"It's boring here." Hakuren whined as he looked over the wide plains of Tenzan. Next to him his brother was watching him.

"Boring because we didn't go to war?" Hakuyuu asked him.

"Boring because we travelled all the way to this place only to find we had nothing to do here. I was having a great time back home before we were called out here." Hakuren sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. As he kicked the ground, he sighed. "It's just a waste of our time."

His brother placed a hand on his shoulder as he looked Hakuren in the eyes. "It's never a waste. Let's say there would have been a war and we weren't here to stop it. Wouldn't that make you feel terrible?" However Hakuyuu too felt disappointed. They had gotten a message that the tribes of Tenzan were planning to attack Kou. The two princes and their army were to stop them, but the moment they arrived at the plains, it was abandoned. The tribes of Tenzan hadn't started a rebellion, instead they honored the princes as if they were their true rulers. It had been a useless expedition, two weeks away from home for no reason. Time they preferred to spend with their family and their people.

"You know what?" Hakuren said, stretching out towards the sky, "I'm going to take a little trip before we go home."

"So you can get lost and attacked?" Hakuyuu frowned.

"To escape the boredom" The younger brother corrected him, "And let's say it's a final check to see if there is really no rebellion going on."

"I don't think I'll get you to stay here, am I?" Hakuyuu laughed softly.

"Yuu, I'm doing the empire a favor." Hakuren said as he walked to the horse he had stationed near him. "Won't you be happy if I find a hidden enemy?"

Hakuyuu felt no need to answer him. He knew his younger brother wouldn't listen to him, he never did. At least not when it wasn't needed. In battle… surely he was a great companion. But now there was no need to listen and thus Hakuren wouldn't let himself be ruled over.

At the sound of his brother's horse galloping away, Hakuyuu turned back to his men.

…

The plains were abandoned, Hakuren found out soon enough. They were already far removed from the small villages that were all over the place, meaning that the only sight he was given was of hills and grasslands.

Still it was more refreshing than being locked up in the camp or the palace. The fresh air always did him good, cleared his head from any unnecessary thoughts. In some way, it was too bad that Hakuyuu couldn't join him. On the other hand, if there was one reason for Hakuyuu to be worried and thinking too much, it had to Hakuren. And he knew that all too well.

Though as he rode through the abandoned parts of the plains, he noticed something strange. A horse was walking through the grass, but it was not a wild horse. There were clearly bags hanging on its side. The animal seemed to be lost, its rider nowhere to be found.

He ordered his horse to go near the lost animal, grabbing its reins as the creature was too tired to run any further. As both horses were brought to a standstill, he got off to calm the lost animal and look for any signs of its owner, but there was nothing he could find. The saddle bags only contained a blankets and some traces of food. Whoever had been traveling, had ran out of supplies before reaching his destination. Leaving the horse behind, knowing it wouldn't go anywhere, he went back to his own steed to look for clues. Two hills further, he found his answer. A figure lay in the grass, unconscious. Never had Hakuren seen someone like him, armor almost glowing in the sun of the plains. However, him being a stranger didn't matter. He clearly wasn't from around and in he was in need of help. Wasn't it a prince duty to help others?

…

It was strange how all stories had told about the beautiful countries of Qishan, Balbadd, Musta'sim and Aktia, because all Mystras had seen after he left the shores of Sasan, was sand. A neverending desert had awaited him, a thing he wasn't prepared for. Of course he had a lot of food and water with him. But in a desert all of that would be used before he knew it. By the time he could find see the end of sand and the start of grasslands, he was already exhausted. Water and food were no longer present in his saddlebags. Too tired to find get any food, he just let his horse walk. He couldn't even feel it when he fell of the back of the horse or when a stranger came to his side.

…

"He's waking up!"

"Really?"

There were voices, so many voices. Which, Mystras thought, shouldn't be possible. He had been alone during his entire journey, there had been no villages, no merchants, nothing. And yet, here they were, clear voices that seemed to talk to him.

"Hey! Open your eyes!" One of the voices said and at the sound, Mystras groaned and tried to get his eyelids to separate from each other. After the haze of his vision disappeared, he saw two young men, probably around his age, standing next to him.

"See~" The younger of the two said, turning to the other one, "that worked."

"Yes it did, Hakuren. And now that he's awake, we can ask questions." The older one said, sighing softly as he turned back to Mystras.

