Princess of Silver Sands

Book 01

Chapter - 04 - Admitting Defeat

Written By: K. L. Seunnapha

Test Read By: N/A

Edited By: N/A

Chapter Four

Admitting Defeat

Everyone within Li’s voice range falls silent. Ashton looks to be the only one unfazed, having already gotten the information almost a day earlier.

Angel stares at Li barely able to speak as she looks her over. It was hard for her to tell that Li was female; she was dressed in clothes that a boy would normally dress in and acted just like if not worse than a guy. “Li’s… a woman?”

Hitsumi looks more affected than anyone else over this piece of information as he stares at Li with an unblinkingly silence, as if he were in a state of shock. Li sighing loudly as she leans back crossing her arms, already regretting bringing this information up.

Hitsumi looks back at Ashton, his finger pointing at Li. “I beat up… a girl?” The look of shock leaves his face as he quickly begins to try and disprove the information that couldn’t possibly be true. “IMPOSSIBLE!! There’s no way I would have beaten up a girl!!” Hitsumi looks back at Li giving her a disgusted look. “He’s just trying to throw me off guard!”

Ashton places his hand on Hitsumi’s shoulder hoping that the action would help the idea sink in. “She’s telling the truth.”

Hitsumi refuses to easily believe this information! There was no way he could have missed something like that! Hitsumi knew a girl when he saw one and Li was not a girl! He was a pretty boy- … a pretty boy… with the face of a girl… He quickly shakes the thought out of his head. He couldn’t have possibly made such a mistake. Li had to be lying! He walks up to Li and pokes at her chest, there being an absence of the large breasts females usually sported. “Where’s your proof?”

Li punches Hitsumi across the face knocking him down. “I want a rematch!”

Hitsumi jumps back to his feet glaring at Li. “You’re still not getting one!”

Ashton raises his voice at Hitsumi reminding the bandit that if he had just listened to him when he had first tried to bring the information up that this would have never happened. And now after finally hearing what it was that Ashton was trying to say Hitsumi wanted proof that the information was true!? “I’ve been trying to tell you that Li’s a girl for a while now because I found-” He stops short, looking at all the people around him. He had been about to tell Hitsumi all about what he had found that had confirmed to him that Li was a woman… but it was more a private thing that shouldn’t really be talked about in a group, Ashton instead of saying it out loud walking up to Hitsumi and whispering into his ear.

Li holds her head frustrated and embarrassed with the situation while the other bandits within Hitsumi’s group look curious and interested in what the two were talking about. Some moving in closer hoping that they would maybe catch what Ashton was telling Hitsumi.

“WHAT!?” Hitsumi turns back to Li, who looks like she wants to crawl into a shadow and die from embarrassment. The bandit flinches from the information but still refuses to believe the facts placed in front of him. “That only proves that he’s a sick perverted man who collects…” He stops, not quite sure if he could say the words without getting hit by anyone for mentioning it. “…women’s belongings.”

Li stares at him bitterly before turning away from him and leaving. Hitsumi immediately jumping forward to stop her, not wanting her to go anywhere, even with this new and confusing information coming to light he had STILL been the winner of the match between the two of them. “Try to leave and I’ll tie you up and treat you like my prisoner again!”

Li doesn’t stop or react to Hitsumi’s request and leaves anyways, much to the rage of Hitsumi who now looks more annoyed with Li than he had ever been yet. He clenches his hand into a fist punching it into his other. “Damn that guy!”

“Girl.” Ashton quietly corrects him, hoping that Hitsumi wouldn’t get mad at to his input.

Hitsumi snaps his gaze in Ashton’s direction, Ashton turning to the side appearing most interested in the trees beside him, staying completely silent as if he hadn’t said anything.

Hitsumi shakes his head, still not wanting to believe the information. “No! It’s not possible! Do you know what I did to Li? I stole from him, tied him to a tree, threw him into a gorge where I almost drowned him, tied him up and made him my prisoner, beat the crap out of him by punching him in the face, twisting his arm, knocking the wind out of him TWICE and gave him cuts and bruises all over his body!!” He takes a deep breath. “If I did all of that to a girl!!”

