Her Majesty's Knights
Title: Her Majesty's Knights
Feature: Arashi, Jun/Nino, Sho/Ohno, Aiba/ofc, Jun/ofc
Summary: A stagnant country, a dying queen, four knights, feuding gods and Jun who was but a normal human from Earth.
QUEEN: AN IMMORTAL SOUGHT THE HAND OF HIS GREATEST LOVE
FOUR KNIGHTS SECURED THEIR SPIRITUAL VOWS
AND SO BEFELL A TALE OF TIME AND WOE THAT SPUN THE WORLD OF GEMS AND STONES
01.
Matsumoto Jun opened the bedroom door and allowed light from the hall to spill into the dark room. His partner lay on one side of their double bed. Silently, Matsumoto moved into the room and undressed. He slid into bed on the other side and pulled up the sheets around himself. Just as he relaxed, he heard sniffling from his partner who he had thought asleep. Matsumoto reached over to touch him.
"No," the other man sobbed and curled into a tight ball near the edge of the bed.
As the man's trembling started and tears rolled down his face, Matsumoto slid from the mattress again and stood from his end looking down with deep regret at his partner.
"If I can never have your heart," the man sobbed, "and I only have your body, then I still have nothing. I can't do this anymore, Jun."
Matsumoto looked down at the palm of his hand, the one he had reached out earlier to try to touch his partner. For half of a second, the depths of his pupils flared with flames. Unconscious of its blaze, he closed his eyes and quenched the fire. He took a deep breath, his shoulders heaving, and nodded in the darkness. He'd known it would end this way. It always did because he could do nothing. He could never give them what he couldn't.
[HER MAJESTYS KNIGHTS: MATSUMOTO JUN]
HER MAJESTY'S KNIGHTS: MATSUMOTO JUN
With his own hands, the duke sheathed his sword in the chest of his cousin the king. Thus the duke usurped the throne. The sky rained hail and snow that day and from that moment forth an eternal winter set in. So it was that the Country of Stones, under the rule of its generations of usurpers, became the land of ice and snow.
Jun landed face down on the hard ground. Dirt and snow entered his mouth and his gut instinctively heaved even as his aching body suffered from the effort. He only regained his breath seconds after. Struggling against pain, he looked up and ahead of him at a bare snow-capped forest. He breathed heavily, white mists forming at each gasp, as he took in the uncanny sight.
Perhaps he'd gone crazy because he was one hundred percent certain he'd been running away from a distraught ex-boyfriend before jumping over a fence, only to have his feet tangled halfway. He'd been falling towards the icy hard cement of an alley. But this; this around him was a forest. He couldn't be in a forest. There was no forest in the middle of the city.
Still crouched on the snow-covered forest floor, Jun turned to assess the silent view behind him. What he saw startled him. He wasn't alone. Four strangers watched him, as Jun did them in alarm. They were dressed in rough attire he'd never seen before. The wane winter sunight glinted off their bodice and limbs. Armor, he realized. These people were dressed like the fighters from some wild, archaic, foreign country. Cosplay? Who were these people?
The one perched in a tree above the rest visibly frowned. A large metal board was strapped to his back, much larger than his slender frame, but despite the combination of his weight and the object he carried, the thin branch he sat on in the higher boughs remained steady. He observed Jun with a small tilt of his head. "Is he new to the Country?" he asked. "He's not one of us."
The voice resonated in Jun's mind, disturbing his already uneasy consciousness, and his wariness and confusion increased.
The man standing resolutely under the tree beneath the speaker also frowned, his lips forming a pout. He glanced up at the speaker with worry and then the third man to Jun's far right who was the only person in a mask.
The fourth man stood closest to Jun on his far left. He hefted a large weapon to his other side and Jun flinched back. Where in the world could a person find a scythe as large as that? The black crescent-shaped blade glowered from beside its owner and despite the silly grin on the man's face, Jun thought he looked the most intimidating of them all. He spoke in a chirpy, cheerful voice, "He's handsome. He looks strong. I think he'll survive, Nino."
"The first two points have no correlation at all," the first speaker retorted.
The man with the scythe ignored the first man and stepped closer to Jun with the smile still on his face.
Jun moved even further back. "Don't," he warned, although it was foolish to believe he posed much of a threat. It was one man against four and at least one of them carried a weapon that could potentially chop a person's head off with one swing.
His breath hitched when his palms scrapped across the icy ground and reminded him that he was still on the snow-covered ground. Jun stood swiftly and remained standing, watching the four strangers watch him. He shrugged further into his leather jacket and pocketed his hands. It wasn't because he was cold. He'd never felt cold in his life.
In the awkward pause, Jun's mind filled with questions and answers. Where he had been and where he was now did not connect in any way. It made absolutely no sense and he reached only one conclusion. Perhaps he had hit the ground and had been knocked unconscious. Perhaps this was a dream. Even if the pain felt real.
"You'll come with us, won't you?" the man with the scythe asked. "You'll help save our country and Queen?"
The first man scoffed. "He'll die before he even gets to the Palace. He's no match against the Gods."
"I'll do it," Jun quickly replied. Dream or not, the attitude of the first man irritated him.
"Then come. We're in a hurry," the man in the mask said. He did not spare time for preamble. He beckoned for Jun to follow and they walked as he led the way.
Jun wrapped his arms around himself and uneasily looked around. Snow everywhere. He'd never seen this much snow before.
The man in the tree jumped to the ground and moved alongside Jun while the last two flanked them. The forest appeared to be deep and Jun had no idea where they were heading. His captors, as Jun thought of them although he had willingly followed along, told him nothing. He had his doubts and it surged again. Was his mind capable of creating something this surreal? He couldn't decide whether to believe in logic or his physical senses. Yet, this couldn't be anything else but a dream.
Except for the crunch of their boots on the frozen ground, the surrounding forest was eerily quiet. They walked in silence for an unaccountable amount of time, Jun's confusion and concerns increasing with each passing moment, before one of the men spoke.
"Are you cold?" Jun's companion asked. "Even if you're new to the Country, you should have known it would be this way."
Instead of answering, Jun closely scrutinized the man beside him who had spoken. He realized that what he had thought a strange apparatus strapped to the man's back was in reality a large steel shield. Who would willingly carry something as huge and heavy as that? Jun recalled his name from the earlier conversation. "Nino," he repeated.
The man, Nino, wrinkled his nose haughtily. "It's Ninomiya, actually, and in the Palace that's with a Sir." He gestured to the masked man in front of them. "That's Sir Sakurai and," indifferently pointing out the two behind them, "Sir Aiba and Sir Ohno." He returned to looking straight at Jun and for one strange instant Jun's heart skipped a beat when their eyes met. "And you're J."
"It's Matsumoto Jun, actually," he said with as much haughtiness, an imitation of the other man.
"No, you're J," Nino refuted.
"I'm Jun," Jun responded. "It's my own name. I should know."
Nino snorted. "I don't care."
"I wonder about that," Jun muttered. He pressed a hand against his chest and against his excited heart. He mentally told his heartbeat to stop racing. It made absolutely no sense at all. His initial feelings about this man had not changed. Arrogant. Confident. Insulting. Nino unnerved him.
The trees in front of them lessened and they reached the edge of the forest. As they stepped into the open, Jun blinked rapidly from the glare of the endless stretch of pure white snow in front of them. Then his eyes adjusted and with a shout he fell back. Two hands grasped his arms one on each side and stopped him from running away. Aiba and Ohno held him firmly to the spot as a horrified Jun confirmed that what he was seeing was real.
In the open, roaming freely were four gigantic wolves that were twice the size of a man. Their heads perked up at the appearance of the five of them and one of them swiftly made its way to their entourage. Jun cringed. Would he be made a sacrifice to these animals? He should have thought his options over when he'd been asked to follow along.
The wolf stopped beside the man with the scythe, Aiba, and yawned baring sharp fangs. Aiba released Jun's arm and cooed at it. Jun used the opportunity to snatch his arm out of Ohno's grasp and run. He took his first steps back into the forest when his feet were swept from under him and he fell face down into the snow. In a flurry of snow, Ohno landed in front of him, blocking his path from escape. Jun blinked up at the expressionless, unperturbed face of his attacker. Ohno had executed everything in less than a few seconds. Jun shuddered from his newfound terror.
From behind, Nino drawled, "I'm guessing he does not have wolves in his country."
Fury from his humiliation burned through Jun and he stood upright, away from the wolf still at Aiba's side, but not too far from his attacker Ohno. He glared at Nino and then the rest of them. This dream or whatever it was had become too far-fetched. "Will somebody fucking tell me what's going on?" he screamed. "This must be a nightmare!" The forest and snow, four stupidly dressed strangers and these damn wolves. There was only so much he would take.
The masked man, Sakurai, sighed. He said solemnly, "These wolves are tamed. They won't harm you. They will carry us over the snow plains. We can't cover that distance on foot."
Jun shied at the thought. Whatever happened to normal forms of transportation? It couldn't get any worse.
"You're riding with me," Nino said.
Inwardly, Jun groaned.
The worse of it was him sitting up front with Nino behind him and Nino's skinny arms securely wrapped around his abdomen. It was the only way, Jun had been told by a very assured Nino, because Jun obviously could not hold him in return with the shield blocking him if they sat the other way around. Jun wondered why Nino couldn't just throw the stupid shield away. It was the weirdest, most useless fashion apparatus out of the four, more so than Aiba's menacing scythe and Sakurai's eerie mask.
Soon after they were settled on their mounts, the wolves moved steadily across the snowy plains at a fast but even pace. Nino snickered every time Jun froze with fear when their wolf growled low in its throat, and Jun eventually learned to toughen up and stop his body from adversely reacting. Although he was still not quite complacent with their form of transportation, he at least could be a civil rider.
The scenery as they traveled changed very little. Silence fell around them. After some time, the soft fur underneath Jun and Nino's warm body against his back as well as the wolf's lulled him to feel at ease. He allowed his stiffened limbs to relax. Along with the easing of his muscles Nino's entwined arms around his waist loosened and Jun inexplicably overlapped Nino's hands with his own in a hurry to stop them. His instinctive action dumbfounded himself, but he couldn't pull his hands away nor stop the rapid fire of his heartbeat.
It was silly, Jun thought. How could he react so much to a stranger? He remembered his former partner he had run from, remembered the many people who had left him, and he could not forget the frustration and hurt they had felt, that he had felt also, because returning their feelings had been impossible. He hadn't known that feeling like he did now could happen. It was incredulous.
