Hey guys! I'm baaa-ack! I know, I just finished 'Stuck in the Woods With Your Ex' a few days ago, but this one has been sitting on the brain for quite a while now! Finally, I can start publishing this! I think this one will be quite long... it has a LOT of twists and drama-rama in it. So, enjoy!

Mrs. Ishida presents...

Chapter one

"Today, we gather here in the burial fields in the midst of winter for a terrible, yet wonderful day." the tall, aged, intimidating man said in a deep voice, immediately quieting everyone in the field. He was just like everyone else in this field, except for one thing; everyone else's eyes were dark, some even with an odd rusty color or at the lightest, hazel. He had eyes that matched the river that flowed next to them; and his brown hair held traces of gold in them, most unusual in a land where most had darker or reddish hair. Only the sounds of the nearby river, the occaisional sob, or the sounds of the wind blowing through the forst could be heard in the following silence. He continued, "We all gather to watch the burial of two of the most influential people this tribe has ever seen. Many of you, myself included, would not be here were it not for them. But, I think it's fitting, not only for the younger generation to pass on to their children, but to honor their memory, if I tell you the story. The long story that seems to come out of myths and legend, filled with war, love, pain, anger, and ultimately, understanding. My people, I now present to you the story of the chief and his most dearly loved wife, Matt and Sora. The story begins almost 60 years ago, at the beginning of the conquest of our land. The strange men that seemed to have come from another world had just set foot on our land, and it seemed it did not take them long before they started taking our land, killing our people, and bringing our people's hard earned peace to an end."

(60 years before)

"Chief Takenouchi, there have been more reports of the strange men landing on our shores. They have set up camps not many miles from this very area" the peaceful setting of the large tent was broken as a young man, obviously a soldier, about 20 or so, came in with a worried tone. The inhabitants of the tent looked up from the fire they were sitting around.

'That makes... how many of them? 120 new men in the past month?" a middle aged woman turned to the man at the head of the circle.

"I'm afraid of what we're going to have to do... we can't let them keep coming... they are murdering our people and taking our land. I don''t want a war, but they don't seem to have any intention of talking to us," the man said, furrowing him brow. The others in the tent, all women, most of them in their teens or early twenties, were used to this. They too were worried, but over the past few months, with more and more reports of the strange invaders, grew more and more used to these frequent discussion. One girl in particular, a girl with red-brown hair and eyes of the same odd color, sighed. She didn't even bother uttering her idea.

'Father, why don't we just send someone... an ambassador or something, and work something out? There has to be a peaceful way to settle this!'

'I wish it were so, but as it is, and as I have told you many times before, they won't talk to us. It seems war or something like it is our only option of driving them from this land.'

'If he'd only just listen to me... there has to be one of them who has some sense in them... one of them must be willing to avoid all this senseless bloodshed!' she thought sadly, glaring down at her half finished bowl of soup.

(miles away)

"Hey Matt, I bet you 20 gold pieces that I can swim across that river faster than you can!" The smell of wine that emanated from the tall, wild haired brunette that was swaying dangerously on his feet was nearly choking, but he'd grown used to it. He'd been with his best friend many a time when he was drunk. Fortunately for him, he was harmless; a little stupid, but harmless. He smirked, and rolled his eyes. His eyes that were the cause of many girls back home to be anxiously counting the days for his return.

They all knew the story of how he didn't want to go off on this stupid expedition, especially at the age of 20, when he still had so much to do in life, but had been drafted under the threat of being incarcerated. And he couldn't have that. His father wouldn't permit anything to tarnish their high standing in society. But secretly, he'd been glad. He was sick of the swooning women and all the giggling and obvious flirting, simply for his looks! They know nothing of who he was; no one did. His parents didn't, nor did they care; his younger brother was blinded with all the pleasures that the riches their family had could offer him; if he'd been born ugly or deformed, it would've been better off; at least then someone would attempt to know who he was instead of falling instantly in lust with his 'magnificently cerulean blue eyes' and the 'pure gold in his hair' and, of course, the 'dazzling smile that could make just about every woman in town sigh'.

