I tossed and turned in my bed-small noises escaping through my mouth

DragonBlood-The Beginning

Chapter One

~By Midori~

I tossed and turned in my bed-small noises escaping through my mouth. My eyes shuddered and my shoulders quivered as I turned, grabbing the sheets that lay cloaked over my body. Sweat drizzled coldly down the side of my face and stained my pillow. My tail lagged on the other side of the mattress, oppressed by the heat from outside- the fan on my ceiling not helping me at all. The light seeped in from the halls, flooding into my room and illuminating the possessions inside.

“Hn-ehn-gh” I groaned, trying to keep my moans to myself. I heard a shuffle towards my door and a lengthy yawn as someone shadowed my curved back. The weight of my bed turned to the other side of me as someone sat beside me-having the same weight as I did almost. I shuddered, quivering as if I was cold when I wasn’t- my tail snapped when it hit the side of the soft mattress. I felt a small snap at my ear that stung- making my head shoot up from my pillow with sweat dripping off my chin. “WHAT!?” I barked. “Gods, Ryver! You make so much noise at night, I can hear it next door!” my sister remarked groggily. Rayne always was protective over her sleep habits. “Sorry” I sourly apologized. “Yeah, well- you owe me anyway” she yawned, and left- her human body silhouetted by the light as she left, her ebon dragon tail dragging limply on the floor.

As soon as I lay my head back down on my pillow, my eyes still wide open- there came another shuffle past my room- my ears grew intent to the noise, thinking it might be a guard passing by or something- since my family IS royalty on the planet Galina! I felt sad thinking that my father’s kingdom would be thrown over by the Lethnaks that lived on the south side of the lush planet. So cold, their breed is- half dragon half wolf, and so hideous compared to our lifestyle! The Galinians on the other hand are a colorful breed of human-shaped dragons that live in harmony without worry-most of the time. The more I thought about my race, the more I began to realize how different me and my sister were from them! My mother was a Saiyan that met my father somewhere between the planet Vegeta and our planet. She died in a battle between the Lethnaks and our people- since shed decided to stay by my father’s side for the sake of her children- Ryver and Rayne Dragyn; me and my sister.

I was only puzzling myself with such sad memories I had been told of when Rayne and I had grown up- my eyes grew weak and started to close with sadness drizzling off my cheeks. Rayne was always the one never acting like a Princess-, which was what we are. I, on the other hand, took advantage of being royalty and also tried living the same life as my sister. We both trained like soldiers- as much as our father begged us not to. And born with full Saiyan powers, Rayne and I were as good as any elite fighting team! I grinned at the thought of that. It helped me sleep better when I thought about the good things in my past, present, and sometimes my future.

My smiled as I slept and turned over on my other side to sleep better, my tail lagging over the edge of my bed, still. There was a sharp noise in my room and the shuffle of feet towards the side of my bed- I didn’t mind it, maybe Rayne was going to complain about something else now! She was also known for sleep walking sometimes. I grinned slightly and tried to fall asleep for the last time that night! There was weight put on the side of my bed and I paid it no heed. I felt a shadow over my face and the weight shift atop my hip. “Hn” I sighed, falling asleep slightly. The fleshy feel of skin against my cheek made me feel better- but at the same time, question what it was. My eyebrow twitched as I turned slightly, my tail awakening and slapping up against something hard. There was a feel of lips pressed against my cheek, my tail swacking the figure harder. I shot awake to find- with wide eyes and somewhat of a sore back- my fiancé, Tenchi atop one of my hips. “GAGH! Oh Gods, Tenchi! What were you thinking?” I asked with a whisper. “I just wanted to see you!” He whispered back, putting a hand on my face. I grinned at him, my eyes sparkling. “You know Daddy won’t like it if he finds you in here” I told him as he retreated to the side of my bed. “Oh well” he sighed, kissing my forehead. “No- I’m serious, Tenchi! If he finds you here, you KNOW he’ll call the wedding off for sure!” I scowled. Sometimes I didn’t know why I loved such an abstract Galinian. His father was a Saiyan too- so he seemed to be somewhat like me. “C’mon, Ryver! Let me stay! Just this night! For practice?” he smirked, trying to ease down next to me in my bed. I sighed and swiped my tail from the side where he lay. “Just this once- and only until dawn” I yawned and turned over- I could feel his fingers snake across my waist, but I let them stay for the sake that I loved him.

