Foes and Heirs: Segment Three: The Dangerous Life

SEGMENT THREE: THE DANGEROUS LIFE

"Never was anything great achieved without danger."

10: New Plan

For Daiyu, the morning couldn’t have come quickly enough. The sun shone from outside her cabin window, and she blinked in the startling light – even as she began to hear bumps from around the rest of the ship. Was it the others? Probably. It must have been. Suddenly slightly afraid, she rolled out of her bed – having taken one of the room that had an actual, physical bed – and crept to the door. The footsteps grew louder. It had to be them. It had to be them. She opened the door just in time to see Azura trotting past. She was saying something – Daiyu wasn’t sure what – and it helped her to relax. Yes. Azura was out and about, and it was just the people she knew and trusted on the ship.

Well, almost.

It was just as she had this thought that she caught sight of said thought’s… reason for being thought? Did that make sense? In any case, the girl that Loden and Iamos had brought back with them was walking down the ship’s hallway. She was wearing the same clothes as the previous day – various shades of white and grey, sophisticated embroidery, pretty-looking flats. She was obviously very wealthy, which was only made more apparent by how she carried herself. Her chin was turned up, as though she viewed the world by looking down on it. Her arms were by her sides, not stiff and yet not swinging in any sort of unsophisticated fashion. She reminded Daiyu quite a bit of the various… other well-off people she had met. It was disconcerting.

And it also made her more curious about what had actually happened the previous day. Loden and Iamos had been gone far longer than they said they would, they hadn’t returned with any food – which was a shame, as Daiyu had become used to actually eating regular meals – and they had brought this stranger with them. And where exactly had this girl come from? It would have been one thing if they had found someone off the streets like her, but this was… this had to be explainable. She needed an explanation.

After waiting for a moment, letting the other girl walk past, she silently made her way to the upstairs room, with the table. It was where, like, meetings had happened previously, right? It made sense for someone to be there now, if anywhere. Someone had to be planning to tell her and Azura what had happened soon. But what had happened?

Before her mind could take her to any of the dark possibilities she might have thought up, she focused on the sound of voices coming from the top of the stairs she had arrived at. One was feminine, and shouting quite loudly. She couldn’t really discern the others beyond masculinity. Trotting up the stairs, she was encountered by a sight that was either funny or scary. She couldn’t decide.

Azura was sprawled forwards onto the circular table in the centre of the room, lying on top of it on her front – as if she had jumped forward onto it. Had she? She might have. She seemed like the sort of person who would. Her arms were stretched out, her fists grabbing onto the lapels of Loden’s jacket. Ah – Loden! He was sitting opposite her, looking somewhat panicked, as the younger girl pulled him closer to the table. She looked up into his eyes with her own (presumably – Daiyu was behind her, and could only see her head rising).

“You have to tell me!” She was saying. “Tell me everything! I want to know what happened!”

Loden seemed about to say something to her, but then he caught sight of Daiyu, who had frozen at the top of the stairs, observing the scene. He gave a startlingly lazy wave with one hand.

“Hey, Daiyu.” He said. Azura’s head whipped around to stare at Daiyu, who began to feel very intimidated.

“You want to hear what happened, as well, right?” She garbled, tightening her grip on Loden’s jacket. Both Loden and Daiyu winced, and the latter held up her hands in what she hoped was a placating gesture.

“Even if I do, I’m not strangling Loden over it.” She pointed out, truthfully. “I… well, I’m sure that Loden and Iamos plan to tell us what happened. At least, I hope so.” She trailed off. Could she have sounded accusatory, or otherwise implicating? She hadn’t meant to. Hopefully Loden hadn’t taken it that way. She breathed in. She breathed out. She continued. “But we need to let them get to that… telling stage at their own pace, you know?”

“But this is big!” Pointed out Azura, shaking Loden’s jacket and pulling him back and forth. “There are four of us, and now there’s five! That’s a twenty-five percent increase!” Her eyes suddenly narrowed – whether in thought or in anger, Daiyu didn’t know. “Plus, that girl they brought back with them looked weird. What was she wearing, anyway?”

