Disclaimer: I'm not writing this for each chapter. We all know I don't own anything in this story except the story, right?

Name Comparison: Just so anyone who doesn't know the sub knows who the characters are, I'm making a little chart here.

Katsuya Jounouchi Joey Wheeler

Shizuka Kawai Serenity Wheeler

Ryuzaki Rex Raptor

Honda Tristan

Queen Hikari Yugi's mom. I actually don't know her name, so I made one up.

Author's Note: Thanks to anyone who came back after the confusion of the prologue—I hope you're all enjoying yourselves—and to anyone who hasn't read this before. (Bows respectfully to approaching readers) Very much thank you! I promised this chapter would be better, and I hope you all agree. Well, enough with my rambling. On with the fic!

- - -

Chapter One:

Kingdom of the Black Dragon…

The beast tore through the forest, bringing down trees and leveling plants, sunlight running over it quickly as it flew across the ground at an incredible speed. It was not until it broke through the trees in sight of a great lake that one would be able to see it properly.

It was not an exceptionally attractive creature. Its body was that of a giant red serpent with black diamonds running down its back. Its arms were similar to vulture feet, and its head belonged to a man with stringy black hair, black eyes with yellow pupils, a pointed nose and sharp teeth so long the beast couldn't even close its mouth properly.

The monster scanned its surroundings for any danger before slowly approaching the water's edge and leaning its head down to lap up the water with its long, blue tongue. A sound made the creature's head snap back up and click its teeth as it looked from side to side.

Four men dropped from the trees behind the beast and threw lassos around its neck making it shriek and thrash about in an attempt to pull the ropes from its attackers' hands. More warriors jumped from their hiding places with spears and swords to attack the monster. However, it swung its tail as it was impaled and threw some of the men into the water; it attempted to bite the four men that had roped it, but they were barely able to dodge its strike.

Farther down the shore, a young woman nocked an arrow and let it fly into the monster's arm. It shrieked again and turned its attention to the young woman as she drew another arrow from the quiver on her back and nocked her bow again.

The beast, hardly about to wait to be hit again, charged at the young woman, dragging the four men along with it. The archer fired her prepared shot, but the beast dodged, letting the arrow cut right past it. Just as the young woman drew another arrow, the creature reared and came back down on her. Afterwards, it ceased to move.

"Shizuka!" One of the ropers screamed as he jumped up and climbed over the beast, brushing his unruly blond hair out of his dark brown eyes, only to have it fall back. "Shizuka! Are you okay!"

A groan revealed to him and the others that the girl was still alive and they all grabbed hold of the ropes and pulled to move the beast off of their comrade. They discovered that the archer, Shizuka had stabbed her arrow into the creature's throat, effectively slaying it and spilling its black blood all down her arm and the front of her clothes. But she was, nonetheless, alive.

"Shizuka, are you alright?" The blond slayer asked as he rushed to the girl's side and pulled her out from underneath the monster.

The young woman breathed shakily as she ran her right wrist over her fiery red hair and closed her brown eyes to attempt to calm herself down. She had been assisting the men at slaying for at least four years, but she had never come so close to being killed as she had just now. "Y-Yeah…" she sighed after a while. "I'm-I'm okay, nii-chan. Don't worry. Sorry I didn't shoot. It caught me off guard."

"You sure?" He held his younger sister's head so that she met his eyes. "You're really okay?"

"Katsuya, I'm fine," Shizuka smiled, leaning her forehead against her brother's. "Really, I'm okay."

Katsuya nodded, finally accepting the girl's answer and looked back at the monster they had slain. "This one was a lot bigger than the usual ones…"

"No kidding!" Groaned another of the slayers as he stretched and popped his back. He was tall and had brown-grey hair all gathered forward like an arrowhead and eyes of the same color. "Bastard sure didn't make it easy!" Honda groaned.

Another of the ropers dusted off his green jacket and white turtleneck and brushed his dark brown hair out of his eyes, his fingers sliding through the locks of purple in his bangs to make sure it was straight and his black eyes scanned over the slain beast warily. "It's strange," Ryuzaki muttered. "For a monster like this to be so close the city—in broad daylight? It's not natural."

