"Hey prince, how about this friend take you somewhere nice?" Celes could not wait to leave his escorts.
Such escorts were either bound to fail right now at the claws of these beasts or may possibly survive through this. Celes sighed, it was her fault to begin with but it was not her fault they were about to be attacked. Who told them to rush to her direction and involve themselves? However, the boy was rather pretty important. The prince carried pure Qi, Celes sensed. Just a drop would be fine too. The woman could not help but lick her upper lip.
But at the same time, it would not be problematic if he was to disappear. Seeing how a prince have main escorts of the same level as Celes' current cultivation instead of, at least, martial honour cultivators just points out his insignificance in the eyes of his guardians. Unconsciously, Celes ruffled the prince's silky locks, never leaving his head upon patting it once. 'Sounds promising,' she thought. There were many things Celes wanted to try with him. "Killing him or torturing him is fortunately not a part of the plan," she told herself.
On the other hand, the little prince gritted his teeth but kept himself still. Because she showed him magic, the prince felt the need to give her his attention. Because of the spiritual fruit that was only given to important figures and his older cousins, because she never once hesitated to pass him one, the girl gained his appreciation. Because she looked past his figure, he felt comfortable beside her, despite her strange eye and crooked smile.
If Celes came to know, the crazy girl would certainly laugh. The woman does not believe in immediate friendships! Even to her master, she has yet to reveal everything! Celes' old trick of giving candy to lure kids worked once again!
"So?"
"This prince will accept your offer. . . friend."
A smile spread her lips. "Bravo! Let's go kid! This big sister shall show you a great spot limited to this forest!" Then mentally, she added, 'While I taste your pure Qi.'
"Enlighten this prince!"
Celes shook her head. "Okay but," without any warnings, the abnormally strong woman have carried the heavy human on her arms and leaped away! He stiffened and looked at her face to find her grinning happily. A glimpse of her unusually long canines dazzled the boy, his curiousity burning harder inside him. However, the youth was too timid to break her mood and since she was just a new friend, the prince thought it was better to keep it to himself for now. "It would be so much better if you see it than hear about it. I went there when I was hunting, pretty nice I promise!"
"Okay."
In the Forest of the Unforgiven, it was know for its evil miasma, deceitful greenery and thick fog. And yet, who knew that it would also be thinned down at some areas? Initially, the prince could barely see Celes' face but whenever she got closer to him such as the time when she introduced herself, the misty fog have cleared around her presence. 'A fairy?' he wondered. And even better, the clouds cleared around them as she leapt from tree to tree, or whenever she sighed midway, leapt higher to give them a nice view. She was bored so Celes wanted a change of view. But the prince thought of this as her act of kindness by touring him around!
The vast sky above was covered in stars tonight, peeking and sparkling through the dull blanket of darkness.
The moon was also peeking through the clouds and aligning with Celes' thoughts at the same time. Whenever it was hidden, the woman thought of better short cuts to the place but once it had shown itself, Celes' thoughts would wander off. 'This fog is really outstanding, up above and down below, killing rats would might as well be legal since nobody would see it happening. If only I had such forest in my hospital's backyard, maybe those dirty toe-lickers can run around as cliché as it sounds, like rabbits released for hunting dogs. It would have been nice to enact some good role plays!' She sighed. 'Sadly.'
With the mesmerizing stars above him earning lesser attention than than friend who suprises him, the prince took notice of her sigh. "What could have happened that made you upset?"
The boy himself with his boyish, youthful voice penetrated through her ears. Celes' eyes became big but went back to normal upon realizing, "You could really be sensitive to others hmmm?"
The little prince, a royal he was only got backhanded compliments but right now, she somehow sounded sincere. "Yes," he responded, voice shy and ears burning.
"Good, good!" Yet in her mind, 'Bad! Bad! What if the peepsqueak notices my intentions! Oh damned pure Qi! Need to change the subject.'
"But you know, have you ever thought of dieting?" Celes just dropped a bomb. In response, the prince's face immediately reddened, it was as hot and red as chili paste. And while avoiding her by shifting his head downwards, he started squirming! "Stop it! I might drop you little prince!"
'Seriously I would love to try!'
"But you just called me fat, this prince will no longer be your acquaintance!"
"Eh?" The woman sweatdropped. "I just asked if you plan to diet?!"
"That is the same!" Celes as a previous medical professional should not forget that he was only a 13 or 14 years old pubescent boy. At this age, it would not be strange if he was a bit insecure! Sadly, Celes was more focused on her question than the risk it brings! The little prince therefore had resorted to his ways of little revenge against others, by lifting himself up, his back off her arms so that he could reach her shoulders and then. . . bite it!
"Rrrrrrrooooaaarrrr!"
