Fantasy Moments in Time

[Zer0]

- Nightmares & Daydreams -​

It was the same the next day, and the day after that. Kenren would go out, yet despite his smith's orders, he could not be parted from his beloved katana and wakirashi, or companion sword. He drilled through the basics diligently, and those watching would notice that his katana was lacking it's tsuba or handguard, and its menuki, or grip ornament, having been incinerated to a crisp when Lydia and Serena burned Magvileen.

He was astonished at Chenglei's dragon claw, and one day in the courtyard, when its scales glistened like melted gold under the sun as he trained, he came over, sword sheathed and dabbing a towel to his sweaty face as he watched him practice.

"That is new." he said during the swordsman's break, and offered him water. "How did you learn that, Chenglei?"

Katsuya
The Story | Characters | OOC
​

 

[Katsuya]

-Nightmares & Daydreams-​

Chenglei was taking a break from practicing with Renee and he watched the Pendragon run off to meet up with Seifer, saying something about how she needed to feed the baby today. He shook his head in disbelief. He didn't think she would be this responsible when it comes to kids...

The oriental froze when he heard Kenren's voice behind him and peeked over his tense shoulder. Then he looked down at his gold plated hands that are shaking. So he twiddled. "...Lady Renee is helping me...with the transformation magic..." His ash purple eyes looked back at the prince, hesitant on accepting the water as his scales changed into normal skin.

"Thank you....Um...I know you're not supposed to practice with your sword, Prince Kenren...." Chenglei mumbled as he looked over at the courtyard again.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Nightmares & Daydreams -​

Kenren gently pressed the cup of water to Chenglei's hand, fingers brushing against his. "Yes, but it's hard to be apart from things that mean a lot to me." he said looking up at him, "I miss them."

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

-Nightmares & Daydreams-​

"...I-I see..." Chenglei looked away as he accepted the cup, taking a small sip. His ears were turning red but he shied away from the prince, taking a few tiny steps back. " S-still...you shouldn't practice with your sword, Sir. It's against Doctor's orders..."

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Nightmares & Daydreams -​

Kenren looked at Chenglei awhile. "Alright." he nodded, smiling placidly. He stood there looking at the others train too, for a while. "I had a friend once who ate a clock," he paused, " it was time consuming."

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

-Nightmares & Daydreams-​

Dull ash purple eyes looked over to the Prince, blinking for a while. The corner of his lips quirked up but it went by so fast that it could be a trick to the eye. "..." Chenglei looked back at the courtyard, trying to process what just happened here.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Nightmares & Daydreams -​

"Trains don't swallow their food, they just go chew, chew." said Kenren with a straight face. "I also heard about this airship pilot who crashed, her name was Sum Ting Wong."

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

-Nightmares & Daydreams-​

Chenglei didn't move for a while but when his eyes looked back at the Prince's face, his lips pursed a bit. He took a deep breathe and covered his face with a shaky hand. Then he cleared his throat. "Sir?" He said, sounding like he's trying to hold back. "What are you doing?"

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Nightmares & Daydreams -​

"Trying to be punny." said Kenren, still with a straight face.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

-Nightmares & Daydreams-
​

Chenglei slowly put his hand down, revealing a raised eyebrow as his dull eyes looked at the Prince's face. As if trying to find the answer on his own. "...Why?" Did the concussion come back or something?

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Nightmares & Daydreams -​

Kenren shrugged, then smiled. "See you at lunch time, Chenglei." he said mysteriously, then strode off to the direction of his room, swinging his sword absentmindedly in good spirits.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

-Nightmares & Daydreams-​

Chenglei blinked, that eyebrow raised higher as the Prince left, leaving him confused. "....What in the....?" The blonde shook his head and looked at his shaky hands again, clenching them into a fist as he takes a deep breathe again. Then let's it go. He trained by himself.

When it was lunch time, Chenglei took the tray with food to Kenren's room, face blank. He knocked on his door and waited until he was allowed to enter. When he was, the blonde came in and showing the tray to the prince.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Nightmares & Daydreams -​

Kenren was at the desk practicing his letters again. "Thank you, Cheng . . . lei." his smile faltered when he looked up at his blank face. ". . . You're angry at me." he said, confused.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

-Nightmares & Daydreams-​

"Hm?" Chenglei raised an eyebrow at him before shaking his head, placing the tray on the desk; away from the scroll he's practicing on. "No Sir. I was just daydreaming." He sighed. "That's all..." The blonde looked at the scroll and blinked. "Your hand writing is getting a little better..."

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Nightmares & Daydreams -​

"Yes it has been." said the prince, looking at his scroll. They were at least a child's legible scribble now. Kenren moved the parchments and quill aside, and tucked in for lunch, but before he could shovel food in his mouth again, he swiveled in his chair to look at Chenglei. "You've been calling me sir lately. Something wrong?"

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

-Nightmares & Daydreams-​

"No. Nothing wrong Si- Prince Kenren." Chenglei corrected, standing straight almost stiff.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Nightmares & Daydreams -​

Kenren drummed his fingers on the desk for while, then swiveled back to his lunch. "Alright. Thank you for the food, Chenglei."

He ate clumsily as usual, practicing how to drink soup from a spoon and use a fork properly. He didn't talk, and once he was finished, took another stab at being friendly with Chenglei by smiling at him, before resuming his writing exercises.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

-Nightmares & Daydreams-​

"You're welcome..." Chenglei waited patiently as Kenren ate his lunch, standing by the door. His eyes looked wandered around as he just blankly stared. By the time he was done, the blonde took the tray with an empty bowl and saw Kenren's smile. He tried to smile back but it was half-hearted. Too forced.

