All DISCLAIMERS from previous parts apply.
Address to mail that stuff you call feedback to:
jkc1984@niia.net
Primary goal for writing this:
For enjoyment--yours and mine. So go to it!
THE FOUR LOVERS: STRANDED
NINX
CHAPTER FOUR
A PRINCESS IN PERIL
"Let's see...how did Venus do it? Flip the switch, slide this
on this side and this on this side, and then press the button
and...voila! Hey, I just invented a new word!"
Serenity giggled as she stared into the Emergency Kit, the
first of the two she'd brought. Endymion, her companion for
the last few "days" (if you could call them that--they were SO
SHORT!), had gone off to search for a place they could truly
rest. Both had been too exhausted and 'damaged,' as he'd said,
to even consider the kits or real shelter at the time.
Luckily, the nights had been warm; however, he'd predicted a
frigid night. This meant they couldn't sleep in trees again,
tressed up with red rope. "For emergencies," he'd said with a
small grin. She wondered just exactly what kind of emergencies
required red rope, but decided it probably wasn't good for a
princess to think on.
she thought rather giggly
to herself. Being with the Prince without a chaperone was one
thing; sleeping near him was another; talking openly about
EVERYTHING was a huge demerit. If her mother wasn't made of
stronger stuff, she'd probably have fainted by then.
she thought gently as she began to go through the
items in the kit. She pictured the Sea Prince, with his
peculiar shade of blue-green hair and his deep, nearly violet
eyes, out in the woods talking informally with her. Or helping
her cut her long dress so it hung about mid calf, so that she
wouldn't catch on the abundant thorns and long grasses that
grew wildly around her. She smiled at that memory, remembering
the half-lidded Endymion carefully slicing the material and
somehow not seeing more leg than he was supposed to. Well,
really, he wasn't supposed to see much leg at all; the Senshi
wore the short, BATTLE skirts--she wore the long, FORMAL
dresses. However, trying to slot Prince Priam, her near
fiancee, into these memories...just didn't work. Endymion may
have been rougher around the edges than a normal prince was,
but she gave him due credit for his guts and determination and
his willingness to due ungainly and ungraceful things.
She sighed again, and rearranged the various survival supplies
back into the kit so they fit. Shutting it with a decisive
slam, she decided to take a small respite before opening the
second. The day was beautiful--warm, with the faint sunlight
shining heavily on her bare arms, and the smell of flowers
blossoming over the thick air. She flicked her wrist up,
producing a shimmer of silver sparkles, and then a floating
picture of Priam appeared. she thought
dreamily, staring at it.
The image wavered suddenly, and in a swirl of sparkles turned,
unbidden, into Endymion. she thought, staring
at the image. It was a perfect picture of him, caught in one
of his rare smiles. Her heart rate began to jump, and she sighed.
"SERENITY! OH, PRINCESS!!"
The call was loud, and wild, and a warning, just in case she
was doing something private. She quickly adjusted herself to
modesty, and opened the second kit and rumaged through it
quickly, trying to make it look like she'd done something.
"Little slacker," he said from over her shoulder.
She looked back with an "Oh," then smiled. "I was just
enjoying the day," she protested in a soft voice.
He smiled; "If I catch
you once more enjoying yourself, then I'm going to leave you
here," he joked.
"Oh no, spare me!" she pleaded, eyes widening to near tears.
He chuckled, enchanted by the dramatics of her voice and those
softly tearing blue eyes.
"All right," he said, as sternly as he could manage. "But if
I catch you again..." His face sharpened into a nasty, yet
obviously fake look.
"Did you find anything?" she asked quietly.
He nodded, and offered his hand to her. She took it and
stood, then asked, "What?"
"You'll see," he replied, grabbing one of her kits and the
cache of red rope she'd been sitting on.
"Are you going to tie me up AGAIN?" she whined as he drew out
a piece and knotted it.
ran quickly through
his head. He quickly made sure his head was down and knotting
the rope, hiding the flush that had sprung to his face. "It's
for your own safety, Princess," he replied.
