DISCLAIMER: I don't own Fruits Basket, but I'm pretty sure the author is flirting with the idea of leaving it to me in her will. You never know, right?

Sohma Kingdom History, Lesson 1-

Once upon a time, in a far off kingdom lived a royal family by the name of Sohma. The royal family was loved by its people as they were able to make the kingdom a prosperous land, rich in resources and culture. The forests were full of animals for hunting and the fields were always ripe for picking. But of course as all fairy-tales have to go, not all was right in the kingdom.

A young witch with incredible power wished to marry one of the young men of the prestigious royal family. She was lead on by him but ultimately he rejected her for another. Soon after, the young witch became enraged and placed one hell of a curse on the entire Sohma Kingdom.

The crops would no longer grow, the woods were filled with horrible monsters, the mountains boiled lava, and the grand Sohma Castle was twisted and warped into an architectural nightmare. But worst of all was what happened to the royal bloodline itself….

CHAPTER 1- The Hunt for Her

The room was only really suitable for a dying man waiting for the boatman to ferry him across the river of Styx. The walls were moldy and stained, most of the windows were broken and barely covered by the tattered black drapes. A tall twisting throne was placed in the back center of this foreboding room where a fading king was having yet another tantrum

"I DON'T CARE I WANT HER HERE NOW!" bellowed Akito Sohma, living god of the cursed Sohma Kingdom. He was standing on his throne as he yelled at two of the younger members of his clan. One boy had dark, almost purple hair and a calm personality, he carried with him a Vorpal blade and large shield. The other boy had bright orange hair and a tan complexion, the look on his face read of rage and frustration.

"I'm very sorry sir, but we have no real way of finding her just yet…" Yuki Sohma said, maintaining his respectful nature towards his King, while doing his best to fight the urge to punch him square in the nose. His companion had no such resistance.

"Shut up! You old asshole! You think you can just get whatever you want! Huh?" Kyo Sohma bellowed back as he lunged towards Akito.

In a moment of swift reaction from Yuki, Kyo didn't make the better part of two feet, Yuki had kicked his leg out from under him. "I'm very sorry Akito, the fool and I shall not rest until we find her."

"I would advise you do Yuki, I would advise you do." Akito said, easing back into his throne. "I hate to imagine what would happen to you if you find yourself unable to complete the task of finding just one little girl. Get out of my sight, both of you."

Yuki, despite Kyo's complaints, brought him to his feet and quickly ushered him out of the throne room as fast as his legs would take him. The door slammed shut behind them as Yuki dashed out of the throne room. The two boys were then greeted by a young sandy-haired girl and a tall cleric with hair covering his eye.

"Ugh, Hatori please keep this idiot out of my reach, he almost got us killed by Akito…again." Yuki said as he leaned against the door to catch his breath.

"Well you know what, I'm sick of this! You and I are never going to find this chick, I mean she could be ANYWHERE! And why do you I have to be the ones to find her, I swear Akito is just doing this to piss me off." Kyo raged.

"Stupid cat, you know that's not true. Stop your ramblings, you're giving me a headache." Yuki responded coolly.

Two months ago, Kisa Sohma, the youngest of the directly cursed Sohmas and a gifted seer had a profound vision. She had seen a young girl who could shatter the curse the witch had placed on them so many years ago. Kisa described the girl as being warm, kind and gifted in white magic but that was it. Also in accordance with Kisa's vision only Yuki and Kyo would be able to find this girl. Akito had then seen it fit to go find this warm and kind white mage but insisted that only Kyo and Yuki find her and immediately bring her back to the castle to meet with Akito.

"I'm sorry that I told Akito what I saw Kyo…" Kisa said quietly.

"You damn well should be! Forcing me to-" Kyo was then cut off again by a quick punch in the mouth by Yuki.

"Don't apologize for your gift Kisa, it's one of the many things that makes you so special. Kyo just likes to complain is all." Yuki said as he patted Kisa on the head.

"Yuki, Kyo I think it's best for all of us if you find this girl, and find her quickly." Hatori said as he healed the Yuki-inflicted gash on Kyo's face. "Akito has been on edge ever since hearing about her and it has made my job that much harder. I would appreciate very much if you could find this girl, even if it does turn out to be nothing. It's very important to Akito."

"Yeah I know, he wants to lift the curse so the Kingdom will be restored to it's former glory…" Kyo jerked away from Hatori's healing hands. "C'mon ya damn rat, lets get a move on. Even though I have no idea how we're supposed to even know this girl once we've seen her." Kyo started briskly walking towards the exit of the castle.

"Make sure to keep a look out for dragons you two," Hatori reminded them gravely, "Its that time of the year and I have yet to be convinced you two could handle yourselves in that sort of situation."

"I'm sure we'll be fine Hatori, they should be getting ready for hibernation soon." Yuki said, recalling a lesson from years ago.

"Yes, which means they'll be hungry. Both of you, please exercise caution." And with that Hatori lead Kisa and himself in another direction.

