"Listen, dear, daddy has some bad news."
She stood stoic, listening to the words her father was speaking. What had he done this time? Gotten someone pregnant? Or did he sleep with another duke's wife? There was no telling, so Maka just stared at him.
"So, because we are aristocrats, when you were born, I reported that I had a son to the king," He sighed.
"And why did you do that?" Maka asked.
"Sweetie, it was for your own good! I didn't want you to marry one of those Evans boys, which they would have surely asked," He sobbed.
"So what exactly is the problem?" she said letting a bit of anger slip into her tone.
"Well, I didn't realize there would be a war against the Evan's family and the Shinigamis. So in the case of a war, all young men, especially aristocrats, must report for duty to serve. They want me to send you to the DWMA knight academy as a boy!"
Maka grinned ear to ear at this sudden turn of events. "Then I'll go," she said, bouncing up and down.
"You can't go! You're not a boy!"
"But I can pretend to be one. Please papa, I need to get out of these dresses and all this courting bullshit. And you could be hung if we don't. I'm doing this for you," she pleaded.
She packed the buckskin duffle bag with some men's clothes she had recently bought at the market. She stripped off her dress, grabbed some gauze she had stolen from the infirmary, and wrapped her breasts down so that they were flat. Then she put on of the outfits she had bought. Finally she took her hunting knife and cut off her blonde pigtails so that all that was left was a scruffy mop of ashy hair.
She felt a bit of remorse as she let the locks of hair fall into the trash, and she realized with a start she was throwing away her old way of life with the pigtails that had graced features since she was a child.
Nevertheless she grabbed her bags and trotted down the stairs and into the Great Hall where her father was anxiously wringing his hands. He glanced up at her approach and flung his arms around her small frame.
"Maka, what happened to your lovely hair?" he wailed.
"Boys don't wear pigtails, papa," she said.
"You don't have to do this you know," he whispered into her ear. "We could run away, find someplace to stow away…"
"You know we can't," said Maka. "I'll be fine," she added, and to both of their surprise she gave him a peck on the cheek.
"Your mother would be proud of you," Spirit said softly.
Maka pushed her way from his grasp, "I know papa. Thanks, I love you."
And with that, she was gone.
Maka decided that she loved the feeling of boys' clothes. They were so much more comfortable than the constricting dresses she was expected to wear back at her father's castle.
The trip to king William's castle was a two-day journey, so she stopped at a hotel after a night riding through the fields. She wanted to be alert before she went into Death Woods, known for the abundant disappearances of unprepared travelers.
The inn was small, and cozy, settled on the outskirts of the forest. She tied up her horse unpacked her satchel and looked in the direction of the wall of eerie trees about 200 feet away. She shivered at the thought of what tomorrow would bring, the thought of going in alone scared her, though she wouldn't admit it to herself.
The inn had a welcoming and warm atmosphere to it. A fire was blazing in the hearth and the smell of baking sourdough flooded her nose. She sighed in contentment when a pretty girl came out of the back room.
"Oh hello," she said sweetly, "what brings a handsome young gentleman like yourself here?"
Maka turned and smiled at the girl, "I'm looking for a room."
"Ah, yes, we have one available," she said, "You wouldn't happen to be going for training at the kingdom, would you?"
"Actually I am."
"Well, as it so happens, we have someone else on his way to the castle as well," she said with a forced smile. Suddenly a crash sounded from the kitchen and Maka whirled around to face a blue haired boy smashing through the back door with a loaf of sourdough bread stuffed in his mouth.
He glanced at her and grinned, swallowing the bread whole. He stuck out his hand, "I am the great BlackStar, bow before me peasant."
Maka glanced bewildered at the hostess who wasn't preventing the annoyed frown on her face. "Don't tell me that this is who is traveling to the castle."
"You're going to the Evan's castle?" BlackStar blurted out. "So am I!" He swung his arm around her, squishing her cheek next to his own. "Lucky for you you'll have someone to take you through the woods!" he said cheekily.
Maka shoved him off of her and said lowly, "Listen bub I don't need your help getting to the king's fleet; I can do it myself."
