Trials of Love, the Frostclaw Chronicles 5: Dance of the Cherryblossoms
This story is copyrighted to SashaWS/ArtisticEastern, containing characters owned by various people used with permission.
Any usage or posting of this story under the claim of being your own is not approved and you will be requested to remove it or face charges.

The wind was blowing in the trees surrounding the castle, covering the escape of the shadowy figure quickly leaping amongst the many branches, the guards following them. The shadowy figure grinned as they spoke to themselves, "It won't be long before I get the signal and can return back again. Do not screw this up now, Jemaya." The next tree branch forced a quick left turn as the guards kept on following, not knowing what was planned.
Back in the castle however, Sasha was smiling to her brother, "Well, seems like you finally caught yourself a wife, brother. I am sure that you will be happy." Alex nodded, "Yeah, it is hard to understand that she felt the same about me. We always kept that strict policy of just doing it all for show-business and look now, the policy is broken, but we are even happier." Sasha gave him a nod, "Very much so, I do know that this is a bit too much of me to ask you for, brother. But could you make a trip to Tigre and pick up a special dye I want from there? I would go myself, but I got to help planning your wedding." The spunky dragon laughed before patting his sister on the shoulder, "Sure thing. I can leave right away, and if I am lucky, I will be back before a blood moon forms in the sky." Sasha looked at him with a laugh, "Funny enough, they are celebrating the moon festival right now, which is why I want you to pick up the dye. It is called Scharadon Blue, by the way." Alex never understood how well Sasha could plan things, but like always, he was never one to ask questions which were not important. He simply bowed before making his leave from the room, just as a shadow took a leap over to another window.
In the room which the shadow looked into, Azura sat with a huge book about the flora of the planet, with Lyra curiously watching all the different flowers with a light blush, "I... do not know, Azura. I mean, I am thankful that you wanna help to make my wedding wonderful, but can't we just stick with roses like a normal one?" Azura smiled as Lyra realized her little slip of the tongue there, "Oh right, you are the thorn of the roses, miss Rosethorne." Azura gave Lyra a light punch on the arm, making the shark girl whimper lightly as they both then giggled as Azura flipped to a page about underwater flora, "I would go that way, but we want something special for you and I think the Tikxan flora will hold an answer. Like that one." Lyra took a look at where Azura pointed in the book, seeing a flower looking a bit like a white rose, but with blue stripes on the petals, "Tigershark Lily. An underwater flower said to be a mutation of the popular Kitsune Orchid, mostly used by the royal family of Zae'Hil'Ve during their weddings. This lily is really an orchid and said to contain a weak toxin causing swellings at areas where applied. This toxin has been used to cure erectile dysfunction."
Lyra had to cover her maw when giggling from reading the last part, "What would it do to a girl then? Cause her nipples to grow twice as big?" Azura joined the giggling before pointing to a kelp on the other page, "Here is a perfect one. Sapphire Kelp, also known as Sea Serpent's Pride. This kelp is very popular in Tikxan medicines as it is said to contain enough cobalamin, folic acid, pyridoxine and ascorbic acid to last an average size Wichan female for a whole week. This has made the kelp worth its weight in pure silver, which in turn has lead to it coming under protection due to near extinction. It is also said to bring the bride a happy wedding when used as dye for her wedding dress." Lyra whistled, "Not a bad assemble of things there. I guess this means we gonna go and get some of that kelp." Azura shook her head, "No, you have to go. For the thing to work, the bride herself must collect it." Lyra gave her a look of utter disbelief before simply shrugging, "Okay, I will go. Just point me in the direction of the realm and I will go there." Azura gave a warm smile before giving Lyra a very big surprise, "The realm is the entire sea, silly." Outside the window, the shadow disappeared quickly before sending a fireball into the sky, making it explode to signal their ally to get away from the ones following.
(Since no one really likes to hear the boring details of how they both travel there, I will spare you all the burden and get right to the arrivals.)
Alex knocked on the giant gate to Tigre, the capital city of Bzc'Jehb, panting after having traversed through forests and plains, climbed mountains and gone through dark tunnels, all without flying. Watching a young tiger looking out from the top of the gate, he took off his straw hat to bow politely, "Greetings, young gatekeeper. I am Alexander, the former Warrior of Light and now traveling husband-to-be. I seek to witness the moon festival and take part in it, for a celebration like this is one I would not wish to leave inexperienced. If you so wish me to prove I got no ill will, I shall gladly remove any weapon in my current possession and willingly cast myself to the judgment." With those words, Alex took a hold of the sheath on his hip and undid the straps before putting it down on the ground in front of him, the tiger just looking at him, "I will be down soon."
True to the words, the tiger did come down to meet Alex face to face, both politely bowing to each other, "You have come faraway from here, traveler. You reek of the stench of the undead, yet you are having the spirit of a true warrior of a kind heart. The fact you unarmed yourself and left it to me to judge you has clearly shown you are of no ill will. Still, it is not known of an outsider to wanna join the festivities of ours. Do you got any other motives for coming this far?" Alex was silent before nodding, "Yes, I am seeking a dye that only is sold during this very festival, that is true. But you see, I am not even from this planet. I am from another and where I come from, I honor the culture which relates to the one here. As I cherish it a lot, I wish to experience it here too." The tiger looked surprised before nodding, "Very well, stranger. I grant you passage into our capital city. May the wisdom rest over you." Alex bowed before grabbing the sheath as he made his way through the gates as they opened, getting a view of the doors for the gates actually working as a staircase inside itself, making him think for a moment before walking into the busy streets.
