Shay Volta was a prince.
Which was all fine and well, if it didn't mean the fact that he'd never been allowed to leave the castle.
He couldn't complain.
(Well, that was a lie, he did complain, and quite a lot, but that wasn't the point.)
The computer- well, he supposed his "mother" and "father", though he wasn't all that certain why she'd been coded to think that way, nor why his "father" existed if She maintained most everything, but that really wasn't his point- always fed him, clothed him, and provided some entertainment.
Sure, the food was bland and often tasted exactly the same with the tiniest changes, and the clothes all barely had any variation either, and sure the most entertaining thing he'd done recently was let the runaway train fail, thus falling into the chasm and meeting Marek, a wolf who occasionally came to him to rescue helpless creatures, and even then that was over five years ago now, and sure this entire place was made for a child and not a 20-year-old young man like he was, but- he had his basic needs cared for.
That was fine, right?
Really, all things done and said, he was grateful he'd found Marek lurking in the underbelly of the castle. At least he had something to do, even if it was only once a year. If anything, Shay considered it more of a yearly celebration than anything else.
The whole thing would've been frightening, if Shay hadn't found it absolutely thrilling.
The way the wolf explained it, the woods around the castle were filled with tiny, helpless creatures that would often be torn apart and tormented by his own kind- "regrettably", he'd told Shay whilst sinking into a very deep bow, "I was not aware of it until recently, or I would've done something stop it. As it is, I turn to your aid."
Of course, simply taking the helpless creatures out of the forest would do them no good- they were native to the woodlands and the trees, and placing them in an unfamiliar and really fairly shocking new environment would kill them.
It had only taken Shay a few times of asking to confirm that that was just not a viable solution.
Instead, Marek suggested an alternate solution- removing the things killing them.
(Shay remembered once asking if it bothered Marek- sacrificing his own kind to what was undoubtedly a dark, bitter end.
Marek had simply hummed, saying that the torture and cruelty his people showed to the innocent creatures of the forest bothered him far more, and that had been the end of that particular conversation.)
Shay was not allowed in the dungeons where the wolves were kept, of course- as Marek had put it, they were likely teeming with infection and viruses that would kill him.
"Doesn't that mean you also have a lot of contagious stuff on you?" he'd asked Marek, when Marek had instructed him not to go to the dungeons to check and elaborated on why.
Marek shook his head. "I suspect whatever contagion they have is what's causing them to do this. We- they, were, at one point, as peaceful as you and I are."
"You mean..." Shay's eyes had gone wide. "You mean if I caught the disease, I could start attacking people?"
"You are very sharp, young cub," Marek had responded, which basically meant "yes".
The castle was fitted with technology that Shay had learned was beyond some people's wildest dreams- if a wolf came near the castle for whatever reason, Marek would summon Shay to use the Arm (something that Shay had once asked his "mother" about and received a very flowery explanation that it was meant to be used to help in the gardens, and that while he wasn't allowed outside to look at them that of course she'd be happy to let him look once the "curse" was broken).
Whatever the reason, Marek had been able to hack into it to allow Shay to use the Arm to seize the wolf within range and place it into the dungeons of the castle, where it would remain locked up until it inevitably perished from starvation or its own diseases.
(Quite the unpleasant fate, but Shay didn't really feel all that much sympathy towards creatures killing innocent ones, though there was always a pang of guilt that there was no way to simply heal the affliction.)
But of course, wolves were smart- so it rarely happened more than once a year. In the meantime, Shay was stuck on "missions" like rescuing Yarn Pals from the world's most fattening avalanche, riding the "runaway train" (which now had a bridge permanently installed), and dealing with "hug attacks".
Until today.
Today, it had started out as normal- his yearly, routine attempt to capture a wolf that was lurking near the castle grounds.
"Quickly, throw it some bait, Shay," Marek said, eyes fixed on the small screen in front of him.
Shay nodded, squinting as hard as he could at the blurry, wavery mess in front of him.
Marek always said that using the cameras had a risk, due to its slight delay, so using the radar would be more reliable and allow him to focus on using the Arm in real time.
Now, as long as Shay didn't go blind from the terrible screen...
Marek kept an eye on the cameras instead, to make sure Shay didn't mistakenly grab a Hexipal that was out in the gardens (which had unfortunately happened once and had gotten Shay a real scolding from Marek).
The wolf seemed to be focusing, so Shay pressed a button and threw out the bait.
Marek nodded, still laser focused. "Alright, it's drawing nearer. Use the-" He paused, then shot upright.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"The wolf sensed the Arm appearing!"
Shay twisted to look at Marek, eyes wide. Already? Usually the bait would keep them occupied for at least several minutes- by the time it usually did notice, the arm would've grabbed them and it would've been too late.
"Already?"
"No, no, no!" Marek pushed Shay away from the controls, already furiously pecking at the buttons. "Shay! Get upstairs! The wolf is using the arm to infiltrate the castle! I'll come find you when it's safe again."
Shay reached for the controls, feeling a tiny spark of fire spring up in his chest- he could help, he would.
"Marek, I-"
"Now, young cub!" Marek virtually shouted at Shay- something that made Shay flinch back a little.
Marek didn't really shout- so to be yelled at now... well, this had to be serious.
Shay hurried back towards the ladder to the hallway to his room.
And that tiny, tiny thing inside of him that knew he was useful, he was helpful, he could help withered back away.
So now here he was. Standing and staring out the window at the tiny town nestled in the midst of the forest and waiting for Marek to return to talk to him.
He heard footsteps next to him.
That was probably Marek, here to scold him about the failed attempt.
Shay had only failed once before (the incident with the Garden Hexipal), but that time, it had cost them the opportunity to catch the wolf, as it had run off; likely never to be seen again.
Marek rarely scolded Shay, but that time he'd made it pretty clear that failure like that put innocent creatures, if not the entire woodlands and even that little town nestled in the woods that Shay spotted out the window of this exact hallway that he was standing in, at risk.
Besides, the computer and the Dad program would go quiet whenever Marek was nearby. They'd only ever emerge when he was alone, or at the very least when Marek was in a safe wing of the dungeons below, keeping an eye on the external cameras.
He turned-
And he felt the air leave his lungs.
In front of him stood a girl. Her fluffy updo was adorned with a few fancy feathers and framed a round face that mirrored his stunned surprise, her dark eyes wide with surprise. She wore what looked like a tattered ballgown, the edges torn and ragged at the edges, but what remained of it was layered in a way that reminded him of a birthday cake.
(Yes, he had had birthday cakes before, the computer had given him some before.)
She was totally barefoot, and at her hip there was a sheathe that flattened some of the dress- probably for a dagger or a knife.
The two of them stared at each other for a long, long moment.
Shay didn't really know what to do. He hadn't met a girl before, not really. Did he bow? Kiss her hand? That's what princes did with maidens, right? But she was holding a knife. Perhaps she was an assassin? No, because then she wouldn't be barefoot, right? That made more noise than less, so it wouldn't make sense for her to be barefoot and an assassin. Unless-
Shay Volta, prince and prisoner of the Bassinostra (he'd heard Marek call the castle that, so that's what he assumed it was called), didn't have much longer to ponder what he should do with this unexpected person in front of him, because the very next moment he found himself getting punched in the face by the girl.
