A/N: Sorry about the long wait, I had Spring Break... and no internet connection for the past week. But I finally goten this chapter done over the week. Not much but it will lead into the action very soon.

Ch. 2 "The Prince"

Aikka had slipped past the sage, the halls and into his room, where he with his inborn agility leapt into the tall tendril tree outside of his window and clung onto the vines. He slipped down the vines onto the ground below and checked around to see if he was free to go. Seeing no guards (and why would there be? It was so hot no one would want to wander around in heavy armor and clothes), the prince wandered away from the castle grounds, finding an opening in the walls that surrounded it and made his escape.

Prince Aikka had been spending this day in his study, learning history by a sage (more of an old teacher than a true sage) who could hardly keep himself awake in the heat of the day. Likewise, he had been forced to, so that he may become a "good king" one day like his father and lead his people. After all, he was the only son of the king and queen of Nourasia and he was the only heir apparent, which made Aikka all the unhappy. Once, once he had friends, at least he thought he did, before he had turned five summers. Those were good days, when he could play outside and not worry about being a prince. No one cared either. Then when he became five summers old, they came, the Royal Retainers with the crown that would be placed on his head which he could never take off. It was made of a special jewel which grew as he did and could never be taken off due to a spell which attached itself to his head unless he himself took it off. And even then, there was a mark on his forehead, a kind of tattoo of sorts of the same swirling markings on his crown done in the same blue of his eyes. After that, his "friends" decided that he was not worthy of them and left him. Even his parents who had been so happy with him now regarded him as an "adult", even though he was still far away from being an adult in even Nourasian terms. It was the end of a lot of things and the beginning of a lot of things, at least in Aikka's mind.

One thing was certain. Aikka did not want to be a prince any longer.

Nine summers old and very tired of listening to the same old rhetoric by his teacher, Aikka had slipped out of the castle and the walls of Dol to the rainforests beyond the city. There was freedom there.

As he stepped into the rainforest, Aikka was awed by what he saw. Sure he had seen the rainforest before, being on the back of the shika that his Fencing Master Canaan and his Archery Mistress Thuy had ridden so they could show him how to hunt and how to track. But this was so different. Unlike ridding on a shika and being taller than the surrounding area, he was now ground level, and could see the little plants, the ants crawling on the ground and the giant roots, which were almost as tall as a full grown kabuto tower over him. It was cooler there with the water condensing up in mists as he walked through the system of buttress roots and small plants. Above him, the jade parrots cried out as they flew through the canopy, while a pantha roared somewhere else in a far part of the rainforest. It wasn't close to him, but Aikka did not want to take that too loosely and walked faster trying to cover some more distance. He heard it another time, this being farther away from the first which made him calmer. Aikka stopped to rest under the cover of a thick clump of shade ferns. As he slipped down to land on his rear, Aikka began to think about what must be going on at the castle.

They must already found out, he thought, but they're probably wondering where I went. Of course they're going to search the castle first.

He didn't want to go back to the castle, at least not yet. Smiling mischievously, Aikka ran from his hiding spot and towards the sound of water rushing.

The water of the Amuluka was brown with silt washed from the banks and the shores. It rushed in torrents, roaring and rumbling when Aikka came upon the river at last. Unlike the calm river at the crescent that went around the city of Dol, this was a rough and dangerous area of the Amuluka.

Named for the rich red-brown color of its waters, the Amuluka carried nutrients and water to the capital of the Kingdom of Nourasia. For all of its benefits, the Amuluka was also considered a dangerous river to deal with. It was rough and swift in parts, and in other parts it was slow and sluggish in the marshes, and in other parts it was very much deceiving in the way it meander and twisted through the rain forest.

Aikka came upon a high bank, high above the rushing angry waters of the Amuluka. He gave a quiet prayer for the goddess of the river and then walked along the bank, careful not to loose his balance. If he fell into the water, he would be carried away quickly and drown, despite his excellent swimming skills. It came from swimming in the shallows of the Amuluka and the marshes that surrounded it. But he knew that he couldn't survive a plunge into the raging river.

There was no one around, thank goodness and Aikka kept walking down the bank. Down this area would be ruins of an old city, a part of an ancient city older, far, far older than Dol itself. He knew about it from his fencing teacher, Canaan who had talked about it at times. According to Canaan, it was located close to the greater cataracts of Amuluka, close to the castle grounds.

A nice place to explore today, he thought to himself happily. Much better than that old teacher.

He smiled to himself as he raced down the bank, holding out his arms for balance. A bigger smile appeared on his face when he saw a huge stone, shape like a beetle somewhat. Aikka walked right up to the stone and touched it. It was cool and had moss growing on it along the areas where the wing cases would be. For a moment, he was reminded of the old legends of the great Nourasian heroes of old who rode the sky upon the giant kabuto, who had fought greater evils and save the people of Nourasia several times. The stone beetle, half buried in the soil of jungle was perhaps a remnant of those times, when the kabuto had been more numerous before the Crogs had taken over and forced his parents to work for them or they would enslave their people…

Aikka leaned on the stone beetle.

But those are stories, mere stories, he thought to himself, but I wish they were true!

Getting away from the beetle, Aikka walked away and found himself in a huge courtyard with vines growing thick and abundant around the walls. This would be nice to explore. The young prince walked into the middle, looking up at the canopy above him. He didn't even notice the noise of wings moving at a fast rate just a few yards away from him. And if he had, well maybe that would not matter for the moment.

Notes on words

Trendril Tree: A tropical vine tree native to Nourasia. It is roughly the same height as an ordamental ficus tree and has long thick branches. It is very unique in the fact that it's trunk is green as are it's vines and has no real leaves to speak of. In some parts of Nourasia, where fresh water is scare, it's vines are cut so people can get at the vast amounts of water stored there.

Amuluka: The great river that flows through the largest land mass of Nourasia. It's name means the "Mother River" and is depended on for the fact that it overflows it's banks and brings rich nutrients to the floodplains so that Nourasians can farm. The annual flooding of the Amuluka is marked by the rising of the star Hyru in the night sky.

Kabuto: The name of G'Dar's species, also known as beetles.

Shika: Antelope/horse hybrid animals which are used for transport on Nourasia, mostly around the Dol area where they originate. They are approximately around 15 to 16.5 hh and have various coat patterns, ranging from striped to solids like red. Most have small horns.

A/N: Please read and review. I am so glad that many people read this already and have thought it was a good start. Hope you all enjoy. Next chapter: Aikka meets a