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Saji stood on the edge of the clouds. Slowly looking over the landscape she smiled. She rather liked walking below. As much as her people loved the clouds, she couldn't help but enjoy her time away from them. How lovely to walk the halls in the skies, how lovelier to be able to gain the knowledge offered from the cities below.

Scanning over the earth her eyes fell on the Forest Kingdom. Her smile dimmed slightly and her eyes narrowed only a fraction. She had a particular loathing for the Forest Kingdom. For one, they had an aweful tendency to hurl arrows up toward the clouds as they passed over the trees. Almost as though they thought the Sky Kingdom were spying.

"Certainly we have better things to do..." Saji muttered in disgust.

Secondly, they had harmed a very close friend of hers once. One from below. That in itself had been enough to make her more than cautious against them. She flat out didn't trust them.

She was far enough away from the Forest Kingdom to remain out of arrow range, and the cloud she was on as well, at least for now. When they got closer they had proceedures to follow. Ordinary drills, nothing more. To her, the Forest Kingdom itself was nothing more than a neusance and a pin p***k against her people.

"Bothersome indeed," She sighed, looking away again. The Crystal Kingdom was too far away for her to see clearly, though she thought she could see the edge of it in the distance. Looking away, not interested in gazing at what probably would not be seen, she turned instead to the Ash Kingdom. A smile spread across her face.

What a dark and dreary place it seemed. Threatening in the distance, the dark clouds and lightening offering no comfort. Saji, in spite of this, smiled at it. As entertaining as watching was, she was eager to speak her friend again, though duty had kept them both preoccupied as of late.

"My Lady Thunderwalker," Saji heard the deep voice behind her and turned to see one of the soldiers. He saluted her and she returned it, her expression turning to stone, her smile lost. "Your father has requested your pressance My Lady."

"Thank you, I shall answer his call immediately," She nodded to him as he saluted again and turned away, leaping into the air to deliver her reply swiftly. Taking in a slow breath, she smiled again as she exhailed. She lunged upward, spreading her Dark Wings and flying behind the messenger.

Niji made it outside and - like always - a dramatic thunderclap was heard. It was almost as if the lightning overhead wanted to announce his reentry into the world. almost like an alarm so that people may flee in terror. As his light footsteps tapped against the ground the citizens of the city that surrounded the grand palace parted way for him to pass. Even his own people lived in fear of him, The Blood Prince. He looked at the wall of trees just over the horizon rolling his eyes at the predictability of the elves there. So nervous. So Paranoid. Surely his presance would only help to increase these fundamentals of their society. Then he noticed a cloud starting to hover over the trees. A smile beamed across his face as the thoughts of his one and only friend came to mind. The only one who could match him in blade and not run in fear of him.

Niji's sword began to ring, the thirst of blood entering his mind. He looked down at the forest so that he wouldn't defile the thoughts of his friend with these annoying wants. He patted the sheath and the ringing stopped.

((LoL, Can you picture giving your char a hug Isabella? rofl ))

The wind stirred the tufts of cloud away as Saji landed, the messenger having arrived ahead to allow her father propper notice. She walked forward confidently, her wings folding behind her.

"Saji," The second deep voice she'd heard in the past few minutes. She turned to her right to see her father standing in tall archway. After bowing to him to show both parental respect and the respect deserved one of his rank, she straightenned as he walked to her.

"Greetings to you, father," She smiled. "You've called for me?"

"Yes," He put his hand on her shoulder, as he would a fellow soldier, continuing forward and bringing her with him back to the edge she'd landed on. "You watch the earth bellow quite a bit, do you not?"

"Yes sir," Saji nodded, walking beside him. "I have been to the ground many times. The people have much knowledge to offer."

"As we have seen," He smiled, pride lighting his eyes for a moment as he looked at her. She kept her eyes forward, blushing slightly. "Which is why I make this request to you. You hold the strongest alliance with the Ash Kingdom. You have orders now to find out what stirs below. It is not simply one Kingdom, I'm afraid. Not even the archers have bothered with our clouds as of late. We're not complaining of course," He smirked, then grew serious again. "Their sudden stop at these little games of theirs bothers the councils. We'd like to know if we need to prepare for anything. If their is something transpiring, those beneath will know better than we."