"Hmph. It chafes," she whined a little, then caught his face
tightening abruptly. Though his thoughts were on a far
different plane, she'd thought she'd hurt him, and quickly
added, "Not that I don't enjoy the company."
He looked up, and she caught something dark in his eyes.
"Ditto, Princess," he replied. "Come here."
She did, and raised her arms obediatantly as he pulled the
noose over her and pulled it till it hung slightly loose around
her waist. He then did the same thing with himself, letting
her tighten it until he pronounced it satisfactory. Then the
two set out.
he thought as he
carefully wound her through the thick grass. he paused to sniff the air again They passed the distance in
silence, Serenity wrestling with her kit since it kept
slipping. By the time she'd gotten it fixed, he pronounced,
"We're here."
"Just in time," she muttered, loosening the kit and setting it
on the ground. "Can I take the rope off yet?"
"You really don't like it, do you?" he asked, voice down a
notch.
"The rope? I guess most ladies would die to be connected to
you by a red rope, but..." she shrugged. "Besides, my dress
isn't as thick as your shirt."
"Hmmm...your right, I didn't notice," he replied softly.
"Okay, from now on, no more rope."
She brightened visibly. "Wonderful! I mean, it's great that
you didn't want to lose me or anything, but I think I can cling
to you without this blasted thing's help!" She quickly wriggled
out of it and demonstrated, holding onto his arm.
He smiled down at her blond head and gently pulled her off of
him, then loosened his noose and stepped out of it as well.
"There's the cave," he pointed.
She stepped forward to look at it, and her face went blank.
He watched her as her blue eyes carefully ran over the nooks
and crannies of the small opening leading to its inside. She
walked to the entrance itself, eyes again examining the inside
with the eye of a princess. he wondered as he walked to her side. His
hunter's eye traced over the rocky floor, picking up traces of
ancient spore, the bites of moss, the dark and damp insides.
She turned to him, face grave, and pronounced, "It's
wonderful."
"What?" he asked, unsure if he heard right.
"It's wonderful! We have shelter and open space, and look,
there's stones for a firepit!" she exclaimed, moving around the
cave in slight steps. She smiled now, face blossoming with
light and blue eyes shining. "You have the best luck."
he thought. "So you like it?"
"YES, I LIKE it," she said slowly. Guessing his mind, she
added, "Just because I'm a Princess doesn't mean that I can't
enjoy nature. The Senshi routinely went camping on the moon,
and sometimes took me with. Of course, we weren't REALLY
roughing it, but I have a little," she held her fingers a bare
fraction apart, "experience with caves."
He chuckled a little. "You're a pleasant surprise, Serenity,"
he said, turning back to grab the kits.
"You are too, Endymion. I would never know you and Priam are
cousins."
He grinned openly now. "Priam and I have always been
different, and always been at odds, too," he said as he carried
them into the cave, mentally plotting out that night. "Even
though we are blood related, and should get along, we usually
don't."
"How sad," she sighed.
"I don't mind," he replied. "Priam is a jerk. I pity the
woman who marries that shallow, conceited, lazy prop."
He'd been staring at the ground as he said it, and didn't
notice Serenity's face slowly redden. It struck her hard that
this man, her friend, didn't care that he should repeat these
things in front of HER. So when her stony voice said, "I don't
want your pity," his head flew up as if someone had jerked a
puppet string attached to his head.
"Wha.." he began to ask, but was stopped by the look of her
stormy eyes. Her whole figure seemed to bristle, blond strands
of hair washing around her, eyes nearly glowing, a darker blue
than before; and if he concentrated, he could almost detect a
faint whirl of bone white power swirling behind her.
"How dare you talk about Priam like that, especially to ME!
