Burning Light Ch 2 Assumptions
A/N: I do not own Death Note or Dragonlance.
***
Sir Matsuda warily approached where their leader sat apart from the others (in his unusual crouch atop his horse) stoically overlooked the ruins of the town, obviously in deep thought.
"Prince Lawli-" Matsuda began with some concern.
L gave the young knight a withering stare. Matsuda gulped. That's right L didn't want the others to know his true identity. No matter how "trustworthy" these knights were it would be bad to let them know he was actually Prince Lawliet, a bastard prince, one of several of the late Prince Rue discovered by the Emperor. Not to mention that the title of "Prince" still sat oddly with L seeing as he had survived as a thieving street rat for the first ten years of his life only to be whisked away to the palace.
With his origins L was in a complicated, dangerous position, seeing as right now he was also, technically, the sole heir to the kingdom-his twin brother Beyond was insane, his half-sister Kimiko showed no interest in politics and was currently studying at the Wizard's Academy, and his half-brothers Mello and Near were yet too immature (being half-elves they aged more slowly). As a prince L was entitled respect but as a bastard he would never get it on his title alone. Besides he had no patience for the courtly games, or decorum, or even proper hygiene-soap was an anathema to the former street rat. He also had no interest in being used as a political tool. Or the disgustingly transparent "Come your Lordship, look at my daughter, isn't she pretty?" Really; if he wanted that sort of thing he would have stayed on the street corners.
The only real option open for L to earn his legitimacy was on the battlefield. Not that he wanted to rule the Empire. He was discovering he was far more interested in the chase, in battle, in meting out justice than in the actual task of ruling. That was boring. So he had joined the Paladins, sworn to uphold an oath he didn't really believe in. (How could he when he cut purses in order to eat for the first ten years of his life? However joining any lower-ranked martial division was apparently "unsightly" for a prince.) There he could be happy doling out justice and he was out of the way of all those scared aristocrats: win-win for everyone. Well as long as his identity was kept secret. Matsuda wasn't supposed to say that name, even when they were alone…
"Sir Ryuuzaki," Matsuda corrected and apologized quickly. L sighed. At least it appeared the others hadn't heard as they were busy setting up for the night. L was not sure why his grandfather, Emperor Wammy, had saddled him with this idiot-he was far too dumb to be a spy.
"How?"
L glanced blandly at the idiot that remained at his side. It seemed Matsuda wasn't going away.
"'How' what?" L prodded, resignedly.
"You said we must slay the beast. The beast that leveled this town! But how would it even be possible?"
The bastard prince sighed. He was sure that Matsuda had missed his true calling at being a court jester.
"You have your crossbow. Just keep shooting it until it's dead."
"But…?"
"It's a dragon, not a god. They have notoriously soft underbellies. And if it is a shapeshifter we might even be able to catch it while it's in human form and helpless against us."
"But that doesn't seem… fair."
L shrugged as he took another sugar cube from his saddle bag (that was actually meant for his horse) and popped it in his mouth. "It's up to you, you can either observe the proper rules and customs of war when up against such an enemy and die honorably OR take my advice, win and live. I don't know about you but I value my life. I play to win."
"Play?" Matsuda repeated indignantly and in the words of the knight's former mentor Captain Yagami of Estville "This isn't some game, you know! And if it is hiding among the townsfolk what do you expect to do about it? We're knights, not inquisitors! You plan to catch it while it's in human form but if they can take human shape as you say how could you know for sure you were killing the dragon and not an innocent human? What if we make a mistake?"
L let the sugar cube dissolve on his tongue before deigning to answer his subordinate. "We'd better not make a mistake then."
L hated to admit it but Matsuda had a point. The hero sighed, he supposed that this was the purpose of keeping the company of fools. The fool would question when no one else dared to speak. The honor he was supposed to hold as a knight demanded that he had to prove beyond any doubts that whoever he named was indeed the dragon. And of course, practically speaking it would be detrimental if they "slew the dragon" only for it to return and ravage more villages. (For that matter what if there was more than one dragon out there? That would indeed be problematic...) Dammit, Matsuda was right. They almost HAD to make the dragon revert to its true form, to reveal itself, so that there would be proof. Otherwise if another dragon appeared they might be accused of slaying some innocent villager and falsely claiming the glory. L sucked on his sugar cube and reflected on how much he hated this-there were so many unknowns. The only thing he knew for certain was that he had to expose the dragon and then they had to slay it. It would take much planning but L was confident that they could do it.
