Eclipse

Chapter 25

The next morning: Akihiko's POV

"Hey, time to get up love.." I slowly opened my eyes, looking up at Grant who smiled faintly at me. 

"Already...?"

"Mhm. How do you feel from last night." He asked, helping me sit up a bit. I yawned, rubbing my eyes before glancing around. Eclipse looked like she was still passed out, so I lazily let myself grab onto Grant. He smiled slightly, wrapping his arms around me and kissing my forehead.

"I'm okay. I feel sore though." I admitted with a blush. Grant laughed, nodding as I let my fingers trace over his skin since he never did put his shirt back on after last night. 

"Well, we will mostly be just riding for another few days. You can sit in front of me in the saddle, it may be more comfortable for you." He said, to which I nodded. 

"Thanks... p-put your shirt back on." I mumbled, pulling my hands away. Grant chuckled, dusting his shirt off and pulling it back on over his head. He helped me to my feet, making sure I could walk before he went to go wake Eclipse up. Once Eclipse was up, we all got ready and continued on our trip. 

Grant helped me up on the horse first and had me scoot towards the front of the saddle while he sat behind me. I let myself lean against his chest while we walked, Eclipse pulling her horse over and walking right next to us with a grin.

"So. How ya two doing." She asked with a grin. I cleared my throat and mumbled an okay. Eclipse questions why I was sitting in front of Grant.

"I was cold..."

"I wAs ColD." She mocked, her own horse seeming to snicker at her mocking. I blushed, Grant sighing.

"Eclipse that's enough." He said, Eclipse laughing and pulling away a bit. She went on to ramble to her horse about something involving the things Kuroo and Kenma showed us when we spoke to them. I semi listened to her before snapping out of my thoughts when Grant put his hands around mine and moved them so I was holding onto the reigns with him.

I smiled slightly and just held onto the leather reigns while the warmth of Grant's hands enveloped mine. After last night though, I couldn't stop thinking about what he said... We really didn't know what would happen in these upcoming days. One of us, or both of us.. well, we could possibly die. 

"Hey... you alright love?" Grant asked quietly so Eclipse couldn't hear. I tilted my head back, looking up at him.

"Grant.. I'm scared. I don't want to be involved in any type of fight.."

"Hey, I promise I'll protect you."

"But what if you get hurt... what if you die.." I said, trying to not cry. He was the first person, aside from Eclipse and some of the servants, who really cared about me. And after last night, all I wanted to do was be safe with him.

"I'm not going to die on you. Okay?" He said gently. I bit my lip but nodded slightly, looking back in front of us and taking in a deep breath. Last night was  really special. Yes it would've been nicer in say a bed, but that didn't matter to me. Grant and I were properly connected last night, and it felt incredible. Both emotionally and physically.. 

Just thinking back to what we did made me blush. To get my mind off of the rather dirty memories and thoughts, I just asked Grant about the dragons' nest.

"So. Have you ever seen a dragon before??" I asked curiously, Grant shaking his head.

"No. I've only met their water counterparts."

"Are the water ones nice?"

"Some of them."

"Do you suppose that the giant fire-breathing ones will be nice..?"

"..I hope so."

"Me too.. What about Saeko. What do you know about her??"

"Well. I've heard that she is rather nice. I've heard she is crazy. But nice. I'm hoping she will be willing to lend us her help. Dragons would certainly turn any tide of a battle." Grant said. Eclipse nodded in agreement as we continued onward. I took in a deep sigh. We still had a while to go.

Another few days time skip: Eclipse's POV

"Hey guys, this should be the dragons' territory right.. it's awful warm." I said, Grant nodding as he looked down at the map he carried. The terrain went from fields of dirt and grass to rocky terrain. So there was no way we weren't in the right spot.

"So, where would Saeko be?" I asked, Grant huffing.

"She should be at the heart of the nest. She is technically their queen after all."

"Gee, I hope it doesn't get much hotter.."I complained. This is another reason I always loved visiting Grant in the water. It was cold down there. And if you get cold, you can just go get some fire coral. The horses were beginning to tire and slow down.

"Perhaps we should leave the horses on the boarders of the territory." Grant said. Akihiko biting his lip.

"Is a dragon gonna eat them...?"

"...I hope not. But they won't survive both the heat, walk, and the weight of all of us on them." Grant reasons. Akihiko looked nervous but nodded. So, we found the coolest spot we could and let the horses stay there. Leaving what water we had for them before continuing on foot. 

I was surprised we hadn't run into any dragons or anything. I wonder where they all were. I had read stories about this place, but of course, I had always assumed it was just a thing of fairytale like vampires or werewolves. But nope, it was real.

But in the stories, it said that the land was crawling with dragons. And as scary as they could see, I wanted to see one. And I heard that the babies are adorableeeeee. After what felt like ages, the weather was naturally getting cooler as it got darker, but the terrain was getting hotter and hotter. I felt like I was gonna pass out from heat when all of us heard a voice.

"Halt, who goes there!" We all turned in the direction of the voice. Seeing the silhouette of a woman with what looked like dragon wings spread out behind her back stare at us.