'The night comes alive with the stars. But you never know, it could light up with the dark.'
Chapter 1: The Dark Horse
I woke up in front of the pitch black forest, exactly where I fell asleep several hours earlier. Though I fell asleep early in the afternoon around two, it was already dark. The reason why I'm in front of the forest miles away from where I live is because I ran away from home, sick of the princely position I was placed in for my first adoption, sadly, without my beloved sister Ayano. I also escaped because I was engaged to this prissy rich girl named Megumi. Ya know, those types that bruise easily, are brats, and have no feelings toward "nerdy boys"? Damn, most of those are bishies... JUST TAKE THE DAMN GLASSES OFF! Heh... sorry... got carried away... anyways...
I stood up and rubbed my eyes ineffectively, trying to get my eyes used to the darkness and soak up the little moonlight there was. My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn't eaten since breakfast, having to skip lunch to get away. After a few seconds, my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I could see about fifty feet in front of me. The woods weren't all that scary looking and everything around me looked really nice for the supposedly terrible outdoors, but my clothes were in a horrible state. My previously white tux was now smudged with dirt and mud, torn at the chest and knees, and the tie was twisted.
I headed into the woods without making a sound. The darkness would spook some people, but it didn't scare me at all. It was slightly calming. I was about a mile inward when I heard the pounding of hooves on the dirt path.
Dammit! They're probably looking for me! And on horses, too! ...Or maybe(hopefully), someone who doesn't know me, but won't try to kill me.
The pounding became louder as the person, or creature, came closer. My walk turned into a jog which quickly turned into a full sprint. It was stupid, trying to outrun whatever was chasing me which was probably a horse. I tripped over a tree root that stretched arcoss the dirt path and fell on all fours. Pain shot up my ankle as it twisted in an awkward angle. I got up quickly though, and kept running into the seemingly endless darkness, pain spreading like poison up my right leg, hoping to find somewhere that I could end this chase. A black stallion the color of shadows, blending in so well with the forest that I couldn't see it, came up next to me.
Its rider was tall and slim, with short black hair that stuck out it small spikes in all directions. He wore a black and white mask, one of those masks with the eyes cut out and half black half white cover. The mouth was a thin line, showing no emotion.
He snapped the reins, picking up speed, and made the horse turn sideways so that it blocked the path, forcing me to stop. The rider turned his head towards me, not saying a word, and stuck out his hand for me to get on. I took it and he helped me onto the horse's back behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, laying my head against his back and closing my eyes, as if I knew him and it was perfectly okay. I didn't know if it was to him, but he didn't make any protest against it.
A few minutes later, we arrived in front of a house. The silent rider tied his horse to a tree in front of the house and lifted me off without effort. He carried me 'bridal style' into the house and I didn't resit or struggle because of my leg. He took me to the only bedroom in the house, and set me on the bed. He took out some bandages and wrapped my right ankle tightly so that I couldn't move it. Now that my ankle was immobile, the pain seemed to slowly fade away. He turned around and took a few steps forward and out of my periferal vision.
Turning so that I was on my side, I watched him as he turned and took his mask off and tossed it onto the desk across the room, never facing me, and pulled his black t-shirt over his head, leaving his whole upper body exposed.
Damn, he has a sexy body... mmm... I could just- WAIT! Ryu, you and him, BOTH MALE, baka! Stop thinking about him that way!
I frowned at my own thoughts but quickly pushed them aside, remembering that the unknown, silent(don't forget sexy~ shut up inner self!) rider hadn't told me his name.
"Hey," I said, getting his attention. But again he wouldn't turn to look at me. "My name's Ryu. And, thanks for helping me back there. Really means alot to me. Um... what's your name?"
He stopped changing for a minute as if he needed to stop everything to think. A few seconds later, he responded, "Call me Dark Horse."
I smiled and rolled over so that I was facing the window to my right. "Dark Horse, huh?" I whispered, so quietly that he probably didn't hear me. I shut my eyes and drifted off into a blissful sleep.