For instance, he was fascinated by the stars. And constellations, and basically the night sky. He got a rude awakening as to what his parents wanted when he was quite young, an he told them of his wanting to study the stars and night sky as an adult, only to be shooed away from the fancy dinner party they were currently holding and lectured later on about how he shouldn't want anything less than what he could get, and how he was being horribly selfish what with not wanting to uphold the family status and become something worth his time.

"You're on, Tai," he replied, drawing cheers and more bets from the men around them. It had been a few hours since they'd landed and set up camp on this alien territory, and the men were all bored. So, most of them turned to the vast amounts of wine stored on their ship. The to men took the short walk from their encampment to the river banks, flinching ever so slightly at the unexpected icyness of the water.

"You still sure you wanna race me?" Tai slurred, grinning.

"Those 20 pieces will be mine. I'm gonna prove finally I can swim better than you!" Matt said smiling, crossing his arms. "Hey, Izzy, come over here, see who wins!" he called back, over his shoulder, to a much shorter, much smaller, red headed boy, who looked about 17.

"When I say go, jump in, and then whoever reaches that rock over there first wins. Are you ready? On your marks, get set, go!" he cried, and with that, the two jumped in the river.

'This is easy' Matt thought, halfway in, slowly going numb from the cold. He could hears the calls and cheers from the banks. All of a sudden, the sound of wild thrashing reached him. He lifted his head and fought against the current just in time to see his best friend, slow and weak from all the wine he drank, struggling greatly against the current- and losing. And within a second, he was gone.

"Tai!" he immediately let the current take him over to where the other boy was supposed to be, but he was gone. He dove underneath the black surface into the dark, cold environment, but somehow, managed to grab hold of something. It felt like a shirt or some kind of cloth, but it didn't matter. Matt immediately began to kick and swim upwards with all his strength. He could now feel the effects of the cold on him, draining his own strength. With the last of it, he made it close enough to be able to push his friend onto shore, but by then, he could feel all of it leaving him, and slowly stopped fighting it, becoming less and less aware of where he was, or of the other men yelling his name and calling out to him, and just let the powerful river take him away, also taking him out of conciousness.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Sora! Daughter, what are you doing out here? You will most likely catch something if you stand this close to the river at this hour," her father said softly to the girl, standing out on a rock at the edge of the river, staring down the rest of the river way, as if she were waiting for something. She smiled, and turned around to face the man.

"I don't know. I just like to come out here sometimes, and think. It's really quiet out here, and I can think about anything, or not. And besides, it just seems like something I needed to do; I can't explain it, but something told me to stand out here, like something important is going to happen," she frowned, apparently, this was what she was thinking about when he came out and interrupted her. Instead of questioning her further, he just smiled and nodded.

"Father, look! I think... it looks like a person!" she suddenly jumped off the short rock and waded into the shallow water, staring out at a dark point, floating now slowly down the river.

"What... Sora, wait a minute!" he started as she ran further in, just in time, and caught the man. With some difficulty, she pulled him to shore.

"Mimi! Mimi, come out here, and brink some blankets!" her father called out, staring at the boy. Why, he looked no older than Sora, who was only 18 years old herself! What was he doing in the river? Where did he come from? And that wasn't the only thing that drew his attention. Or, apparently, everyone else's. By now, the commotion had drawn people from their huts and nearby fields where people were still wandering, attending to the chores leftover from the day.

What drew the attention of everyone was the fact that he was so light skinned, so pasty white, and even whiter with the frigidity of the river water. And his hair! What an odd color for someone's hair! It was very... yellow... for them there was no other way to describe it... other than even yellower than their sunflowers or corn stalks. Was he part of the foreign encampment that was reported to be but a few miles away from their settlement? He looked no older than his daughter, but could he possibly be a threat? His thoughts were interrupted, though, when a young girl, about 15, with light brown hair and matching eyes, came running out into the cool night air by his side with a heap of skin blankets thrown over her shoulder, her eyes wide with the sight that lay in front of her.

"Mimi, here, give me those..." Sora reached up absentmindedly, taking a blanket and throwing it over the stranger, never taking her eyes off him.

