Mini Adventures of Rivera and Kai -- Short Stories UPDATED

[Nyanfood]

Kai and Rivera’s Miniature Adventures

A little information on Aeterranchise...

The central palisade of Aeterranchise was over 500 feet tall, rising far above the rest of the city. It was a pillar of pure, diamond-hard crystal, the base of it buried deep beneath the ocean floor where the golden, volcanic corals could anchor it more strongly. Nearly 13 feet thick, they pillar served as more than just the main component which held up the multi-leveled city, but was its power source as well, infusing the entire city with a mythical energy that was considered a fully 'wireless system'. The city walls were carved with endless trains of ornate inscriptions that could be compared to HTML, using magic as their primary link to the energy source to light up the city with the purest, most beautiful of lights.

Aeterranchise is a very cylindrical city. About a third of it was above sea level, the visible part of the island lucky sailors chanced to sight. Two thirds of it was underwater, surrounding the pillar in circular spirals that grew wider and wider with each full circle down. There were exactly 24 and a half full circles in the spiral pattern, like a screw that was encased in a forcefield shield which filtered water to a lesser concentration of salt. The smallest of the spirals was only about the size of six football fields. The largest stretched on for over 27 miles in each direction before ending in a series of dormant, volcanic caverns.

The palace was a strange castle. The astronomical tower and clock, which contained the palisade, was the higest point of the entire island, a needle pricking the sky. Other towers surround it, closed around the center of the island by a stone walls with ramparts and watch points. Half of the castle was on the island, but the other half went below, into the water, still revolved around the crystal pillar until the the second circle of the spiral. This was the main temple, the palisade thrust through a stone altar at its heart.

The temple was a place where clerics-to-be were trained. It was also the main school of sorcery for only those with promising talent. Only about 12 students were accepted into the school each year, regardless of age. If they had the aptitude, they would be admitted. All three princesses of the imperial house attended the school at one point. Every emperor and empress was required to complete it and every high priest or priestess was required to take both cleric and sorcery courses. Here is where the last legend of Aeterranchise begins...  

[Nyanfood]

Part 1:

Isekri was the youngest daughter of the Imperial house. In other words, she was a princess... of sorts. She was a b*****d princess, one born out of an affair concerning the Empress. Her father had been sentenced to death, but the good hearted Emperor felt that it was his fault, and the Empress had behaved this way because he had deeply angered her. So instead, the human half-dragon was sentenced to exile. Isekri didn't look very much like her name, which meant ice-bird, or gyrfalcon. Her night-black hair was shoulder length with straight cut bangs and hems and her skin was as pale as any other Atlantean. However, her temper and prodigal talent in combat earned her the name for ferocity. Unlike her two elder half sisters, she was very successful with skipping etiquette classes. Today was yet another day she ran away from her court manner mistress while being criticised for yet another boyish outfit.

Dashing out of the court grounds, Isekri ran straight for the guard house. She knew the captain of the guard very well... in fact, she learned how to escape tight spots from him. Shierro would let her hide there for a while. Looking up at the bright blue sky, she almost wanted to stop and enjoy it from a standstill. Her ears were keen though, and the pattering footsteps of the etiquette mistress's butler drove her even faster. He was a good hundred yards away and couldn't see her over the hill yet. Quickly unbarring the door to the guard house, she slipped inside and slammed it shut streaking right past the captain, who was eating his lunch.

"Etiquette class again, your highness?" Shierro wiped a crumb of bread out of his handlebar moustache. "I'll keep Jance off for you." A muffled thanks came from the shut armory closet.

A few moments later, Isekri sat and held her breath as the door to the guard house opened and a muffled conversation took place. The door shut and she heard only one set of footsteps walking to the table, followed by the creaking of the wooden chair. She let out a sigh of relief and was about to lie down to give her heart a rest when a small voice reached her ears.

"If you're done hiding... can you please get off of my stomach?"

