Dragon Bound

Chapter 10

“WELCOME TO OSAKA, JAPAN” the overhead speakers announced in a couple of languages some of which were familiar to Ryoka, she was beaming in a wide grin as she walked through the airport.

She grew up in Japan but had never been to Osaka precisely, here was where her adventures would start, because earlier on, she had made up her mind that despite the situation she is currently in, despite all the ordeal she would go through, nevertheless she would have fun and make the whole experience one big adventure.

Ryoka strapped her backpack further up, tightly and headed towards the exit or entrance -depending on which is relevant to the individual- of the airport.

Damien had gone ahead to clear out a few things and also get them a rental car so they could commute themselves, seeing as it was dangerous to get involved with third parties.

Even now they were being careful as Ryoka had a hooded sweatshirt on and had the hood up to conceal her partly, and she was trying to be casual and blend in as much as possible and as well not stand out, even as she walked around the airport lobby taking in the beautiful and flashy airport scenery that was native to Osaka only.

As she got outside by the sidewalk, an Audi Q5 parked in her front and the window rolled down to reveal a sunglass wearing Damien, as Ryoka entered shotgun, she wondered if he would ever be rid of sunglasses.

“How can we afford this as a rental?” Ryoka asked as she strapped her seatbelt on like a diligent citizen that she is, and then she rolled the window back up seeing as the air con was on.

“We have our ways” Damien said in a way that made Ryoka think of thieves and then he drove them off.

As the car pulled away, Ryoka glanced at the side mirror by her side, a cloaked and hooded figure stood where she had been standing before Damien drove by, and watched them as they drove on.

“Uhm, Damien?” she called trying to call his attention to the figure and she took her eyes away for the barest minimum of second to glance at Damien, but when she looked back at the side mirror the figure wasn’t there anymore.

“Uhn? What is it?” Damien answered her call, he as well had noticed the figure from the rearview mirror and although he suspected that was what she was trying to call his attention to, he didn’t act as if he noticed.

Ryoka checked the rearview mirror and even glanced back to confirm, but truly the figure wasn’t there anymore, so she finalized that she must have imagine it, probably one of the shadows of her dreams still lingering about, or maybe just an ordinary man who had just left on his own.

“It’s nothing, never mind” She replied him hoping it really is nothing.

Damien drove on, not bothering to respond anymore, he was pretty confident that trouble had somehow followed them even as far as this place, but then, for now, just for now, they were still safe enough.

Damien pulled up in a area that had the vibe of the country side, there were fewer houses here and a bit more green could be seen here, the bustling reduced by a whole lot, they were at the outskirts of Osaka.

Ryoka needed to train, amongst her training she would need to shift, they couldn’t do such in the city side, it couldn’t ever go unnoticed there like it might here.

Ryoka all through the journey had stayed glued to the window, watching the beautiful city go by till they got to this town, and she marveled at the different but all the same outstanding beauty of it all.

As they drove by, she had seen quite a few places that struck her interest and had inquired about it from Damien, those conversations always ended with “Okay we have to come visit here as well” and Damien would only chuckle in response, he knew how slim the chance for fun was.

The duo got down from the car and faced an old fashioned but elegantly built building and right away Ryoka could tell that no one had been there for a very long while even from the outside.

“Where are we? What is this place” she asked as they walked on towards the house, she glanced about at the other houses in the area and they almost all looked the same, what was more interesting was that she could tell that only few were inhabited.

“Well this is a sort of haven for our kind, we have a few buildings here that we regard as safe houses, it is far from the city and would bring lesser attention, it is also on the outskirts this is handy should in case a quick getaway is needed, especially in flight mode” Damien said.

He mentioned flight mode as if he were talking about something as casual as the mobile phone, but then Ryoka knew the flight mode he meant was a thing of legends.

Come to think of it she had not seen a dragon during flight before, that is if you don’t count the overhead shadows in her dreams, she wondered how it would be, she as well imagined her father flying as a dragon, his glistening obsidian scales gliding in the sun and through the clouds.

Very soon, she would learn to do that, how to transform, how to fly, how to fight, the first two, she looked forward to, but slightly detested the fact that the third was necessary too, she really hated the fact that she had to fight, but then, it was either that or 'they' get her.

Ryoka and Damien entered the house and were greeted by dust, dirt and clusters of items lying around and dirtying up the whole place, they both looked at each other and heaved a deep sign.

Then they started with the cleanup of the house, moving from the rooms -which was three in all- to the kitchen, toilets and bathroom and then the sitting room, they cleaned rigorously happy to have something as ordinary as that to do, it gave them a moment of peace, where everything was normal.

It was nightfall by the time they were done with the outside of the house as well, after which they both took their time cleaning themselves up in the showers where Ryoka ran the hot water over her body for half an hour before she considered herself clean enough.

When she got out, she found Damien all freshened up as well, and surprisingly there was food at the table, Ryoka’s nose picked up the ramen delicacy she was sure Damien must have ordered whilst she was in the bathroom.

The food was accompanied with soda, not the diet kind either and Ryoka dug in like a ravenous hyena, she finished the whole bowl of ramen and its accompaniments and washed it down with two cans of soda before she was filled.

A few minutes later she looked around and she was surprised to see that she had actually eaten that much, the surprise must have been evident on her face because Damien just burst out laughing after seeing her expression.

“Ok, granted that you must have been hungry truly, but let me tell you this now, get used to this, you will have to eat, a lot, once you start shifting, you won’t get satisfied with normal food and will have to hunt as a dragon to eat what will satisfy your dragon”he said to her after calming from the laughter.

Ryoka’s mouth dropped some more in surprise, “Wait, did you just say I’ll hunt as a dragon? Hunt and eat what? Goat? Cow? Livestock? Deer?” she asked with wide eyes and Damien nodded as he laughed some more at her questions.

“But what about digestion, I mean, what if I eat a whole deer as a dragon and shift back to human, won’t the deer protrude out of my tummy or how does that work?” Ryoka asked.

“Ok, I will advise you never to shift back after having a meal as a dragon, as a dragon, digestion is fast and it can be hastened by resting a few minutes after initial eating and then flying for some more minutes after, you would feel thee digest and then you can shift back if you wish it” Damien answered and although his voice was light, the tone of his words weren’t.

“What happens if I shift right back after eating as a dragon?” Ryoka asked warily.

“Well you could die, or you would not be able to complete the shift which in itself is dangerous and life threatening” Damien answered simply.

Ryoka could only just open her mouth, she had no idea it was something this technical she would be going through as from now, here she is thinking it was just going to be a cake walk, whereas just the simplicity of indigestion could kill her if she shifted wrongly, she was going to have to learn a lot and learn them fast.

“Ok, go to bed now Ryoka” Damien said getting up and packing the plates and dirt, “You need to be fully revitalized by the morning, as you being your training as a dragon tomorrow” he said and winked to her.