"No Sora, It'd be best if we got him inside as soon as possible... we don't know how long he's been in that water, or even if he's still alive... especially at this time of year..." a tall man with blue-ish hair stepped forward, also staring at the stranger.

"Right, right... someone, help me carry him into the tent..." with that, it was only a few moments later when he was carried into a large tent, obviously a doctor's tent, and set to rest on a large skin by a small fire.

"Everyone out, we need some fresh air in here people!" the doctor, the same tall man with blue-ish hair, said loudly, ushering everyone out.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
The next morning, Sora awoke unusually early. Sitting up in her bed, she groggily thought about the day ahead, which led her instantly to yesterday's events. For some reason, she felt like something major was about to happen; she couldn't explain it; it was just a feeling of part dread, part anxiety, and part waiting for something she knew was going to be good. After a rushed breakfast consisting of a piece of fruit and hurriedly getting dressed, she arrived at the doctor's tent early; the sun was just now barely peeking above the far off mountains and surrounding forest.

"Joe? Joe, you up yet?" she whispered, as she carefully pulled back the flap and stepped inside. "Joe? Where'd you go?" (A/n: haha, I love that line from season one, I had to use it)

"I'm up, barely, but I'm up Sora, just a moment," she heard in the darkness, along with a rustling and the sound of a stifled yawn.

"How is he?" she asked trying to see exactly where he'd be lain.

"Oh he's doing surprisingly well for someone who had just floated down a freezing river in the midst of winter. Still not awake, but he seems pretty healthy. My guess, from what they tell us of the invaders, is that he's about your age, maybe a little older, somehow got in the river, underestimated the power of the current, and before he could get out, the cold had set in and he floated downstream." Joe said as he poked at the dying fire, and loaded it with new hunks of wood. Sora stepped inside, thinking.

"So he's definitely one of them?" she asked quietly. She was quite disappointed. Didn't know why, exactly, she was just disappointed that he was part of the people that were killing their own, that her father was so insistent on raging war on. Even though he was very... dfferent looking, she still found something about his features... the odd shade of his hair, his unusually light skin, and just a lot of other things about him to be... well... attractive. At first glance he didn't appear dangerous at all... she couldn't imagine him being someone who would raise a sword to anyone else threateningly. He looked like he'd be someone kind of like her; calm, collected, caring, not at all a barbarian that her father described these people as.

Before she could carry on with her thoughts, the young man stirred.

"Is he awake?" Sora wondered alound, and immediately sank to his side. She gasped. She had seen some pretty strange looking people... the tribes to the north weren't exactly what you'd call anything nearing attractive, especially after being captured in battle. And some of the ambassadors from eastern tribes had pretty peculiar shaped heads. But she'd never seen anything quite like this before. Who would've thought that eyes came in the same shade of the magnificent sky? Or more like the river in summertime, when the sun hit it just right and it was clear blue. This stranger's eyes made even their most painstakingly crafted gemstones look like a beginner's practice.

"How are you feeling?" Joe voice, wheezy with allergies and the early morning, cut off her thoughts. The stranger looked up at the both of them, taking them in, as if he were in a dream and expected to wake up at any moment. When it didn't happen, he shot up, looking around frantically.

"Whoa, calm down there... you're ok, we're not going to hurt you," Joe attempted at calming the stranger down but with little luck; he just succeeded in distressing him further. He crawled back a little, as far away from these... these people as he could. Were these the cannabalistic barbarians his commander had lectured them on? He had been instructed to get out his sword and without any hesitation cleany cut their heads off if he saw the natives. But one: he didn't have his sword, and two; there was a woman in the room. His age. She couldn't possibly be as ruthless and evil as he had been told, could she?

"Hey, calm down! It's fine! We're just trying to help!" the man who had been talking to him before repeated. "Do you remember anything that happened before you came downstream?" he asked, forgetting trying to calm him. The stranger's face twisted into a confused look.

