Chapter One
The tall, dark man stood with his hands resting on the table looking over a map. His head was down and his long black hair fell into his face obscuring his eyes from view. He wore a long, simple, deep purple robe. His only ornaments were a few rather simple rings on his fingers. The large hall he was currently in was of an impressive height but otherwise only simply furnished and dimly lit.
He could feel the gust of fresh wind on his face when the high doors were thrown open and a young boy entered boldly the hall. As he came to a halt before the table the older man regarded him with a quick glance. The boy seemed to be about fifteen years old. He wore a black uniform with navy-blue patterns which were hard to make out in the twilight of the torch-lit hall. His dark closings and hair contrasted with his flawless pale skin.
"You wanted to see me, father." It was more a statement than a question.
The taller man stood straight, now towering over the young boy.
"Yes, that's right. I think our time has almost come. Soon we will be strong enough to step out of the shadows and to set our plans in motion." He ran a hand absently through is long thin hair while sitting down in an uncomfortable looking wooden chair.
"But before we show our true power I want you to do something else. I want you to go to Primeria and to see for yourself what we are up against. I want you to see with your own eyes how the cursed king lives a life in luxury in his grand city while his people have to suffer."
Before he could say more he was cut off by the door being opened again. A young man, dressed in a military uniform, entered the room. He bowed before them before he spoke.
"Lord Oikawa, the preparations have been finished."
"Very good." With a dismissive wave of his hand he sent the soldier away before he turned his attention back to the boy. "Go to the city and stay there as long as you wish but not longer than a week. Nobody must know who you really are. So try not to draw suspicion onto you. There are some of our spies in the city who will help you if necessary. They will know who you are but try not to rely on them. Spies are only to be trusted if necessary. Do you have any questions?"
"No."
"Good. Then get ready and leave as soon as the sun goes down."
Without any further words the young boy turned on his heels and left the hall through the large wooden doors.
* *
Ruby red eyes watched the small crowd gathering around the makeshift wooden stage. The young girl with the ruby red eyes and equally red hair had been following the small troupe since they had reached the city gates. She had been waiting for such an opportunity. A theater group, no matter how good or bad the actors and plays were, was an attraction and therefore always caught the attention of many people. Everybody welcomed those distractions from their daily lives.
But the young redhead had other interests than being entertained by the actors. A large crowd meant easily earned money to her. She was a thief and such a gathering of distracted people was too good to be ignored.
The actors had set up their small stage on one of the larger squares in town and now a few of their members were running around in the streets to announce their arrival. One actor in particular caught a lot of attention without even leaving his place at the edge of the stage. It was a young blond boy with ocean blue eyes. He was slumped against one of the corner posts of the wooden construct and in his hands he held a simple lute. He was deep in concentration and didn't pay much attention to the slowly growing crowd around him. Despite his young age he already showed great skill with his instrument. Not caring about the people around him he played song after song softly humming to the sound of the lute.
Even the young red-haired thief was caught by the hypnotic melody. She could almost feel the boy's thoughts through his music. His songs seemed to tell stories about freedom, adventures and love but also about loss, fear and despair. She had to tear her eyes from the boy and finally went back to watching her possible victims. As she searched the crowd for careless people she noticed that some women and even a few men had tears in their eyes. The young boy's music seemed to have even more effect onto the people than she had deemed possible.
A small smile showed on her face. The boy would make it even easier for her. Maybe she should thank him later. Gracefully she stepped out of the narrow alley where she had been hiding and was soon lost in the crowd
*
Immediately after playing his last song Yamato had left the stage. He didn't wait for his audience to show their appreciation. It didn't mean much to him to know that the people liked his music. He played mostly for himself. It was a good way to express his feelings which he normally wasn't very good at. When he had been younger he had used to play for his brother and secretly he still hoped to do it again one day. But he also knew how little the chance of seeing him again was.
