My first real multichapter fic! I've been working on this idea for a while now, and I have the intro chapters written. After that, I have no idea where this will go. It's inspired by "The ranger's apprentice" and "Robin Hood", and happens somewhere late medieval-ish.

Beta'd by the lovely cupcakedictator, but please don't hesitate to report mistakes we might have overlooked.

I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer to be safe: I don't own this show, only my imagination.

Chapter 1: The boy who ran away

/Adrien/

He just loved running through the woods at twilight.

Even though Adrien wasn't really running himself. His horse Kellas was the one doing most of the work. But they knew each other so well that they felt like one being, racing surrounded by the trees.

This was when Adrien Agreste truly felt free.

While many would kill to be born in such a high class as him, he didn't find satisfaction in his normal life. He descended from a very old and wealthy family, nearly royalty. But since his dad was constantly away, he basically lived alone in the humongous family mansion at the edge of the city. Apart from the staff and his tutors he had nobody to talk to.

His solution had been to buy a cabin in the woods, and whenever he had time to spare he went there. He put on his black cloak and took Kellas from the stables while becoming someone else.

That someone else was Chat Noir.

xxxxxxx

He lost his line of thought when he saw a carriage heading towards the city. The door had the royal symbol on it, painted in gold. The carriage had no windows and was escorted by eight fully armed knights. This was no ordinary transport.

"No way, not another load of taxes!"

King Bourgeois was a very good and rightful king, he wasn't the problem. This particular part of the country, however, was under the control of his daughter, princess Chloé. Someone who didn't care for her people at all. How could she, she has never even met them. The only times she was seen by the civilians was when she greeted them from her balcony in the morning. But all she did during this so-called 'greeting' was showing off her extravagant dress and jewellery for the day.

Her craving for luxury and her inability to accept no for an answer had driven her to raise the taxes again and again. And the king had no idea of what was happening under his very nose because his daughter could do no wrong in his eyes.

A smug grin appeared on Adrien's face as he decided to pay the carriage a visit.

"Halt!" he screamed while standing in the middle of the path. The coachman disgruntledly obliged.

"How dare you stop a royal transport! Get out of my way!" he shouted back from his seat. "What do you think you are doing?"

"My name is Chat Noir, I am the guardian of this forest. In order to pass through it you need to pay a price. You are taking that money to the princess, but I'm paw-sitive she has plenty. So I will be as chivalrous as to lighten the load you are carrying!" Chat Noir stated while pulling his black hood further over his face.

"We'll see about that, you thief! GUARDS!"

*cue the fighting*

xxxxxxx

In their defence, they were well-trained knights. But they were only trained in traditional sword fighting. Chat Noir, on the other hand, had some different tricks up his sleeve. He had been taught by his tutor Armand d'Argencourt how to sword fight, just like the knights. He had picked up some less conventional fighting techniques from foreign tutors and had perfected his other weapon skills on his own in the woods.

Currently he fought with what looked like a simple iron stick, yet it was a balanced weapon that had been custom made. And boy, did he know how to use it! Though the fact remained that their sticks were pointy and his wasn't. So when he finally had knocked out the carriage's escort, he was badly wounded.

He crawled towards the transport and looked at the enormous load of gold. "I could take it all. Bury it. Spend it. Give it away. Chloe surely doesn't need it." But he didn't because that wasn't the way Chat Noir worked. It wasn't his job to save Paris, Chat Noir was no hero. He managed to take a bag of gold without bleeding too much on the rest of the load, mounted Kellas and headed for the cabin.

But he wouldn't get that far.

Through half-lidded eyes he saw someone walking in the forest. A lone figure with a packed horse had strayed from the path. They were walking towards the shadows that hid Chat from sight. "Two treasures in one day, Fortuna smiles at me."

He ignored the stinging pain his left shoulder as he sat straight on his horse. He left the cover of the dark, faced his new target and prepared his lines.

"Hello wanderer, I am the guardian of this forest. In order to pass through it you will need to pay a price."

The rest of his words got stuck in his throat while his eyes stopped working and everything faded to black.