Dawning Skye

534 Toshinori Yagi

The streets of the marketplace were thick with people shopping and selling their goods. Kari, Peggy, Skye, Mei, and Hana all walked in single-file as they brushed shoulders with strangers. The air was cool enough to warrant cloaks and shawls, although only women seemed to be bundled up.

Shouts of deals and rarities could be heard from every direction, to draw in customers to the tiny stalls set up off to the side of store entrances. Skye’s head whipped from side to side as she quickly surveyed the goods that they passed. They started out near clothing, trinkets, linens, and other necessity-like goods mixed in with bobbles.

When Skye started to see food stalls, she stopped several times. Using her magic on Ryu had made her constantly-present hunger worsen to the point of her needing to eat. It was all quickly edible street food, so it didn’t take her long to devour it before moving on to the next vendor. Mei watched on in both amazement, and horror as Skye ate an amount of food that would’ve taken her a week to finish.

She ate massive portions of Takoyaki, deep fried chicken skins, and a fruit dish called kwek kwek for a small dessert. Skye was shocked to see deep-fried oranges, having never thought to prepare them that way at all. The sweetness coated her tongue in an unfamiliar, yet pleasant way. As she finished her last bite, she caught Mei staring.

“Why are ya lookin’ at me like that? Oh! Ima so sorry! I probably look like a bloody heathen, the way Ima eatin’. Was I that bad?” Skye said as she dusted the crumbs from the chicken skins off of her dress.

Peggy stared at her with an annoyed expression as she shifted the receipt papers in her arms; “Can ya not see that Lady Mei is appalled at yer lack of manners?! I didna say anythin’ in the shop about yer behavior, but if ya canna reign it in fer yer husband’s sake, then I’ll bend ya over me knee right here! Ya ken?!”

Skye had noticed Peggy being unusually quiet in the dress shop, but thought that she had simply been preoccupied with the dresses. Had she known that Peggy was already biting her tongue, then she wouldn’t have stopped for so much food. There were so many delicious looking and smelling foodstuffs that Skye had lost herself to the gluttonous side of her nature.

With the flush on her cheeks reaching her ears, Skye apologized to her maidservant. Mei smiled, seeing a more familiar side to her friend. When they were children, she was often right next to Skye; getting admonished by Peggy the same.. ‘But we’re so different now.. Once we’re alone and talking, will Skye still even like me? I’m a shell of what I used to be..’

As a dreary expression flashed across Mei’s face, Hana nudged her and asked; “Are you alright, Lady Mei? Are you hungry as well?”

.....

Mei gave her a weak smile as she replied; “No, I’m fine, thank you. I just wonder if Skye is beyond me now..”

Hana’s face twitched with an emotion that Mei couldn’t place before she spoke in a stern voice; “The princess is an accomplished person in her own right, which is unusual for any woman anywhere. But she is still a woman, your childhood friend, and...a kind person, as much as I hate admitting it.”

Mei quirked an eyebrow at her; “Why do you hate admitting that?”

Hana partially glared at Mei; “You know why..”

Mei’s cheeks flushed as she rubbed her hands together in a fidgety motion. She shrunk away from Hana, who put her hand out towards Mei, but she pulled it back before she’d reached too far. The two walked in silence after that, continuing in their single file line.

Kari had grown tired of hearing Skye and Peggy, so she had dropped to the back of their line. She hadn’t been able to understand what Hana and Mei were saying, but their body language towards each other, and their tone, made her perk up..

‘Are those two-‘

“Oh my gosh! Toshi! Please! Someone Help! He’s collapsed!”

Before Kari could finish her thought, a frantic elderly woman started to scream for help about four meters away from them. Her dark-purple shawl had fallen to the ground in her haste to find assistance, and had been walked on several times before Skye scooped it up. After she had used her magic to clean and dry it, she handed it back to her as she asked in Saianese; “What is wrong, ma’am?”

The woman looked at the cloaked figure with tears in her eyes; “M-My husband! He’s collapsed waiting to see the doctor! He’s over there! Next to the entrance!”

Pointing through the crowds, Skye realized that the people closest to them were actually standing in an atrociously-long line. As they made their way to the front, they saw several people surrounding an elderly man on the cold, wet ground. As soon as her knees hit the ground, Skye pulled her hood down to see better..

Those gathered started to whisper about the color of the foreigner’s hair, then someone called out; “It’s the Guardian! The Guardian is going to save Toshinori!”

Once the man had called out, the crowds went into a frenzy. Some started shouting their praises, a few even tried to reach out, and touch her. Annoyed that she couldn’t concentrate, Skye used her Earth magic to make the ground shake. As the people stepped back to brace, a wall of dirt and mud sprang up around Skye, her group, and the old couple.