Yuki then followed after Kyo but staying far enough away from him so the two wouldn't be thought to actually be with each other. Yuki had hated the last two months, they had brought him nothing but trouble. He's supposed to be working on projects that will actually help the kingdom! Building the western dam, monster raids in the forest, protecting the borders from Oni invaders, feeding the hungry, but no he was stuck on a wild goose chase with the one person who he truly despised. They had gone to all the northern villages, southern villages, and western villages, meeting hundreds of girls but none that really seemed to ring a bell. 'What if they had met her and not even known it?' No he mustn't think like that, they still had to check the east, if she's not there…well Yuki knew he would have to get re-used to the tall tower.

The pair walked steadily down the worn hallway until they reached the large double doors that still held a memory of the beauty that this kingdom had once known. Kyo pushed the right door open and walked out into the sun while Yuki, not far behind swung open the left door and felt the heat press on his face. Yuki stood there silently, looking towards the east. Kyo noticed Yuki's quiet gaze.

"…do-do you think we're actually gunna find her?" Kyo said, in one of his few attempts at being civil towards Yuki.

"I don't know." Yuki responded.

The two then started walking east through the forest. Due to the curse, the trees had become snarled and frightening, giving off the premise of twisted demons rather than maples and ferns. The two boys walked in silence, knowing that the moment one of them said something, they would fight, but they had an important and they couldn't afford to lose time. So they just walked for miles and miles, helping each other cross rivers in silence, breaking camp in silence, Kyo didn't even say anything when he knew they were 20 miles from a local village, he just pointed and let out some sort of grunt, Yuki understood.

They walked steadily towards the village, hoping that somehow she might actually be there, and hopefully they'd somehow know it was her. They'd luckily not run into any real trouble in the woods, Yuki thought he heard a Black Dragon but it seemed far away, Black Dragons don't usually live this far east, but you never know. He then heard another Draconic scream, it was far off but closer than the last sign. "Cat." Yuki said, breaking their unspoken agreement about not speaking.

"I already know ya damn rat, it's a male, probly only a year old judging from that scream, dumb lizards lost more than likely, but now he's coming for us. We shouldn't have walked this way, we're downwind from it. This is what I get for letting you pick the way, you bastard."

Yuki didn't dignify him with a response, but he was impressed. Kyo had been born with a knack on things of this nature, he could tell all of that from a faint scream? Yuki then unsheathed his Vorpal blade and readied his shield.

"You're wasting your time rat-boy, this lizard's mine!" Kyo declared as another draconic scream was heard, loud and deafening this time. Kyo readied his metal claws and placed them firmly on his hands. "I'm gunna bring back his head and throw it at Hatori, doesn't think I can handle myself against a freaking dragon, tch."

Almost the moment Kyo stopped speaking the Black Dragon reared it's ugly head, it swooped down from the sky and landed directly in front of Kyo and Yuki. It's frame skinny and under-nourished, it hadn't had anything to eat for days and was looking at the boys as if they were a feast. His breath was hot and dripping with a desperate hunger, it jumped at the chance of meal. The dragon swung his massive claw at Kyo, attempting to quickly crush him. Meanwhile Yuki jumped up on top of the dragons back and started wedging off one his massive scales to create a weak spot his Vorpal blade would take full advantage of. Kyo easily avoided the dragon's initial attack and leapt onto the monster's arm and from his arm to his neck.

"Hey moron, that way's gunna take forever, you'll never take down a dragon that way, you gotta be more DIRECT!" and with that Kyo climbed to the top of the dragons head and struck it in the eye. The dragon then reared it's black head back and threw Kyo off like a child would flick a spider. Kyo caught himself in the fall and landed on his feet and immediately began running at full pace towards the beast, 'Not going to be out-done by that pretty boy!' he thought to himself. The dragon, still trying to gain vision back in its eye, let out a fireball which Kyo sideswiped and kept his sprint towards the dragon.

"You're going down you damn over-grown gecko!" Kyo raged. Using his metal claws he then scaled to the face of the dragon. "You're going down this time!" Kyo, using all his energy readied an attack on the beast that would blow his head clean off, but before Kyo could finish off the dragon, it stopped breathing.

The black dragon gave off one more scream but was helpless to the fate it had constructed for itself. Kyo tried to dislodge his left hand from the dragon, but his metal claws were stuck! The dead dragon then collapsed, Kyo along with it, pinned under it's giant head. He looked over to Yuki, who was pulling his Vorpal blade out of the hole he hade made on the back side of the dragon and cleaning it off on one of it's leathery wings.

"Hey rat-boy! Why don't you try fighting it as man, instead of using some crappy thing you learned in class, huh!" Kyo bellowed more angry at himself for not being the one to kill the dragon and now being humiliated for being trapped under it's carcass.

"I killed it didn't I? You should have paid more attention." Yuki replied as he calmly walked over to Kyo and helped lift the dragon head off of him.

"Whatever, let's just keep going." Kyo said, putting his metal claws away. 'A lot of good that extra training had been' he thought to himself.

Yuki went back over towards the dragon and plunged his Vorpal blade into the beast's mouth.

"Hey what the hell are you doing!" Kyo said as Yuki threw something at him. A dragon's tooth!

"I think this will be easier to carry, rather than the whole head, wouldn't you say?" Yuki said with a condescending grin.