Neko
"Meow... meow..."
I lift my head up from my knees. It was a cat meowing softly, like a purr but in a greeting way. I could make out the black texture and the little pink nose of the cat.
"Neko...?" An immense amount of memories surge through me. It was the same cat which I returned to the boy 12 years ago.
Where was he?
How old is this cat now?
Did the owner abandon it? Is this poor thing roaming around by itself in this patch for more than a few years?
Sniffling, I pick up the little cat. It stretched like liquid as it compressed again on my lap. It accepted my pets, letting its purs heal my heartache.
"You're so lucky." I can't believe I'm personifiying my condition to a cat.
"You don't have to deal with father figures who rule the state but can't understand what's going on with their daughters. So ignorant..."
"Who's ignorant?"
*Gasp*
Quickly getting on my toes, I twirl and see a young man, about my age. His eyes widen as he drops the logs on the side.
"Princess Ravine... what are you doing—" He sees the cat in my arms.
"Neko..." he knows it's name.
"Are you perhaps... Robin?"
Our wide eyes clash as he breaks into a wide grin. He bows to show respect to me, which I never deserved.
"Oh no, you remember me!? I'm honored, Princess Ravine!" He says enthusiastically. As much as I wanted to keep up with his thrill, I couldn't. There were a lot of things in my mind. Upon seeing it's owner Robin, the cat jumps off and runs to rub her coat to his feet. There was a small bell that he attaches to her neck. She was left to run off into the forest, at a certain distance only. I could still hear the bell.
"Princess... why are you here?" He asks.
"There's something on my mind."
"It's beginning to rain, Princess Ravine. I live in a hut nearby, to the centre and crowded place. Would you like to take shelter there at least? I know i am not in a position to—"
"No!" I cut him off.
"It's fine. Please let me come with you." As I ask him, he nods his head and blows a wild whistle with his fingers in his mouth to call his pet. I was given the liberty to hold Neko as we quickly made way through the thundering clouds and pattering bits of raindrops.
As he precisely predicted, it was beginning to pour cats and dogs. Neko was cuddled in my lap for warmth as i placed my hands on its body. It slept peacefully on my lap, but a million things were running around in my mind.
I keep sighing, until Robin notices and asks me after overcoming his hesitation.
"Um... Princess?"
"Yes, Robin?"
"Is something bothering you?" He asks.
"Yes..." I open up to him. I don't give him all the details, but I do tell him about the King scolding me for disrupting his discussion.
I'm pretty sure that bastard, Gerrard's uncle was going to manipulate the hell out of his subordinates by now. I don't care anymore.
I want to go back to New York... alone.
As my intrusive thoughts were weighing down to decision, I hear the patrol come by.
"Shit. It's the guards."
"Do you want me to handle the issue, princess? I bet you don't want to go back now." He whispers as I quickly nod my head.
I want to spend a night away from everyone, again.
"Did you see the Princess nearby, Robin? I know you could."
"You bet. I was fetching a few logs and they were almost ruined by the rain, so I ran back here. I haven't seen her. What's happening?" He acted as natural as possible. The guards leave without inspecting anything inside.
"Thank you, Robin. I owe you." I say.
"I owe you my life, Princess Ravine..." his words made me crash my eyebrows in confusion.
As far as I remember, I had only one encounter with him throughout my 25 years of life.
How could I possibly save him...?
[FLASHBACK...]
"Robin, get out of here! I'll take care of this! Go, my child!" Robin ran out of his own house. His drunkard stepfather came home after labor again. His birth mother was sat in the middle when he suddenly came to her and started abusing her.
Robin ran out, Neko hissing at the stepfather and quickly running out before the madman came to her too.
The woman was locked him in some room.
She didn't want Robin to see all this.
She knew, his stepfather would calm down after awhile.
But... After Robin came back after meeting Ravine the Princess, he was witnessing a group of guards who came to arrest the man, throw him in the dungeons.
Turns out, the man in rage blasted upon his mother and unalived her with a forceful stroke on her head. A meek woman wouldn't survive that. He was incredibly strong.
His life was saved... because Ravine and him played a lot of games.
He never went home.
If he did... he would have had the same fate as his mother.
[FLASHBACK ENDS...]
Tears of sadness flow out of me. Pity him, I would never wish such a cursed relationship to anyone in my life.
"I'm alright now, Princess. It was my mother's choice to stay in that abusive relationship. She was never courteous and dutiful to me either. I felt happy that day... when he told me to run away. I did, with a smile on my face. If my six year old self knew things would turn out that way... I wouldn't have left her side."
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
"It's not your fault, princess! Anyway, I'm alive and we'll because you kept me busy that evening. I never went back home to change my destiny, to be unalived by my stepfather. Thanks to you, I'm a statesman for the royal family now."
As he speaks, I close my eyes and sob. Neko grows irritable of me and jumps off my lap.
How many stories did I create in my whole of 25 years of age?
I need to grow even stronger to accept fates...
And my fate now...
Is to become the Queen of Eulandia, by hook or crook.
