Chapter one: Meet Princess Gaara
"This is…very uncomfortable." She said, or really I should say, he said. This was his first time riding a horse long distance, also his first time riding on anything in a dress. He had decided earlier that wearing a dress while walking around wasn't too inconvenient but when it came to doing almost anything else wearing a dress became quite troublesome.
'Why is our hero in a dress?' you may ask yourself. It's quite simple; he's the royal heir to the throne! But why must he wear a dress, why can't he be a dashing prince instead of a pretty princess? Well, that's because it has been foretold that if a male were to inherit the throne chaos would consume the kingdom. But our hero, whose name is Gaara-hime, by the way, must inherit the throne, even if he is a boy. Why? Well, stop asking so many questions! That's just how it is, okay? No, really there is a reason, which may very well be revealed later on.
He rode atop his horse, his head held high, trying to keep his composure. He looked and acted confident on the outside but on the inside he wasn't so sure of himself. 'What if they realize I'm not a woman and burn me alive? But that'd make things even worse… I can't worry about this, if I don't focus on keeping my balance I might just fall off this thing, and that'd be embarrassing.' He thought to himself, though his manliness was very well hidden. He wasn't very masculine to begin with, with that scrawny curvy body of his and his ultra pale skin. Plus he'd acquired from extreme insomnia those mysterious rings around his eyes; that made it look as though he was wearing very heavy eyeliner.
He wore a long loose dress, with a high neckline, and of course, fake breasts, which were really just some hay stuffed into his dress top. He wore a shirt under the hay, so that it wouldn't scratch his delicate skin. But it made it so that the weather, which was usually bearable, seem three times as hot. So he was nervous, uncomfortable, and sweating. Not a very good state for the new princess and heir to the thrown to be in right? Well, things were about to get even more complicated.
He'd been riding all day from 'his home kingdom,' which was just a cover up so that the townspeople didn't suspect him being their very own price from before, only now a cross dresser. When they'd found out he was the one to inherit the thrown, they sent him off to live with his great aunt. He was seven at the time, and he was now seventeen, it had been ten years since he'd last seen his kingdom's capital. The ten years with his great aunt had been utilized as a time to teach him all he would need to know. About being ruler and about being a woman. He still didn't quite understand all of it, but time had run out. He'd half to make do with the knowledge he had. Which he believed was enough, though he'd like to know more.
His older sister, who was a princess, but not an heir, was riding a little ways ahead of him. She signaled for him to move his horse up next to hers as the rode widened, they were getting closer to their destination now. He easily moved the horse to ride next to hers. He'd ridden many horses before, so he knew how to that. The thing he didn't know was how to balance atop of it like he'd seen royal women do before. 'Women must be skilled at many things men don't know how to do.' His aunt had once told him. And it was true. Things he would have learned as a prince were still taught to him, but he was also taught the arts of cooking, sewing, mending, and many more! He had to learn so many things that at one point he almost gave up. But he hadn't, and to this day, he still couldn't figure out why.
As his horse matched pace with his sister's she spoke to him. "Are you sure you don't want one more day of rest before we enter the capital? You look like you're about to drop dead." She said, in her uncaring sisterly tone that always made him feel somewhat normal. He had to admit; one of the only normal things about his life was how his older brother and sister treated him. With that hateful love only a sibling can know how to give.
"No I'm fine, I'm just having trouble getting used to riding this horse like a woman should. How do you do it with such ease?" He asked, sifting his weight on the horse for about the hundredth time. He just couldn't find a way to balance and be comfortable at the same time without sitting as a man would.
"I've had many more years than you, little brother, to practice." She said, looking sideways at him, a smile playing on her lips. "Or should I call you little sister now?" She barely stopped herself from snickering.
"Lord or master sounds more appropriate." He said, letting a small smile make its way onto his features. She laughed a little at this and he laughed a little inwardly in reply.
"Little sister it is, then." She said smiling and chuckling a bit. He just sighed a bit, knowing that masquerading as a girl was going to be harder that he first suspected.
They approached the grand city, well, as grand of a royal city there was. As in most cases, the castle was placed on a hilltop that over looked the prospering city. They were just entering the out skirts, so all that was there was farmland, but they could see the royal city clearly from where they rode. They'd probably reach the actual city by sunset. Gaara had let his horse fall back behind his sisters, and continued to struggle with staying upright on it. It was finally cooling down, so at least he wasn't sweating. He guessed it was a little past four in the afternoon. Only a couple of hours until they reached the castle! Then maybe he could rest his sore ass. He knew his ass would never feel the same way again, after riding like this for so long. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had become misshapen. But it hadn't, his ass was in fine condition… for now.
