Work Text:
On a beaten road, two travelers rode side by side on their horses, their destination known only to them. The sky began to turn a deep purple as they approached a nearby village. The bard, a young woman with royal purple hair and blood-red orbs, turned to her companion, a brooding, soulful knight.
“Nightfall draws near good knight, should we perhaps stop first at an inn?” The bard asked.
Wary of resting in an unfamiliar village, the knight replied, “We cannot exactly stop right now, it is not safe here.”
“The horses are getting tired, I do not think we have enough money to buy new ones should they be too exhausted to continue the journey.”
“We will stop then, but only for the night. We leave at the first sign of trouble.”
The bard nodded and the two of them made their way to the inn. After they left the horses in the stable they entered the inn and requested for a room. As they waited the knight tapped her foot in brooding annoyance while the bard began to flirt with the daughter of the innkeeper. After what seemed like eternity the innkeeper led them to their room.
“I do wish you did not have to flirt with the man’s daughter, your majesty.” The knight chastised the bard.
“My apologies, it seems my charms are barely hidden by this disguise.” The bard spoke melodiously as befitting her disguise.
“My name is Sayo, your majesty, and I would prefer it if you did not refer to me as a knight.” Sayo exasperatedly reminded her.
“And I would prefer that you call me by my own name, I am a simple bard now am I not?” Kaoru countered.
Sayo simply sighed and collapsed onto the bed, Kaoru examined her armor, the designs hidden for now but when uncovered, revealed an intricate design of a wolf, ready to pounce.
“So this is why they call you the Wolf Knight,” she said in awe. “A fitting name.”
“Perhaps you should rest first, your majesty,” insisted Sayo. “You are the one who suggested we stop by first.”
“Ah, but it seems you are already settled in well.” The prince smirked as she sat by the wolf knight’s bed.
“I cannot rest right now, your majesty.”
Kaoru held a hand to the knight’s face and gently stroked her cheek with her thumb, “Rest first, I will take the first watch.”
Defeated, Sayo obeyed Kaoru’s order and settled in for the night, the fatigue finally seeping into her bones as her eyes closed.
“Sleep well, good knight.” The prince said as she stood from the bed and grabbed a sword, ready for any sudden disturbance.
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The dawn broke and with it, a loud sound broke the silence in the village as the two left the inn quickly, leaving a bag of gold in their bed for the owner. The pair made a mad dash for the horses and galloped away as quickly as they could from their pursuers. Unfortunately, a second group of pursuers waited for them and ambushed them, and forced the two off their horses.
“There are ten of them, and there are more on the way, escape while you can I’ll hold them off.” Sayo ordered Kaoru to run away
“Give me a sword.” Kaoru commanded.
“It is my job to protect you, I do not think enabling you to fight would be very efficient at fulfilling that!” Sayo protested.
“We have a better chance if we both have weapons, give me a sword now!” She demanded and Sayo reluctantly gave her one.
The bandits laughed and one sneered, “Be careful now your majesty, don’t cut yourself.”
Kaoru proved them wrong and quickly dispatched two of them, and disoriented another, much to their surprise as well as Sayo’s who used that advantage to dispatch three more.
“Sayo duck!” She narrowly avoided two arrows shot by Kaoru, who somehow managed to get her bow and quiver from their supplies, and took down two of them. Sayo charged at Kaoru and dispatched the other bandit behind her. With all the bandits currently taken care of, the two prepared their horses to outrun the others still on their trail.
Just as Sayo was about to mount her horse one of them came to his senses and hit Sayo with a club, sending her down and disoriented.
“SAYO!”
Kaoru had hit the thug who attacked her with her lute, he then turned his attention to her and attacked. She sidestepped his attacks before being knocked down. Sayo staggered over to him and finished him off before he could attack the young heir.
She looked at Kaoru and asked “Are you alright?” before she collapsed to the ground. As her eyes closed, she remembered the day this all started.
Sayo downed another mug of ale as she relaxed in the tavern after a long journey. She overheard some of the other patrons talk about a missing prince. With outrageous claims like the prince having turned into a dragon.
“These rumors sound more and more ridiculous. First she’s a dragon, now she’s a horse.” The tavern keeper shook her head at the stories and turned to the knight, “Rough day Sayo?”
“Yes, Okusawa-san.” Sayo replied.
“Well, same here, I think I’ve gotten so tired that I’m seeing double already,” as the tavern keeper wiped down mugs she furrowed her brows “There are two of you right now Sayo-san.”
The knight was confused “What are you saying?”
“Well, turn around right now.”
