Shiro wakes up in a mysterious realm. The area is all black and hears faint heartbeats around him. He gets up and walks around a bit. "Hmm…such a strange place. I was sleeping and I woke up to this," said Shiro in a calm voice. Before he can walk some more, he hears something growling at him. He turns around and sees a giant black wolf with it's fangs out and snarling. "Oh my. You're a big one, wolf," said Shiro as he tries not to get scared. The wolf growls as it was getting close to him. Shiro backs away slowly and falls on the dark floor. The wolf got to him and lowers it's head to Shiro's face level. He looks into its eyes and sees himself with a wolf tail. "Is that…me?" said Shiro in a puzzled voice. Before he can look more into the wolf's eyes, straps of darkness grabs his limbs and sinking his body into the darkness. He tries to fight free but the more he struggles, the more he sinks in the darkness quicker. Submit to your fate…"What?" said Shiro as he was sinking in the darkness. Submit to your fate…Before the darkness engulfs him, he woke up sweating and panting softly. He looks at his parents who is sleeping soundly in their bed and breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank the earth mother that it was a dream. A terrible one, but a dream nevertheless," said Shiro as he wipes the sweat from his face, "but what does that saying means? Submit to my fate? What fate? Maybe I will ask father and mother about this." With that said, he lays back down the falls back into the land of dreams.

As the sun was coming up on the caravans, Shiro was waking up and sees Maria fixing him some breakfast. "Morning, mother," said Shiro with a grin. "Good morning, my son. Here is your breakfast," said Maria as she serves him cooked eggs, cooked ham, and a cup of warm milk. "This looks yummy, mother," said Shiro in a calm voice. "Best eat your breakfast, my son. Leon is waiting in the forest area for your training," said Maria as she started eating her breakfast. He nods as he starts eating his breakfast. As he was eating, he was thinking about Elena, the girl he saved the other day from a pack of wolves, and wonders what she is doing today.

In the castle, Young Elena is hiding in the sitting room giggling softy as Dullahan was looking for her to do some lessons. His skin is slightly light, his long hair is raven black and his eyes are black. His clothing is a medieval prince outfit. "Where is that Elena? I swear that girl is more trouble than she's worth," said Dullahan as he kept looking for her. She grins as she slips out of the door and dashes to the big doors leading outside to the castle. "Yay! I'm free! No lessons for me today!" cheered Elena as she was almost at the doors. But she was caught by Wolf, her 2nd older brother. His skin is normal light, his short hair is brown and his eyes are golden. His clothing is a medieval style normal village outfit. "Hello, wittle Elena," said Wolf with a grin. "Drats! I can't believe my brother would send you, Wolf," said Elena as she pouts at him cutely. He chuckles softly and said "You're so cute when you pout, dear sister." She sticks her tongue out cutely and shudders as she sees Dullahan appears in front of them. "Thank you, Wolf. I knew I can count on you," said Dullahan. Wolf scoffs and said "Without me, you cant do anything right like finding our little sister, brother." Dullahan shakes his head as he turns to Elena and said "Elena, my dear sister. You need to learn your lessons if you want to become a princess." "But Dullahan…those lessons are so boring. And besides, I doubt anyone would want a refined kept woman," said Elena while pouting. "But you do have a thing with that Gypsy boy who saved you," said Dullahan with a grin. She blushes as he was talking about Shiro. Just hearing his name makes her heart flutter and said "F…fine. But I'm doing it for Shiro. Not for you, Dullahan." "Of course, Princess Elena," said Dullahan as he summons tutors to take her. Wolf let her go and said "Be a good wittle princess, dear sister." She glares at him and said "Don't push it, Tracker Wolf." After she said that and sticks her tongue out at him, she walks off with her tutors for her lessons. Once she was away, Wolf turns to Dullahan and said "So, brother of mine, did you tell father about our dear little princess' love on the Gypsy boy from yesterday?" "Not yet. I have been busy with royal stuff and dealing with the swarm of women wanting me to be their husband," said Dullahan. "Yeah I know what you mean. Me and Ruby are getting very close. I think she might be the one," said Wolf with a grin. "How Ruby would ever fall in love with you is still a mystery to me, Wolf," said Dullahan in a calm voice. "It's because my wolfish good looks," said Wolf with a grin. "Oh please. Your wolfish good looks would be more suited to a young lady in waiting than with the queen of wolves," said Dullahan. "Hey! She's a lovely lady!" screamed Wolf as his tail comes out. "Oh you want to go, brother?" asked Dullahan as he brings out his sword and change his eyes red. Before either of the was going to do something, a bell has rang for Dullahan. He puts his sword away and said "It seems Father has called for me, brother. So, we'll deal with this later." "Humph, fine by me, brother. I'm going to court Ruby," said Wolf as he calm down and heads out to see Ruby. "Ugh…he's going to be the death of me one day. Oh well, better see what father wants," said Dullahan as he heads to see his father.