Saji looked at him now, nodding. "Yes sir. Would this require entry into the Forest or Crystal Kingdoms, or are my orders to gather only from what the Ash Kingdom's residents may tell?"

"Whatever you deem necissary, but we need the information you gather," He said sternly. That was the closest to a 'be careful' she'd get. Used to the warning, she nodded, stepping back to bow again before leaving.

"May the wind light your wings swiftly," He saluted her.

"The clouds whisper around your feet sir," She saluted in return, bowed, then turned, leaping into the air and spreading her Dark Wings and gliding toward the cloud she'd originally lighted off of. Her eyes scanned the ground below, wondering just what the councils were concerned about. Was something really amiss? It would be too much to hope that maybe the Forest Kingdom had decided to abandon their paranoia... She sighed, glancing back to see her Corra follow along behind. A wiff of cloud gaining on her until it floated beside her.

Jag quietly watched Jashe out of the corner of his eye, wondering what kind of expression she might harbor over the sudden news of now having to marry the Ash Kingdom's prince. Instead of finding anything that had emotion all he saw was a blank look on her face, and Jag knew that wasn't good. Even when she replied to her father her voice was not the same cheerful and playful voice he has known ever since they were little. Jag turned his eyes back to the king and gave a small nod before turning and following Jashe outside the room.

Once the doors closed he just stood there waiting for Jashe to move, after all it was his job to protect her not to tell her what to do. So all he did was stand there at attention, his eyes watching her waiting for a sign. What surprised him was the look on her face, she might seem angry or even determined to do what was asked? Jag stared at the young princess in confusion wondering if she was even going to speak to him.

But he got his answer when Jashe shoulders started to shake, slowly he walked closed and was going to ask her if everything was okay when suddenly he felt her against his body. Shocked and happy just a little Jag wrapped his arms around Jashe's body and held her close as she began to cry. "Don't worry little one, it's okay just let it all out, I'm here for you..." Jag slowly closed his eyes as he held the princess close, even though it was a time of sadness he felt happy that he was able to hold his love in his arms again; but Jag's eyes snapped opened when he noticed what he was thinking. What the hell am I doing here? Jashe is crying and all I'm thinking about is that I'm happy that I am able to hold her this close. Forget that just do what you were told to do and that's protect her with your life.

When Saji was almost to the could she had first inhabited she heard the thunderclap in the distance. Instantly, her head jerked and her flight stopped suddenly. She hovered where she was, her Corra still hurrying forward and hitting her, it's soft pillow form, pushed by the momentum, split in two to get around her, squishing back into one on the other side and stopping.

"What was that for?!" The Corra's color turned slightly grey.

"Come," Saji, couldn't help but smile. "It's time to head down. We don't need to pack anything."

"You've got to be kidding... Not again..." Her Corra grumbled, it's shade shifting from a darker grey to a lighter grey.

"Surely you know by now I don't kid," Saji grinned at the cloud, then shot off toward the Ash Kingdom. It was slightly off in the distance, but it wouldn't take long to close the gap.

"You kid too much for your own good! Hey! Why don't we at least-" The cloud's coloring turned nearly black suddenly. It grew larger, then smaller again, as though it were sighing, it's color returning to normal off white. "Fine, fine, fine... Go on ahead Saji, I'll catch up..." The cloud muttered, then dashed off behind her.

Before long, Saji touched down just on the inside of the gates to the Ash Kingdom. She paused, allowing her Corra to catch up. When it was beside her again, they both stepped forward, Saji's sky blue traveling gear sorely out of place in the darker kingdom.

"I was going to say, why don't you change your clothing so you don't stick out so much..." Her Corra chimed in.

"Well, I already stick out plenty enough. I've got Dark Wings for one, and two, I have a talking cloud floating along behind me..." She smirked over at it.

"Well, I could leave it you'd like..." It returned.

"No you couldn't," She grinned.

"Yea, you wouldn't last ten seconds without me..." The Corra trembled, as though laughing.