Ashton shrugs his shoulders having tried to warn him a number of times. “I tried to tell you…” It was Hitsumi’s own fault that he had chosen not to listen to him, after all Ashton had really tried to bring it up plenty of times.

Angel still looks baffled over the incident. “Li is a girl… I couldn’t tell at all…” If Li was a girl like Ashton was saying then she was pretty good at hiding it. Although… once one knew that Li was a girl she definitely looks like one.

Echo looks enlightened with the information, a rather accomplished look filling the wizard’s face. “That’s it! That’s why she smelled like a girl! Because she was one! I was wondering what was wrong with his scent.”

Angel looks back at the wizard. “Scent?”

Echo looks back at her nodding his head. “Of course, scent. After all, females smell very different than males.” He stops talking as he looks the princess and the bandits over. “What confuses me is how none of you knew… you’re all humans after all. You can’t tell me you can’t distinguish the scent of a female from your own species.”

Angel sighs as she turns away from the small wizard. Li’s gender simple enough for Echo to see as wizards were so much better at both seeing and smelling things than humans were. There is no doubt in her mind that Echo is telling the them the truth and had probably known that Li was a girl from the beginning, yet had gotten confused because everyone else was referring to Li as a male. “Well… you’re a wizard. Humans aren’t exactly the same as you. So it’s harder to tell.”

Echo tilts his head slightly to the left still confused. “If you have so much trouble telling male from female… how do you reproduce?”

Angel frowns. “What!? Everyone knows how to tell a boy from a girl! Li was just… a little different…”

Hitsumi still isn’t ready to believe what is being said and remains convinced that Li is not giving them truthful information at all. “It’s obvious he’s lying.”

Ashton sighs at Hitsumi’s reaction to the information, even with Li having admitting it herself Hitsumi was still in denial. Ashton deciding to just give up on him and not to explain it any further believing that eventually the information would sink into Hitsumi’s thick skull on its own.

Hitsumi turns back towards Echo and the princess. “You two come with me, we’re going to drag Li back here.” He back over to Ashton and the rest of the group. “The rest of you… find somewhere to rest, we’ll spend the night here then leave tomorrow.”

The group willingly agrees to Hitsumi’s proposal rather liking the thought of relaxing and letting Hitsumi do all the work, the group splitting up agreeing with Hitsumi to meet up again later in the day, leaving Hitsumi with the princess and her royal wizard.

After a while of searching through the streets of the town Angel start to complain. After all she had just finished a long walk to the town and now she wanted to rest just like Hitsumi had let the rest of the bandits do. She stops walking refusing to move another inch. Hitsumi should be more considerate towards her; after all, she was the honourable Princess of the East. “Why do I have to work instead of relax?”

Hitsumi stops looking for Li, turning back to see Angel standing rooted to her spot, Echo standing at her side, he also not moving if Angel wasn’t going to. It was clear that Hitsumi needed to explain the situation a little more to make them travel any further. “Because… as soon as we find Li we’re leaving this town.”

Both Angel and Echo look shocked, Echo glancing back in the direction Hitsumi had left his gang in. “But you told your group that you were spending the night here. Aren’t they coming with you?”

Hitsumi lowers his head slightly, he had agreed to help the princess but his group had not. Why should he forcefully drag them into the danger he was getting himself into? “No… they’re staying here. I was the only one to agree to help you, I don’t want to endanger them with this quest.”

Angel stares at the bandit leader in silence, Hitsumi was leaving his gang behind and it was clear to her that everyone in the small group was very close to one another. It had been painful for her to leave people she cared about behind if even for a small moment and here he was willingly doing it so that he could help her. Why would someone willingly sacrifice so much for her?

Hitsumi turns back ahead of him getting back to the job at hand as he thought quietly to himself while looking for the elusive marksman. “Li is making things so much more difficult.”