It took a second for Daiyu to grasp what Azura meant. “Did you mean… she looked rich? As in, wealthy?”

Azura considered this. Then nodded. “Yeah.”

Daiyu considered this. She had looked quite wealthy, yes. Like one of the people who would live in large estate houses or palaces, separate themselves from the rest of society because they were able. Now that this perspective had been brought back to her attention, her prime instinct was a wave of curiosity. If this girl was one of those people, then the fact that she had come back with the boys was all the more extraordinary. She found it unlikely that anyone would be willing to leave that life behind. What had happened?

“Am I interrupting anything?”

Daiyu gave a start and fell backwards – the girl was standing on the stairs, looking across the room with an expression of what looked to be schooled indifference, typical of the ones usually worn by people like her. How had she managed to get so close without Daiyu hearing her? Had she just been distracted? Her heart was thudding against her chest, and her fingers trembled slightly from adrenaline. She licked her dry lips, and forced herself to calm down. It was ok. It was ok. It was ok.

“It’s you!” Azura stared at the girl as if she had just confessed to a murder.

“It’s me.” Agreed the girl, walking past Daiyu – walking seemed too ungainly a description, it was like she was effortlessly gliding across the floor – and sitting down at the ship’s round table. She eyed Loden, wearily. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

Loden rubbed the back of his neck as everyone’s gaze turned back to him.

“Uh… yeah.” He sighed. “The hyperactive one here is Azura. She’s our youngest. And Iamos’ sister.”

Azura stuck out her arm, fist clenched and pointed forwards. “Welcome aboard our ship!” Her mouth was set like an apple slice – upturned, with implications of sweetness. The girl, after a moment’s hesitation, reached forward and daintily shook Azura’s arm up and down, in something of a one-sided handshake. If anyone else had done it, it probably would have looked ungainly and awkward. The girl, however – she still managed to look refined. As though she were in firm control of the situation.

Loden rolled his eyes. “And, yeah, the other one’s Daiyu.”

“Daiyu?” The girl repeated, rising from her seat to greet Daiyu, who was hit with a wave of guilt for not going over to her before she had to rise. “A pleasure.”

She held out a dainty hand. Daiyu tentatively grasped it in her own, only to find it surprisingly firm – not only was her grip stronger than expected, but her skin wasn’t nearly as soft as Daiyu had thought it would be, either. A very faint smile flashed across the girl’s face as their hands shook once before the connection was severed. What was that all about?

“Anyway, this is… uh…” Loden trailed off, before turning to the girl. “You’ll want to do your own introduction, I presume?”

“You presume correctly.” The girl said, a hint of teasing in her voice. All of her emoting, Daiyu noted, seemed to be very reserved and minute. Not that she was as emotionless as she might have appeared, but she had to be supressing a lot. But why? What reason could she have had for having such a tight grasp on her emotions? Unless she was simply naturally unemotive. That was possible too, right?

“Daiyu.” A voice drew her out of her thoughts. “Azura.” Continued the girl, making eye contact with each of them in turn before lowering her head and speaking almost solemnly. “My name is Motokami Ame Miyuki. I am the daughter of Motokami Ame Ryo, the emperor of the Cheinise provinces.” She rose to meet them again. “I am a princess of this land.”

There was a silence for a moment, and then Loden grumbled.

“I thought you may have wanted to keep that to yourself.” He admitted. “Now matter how bad of a father your own may be – he’s still the emperor, and you’re still the princess, so action’s going to be taken to get you back.”

“I would gain nothing by keeping my identity a secret from these two.” Miyuki argued. “From strangers, I understand, but these are your crew. I don’t know how much time I shall spend here, and it’s not something that ought to be revealed by someone else further down the line.”

She may have had more to say on that matter, but at this moment her words hit their audience. Azura’s intake of breath was so deep and sharp, Daiyu couldn’t believe that her lungs would be able to hold so much air. Then, she began to speak.

