I have to say, this is well worth the look. It'll probably be my longest one-shot yet.

It'll be good, so enjoy…

Drake: First Kiss

Age: 10

He walked down Market Street, taking everything in. The smell of the fruit from a farmer's stand, ripe and juicy, only the money barrier keeping him away. There was the fish-stand, smelling old, with the fishmonger receiving a barrage of nagging from his wife, who could be heard half a street away.

He couldn't believe how he was finally allowed to roam the town. Up until recently, he was only allowed to go to a certain section of town. It was incredible how that was no longer so.

He was amazed at how everything was, at how busy the small settlement really could be. It was incredible.

The last two years, he'd started to practice with Sevtria, the wooden sword he'd been given when they'd moved here. He'd named it after a word he'd come up with. It meant "Savior" in Vantra.

He'd gotten proficient enough to where it was a true benefit to take it with him when he left the house.

As he wore it at his left hip, he couldn't believe at how much he fit in.

"Aaahh!" a high-pitched voice screamed from behind his left.

Turning around, this revealed a girl roughly his age wearing some of the finest silk clothes he'd ever seen. She appeared to be a Maritea, though he couldn't be certain. Most of her face was hidden by a veil. This made it hard to tell anything. The only way he'd gotten the guess was by the hair she had, in addition to her ears. Her hair hung down, and her ears were pierced with a gem earring.

Currently however, she was being attacked by two Elvin men, one a Maritai, another a Drow. Each wielded a dagger and wore a bow and arrow quiver.

Drake somehow knew he should help her, seeing as she was being attacked.

He spun around, and ran towards the two men.

"Leave her alone!" he shouted, right hand on the hilt of his sword.

The two men turned around.

"What's a punk like you gonna do?" the one on the right asked, laughing.

"I'm gonna hurt you" he managed, unable to think of a better threat.

"Let's see you try" the one on the left jeered.

They both turned from the girl, and shifted their focus to Drake as they walked forward.

The fact that they both had weapons with metal blades and that his sword was made of wood slightly scared the boy. However, he knew he had to help the girl, since she obviously needed it.

In his first instinct, he drew Sevitria and attacked, hitting the dagger-hand of the one on the left.

"You little twerp!" Left shouted, kicking at Drake.

He blocked the kick with an up-slash, nailing the mugger right in the shin.

This made the thief jump up and down, holding his shin and screaming in pain.

The one on the right proceeded to flip his grip, and advance towards Drake.

He knew that if there was a chance to run, he'd have already passed it up. In addition to that, he no longer had the element of surprise. The mugger would already be expecting him to attack.

A glance out of the corner of his eye showed the girl had run off.

If this was a situation different to what he thought, then he was screwed. There was no chance to run for him.

"Stop right there!" A commanding voice shouted from the right.

Both turned around.

The girl from before was back, with 3 town guards in tow. Obviously, there was no need to keep fighting.

Drake simply lowered his wooden sword, and stepped back.

The guards proceeded to take out handcuffs, and started to arrest the two men.

"Put away your weapon boy" one of the guards commanded to Drake.

With that, he slowly sheathed his sword.

The guards walked off with the two men in tow, knowing it was about time an arrest was made.

They left the girl and him alone, right where they were.

Drake currently was watching as the two men were being carried off by the town guard.

"Thank you for saving me" the girl replied.

Turning around, he noticed that she was looking at him. Now that he was close, he swore that she smelled like roses. Perhaps she was wearing perfume?

"No problem" he replied, nonchalantly. He had to admit, those guards came at the right second. Then he wondered something. "Who were those guys?" he asked.

"They were people trying to capture me" she replied "I'm not who you think I am"

He was caught off guard by that, wondering, and asking "Who are you?"

"I'm Princess of this region of Borderia" she replied. "Let's go somewhere private and I'll explain."

With that, he followed her through the city up to the Palace, in an area of town across the river. This was technically Vy Nukl, and was the capital of this region of Borderia.

Eventually, they got to the gates of the palace, where the girl simply waved her hand, and the gate was open for both of them.

The palace was incredible. The building itself had a look like it was ancient, and the grounds were expansive.

He followed her through one of the paths to a region inside a Labyrinth made from hedges. They stopped at a rather twisted false ending.

"Why are we here?" he asked, confused.

"Because I must explain a few things to you before I can show you to my parents" she replied.

This was officially crazy. He had to admit though, it's what he got for saving a princess? He still couldn't believe his luck.

