Trial and error(private)

After the meal Ryuuta did the dishes and Cory just sat there by the winodw catching a breeze. Leo finally woke up only to go vomit in the back bathroom thanks to a massive hang over. "Laying on the sofa he groaned saying, "That's the last time I ever drink again!" "You sure you don't sound convincing to me." Said Cory. "Quit your whining and take this with some water." Said Ryuuta appearing shovinga pill into Leo's mouth. Leo swallowed it made a face due to the horrid taste then gulped the water down.

Kana walked up behind Ryuuta and smacked him in the back of the head. "Sorry. Himawari said to punish anyone that tries and make her look soft when she is not there to defend herself." A look flashed through her eyes, a smirk tilting the corners of her lips. "Anyways, the food is ready and waiting to be.... devoured." Her eyes were dark for a moment, then she laughed as she walked into dining room.

Ryuuta lay a blanket over the passed out man and made sure he was comfortable before he helped Cory sit down. "Perhaps some pancakes and breakfast sausage please..." Said Cory his voice shaking. Once she was out of sight the tears just started streaming down his face. Ryuuta wiped off Cory's face and said, "She's right you're more fit to rule then I thought when I first saw you. Because you have the very thing needed to rule. Compassion and a heart we will help you take back what's yours and that is a promise."

"Thank you..." Said Cory calming down. Ryuuta then went to get them some coffee. Coming back he handed Cory his cup and the boy sipped it down feeling a very soothing warmth settle over his body. "I hope Himawari comes back soon. I really don't blame her and I love her after all." Said Cory. "Oh if I know her she's feeling the same about you boy. That's why she's hiding in the first place. She loves you boy and seeing you like this would make her cry." Said Ryuuta.

Kana walked into the living room right when they entered it, lifting her crimson eyes to look at them before glancing towards the still-passed out Leo on the couch. "A lot of people disagree with me, but I believe we all need to get drunk every once and a while." Turning, she looked around slowly before looking towards Cory. "No matter what, those of us that know the truth will always see you as our king. Not the puppet they put there. Now, what do you two want for breakfast?"

"You honestly think I have time to think about that Kana... The boy just lost everything.... His home his land everything he owned gone from his life and it's all because I failed to protect him. We can't take it back if only he were married and had a child then things would have been different. He's only going on nineteen." Cried Leo. He then drank down the whole glass of whiskey in one go. Grabbing the untouched glass she didn't drink from he took that one down too. He ended up getting himself drunk after a while and had crashed on the sofa passed out three hours later.

When morning came Ryuuta had helped Cory take a bath before helping the boy get dressed. "You're going to eat today child... I don't need to see you get sick on me..." Said Ryuuta softly. "I heard my mother last night... She was crying because she wasn't there to say goodbye and powerless to stop me from having my sight taken from me..." Said Cory as Ryuuta was buttoning up his shirt for him.

"You have a rare gift.... To speak with the deceased means you were gifted by the gods but they also took away your light and that angers me more so then anything." Said Ryuuta. "I"m getting used to it...I can hear things more clearly now and feel them too. And you're crying I can feel it by your aura. My mother always told me when bad things happened the gods were testing us and that if we passed good things would follow." Said Cory.

"I met you and Himawari and I do love her so maybe the good things have already come. Let's go if I know Leo he got himself drunk last night cried himself to sleep..." Cory then said. He then was walked along and down the steps by Ryuuta.

Clinking noises came from the kitchen, and after some time, Kana came out of the kitchen, holding two glasses and a large bottle of single-malt Scottish whiskey. Setting the stuff down on the living room table, she poured a full glass of whiskey over tow ice cubes, then shoved the glass into Leo's hand. "She told me you'd blame yourself. Don't refuse the whiskey. She makes everything better." Taking a seat opposite Leo, she poured her glass, lifting it to her lips. She paused, then quickly placed it down and took a long drought directly from the bottle. "So.... What is your opinion of Himawari? Other than the whole, stuck-in-the-past lifestyle she leads?"

Leo sighed and said, "Please leave we don't take kindly to strangers. Not after the attack on the young king." "Don't worry I let her in and besides she's been by our dojo quite a few times." Said Ryuuta. "Well apparently the boy is in love with the woman. He needs her now more then anything and she's not here. I don't want anymore people in this place other then us and her. She has no reason to blame herself as we never requested her protection." Said Leo softly.

"Leo I need you!" Cory was heard calling and Leo quickly left the room and said, "What do you need?" "I need to go to bed. I'm not eating anything tonight my stomach won't stop making me sick.." Said Cory. "You'll be sharing a room with Ryuuta. I'll tell him you ready for bed." Said Leo and after that Ryuuta practically carried the young male on his back and the two went to bed.

