Author's Note: Okay I know I'm crazy because I haven't even written ANYTHING for my other stories for the past couple of years. But I've been inspired by watching plenty of Chinese dramas and I'm hoping I can rake out this idea out of my head before it's gone. I might not finish my other stories at all, but I'm hoping I'll finish this one at the least! BTW a lot of will seem more Chinese than anything since it's inspired by Chinese period dramas.
Chapter 1:
The grand hall filled with silence.
The young man bowing in front of the Emperor, his father, tried his hardest to stop his body shaking from anxiety. He was feeling nauseous, the royal decree had been dropped on him and he didn't really know how to feel about it.
The other chancellors that filled up the room, resting on their knees looked at the crown prince. This was the true test to see if he was fit to be the legitimate Crown Prince. Their next leader.
The Crown Prince tried to think, but his mind came with no thoughts. He was blank from shock. He didn't want to do what the Emperor commanded him to do. But he knew he would give up anything at this point for the throne. He was the eldest of his brothers, this was his duty to his country. But his morality, his conscious screamed at him not to follow the Emperor's orders. He remained bowed as his Father's loud and sturdy voice rang out in the grand hall.
"How much longer will you remain silent?" The Crown Prince lifted his head, his eyes shifted to his best friend, whose eyes encouraged him to respond to the Emperor. The Crown Prince lifted his head and cleared his throat. He looked down at the ground as his hands were folded together, arms raised – signaling that he was about to speak.
"Your son will do as the Emperor commands," The Crown Prince's words caused small chatter amongst the chancellors, all that had begun to think the Crown Prince was a wimp after all. Before their noise could get to the Crown Prince, "Your son will head out tomorrow to start the mission." The Crown Prince bowed to his father. He failed to see his Father smile at him with pride.
"Well done Crown Prince," The Emperor leaned backwards and looked over to his assistant. The assistant stepped forward and waved his large tassel once.
"Assembly is done; everyone may go home!" All the chancellors gently raised themselves and turned to go to their respective homes. All of them were gossiping about what issues had been raised. None spared a look at the Crown Prince who stood and stared blankly at the ground as his Father had walked out of the room.
The Crown Prince gripped his hands into a fist, living in the silence, he was snapped out of his daze when he felt his best friend grip his shoulder.
"Renji," The Crown Prince looked upwards at his friend and saw his friend's concerned look, "Are you okay?" Renji smiled weakly and shook his head.
"I'm fine, it's just…" His friend focused on him, giving the silent signal he was listening to his words, "It's just the task at hand's a little daunting is all. I've never done anything like it." His friend smiled with sympathy, but the Crown Prince knew that his best friend wasn't happy that he was about to embark on a morally questionable journey. Silence lingered and his friend patted his shoulder.
"Come on, don't stand there looking like a dumb fool." His friend laughed as they began to turn around to exit the hall.
"Oh shut up Ichigo!" They both laughed heartily and kept walking. Renji turned slightly to look over his shoulder, giving a small glance to the golden throne.
'Anything for the throne.' Renji declared in his head as him and Ichigo went to go have drinks.
The harsh sound of galloping and hooves stomping on the ground as two horses raced filled the air of the forest.
Both horses jumped effortlessly over a tall stack of fallen trees, one of the women racing leaned forward and held a determined grin.
"Faster!" She commanded, feeling her horse instantly run faster, finally surpassing her competitor. Her long deep royal purple gown billowed in the wind after her. Seeing the large lake, her legs tightened the grip on her horse.
"Heel!" The horse whinnied in reply and immediately slowed down to a stop. The rider dismounted from her horse and laughed as the second horse came in just seconds after. Her competitor huffed at the winner as she dismounted from her horse as well.
"You cheated Rukia!" The loser's hands went to her long flowing locks to make sure it looked manageable still. Rukia laughed as she moved over to help smooth out her sister's hair.
"You're just a sore loser is all." Rukia and her sister finished fixing her sister's hair. Her and her sister moved towards the lake to dip their feet in to relieve them of the heat.
"You just have more time on your hands is all, I would've won if this was a few years ago!" Rukia rolled her eyes playfully at her sister as they entered the cooling lake.
"Sure Hisana, sureeeee." Rukia mocked as Hisana playfully hit Rukia upside the head.
"Where are your manners for your older sister?" Hisana teased. Rukia proceeded to laugh and shook her head.
"There's plenty of respect for you my dearest older sister, it's just that you're not as good at horse riding!" Both sisters shared a laugh until Hisana suddenly sat down on the ground and clutched her head in her hands. Rukia's eyes became wide with concern and she bent down to be at her sister's side. She gently grabbed Hisana's arm, "Is it the headaches again?" Hisana nodded her head in agreement before smiling weakly at Rukia.
"Don't worry, it's just the gods' punishment for telling someone the future again." Rukia huffed at her sister before helping Hisana up.
"You need to stop being too nice to the humans. You know Byakuya would be mad at you if he found out you did it again." Hisana placed her hands on her hips and glared at Rukia playfully.
"What can Byakuya do to his precious wife? The lead enchanter of the forest is more scared of his own wife than anything else!" Hisana turned her nose up haughtily. Rukia rolled her eyes and quickly mounted back onto her pure white horse. She petted her horse's mane as she watched Hisana mount her dark brown horse. The horses began moving at a similar pace, Hisana and Rukia chose to enjoy a leisurely stroll back to their housing.
"Even if Byakuya isn't scared of you, you really shouldn't anymore Hisana, it hurts your health." Hisana sighed as she heard Rukia's concern.
"I can't help it, every time a human comes into this forest seeking answers it's hard to not want to let them know!" Rukia arched a brow as she helped direct her horse around fallen debris.
"You don't have to be that nice to them." Hisana sighed, letting Rukia know of her agreement.
"Fine, I'll try harder from now on." Rukia reached over and took Hisana's hand into her own.
"Who knows what might happen if we upset the Gods anymore? Especially for you, your health has always been weak." Hisana nodded as they finished their ride back home in peace.
Once they reached home, they led their horses in their pens and walked inside their home. Hisana greeted her husband with a kiss on the cheek, effectively interrupting his meditation. He flashed a small smile at his wife and took one of her hands into his.
He rose with Hisana's help to settle at the table for their dinner. After a small dinner, the small family retired to bed and soon drifted off to sleep.
In a few hours, Byakuya's body shot up, his eyes glowing white as a vision came to him. Hisana was startled by his sudden movements and woke up, waiting patiently.
"Byakuya, what do you see?" Hisana said as Byakuya took her hand as the vision occurred. When the vision finished, he looked at Hisana with worry.
"Is something wrong?" Hisana asked, feeling concerned after observing his long silence after his vision had finished. Byakuya shook his head before he spoke quietly.
"The Gods predict something will go wrong soon, I saw humans and blood. For now, my love, you must stay away from the humans who might enter this forest in the future for a while. The Gods were unclear in my vision." Hisana shook her head as she helped Byakuya lay down again. He wrapped his arms around her as her head laid on his chest, both smiling contently as they drifted off to sleep.
Author's Note: What did we think of the first chapter? Please let me know!