This is a flashback from Twins of Persia for my wonderful reviewer lkj.05! Hope this is what she was looking for.
*Kaynaz is an OC from my other fanfiction, Twins of Persia, a twin of Garsiv.
"Dastan's of course. How could I forget the day he tore apart half the palace, ran away, and was caught by the cut throats in the Valley of the Slaves? Oh no, I will not deal with that again. Now about Dastan's birthday?" –Kaynaz (in Twins of Persia)
The flowers were just sooooo pretty today. And what a day! Slightly overcast and a slight breeze took over. It was just so perfect, oh! And there's Kaynaz!
"Hello Kaynaz!" Dastan greeted his sister.
"Hello Dastan! I see you are in great spirits." Dastan smiled easily at her. Obviously!
"Well of course! Why wouldn't I be?"
"I suppose it is a nice day. Nothing too important happening today however. You should lie down and relax!" Kaynaz smiled. Dastan's grin immediately dropped.
"Well that's not the only thing," Dastan stated.
"Oh yes! We have tutoring classes today. Thanks for reminding me Dastan. I should go get ready…" Kaynaz waved goodbye and walked away with her head in the clouds.
"She didn't remember," Dastan frowned at his feet. Well, who cares! He might as well go say hi to Garsiv…
Garsiv was in the sword ring, as usual. He quickly disarmed his opponent and laid his sword at their throat.
"Seems I won again," he boasted. His opponent however was none too pleased.
"You cheated! I wasn't even allowed to pick my sword up in the first place!"
"Don't be a sore loser. I won, simple."
"Hello Garsiv!" Dastan sat on the wooden fence that created the ring. Garsiv sheathed his sword and walked over to greet his brother.
"Hello baby brother. What brings you here?"
"Oh nothing. Just enjoying this special day!"
"Oh?" Garsiv smiled, "And what would that be?" Dastan frowned again. Not him too!
"Well…MY special day!" he hinted with a hopeful smile.
"Did father get you another book?" Garsiv brightened.
"Well… no, but-"
"I'll talk with you later Dastan. I have more opponents to defeat! On guard!" he soon spun into another sword fight with one of the soldiers.
"Oh well. Garsiv is quite forgetful," Dastan muttered.
IN THE PALACE…
"No no no! The new chairs go over there! Did you not read the pre plans?" Tus' face was bright red as he fumed at the servants about the new room arrangements.
"What's the matter Tus?" Dastan asked with concern. The elder's eyes widened as he glanced down to his little brother.
"Dastan! I thought you were out in the garden! Well, since you are here, perhaps you can help me decide on a design for the room. The pre plans I made seem a bit… familiar. It would be nice to have a second opinion."
"Uh, ok!" Dastan spent a good half hour pointing out open spots for the furniture. When they finally finished, the smaller turned to Tus.
"So, is this all for me?"
"The room layout? If you want it to be, then yes." Dastan shook his head, finally giving up on giving hints.
"Do you know what today is? I have attempted to hint at it with Kaynaz and Garsiv, so surely you must know!" Tus gave him a confused glance.
"Do we have another tutoring session?" Dastan shrieked in frustration. Nobody knew! NOBODY!
"I GIVE UP!" he cried and stalked out of the room. On his way to the garden, he tossed over expensive pots and threw paintings off the wall. There were tears in the wall paper and obscene stains on the rug.
Dastan ran to his room, grabbed his dagger, a small water pouch, and his favorite necklace before he ran out of the palace and past the Persian walls into the desert.
Meanwhile, back at the palace, King Sharaman had gathered his children into the present's room.
"Is everything in order?" he asked his children.
"His new fighting sword has been shaped to perfection," Garsiv smiled, nodding to the sword he was using in the fighting ring earlier.
"His favorite flowers are in their places," Kaynaz answered respectively and motioned to the rare purple lilacs that were woven into ropes along the wall, giving the room a pleasant smell.
"The furniture he willingly arranged himself!" Tus laughed.
"And he does not know that we have planned a birthday party for him?" Their father asked with a questioning eye.
"Nope."
"No."
"Not at all. Though," Tus frowned, "he was quite upset when I told him I did not remember what day it was today. You no doubt saw his destruction on your way out…"
"I was wondering what that was about," the King nodded. "Well, he shall not be angered for long. Go! Find him so that we may celebrate!"
And so, two hours into attempting to find him with the whole Kingdom in search, a small boy of Dastan's age ran up to the family.
"Dastan! He's run away!" Bis cried.
"What is this?" Sharaman furred his brows.
"He was so upset that he ran away into the desert."
"Order a search party and get them out into the desert. The sun shall set in three hours. Hurry! Go!" Sharaman ordered before going off to find a horse of his own. Kaynaz turned worriedly to her twin.
"Father's pack of mindless mules will never find him! We'll have to go search for him ourselves."
"Don't be so blind!" Garsiv whispered harshly. "Father will never let us use any of the horses!"
"I didn't say that we needed permission…"
IN THE DESERT…
"Stupid Kaynaz and Garsiv and Tus! It's my birthday! How could they possibly forget?" Dastan kicked the sand.
He had been traveling for miles in an attempt to get to the small business in the desert that he'd heard of. Maybe he could find work there…
Suddenly, he heard the faint pounding of hooves on sand, but no one was around. He spun in a circle to try and find the source of the sound when a throwing knife appeared at his feet. Over the hill of sand appeared a small group of horse riders. They quickly surrounded him as two more men on fancier horses approached him.
