Chapter Two
A/N:
I’ve made a bunch of changes to the story, so this chapter is no longer relevant.. But I’ll keep it here anyways.. I do have Chapter 3 written.. Kinda, I’ve just been busy as of late. This story had like no plot line to it at all and now that I’ve taken a step back to really look at it, I realized that you really don’t know who these characters even are.. Like who is Vall? Who is Judy? Who is Tancer? Who where Calibre and Calen from the prologue? You really have no relation or connection with these characters at all, hell you don’t even know if Tancer is a girl or a guy (Although I guess it’s not really that important to know). I think all you know about Vall is that he’s a prince (Maybe since everything was pretty vague about the whole ‘finding out that you’re actually a lost prince’ part was super sloppy and poorly written.. Kinda like a cheap explanation ’cause the me from October didn’t know how to write. I guess you also know that he has a big family maybe (Not really been all that obvious ’cause I think I’ve only written about 1 or 2 of them so far), he’s looking for something and that he has nightmares about the past. That’s it, that’s all you as a reader know about this story. All I’ve really had to offer you is that information, like.. What is Vall looking for? Why? Is it important, or is it something he lost and his friends are like ‘lmao bud, we’ve got your back’ I mean like, you really have no clue as to what’s going on here.. Also in this chapter, you meet a new character but??? You don’t know who they are either since I just kinda threw them in (Not really) but I didn’t really talk about them that much. And if you read this next chapter, it has a very.. uncomfortable flow to it in my opinion, as in like.. it just feels wrong. If you read how Vall first interacts with this character it’s kinda like.. okay, they’re here now, we don’t really know you but okay. Gah, I’m going to re-write this chapter and probably the first one too.. Possibly even the prologue a bit because I realized that the timeline was all messed up. Also another thing that I just noticed is that you don’t even know how old these characters even are. Is Vall 7? 12? 18? 25? 40? You have no idea. (I honestly forgot if I mentioned how old he was but I don’t think I did.) Also, I don’t think some of you caught it but Vall doesn’t remember his past for some reason and I didn’t really explain why either. Like, did he hit his head? Does he have a memory loss? Is he trying to forget the past and therefore not talking about it? What happened? You don’t even know, there is so much about these characters that should have been said and yet there I was, just chucking this at you expecting you to just kinda.. catch on to things that I didn’t even write. Also another thing is that with Judy and Vall, are they related? Friends? Lovers? Married? Who knows (I do) but you guys don’t at all and the way I’m writing them, it makes it seem like their lovers at one point.. but then like Brother and Sister the next point..????? I’m so sorry that I didn’t really give you guys much to really go off from these characters other than that ‘Oh hey, I’m a prince lmao, I have nightmares haha, oh look there’s Judy. Aaa, I need to look for this mysterious thing, that may or may not be important and that may be just something casual that I lost like a bouncy ball or something.’ Just.. That’s pretty much all you know about the story and I am kinda biting myself for how badly I wrote this, lmao. Don’t worry, I’ll buff up the chapters, write some backstory chapters and kinda explain what’s going down rather than you guys trying to catch onto small parts and only getting those to work with for this story. ..
Sorry, one more thing, I never mentioned how these characters even looked so like, if you didn’t see the art that I drew, you probably wouldn’t have never know what these characters even looked like.. Except I on;y drew one and it’s still just a WIP.. Plus the other two characters that I drew are dead so… Doesn’t really help by knowing what those two look like.. Also the rest of the characters I haven’t drawn yet so?? You really don’t know what they even look like.. Aa, Please, I’m so sorry for this mess, haha.
Sorry, I kinda went all out there.. I should have maybe made that into a different post, but I think it feels appropriate to put it in here.
Also FYI, this chapter is really bad. Like, I hate it.. So enjoy maybe?