********

Li is deep in conversation with a bar patron at the towns local pub. The gruff man she is talking to looking happy to answer her questions. “Bandits?” He frowns as he thinks deeply over the question. “Of course I’ve heard of bandits! They’re everywhere now a-days. There have been plenty of them since… well.” He leans in closer as if what he was about to say next was something you didn’t want to say out loud in a room that might hold bandits. “Since a certain figure… disappeared.”

Li lifts her right eyebrow. “I certain figure…? You mean The Slayer of Bandits?”

The man lifts his hand to her as if trying to manually quiet her voice down. “Not so loud! That name makes more than just bandits nervous you know. Even though he’s been missing for almost a year now it doesn’t mean he’s gone. There’s hardly a soul alive that isn’t afraid of that guy.”

Li shakes her head. “Sorry… I didn’t realize.”

The man tilts his beer mug taking a sip before continuing to answer her question. “If you’re looking for bandits they’re easy enough to find. There’s actually a really large group not that far from here.”

Li waves her hand to stop him from continuing that not being the information she was looking for. “I’m not talking about just any bandit! I’m asking if you’ve ever heard of a bandit named Hitsumi.”

The man nods his head vigorously. “Course I have. There isn’t a person alive that has not heard the name of that fiend. His name’s just as well known as that slayer’s you know, he’s quite a ruckus causer I hear. He’s quick too, no one’s been able to catch him! Moves like a deer that one.”

Li closes her eyes thinking the words over. Hitsumi had been abnormally fast when she had fought him, this guy was talking about the right man without mistake. “What has he done?”

“There are many rumours about this Hitsumi character, of course with that price on his head I don’t see how there couldn’t be. ‘Two Million in gold for the capture of Hitsumi the river bandit, Wanted alive to stand trial for the disappearance of the prince of South”

Li looks a little confused by this information. “Disappearance of the prince of South? What would he have to do with that? He would have only been a child when that happened, it was ages ago. Hell he might have not even been born then!”

The man shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know any details, but it was that announcement from the royalty that made him infamous. Now you hear all kinds of stories about him floating around, about the people he’s outrun, of the things he’s stolen, of the people he’s killed, there’s no end to what he’s known for! One thing is for sure… only a few people have ever seen his face and lived to tell about it.”

Hitsumi enters the bar quickly spotting Li, Angel and Echo entering soon after him.

The young wizard’s eyes sparkle when he spots all the bars occupants drinking their alcohol, he smiling in delight and speaking up in excitement. “All right! I needed a drink after all that running around!” He runs up to the counter and takes his seat, waving over toward the bartender to get his attention.

Hitsumi walks up to Echo who had finally managed to get the bartenders attention, the bandit not sure if this place catered to people within Echo’s age range. “I don’t think they sell the kind of drink you’re looking for here.”

Echo looks back at Hitsumi a little baffled by his comment. “Why wouldn’t they sell it here?”

The sound of Hitsumi’s voice catches Li’s attention as she turn away from the man she had been talking to spot Hitsumi and Echo only a few seats down the counter from where she was sitting, Hitsumi looking over to her and waving in a mocking manner.

Li groans in aggravation as she bangs her head against the counter and wraps her arms around her head as if she were trying to hide herself from sight. “Doesn’t he ever give up?”

Echo turns back o the bar tender that had finally approached him, the wizard giving him his order. “Give me the best scotch you’ve got, heck at this point any good ale is just fine for me.” The bartender nods his head and begins to pour him a glass, Echo watching and kicking his feet back and forth in anticipation as the glass filled.

Angel walks up next to Hitsumi holding her noise from the smell of the bar, the princess spotting the confused look on his face and answers the question he so obviously had. “Echo is nine-hundred and fifty-one years old… he’s been drinking since he was around four-hundred… at least that’s what Siren says.”