The divine beast let out an unsurpressed roar! 'Why was he tickling her?!' In the midst, her arms loosened around the prince and dropped him! At first, Celes just happily watched the child fall as they were only at least ten feet off the ground as she glided, leaping from tree to tree. But seconds passed and the child silently looked at her with widened eyes and agaped mouth, never once screaming nor making a cat-like movement to save himself. . . as if he has never been trained, or worse he does not know of his gift!
"Damn it! Why does it have to be like this?!" she cursed to herself. "Hold on!"
But in his eyes, the petite woman looked so far away from him like the sun on a regular day, blinding and so far. The prince also did not waste his time looking behind him as he knew he was about to fall to his death or if lucky, break most of his bones and return as a cripple to the palace for more humiliation. She was too far and he did not think that this new friend can reach him before he hits the ground. He closed his hazel eyes as he resigned to his fate. It was not her fault he fell, he startled her. So he smiled back at the woman who beamed like the sun, without anger but only to drop his unhinged jaws to the ground when arms wrapped around him and helped the prince settle gently on the ground.
"Are you dumb? Little prince, at least yell out in anger! Oh my goodness, you could be surprisingly too dramatic. It was only ten feet."
"But-"
She shook her head. Not once in a single lifetime did Celes ever not try to do her best to survive at all. In the first life itself where everything started, she was already pushing herself to achieve something after failing a course in university. Something like giving up immediately was definitely a taboo.
"Little prince, as your good friend even if we only met a few minutes ago, I need to be honest and tell you that you're really in bad shape."
'So that's it huh? It was a short lived friend I got today,' he thought. Tears lined the brim of his eyes and his hands were also clenched into fists but he forced his little, red mouth to smile. Celes only had to see such reaction to brighten her mood however.
"Well, well, looks like you also have a small spirit in you! But you know, why are you forcing yourself to smile?" she asked, not liking a fake smile on his small, guangzi yet plump face. 'Honestly, this kid will be hit like a truck during his puberty stage. I would invest in him if I was any normal girl.'
"It's because of you!" His tears finally started falling. But it seems like filtered lenses can really be a popular installment in many people's eyes. Celes could see flowers blooming behind him and cartoonish animals surround the cute dumpling who was running his mouth yet never made it into her ears after he told her his reason.
"Aww, how cute! Then let this big sister take you to the place I promised!"
The little prince could only stare at her in disbelief. 'This woman could really be so rude and arrogant! But-' He crossed his arms over his chest with a loud 'Hmmmpph!'.
"Okay but this prince have to eat," he demanded so childishly.
Celes grinned. 'All the more nourished.' Without another thought, she flicked her left wrist and pulled out another spiritual fruit for nourishing pure qi and smoothening the flow of Qi in his spiritual veins. It just somehow makes one wander about how can he not have any reactions to its effect, as if it was barely enough!
'Just a little bit more! Patience woman, patience.'
While her patience was running out, so was the prince's as they kept walking for quite a time already. The fog clearing around them no longer interested the boy as much as in the beginning. With the thought of already having such mysteriously loaded person as a fiancé or friend as she liked to call it, he had automatically assumed that such power can be a common norm.
In the future, not only will her power clear away the fog but such alliance with Celes was bound to clear his path from his enemies!
The royal prince with his own interpretations in mind came closer to the unexpecting Celes then grabbed the edge of her sleeve. When her head turned downwards to the boy who only reached up to her shoulders, Celes did not bother flinching and instead, even wrapped her right hand over his soft, warm fist.
"Lady- what are you doing? This prince- this prince has not given you perm-"
'Who needs whose permission?' Celes clicked her tongue. "If you don't want to get lost, hold this big sister's hand."
Stunned, the prince nodded and clenched his fist around the sleeves of the royal blue robe with golden dragon embroidery. Little did he know that a divine beast was trying their best not to harm this fresh, new soul who does not even know what a friend is.
As the fog cleared away around Celes and the prince, a lush of greenery appeared around them. The trees that were thicker than any regular trees and have towered over them continuously took on most of the forest. It was sadly the same on every angle that the prince found the area to be a mirror of each other. His friend was right! The whole several minutes of walking kept the prince on alert however for risks of losing direction. If it was not for the increase of rocks lining the pathway, would he have been frightened to death!
Celes hummed beside him as if the danger has not presented itself. But for her case, something like getting lost in a place where the basic senses cannot be comprehended felt like the mirror house in a carnival. It was fun and the thick fog also can be taken into account. Celes was used to it and found it thrilling. With survival skills earned through many lives and her adventurous spirit, the girl was more than ready to detour.
Somehow when the free-spirit had expressed her nonchalance, the younger of the two heard his heart calm down. A sigh of relief sneaked out of his mouth as Celes lead the way.