Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

He had saved her. What now?

For twenty minutes, Yuta had been swimming in distracted circles not far from the cavern. His curiosity was pressing him to track down Miroshi and find out what the idiot turtle had been intending for the young foreigner. Yuta doubted he'd receive any real answers, though. As was usually the case with the business Miroshi was employed for, it was most likely in the service of Kazi or one of the other Lords.

The Lords of the Heavens, particularly Kazi, were a truly fearsome bunch of Dragons, ones with secret, often morally questionable agendas. Yuta was not welcome among their kind, which was unfortunate as the Lords were in positions of great power among the members of his Race.

Kazi must have wanted this girl for something, something truly important, Yuta deduced. Otherwise, why employ Miroshi? Few tasks had required the use of the beast in the past few centuries. Miroshi was often a favorite threat among the Lords, simply because of his sheer size and ferocious stature, though he was never really used. He was the silent muscle of the Lords, a gentle giant. In childhood, Yuta had often been threatened to be fed to the turtle, teased with stories of the terror the beast had wreaked on the land in prior years. Lake Towada was fabled to have been formed by Miroshi himself. Myth recalled how Miroshi had been a pet of the gods, but when he proved too fearsome to tame, he was cast from Heaven, and the lake itself was a result of the impact.

Yuta often laughed to think that the fumbling lump of a reptile could wreak havoc upon anything but algae beds, and only ones easily within reach. Miroshi had obviously been chosen to execute whatever whim of Kazi's what had called for the kidnapping of a Western youth because of his size or strategic location, not his skill.

Yuta was well aware that he had left the half-drowned girl on a tiny spit of dry land at the bottom of a chasm. She was not likely to escape. It was probable that she could swim and be able to make it to the nearest shore, perhaps three quarters of a mile from the cave; however, Yuta doubted that upon the discovery of giant turtles with a taste for human flesh as well as that of, for all she knew, equally vicious lake dragons, she probably would not be making another venture into the waters of Lake Towada anytime soon.

Yuta dreaded the notion of returning to her and watching her react to his fearsome appearance a second time. He sighed heavily. He could take his Second Form, although in order to get her, much less himself, to safety, he would have to change Forms a second time. He played with the thought for a bit. The transformation was painful, but centuries of experience had made him almost numb to the process. Regardless, he disliked his weak, vulnerable human form immensely compared to that of a Dragon.

Yuta decided that the benefit of having a calmer, quieter human to deal with, one he could easily converse with and might be able to get some answers from, was worth the annoyance of transforming.

 

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Andria fell. Hard. Harder than her previous attempts had landed her. The rocks of the cliff wall were sturdy, and handholds were not extremely difficult to find, but every surface of the stone was slick with algae and moss made deadly by the moisture in the air.

Once her eyes had properly adjusted, Andria had been able to understand how dire her predicament was. She was trapped in a cavern with what appeared to be no entrance or exit and very little dry land. She had a tiny beach roughly the width and length of a school bus, and common sense told her that she was probably going to die on that very patch of sand.

Over and over, she had muddled through how she had come to be there. She had fallen overboard. The ferry had lurched suddenly, and from where she stood near the railings on the ferry, she must have lost her footing. She remembered hitting the water, and a sudden, intense pain seizing her right leg. She recalled the icy chill of fear that had gripped her as the sunlight, the surface, drifted farther and farther from view. Her next memories were of waking up there, in the cavern flooded with darkness for the most part, and of staring up into the ghost-white snout and razor-sharp fangs of a giant, scaly, monster.

Andria could only guess that her captor would be back soon. Why he hadn’t eaten her then and there was a mystery. He had probably been startled by her sudden return to consciousness. Unlikely as this reason was, whatever his motive for fleeing would probably not keep him at bay for long. Andria knew that any minute, he could return and make a quick meal of her.

She dusted the loose sand from her skirt and set to climbing again, making a mental note of which handholds had proved reliable and which to avoid. Her feet were bare. The shoes she wore were no good for climbing. The soles were stiff and slick and would offer little resistance against the slippery stones of the cave wall. Knowing that she would probably need them while trundling through the forest later, however, she had fashioned her socks into a makeshift sling, keeping the lightweight shoes tucked into the bottom of each stocking. She had no rigging, no protection if her feet slipped from a height much higher than what she had already scaled. She could only cross her fingers and pray that the stones nearer to the top were less slick, being closer to the heat of the sun and farther from the water at the bottom.

Her most recent attempt offered her only three good footholds before both hands slipped at once, sending her sprawling backwards. She landed with a light thud on her buttocks, her head coming down hard in immediate procession.

"Oowww," she groaned, reaching a hand back to nurse the sudden throbbing in her temples. The back of her palm grazed jagged rock, and the mere touch let her know just how close she had come to  being seriously injured. Upon opening her eyes, however, it was not dark sandstone that met her gaze. It was a boy.

A surprised squeak escaped her lips, and she scrambled to regain her footing. She could hear him chuckling, though his features were barely visible in the rough light. Most of his body, mid-torso down, was hidden by a fairly large rock face on the edge of the pool of water. It was a good thing, Andria thought, because from that point up, the boy was obviously naked. She was in too fragile a state to muse as to whether the same remained true for the bottom portion.

