//------------------------------//
// Meeting by the Sea 
// Story: Goranger one-shot story: Meeting by the sea 
// by Saphirus92 
//------------------------------//

Damien Runner, Son of the Botian High Overload of his world's capital city, and the third oldest son of his siblings is destined to become the next family shaman, and the first-ever Botian to dare to do the unthinkable. Since he was young, Damien has always heard how the people of Equestria distrusted the Botian people because of their ability to negate all forms of magic, while at the same time, The Botian People distrusted the Equestrian people for their use of magic. While other Botians like him would accept this as their reality, Damien however, couldn't. In an unspeakable act, Damien announced that, instead of joining the Gando Rowa, Bota's elite guard, he would instead choose to join Canterlot's royal guard. As a way to show the Equestrian people that Botians weren't as bad as they believed.

This announcement sent shockwaves throughout Bota. Every Botian, including members of his own family, believed Damien has gone mad, even going as far as to say that Damien was betraying all of Botain society. However, many others, like his family and the Botian Chieftain; leader of the Botian People, saw the honor and virtue in Damien's goal and allowed his request. Thankfully, he wouldn't do it alone, as his oldest brother, Leonardo, Voluntarily joined him.

Admission into the Canterlot Royal Guard academy was fairly easy due to the aid of Damien's Godfather, Count Takumi Jo, and his deep brotherly-like friendship with Princess Celestia's nephew, Prince Edward. Although it was an uphill battle, under the tutelage of Captain Shining Armor, however, the brothers quickly rose through the ranks, and in less than a year, Both Damien and Leonardo were promoted to the rank of Major. To celebrate this achievement, Count Jo and the Runner family took the brothers to the seaside town of Maretime bay for a much-deserved rest.

It was during this trip, that Damien was walking along the shoreline of the beach with a picnic basket with him, all while humming a lot to whatever music was playing on his mini radio.

"It sure is nice here." he thought to himself while admiring the scenery, "It reminds me so much of home." he smiled. As Damien continued his stroll, he noticed something peculiar.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a young woman around his age, sitting in the sand, in a state of complete despair. Her skin was a dark caramel color, her hair was bright crimson with white tips, and she wore a school uniform-like outfit. However, Damien could see that her type of uniform, that not only was she from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, but she was one of the school's high-ranking students. 

Damien could see that the young woman had been crying for some time. Although he could tell she did not want to be bothered, given the situation, he didn't have the heart to just leave her be like she was. Cautiously, Damien slowly approached her, all the while the girl had not yet noticed him.

"Um...H-Hello?" Damien softly called out to her. Damien's call, however, did startle the lass a bit, making her jump. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

The girl examined the stranger in front of her, before making herself presentable, quickly wiping her tears away in a hurry. "Wh-what do you want..." she asked.

"I'm sorry Miss, I was just passing by and I saw you crying. I was just seeing if you were alright." Damien explained to the bewildered girl.

"I'm fine...no need to worry." she haphazardly responded.

Damien wasn't convinced of her answer and deeply felt sorry for her. He wanted to see if there was some way to help her out, if not just a little bit, but at the same time, he didn't want to overstep his boundaries with someone he just met. However, he would get his chance. As if on cue, the girl's stomach began to growl loudly causing her to blush deeply in embarrassment. But Damien, on the other hand, smiled softly.

"Sounds like you're hungry." Damien chuckled. Damien goes into his picnic basket and takes out a crisp red apple and hands it to the lass. "Here, One of the best-tasting apples on Equestria, courtesy of Sweet Apple Acres." Damien smiled. But the girl was hesitant to receive the offer in front of her and wasn't sure what to make of this action. "Hey," Damien softly said, "I promise you'll like it." he smiled.

She looked at Damien directly. She was unsure about what to make about the young man in front of her, wondering why he would go out of his way for someone he just met. For most of her life, her family has taught her the exact opposite, to look out for yourself at all times. But this young man and his simple gift just shattered this idea to its very foundation.

