chapter nine.
Title: The Quest
Chapters: 9/20
Author: sabersenshi
Genre: crack, AU,
Warnings: Not much. Some language, suggestive situations, hinted at sex.
Rating: R - I guess
Pairings/Characters: Aoi/Uruha/Aoi
Synopsis: Ruki is sent on a quest
Comments: I got this idea from some dolls. Internet paper dolls, if you can believe that.
The pics are posted at the end of Chapter 2
~~
I moved to the floor, putting my back against the wall. This could turn into a long night and I wanted to make myself as comfortable as possible.
“Anyway, somehow this sorcerer, Hyde, found out I had the Gauntlet. And he knew its abilities. Or maybe I should say he knew its abilities in the right hands. So he comes into my shop, acting like he wanted to make a purchase. Something about needing a special stone for storing up magic for later use. And no, I don’t know if that works or not, I know nothing about sorcery.”
Here’s the first part of the story I don’t like. It makes me sound stupid.
“What he was really after was to find out if I could use the Gauntlet. You might say he tricked me into using it.” I held up my hand to stop the question I knew Uruha was going to ask. “He said the metal casing for the stone needed to be really hot. Too hot to touch. So I mentioned having the gauntlet. He said he’d heard of this Fire Gauntlet, and wondered if it was the one I had. So, yeah, I brought it out and he said it was. I’d be able to pick up anything hot. I could make fire with it, or just use it to heat something up in my hand. Without burning myself in the process. He had me try it, and it worked. Just like he said.”
I paused to see their reactions. It didn’t look like either thought any worse of me. Good.
“So the next day he brings this other guy in with him. He’s talking about the dragon, freezing shit in the south. How it’s a real pain for everyone. And the Sorcerer, well he says something like ‘Hey, you’ve got the perfect weapon to use against an Ice Dragon!’. And then he tells the other guy that I’ve got the Fire Gauntlet. Turns out this new guy’s head of a mercenary band that’s going down to help the people in the south. Do I wanna go along?”
“Was it Yukihiro?” Uruha asked. “Remember him, Aoi?”
“Was that the guy that sounded like he'd swallowed a frog?”
Uruha shot him a glare.
Aoi was smiling. “Sorry Ruki, please continue.”
“Well, my first response was ‘hell no!’ but I started thinking about all those people. No one asked for the stupid thing to come along and start freezing up their homes, crops, and livestock. So I make them a deal. I’ll go, but the mercenary and sorcerer have to promise to protect me. I’m no fighter, as you guys can tell.”
Aoi interrupts me “I’d say you were actually pretty good in a fight. At least from what I’ve seen.”
“Yeah, I’d fight with you any time.” Uruha adds.
Cool. Even if I think they’re just being nice. Since I know it was just dumb luck with that big, walking rock. Anyway, I just smiled at them both and continued with the tale.
“So, we pack everything up and head south. With the Sorcerer giving me instructions on using the Gauntlet along the way. One of the mercenaries gave me his short blades. Said he never used them anyway. And maybe I could get some use out of them. I think it’s cuz I’m not as tall, he thought a sword would be too much for me to handle.”
Aoi snorted at that. Nice. I thought I was doing all right with his training. Now, I’m thinking he does too.
“The trip down was kinda long and boring. Just a lot of walking, listening and training at night. With both the gauntlet and the blades. But when we got to where the dragon had started making his attacks, things got real interesting. And not in a good way. Everything looked dead. There were no people, no animals. Nothing. Not even grass or weeds. Just empty fields and abandoned homes. It was sad to see. All the ground was frozen, like a lake in the dead of winter. I know they say that the south is where some of the most beautiful places are. But not with that thing down there.”
Aoi looked confused. “But the last time we were there, everything seemed back to normal. How, if this dragon had froze everything?”
I held up the Gauntlet. “Seems that’s one of the things it can do. Hyde had me try something. He had me concentrate on warmth, letting it seep thru may hand into the ground. He kept talking, slow and low. Telling me to think of early spring, when trees start budding and the grass pushes up thru the snow. Only he was being more descriptive. Giving me a lot of details. I had my eyes closed, but I heard gasps from some of the soldiers. And when he finally stopped, told me to open my eyes, everything had changed. It was just like he’d described. I found out later that he’d used some kind of Earth Magic to boost the growth of the plants. And the trees, they looked like they’d been there for years. It was amazing.”
I looked at them both. They looked like I had felt when I opened my eyes and saw what I, thru the gauntlet, had done. In the wrong hands, the gauntlet would be a terrible weapon. Which is probably why the person that forged it had worked something into it. Some kind of spell or something. I don’t know who made it, so there was no way for me to find out for sure.
But Ken had hinted at it, as well as Hyde. If you wanted to use it, truly wanted it’s power, it was nothing but a protective cover for your arm. A fancy, hard cover, but just a cover nonetheless. The real power of the Gauntlet would only work for someone that really didn’t want it.
Like me. I’ve never craved that kind of power. I’m happy with my craft. The things I create. How those things make some people feel. Like they’re special. Wanted. Cherished. Those were the things I thought were important. Not castles. Or servants. And so, I found myself with something that was able to destroy our world.
Or help it.
I would always choose to help. That was just who I was. How I thought. I’d rather create than destroy. Creating is where the true power was anyway. Anyone could destroy things. Turn something into nothing. All it took was anger, a little strength, and a weapon.
But how many people could make things? Take a clump of nothing and turn it into something. Something that others liked, needed, or wanted. Some people created things for the coin it would bring them. I felt sorry for them. For they didn’t appreciate the things they made. But others did it out of joy. And those were the ones that were true masters of their craft, whatever that may be. And the sad part was, the other kind, the ones that thought they needed their craft to make a living, well, they were the ones that would rarely make anything of real worth. They didn’t create from their heart, so the stuff they made would never hold true value for the people that bought from them.
Oh look, I can be philosophical.
Note: sorry for not updateing sooner. >__<
I been feeling kinda blah lately.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Smut Scene (f-locked)
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 10