Wings of Punishment

by

Me, who else?

Hey, guys! Sorry about the wait... I have finally broken my one story rule! I just wanted to do this so badly... so if there's less frequency in my chapters, deal with it...

Anyways, I really wanted do an origin story on Dark and Krad... I figured they started as real people... and the rest you'll just have to REEEEEAD! . nyaaaaah!

"I felt a white light burning through my soul... and then... I was born..."

-Dark

This story starts in a land with no name. The inhabitants of this country just call it "Home". Here, there had been four kings. The first, known as Balter the First, reigned as a good king should and made his country a land its people could be proud of. When he died, his son Balter the Second fought in the War of Three Kingdoms between the Farland, the Oceano Province, and the Continent. He fought bravely and led his people by his father's example and died valiantly in battle. Balteus the Fourth, son of Balter the Second had no one to follow for example for his upbringing was pampered by nannies while his father was away. He squandered the kingdom's wealth and sent the people into starvation and poverty. When he was asassinated by his main advisor, the reign of Harkan the First began. This story starts at the thirtieth year of his rule.

The country had been ravaged. The people no longer had freedom. They worked in the mines, searching for the minerals and metals to make weapons to stop the foriegn invasions and returned to their overtaxed lives in run-down, thrown-together buildings. Most had no money and lived on the streets. In this world, stealing was the best enterprise. One man stood out in this venture, men called him many names. He preffered the name Jonas. But he doesn't matter right now. Who matters, is a lone woman walking down the street. Her hair is short and brown, covered by a rough, woolen cap. Her stomach is bulged out like she is due for a child soon. Fatigue and sweat cover her face. Her clothes are in tatters, if only she wasn't considered one of the lucky ones. People sleeping next to buildings and in alleys had only a blanket or two. Maybe a whole set of clothes if they were lucky. Shoes were impossible to get, only imperials were entitled to such finery. She trudged along, her bare feet leaving mud tracks. A single snowflake started to fall from the dark, clouded sky. More followed and they cascaded down and caused beauty and pain to be born at the same time. She started to shiver. The shivering slowly became worse as she stumbled. She stumbled a few more times and fell to her knees. She had to keep going and tried to get the people on the street to help her. "My baby... please... help me..." she pleaded until she was hoarse. Every single person just glanced at her and kept walking. She didn't blame them. They had enough to deal with without the baggage of a pregnant woman. She felt the cold seep into her skin as the snowflakes melted and made her clothes wet. She fell backwards from fatigue and loss of will.

Then, he came along. Jonah carried a bag on his back, the spoils of his last imperial "lessening of their moneybags". He walked along and stopped for a second. "Man, getting a little nippy around here," he said as he pulled his cap further down on his head to his ears. He looked like any other poor peasant living off the dead. But when you look closer you see his clothes aren't ripped, they are fully insulated with wool, and his pants go down far enough to conceal his... shoes. He walked along and slowly started whistling an old tune his mother taught him when he was little when the snow started to come down more. He jumped over some really muddy spots when he saw a lump slightly covered in snow on the road. He put his bag down for a second and stooped down on one knee. He brought up his hand and brushed away some snow. "Oh my god..." was all he could say when he realized what it was. He looked around quickly and yelled to the healthiest looking man there. "You there! Help me get this woman to my house and you can have anything in that bag!"

The man was hesitant. His hand reached out for the bag and peeked into its contents. He had to look away because of the bright reflection from the precious stones. He immediately said, "Where we goin', mister?"

"Just down to that house. Hurry!" he said quickly as he motioned for him to help pick her up. They moved quickly down a row of normal apartments. Then they came to a door that looked like a door no more special than the others. Ever hear the phrase "You can't judge a book by its cover"?

Aesop would love this for his poster. Inside these walls were the hideout and store of the greatest art thief of all time. He had to hire several details of maids just to keep all the art in presentable condition. Not to mention all the others he employed to keep his three story home clean while he was away. The beginning room leads out into a room with two staircases, leading up to his chambers and the staircase to the top-floor observatory. The kitchens and washrooms were on the main floor with several secret passages leading down to the stolen artwork. But enough architecture, back to the story!

When they made it inside Jonas threw the bag to the man who helped him. "Here, get yourself a better life."

The man simply bowed his head and walked out with a dumb grin on his face. A maid quickly ran up to them. Before she could say anything Jonas blurted out, "Take this woman up to my chamber and send one of the other maids out to quickly find a midwife. Hurry!"

The maid ran quickly to get some help to get her upstairs. Another hurried past him and out through the door. He sat down on the floor and breathed out a long sigh. "Jonas, my boy, what have you gotten yourself into?" he said out loud to himself.

The maid came back down and said to him, beckoning him upstairs. "The woman you brought in, sir... She's asking for you... and speaking in tongues... Shall I get the preist?"

"No... I'll be up in a minute... Just make sure she's comfortable," he said as he slowly stood up and made his way up the left staircase. He walked up slowly but picked up his pace dramatically when he heard the sound of screaming and loud moans of pain. He charged up the stairs and ran into his room and found four of his maids trying to restrain the woman he had found. She was convulsing the wiggling violently on the floor. He grabbed one by the shoulder and demanded, "What happened here?"

His maid started to explain but strained because of the woman she was trying to calm. "I don't know, sir. She was lying peacefully until she started going throught what i thought were beginning birth pains... I didn't think they'd be this violent this quickly!" she managed to get out before something amazing started happening.

A white light enveloped the room. The woman stopped moving, simply staring up into the cieling and, as Jonas thought, to the sky. She began chanting, slowly at first but then it became stronger. More voices started speaking the words and everyone flipped around trying to see where they were coming from. The light grew stronger and Jonas shielded his eyes. The light started coming inward into a smaller and smaller pillar with growing intensity. Her eyes grew wide as the pillar of intense, blinding white light started moving out again. She screamed and Jonas threw his hands over his ears. Glass broke. Pottery shttered. He felt blood seep out inbetween his fingers. The pillar grew out more and two shapes were noticeable. Suddenly, the light disappeared. The woman head dropped to the side. And there, sitting on her belly... were two baby boys. One with dark purple fuzz on his head and blood crimson eyes, the other the start of white hair that looked like a buzz cut and golden eyes.

"What did I get myself into?"

End Chapter 1! Yeah, I'm going for a dark, dramatic type of story... I think it's a good contrast to the romantic comedy I'm also working on... but why don't YOU guys tell me what you think! T.T come on... review...