Guarding Forbidden Love
Prologue
Red silk ribbons moved through the air as the young serpent princess elegantly danced. As she twirled, bearing her expert moves gracefully while her ribbons mimicked every part of her movement, her mind once again went off into that far away place of her vivid imagination, a clever tactic she used when she had to perform in front of the citizens of her father's city, Huang Cheng, in order to overcome her stage fright. His people, which would eventually, one day, be her people. Huang Cheng and the throne of her father would also become her's one day, he always told her, though, with a tone of voice that she knew held a disliking to the thought... The cold tone of disappointment, clearly not pleased at the thought of handing down the throne to the only one of the bloodline that held no venom, as their species should. And though most princes and princesses looked forward to the day they became ruler, she was the only princess that wasn't looking forward to it. At all.
Her dance continued on, her movements never hesitating or stopping as her mind went further, digging deeper to reveal, once more, her real dream. The rolling hills and large valleys filled with green grass and small villages that were beyond the outskirts of Huang Cheng, hidden and private, were her dream. The dream of complete freedom, away from the peering eyes of the citizens of her current home, eyes that watched and waited for her to make one false move or mistake in order to find yet another reason to quietly gossip about how she'd make a horrible ruler and how it would be a mistake for the emperor to have his venom-less daughter take his throne. And she would hear their harsh words and feel the sting of their displeasure from even a single glance from her father; a father who she knew was secretly dissatisfied with the fact she, his own daughter, his firstborn, was the only snake without venom. She could not change who she was, and everyday was a battle to prove everyone wrong, even if her real dream was not to live the fancy and royal lifestyle, but to live in peace and private in the valleys beyond Huang Cheng, away from the Palace walls that made her feel like a daily prisoner since her father never allowed her to leave the Palace.
She was stuck in a fairytale that was not as joyful and dreamy as everyone always made it out to be.
Despite what everyone thought about her, and her 'happy' life, she was miserable on the inside. Trapped in someone else's dream. And just like the fact she was born without venom, she was born into an inescapable lifestyle of fame and fortune. She could not change any of her misfortunes, and she forced herself to stay, to prove herself worthy, to make her disappointed father proud of her... for once.
She stopped. Her dance had ended, and though it was a moving piece of work in the eyes of the citizens who came to watch her perform (the only thing they found redeeming of her), it always wore her out from exhaustion. Breathing heavily, the young snake opened her eyes, coming back to her melancholic reality as she was greeted by the faces of the citizens surrounding her. Time stood still for a moment, as they remained expressionless, staring back at her like when she passed by the small pond in the Palace gardens, peering in and seeing her reflection in the water, her expression always blank, her eyes always empty. All of their expressions were unreadable, void from any emotion.
But then time went back to normal after a moment, the blank expressions were then painted with grins, as they, the crowd, cheered and clapped for their Princess of Huang Cheng, the blossoming ribbon dancer.
She felt herself genuinely smile for the first time in a long while. She smiled proudly at the crowd, and turned her head to see her mother and father. Her mother smiled back at her young daughter, honestly and fully proud, as every mother would be. The princess then caught sight of her father beside her mother, and all her pride for herself faded when she noticed his blank, somewhat displeased expression. Void of any pride or love. There was no approval in his eyes, or even hidden in his expression. There never was when it came to her, and she was used to his daily discontent toward her. She knew it shouldn't hurt as bad since she was used to the gossip of the citizens, and especially used to the disappointment by her father... But that didn't mean it didn't hurt.
She was just a princess with dreams of freedom, all the while being held down by the invisible shackles of her father's regret and disappointment.
A small figure in the darkness scurried through the wide vegetable garden outside of a small home. Dragging along a sack twice his size, the small figure, a young mantis, would stop every so often in front of whatever vegetables in the garden that he or his mother preferably enjoyed more than others, plucking them from their inner roots and throwing them into the sack. Mainly radishes, potatoes and onions. So far, he only had about ten all together. Four radishes, four potatoes and two onions.
Living in a small village had it's perks. A bug living in poverty like the young mantis, could easily get away with stealing edible delights from the gardens of villagers who, quite frankly, didn't need them when they had plenty of food to feed their families daily. His mother was always ill, and so it was hard for her to keep a job, therefore lead to them having a hard time finding a place to live, and finding food to eat. The essential necessities needed to survive life.
And though he was picked on by the other villager kids for his small size, it was his size that he took pride in, for it had strong advantages. Like the stealing of other peoples' food to feed himself and his mother; his size came in handy for when it came down to stealth and speed. His size made it easier for him to be quicker than many of the other village kids. And even at the young, fragile adolescent age the mantis was currently, their hurtful words didn't cut so deeply. In fact, it hardly fazed him. He knew their words were created out of jealously for his amazing agility. They were slow and he was fast, and this was how he viewed them all when they decided to pick on him.
Placing the last desired vegetable into the sack, the young mantis turned and began to head back, dragging the sack with ease. There were twelve vegetables in the sack, all twice his size, yet the bag weighed almost nothing to him. After three years of mastering the skill of stealing garden edibles, he had slowly mastered a strength that was surely impossible for any insect. Insects could not even hold up a single radish over their heads, let alone be able to pull or push anything twice their size.
Yet here he was, only a young kid, an insect, being able to drag behind twelve large vegetables. This was an easy, daily task for him now, and everyday he became stronger, everyday he became even quicker.
But sometimes, he'd wonder if these were just wasted talents.
He had these amazing abilities, some he was born with, others he grew to learn and adapted to over time... But no one wanted anything to do with a poor bug who's mother was always sick and couldn't work. No one wanted anything to do with anyone facing poverty. Period.
Sighing, the young mantis realized this with a heavy heart. He stopped walking, pausing to glance up at the starry-sky that held the bright, full moon; the bed of the moon, as his mother used to tell him when he was a much younger child. The cruel words from the other kids didn't bother him, but the fact that no one wanted to give him a chance to show himself worthy for any type of job to at least have some money for a home for himself and his mother, the fact no one wanted anything to do with him, let alone wouldn't even try to help him or his mother... Now that did hurt him. A lot.
He was just a poor village boy with many extraordinary skills to offer, who only wanted a better life for him and his mother.
IMPORTANT: Please, if you don't like this pairing or the story or the way I write, then DON'T COMMENT. Please, that's ALL I ask. I don't go around bashing your stories or pairings, so please don't do it to me. Okay?
A/N: Anyway, yeah... just a prologue. You can tell who the princess is and who the poor village boy is. Two different worlds come together as one, later on, basically. Yeah, this was just a little background info on Viper and Mantis, and please remember this is an ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE (AU) background and plotline, meaning these backgrounds for Viper and Mantis were just made, by me, for this particular story. Get it, got it? Good. Crystal? Clear.
Please review if you can. :)