If I can just get it to reveal itself somehow…
"It killed the BANDIT village and didn't touch the others?" A dragon with a pretense of morality… That's it!
"Matsuda… you would have made a better fool than a knight."
The young knight flushed and looked away. "I suppose that's what they tell me, my lord."
"But I suppose you're not as useless as I thought you were."
***
"Everyone!" the eccentric hero turned to address the legion of assembled knights, his sapphire blue cloak fluttered dramatically in the breeze. As usual L never removed his helm.
"…We're going to be very careful about this. We'll send knights to each of the surrounding villages, just to observe. We'll have them spread the word about the evil dragon that is hiding in the surrounding countryside and watch to see who looks the most uncomfortable by our presence and then we'll go from there. Be sure to watch for these clues-the ancient monks have left us the following regarding red dragons. They are the most vicious, ruthless, and vile of all the dragons. They are avaricious, notorious treasure hoarders…"
Many of the knights perked up at that as they got the idea into their heads that slaying the dragon meant winning their fortune…
***
As Light hauled a bundle of kindling back to the Penber's cottage he noticed something silvery glittering on the ground. When he retrieved the silver locket from the snow his instincts screamed at him that he should spirit it away to some dark cave…
Instincts he had learned to ignore.
"Hey!" Light called after the nearest human. It was a girl that looked about his (apparent) age. The girl turned around and Light winced. She reminded him painfully of Sayu.
"Miss, is this yours?" Light showed her the locket.
The girl's hand shot to her neck to find her locket missing. "By Paladin! I can't believe I almost lost this! Thank you so much!"
Light looked distinctly uncomfortable as the girl gave him a peck on the cheek.
"I'm Yuri, daughter of Kenshi."
"Light Yagami of Estville."
"I don't think I've seen you around, are you new in town?
"Er… yeah…"
The girl clung to his arm and Light looked distraught. His human skin was so sensitive, as were his accursed human feelings. He wasn't even sure what these feelings were. Discomfort obviously, affection but…
She isn't Sayu. She's not my sister. Hurt, confusion… disgust? Being touched this way made him feel weird and tainted-he wanted to get away.
Why does she look at me like that?
It didn't matter. He had enough with feelings with his grief. He didn't want to feel anything…
Light tried to ignore the human emotions, pushing them down, and tried to recapture that other feeling-or was it not feeling (not caring?)-what it felt like to just lose it, to become a mindless killing machine; like when he had watched the bandits burn.
I didn't feel a thing.
No, that's not true. It made me… happy.
"Because you are my child, my beautiful destroyer." The voice whispered sibilantly in his ear.
Light squeezed his eyes closed as if that could will all the pain away before again forcing himself to look at "Not-Sayu." "Look I'm really sorry, but I have to be getting back home…"
No, not home. To Raye and Naomi's house. Home is destroyed.
Sometimes Light couldn't be sure his inner voices were real or just a projection of his own misery. Maybe it was both.
Meanwhile, Yuri looked very hurt and disappointed.
"Well… see you around, okay?"
***
"The reds are fire dragons and so they are most attuned to that element," L continued to inform the assembled knights on the centuries' worth of research transcribed by the holy scribes which would, hopefully, help them find their quarry… "In fact you are most likely to find a red dragon living in the heart of a volcano. But then again this one might be an aberration..." L swept his arm out to draw attention to the snow-covered landscape all around them.
"Then what good is such information?" one of the knights shouted.
Their leader was unfazed by the knight's outburst. "This simply means that when you're in town you should watch for someone who seems overly interested in fire. Or sticks particularly close to the hearth..."
***
Damn, this human body! Light groaned as he collapsed, bone-wary in front of the hearth in the Penber's cozy cottage. Every muscle ached after spending the long hours chopping firewood.
How do humans live like this, all the time? They are truly… amazing creatures-given their limitations.
After all, most humans were, well… not as smart as him, or as powerful, or could do the things he did...