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Shiro come in to see if his father is there but he wasn't. "Strange. Father should be here by now," said Shiro as he rubs his head. Unknown to Shiro, Leon was on the branch of the tree with his sword ready and grinning. As Shiro was looking around, Leon drops from the tree to land a hit on Shiro. Shiro sensed it and dodges his attack barely. Leon grins as he looks at him and said "Nice reflex, son." "What are you trying to do, father?! Kill me?!" screamed Shiro in a panicked state. "Your training start…now!" screamed Leon as he dashing at him. Shiro dodges the strikes of Leon's attacks. "This is your 1st lesson. A hero must handle an armed opponent without a weapon of his own. If this ever happens, a hero must think quickly to turn the fight to his own favor," said Leon as he keeps swinging his sword at him. He was dodging them elegantly thanks to the many dance lessons from his mother and is thinking a way to disarm his father. *Think, Shiro. Think…* thought Shiro as a idea pops in his head. As Leon makes a strike, he sidesteps him, hits him with a disarming punch, holds his sword and points it at his father. Leon was surprised. The great Gypsy leader bested by a kid who is his son. "I've bested you father," said Shiro. He smiles and said "Very good, Shiro. You've completed your 1st lesson of being a hero. Can I have my sword back?" "Oh yeah," said Shiro as he give his father's sword back to him. He smiles and give Shiro a wooden staff. "Your first weapon, my son. Be one with your weapon," said Leon. "Thank you, father. So what is the 2nd lesson?" asked Shiro. Leon chuckles as he claps his hands and, as if on cue, a group of his personal men comes out of the bushes and surrounds Shiro. He looks and counts about ten men, some armed with wooden weapons and other with their fists. "The 2nd lesson is for hero to overcome the odds. So, you will be fight all of my best men alone. Your staff is your weapon of choice. You think you can handle it, Shiro?" asked Leon. Shiro readies his staff and said "Bring it on." He grins and said "Men…attack!" The men dashes at Shiro ready to knock him out. He starts dodging them the best as he can. However Aldan, Leon's second in command, manages to land a clean hit on Shiro's back with his wooden sword. "Gotcha, son of Leon," said Aldan with a grin. "That hurt!" screamed Shiro as he blocks an attack with his staff. "That's the point, son," said Leon with a grin. He tries to keep up with the attacks of Leon's men as his father looks on. He did get hit a couple of times, but he landed some clean and accurate hits with his staff. Ten minutes later, Shiro was standing with the help of his staff, panting softly, and around him are Leon's men beaten and bruised on the ground. Shiro had some bruises, cuts, scratches and some blood was leaking but he was grinning a soft smile. "Very good, my son. Now head back to camp to get heal up so we can begin your next lesson," said Leon. He nods as he heads back to camp. His men get up slowly and attended the wounded. Aldan gets up and walks calmly at Leon. "Tough kid, Leon. I never fought with someone so full of fight in 'em, Leon," said Aldan as he was panting softly. "Indeed. I might say that he's special," said Leon, "in the meantime, make sure that everyone is ok, Aldan. I'm going to check on Maria." "Yes, great leader," said Aldan as he bows at him. Leon smiles as he heads back to camp. Aldan chuckles and said "I see great things within Shiro. His future is very bright." He heads to Leon's men to help with the wounded.

Back at the castle, Dullahan was speaking to his father who was Dracula, the king of all vampires. His skin is light skin, jet black short hair and his eyes is soft blue. His clothing is royal dark medieval clothing with a matching black cape. "Father, I have come as you requested," said Dullahan as he bows at him. "Arise, my son. I see that you was going to fight Wolf again," said Dracula as he sips his goblet of blood. "Yes, father. I was going to put him in his place before you called for me," said Dullahan as he gets up, "so what have you call me for?" "It's about Elena," said Dracula in a calm voice. "Really? What about Elena, father?" asked Dullahan. "It seems that she was blushing softly when I read her a bedtime story last night and she was muttering a name of a certain boy. I think his name was Shiro," said Dracula. "Yes father. Shiro is the name of the Gypsy that save her from the wolves the other day," said Dullahan. "I see. That explains it. Gypsies never have noble blood within their circles and children. What makes this Shiro boy different?" said Dracula as he was in deep thought. Before Dullahan said anything, one of the maids comes in the room and screamed "My lord! My prince! Princess Elena has gone missing!" "What?! How did this happened?!" screamed Dracula. "Well her tutors told me that during her lessons, she wanted to use the bathroom and they let her. Once she went in, she turned into a bat and flies away, my lord," said the maid. "Ohh…That Elena! I'll get her and teach her lesson she'll never forget!" screamed Dullahan. "Do you even know where my wittle bat is going, Dullahan?" asked Dracula. "If I know her, she's on her way to see Shiro. Why father?" asked Dullahan. "Well, I was thinking that you should tested him on his strength and see if he is worthy of being Elena's future mate," said Dracula. He thinks about it and said "You know father…that's an wonderful idea. Besides, it's been a while since I let off some steam." "Just don't kill him, my son," said Dracula. "I'll try not to, father," said Dullahan as he disappears in a cloud of red smoke. Dracula takes a sip on his goblet and said "Shiro…such a unique name…"