“Oh my God.” She began to say, grasping the table and jumping up and down, several times. For Daiyu, it trod the line between endearing and unsettling. “She’s a princess she’saprincessshe’saprincess-” – she stopped, one of her legs still bouncing up and down. She indicated wordlessly to Miyuki for several seconds with her arms, waving them up and down in her direction. Her excitement was palpable, as though it were a physical thing.

“W – what’s it like?” She gasped, stars in her eyes. Miyuki seemed – understandably – a little surprised by Azura’s enthusiasm, but after a moment, she relaxed, and let a full smile blossom across her face. Which was odd, noted. Daiyu. Why was she now showing an emotion so openly?

“It’s nice.” She admitted, with the air of a parent or carer talking to a child. Age-wise, this may well have been plausible, but the illusion was slightly shattered by the fact that Azura was obviously the taller of the two. Nevertheless, she spoke in a maternal-esque fashion. “There are a lot of expectations, and a lot of people watching, which can be hard. But you get to see amazing things. And if you’re good, history will remember you.”

Azura nodded enthusiastically, head practically a blur as it moved up and down. Was she taking it all in, or was it all going over her head in the rush? Daiyu couldn’t tell. The girl seemed to be enjoying herself either way, though, so… oh well.

“Do people do everything for you?” She continued. Was she getting even more excited? Her words were becoming less discernible as they shot out of her mouth like cannon fire.

“So often that you wish you could do it for yourself, after a time.” Miyuki nodded sagely.

Was Azura even speaking words anymore? A high-pitched, excited, exclamation was coming out of her mouth as she jumped up and down. Whatever it was, it lasted for several seconds – long enough for Daiyu to wish that she could cover her ears without looking rude.

“…How are you here with us?” She eventually squealed. She was quite the sight, hopping from foot to foot as she stared expectantly at Miyuki, who was able to continue to patiently smile. What had brought on this change in attitude? She had seemed so… uncaring, before.

Miyuki brought one finger to her chin, in a show of thought. “Well, it’s a long story.” Her eyes flickered to Loden, and her smile grew a tiny bit wider. “I suppose you could refer to it as a daring rescue.”

Azura gasped again, turning to Loden and back to Miyuki. “A rescue!”

Miyuki tittered. “I am afraid that I cannot recount the entire tale right now. There are some pressing matters to be attended to first.” She leant forward, and stared Azura in the eyes. “But I promise you, when I have the opportunity, I will tell you the entire story. Does that sound fair?”

“…Yes!” Azura fumbled with her body for a moment before sinking into a clumsy curtsey. “…My lady!”

Miyuki laughed again. “No need for that, Azura. “Miyuki” is alright.”

“Okay!” Azura nodded to show that she had understood, before her gaze started flickering around. She began to bound towards the stairs. “I’m going to go check on the engines again!”

“Alrighty.” Loden waved her off. “Take care.”

“See you later!” Azura waved before vaulting down the stairs, landing with a metal clang. A moment passed – metal clangs could be heard getting ever-louder as she hurriedly ran back up the stairs. Her head popped over the top of the floor, from where she hit Miyuki with one last sunshine-y grin. “It was really nice to meet you, princess!”

“Miyuki.” The princess reminded, smiling back in kind as she gave a dainty wave. Azura nodded, then ducked down the stairs again. The sound of her footsteps quickly faded. Without the girl’s presence, the room suddenly felt very empty. Definitely a lot quieter. As she listened, Daiyu realised that the ship must have landed again – the hum that could be heard when in the air, which Daiyu had assumed was from the mechanics of the engines, couldn’t be heard.

Miyuki’s shoulders sagged slightly, and her face returned to one of indifference. Had it all been an act, then? Daiyu found that she wasn’t sure whether that disappointed her or not.

“Sorry about that.” Loden smirked as Miyuki moved back towards the table and sat down again.

To Daiyu’s surprise, Miyuki smiled again.