"Are you from the Country of Sapphire?" Nino asked from behind him suddenly. "I think you're from Amethyst though. You seem like a native of Amethyst."
Jun perked up and turned his head sideways to better hear him. Sapphire? Amethyst? Nonsense. He was from Japan. "Where am I?"
"You must be an exile," Nino said.
"An exile?" Jun repeated, perplexed by his unfounded conclusion.
"Unfortunately for you, it worked in our favor since you came to us," Nino went on. "I met the Gods of Sapphire and Amethyst once a long time ago at a wedding. It's pitiful having to worship gods like that."
Jun sighed in resignation. He had to get some answers and he asked again. "Where am I?"
"The Country of Stones," Nino stated, the soft grin turning his lips startling Jun. "You are in the company of Her Majesty's Four Knights. Our beautiful Queen envisioned that you, J, will save our country."
Jun decided he couldn't be wrong; this must be some damned dream. Only dreams could be this random. As random as his unexpected racing heart.
02.
The three knights left and he stood alone in the chamber with her. At last, Aiba Masaki swept aside the rich curtains around her bed and stepped into her space. He sat on the edge of the large bed where she lay covered with thick, fur blankets. It cost her an effort, but she looked up at him with red rimmed eyes. Her face was deathly pale and her chapped lips were blue. A single sob rose from her throat as her eyes met his.
Aiba's lips trembled and his tears fell. They dripped like fallen petals on her white cheeks. He reached out an equally trembling hand and gently wiped the wet drops away. Aiba sucked in a breath and tried to steady his breath and hold back his sobs.
"Go to sleep," he managed to whisper. He leaned down and softly pressed his lips against hers. Her eyes closed and she went limp. Aiba drew away and stood. He looked down at her and his tears formed again. She slept soundly, her breath becoming even, and she looked so ethereal and at peace that it broke his heart.
[HER MAJESTYS KNIGHTS: AIBA MASAKI]
HER MAJESTY'S KNIGHTS: AIBA MASAKI
The Last True King of Stone had hoped to expand his country despite the constant misery he forced on the majority of his subjects by his selfishness and greed. The young duke, the king's maternal cousin, had been backed by the suffering people and the surrounding ambitious countries to bring an end to the turmoil he wrought. In the Palace's great hall, the young duke did the unfathomable; he ended the one and only True Line of succession to the throne.
Riding behind J and Nino, Masaki's heartbeat quickened at the thought that soon the endless years of winter would come to an end and Haru would be saved. After the passing of many full moons, Haru's vision had led them to where J was. The Country of Stones would prosper. Haru would live.
Masaki gripped the handle of his scythe as his mind wandered back to the stories his great-great-grandmother had told. He only knew a country of ice and snow, but his great-great-grandmother had passed down from her own ancestors their vivid memories of green grass, beautiful flowers and a hot sun that beamed down on tanned skin. The surrounding countries still had all of that. Only the Country of Stone, the cursed country with its ruling usurpers, was subjected to its eternal winter.
Having been born into the family of Transcribers, Masaki knew their country's history. As a child he used to wonder why the people continued to revere and support their existing monarchy. What about the True King? He thought the devastating level of starvation and deaths during the reign of the True Line certainly could not be as cruel as it was in the present under its usurpers. Did no one wish to return to that era? Masaki had only lived in the cold Country of Stone and yet his great-great-grandmother's tales had told him that there were much more to behold and regret.
Then he had met Haru. She had been standing among the scrolls looking forlorn and bereft and when Masaki had first extended his hand to her, not knowing her status, she had given him a shy smile in return and had tentatively taken his hand. He soon found his reason to live his life for their monarchs. He knew much more.
He couldn't let their Queen die from their country's curse like her fathers and brothers and many of her ancestors before her.
Ohno, riding opposite him on the other flank of Nino and J, gestured for his attention. Masaki returned to the present and nodded for the other knight to relay his message. The Colorless Knight gestured behind him. Alarmed, Masaki twisted his upper body around and viewed the vast plain behind them. In the distance, he clearly saw a line of soldiers following them on horses, a contrast of silver, black, and red against the pure white snow.
The soldiers must have been waiting, out of sight, until they left the forest with J. Over the past few hours, the group had been advancing quickly and silently. Buried in his own mind, Masaki would have missed them if not for Ohno. He bit his bottom lip and struggled to hold back his frustration as he raised his scythe above his head. "We have company!" he shouted loud enough for the two Knights ahead of him to hear.
At once, Sakurai and Nino halted their mounts, forcing Masaki's and Ohno's to ground to a halt as well. Sakurai and Nino took a look behind them and glowered. J watched the advancing soldiers in the distance and his brows furrowed in confusion.
"Twenty of them," Ohno murmured.
Sakurai turned his mount around and moved to Ohno's side. The face behind the mask was unreadable, but his tense body language told Masaki that their situation had turned dire. Masaki's heart sank. If they wasted any more time out here what would happen to Haru? Too many moons had passed since he had laid her to sleep.
"Not just regular soldiers," Sakurai observed. "They are the Elite Assassins from the Country of Ruby."
Nino cursed. "They don't even bother to conceal their motives anymore."
Ohno heaved a deep, worried breath.
Masaki shook with anxiety. It would take effort and much needed energy, but it was not impossible for them to defeat their foes; after all they were their Queen's Knights, the Stone Knights of ancient lore. But they had J with them who was definitely the Assassin's mission to capture. Losing J was a risk the four knights could not take. They hesitated, thinking of solutions and trying to make decisions.
At last, Sakurai directed them. "Ninomiya will continue on alone with Matsumoto. All three of us will stay behind."
Masaki thought it was the best plan. With the three of them holding off the Assassins, it was possible for Nino to protect J and take him to a place of safety.
Ohno did not hold the same beliefs. "Sho will go with you," he murmured suddenly but surely.
"I'm staying," Sakurai protested, the tight command he had of their group vanished by Ohno's single directive.
"Aiba and I will be okay," Ohno assured Sho with conviction.
Sakurai watched Ohno's blank expression and even with his mask the knights could see his struggle to contain his dissent. Masaki knew Sakurai wanted to argue against Ohno's judgement, but they were short on time. They had to distance J from the oncoming Elite Assassins and fast. Growling his frustration, Sakurai steered his wolf back to the front and drove it into a run. Nino and J's hound raced at its heels. Masaki wistfully took a second to watch their departure and the flurry of snow that followed them.
"We'll be okay, Aiba," Ohno murmured, but the confidence in his voice when he had spoken to Sakurai was gone.
Masaki turned his attention to his comrade. He gripped the handle of his scythe with both hands and grinned at Ohno with self-assurance he did not feel. At least, he knew that despite Ohno's uneasiness the Colorless Knight was an unmatched warrior. He felt confidence in that. "We'll be okay," he repeated, like a charm. Ohno and he were not easy pickings. They were the strongest of the Queen's Stone Knights after all.
The Elite Assassins covered the easy distance between them and Masaki could make out their grim expressions when they realized who had stayed behind to detain them.
Ohno dug into his boots and pulled out metal grooves that he buckled onto the soles of his boots. He pulled out similar steel knuckle braces with frightening jagged edges and pulled them on over his knitted gloves. Masaki had his wolf underneath him and his scythe in hand. Together, the Colorless Knight and he made the perfect fighting combination. They were ready. Masaki faced the intruders with stronger determination.
Now that they were so close to saving Haru from the cold disease, Masaki would not allow anything to stand in his way.
He remembered the first kiss he had shared with Haru, how he had put her to sleep with the sweet innocent touch of their lips and how he had belatedly learned due to his error that he was their country's Black Knight. He remembered receiving the precious Black Stone from their former king, swallowing it, and how from that day forth the ancient lore of the Black Stone had rewoken. He had become the owner of the Stone of Death and the wielder of the scythe.
Masaki remembered the last kiss he'd shared with his Queen just a few moons ago. She had told them that the person they sought would come at last, that they would find him hidden in the forests. On what was to be her deathbed, Masaki had put her to sleep once more, hoping it held imminent death at bay. It was his only privileged gift as the renewed spirit of the Black Stone of Death and it was only due to that accursed gift that she was currently alive.
"Pray that the Goddess of the Air is turned away," Ohno murmured from Masaki's side.
The closest Elite Assassin was half a horse ahead of his group. Ohno moved like the wind. He propelled himself forward off his mount. His movements whistled as he sliced skin and broke bones with the spikes of his boots and knuckles. He broke into the enemy's ranks with a beautiful, deadly dance.
Masaki's wolf snarled and hurled itself forward at a horse's throat. Masaki swung his scythe. To kill someone. To keep someone else alive. To protect his country. For Haru.
03.
Ohno Satoshi held the Colorless Stone in one hand. Beside him Sakurai, too, held the Red Stone in one hand. They stared solemnly at it and then Sakurai watched Ohno closely. He reached for Ohno's unoccupied hand with his; smooth, soft skin against callused, roughened skin. Ohno jerked at the touch of the other man, but Sakurai held firmly to him.
The knight standing opposite them watched their actions nervously. "Will you live for Haru?"
To serve a Queen that was not his. To become a subject of the powerless Country of Stone. But what else had Ohno to lose. The only person that mattered to him was his master.
"We are here for a reason," Sakurai mumbled at his side. "This is what I am meant to be."
Ohno felt Sakurai's grip of his hand tighten and he nodded his understanding. The same feelings consumed him. He could be no one else but the Colorless Knight. The transparent stone felt securely right in his palm. He had been given a choice, but this was the only way. Yet, he still watched Sakurai for his decision.
Sakurai tipped back his head and dropped the Red Stone into his mouth.
Ohno closed his eyes and did the same. He swallowed the Colorless Stone, the Stone of Fate.
[HER MAJESTYS KNIGHTS: OHNO SATOSHI]
HER MAJESTY'S KNIGHTS: OHNO SATOSHI
The God of the Blaze had fallen in love with the mortal princess of the country he oversaw. He thus descended from the celestial realm and cast aside his immortality to stay by the side of the one he love. He threw fire into the Red Mountains, into the Black Mines, into the White Caves and the deep underwater caverns. He fashioned four stones of which he bestowed to four knights. Thus the legend of the True Line and Stone Knights were born. Therefore with his death, the Last True King had cursed his mutinous country and took his heat with him to the grave, instilling indefinite coldness on the land.