When Alex had not been watching, one of the shadowy figures had been following him, hiding in the shadows only to move when necessary in order to plan their next move. Alex smiled as the various shop owners tried to wave him in with various offers, making him feel oddly at peace before he found the place he was looking for, an elderly lioness smiling as he approached and gave him a bow in return to the one he gave, "Welcome, wanderer. Wanna sample some of my goods?" Alex nodded, "Of course, I am after some Scharadon Blue. Whoa, calm down!" Alex jumped back when the lioness hissed at him, "I got nothing of that!" Alex just lowered his head, "All I wanted was some dye. Is it really that terrible?" The lioness calmed herself, "Wait, you mean the dye and not the drug?" Alex was silent and gave her a nod, the lioness blushing gently, "Oops, my humble apologies then. Usually when we speak about the dye, we say scharadon dye. I will get you some." Alex just stood there silent, waiting before the lioness returned with a vial of what could only be explained as an almost regal blue dye, "Is this enough? If yes, then six gold coins, please."
Quickly paying up for the dye, Alex took the vial and smiled, "Thank you for service." The lioness waved him off before watching how the dragon disappeared in the crowd. The shadowy figure grinned before walking up behind a tigress taking a small break from selling fruit juices, the tigress whimpering when she was suddenly possessed, smirking as she walked over to the stand and looked at Alex, "Hey there, traveler. Why not come here and have a drink to relax a bit?" Alex knew it damn well, he needed a drink right now. Sighing in defeat, he walked over and nodded, "Give me one of your best then." The tigress nodded, "Anything for a handsome devil." Alex smirked at the flirt before seeing the tigress getting to work, not minding all that she mixed into his drink. What he did not know was that she had slipped a cocktail of venom into it, grinning widely before masking it as she handed him the drink, "There you go, that will be two gold coins." Alex paid up and took the plastic cup before walking off after waving, sipping on it before the tigress fell forward when she was freed of the possession, the shadowy figure watching as Alex was sipping on the drink and discarded it quickly into a trash bin. Just before he could reach the gate, Alex felt his body growing more numb as seconds passed by, sweat pouring down his forehead before right in front of the same tiger as before, he collapsed onto the ground lifeless.
At the same time near the outskirts of Grizp, the capital city of Tik'Xe, Lyra swam around in the the coral reefs, watching as the local dolphins played around her, one of them even bumping into her crotch to make her whimper softly, "Quit it out, I am trying to find something." The dolphins could not understand her though and kept on bumping into her, making her giggle a bit before she grabbed onto one of them and gently tickled it, forcing it to swim around as if it was ticklish, "Oh no, you are not getting away that easily." A sudden change of the water's flow soon caught her attention as the dolphin made a sharp turn, putting enough momentum to flick Lyra away and into an underwater current, Lyra whimpering as she tried to fight it only to feel something hitting her head as a sea turtle swam by accident into her, knocking her out cold.
When Lyra finally came back to her senses, she noticed she had been flushed up inside an underwater cavern. Standing up, she looked around, amazed by how the corals seemed to be emitting light themselves. She was quickly walking over to a small pool of water lit up as she gasped from what she saw in there, "The kelp! I found it! Oh, lucky day! This is wonderful!" Reaching in to pick one, Lyra could hear the water behind her being disturbed and she was quickly snatching it before turning around to look at someone completely shrouded in a black coat, "Who are you?" The person did not answer, but simply rushed over to punch Lyra right in the gut, Lyra's eyes opening widely as the air was punched out of her, but soon her body grew numb and like Alex, she was soon laying lifeless as the person pulled back the hood and with a beam of dark energy, Lyra disappeared into an amulet before with the help of the shadows, from the light-emitting corals, the person disappeared.
As Alex and Lyra both woke up slowly, they looked in shock at the dark place they were in. Both could not find the air to speak a word, but soon the darkness became a huge battlefield filled with corpses of the fallen family members. Lyra just watched in shock, but Alex was already scarred by it, falling to his knees before crying out in pain and agony from the images, especially as the corpses stood up and with their wide, undead grins, they began to walk towards the castle in the horizon. Lyra could hear Alex's cries and ran towards him, "Alex!" He could not hear her though, his mind was already being corrupted by the images. Lyra looked in fear at Alex before she noticed a pink petal land beside her, her eyes focusing towards the area it had blown from. Her eyes were widening when she saw the cherry tree standing there, "Alex, look! A cherry tree!" Alex's eyes opened and he finally heard her voice, "Lyra, is that you?" Lyra nodded before grabbing him by the right arm, "Yes, now come on! We got to get there!"
Alex got himself back up on his feet before following Lyra over to the cherry tree, the peace and tranquility growing inside them both before finally it began to spread around them. Both of them looked at the landscape around them, the undead and desolate landscape bringing Lyra to tears, "Who could have done this?" Alex looked at it and lowered his head, "It is all an illusion. And this tree... it has to be the only safe place remaining." Lyra looked at the tree as the petals slowly began to fall from the many flowers, dancing in the wind around them. The sudden sound of an unsheathing sword could be heard as Alex was drawing his katana, lifting it up before the petals danced around it as it followed every moment he made, until he finally sheathed the blade, "It is like a dance of true beauty, hidden within an unappreciative darkness." Lyra knew that side of Alex, it was the impossible artist wanting to express his view on things. How she enjoyed it so much. As the petals finally landed on the ground, they both noticed a note laying against the tree, with a few single words written on it, "We await at the top of the castle, if you value your freedom." Alex and Lyra looked back at the castle before sharing a tight and loving hug, "Lets go."

The End.