Young Love
#5 of Legend of the Tiger Clan
Several years passed since the tragic day at the village, Zeng was now 17 years old and lived in the city of Minegarde with Linda who surprisingly was the princess of the region and with her help Zeng grew into the kingdoms most prized hunter and began building up a fierce reputation in the kingdom which he found out was called Gaia; named after the goddess of the earth, Zeng never knew such life existed outside the forest like his mothers.
Although the event had passed the people praised Zeng for returning their princess and becoming their hunter. It was a typical day in Minegarde as Zeng strolled through the streets with another slain wyvern but as the people cheered for him and chanted his name this meant nothing to him until he had his revenge on the frost dragon Glayce. Zeng soon arrived at Castle Minegarde which lied at the center of the city where Linda and her royal guard awaited Zengs return along with his mothers who had become so proud of their little cub.
"I Zeng have returned upon the completed task of wyvern slaying, as proof here is the body of the beast itself."
"You have served your kingdom well Zeng, the people and I thank you for your service."
A mix of battle cries and cheering filled the air for a short moment as Linda annoucned that their would be a feast held in Zengs honor for this was the fifth wyvern killed within the spring but for some of the nobles something like that was unworthy of a brute like Zeng or his two mothers, as the crowd dispersed to prepare for the feast Linda ran up to Zeng to offer a big hug with a smile which Zeng greeted with the same response.
"Is the party really necessary?"
"Aw come on you could use a little fun and it's been a long time since the city had a celebration."
When she was young Lindas parents were killed by a wyvern that attacked their caravan on their way back to the castle from their summer home, since then she felt all alone until she met Zeng. That night the party was in full swing as the city became filled with music and laughter, in the center was Zeng sitting next to Linda and the wyvern skull placed right above his seat, his mothers who had gotten a little drunk became the center of attention as they formed a dancing circle with some of the crowd making them laugh and as the music changed to a more festive tone Linda jumped out of her seat and grabbed Zeng by the arm.
"Come on Zeng!"
"WHOA! HA HA!!"
Zeng was given dancing lessons by Lindas tutors and it greatly paid off as the two impressed the crowd with their dance and soon everyone joined in while some of the nobles stuck to the sides not wanting to lower themselves to dancing with a savage and to make matters worse some began to hear rumors of their princess being infatuated with Zeng, the music ended with Zeng and Linda bowing to the crowd who cheered for them and with the hour growing late the feast was ended.
Zeng escorted Linda to her room while they had a little chat and as they neared Lindas door she turned to Zeng while holding both his hands.
"I had fun tonight."
"So did I...we should do it again sometime."
"I'd like that...."
Without thinking she planted a kiss on his cheek and quickly entered her room as her cheeks began to blush, leaving Zeng starstruck and feeling a little strange. The next morning Elicia entered Zengs room to find him staring out the window looking a little nervous since Linda planned for them to go on a picnic in the field and after last night he didn't know what to think.
"You alright sweetie?"
"AHH! MOTHER!! I-I-I *sighs* no i'm not alright."
"What's wrong?"
"Well....last night Linda kissed me-on the cheek and now-"
Zeng was cut short as his mother let out a gasp of shock before giving him a big hug, burying him in her chest.
"My little cubs in love! oh i'm so happy!!"
"*muffled* CAN'T BREATH!!"
"OH! sorry...have you told her how you feel about her yet?"
"I-I want to but what if she rejects me, I mean she's a princess and i'm...."
"A hunter?"
"Yeah....a hunter..."
"Don't worry about that. You see Zeng girls like Linda need men like you; Men who fill their lives with excitement and adventure, besides she might feel the same way about you."
With that beign said she left Zeng to prepare for their trip. Upon arriving at the field Zeng and Linda sat across each other while his mothers went down to a nearby stream for a bath, for a while the two stayed quiet until Zeng took a deep breath and worked up the nerve to bring up what happened last night.
"Uh Linda?"
"If this is about the kiss i'm sorry!"
Zeng was surprised that she was still nervous about that as she turned away but Zeng calmed her down by holding her hand and turning her face to him and he could see that she was crying a little.
"No! it's alright really it's...it's just..."
"What?"
Zeng wanted to say what was in his heart but before he could the ground beneath them suddenly rose up and from the ground came a giant dragon, its body was covered by a shell hard as rocks and its breath was as hot as a volcano. It spotted Linda and licked its lips thinking she would make a tasty meal until Zeng pulled out a knife hidden in his boot and stabbed the beast in its eye.
"LINDA RUN!!!!"
As Linda sprang to her feet and ran back to the city the beast quickly recovered and knocked Zeng out of the way, giving chase to the princess but Zeng leaped on its back looking for a weak spot after retreiving his knife. Sharon and Elicia spotted the beast chasing Linda and Zeng on top feeling around for a weak spot as they neared the city wall where the guards stood ready with the cannons.
"Wait till the princess gets clear then let him have it!!"
Because he could not wait for that Zeng leaped in front of the wyvern taunting it with a fierce roar then slowly the beast reared its head up as its chest began to glow red, realizing what it was doing Zeng grabbed Linda and leaped to safety as a huge torrent of flames shot out from the wyverns mouth leaving it open to a barrage of cannon fire but as the smoke cleared the beast emerged unharmed and prepared to launch another fire attack until Zeng gave a smirk from figuring out where the weak spot was as the cannoners reloaded.
"Wait till his chest is exposed!!!"
He yelled to the guard captain who was also a male tiger atop the wall then as the beast reared its head again the captain quickly gave the order and this time the cannons hit their mark as the beast chest was blasted to bits and as it cried in pain it fell to the side causing its shell to shatter then Zeng saw one of the pieces flying to Linda and quickly leaped in front of her impaling himself on the shard.
"ZENG!!!!"
Linda quickly ran to his side while the guards were sent to make sure the wyvern was dead while the captain sent word for a doctor, Lindas eyes began to fill with tears as she saw Zeng bleeding badly from his wound.
"Zeng...Why did you do that?"
".....Because....I love you Linda..."
After years of waiting Linda finally heard the words she wanted to hear from Zeng and her heart was now filled with both happiness and worry as she smiled through her tears.
"I couldn't say it to you before cause I was afraid you would reject me...I didn't want to risk getting hurt..."
Linda placed her hand on his cheek making a smile form on his face despite the exhaustion from his wound.
"I would never do anything to hurt you....I love you, you stupid Tiger."
Once she said those three words she sealed their love with one passionate kiss, Zengs mothers had just arrived to see the moment and both sighed with happiness for their son. The doctor soon arrived to remove the shard from Zengs chest and thankfully he only suffered a few broken ribs.
"Take him to the mages quarters and our healers will have him fixed up in no time but he'll need about two weeks rest before he can go on another hunt."
The doctors assistants soon placed Zeng on a stretcher and carried him off back to the city while Sharon and Alicia examined the slain wyvern.
"It's a Gravios...but what is it doing so far from the volcano region?"
"Elicia! look at this..."
Sharon pointed to the creatures neck where a metal colloar had been wrapped meaning this was no random attack, Glayce wanted Zeng dead and fast but the reason why remained unsolved and in the shadows of the forest the Necron; mercanaries hired by Glayce saw the whole event.
"Do we attack tonight sir?"
"No....I want to fight him at full strength, let's see why Glayce wants him dead so badly."
The End.