fic for clipsie (2/2)

[nino-mod.livejournal.com]

For: clipsie
From: aeslis

Part 1


Breakfast was applesauce, because as Matsuko told it, all witches were experts with all things apples. She was a formidable figure in a bat-patterned apron that clashed terribly with her blotchy pink robe, but she did seem to know what she was doing in the kitchen.

Okada was halfway through and enjoying it immensely—the flavor was crisp and sweet, with just the right touch of cinnamon and sugar—before Nino finally made an appearance, looking more adorably bedheaded than he had when Okada had met him. His eyes still weren't quite open, but he agilely avoided falling over a black cat that had decided to wind around his legs before he made it to the breakfast table, where he slid sluggishly into his seat and blinked multiple times at the applesauce Matsuko put in front of him before starting to eat.

"Today we'll definitely make it to the castle," Okada told him, and Nino grunted without interest. There was applesauce on his lips. "I'll put in a call through the magic mirror and have them send out an escort." He paused, then turned to Matsuko. "You do have a magic mirror?"

"Of course, Your Highness, but before that, shouldn't we talk about payment? I did, after all, do you a favor, and I want one in return." She said it casually, but also, Okada noticed, carefully.

Okada was taken by surprise. True enough, there was a rule in the Enchanted Forest about the repayment of favors, but the rule usually held that both parties had to agree in advance. Agreeing to do favors without knowing what they were was a very bad idea. Okada had been around long enough to hear the stories about people who unwittingly gave up their whole fortune by asking the wrong person for a favor. "What is it?" he asked, suspiciously.

"A little thing, Your Highness, to be sure. I just seem to have misplaced a… potion, by the nearby lake. If you could retrieve it for me, I'd be most grateful." Matsuko sat calmly, her hands folded together and her mouth as dour and uninterested as ever, but Okada thought he could see tension in the corners of her eyes. It wasn't the look of someone trying to trick him, but of someone worried and trying not to show it.

"And why can't you retrieve it yourself?" he asked.

"I'm not in the best of shape," Matsuko pointed out, breaking eye contact and smoothing her hands down the front of her robe. "It really would be much easier for someone so young and spry to find it before someone inappropriate gets ahold of it."

Across the table, Nino's brows went up. He'd licked away the applesauce and looked more awake. "This is a ruse if I ever heard one."

Matsuko heaved a sigh, then put her hands flat on the table. "Look," he said, looking directly into Okada's eyes now. "I'm worried something happened over there, and that the potion might have broken and caused some ill effects. Since you're the prince, I hoped you'd stop by for a look. It is your forest, after all."

"My sister's," Okada corrected absently, eyeing Matsuko. She was telling the truth this time, and the tension was still in her eyes. Whatever it was, she thought it was important, and even if she was cheating with the rules, a favor was a favor, and princes weren't exempt from paying them back. "Fine. We'll swing by. But you need to give us good directions."

It wasn't on the way, at all. In fact it was an hour's walk in the other direction, and Nino made acerbic remarks as they crossed through a grove of snow cherries. The snow stuck to Nino's hair and eyelashes, making tiny wet marks on the shoulders of his tunic, but it wasn't nearly as cold as he made it out to be. He liked the frog hollow a good deal more, however; they paused for several minutes as the frogs sang in seemingly random patterns that ended up as complex melodic harmonies.

About fifteen minutes later, the trees started to grow sturdier, thicker around the trunks. Moss climbed up each tree, but to Okada's eyes it didn't have the lush, magical air that it should have.

They took a few more steps and hit a dead end, the trees so close together that they couldn't go any farther. Okada frowned. This had definitely been the direction Matsuko had said to go. He turned, spotting a more open area, and tried to go around, but only got several more paces before the path was blocked again.

"Well, this is irritating," he muttered.

"In my experience, the more irritating things get, the closer you are to wishing you'd turned around and gone back," Nino pointed out. "And by the way, your trees are moving."

Now that Nino pointed it out, Okada could see it. The trees' roots rippled under the dirt, and in Okada's peripheral vision, there was movement as trees tried to create a barrier between him and whatever was on the other side.

