-steps forth from the shadows-

And here's chapter two! All ready for you to read…

Thank you, my two reviewers, I'm really happy that you took the time.
For the other 16 who read the last chapter: please review this time.

2 out of 18 isn't that much. I love it that you all read this, but not receiving reviews gives me the feeling that this is so boring no-one can tell me anything about it. Even too boring to tell me that it sucks or indeed is boring…

Anyways... Thanks for bearing my rant… now… on with the fic!

Chapter two

Blood red

"So, sis... What are you going to do?" Sisheri gazed at his sister with a stern look in his eyes.
"I think I'm going to get things ready for a quick village meeting," Mekhare said while standing up.
Sisheri smiled. "I'll go and get everyone!" he yelled while running outside.

"Right, so you called us here because you didn't know what to do..." Pyr, the oldest man in the village stated, a grin plastered onto his face.
"Yes," Mekhare replied. "I didn't want to take such an important decision without you."
Kiya, a tall woman with piercing, grey eyes stepped forward. "Well, if we go through with this, chances that the pharaoh's guards will discover, are very small. There hasn't been any of his servants or soldiers over here for ages."
"We also could use some backup income..." Someone said carefully. "More and more often it happens that all plants die. The ground gets dryer every season. I actually don't give a damn about what kind of business this is and if its legal or not. The only thing I want is to feed my children."

Mekhare could hear people muttering things in agreement throughout the whole room.
"So we do all agree that the survival of our village comes first," she said, smiling. "Thank you, that was all I needed to know. But just keep in mind... Their goal is not to help us, and as soon as we go depending on them, they'll surely take over. We can't let that happen. So we have to set up strict rules and prices and we have to look for other forms of trading too."
"And so we, erm I mean you decided," Pyr smirked.
"Yes, my will is law and you shall all bow to me!" She cast him a mischievous look.
"Lets vote!" she laughed.

And so the village decided.
Tetien came by in the afternoon and seemed more than happy with their decision. He assured Mekhare he would come over in a week and everything would be settled then.
It all seemed the ideal plan to give the village a better future, at least so the woman's heart told her. Her feelings nonetheless, said something else. They assured her that this couldn't possibly be as great as it seemed and they got more ominous with every day that passed.

Mekhare stood in front of her house. Pyr and Sisheri stood on her left side and Kiya on the right. The rest of the village people all stood nearby when they all gazed into the distance, past the last house within the villages borders.
Eventually, they saw a big group of cloaked riders coming closer, followed by an even bigger cloud of dust and sand.
Mekhare noticed Sisheri grabbing her hand and whispering: "Here they come!"
"Yes," she thought. "Here they come... But I so hope that they actually come to negotiate and not to kill us or take over our lives."

Finally the large group of horses reached the village square and stopped there in the middle. Mekhare could sense the tension in the air growing with every second. They looked quite threatening, sitting there on their horses.

Suddenly she realized it had to be some sort of a tactic, trying to impress the village. She instantly let go of Sisheri's hand and straightened her back, while putting on a determined expression. They were on her ground. Not the other way around. Her ground, her rules.
Two of the figures dismounted their horses. She recognized one of them as Tetien. The other was unknown to her. From the way he walked, she could tell he was a guy... A guy who thought very highly of himself. All of his features were hidden by the hood of his blood red coloured cloak. He seemed to like to stand out.

Tetien put the hood of his cloak back and smiled at the woman, Mekhare, standing in front of him. Her look was determined. Almost too determined.
"So, here we are," he said.
She nodded, still looking very protective, but at the same time also a bit more relaxed. "Yes, I see..."

Mekhare tried to keep an eye on the whole crowd.
The red cloaked person stood a few feet away and looked around the village.
Something about him seemed...

"Hi, I'm Sisheri, sir! Who are you?" Mekhare almost gasped and only now noticed her attempt to keeping everything in check had failed. Sisheri had walked over to the guy and now looked up at him with what she recognized as one of the most curious and cute looks she knew he had.

The guy looked down. Although his face was hidden by his cloak, Mekhare could tell he was smirking. The way he stood, the angle which he held his head in, even the way his cloak waved in the soft, hot desert wind. It just beamed off him, like he was holding a sign with: Hey look at me! I'm in love with myself!

He spoke, his dangerous tone of voice creeping all of those within hearing range out.

"Me?" he asked slowly, but amused.

He threw his head back and laughed. It sounded like nothing she ever heard before. His cackling made her heart do three backflips and a barrelroll, then landing upside down in her stomach. Looking at the rest of the village, it did the same to them, or worse.
He finally stopped and looked down at you little brother again.

"I'm Touzokuoh... or King of thieves... but... maybe, if that's too hard to remember... you could always call me your highness."

He still seemed utterly amused.

"Yes, Call me that. It's all you need to know..." He then cast another look around the village. No-one dared to look back.
He laughed again and whipped around, walking back to his horse.
Mekhare looked at the footprints he left in the sand.
She noticed no-one dared to breathe, no-one dared to make one sound. Everything was silent.
Suddenly he stopped walking, making her heart skip another beat and she cursing herself for that. He didn't turn around, but just shifted his head to the side a little.

"I have some important business to take care of. You, Tetien, take care of business here."

He mounted his horse in one, swift, graceful move.

"Bye Sisheri," he said, slowly passing the little boy.
The way he looked at her brother sent shivers up Mekhare's spine.
Only then she noticed he had everyone caught up in his little I'm-the-boss-act and she mentally slapped herself for not even noticing. She swore she wouldn't let him do that ever again and then looked up.

He looked right into her eyes.

Someone once told her a person's eyes could show you their real intention, they could let you take a look in a persons very soul. Past the surface, you could always see a glimpse of an expression, a feeling, something telling a tale about the one you looked at.

Now she knew exactly what that person had meant.

His eyes had only one goal, it didn't matter what it was, he would do everything to get it. Not only that, but the look he gave her held something else. He wasn't alone. Not alone. They let her see into a hollow, dark kind of space where only...

He closed his eyes for a second and made her shock out of her trance-like staring.
He then opened them again and smirked. This time he was too close for his cloak to cover his expression.

It was one of complete insanity. Brilliant, but insane.

Mekhare still couldn't do anything but staring while the ominous feelings she had for the last week reached their highest point. She closed her eyes herself. She usually wasn't the person to be afraid of people suffering from a big case of megalomania, but he just...

The sound of hooves galloping into the distance told her he was gone, though she knew no-one here would ever forget him. King of Thieves...

The figure lowered the book for a while

"Yes, and right she was."

The cold, trembling voice echoed through the thick air.

"They would never forget him."

Theguardian of the shadow realm then looked back at the book.

"And she cursed him for it."

Pale hands, covered with bits and pieces of skin and with white bones faintly visible, flipped the page.
It almost crumbled under their touch.

"At that point… and afterwards…"

Please review… it motivates… the more reviews the quicker the update! For you who missed that part last chapter :)

(grr… I feel so bitchy ranting like this… ah well… -sweat drop-)

Replies:

To the anonymous person whose chosen name fanfiction likes to screw up: Well, thank you! –smiles-

To Psycho BakuRyou: heheh… I really laughed my ass off at the 'lost in translation' part! It was SO great! Please don't feel embarrassed… There's no need to and you gave Jess and I a hell of a laughing fit. Thank you! –bows-
Btw… Yes, you may have read it. It was that one quiz-fic I showed you some time ago. –grins- Ciao! Ciao! And say hi to your cousin… (if she's still there that is –sweat drops-)

-takes off hat and disappears in a poof of smoke-