Traveling through the farmland gave him time to think about what he was to do first. When he entered the town, would trumpets sound? Would people gather round to stare at him, as if he was some kind of parade? How would this town react to its 'long lost heir'? Would he be shunned, accepted, praised? And as he passed by these farm houses, did they know who he was? Or did they just see him as a passerby, another traveler. Could anyone see him for who he really was? Was he doomed to play this charade for eternity, never to truly be himself? Or was this who he really was? A fake…
As he absentmindedly looked into the distance, past the city, past the castle, past the clouds, he frowned and his brow furrowed. If he came into town as himself, would anyone recognize him or remember him, a prince from ten years ago? Who to them, was proclaimed dead? Had anyone cared for him back then, not as a member of the royal family, but as himself? Who was this, the him from the past? Did anyone care for that boy? Would they now care for him as the young woman he was? He couldn't continue this train of thought at the moment; he was loosing his focus on the present, the reality. Right now he had to concentrate on being Gaara-hime, the new princess, and he had to remember not to fall off his horse. But what about the him from before, was that little boy lost forever to the void? Forever nameless? Because in this kingdom the young were not named until their personalities were apparent, usually around the age of eleven, give or take a few years. When the young prince had died, he had died nameless, so no one would probably even remember that prince. But they were sure to remember their newly proclaimed heir, Gaara-hime of the Sabaku family.
It was an ancient legend now, why the royal family was called by the name of the desert. A tale told to children, then to the children's children, and so on, passed down through the ages. It's said that long ago, this kingdom of green hills, forests, and swamps was all desert, covered in red hot sand and uninhabitable for the people of ancient times. So for the longest time, between the myth of creation and the tale of the last fallen planet, this land was isolated. As the story is told, one day a woman (Or a man, it depends on who's telling the myth) came to this abandoned stretch of land. It's said this person could control the earth itself. With a raise of their mighty right hand the sand lifted, hovered in mind air for a moment, and then vanished. At this point the story varies from city to city, person to person. The two main variations are told like either of these, though. One is as follows. Under the forsaken sand there lied fertile soil. The controller of the earth gathered people from nearby overpopulated cities and told them of the fertile soil, and how they could start a new kingdom there, if only they'd come along. The people, poor and tired of their horrible lifestyles, followed the great one to this land. There they started it all, planted things, made the place thrive with life. Soon after the area was livening up and they decided they needed a ruler the decision on who they wanted to rule was unanimous. They went to the great one, now calling him/her Sabaku or Elder Sabaku or Great Sabaku. For they knew that this place had been sand, and they knew that this person had somehow turned the sand into what it was now. They had worked a miracle on the desert, and that this land was somehow made into what it was now, thanks to this great one. Sabaku agreed to rule, and promised to be a benevolent ruler. Sabaku kept this promise, until the day they died, which was about 50 years later. Since then the descendents of Sabaku have ruled over this land. The other version is much shorter and goes as thus. Under the sand the kingdom emerged, forged by the great power possessed by the mighty one. And they proclaimed themselves king, as the people from all over came to live in this new kingdom, only knowing their king as king of the desert, as Sabaku.
Another part of the tale was added not a hundred years ago. An oracle came to the kingdom. This was new; one had never been there before. For oracles were only native to the land of Mounishire, the land farthest away from this one, known as Sabaku. So when the oracle came to Sabaku there was a great welcoming ceremony held by the ruler of that time, Kinihiperru. The land has always been ruled by both men and women; at this time it happened to be ruled by a woman. The oracle agreed to look into the future of Sabaku for a small price, since she had been welcomed so eagerly. The perpetrations were made, the price paid, the warnings given. All of Sabaku awaited the prediction on the day of the happening. The oracle, having done this quite a few times before, readied herself. She went into her trance, a few long moments passed, and then she spoke, her voice raw with power. 'When the day comes that a man should rule the kingdom once again, calamity shall strike. It'll be groundbreaking, only to be stopped by the least of the likely. Then and only then will his life be understood, but at a great price.' So the oracle said, falling to the ground only a moment later, awakening from the trance. Everyone was still, not knowing what to do. Finally the Queen, Kinihiperru, went to help her up. The oracle left that night, off to 'help' another kingdom. A lot of the people of Sabaku now believe that that prediction was a bunch of hogwash, and our hero, Gaara-hime, was one of those people.