ME! I can't believe you would be so cruel, Endymion. I thought
you were different from the others, from the stories people
told me. Maybe you aren't so different after all!!" From her
stormy eyes dripped one tear, which slowly traced a line
through the dust on her smooth cheek; Endymion felt a strange
pain inside him, and an urge to sooth her welled up. he thought.
"What's Priam to you?" he asked carefully.
"My FIANCEE, Earth Prince!" she yelled, eyes angrier than
before. "I can't believe you!" With a flourish, she turned,
and in angry grace stormed from the cave opening to the deeper
bowels within it, leaving him to gawk at her fury.
"Fiancee?" he muttered to himself. "Priam has HER for a
fiancee? Incredible. He rules the Earth, he can get away with
murder, incest, rape and pillage and still be considered the
holiest man on Earth, and now he hooks himself a Moon Princess
for a wife." He shook his head, something between anger and
BITTER jealousy stirring in his heart. He turned away finally
and closed his mouth, taking a deep breath and searching for
calm. Not surprisingly, he found it had abandoned him.
he thought. He looked once more, then sighed. As he stepped out of the cave, he wondered
how the angry Princess could have rattled him so. Supposedly,
she was just reverting back to type. However, his mind quickly
and sharply reprimanded him on that, surprisingly him.
he wondered as he took up his hunting knife,
* * * *
"There you are," Mercury pronounced. "All metallic pieces
removed, area cleaned and bandaged. You should be just fine
within a couple of these days."
"Thank you again, Lady Mercury. Fine job," he replied with a
tenative smile. She smiled back, pleased to have put her
skills to such a good use on such a good looking patient.
she scolded herself,
Suddenly, as he watched her eyes light at his compliment, she
gave a faint gasp. Immediately his hackles rose, and he asked,
"Something troubling you, Lady?"
She smiled a little and looked down; a faint, rosy blue
colored her cheeks at his noticing. "Can't you hear it, Lord
Zoicite?"
His brow furrowed as he concentrated, wondering what he
could've been ignoring; and then came the low, soft rumbling
that brought recognition to his eyes. "Thunder, Lady Mercury.
It's thunder."
"Yes," she replied somewhat sadly.
"What's wrong? Does thunder trouble you?" he asked, sitting
up.
"Oh no, it doesn't trouble me," she replied, looking down at
him. "I'm used to it. On Mercury, it storms almost
constantly. I've also worked with Jupiter for most of my
Senshi life, so it doesn't bother me anymore." She looked
pensive then, and turned to look out the tent door.
"What is it, then?"
"The Princess, Lord Zoicite. She's deathly afraid of
thunderstorms," she said, turning toward him, arms crossed over
her chest. "I hope she's all right out there."
* * * *
Serenity shivered again as the thunder cracked above her. she thought again, vehemently trying to
stop the storm with her mind.
It didn't work; the storm roared on, untouched and uncaring
about the Princess below.
The worse thing, she knew, was that being around somebody
would ease her fear. Yet the only one around was Endymion, and
she really didn't want to see him right now.
she corrected herself. Her pride rose
every time she wanted to move from the small cleft in the cave.
Yet still she wanted, more than anything, to go to him.
The thunder rumbled and snapped above her again, and she
clutched herself in fear and panic. She tried to swallow the
fear, but it rebelled and tried to swallow her. It was then
that the shadow fell across her, and she gasped.
"Serenity?" came the soft, coarse voice. "Serenity, are you
here?"
"Endymion?" she replied, wonderment plain in her voice.
Slowly she stood, arms still clasped about herself in fear.
"Princess!" he called, appearing in the light of the torch,
eyes uncertain. Before she could become cold to him, he said
carefully, "I wanted to apologize."
She blinked, thinking,
"The thing I said about my cousin were mean spirited and rude.
I'm sorry to insult the two of you," he said, voice heavy.
She smiled to herself, and gently replied, "I understand,
Prince Endymion, what you feel for your cousin. My Senshi have
caused the same friction. All the same, it still hurt, though
I know you didn't mean it." She looked down and openly smiled.