Their hounds lay in the snow in a pool of blood among other dead bodies and horses. Satoshi watched as Aiba fell to his knees in front of his wolf. Panting heavily and clutching the bleeding wound on his side, Aiba still carefully ran his fingers affectionately through his dying wolf's fur. His motionless wolf, eyes glazed, whined low in its throat. Satoshi caught his breath as Aiba raised his scythe and drew it across the hound's throat. Tears streamed down Aiba's eyes and Satoshi's own.
After their tears stopped and exhaustion settled into their bones, Satoshi knelt in the snow next to Aiba and wrapped a piece of cloth around his comrade's wound. He removed and cleaned his steel weaponry and returned them to its hiding places. He then pulled Aiba's arm around his shoulder and helped his comrade walk. They were out in the open and miles from cover. Where Sho, Ninomiya, and Matsumoto had run they did not know. From predetermined plans Sho and Ninomiya would have taken Matsumoto to the nearest mountains.
They trudged through hard packed snow until Aiba's agony forced them to pause at sundown. The Black Knight offered an apology as Satoshi helped him pack his reopened wound with snow.
"It must be even harder for you to kill your own brethren," Aiba muttered.
Satoshi shook his head. "Sho and I left the Country of Ruby behind." They were the Stone Knights. Nothing else.
"But the Goddess of the Air," Aiba started, recalling the goddess of Ruby mentioned in Satoshi's uttered prayer.
"She is no longer our deity," Satoshi answered quietly.
Aiba leaned back into the snow and his eyes scanned the dark, starry sky above them. The stars glittered like gems. He sighed wistfully, perplexed. "Why did you and Sakurai come here, Ohno?"
Satoshi did not answer him, preferring to remain silent when he couldn't give his comrade a truthful reply.
Aiba allowed him his silence, but his curiosity grew all the more and he asked his questions that he knew could not be answered. "Of all the countries Sakurai and you could have run to, why the Country of Stone? You must have known our history. If you had not come, maybe I would not have found you and Sakurai. You would have not become the Stone Knights and be driven day and night to save a ruined country. Nino and I would not have been able to complete the divine circle of the four Stone Knights. Do you think this is what they call fate, Ohno?"
Satoshi moved to Aiba's side and stretched himself out beside his taller comrade in the snow. He sighed, white puffs curling around his lips, and watched the same sky that enthralled Aiba. He could not reveal Sho's secret, but he could at least tell Aiba one of the reasons why they'd chosen this god forsaken country. "The Country of Stones do not have slaves," Satoshi mumbled into the stillness. Aiba jerked and turned his head to him, but Satoshi continued without meeting his comrade's eyes. "It was abolished with the death of the Last True King."
The Country of Ruby, the Country of Amethyst and the Country of Sapphire--all of the countries that had prospered from the Country of Stone's lost power, all of the Countries with their gods and goddesses in command of their monarchy's will--they were built on the tears and suffering of the ones beneath the social hierarchy.
Satoshi could almost recall the feel of chains around his neck, chains he'd carried for ten years before he'd met Sho. Even though the open secret of Aiba's affection for their Queen among the Stone Knights would be considered blasphemous to the people, Satoshi understood Aiba. Sho and Haru had a lot in common. They were able to hold on to the hands of those many would consider underneath them.
Satoshi had his own motivations, but he also could not let his Queen die. Her demise would mean the fall of the Country of Stone to the other countries. The generations of Stone Knights before them had failed to find their True King and protect their monarchs, but this time would be different. This time they would save this country.
"If J is the True King and is restored to the throne, do you really think the winter will dissipate?" Aiba mused.
Satoshi closed his eyes against the world. In the darkness behind his eyelids, he recalled the image of a determined Sho. "Aiba, isn't that the only reason we are here?"
Aiba bit his bottom lip and closed his eyes against his surroundings like Satoshi. He tried to laugh at himself, forcing a chuckle out of his lips. "Ah, that's true. If we don't believe it, then there's no more hope. That cannot be."
Silence fell around them again and the coldness of the snow began to settle into their bones. Satoshi sat up to ready himself to start forth their journey again. They could not stay out in the open like this. They had the rest of the snow plains to cover.
Aiba reached for his scythe and held it against himself as if the solid form of the weapon comforted him. He called out, "Ohno."
Satoshi turned to face him still sprawled in the snow. He waited for his comrade to continue.
"Ohno," Aiba repeated, "When it is done, will you alter my past recollections?"
Satoshi started at the request. His breath caught and he watched his comrade's motionless form intently. Like the other knights, he loathed to use his gift. Yet, Aiba requested it; Satoshi' s only gift of Fate to erase or change a person's memories. Satoshi understood why he asked. "It won't change your feelings about the Queen," he mumbled. "You'll still love her. Except you won't know why."
Aiba sat up slowly and he grinned weakly. "I was just wondering."
Even though he smiled, Satoshi felt that it conveyed little happiness. He could not strip Aiba of the defense though and allowed it to pass. He looked at his hands and then the snow covered ground. Aiba was a comrade, but also a friend. He did not say it, but if the Black Knight truly needed his gift then when the time came he wouldn't deny him the use of it. He thought about himself in a similar situation. He would never leave Sho. He would continue to serve Sho, as Aiba would their Queen. Enduring heartache and pain each waking moment was something he could empathize with. Aiba and he longed for too much.
Sho had crouched down to wipe away his tears that day. Even if it dirtied his own exquisite, rich robes, Sho had taken it off and wrapped it around Satoshi's thin shoulders. The rubies on the rings on Sho's finger and crest on his head had glittered in the darkness. Satoshi had seen it and couldn't believe it. At that time he could not believe that someone like Sho existed in the cruel world.
In the present, Satoshi's gut lurched and he pressed a hand against his chest, against his pounding heart. Sho was with Ninomiya. He hoped they were safe. "Please. Let the Goddess of the Air be turned away," he prayed.
04.
The Queen knelt in front of him.
Shocked by her actions, Sakurai Sho scurried to kneel opposite her also. "I abandoned my crown and my people," Sakurai told her. "I did not have the strength to fight against the Goddess of the Air. I do not deserve your humility, your majesty."
The Queen shook her head. "We are each born with our individual burdens. It does not change even if in the present you are my knight and I am queen." She reached at her side and presented to him an object wrapped by a red cloth.
Sakurai took it and unwrapped it. He had received a mask.
"Sir Ohno requested it," the Queen told him softly. "I did not know that in the Country of Ruby, your sovereignty are privy to the council of your deity. That you have been touched by the Goddess of the Air, your soul have become a medium and beacon of light for her. I had this mask made from the red stone of the Red Mountains. It will hide you from the eyes and probe of your goddess."
A tentative smile turned Sakurai's lips as he fixed the mask on his face. From behind the mask he spoke. "But your majesty, the Goddess of the Air is no longer my goddess. I am no longer king. I am only your Red Knight, wielder of the dagger, keeper of the Stone of Blood."
The Queen solemnly watched him and said with much sadness, "If our fight here prevails and there is a future for us and Stone, I vow that I will help you with your war."
[HER MAJESTYS KNIGHTS: SAKURAI SHO]
HER MAJESTY'S KNIGHTS: SAKURAI SHO
The gods and goddesses of the surrounding countries scorned the God of the Blaze that had cast aside his immortality for a mere mortal. They laughed with time when the young duke of Stone pierced his cousin the king, descendant of a god, with his sword. With the loss of the True Line, only the rebirth of their lost brother, the God of the Blaze, could restore divine grace on the accursed crown and country. Yet once his soul entered the realm of mortals again, the mischievous deities took their newly born human brother with the body of a mortal but the soul of a god and hid him in a realm far away and removed from their own.
Sho declared that they would spend the night under an overhang that was clear of snow. They dismounted from their hounds when they reached the Red Mountains and on foot the group of three and their wolves walked through a narrow pass between the mountains to their destination. They prepared to cross a frozen stream to reach the campsite Sho designated. As Matsumoto set foot on the frozen surface, his foot broke through and landed in the icy water. Before their eyes, the ice stream thawed and flowed. The trickle of running water on rocks was music to the silent mountains.
Ninomiya crouched beside the melted stream and closely scrutinized the rushing water. He looked from Matsumoto to Sho, his face unreadable. "He is the True King after all," he said.
Matsumoto vainly shook his thoroughly soaked boot. Frustration gnawed at him and he turned to glower at Sho with a question in his eyes.
Sho avoided his gaze, unable to give an explanation, and whistled to the wolves. His hound moved to his side and he climbed onto its back. "We can't cross it like this," he told them. "Not unless we want to freeze to death." He urged his wolf back and then at a distance it raced forward and leaped across the stream. It landed safely on the other side with Sho still securely mounted. Sho beckoned for Ninomiya and Matsumoto to do the same.
Matsumoto turned a sour expression to the wolf that had come up to Ninomiya's side. "Again?"
"It's only for a bit," Ninomiya assured him as Sho slid off his hound on the other side of the stream.
Ninomiya helped calm their wolf as Matsumoto compliantly readied to mount. With an uncanny calmness about him, Matsumoto placed his hands on its back, but he paused and then lightly grasped the knight's arm instead. The abrupt contact startled Ninomiya and he turned and caught Matsumoto's eye. They remained motionless. From across the stream, Sho watched as they silently stared at each other for breathless seconds.
Then Matsumoto broke the frozen moment. "This is not a dream, isn't it?"
Ninomiya flinched back from a sudden glare in Matsumoto's eyes and turned a distressed look Sho's way. The anguish in the White Knight's gaze was so intense that Sho felt concern. He couldn't be sure what had happened. He thought about returning to their side, but Ninomiya steadied himself and buried his face in the wolf's neck. "Get on," he ordered their dependent.
Matsumoto did not push him to answer and with a heavy sigh, he clumsily climbed onto the hound's back. Ninomiya climbed on behind him and securely wrapped his arms around Matsumoto's waist. Their wolf lunged across and leaped over the stream. Once they stood on the same bank, Sho breathed easier. Then Ninomiya fell off their mount and into the snow.
"Nino!" Matsumoto screamed and clumsily slid down to help him, but not before Sho had reached him first and pulled the White Knight up.
Ninomiya shoved Sho's hands away and sluggishly moved from them, dragging his shield through the snow. It appeared heavy and burdensome, unlike the easy way he'd carried it previously.
"Nino," Matsumoto called again, his expression distorted into concern.
"Ninomiya," Sho said.
"I'm fine," Ninomiya muttered, his head hanging low. "Let's go. I'm tired."