Seeing the unnerved expression on the old woman and Mei’s faces prompted Skye to state; “Don’t worry, that was me. I can’t focus with all of their yelling. I will get rid of the wall myself once I’m finished, so don’t worry.”

As relief spread across the two’s faces, Skye turned and began her examination. The moment she pulled the old man’s hood back, Hana exclaimed; “Oh no, that’s Toshinori Yagi.. Can you save him?!”

Skye sighed; “If I can concentrate, then maybe..”

Hearing the obvious annoyance in her voice, Hana and everyone else backed against the freshly made dirt wall. Skye placed her hands on the man’s chest and head, then began to funnel her magic into him. She hadn’t wanted to worry the woman, so she hadn’t mentioned that his heart had stopped beating.

Creating an electrical charge by manipulating his nervous system, Skye began trying to revive the man named Toshinori. As the current stimulated his circulatory system and got it pumping again, the man’s eyes shot open as he gasped for air. He tried to sit up, but Skye kept a firm hand on his chest.

“Don’t move yet! I have to make sure that none of your organs were damaged from lack of oxygen. Then I have to find the reason that you collapsed in the first place. Please lay still until I am finished,” Skye stated in a gentle, but firm voice.

The man stopped thrashing about, and looked at the person talking to him. Seeing the sun shine through her hair, and recognizing that it resembled golden threads; Toshinori knew exactly who she was..

“I never would’ve thought that the Guardian of the Last Dragon was a healer,” the old man commented with a slight grin.

Skye smirked right back at him as she said; “Oh, good sir.. Who said that’s all I’m capable of?”

A wide, cheeky grin stretched across his face as the golden light emanating from Skye’s hand grew brighter; “You are just as full of moxie as Jinny said that you were.”

“Oh, so you know Genie then?” Skye asked as she finished clearing his bloodstream of any clots.

Toshinori laughed hard; “I would have to say yes to that.”

“Do you know nothing of your teacher?!” Hana nearly yelled; “Master Jin is Master Yagi’s former student. Everything Genie knows about being a Shinobi: he learned from him.”

Skye turned back to Toshinori; “Really? I would wager that you have some horribly embarrassing stories about him then?”

As Skye stopped glowing and removed her hands, Toshinori sat up with a mischievous look; “I do.”

An impish expression covered Skye’s features as she stood up, offered a hand to the elder, then said; “I don’t care for money, but one can never hear enough good stories..”

Toshinori grabbed his anxious wife’s hand, and smiled reassuringly at her be for he replied; “It’s a deal then. For I am old, and things are not as cheap as they used to be.”

The devilish grin had not left his face, except when he smiled at his wife. Hana and Mei looked mortified that the princess had been so bold, while the other two looked on with curiosity. Peggy understood enough of Sai’s language to get by, but Kari knew almost nothing.

On the ship, she, Klaus, and Ronnie had learned basic manners from Peggy. As well as how to ask for food, and where the bathroom was. But that was the extent of her knowledge. Watching the fluid conversations between Skye and the others made her wish that she could at least read Saianese.

Skye and Toshinori talked for a few minutes about his blood clots, and how to keep them under control until the commotion from the other side of the earth partition became unbearable. He had barely introduced his wife, Aoi, when they heard people begin to bang on it. Confused as to why someone would become violent over having their view of a situation that didn’t involve them blocked, Skye had the wall crumble..

As soon as the crowds saw Toshinori on his feet, they began to cheer for the Guardian of the Last Dragon. Skye smiled and waved, as did Toshinori to those asking if he was okay. Peggy and Mei scrunched behind Skye and the elderly couple; trying to avoid the frenzy while Hana and Kari kept the crowds back.

The people called out praises at first, then they quickly turned into prayers for help. Skye felt a wave of anxiety at she stared at the massive amount of people asking for help, but she took a deep breath..

Taking a few steps, she placed her hand on Kari’s shoulder. A sign that Skye needed her to step aside, so she could address the crowds. Hana stayed a step back, watching the spectators for anything amiss as the Alconian Princess began to shout..

“Anyone who is seriously injured! Please move to the front here! I will tend to as many as I can, starting with those that are the worst off! Anyone who can, please go and see the doctors inside of the clinic behind me!”

As the people started to argue about who should be seen first, Skye called out again in a hard tone; “I understand that many of you are in pain! But please! Imagine the ones that are worse off than you are your family! Your mother! Your sister! Your son! Your brother! Please! If you Can wait to be treated, please! Let The Other Through!”

Skye’s words stung at the consciences of the crowds, making most stop in their tracks. When Toshinori requested the same, and that everyone honor the Guardian’s wish, the people’s demeanors shifted. Just as the people started to organize themselves, an angry voice called out from behind Skye’s group; “What is going on out here?! Who are you, woman?! And what do you think you are doing outside of my clinic?!”

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