Echo smiles as he looks back to them. “I really enjoy the finer liquors myself, but heck any liquor is good if that’s not available!” He takes the glass as soon as the drink is finished being poured and drinks it down as easily as a glass of fresh cold water.

Hitsumi is completely silent this being the first time he’s seen a nine-hundred fifty-one years old year old wizard that looked like a ten year old easily order a drink without any hassle and drink it just as simply. Wizards definitely had to have stronger insides then humans like him there was no doubt about that.

Hitsumi then remembers why he had come to this bar in the first place, the bandit turning from Echo and looking back to where he had seen Li only to find her sitting completely still with her head on the bar counter ignoring the world that existed around her. He gasps running up to her and pulling her up as he began trying to shake her to back to her senses. “LI!! Stop drinking!!”

Li throws a punch at Hitsumi missing as he quickly ducks out of the way. She was in no mood to deal with him. “I’m not drinking. I was hiding my face in hope that you wouldn’t notice me.”

Hitsumi looks her over. “Well I noticed you, so what are you going to do about it?”

Li quickly gets to her feet, throwing Hitsumi’s hand off of her and running out of the bar.

Hitsumi quickly chases after her. “Hey!! GET BACK HERE!!!”

He stops for a moments turning back to Echo and the princess when he gets no response. “I’ll be right back.” He takes off searching the streets for the runaway. “LI!!”

Angel doesn’t look all that happy with Hitsumi departure. “What!? But, but, but, you’re just going to leave me here!? With Echo!? Are you crazy!?”

Echo looks annoyed with always being thought of as weak and incompetent, but again doesn’t say anything about it.

Angel begins to follow Hitsumi, Echo sighing as he pays the bartender for his drink and runs after here. “Princess!! Don’t run off your own like that! It’s not safe!!”

Hitsumi continues to frantically search through the streets of the town, Li couldn’t have gotten that far already he had to still be close by. “Li!! WHERE ARE YOU!?” He stops at fork in the road, unsure of where to go. “Crap! Don’t you understand I’m trying to help you!?”

He spots Li running down the street to his left. “THERE!” He starts running ahead as quickly as he can, running ahead of Li and cutting a corner onto Li’s street, stopping directly in her path and causing her to stop abruptly. “Why do you have to make things so difficult!?”

Li is a little shocked Hitsumi having had just popped out of nowhere after she had left him far behind her. She shakes her head replacing her baffled expression with a very annoyed and pissed off look. Why was this bandit so persistent? “What is your problem!? Get the picture that I want nothing to do with you or any of your plans!!”

She forces her way past him and continues running determined to lose him, Hitsumi chasing after her unwilling to let her leave. “Stop trying to escape!”

Ashton and the other bandits spot Li headed towards them with Hitsumi hot on her trail. “Hey, looks like Hitsumi found her.”

Li runs past them but then screeches to a halt, turning around and running back to them. The blond stopping in front of Ashton grabbing onto and forcefully taking back her pouch of money and belongings, Li then moving to another bandit and forcefully taking her weapons back from him.

Hitsumi jumps her from behind while Li it trying to get her things back, Li catching sight of this moving out of the way just in time, Hitsumi instead flying past her knocking Ashton down instead.

Li yells her dislike for the situation. “I don’t want to get involved with you or any princess on her suicide quest!” She runs off while Hitsumi is still on the ground. She tries to pick up the pace pushing past the crowds of people as quickly as she could. Though she didn’t normally run from people she despised this wouldn’t be the first time she had been forced to run. She had been able to get away from ‘him’ then she should be able to get away from Hitsumi.

Hitsumi gets to his feet, leaving Ashton and the others as he continues after Li, yells at her and trying again to get her to see things his way. “You’re already involved!! Don’t you get it!? The demon said that he would find the princess and kill her guardians! We were the only two he could see when he said that! He was talking about us! If you travel alone you’re going to be killed!”