At their destination, Sho helped Ninomiya to gather firewood and then he stood back to watch the White Knight build a fire. Ninomiya beckoned Matsumoto over instead and to Sho's surprise, the man came without an argument although lines of exhaustion marked his face and he winced with sore muscles.
"Are you cold?" Ninomiya asked.
Matsumoto shook his head once.
"Can you light a fire?" the White Knight continued to interrogate him.
"I never tried," Matsumoto answered. "There was never a chance to." He sighed and his eyes glazed over. "I grew up in a city, in Japan, with buildings and cars and lots of people who don't know how to do it."
Ninomiya ignored his hopeless tirade and gestured for Matsumoto to crouch down beside him in front of the pile of firewood. "Then try now."
"How am I supposed to do it?" Matsumoto asked, perplexed.
Ninomiya's brows drew together in sudden frustration and he directed, "Stare at the firewood. Just stare at it."
Matsumoto's confusion increased.
Sho had watched the exchange silently, but he finally stepped before them and gave his comrade a warning. "Ninomiya!" He wasn't sure of Ninomiya's motive, but a gut feeling told him this was heading in a bad direction.
Furious, the White Knight stood gruffly and stalked from the campsite. Sho watched him leave and turned to comprehend a despairing Matsumoto. He took a deep breath and gestured for the other to move away. "If you're not cold, then we don't need a fire. Ninomiya and I can huddle with the wolves for warmth."
"I don't understand," Matsumoto said and clutched a hand over his heart. "I've gone crazy. Why won't you explain anything?"
Sho hesitated and he couldn't hold Matsumoto's inquisitive, fathomless gaze. He looked down at the firewood and wished Satoshi was here with him. With Satoshi beside him, he could keep his determination. He would do what was right for the country, for Satoshi's survival, even if it costed him his conscience. "It's not time," he murmured.
Yet because he could not contain himself, he walked out from under the overhang in the opposite direction Ninomiya had gone. Around a dense group of trees, Ninomiya sprang out and viciously lunged at him. Sho reacted instinctively. He reached for his daggers and drove them at his attacker. Likewise, Ninomiya immediately drew his shield. The armament dropped between them and ingrained itself into the heavy snow. The attempt had barely lasted a few seconds, but the White Knight's intent had been so strong, it left Sho utterly shocked. He breathed heavily, a dagger in each hand, as the intricately wrought, steel shield hid his comrade from his view.
For a moment, he feared Ninomiya had gone insane. Sho cleared his mind and stowed his daggers away. Still breathing heavily, he cautiously walked around the large shield. He saw Ninomiya curled against the underside of the guard, arms wrapped around his knees. He glowered at Sho as a bold tear slid down his cheek.
Ninomiya spoke through clenched teeth that held back his sobs, "You knew who he is."
Sho looked down at him with confusion and did not answer.
Ninomiya roughly wiped at his face with his sleeve, but it did not stop more tears from spilling down them. "And yet you do not know everything. You do not understand why, Sakurai."
Sho turned his face up towards the night sky. The tips of the Red Mountains hovered at the edges of his vision. Hidden between the large red rocks, he finally lifted the mask off his face. He took a deep breath of the cold air while below him Ninomiya continued to sit with his arms wrapped around himself.
He remembered how the Goddess of Air had giggled when she'd whispered into his ear their secret; their hidden brother, the god of a ruined country. Later, he'd leaned in to hear his Queen's vision and knew that their True King would come from a place no mortal of their own had been to before.
It had been a secret and burden too great for Sho to receive and it still was. He thought the weight would crush him. Only if Satoshi was with him now would it lessen. He wished he knew if Satoshi was safe; both Satoshi and Aiba. "Ninomiya, what are you going to do about it?" he asked.
"Nothing," Ninomiya answered bitterly. "That's how it should be, isn't it? Would you consciously hurt someone of great importance to you?"
Sho could not answer and stared blankly at the snow, trees, and Red Mountains around them. He tried to imagine inflicting pain, physically and emotionally, on Satoshi and he couldn't. The gruesome image of the past rose to his mind's eye and he tried to dispel it. Just only the recollection and he couldn't endure for a moment: Satoshi covered with blood, Satoshi in chains, the lifeless look on his face. "I would rather die," he confessed.
05.
On the terrace overlooking the people of the country that had gathered, he stood on ceremony with her while three knights stood guarding them at their backs. He took the crown princess's hand and placed a white stone in her palm. "This is the White Stone, the Stone of Life, keeper of the shield. I wish to protect you. I want our life together." He leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on the back of her hand. She grinned widely while the crowd below roared their approval.
In a moment's notice heavy mists wrapped around them, clouding all beyond until only they stood in the clearing. All sounds below ebbed away. Low and high laughter echoed through the void and beautiful specters whisked around and above them. The crown princess closed her eyes against the brilliant beauty of the descended deities of the neighboring countries.
He pulled his bride into his embrace and held her there. "Begone!" he shouted.
"Poor us. Our brother did not invite us to his wedding."
"He is insane."
"She is a mortal. If she dies, he will return to his senses."
"Don't you dare!" he thundered.
A specter flew at the princess and she raised her arms to shield herself. The specter turned abruptly and settled overhead. "She holds something!" it warned.
The princess remembered what he had said and glanced at the pure white stone in her hand, the hope to protect her. She watched him, took in his beautiful countenance affected with fury and concern, and then the stone in her open palm again. He would protect her and she hoped to protect him in return for as long as they lived. Forever. Without a second thought, the princess threw her head back and dropped the stone into her mouth. She swallowed it. "Begone!" she bellowed the second time.
The deities screeched their frustration and vanished.
[HER MAJESTYS KNIGHTS: NINOMIYA KAZUNARI]
HER MAJESTY'S KNIGHTS: NINOMIYA KAZUNARI
The curse that set on the land ingrained itself into the very bones of its usurpers so that all of the young duke's line died before their due by the very same coldness that plagued the country. Sons and daughters were hurriedly beget, but the cold disease could not be overcome and the line lessened with each passing generation. The monarchs were loved by their people, but not by their land. The answer that the young princess foresaw told of unity; wedlock and therefore the unification of the people and the land. But a union could not be complete without the other half. First, they had to pray that a True King would return.
Sakurai slept soundly against the soft fur and warmth of his wolf. Kazunari's own wolf lay in rest an arm's width away from Jun in the thick of sleep. Kazunari set his shield upright on the other side of Jun as a protective cover and left their gloomy campsite. He climbed up the mountain onto the overhang over their camp and sat by the edge with his arms wrapped around himself, a weak attempt to keep out the cold. He watched the dark horizon where the shapes of the Red Mountains appeared even darker like menacing shadows.
It would take a little less than a fortnight for them to get out of the Red Mountains. After another round of forests, they would reach the first village. If by the time of another two full moons they are not detained, they would reach the palace and return to their Queen Haruna. He hoped that by then Ohno and Aiba would have joined them. Kazunari would have a reason to fall back and keep out of sight until after the union. The reminder caused a sudden lurch in the pit of his gut and he pressed his palms against his burning eyes. A clang of metal broke the silence and then shuffling feet.
From below, Jun called out, "Nino? Nino? Where are you?" Anxiety colored his voice.
Kazunari sighed and crawled even closer to the cliff edge. He peered over at Jun below holding his heavy, steel shield. "I'm up here," he said.
Jun tilted his head back and saw him. He breathed easier and replied, "Why are you up there?"
"I'm obviously keeping watch," Kazunari told him. "Go back to sleep."
"I'm coming up there too," Jun said. "How do I get up there?"
"You can't," Kazunari replied. "My shield's too heavy to carry up here with you."
Jun blinked down at the heavy object as if he'd just noticed that he'd brought it along. "I won't bring it up with me."
"You can't," Kazunari repeated again. "You can't come up without my shield."
"I don't understand," Jun said, scowling up at him. "Are you going to keep being vague forever? When will anyone explain anything? At this rate, I just keep thinking I've gone crazy."
Kazunari took his time to resume. He muttered after he'd decided on his reply, "I think we're both crazy."
Jun's expression was overcome with confusion and Kazunari sighed. He stood and stretched with deliberate leisure and climbed his way down again. Near the bottom, he jumped to the ground. Jun came to his side immediately after discarding the heavy shield that dragged him down. Fluttering erupted in Kazunari's gut from his close proximity and he flushed when Jun quickly looked him over for any signs of injury. Gathering himself, he stepped away from Jun and pointed to his shield on the ground. "You weren't supposed to do that," he said.
"Why?" Jun asked.
Kazunari smiled mysteriously at him and picked up his shield. He sat at the edges of their campsite and beckoned for Jun to sit beside him. When the other man did, he arranged his shield over them. "So you don't get hurt," he said.
"Nino, will you tell me why I'm here?" Jun asked anxiously.
Kazunari pointed to the night sky instead and Jun followed his gaze to look at the half moon. "Do you want to know a love story that is more than a thousand years old?"
Jun turned back to observe him wondering what it was about. He slowly nodded. Kazunari took Jun's hand and clasped it. Even though startled by the touch, Jun did not pull away. Kazunari smiled softly at him and played with his slender fingers. "Does your heart beat as fast as mine? Does it ache? For a moment, did you find it hard to breathe?" he asked.
Enchantment wove around them as Jun gazed into Kazunari's eyes, full of stars and yet a deep melancholy. His fingers wrapped around Kazunari's and he held on tightly. He whispered, "I'm afraid to let go."
Kazunari squeezed Jun's hand in his. "Then my King, do not ask questions. Save our country. Do what you must for us. For me."
Jun's eyes flitted over the soft features of Kazunari's face, observing the determination yet sadness etched in his expression. "What must I do?"
"When the time comes, you will know," Kazunari told him. He released Jun's hand. He felt bereft but he could not extend his suffering by touching Jun again. He turned to watch the dark sky as before. "My King," he said, "I will always be by your side to protect you forever. Please remember that."
QUEEN: THE REBORN KING MUST TAKE THE HAND OF ITS GREATEST QUEEN
AND FOUR KNIGHTS KEEP THEIR HONORABLE VOWS
TO CHANGE A TALE OF LOSS THAT DID BEGIN
[A/N]
A/N: As in most cases my stories are inspired by a single scene. This one came out of two: the night scene with Nino and Jun and the opening scene with Jun falling from Earth and meeting four warriors. It became a full blown story. I wish I had time to write a series, but in the end just so I can do away with this plot that I did not wish to forget I wrote a one-shot. Nino and Sho each have one special gift as knights too; sadly I couldn't put it in.
