6 years has passed since the birth of Shiro. The caravans have rested near the mountain side to go over their inventory. Leon was looking over their gold and items they have earned while Maria was teaching Shiro to play the sitar. He has grown into a young 6-year old male. His soft ebony skin, his calm forest green eyes, and his long silver hair has it's charm. His clothing is a child's version of Leon's gypsy outfit. He's holding his sitar, a gift for his 6th birthday, with pride and gets ready to learn. "Now Shiro, the art of sitar playing has been passed down to many generations of Gypsies. Before I was married to my beloved Leon, I was a master sitar player," said Maria in a proud voice. "Wow...that's amazing, mother," said Shiro as he sits next to her and readies his sitar. "Now, I will play some simple notes. Pay close attention, Shiro," said Maria as she gets her sitar out. He looks on to see his mother play. She takes a deep breath and plays a soft yet familiar song that Shiro knows. He smiles softly as he sways his head to the medley. She stops playing and blushes softly. "Do you enjoy that? It's the lullaby I played to you when you was little, Shiro," said Maria. "I knew that song was familiar, mother. I fell in love with that song," said Shiro. "Also, the music we play have some magic into them and every time we play our magic gets stronger. Always remember that," said Maria. He nods softly. "Now, you play a song. Any song will do," said Maria. He takes a deep soft breath and start to play a soft song of his own. His music is a mixture of a quiet medley with a bit of some Gypsy flair in it. Maria smiles at him proudly and holds him gently. He stops playing and smiles at her. "How was that, mother?" asked Shiro. "Beautiful, my dear Shiro. You have mastered the art of sitar playing," said Maria as she kisses him softly on the cheek. Leon comes up to them and said "Shiro, your mother and I have to talk about something important. In the meantime, you can go and play with your friends." "Yes, father," said Shiro as he gets up and heads out of his caravan.
Once he left, Leon and Maria looked at each other with concern looks into their face. "Leon..." said Maria as if she was thinking the same thing as Leon was thinking. "I know, my love. 7 more years and then Shiro is forced to work with Rumple," said Leon. "I know. This was my fault. I know we shouldn't have taken the deal, but I really want to bear your child, my love," said Maria as she was starting to cry. He holds her and said "It's ok, my love. What's done is done. Right now, we need to train him to fight Rumple and any evil foolish enough to pick a fight with him." Maria nods and lays her head on his chest. She sees a necklace with a golden crescent moon and said "My little Shiro..."
Outside, Shiro was walking around the camp seeing his fellow gypsies resting and telling stories. They look up and bows at Shiro. He smiles and said "My fellow gypsies. Thank you but I'm just want to enjoy the winds of our earth mother." They chuckles softly, but respect his wishes. As he was walking, a fellow gypsy named Bingar was coming up to him. His skin was light brown, short blond hair and brown eyes. He's slightly younger than Shiro and is wearing his normal Gypsy clothing. "Ah, the sliver prince has come," said Bingar with a grin. "Very funny, old friend. I've seen you have ditch your chores again. Going for a record?" asked Shiro as he chuckles softly. "Oh Shiro. You know me. I am the Gypsy of Love. I can't let some simple chores hold me back from the lovely girls in camp," said Bingar as a bunch of female gypsies come up to them and surround them. As Bingar was being greeted by the girls, Shiro slipped away quietly and heads into the forest for some quiet.
Once he was in the forest, he goes to a giant rock and sits on top of it. He takes a deep breath and starts to sing a soft song: "This is my own life, the life that I have chose. No one has any say, for I have been rose. This is my own life, the life that I have chose..." Before he can sing some more, he hears a scream from the far end of the forest. He get up and heads to the source of the scream. A few seconds later, he sees a raven-haired girl slightly younger than him surrounded by snarling wolves. He runs up and starts playing his sitar to calm the wolves down and fall under his spell. "Now my forest friends. Leave this girl alone," said Shiro in a calm voice. The wolves bows at him and runs off into the forest. He turns to the girl and looks at her calmly. Her hair is raven black, curly at the end to ringlets to the middle of her back, her flawless face has a couple of freckles on the top edge of her cheeks and her eyes are blue. Her clothing is a velvet dress with rubies stitched to it. "Are you ok?" asked Shiro in a calm voice. "Y..yes. Those wolves are really scary. Thank you," said the girl as her wipes her tears away. "They are not really scary. They just looking for food," said Shiro as he gets a scarf and wipes her tears away. She blushes softly as she looks into his soft green eyes. "There we go. A beautiful girl like you shouldn't cry," said Shiro. "Thank you. May I as for your name, my hero?" asked the girl. "My name is Shiro the Gypsy, milady," said Shiro as he holds her hand and kisses it softly. "Nice name, Shiro. My name is Elena," said Elena as she blushes some more. "So, what a beautiful girl like you doing wondering in the forest? Surely the forest is a dangerous place and it's dangerous to go alone," said Shiro. "Well, it wasn't my fault. I was merely went shopping with my overprotective brothers and I got bored so I went on my little adventure into the woods. As I was looking at the many flowers and cute bunnies, I heard some singing deep in the forest. I follow the song until I ran into those wolves," said Elena as she rubs the back of her head. "Oh...you was listening to a soft song of mine. It's a work in progress, Elena," said Shiro. "That was you? It sounded so nice. Even though it was short, it was beautiful," said Elena as she smiles at him. Before he could say anything, a tall hooded figure appears behind Elena and chuckles. "So there you are, Elena," said the hooded figure. She turns around and said "Dullahan, my dear brother. How did you find me?" asked Elena as she hugs him. "I can sense where you are, little sis," said Dullahan as he hugs her and looks at Shiro, "I see that you look after my little Elena. Thank you, Gypsy." Shiro bows at them and said "You're welcome, Dullahan. Also, my name is Shiro." He nods and said "Shiro...interesting name. Well, I'll be sure that Elena will see you again soon." After he said that, they disappear in a cloud of black smoke leaving a small sack of gold for Shiro. He picks it up and put it in his pouch as he heads back to camp.
(Leon & Maria's Caravan)
Shiro comes into his parents' caravan and sees Leon holding his scimitar proudly while his mother was looking at him calmly. "Shiro, my son. So good to see you come in. There are some things that I want to discuss with you," said Leon. "What is it, father?" asked Shiro. "Tomorrow, I am going to teach you the art of the sword and learn what it feels like to become a hero," said Leon. "A hero? That's interesting, father. And this is ok with you, mother," asked Shiro in a calm voice. Maria nods and said "Yes, my son. I have sense that evil will be coming to this world soon and this world will need a hero. You must train to be this world's hero." He smiles and said "Hmm…being a hero does sounds like a lot of fun. I guess it won't hurt to give it a try. Alright. Mother & father, I will train to be come this world's hero." Leon smiles and said "That's what I like to hear. We'll do your training tomorrow." Maria hugs Shiro and said "You will be a great hero, my wittle Shiro." Shiro hugs her and smiles.
In a castle far away from the outside world, Elena lays in her elegant bed in her grand room. Her room consists of the most elegant furniture and clothing money can buy. She was thinking about meeting Shiro, the gypsy who save her from the wolves and she was blushing a bit. "Shiro…such a lovely name for my lovely hero…" said Elena as she chuckles softly, "I hope I can see him again." Standing outside of her room was Dullahan, who was still cloaked and listening through the locked door. He smiles as he retires to his room. "Hmm…the little princess has a crush on the handsome gypsy boy. I should keep an eye on them and I need to let father know about this. This could be fun to see these two love birds fight to be together," said Dullahan as he closes the door to a room with a royal 'D' on it.