Katsuya rose to his feet, dusted off his hands and offered to help his sister up, but she held out her own blood-soaked hands with a smile and got up on her own. "I've never seen a monster like that around here before," he said. "We should report this."

"But what about the body?" Asked another slayer.

Katsuya looked back at the slain beast, making as quiet gagging sound at the sight of its tongue hanging out its mouth and saliva trailing out its mouth. "Guess we should take the talons…" The others nodded and the blond youth and his sister headed back for the castle.

The Black Dragon kingdom was not really what one would expect from its name; it was not even a very large kingdom. It was a valley surrounded by mountains and forest and windmills popped up in random places, anyone but traders and the occasional traveler seldom used dirt roads leading out of the kingdom. The people lived in comfortable houses beside the castle that overlooked the rest of the valley; the castle itself was black and surprisingly large with two towers that gazed out towards the North and South.

It was there that Shizuka, her brother and the other slayers lived to protect and serve their Queen and Prince along with the elders and advisors of the royal family.

After changing into cleaner attire, Shizuka and Katsuya reported to the throne room where Prince Yugi and his mother Queen Hikari waited. The prince was somewhat small for his age, but his heart could hold the entire kingdom and still have room for more. His hair was black with red ends, a few gold locks of hair were his bangs that he kept tucked behind his ears and his eyes were a rich violet.

His mother was not nearly so colorful with her braid of dark brown hair and purple eyes, but she was a kind person willing to go to any lengths for her people and her son.

"A monster at the lake?" Yugi inquired. "How long ago?"

"Just this afternoon," Katsuya replied.

This bit of news seemed to worry the young prince and he rubbed his thumb along his lip as he contemplated in silence. "There were no other beasts, correct?"

"None that we could find," answered Shizuka. "There was only the one."

Yugi nodded and again fell silent. "Send word throughout the valley that no one is to approach that lake," he said after a long while. "If there are others, they may follow the trail the first one made and I don't want anyone getting hurt."

"Yes, Your Highness." Katsuya and Shizuka bowed and turned to leave when Yugi asked that Katsuya stay. "I'll see you later at the banquet," the older boy smiled and pat his sister's head.

Shizuka nodded and bowed to the prince and queen before closing the door behind her.

Katsuya fell to one knee again before the steps leading up to the thrones. "Highness?"

"Jounouchi-kun, you can stand up now," Yugi smiled tiredly. "It's just us now."

Katsuya cast a cautious glance at the Queen, but she just smiled also and nodded for the man to rise. "Thanks, Yugi," he sighed. "I'm still aching from that tumble earlier, so it's really nice that you let me stand. Doesn't hurt as much."

The prince smiled and then cast his violet gaze out the window to his right. "Jounouchi-kun. Shizuka is…seventeen now, correct?"

"Yup. She'll be eighteen by spring," the blond man smiled proudly.

Yugi brought his eyes back into the room, but did not look at his longtime friend.

At the look in his prince's eyes the slayer's smile fell. "Yugi?"

The prince sighed and folded his hands beneath his chin. "Jounouchi-kun, my father took you and your sister in after your parents…left you both in the mountains, and we have grown up together, almost as brothers." Yugi looked off to the side again. "And since my father passed away, one would come to me for permission for Shizuka's hand in marriage."

Katsuya was fairly certain what was coming next. Shizuka was a strong young woman, one of the best among the slayers and hunters of the castle, and as such, she had been exposed to a number of men at arms. He was sure that she had caught the attention of plenty warriors of the castle and kingdom, but for one to actually propose marriage. "Who is it?"

Yugi sighed and leaned back in his thrown as he rubbed his temples. "It?" He gave a short chuckle. "If only it were one man!"

The blond slayer smiled sympathetically at his prince. "Anyone I know?"

At this, the young ruler gave his friend a look that said, 'You serve as a slayer and captain of the guard, of course you'd know them!' Out loud, Yugi said, "Honda-kun was among them."

Katsuya flinched, but other than that, his expression did not change. "He was, was he?"

Yugi nodded. "I don't feel that I alone should make this decision," he went on. "I am aware that Shizuka treats all of the slayers and guards the same, I haven't heard of her favoring anyone above the rest."

"Me neither," Katsuya said shaking his head. "She seems to view them all as older brothers, even Honda." The two fell silent.