Feature: Arashi, Jun/Nino, Sho/Ohno, Aiba/ofc, Jun/ofc
Summary: A stagnant country, a dying queen, four knights, feuding gods and Jun who was but a normal human from Earth.
QUEEN: AN IMMORTAL SOUGHT THE HAND OF HIS GREATEST LOVE
FOUR KNIGHTS SECURED THEIR SPIRITUAL VOWS
AND SO BEFELL A TALE OF TIME AND WOE THAT SPUN THE WORLD OF GEMS AND STONES
01.
Matsumoto Jun opened the bedroom door and allowed light from the hall to spill into the dark room. His partner lay on one side of their double bed. Silently, Matsumoto moved into the room and undressed. He slid into bed on the other side and pulled up the sheets around himself. Just as he relaxed, he heard sniffling from his partner who he had thought asleep. Matsumoto reached over to touch him.
"No," the other man sobbed and curled into a tight ball near the edge of the bed.
As the man's trembling started and tears rolled down his face, Matsumoto slid from the mattress again and stood from his end looking down with deep regret at his partner.
"If I can never have your heart," the man sobbed, "and I only have your body, then I still have nothing. I can't do this anymore, Jun."
Matsumoto looked down at the palm of his hand, the one he had reached out earlier to try to touch his partner. For half of a second, the depths of his pupils flared with flames. Unconscious of its blaze, he closed his eyes and quenched the fire. He took a deep breath, his shoulders heaving, and nodded in the darkness. He'd known it would end this way. It always did because he could do nothing. He could never give them what he couldn't.
[HER MAJESTYS KNIGHTS: MATSUMOTO JUN]
HER MAJESTY'S KNIGHTS: MATSUMOTO JUN
With his own hands, the duke sheathed his sword in the chest of his cousin the king. Thus the duke usurped the throne. The sky rained hail and snow that day and from that moment forth an eternal winter set in. So it was that the Country of Stones, under the rule of its generations of usurpers, became the land of ice and snow.
Jun landed face down on the hard ground. Dirt and snow entered his mouth and his gut instinctively heaved even as his aching body suffered from the effort. He only regained his breath seconds after. Struggling against pain, he looked up and ahead of him at a bare snow-capped forest. He breathed heavily, white mists forming at each gasp, as he took in the uncanny sight.
Perhaps he'd gone crazy because he was one hundred percent certain he'd been running away from a distraught ex-boyfriend before jumping over a fence, only to have his feet tangled halfway. He'd been falling towards the icy hard cement of an alley. But this; this around him was a forest. He couldn't be in a forest. There was no forest in the middle of the city.
Still crouched on the snow-covered forest floor, Jun turned to assess the silent view behind him. What he saw startled him. He wasn't alone. Four strangers watched him, as Jun did them in alarm. They were dressed in rough attire he'd never seen before. The wane winter sunight glinted off their bodice and limbs. Armor, he realized. These people were dressed like the fighters from some wild, archaic, foreign country. Cosplay? Who were these people?
The one perched in a tree above the rest visibly frowned. A large metal board was strapped to his back, much larger than his slender frame, but despite the combination of his weight and the object he carried, the thin branch he sat on in the higher boughs remained steady. He observed Jun with a small tilt of his head. "Is he new to the Country?" he asked. "He's not one of us."
The voice resonated in Jun's mind, disturbing his already uneasy consciousness, and his wariness and confusion increased.
The man standing resolutely under the tree beneath the speaker also frowned, his lips forming a pout. He glanced up at the speaker with worry and then the third man to Jun's far right who was the only person in a mask.
The fourth man stood closest to Jun on his far left. He hefted a large weapon to his other side and Jun flinched back. Where in the world could a person find a scythe as large as that? The black crescent-shaped blade glowered from beside its owner and despite the silly grin on the man's face, Jun thought he looked the most intimidating of them all. He spoke in a chirpy, cheerful voice, "He's handsome. He looks strong. I think he'll survive, Nino."
"The first two points have no correlation at all," the first speaker retorted.
The man with the scythe ignored the first man and stepped closer to Jun with the smile still on his face.
Jun moved even further back. "Don't," he warned, although it was foolish to believe he posed much of a threat. It was one man against four and at least one of them carried a weapon that could potentially chop a person's head off with one swing.
His breath hitched when his palms scrapped across the icy ground and reminded him that he was still on the snow-covered ground. Jun stood swiftly and remained standing, watching the four strangers watch him. He shrugged further into his leather jacket and pocketed his hands. It wasn't because he was cold. He'd never felt cold in his life.
In the awkward pause, Jun's mind filled with questions and answers. Where he had been and where he was now did not connect in any way. It made absolutely no sense and he reached only one conclusion. Perhaps he had hit the ground and had been knocked unconscious. Perhaps this was a dream. Even if the pain felt real.
"You'll come with us, won't you?" the man with the scythe asked. "You'll help save our country and Queen?"
The first man scoffed. "He'll die before he even gets to the Palace. He's no match against the Gods."
"I'll do it," Jun quickly replied. Dream or not, the attitude of the first man irritated him.
"Then come. We're in a hurry," the man in the mask said. He did not spare time for preamble. He beckoned for Jun to follow and they walked as he led the way.
Jun wrapped his arms around himself and uneasily looked around. Snow everywhere. He'd never seen this much snow before.
The man in the tree jumped to the ground and moved alongside Jun while the last two flanked them. The forest appeared to be deep and Jun had no idea where they were heading. His captors, as Jun thought of them although he had willingly followed along, told him nothing. He had his doubts and it surged again. Was his mind capable of creating something this surreal? He couldn't decide whether to believe in logic or his physical senses. Yet, this couldn't be anything else but a dream.
Except for the crunch of their boots on the frozen ground, the surrounding forest was eerily quiet. They walked in silence for an unaccountable amount of time, Jun's confusion and concerns increasing with each passing moment, before one of the men spoke.
"Are you cold?" Jun's companion asked. "Even if you're new to the Country, you should have known it would be this way."
Instead of answering, Jun closely scrutinized the man beside him who had spoken. He realized that what he had thought a strange apparatus strapped to the man's back was in reality a large steel shield. Who would willingly carry something as huge and heavy as that? Jun recalled his name from the earlier conversation. "Nino," he repeated.
The man, Nino, wrinkled his nose haughtily. "It's Ninomiya, actually, and in the Palace that's with a Sir." He gestured to the masked man in front of them. "That's Sir Sakurai and," indifferently pointing out the two behind them, "Sir Aiba and Sir Ohno." He returned to looking straight at Jun and for one strange instant Jun's heart skipped a beat when their eyes met. "And you're J."
"It's Matsumoto Jun, actually," he said with as much haughtiness, an imitation of the other man.
"No, you're J," Nino refuted.
"I'm Jun," Jun responded. "It's my own name. I should know."
Nino snorted. "I don't care."
"I wonder about that," Jun muttered. He pressed a hand against his chest and against his excited heart. He mentally told his heartbeat to stop racing. It made absolutely no sense at all. His initial feelings about this man had not changed. Arrogant. Confident. Insulting. Nino unnerved him.
The trees in front of them lessened and they reached the edge of the forest. As they stepped into the open, Jun blinked rapidly from the glare of the endless stretch of pure white snow in front of them. Then his eyes adjusted and with a shout he fell back. Two hands grasped his arms one on each side and stopped him from running away. Aiba and Ohno held him firmly to the spot as a horrified Jun confirmed that what he was seeing was real.
In the open, roaming freely were four gigantic wolves that were twice the size of a man. Their heads perked up at the appearance of the five of them and one of them swiftly made its way to their entourage. Jun cringed. Would he be made a sacrifice to these animals? He should have thought his options over when he'd been asked to follow along.
The wolf stopped beside the man with the scythe, Aiba, and yawned baring sharp fangs. Aiba released Jun's arm and cooed at it. Jun used the opportunity to snatch his arm out of Ohno's grasp and run. He took his first steps back into the forest when his feet were swept from under him and he fell face down into the snow. In a flurry of snow, Ohno landed in front of him, blocking his path from escape. Jun blinked up at the expressionless, unperturbed face of his attacker. Ohno had executed everything in less than a few seconds. Jun shuddered from his newfound terror.
From behind, Nino drawled, "I'm guessing he does not have wolves in his country."
Fury from his humiliation burned through Jun and he stood upright, away from the wolf still at Aiba's side, but not too far from his attacker Ohno. He glared at Nino and then the rest of them. This dream or whatever it was had become too far-fetched. "Will somebody fucking tell me what's going on?" he screamed. "This must be a nightmare!" The forest and snow, four stupidly dressed strangers and these damn wolves. There was only so much he would take.
The masked man, Sakurai, sighed. He said solemnly, "These wolves are tamed. They won't harm you. They will carry us over the snow plains. We can't cover that distance on foot."
Jun shied at the thought. Whatever happened to normal forms of transportation? It couldn't get any worse.
"You're riding with me," Nino said.
Inwardly, Jun groaned.
The worse of it was him sitting up front with Nino behind him and Nino's skinny arms securely wrapped around his abdomen. It was the only way, Jun had been told by a very assured Nino, because Jun obviously could not hold him in return with the shield blocking him if they sat the other way around. Jun wondered why Nino couldn't just throw the stupid shield away. It was the weirdest, most useless fashion apparatus out of the four, more so than Aiba's menacing scythe and Sakurai's eerie mask.
Soon after they were settled on their mounts, the wolves moved steadily across the snowy plains at a fast but even pace. Nino snickered every time Jun froze with fear when their wolf growled low in its throat, and Jun eventually learned to toughen up and stop his body from adversely reacting. Although he was still not quite complacent with their form of transportation, he at least could be a civil rider.
The scenery as they traveled changed very little. Silence fell around them. After some time, the soft fur underneath Jun and Nino's warm body against his back as well as the wolf's lulled him to feel at ease. He allowed his stiffened limbs to relax. Along with the easing of his muscles Nino's entwined arms around his waist loosened and Jun inexplicably overlapped Nino's hands with his own in a hurry to stop them. His instinctive action dumbfounded himself, but he couldn't pull his hands away nor stop the rapid fire of his heartbeat.
It was silly, Jun thought. How could he react so much to a stranger? He remembered his former partner he had run from, remembered the many people who had left him, and he could not forget the frustration and hurt they had felt, that he had felt also, because returning their feelings had been impossible. He hadn't known that feeling like he did now could happen. It was incredulous.