"Well what have we got here? A small boy in the middle of the desert?" the fat man asked with a smile. He wore long robes and a turban on his head, which covered up the tangled and long messy mane on his head. His face was tan from many hours spent in the sun and the wrinkles on his face showed that he laughed a lot. As far as Dastan was concerned, he seemed like a nice man.
"Small boy in the desert indeed. Sounds like cutthroat bait to me," answered the large black man. He was covered in piercings and tattoos and barely wore any clothes.
"I'm Dastan, the forgotten Prince of Persia," Dastan sighed.
"A Prince! Now, now, it happens. Everyone is forgotten at some point in time," the fat man answered with convincing concern.
"But it's my birthday!" Dastan cried. "The entire kingdom forgot a prince's birthday! Does that not sound a little ridiculous to you?"
"I suppose it does," the other answered thoughtfully. "But most of my men here were forgotten and that is how they came in service to me! Everyone who works in my business is forgotten constantly so that no one feels left out."
"Sounds a lot better than living in a palace of royalty where no one remembers you."
"Then you should come with us! Find a job, get a hobby, and make some friends! Whad'ya say?"
"Definitely!"
"Good! My name is Sheik Amar. Call me Sheik."
"I'm Dastan. And I guess call me Dastan!" There was no doubt in Dastan's mind that it was going to be a wonderful birthday adventure.
SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THE DESERT…
"HOW, did you talk me into this?" Garsiv moaned.
"Aww, does poor little Garsiv's backside hurt?" Kaynaz teased mercilessly. Garsiv turned a brilliant shade of red.
"No! I just don't get why we have to search for him when father's men are already on it."
"Because those camel-jack's don't know where to look," Kaynaz snapped back.
"Camel-jack? Is that one of your new swears?" her twin giggled.
"Oh shut up Garsiv! You know you are really- what's that?" she brought her horse to a stop and pointed towards a white object that stood out in the sand.
The twins hopped off their horses and dashed to the spot of the white sheet.
"It's Dastan's scarf! But why would it be here?" Garsiv muttered and turned to his twin. Kaynaz was frozen in her spot and stared at something behind him.
"Garsiv… do you know where we are?" she whispered. Garsiv turned and saw several bone bodies impaled on spears.
"Valley of the Cutthroats. Ohhh my Allah we have to get out of here!" he cried, running back to his horse.
"Garsiv! Garsiv you big baby! Get back here!" Kaynaz whispered for what ever reason. Giving up, she ran back to the horses before grabbing onto Garsiv's reigns to keep him from escaping.
"Let go!"
"No! I KNOW where he is! I know, I know, I know! Please just follow me!" Kaynaz looked at him with her most desperate look.
"Fine, but you owe me Kaynaz!" he gave in.
"Good, let's go!"
WITH DASTAN…
"Now you can sit right here," Sheik smiled and pointed to a small mat next to his. "And someone please get this kid some food! He's all skin and bones!"
Dastan gawked at the treatment he was receiving. Never had he thought he would run into a group of friendly cutthroats! It was almost unbelievable. He took his spot as plenty of grapes and other fruits were brought to him by beautiful women.
"This is the life, Dastan," Sheik sighed and took in the view of the dusty surroundings. "We keep a terrifying reputation to keep taxers away, and we give no taxes to those who want to be here. It's a win-win for the money makers."
"It sure is nice. I thought you were going to be a vicious, hateful man that tortured those who crossed into the valley!"
"Oh yes, that is the point! Keep those who know better to stay away so that the idiots that don't know better work for me. Or give me their money and loans. It's all about strategy. Stay here a while longer and you might learn a thing or two."
Dastan smiled at his new found friend. This was much better than a snobbish life of royalty; there was just so much adventure! He looked down into the races when two figures who were waving at him caught his eye.
"Oh no…"
"What's the matter?" Sheik asked, looking for what ever it was that Dastan had seen.
"My older siblings are here! How did they find me?" Sheik smiled warmly.
"Perhaps they care more about you that you thought." Dastan thought it over before standing.
"You're right, they would not have come if they didn't truly want me back home. Especially if they came without father. But what about you?"
"Oh I'll be fine without my little prince. You go on home."
"What will I tell them though? That I purposely ran away with cutthroats?"
"Well you certainly can't tell them that we were friendly towards you, for they would defiantly come out here and tear my business down. You seem like quite an adventurer, make something up."
Dastan smiled before running off to meet with the twins.
"Where have you been?" Garsiv growled, grabbing ahold of Dastan's collar and shaking him.
"We need to escape! I was captured and they will be after us any minute!" And thankfully enough, the two believed him, and they were off.
BACK AT THE PALACE…
"And I for sure thought I was a dead man! So there I was, surrounded, with nothing but the clothing on my back, as I took down two of the men on horses with my bare hands!" Everyone gasped as Dastan demonstrated his moves in the air.
By the time the three siblings had arrived home, Dastan had the story of a lifetime…
"So when I saw Kaynaz and Garsiv, I took off in a full dash to escape the vicious, torturous, evil man! They would have none of it though as they chased me all the way down to my kin. We barely escaped with our lives and thankfully, I am now here." Everyone clapped at the story.
"Well now I know," King Sharaman began, "That we are to never attempt a surprise party for Dastan again." Dastan blushed as his father gave him a stern look, though slightly filled with a smiled.
"So," Dastan smiled sheepishly, "do I get to open my presents now?"
And tada! Hope everyone that read this likes it! Reviews for people that want a place in my book of favorite reviewers! 3