“Don’t be.” She said. “As a matter of fact, I actually enjoy talking to children and younger people a great deal.”

“Why?” Daiyu blurted out before she could stop herself – mortified, she slapped a hand to her mouth, but Miyuki didn’t seem to take offence at her interruption.

“Some of the most earnest people I have ever met have been children.” She explained. “No hidden agendas, no dark thoughts. They always seem to mean well, and it is refreshing when they do not take everything so seriously.” She waved a hand. “Adults are always overthinking matters, trying to outwit and double-think one another into submission. Children-” she paused. “Or maybe it’s not fair to call her a child. I don’t know exactly how old she is. But she has that quality of childlike wonder and innocence – at least, that is what I see. In any case, people like her say what’s on their mind. They’re honest, and kind. After all of my experiences, it’s…” she seemed to genuinely search for the right words. “Refreshing.” She eventually decided.

“Makes sense.” Loden shrugged, before folding his arms as he leant backwards in his chair. It was a precarious position, and Daiyu couldn’t help but worry that he might topple backwards, but he seemed confident enough. “You said that “pressing matters” needed to be attended to?”

“Indeed I did, prince of nonsense.” Miyuki declared, smiling at him before schooling her face into a more intense expression of experience. Prince of nonsense? Where had that come from? Loden wasn’t reacting badly, so… maybe it was an inside joke? In any case, Daiyu dismissed the issue. It was obvious that something more important was being discussed. “You see,” continued the princess, “I… well, no, I’ll start with this: thank you.” She faced the two (mostly Loden). “Thank you for allowing me to join you, or – at the very least – tolerating my presence. That being said…” She turned directly to Loden, now. “You were right. My father will try to get me back, and he will be relentless in doing so.” She sighed. “Which is why we have to leave the country.”

“Leave it?” Loden repeated, sounding incredulous. Daiyu couldn’t blame him. It sounded like a drastic proposal.

“Once we cross a border, we will be out of his jurisdiction.” Clarified Miyuki, extending a hand in a placating gesture. “What were you going to do with this ship? We could adjust it, or come to a compromise?”

“We…” Loden trailed off, frowning. Daiyu nervously viewed him, then Miyuki, then decided to speak again.

“We didn’t have a plan, as far as I know.” She confessed. Feeling Miyuki’s gaze turn to her, she flinched. “We… we used the ship to escape from a… from our village after it was destroyed. We don’t have any sort of plan.”

Miyuki steepled her hands together and leant back in her chair as she processed this, before leaning forward again to address her audience.

“As empty as it may sound, know that I am sorry for what happened to you.” She said, voice low and solemn. Daiyu nodded acknowledgement – Loden said nothing. “But…” She continued, “this does mean that you can leave the country. Technically.”

There was no immediate reply. She sighed.

“Believe me, I want to stay. It is important for me to interact with, and understand, the people of my country. But if my father catches me, this will have all been for nothing. He will take me back to Phek-Kai, and place me under heavier guard than before. This is my only chance to see the world.” She turned to look towards the ceiling, as though she were speaking as much to herself as her audience. “I am the caged bird that has fled the cage. Someday, I shall return. But the knowledge and experience that I could gain by prolonging the inevitable…!” She trailed off. The words remained unsaid. To Daiyu, at least, her point had been made. But the decision wasn’t hers. She turned to Loden, who shrugged.

“Don’t know if it’s our call, to be honest.” He admitted. “We’ll have to check with the others, to see what they think. But…” He stopped talking, and raised his head to meet Miyuki’s eyes. The two stared at one another with a certain intensity. “Miyuki, I get it. And I think that we can give it a try.”

There was no overstated celebration, and no dramatic embraces. But Daiyu was still able to sense from Miyuki a feeling of palpable gratitude.

“Thank you.” She dipped her head humbly, the power of the two words resonating with Daiyu and almost sending shivers down her spine. Loden, for his part, simply winked.

“No problem, princess.”