The Queen took this opportunity to speak her thoughts. "Perhaps you could discuss with Shizuka-chan what has been going on," she suggested. "The banquet tonight would be a fine opportunity for her to perhaps choose one of the men that have come to call?"

"That is a good idea," Yugi said.

"But…" Katsuya cast his brown eyes down. "I don't want to force her into anything."

Yugi stood up and stepped down to his friend's level. "Jounouchi, I understand how you feel. But even if that is the case, we can't answer for her. Shizuka must accept or refuse these proposals."

Katsuya nodded, knowing full well that his friend and prince was right. "I'll go talk to her about it."

As he started to turn away, Yugi put his hand on the man's shoulder and Katsuya looked back to find the prince smiling. "Jounouchi-kun, try not to hurt anyone until tomorrow? It would be unnerving for men who look like wrestled meat to attend the banquet tonight."

Katsuya raised an eyebrow. "About how many guys asked to marry Shizuka exactly?"

- - -

Steam rose in thick clouds as Shizuka swam through the large bath, her only company being the statues of mermaids and dolphins. But despite how lovely her surroundings were the young woman's thoughts strayed back to the slaying that had happened earlier that day.

Monsters that big never wandered too close to the kingdom, ever. That type of monster usually wandered in the mountains away from any sort of human dwelling. What would cause it to suddenly start doing so?

She dove under the water and resurfaced to float on her back staring up at the ceiling. Inhaling the scent of lavender and steam, Shizuka let her eyes close.

"Run, Shizuka!" The blond boy held his sister's hand tightly as they fled from the snake-like beasts.

The little girl herself was in tears and found it difficult to keep running. "Onii-chan! I'm scared!"

Shizuka's eyes snapped open and she dove back under the water again, as if hoping the water would wash away the unclear, yet terrifying memory. Resurfacing and swimming back to the edge of the bath to grab her towel, the young woman found a pair of feet in the place she had left her towel.

Looking up, Shizuka met a pair of gentle blue eyes and smiling face framed by short brown hair. "Anzu-san!"

"Hey, Shizuka," Anzu helped the younger girl out of the water and wrapped the towel about her shoulders. "I heard you and the guys had some excitement today."

The young woman smiled as she dried off and started to pull her clothes on. "Yeah, sort of," she replied. "I'm not sure if I'm supposed to talk about it though."

Anzu shrugged. "All I heard was that people are to stay away from the western lake until told otherwise," she said. "If there's anything else to know, I'm sure that His Highness will inform us. We are his advisors after all."

Indeed, Anzu was young, but she was a member of the Royal Council, a group of people that had served the royal family since its very beginning. The older woman had been a prodigy since an early age and had thus gained the privilege of becoming a member of the Council when she turned fifteen.

"Well, I suppose you're right," Shizuka replied, glad that the woman hadn't pushed the matter. She herself was still trying to wipe the memory of that moment the beast had come down on top of her, and explaining it would only make it more real.

Shizuka smiled at her reflection in the mirror as she straightened her dress; it went down to her knees over a pair of white pants, was a soft blue lined with a lavender hem, collar and sleeves.

"Blue is a nice color for you," Anzu said as she walked over and helped the younger girl tie her lavender sash around her waist. "You should wear it more often, even if it isn't a dress."

"It would be a little silly to wear something pretty when going on a hunt, Anzu-san," Shizuka replied. "And most of my clothes end up being torn or stained anyway, that's why I wear mostly black."

Anzu put her hands on the younger girl's shoulders and smiled over her head into the mirror. "You're such a wonderful girl, Shizuka; so nice and bright. I don't really understand why you chose to be a slayer…"

Shizuka fought back a sigh. Anzu usually had this talk with her when a boy was involved, whether it was in her life or Shizuka's; though it was usually Anzu herself, sometimes men came to her to talk to the female slayer. "Who is it this time, Anzu-san?"

"What makes you think there's anybody?" The older woman tried to look innocent.

Shizuka sent a look into the mirror that made Anzu laugh nervously. "Anzu-san…"

Sighing, Anzu ran her fingers back through her brown hair and leaned beside the mirror. "Shizuka, there are at least three dozen men in the castle alone that would have you for their wife," she said.