"So for starters," she explained "I am often allowed outside of the palace to explore. The royal guard will have people disguised as commoners to keep an eye on me." She paused "However, I can recognize all of them, and for fun, I'll try and get away from them, just to feel some true freedom. Those men must have recognized who I was, since I have to wear the veil whenever I leave."

"So they were trying to kidnap you?" he asked.

"I don't know" she replied "But right about now, one of the royal guards will be explaining how they lost me. I'm timing my entrance so that I can surprise them with you."
"Okay" he managed, confused as to where this was going.

He saw her playing with her hair, and staring at him. He wondered what she was going to do. The amazing thing was the fact that he didn't even know her name!

"What's your name?" he asked, trying to break the silence.

"Mo Catec Lorelei" she answered in Maritaene.

This phrase was used for "My name is…", but translated literally to "I am called…"

Then it came to him. He'd just rescued Princess Lorelei of Maritaea. She wasn't the Varn's daughter, she was the princess of a kingdom from far away. This changed everything he thought.

"I will take you to my parents now" she explained. She took his wrist, and dragged him with her to the palace entrance.

Varn Raltrin

In all of his years as Varn, he'd never wanted to kill his royal guard off as now.

He remembered the day that he'd offered to take part in The Exchange. It was where two members of differing nations, as a diplomatic gesture, would send a valued member of family away with the other party.

Currently, his daughter, Varnetta Venex, was away with the Maritai. They'd sent Princess Lorelei, on the basis that they both take care of the girls.

And the royal guard had lost her.

Veltrin, the guard who he was questioning, was a shaking wreck. If some good news wasn't heard soon, he'd order the guard's head to be off.

However, the door was thrown open, and in walked one of the two people he'd never thought he'd see so soon.

Drake

As Lorelei dragged him in, he couldn't help but be amazed at how powerful the Varn looked. The fat ruler sat on his throne, staring down one of the guard members. The Varn was a Wood Elf, as were the rest of the court.

Everyone here wore usual fancy variants of Borderian clothes. One person had something similar to what Lorelei wore, except he was much older. He was a Sea Elf, the only court member like such.

"Raltrin-Sevo!" Lorelei shouted "I have someone I'd like you to meet"

She thrust Drake forward.

All the Sparks-ite could do was just stand there. He'd been taught how to behave in front of royalty, yet all of those lessons escaped him at the moment.

He slowly managed to bow.

"This boy saved me from attackers, who were trying to kill me" she explained, embellishing the story partially.

"Is that so?" the Sea Elf exclaimed.

"Why does it matter so much?" Raltrin explained.

The Sea Elf whispered something into the Varn's ear, and the man's eyes lit up.

"I will alert her parent's at once of this marvelous occasion." The Sea Elf replied "The first of their children has already found their mate."

"Mate?" he thought to himself. "What did I get myself into?"

"I bless this marriage" the Varn announced. He stood up, and wobbled over to where Drake was.

"Tell me" the Varn replied "What is your name?"

Drake's mind drew a blank, before he replied "Drake, Drake Flaragon"

"I shall escort you two to your new chambers" The Sea Elf announced, dragging the excited princess and the surprised Outlander away.

He dropped them off in one of the most spacious suites he'd ever seen. All decorated with pinks and whites, with solid gold trim.

"I will leave you two alone for a moment while I contact the king and queen." The Sea Elf explained, shutting the door and locking it.

Drake was dumbfounded at the entire ordeal.

"Drake Flaragon" Lorelei sighed "I can't believe I've been saved by a Sparks Noble."

She leaned in close, and placed her hand on his.

He figured he'd might as well, and started to hold her hand.

Before he could say anything, the Sea Elf returned.

"The king and queen approve, and I have one more thing to do." He explained.

He held both of their hands in one of his, and recited a few words of a spell.

For a brief moment, nothing happened.

However, Drake soon felt a burning on his side.

Rolling up his shirt-sleeve, he saw that there was now a Betrothal mark on his left tricep, with his initials and Lorelei's in the center, written in the Ancient Alphabet.

"Now that you two are betrothed, I will leave you two alone." With that, the Sea Elf left the room.

Drake looked around, confused. He had no idea what this meant.

"How exactly are we due to be married now?" he asked, surprised.

"In Maritai Culture, when a woman's life is saved by a man, and they are both unclaimed; it is an immediate sign of betrothal, practically a marriage proposal." She explained.

He couldn't believe it. Only ten years old, he was already was due to be married! It was too much for his mind to handle. He personally thought he should run away at the moment; get the hell out of here.

"Are you okay?" Lorelei asked, "You've been really quiet for at least five minutes"

"I don't know" He admitted "I never thought that we'd be getting married; we've only just met."