Tenchi pressed his body close to mine as we both slept. But my mind was all a buzz of what would happen when my father came to wake Rayne and I. Sometimes I opened my eyes for only a second, just to see what time it was on the digital clock next to me on my night stand. Tenchi nudged my spine with his fleshy cheeks and buried his face in my shoulder blades, hugging me closer to him. Of course, my tail occasionally swacked Tenchi for no reason- a reason I sometimes believed was necessary. You see, I didn’t always love Tenchi- at first it was an arranged marriage. But the more I started to see of Tenchi, I fell madly in love with him. I closed my eyes once more and drifted into a temporary sleep-feeling the creep of light on my face and over my body-cloaked in sheets.

<>
“Good morning, Ryv-AAAAAGH!!!!!” I heard the shrill roar of my father’s deep and raspy voice. I shot up and glared at him with wide and saggy eyes. “DADDY! What’s the”- I glared at the snuggled body next to me. I blushed and giggled giddishly at my father. “It-it-it’s only Tenchi, Daddy!” I laughed, trying to shove him awake- he just wrapped his hands around my arm and pulled his fleshy face close to me. My father gave me a dark glare and snarled under his dragonly breath. “Daddy!” I jumped out of my bed, tail flailing as I ran to my doorway, flicking the lights on while still in my skimpy pajamas. “It’s not what you think, Daddy! He just- he just wanted to see me! So I let him stay! Please, Daddy- don’t call it off, please!” I begged, clutching one of his ebon-scaled arms tightly. He turned his stare at me and grinned a dragonly grin with cheery cheeks. “I understand- the boy needs his practice, doesn’t he?” he laughed slightly, “But if I catch him in here again- the wedding is OFF, Ryver!” he snarled, and stomped down the rest of the royal hallway- his ebon tail darting by my door. Rayne passed my door and stopped where I stood- a sour look of tire hanging low in her eyes-but a mellow smile managed to crack threw her crusty lips. I cut my eyes back at her and snarled a bit as she turned back to her darkened room. I shut my door and pressed my back tight against it. “Tenchi” I huffed at the lump in my bed. “Hn- wha? Oh, there you are!” he grinned happily at me, showing his face out of the bleached sheets. “Tenchi” I sternly beckoned him. “What is it?” he asked with a small scowl- his Saiyan tail curled down towards his ankle. He picked his head up and let his feet lag down at the floor from the edge of the mattress- he yawned softly and looked towards me with worry in his glassed eyes. “Tenchi- my father saw you in here, and threatened to call off the wedding” I wrenched my hands in front of me and bowed my head, my tail limp at my side. “Agh! Don’t worry Ryver. He has to understand” Tenchi yawned and smirked, rubbing his fuzzy head of black hair. I rolled my eyes and snarled loudly. “You OBVIOUSLY don’t know my father, Tenchi!! This is SERIOUS!!” I yelled, angered as usual. I was known to loose my temper all the time- and it was nothing to be proud of, if your whole race knows it! My tail snapped as my shoulders were shoved with the weight of my neck as I bent in and coiled my anger up at Tenchi. He seemed to stand from my bed shakily, knowing he couldn’t get out because I blocked the door. “N-n-now now, dearest-please try not to get angry- I beg of you, my sweet” he trembled. “WHY!? Are you a WHIMP, Tenchi!?” “SSHH! You want EVERYONE to hear you, Ryver!?” he barked back in a low whisper. “OH! So you’re ASHAMED of me now!!” I snarled loudly- my voice echoing around the corners of my room. “All RIGHT! All RIGHT! Listen to me, my dear Ryver- I am NOT ashamed of you! And I’m not a whimp, darling- I just know you are very angry sometimes and I don’t LIKE to make you mad! Heh! I DO know your father; I just try to look at the bright side of this wedding! Do you understand now?” he asked with his tranquil, calm voice that made my soul stir and rest inside after I was angry- Tenchi had a way of cooling me off, and I was very grateful for it! “I’m sorry, Tenchi Sama” I grinned, lunging at him and wrapping my arms around his neck. He chuckled and smiled as I clung to him. “It’s all right-it’s quite all right” he smirked and tried to stand with me still attached. “All right, you silly dragoness- I have to go to work, now!” he chuckled a grunt as he tried to move towards the door with me still on him. “Do you have to?” I moaned- like it was a usual scenario. “Yes! Until we get a big house in the clouds, I need to work for it! And you- need to be a good princess and stop training like a regular soldier!” he smirked, letting me go and snuggling noses with me. I scowled. “What’s wrong with that?” I arched a brow. Tenchi sighed and kissed my lips firmly-“Nothing-don’t worry about it!” he winked and left quietly, shutting the once open door behind him.