"And most of them are slayers or guards," Shizuka said so as to prove she was not completely ignorant. Grabbing her hairbrush from the basket holding her old clothes, she brushed through her still dripping hair. "What's your point?"

"My point is that you should answer at least a couple of them," Anzu replied. "It's terrible to leave them so hopeful like that."

Unlike you who prefers to try them out for two or three days and then drop them for the next guy in line, Shizuka thought. Out loud, she said, "I'm just not interested."

"What is it you're waiting for?" Anzu asked. "You know almost every young man in the kingdom, why not choose one of them to at least try and get interested in?"

"Because I don't want to," Shizuka replied, fighting to keep her voice calm. She finished brushing her hair and headed for the door. "Maybe I am waiting for someone, I don't know. But I have my own way of living my life, Anzu-san." Shizuka was careful not to slam the door behind her as she left.

Anzu was one of Shizuka's only female friends, but sometimes…she just tried to push the younger girl too hard in a direction she didn't want to go.

As she walked through the hall, Shizuka came to a large window and gazed out towards the west as the setting sun turned the sky orange. She had seen the spectacle many times in the seven years since she and her brother had been brought to the kingdom, but it had never once lost its magnificence.

"Shizuka-chan?"

The young woman looked up and found Queen Hikari approaching her. "Highness…" Shizuka bowed and the queen put her hand beneath her chin to bring her eyes back to hers.

"Will you walk with me?" She complied by taking the woman's hand and they walked together down the hall. "Shizuka-chan, I'm fairly certain that Anzu has spoken with you already?"

Shizuka cast her gaze to the tiled floor. "Yes…"

"Well, I hope you won't be too upset with her," the queen went on and the young woman looked back up. "You will be turning eighteen soon, and as such, men have come to ask my son for your hand in marriage."

The young woman's eyes widened. "What?"

"Yugi has decided not to answer the calls for you, but instead have you answer them yourself. Katsuya-san would have come to inform you of this, but he became preoccupied with something and asked Anzu to talk to you about it."

Shizuka then felt a bit guilty for how she acted towards her friend and knew she would have to apologize. She should have just said what the problem was instead of beating around the bush, she thought. "Highness…?"

"What is it?" The queen smiled.

"Well…" Shizuka took a deep breath. "You've been like a mother to me, treated me kindly and brought me up well, but…are you ashamed of the way of life I've chosen?"

Hikari blinked. "I'm not certain I understand you, Shizuka-chan…"

The young woman cast her eyes back to the floor. "I am…the only female slayer among the ranks," she said. "I wonder sometimes if maybe I should have become like the other girls in the castle."

"Oh, Shizuka-chan, don't say that." The queen put her hands on the young woman's shoulders. "You are who you should be; if you wanted to become a slayer, then you have, and are one of the best."

"It's not that exactly," Shizuka said. "Perhaps, if I had chosen to live differently, then I would have fallen in love already…"

Hikari took Shizuka's hands in hers. "Perhaps you will change after you fall in love, and maybe you won't; it is like that for many people. If you have no one in interest right now, then you will someday. Shizuka-chan, you are a person everyone falls in love with, some women are just born that way." The woman embraced the young slayer. "You will meet someone wonderful and fall in love, I'm sure of it!"

Shizuka returned the embrace and leaned her head against the queen's shoulder. "Thank you…"

- - -

The banquet hall was full of people standing or seated around a long table.

Yugi stood with his mother and Katsuya talking with others, but they occasionally looked at Shizuka as she apologized to the men who had asked to marry her. Even Honda was turned down, but he seemed to understand and tried not to take it too hard.

"Has she accepted any of them?" Yugi asked.

"No, not one," Katsuya replied with a sigh. "Not that I'd expect it, but it's still a killer blow."

Everyone close to Shizuka was able to see her pain and guilt for turning the men down but Anzu was the only one able to take action, as Yugi and Katsuya were preoccupied. The woman led her younger friend out onto the balcony where they were both able to breathe freely.

"There; feel better?" Anzu smiled.

Shizuka nodded. "Anzu-san. I'm…sorry for how I acted earlier, I was rude and…"

"Oh, forget it!" The woman smiled, patting her friend's shoulder. "And I'm sorry too. I guess I have talked to you about it too much."