The young woman then spoke up, "As much as I wouldn't want you to go with him, the woods can be very dangerous. There is a pack of wolves that inhabit that area and they have been rather hungry lately, even daring to come to the edge of the woods, its better to go in groups."
"I can handle it," Maka huffed, whirling around and marching towards the hallway. "Umm, where is my room," she said sheepishly turning around.
The woman smiled, "I'll only give it to you if you promise to take this oaf," she pointed at BlackStar, "with you."
She sputtered, but then thought about the predicament. This BlackStar was annoying, yes, but if these wolves were as dangerous as that girl said being eaten would be more of a problem.
"Fine," she sighed in defeat.
BlackStar grinned, "You've made the right decision to travel with a god, ummm, what's you're name, I must know the name of my own follower."
"Umm, uh, Mako, yeah that's it," she said.
BlackStar gave her a look. "Weird name."
"And BlackStar isn't a weird name?" she hissed
"Of course not, it's the name of a god!" he bellowed.
She rolled her eyes before heading off to bed.
Mist spread over the ground and dew filled Maka's nostrils, a lark called out quietly in the distance. It would have been a beautiful morning if not for the fact that BlackStar was babbling on and on and Maka couldn't keep up with what he was saying.
The woods spread far and wide ahead of them as they made their way up the slope and towards the forest.
"Maybe you should quiet down," Maka growled under her breath, "We wouldn't want to cause unnecessary attention to ourselves would we?"
"Let those wolves come," cackled BlackStar, "they'll regret ever crossing the path of this god."
"Where are you from?" Maka asked. She wanted to know if her father had ever done any business with the manor from which he came.
"A small village called Grigori, I lived by myself on the street until I was 12," BlackStar said still smiling. Maka glanced at him pointedly, why was this peasant going to become a knight.
"So why are you becoming a knight?"
"My adoptive father always wanted to be a knight," He said in an uncharacteristically tone, "and what better way to become a god then to learn how to rule my people through observation? Hahahaha!"
"How very humble of you," Maka mumbled.
"Why did you join Mako?" BlackStar asked.
"Uh, it's complicated. Let's just say family troubles," Maka said. Before BlackStar could ask her anymore a large black wolf stood before them, fangs bared and a low snarl ripping from its throat.
"Looks like we got company," Maka hissed between gritted teeth.
"That stupid fur ball is no match for me," BlackStar laughed.
But very suddenly the ten to fifteen more heads popped out around them. And Maka's heart sunk at the lack of an escape route. They were surrounded.
"Well, how about these stupid fur balls, shithead," Maka growled.
BlackStar threw a glare at her, "Calm down and stop acting like a bitch, I can get us out of here."
A large wolf with auburn fur leapt at her, and she quickly whipped out her long hunting knife slashing at the beast's nose. It yelped and jumped back, golden eyes narrowing. It was thinking, and Maka could tell that these wolves weren't like the stray dogs that ran in packs back by her house. No, these canines were much more intelligent than that.
The wolf leapt forward again, but instead of going for Maka it went for her horse's leg. Her horse squealed and bucked up, knocking Maka unto her back. The wolf was on top of her in a second, teeth snapping towards her throat when BlackStar appeared, having leapt off of his mount, and kicked the thing in the head.
He reached for Maka's hand, swung her onto her feet and said, "See there's nothing to worry about."
But the wolves were surrounding them, barking and growling. The two stood back-to-back defending from the oncoming pack. It seemed like they were there for hours slashing at each snapping jaw that came their way when one broke past and latched onto Maka's shoulder.
Maka heard BlackStar scream "Mako," but that was completely overpowered by the feeling of teeth of the wolf ripping through her shoulder muscles and skin. The pain burned her and she felt as though she was going to black out when suddenly the weight of the creature was lifted off of her and she was face to face with dark red eyes and stark white hair.
"Don't worry kid," said a man with long silver hair who lifted her up into his arms. She saw the boy with white hair glance at her over his shoulder as he got onto his highly decorated horse, "you're in good hands, the hands of Prince Soul and his unit. "