"Are you from the Country of Sapphire?" Nino asked from behind him suddenly. "I think you're from Amethyst though. You seem like a native of Amethyst."
Jun perked up and turned his head sideways to better hear him. Sapphire? Amethyst? Nonsense. He was from Japan. "Where am I?"
"You must be an exile," Nino said.
"An exile?" Jun repeated, perplexed by his unfounded conclusion.
"Unfortunately for you, it worked in our favor since you came to us," Nino went on. "I met the Gods of Sapphire and Amethyst once a long time ago at a wedding. It's pitiful having to worship gods like that."
Jun sighed in resignation. He had to get some answers and he asked again. "Where am I?"
"The Country of Stones," Nino stated, the soft grin turning his lips startling Jun. "You are in the company of Her Majesty's Four Knights. Our beautiful Queen envisioned that you, J, will save our country."
Jun decided he couldn't be wrong; this must be some damned dream. Only dreams could be this random. As random as his unexpected racing heart.
02.
The three knights left and he stood alone in the chamber with her. At last, Aiba Masaki swept aside the rich curtains around her bed and stepped into her space. He sat on the edge of the large bed where she lay covered with thick, fur blankets. It cost her an effort, but she looked up at him with red rimmed eyes. Her face was deathly pale and her chapped lips were blue. A single sob rose from her throat as her eyes met his.
Aiba's lips trembled and his tears fell. They dripped like fallen petals on her white cheeks. He reached out an equally trembling hand and gently wiped the wet drops away. Aiba sucked in a breath and tried to steady his breath and hold back his sobs.
"Go to sleep," he managed to whisper. He leaned down and softly pressed his lips against hers. Her eyes closed and she went limp. Aiba drew away and stood. He looked down at her and his tears formed again. She slept soundly, her breath becoming even, and she looked so ethereal and at peace that it broke his heart.
[HER MAJESTYS KNIGHTS: AIBA MASAKI]
HER MAJESTY'S KNIGHTS: AIBA MASAKI
The Last True King of Stone had hoped to expand his country despite the constant misery he forced on the majority of his subjects by his selfishness and greed. The young duke, the king's maternal cousin, had been backed by the suffering people and the surrounding ambitious countries to bring an end to the turmoil he wrought. In the Palace's great hall, the young duke did the unfathomable; he ended the one and only True Line of succession to the throne.
Riding behind J and Nino, Masaki's heartbeat quickened at the thought that soon the endless years of winter would come to an end and Haru would be saved. After the passing of many full moons, Haru's vision had led them to where J was. The Country of Stones would prosper. Haru would live.
Masaki gripped the handle of his scythe as his mind wandered back to the stories his great-great-grandmother had told. He only knew a country of ice and snow, but his great-great-grandmother had passed down from her own ancestors their vivid memories of green grass, beautiful flowers and a hot sun that beamed down on tanned skin. The surrounding countries still had all of that. Only the Country of Stone, the cursed country with its ruling usurpers, was subjected to its eternal winter.
Having been born into the family of Transcribers, Masaki knew their country's history. As a child he used to wonder why the people continued to revere and support their existing monarchy. What about the True King? He thought the devastating level of starvation and deaths during the reign of the True Line certainly could not be as cruel as it was in the present under its usurpers. Did no one wish to return to that era? Masaki had only lived in the cold Country of Stone and yet his great-great-grandmother's tales had told him that there were much more to behold and regret.
Then he had met Haru. She had been standing among the scrolls looking forlorn and bereft and when Masaki had first extended his hand to her, not knowing her status, she had given him a shy smile in return and had tentatively taken his hand. He soon found his reason to live his life for their monarchs. He knew much more.
He couldn't let their Queen die from their country's curse like her fathers and brothers and many of her ancestors before her.
Ohno, riding opposite him on the other flank of Nino and J, gestured for his attention. Masaki returned to the present and nodded for the other knight to relay his message. The Colorless Knight gestured behind him. Alarmed, Masaki twisted his upper body around and viewed the vast plain behind them. In the distance, he clearly saw a line of soldiers following them on horses, a contrast of silver, black, and red against the pure white snow.
The soldiers must have been waiting, out of sight, until they left the forest with J. Over the past few hours, the group had been advancing quickly and silently. Buried in his own mind, Masaki would have missed them if not for Ohno. He bit his bottom lip and struggled to hold back his frustration as he raised his scythe above his head. "We have company!" he shouted loud enough for the two Knights ahead of him to hear.
At once, Sakurai and Nino halted their mounts, forcing Masaki's and Ohno's to ground to a halt as well. Sakurai and Nino took a look behind them and glowered. J watched the advancing soldiers in the distance and his brows furrowed in confusion.
"Twenty of them," Ohno murmured.
Sakurai turned his mount around and moved to Ohno's side. The face behind the mask was unreadable, but his tense body language told Masaki that their situation had turned dire. Masaki's heart sank. If they wasted any more time out here what would happen to Haru? Too many moons had passed since he had laid her to sleep.
"Not just regular soldiers," Sakurai observed. "They are the Elite Assassins from the Country of Ruby."
Nino cursed. "They don't even bother to conceal their motives anymore."
Ohno heaved a deep, worried breath.
Masaki shook with anxiety. It would take effort and much needed energy, but it was not impossible for them to defeat their foes; after all they were their Queen's Knights, the Stone Knights of ancient lore. But they had J with them who was definitely the Assassin's mission to capture. Losing J was a risk the four knights could not take. They hesitated, thinking of solutions and trying to make decisions.
At last, Sakurai directed them. "Ninomiya will continue on alone with Matsumoto. All three of us will stay behind."
Masaki thought it was the best plan. With the three of them holding off the Assassins, it was possible for Nino to protect J and take him to a place of safety.
Ohno did not hold the same beliefs. "Sho will go with you," he murmured suddenly but surely.
"I'm staying," Sakurai protested, the tight command he had of their group vanished by Ohno's single directive.
"Aiba and I will be okay," Ohno assured Sho with conviction.
Sakurai watched Ohno's blank expression and even with his mask the knights could see his struggle to contain his dissent. Masaki knew Sakurai wanted to argue against Ohno's judgement, but they were short on time. They had to distance J from the oncoming Elite Assassins and fast. Growling his frustration, Sakurai steered his wolf back to the front and drove it into a run. Nino and J's hound raced at its heels. Masaki wistfully took a second to watch their departure and the flurry of snow that followed them.
"We'll be okay, Aiba," Ohno murmured, but the confidence in his voice when he had spoken to Sakurai was gone.
Masaki turned his attention to his comrade. He gripped the handle of his scythe with both hands and grinned at Ohno with self-assurance he did not feel. At least, he knew that despite Ohno's uneasiness the Colorless Knight was an unmatched warrior. He felt confidence in that. "We'll be okay," he repeated, like a charm. Ohno and he were not easy pickings. They were the strongest of the Queen's Stone Knights after all.
The Elite Assassins covered the easy distance between them and Masaki could make out their grim expressions when they realized who had stayed behind to detain them.
Ohno dug into his boots and pulled out metal grooves that he buckled onto the soles of his boots. He pulled out similar steel knuckle braces with frightening jagged edges and pulled them on over his knitted gloves. Masaki had his wolf underneath him and his scythe in hand. Together, the Colorless Knight and he made the perfect fighting combination. They were ready. Masaki faced the intruders with stronger determination.
Now that they were so close to saving Haru from the cold disease, Masaki would not allow anything to stand in his way.
He remembered the first kiss he had shared with Haru, how he had put her to sleep with the sweet innocent touch of their lips and how he had belatedly learned due to his error that he was their country's Black Knight. He remembered receiving the precious Black Stone from their former king, swallowing it, and how from that day forth the ancient lore of the Black Stone had rewoken. He had become the owner of the Stone of Death and the wielder of the scythe.
Masaki remembered the last kiss he'd shared with his Queen just a few moons ago. She had told them that the person they sought would come at last, that they would find him hidden in the forests. On what was to be her deathbed, Masaki had put her to sleep once more, hoping it held imminent death at bay. It was his only privileged gift as the renewed spirit of the Black Stone of Death and it was only due to that accursed gift that she was currently alive.
"Pray that the Goddess of the Air is turned away," Ohno murmured from Masaki's side.
The closest Elite Assassin was half a horse ahead of his group. Ohno moved like the wind. He propelled himself forward off his mount. His movements whistled as he sliced skin and broke bones with the spikes of his boots and knuckles. He broke into the enemy's ranks with a beautiful, deadly dance.
Masaki's wolf snarled and hurled itself forward at a horse's throat. Masaki swung his scythe. To kill someone. To keep someone else alive. To protect his country. For Haru.
03.
Ohno Satoshi held the Colorless Stone in one hand. Beside him Sakurai, too, held the Red Stone in one hand. They stared solemnly at it and then Sakurai watched Ohno closely. He reached for Ohno's unoccupied hand with his; smooth, soft skin against callused, roughened skin. Ohno jerked at the touch of the other man, but Sakurai held firmly to him.
The knight standing opposite them watched their actions nervously. "Will you live for Haru?"
To serve a Queen that was not his. To become a subject of the powerless Country of Stone. But what else had Ohno to lose. The only person that mattered to him was his master.
"We are here for a reason," Sakurai mumbled at his side. "This is what I am meant to be."
Ohno felt Sakurai's grip of his hand tighten and he nodded his understanding. The same feelings consumed him. He could be no one else but the Colorless Knight. The transparent stone felt securely right in his palm. He had been given a choice, but this was the only way. Yet, he still watched Sakurai for his decision.
Sakurai tipped back his head and dropped the Red Stone into his mouth.
Ohno closed his eyes and did the same. He swallowed the Colorless Stone, the Stone of Fate.
[HER MAJESTYS KNIGHTS: OHNO SATOSHI]
HER MAJESTY'S KNIGHTS: OHNO SATOSHI
The God of the Blaze had fallen in love with the mortal princess of the country he oversaw. He thus descended from the celestial realm and cast aside his immortality to stay by the side of the one he love. He threw fire into the Red Mountains, into the Black Mines, into the White Caves and the deep underwater caverns. He fashioned four stones of which he bestowed to four knights. Thus the legend of the True Line and Stone Knights were born. Therefore with his death, the Last True King had cursed his mutinous country and took his heat with him to the grave, instilling indefinite coldness on the land.
