wooh! i'm back! and here's the second chapter! i own none of Nakamura-sensei's work!

hope you like it!

Chapter 1: The Oncoming Winter

30 Years Ago…

Fuyuhiko Usami felt much like a father to his subjects, sometimes cruel but usually fair. He believed in logic above all else, and while it would sometimes hurt, it would also help to grow his kingdom. Like fertilizer, he believed. Whether wrong or right to the people, Fuyuhiko knew it to be right by the people. He taxed his people highly, but he never gained much personally from it; most of the tax money went back to his people. Indeed the Usami Kingdom had the smoothest roads, the cleanest orphanages, and the highest literacy rate within the Eight Provinces. He had much in the way of debt owed to him by other kingdoms, and what he didn't have he could gain through tragedy or saboteur. Whichever came first or easiest.

For Fuyuhiko Usami believed just as strongly in Power and Control as he believed in logic. After all, all three traits went hand in hand. One could not have power without complete control over their situation, and one could not hope to gain control without logic. It made for a very effective rule, if a cold one.

King Usami never stumbled, never flinched from what he believed was his duty. When his kingdom needed him, he was the first to act. He was iron-willed but compassionate, calculating but fair.

When his first child came, however, he grew restless.

The child's mother had become Fuyuhiko's wife through a contract between a neighboring country to repay the Usami Kingdom its debts. Her name was Hikari, and she was a true-standing figure-head of state. She was tall, graceful, with a fair and flawless face framed by chestnut curls and deep set emerald eyes. When she smiled, she inspired many a sculptor and painter, yet she held a personal strength and stoic nature that granted her a natural presence within a political society. She was a woman that Fuyuhiko held in the highest of regards, though he would not say that he loved her. She was more a business partner to the logical ruler than a lover.

Fuyuhiko loved his first son, though. He named the child Haruhiko, for he was the first gift of spring. And he found himself wishing to shower his Haruhiko with even more. He found himself stuck with the irrational thought of giving the world to Haruhiko. And so he began to plan.

Only two years later, his second son Akihiko was born. And Fuyuhiko's plans for what the people would come to call The Oncoming Winter were put into motion. Starting with finding the last of the Dragon Riders.

12 Years Later…

Akihiko was out again. He crouched low in the bushes surrounding the east garden gate, watching the frantic guards rushing past. He had snuck out for the twelfth time that month; his guard had more than tripled since then, and yet, he felt an ever present need and determination to leave his estate and title.

The silver-haired boy had grown clever over his sixteen years. He was as meticulous as his father in his plans, and his deep blue eyes missed little. He had made his first attempt at escape when he was seven and bored of his lessons. It had been a close thing, that time, but he had discovered that he enjoyed the challenge of getting past his family's guards; it made the taste of freedom all the more sweet.

And growing up had only fueled Akihiko's desire for escape.

Akihiko snuck through the bushes, careful to not make any noise. At even the faintest rustle of leaves, Akihiko would stop and wait. Progress was slow, and deliberate, much to Akihiko's annoyance. At the far end of the east gate there was a hole just big enough for him slip through. He just had to make it there…

Boom!

Akihiko jumped as an explosion rocked the castle merely yards away from where he sat. He pressed closer to the garden wall as guards swarmed over the area, seeking the attacker. Akihiko figured his chance was up, when two small figures swept past the prince's hiding place. It was hard to make out the boys' features, but they couldn't have been much older than Akihiko. All Akihiko could tell of the boys were that they were incredibly skinny, as though they had not been fed for days, and that their hair was long, unkempt and matted in places.

"Do not let them escape! Seal the exits!"

Akihiko's eyes widened as he realized what he was witnessing. The unkempt boys were prisoners.

Why? What could they have done? They're hardly older than me!

All thoughts of his own personal freedom vanished in an instant. Akihiko was not naïve. He knew his father wielded great power in the land; and he knew what his father did to those that disobeyed him. But for the life of him, Akihiko could not understand what these two boys could have done to be imprisoned.

There was one thing Akihiko did know, however.

And that was the way out.

Akihiko stood, and while making as little noise as possible, ran in pursuit after the two boys. He wracked his brain for a way to get their attention without getting the guards' too, when the taller of the two boys grabbed his smaller companion by the waist and turned them towards the guards, shouting, "Now, Ritsu!"

The smaller boy, Ritsu, lifted his hand up and clenched it tightly. All around the guards, the air began to pop in a series of explosions that made Akihiko pause in surprise. What was an Energy Mage doing as a prisoner? Booms, as they were more commonly called, were the most common type of mage found in the world, but were never really catalogued like Life Mages, nor truly feared like Death Mages, though few didn't distrust Booms. They weren't as bad, however, Akihiko thought, as Mentals, Mind Mages. Booms at least managed to keep their sanity. Still, why wasn't he being fitted for the army, the young prince wondered? Even a weak Boom was a valuable weapon…

Still, the situation presented to Akihiko was what it was, and the explosions the young Boom had made

gave Akihiko a chance to get the young duo's attention. He stepped out quickly, and beckoned to the two boys with a hiss.

The elder looked over at the young prince, hesitance clear in his expression. But both prince and prisoner knew there was no time for such trivialities, and the dark haired prisoner pulled his lighter-haired companion along with him with a quiet, "This way."

The three boys crowded into the brush, and moved away quickly through the thick leaves, though Akihiko noted that the smaller of the two prisoners was lagging horribly. Yet the three made the opening in the garden wall when the explosions finally died down. It was only then that Akihiko had a proper look at the two former prisoners.

The taller of the boys had dark hair that fell in matted clumps over his eyes, which Akihiko could only just make out to be brown. He was tall for his age, but malnutrition had caused him to become gaunt in stature and his clothes hung like potato sacks on a carrot. Yet there was a deep fire and fierceness to his gaze that Akihiko realized was the boy's will to survive. It was a gaze that unnerved Akihiko some. He had never been witness to anyone that was of a mindset to kill all who threatened him.

Or his companion, Akihiko guessed, judging from the way the taller one was holding him. The smaller boy's hair was matted and dirty, much like his companions, and Akihiko couldn't decide if the smaller boy's hair was naturally brown, or if that color was a trick of the dirt. What was not a trick of the dirt, however, were the boy's eyes. Akihiko couldn't make out the color, or anything about the boy's eyes for the cloth that was tied around them to stem the bleeding. Indeed, the smaller boy's eyes had been slashed, and he was losing blood. His emaciated state told Akihiko that the boy didn't have long to live either. His skin was waxy and his breathing heavy.

The young prince shivered in sympathy. He had no idea about this! What was going on? His curiosity won out, and he asked his two gaunt companions, "Why were you imprisoned?"

The taller boy looked steadily at his princely savior and said after a time, "For being born."

After that, he took his young companion under his arm, and disappeared through the hole in the wall, leaving Akihiko to wonder what it was the boy had meant.

Wondering what exactly it was his father was doing.

TBC...

so? what'd ya think? did i confuse anybody? (promise i'll explain later, if i did!)

review, please!