Whether or not her next course of action was driven by hunger or something else, the girl took the apple, causing Damien to smile proudly. Upon taking the apple, she slowly took her first bite of it. To her surprise, she was amazed at how sweet and crisp it was and eagerly took another and then a third and many more bites of it. "Yea, I told you it was good." Damien happily said as he laid out a blanket on the sand.

The girl scarfed down the whole apple, barely leaving only part of the core. Once she was done, Damien happily slid the rest of the basket of apples to her, and as a response, she quickly began to devour the rest of the apples. "Hey now, take it easy. Remember to breathe in between bites" Damien quipped as he sat down on the blanket.

Eventually, she finished the whole basket on her own. Upon realizing this, she was once again embarrassed by the behavior she had shown in front of Damien. "S-sorry..." she blushed.

"Heh, it's fine. You should see my siblings at dinner time." Damien chuckled, reassuring the embarrassed girl. "So, are you going to sit in the sand all day?" he asked while offering her a spot on the blanket. With that comment, she finally realized her current surroundings, noticing how dirty and sandy her uniform was, and quickly moved over to Damien's blanket.

Damien smiled at her as his mini radio continued to play in the background. The girl was still unsure of what to make of Damien, or if she could fully trust him. She watched him as he happily bobbed his head to the beat of whatever song was on his radio, the only thing that came to her mind about him was that he was very...odd.

"So, you got a name Ms.?" Damien asked, breaking Aiya out of her train of thought. "H-huh? oh...um...Aiya, Aiya Gale." Aiya introduced herself.

Damien smiled at her, "Welp, Nice to meet you, Ms. Gale. Name's Runner, Damien Runner." Damien said as he reached his hand towards her.

Aiya slowly took Damien's hand and shook it. It was only then she realized something. "Wait, YOU'RE Damien Runner?! That Botian prince who came to Equestria just to become a...royal guard?" a wide-eyed Aiya asked in bewilderment.

Damien blushed and smiled fairly bashfully at Aiya while scratching the back of his head. "Hehe, guess you've heard of me huh? And, I really won't be considered a Prince, but yep. That's me."

Aiya was taken aback by Damien's casual, laid-back demeanor, "S-sorry, it's just that...You're all everyone talks about here. It's just really surprising what you're doing." she explained.

"It's not that big of a deal...really," Damien said while still a bit bashful about the whole thing.

"It kinda is," Aiya commented. As she watched him, Aiya couldn't help but smile at Damien's bashful nature, citing it as a bit adorable in his odd way. "I'm just curious really. Why would you do all of this?"

With that question, Damien's demeanor suddenly turned serious as he looked up at the sky. "It's just something I wanted to do. The way things are now...just doesn't make much sense. I wanted to change that. Think of it as a promise I made...ya know?" Damien explained. When he was done with his small monologue, he turned to Aiya, only to suddenly see that Aiya was extremely close to him. "GAH!!" Damien shouted as he fell over to the side.

"OH! I'M SORRY! SORRY!!" Aiya said as she scrambled to help Damien up, brushing the sand off him in the process.

"N-no, no, It's ok. Really." Damien said as he sat back up. As Damien got himself resituated, he looked over to Aiya. It was only then he realized how beautiful she was, he also realized that not only was he in the presence of a pretty girl, but he was a complete mess himself. It was with that thought alone, that he began to chuckle.

Damien's sudden expression befuddled Aiya. This young man was a mystery, a complete oddity to her. But something about him made something in her stir. He was different from other males she had known. And it was this difference that made her feel something she had not felt in a while. It was a warm feeling as she described it, a warmth that steadily grew in her. Before she knew it, she began to chuckle along with Damien, for what reason, she didn't know.

"I knew you could smile," Damien quipped as he saw Aiya chuckle. Aiya blushed and smiled in the same manner Damien was doing not too long ago. The two would chuckle together for a few more minutes. Once they settled down, Damien turned to Aiya.

"May I ask you something? Why were you crying out here anyway?" he asked her.

Upon hearing that question, Aiya's smile slowly faded from her. "It's nothing..." she said softly.

Damien saw how his question dampened Aiya's moment, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean upset you." he said sadly.