"What happened…?" Mystras asked, sitting up and clutching his head in his hands.

"That is what we could ask you. My brother found you in plains, exhausted, dehydrated and starving. What were you doing there?" The man asked.

Mystras stayed silent, there wasn't a thing he could say. Even he didn't know what he had wanted and why he had ended up here.

"Never mind," The man sighed, "you can tell us later. You don't seem to have a place to belong and neither do you have enough resources to continue your journey. Which means you will be traveling with us back to Kou. See it as a journey as a possible spy or a way to get back to the normal world. Your choice."

"A spy…?" Mystras asked, confused. "Who would I ever be a spy for."

"That is something we do not know, but we can only be cautious." He said as he turned back to the exit of the tent they were in. Before he left he turned around one more time.

"I forgot to tell you who we are. I am Ren Hakuyuu, this is my brother Hakuren. We are the crown princes of the Kou empire, here for a campaign."

Crown princes… of all people he could have run into, he had found himself saved by royalty. He smiled softly at the two princes. "I'm Mystras."

…

"Where are you from?" Hakuren asked as he rode next to the knight.

It had been two days since Mystras had been found by the prince. In that time he had been able to get his strength back before the princes decided to ride back home.

"Sa-" Mystras fell silent for a moment, remembering he had promised his father to never tell anyone about his homeland, "I don't have a country anymore." He answered instead, looking down.

"Looks like yours are quite unique. I've never seen them before." The prince laughed softly before turning serious again. "Not anymore? What happened?"'

"I was banished after losing a fight. However, I was meant to die that day. To be here, to travel freely, it was all I ever wished for in my life. So I'm not mad that I have no place to return to. To be like this is all I dreamed about."

"So you're a wanderer now? What places have you seen before you stranded in the plains?"

"None really. I crossed the desert before I got to the plains. I was trying to go to Reim."

At the mentioning of Reim, both princes burst out in laughter.

"Reim? How much of a traveler are you when you got yourself to be this lost."

Tilting his head, Mystras looked back at him. "What do you mean?"

"What he means," Hakuyuu said when he had been able to control his laughter, a thing Hakuren was still trying to do, "is that Reim is located on the far west of the world, whereas the Tenzan plains and Kou are located in the east. You traveled into the opposite direction."

"How did I-" Mystras muttered.

"It can be as simple as going right where you were supposed to go left. You're not an experienced traveler, are you?"

"I never left my country before and was banished not more than a few weeks ago…" The knight attempted to explain as he tried to figure out where things had gone wrong. At least this explained why he had never reached a different country or the harbor that would give him a ship to Reim. It had never been in his reach. While he had tried to get closer, he could only distance himself. And now he was stuck here… in an area he had never heard about, had never seen merchants from.

"So you really had no idea what you were doing. Then you are lucky that we were on a campaign around these lands. I'm sure father would like to see some new kind of fighting skills because with that-" Hakuren pointed at the lance Mystras had been carrying on his back, "- it seems you know quite some good moves."

"However," Hakuyuu interrupted his brother, "We will need to know if you can be trusted first. You could be a spy for all we know. Being lost and exhausted is a perfect cover to be let inside our ranks."

Mystras sighed, knowing there was nothing he could do at the moment. In some way it was just as Sasan. People were always warry of outsiders. But it was understandable, especially when these men were princes who had to protect their country from danger.

"Fine by me, but I won't be staying in your country forever." Mystras answered, "I finally got the freedom to travel, I still need to see the world."

Hakuren laughed softly. "Then hopefully next time you won't end up in the wrong place. You want to go to Reim, right? If you find yourself on an island, you're in Kina, remember that."

"I got lost once, I won't let it happen again." Mystras sighed and focused on the road ahead again. They were still surrounded by the plains. Mystras could already see this was going to be a long trip, but this was the free world he had wanted to be in. This was what he had dreamed of. Perhaps it wasn't Reim, but it was still a different world. And he wanted to see all of it.

…

It was a week later that the grasslands had turned into countryside and finally became a city. Bright red roofs showed up in the bare landscape that was the Kou empire. On the way to the capital the princes had explained the basics of the country to the knight. Kou had been a small country that under the current emperor had fused with the nearby kingdoms of Gou and Gai thus creating the strong Kou empire. However, so told Hakuyuu, the empire wasn't stable yet. Some groups in the country of Gai would rebel against the emperor, wishing for the return of its own, independent power. It was because of this that the princes would go out on campaigns, to assure that the empire had not started to fall apart yet.

