Title: Birthday Blues

Genre: Romance/ Adventure

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I no own!

Note: This is an AU fic and also is a Yaoi.

Warning: Unbeta'd so beware the errors!!!

Summary: Revamped. AU - Being Revamped. AU. - Forced into an arranged marriage Prince Toboe does what any teenager would do: run away with a band of thieves, whose leader is temptation itself. With the world at the brink of war will he be able to find love? Or die trying?


Chapter 7: Taken


Toboe continued to walk towards the castle, well aware that it wasn't safe for him to be alone in the woods even if it was daylight. His thoughts ranged from his parents, to his future marriage to Darcia, to the war with Jagara and finally they rested on Tsume.

Despite all of these thoughts Toboe continued to walk. It was more of a limp really due to the activities he had done the night before, but nevertheless he trudged on.

The trees around him were thinning out, as he got closer to a road. Which road though? Perhaps the one leading out of the Kingdom, or the one leading into the village near the mouth of the castle. The only way to find out was to keep going.

Once on the road Toboe could sense something was wrong, the feeling that something was misplaced and unsettled. Something was going to happen. The young man could not clear these thoughts though before someone on horseback snatched him from the ground.

The Prince let out a small shriek as the man just continued to ride with him, on the road that led out of the Kingdom.

"TSUME!"


Tsume yawned as he awoke. He blinked a few times before noticing that Toboe was nowhere to be found. This only slightly bothered him, figuring that the other probably returned to the original campsite where Leara and Cole awaited their return.

His face flushed slightly as he remembered exactly what had occurred the night before. His entire body felt sated and lazy.

After lying on the lush grass of the cave for a few more mintues, Tsume slowly got up and decided to take a quick dip in the lake to clean himself up before also returning to Cole and Leara.


Toboe grabbed the sword that was on his side as the horse began to slow. "What the hell do you want with me?" he hissed to the rider.

The man was unknown to him due to the fact that his face was covered with a black cloth. Although even though the cloth was there it was obvious that the man was smirking, "Queen Jagara is offering a pretty penny for you Princess Toboe. You may have changed your appearance, but it's quite obvious who you are."

The horse then stopped abruptly, causing the young prince to drop his sword on the ground. A large man picked it up as well as Toboe.

"What are you doing?!" Toboe shrieked at the large man, the other only ignored him.

"Jagara will give you a high reward for this," the large man said to the other.

The other nodded, "she'd better."


Neze looked at her father with a frown. She hated this: the war, her fathers arranged marriage, and the blood that was now leaking out of her body letting everyone know that she was now a "young woman".

Darcia sighed and rubbed his temples, Kiba did the same as the two of them negotiated. Or at least tried to, it was hard to do when the plan they were trying to plot needed the other Kingdoms approval of it.

"We should've just held one big meeting." Kiba stated. Darcia nodded.

Both men could feel the ten-year-old girls glaring dark eyes on them. Neither of them understood why the girl was watching them, or why she was in the room to begin with. Though neither argued nor said a word to her.

"Then why don't you?" the Princess asked both Kings. She moved a piece of her dark hair out of her equally dark eyes and pale face. The beauty she had was rare for a girl her age, yet one could tell that this was only the tip of her beauty for she had yet to really bloom.

"You can find a village that is in the middle of all kingdoms, so that way it would be an equal distance for everyone, going there and leaving there. Plus it would be a neutral area," Neze stated democratically, sounding many years older than what she was.

Both men looked at her for only a moment. Before exchanging glances that only stated that they were idiots for not thinking of it first.


Quent yawned. Finally he was back in his Kingdom. Though he was a bit worried that something had happened to it while he was away, his territory was on the western side, and would be the next one to be attacked after Darcia.

"We're almost there Highness," a coachman stated from his seat in the front.

"Alright," Quent nodded before continuing looking out the window at his surroundings. Something didn't feel right to the older man but he chose to ignore the feeling as they continued driving towards this palace.


They ran as if the devil himself were on their tales. They ran as if their life depended on it. It didn't matter if their bodies were screaming in agony wishing for them to stop, they only continued.

"Why…are…we exactly…going back there!" Leara asked between gasps.

"Because that idiot left…by herself!" Cole answered for Tsume.

The three of them had spent two hours looking for Toboe in the woods until Tsume finally came to the conclusion that the other had went back to the palace to confront his mothers'.


Hige grinned at Iik. They had long been done with the peace treaty and had already built their alliance. Now it was the three of them, Hige, Iik and Blue, talking like a small group of friends.

"And here I was told that you were merely a schoolboy." Iik smiled at Hige.

"Schoolboy? Me? Where'd you hear that?" the other asked.

Blue rolled her eyes at the two. It was going to be a long night. But, she thought, it's good to be able to feel a little bit of happiness in times such as these. The letter from Quent had arrived that morning, stating that she was better off staying in the South, and Blue was relieved and allowing herself this tiny bit of happiness until she had to let it go.


Toboe growled; there was no way he could escape. The "carriage" he was in was more like a movable prison cell.

The boy tried to move his hands and feet to see if they would move in their restraints. But his efforts were in vain.

'What the hell does Jagara want with me?' he asked himself before sighing in defeat and stopped struggling against the shackles since doing so only caused him to hurt himself. Guess I'm just going to have to sit and see what happens.

He looked up at the rusty ceiling. "Tsume." Why was I so stupid?


Tsume, Leara, and Cole barged into the palace.

"Where are the Queens'?" Tsume asked the nearest servant.

The young man merely looked at him. Startled, and a bit afraid, he withdrew into himself but refused to say a word. He had no clue who was demanding such information from him, but he had been raised to protect the Queen with his life. Thus he refused to speak.

"Don't just stand there! Tell them that King Tsume is here and that he demands to see them!"

The other's eyes widened before he nodded and scurried off in search of the two women.

After a few minutes the young man returned, "They're ready to see you now. They're in the Queens' library."

"We can find it ourselves." Tsume told him before walking past him, Leara and Cole following closely behind him.

Them arriving hadn't mattered, for Toboe was not there.


TBC


ECK: Shortest. Chapter. Ever. It was also very jumpy, but a lot of things needed to be explained. Please review, flames are welcome.

Originally posted: 3/18/05

Re-Posted: 12/8/09