Aiya shook her head, "It's not your fault. Stuff just happens, that's all." she explained. "It gets a little lonely here...so I"m used to it..." she said while turning away.

Aiya's response made Damien feel sorry for her. Although he was hesitant to do so, he gently placed his hand over hers. Aiya looked over to Damien with wide eyes. "You don't have to be alone," he said to her.

To Aiya, this simple act of kindness threw her emotions into overdrive. It was often too rare that someone, let alone a stranger, would show such care, such empathy towards her, it was all too much to bear. In an instant, tears began to run down Aiya's cheek, and in a sudden act of instinct, she threw herself at Damien, hugging him tightly as she quietly sobbed into his chest. Damien was completely caught off guard by this sudden move by Aiya. Unsure of what to do, he simply placed his hand on her back as she sobbed. "H-hey...it's ok..." he tried to assure her. Completely unsure of what to do next, Damien just held Aiya, leaving his face a bright cherry red.

As she cried, Aiya explained her circumstances. Like Damien, Aiya had also come from a high-ranking family, namely, she was Princess to the kingdom of Seaquestra. However, her upbringing was significantly different from Damien's. For most of Aiya's life, it was as if her family had put her on a tight leash, seemingly controlling every aspect of her life, limiting her interactions with "outsiders". She was a puppet, a plaything to her family. Her only safe havens were Canterlot and Mount Aries, ruled by her aunt, Queen Novo. But even there, she could not escape the reach of her controlling family.

Recently, Aiya's family had announced that she was to be married off to the estranged nephew of Chancellor Neighsay. However, Upon meeting her supposed fiance, Aiya saw him just as cruel and controlling as her family. To Aiya, this was the final straw. She soon fled to Equestria in hopes of finding some way to escape her life once and for all.

Sometime later, after Aiya had settled down a bit, she apologized to Damien for her sudden outburst. Damien however, didn't mind it and understood that Aiya was going through some issues of her own, but didn't want to press the matter any further. After that ordeal, the two just simply enjoyed each other's company. Talked about whatever topic they could think of while even sharing a laugh or two about whatever came to mind. Overall it was a pleasant evening for the two.

As the evening went on, Damien soon noticed that the sun was going down, "Looks like it's getting late. We should probably head home." he said as he started to put away the blanket.

"O-oh...really..." Aiya was disheartened by this. She was enjoying her time with Damien and didn't want it to end.

Damien saw this and placed his finger under her chin, raising her head a bit, "Hey, chin up. It was a good day today." he smiled at her. Aiya couldn't help but smile back at his warm nature. 

Damien walked Aiya off the beach and back onto the walkway.

"I can walk you home if you like, I'm staying not too far from here." Damien offered.

"No, it's ok. I can walk by myself. I don't want to bother you any more than I have." Aiya replied.

"It's no trouble, but if you insist, I won't force you." Damien smiled.

Aiya smirked, "You're quite the gentleman," she commented before starting to walk away. But before she did, she turned to Damien one last time. "Will I...see you again?" she asked him.

"I sure hope so," he responded. "In Botain culture, we don't say goodbye, we instead say, 'Cya later' as if we're making a promise to see each other again," he explained.

Aiya smiled at the idea, "Well then if that's the case, Cya later Damien Runner."

"Hehe, call me D. Cya later Ms. Gale," he said back to her.

"Oh, you can just call me Aiya please," she explained to him.

At that moment, Damien took Aiya's left hand and gently kissed it, "Ok then, cya later, Aiya." he said to her. This gesture caused Aiya to blush brightly and stood motionless.

The last thing she saw was Damien's gentle smile before he walked off. Aiya held her left hand close to her while watching Damien leave. Once he was no longer in her view, Aiya soon started making her way back home as well. During her entire walk home, she cradled her hand, caressing the spot Damien had kissed. During that time, Aiya's mind ran rampant with different thoughts and emotions. It all soon went back to the warmth she felt back on the beach. She didn't understand then but now understood what this warmth was. This happiness, this excitement she was feeling towards her new friend, Damien, was love.

END