Leo was taking care of the dining area straightening things out when he finally just slumped on the sofa in tears.

A woman was sitting at the small table in the kitchen that the cooks, when they were there, would use to prepare food and eat at while the manor residents were eating in the dining room. Her long white hair was pulled back into a tight French braid that reached down to an inch or two below her waist. She was dressed in a black leather outfit that had several hidden placed that held small, hand-held blades. She finished off her thing of whiskey, lifting her head to look at Leo as he entered the kitchen, blowing a strand of hair back from her face. " 'Wari will be working in the city in secret. She had agreed to respond to any messages, or see, you or Ryuuta." She frowned at the empty whiskey bottle on the right of her glass. "I am Kana. You guys got anything stronger?"

Ryuuta sighed and said, "The boy can't rule anymore I have a feeling it'll be used against him and he'll be dethrorned within days. We need to get him out of here now it's not safe anymore in this place. "No! Please don't take me away from home again!" Cory cried shaking and Leo said, "We'll fight it but for now we're taking you somewhere safe.. So you can reecover.."

After that they had everything packed up and lead Cory out to the carriage. After that they took him to a secondary home which was a manor on the countryside. Ryuuta had told Himawari where they'd be so she could come once she calmed down. And the two focused on taking care of Cory who had gone into shock and refused to eat or drink anything.

"Come on boy you need to eat..." Said Leo softly. "Just let me be... I'm not hungry..." Said Cory softly as he sat there by the fireplace. He lay back in the chair after that and started to doze off. Leo sighed and took the bowl back to the kitchen.

There was a great clatter out side the door, silence, and then a letter was slipped under the door before footsteps walked away quickly. By the time they picked up the letter and read it and react, Himawari had already used her powers to manipulate the minds of everyone that saw her, so she was able to leave the palace undetected.

"All but the two oldest men on the Council are to blame. And so am I. I have disgraced not only myself and my family history, but I have also disgraced and was unable to protect the one I promised to protect. I must work and train alone to get through the disgrace. Do not try and find me, because I will not be found unless I want to be found. Just ask Ryuuta: I would sometimes hide from him and Grandfather for days."

As the week went by Cory's fever had become very severe. He lay in bed Leo trying everything to keep his body cool. Thoughafter another three days passed Cory had woken up screaming in the early morning hours. The door swung open and not only Leo but Ryuuta came running in armed to find the boy curled up in bed sobbing loudly. Leo went over and Cory cried, "Whose there please don't hurt me!!" "It's okay it's me child..." Said Leo softly as he hugged him close.

"Help me... I'm scared it's so dark..." Whimpered Cory catching his breath. Lighting the lamp for Leo Ryuuta was horrifed to see the boy was blind he could tell just by seeing the discolorization in Cory's eyes. Leo just hugged Cory close. "What did I do to deserve this... I just want to make everything go away... " Cory whimpered. "As the blond male who had saved Cory appeared looking sad. "How cruel.... the gods actually took the light from him.." He said softly as Leo held Corry who sobbed into his chest.

Himawari turned Famel, and took off quickly. After ten minutes, she came back, a black cloak grasped in her right hand. She kept going towards the palace, returning Famel to his stall, then returning to her own quarters. But before that, she had a couple of soldiers to go back to the scene to retrieve the king. She was isolated for a few hours, then she went into library and soon was hidden behind massive stacks of books. And she continued like that for days.

Corry nodded and got up heading over to another stall he hopped onto a saddled horse and after that he headed on out with Himawari. They practically road through the small village of course people were surprised to see him. Though Cory didn't make eye contact with anyone and smiled at her. He suddenly went flying off his horse though when an arrow struck his shoulder.

Laying there curled up in pain he cried out wincing. Several more arrows went his way but another shot across from that distance throwing them off as someone came riding up on a horse fast. The blond male shot at the would be assassin but the assassin got away and the blond male cursed loudly an quickly got off his horse running through the shocked crowd and helping cory into a sitting position. "Shit... it's poisoned...." Said the male softly as he lay Cory down. "Take a deep breath this is going to hurt a lot." Said the blond male.

Cory screamed as the arrow was ripped ou. The man pulled out a knife and opened the wound further letting him bleed out most the poison. Laying there breathing heavily Cory was already picking up a fever and he found something forced into his mouth. "Swallow..." Ordered the blond firmly and Cory swallowed the foul tasting pill. The blond then held his hand over the wound it glowing slightly as he healed it over.

"Famel." The horse shifted on his feet, lowering his massive head so that it could look right into Kimawari's eyes. The two of them stood there before her hand twisted into its mane. "Famel...." In a single movement, she swung up onto its back. It snorted and shifted on its feet, but otherwise did not seem to be angry at him. "Famel." The horse shook its head, Himawari stroking its neck while she looked down at Cory. "Let me work with Famel. He's just as upset about the king's death as the rest of us...."

