I do apologize to anyone still reading this for being so long in updating. It seems, however, that college and writer's block go hand in hand. Bastards, ne? Anyway, enjoy!
ShadowMasochist: Aw, what's so confusing? Just a lot of people… or maybe I'm just not confused because I actually know what's going on (for once). Either way, thanks for reviewing!
Red Kitsune Flames: I know, there's quite a few, and more to come. But most are just one or two chapter characters. Like Belial probably won't play too big a part, and a few others like Ai that are just there for fun. Not that they have no purpose, but they aren't a big part of the story. The ones you want to pay the most attention to are Kiyotaka, Kiyo, Ukat, Raika, and Kai because they'll play the biggest roles. Thanks for reviewing!
Lady Duzie: Whoo! Gotta love those crossovers. Even though this is more OCs than actual characters…but, oh well. Thanks for reviewing!
After finally getting something to eat, Ukat turned to his new acquaintance and tilted his head, "So, are you a servant here?" he asked, slightly confused. In Kiyo's castle, there had been basically just Kiyo, his brothers, a few advisors, as Kiyo called them, and servants. Ukat himself was an exception to the rule, as he was none of those things. Rather, he was Kiyo's friend, one of the very few, though he usually did a lot of the cooking and helped to keep the castle clean. It wasn't required, that was just how Ukat was.
Here, however, there seemed an abundance of people that weren't servants, family, or friends of the king. To confirm the light-haired boy's suspicions, Raika shook his head, "No." He replied, "I was sent here for Kiyotaka to look after."
This answer shocked Ukat a bit, as it would most. Despite his young appearance, Raika seemed completely able to care for himself, "How old are you? Why do you need to be looked after?"
An eyebrow quirked at the invasive questions. If anything, this boy got close quick, "I'm nineteen." He easily answered the first question, earning himself another blink from the younger one.
"You look really young." The latter commented, "Or maybe it's just because you're so short." A small gasp escaped his lips right after the words left his mouth and Ukat immediately went into a bow, "Sorry, that was rude." He quickly apologized.
It was Raika's turn to blink, slightly taken back, but shook his head, "It's fine, no need to apologize for speaking the truth." He pointed out, "Belial calls me short all the time." A trace of a pout adorned his lips before his face returned to its normal, mature expression, "As for your second question, I'm not sure I can answer it."
"Why not?" the younger one asked, tilting his head, "You don't know why you're being looked after?"
"Not quite. I know it has something to do with why I was made or what I'm capable of, but beyond that, I was never informed."
A glance to the new-comer showed that Ukat was beyond confused, "Made…?" he asked, wondering how it was possible for a person to be made, "How were you made? And what are you capable of?"
The forest-haired boy realized he had said a bit too much and shook his head, "It's nothing for you to be concerned with." He assured the other.
If Ukat had been the more prying personality, Raika may have been in trouble, but lucky for the older one, he wasn't. So, leaving it as it was, the teal head nodded in agreement. After a moment of silence, the nine-year-old spoke, "Thank you again for showing me to the kitchen."
"No problem, do you know how to get back to your room?" he asked, knowing very well the answer.
"Er…" The smaller one trailed off, "Not exactly."
A small chuckle and a nod of his head greeted the answer, "Figured, where's your room?"
"Not sure, the hallway floor was dark purple, though." Ukat recalled, finding it odd that the floor would be such a color.
"West or east wing?"
"East…I think." He replied, wondering if it was possible for Raika to actually know where his room was.
"Alright, go down this hall." The experienced one pointed down a hallway with a blood red floor, "You'll come to an intersection with a dark purple floor going over the black, take a right there and you should be in the hallway your room's in."
"The castle's…color coded?" Ukat asked, sweatdropping.
Raika bit back a small laugh and nodded, "Too many people got lost, so Kiyotaka finally had the floors carpeted in four main colors, dark blue, blood red, dark purple, and black to define different sections of the castle."
"Only four?" the next question in a seemingly endless slew came, "There has to be more hallways then that."
"There are." The elder confirmed, "There's one main hallway, which leads straight through the castle, which most of the room are located on. Kiyotaka's room and his brothers' rooms are at the very end on the east, it's also where your room is, the dark purple hallway. The other three colored hallways branch off from this one. The black hallways lead to the exits, such as the entrance, courtyard, and gardens; the blood red hallways go to the bathrooms, dressing rooms, kitchen, things like that; and the dark blue hallways head toward the stairwells and pretty much everything else."
After taking all this information in, Ukat just blinked, "Uh….huh."
Another chuckle left Raika's lips, "It'll take a while to get used to." He offered, "And the specific layout could take years to memorize."
"Great…" The younger one sighed, not at all looking forward to getting lost countless times.
The taller one just patted his head and smiled, "You seem like a bright enough boy, I'm sure you'll catch on."
The few encouraging words seemed to inspire Ukat somewhat as he nodded, "Thanks again, Raika."
"Of course, and call me Rai, most do."
"Alright, I'll see you later, Rai-chan." Another bow and the younger one took off to find his room. A slight smirk and a shake of his head, and Raika headed back to his room. Just before he turned out of the kitchen, though, a small glint caught his eye. He glanced over and saw that something was shining, almost glowing out the kitchen window.
Always interested in everything, he ventured outside the castle walls. He shivered slightly against the cold, night air and made his way over to the object of his attention. Stooping down, he picked it up to find it was an oddly colored, square stone. It had a square spiral design cut into it and the engraving was glowing a soft blue. Immersed in the almost-familiar stone, Raika's usually-aware senses were focused on the strange rock, which sent a wave of nostalgia through him. Naturally, he wouldn't notice a dark figure, cloaked in shadows, sneaking up behind him. A hand shot out and hit a spot on his neck, well aware of what would happen. A soft gasp left the pale lips as the boy's head shot up in attention.
He just managed to glance back before everything became fuzzy and soon completely black as he fell to the ground, unconscious. The brunette stepped from the shadows and chuckled, "So predictable." He commented, picking the stone up and pocketing it, "Of course, it's the only thing you remember, isn't it?" he asked the sleeping boy. Shaking his head, the golden-eyed man scooped up the younger one and turned to make his way back to the docks before giving one last, lingering look to the castle.
Poor Raika… he's not having a good day, is he? Don't worry, it gets worse! So who took him? And what's his deal with the castle, or obviously whoever is in it? Review!