When I finish telling my story, Ash's first question is, "Can you sing me that song please? I didn't get to hear you sing it and I haven't heard you sing." I tell him, "Normally I do not sing in front of others because I am shy like that but we are friends so it is different with you." I then start singing the song. I look at him the whole time stroking his beautiful gray fur while sitting on the bed while I sing this song. Even though I try not to, I end up crying again while I sing, but I continue to pet Ash and sing regardless of the tears streaming down my face. Remembering the feeling of her lips on mine. The feelings I felt when I kissed her for the first time. That feeling of physical chemistry when our lips touched like we were destined for each other and proved that when we kissed. I close my eyes and keep singing, tears still coming from my eyes and when I get to the end applause makes me jolt my eyes open and Ash runs and hides.
When I look up I see the princess in my room. How much did she see? Did she see Ash? Will she try to take him away from me? I start panicking in my mind because I am terrified to lose my only family in this world albeit an adopted one. Feelings of terror of losing Ash overshadowed any fears of embarrassment of singing in front of a stranger… again. I do not know if she sensed my feelings but she says, "Your voice soothes my soul. I heard you sing in passing and had to come listen again. It seems like you have an audience more than me though and quite a cute and adorable one. Would it be ok if you introduced me to your friend?" I am really suspicious right now but we have to play along because we just got caught and right away (I might add) this fucking sucks, "Are you sure it is ok? I am a prisoner here and I am just terrified you will take him away from me." She looks like I just stabbed her or something for a brief moment. Like she didn't like something I said. She pauses for a moment and sighs, "Is that how you feel right now?" I nervously chuckle a little, "I mean, I am currently stuck in a room unable to leave of my own free will. I am in a strange land where I know nothing and to top it off my captors are very powerful people. Though this is by far the nicest prison cell I have ever been in, with that said I do appreciate the consideration in my detainment." She looks a little deflated, "I didn't stop to take into account how you might feel I am sorry. With that said we can't really change this arrangement quite yet because it isn't up to me but my father and mother. Enough with this sad talk! Where is that cute little guy I saw earlier?" At the last part of what she said she perked up like a puppy dog.
I look to the princess, "I accept your apology, your highness. I guess it should be alright to introduce you to my friend." I turn towards his hiding place, "Hey Ash, you can come on out she knows you're here." He comes out and runs straight to me and I resume petting him and turn to the princess, "This little one's name is Ash and we both are in the same boat. We both bonded over similar circumstances and became really good friends. I haven't known him for long at all but I would sacrifice my own life for him because his life is so precious to me." Ash bolts up and looks at me and starts yelling at me, "You just became my friend and now you are trying to talk about leaving me! That is so mean! You need to promise to never leave me!" I laugh a little and put my hands up in the 'I surrender' pose and then turn to the princess who is a little confused, "He didn't like what I said apparently. He said he didn't want me to leave him behind in death because he wants to spend the rest of our lives together as friends." I say this as I pick him up and give him a kiss on top of his head. "I promise I will try my best not to die. How about that?" He nuzzles his head on my face for a hug and nods his head.
OH MY GODDESS HE IS SO FUCKING CUTE I COULD DIE FROM JUST CUTENESS AAHHH!
The princess looked on with jealousy, "Awwwww can I pet him too? He is really cute." Ash stops hugging my face and I look at him and ask him directly, "Ash, you have every right to say no if you want to and I will defend your decision no matter what it is." He thinks about it for a second, "It should be fine. You said she just wants to pet me right?" I nod and then I wave the princess over to me, "He says you can pet him." Waving her over here so she can have a closely supervised visit because I am not about to let him go that easily. She seems like she has a mischievous side and I do not know her well enough to know if that mischievous side is coming from a place of good or bad intention. I definitely would trust her before her brother but she is still royalty and with power comes ignorance to the sheltered and sometimes cruel having a reign of terror on their subjects. I know nothing of the state of this kingdom at all. The only interaction with people here so far have been in this castle and of course this population here would be biased so I can't trust this place. I need to see the nearby town whenever I can though I do not see them letting me out any time soon.