“So, you’ve been having dreams of the War and interacting with certain people? Why didn’t you mention something sooner, Vall? This could be the solution to put all the pieces together not only on how the War started, but how Calibre died and how the War ended. Oh, we have to tell Kain immediately.” Judy bursted out as she got up, tugging Vall up along with her.
“W-wait, I don’t think this is such a good idea.. What if this is all just a coincidence? It is just a few dreams after all..” Vall protested as he cast his gaze down so that his hair was covering his eyes. There was no way that he could be having dreams about the mysterious deaths of not only Calibre but also Calen and people who interacted with these two before they passed. Vall hoped that it was just a coincidence, he did not feel like telling anyone else about these dreams. What if word got out about them, he would for sure be hunted down for his ‘ability’ of seeing into the past.
“Please Judy, I don’t want anyone to know of this.. What if someone else finds out and tries to hunt me? I-I just don’t think that this is a very good idea…” He stuttered as he looked at his shoes. He was waiting for her to protest but she gave Vall a hug instead.
“When you put it like that, I can see why you’re not all too keen on telling anyone else. I’ll keep your.. Is it even a secret..? Well it is now.. I’ll keep your secret safe.” Judy hummed into Vall’s ear. Leaning into the embrace, Vall started to shake as he whispered a barely audible ‘Thank you’ into Judy’s ear. Their hug was cut short as Tancer made his presence known by picking one of the roses from the bush nearby and over-dramatically taking a whiff of its scent.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t notice that you were here, Tancer.” Judy broke away as she turned to look at him. Tancer smiled as he stepped closer and gave the rose to Vall.
“You do know what our job is right? It’s already 10:25 and we haven’t even started yet.” was his reply before sending a wink their way. “Unless you’d just rather just not search for that heirloom which may uncover your past.. But really, it could be anywhere.” he deadpanned as Vall and Judy started to follow him into the archives of the old castle.
Hours went by, reading text.. Well, text that was written in english anyways. If only they had someone else with them that could read some of the more interesting texts written in the pages of most books they found, seeming as though a good majority of them were written like that. They would probably have much better leads on the information that they were looking for. Glancing over at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room, Vall was rather surprised to see that it was already 13:30. Four hours had gone by already and they hadn’t found much. Sighing, Vall got up from the comfy nook that he had created with books surrounding him and announced that he would prepare some lunch for everyone. As he walked to the kitchen, something didn’t feel right. Vall turned around to find that one of the many vast family portraits were… moving? Vall cautiously advanced upon the painting to get a better look. Upon further inspection, there appeared to be a black cat scratching from inside the painting. How odd. Vall didn’t feel frightened and he reached his hand out to touch where the cat had been scratching. As he made contact with the painting, Vall felt a warmth flow into his hand and up his arm, making him feel dazed for a slight moment before his sight cleared a bit. The cat was walking across his arm and up to his face.
“Fear not, Vall for I am your guardian!” The cat seemed to say even though its mouth hadn’t opened. “And before you start to over-think, Yes, I am speaking into your mind and also… you are the only one who can see me. I was sent here long ago to look over you but I got trapped in a painting. How foolish of me, huh?” The cat said as it crawled onto Vall’s shoulder.
“You mind me asking what your name is? It would be beneficial seeming how you’re most likely going to be with me for a while.” Vall chuckled as he ran his fingers through the silky fur on top of the cat’s head.
“My name is Rue! My my, you’re very gentle. Most people despise black cats due to our ‘Bad Luck’ vibe that we have and treat us like lesser beings than other cats… Even though we don’t actually have any bad luck lurking in our wake.” Rue purred before licking Vall’s hand, “You should start on preparing lunch before someone questions on why you’re taking so long” Rue mentioned before hopping off from Vall’s shoulder and trotting down the hallway. Nodding Vall followed as he thought about what to make.
“Hey, are you hungry, Rue? I mean.. From what you’ve told me, you have been trapped in that painting for quite a while. Should I prepare you something?” Vall questioned as he entered the grand kitchen and stepping towards the cabinet off to the side to grab a serving plate and a cutting board.