He left the lute in one of the carts and pulled the hood of his cloak over his head before he walked out into the crowd. He made his way trough the small gathering without having to push and shove people out of his way. Hidden under his dirty old cloak he looked more like a beggar than musician and everybody let him pass through willingly. The wall of people opened at his approach like a pair of curtains to let him trough.
He had almost reached the other side when suddenly somebody bumped into him. He couldn't see who he had collided with since the corridor between the people was slowly closing but he heard a faint 'sorry'. He tried to turn around one last time to find the person but eventually he gave up and started walking towards the edge of the crowd again.
*
The young thief was quite pleased with herself. Within about half an hour she had stolen enough money and jewelries to make it through the whole next month. She decided to get her loot to safety now. The actors were surely going to stay for a few days and there would be enough other good occasions.
She left the crowd behind and was about to leave the square through one of the smaller streets when suddenly a cloaked person stepped out of a doorway and blocked her way. Instinctively she tried to dash off and to lose her pursuer in the crowd but she never got the chance. A hand shot out of the cloak and grabbed her arm. She tried to get away but the stranger held her tight. Finally she gave up struggling and turned to face the unknown person.
"You are really good but not perfect. Now give me my money back."
The stranger's voice was quiet but yet commanding. She didn't hear any trace of anger but then again it seem like there was no emotion at all behind his words.
"I don't know what you mean," she replied defensively.
"As I said, you are good. I didn't even see you when you picked my pocket. But I saw you doing the same thing about half a dozen times with other people over there. I don't think they would be pleased if I told them about you. So, what's it going to be?"
"Okay, you win." She began to dig through the brown bag, which she carried with her all the time, and finally pulled out a small leather bag. "There are only a few coins in it anyway."
He took the bag from her and tied it back onto his belt. "Maybe, but that's all have and I had to work hard to earn it."
"I'm sorry," the red-head said apologetically but her tone suddenly became more challenging. "Just one more thing. Why do you hide under that cloak? Are you really that ugly?"
The stranger lifted his head just a little to make the smirk in his lips to become visible to the girl. "Well, I've been called a lot of things in my life but ugly was certainly none of them." That said he raised one hand and pulled the hood back to reveal his face and golden blonde hair.
"You?!" The young thief couldn't hide her surprise. Now that the hood was gone she recognized the young musician from earlier. He was her age, about seventeen or eighteen years old, a little taller than her and his ocean blue eyes and blond hair made him unmistakable.
"Now you can judge for yourself. Am I too ugly to show my face? Be honest I can take the truth." He was clearly mocking her now.
She couldn't keep the blush from spreading over her cheeks. He was one of the best looking men she had ever met and he was obviously well aware of his effect on women. His mocking tone and the smug grin were prove enough. But her initial embarrassment was quickly replaced by anger. She wasn't going to let him get away with that. She calmed herself before she spoke.
"I guess I have to admit you are rather good-looking." A triumphant grin was plastered on his face now. "But you are blond and I guess you know what they say about blonds."
His grin faded as quickly as it had come. Now it was the girl's turn to feel victorious.
"Unfortunately I'm not in the mood right now to discuss my intelligence." He quickly pulled the hood back over his head and turned around to leave. "Don't let yourself get caught again. Other people probably won't let you get away so easy." He walked down the alley in quick pace and disappeared behind a corner.
The girl continued to look down the street for a few moment before she snapped out of it. She closed her bag again before she turned around and left the square through an other dark alley.
* * *
A.N.: I know the prologue was a little short and didn't give much an impression of what is to come so I wrote the first chapter sooner than I had planed to. I have never written a fantasy story before but I still hope it will turn out ok.
There is not much I could tell you at the moment since I have no exact plans to this story. The plot develops while I'm writing. I plan to use the characters of 01 and 02. As for romance: there may be some but I don't know any pairings (but certainly no yaoi!) yet and it won't be the main aspect of the story.
Well, I hope you like the first real chapter. Now, please review! Thanks!