She comes over and starts petting him giggling at his cuteness, "You were talking to him like you can actually talk to him. Can you?" She already found him so I might as well spill the beans but I won't say all of it, "I wanted to try and keep that a secret from you guys but yes, your highness. I can talk to animals." She looks at me with surprise, "Why would you want to keep it secret? That seems like a great and adorable ability." I sigh, "You guys are in very powerful positions. I didn't know I could trust that you wouldn't want to keep me close and never let me go. I will need to leave this place eventually to continue my mission. Talking to animals is a great ability and I am not entirely sure you won't try to force me to use my ability to enslave or harm others. This seems like a culture that hunts wildlife for sport and I can see people wanting me to use my ability to lure specific animals to the hunting grounds. I would sooner kill myself than let that happen." The more I am in this world the more I realize that the goddess has given me a very OP (overpowered for the non-weebs) ability to talk to all things. I have to try and keep my ability a secret because if she knew the whole truth I would be stuck here forever. Maybe not because of her specifically but her family would keep me for the greater good of their kingdom because of the diplomatic possibilities my ability could have.
The princess looks surprised at my words, "I guess I really have been living in a bubble in this castle like my mother suggests. After talking to you, I feel like I am the most spoiled princess in the world who never thought that my status could be feared. I obviously know people are scared of my mother and father. Though, I am not saying this in a bad way. It just feels like talking with you raises up the blinds that were shielding my vision ever so slowly. Now having felt that I feel almost completely blind only focusing on learning magic and how to behave like a princess. I do not think I have ever thought of the plights of my people or the fates of the animals we hunt on our yearly hunt before talking with you and you are not even my people… Yet at least." She shrinks and sits on the bed next to us continuing to pet Ash. He is getting all the pets and is loving life right now trying not to get distracted by his cuteness.
I look up to the princess, "So what if you were spoiled, your highness? No offense but being spoiled means you were loved. There is nothing wrong with it. To live is to learn and take what you learn everyday to become an even better person. You may feel this way now but you don't have to, but in the end that is up to you." She sheds a single tear and wipes it away quickly, probably hoping I didn't see it, "You really think I can be anything but a spoiled princess?" I continue to look her in the eye and tell her what I thought of her when I saw her for the first time, "When I saw you for the first time, spoiled princess was not the first thing to come to mind, actually it never once crossed my mind. You seemed so strong-willed and graceful. I was initially terrified in that throne room when I took that blindfold off and your spunky side made me feel more at ease. You were quite captivating. Your mother says I need to teach you how to speak, but in my opinion if you didn't speak like you do then I would have been terrified of that whole talk in the throne room." She starts crying-crying now, "Nobody has ever said anything that nice to me before." She takes her hand from Ash and tries to dry her never ending stream of tears.
Ash took action immediately and climbed up her body and hugged her face like he did me earlier. She laughs while the tears slow to a stop, "Thank you, Ash." She hugs him back with her opposing hand gently. After basking in the healing power of cuteness wipes off the rest of her tears, "I might have a way to get you both out of this room but I need to ask my father first. I will keep your little friend a secret for now since you were so scared earlier, Zoe" I responded feeling a huge weight lift from my shoulders, "Thank you, your highness." She giggles, "Why don't you ever call me by name? You are always so formal with 'your highness' and when we are alone like this I would prefer you call me by my name."
I actually laugh, "Nobody told me your names and you all didn't introduce yourselves in the throne room. I figured it was a part of royal etiquette to not share names with strangers, or maybe I wasn't worthy of knowing your names , or maybe because I just surprised you by showing up out of thin air so I didn't really question it at the time." She lightly smacks her head with her hand, "I can't believe not one of us introduced ourselves to you. How about instead of introducing myself now, I will get a dinner prepared and have my family there too so we can have proper introductions. Sound good to you?" I smile, "Sounds good to me. You had me at food. I am really hungry actually." I am actually really excited about the kind of food this world has to offer yet also maybe a tad apprehensive at the same time since I do not know what to expect.