It was like looking at a mirror, her prodigious twin sister stood before her, with an unusual frown on her face.
“Hina?”
“Long time no see Onee-chan.”
“What are you doing here?”
Hina hugged her and whispered into her ear. “I need your help. Meet me by the entrance of the forest where we used to play, and bring two horses with you.”
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Sayo wondered why she agreed to come here. She waited at the spot and saw Hina walk toward her, accompanied by two hooded figures, one was a girl with short brown hair and spectacles. Another with short, royal purple hair and blood red orbs, features that she realized had matched the missing prince.
“Hina what is this?”
“This is Kaoru, she needs help.”
“And why should I help some prince from a land I have no loyalty to?”
“Because I trust you to do what’s right.”
Sayo sighed and decided, “Fine, I shall have her hide with my guild as long as it is needed.”
The missing prince breathed a sigh of relief “Thank you.” She reached out her hand to shake the knight’s “You have my gratitude, my name is Kaoru.”
“Say your goodbyes for now.” Sayo tersely replied.
“Farewell, Hina, Maya, I trust the both of you to take care of the kingdom in my absence. You know why we have to do this.” Hina and the other companion named Maya nodded and hugged their friend, not knowing when they would be reunited. She then turned to her horse.
“Goodbye for now White, I’ll see you again soon.”
The horse neighed and nuzzled his owner one last time.
“Let’s go now.”
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When she woke up she found herself in her room, in the guild’s headquarters. A brunette was managing medical supplies nearby her bedside.
She groaned out, “Lisa?”
The brunette noticed that she had woken up, and rushed to check on her condition. relieved, she said, “Oh good you’re awake, I mean you’ve survived worse but you’re awake.”
“And I thought you lost your memory too,” she quipped.
“How did I get here?”
“Well you were brought here on a horse by none other than Kaoru.”
“The prince?” She tilted her head in confusion, “Wait, how do you know her name?”
“I was from there, me and Yukina.” She paused.
“She was pretty worried about you all night, she’s been changing the bandages on your head and making sure you didn’t develop a fever,” she continued, “She pretty much banged on the guild’s door and demanded to be let in. I’m pretty sure Ako would have incinerated the two of you if she hadn’t noticed her carrying you in her arms.”
Sayo was astounded that the prince had managed to bring her to the guild headquarters on horseback, and blushed when she heard that she had to be princess carried.
“Where is she now?” Sayo asked.
“With Ako, she’s been telling her stories about demons, and such.”
Sayo thanked Lisa and then walked out of the room and searched for Kaoru, which was easy when she heard Ako yell in awe, along with the prose so purple it would match Kaoru’s hair. “And then Macbeth who hath despaired over his life, decided to duel Macduff out of pride for he refused to bow down.”
“SO COOL!” Ako in delight clapped with Rinko at the story, while Sayo observed them from the door.
“It is quite the story, the tale of how the desire for power corrupts. A reminder to ne’er be possessed by such grandiosity.” As she finished her tale Ako had noticed the knight standing by the door frame.
“Sayo-san!”
“Sayo! You’re awake!” Rinko greeted her politely while Ako rushed off to glomp her.
Kaoru smiled. “It’s good to see that you are doing well, good knight.”
“Ako, Rinko, do you mind leaving me alone with our guest for a while?” The two nodded and Ako held Rinko’s hand and dragged her out of the room as she talked about a new spell she had learned.
Her orbs unable to meet the prince’s own she said, “Thank you.”
“I only did what anyone else would do.” The prince replied in a voice as sweet as honey.
“Still, you were in danger there, and I almost failed at the task.” She said, with pain evident in her voice.
Kaoru moved closer and held Sayo’s hands in her own, she stared into the knight’s minty spheres. “Do not blame yourself, at least we are still alive.”
“Then since we are still alive, I have but one request from you.”
A chuckle escaped her lips, she held her chin. “And what would that be?”
“I told you, call me Sayo.”
“As you wish.”
Kaoru leaned in closer and in that moment all Sayo could think about was the softness of her lips and the fireworks exploding in the background, which was probably Ako causing another explosion.
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Lisa stared at the screen and tried to make sense of what she just read. “So what do you two think?” Rimi asked. In Hazawa Cafe, Lisa and Chisato sat next to each other in front of a laptop, on the other side of the tables Himari and Rimi stared at them and patiently waited for a reply. Lisa and Chisato remained silent and were not sure what to say. The table was quiet until Rimi spoke up.
“But would Kaoru-san really say this?” She asked Himari.