Li slows down coming to a stop after hearing this, the words a little surprising her. “He… doesn’t want me to die…”

Li is roughly tackled to the ground as Hitsumi catches up to her and pummels into her pinning her roughly down and holding her in place so that she couldn’t escape again. He pants for breath chasing after Li through crowds of villagers tiring after a while. “If you travel alone… you’re going to get killed.”

Li lies upon the ground, still unable to move from the lock Hitsumi had placed her in. “You’re really annoying.”

Hitsumi refuses to let her go, he had finally caught her and wasn’t about to lose her again. “Alright Li this is what’s happening. I’m taking you back to the princess. We’re going to take her to her uncle’s castle and you’re going to be cooperative throughout the whole ordeal.”

Li closes her eyes still unwilling to cooperate with him in anyway, Li answering him quietly as she again refused to comply. “I don’t need anyone’s help to survive…”

Hitsumi is silent over the response that Li had given him. The way Li had said that… it sounded like someone that wanted to be left alone but at the same time wasn’t used to being alone. Like something or someone had been taken away from her and she was now being forced into solitude. Hitsumi’s grip on Li loosens slightly.

Li pulls free from Hitsumi’s grasp as soon as she feels it weaken and gets to her back to her feet, surprisingly though doesn’t start running just yet and she instead turns back at Hitsumi. If it was a stupid duel that made him think that she would want to listen to him it was probably the same thing that would convince him to leave her be. “Here’s my contest Hitsumi.”

Hitsumi stays seated on the ground silently listening to what Li had to say.

Angel and Echo finally catch up to the two of them, the princess panting heavily for breath and looking exhausted from all the running she had just endured to keep up with Hitsumi.

Li turns pointing to the gates of the town. “If I can make it out of this town before you, you will leave me alone, but if you can make it out of town before me I’ll go with you. But… I’ll still run away again.” She takes off and starts running towards the gates while Hitsumi is still seated on the ground determined not to lose this one.

Hitsumi gets to his feet yelling bitterly after Li. “This contest is crap!! Even if I win you’ll still run away!?” He runs after her determined not to let her make it to the gates.

Angel doesn’t look very excited with chasing after them again. The princess instead standing on spot and watching the two leave coldly. “I’m tired of all of this running around! This ends NOW!” She looks down to the wizard that was had been so loyally traveling by her side since meeting. “ECHO!”

Echo turns to Angel upon hearing his name eager for his order. “Yes!?”

Angel points to the gate Li was trying to make it out of. “Change into an owl and fly to the gates of the city! Tell them to shut the gates under my orders!”

“Yes princess.” Just as he had been told Echo’s human form quickly changes into the body of an owl, the whole process only taking a second. The white owl spreads its large wings and moves forward taking flight and heading towards the gates as it had been instructed, the bird swooping over and ahead of both Li and Hitsumi able to reach the gates much quicker than they were able to when in this form.

Angel reluctantly again starts running after Li and Hitsumi, the princess hopping that Echo would be able to help her bring this nonsense to a halt.

Echo lands catching onto a ledge close to the two, changing back into a human in front of the gatekeepers surprising them both. He ignores there baffled expressions and points his staff towards Li and Hitsumi. “Shut the gates before those two get here!”

The gatekeepers timidly look behind Echo spotting the people Echo was referring too. Echo jumps down off of the railing landing between them as he informed them of how important this request just so happened to be. “These are the orders of the Princess of East!”

Li gasps in horror when she sees the gates beginning to close. “No…” She runs faster to try and reach them in time. This couldn’t be happening! Not now, not when she was so close, this was her only chance!

The gates close quickly and by the time Li gets there they are shut tight, the locks just being secured.

Li starts banging on the large door with her fist expressing just how frustrated she found the situation to be. “No! No! No! This can’t be happening!” She turns towards the guards who had just finished locking the large gates. “Open these gates!”

Hitsumi stops a little behind Li chuckling slightly to himself, though Li found the situation horrifying he was finding it a little amusing. “It looks likes you lose Li.” This was the third time Li had lost something against him, it was obvious that luck was definitely not on her side.

