm not going to run away.".
"You know this decision could get all of us killed." Cea informed.
"I know very well yes." Yin nodded.
"Wait! All of us! Killed?!" Vedran exclaimed looking scared.
"I won't allow you to be killed Vedran so calm down." Yin assured.
Vedran still looked frightened.
"We still need to find out where Klame is." Cea stated.
"I'll go ask Lys." Yin stood up.
"Or I could go ask if you don't want to." Cea suggested.
"Are you sure?" Yin asked.
"Positive." Cea answered and stood up.
"Okay then." Yin said.
"I'll be right back." Cea informed and left the room.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" Vedran asked.
"No idea." Yin answered with a shrug.