Back at the caravan camp, Shiro was being treated by a healer named Namina. Her skin is ebony, her short brown hair and her eyes are violet. Her clothing is a Gypsy medical nurse outfit. "Here you go, my prince," said Namina as she hold a green elixir. He gets it, open the top and drinks it calmly. "I see your father put you through a bit of a gauntlet, no?" asked Namina while rubbing his arm calmly. He finishes the drink and said "Yeah. That's my father. He wants to make sure that I'm ready for anything. Oh, where is my mother?" "Maria? She is busy picking vegetables and fruits for dinner. I also hear that Leon, your father, is going to help her out. It would be best to use that time to rest in your caravan, my prince," said Namina in a calm voice. "Thanks for the healing and the information, Namina. I will rest up," said Shiro as he gets up, bows at her and heads to his caravan. She smiles and said "Always, my prince." She starts to stock up on her elixirs and potions.

Shiro opens the door of the caravan and heads to his bed. He falls on the bed and smiles softly. "Ahh…soft bed…" said Shiro. Before he can close his eyes, he sees the covers moving erratically. He peels the covers off and sees Elena shaking. "Elena?" said Shiro in a soft voice. She blushes and hugs him tightly. "Oh Shiro. Please, let me hide here," said Elena with worry in her eyes. "What's wrong?" asked Shiro as he holds her in his arms. "I…I ran away from my lessons and my home. I know my brother will be coming and if he gets me he'll…he'll…please let me stay with you, Shiro," said Elena as she buries her face in his chest. He rubs her hair and said "Of course, my Elena. I will protect you." She looks up to him with tears in her eyes and said "R…really?" "Yes, Elena. I will protect you," said Shiro as he wipes her tears away from her face. She kisses his cheek and said "My valiant Shiro." Before he can said anything, he hears the gypsies outside screaming in terror. He gets up, grabs his staff and heads to the door. "Elena, stay in here. I'll handle it," said Shiro in a calm voice. "Please be careful, my Shiro," said Elena. "I will, Elena," said Shiro as he open the door and heads outside.

Outside, Dullahan was summoning bats to scare the gypsies and said "If you want me to stop this, then tell me where Shiro is!" Shiro comes up to him and said "You called, Dullahan?" He grins and said "Hello, Shiro. You have something that belongs to me." "Really? What ever do you mean?" asked Shiro in a playful voice. "Don't play dumb, Gypsy. Princess Elena is property of the Royal Family of Count Dracula!" screamed Dullahan in a royal voice. The gypsies got scared and hides their children in fear of the name Dracula. "Dracula? Who's he?" asked Shiro as he readies his staff. Dullahan chuckles as he pulls out his long sword and said "You don't know who he is? Well, you don't need to know about that…because you will be dead!" Shiro gulps as he gets ready. Before had a chance to blink, Dullahan dashes up to him really quick and strikes at him. Shiro blocks the attack with his staff. "You're not kidding, huh?" asked Shiro as he tries to withstand the strength of Dullahan. He pushes him off to get him off balance the dashes at him again. He dodges him and hits him on his back. "Gotcha," said Shiro. "You little…" screamed Dullahan as he recovers and summons his bats to attack him. "Bats? That's it?" said Shiro as he dodges them gracefully. As he dodges the last bat, Dullahan dashes up to him, grabs him by the neck and throws him at a tree. Shiro groans as he hits the tree and falls to the ground. "Ok…that hurt…" said Shiro as he slowly gets up. "Give up, whelp?" asked Dullahan with a snicker. "Hardly…I don't give up that easily," said Shiro as he dust himself off and get ready to fight again. As they were fighting, Elena looks on through a window and was worried for Shiro. "Oh Shiro…" said Elena in a soft voice, "this…this is my fault…" Back at the fight, Shiro was trying desperately to withstand the attacks of Dullahan who was attacking him merciless. "Give it up, gypsy! You can't win!" screamed Dullahan as he knocks the staff out of Shiro's hand and kicks him to the ground. The gypsies looked on in horror as Dullahan walks slowly at him and said "It's a shame to cut a young life short. But some vagabonds need to be put in their place." Shiro looks on as he lifts his sword and said "Goodbye, Shiro." As he strikes the sword down, something inside Shiro clicked. He grabs the sword with his hand and looks at Dullahan with yellow eyes. "What?" said Dullahan in a surprised voice. "What's wrong, Dullahan? You look like scared," said Shiro as he punches him hard to knock him on the ground. Everyone, including Elena, was shocked to see Shiro decked Dullahan with one punch. Shiro gets up and said "Leave this place, Dullahan. This is your 1st and last warning." Elena holds her hands and said "What happened to Shiro?" Dullahan gets up and before he can say anything, he hears a voice in his head. *Dullahan…* said a familiar voice in his head. "Father…" said Dullahan who knows that is was Dracula. *Return home, my son* said Dracula in his mind. "But father! He kidnapped the princess, fought against me and he hit me! That vagabond hit me! He must pay!" screamed Dullahan as his wings came out in anger. *Calm down. I will handle this and Elena. Return home at once.* said Dracula in his mind, more stern this time. "Bu…understood, father," said Dullahan as he sheaths his sword. "What's wrong? Giving up?" asked Shiro with a evil grin. "As much as I like to wipe that smug grin off you face, I must return home empty handed. But consider this you lucky day. Next time we meet, you won't be so lucky," said Dullahan as he disappear in a cloud of smoke. Shiro groans as he falls to the ground and starts coughing hard. Everyone was getting worried as Elena comes out of the caravan and holds him. "Shiro…" said Elena in a soft voice. Shiro's eyes changes back to green and holds her hand. "Elena…my Elena," said Shiro. She nods as she helps him up and takes him back to his caravan as many gypsies cheered in praise for his victory over Dullahan.