"Can you believe it?" she asked "Most girls know a guy for months until this happens. It's incredible that I meet such a handsome man who saves me"

Drake sighed. He thought that Lorelei was really cute, a strange thing (Maybe he was starting to like girls?) that was completely knew to him. He personally thought that it was a bit much. He was completely clueless about what his mother would think.

His mother; that's what really got to him. She was supposed to get back from working at The Traveler's Visit right about now. He was allowed to go anywhere he wanted as long as he got home before she did.

"Is something wrong?" Lorelei asked, looking into his eyes.

At this, he noticed something. There was a sort of innocence in her hazel eyes, which were the only things showing of her face that wasn't covered by the veil. She obviously wasn't much harm; she probably had a simple crush on him.

"I don't think I can marry you" he sighed. "It's not you personally, it's just the fact that I don't think I'm ready for that. Spending the rest of my life with someone I barely know seems pretty big. I also have to be heading home. My mother would have a cow if she found out about this, on top of the fact that I'm already late." He paused "I really don't think I can get married is all. I have to go now"

With that, he stood up, and found a window. Her room was pretty close to the cliff the palace was built into, and he could easily scale it to get home.

As he made his way to the window, he heard Lorelei say "Wait, don't go yet!"

He stopped, and turned around.

She was standing behind him, looking scared, and like she had something she wanted to say.

"I have one thing to ask of you before you leave" She explained "May I share in my first kiss with my rescuer?"

This caught him off guard. He'd never thought he'd get a kiss from a girl today. Let alone that it'd be their first kiss.

"Please" she asked "Just so that we have something to remember each other by?"

He thought back to his lessons on being a gentleman, and the chivalry practice. He'd already done everything right up until then. Usually, this was part of what he'd best be doing.

Besides, it was just a kiss. Perhaps this might get her from trying to find him. It was worth a shot.

"If you say so" he replied, stepping down from the window.

"Allow me to remove my veil" she sighed. With that, she took off the veil, revealing a rather fair skinned Maritaei (Female Sea Elf)

He walked up to her, hoping he was doing something right. This was completely new to him, and he'd seen various techniques practiced in media.

She leaned in most of the way, tilting her head slightly.

He paused for a second, before tilting his head opposite, and meeting her there.

The feeling was strange, both new and good at the same time. He was amazed at how smooth her lips felt, and at the fact that it was truly happening.

For a brief moment, he was truly feeling something; he was kind of starting to like her. He personally wished that if things weren't so rushed, that he could get to know her some.

With that however, the kiss was broken off. She immediately turned away, blushing bright, tomato red. She obviously felt a little embarrassed.

If anything, he'd have sworn that kiss lasted a good fifteen seconds. It was crazy.

"Did that just happen?" he asked, confused.

"Can we get married still?" She asked "I really like you."

A look at the clock on the wall showed 7:45. He couldn't stay much longer.

"I can't right now" he replied. "I really have to go." He paused, remembering something "We're too young to be married anyways. I'm only ten"

"You're ten?" she asked.

He nodded.

"I'm nine still." She replied "I turn ten next month"

"And we have to be at least sixteen" he sighed. He got up to the window "Perhaps when we're older, we can get married."

"I'll wait for it" Lorelei quipped "We're already marked for it anyways."

He knew that he had to leave though. He started to climb to the edge, "Goodbye Lorelei-Saylavie" he replied.

The words had simply exited his mouth. He personally didn't know why he used the affectionate suffix for a woman. He had no real reason for it.

However, he continued to scale the walls, and tried to get out of there before she could do anything about it.

The young Sparks-ite made his way home, parkour free-running his way to his house. The city's night-life was very seedy, and if he didn't make it home then, he might not make it home at all.

He arrived at his front door, opening it, and walking inside. He saw his mother at the stove, cooking something that smelled sweet and savory at the same time.

"How was today?" she asked. "You stay out of trouble like you promised?"

"Yeah" he half-lied. "What's for dinner?"

"I'm making Varka-Noodles." She replied "I remember them being someone's favorite around here."

"Alright." He cheered, taking a seat at the table.

Little did the young Son of Sparks know that the mark he carried on his left tricep would be with him, marking him for a ritual of some kind, results varying, but a ritual nonetheless…

Long chapter huh? I have to say, this may seem strange, but it'll be the basis for a chapter arc in Search For Sparks. It'll take place after the Paladin Ceremony, and truly try the relationship between him and Roxy.

That being said, tell me what you think by clicking the giant button below…