As they entered the city, Rakushou as the princes called it, the people on the streets would cheer and look after them. Rakushou as the first city Mystras visited since he left, was different from anything he had seen. There were no mountains surrounding the place, no stone walls closing it off from the outside world and no castle sitting on top of it all. Rakushou, unlike Vabel had a clear line between poverty and prosperity. Still people didn't seem to care. They walked through the streets, talking to each other and showing an honest happiness. No one seemed to be stuck in a constant state of wondering what their religion wanted them to do and what would give them the purest way of living was.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Hakuren asked while smiling to the crowd that formed next to the road.

"Very different than where I'm from." Was all Mystras could bring out in a soft sigh.

"Mysterious country of isolation, right?" Hakuren laughed, "You didn't tell us much about it. I'd almost think you don't trust us."

"I met you a week ago…" Mystras muttered, though in reality there was no doubt that he trusted both princes. Why wouldn't he trust those who had saved his life and given him shelter, who were even prepared to let him enter their palace. All while he was a stranger, unable to tell much about his homeland.

Hakuren only continued laughing while Hakuyuu shook his head. They only waved at the cheering crowd as they made their way to the palace, never stopping for minute. It almost felt like the pilgrimage festival, except they hadn't come down a mountain here. But who knew, maybe there would be a party, a celebration that their princes had come home unharmed.

One part of him wanted to get of the horse and walk into the city. The other part of him knew that he couldn't leave now. He didn't have to leave Rakushou yet, he would be able to go there any time he wanted, he just had to find the right time.

The sounds of cheers continued until they reached a big wall in the middle of the city. Bright buildings spread behind it and before he knew it, Mystras found himself inside the walls. There, a seemingly endless structure of buildings had been waiting.

"It's pretty big, isn't it?" Hakuren said with a smile as he got of his horse and handed it over to one of his servants.

"Bigger than I'm used to." Mystras joked as he also got down his horse. In one way it wasn't a lie. While the castle in Sasan had been big, it had been built in many layers. The palace in Rakushou however was more flat, stretching out over the land and across the city.

"Don't worry," Hakuyuu assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "if you stay around the eastern wing, you should be fine." Soon after, his expression turned serious again. "However, we will have to visit our father to report about our expedition. We will not be able to accompany you until later this evening."

Mystras pouted but knew that this was normal.

"A servant can show you the way to the garden where you can relax or spar with a soldier. Your horse will be brought to the stables and will be taken care of. We will meet up with you there later."

With Shamhat being taken care of in the royal stables, the princes doing their duties and him being in a strange home, Mystras realized how far he had come and how alone he was. At least he was alive, breathing the air of an empire he would have never seen otherwise. As long as the princes allowed him to stay, he was in good hands here.

He smiled softly as he overlooked the garden. There was so much green within the palace structures. Something like this had always been impossible in Sasan, the grass wouldn't stay green and there weren't enough trees to build with. The stone structures fit its landscape more to begin with.

How long he had been sitting there, he didn't know. He could see servants walk around, whispering to each other whenever they walked past him. Only one girl had offered him some tea, which he took with much pleasure. He didn't blame the servants for their behavior, especially with the way he was looking. Sasan had its custom of ignoring anyone that looked different, Kou wouldn't differ much from it.

Eventually he felt a small tug at his headpiece. When he looked down he saw a child, not more than five years old, staring at him. Judging by his black hair and bright blue eyes he had to be a part of the royal family.

"Where are you from? And why do you wear armor?" The child asked him, a question Mystras knew he could expect a lot of times. He laughed softly as he looked down at the child.

"I'm from a country on the other side of the desert, where everyone is a knight and fights for their beliefs." He said, a wide smile growing on his face.

"And where is that?" Questions, questions, questions. It wasn't as if the older two brothers hadn't asked that already.

"That's a secret."

The child pouted at that answer, but didn't go too much into it as familiar voices sounded from behind them. As Mystras turned around, following the boy with his eyes, he faced the two princes again.

"Enjoying the view?" Hakuyuu asked him as he picked up the child in his arms.

Mystras nodded softly, but found his attention being led back to the child again. Hakuyuu laughed softly as he looked to the child.

"I see you met Hakuryuu. He's adorable isn't he?"

