Twelve Tasks Chapter 2
I come bearing the second chapter!
Series: The Twelve Tasks of Kuro-cles
Fandom: Tsubasa
Chapter Rating: G
Genre: General/Epic Quest
Wordcount: 1,420
Summary: Kurogane talks to the king, Fujitaka makes a cameo, and we meet Fai. Not necessarily in that order.
A/N: Next chapter, I swear I'll get to the tasks. But I needed intro...oh, and the slash comes later too, I suppose.
Chapter One
When the priestess had said Kurogane would reach this country ‘by nightfall,’ he should have known she would be exaggerating.
She had given him direct instructions covering all possibilities of getting there, and what to say when he arrived. She had, of course, neglected to say anything about tiny tracks through the most difficult terrain this mild land had to offer without going into the mountains. She also had neglected to mention the various roadblocks where he was stopped and interrogated on his purposes in entering various kingdoms.
So it was nearer to the middle of the night when Kurogane arrived, fuming and ready to murder someone (namely a certain priestess), at the checkpoint into the kingdom of Hespira. There he was stopped and interrogated again, and then there was the hour-long walk to the castle. Kurogane had considered stopping at an inn somewhere, but really wanted the journey to be over and so had pressed on. Besides, he was almost there…
The castle itself was nothing like Tomoyo’s castle back home. This land was obviously much more peaceful, as shown by the lack of military technology in the design. Instead, this castle had large windows and walkways overlooking gardens and the town around it. The land so far had been mostly cultivated - it seemed that this country was predominantly agricultural.
I don’t see what I’m going to do here, he thought. What would a king here want with a trained warrior? The only guards he’d seen were those at the border, and the ceremonial guard at the castle door.
He reformed this opinion of sleepiness when he caught sight of the three who had begun to trail him when he neared the castle. Upon reaching the door, he was roughly accosted by the “ceremonial” guard.
“Name and purpose!” snarled the guard as Kurogane fought his own instincts to kill the man. He wouldn’t make a favourable impression if he did so, and then how would he pay the priestess’ price?
“I am Kurogane,” he informed the guard, “and I come bearing a message from the priestess of Artemis in Tocheo.”
The guard coolly stared him down for a few moments. “I’ll escort you in, then,” he said. Without further preamble, he opened a side door and motioned Kurogane to enter. It led into an impressively large hall of gray stone. Aside from evenly-spaced torches on the walls and the odd tapestry, the entirety of it was very plain. It gave an ominous feel to the room.
“Wait here,” the guard said, before pulling on what must have been some sort of bell, although Kurogane could not hear a chime. After few moments, a man in white and green livery appeared and the guard scuttled back outside.
“Are you here with a feather?” the man asked.
Kurogane blinked. “A feather?”
The man looked crestfallen. “Have you not heard, then? The king has offered a great reward for he that recovers one of the princess’ feathers.” Seeing Kurogane’s apparent confusion, the man sighed. “What is your business, then?”
“I have a message for the king from the priestess of Artemis in Tocheo,” Kurogane repeated.
“Tell me, and I will tell him tomorrow,” the man said shortly, stifling a yawn. “It’s much too late for him to speak with any who do not bear a feather or information about one such.” He turned to go.
Glaring, Kurogane grabbed hold of his collar. “I’ve walked all day and a good part of the night for this, and I’ll be damned if I have to wait any more than I’ve had to.” He let go, having sufficiently intimidated the apparent civil servant. “Now, will you take me to him, or will I find the way myself?”
The man stammered, “But…it’s far too late…”
“Is the king asleep?” Kurogane demanded.
“No…”
“Then take me to him,” he ordered. It was too late to deal with stubborn civil servants in any diplomatic manner.
With a single backward glance of longing for the door he’d come from, the man scurried off. Kurogane followed him down the long hall, passing what was probably the throne room and climbing a set of stairs. They emerged onto one of the platforms Kurogane had observed from afar, dimly lit by more torches. A tall, thin man was leaning on the ledge, almost entirely in shadow. The civil servant didn’t appear to notice.
“Your Grace,” he called instead, summoning a man with light hair and glasses. The duke (or so he must have been) walked over towards them. “Man to see His Majesty. I’ve got to return to my post, but he wouldn’t leave me be until I showed him up.”
“Very well,” the duke replied. “I’ll take of this until we reach a satisfactory agreement.” The civil servant, relieved, scuttled down the stairs and out of earshot.
“What need do you have to see His Majesty the king?” asked the duke.
“Message from the priestess of Artemis in Tocheo,” Kurogane reiterated grumpily. “And no, I will not give you the message.” The woman had been very adamant on that point, and Kurogane was inclined to distrust courtiers anyway. They could skew his words altogether too easily if he allowed them to.
“I’ll find him for you,” the duke said instead of arguing. “Wait here.” He strode off to an archway to the interior of the castle and vanished into the gloom.
Kurogane glanced at the man in the shadows. “Who are you?” he asked suspiciously.