"It's alright," Shizuka sighed and leaned against the railing to let the night breeze whisper through her hair. Closing her eyes, she heard a faint voice on the wind. "What?"

"What?" Anzu blinked.

Shizuka looked around before turning to her friend. "Did you…hear something a second ago?" Anzu shook her head no. Scanning the horizon, Shizuka felt her heart begin to pound in her chest.

"Anzu-san! Shizuka-san!" Ryuzaki stepped out onto the balcony. "The food is about to be served!"

"Thank you!" Anzu waved and turned back to Shizuka. "Shall we?"

"Y-Yeah…okay," the young woman followed her friend back inside, but not before looking back over her shoulder one last time in the hopes of seeing something. But nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary and she went back inside the hall, the feeling of something wrong nagging at her brain the whole time.

Yugi and the others raised their glasses in thanks to their Guardian Dragon and began the feast, talking and eating happily with no sign of anything hindering them. Shizuka however remained silent and ate little as she tried to uncover what it was she had sensed on the wind.

It was at that moment that a breeze passed through her hair, the unfamiliar voice with it:

…ear me…Hear…Dan…er…

Shizuka looked around frantically, but found no one or an open window from which the breeze had come from.

"Is something wrong, Shizuka?" Anzu asked, causing everyone else at the table to turn and look at the two women.

The young woman stood up and looked around as the hall fell silent. Who's calling me? She started shaking as her heart rate excelerated and Shizuka spun around to face the series of windows leading out to the balcony. Suddenly, the glass on all the windows cracked.

It felt like an eternity crammed into a split-second before the windows shattered and whirlwinds broke into the room and scattered the food and dishes everywhere, tearing through the thick wood of the dining table. Everyone was thrown to the floor or against the walls and Yugi shielded his mother from flying glass as they hit the floor.

Looking back up at the sound of glass crunching underfoot, the prince saw a large, well-built man step in through one of the broken windows.

His hair was sunshine blond, though his skin was well tanned, and his eyes were a soft blue. He wore a black turtleneck, pants and a flowing black coat with fingerless gloves. The only bit of color on this man's outfit were two strange blue-green crystals, one which hung around his neck the other embedded in the palm of his right glove.

Katsuya and a few other warriors were able to shake themselves back up and grab weapons hanging on the walls. "Who are you!"

The man looked at the slayer coolly and without any hint of interest. "I have no reason to leave my name," he said. "I'm here only for the prince; you are not worth my time."

"Don't give me that load of bull!" Katsuya exclaimed and charged at the stranger. The man however simply stepped to the side, dodging the attack, turned and slammed his elbow into Katsuya's back. When their leader fell, the slayers and guards attacked.

The assailant clapped his fists together and blue-green lightning shot throughout the room, making everyone jump back and shield their eyes from the bright light; pulling his hands apart, a pike appeared and stretched out five feet.

Using his newly formed weapon, the man hit the stunned warriors, blocked the hits of any who came at him and knocked them away. The stranger turned back to the prince and queen who still sat on the floor at the foot of the dais which held their thrones.

Before he could take one step, Ryuzaki jumped in front of his two rulers holding a mace. "You make one move in an attempt to harm them, I'll kill you!" He snarled.

"You have spirit, little one. However…" The man lifted his right hand and flicked his finger, sending a blast of energy at Ryuzaki that went through his right shoulder.

With a cry of agony, the slayer hit the ground holding his bleeding shoulder and glared back at the man as he stepped closer.

"…Spirit means little when faced with an unbeatable enemy."

Ryuzaki rolled over and pushed himself up to his knees, his right arm hanging useless at his side and blood trailing down and staining his sleeve. "I may not…have what it takes…to win…" he panted and pushed himself back up onto his feet and stood defiantly before the attacker. "But I'll be damned if I just stand by and watch you do this!"

Without a word, the stranger lifted his hand again and another charge of energy gathered in his hand. There was a tense moment before the ground beneath Ryuzaki, the queen and Yugi's feet exploded, sending them flying apart and back to the ground hard.

Before the dust could clear, the man picked the stunned Yugi up by his hair and clamped his right hand over the prince's mouth. When his air was cut off Yugi clawed at the man's arm in an attempt to free himself.

