Pre Chapter 1
Prologue
Shadows at Night
Yamato had clung to the shadows of the night time world. Thin cloths of leather lined his feet offering minimum protection from the dirt streets of the Royal city of Raminas. Loose fabric, barren in colour, slightly too large, moved with the wind and didn't offer much of a disguise to go on.
He didn't want to be recognized and he knew that in that city and probably in that city alone would the chance arise. His blond hair, that refused to remain out of his eyes, was rare in the world and would take not a second of notice for someone of the city to realize whom he was and so he trudged through the alleys behind the shops keeping an ear alive in search of any signs of life.
The sky was clear and though the moon that hung brightly in the sky was nothing but the true nature of beauty it brightened the shadows a hair too much for Yamato's comfort. His breath remained forcefully even and the cold breeze that wafted through the alleys, behind the small buildings, gliding and bouncing against the stone walls twirled around it's self creating a tornado effect about the blond and squirmed it's way up, down, and through the loose fabrics of the blonde's attire sending shivers down the boy's spine; lining his arms with goose bumps.
One carefully placed step followed the next and so forth until, before the blond knew it; he had put good distance between himself and the palace. Coming to the edge of the city, he knew he was almost free, almost ready to relax and allow himself to fully enjoy a moments rest before he'd have to continue on his way.
Another street to cross, another one that would find it's self lit by candle light from posts twelve feet in height. He could see another block and the borders end would be met; the trees of the woods were in his sights offering him another challenge but one that would not need meeting just yet.
Confidence was in his heart as he gazed from a shadow's edge towards his destination. The side of a home, he leaned against, one masked in silence and void of light, another home lay cross his path but he'd not step towards it until he knew the way was safe.
A faint sound could be heard, the squeak of metal, perhaps a turning wheel on a carriage. He did not know, he just waited, listening with eyes closed as the sound grew closer.
A cry not ten feet away met his ears, a baby's howl that caused him to jerk from his stance and had him nearly abandoning his shadows. His head spun towards the sound, his eyes wide with fright. A window to the home, a candle inside was lit and a mother's voice was heard, soothing the infant and in turn relaxing the blond.
Yamato turned back to his path and shrunk back against the home as a carriage, as was to his belief, rolled by with one wheel that needed to be oiled.
When sound was dead once more and the carriage was long from sight did Yamato risk crossing the street and abandoning any thought of returning home.