**********

Two hours later, Iamos finally awoke from his slumber. Upon hearing a groaning from the room that he had claimed, Daiyu wandered to the door and gently tapped on the metal. She was met with a sleepy “Yeah?”

“You’re awake, then?” She asked, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice. As much as she wanted to befriend Iamos (and, to a certain extent, she had), there was still that underlying current of fear from when the had first met. How little effort had it taken to trap her? Could he do it again? What else would drive him to it? Granted, it was mostly irrational. She had discerned enough about his personality by this point to understand that he would never do something like that without good reason, and that he felt no ill will towards her. But there was still a small part of her subconscious that could only view him with fear.

“…Yes.” He said, before opening the door. He blinked wearily as he itched the side of his chin, where a thin layer of stubble had grown after days of neglect. He – he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. Daiyu clapped a hand over her eyes as she felt heat rush to her cheeks. Was he okay with that? Had she crossed a line? Had she invaded his privacy?

“You alright? Didn’t you want something?” Iamos continued to talk. Either he couldn’t detect her embarrassment, or he didn’t care. She exhaled sharply through her nose, making a snap decision to bite the bullet.

“Are you alright with me seeing you without a shirt?” She managed to say without gabbling or choking up the words. She couldn’t see Iamos’ expression (still covering her eyes), and there was a petrifying moment of silence before he replied to her question.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”

She uncovered one eye, spreading her fingers apart across her face. “Are you sure?”

Iamos nodded, looking down at himself before – was he meeting her eyes? No, not quite, but it was still jarring to see his gaze relatively in line with hers. He was, she decided, looking past her head. Not quite eye contact, but there was something notable – and somewhat flattering – about the effort that he appeared to be making. “I’m not really bothered by that stuff, I guess. Apparently, when I was younger, Rainer had to keep reminding me to put clothes on, because it wouldn’t… uh, it wouldn’t register with me.” His face visibly fell, and Daiyu winced at the mention of the old man. They still had no idea if he had survived or not.

“So…” She tried, awkwardly, to fill the silence. “Does it embarrass you at all?”

He shrugged. “I guess I grew into a little bit of self-consciousness. But people just seeing my chest doesn’t bother me.” He frowned, suddenly. “Wait, does it bother you?”

“Huh?” She was taken aback by the change in the conversation’s direction. Did it bother her? “I – I mean, I didn’t… I didn’t want to embarrass you, that was my main worry.” She stuttered.

“Does it bother you?” He repeated in almost the exact same tone, only he placed a bit more emphasis on the question.

“A… a little.” She admitted, blushing again. “But only because I’m not used to it!”

Iamos almost stumbled over himself as he backed out of view, poking his head round the door whilst hiding his torso. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok!” She gasped. “Really!”

“I’m sorry!” He said, again, before shutting the door with a metallic clang. Daiyu stood stock-still in place for a moment, unsure how to react, before dragging her hands down her face in mortification. Her toes had curled inwards inside her shoes from the embarrassment. She must have stood there for several seconds in a semi-petrified state before the door opened again. Iamos reappeared – this time, the purple shirt was slung over his chest.

“I… just realised.” He mumbled, now looking down at the floor (as usual). “You, uh… you wanted something, right? Was there… was there a reason for coming to see me?”

“…Yeah.” Daiyu’s voice was a whisper. For her part, she couldn’t look him in the eyes either. “It’s about where we’re heading next.”

Iamos sighed, as his body began to lose tension. She heard him inhale, then exhale. “Yeah, alright. Makes sense. I’m the pilot.” He straightened up again, clenching his fists by his sides as he rose to his full height, as though he were shrouding himself in confidence. He turned to Daiyu. “So, uh, where are we headed?”

Daiyu recalled Miyuki’s words. “we have to leave the country”, she had said. But Iamos wasn’t one for change – she knew that now, she thought. How would he react…?