None the less he couldn't help but remember these stories as they approached the town gates. He noticed that there was only one guard posted at the front entrance. Well, that must be because they were a peaceful country, and didn't really need many guards or firearms. They were a rich country so the neighboring kingdoms kept in favor with them for the great trade and the manners Sabaku was known for. He'd learned all this and more while studying with his great aunt. His sister arrived at the gate before him and announced who they were to the guard, even though the guard had seemed to recognize her instantly. He had to look twice at Gaara-hime, but he didn't question anything. They didn't sound trumpets, people didn't gather, nothing special happened because of his presence and he was kind of disappointed. He was later told that they didn't do anything for his immediate arrival because they had already planed a great feast for the next evening. But he was told all this after he arrived at the castle later that evening. For now he was trudging through the bustling town, disappointed and a bit heart broken.
He looked about himself at the different people, the different lives being lived around him. Our hero's hair is a crimson and cut short, by the way, just thought you'd like to know. He sort of envied the people, living there lives for themselves or for the ones they loved. He didn't get to choose how he wanted to live, destiny had chosen for him. So, glumly he continued onward, towards the castle, receiving sly glances and questioning eyes as his welcoming ceremony.
There was one more part to the myth that was written of earlier I forgot to mention. This part is often forgotten, since it was just recently added, about twenty-five years ago. A second oracle came to Sabaku, but wasn't greeted with much merriment. Though still treated kindly, since the people of Sabaku were hospitable by nature. This oracle wasn't presented to the Queen at that time, but only to one of the princesses, for the Queen was away on business. The oracle, being a humble old woman, very much experienced in fortune telling, did not charge a price to predict the future for this princess. The princess was still quite young, not even named yet, and at the age of twelve. The oracle told the girl, not with the air of an oracle, but with the air of a wise grandmother; 'I know of the prediction made, the one for this very kingdom. But there is something that young woman forgot to mention. The calamity shall fall, but it's not what everyone believes it to be. And all shall be righted by impossible love.' After this the old woman smiled at the young girl, who's mind did not register the importance of this comment until many years later. This part isn't usually told, since less than a half of the population actually believe it. But it is a part I should mention none the less.
Gaara-hime was becoming distracted by his inward struggle against his feelings and his duty. His sister moved farther and farther ahead of him towards the castle and was out of his sight before he had even realized that he was lagging behind. He kept going and didn't panic, thinking he could find his way. But soon he was in a bad part of town, where the roads became muddy with not just water and the people's polite smiles turned into sneers. He soon turned frantic, and while hastily trying to turn his horse about to go back the way they had come he toppled over, loosing his balance along with his serenity. He fell into the mud onto his hands and knees, not only ruining his crimson dress but also getting mud all over himself. He didn't expect help from any of these grungy people and started to get up himself, completely embarrassed. But before he could even begin to get to his feet he noticed a hand outstretched towards him. Was someone offering to help him up?
He looked up into the face of the kind green clad stranger, his own face covered in specs of mud and who knows what else. He hadn't remembered seeing this man in the area before; he'd remember this man, for he was a lot cleaner than the others. The man kept his hand held out and Gaara-hime finally remembered to give the stranger his hand. As the man easily pulled Gaara to his feet he smiled, and Gaara received his first true smile from a stranger. As thanks he gave him a small, mortified smile in return. He was still kicking himself for getting into this situation the first place.
"Thank you." He muttered through clenched teeth, trying his best to keep his feminine air. The stranger nodded in reply, letting go of his hand regretfully.
"Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. Lee, I'm called, and I was sent to escort you to the castle. It's a pleasure meeting you." The stranger, Lee, said while bowing. He was quite tall, and pretty handsome, now that Gaara thought about it. He scolded himself for thinking that way about another man but then realized 'Am I not supposed to be a woman?' and continued to study the man he now knew to be Lee.
"Do you need some help?" Lee commented as Gaara looked at him. Realizing Lee meant help getting back onto the horse he nodded. Lee quickly, like a good footman should, lifted Gaara by the waist onto the horse. Lee must have immense strength; Gaara thought to himself, he lifted me with much ease.
"For some reason you seem very familiar to me. They have not told me of your name. I'd be honored if you'd inform me of it." Lee said, and Gaara noted his politeness.
"It's Gaara, Sabaku no Gaara." He stated, giving Lee another small smile, this one free of embarrassment, the dirt forgotten.
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Hey! Thank you for reading chapter one of my new story! This one should be a lot of fun. Sorry the first chapter was so long, I don't know if all the chapters will be like this. Huzzah for third person limited! I've been writing a lot in first person lately and decided this story should go back into the more oftenly used third person limited. Review please! It'd make me happy, and that's what keeps me writing, happiness.