"Is that all you need?" Gunther asked after Loki told him what was going on.
"You make it sound so trivial," Loki said and Gunther laughed.
"Yeah maybe," he agreed with a laugh "I'll get in touch with the other branches and see what they think, but I'd be happy to help you take back your kingdom,"
"I appreciate it, thank you," Loki replied as he turned around and began to leave.
"You know Kaia always spoke highly of you," Gunther said and Loki turned back, I recalled him telling me of Kaia. She was his faithful servant and protector before his banishment, and before her death.
I had a lot to live up to in that regard, I clutched the sheathe of my katana and closed my eyes. Almost as if I was trying to picture the girl I'd never met in my mind. It sounded foolish but I believed she was an ideal to aspire to, even if I had never had the honor of meeting her.
"How do you know Kaia?" Loki asked, his voice cracking slightly as he did.
I would have moved to comfort my master but Christa beat me to it, grabbing his hand and holding it in her own. Seriously I was gonna get those two together if it was the last thing I did. I knew what it was like to be young and in love, those were the days.
I mentally slapped myself to break myself out of those thoughts, those days were gone. I was okay with that, I'd lost that old life of mine and I didn't want to look back.
"Kaia used to be one of us," Niko explained as he looked up from his spellbook.
"She was a part of our team when she was in the guild, I just wish she was still with us," Kate said as her expression grew sorrowful.
"Kaia died to save me, I take full responsibility," Loki said as he bowed his head, only to be smacked on the head by Gunther.
"If she felt like protecting you was a cause worth dying for then it's a cause we're willing to fight for. We'll help you in any way we can, and we'll see if we can get the other branches to agree with us," Gunther replied as he continued to smack the young prince on the head, Jun chuckled slightly at the scene.
It was nice to see that the loss of his hand wasn't getting to him too much. I imagine Jun was used to losing things, the thought made me kinda sad.
"Thank you," Loki said as he smiled at the Adventurers before we all turned to leave.
Once we were outside and had gotten aways away from the guildhall Christa grabbed Loki's hand and made him stop.
"Take all the time you need, I'll be right here with you," she said and Loki turned to her and pressed his face into her shoulder. Quiet sobs came from him as he cried into the red-haired girl's shoulder, he missed Kaia, that much was obvious.
I placed a reassured hand on his shoulder as Arin looked down. Neither one of them could accept that she was gone, she must have been a hell of a warrior.
"Hey, why don't we all get something to eat before we get going," Yuna said, finally breaking her longest silent streak since I've known the girl. It was somewhat reassuring to hear her voice again.
"There's a pretty good stall that sells seafood around here," Jun said and we all smiled.
"That sounds nice," Loki said as Christa rubbed the boy's head, her fingers becoming tangled in his hair. Usually, she would blush when she was this close to Loki but I think she was so caught in the moment that she didn't even realize.
We went to the stall and ordered some food, we all ate in silence, preparing ourselves for the week-long walk that we had ahead of us. I silently gazed at the sky and prayed that everything would be okay.
Because I would not lose this family too.
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"Why is it so hot!?" Yuna cried in exasperation, even though she was easily dressed the best for this kind of weather. It's not like I could blame her though, I was surprised that Arin wasn't dead yet.
"Don't worry, the desert cools down later in the day," Jun said as he continued to walk, barely seeming phased by the heat.
"You don't seem that hot Sasaki," Arin said and I just smiled.
"I could say the same about you," I joked and Arin chuckled lightly. I liked Arin, he was stoic when he needed to be but he knew when to let loose. Plus he was the only member of the group I could legally drink with. Though that didn't stop Jun from joining us sometimes.
"I've done intense training to deal with the heat, did you do something similar?" Arin asked and I shook my head.
"No, I'm practically dying over here, I'm just trying not to show it too much," I confessed and Arin laughed.
"We can take a short break if you guys want," Loki said as he turned around to face us.
"Yes please!" Christa shouted and I laughed at her eagerness.
We found a shady spot next to a small cliff and sat down, the sand wasn't exactly comfortable because of how hot it was but sitting was better than walking in every way.
"You guys see that rock formation over there?" Jun asked and all of us turned to where he was pointing. The formation was massive, easily being around the same size as Edward's ship.
"What about it?" Yuna asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"It's called the Giant's Slope," Jun said "legend has it the first giant ever emerged from that stone,"
"Is that so?" I asked, turning my gaze to the massive rock.
"How much farther?" Yuna complained and Loki sighed.
"We just left, we still have a week until we get there," he explained, and Yuna fell face-first into the sand.
"Get up," Arin said and Yuna answered with her face still in the sand.
"No!" she shouted, her voice was somewhat muffled by the sand but I could still make out her simple statement.