"They are weak and stupid. You see this yourself." Light heard the contemptuous words echo in his skull. He tried his best to ignore the voice in his head and just dully watch the orange, twisting tongues of the fire.
"Humans are disgusting creatures. You yourself have seen how rotten they are. They killed your family!"
Light couldn't help but agree on that last count.
…And for what? A few shiny rocks? There are CAVES full of unclaimed gold just a short flight into the mountains! If they wanted gold so bad I could have just given it to them! And then they wouldn't… maybe… No. Light realized. Then they would have just kept threatening the village because they wanted more!
"You see? Humans are greedy and despicable."
But not all humans are like that! Light insisted. And they obviously have something going for them seeing how they rule the world.
"Oh? I wouldn't say that…"
But look how many of them there are! They dominate the land…
"And why do you think that is?"
…Because not all humans are idiots. Some use the brains they were blessed with…
"Yes… very good, mark it well young Kira-you can go much further with cunning than with just brute force alone."
Light grunted and snuggled deeper into the furs by the fire, basking in the warmth of the dancing flames. That was the first time he ever had an amiable conversation with the voice in his head.
Perhaps he was well and truly going mad.
Just then Naomi called him from the kitchen: "Hey, Light could you give me a hand with this?"
"No problem." Light suppressed another groan as he got to his feet again.
***
"…We must approach this with care," L continued in his address of the legion. The knights exchanged worried glances. The legendary hero L was concerned. What chance did they stand against the monster?
"Reds are the strongest, the most powerful of the dragons. Their strength is unmatched…"
***
"Dammit!" Light cursed as he strained and struggled to open Naomi's jar of preserves. Of course there were other ways he could have gotten it open but Light doubted that Naomi wanted glass shards or a mixture of melted glass and strawberry jam on their bread at dinner. Light finally conceded defeat and handed it off to Raye when he returned from hunting. Of course Raye got the damnable jar to open on his first try.
Raye chuckled good-naturedly. "Thank you for loosening it up for me."
***
"…and beware, red dragons also are said to have voracious appetites…"
***
Light pushed his plate away.
"I'm done."
Raye and Naomi exchanged concerned glances. The boy was rakishly thing and he ate so little!
"Are you sure? I mean we have plenty of food here. And there's desert if you like…"
"It's okay, I'm not hungry," Light lied easily. He had learned to curb his appetite so he didn't eat his family out of hearth and home. He never wanted to be a burden to anyone-and if he got hungry later he could always hunt in the woods.
Light bowed deeply as he helped clean up the plates. "Thank you for your hospitality."
***
"…The only way to prove we have slain the dragon would be to let it revert to its true form but that would cost the lives of many men. It would be ideal if we could somehow prove the identity of our dragon while it is still hiding in human form and vulnerable and then take off its head or stab it in the head before it can fight back."
There were many disgusted murmurs at that idea.
"I know many of you think it dishonorable but remember that we are not dealing with a man but a vile beast…"
***
Raye lounged in his chair, a mug of ale in hand. "He's a queer one. Almost… too perfect."He murmured after he was sure Light had gone to sleep.
Naomi chose not to comment on how earlier when she had gone to check on him she found him huddled in a corner staring, unblinking at the wall. Light was obviously more affected than he showed.
"I think he just doesn't want to trouble us."
"He is no trouble. He was very helpful today."
"You know he has no place to go. Do you think… maybe?"
"I don't see any reason why he couldn't stay…"
***
Light sighed where he pretended to sleep under the furs in the guest room, overhearing everything without trying.
They are good people…
"You are not one of them! You never will be! You will only bring them suffering or get them killed!"
I know. I don't belong here. I'll go… as soon as I've repaid my debt...
***
"….I will continue to search here and in the surrounding countryside for clues," L announced as he gave the knights their marching orders. "Sir Aizawa, I want you to take your Company and search the village of Shinsei, Sir Ross's company will search the village of Tenshi…"
The large, bald knight smiled brightly and bowed. "Happily, my lord."
***
A/N: Not that this story is in anyway going for historical accuracy but there's an interesting factoid from the History Channel: "Real Medieval knights had more in common with Tony Soprano than Lancelot." So next chapter: Sir Rod Ross (in Death Note he's the leader of Mello's mafia) and his knights go to "search" the village…
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