Disclaimer- I don't own the characters that appear in the manga/anime, but I do own anything else.. Which includes the plot.

Warnings- Slashly themes, language, violence, etc...

Pairings- Jing X OC (Who is male... So this is the slashly element...)

Okay... I was in one of my classes and this idea just hit me... I was suffering from some writers block a few days before, and well it seems that my killer, pink, knife weilding plot bunnies finally attacked me. They are crazy... Thinking about this I found that it made a good story, so I started to write. This chapter is kinda short, but I do hope they will get longer... Not going to be a long story at the moment, so don't expect an epic adventure or anything... This is my first try at this catergory, but I have read all of the original series, and six out of the seven Twilight Tales.. I can't bring myself to read the last one... And I have seen eight of the anime episodes... So I do hope I got the characterizations of Jing and Kir right... Well that's enough rambling from me.. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

All that glitters… Even the stars

All things precious…

Even your life

The King of Bandits

Can steal it all

In the blink of an eye

Black hair spilled over an orange jacket, as a man craned his neck out, looking at the expanse before him. Blue in hues ranging from teal to midnight spread across the area in tiles. Each was marked with a letter or symbol. An alphabet long forgotten, made by the gods and goddess' no longer in power.

It was in this forgotten land that the King of Bandits had found his next prize. "Kir, we're almost there." He breathed deeply, looking over at the metal sign, stuck in the ground.

The flying dark bird, followed the other's gaze, flapping his wings in time with the air currents. "The lost lands hmm… How are we getting to this place, Jing?"

The young man crossed his arms, his pools scanning the text. "To cross this game, know this keeper's name." He grinned, stepping back. "Let's go, Kir." Running over to the edge, he jumped landing on his first letter, 'K'.

Underneath them the tile glowed a deep red, before a white transparent image of the letter shot into the sky. The nimble thief dodged the letter, feeling a piece of his jacket tear.

"What's going on?" Kir screamed, keeping himself grounded on the other's shoulder. Looking at the tiles, he found them glowing even darker. "Jing now would be a good time to go."

Behind them the howling of dogs, rang out through the air, alerting them of another's presence. Four black dogs, taller than the average person, jumped out of the cliffs. Their tongues were flapping out of their mouth, foam coming out as well. Their eyes glowed a deep crimson red. Staring at the flesh in front of them, they started to run, their muscular bodies pumping with exertion.

Both bandit and bird moved. Jing jumped from tile to tile, letting the letters appear in the sky. Ducking he missed the large blood stained claws of a dog. "Damn." He muttered, throwing his arm in front of him. Slowly the blade hidden beneath his sleeve extended. Sunlight hit the metal item, lighting the creature's coat. "Come here." He egged the creature on, watching its movements carefully.

Foaming at the mouth, the dog leaped into the air, his hues transfixed on the flesh below. Growling, he missed as his target moved.

"Dumb animal." He muttered, reappearing behind the mutt. Extending his arms, he let the metal slide into the flesh. Pulling the blade back out, he quickly back flipped, hitting his next tile.

Kir followed not saying anything. Catching up quickly, he settled down on the other's shoulder once more. Staring at the rabid animal, he waited. "I think we should go." He urged, not wanting to be around this place anymore.

"Going Kir." Hitting a symbol of a blood soaked scythe, he jumped again landing on the flat grounds outside the board.

Black transparent walls shot up, trapping anything with the area. The dogs inside howled, before a fog of red descended upon them. Howls and whimpers of pain filled the air, before silence. It was then that the fog receded, leaving the remains. All four of the dogs were torn to shreds, their organs, leaking out in a deep black liquid. Each had their chest cavity caved in.

"Jing, what happened?" Kir asked, after staring at the scene for a moment.

The bandit said nothing, instead he raised a hand, pointing a finger at the words the tiles had spelled.

Traveler you may have guessed this right, but you still have more tasks to go. To reach my lands you must look to the horizon. The darkened path will be the right one. Through a forest you shall go, but fear not, most of the creatures there will not harm you. Until then dear traveler. I bid you farewell.

-Keeper of death and souls

"Keeper of death and souls? Jing that doesn't sound too good…" The bird trailed off, tearing his hues away from the foggy letters.

The bandit king shrugged, turning his body around, and following the make-shift path upwards. Spiraling around the mountainside, the pair came to a dense forest. "We follow the path of darkness." Closing his pools, he reached out with his senses, following the one that was silent. Walking forward, he entered the forest, missing the mutterings of Kir, and the pair of hues that were following him.


A/N: Review plz... Comments are nice to hear...