Legend Of Dragoon Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend of Dragoon II ❯ Arrival at the Port ( Chapter 24 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
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Chapter 24) Arrival at the port

Liza finished her ascent, still flapping her new wings, and she hovered back over ground, replacing her brother upon solid soil. The only noise that now occurred within the forest surrounding the travelers was the wing-beat of the Dragoon form of Liza. As she landed back on the earthen path, silence continued. Not too long after, Liza was once again enveloped in light, but this time, when she was revealed after the light faded, she was back in her normal clothing instead of the blue armor. Even though she was still in a standing position, she was unsteady and started to lean to one side. Orrin noticed that she was falling in his direction, so he quickly repositioned himself and caught her. Softly, she was only able to mutter two words to Orrin, "Thank you." before she lost consciousness. Slowly, he lowered her parallel to Derreck, so that they could rest while they were knocked out.

The other three had set up camp while the winglies "slept". They had sat and talked, hoping that their companions would wake soon, so they could be back on their way to Furni, as well as to know that they were alright. Nearly two hours passed before Derreck began stirring. After ten minutes, he was able to open his eyes. The first movement he made consciously was putting his left hand up where the flying rat had hit him. By this point there was a very large welt visible, making an almost comical picture out of the scene. He stood up and hobbled over to the camp, since he was still injured from the fall. "How long have I been unconscious?" slowly came out of Derreck's mouth. Al replied, "A little over two hours, and it's about time ya got up." Shamefacedly, Derreck said, "I suppose so...." The scene went silent, but Rashe'm brought up, "Aren't you going to wake up Liza? Or can you do that?" Dawning upon Derreck, he said, "Oh, sorry! I'll try to wake her now."

After five minutes passed, Liza was back on her feet. She remained in disbelief of what had just occurred. The only one who could truly say that he understood how she felt was Rashe'm, the only other Dragoon. When he found out, he had been able to handle it, but for Liza, it was a bit too much. Liza wanted answers, but she knew that she couldn't get them from her current party, and that made her feel worse. Derreck began showing Liza's sulken mood, but something else was there. It was not detectable to the others, but it was there, jealousy.

By the time Liza and Derreck were well and able again, it was nearing dusk. With it being nearly impossible to travel in the darkness of the forest at night, the group set up camp along the path near the cliff. Al started making their night's dinner, when Liza asked, "Are you.... we still going to be able to make it on time for the ship departure?" Al cooly replied, "I believe so, yeah. It leaves the day after tomorrow, and we were hoping to use tomorrow as the relax day in Furni. It just may take all day tomorrow to get there, but we should make it." Liza looked down in a sorrowed manner, saying, "This is my fault... If I were stronger willed, I would not have passed out, causing our delay." Instead of Al making the reply this time, Rashe'm, who was nearby setting up beds, said, "Never blame yourself for things you can't possibly control. I won't allow it, Liza... We're all on this journey together, and we're not going to let the past hold us back, okay?" Slowly, Liza grinned and nodded, a single tear falling from her eye.

Dawn broke, the next morning, onto their sleeping faces. The first one to awaken was Al, he was accustomed to this. He looked around and saw the rest of the sleeping party, and he figured he'd let them sleep. In fact, he wanted to let them wake up to breakfast. So, he went the the remains of the last night's fire and lit it. There had been some water left over from the last night, so there was no need to fetch more. Once he had the fire going and a pot over the fire, he busily set to work.

Orrin awoke not much later after Al. He woke up to the sounds of cooking. He groggily sat up, rubbing his eyes, when Al noticed him. "G'morning, Orrin. Sleep well?" Still waking up, Orrin took his time replying. "Maybe I'd have slept better if your cooking was a bit quieter..." he said sarcastically. "Well, sorry, your majesty," said Al, taking up on the joke. They both laughed afterwards. Orrin turned to look at the rest of the group, still sleeping. For a moment, only a brief second, he swore he saw Derreck's face clench, as if in jealousy, or seething. But it disappeared as soon as it appeared, so Orrin dismissed it.

A half hour later, Rashe'm, Liza, and Derreck all woke, in sequence. They didn't wake to the sounds of breakfast, they woke to the smell. Orrin had offered his help in making breakfast, so it was finished sooner. "G'morning, everyone," called Orrin and Al, in sync. The first place Orrin's eyes went to was Derreck's face, because he remembered the phantom expression. When he examined his face, he was sure that Derreck couldn't have made that face after all. Derreck's face seemed to glow, it was radiant and almost blissful. Assured, Orrin took up the new duty of serving everyone's breakfast.

An hour later, with the sun just barely in the sky, the traveling group was ready to set off again for Furni. They proceeded up the path, which of course, led to more winding paths. Al kept reassuring everyone that they were almost out of the forest. The trees began to thin, and there was an increasing amount of light washing the forest. The day so far seemed to glow. Perhaps today would be a good day.

Within a half-hour, they were out of the forest and on the path to the water city, Furni. Al anounced to everyone, "If the weather stays clear today, we could get there by late afternoon." They traveled the path, taking somewhat of a formation, with Al and Orrin at the front, as Al recounted some old stories he knew, and Derreck was a little behind them, listening in on the big man's tales. Liza and Rashe'm were behind, talking quietly to each other. They had the Dragoon Spirits, so they had the most to talk about to each other, mostly about how it felt, all of that energy rushing through them.

Just before the sun hit the highest point in its path across the sky, Furni came into view. "Well I'll be," started Al, "We might get there within a few hours!" They continued their path, stopping only once for a break. The atmosphere along the path seemed to get warmer, balmier, the entire time. Sure enough, three hours after spotting Furni, they stepped through the entrance gate.