I sighed, sinking to the floor and staring off in a daze- not watching him walk down the hallway like he’d just dropped by a minute ago. “So- the love saga continues, eh?” came a chuckle from the wall-high above. I frowned, out of my trance. “Rayne! This happens to be the man I’m spending the rest of my life with!” I scowled, rising up to her level and crossing my arms. She already leaned against the bumpy-hard wall with her arms crossed over her mellow chest. Rayne arched her pierced brow at me, swinging her ebon tail away from me. “Couldn’t you have found a better guy on this planet to keep in your room!?” she grimaced slightly. “Excuse me, but Tenchi is a hard worker- and a good kisser to boot” I smirked slightly- trying to make a better point than my sister. “Oh- is that what the future king is gonna be known for!? ‘Yes ladies and gentlemen, he doesn’t know too much about our society, but he’s a good kisser! Pucker up ladies!’ C’mon, Ryver! Gimme a break! What kinda qualities are THOSE!?” she grimaced fully. I cut my eyes at her and arched my upper lip in a low snarl-motion. “You’re just jealous cuz no one put YOU in an arranged marriage!” I snorted. But then- I just thought of something, looking deep in thought as I stared off for only a few minutes of silence. “Say Rayne, why DIDN’T Daddy arrange a marriage for YOU?” I looked at her with questionable eyes. “Hn?” she arched her brow, her pierced ear twitching at the sound of my question. Rayne giggled and drew a blank for a while. “Oh! Hehehehehe- you know Dad! Always thinking of who’d be the one to marry first! Hehehehehehehahahahaha!” she laughed fakely- as if she was trying to avoid something or the other. I arched a brow at her and fuzzily scratched my head. “Right, Rayne- like you’ll never settle down in the end- uh huh, just keep on dreaming sister,” I said with a sour and sarcastic attitude. Rayne stopped hiding whatever it was from me and fell silent, standing tall against the wall with me. “Right- let’s not loiter around in short shorts all day” I giggled slightly, nodding to Rayne. She nodded back and slammed the darkened door to her room swiftly. I just stammered back inside, gathered up random articles of clothing and waltzed back out the door- Rayne, apparently, did the same- knowing my sister to be a sleepy but persistent clean freak. We walked down the hall, our tails lagging on the rough floor as we walked to the showers.

“All right- so what did ‘dear Tenchi’ stop by for, eh sis?” Rayne elbowed me as we turned the corner. I grew agitated at the way she provoked me, but answered anyway. “He just wanted to see me- that’s all” I answered, not looking her straight in the eye. Rayne arched a pierced brow at me and smirked. “I see- and how long was he there?” she evilly began to glare at me out of the corner of her eye. I stuttered in saying, “Till dawn” I softly spoke, seeing two guards pass us by. “Good morning Princess Rayne- good morning Princess Ryver” they said strictly and kept marching. Neither of us answered their courteous greeting. “DAWN! Nice going, Ryver!” she elbowed me again- I shoved her back, and seeing how we’d reached the showers, I hung my clothes up on a small rack and shut the door as I climbed in.

I draped my old pajamas over the stall with my daily clothes and basked in the warmness of the water pouring down my face. “You’re so protective, sister- that’s your problem” Rayne snorted. My tail swacked at the stall next to me where Rayne was. “I am not! You take that back, Rayne! I just don’t like it when everyone sticks their business in what Tenchi and I do!” I snarled, washing up as quickly as I could.