But the other man's grip only tightened as the crystal around his neck began to glow and a strange magic circle formed on the ground and small bits of electricity started to wrap around the struggling prince and dance along the man's arm. "Don't struggle," he said levelly. "This won't be painful. Just let it go."

As he spoke, Yugi's grip on the man's arm started to slack and the light in his violet eyes began to dim.

"STOP!"

The stranger looked back over his shoulder as Shizuka charged at them, a sword in her hands. But the second the blade touched the area above the circle, it hit some kind of barrier and a painful vibration of electricity shot through her body. The impact with the shield however threw her to the floor, saving her from any further agony; she curled up shakily as little bits of electricity danced up her arms and gradually disappeared as they moved along her body.

"If you're smart, you'll stay down," the man said. "No one can break the seal until its spell has run its course."

Shizuka looked back up as the blur of pain faded from her vision and she found Yugi's hands had fallen at his sides and he was no longer struggling. Without a second thought of her own well being, the young woman pushed herself back up and once on her feet stabbed at the shield again. Instantly pain shot through her bones and nerves and she flung her head back, releasing a scream as the green-blue light danced along her arms and between her teeth. But even so, she did not withdraw, even as her hands began to burn, gripping the hilt of her sword.

"You can't break through the seal!" The man shouted. "It's useless! You'll die if your don't back down!"

But the man's words only made Shizuka push harder against the barrier. She shut her eyes and she screamed louder as the burns on her hands started to bleed and the blade of her sword began to crack.

The young woman's persistence surprised the man, but not as much as the moment he realized the barrier began to crack along with her sword. He let Yugi's limp body fall to the floor just as the sword and barrier shattered, sending shards of metal and magic out across the room; several such magic shards landed in Shizuka's eyes.

The man spun around in time to catch Shizuka's right arm as she swung at him and held it up above her head. Holding the young woman's wrist tightly, the aggressor found all that remained of her weapon was the hilt with a shard only two inches long extending from it. He was amazed that Shizuka had been able to break the seal with nothing more than a mere sword and was not surprised to look back into her face and find her completely exhausted. She appeared to have no fight left save for what he saw in her damaged eyes; her gaze, despite their dimness, revealed she was still willing to fight even if it cost her her life.

"Impressive, little one."

Shizuka clenched her teeth in attempt to keep her burning eyes open and stay conscious. "Who…are…you…?"

The man slowly lowered her to the floor, her legs unable to hold her up and easily giving out beneath her weight. Standing back up, the man replied:

"Rafael."

He then turned and dashed away out the window he had entered by, accompanied by furious winds that kept anyone still able to fight from attempting to stop him.

Shizuka heard shouts and voices as her vision began to fade, but none of it seemed to make any sense. Looking back up she was able to steal one last glance at the prince who lay crumpled on the floor but only a few feet away from her.

Yu…gi…

Full of concern for the young man that had been like a second brother to her for ten years of her life, Shizuka blacked out.

- - -

Endo del Chapter One!

Now please excuse me as I explain a few little things I feel I should share with the general public that decided to keep reading.

First, the people living and serving in the Black Dragon Kingdom; you can probably guess it's a cooler looking Red Eyes Black Dragon. First, and perhaps the most obvious, I decided to put Jounouchi there because the card was in his possession for quite a while (duh) and Shizuka is there because she is related to him, and therefore related to Red Eyes. Second, Dinosaur Ryuzaki-kun; Red Eyes Black Dragon was originally his before Jounouchi won it from him in Duelist Kingdom, so I felt it would be nice to include him in the ranks.

Next, Yugi-kun's ogaa-sama. I've seen her twice in my life: the first time was in Shonen Jump the second time was on a Yu-Gi-Oh! Site and it was just one picture. I have no idea what her name is, and thus decided to make a bit of a joke with the name I gave to her. Flame me if you want, but that'll mean you won't know the end of this.

(Places hands on hips and laughs maniacally… Or attempts to.) I'm no good at being a proud jerk.

Anyway, please tune in next time for Chapter Two: Kingdom of the White Dragon. I'm sure you can guess who'll be in it.

Wajane, minna-sama! (Bow respectfully to retreating readers.)