Rhys stirred, his eyes flickering open. He slowly got up, the cool night air washed through his entire body as the the occasional sounds of crickets and rustling leaves broke the otherwise silent night. Where was he? He wondered, trying his best to scan around his surroundings, he could make out nothing except for the thick vegetation around him.
And a faint glow a few meters away from where he stood...
"A fire?" He thought as he got getting closer to the campfire in front of him. There was a pot under the orange glow of the weak flames. "It would appear someone was camping here, he thought as he finally got a look at his physical appearance since he woke up...
He was no longer the young adult who had just helped two siblings defeat a bunch of bandits, but rather... A little boy...
The little boy who had not only lost everything he knew and loved in a single night, but had been on the run for days...
He took another look at his disheveled appearance, his golden hair was all scattered, and his clothes were ragged. His stomach growled as he took another look the pot, then at his lean structure. He hadn't had a good meal in who knows how long. He thought as he stared at the pot on the fire, the warmth from the weak flames sent an air of tranquility through his entire body...
"You shouldn't strain yourself young prince." A voice rang out, sending a jolt through the young prince. He turned around sharply but upon seeing the owner of the voice, he instantly became calm
It was the one person he wanted to see the most right now...
"Sir...Lance?" The boy muttered, his gaze meeting that of a tall, silver haired knight. He appeared to be in his mid thirties and was clad from head to toe in scuffed, pale blue armor, which gave a strange mix with the orange gleam from the campfire
The knight, sitting on a log in front of the fire, flashed a warm smile back at the young prince in response. "Welcome back...Whoa" The words had hardly left his mouth when Rhys, overwhelmed with emotion, rushed towards the knight, enveloping him in a tight embrace as the tears streamed down his face
"Thank God you're here!" The young Rhys exclaimed, nestling his head into the Knight's armor plated chest as his sobbing intensified.
And could you blame him?
The past few days had been nothing but hell for him.
From watching his home and everyone he knew and loved razed to the ground, to being on the run from treacherous Knights who were rather eager to spill Galahad blood, the presence of a familiar face was like a breath of fresh air for the young prince. He pressed himself closer into the nest of the Knight in front of him, his embrace becoming tighter
"It's alright Rhys", The knight, Lance by name, responded, pulling the young prince toward himself "I'm here now. Everything would be alright" He continued, half believing his words as he tried to comfort the young prince.
But would everything TRULY be alright? He wondered as he stared into the darkness of the moonless night...
***
Rhys awoke with a start, sitting up as he stroked his forehead, examining himself. Was that a dream? He thought, No, it was a memory, from ten years ago, from before he fully began his path to knighthood. Why wo--
"You're finally awake? That's good." A familiar feminine voice interrupted him from his thoughts. He tilted his head, turning to face the brown haired girl beside him, who was fiddling with the fire in front of her with the stick in her hand
"What happened?" He asked, slowly getting into a sitting position.
"You saved us..." Aria shrugged, giving him a friendly smile "from the bandits. Remember?" She raises an eyebrow.
Oh that? Rhys thought, slowly stroking his temple as the memory came back. Those annoying guys were finally off his back. He thought, slowly sitting up as he finally noticed his surroundings for the first time since he woke. They were seated around a campfire, Aria was fiddling with the fire and Elvinn playing with his pet Kreevid.
A rather mundane sight, he thought
Then another thought struck him...
"Wait, shouldn't we be--"
"Relax" Elvinn, sitting at the other side of the campfire, cut in, His hand gently brushing across Maik's fur as his gaze shifted from the ferret, who was nestled into his lap enjoying the grooming, to the golden haired prince at the other end of the campfire "We're a long way from those crazy bandits. We spent the whole day on the road while you enjoyed your beauty nap."
Whole day? Rhys wondered, had he been asleep for a whole day?
"Any idea why were those guys after you?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
Rhys lowered his head, stroking his chin in deep thought. To be honest, he himself wasn't really sure. They had accosted him for the first time when he was travelling by boat to Ryota island, and their reckless actions had led to boat being shipwrecked, which was how he ended up on the shores of the Cryst River in the first place
"I... don't know " Rhys finally answered, shaking his head helplessly.
"I think I do." Elvinn remarked, producing a piece of paper from his leather bag as he turns to look at Rhys. "I snagged this from one of those bandits before we left." He walks over to Rhys, wearing a serious expression on his face as he hands him the paper "Looks familiar?"
Rhys takes the paper from him, scanning it's contents briefly.
His eyes widened in shock...
"Is that..." He muttered, clenching the paper as his blood ran cold...
In the paper was a drawing.
Of someone... Really really familiar...
"It's... Me?" He managed to muster, surprise clearly written on his face. The contents of the paper was a drawing, but the level of accuracy and detail given to it made it almost seem like he was looking into a mirror. Under the drawing of him, there was writing which he read aloud.