“Of course she would Rimi! She’s just that cool and smart!” She exclaimed.
They continued to talk about their work while Lisa and Chisato stared at them, and wondered why the younger bassists would call them for a sneak peak of their latest work, tentatively titled “The Wolf of the Night and Her Fair Prince”.
“You’ve really outdone yourself with the prose this time Himari-chan. You can really feel the tension between Hikawa-senpai and Kaoru-san. It made my heart pound faster and I felt my cheeks heat up just reading their first kiss.” Rimi smiled at the author, who blushed and replied.
“Only the best deserves to go with your vision!” At that Rimi’s cheeks reddened as Himari continued to pepper her with more compliments. “I mean, that sketch of Sayo and Kaoru fighting side by side together is so good!” She continued. “And that full color drawing you made of them kissing is one of your best works!” At that, Lisa’s and Chisato's eyes widened and their jaws dropped.
“R-really?”
“Mhm!” Himari nodded enthusiastically.
“Tha-thank you Himari-chan,” Her cheeks were still red as she accepted the compliments. “But doesn’t it feel too adult? Hikawa-senpai and Kaoru-san...” she trailed off, “K-kissing?”
Himari shook her head. “I don’t think so. Right Lisa-san? Chisato-san?”
After having witnessed them flirt over their creation Chisato and Lisa were rather impressed by their dedication, and at the same time were rendered completely speechless. They stared at each other for a moment before commenting on the piece.
“Erm… I agree with Rimi-chan here, I think you two should tone it down a bit” Chisato said.
Lisa nodded in agreement, “It’s a sincere piece but I do think you should tone down the romance a bit.”
Himari jotted down notes and nodded. Rimi on the other hand proceeded to ask a question that the other two were not sure how to answer.
“Since Lisa-san and Chisato-senpai are more familiar with Hikawa-senpai and Kaoru-san, can you tell us if we wrote them accurately?”
Lisa and Chisato were dead silent, Himari said “I mean we know those two aren’t really dating but please tell us what they'd be like if they were together.”
Chisato could only stare at them as they gave her puppy eyes, Lisa on the other hand did not have the strength to turn down the question.
“Resist Lisa-chan.” Chisato told her.
“I’m trying to Chisato.” Lisa responded.
“Please tell us!” Himari begged.
“Only a little bit...” Rimi pleaded.
Lisa soon gave up. She simply sighed, and shrugged her shoulders “As long as Sayo and Kaoru don’t know about this--”
Well, speak of the devil, right after she said those two names they were alerted to their presence in the cafe by the sound of the door opening and Tsugumi welcoming them.
“Welcome! Sayo-san! Seta-senpai!”
In a split-second Rimi slammed the laptop close and Himari shoved it back into its bag. They tried to act as naturally as possible and hoped the subjects of their work would not approach their table.
Needless to say, that hope was crushed when Kaoru noticed them.
“Ah! How marvelous it is to see the four of you here!” Kaoru walked over to the table as Sayo exasperatedly followed her.
“Seta-san, they appear to be busy at the moment.” Sayo said, Lisa saw that Kaoru’s hand briefly brushed against her own.
“Ah, my apologies to the four of you, me and Sayo-chan are simply here to bond.” Sayo’s cheeks reddened after Kaoru had said the last part, something that Chisato managed to notice.
“Do tell though, what brings you to this establishment of fine food and drink?” Kaoru asked.
“Um-um…” Rimi and Himari nervously stuttered and were unable to speak until Chisato managed to save them.
“Me and Lisa-chan were simply helping them with their math homework.” She smoothly replied.
“Y-yeah!” Lisa backed up the claim. “They had a hard time answering a few problems so they asked us for help.”
“I see, me and Seta-san will sit somewhere far away so as to not disturb you,” said Sayo.
Kaoru nodded in agreement, “I understand, let us partake now in the offerings of this fine cafe Sayo-chan.” The two then sat down at another table a good distance from the four bassists. Rimi and Himari breathed a sigh of relief as soon as they saw them settle down and order.
Himari was grateful, “Thank you for covering for us Chisato-san, Lisa-senpai.”
“No problem, but do remember what we just said.” Lisa reminded them.
Rimi and Himari nodded at the same time, “Yes!”
Chisato sipped her tea while Lisa nibbled on a cookie, they then shared an understanding look with one another as they looked on at the couple at the table hidden inside the cafe. They could see Kaoru make wild gestures as Sayo gave her a small smile.
Lisa muttered to Chisato “They so owe us.”
Chisato took another sip of her tea, “Yes they do Lisa-chan.”