Isekri was frightened by the voice and shot to her feet, tumbling out of the closet and falling down outside. A skinny, young boy with shoulder length silver hair stood up and cracked his spine. Both of his eyes were blue with slits in them. The shirt he wore was sleeveless and white, while his shorts were baggy and patched--obviously hand-me-down. He walked barefoot, so his feet were dusty. "Man... you gave away my position..." He stretched an yawned. "I was hiding in there all day, wondering if the Captain'll find me."

"I knew you were in there the whole time." Shierro said simply without the slightest hint of surprise. Sipping his soup, he sighed contently. "I just wanted to see how long it was before you came out for food. Have you done your training yet today?"

The boy stepped out of the closet and closed the door, leaning back against it with his hands behind his head. He only looked about a year or two older than seven-year-old Isekri."Yes, I did that first thing this morning. I'm getting bored. There's no one to practice with when the sun isn't up yet. The guards are too good and the other kids are all asleep... I can beat them to a pulp anyway, so there's no point waking them up... can't stand the sun..."

"That's the first excuse of that type I've ever heard for hiding in my closet..." Shierro sighed.

"That's not an excuse for hiding in the closet." The boy retorted. Everything he did was with a calm, serene fashion. It was like he couldn't really be angered, even when he was complaining.

Shierro stood up, wiping his mouth with a napkin. The captain was a tall guy with an average build. His tunic and shirt was padded with armor, in royal blue and gray, the guard company colors. He wore rough pants for work tucked into heavy, black soldier's boots. He was about 35 years old or so, with short, soft brown hair. His moustache made him look comically flamboyant and made him a favorite among the palace children. "Tell me, Kai. Who tried to gang up on you this time and why don't you just beat them up?"

The boy, Kai, blushed and turned his head away. "I'm not supposed to. I'm not just training for guard, I'm training to be a knight. So I can't do anything to them. They're not trained and I don't want to hurt them... but I don't want them to hurt me."

"Knights are just soldiers with big egos." Shierro scoffed. "They'll just keep on coming after you if you don't handle them."

Kai said nothing and caused a short silence in the room. Isekri broke the stillness. Her voice was clear and very childish, more like the typical little girl in lace than anything else. "Um... I can get them to stop if... if you want me to... that is... well... "

He looked down at her. She was tall for a six year old, nearly his own height, and she had a strong build, but he was being chased by nine and ten-year-olds. There was no way she could beat them off.

Shierro clucked his tongue. "This is why you shouldn't run out on your etiquette classes. Kai's a commoner. He has an excuse, but you don't. Introduce yourself."

Isekri didn't show any signs of embarrassment, but stuck her tongue out at the captain before she said anything. "My name is Isekri Impruise, daughter of her imperial majesty Kileskri. A'plassier der'aqantiance." She bowed stiffly and clumsily.

Kai's eyes widened slightly, but that was all the surpirse he showed. Standing up straighter, he bowed to her, his bow surprisingly more graceful than even many court ladies she had seen. "My name is Kai'sekillre Dracasein, trainee of the palace guard, second division. A'plassier der'aqantiance." He hadn't imagined meetng anyone of the royal family at all. He hadn't even considered DREAMING about it.

Thinking about it even more, he realized that she didn't even have to fight. she was a princess, and her command should be obeyed in reason. If she said that he shouldn't be constantly harrassed, it was just about as good as law. "Your help would be much appreciated, your highness."

"Aie... don't call me that. Just call me Isekri, please. I hate my title." She thought for a moment. "Shierro, can I borrow something from you before I go? I promise I'll get it back to you in one piece."

"That's what you said the last time... and you brought it back all nicked and scratched." He declared in mock grief, "Go! Take what ever you need! Just spare your humble servant!"

Isekri shook her head, smiling. Shierro was so amusing... he should've been a player in an actor's troupe and do major comedy roles. She quickly turned and stepped into the conference room for a few moments. Kai was curious. He was about to follow her when she came out with a shiny black tube slung over her back by a leather strap. It was only about 18 inches long and about an inch wide. It seemed to be a section of bamboo painted with black lacquer.