A reward of 100 million lakhs shall be given to he who brings this boy back, dead or alive.
Everyone present here undestood those words loud and clear...
Someone had put a hit on him...
The question was... Who?
The Emperor maybe...? Someone else...?
"Well, they did say something about being contracted by some tycoon" Elvinn added, stroking his chin as his serious gaze slowly drifts from the paper back to Rhys. "Were you going to tell us?" He asked.
Aria looked at her brother "Elvinn, he's still–"
"Aria." Elvinn cut her off "I was talking to him." He continued, staring squarely at Rhys, who could only but look away, unable to give an answer to his question
"So it IS true." Elvinn muttered slowly. "You ARE the prince."
Silence descended on everyone present in the room. Under Elvinn's gaze, Rhys looked away, his expression darkening
"Not anymore." he replied, avoiding eye contact. He wasn't the prince of the Celerian Empire anymore, any heir from the man who currently sat on THAT throne...
the man who murdered his entire family...
He clenched his fist. Thinking about the man who had killed his family made his face grow darker.
More due to the fact that there wasn't really much he could do about it.
Or was there...?
"With a price like that on my head." He voiced out, breaking the silence as he tried to stand up. "There's bound to be more people coming after me." He puts on his jacket, rummaging around to gather the few "belongings" he had with him (the broken sword he had taken from one of the bandits)
Aria looks up at him, a bit of confusion and worry on her face "Where're you going to go?"
"As far away from you two as possible" He answered, rummaging around as if in search of something
"You don't even know your way around here do you?" Aria asked again
"I don't have to" Rhys shook his head. As far as he was concerned, he just had to make his way to the next village. He thought as he began to walk away from them both.
"You're just going to try to make your way to the next village aren't you?" Elvinn asked, his gaze focused on Rhys, who simply nodded in response.
Aria folded her arms, looking at Rhys "And how exactly are you gonna get there?" She gestures around her "These woods are really dangerous, especially at night."
"He said he wants to leave " Elvinn patts his sister's head, still staring at Rhys "It's probably for the best." He said. He wondered why his sister was so adamant on not letting him go. Aria simply sighed, watching Rhys leave.
"By the way, what IS the next village from here?" She asked, turning to face her brother. The question stopped Rhys in his tracks. He too was rather curious.
Elvinn moves to his leather bag which Maik, his ferret like creature which had been observing the whole scenario between the "humans" , was curled up against now. After a brief "tussle", the creature reluctantly agreed to release the bag, wrapping itself around Elvinn's neck in retaliation. Elvinn, rummaging around the bag, fishes out a small map from inside it. He scanned the map for a bit, before turning to face Rhys.
"Just great" Elvinn rolled his eyes, a frustrated sigh escaping his mouth "I guess we're stuck with you for the next couple of days huh"
Both Rhys and Aria look at him in confusion "Huh?"
Elvinn replies "The next village from here is Lenn village"
Aria raises an eyebrow in surprise "And that's were we're headed.". Elvinn simply nodded looking at Rhys, who tries his best to object
"I... Wouldn't want to--"
"You're going to be trouble whether you follow us or not." Elvinn cuts in, as if knowing what Rhys was going to say "You might as well be useful trouble while you're at it." He adds, a small smirk on his face
"Wait," Aria looked at her brother "does that mean--?"
"YES!" Elvinn sighed "Aria, He's going to travel with us for now."
Rhys looked at Elvinn "Are you sure this is okay?"
Elvinn sighed, after their encounter with those bandits, there was a possibility that they were going to run into more "trouble" on their way to Lenn whether they got involved with him or not. This guy was trouble after all, He thought.
And it'll probably be better if he didnt bring his "trouble" their way.
But still, he thought, after being a first hand witness to the power of said "guy", perhaps it would be better to have someone that capable around to protect them from said "trouble" after all.
"Well, it can't be helped. We'll travel together" He finally answered, giving another sigh. "But" He quickly adds "only because we're headed in the same direction. Once we get to Lenn, we go out separate ways, got it?"
"Yes of course," Rhys nodded, a slight smile forming on his face as he stared at Elvinn.
"Good" Elvinn replied, walking back to where he sat originally to unfold his sleeping bag. Maik, still wrapped around his neck immediately unfolded itself and skittered into the unfolded sleeping bag. "You two should probably get some rest, save the energy for tomorrow" He added, before crawling into the sleeping bag beside Maik.
"Guess we'd be travelling partners from tomorrow huh?" Aria hands Rhys a blanket before giving him a playful nudge and heading to her own sleeping bag. Still holding the blanket in his hand, Rhys simply smiled at their gesture
Maybe he wasn't as alone as he thought after all... For now at least.....