“NO!” Li quickly snaps back unable to accept that fact that she had lost to him again. She tries to find another way out of it reminding Hitsumi that the gates were stopping him as well. “You can’t get out either.” She bangs her fist once more against the door reminding Hitsumi that neither one of them could get through it, the deal Li had stated being that the one to make it on the other side first would be the winner and both of them were stuck here. “Neither of us wins.”

Hitsumi holds his hands to himself. “Then we give the victory to the one who won our duel! Like we should have in the first place!”

Li falls silent as she thinks the situation over. She had lost that was clear to see, but that didn’t mean she had to stick around with him for the entire journey, after all she had warned Hitsumi that she had no intentions of sticking around. “I won’t stay long! I’ll find another opening and I’ll leave again.”

Angel catches up to the two having arrived soon enough to hear Li’s last line. She catches her breath and loudly clears her throat getting both Li and Hitsumi’s attention. “No you’re not! We’re settling this once and for all!”

Li and Hitsumi look at one another neither really in the mood to start another duel. The two are quiet as the princess regains herself taking several more deep breaths. Obviously she was used to and didn’t like running at the speeds and consistency that Hitsumi and Li had been going at. She holds her hand out between them as she tiredly announces to them what she had decided. “Through my title as the Princess of East, I officially state a duel! If Hitsumi wins, Li must help him protect me until ‘I’ say she can leave. If Li wins, she can go ahead and leave and Hitsumi!” She glares over at him making sure that he understood. “Will be bound by law to never seek her out again!”

Hitsumi isn’t too sure about the agreement, after all to travel alone with demons after you meant a quick death. Li on the other hand looked more than happy to oblige and grabs the chance she had been given to get Hitsumi permanently off of her back. “Fine…”

Hitsumi looks back at Li this person just as persistent as he was when it came to beating her. He shakes his head realizing that he would have to go through with this, a little annoyed that he would have beat Li up again but agreeing to the dual anyways, keeping in mind that when he did beat Li he would have gained a very promising and skilled ally for his journey with the princess. “Okay.”

Angel nods her head pleased to finally get this over with. “The nature of this duel is… is…” She looks around nervously not sure of what kind of duel she should make it? It was clear that Li wouldn’t do well in a physical fight, as for a test of wits it was clear that Li would probably beat Hitsumi at that, the bandit really not that bright. Angel sighs not sure of how she was supposed to make the duel between the two of them a little more simple and even. What was the normal way that commoners decided winners of disputes between them? Rock, paper, scissors? Iny Minnie Miny Mo? Oh yes! She looks back to Hitsumi and Li announcing their trail. “Arm wrestling!”

Hitsumi looks over at Li raising his eyebrow, the bandit believing that to be something he could easily beat Li at. “Arm wrestling?”

“Fine!” Li agrees willingly as she begins looking for a table they would be able to complete their final dual on, spotting the gatekeepers that had shut the gate now playing cards at a table while on their break. Li walking over to it and pushing the cards off and rolling up her sleeve. The guards start to complain about how she ruined their game while Hitsumi sits opposite of Li, setting his elbow on the table ready to start.

Li looks down at her arm making a fist. “I can’t lose this one.” She clenches onto her fist with her left hand. “I won’t go back to the west continent… never again!”

“Do you like it here?” The gentle voice of a young man questions as he stood behind a long haired girl who was sitting on the edge of an ivory fountain and gazing down at her reflection within the rose petal filled water. The look on her face being one of complete comfort and bliss.

The girl smiles as she turns back to face him and answer the question he had asked her. “I…” She gets to her feet walking next to him and resting her head on his shoulder. “I never want to leave this place…”

Li turns around sitting down and placing her elbow on the table, grabbing onto Hitsumi’s hand and gripping onto him tightly. This time she would be serious about this, she wasn’t going to lose to him again and not at something like this. “No more games…”

Hitsumi stares at her a little confused by the comment she had made. “Games?”