"I should've known that you had no idea Priam had proposed.
It's an open secret for those in court, but no one else knows."
He felt his mind and heart strengthen at her kind words, and
let a smile slip. Then, he heard the thunder rumble, and was
surprised to see Serenity shiver.
"Princess," he said, leaning closer to her, "are you all
right?"
"Um...yes," she said slowly. "I'm...I'm just fr.."
Thunder cracked, and without warning, Endymion found himself
with his arms full of Serenity.
She was shaking, and cold, but her grip around his waist was
vise-like and strong. His arms, on autopilot now, enclosed
her, and he whispered, "Hey...hey, what's wrong?"
She didn't reply, shifting in his arms once again as the
thunder rumbled louder. He became acutely aware of exactly how
close she was to him, almost as if she was slowly sinking into
him and becoming part of him. He slowly became aware of dozens
of other things as well--the faint smell of sweetness in her
hair; the feel of her body through his armor, soft and warmy
and almost downy; the touch of her hair, cold and silky; the
whisper of her breath against his chest, warming his heart. So
much more, as well, and not only externally, but internally as
well. In so little time it would make some gasp, he was
totally overwhelmed by her nearness, and felt a sudden, strong
urge to PROTECT and CARE for her sweep through him, leaving him
powerless to resist it. Suddenly, she shivered again, and his
hand gently stroked her back and her hair in response. His
mind had shut down; his heart had fainted away; his soul was
blossoming; only his body could move, mechanically, to stroke
her hair.
Finally, she whispered, "I hate thunderstorms."
He said nothing in reply for a minute or so, then replied,
"You're safe in here, Princess. Nothing can touch you."
The words did comfort her; she was not ummune to the strong,
steady arms, comforting voice, and the deep warmth that had
formed between them. she
thought.
It was as if a brand had been pressed against her brain; the
heat and pain snapped her from her haze of comfort. she
thought.
Hastily, she pulled herself from him, wriggling her way from
her confinement and shocking him out of his warmth. They
stared at each other for a tense second before Serenity said,
"Endymion, I'm sorry for the outburst. It won't happen again."
"It's understandable, Princess. You were scared," he replied,
voice shaky as all his systems tuned in once again, mind
roaring chastisement at him.
"Yes...I hate storms," she echoed again, looking downcast.
He managed to form a grin, then said, "Listen."
She did. "What? Something wrong?"
"No, something right for once. The storm's stopped," he
replied.
"Oh...OH! All right!" she replied, joyfully, smiling
brillantly.
"Yes...um, Princess, did you want some dinner now?"
"Dinner?" she asked in wonderment. Then, with a mental shrug,
"Oh sure, dinner. I'm starved. Lead the way, Prince E."
He smiled at this, and led her way towards the front of the
cave, proving that the storm had actually stopped, not just
receded for a nit. Serenity, however, mused that she'd have to
dig out her lights soon; the few shards of light that made it
around Endymion's cape were golden, a sure sign of the coming
night. What she saw on the cave floor caused her to remark,
"Been busy, Endymion?"
He grinned now, wide and bright. "A little," he said. "I
need to find something to do when I have a lot on my mind.
Helps me try to sort things out."
"I see," she replied. Something cooked over them, wrapped in
leaves and giving off a tender smell. "You must have had A LOT
on your mind, Endymion. What is it?"
"Saturn mouse, I think," he said. "It looked like something
out of my studies on Outer Moon biology..." he cut off, a
little suddenly, and Serenity puzzled as she sat on a rock near
the warm coals; he copied her motion, though sat on the floor.
The night was nearly risen, and a chill cut through the cave.
She shook her head, not quite recalling the memory,
and asked, "And the leaves?"
He rattled off the name for the leaves in perfect Saturn,
which sounded exactly like a mixture of gibberish and music to
Serenity; then, to her puzzled look, he added, "A form of
coltsfoot. It's a plant we have in the Royal Herb Gardens.
