How To: Piss Off Kings

Chapter 2

Chun Yu opened his eyes, and stared at the dense canopy above him. His head was throbbing, and he was very disoriented as he tried to figure out his surroundings. In the midst of his confusion, birds were chirping and singing, and the buzz of cicadas were loud in his ears.

Pushing himself off the fluffy moss he was laying on, he looked around warily. They hadn't gotten much time to ask about the world itself, and all he knew was that it was in a medieval time period, with magic... and other races, as it seemed.

A young boy, around seven to eight years old was perched high up in the trees. His round, hazel eyes peered through the leaves, staring at him. Almost the minute Chun Yu saw him, however, he darted away. Although, it didn't prevent Chun Yu from seeing his ears before he bounced away. As an artist, Chun Yu had very perceptive eyes, and he tended to see many minute details normal people wouldn't be able to see. Soft and pale, the ear was delicate, and could be considered supermodel-level. The most important fact, however, was that they were pointed.

Yes, pointed. It seemed that, like most fantasy novels, elves existed. It would have been a lie if Chun Yu said he wasn't dissapointed by the seemingly cliche selection of races in this world, but at least it would lessen the confusion he would feel if he ever traveled the world.

Looking around, he tried to get up, only to see a scaly claw right in front of his face.

"SQUAWK! SQUAWK?! SQUAAAAAAWWWK!" Horrified, he stumbled backward, and fell right on his rump. Sweating internally, he tried to calm down, taking deep breaths. Standing up awkwardly, he looked around, and saw a pool of clear water to his left. Traversing across the sharp rocks, he warily looked inside the water, then immediately froze. In the water, was a bird. He couldn't help but admit that this was, a very beautiful bird.

With a striking similarity to a red crowned crane, but with four legs, scaled until the knee, then covered with a layer of soft and downy feathers. The bottom half of his wings, as well as his entire tail, and scaled part of his legs were black. Stretching behind him was a elegant tail, adorned with two long black feathers, fluttering like two long ribbons in the wind.

The most attention grabbing, though, was the large splotch of red on his forehead. Like a bindi, it seemed to exude a mysterious force, and was strangely spiritual.

Suddenly, a rustling sound caught his attention. It seemed to be coming northeast from his position, and judging by the sounds he heard from his apparently improved hearing, there seemed to be a large group. He closed his eyes, and listened intently to hear the muffled voices he heard.

"Be quiet, and make sure not to frighten it!"

"A Qi has almost never been seen before, we need to make sure not to scare it away!"

"Your Highness, where are you going?!"

Chun Yu jolted, and his eyes flashed open, instantly going through all sorts of scenarios. He came to a conclusion that the unwelcome visitors were definitely not here for good purposes. Looking at his splendid appearance, he cursed loudly in his mind. Damn it! He couldn't go anywhere like this, or he'd be soon nothing but a stuffed model!

Looking towards the direction of the voices, he was shocked to see a handsome face staring at him. With platinum blonde hair, and icy blue eyes, a gaze that was neither hot nor cold was staring at him. He was caught, mesmerized by his figure. He was obviously well trained, though not buff, his body was lithe and packed with muscle, and was draped with a silver coat, adorned with white feathers. He exuded an aura of excellence and royalty that seemed to give pressure to all those around him.

Chun Yu blinked, and finally came to his senses when the man moved, opening his mouth to say something. Before he could speak, however, Chun Yu had already ran like the wind.

The man's face twisted, his mouth twitching downwards. Behind him, guards and servants came up, with worried looks on their faces. When they asked where the Qi went, he replied with rather obscure words. However, a small elf child seven or eight years old behind him rushed upwards, and leaped into the king's arms. He leaned his head close and asked,

"Big brother, the Qi ran away from you, didn't it?" His mouth was promptly sealed with a magic spell, but the child was no ordinary elf, and he quickly undid the spell and leaned in again, giggling mischievously.

"The sacred guardian ran away from the King! But don't worry brother, he seemed to be afraid of me as well, so it wasn't all your fault!" This time, a stronger seal that the child couldn't break was placed on him, and the boy sulked unhappily the rest of the way back.

The sacred beast in question was currently running (for what he thought was) his life.

Shit! Chun Yu thought to himself, How could I be such an idiot to just stand and stare! Damn it, you face-value person, what are you going to do when you get yourself killed! He rushed through the forest, speeding though hills and valley, and not even bothering to check his surroundings. He finally stopped after he had ran all the way up a tall mountain, finally stopping on the relatively flat peak, and collapsed, heaving for breath.

Looking around him, although the natural scenery was quite good, he was more concerned about where he was. After confirming the mysterious stranger had not run after him, he looked around himself. He had ended up somewhere deep in the forest, as all around him was nothing but forest. Far, far away he saw the shadows of huge trees, as well as the houses that were part of it. Tiny blurred shadows hopped from one side to another, making him wonder what they were doing.

Staring warily at the kingdom on the blurry horizon, he wondered if he should move farther away, as to avoid being discovered and hunted down. Thinking about what would have happened to him if he had stayed, he shivered, cursing once again his glorious and attention-grabbing figure.

In the end, he decided to not move farther away from the elf establishment, as to be able to keep an eye on them. Using his short beak, he managed to cut some trees down, however, creating a stable building was deemed impossible, so he had to resort to gathering soft moss to form a small bed.

Looking at the two setting suns, and the three moons behind him, he wondered how his friends were doing. He suddenly remembered that they would have strange forms as well, and laughed as he tried to remember what strange creatures they would be. Slowly, his eyes closed, and the gentle moonlight seemed to be attracted to his figure, giving him an ethereal glow. The red spot on his his forehead flashed once, before dimming down again.