The child, Hakuryuu quickly shook his head while a blush formed on his cheeks. "I'm not cute, I'm going to be a strong warrior like you and brother Ren!" He pouted.

"Of course you are." Hakuren laughed as he ruffled through the child's hair.

Mystras smiled softly as he watched the group. "I'm sure you'll be a strong warrior, just as kind as your brothers."

"Do you have any family, Mystras?" Hakuyuu asked after putting Hakuryuu back on the ground again.

"One younger brother, he should be a few years older than yours. I was supposed to teach him, but I wasn't doing a good job at it." He muttered the last part. "But I'm sure he'll be a great knight, like your brother will be a strong warrior as well."

The child nodded at that statement. "I will be as strong as my brothers and as strong as you!"

The smile of a sweet child was the best Mystras could see in all of Kou.

…

Sure the kid's smile was a good thing to see, but eventually Mystras found himself getting bored from spending day after day in the palace. It was because of that that the sole invitation to look around Rakushou was immediately accepted. In the short time he had been at the palace, he got his own share of the hospitality of Kou.

Hakuren had been the one to come up with the idea, but not for the simple goal of walking around the city. Though Hakuren admitted that he did that as well from time to time, today he wanted to escape from what he called a "boring meeting that Yuu and En can deal with". While Mystras had only seen the young Kouen a few times, he didn't question the fact that Hakuren wanted to be away from the meeting. In the end, he had never been different back in Sasan, skipping training and masses.

"Want one of those?" Hakuren pointed at one of the food stands along the road. Surely Mystras wanted to try it if it weren't for the fact that his hands were already filled with food they had gotten earlier.

"I'm fine, we can come back for them later." Mystras shrugged his shoulder, taking one of the earlier bought peaches and took a bite of it. Sweet and juicy, much like the food back at home.

"Then what do you want to see? I'm in town enough times when I run from meetings, what is it you want to see?" Hakuren said, tilting his head at the knight.

At that Mystras had to think for a moment. Surely Kou had enough things that he couldn't do back in Sasan… new food, different culture and…

"Girls" He murmured, just loud enough for Hakuren to hear.

"Girls?" The other laughed softly, "I didn't expect you to be interested in girls really."

"What makes you think that?"

Hakuren shrugged his shoulders "Nothing really, I've just been surrounded by girls for so long, I didn't think people would willingly look for a girl that'd throw herself in your lap."

Mystras blinked a few times, looking at the prince in awe "You just have girls surrounding you? You're lucky. I wasn't even allowed to look at them."

"Girls are boring. When you get dozens of them sent to your room every week, in the hope that one of them will become you 'future wife' they're not that interesting anymore." He sighed, before giving a soft smile to Mystras. "But if you want to find yourself a girl for the day, we can find a place in the city. My uncle goes there many times and sadly he loves to brag about it as well."

He waited for a short moment before giving a nod. "It's just one time…" He smiled, making it impossible for the prince to resist.

"Yuu is going to kill me for this, but I have to fulfill our guest's wishes. " Hakuren grinned before throwing an arm around Mystras' shoulder and leading him deeper into the city.

It wasn't much later that the two found themselves surrounded by the smell of perfume and cigarettes. From every side of the road there would be women standing outside, luring men into their tiny houses for a fun evening.

"Well this is it." Hakuren laughed, his hands in his sides as he watched Mystras' head turning red. "Different from what you expected?"

Mystras shook his head, "I never saw something like this before… we can do all kind of things with these girls, right?"

For a moment the Kou prince was sure the other was going to have a nosebleed at that very moment. "Correction, you can do whatever you want. I already told you I'm not interested in it. But I heard of one of the best " He said, pushing Mystras through the streets before they reached a building with a larger crowd before it.

"My uncle always says he gets the best girls from this place. Sure he doesn't have the best taste in women, but I trust him on this one." Hakuren pushed the knight into the building, setting him down on a couch as he sat down on a chair in front of him. Surely the girls came swarming around them fast enough, still clothed, but showing their body in every right way to their waiting customers. Hakuren waved the girls away, wanting them to spend their time around Mystras instead, though there would still be girls that didn't want to leave his side.

Mystras on the other hand was much between life and death. Being surrounded by girls was a dreamlike state, his hands around their hips as their crawled on his lap, clung to his arms or hung above his head. At the same time it was all too much, all the girls and the possibilities he had with them. He couldn't find words to speak to them and had to do his best to stop a giant nosebleed from happening.

