Kiri: and after several hours of nonstop typing and daydreaming, here is the first chapter. Wow, my eyes are tired!

Ravan: You've only been staring at the computer screen for the past three hours...

Kiri: I stopped to stare at the doofus who was snorting crack up his nose outside in the rain, didn't I That qualifies as a break! anyways... you all know that I don't own anything except for Ravan, and the plot. so far. and the stranger... to a point.

Chapter One

We waited a few days to return to the city, or at least, what remained of it. It was just a big, deserted pile of rubble by now. But the bodies of my parents were out there somewhere, and it was there that that my adventure really began…

Babylon was in ruins, and I was now without a home and family. Damn, and I was almost sixteen, too. As I overlooked the destruction that was once my palace, I hardly noticed when my bodyguards disbanded themselves to survey the damages.

I don't think my brain was fully registering what was going on .I mean, I was looking at it, but I couldn't believe it was really there. Perhaps I just convinced myself too early that Babylon was far too safe for anything like this to happen. Yeah, lets go with that. After staring at the wreckage, swimming through thoughts and memories, I decided to look around on my own. Making sure no one was really paying attention to me, I quietly walked in a remote direction, keeping as low a profile as I could. Even in times of distress like this, I still have a thing for wandering off. Reva, my old nursemaid, used to hate it when I would wander off. She would look away for a few seconds and I would be gone. Father used to just laugh at my innocent curiosity, pat my pigtailed head and tell me to try and not wander away so much. I never listened, of course.

Anyway, within minutes I was far enough away from my guards to start looking around. I think I was standing at the far end of the reception hall. Those broken down steps must've been the ones leading up to the second floor. I conjured my memory of the old palace and tried to make my way to where my bedroom would be, but it was much harder that I thought. I tried that method for a good ten minutes, but I quickly got frustrated and just started throwing chunks of rubble aside. Unfortunately, my foot caught on something and I fell flat on my belly with a loud "Oof!"

I stayed still to recuperate, then sat up and batted my black bangs out of my ice-blue eyes. For a while, I just sat there, staring at my surroundings, dwelling on whatever thought came to mind, weather serious, or unrelated and ridiculous. I'd just started daydreaming about flowers and birds and pretty gardens when a voice I did not recognize spoke out.

"I would've thought the Princess of Persia herself would be graceful and feminine enough to not fall on her face." I jumped up from surprise and quickly glanced around. My eyes finally landed on a stranger in a black cloak.

"Excuse me, do I know you?" I asked, trying to be somewhat polite.

"No, you do not. But perhaps your father, the King, would." I paused, thinking of how to respond. I didn't like this man's voice. It had a certain sarcastic tone about it that didn't stand well with me.

"Well, I'm sorry to inform you that my father is dead." The stranger stayed quiet for a long while.

"My apologies, princess. Losing your city and family must by hard on you." I don't know if he was being serious, or trying to mock me, but I didn't want or need his sympathies. I just turned my back on him and kicked a few smaller rocks around in the dirt.

"Yes, yes, I have no need of your pity. So unless there's something of extreme importance you have to say to me, you can go and leave me alone." Ok, maybe I was being a little hard, but damn it, I didn't want to deal with the sympathy of others.

"I did not mean to offend you, princess." I just made a small 'mmf' noise and kicked at the dirt a little. I wish this guy would just go away already… "Maybe I can interest you in a little information I have?" Something about the way he said that last sentence made me a little uneasy, but I faced him again, hoping that if I just listened to what he had to say, he would leave.

"I'm listening." The stranger stepped closer until he was only a few feet away.

"There is a way to undo what has been done here," he said quietly. I blinked, not exactly understanding what he said. Probably sensing my misunderstanding, he asked, "How much do you know about the flow of time?" I stared blankly for a second of two.

"Only that it goes in one direction," I replied. I heard him chuckle under his breath.

"So young and naive… has your father told you nothing of his past?"

"What does my father have to do with time?" He was beginning to get on my nerves.

"I see. He kept it secret from you, and did a good job of it. Even your mother told you nothing of it either, I presume. I suppose they wanted to just burry what happened with bodies of those who died in the midst of it all… how thoughtless."

"Stop speaking in loops and just say what you will so I can return to my own business!" I exclaimed, now showing my frustration. I knew he was smiling under that hood of his…

A very brief moment of silence passed between us as he retrieved something from his belt and presented the object to me. I stood speechless, staring at the beautiful dagger her now held. It was above all the most gorgeous blade I'd seen in my life, and being Princess of Persia and the daughter of a warrior, I'd seen a lot of blades in my life.

"Do you know what this is?" He questioned me, but didn't wait for my answer. "It is a blade of a magnificent power. The Dagger of Time." I continued to stare at it, absorbed in thoughts of what it must be worth.

"What did you get this…?" I asked blankly. He didn't answer.

"This artifact could help you, princess. It comes from an Island only a little while's journey from Persia. On that island, you might just find a way to undo what has been done here." I slowly took in every word he said. On some island I could change things? But to what degree?

"What do you want for that dagger?" I asked hastily. He calmly held the hilt out for me to grab.

"Nothing. Take it. Just consider it a gift from a stranger to a young princess." I was wary of this. I knew he wanted something from me, but I didn't know what, and if there was a way to change things, I wanted to find out how. Slowly, my fingers wrapped around the hilt of the dagger and I held it up. I only admired it for a few moments when suddenly…

"Princess Ravan!" snapping back to reality, I whirled around to face two of my guards, and hid the dagger behind my back. "There you are! You had us worried for a moment!"

"My apologies, gentlemen. I didn't intend to be gone for so long," I offered, putting on an innocent façade. "I wanted to be alone with my thoughts."

"With all due respect, your highness, we must leave for the nearest city as soon as we can. We have very limited supplies and we must get you to safety." I nodded quickly.

"Very well. I will join you all shortly." They bowed and started to leave. I sighed in relief and turned back around, but the strange man was gone without a trace. I glanced once again at the dagger he had given to me and puzzled over everything he had said, but the only conclusion I came to was to think more on this later.

Even though I didn't know who he was, or why he told me what he did, but something told me to trust his word. That, and I once again let my curiosity get the better of me. I decided to set out immediately to find the island he'd spoke of, oblivious to what would happen if I succeeded…

Kiri: Eh... it's kind of crap so far... I tried to make Ravan into a bit of an airhead... I'll get more into that in later chapters. And can anyone guess who the stranger really is? It's one of my favorite characters.
it should be a little obvious, actually. Anyways, leave some reveiws, ok, peoples?