"Neither would you..." She kept her grin, heading now for the Palace in the distance. "Come on, father will want that information quickly." She lunged upward, spreading her wings and lifting herself into the air. She scanned the ground below looking for any sign of the Prince beneath. "He can't be that hard to find... he's the only one with a berth of space surrounding him every time he moves..."

"It's curious that his own people fear him," Her Corra responded, ignoring the underlying joke. "You would think they would be used to his pressence."

"Are you?" Saji didn't even glance up, still searching the ground. Her Corra didn't respond. It had gained a tolorance of the man, only because Saji trusted him. Still, the Corra acted much like Saji's protector, finding it hard to shake it's slightly paranoid nature. It surely wasn't as bad as the residents of the Forest Kingdom, but there was something about the Blood Prince that made it slightly uneasy.

Jashe made it to her room with Jag not far behind. She didn't come there to pack. She was sure that her father had already ordered the servants to do that task. She then wondered, as she opened her bedroom door, would she be traveling all the way to the Ash Kingdom or would its prince be coming to recieve her like a prize? How did he feel about this forced proposal? Was he elated by this or revolted? She sighed and stepped inside her room but didn't make it far. Jashe was surprised by three familiar servants.

One was about her age with dark brown curly hair and even darker eyes. The other two were much younger and identical. Each had pale blonde hair that reached the mid-section of their backsides and bright green eyes. The trio looked at the princess with much delight.

"Oh Princess Jashe is it true? Is it true? Have you really accepted a man's hand in holy matrimony?" asked one of the twins.

"Oh you're so lucky!" said her sister, "I cannot wait until I am wed. I'll wear the prettiest dress and had the most elegant of trains to follow me." the girl wrapped herself in the princess's bed sheets while she lived in her fantasy. She returned to reality and looked at them all while blushing. "So... who is the lucky man, hm? Hm?" she carefully placed the sheets back neatly.

"Yes who is this man that the king sees worthy enough to have you?" asked the brunnette. Her eye caught sight of the paladin. She walked over to him, while swinging her hips in a seductive manner. She placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on his cheek. "I hope it isn't Sir Jag." she grinned at him.

"Ugh there she goes again," said one twin softly to the other and Jashe,"its very disrespectful for a servant to approach a paladin so directly and in that manner, but I've heard she's done it before and many of the guards and knights let her among other things."

"It's not nice to gossip." said her sister.

"Oh as if you don't think so, too." he twin raised her voice.

"Okay!" Jashe annouced, "I'm very sorry but I'm very busy so if you will," she pushed the two girls out of her room, "perhaps later we can talk. Goodbye now." she shut the door.

A couple of seconds later Jashe opened the door and grabbed Jag. "Sorry but I must take him from you." she said to the brunnette servant as she took Jag away into her room. After locking the door Jashe sighed and plopped onto her soft bed.

"It's gotten out to the servants already? Do you think all of the kingdom knows as well?" she asked Jag. She began to kick her legs upward. "Oh!There's absolutely no way out of this..." she said sadly as she placed a hand over her eyes.

Mortujak followed a little ways back from the young prince, deciding it best to let his anger cool before speaking to him. However, once he had finally reached the treeline he noticed the sky walker floating down and decided instead to hide amongst the shadows of the trees so that all that could be seen were his eyes.

Saji sighed. She'd seen no sign of the Blood Prince in the city so far. Then a light caught her eye, blindingly bright. She was suddenly grateful she hadn't been looking toward the Forest Kingdom at the time. She was used to the harsh sunlight above the clouds, but still, this was unmistakeable.

"Come on, he's not in the city!" Saji grinned, changing directions on a dime. Her Corra followed along after, a wisp of cloud trailing behind her.

Below, Saji could see her friend standing before the forest. She stretched her wings upward stiffening as she immediately plummetted toward the earth below. Before she got too close to the ground she spread her wings again, flapping once to slow down drastically. Lightly her feet touched the ground.

"Niji!" She smiled broadly, stepping forward to embrace her friend. Her Corra remained beside her, hovering as always a yard or so away. "It's good to see you again!"