The Dragon Rider's Chronicles

Ardra exited the shower, leaving her white hair loose and damp. She pulled on something to lounge in, a t-shirt and cargo pants before going back out to the other room. Exhaustion hit her and she laid down next to him, with a little bit of distance between for society's sake, and also drifted into sleep.
 
Kenzo woke up slightly over an hour later, wincing as his wound reminded him that it existed. He couldn't sleep anymore because of its aching. He sat up slowly, and nearly fell off the bed when he say Ardra lying on the bed nearby. He slowly got up and decided that he might as well shower too, and so stepped into the bathroom to get clean. As he washed he absentmindedly hummed the Soromine song that Ardra had been singing earlier.
 
Ardra heard the shower start; she was a light sleeper. Her purple eyes opened and she tried to sit up. She fell back down, face wincing. Her back had always been her weakest point and right now it felt like needles were stabbing into the muscles. She tried again, failing as a single tear ran down her face. But she was determined not to be weak. How could she even explain why her back was so messed up? Not without risking scandal and political issues. Ardra decided to just stay laying down and wait for him to get out.
 
Kenzo exited the bathroom, shirtless: he'd decided to let his wound air-dry. He was drying his hair as he walked out, but didn't know Ardra was awake, so he slowly paced the room as he dried off.
 
Ardra's eyes opened just barely. A silly little smile covered her face. ".....well look who got up." She put her arms behind her head and attempted to keep eye contact ( she was failing miserably).
 
Kenzo fumbled and dropped the towel when she spoke, he was so surprised. "Ah...pri - erm, Ardra...I'm sorry, did I inturrupt your rest?" he asked as he hurriedly picked up the towel, and payed for it with shooting pain from his wound. He winced, and noticed that she wasn't meeting his eyes, but didn't say anything about it at the moment.
 
Ardra jolted upwards, earning herself a wince of pain that she tried to mask as she walked over to him in worry. "You're hurting. Lie back down. You really should not have gotten up in the first place." She tried to forcefully pull him a bit but only ended up sitting back down. Her back was weakened by the massive, jolting drop today and she was trying to deal with it.
 
Kenzo's eyes narrowed at Ardra's actions. "Same to you. Don't think I didn't notice you wince as you sat up. Seems like neither of us is in the best condition." He gently forced her to lie down. "Roll onto your stomach. I may not be able to use light magic, but my cla - the Soromine clan is skilled in the knowledge of pressure points and chi flow. I doubt I can fix whatever is ailing you, but I should be able to ease the pain somewhat." He hung the towel over a chair as he spoke before resuming standing next to her as she lay there.
 
"....I'm supposed to be taking care of you, not the other way around." Ardra crossed her arms stubbornly. "You are supposed to be getting rest, not taking care of me."
 
"I had my rest. I can stand despite my pain; you don't seem to be able to say the same." His expression softened slightly. "You've done more than enough. Let me help you, now."
 
".......fine......" Ardra flipped over onto her back. "But as soon as you're done, I'm helping you out a bit more. Deal?"
 
Kenzo shrugged slightly. "Fair enough, I suppose," he said, and went to work on her back. He employed as many techniques as he could to ease the pain, applying the appropriate pressure to the appropriate chi points. "Hmm..." he mused as he worked, "...how did your back get like this anyway? This is more than what I'd expect from just today's events."
 
Ardra stayed silent for a minute after the question. It was....hard to explain all this....especially to a fellow Ventenadan. She just prayed that he could not feel her scars beneath her t-shirt. The jagged marks were something that were a constant reminder of a past she could never truly escape.


"...it's hard to explain."
 
Kenzo lowered his voice. "Are these scars 'hard to explain', as well?" He said as he traced them lightly with his fingertips. He then hesitated for a moment. "Sorry. It's none of my business."
 
"....I doubt you'd believe me if I told you." Ardra sighed. "Any loyal Ventenadan would not think it possible for such a thing to happen to a member of the royal family." Why was she talking about this again? Was she...trusting him? What?
 
Kenzo slowed his rhythmic massaging but didn't stop. "If...you are willing to speak of it, I will gladly listen." He wasn't entirely sure what he was doing, but if something was bothering Ardra he wanted to help. It was his nature.
 
"Let's see if you can figure out what the made the scars first." She reached back and lifted the back of her shirt just enough to show off most of her back. What was disturbing was that it wasn't just a bunch of different scars; it was scar layered on top of scar layered on more scars. It was a twisted visage that was obviously created over many years. "What do you think could have made these scars?"
 
".....it's called punishment." Ardra's voice was low as she reached back to touch the scars. "From birth, I was raised to be perfection. If I did not match that perfection, I was punished. Lose a fight. Punishment. Make less than perfect on grades. Punishment. Fail to master a weapon. Punishment. Fail to show proper respect. Punishment. Most of the time it was for losing fights though. I was pitted against my six older, better trained, sisters. Every time I lost....." Ardra stopped.
 
Kenzo felt ashamed to have her recount this information. "I...don't understand...how could a family treat their own kin this way...?"
 
"Perfection was more important than family." Ardra closed her eyes, reliving the pain in her mind. "...perhaps it would have been different if Mom had not...died....Dad went crazy with grief after her death. Then he decided to make us strong enough to survive anything. If this is what it took, he was going to do it." She turned over and looked at him with dead eyes. "Ventenadana does not know what he does and if anyone ever told, they would not believe."
 
Kenzo was speechless for the most part at her story. Finally he collected himself. "I...know it isn't much but...I believe you." He said quietly.
 
Sanz quietly walked out of his room, it almost looked like he was some manner of warrior heading into battle. Then again, it probably wasn't so far from the truth, given what was ahead of them. The younger woman, who had a tendency of acting like a child, was already sound asleep on the couch. Neera, he believed was what she had introduced herself as. Kenzo, the fairy, for some reason was investigating everything in the kitchen. He could only assume the other two had entered their rooms and were resting. He let out a sigh and set his pack on the table next to the couch. He spoke over to Kestus as he wrapped what looked like iron bands around the base of his sword, just above the hilt.


"I'm going to train in the brief time period we have, I'd advise keeping your distance for your own safety."


With the extra weight on his blade, he started to engage in downward swings, counting off each one.


"One . . . two . . . three . . ."
 

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