"You're going to take that old thing?" Shierro seemed a little surprised, his expression causing his moustaches to stick out at very comical angles. "Well, enjoy them and try to bring them back in good shape."

"Thanks and bye! C'mon Kai, let's get your bully problem solved!" Isekri grabbed his wrist and dragged him out before he had time to say anything to Shierro.  

[Nyanfood]

Part 2

"So who exactly are these people?" Isekri finally slowed down her pace after she was out of the palace grounds and into the market place.

"They're... just... kids... that... think... I've... got... money... aie...!" Kai was still trying to catch his breath. He was amazed that she ran so fast and long without breaking a sweat or getting winded.

"You are very out of shape, Kai." She pounded him on the back. Kai was surprised once again. Isekri was pretty strong. She didn't act like a typical princess... in fact... she was more commoner than even he was. That was a thing to chew over on a long sleepness night. "So how're we supposed to find them?"

"Usually... I don't need to... they find me..." Kai began to get his breath back. Isekri noticed a very weary tone in his voice and noticed he was pointing his thumb over his shoulder. "I'm so used to it I can hear them from a fourth of the way down the market." Sighing, he stuck his hands in his pockets and leant back against a dusty wall in an alley. The buildings were made of clay and glazed well to keep the rain out. The blazing summer sun made perfect house making time. The building was made in a single night to dry in the early day, then baked in the hot afternoon. It's glazed the next day and rebaked so it would be stronger. There were brick and stone houses too, but they were more expensive. Wooden houses weren't trusted during hurricane summers. They were called the fool's houses.

"Oh, that's good. I won't have to go hunt them out. She brushed some hair out of her face and began to tie it up with a thin leather strap. Kai could see that her right eye was slit, like his. He was curious once again how she had one of the same eyes as his two. It suddenly changed from a green to a gold... his didn't do that... only the true dragon callers had eyes that changed colors. So maybe she only had one eye that did that, but that meant she had some hidden potential as a sorceress. He often wished that he would be admitted into the school of sorcery, but he didn't have much of a chance. If he wanted to be a knight, there was very little time he could dedicate to the time-hogging career of magic.

It was late summer and the sun seemed cooler with each passing day. There was a gentle trade wind breeze sweeping over the island that day. As she was downwind of the target, she smelled them before she saw them. Tying the leather strap around her ponytail securely, she shook her head to test it for loose hairs. Satisfied, Isekri surveyed the alley at a glance. It was big for an alley, but since it was also long and a seldom used pathway, the exchange would be undetected.

Kai suddenly realized what she was doing. "Hoi! I thought you were just going to talk to them about it!"

"Talking doesn't do anything for rats below street level." She muttered. "They won't acknowledge my status anymore than you or I would acknowledge their good will, since to them, I have no status. That is just as well... they have no good will." She was about to stretch when a group of five boys arrived. Isekri didn't pay much attention to their looks. To her, they all looked the same... like vermin and filth.

"Does the midget like to play with iddle girls?" The tallest of the five looked at Isekri with squinting scrutiny. He didn't have a mean look to him, and neither did the other four. All they had to prove they were mean was their intent and actions. Otherwise, they were normal boys who would be nice and well behaved.

"You sure that's a girl... looks like a boy to me." One of the others commented. He didn't sound too bright when he said it, despite the fact he wore spectacles.

Kai sighed, "Sorry for dragging you into this, your highness. I'll keep them off. The court'll have my hide if you get hurt and I'm responsible."

Isekri just laughed. Suddenly, she seemed far older than a mere seven-year-old in second grade. "You have no idea who I am, do you? Well... it's about time I tested these things out..." Isekri snapped the clips on both ends of the black bamboo tube and threw the leather strap to Kai. "Hold that please. I've been wanting to use this for a long time..." She pulled on the two sections of the bamboo tube. the sections came apart as knives sheathed into slits on each other's handles. Spinning them in her hands, She got the feel of the weight of the twin knives. "Not bad... not bad at all." Without any other words, she seemed to vanish before his eyes.

