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Chapter 5. Meet the Leur

I slowly opened my eyes. My vision was blurry and I couldn't remember anything clearly. After rising up and rubbing my eyes for a bit to see the forest clearly, I remembered everything.

"That's right I fell asleep next to the campfire and the-"

I looked to my right. The pile of leaves was still there, but the lion was gone. I quikly stood up and looked around. There was no sign of him. Then I heared a splash from a little distance away.

'Water...?' I tought and turned to run towards the sound.

I came to a small river that flowed right trough the woods with a little open area around it. I looked around and then I saw him. He was standing there by the river bank with a spear crafted out of wood. He looked at the surface of the water closely and suddenly threw the spear in the water furiously.

I stopped as I saw him lifting up a couple of fish.

"Wow! Cool!" I said and ran to the lion. He saw me but didn't seem to react in any way. I couldn't help but to smile when I saw the two big juicy looking fishes on the spearhead. I really couldn't help it, the meatpiece last night was a tad on the small side...

"Are we- I-I mean you goin to eat those?" I said and looked at the lion.

He nodded slightly.

'Finally! A responce!' I tought and smiled even more.

The lion began walking back towards the campfire again and I, of course, followed. When we arrived back at camp... If you could call it that.. He used a couple of rocks to light up the dry sticks for a fire again, and placed the two fish on sticks over it. I sat down on my pile of leaves and yawned. The lion slowly walked to the other side and sat down too.

I looked at the ground, as the shadows of the grassblades danced in the light of the campfire. It made me think, what could still be ahead... And what about the prophecy.

Then, when I least suspected it...

"Why are you following me...?"

He spoke! He actually spoke! I looked at the lion, stunned. I had allready began thinking, that maybe he couldn't even talk... But man, was I wrong.

He had a deep, masculine voice, but it was still gentle, kind and... Calming. It made me shiver slightly for hearing it the first time so unexpectedly.

"Well, I... I don't know. I was just curious and... And you saved me, remember?"

He nodded.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you have to follow me around...?"

I tilted my head.

"Then how come you made me some food, and a place to sleep in?"

The lion sighed.

"Well, I made them because I KNEW you were going to follow me and I KNEW that you were hungry."

I blushed and pouted.

"Well if you didn't want me to follow you, you could've just said so..." I muttered.

The lion stood up and walked to the fire. He grabbed the fishsticks and handed the other one to me.

"Thanks..." I said and took a small bite out of it, it was still pretty hot, and it burned my tongue a little.

"So um... Who are you, what's your name? I wouldn't want to call you 'Mr. Lion' all the time you know."

He walked back to his pile of leaves and sat down, while taking a large chomp out of his fish.

"My name's Blaine..." He said.

"And I'm not a lion... I'm a Leur."

I blinked.

"A what?" I asked and looked at Blaine.

"Yes, a Leur... We're a race that lives in the far east side of Esperia."

"Oh? Um... What side are we on now exactly? I'm not quite sure." I said.

Blaine tilted his head and looked like me like I was completely clueless, well... I was, but can you blame me?

"We're on the west side..." He said.

"So... How come you're all the way here, if your fellow Leurs live on the other side of this land?"

Blaine didn't say anything. He just looked at the fire and sighed.

"I... I like to travel alot... That's all." He said and looked away.

"Oh... Alright..." I said, but I senced he wasn't exactly telling the truth, but... I didn't want to bother him about it.

"So... Who are you then?" He suddenly asked.

"And, why were you all alone that late at night, on an open road... Hasn't anyone told you it's dangerous out at night?"

I rubbed the grass with my shoes and scrached my cheeck.

"Um, well... It's kind of a long story... You see, it all began when-"

After explaining everything from the sparkle to the attack of the lizard beasts, I sighed.

"Aaand, I think you can allready tell the rest..." I said and felt a little angry at the way my "adventure" had begun.

"I see... You're not from around here, AND you're a minstrel... Hard to believe, they're pretty rare around here." Blaine said and rubbed his chin.

"And you're looking for your true love... You say?" He said quietly.

"Eh? Ah! No not exactly! But, um. Y- Yea.. Kinda.." I studdered and felt embarassed.

Blaine smiled a little and stood up.

"Well... It's been nice talking to you, Michael, but I really should continue on my way..." He said and nodded slightly to me.