That wasn't right. Okada might not have been king, but he had the highest clearance of anyone in the forest. There wasn't a single place he wasn't allowed to go. "You must not recognize me," Okada said, raising his voice so that it carried far enough that even the trees in the distance could hear him. "I'm the prince, and I have business just beyond. Stand aside and let me pass."

There was a concerned rustle, and Okada thought he saw several of the trees bow closer to each other. None of them moved.

"I said," Okada said with great care, letting a hint of threat into his voice, "Let me pass."

Still nothing happened.

"That's great," Nino said lowly, right by his shoulder. "I think they're doubting your pedigree."

Okada was about to say something—he wasn't sure what—when a heavy sound made them both jump. It came again, immediately, and again, shaking the earth, louder and louder as it approached. "Oh this isn't good," Nino said, already gripping at Okada's arm, ready to use him for a shield.

A monster crashed right into their small clearing. It was nearly as tall as the trees themselves, but the trees leaned their branches out of the way, giving it plenty of space. It was shaggy, with menacing yellow eyes and two fangs that poked up from its grotesquely oversized lower jaw, and Okada had never seen an orc or an ogre with feet this size. They were large enough to squash him flat.

He shoved Nino behind a tree. Even if they moved, they'd make a much better barrier than Okada himself would. Then he drew his sword and lowered into a fighting stance.

The monster swung, its big fist crashing down into the space Okada had just been occupying. Okada, however, had already somersaulted away. He got to his feet and dashed to the left again as the monster took another swing.

It was fast. Okada was smaller, and nimble, but he might as well have been a bug what with the way the monster was aiming to squish him. He zigzagged, keeping out of reach, sword to hand for all the good it did.

Okada went into another sharp roll as the monster brought its fist down again to create a crater of freshly upturned earth. Okada raised the sword to keep the dirt from flying into his face, and the blade flashed, bright and unblemished.

It gave him an idea, but there was no time to catch his breath. Okada ducked another swing and was running again, this time between the monster's feet. It threw the monster off, and he lifted a foot to try to bring it down on Okada, but Okada was already through, into the monster's blind spot.

He had only the few moments it took the monster to turn himself around. Okada lifted the sword, cutting it through a bright ray of sun that made it through the canopy, and right when the monster turned, Okada aimed that reflected sun right into the monster's eyes.

It roared in surprise, squinting against the glare, and Okada took the chance, running up and grabbing the monster's shaggy coat. He thought he could hear Nino shouting, but he was concentrating so hard on climbing that he couldn't make out the words. It took the monster some time to regroup, and by then Okada was halfway up its back, his fingers tight in scraggly, unwashed fur. It smelled terrible.

The monster couldn't reach around, though it tried to twist its head enough to see Okada. It made a sound that was something between a gurgle and a growl and stomped its feet, shaking urgently, trying to force Okada to lose his grip, but Okada clung on for dear life.

By the time he'd reached the top, he was out of breath. All he had was the sword, held tightly in one hand, and he raised it, gathering all his strength to bring it down on the monster's neck.

Nothing happened. "Come on," Okada begged through gritted teeth, hacking away in frustration. But nothing changed. The sharp edge bumped against the monster's mop-like hair as if it were made of foam.

Nino shouted again, and when Okada looked down, he could see Nino's wide eyes in his white face, and Nino pointing urgently at something over his head. But it was too late: the monster's hand flicked him away, sending him like a ragdoll to crash into a tree and tumble down to the ground.

He landed hard, stunned, and for a moment he forgot to breathe. When he did remember, he wished he hadn't. It stung, and he was sure he had broken a rib, if not several. His vision was covered with blackness and stars, but through it, faintly, he could see Nino's pale, angry face.

"Idiot," Nino said through the fog, and he caught the bright flash of his sword as Nino raised it.

And brought it down right through his arm.

Okada screamed, the sound ripping from his chest. He hurt—it hurt, his ribs burned, and his arm—

—His arm was in one piece, the sword buried in the ground below it. He could see it perfectly well, in fact. The blackness in his vision was receding, and when he tried an experimental breath, it hurt less than the last.

Before he could wrap his mind around this, he heard Nino, and looked up to see him facing the monster, whose foot was raised, ready to be brought down on Okada.