Four bursts of blood splattered into the air on the backs of one of the gang. Isekri waste no time in doing the same to the remaining, all at a speed that knew no equal. By jumping off the parallel walls, she could make herself airborne and avoid bumping into any of them. Landing on her feet silently as she was done with the last criminal, Isekri wiped the silvers of blood along the tips on her dusty pants and sheathed the two knives turning back to them again. "Sometimes I wish I just had a birch rod, but there aren't many birch trees around and I don't want to bother getting in trouble with the gardeners. You'll want to get out of here before I inflict some real injury... I don't mind some target practice."

There was no one there when she finished speaking. The only thing they left behind was a cloud of dust and an unbearable stench. "Shame... I was hoping they'd be dumb enough to hang around. They're not very good targets... but they're better than nothing."

Kai blinked. He had expected her to be more of a diplomat rather than a... chainsaw diplomat, so to speak. Sometimes, violence really was the answer. "Thank you, your highness... but how were you able to do that?"

"It's just practice... I've been getting less and less of it since I entered Sorcery School... it's stupid." She strapped the two knives to her back again.

"If you need someone to practice against... I'm not too bad at sparring... if you're interested, your highness." Kai suggested shyly. He was more of a dreamer than anything, and he seldom talked to anyone unless if he really had to. "I... I want to learn magic, but I can't get into Sorcery School because I have sword training..."

"Well... lesson one!" Isekri looked him straight in the eyes. He was only about two inches taller than she was. "Stop calling me 'your highness'. I'm shorter than you are so it certainly makes no literal sense and it's too big of a mouthful."

"Isekri is a little awkward though. It sounds so formal and... warlike... " Kai trailed off, realizing that he was on the line of arguing with a princess."

Isekri thought for a moment, "Yeah. Suppose that's right too... Why dont' you come up with another name for me?"

"Me?" Kai looked around in his brain for a good name. He used to have a little sister. The two of them lived together in the orphanage until she died a year ago from the vermillion epidemic. It was then that he entered training. There was spare time that he didn't have filled up that would be better spent than grieving over a dead sister. She had been a little younger than Isekri...

"How about... Rivencaira? Or Rivera?" He suggested. "Fortress castella over the water, strong and firm. What is your basic element?"

Isekri nodded at his suggestion. "Well, it's chaos... but I can't do much with it, so I guess... I use my storm powers the most."

"Aeryazure then." Kai confirmed. "Blue air, the crispness before the storm and the stillness after it. Rivencaira Aeryazure."

"Okay then! Rivera it is!" Isekri, called Rivera, smiled happily. Another day without an etiquette lesson and a sparring partner finally. Kai would prove to be a valuable friend though. He knew the works of the city better than she did, being a commoner. She knew there was a life outside the palace. Kai was her window to the world. She finally had an escape.  

[Nyanfood]

Part 3:

"Holy mother of Gaellia!" Kai hurried to block Rivera's next blow. She was a deadly hand with a straight sword, her speed making up for her lack of strength. He was surprised with what strength she did possess. It nearly paralleled three fourths of his own, an amazing power for a seven year old child, let alone a girl. It took him all his agility to follow her attacks one by one, slash for parry, trust for dodge, chop for feign. It was all planned motion, every move as swift as lightning and nearly impossible to see clearly. After practicing with the girl for over three months, he thought he knew her extent... but he didn't.

Rivera's practice sword tapped him lightly on the side where there was an opening. "Your defense is full of holes. If you can't take it, retreat!" Her expression was calm and relaxed, as if this fight was nothing for her. She even smiled a little as Kai hurried even more frantically to do as he was advised.

"How are you so fast?" Kai retreated and gained some time to catch his breath and block her next blow with greater accuracy. He put his own strength behind it and jarred the blow so her blunt sword would absorb the vibrations. Rivera yelped and fumbled, jumping back swiftly to buy time, trying to get a better grip on the hilt with her numb hands. Kai wasted no time and knocked the sword from her grip before she succeeded. Rivera looked up with the point of his sword against her chest.