Angel runs up to the table cuffing her hands onto Li and Hitsumi’s and holding them in place. “Ready?” Both Li and Hitsumi nod their head yes ready to begin at any moment. “Go!” Angel lets go and the two began pushing against one another as they tried to force the others arm down.

For a while they’re arms stay in the middle of the table, the two looking to be equal in strength. Hitsumi looks a little confused by this having determined when the two had fought that his strength was greater than hers. “Li wasn’t this strong before.”

Li narrows her eyes hatefully at Hitsumi as she pushes Hitsumi’s arm down towards the table much to the bandit’s shock and surprise. He pushes against her but has trouble overpowering the strength she was using. Hitsumi narrows his eyes as he looks back at her Li not even looking to be straining at all from this. “This isn’t right! She wasn’t this strong when I fought her before, not even close!”

Echo watches Li through narrowed eyes as he stares at Li’s face, something about her bothering him since he had first seen her, this something even more troubling with how the match between the two of them was starting to turn out. “That energy…” He thinks back remembers the black mark that she had burned into the ground when fighting Hitsumi. He takes his concentration off of Li’s face and brings all of his attention to her eyes, Li’s dark purple eyes filled with a determination to win. “Her eyes… That’s not a normal color for a human.”

Hitsumi pushes against Li as hard as he can slowly managing to work his way back up and bringing them back to the middle. He continues to struggle against Li, the blond a lot better then he looked, Li continued to hold her own against him Hitsumi unable to push her hand past the point in the middle.

Hitsumi now places all of his strength and weight into his arm as he tried to push her down, he couldn’t afford to lose now not after beating Li so many times.

Li pushes harder against him once again slowly pushes Hitsumi’s arm down towards the table. She smiles wickedly at the weakening bandit who was beginning to get tired from the force he was using against her, soon she win and never have to see this pest ever again.

Echo walks up behind Li the wizard bringing his head close to her and whispering softly in her ear. “You’re a half-breed, aren’t you?”

Li gasps in shock at Echo’s words, Hitsumi taking her moment of surprise to thrust all his remaining strength into his arm and slam the back of Li’s hand into the table, winning the match.

Li lets go of Hitsumi’s hand and pushes herself up from the seat she had taken, Li looking in a state of shock after hearing Echo’s words. She looks down to him, her voice shaking slightly as she tried to answer the question the wizard had asked. “I’m human…”

Li is about to turn away and leave but is stopped by Hitsumi grabbing onto the back of her vest. Hitsumi smiles proudly at her as he reminds her that she had lost and now had no choice but to stay with him, Hitsumi glad that he had managed to beat the annoying brat again. “Looks like you’re stuck with me. You can’t disobey the orders of a princess you know.”

Li pushes Hitsumi’s arm off of her not in the mood for this after hearing what Echo had said to her. “It didn’t count. Echo meddled with the affair! I’m not going.”

Hitsumi sighs somehow this not surprising him. Echo looks over at Hitsumi a little upset, having not realized that asking Li the question he had would have lead to this.

The last of the princess’s patients is chipped away as she walks up to Li to confront her personally on the situation. She had been patient for a long time now as she watched Hitsumi and Li bicker and fight with Li refusing to admit defeat but this was the last straw.

Angel stops in front of Li lifting her arm up and slapping Li hard across the face, much to the horror of both Hitsumi and Echo, both of them knowing that there was no way that Li wasn’t going to react badly to this action.

Angel yells at Li not seeing why she was forcing this continue. “Why are you being so stubborn!? Hitsumi has bested you numerous times now! He successfully captured you, beat you in a dual, beat you in your race and now he had beaten you in this test!”

Li is about to say something but Angel interrupts her not giving Li a chance to say a single word. “Do you not understand!? No matter how many times you fight him you will never beat him!”

Li clenches her teeth angrily at what Angel had just told her. Why was it this way? Why couldn’t she beat him!? She had never had this much trouble with someone before. What’s more she didn’t want to go tagging along with the princess, especially to a place like the West content! She could never go back to the West continent and she would do anything to avoid going there.