The man looked up, surprised. “You can see me?” he inquired in a light voice. “That’s more observant than most.” He stood upright and walked towards Kurogane, smiling. It was the kind of smile that made a person want to punch it away. It didn’t seem real at all. “So who are you, who insists upon seeing the king and no one else?”
This was the first time someone had actually been interested in something besides their job. To Kurogane’s annoyance, the man rose just a little in his esteem. “My name’s Kurogane,” he admitted.
“Interesting name,” replied the man. In the deceitful torchlight, his hair appeared even paler than the dukes’. Kurogane wondered how much else was different between this country and his own.
“And you?” Kurogane asked, when no more was added to the statement. The man’s infuriating smile widened, but he did not see anything.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t - Your Majesty!” exclaimed the duke, returning to the platform. “I…see you’ve found him.”
“Thank you, Duke Fujitaka,” the king said in a much more formal voice. “I won’t force you to stay awake any more.” The duke bowed thanks and hurried away, presumably to bed. “So what is it that you needed so drastically to tell me?”
Kurogane directed a questioning Look in his direction. “The king, eh?”
“So it would seem,” the king replied quietly. “But really, what is it? Yuuko wouldn’t send you for nothing.”
“Yuuko?” asked Kurogane, with a sneaking suspicion that he would know.
“The priestess of Artemis in Tocheo,” the king replied. “She sent you, correct?”
For a moment, Kurogane was overbalanced. Then he steadied his mental self and explained the situation. The king nodded occasionally, somehow managing to keep up his damn smile throughout the entire telling of the story.
“Tell me if I’ve got this right,” he said once Kurogane had finished. “You misbehaved and now you’ve got to work to make it up!”
The complete idiocy of these words meant that they took a while to sink in. Kurogane stared in a mixture of horror and anger at the audacity of this complete stranger (be him a king or not) in coming to such conclusions. He didn’t know very many kings, but this one was definitely the strangest, most unkingly ruler of them all.
“The hell do you mean by that?” he managed after a long pause.
“What I said.” The king laughed gleefully, and Kurogane mused angrily that perhaps he would break his word to the princess sooner rather than later.
“I’ll accept your offer, though,” the king added. “Especially given circumstances…” For a moment, the infuriating smile vanished, but it was back up before Kurogane could decide what lay under it. “I’ll have a footman show you to a room,” he continued, “and I’ll arrange some tasks for you, as Yuuko put it.”
With that, the king meandered off. Kurogane, waiting for the promised footman, realised that Tomoyo had just met her match in annoyance. And he didn’t even know the idiot king’s name.
Series: The Twelve Tasks of Kuro-cles
Fandom: Tsubasa
Chapter Rating: G
Genre: General/Epic Quest
Wordcount: 1,420
Summary: Kurogane talks to the king, Fujitaka makes a cameo, and we meet Fai. Not necessarily in that order.
A/N: Next chapter, I swear I'll get to the tasks. But I needed intro...oh, and the slash comes later too, I suppose.
Chapter One
When the priestess had said Kurogane would reach this country ‘by nightfall,’ he should have known she would be exaggerating.
She had given him direct instructions covering all possibilities of getting there, and what to say when he arrived. She had, of course, neglected to say anything about tiny tracks through the most difficult terrain this mild land had to offer without going into the mountains. She also had neglected to mention the various roadblocks where he was stopped and interrogated on his purposes in entering various kingdoms.
So it was nearer to the middle of the night when Kurogane arrived, fuming and ready to murder someone (namely a certain priestess), at the checkpoint into the kingdom of Hespira. There he was stopped and interrogated again, and then there was the hour-long walk to the castle. Kurogane had considered stopping at an inn somewhere, but really wanted the journey to be over and so had pressed on. Besides, he was almost there…
The castle itself was nothing like Tomoyo’s castle back home. This land was obviously much more peaceful, as shown by the lack of military technology in the design. Instead, this castle had large windows and walkways overlooking gardens and the town around it. The land so far had been mostly cultivated - it seemed that this country was predominantly agricultural.
I don’t see what I’m going to do here, he thought. What would a king here want with a trained warrior? The only guards he’d seen were those at the border, and the ceremonial guard at the castle door.
He reformed this opinion of sleepiness when he caught sight of the three who had begun to trail him when he neared the castle. Upon reaching the door, he was roughly accosted by the “ceremonial” guard.
“Name and purpose!” snarled the guard as Kurogane fought his own instincts to kill the man. He wouldn’t make a favourable impression if he did so, and then how would he pay the priestess’ price?
“I am Kurogane,” he informed the guard, “and I come bearing a message from the priestess of Artemis in Tocheo.”
The guard coolly stared him down for a few moments. “I’ll escort you in, then,” he said. Without further preamble, he opened a side door and motioned Kurogane to enter. It led into an impressively large hall of gray stone. Aside from evenly-spaced torches on the walls and the odd tapestry, the entirety of it was very plain. It gave an ominous feel to the room.