“Hmm, now that you mention it, I feel drained. Do you have any Salmon?” Rue replied as he tilted his head to the side to look at Vall. Humming, Vall nodded as he looked into the freezer, only to emerge a second later with a fair sized fish in his hand.
“Which pieces do you prefer? Do you like the scales or the guts..? Cause if you do, speak up now before I filet this.” Vall said as he set the fish down on a cutting board before turning around to grab a sharp knife off the wall.
“Well.. I’ll eat that if I have to, but…” Rue hummed as he sat down and gave Vall a sort of sad look, the one that looks like he’s secretly bagging that Vall understood what he was trying to say. Vall laughed at that as he patted Rue on the head.
“I got’cha.” he grinned before slicing along the side of the fish. Purring, Rue snuggled up into a little ball before dozing off.
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Vall gently scratched behind Rue’s ears in attempts to wake the cat up. Noticing the little stretch that Rue did before turning his sleepy head towards Vall, he placed the bowl of diced salmon in front of the sleepy feline.
“Oh boy, you even diced it! Thank you, Vall. You truly are too kind.” Rue exclaimed enthusiastically, as if he hadn’t just been asleep for 25 minutes. Vall chuckled before something occurred to him. He had been talking directly to Rue which was fine, but they were alone. What if he needed to talk to the cat when others were around.. Could he speak into Rue’s mind too?
“Hey, Rue.. I have a question…” Vall started as Rue tilted his head up to look into Valls Maroon eyes. “About how we communicate to each other.. What if I need to talk to you when others are around.. I think it’d be pretty awkward on my part because it will seem as though I’m talking to myself.. Do you think I could be able to communicate with you telepathically?” Rue blinked once before rubbing his face into Vall’s hand.
“Of course you can, I can read your thoughts.. Kinda.. Only the ones that are directed to me.. It’s kinda hard to explain, but I can tell what you’re going to say moments before you say it. I can’t read all your thoughts though because there’s something similar to a filter that only lets me hear thoughts that only I’m supposed to hear.. So you technically already have been talking to me telepathically.” Rue hummed as he looked up towards Vall.
“ S o w h e n I s a y t h i s . . C a n y o u h e a r i t . . ? ” Vall said in his mind. Rue nodded before licking Vall’s pinky finger.
“Yep, loud and clear,” Rue replied. “Although, we can chat on the way back to that grand study. Your friends might be getting concerned on how long you’ve been taking.” Rue added before nudging his empty bowl with his nose to remind Vall to quickly wash it first. Getting the hint, Vall washed the bowl and grabbed the plate which had sushi on it before leaving the kitchen and making way towards the study.
“What took you so long, Vall? Oh! You made sushi!? Okay never mind, that takes skill. Everyone, take a break for a while, Vall has prepared us some lunch.” Tancer announced as everyone slowly placed their books down close to themselves and walked over to sample on a few of Vall’s sushi rolls.
“Wow, you even made vegetarian ones! Nice.” Judy cheered as she grabbed one with avocado and cucumber before she dipped it into soy sauce “Yummmm, this tastes so good. Thank you, Vall!” She hummed after she finished her first roll. Everyone else murmured ‘Thanks, these are really good’ before slowly advancing back to their small spots in the huge library. Vall went back to his small fort of books that he had been getting through but noticed a strange book that was certainly not there when he left. Curious, Vall opened it to only find that it was written in a language that he couldn’t read.
“The title says ‘Bane of the Black Dragon’ and it might have some interesting facts about your family history” Rue had said as he perched himself on one of the small pile of books neatly stacked to the left of Vall. Nodding slowly, Vall flipped the page to find that the writing looked familiar to him. “Your father wrote this and I think it might be an interesting read. But from the look on your face, it seems that you can’t really read this, so I’ll read it to you.” Rue quickly exclaimed before jumping onto Vall’s head as he began to interpret the first sentence.