"Pardon me!" Nino said. The monster froze, blinking stupidly. Nino jerked a thumb over his shoulder, in Okada's direction. "I'm terribly sorry about his manners. They did teach him to be nice, but princes get that protective urge, you know, and it gets in the way of thinking properly."

The monster peered at Nino from under shaggy brows, uncertain.

"He's usually much better about it," Nino went on without pause, "and he'll apologize. We were just passing through, you see. We're just here to pick up a potion that someone might have left behind."

Okada gaped as the monster lowered his foot. It seemed to be taken aback, but then it grinned, its mouth widening in a distressing display of teeth. "You charming," it said. It sounded like it had swallowed gravel.

"Some people tell me that," Nino said modestly, completely unfazed. Then Nino turned and looked pointedly at Okada.

Okada stood up, because he found that he could. All his body parts were intact, and breathing didn't hurt at all anymore. He bowed. "I am sorry," he said, taking Nino's cue. "I'm afraid you caught me by surprise."

"Big Foot supposed to," the monster said. "Big Foot the guardian."

"Then you're very good at your job," Okada complimented him.

The monster seemed pleased to hear it, and showed even more teeth.

"So what you're guarding is safe, then, right?" Nino said. "Should we be on our way?"

Big Foot shook its head. "No," he said, "Big Foot not know what wrong. Funny, strange thing happen, Big Foot worried." He looked down at them, his face long. "You charming people check? Fix lake?"

Okada heard Nino mutter something, but it was too low to make out. "Of course," he said. "As the prince, it's my duty to make sure everything is in proper condition."

Big Foot's eyebrows relaxed, which Okada took as a sign of relief. It turned and knocked smartly on one of the trees, which rustled noisily before moving out of the way, revealing a flower-lined path and the lake beyond. "Lake funny," Big Foot repeated. "Please help lake. I keep guard."

"I will," Okada said, and gathered up his sword, ushering Nino through the gap before Big Foot changed its mind. Big Foot waved goodbye behind them. "How did you know he'd listen to you?" Okada whispered.

Nino's smile was complicated. "I learn my lessons. I figured if a bear wants people to be polite, why wouldn't a monster?"

Okada shook his head, impressed despite himself. "You could have been squashed flat."

"Don't remind me," Nino muttered.

Okada stopped before moving out of the protection of the trees. Leafy shadows covered his arms and all of Nino. "And this?" he said, brandishing the sword. He held out his arm, looking it over just to be sure, but it was in tip top shape, as was the rest of him. "That was absolutely terrifying, you know."

Nino actually looked sheepish. He rubbed the underside of his nose and ducked his head. "Sorry. I didn't exactly have much time to explain, though, what with Big Foot there about to turn you into a pancake."

"True," Okada allowed. "So explain now."

Nino shrugged. "Not much to it, really." He tapped the crystal in the center of the hilt. "Turns out the sword isn't actually magic, this gem is. We had a hunch it was a restorative magic, since the sword is in absolutely perfect condition. Not a blemish or a scratch, not a hint of dullness. Rather amazing, if you ask me."

"A hunch," Okada echoed, feeling hollow. "So you're saying you whacked clean through my arm with this thing on a hunch."

"It worked, didn't it?" Nino said defensively. "We didn't exactly have anything to test it on. No, don't glare. It makes you entirely too attractive." He patted Okada on the cheek, and then smiled, not a hint of sheepishness left. "You're welcome."

Okada sighed and started walking again.

The trees opened, letting them out before a wide, pink lake. The color didn't bother Okada overly much. He'd seen stranger, after all—there was a lake of gold near the castle that was forever getting overloaded with people who thought it might be quaint to dip in a twig or a leaf, and ended up turned to gold themselves.

More important was the tree on the island in the middle of the lake. It was huge. Its branches spread wide, its leaves every color of the rainbow and then some, and it reached higher into the sky than any other tree in the forest. Okada had never seen it before, but he recognized it at once. It was the Heart Tree, the source of the forest's magic.

And it was wilting. The Heart Tree, the most magical thing of all, was losing its leaves. Already the lake was dotted with crimson and purple and marigold. Okada could see more bark and branches than he should have been able to.

This was a disaster.