The princess wipes her face off and pets Ash some more before gently placing him back in my lap and says, "Make sure to keep him hidden better, especially from my brothers. I do not know how they will react to him. I will keep Ash our cute little secret. Can't have one of them torturing him for sport, not when I have been smitten by his charms." I turn to Ash and say, "Ash, I do not know if you heard her but she just said that we have to be more careful in the future." He nods apprehensively understanding the situation. I pet him on the head and give him a gentle scratch and he is in squirrel heaven. The princess then says, "I must be off to talk with the king and queen about arranging a dinner for us. Thanks again for trusting me with your friend." She smiles gently, her eyes still a little puffy from crying and leaves my room.
I sigh and look at Ash, "That could have gone a lot worse for us buddy. I think we need to have a plan. Whenever we talk you have to be hidden at all times so I think maybe the bed under the covers of inside the pillow case on the underside will be good hiding spots for you. We never know when someone might pop in on me." He nods in understanding, "I understand, Zoe. I don't want you to get in trouble because of me." I giggle, "You silly goose, we are doing this for your safety not mine. I don't want a bad person to find you and do bad things to hurt you while we are here." He looks so confused, "Why call me a silly goose? Shouldn't it be a silly squirrel?" I laugh, "I suppose you are right. That phrase does not exist in this world so why can't it be changed to silly squirrel. We would say that to anyone being silly whether they were in fact a goose or not. From now on the phrase will be 'Silly Squirrel'" I say with a huge smile while booping Ash on the nose, then going back to petting him again. Holy fucking shit this squirrel is just too fucking cute.
I do a little happy wiggle and smile and insert some gentle scratches in with the pets too, "Here let's go ahead and relocate under the covers in case someone else pops in." We get under the covers and continue to cuddle. I ask him, "So I have been meaning to ask you. Would you be able to help teach me magic?" He answers as he nuzzles into me, "I do not know how much help I can be. Do you also have wind magic?" I shake my head, "No friend, I have light magic." He gasps, "Light magic is rare in this world, Zoe. I do not know how much help I can be since I do not know anything about light magic. I can try to teach you what I felt when I tapped into my magic potential." I answer, "I had no idea light magic was so rare, but maybe I should have gathered that when I talked with the goddess." She did say not many people felt what I felt when being in her presence. I wonder what people who have an affinity for the other elements feel in the goddess's presence? Now I am actually really curious.
Since Dark is opposite of light I assume it would be the opposite of what I felt. Discontentment with their soul closed off to the goddess, a soul untouched by the goddess. They probably have the same connection to the goddess's sister that I do with her. The others are a complete mystery for me. I then ask, "Ash, how did you learn how to use magic?" He immediately recalls, "I was in a tree next to a magical lake near here and I fell out of the tree falling towards the water. At first I was scared because I was falling, then I remembered there was water down there and then I felt truly free. When I felt that I could also feel all of the magic inside me awaken. Ever since I could harness the wind." Hmmmm, "So you felt truly free huh? Ha! Well if my magic requires the same conditions I fear I won't be able to harness it here locked up in this place." He replies, "Well, I hear it is different for every different type. Yours is so rare I am not sure if anyone would even know how to guide you to use it."
I think for a moment and then have an AHA moment, "The goddess can. When I was talking with her she told me that light magic users have a direct link to the goddess. She should be able to help me." Ash then rebuts, "Have you heard her voice since being here? No one has ever heard of the goddess's voice in this world so I am not sure that may be possible. I do not want to rain on your parade, Zoe, but I was just speaking my truth on the matter. For all I know this connection you speak of might allow you to speak with the goddess." I reply back, "Very insightful, Ash. I didn't know all of that and I think that confirms I probably need to sleep to talk with the goddess again." He then says, "Well what are you waiting for?" I reply, "Well I was originally going to stay awake because they said they were going to prepare dinner but I guess I could try to take a nap to talk with the goddess. Goddess if you can hear me I would like to talk to you when I fall asleep if that is possible." I say this as I lay down and Ash under the covers with me as I close my eyes to rest a bit.