[CENTER][h1][color=EB054D][b]RICO[/b][/color][/h1][/center][hr]Riding on the back of Negrigan’s mount, Rico was all smiles as he took to his first horseback ride with the glee of a child.

“Consider the trip back to town the first of my apologies for running you over. That said, you will have to leave. We are currently barring foreigners from the island,” Prince Alliant explained, mid length hair draped over his shoulder as the three horses headed back to the capital.

[COLOR=EB054D]“Aw, lame! I just got here. Oh well, I’m supposed to be somewhere else anyway. Where’s here?”[/color] Rico wondered, throwing his arms behind his head, leaning back only to flail as he regained his lost balance.

Jolibi bored a hole in the boy’s coat with his eyes. “I for one, don’t trust him.”

Alliant put that aside for now. “We’re on Gunwhale Island, I’m Prince Alliant of the Puddle Kingdom.”

[COLOR=EB054D]“Whoa, puddles? Man, I loved playing in those as a kid. Still kinda do, actually. And you’re a puddle prince?”[/color]

“Er, no, that’s just what the kingdom is called…” Alliant mumbled.

“That’s stupid, what would a puddle prince even be? It sounds like a kid’s fantasy,” Negrigan shot back at the slightly younger man behind him.

[COLOR=EB054D]“Says you! You were just chasing after a unicorn!”[/color] Three right eyes all twitched in unison, three grown men unable to properly retort.

“How did you even get here? Most of the island is surrounded in sheer cliffs and rocks just under the surface.”

[COLOR=EB054D]“Yeah, that sucked. I can’t really pilot a boat really well so the currents took it into the wall. If I didn’t climb up I would’ve been a goner for sure, haha!”[/color] Alliant saw no reason to disbelieve him, but his attitude didn’t match one who’d had two close encounters with death in the same day. Even so, despite getting run over by a horse less than a half hour ago, he was right as rain.

“You’re one crazy kid,” Jolibi sighed, shaking his head.

“But I’d rather discover an accidental illegal entrant than a drowned shipwreck victim, that is certain. You’re welcome to stay the night, and we’ll arrange your passage off the island as soon as possible,” Alliant reasoned.

[COLOR=EB054D]“Cool! I wanna go to Shuffle Island.”[/color]

Jolibi’s eyes narrowed. “You’ll be on the first boat out of here. Anything after that is on you.” Rico pouted. Mercifully for the royal entourage, the young pirate was relatively quiet as they came down the golden hills into the town. Houses of wood, stone, and straw dotted the cobbled streets, their group far from the only horses about (the lingering smell of dung permanent, no matter the hurried efforts of young street cleaners in their constant struggle). Their group caught a number of eyes. Alliant garnered enough attention, but Rico was a brightly colored eyesore among the muted hair colors and earthen tunics and breeches. Rico didn’t exactly revel in the attention, but those who lit up upon seeing him more than often were a bit sullen before. So many shoulders were heavy, even without the well water and sacks of food weighing them down.

Rico, so typically full of smiles, didn’t restrain himself. [COLOR=EB054D]“Someone important die? Everyone’s looking kinda rough.”[/color]

Jolibi glared. “You have no tact or respect. Your majesty, I think you’ve spent far too much time on this one.”

Alliant kept his grip on his reins firm. “Jolibi, I cannot say I expect much in the way of manners from someone outside of the scope of nobility. I do, in fact, appreciate his honesty.” Mouth going tight, forming a thin line, he admitted, “I’ll admit, I hadn’t thought about it in a while. Perhaps it had become normal for me. Should we not be wondering? Why…” Alliant hesitated, words sticking in his throat like mochi.

[COLOR=EB054D]“Why nobody here is smiling?”[/color] Rico finished, his words bearing a slight edge.

Eyes closing, Alliant felt a pang of relief as the words he’d been unable to say came out so freely from the mouth the outsider. Alliant felt the edges of his lips cinching in strain as he smiled, just a bit, for what must have been the first time in a long time. Back a bit straighter, he asked, “I never did get your name.”

Eyebrows popping up as he was addressed, Rico leaned forward just a bit, cocksure smile coming to his face. [COLOR=EB054D]“Name’s Rico: I’m an outlaw.”[/color]

The bold statement made Alliant give a curt laugh. “Yes, I suppose you are.” Jolibi and Negrigan exchanged glances, apprehension clear as they struggled to parse how genuine he was being.

Party reaching the Marshwiggle (an inn whom’s name made Rico say [COLOR=EB054D]‘that is the best ever why wasn’t I named that’[/color] loud enough to make the innkeeper blush), Jolibi and Negrigan took their leave, Alliant himself arranging for Rico’s room, joining the beriless young man in his quarters for a moment.

[COLOR=EB054D]“What’s the haps?”[/color] Rico said, grabbing a spindly wooden chair and sitting in it backwards, arms over the headrest. Alliant stared, the man in his mid twenties not sure what to make of it. [COLOR=EB054D]“Er, I mean, what’s up?”[/color]

Taking a seat on the bed, the young prince looked rather out of place in the lower end room with sparse furniture and a pale gray coloring to the wood all around. “I hope you’ll excuse me: for some reason I feel like I can talk to you.”