"How are you so strong?" She asked right back at him, then suddenly bent backwards in a fluid arc, both her feet coming up in her back flip, kicking the sword out of his grip. Rivera landed on her feet and stuck out her hand just as the sword came whistling down point first. Reaching out, she grabbed the hilt and brandished the sword at him. Her reflexes were unnaturally fast.

Kai had taken the time it took for her to catch the sword to dash out and grab the one he knocked out of her hands. "I won't be making that mistake again. Now answer my question." He attempted to use the same trick twice, half knowing he would fail. Rivera was well braced on her grip now, and withstood the jarring.

"It's got something to do with being part draconian." She ducked under a chest high slash and tried to hit his shins. Kai had forseen such a move from her and was ready to step back. This time, he stepped on her blade, causing her to fall back from the force he exerted in the step. Kai kept his own sword braced on her shoulder, the blunt edge brushing her neck.

There was a moment of stunned silence for both of them. Rivera suddenly laughed, grinning broadly at Kai. The older child grinned back, "Looks like I win... barely." He took the weapon away and reached out to help her up. Rivera gladly took his hand and let him pull her up. She was wiped after that practice session. Kai let her lean against him to keep her footing. The two of them stood in the clearing on a cliff by the sea, watching the first beams of the sun rise from the rippling ocean.

"Kai..." Rivera started, still holding his hand, "Have you ever wondered if there's something out there on the other side of the ocean?"

"Mmm... not particularily." He squeezed her hand gently, "I've learned that there IS something on the other side. It's just forbidden to us. Only a select few are ever allowed to sail out, and that's only to the neighboring islands, not anywhere near the bigger lands except for cartography."

"Do you learn all of that as a trainee?" Rivera was curious to know. "Because if you do, I want to quit being a princess. It's so boring to learn all these court manners and stuff. I don't want to be a respectable lady. I want to fight in the army!" She pouted.

"It's not all honor and glory, Rivera." Kai sighed. He was strangely mature for his age. Perhaps it was all the losses in his life, and all the suffering and hardships he had to endure. "There's pain, and there's killing. It's living one day and maybe not living the next. That's what it means to be a soldier, to live in constant danger and not be drowned by fear and grief."

Rivera waited for a few moments before she spoke again, "But the army is there to protect the people, isn't it?" Her childish voice had a bell like quality that reminded one of sterling silver. "People sacrifice their safety to protect something important to them. It might be their own comfort, so they can have money... or it might be to support their families and protect them, right?"

Kai nodded, "Yes... I suppose that is true." The beams of sunlight falling onto his pale-silver hair made it sparkle with a brilliant white light. "No matter how much they're warned, people will do things that might be foolish and things that are done in vain... yet they can fool themselves into feeling better if they believe in it. It's a blind faith, but it works."

"Then I wouldn't mind all the killing and blood." Rivera concluded frankly and casually, almost idly. It was only her eyes that said she meant every word that she said. "I wouldn't mind being a regular soldier and fighting if it means I can protect someone I like. There's not a lot of people for me to protect... I suppose that's why I don't mind so much..."

"Do you not care about all of your subjects?" Kai asked, slightly shocked at what she was saying. "Do you just leave them behind you when they're still faithful to you?" His eyes were somewhat... betrayed. He thought that she cared about everyone out there.

Rivera looked him straight in the face. "I will protect my family. And they will protect the people. It is easier to think about it that way. My family means very little to me. The only one I'm fully related to is my mother... it's a scandal that just about everyone knows about... that I'm a b*****d princess... I hate the court for trying to kill my father. I hate His Majesty, the Emperor, for exiling him instead of at least allowing him residence for a while. I hate my sisters for always looking at me as if I were a monster or a parasite. They treat me so harshly it's all I can do to stop from killing them all..."

"...and..." Kai continued thoughtfully, "...what about your mother?"

Rivera hesitated before she spoke, "I... I wish she never bore me out of an affair... but I can't say that I hate her. She's my mother and she made me live... so I suppose I should thank her for that much, or I wouldn't have known what it means to want to protect someone..."