After our “grooming cession”, Rayne and I met my father in the Royal dining hall for breakfast. He sat in the dark other-end of the long table, letting us linger all the way on the other side. Two fellow Galinians tended to our breakfast- assorted fruits, spring water, and loaves of mixed bread. Rayne and I ate up quickly, knowing we’d be late for our training cession- every morning that was a struggle for the both of us. “No need to rush, my children” Daddy chuckled cheerfully, his laugh echoing up towards the walls. “Sorry, dad- we’ll be late for training” Rayne gulped down her last sip of water and started to stand so she could leave. “Oh- I see” he smiled a toothy dragon grin. “I wish you girls wouldn’t train with all the other soldiers! They are the ones meant to go into battle, not two princesses!” his worried voice came about. “Sorry, Dad- we aren’t your ordinary princesses! Just because we’re royalty doesn’t mean we can’t fight! Why, you’ve fought and lead troops into battle before! Why can’t we?” Rayne stood, leaning over the table. “Because you are two maturing young ladies and you are MY children! I don’t want you to throw away your life and die!” he echoed in a gurgle. Rayne snuffed, turning away from our father. “C’mon, Ryver- I think breakfast has ended” she snarled, taking my hand and trailing off to the doors. Daddy didn’t say anything else- Rayne and I were silent as well; I had no idea what to say to such a debate.

Rayne and I emerged from our underground palace to find the trainees standing in their erect lines- waiting for orders from the trainer. We fell in in front of the group, becoming one of them for the time remaining. “Good morning, Princesses” they all muttered under their breath. “Why are you guys standing in line like this? We don’t usually start off like this?” I asked under my breath as well. “Well, Princess- we have a new trainer”- “WHAT!?” Rayne butted in. “Who?” I whispered. “Some weird guy- I think his name is Link” a soldier whispered directly behind me. “Oh” I coughed. “All right- at ease” I heard a manly voice pierce the silence in the shadows ahead- a Galinian with reddened scarlet scales stepped forth- his tail curving and thrashing about behind him. He held a lengthy bag on his bent back- full of training tools, as I soon guessed in discovery. All of the Galinians around Rayne and I fell out of their lines, clumping up in groups and pairs behind us. “OK- lets begin” he tranquilly said, pulling the bag off his back and pulling large poles, small wooden blocks and slabs, and a silver sword-like rod. “OK! I’m going to put you into pairs for a sparring match- I’m sure your old teacher taught you all of the basic parts of sparring and all the techniques” he said. “Excuse me sir- but, what might your name be?” I squinted to ask. “Oh! Princess Rayne! Princess Ryver!” he bowed, almost kneeling on the ground. Rayne and I blushed a bit- but were relieved when he stood. “Master Link is my name- you may call me whatever you wish” he said with a grin. The other Galinians snickered-thinking they had the same privilege. Master Link frowned and growled under his tongue, tying to bottle his anger up. “Master Link?” “Hn?” “Let me take care of them, for you-sir” I grinned. “Oh, great” Rayne sighed sarcastically, backing away a bit. I whipped around, my anger fully shown in my face. “DO YOU LITTLE SISSIES HAVE THE RIGHT TO INSULT THIS MAN!? NO!!” I screamed, and then turned back around. Silence swept over them. I cleared my throat, grinning at Rayne and Master Link. “Th-thank you, Princess Ryver” he gulped shakily. “No prob” I giggled. Rayne crossed her arms and snorted at me. “All right- let’s put you in pairs- you there! You are with that man, and you with him- and you with that man over there- and you with him- and princess Rayne with that man right behind her, and princess Ryver with that man right behind you” he pointed to each of us. I turned behind me to see a very large- bleu scaled Galinian- he had a small tattoo on his large arm, and looked so strong, he didn’t need training! “Hello” he bellowed from way above me. I just shakily waved and stood far- but faintly near him as a pair for the match. Rayne was up against some scrawny orange guy- she could easily knock him down and break his neck, and maybe that’s what she planned on! I always loved the way she worked with her “victims”.