Leo and Ryuuta were both shaking their heads holding back laughter. Cory appeared that moment and the crowd separated instantly letting him through. "Having fun making the men look like fools Himawari." He then grabbed her wrist gently and said, "Come with me we need to talk." Once they were out of sight he pulled her into the barn and said, "Today you and I are going horse back riding. Those old bastards can go fuck themselves I'm taking a day off." He then walked over to the stall that held his father's horse only to get charged at slightly and he fell back with a startled yelp. Crawling out of the way fast as he nearly got stomped on. The horse settled down and he said, "OK maybe not the horse hates me..."

Himawari slept until well into the night, when she found her dreams becoming restless. Even after waking up and doing an hour-long meditation, she still could shake the feeling. So she brushed her hair, got dressed, and took her sword out to the nightly-abandoned training area. Dragging a set of dummies into a circle around her, she started at it. It was an hour after daylight, and the palace was deserted, because everyone had went to the now-crowded training area, as people watched Himawari systematically disarmed soldier after soldier in a mock-training.

Cory had caught smell of the food but he was still too upset to even care. He lay on s fresh pile of hay his eyes red and swollen from crying the past hour. Curling up on the hay it wasn't till later that night he slipped back into the palace and collapsed in his own bed once he got to his room. Laying there he tossed and turned unable to sleep anymore.

With just the right breeze, a smell came drifting from the kitchens that was sure to make anyone's mouth water. Having touched at least fifteen people that had been around the palace for years, Himawari had gathered enough memory to re-create some of the food that had not been seen since the old king had been a kid, and the ones that had become a necessary staple of palace life. After an hour or so, the kitchens were open and Himawari once again disappeared after swearing the kitchen staff to secrecy.

Leo was seen walking by her quickly trying to hunt down Cory. "Now where did that boy run off too. I told those bastards they were going to make him snap..." He grumbled. Though Ryuuta appeared and said, "I found him Leo he's hiding in the stables right now and won't come out. Those council bastards really know how to test his patience don't they I feel sorry he has to deal with them." "Fine let's give him some space for now he'll probably be out when he gets hungry." Said Leo softly.

She had no idea how this was going to end up, but she decided to let it go on its course and see what came of it. After finishing her hair and pulling it up into a ponytail, she settled down to finish reading the book she had. It wasn't until some time after five in the afternoon before she dared to venture out of her room, and heading to the library to get a new book. She could feel people watching her, and she did her best to ignore them.

Cory found himself squirming and flushing as she did that. He bit his own lip to keep from laughing before smiling saying, "You should try smiling more you look even more beautiful when you do." He then kissed her forehead softly as pay back for the brush before leaving without being seen. Going outside he saw the smirk on Leo's face and rammed his elbow into his side before going off once more.

Himawari's entire body was as stiff as a board, and she could not get it to relax. She moved her right arm, and carefully ran the teeth of her brush on his side. Not even her grandfather had been able to resist that, and it always had him laughing because of the tickle. "You should get back outside and start your training. I don't like slackers." Her expression changed for just a second, her lips twitching into a smirk, before the mask of emotionless slipped back onto her face. "I don't want those old bastards talking about me. I'm sure if they don't see you again soon, and they find out you were in here, without anyone else in the room.... Then there comes the harping on about propriety.

"I know and they won't stop me from choosing who I want to love..." Said Cory softly as he walked over to her. Slipping his arms around her he just hugged her close. "Please just give me a chance?" He asked her softly resting his chin on her shoulder.

Himawari stood in the middle of her room, her back towards the door, her arms wrapped around her chest as she hugged herself, her eyes narrowed as she stared down at the floor beneath her feet. "Do not show that kind of weakness. They will latch onto it, and use it as ammunition to tear you apart, and put someone they think to be more manipulative as king." She said in a level voice, in referring to the last thing her said. Shaking her head lightly, she sat down on the edge of her bed and picked up her brush, slowly brushing her eyes as she turned her unsettling, soul-gazing eyes towards him. "He is a menace that will treat any woman like chattel. I have seen his soul.... It is far too black to ever be cleared...."

Cory worried quickly ran after her saying back to Leo, "Have him locked up immediately." He then stopped outside her door and knocked before slowly opening it saying, "Just what happened Himawari if he hurt you he will be punished. I'm going to be making major changes in this place and I don't give a fuck what the council says they can't oppose it as long as it's not against the rules." He closed the door behind him and said, "Besides... I... do kinda like you. I won't let anyone hurt you either..." His face turned slightly pink and his head lowered.