She was jolted out of her thoughts by the sight of him staring intensely at her. His eyes were actually making contact with hers. A deep cerulean, like an ocean, they had an indescribable piercing quality. It was as though she were being stripped bare, removed of all secrets or lies, and her soul was in his sights. She shook her head to clear the thoughts. He was speaking.

“You don’t want to tell me.” He said, frowning. “Is it that bad?”

He could… tell? How she was feeling?

“…We have to fly out of the country.” She admitted. “So that Miyuki’s father doesn’t take her back.”

Iamos closed his eyes. For a fleeting moment, his face contorted into something painful, but then it relaxed again, and he opened his eyes again – though they weren’t looking at her any more.

“I figured it was something like that.” He admitted. “At least, I figured we’d have to pretty far to get away from the Emperor. Did everyone else think it’s a good idea?”

Daiyu nodded. “And, once we’re across a border, we won’t be under his jurisdiction.” She repeated. He nodded back.

“Got it.”

The next thing he did was to pull a fast-becoming familiar piece of parchment from his pocket, tied up in a bright green cord. His master’s map. Unfurling it to its full length – the size of a large scroll, or thereabouts – he held one end in either hand, stretching the whole thing out until it filled up most of his vision. Daiyu watched, expectant. Suddenly, Iamos said with such an authority and clarity that it made her jump:

“Map. Show me the quickest route to the nearest national border.”

A very faint scratching to be heard, like distant pen over faded parchment. Daiyu didn’t have a proper view of what was happening, but she could see dark shapes appear on the other side of the map, implying that something was being drawn on the front. What was happening? She stepped back, both figuratively and literally, to examine the map in a new light. Though she wasn’t sure what was happening, she believed that she could guess. Was the map… changing based on Iamos’ instructions? His wants?

Did it have something to do with the man from the village? Daiyu remembered Iamos saying something about the map, as though it were important. Then she remembered the fire, and then she shuddered, breaking herself out of her memories. Iamos was already marching ahead. She almost tripped over her own feet following as they made their way to the cockpit. Iamos wasted no time in sitting down in the pilot’s seat, positioning the map on top of some dials so that he could see it. Daiyu sat beside him in the adjoining seat.

“Iamos, are you sure about this?” She asked, coming to a sudden realisation. “You’ve been doing a lot of flying already, don’t you want to-”

“What time is it?” Iamos interrupted. Daiyu obediently peered through the cockpit’s glass at the sun.

“It looks like early in the afternoon.” She said. “Do you think you’ve gotten enough sleep, then?”

“If it’s the afternoon, then I’ve slept for upwards of twelve hours.” Iamos revealed, flicking switches and pulling on the wheel that seemed to control the ship’s steering. The Origin jolted to life. The hum of the engine returned – a constant, soft background noise. “I’m good to go.”

Before Daiyu could say anything else, Iamos tugged on the wheel again, and slammed his leg down. The Origin began to drive forwards before lifting off into the sky. As Daiyu clutched onto her chair to balance herself, she suddenly noticed a button she hadn’t observed before. Frowning, she edged her finger towards it. What if it was dangerous? What if it wasn’t? She pressed it before she could change her mind. It brightened up a colour, but nothing happened.

“What did you-” Iamos’ question was cut off as it became apparent what she had done. His voice should have only been in the cockpit, but now they could hear it from outside the room, booming down the corridor. If Daiyu had to guess, it would be carried all around the ship.

“I think it’s to let you talk to everyone at once.” She revealed, in wonder. Her voice, too, carried everywhere at once. The Origin, it seemed, still had surprises in store. Just what kind of vessel was this?

“Cool.” Iamos muttered, before speaking louder. “Okay, everyone. After consideration of a passenger’s requests, we are heading for the nearest border – once we’ll cross over it, we’ll be in an area called the “Icy Wastes”. Rough estimates are that it’ll be…” He frowned. “At least a couple of days.”

He glanced towards the horizon, and his frown turned into something lighter. A confident smile that Daiyu didn’t think she had seen on him before.

“But we’ll get there.” He assured them.