Then he left the room, as always his hands shook and his grip was tight that his knuckles were turning white.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Nightmares & Daydreams -​

For the following days, Kenren never bothered Chenglei. He seemed to be keeping a respectful distance and only talked whenever Chenglei did. The usual words from the prince were, Thank you's, Good morning's, and Good night's, and he'd smile at him in varying degrees of tentativeness every time.

The prince stopped practicing his swordsmanship, and as the days wore on he started to meet with the vassals of the clans, those who would lead their armies to talk about tactics and how they could fight together with Kenren's aerial fleet. He made it Chenglei's choice whether to be his bodyguard or not, and also told him he could have a break for as long as he liked, assuring him that he had already picked a capable replacement. The soldier who had led the search for the prince and found him. He was one of Kenren's shinobi that Chenglei and the others had rescued back at the giant skull hill. He wasn't as good a fighter as Chenglei, but he was loyal to the death.

Another day speaking to the vassals had passed and Kenren was now in his room, getting ready for bed. Yet he couldn't sleep and instead spent the time practicing his letters again, the lamp in his room glowing through the windows.

There were fewer broken quills around his desk now, and his writing speed has already become quicker.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

-Nightmares & Daydreams-​

Chenglei haven't really questioned the Prince or his motives in those few days and it seemed he's getting a lot more restless then usual. Even during training with Renee, the blonde oriental couldn't stop moving around and his movements were becoming more sluggish; which surprised the Pendragon sister because she managed to punch him on his chest. "Oh cheese and crackers! Chenglei are you-?"

"It's fine. My fault. Continue." His sentences were short and dry, weird ... coming from him of all people. "Chenglei? Maybe we should stop. You look like you need to slee-"

"Continue. Now." Renee was hesitant but she continued to train with him.

Another day has passed, Chenglei gasped, eyes wide as sweat drops fell from his forehead and to his pillow. His hands were gripping onto his bed sheets, practically tearing them apart. Panting heavily and pale skinned, he looked over to where the window are and sat up, placing a hand on his wet forehead. He let out a shuddering sigh. "My turn for watch..."

As he washed up quickly and dressed in his uniform, Chenglei walked towards Kenren's room, telling the guard that it's his turn for the night. The blonde let out another sigh and blankly stared until he noticed something. He can hear...scratching noises...from behind him...?

A bit curious, Chenglei knocked on the door and asked if he could enter. Once he got permission, he walked in, raising an eyebrow. "Sir? Why are you up?"

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Nightmares & Daydreams -​

"Evening, Chenglei." smiled Kenren, looking up from his desk. "I couldn't sleep, so I'm practicing my letters again." he looked down at his parchment. He had so many already. He had actually a tacked a before and now parchment showing his chicken scratches when he first started to learn how to write again and his current progress more than a week later to encourage himself whenever he got frustrated.

"You look sleepy, you want to take the night off?" he said kindly.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

-Nightmares & Daydreams-​

"I see...it's good that you're dedicated to practicing, Sir." Chenglei said, for once in a long while smiling gently at the Prince; but that went away when the subject changed. "No. I have to take this shift..." He muttered, closing the door behind him. His grip on the handle tightened.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Nightmares & Daydreams -​

"Very well." said Kenren, surprised at the quick change of mood.

After Chenglei closed the door, Kenren bumped his head on the inked parchment, vexed, too distracted to realize he accidentally labeled his forehead with hachi or bee.

'Alright, approaching him makes him shy away,' he wrote on the parchment, 'telling him to sleep on the job makes him mad, he started calling me sir after I told him those jokes --- were they that bad? --- he hasn't been sleeping lately. He hasn't been the same ever since I yelled at him. '

Kenren plopped his head on the table again, adding ame or rain to his forehead. The sound of the scratching of quill went on until two in the morning, then the sound of a chair dragged back, the patter of bare feet, click of a lamp, then the creak of a bed. And all was silence.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

-Nightmares & Daydreams-​

Chenglei stood there, blankly staring as he listened to the quiet- or was it loud?- noises behind him. Once it was quiet, the blonde didn't move. He didn't move from his spot through out the whole night unless it was to blink a lot or to rub his temple where he can feel that familiar and painful pound.

It wasn't until early morning that he started to sway and Renee was up, walking towards his way as she wanted to go to the kitchen.

"Morning Chenglei."

"...Mornin'...." Was his mumble. The Pendragon stopped, looking at him with narrowed eyes. "Chenglei? Are you okay?" The blonde sighed as he blearily looked at her. She noticed that he wasn't focused...at all.

"Got to...keep...wa-" With a yelp, Renee ran to catch Chenglei's head as he swayed to the side. His eyes rolled back as she caught him in time, panicking. Her wings flapping urgently. "Chenglei?! Chenglei?! Oh my goodness-!" She checked everywhere, trying to find a physical cause but she couldn't find one...The Pendragon had to lay him down to the glossy floor and she knocked on Kenren's door, not really caring if he's asleep.

"Kenren!"

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Nightmares & Daydreams -​

Hurried footsteps pattered on the floor. "What's going on?" said Kenren as he opened the door, still in his night robes. He had rain bee inked in Oriental on his forehead.

He saw Chenglei's shoes and immediately drew his sword, kneeling beside the swordsman. "Chenglei, Chenglei." he said loudly and calmly, listening for breathing.

Katsuya