"Isn't this a little odd?" Nino said. Okada looked at him. Nino was bent over the edge of the lake, balanced precariously on a moss-covered stone, peering into the water. "There's something funny about this lake. It's almost like—"

"Welcome," said a voice. It tinkled and echoed, as if several voices were speaking at once. Okada thought he could hear both old and young alike, but when he looked up, there was only one woman walking towards them through the water. To either side, the leaves of the Heart Tree spiraled away on the ripples she left in her passing.

There was no question that she was a dryad. Okada knew several, and they usually had green hair and clothes in shades of all the woodland colors. This dryad had had the delicate, dark features that labeled her a dryad, but her hair was just as much a rainbow as the leaves of the Heart Tree itself.

She moved closer, her steps making the water swish quietly, and walked right up to Nino. "I've been waiting for you," she said, and before Okada could shout a warning, both her gnarled hands dug into the shoulders of Nino's shirt and tumbled him into the lake with a resounding splash.

"Oh my love," the dryad said, cooing as Nino surfaced, gasping. His eyes were frighteningly empty. The dryad's hands found Nino's cheek and stroked along it, leaving a smudge of wetness in its wake. She started walking backwards, her arm latched fiercely around Nino's waist, and she talked to him with light, tinkling sounds.

"Nino?" Okada said, standing helplessly on the bank. "Nino."

But Nino gave no sign that he had heard. The lake's magic had its grip on him, and he let the dryad lead him, step after clumsy step.

Okada paced the bank, furious with himself for letting down his guard. They were getting farther out, well beyond his reach. What he wouldn't give for Nino's ability to read spells right now! If he could only figure out what the lake's enchantment was, he might be able to stop it.

Wait. Okada stopped. Nino had said something was strange. Strange with the water.

He looked at his sword. It glinted, the sunlight skimming along its edge, as if in answer. Okada didn't need to be told twice. He held it out in his fist, the tip aimed downward, and plunged it into the lake.

The effect was immediate. Like a soap bubble pushing away the taint, the blushing pink color rippled outwards, leaving a pure, emerald green in its wake. The ripple picked up speed, chasing away the pink to the far corners of the lake until, at last, it vanished completely, leaving the lake bright and clean.

"Nino!" Okada shouted. The dryad had almost pulled Nino to her island. Okada went flying into the water with one wild leap, desperately moving to catch up. The water filled his shoes and clung to his pants, slowing him down, but he still managed to gain.

It wasn't fast enough. The dryad pulled an unresisting Nino onto the shore, and, to Okada's horror, pushed him right up against the trunk of the Heart Tree. Then she wrapped her arms around him and started to merge herself back into her tree.

Okada put his head down and surged forward, his sword flashing like fire, until he reached the island. He ran up onto it and straight to Nino with sodden steps.

Nino was already halfway merged with the tree. The skin of his arms had turned brown, darkening and crackling like the bark at his back, and the color was creeping up Nino's neck and into his cheeks. Okada puffed, trying to get his breath back, but every breath he took saw Nino disappearing a little farther into the trunk of the Heart Tree.

"Tainted," Okada said aloud, "tainted water." He looked down. The Heart Tree's roots were wild and knobby, thicker than both his arms. They had to go deep. The lake was its source of water, and the lake had been poisoned.

Okada didn't hesitate. He lifted his sword and stabbed it straight into the trunk of the Heart Tree.

The dryad wailed, ripping herself free of the tree's surface, and Nino popped out, the barklike quality of his skin vanishing in a rush. Okada stuck out an arm to catch him, and they both sank to the ground, clinging to each other. Okada's heart thundered against Nino's arm, and he turned Nino's face up to find Nino aware and alert again, blinking bemusedly back at him.

Above them, the Heart Tree shuddered. Several paces away, the dryad stood shocked, her hands on her cheeks, staring upwards at her tree. New growth was appearing: leaves of sky blue and rose red, pearly white and dandelion yellow. When Okada looked, the sword had been pushed partway out of the trunk, and as the tree regained its health, it inched farther and farther out. Finally, it clattered to the ground. The healing had been completed.

The dryad turned her grassy-green eyes on Nino. "I'm so sorry," she said, and her voice was more full of age than of youth. It was a wise voice, and beautiful, delicately chiming. She stepped closer, her clothes rustling like the wind through leaves. "Thank you. Both of you. You have saved me from a… rather embarrassing situation."