“Wait here,” the guard said, before pulling on what must have been some sort of bell, although Kurogane could not hear a chime. After few moments, a man in white and green livery appeared and the guard scuttled back outside.
“Are you here with a feather?” the man asked.
Kurogane blinked. “A feather?”
The man looked crestfallen. “Have you not heard, then? The king has offered a great reward for he that recovers one of the princess’ feathers.” Seeing Kurogane’s apparent confusion, the man sighed. “What is your business, then?”
“I have a message for the king from the priestess of Artemis in Tocheo,” Kurogane repeated.
“Tell me, and I will tell him tomorrow,” the man said shortly, stifling a yawn. “It’s much too late for him to speak with any who do not bear a feather or information about one such.” He turned to go.
Glaring, Kurogane grabbed hold of his collar. “I’ve walked all day and a good part of the night for this, and I’ll be damned if I have to wait any more than I’ve had to.” He let go, having sufficiently intimidated the apparent civil servant. “Now, will you take me to him, or will I find the way myself?”
The man stammered, “But…it’s far too late…”
“Is the king asleep?” Kurogane demanded.
“No…”
“Then take me to him,” he ordered. It was too late to deal with stubborn civil servants in any diplomatic manner.
With a single backward glance of longing for the door he’d come from, the man scurried off. Kurogane followed him down the long hall, passing what was probably the throne room and climbing a set of stairs. They emerged onto one of the platforms Kurogane had observed from afar, dimly lit by more torches. A tall, thin man was leaning on the ledge, almost entirely in shadow. The civil servant didn’t appear to notice.
“Your Grace,” he called instead, summoning a man with light hair and glasses. The duke (or so he must have been) walked over towards them. “Man to see His Majesty. I’ve got to return to my post, but he wouldn’t leave me be until I showed him up.”
“Very well,” the duke replied. “I’ll take of this until we reach a satisfactory agreement.” The civil servant, relieved, scuttled down the stairs and out of earshot.
“What need do you have to see His Majesty the king?” asked the duke.
“Message from the priestess of Artemis in Tocheo,” Kurogane reiterated grumpily. “And no, I will not give you the message.” The woman had been very adamant on that point, and Kurogane was inclined to distrust courtiers anyway. They could skew his words altogether too easily if he allowed them to.
“I’ll find him for you,” the duke said instead of arguing. “Wait here.” He strode off to an archway to the interior of the castle and vanished into the gloom.
Kurogane glanced at the man in the shadows. “Who are you?” he asked suspiciously.
The man looked up, surprised. “You can see me?” he inquired in a light voice. “That’s more observant than most.” He stood upright and walked towards Kurogane, smiling. It was the kind of smile that made a person want to punch it away. It didn’t seem real at all. “So who are you, who insists upon seeing the king and no one else?”
This was the first time someone had actually been interested in something besides their job. To Kurogane’s annoyance, the man rose just a little in his esteem. “My name’s Kurogane,” he admitted.
“Interesting name,” replied the man. In the deceitful torchlight, his hair appeared even paler than the dukes’. Kurogane wondered how much else was different between this country and his own.
“And you?” Kurogane asked, when no more was added to the statement. The man’s infuriating smile widened, but he did not see anything.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t - Your Majesty!” exclaimed the duke, returning to the platform. “I…see you’ve found him.”
“Thank you, Duke Fujitaka,” the king said in a much more formal voice. “I won’t force you to stay awake any more.” The duke bowed thanks and hurried away, presumably to bed. “So what is it that you needed so drastically to tell me?”
Kurogane directed a questioning Look in his direction. “The king, eh?”
“So it would seem,” the king replied quietly. “But really, what is it? Yuuko wouldn’t send you for nothing.”
“Yuuko?” asked Kurogane, with a sneaking suspicion that he would know.
“The priestess of Artemis in Tocheo,” the king replied. “She sent you, correct?”
For a moment, Kurogane was overbalanced. Then he steadied his mental self and explained the situation. The king nodded occasionally, somehow managing to keep up his damn smile throughout the entire telling of the story.
“Tell me if I’ve got this right,” he said once Kurogane had finished. “You misbehaved and now you’ve got to work to make it up!”
The complete idiocy of these words meant that they took a while to sink in. Kurogane stared in a mixture of horror and anger at the audacity of this complete stranger (be him a king or not) in coming to such conclusions. He didn’t know very many kings, but this one was definitely the strangest, most unkingly ruler of them all.
“The hell do you mean by that?” he managed after a long pause.
“What I said.” The king laughed gleefully, and Kurogane mused angrily that perhaps he would break his word to the princess sooner rather than later.
“I’ll accept your offer, though,” the king added. “Especially given circumstances…” For a moment, the infuriating smile vanished, but it was back up before Kurogane could decide what lay under it. “I’ll have a footman show you to a room,” he continued, “and I’ll arrange some tasks for you, as Yuuko put it.”
With that, the king meandered off. Kurogane, waiting for the promised footman, realised that Tomoyo had just met her match in annoyance. And he didn’t even know the idiot king’s name.