My...mother...she used to use it. She said it gave everything
a salty tang."
"Your mother? Is she," she hesitated a second, feeling
impropriety coming on, "gone?"
"She died in the last Earth-Sea series," he replied. "One of
our servants was sympathetic to the Sea cause, and poisoned
her. She died within my eyes, within my arms, miserably. I
was...ten at the time, and I've...never forgotten her." He
gave up the knowledge as if he discoursed a great secret; in
fact, a part of Serenity felt he was giving part of himself in
telling her.
ran through her mind.
"I'm sorry, Endymion," she said, geniunly sympathetic. "I
never knew the Earth was so dangerous."
His eyes had closed, and in the firelit remained so as he
sucked the emotions into himself. Still, a tear managed to
escape under his lids, making Serenity's heart flutter rapidly
in pity. Instinctvely, she reached over to him and brushed the
tear away, a consoling gesture that caused his eyes to flash
open, dark blue. "I'm truly sorry, Endymion. My father died
when I was just an infant, but if I ever lost my mother...."
she turned her head away. "I'd lose my mind. Especially so
young.." she let the words fall away, unwilling to continue.
He studied her turned head and gentle profile, feeling her
concern and taking it to heart. Quietly he replied, "I never
knew the Moon Kingdom's precious Princess could be so...so not
like a Princess. You have no idea what I hear about your
people."
She turned back, and smiled a little. "I know, I know. We're
snotty, pretentious..."
"bossy and snobby..."
"...snooty, high-flung, aristocratic interlopers," she
finished. "Did I get them all?"
"I think you did," he replied, his face starting to crack into
a smile.
"Of course," she started, "you Earth people are belligerant,
warlike, bellicose, millitant, antipathic, cruel, insensitive,
truculent, callous jerks."
The fact that she rattled off the list with such airs caused
his sorrow to crack inside him, and he couldn't keep from
laughing on the outside either. Her face broke into a wide
smile, and she giggled along with him.
"You know, the Earth is not ALL bad," he said. "There are
some nice people--like my mother and the Generals and my
sister, Cation--and some of the lovliest places in the Sol
System can be found on Earth." His eyes became serious, and
his fave turned calm. "I came upon this gorgeous place once
while hunting with the Generals. I love to hunt...."
"I figured," she murmured, eyeing the cooking mouse. He moved
like a hunter as well, with predatory grace and agility that
came not just from watching animals, but being with them.
"...and it was a wonderful day for it," he continued after a
pause. "The four of us had just regrouped when we came upon a
trail that none of us had ever seen. I took Kunzite and
Nephrite with me, and we went to invesitgate."
"The sun was just beginning to set in front of us, and I knew
soon that it would be difficult to keep with the trail.
However, I pressed on; to this day, I don't know why. What
waited for me, though...was more beautiful than you, Princess."
Serenity thought. It was written by the set
of his features, and the awe in his eyes.
"It led us up a hill, and the three of us climbed it,
wonderment growing within me with every step. Finally, it
broke over, presenting me with a sight enough to make Kunzite
gasp. The trail sloped downward as fiercly as it'd sloped
upward, and at the bottom lay a lake. The trees and the fading
of the sky framed it in wonderous colors, and the background
with the sun setting sent a pathway of gold out to our eyes.
It was just incredible."
"I'd love to see it someday," Serenity breathed, caught up in
the imagery in her mind, eyes sparkling.
"Perhaps you will one day," he said. "I visit it often, when
I need to think."
"When I need to think, I go to the Gardens," she said as he
shuffled the coals around and fiddled with the mouse. "The
flowers there are so beautiful...but my favorites are the
roses."
"Roses?" he asked.
"Uh-hmm," she said. "It's almost a joke between the Senshi
and I...but whenever I feel that they've done something
incredible or just been nice or need cheering, I leave them a
rose. It's my most precious gift, since they're the only
flowers I truly consider mine."