Kai smiled. Both of them shared many things in common. They were both longing for something more than the life they have, and they both suffered through pain. In that moment in the light of dawn, they shared a special bond of friendship. "Don't worry so much about hating people. I'll make you a deal."

"A deal? Like what?" Rivera looked up. Kai had the greatest smile. He was all angles and bones like a stork, lanky and clumsy looking... but she didn't mind that he looked a little funny. He was her friend, after all... the first friend she had.

Kai turned towards the sun, the wind whipping his hair up. "If you promise to think about your family everyday and find reasons to not hate them, I'll persuade the head trainer of the guard to give you private lessons before dawn." He grinned.

Rivera's face lit up. "You'll really do that? Really?" She waited for his assuring nod before she knocked him down with a hug. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" She rolled off of him and jumped up and down for a few moments. Calming down, she realized that there was going to be a change. "But then... what about our morning spars together?"

This raised a laugh out of Kai, "We still have all of rest day to do that! You're not old enough to attend court yet anyway, so you have the entire day free, right?" He patted her on the head as he got up to stand beside her. "Besides, I'll be taking the lessons with you. I'm not about to let you beat me, you know."

"Kai, you're the greatest, you know that?" Rivera looked towards the east. the sun had risen fully from the thin horizon line in the distance. Her voice turned into a whisper, "If there was only one person I could protect... I would protect you..." She smiled at him.

Kai didn't have time to reply. Urgent footsteps came from a hiking trail that led up to the clearing. Rivera turned her head abruptly and saw the last person she'd want to see in a moment like this. Raesekri, the second eldest of the three princesses, stood at the edge of the woods with six armed escorts behind her. Her black her was sleek and straight cut with a part instead of bangs. The silky ripples looked a little lighter than Rivera's and were cut an inch below her ears. She was wearing the robes of a priestess-in-training and carrying the Cleric's Staff, a simple stave of ash wood with white ribbons tied to the top. Both of her deep green eyes stared at her with disaproval. At age sixteen, Raesekri would be graduating from sorcery school and cleric school this year, able to take the graduate classes for both subject to become a high priestess.

"Isekri, what are you doing up here with a commoner boy? You haven't had breakfast and you're not even dressed for school yet." Her voice was rich and clear, but the words she said tainted the sound.

"I'm dressed for school." Rivera stuck out her tongue and picked up her practic sword. "I came up here to see the sun rise..."

"When will you learn to wear dresses... c'mon. I don't want you to be late again." Raesekri shot a glance at Kai, who was dusting off his own practice sword. "Kid, shouldn't you be getting off to the streets or something?"

"Don't talk to Kai like that!" Rivera burst out angrily. Both of her eyes flared up into golden-orange flames. "I swear I'll kill you all if you try to do anything!" Raesekri knew that Rivera meant every word of her thread. She could tell by the look in her eyes that Kai wasn't just a commoner to her.

"Very well then..." She turned, "I'd like to see you try that someday, midget. Don't take too long, and don't try to pull anything. You're not old enough..." Nodding to her escorts, she began to leave. "Let's get out of here." The six escorts followed her down the hill."

Rivera waved to Kai disspiritedly as she began to follow the procession of seven. Kai caught her shoulder and took her hand again, leading her down the hill. Once he knew that they were out of earshot, he spoke to her. "I named you after my little sister... she died last year, from the vermillion epidemic. I couldn't protect her, so I lost her..." He took a deep breath. "I won't let that happen to you... From this moment on, I live for one reason. And that is to protect my gyrfalcon princess. Don't forget that." Rivera was silent, but her shimmering eyes told him everything he wanted to hear.

At the bottom of the hill, they parted... one to her magic and one to his swords. There was a warm feeling in both of them, one that was the warmth of comfort from a friend, and one that was the warmth of giving. One could wonder which one is better until the world ends.

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[Kaitae]

Hewly... MORE MORE! X333~!  

[Nyanfood]

It's been updated ^^