His skin shone pale as polished marble, glimmering in the faint light. He leaned on his elbows, propping himself up against the large rock. His mouth was split in a full smile, revealing two rows of flawless teeth. His hair was mangy and damp, spilling around his eyes and across the nape of his neck in a hue of black so deep that it made the white of his skin shine brighter in contrast.

Finding her nerve and her voice at the same time, she spewed, "Who are you," and quickly followed with, "and...and what do you want?" The inquiry came out more as a command than a question. Then again, this was no dragon she was dealing with. It was a man. And she, after all, was a completely helpless seventeen year old girl with an okay figure and no weapon, unless one could count two socks full of lightweight shoes.

The boy, or rather man, early twenties by her estimate, cleared his throat. "Calm down," he said in a voice that was probably meant to be soothing.

Louder, Andria repeated, "Who are you, and what do you want?" The smile that had split his face moments before was gone. "I'll scream. This is a pretty popular tourist destination. Someone will hear me." She knew it was an empty bluff even as it passed her lips. She had been screaming for help on-and-off over the past hour. Whatever corner of the lake she was trapped in was far out of earshot of any of the popular attractions, possibly even the ferry routes.

The man looked frustrated. He knelt and pushed a portion of coal-black hair from his face. He caught a ray of sunlight at just the right angle, allowing her just the briefest glimpse of the deep, black almond-shaped eyes beneath, as well as two thick eyebrows furrowed in thought, and a perfect, petite, though handsome nose. His hair spilled back over his brow, the tips brushing lightly across his beautifully defined cheekbones.

Andria's heart was pounding. She wasn't quite sure if it was from fear of the lake monster, fear of this guy, or something else entirely. She hadn't recalled her pulse throbbing quite so violently just a moment before.

"Forgive me," the man sighed. "I had no intention of frightening you." Noting the warning look in her ferocious blue eyes, he added, "My name is Yuta. I... I live here." It was true enough, he figured.

"Live here?" she asked suspiciously. "You mean around here, right? Not, well, here obviously." Her arm swung wide to indicate the narrow beach they were on. She seemed disheveled, not completely in control of her own thoughts, even as she formed them.

"Yes, around here," Yuta answered. He paused, considering her for a moment before continuing. "I saw what happened." Andria shot him a curious look

"You mean you saw me fall, right?" Andria's face flushed deep red. Was she embarrassed? "Well, as you can see, I'm alright, but thank you for going through the trouble of finding me." She took a moment, looking as though an elusive thought had suddenly come to her. "How...How did you find me?" Becoming suddenly excited, she took an anxious step in his direction, startling him briefly. "Do you know a way out of here?"

Yuta stared at her for a long moment. Her expression remained constant, pleading, desperate even. She had been climbing the walls, trying to escape when he found her again. Now, a look of ravenous desperation was gripping her every feature as she clung to yet another opportunity for quick escape. Oh god he thought. She thinks I'm going to eat her. A sadness he didn't fully understand claimed him. He couldn't blame her, after all. He was what he was, and how could she possibly know any better? Yuta judged that this little blonde girl had been raised probably her entire life on stories where Dragons were always vicious, always killing, and eventually, always killed.

When her hungry expression didn't vanish, Yuta looked up and said flatly. "No. I saw what happened." The look of confusion returned to her pretty face. Yuta sighed heavily, once more tussling his hair in frustration. He continued cautiously, choosing every word with calculated care, "I saw you fall, yes. But I also saw what happened after that."

"How?" she started. "How could you..." Her voice trailed off and her expression became lost in a sea of almost painful confusion.

"Because," he interrupted, "I'm the one who saved you." Andria didn't respond, her face remained unchanged.

Yuta paused. If he said much more, he would be committing treason of a very punishable kind. Unfortunately, he had more than passive experience with treason. Another mark on his record could mean banishment. Not that he had much left in Japan. Really, what could it hurt? Well, her. It could hurt her. But she was already in trouble. She might as well know what she had gotten herself into.

And besides, something about her struck him as familiar. Eerily so.

Taking another deep breath, Yuta rushed through the important details, about Miroshi, the ferry, and eventually, bringing her there.

She didn't look as though she bought it, but while she was there, Yuta decided he would try to get some answers of his own. After all, she wasn't going anywhere until he so decided. He was her only way out.

Before she could say anything, Yuta asked, "Now who are you?"

"Andria," she responded absently, still lost in her own thoughts. She was sitting down now, a little flustered from the sudden influx of information she didn't fully register.

"Where are you from?" he asked. Once he got through the basic, though still important, details, he could begin to piece together what Kazi had wanted with her.

"Tennessee," she answered.

"That's in the United States, right?"

Her response to him was a flustered nod. She was completely wrapped up in her own her thoughts. She would open her mouth as though wanting to say something, then shake her head and go right back to thinking.

After a long moment choosing his next question, Yuta asked, "Who are your parents?"