"Look guys I don't like it either but we have to keep going," Loki explained and everyone nodded at his words. We all steeled our resolves and kept on marching through the sand, the blistering sun beating down on us and sapping our strength away.
"Does anyone else feel that?" I asked and the group turned to me.
"What are you talking about?" Christa asked as I looked around wearily.
"I feel very uneasy all of a sudden," I explained, and Jun's eyes widened.
"Everyone get down!" he shouted as a giant worm exploded from the sand beneath us.
We were all sent flying backward and fell into the sand, after a moment we regained our footing and stared down the massive creature.
"What the hell is that!?" Arin shouted as he readied his shield.
"Tunnel worm," Jun replied casually as he drew his dagger and put on his dagger hand. The giant worm charged at us and we got ready to fight.
"Get out of the way!" an unknown voice ordered as the beast was suddenly cut into two pieces and fell dead before us.
"Well that was unexpected," I said as I took a look at the new person. It was a girl, maybe only a little bit taller than Christa. She had beautiful blonde hair that almost appeared pink and snow-white eyes, frankly, they were captivating. She appeared to be from Izuna. She wore a pink kimono and a red dress-styled hakama.
"Are you all well?" the girl asked and I nodded, taking the lead.
"We're fine, I'm even better than I was before now that you're here," I flirted, and Arin rolled his eyes.
"Can you stop flirting with every girl you meet," Jun asked, with a disapproving look on his face.
"Well, you're certainly pleasing on the eyes as well," The girl challenged and I smirked.
"Alas, my looks have nothing on a stunning beauty like yourself," I said and she blushed with a small giggle.
"I like you, may I have your name?" she asked and I smiled and offered a respectful bow.
"My name is Sasaki Kojiro," I greeted and the girl bowed in return.
"I am Yuki Hanabi, It's a pleasure to meet you, Sasaki," she said with a wink.
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"I thought you looked familiar," Yuki said as she smiled at Loki, we sat around a small campfire, Jun was right when he said it got cold at night. Yuna had ended up hugging Jun to keep herself warm. "So the runaway prince on a journey to reclaim his home, truly a story for the ages,"
"Well, you certainly speak from the heart," Christa offered as she set her hands in her lap.
"You think so?" Yuki asked and I smiled at the girl, she was beautiful, I had already made that clear to everyone here. But she also looked so much like her that it hurt, yet I couldn't look away.
"Have I caught your eye, Sasaki?" Yuki asked, clearly having noticed my staring.
"Can you blame me?" I asked with a wink, she blushed a bit.
"Well you're certainly skilled with your tongue but I'm more interested in something else, how skilled are you with that sword of yours?" Yuki asked and I smirked.
"There are a thousand jokes I could make about that statement," Jun said as he rubbed the head of the now sleeping Yuna.
"Is that a challenge?" I asked and she smirked.
"Of course," she said and I smiled, standing up and placing a hand on the hilt of my sword. Yuki stood up and did the same.
"The first one to draw blood wins," I said and she smiled.
"Sure thing Sasaki," she said and Loki stood up.
"Hang on, are we sure this is a good idea?" he asked and I offered him a smile.
"Relax, we're not dueling to the death," I said, attempting to reassure my comrades. I walked over to a small clear area and Yuki walked over with me, we stood about 5 feet apart and drew our swords.
Wordlessly we both ran at each other, Yuki attempted to strike from above but I blocked and attempted a stab which she back stepped away from. She ran in again and our swords clashed, sparks flying from the metal as we tried to gain the upper hand. I was stronger though and managed to push her back, I began swinging at her to keep her on the defensive. Suddenly she began to stab at me, I knew I couldn't evade this one so I tried to stab at her too. In the end, we both had a cut on our cheeks.
We turned to Arin who had been watching the match intently and he shrugged.
"I think it was a draw," he said and I turned to Yuki.
"It appears we are equals for now," she said and I shook my head.
"That is untrue, though we may be equal in skill your beauty is matched by none," I said and she smiled as we walked back to camp.
_____________________
"Are you sure you can't come with us?" Christa asked and Yuki nodded.
"I apologize but there is still much I must do, but should you continue on this path we will meet again," she said and I smiled.
"We better meet again, a draw is no way to end a match between warriors," I said and she smiled.
"Sure thing Sasaki," She said as she walked towards me. "I actually have a gift for you,"
"And what might that be?" I asked before she stood on her tiptoes and kissed me on the cheek.
"Until we meet again Sasaki Kojiro," she said before walking off in the other direction. I smiled slightly before turning around.
"Shall we go," I said and everyone nodded.
"Let's move," Loki said as we continued our journey to the capital of Valiheim.