In his moment of heaven he didn't notice Hakuren talking to his girl and sending her away to the back. He didn't feel like he had to notice, he had all these girls just for himself. But those girls didn't stay and one by one they started to leave again, all but one.

"Let's go to the back. It seems your friend over there got you the best thing of the house." She whispered in his hear as she leaned closer.

Blushing redder than his hair color, Mystras nodded slowly . The girl giggled and grabbed his arm, dragging him of the couch, to the back of the room.

"Come on~" The girl said as she sat down on a different couch that was located in a smaller back room, "Sit here with me and let's wait for the main attraction."

Her smile was too pure, a trap for the unknowing knight. The moment he sat down on the couch, he could hear Hakuren's laughter before the door closed and a bigger figure appeared next to him.

"And? Did you enjoy it?" Hakuren laughed as he walked back to the palace with Mystras.

"You knew this, didn't you?" Mystras grumbled, in no mood to talk much more. The 'priced girl of the brothel' was more of a monster than a lady. Sure he couldn't deny that she had served him well, but the image was still a nightmare in his head, not to forget the bruises he had gotten from her 'love'.

"You wanted some girls. I thought I'd give you the best that place had to offer, uncle loves her and won't leave her for days sometimes."

"Must be because he's unable to move after one evening. That woman has an iron grip, she could easily break my back in one try. Are you sure she isn't some escaped soldier or experiment."

Hakuren laughed softly, "Trust me, the monsters of Kou are nothing like her."

Mystras didn't go into details on that part, his body still hurting from the earlier visit to the brothel.

…

It had been a year since Mystras had found himself among the princes of Kou. He could spend his days walking through the streets of Rakushou, exploring corners he had never gone to before or he would stay inside the palace to spar with some soldiers. But even then he knew something was wrong. It wasn't Kou's fault, much more it was his own. Kou was beautiful and while it held the freedom he had been looking for, it wasn't the place he had always dreamed of. He couldn't let his dream be taken over by the life he had been given by the royal family of Kou. There was still a world waiting out there for him, a world outside of Rakushou and outside of Kou and Sasan. The other side of the mountain range, in the west.

"You're leaving?" Hakuren asked, tilting his head.

"Yeah…" Mystras scratched the back of his head. "It's not that I dislike Kou but…"

"We understand," Hakuyuu told him, "you never meant to stay here. You want to travel again, don't you?"

Mystras nodded. "There is more out there that I should see. "

"Like Reim? Next time, don't go too far east." Hakuren laughed as he grabbed his sword, preparing for a little spar.

"Yes, I always dreamed of seeing Reim, I can't stay in Kou if that means I'll never see Reim."

"Well, I guess you would see if Kou were to conquer Reim." Hakuren shrugged his shoulders.

Mystras, unable to tell if the prince was joking or not, only looked at him. That was until Hakuren looked back and the knight quickly grabbed his lance.

"Then how about we spar one last time before I leave again?" Mystras laughed. And so they did.

…

"You're really leaving." Hakuren sighed as he leaned against the doorway of Mystras' room.

"I told you so. I'm taking my horse and will move back to the west." The teen sighed. His room was a mess, old clothes and smaller objects thrown all around as he decided what he would take with him and what was to stay behind.

"Don't tell me you want to go back to the desert…" Hakuren crouched down next to the knight and handed over a blanket to him. It was then quickly put into one of the saddle bags.

"There isn't really another way."

"You can try going over the mountains. It's a longer trip, but you don't have to worry about dying in the sand. There are countries out there and people that can help you."

Mystras shook his head. "I can't go to the mountains. Last time I was with people there… it didn't go too well."

"So bad you went straight into a desert?" The prince laughed.

"You can call it that." Mystras said and stood up, saddle bags in his hands. He ignored the Kou prince and he walked out of the door, to the stables where his horse was waiting for him.

"Hey Mystras!" Hakuren ran after him, "How about you don't take the mountains or the desert then? There will be ships going in the direction of Balbadd from the south of Kou. Yuu and I should be able to get you and your horse on one."

His feet stopped underneath him.

"A ship?" He muttered.

"A real ship, straight to Balbadd. From there on you should be able to catch another ship to Reim." Hakuren laughed.

Mystras smiled and continued to walk to the stables. "I'm not saying no to that."