"What exactly happened?" Nino said. He pulled out of Okada's embrace, and Okada tried to not feel disappointed about it.

The dryad wrung her hands together. "It was an enchantment," she said. "A curse."

"I noticed that part," Nino said wryly. He reached up and plucked a leaf out of his hair, frowning at it before letting it fall. "I mean, how did you end up with your lake full of love potion?"

"Love potion?" Okada said, surprised.

"So that's what it was," the dryad said faintly.

"Do you happen to have a friend by the name of Matsuko?" Nino asked, though he sounded like he already knew the answer.

The dryad perked up. "Oh, yes, he comes by every once in a while for a picnic. I do enjoy his company. He tells the most fantastic stories."

Okada, suddenly very glad he had saved himself the awkwardness of calling Matsuko a she, revised his mental pronouns hastily.

Nino sighed and brushed his hands together before picking himself up. "I see."

So did Okada. In every likelihood, Matsuko had mispacked his lunch. Okada wasn't sure how the potion ended up in the lake, but it didn't much matter now that the damage was fixed.

The dryad helped them across the water by spelling a leaf to several times its normal size and bid them goodbye, promising to send a message ahead for them via bird calls so that the castle knew everything was all right.

They walked back into the forest, letting its shady coolness welcome them. Even though they had just saved the Heart Tree, and thus the forest, Okada was conflicted. Saving the forest meant the end of spending time with Nino. Now that they were through, there was no question that Nino would be going back to the dragons to resume his job counting coins and deciphering enchantments. After all Nino had gone through, there was no way he'd want to stay in the forest.

Much as Okada wanted to, he couldn't justify dragging Nino any deeper into it. He paused by a bush full of fireflowers and took out his sword—Nino's sword. "Here," he said, holding it out hilt first. "I promised to give it back to you."

Nino gave him a funny look, but took the sword.

"I, um," Okada said, feeling suddenly shy. "I enjoyed spending time with you. Maybe, if Ohchan doesn't mind… if you don't mind, I mean, I could visit you sometime."

Both of Nino's eyebrows went up. He pressed his lips together, as if trying to hold in a laugh, and stared off at something in the distance for a few moments before saying, very carefully, "So, Prince, did you happen to notice what you did back there?" There was a look of wicked amusement in his eyes when he turned his gaze sideways to Okada.

Okada paused. "I… fixed the Heart Tree?"

"Mhm," Nino said in the tone of someone who knows something the other person doesn't. "And?"

Okada's brow furrowed. "I don't see what you're getting at."

"Clearly," Nino said, and gave the rock nearby a cursory inspection before he sat down on it. "Might I point out that you rescued me?"

The pieces started to click together, but Okada shook his head, bemused. "But you aren't a damsel in dis—" He paused. Actually, Nino was in distress more frequently than any damsel he'd ever come across. "Okay, but you aren't a damsel."

"I'm not normally in distress, either," Nino said firmly. "This time was a special situation, and we won't mention it again." He glared at Okada until Okada nodded, and then went on. "But as everyone likes to point out, I never have done things the normal way, so it all works out in the end, doesn't it?" Now his smile was wicked, too.

A tiny flame of hope flickered in Okada's chest, and he started grinning too, stupidly. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"You think I'd let those cheekbones get away from me? Please."

Okada's feet carried him closer to Nino, placing both his hands on the rock to either side of him and leaning in. Nino tilted his face up until their noses touched, and Okada took a slow breath in. "So then, what do we do?"

"I can think of a few things," Nino said, his eyes lidded with suggestion, "but before that, let's take this sword back to Ohchan, hm?"

Okada's heart soared, filling his whole chest, filling the forest. Somewhere, he could hear birds singing. Magic thrummed through him till he thought he would burst.

"Yes. Let's do that." He took Nino's hand, and led him back the way they came.

Comments

[yumi-usagi.livejournal.com]

I love this one, really.
The plot and all, so creative. I was like holding my breath while reading from the beginning to the end. It's really good. And I like how to characterize Nino here, bratty and cute.
I just wish it's a little bit longer for the ending. I want to know how will they get together and fall in love and maybe their first kiss? hehe, I'm just greedy right >.<
Thanks for writing this!