(3 hours later)

Shiro is resting in his bed with his head on Elena's lap and looking at him. He opens his eyes and sees her smiling. "Hello, my valiant knight," said Elena with a smile. "Hello, my princess," said Shiro. "I see you have won your first battle my son," said Leon as he is sitting down and smiling. "And got the girl as well," said Maria with a chuckle. "Thanks mom. Still, it does feel nice," said Shiro. Before Elena can say anything, Dracula appears in a cloud of red smoke. She hide behind Shiro as he said "Hello, Shiro and his family. I'm here for my wittle bat." She pouts as he uses her nickname. Shiro and the others bows at Dracula. He looks at Shiro and said "So you are the one who fought Dullahan. He can be a bit…royal for himself. But I do admire your fighting ability and seeing you care for Elena. So I am planning a ball for her on her 11th birthday and I want you to be part of it." "It would be an honor, my lord," said Shiro. "Really, father?" asked Elena. "Of course, Elena. But it's time for return home, wittle bat," said Dracula. She looks down and nods. She turns to Shiro and hugs him tightly. She leans to his ear and said "Thank you for saving me, my Shiro." She kisses his cheek and heads to her father. Shiro holds his cheek where she kissed and smiles at her. Dracula holds her as they disappears in a cloud of smoke. Maria smiles and said "It seems you have earned Dracula's respect, my son." "Indeed, mother. I hope Dullahan isn't too mad about losing to me," said Shiro. "I'm sure he'll be ok. As for you, I say you complete your hero training. But you have to keep on training," said Leon. Shiro smiles as he hugs both of his parents as he feels himself being a hero.

At Dracula's castle, nighttime had come to the area. In Elena's room, she lays in her bed thinking about today's events. She smiles as she didn't get scolding from Dullahan, who lost to Shiro. "Serves my brother right for picking a fight with him and being a bully," said Elena with a grin. She focus back on Shiro and blushes deeply as she remembers the kiss she gave to him on his cheek. "Oh Shiro…my Shiro. I…I'm falling for him…" said Elena as she lays down on her bed and holds a pillow, "Me and Shiro…Shiro…Shiro…" She falls a sleep and nuzzles her pillow as she thinks it's Shiro. Dracula was in his bat form hanging from her ceiling over her and chuckles softly. "So, my wittle bat loves the gypsy boy. Well, I did felt a connect between them. Also, I felt some darkness coming from Shiro but it was gone when Elena's with him. Hmm…I will keep an eye on those two, just in case," said Dracula as he flutters softly back to his room.

In Dullahan's room, he is resting in his bed healing his wounds. He was glad that Wolf is spending the night with Ruby tonight otherwise he would never hear the end of his endless teasing. "I can't believe Shiro was tough. And that punch…what a punch," said Dullahan, "last time I play the villain card." A beautiful girl from Spain lays next to him in her dark blue nightgown. Her skin is light brown, her long hair is raven black and her eyes are amber. "Dullahan, my love. You need your rest. Get some sleep," said the girl as she was holding him. "Of course, Victoria," said Dullahan as he lays down, holds her and falls asleep. She kisses him and snuggles up to him. "Good night, my prince," said Victoria as she falls asleep.