This caught her full attention for some reason. She stared at him with a look he wasn't sure how to decipher, almost angry but still confused. "How does that matter?" she spat. She was on her feet again in an instant. "I don't understand how my family has anything to do with any of this. Now,” she said defiantly, “are you going to help me out of here or not?"

He ignored her question. "What is it you don't understand?" he interjected calmly. "I'll try to explain better." And he would. What sense was there lying to her, now? Of course he wouldn't divulge every minute detail about himself, but giving her a little information might earn him a little trust.

"How did you see what happened after I fell?" she began. She knew it was perhaps likely that he had simply been swimming when the, as he described, turtle had started dragging her under, but as for fighting off such a giant reptile and swimming her all the way out here, she had her reservations.

Yuta shrugged. "I was asleep, and the commotion woke me up," he said truthfully. "You looked like you were in trouble, so I rescued you."

"So you're saying you fought off a giant turtle," she said with a more-than-slight twinge of sarcasm.

Once more, he shrugged, "It was either that, or I could have let you die."

"So according to you," she said accusingly, "you were just hanging out, sleeping, at the bottom of the lake, saw what happened, swam to my rescue, sucker-punched a monster turtle, and then drug me to safety on the other side of the lake."

"Yes," he said simply.

"How?" She spat the word as though it were a curse. "Are you some kind of Japanese Aqua Man?"

She was being serious, in her own sarcastic way. At least her temperament was serious. Despite the fact, the accusation made him laugh. After a few moments of steady laughter, she became frustrated. She crossed the few feet to the rock face, reached up, and pushed him forcefully with one arm.

He didn't lose his smile. "Well?" she insisted. "Either you're lying, or come up with some better explanation."

Andria crossed her arms in front of her. Her eyes were threatening. From two feet away from his own, he could better see the fragile beauty of her face, even though at the moment it was distorted in frustration. Her skin was nearly as pale as his own, shining like moonlight in the darkness of the cavern. Her lips were full, a delicate pink, twisted into an angry smirk. Her eyebrows were two perfect, brown lines, and her eyelashes were almost as thick and full as that of a horse. Her eyes themselves were as blue as the waters of Lake Towada on a perfectly clear afternoon, sparkling and glimmering in a similar fashion, as well. When she stared at him, they penetrated his very soul, caused his mind to draw an instant blank.

He stared at her for just a moment longer, as though taking in a final glimpse of a splendid piece of art. Her expression was beginning to soften ever so slightly, but he doubted they would relax completely until she had her answers. He broke her gaze for the slightest instant, then shrugged casually. "I'm a Dragon," he said.

It was now Andria's turn to laugh. Yuta couldn't help but noticed, even as she laughed at his honesty, that her beauty was enhanced ten-fold when a smile split her lips. Her eyes not only sparkled, but danced with radiance. The delicate lines of her face were less harsh, more rounded and pleasing to look at. The sound of her laughter he could only equate to the gentle pealing of tiny bells.

He did not have long to observe this new facet of her appearance, as the laughter suddenly stopped as quickly as it had begun. Her face became sober, etched with the prominent lines of sudden realization. He could almost physically see the connections being made in her mind in that very instant.

Andria's intoxicating eyes flicked up at him, but this time with a look of fear that cut him to his very core. She believed. At last he half-thought, but with her newfound belief had also come the realization that the monster she had met and had spent the past hour trying to escape from was back, staring at her with what-could-have-been hungry eyes.

The same sadness that had visited Yuta on-and-off since he first encountered the skittish creature returned to him once more. He was afraid to move, afraid to breathe, afraid to meet her gaze, knowing that anything he did would probably flip the switch and send her screaming again.

Several moments of complete silence, utter stillness, passed between the two. She was still rooted mere feet from Yuta, probably because fear had paralyzed her and prevented her from moving farther away.

Yuta thought he would try something, anything to attempt to earn her trust or at least make her but a smidge more comfortable around him.

He squeezed his eyes shut, noting her gasp as she flinched from the sudden movement. All at once, things began to happen. He wasn't quite sure exactly what it looked like from a third-party perspective, but he knew what it felt like. Painful.

Yuta retreated to a safe corner of his mind while the process took place, blocking the pain as best he could. He felt his bones begin to break and re-meld, distorting and shrinking at an alarming speed. His skin became hard and cold like stone, much heavier than the fleshy human skin he had been wearing moments before. Every inch of his body, inside and out, seared with pain for what felt like an eternity, but was actually only a matter of seconds.

Yuta felt the pain subside, his breath catch in his throat. He heard nothing but the sound of gentle waves sloshing against the beach. Opening his eyes, he was met by a wall of solid black rock. The medium-height rock he had been standing behind was now no less than eight times his current height. Looking up, he grumbled absently to himself, and began to scramble to the top. He couldn't help but be reminded as he did so of Andria desperately trying to scale the walls of the chasm when he found her. Despite the connotations thereof, he couldn't help but find it amusing.

He crested the top and looking around, found Andria in a fetal position, pressed against a spot on the wall as far from him as was possible. Her arms were slung over her protectively, and the rapid rise and fall of her ribs told him she was breathing silently, but heavily.

He waited for her to open her eyes.