Their hounds lay in the snow in a pool of blood among other dead bodies and horses. Satoshi watched as Aiba fell to his knees in front of his wolf. Panting heavily and clutching the bleeding wound on his side, Aiba still carefully ran his fingers affectionately through his dying wolf's fur. His motionless wolf, eyes glazed, whined low in its throat. Satoshi caught his breath as Aiba raised his scythe and drew it across the hound's throat. Tears streamed down Aiba's eyes and Satoshi's own.
After their tears stopped and exhaustion settled into their bones, Satoshi knelt in the snow next to Aiba and wrapped a piece of cloth around his comrade's wound. He removed and cleaned his steel weaponry and returned them to its hiding places. He then pulled Aiba's arm around his shoulder and helped his comrade walk. They were out in the open and miles from cover. Where Sho, Ninomiya, and Matsumoto had run they did not know. From predetermined plans Sho and Ninomiya would have taken Matsumoto to the nearest mountains.
They trudged through hard packed snow until Aiba's agony forced them to pause at sundown. The Black Knight offered an apology as Satoshi helped him pack his reopened wound with snow.
"It must be even harder for you to kill your own brethren," Aiba muttered.
Satoshi shook his head. "Sho and I left the Country of Ruby behind." They were the Stone Knights. Nothing else.
"But the Goddess of the Air," Aiba started, recalling the goddess of Ruby mentioned in Satoshi's uttered prayer.
"She is no longer our deity," Satoshi answered quietly.
Aiba leaned back into the snow and his eyes scanned the dark, starry sky above them. The stars glittered like gems. He sighed wistfully, perplexed. "Why did you and Sakurai come here, Ohno?"
Satoshi did not answer him, preferring to remain silent when he couldn't give his comrade a truthful reply.
Aiba allowed him his silence, but his curiosity grew all the more and he asked his questions that he knew could not be answered. "Of all the countries Sakurai and you could have run to, why the Country of Stone? You must have known our history. If you had not come, maybe I would not have found you and Sakurai. You would have not become the Stone Knights and be driven day and night to save a ruined country. Nino and I would not have been able to complete the divine circle of the four Stone Knights. Do you think this is what they call fate, Ohno?"
Satoshi moved to Aiba's side and stretched himself out beside his taller comrade in the snow. He sighed, white puffs curling around his lips, and watched the same sky that enthralled Aiba. He could not reveal Sho's secret, but he could at least tell Aiba one of the reasons why they'd chosen this god forsaken country. "The Country of Stones do not have slaves," Satoshi mumbled into the stillness. Aiba jerked and turned his head to him, but Satoshi continued without meeting his comrade's eyes. "It was abolished with the death of the Last True King."
The Country of Ruby, the Country of Amethyst and the Country of Sapphire--all of the countries that had prospered from the Country of Stone's lost power, all of the Countries with their gods and goddesses in command of their monarchy's will--they were built on the tears and suffering of the ones beneath the social hierarchy.
Satoshi could almost recall the feel of chains around his neck, chains he'd carried for ten years before he'd met Sho. Even though the open secret of Aiba's affection for their Queen among the Stone Knights would be considered blasphemous to the people, Satoshi understood Aiba. Sho and Haru had a lot in common. They were able to hold on to the hands of those many would consider underneath them.
Satoshi had his own motivations, but he also could not let his Queen die. Her demise would mean the fall of the Country of Stone to the other countries. The generations of Stone Knights before them had failed to find their True King and protect their monarchs, but this time would be different. This time they would save this country.
"If J is the True King and is restored to the throne, do you really think the winter will dissipate?" Aiba mused.
Satoshi closed his eyes against the world. In the darkness behind his eyelids, he recalled the image of a determined Sho. "Aiba, isn't that the only reason we are here?"
Aiba bit his bottom lip and closed his eyes against his surroundings like Satoshi. He tried to laugh at himself, forcing a chuckle out of his lips. "Ah, that's true. If we don't believe it, then there's no more hope. That cannot be."
Silence fell around them again and the coldness of the snow began to settle into their bones. Satoshi sat up to ready himself to start forth their journey again. They could not stay out in the open like this. They had the rest of the snow plains to cover.
Aiba reached for his scythe and held it against himself as if the solid form of the weapon comforted him. He called out, "Ohno."
Satoshi turned to face him still sprawled in the snow. He waited for his comrade to continue.
"Ohno," Aiba repeated, "When it is done, will you alter my past recollections?"
Satoshi started at the request. His breath caught and he watched his comrade's motionless form intently. Like the other knights, he loathed to use his gift. Yet, Aiba requested it; Satoshi' s only gift of Fate to erase or change a person's memories. Satoshi understood why he asked. "It won't change your feelings about the Queen," he mumbled. "You'll still love her. Except you won't know why."
Aiba sat up slowly and he grinned weakly. "I was just wondering."
Even though he smiled, Satoshi felt that it conveyed little happiness. He could not strip Aiba of the defense though and allowed it to pass. He looked at his hands and then the snow covered ground. Aiba was a comrade, but also a friend. He did not say it, but if the Black Knight truly needed his gift then when the time came he wouldn't deny him the use of it. He thought about himself in a similar situation. He would never leave Sho. He would continue to serve Sho, as Aiba would their Queen. Enduring heartache and pain each waking moment was something he could empathize with. Aiba and he longed for too much.
Sho had crouched down to wipe away his tears that day. Even if it dirtied his own exquisite, rich robes, Sho had taken it off and wrapped it around Satoshi's thin shoulders. The rubies on the rings on Sho's finger and crest on his head had glittered in the darkness. Satoshi had seen it and couldn't believe it. At that time he could not believe that someone like Sho existed in the cruel world.
In the present, Satoshi's gut lurched and he pressed a hand against his chest, against his pounding heart. Sho was with Ninomiya. He hoped they were safe. "Please. Let the Goddess of the Air be turned away," he prayed.
04.
The Queen knelt in front of him.
Shocked by her actions, Sakurai Sho scurried to kneel opposite her also. "I abandoned my crown and my people," Sakurai told her. "I did not have the strength to fight against the Goddess of the Air. I do not deserve your humility, your majesty."
The Queen shook her head. "We are each born with our individual burdens. It does not change even if in the present you are my knight and I am queen." She reached at her side and presented to him an object wrapped by a red cloth.
Sakurai took it and unwrapped it. He had received a mask.
"Sir Ohno requested it," the Queen told him softly. "I did not know that in the Country of Ruby, your sovereignty are privy to the council of your deity. That you have been touched by the Goddess of the Air, your soul have become a medium and beacon of light for her. I had this mask made from the red stone of the Red Mountains. It will hide you from the eyes and probe of your goddess."
A tentative smile turned Sakurai's lips as he fixed the mask on his face. From behind the mask he spoke. "But your majesty, the Goddess of the Air is no longer my goddess. I am no longer king. I am only your Red Knight, wielder of the dagger, keeper of the Stone of Blood."
The Queen solemnly watched him and said with much sadness, "If our fight here prevails and there is a future for us and Stone, I vow that I will help you with your war."
[HER MAJESTYS KNIGHTS: SAKURAI SHO]
HER MAJESTY'S KNIGHTS: SAKURAI SHO
The gods and goddesses of the surrounding countries scorned the God of the Blaze that had cast aside his immortality for a mere mortal. They laughed with time when the young duke of Stone pierced his cousin the king, descendant of a god, with his sword. With the loss of the True Line, only the rebirth of their lost brother, the God of the Blaze, could restore divine grace on the accursed crown and country. Yet once his soul entered the realm of mortals again, the mischievous deities took their newly born human brother with the body of a mortal but the soul of a god and hid him in a realm far away and removed from their own.
Sho declared that they would spend the night under an overhang that was clear of snow. They dismounted from their hounds when they reached the Red Mountains and on foot the group of three and their wolves walked through a narrow pass between the mountains to their destination. They prepared to cross a frozen stream to reach the campsite Sho designated. As Matsumoto set foot on the frozen surface, his foot broke through and landed in the icy water. Before their eyes, the ice stream thawed and flowed. The trickle of running water on rocks was music to the silent mountains.
Ninomiya crouched beside the melted stream and closely scrutinized the rushing water. He looked from Matsumoto to Sho, his face unreadable. "He is the True King after all," he said.
Matsumoto vainly shook his thoroughly soaked boot. Frustration gnawed at him and he turned to glower at Sho with a question in his eyes.
Sho avoided his gaze, unable to give an explanation, and whistled to the wolves. His hound moved to his side and he climbed onto its back. "We can't cross it like this," he told them. "Not unless we want to freeze to death." He urged his wolf back and then at a distance it raced forward and leaped across the stream. It landed safely on the other side with Sho still securely mounted. Sho beckoned for Ninomiya and Matsumoto to do the same.
Matsumoto turned a sour expression to the wolf that had come up to Ninomiya's side. "Again?"
"It's only for a bit," Ninomiya assured him as Sho slid off his hound on the other side of the stream.
Ninomiya helped calm their wolf as Matsumoto compliantly readied to mount. With an uncanny calmness about him, Matsumoto placed his hands on its back, but he paused and then lightly grasped the knight's arm instead. The abrupt contact startled Ninomiya and he turned and caught Matsumoto's eye. They remained motionless. From across the stream, Sho watched as they silently stared at each other for breathless seconds.
Then Matsumoto broke the frozen moment. "This is not a dream, isn't it?"
Ninomiya flinched back from a sudden glare in Matsumoto's eyes and turned a distressed look Sho's way. The anguish in the White Knight's gaze was so intense that Sho felt concern. He couldn't be sure what had happened. He thought about returning to their side, but Ninomiya steadied himself and buried his face in the wolf's neck. "Get on," he ordered their dependent.
Matsumoto did not push him to answer and with a heavy sigh, he clumsily climbed onto the hound's back. Ninomiya climbed on behind him and securely wrapped his arms around Matsumoto's waist. Their wolf lunged across and leaped over the stream. Once they stood on the same bank, Sho breathed easier. Then Ninomiya fell off their mount and into the snow.
"Nino!" Matsumoto screamed and clumsily slid down to help him, but not before Sho had reached him first and pulled the White Knight up.
Ninomiya shoved Sho's hands away and sluggishly moved from them, dragging his shield through the snow. It appeared heavy and burdensome, unlike the easy way he'd carried it previously.
"Nino," Matsumoto called again, his expression distorted into concern.
"Ninomiya," Sho said.
"I'm fine," Ninomiya muttered, his head hanging low. "Let's go. I'm tired."