"We have roses on Earth as well," he said. "They're lovely
among flowers, but they all smell so sweet."
She smiled. "It's a gentle smell, though," she said. "Now is
the mouse done?"
"Um..." he poked it. "Yes, it is," he replied. "Do we have
anything to eat off of?"
In response, she pulled a kit up, rumaged through it, and came
up with two square sheets of plastic. "Think these would do?"
she asked. "I believe they're designed to catch water, but..."
she shrugged.
"Anything is better than the floor," he said frankly.
"Really, I'm surprised they didn't have plates in there.
They've been prepared so far."
"Overly so."
"I wasn't going to be the one to say it," he replied as he
sliced the meat with his knife.
"It's all right. I know my Senshi mother me," she replied as
she handed him his plastic. "Oh, and we have knives and
spoons."
"Knives and spoons?!? Couldn't they throw a fork or two in on
principle?"
"It doesn't have a double purpose, or at least another non-
eating use that I can think of. My question is why I have more
silverware than I could ever need in here." She pulled out
four spoons and three knives.
"Obviously a kit designed for more than just you, Princess,"
he said as he arranged the hunk of meat he'd cut for her on the
plastic, then handed it to her. She handed him his sheet and
gestured toward the silverware; he declined. They both ate
with their fingers and got through the meal with only a couple
of mishaps. Not as if they cared anyway what they looked like.
Then came time to sleep. He banked the fire and stowed the
leftover mouse--which'd tasted okay but different to both of
them--and then they attended to natural functions. Finally, he
addressed the obvious problem when both had warmed themselves
back up from absolute zero.
"Do you have any blankets?"
"Yes," she replied, leafing through again. "Two, I thought."
He sighed in relief. "Just enough."
Her face turned red then; at first, he thought it was the
firelight, but it didn't change when she moved to shadow. "Or
not," she said, blush dripped on her cheeks combined
with...anger again?
"Hmm?"
She held up what she'd thought a blanket; instead, it was a
sheet of warm looking, warn cloth, with ragged edges. "Prince
Endymion, meet what looks like a large bandage," she said in
rough voice. She then produced the other, a furry brown and
white blanket that looked warm and cozy. She stared at him,
then it, then him, and asked quietly, "Do you want it?"
"No, Princess...it's yours. I'll just sleep near the fire
with my cloak and I should be fine. We can put that over the
outside," he replied.
"Are you sure?" she asked as she handed him her 'bandage'.
"Positive, Princess," he replied as he made the exchange.
he thought later that night. The 'bandage' had
proved as unsuitable a cave cover as it would've a blanket, and
his fitful sleep had been disturbed by the late nights chilling
temperatures. He shivered a little and pulled his cape
tighter, but it was no use. By this time, he would've been
willing to crawl into the fire itself.
Serenity, across the pit, was awakened by the cold as well,
and huddled deeper into her fur. It was then she noticed him
awake, and her heart quivered with sympathy once more. She
debated whether or not to let him know she was awake, then
finally said quietly, "Are you awake?"
"Yes, Serenity."
She hesitantly opened the blanket and crawled into the open;
instantly, her teeth began to chatter. It was really chilly
out here--really chilly. She crawled to him, dragging the
blanket with her.
"Princess..." he started, but she hushed him quickly.
"Listen, you lie against the wall, and I'll lean against you.
You can draw your cape around the both of us and the blanket,
and we should be fine. Double protection--body heat and
blanket."
She didn't notice him blush slightly; she was too cold.
However, his body was more concerned with getting warm than
with the consequences of what she said, and he nodded mutely.
Quickly, he helped her spread part of the comforter on the
floor, and then crawled atop it. She joined him, blushing as
she wriggled inside and got comfortable. He tugged his cape
over them; she managed to flip the top part of the cover of the
two of them, wrapping them in a snug cocoon of warmness.
"Goodnight, Princess."
"Goodnight, Prince."
And they both promptly feel into a deep sleep.
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