"Oh..." I said a little dissapointed.

"But, where are you headed?" I asked and stood up too.

"I do not know... I'm actually looking for something important too. And I do not know where that what I'm looking for is." He said mysteriously and looked to the direction of the road.

I looked at the grass.

"Well umm... I really don't know where I'm going either... Maybe to the closest city, I guess..." I muttered and then turned to look at Blaine.

"So maybe we could-"

"No..." He interrupted me.

"Why not?" I whined.

"I really don't know my way around here, and It's hard to travel alone in a new world like this. I don't care where you're going, as long as... As long as I have some company.. That's all I need, really."

Blaine didn't anwser me, he just began walking towards the road and I followed.

"Didn't you hear me?" I said, but he didn't anwser again.

When we got to the road I jumped in front of him.

"Atleast anwser me." I said a little louder.

Blaine pointed forward.

"You'll find the next closest city that way... Just follow the path and you'll be there before nightfall." He said and began walking in the other direction.

I frowned.

"I guess you didn't hear what I said. And listen, maybe if you told me what you're looking for maybe I could-"

"It's none of your business!" He suddenly roared.

I flinched as I got scared of him becoming so mad all of a sudden.

"Gee.. I'm... I'm sorry." I said and backed away a little.

"You listen to ME boy, and listen good... You may be new here, and you may not know this yet, but keep it in your mind that LEURS and HUMANS do NOT get along... Got it?" He said and looked into my eyes. His eyes looked like he was dead serious, so I just nodded slightly and didn't say anything. I barely breathed.

"Good..." Blaine said and began walking forward, leaving me behind. I looked after him and didn't move a muscle.

'What did he mean...? We... We got along just fine...' I tought and suddenly felt really sad and mad at him at the same time...

"What was I thinking..." I muttered and turned around to the direction Blaine had pointed to.

"To think, I ever could be friends with him..."

I suddenly froze as I heared a roar from behind me, it was Blaine! And it sounded like he was in trouble!

Chapter 6. Taming the Fearsome Beast

I ran as fast as I could. I had to help him! I just KNEW something had happened. I quikly stopped as I saw them. Blaine was standing there and he was surrounded by a bigger group of the lizard-wolf monsters. Blaine held his fists up, but it looked like his other arm was hurt. There were bite marks on it, and the wound was bleeding pretty bad. I quikly ran to him and pulled out my flute.

Blaine looked at me surprised.

"K- Kid? What are you doing!? Get away! These things are dangerous!" He yelled but suddenly flinched and grabbed his wound.

I shook my head

"I know they're dangerous, that's why I'm here to save you!" I said and rose my flute up to my lips.

"I know your arm is hurt... And I don't know how to fight yet, but this should help us get rid of them..." I said and took a deep breath.

I started playing a battle theme with a fast rythm with the flute. I tryed to remember it properly and tryed hard not to make any mistakes.

This was one of the first songs Rildel taught me to play without any notes.

Blaine's ears twiched and eyes widened a little as he listened to the fast paced melody. He grinned as his pupils narrowed like with a predator feline ready to attack. The lizard beasts started growling and began crawling towards me. One of them suddenly jumped at me, but Blaine jumped in front of me and swung his arm at the beast. It whined and flew down on the ground. The other lizards suddenly became angry and started jumping at us from every direction. I dodged the attacks while trying to keep the melody of the flute steady.

'The power of this song is in the rythm, hold the rythm, hold the rythm...' I kept repeating my self in my head as the beasts just barely missed me a few times. Blaine was almost like in a frenzy, he threw the beasts down like pillows and didn't seem to mind his hurt arm at all.

One more beast remained, and it was looking straight at me. It leaped, and I dodged, but I stumbled on a rock and fell down. The melody of my flute broke and Blaine suddenly snapped out of it.

"Look out!" He yelled, as the beast leaped towards me as I was laying on the ground. I quikly grabbed my flute and blew on it as hard as I could. It released a really high pitch sound and it made the beast freeze up where it stood. Blaine covered his ears, shivered and ground his teeth. The beast's fur was standing on in and it didn't make a sound. I stopped blowing on the flute and gasped for air. The beast infront of me started running away with it's tail between it's legs.

"Yea! Take that! You better run!" I said and collapsed on the ground.