"Came downstream?" he repeated. Meanwhile, though he hadn't really taken so much as a glance at Sora, Sora couldn't take her eyes off him. In all his... alien-ness, was the only word she could think of to describe it, he was... strikingly handsome. He looked somewhat like an albino (and she had seen a few traveling), but... he still retained color... especially in those beautiful eyes of his. The oddest color! Who had even heard of blue eyes?

"Yes... the chief''s daughter here, Sora, saw you floating downstream and pulled you out. Luckily, the cold hadn't set in quite too much, but I must tell you, I didn't think you'd last the night." Joe explained calmly. Matt looked over at Sora, and subconsciously pulled away even more. He had never seen such strange eyes! They were the same color of her hair... it reminded him of... well, he didn't exactly know what, maybe fire, and that wasn't especially comforting, but it was all very alien to him.

What was her name? Sora? Not only were her eyes strange and her hair, but her name as well.

"Excuse me... do you remember anything?" Joe repeated, not at all annoyed at his delay. He didn't particularly notice how he was staring at the girl next to him, but Sora sure did. She was slightly alarmed at the way the stranger was just... staring at her. With the weirdest expression too. Did he think she was a wild animal about to strike? That's what it appeared he was thinking when he shrank back at one glance at her and started staring at her. She had half a mind to slap him and yell, "What? What's your problem? Do I have some huge deformity on my face I'm not aware of!" Frankly, she was getting quite annoyed.

"Huh? Oh... uh... not really... I was... racing Tai and he.. he was drunk and nearly... drowned..." he trailed off, talking to no one in particular. Joe looked at him quizically before thinking The cold must have really got to this poor man's head.

"Oh... right... you were racing... Tai? Was it? And then..."

"Yeah! I was racing my friend Tai in the river, and he was drunk, and then he started to go under the water with the current, so I pulled him out, and then that's... the last I remember..." he finished.

"So, where are you from?" Sora spoke up, startling the stranger again. He again turned to stare at her, making her even more annoyed with him.

"I'm from... well... wait a minute! Where am I now!" he finally realized.

Nice going, Matt. You almost gave away our position to this barbarian tribe. You idiot, he thought.

"You are in our village, that is all you need to know," Sora answered diplomatically, but with a hint of annoyance in her voice. He narrowed his eyes at her.

What did I do to her to make her so prissy? he thought, now getting annoyed himself, but holding his tongue.

"Right... well, Sora, I'll be back, could you watch him for a while? Don't worry," he added, when Sora looked at him as if saying Are you crazy? "I'll post a guard outside. I need to go restock my supply of herbs," and with that, he exited the tent. Sora kept her head held up, but looked anywhere but the man. He did the same. After a moment's silence, she finally spoke up.

"So, where are you from? Are you really one of those monsters who are invading our lands?" Sora asked, ready to jump up and run if need be and with an eyebrow raised.

"Monsters?" he asked incredulously. She thinks we're the monsters? "We aren't the monsters. At least we're not cannibals!" he narrowed his eyes and said with and icy look.

"Barbarians! How dare you call us barbarians! We are not the ones landing on a foreign shore and taking over lands of which you have no idea of any culture or history of! My people have held this land for centuries, and you think you can come in and take it from us!"

"We are trying to civilize it! DOn't pretend you don't know hwat I'm talking about... you're cannibals and even if you do kill me, I won't give our position!" He replied angrilly. "Why are you holding me here? Let me go, dammit!" he continued. Sora narrowed her eyes.

"I don't have to listen to this," she muttered, stood, and walked out. On her way out, she nearly bumped into Joe and her father.

"Sora... we have a few... where are you going?" Joe started as she walked hurriedly by.

"I'm leaving him... I might go savage and decide to kill him and feed him to the village," she replied furiously, not slowing down at all.

TBC

Wow, It's only been 10 or 20 minutes, and Matt has already pissed off Sora. Nice.

Okay, so how was that for a first chapter? I'm gonna try to finish this before posting any new ones, but I'm so horrible at that! I LOVE posting new fics! But the problem is, I get bored half way through, and want to post all my other ideas. So its kinda sucks. But I'm gonna try my very best. I'll probably have this updated soon. If not, you can throw sporks at me. Please review!