Li lifts her arm punching Angel across the face in return for the slap she had given her, knocking her back and onto the ground

Hitsumi and Echo both freak out, Echo rushing to Angel’s side while Hitsumi grabs onto Li holding her in place to prevent her from attacking Angel any farther. Li bitterly gives Angel her response as Hitsumi fought with her. “I don’t follow anyone!”

The princess pushes Echo’s hand aside refusing his aid. Angel lifting herself back to her feet again and standing up in front of Li, this action of Angel’s shocking Li, she having not expected the princess to get back up from such a blow. Angel narrows her eyes as she holds her hand over the spot that Li had struck her, the princess speaking to Li in a confident and overpowering tone of voice that was well breed within her royal blood. “You will never win!”

*******

Time passes and the journey of Angel and her companions begins. Hitsumi, Angel and Echo all standing outside a coral of a farm outside of Bronze Riverton that is filled with horses, Angel petting one of the horses that had wandered near her, while Echo sits on the fence also watching the animals with quiet smile.

Hitsumi looks each of the animals over inspecting them. “Traveling on horseback will take a lot less time, we’ll reach your destination much quicker and it won’t be as tiring as it would if were to walk all the way there. This IS the Castle of West we’re talking about here. That’s a freaken long journey you know.”

Angel laughs as the horse sniffs her hands for food, the animal turning and walking away when it finds none. “This is great! I love riding horses!!” Being a princess she had been able to ride many fine and well breed horses during her life.

Echo hadn’t ridden horses as a pastime like Angel, but he had still been taught how and had even come across several chances to ride one. “I like it too! It’s easier then flying everywhere!”

Angel turns back to Hitsumi with a concerned look on her face, the princess a little troubled about Li. “Hitsumi… are you sure it was such a good idea to just let Li go like that?”

Hitsumi shrugs his shoulders unsure of his decision himself. “What else was I supposed to do? Besides, Li knows how to handle himself I guess, he’ll probably do better without me around.”

Li walks up behind them guiding four horses behind her. “Him, he, that guy, boy. Do I really look THAT much like a guy?”

Hitsumi glares back at her pointing an accusing finger at her. “Pervert that collects woman’s belongings!”

Li ignores the comment as she informs Hitsumi of the situation. “It took a while but the owner eventually sold us four horses.”

Behind Li stood the four horses she had purchased, a gray pony that was small enough for Echo to easily mount, a large strong looking black stallion, a quiet white mare, and a frisky smaller brown horse, who’s mane, tail, legs and muzzle were a darker brown then the rest of her.

Hitsumi take the harness of the black horse leading it away from the others, Hitsumi taking the animal for his own. “It’s about time you got back here. The princess was worried that you were going to run away again.”

The princess takes the white horse from Li while Echo of course takes the pony easily mounting it.

Hitsumi turns talking to Li as he mounts the black horse. “If it were up to me I would have stolen them.” He looks back at Angel who is mounting her horse like the others. “But since we’re traveling with a princess…”

Li frowns closing her eyes looking away from Hitsumi. Even though it was something she was doing she still didn’t like the idea of having to travel with him, the reminder that she would have to follow his orders making it even worse. “It’s a good thing you didn’t come to buy the horses with me. The rancher was looking for a ‘Loud Mouthed Bandit’ that stole one of his horses a few months ago.”

Hitsumi looks confused for a moment before remembering the incident and nodding his head slightly. “Oh yeah… I almost forgot about that. Didn’t like that dumb horse either, stupid thing kept biting me.” He looks back at the princess who sat comfortably on the back of her steed glad that the horse would be doing all of the walking instead of her. “I told you he would do better without me.”

Hitsumi pauses looking back to Li when he realizes that she had still not gotten onto the back of her horse. “Hey… why haven’t you mounted your horse yet?”

Li looks to the side her face blushing slightly in embarrassment. “I… don’t know how to ride a horse…”

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