"Phew... I'm glad that's over..."

"Are you allright...?" I heared Blaine's voice.

I opened my eyes and saw him standing next to me.

"Yea... I'm fine." I said and pushed my self up.

"Wh... What was that?" He asked and looked at his bleeding arm.

"Oh the song?" I said and smiled.

"It was just a spell that makes your body pump adrenaline at a really fast rate."

Blaine grabbed his arm.

"I... I see. And... Thank you, I owe you one." He said and looked at the ground.

"Don't mention it. Now come on, let's get that wound bandaged." I said and kneeled down while reaching into my backpack. I grabbed the bandage as Blaine knelt next to me, holding his arm up. I rolled the bandage around the arm to make the bleeding stop. I tied it up tight so the bandage wouldn't rip off, even if we encountered more intence situations like that.

Suddenly I noticed something. I felt like something was missing. I quikly grabbed my backpack and dag all the things out of it.

"M-MY! MY MONEY! It's GONE!" I yelled and pulled my hair.

"What am I going to do now!?" I shouted and looked at Blaine.

"Do you have ANY money you could borrow me?" I asked with begging eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I do not carry human currency..." He said and shook his head.

I collapsed.

"Oh no... What am I going to do now... Even if I do make it to the next city, I... I don't have any money! And what if more of those beasts appear on the way there, I can't fight." I buried my face in my hands.

I felt Blaine place his hand on my shoulder.

"I can take you there." He said quietly.

I felt like bursting from happiness.

"You will!?" I said. My face must have been shining like the sun.

"Yes... But I shall ONLY escort you to the city gates... Like I said, humans and leurs are NOT supposed to be together." He said and stood up.

"Oh.. Ok. Thanks." I said and started gathering up all the stuff back in my backpack. When I was ready and stood up Blaine started walking ahead.

"Follow me, kid." He said and I nodded.

After we had walked for a couple of ten minutes, the fact that I didn't know anything about leurs suddenly started to bug me. I just had to ask him.

"Um... Blaine?" I muttered.

"Yes, what is it?" He anwsered and didn't turn to look my way.

I poked my fingers together a little and then took a deep breath.

"So... Why don't leurs and humans get along?" I asked and turned to look at Blaine.

He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Well, it's a really long story, kid..." He said.

"We've got nothing BUT time in our hands now, right?" I said and smiled a little.

"I guess you're right..." He said and sighed again.

"Well... A long time ago, when humans had not yet even arrived to Esperia, we leurs walked freely around the entire continent. But then, humans showed up."

I blinked

"From where?" I asked and tilted my head.

Blaine shook his.

"No one knows, but when they did we leurs learned that men were greedy, cruel and evil creatures... Altho they lived with us for more than a century in peace, they suddenly drove us to live at the far east end of Esperia, and then, took over everything else, and claimed everything as their own.. And I guess, that humans now think that we are dangerous beasts."

"That's horrible..." I whispered.

"But all men are not like that!" I said and felt a little angry. Why would they do such a cruel thing?! To drive the leurs away from their homes...

"That may be true..." Blaine said and looked away.

"But the elders don't believe it..."

"Pft..." I huffed and crossed my arms.

Finally, we arrived at the city gate. I sighed and still tryed to dig the bottom of my backpack to find my money bag, but it was gone and wasn't coming back...

"This is where I make my exit." Blaine said and nodded to me. I felt a little sad and nodded back. I turned around to walk trough the city gates, but I suddenly stopped as I saw how the guards looked at Blaine, horrified and petrified. That suddenly gave me the best idea of my life!

"Hey Blaine~" I said and turned around with a grin on my face.

"Yea?" He said and turned around.

"Can you do me ONE last little favour, to get me some money...? Pretty please?"

Blaine blinked.

"Oh...? Umm... Well."

"Aw come on! It'll be easy!" I said and smiled.

"Oh well... Allright, but you're going to owe me one after this..." He said and walked to me slowly.

"Don't worry... It wont take long." I said and grinned.

"Why did I ever agree to this......" Blaine moaned quietly as I ran around him pointing him with the flute.

Masses of people had gathered around us in the middle of the street.

"Aha! See! As I have tamed this mighty beast! He is now my loyal pet! Do not be afraid people" I said and bowed slightly. Some people were cheering and some threw us coins, as expected.