At their destination, Sho helped Ninomiya to gather firewood and then he stood back to watch the White Knight build a fire. Ninomiya beckoned Matsumoto over instead and to Sho's surprise, the man came without an argument although lines of exhaustion marked his face and he winced with sore muscles.
"Are you cold?" Ninomiya asked.
Matsumoto shook his head once.
"Can you light a fire?" the White Knight continued to interrogate him.
"I never tried," Matsumoto answered. "There was never a chance to." He sighed and his eyes glazed over. "I grew up in a city, in Japan, with buildings and cars and lots of people who don't know how to do it."
Ninomiya ignored his hopeless tirade and gestured for Matsumoto to crouch down beside him in front of the pile of firewood. "Then try now."
"How am I supposed to do it?" Matsumoto asked, perplexed.
Ninomiya's brows drew together in sudden frustration and he directed, "Stare at the firewood. Just stare at it."
Matsumoto's confusion increased.
Sho had watched the exchange silently, but he finally stepped before them and gave his comrade a warning. "Ninomiya!" He wasn't sure of Ninomiya's motive, but a gut feeling told him this was heading in a bad direction.
Furious, the White Knight stood gruffly and stalked from the campsite. Sho watched him leave and turned to comprehend a despairing Matsumoto. He took a deep breath and gestured for the other to move away. "If you're not cold, then we don't need a fire. Ninomiya and I can huddle with the wolves for warmth."
"I don't understand," Matsumoto said and clutched a hand over his heart. "I've gone crazy. Why won't you explain anything?"
Sho hesitated and he couldn't hold Matsumoto's inquisitive, fathomless gaze. He looked down at the firewood and wished Satoshi was here with him. With Satoshi beside him, he could keep his determination. He would do what was right for the country, for Satoshi's survival, even if it costed him his conscience. "It's not time," he murmured.
Yet because he could not contain himself, he walked out from under the overhang in the opposite direction Ninomiya had gone. Around a dense group of trees, Ninomiya sprang out and viciously lunged at him. Sho reacted instinctively. He reached for his daggers and drove them at his attacker. Likewise, Ninomiya immediately drew his shield. The armament dropped between them and ingrained itself into the heavy snow. The attempt had barely lasted a few seconds, but the White Knight's intent had been so strong, it left Sho utterly shocked. He breathed heavily, a dagger in each hand, as the intricately wrought, steel shield hid his comrade from his view.
For a moment, he feared Ninomiya had gone insane. Sho cleared his mind and stowed his daggers away. Still breathing heavily, he cautiously walked around the large shield. He saw Ninomiya curled against the underside of the guard, arms wrapped around his knees. He glowered at Sho as a bold tear slid down his cheek.
Ninomiya spoke through clenched teeth that held back his sobs, "You knew who he is."
Sho looked down at him with confusion and did not answer.
Ninomiya roughly wiped at his face with his sleeve, but it did not stop more tears from spilling down them. "And yet you do not know everything. You do not understand why, Sakurai."
Sho turned his face up towards the night sky. The tips of the Red Mountains hovered at the edges of his vision. Hidden between the large red rocks, he finally lifted the mask off his face. He took a deep breath of the cold air while below him Ninomiya continued to sit with his arms wrapped around himself.
He remembered how the Goddess of Air had giggled when she'd whispered into his ear their secret; their hidden brother, the god of a ruined country. Later, he'd leaned in to hear his Queen's vision and knew that their True King would come from a place no mortal of their own had been to before.
It had been a secret and burden too great for Sho to receive and it still was. He thought the weight would crush him. Only if Satoshi was with him now would it lessen. He wished he knew if Satoshi was safe; both Satoshi and Aiba. "Ninomiya, what are you going to do about it?" he asked.
"Nothing," Ninomiya answered bitterly. "That's how it should be, isn't it? Would you consciously hurt someone of great importance to you?"
Sho could not answer and stared blankly at the snow, trees, and Red Mountains around them. He tried to imagine inflicting pain, physically and emotionally, on Satoshi and he couldn't. The gruesome image of the past rose to his mind's eye and he tried to dispel it. Just only the recollection and he couldn't endure for a moment: Satoshi covered with blood, Satoshi in chains, the lifeless look on his face. "I would rather die," he confessed.
05.
On the terrace overlooking the people of the country that had gathered, he stood on ceremony with her while three knights stood guarding them at their backs. He took the crown princess's hand and placed a white stone in her palm. "This is the White Stone, the Stone of Life, keeper of the shield. I wish to protect you. I want our life together." He leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on the back of her hand. She grinned widely while the crowd below roared their approval.
In a moment's notice heavy mists wrapped around them, clouding all beyond until only they stood in the clearing. All sounds below ebbed away. Low and high laughter echoed through the void and beautiful specters whisked around and above them. The crown princess closed her eyes against the brilliant beauty of the descended deities of the neighboring countries.
He pulled his bride into his embrace and held her there. "Begone!" he shouted.
"Poor us. Our brother did not invite us to his wedding."
"He is insane."
"She is a mortal. If she dies, he will return to his senses."
"Don't you dare!" he thundered.
A specter flew at the princess and she raised her arms to shield herself. The specter turned abruptly and settled overhead. "She holds something!" it warned.
The princess remembered what he had said and glanced at the pure white stone in her hand, the hope to protect her. She watched him, took in his beautiful countenance affected with fury and concern, and then the stone in her open palm again. He would protect her and she hoped to protect him in return for as long as they lived. Forever. Without a second thought, the princess threw her head back and dropped the stone into her mouth. She swallowed it. "Begone!" she bellowed the second time.
The deities screeched their frustration and vanished.
[HER MAJESTYS KNIGHTS: NINOMIYA KAZUNARI]
HER MAJESTY'S KNIGHTS: NINOMIYA KAZUNARI
The curse that set on the land ingrained itself into the very bones of its usurpers so that all of the young duke's line died before their due by the very same coldness that plagued the country. Sons and daughters were hurriedly beget, but the cold disease could not be overcome and the line lessened with each passing generation. The monarchs were loved by their people, but not by their land. The answer that the young princess foresaw told of unity; wedlock and therefore the unification of the people and the land. But a union could not be complete without the other half. First, they had to pray that a True King would return.
Sakurai slept soundly against the soft fur and warmth of his wolf. Kazunari's own wolf lay in rest an arm's width away from Jun in the thick of sleep. Kazunari set his shield upright on the other side of Jun as a protective cover and left their gloomy campsite. He climbed up the mountain onto the overhang over their camp and sat by the edge with his arms wrapped around himself, a weak attempt to keep out the cold. He watched the dark horizon where the shapes of the Red Mountains appeared even darker like menacing shadows.
It would take a little less than a fortnight for them to get out of the Red Mountains. After another round of forests, they would reach the first village. If by the time of another two full moons they are not detained, they would reach the palace and return to their Queen Haruna. He hoped that by then Ohno and Aiba would have joined them. Kazunari would have a reason to fall back and keep out of sight until after the union. The reminder caused a sudden lurch in the pit of his gut and he pressed his palms against his burning eyes. A clang of metal broke the silence and then shuffling feet.
From below, Jun called out, "Nino? Nino? Where are you?" Anxiety colored his voice.
Kazunari sighed and crawled even closer to the cliff edge. He peered over at Jun below holding his heavy, steel shield. "I'm up here," he said.
Jun tilted his head back and saw him. He breathed easier and replied, "Why are you up there?"
"I'm obviously keeping watch," Kazunari told him. "Go back to sleep."
"I'm coming up there too," Jun said. "How do I get up there?"
"You can't," Kazunari replied. "My shield's too heavy to carry up here with you."
Jun blinked down at the heavy object as if he'd just noticed that he'd brought it along. "I won't bring it up with me."
"You can't," Kazunari repeated again. "You can't come up without my shield."
"I don't understand," Jun said, scowling up at him. "Are you going to keep being vague forever? When will anyone explain anything? At this rate, I just keep thinking I've gone crazy."
Kazunari took his time to resume. He muttered after he'd decided on his reply, "I think we're both crazy."
Jun's expression was overcome with confusion and Kazunari sighed. He stood and stretched with deliberate leisure and climbed his way down again. Near the bottom, he jumped to the ground. Jun came to his side immediately after discarding the heavy shield that dragged him down. Fluttering erupted in Kazunari's gut from his close proximity and he flushed when Jun quickly looked him over for any signs of injury. Gathering himself, he stepped away from Jun and pointed to his shield on the ground. "You weren't supposed to do that," he said.
"Why?" Jun asked.
Kazunari smiled mysteriously at him and picked up his shield. He sat at the edges of their campsite and beckoned for Jun to sit beside him. When the other man did, he arranged his shield over them. "So you don't get hurt," he said.
"Nino, will you tell me why I'm here?" Jun asked anxiously.
Kazunari pointed to the night sky instead and Jun followed his gaze to look at the half moon. "Do you want to know a love story that is more than a thousand years old?"
Jun turned back to observe him wondering what it was about. He slowly nodded. Kazunari took Jun's hand and clasped it. Even though startled by the touch, Jun did not pull away. Kazunari smiled softly at him and played with his slender fingers. "Does your heart beat as fast as mine? Does it ache? For a moment, did you find it hard to breathe?" he asked.
Enchantment wove around them as Jun gazed into Kazunari's eyes, full of stars and yet a deep melancholy. His fingers wrapped around Kazunari's and he held on tightly. He whispered, "I'm afraid to let go."
Kazunari squeezed Jun's hand in his. "Then my King, do not ask questions. Save our country. Do what you must for us. For me."
Jun's eyes flitted over the soft features of Kazunari's face, observing the determination yet sadness etched in his expression. "What must I do?"
"When the time comes, you will know," Kazunari told him. He released Jun's hand. He felt bereft but he could not extend his suffering by touching Jun again. He turned to watch the dark sky as before. "My King," he said, "I will always be by your side to protect you forever. Please remember that."
QUEEN: THE REBORN KING MUST TAKE THE HAND OF ITS GREATEST QUEEN
AND FOUR KNIGHTS KEEP THEIR HONORABLE VOWS
TO CHANGE A TALE OF LOSS THAT DID BEGIN
[A/N]
A/N: As in most cases my stories are inspired by a single scene. This one came out of two: the night scene with Nino and Jun and the opening scene with Jun falling from Earth and meeting four warriors. It became a full blown story. I wish I had time to write a series, but in the end just so I can do away with this plot that I did not wish to forget I wrote a one-shot. Nino and Sho each have one special gift as knights too; sadly I couldn't put it in.