[COLOR=EB054D]“Oh, I’ve always been told I’m a great listener. The old folks back home could go on forever, about the same things and the same stories and the same jokes again and again and again and again and again and again and again and I would just listen. Every. Time.”[/color] Rico’s drawl ended with him staring out a thousand yards, red eyes wide and empty.

Alliant’s neck craned back slightly. “I...hope you’re better at listening than you are with animals.” Rico gave a thumbs up, but Alliant wasn’t about to take it at face value, instead glancing at the window for a moment as he collected his thoughts. “I suppose in some ways its easier to confer in an outsider who will be gone tomorrow than my own subjects, my own people, who find themselves in the same dilemma. We’re nearing the time of the Ko’Bo’Ka’Na Festival. It’s also my...father’s...birthday.”

Alliant’s staggered words came after Rico jumped up at the mention of the word ‘festival’. [COLOR=EB054D]“Festival? What kind of festival?”[/color] he grinned.

“The festival has been canceled, just like last year.” Once again, Alliant struggled to continue, his attention stolen by Rico as he slumped into his chair as though crushed by a boulder. “It’s meant to invite the rainy season, with hopes of a fair balance between having enough water to last us until the next wet season, and not having the disastrous floods we have in the past. Our island is known for its vast difference between the dry summers and torrential winters.”

Recovered, Rico nodded. [COLOR=EB054D]“Okay, gotcha.”[/color]

“The celebration also invites a number of events like games or contests, food, drinks, and all sorts of revelry.” Rico fell from his chair, crashing into the floor, dark lines of depression like stakes in his arms and legs, crumpling the tent propped up by his dreams. “A-are you quite alright?”

Head shifting up, chin against the floor, Rico growled, [COLOR=EB054D]“Hell no! Who banned the festival? No wonder everyone’s in a shitty mood.”[/color] Finger drawing circles in the floor, he muttered, [COLOR=EB054D]“And here I was thinking it was so lucky I made it here right when some crazy fun stuff was about to happen.”[/color]

“My father doesn’t want the festival to happen,” Alliant said suddenly. Rico looked up to see Alliant’s tense face. “He...King Lulouis has been getting older. He argues that the noise and revelry would be bad for his heart.” Silently, Rico got back up and returned to his chair. “But everyone in the castle, and most of the villagers, know the truth. Almost two years ago, my mother died, Queen Lycien. The Ko’Bo’Ka’Na Festival was her favorite time of year. No other holiday could compare. So it’s that time of year that we all think of her the most.” Alliant gave a hollow laugh. “It’s not as though it changes anything, he was still miserable last year, though perhaps everyone else being miserable gave him some solace. We’ve all been a little worried. Our island has a rather rare mineral, Drunken Iron Ore. Its value allows us to sell at a high price, but that in itself puts the island in a precarious position. The more we sell, the lesser its value, and the more difficult it might become to pay the Heavenly Tribute in the future. There’s also the chance that the market collapses. Never mind the invitation of crime: our outlaw of foreigners is a way to prevent suspicious eyes and treacherous hands.” Rico held his cheek in his hand, slumped hard over his chair, interest having faded within the last few sentences. “I-it’s a difficult problem. My father thinks he’ll come to an answer, but he doesn’t think that anything will be done after his death, so he set a bounty for a unicorn horn in hopes of extending his lifespan. My older brother, Petre, the first prince, has been tossing around some reasonable ideas, but-”

[COLOR=EB054D]“You chose the unicorn,”[/color] Rico stated plainly.

Alliant swallowed, slumping his head. “W-well, when you put it like that, you make it sound like I have no faith in my brother. I think he could be an able king. He’s nearly twice my age, after all. But…” Alliant paused, reflecting back as he chased the unicorn horn without feeling much need for justifying himself, because he’d already known what he wanted the most.

It was like Rico saw right through him. [COLOR=EB054D]“And what do [i]you[/i] want?”[/color]

Alliant shut his eyes for a moment, breath coming in hard for a moment. “I just...want him to be happy again, no matter how long it takes.” Cheeks glowing red, he stammered, “Y-you-! Look at what you’ve got me saying!” Rico giggled. “And what do you want?”

[COLOR=EB054D]“Mmmmmm...I wanna be Pirate King.”[/color]

Alliant stared, wide-eyed. [I]...What King? No, I must have misheard. Puddle King?[/i] Luckily for him, Rico added, [COLOR=EB054D]“But right now a festival would be really nice.”[/color] Shifting about in his chair, he kicked his feet up, leaning the chair back on its two hind legs while his own laid on the bed.

Daring to stand, Alliant admitted, “It really is a shame. Thank you for hearing out my complaints, it’s not a situation one man can solve, so there’s no need to dwell on our problems. I’ll have someone send for you when your arrangements off the island are secured. If I don’t see you again, I wish you luck on your travels.”

Rico gave a short wave as Alliant headed out. As he closed the door behind him, he could have sworn he heard, [COLOR=EB054D]“Yeah, a damn shame...”[/color] His concerns fled from his mind a moment later as Rico crashed to the ground, chair slipping and falling with him coming down right after. [COLOR=EB054D]“Oh shit! Unlucky,”[/color] Alliant heard from the other side of the door before Rico burst into laughter. Alliant was torn between amusement at the boy’s purity, and anxiety at the boy’s purity...