"Ph-PET!?" I could hear Blaine mumble and I saw his eye twitching.

"Keep quiet. Look angry..." I whispered as I walked past him.

"... Rawr..."

"No, no, no... Not like that. You'll have to look furious! As if you were about to attack me!"

Blaine growled a little and the people backed up slightly.

"Believe you me... I am as mad as hell... And if I wasn't this nice, I'd probably allready have you gutted..." He muttered.

I bonked him on the head carefully with the flute, but so that he felt it.

"Down! Fowl beast!" I shouted.

He roared at me so loud that even I got surprised.

"Now that's the spirit!" I said and grinned.

The people were gasping and looking at each other.

"Do not worry, people! I have this creature under my absolute controll! Now... Do some tricks, beast!" I said and pointed at him with my flute.

"Tricks? Are you nuts?" I placed my flute on my lips and played another loud high pitch note, making Blaine shiver and grind his teeth.

"Fine! Fine! I'll do it." He said and jumped over a smaller house next to the place we were performing at. The people started applauding and money litterally rained on us as they threw in more and more golden coins.

I smiled, and could see that Blaine was smiling too.

"Now, make a furious roar, beast!" I could see as Blaine took a really deep breath before letting out a loud roar, that echoed trough the city streets. Wich of course attracted more people around us.

"Ok... Now kneel down, creature." I said and pointed downwards with my flute. Blaine did as I told and I walked to him.

"Now, lower your head." I said, and again, he did as instructed.

I pulled my self to him and gave a small kiss on his head.

"There! You see people, he's really as gentle as a puppy if you know how to handle him."

Piles of money started building up in front of us as the people cheered. I bowed to the people and signed Blaine to do the same. I also noticed his face was as red as a firetruck.

"Thank you! Thank you! You've been way too kind people!" I yelled as I started stuffing all the money in my backpack.

"Now, my pet. Let's leave and continue on with our journey!" I said and pointed forward.

A loud "Aww...." Could be heared from the audience.

"Now, now. Don't be too dissapointed people! Look forward to seeing more of the boy and his beast!" I said and the people started applauding one last time. Blaine lifted me on his shoulders and started walking away from the city center.

"Onward!" I exclaimed and pointed forward with my flute.

As all the people who had been watching had dissapeared behind us I started laughing like a maniac.

"Haha! Man! That was easy! And fun as heck!" I said and held my stomach.

Blaine growled.

"Well, easy for you to say... You weren't the 'PET'..." He said and shook his head.

"Aw, come on! You have to admit it was fun!" I said and placed my hands on Blaines head and mane.

"Well... It was... Rather, amuzing." He said and smiled a little.

"Yea, I tought so." I said.

"Oh! Look! Food!" I said and pointed at a bakery.

"We should buy something to eat quikly and then leave." Blaine said and looked around.

"People aren't exactly... Used to seeing leurs in the cities..." He said and looked at the horrified people around us.

"Tch... Fine..." I said and jumped off of Blaines back.

"I'll go get some bread." I said and walked into the bakery.

The smell of fresh bread had never been so pleasant.

"Hello. May I have as much of those cobrolls and some of that rye bread as I can carry please?"

The woman behind the counter looked at me like I was nuts and nodded.

"And, how are you going to pay for all of them, sonny?" She asked and leaned to the counter.

"Oh, I believe I can." I said and dropped a little pile of coins on the counter.

The woman looked at the money with her eyes as large as plates.

"Ok, take what ever you can carry."

"Allright! Thank you! You can keep the change!" I said as I left the shop.

Blaine was wating for me outside and I waved to him.

"Here's all the food!" I said and showed him the full bag of bread.

"Couldn't you atleast buy some meat?" He said and looked at the bread.

"Sorry, but you know it'll just spoil..." I said and sighed.

"We can hunt some of we need any."

That's when I realized it.

"So.. You're still coming with me? Even tho you've allready done everything I asked for." I said and looked at Blaine.

He tilted his head and smirked

"Well, I presume you wouldn't stop following me even if I did say that."

"Heh, well that's true..." I laughed and rubbed the back of my neck.

"So, we might as well continue looking for the things we desire, but this time, together." He said and nodded.

I smiled to him. I couldn't have been happier. I had actually tamed the beast!